InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shared Blood ❯ Why...? ( Chapter 15 )

I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I make any claim to. This chapter is dedicated to my imouto, Stef-chan, Ely-chan, editor extraordinaire, and Kayla, who just writes such cool stuff for me, I can't help but be inspired. Beware, this chapter again is short, but I am hoping to resolve everything in the next chapter or so.

Shared Blood

Chapter Fifteen

By: Lazuli

lazulidreamer@yahoo.com

"Inuyasha…" she whispered. She didn't know where she was, nor did she recognize anything. "INUYASHA!" she screamed, her mind in turmoil. Her mate-part of her soul, her love-was gone. She jumped up to the window, looking outside at the clean temple grounds, an old man sweeping at the steps.

Her eyes filled with tears and she clenched her fists at her sides, trying to keep in the sobs. She agreed to this-she chose to go back to this 'life.' She gave up her mate to save humans from a life they should have never had. It was all back to normal. But she didn't want normal. She wanted Inuyasha.

She kicked the wooden desk by the window, her anger at herself mounting. Why did she do such a stupid thing? Why? She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold in the pain. Her mind whirled in disbelief and her eyes searched the room for something to take her anger out on.

Her eyes lit on the posters on the wall, cheerful pictures of famous people that she had no idea about-who they were, or why she had them. She tore them off the wall, taking satisfaction in the ripping sound they made as she shredded them. After the posters were in strips on her floor, she surveyed the room for something else to destroy.

Sweeping the books off of her desk, she grinned at the loud crashing sound they made. She didn't care if she destroyed the room; if nothing was left whole in here. It belonged to a different Kagome-she had changed and didn't want to go back the girl who she was before. She hated this place-it didn't have anything in here she wanted.

A tapping on the door woke her out of her misery, and she hastily wiped the tears off of her face, not wanting the stranger on the other side to see that she was crying. She wondered how long it would take her to get adjusted to this new lifestyle. Her mind was filled with the one she just lived, and although this was the 'original' one, she didn't want it.

The door pushed open and an older woman walked in, looking at her daughter in surprise. "Kagome, what's wrong?" she asked. "I heard you screaming…" Her eyes surveyed the damage around the room and her eyes widened in shock. "Kagome! What did you do to your room? This isn't like you-what's wrong?" she asked, the anger draining out of her voice to look at her daughter's tear-stained face.

Kagome looked at the woman curiously. She wondered if this was her mother. It was a strange thought. This woman looked young and relaxed while she remembered her mother looked so haggard. She couldn't put those two together, but she forced her mind to recall this concerned looking woman in front of her, and accept that this was her mother.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently, forcing herself to be calm. "I was just getting rid of some things. It seems rather…frivolous to have this stuff, don't you think?"

"Kagome, what's wrong? You seem rather upset about something." She looked at her daughter more carefully. "And where did you get that strange outfit?" She asked incredulously. "I've never seen you wear anything like that before."

Kagome looked down at her clothing. She was still in the fire-rat outfit Inuyasha gave her, the only link left to him now. She stroked the sleeves absently, smiling at her mother. "I…Someone very special gave this to me." She said quietly.

"Someone…special? Is it Hojou-kun?" Her mother smiled knowingly and Kagome gave her a horrified look as memories of Hojou came back to her. Unpleasant memories of time away from Inuyasha.

"Iie! What made you think it was Hojou?" she demanded. Her mother looked a little surprised. "I thought you liked Hojou, Kagome. He's always over here and you seemed so excited when he asked you to go to the movies." Her expression became concerned as she examined her daughter more closely. There was something different about her, something that had changed her since the morning.

"Well, I don't!" Kagome snapped, turning away from her mother. If she *saw* Hojou alive, she would kill him herself. She looked down at her hands absently and her eyes widened. She returned to the world she originally came from, but all the side effects that came with a youkai mating remained. She still had claws and she bet that everything else was there as well. She grinned to herself, happy. She knew by this that it wasn't a dream. That Inuyasha existed. And possibly still did.

"Kagome?" She looked up at her mother's questioning tone of voice and shook her head slowly. "I'm going to stay up here for awhile, Mama. I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to rest." She smiled reassuringly at her mother until she got up and left the room. She waited until darkness fell on the temple grounds and quietly sneaked out of the house to the well shrine. She had to see if she could go back.

She easily leapt down into the well and looked back up at the top. The dank smell of the well house overwhelmed her and she fell to her knees. It didn't work. The well didn't work at all. Her entire body shook with the force of her sobbing. "Inuyasha…" she whispered.

Her little brother found her there the next morning, after she cried herself to sleep.

~~

Kagome stood at the gates to the school wondering if she'd even be able to understand anything. Everything was different from what she was used to, and she was having a hard time recalling everything from this life. Emi was alive and Yuka was a regular student, not bitter and heartbroken at the loss of friends.

"Kagome-chan!" She turned at the sound of Yuka's familiar voice and smiled weakly. She didn't want to be here. She couldn't find Inuyasha this way, and she didn't know if any youkai were alive in this day. There was no order to the city that she remembered, and half the time she ended up lost. She marveled that she found her way to the school.

"Kagome-chan…what's wrong?" Yuka waved her hand in front of Kagome's face. "You look a little…different today. Did you do something to yourself?"

Kagome gulped. "No." She said softly. "I haven't changed at all." She ignored Yuka's concerned look as they walked into the school together, Yuka chattering away at the various events that her past self would have known and cared about, but only seemed frivolous to her mind now.

"And I heard a certain upper classman wanted to invite you to the Sakura Festival!" Yuka suddenly squealed in her ear. Kagome winced. Her hearing was a lot more sensitive than before and she wondered why it continued to increase even more so than when she was with Inuyasha.

She pretended to be interested, pitching her voice so it sounded as if she was as interested in the news as Yuka wanted her to be. "Who wants to take me, Yuka-chan?" Yuka looked at her strangely as they settled at their desks.

"Kagome, what *other* cute, upper classman thinks you are cute?" She said, rolling her eyes. Kagome shrugged. She didn't really know or care. She wondered vaguely what Yuka's reaction would be if Kagome told her she was already 'married.'

"Kagome, you're really not yourself today! Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Yuka looked into Kagome's eyes. "You look kinda pale." At Kagome's indifferent look, Yuka sighed. "It's not really important right now…I'm sure Hojou will come up to you soon."

Kagome's eyes filled with a cold fury at the mention of Hojou's name. "Why…why does everyone think that I should be with Hojou?" She was having a hard time to not hunt the boy down and rip him apart. She didn't want to see him face to face. It would be a strain on her self control for sure.

Yuka backed away, almost afraid of her friend-she never saw such anger before. "Ka…Kagome…" She swallowed uneasily. "I'm sorry for assuming things…" She looked at her friend more carefully. "Do you have someone else you like?" she asked softly.

Looking down at the ring she wore, Kagome nodded. "I…I did. But he's not here any more." She whispered. She hadn't felt Inuyasha around her-he hadn't come up to her. She felt a tear slip down her face. The ring was just a symbol of their mating-but there was nothing there to tie her to him. They each had their own souls back…

"Kagome?" Yuka stared in the same direction as her friend, looking confused. There was a ring on her left hand. Her eyes widened. Apparently there were some things her friend hadn't told her about. She wondered how long Kagome had been in a relationship.

Kagome looked up at the sound of her name and Yuka forced a smile. "Don't worry about Hojou. I don't think he was right for you anyways. A little too…obsessive."

Kagome laughed, confusing Yuka again. "You have no idea," she muttered. "No idea at all…"

~~

Inuyasha glared at the bright sunlight streaming through his window and he covered his eyes to protect them from the sun. He fumbled towards the window, yanking down the shade. His mind was fuzzy and he tried to focus on his surroundings. This wasn't his room-but…it was his room.

He looked around the room, his mind calmly taking in every detail. He didn't recognize this at first-it was like someone had implanted memories to make it seem familiar to him. The walls were bare except his sword hanging on it. That wasn't as strange as the other stuff strewn around the room. With Kagome here, it was neater…his heart suddenly clenched. Kagome... He had lost her forever to her future time.

Turning around suddenly, he slammed his fist into the wall, taking enjoyment as it tore a hole in the wall. He tore apart his desk, trying to destroy everything in the room that likened him to this life that wasn't his. He was getting ready to shred the closet doors with his claws when the door flew open and his mother stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Inuyasha! What on earth are you DOING?" She demanded. His ears flattened at the sound of her angry voice and he glared back at her. "Taking out my anger." He muttered. "You wouldn't understand." He flopped down on his bed, the only object he left untouched.

"You're assuming an awful lot, young man. If you don't hurry, you're going to be late for classes."

Inuyasha stared at her. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't go to school. Especially not *here.*" He made it sound as if this time was dirty. "I don't want to scare the precious little humans."

She sighed and sat on the bed next to him, pulling on a lock of his hair. "That's why you look like this." She said, rolling her eyes. "Look in the mirror, won't you?"

Grumbling, he got up to go to the bathroom mirror. Shiru smiled to herself and waited for Inuyasha's reaction. "Five…four…three… two…"

"WHAT THE HELL?" Inuyasha stormed out of the room, anger flashing from his violet eyes. "Why do I look like a human?" He held a strand of his long black hair, glaring at his mother as if she was to blame for everything.

"You don't know…" she said softly. "I forgot…" She stood up, moving over to her son. "You look this way so that you can go to school and not be hunted for it." She smiled at his sullen expression. "This is a good disguise, Inuyasha."

He had to agree-but he didn't like it. "Fine." he muttered. At least this way he could walk around this town, undetected. He could find information about Kagome, if she was alive. His eyes lit up briefly.

"Mother…after school, I might be a little late." he said quickly. "I'm going to be busy." His mother gave him a strange look. "Out to find a certain someone, I take it?" she asked. She ignored his shocked look and brushed his bangs out of his hair. "Get dressed, Inuyasha. You have someone to retrieve."

"What would you know of it, Mother? You don't know me…" Inuyasha glared balefully at her. She didn't know…no one knew but him, and it was cruel twist of fate that he was made to remember every moment with Kagome…his mate that he couldn't be with again.

"I know more than you think, Inuyasha."

He shook his head. "You know less about your son than you think," he said forcefully, pulling a shirt over his head as she talked. "If I told you that I fell in love with a human, who was once my concubine then later my mate, you would think I was crazy."

She laughed. "I wouldn't think you were crazy," she said. "I made this ring that bound you and Kagome together." She tapped on the silver band gently.

His eyes widened. "You know then…" He said softly. "You know…" He hugged his mother quickly, and put on the jacket to his school uniform hurriedly. Braiding his long hair, he ran down the stairs, eager to get to school-wondering if he would find Kagome there.

~~

Hojou leaned against the wall casually, observing Kagome with her friends. She seemed distant lately, and he overheard more than one conversation about him, Kagome's feelings for him, and what she was going to do to him if she saw him that day.

He turned to Miroku, who also seemed bent on avoiding him, and instead was giving him cautious looks. If he couldn't trust Miroku, who could he trust?
"Miroku…do you know what's wrong with Higurashi-san lately? I thought she was interested in me." Hojou pouted. "Now she's seems ready to kill me."

Miroku's eyes were filled with amusement, and Hojou wondered at his friend. After a few moments of composing his face, Miroku bit his lip.

"You know…this Kagome may be a little different." He said. "Don't you think you may want to stay away from her until you know what's going on?" He asked.

Hojou frowned. "I hate to see her unhappy." He said firmly. "I should do something to help her."

Miroku tried to hide his amusement at the situation. He found himself waking up in his own apartment, a school uniform casually flung over a chair. He also remembered everything from his other life. He was grateful that he looked human enough to pass for the schools…it was much easier to find out information-and it seemed that he was in the right school. Now only if he knew where Inuyasha was…

He made several more consoling statements towards Hojo, mentally reminding himself that this Hojou didn't remember a single thing. Wasn't the same person at all. It was a good thing…or else Hojou would've already been sucked into the Air Void a long time ago.

~~

Kagome propped her chin up in her hands, listening to the teacher babble on. She wasn't interested in this stuff…she knew that some part of her wanted to learn this-but most her mind was still with Inuyasha. It had been three weeks since she returned 'home' and she was still in pain from not being with him.

"Higurashi-san!" Kagome jumped at the sound of her name being called. "Are you even paying attention to me? Do you NOT want to get into a good college?"

Kagome stifled a yawn. "Not really…" She mumbled. She was so tired…She ignored the shocked gasps from every one around the room, and lay her head on her desk. She felt ill…

Yuka was shaking her shoulder. "Kagome-chan! Are you okay?" Kagome shook her head.

"May I be excused?" She asked weakly. She needed to get to the bathroom…and quick. The teacher nodded his permission, and Kagome flew out the door, running into another student.

~~