InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Trials and Tribulations of Love ❯ Everybody's Fool ( Chapter 2 )

Okay, so here's the second chapter of Trials and Tribulations of Love, it took a bit longer to get out than I anticipated (a whole week longer) but its longer than the last chapter, so, you'll deal

BTW I really, really, really like reviews, it made me feel all happy when I saw people were reading my fic, YAY. So, please review and tell me what ya think! ^_^

::SilverWaters walks in and plops on the couch:: I am so tired. I didn't get any sleep last night ::Inuyasha trudges in and passes out on the floor:: yeah, umm, he didn't get any sleep last night either. ^__^

::Golden Skies:: Damn fiends.

::Sesshomaru's snores can be heard from down the hall::

::SilverWaters:: Well, Ø_Ø, apparently Sess-chan didn't get much sleep either. Hmm, I wonder why?

::Golden Skies blushes:: I have no idea what your taking about.

::SilverWaters gives Golden Skies a sly look:: Mmm Hmm. Right.

::Golden Skies:: Hey, he just can't handle this ^_*

::Kouga jumps in and grabs SilverWaters and throws her over his shoulder:: I have come to claim a mate. This is my woman now!

::Inuyasha wakes up and goes into a fighting stance::

::Golden Skies:: Why the hell did you chose her? We all know I'm better!

::Inuyasha:: Grrrr…. Kouga, put her down. That is my mate.

::SilverWaters blushes and turns to Sky:: Well, Sky-chan, I guess Kouga just knows quality when he sees it.

::Golden skies coughs:: desperate ::she coughs again::

::Kouga drops SilverWaters and turns to Sky::

::SilverWaters:: Oomff! Hey! ::Inuyasha runs to Silver's side::

::Kouga grabs Golden Skies:: Fine, then I will just take her instead.

::SilverWaters:: Ø_Ø;

::Golden Skies:: Yeah right man, you wish you could have a piece of this.

::Sesshoumaru groggily makes his way to the door:: What the hell are you doing wolf-boy?

::Kouga turns to him:: I'm taking my mate home.

::Golden Skies:: Like hell you are! ::Golden Skies punches Kouga, he falls to the ground and Sesshoumaru grabs Sky's waist before she lands on to p of Kouga::

::Sesshoumaru looks at the unconscious wolf youkai on the floor and smirks at Golden Skies:: That's my blood in you.

::Golden Skies blushes::

::A thought suddenly strike SilverWaters:: Hey, Inuyasha? Did you mean it when you called me your mate? *_*

::Inuyasha blushes:: Keh… your mine now.

::SilverWaters:: Aww. I love you. ::Glomp::

::Inuyasha:: ^_^; heh…

::Golden Skies:: Okay, enough with the melodramatics. ::Pushes Inu and Silver into Inu's room::

::Golden Skies:: Sess, ya wanna get some food?

::Sess winks:: How about some Chinese food…order-in?

::Golden Skies:: alright! ~_*

And now for the story…

Trials and Tribulations of Love

Chapter 2

Everybody's Fool

By: Golden Skies

Kagome, though everything in her screamed to run home and never come back, didn't run away. Instead, she stayed to face her fears. Well not exactly. Instead, she avoided Inuyasha. As far as she knew, he only felt her presence after Kikyo left. He probably thought she had just happened to stumble across the end of their conversation, and she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to tell him otherwise.

For Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, the last week had been very unusual. Not once had Inuyasha told them they had to go hunt for shards, not once had Kagome threatened to go home, not once had Kagome "sat" Inuyasha, and not once had they even spoke to each other.

Miroku and Sango noticed the way Inuyasha would toss Kagome unsure looks. It was hard to tell what his facial expressions were saying, and when they tried to decipher the hieroglyphics that made up Inuyasha's golden orbs, they were left wanting. It almost looked as though he wanted to say something, to ask a question, but he couldn't figure out if he really wanted to, let alone how to do it.

They all saw how Kagome would be fine until she saw him, and then she would flare with anger and hurt before she turned her gaze to the ground and went off to do something else. But, she wouldn't let anyone into the steel fortress that held her emotions.

After the first few days of this, they began to miss the arguing. They all knew how much Kagome cared for Inuyasha, and they also knew that, in his own way, Inuyasha cared for her too. Nobody knew what had happened that night, nearly a week ago.

:: Flashback ::

"When's Kagome coming back? She's been gone for hours," whined the kitsune cub. Miroku and Sango exchanged worried glances. Kagome had left nearly three hours ago, and Inuyasha had left to find her about an hour ago, after he smelt Kikyo.

"I hope everything is okay," commented Sango, hoping Miroku would get what she was aiming at.

"I'm sure it's nothing Inuyasha can't handle," said Miroku, rather unconvincingly. The truth was, he knew how much Inuyasha still loved Kikyo, and him running right into an argument between her and Kagome, was the one situation that Inuyasha never failed to handle the wrong way.

Outside of the hut, the sky began to get dark, not from the night, but from the gloomy clouds that had slowly began to creep their way over the village. Over the next five minutes the wind picked up and with a loud crash of thunder, the rain began to fall.

Everybody in the hut was scared, Kagome and Inuyasha weren't back yet, and from the looks of it, this was going to be a bad storm. Kadae wasn't even there to comfort them; she was on the other side of the small village tending to a sick mother, who had just given birth.

For the last half an hour, the hut had been silent; the only noise to be heard was the shaking of the hut's boards under the long spells of thunder. Occasionally Shippo and Sango "eeped" when lightning flashed a little too close for comfort.

The door swung open, just as Miroku's hand was about to touch Sango's thigh, and there stood Kagome. Miroku's hand dropped back to where it belonged after he saw the look on her face. Her head was held high, and the expression she wore was as if she hadn't noticed she'd been walking in the worst storm of the year for the past forty-five minutes.

Sango immediately ran to her friend. "Kagome!" she screamed, happy that on the surface she appeared to be fine, other than the fact she was shivering uncontrollably. Sango was about to ask her if she was okay, then she looked into her eyes. Sango would never forget that look, that detached look; it seemed as though Kagome had become so lost in her feelings of confused anger and betrayal that she wasn't completely in the real world.

Sango wanted to ask her what happened, but was cut off when Shippo bounded past her and into Kagome's arms, seemingly snapping her out of a trance-like state. The rest of the night was spent warming Kagome up and waiting for Inuyasha to come back, all in an awkward silence.

Inuyasha didn't come back until noon the next day.

"Is Kagome okay?" he asked the monk worriedly in a hushed voice.

"Kagome -sama will be fine, I think," said Miroku, not sure whether Inuyasha was talking about her being out in the rain last night, or the events that happened prior to that; he was assuming the later. Miroku hoped she would be fine, but he still had no clue what had happened, so he wasn't sure if she could only pray that Kagome would be able to recover from whatever blow she had been dealt.

"Inuyasha, what happened last night?" Miroku questioned anxiously, letting his curiosity and worry get the best of him.

"Oh, umm, I found shelter in a cave," he replied hurriedly before walking away. They both knew that's not what Miroku meant, but he wasn't about to push it.

:: End Flashback ::

The sky had been gloomy since that day, the sun refusing to show. It was almost foreboding as if it was trying it say that this as not over. Unfortunately, bad weather meant everybody stayed in the hut all day, allowing them all to dwell on how much they wanted things to be the way they were.

Even Shippo had begun to miss their bickering. At first he loved that the hanyou had distanced himself from Kagome. Well, come to think of it, he hasn't been physically distant from her. I mean he's always by her even more now than he has ever been, but he doesn't say anything. He's like a shadow or something, a shadow she ignores. Anyway, Shippo had Kagome to himself, and he was content with that, at least at first he was. Kagome was physically there, but she wasn't there emotionally. She seemed to be off in her own world, she tried to look happy on the outside, but he could see through her façade. He wanted the old Kagome back, and if that meant having the old Inuyasha back too, then so be it.

They all noticed the peculiar behavior, but nobody knew what to do about it. Even if they did, they probably wouldn't have done anything, because it wasn't their business. So, they decided to leave Inuyasha and Kagome to their own devices and pray that they could sort things out. They thought that maybe if they just acted normal, Kagome might start acting normal too.

Well, I guess everybody must believe the show I'm putting on, Kagome thought to herself, half proud, half disappointed, everybody is acting just as normal as can be around me. I guess that means they think I'm acting normal too, or they just don't know how to act around me. They don't know what happened, unless Inuyasha told them. HA, yeah right, and say what? 'Yeah, I was an ass, and I told Kikyo that I'd make it so Kagome never came into our lives, and I was genius enough to say all of this to Kikyo, right in front of Kagome.' No, I don't think Inuyasha said anything, I really would like to see him admit to them exactly what he did, and how sorry he is…. yeah, how sorry he is that her got caught. He follows me around now, all the time, like he's trying to watch over me or something; I wish he would just leave me alone for a while. I'll be fine after he gives me time and space to accept what's going on. I can accept that he loves Kikyo, she thought with sad determination. Can you really? asked a voice representing her heart. No, but I'll eventually get over it. Yeah, you'll get over it after he makes his wish and your sent back to the day you found the well, no recollection of the past three and a half years, the voice smoothly replied. Kagome felt a tear slide down her cheek; luckily she was sitting under the Goshinboku tree and everybody was in the hut. It was a bit chilly, and the sky was clouded, but she needed to get out of that hut. She looked up at the sky, trying to forget about Inuyasha, just for a minute. The clouds were moving fast and it looked like rain might fall from the sunless sky any minute.

I told him I'd give him the Shikon no Tama. I made a promise and I'll keep it, if he chooses her, there is nothing I can do about it. We will all just live our lives out the way we were suppose to, until Fate intervened, she thought with finality. But, why would Fate intervene if it wasn't fate that you two should be together? retorted the little voice. Fate is fate; we shall see where it takes us. The lone tear was now dried up and Kagome refused to let down the dam that held the rest at bay. Instead, she rested her head back against the tree and closed her eyes, falling asleep in an Inuyasha-like position.

As Inuyasha looked down at Kagome he heard her breathing even out. She was in a deep sleep, and he was glad, she had not slept a lot since that night, and when she did, it was a restless sleep. He didn't quite understand why she was so upset. After all, he didn't even smell or hear her until just as Kikyo was leaving. He'd ask her as soon as she woke up. He was afraid to ask her, because he might say too much; hinting that there was something he did that would merit her being angry with him. Nevertheless, he had no choice.

Kagome felt a chill run up her spine and opened her eyes, it was near dusk and there was a slight breeze. I didn't remember bringing a blanket, she thought as she looked down, oh. Inuyasha's red haori was draped over her. She turned her head and watched as Inuyasha turned his head to her at the same time.

Inuyasha was drawn into Kagome's huge searching chocolate eyes, as far as he could see, her eyes were a melting pot of emotions, a melting pot ready to overflow at any moment. However, he couldn't pick out any specific emotions from her confused gaze.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha, his eyes looking curious, anxious, and guilty. But she couldn't find what she was looking for; he didn't look at her with those loving regretful eyes and that soft face that he so often looked at Kikyo with. Unable to bring herself to continue looking for something she knew she would never find, Kagome turned away and an uneasy silence fell over the two.

Inuyasha didn't know what to ask, not sure he wanted to ask, and almost positive he didn't want to hear the answer.

In Kagome's mind, the words were running through her head, words she really wanted to say, but they wouldn't come out. She wanted to just get it over with and tell him. Then he would know, and she could face it and hopefully he would let her leave. She told herself to say the words, to get it over with, but her mouth refused to open and her vocal cords refused to make sound.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha began, he wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he was going for it. He needed answers and talking through it was the only way to get them. Kagome heard Inuyasha begin, but she cut him off anyway, her mind telling her it was now or never.

"Inuyasha, I was there the whole time. Kikyo made sure of that. I heard everything you said to her, and if you give me time, maybe I can accept that, but I don't want to. Why don't you just let her find the rest of the shards so I can go home, and then you can make the wish you really want?" Kagome stopped, unable to breathe, neither one of them knew she could talk as fast as she just did. Kagome started to cry uncontrollably, hiding her face in her hands. Inuyasha was still trying to process everything she just said, a blank dumfounded look all across his face and radiating from his golden eyes.

Inuyasha didn't know what to do. She saw everything?! Kikyo used me to break Kagome!? Inuyasha stole a glance at Kagome, who was now clinging tightly to the haori he had placed over her as a shield from the slight chill. And I did it for her. But, Kikyo seemed so sincere, like she really loved me. What do I say to Kagome? What can I say? I can't tell her what she wants to hear. I wasn't going to tell her about my wish, I was just going to make it. But now, he realized, he had no choice.

"Kagome, don't cry, please, don't cry," he pleaded, moving to hold her. She quieted but the tears still steadily fell down her face. She looked at him, her eyes digging their way into his, "Tell me Inuyasha, why shouldn't I cry?" She asked in a harsh tone that made him wince and flatten his ears against his head. "Because I'm not worth it," he said softly and sincerely, wiping away the tears falling from her eyes.

"You are to me," she said longingly, needing to hear his response. He pulled her into a hug.

"Kagome, I care about you, but I'm going to be honest…" he wasn't sure how to finish without lying to both her and himself.

"Inuyasha, I understand you love her, I was just hoping you could get over that part of your life and learn to care about me as much as I care about you," she would not tell him she loved him, she wouldn't do it, she couldn't, not unless she knew he felt the same way and that he would admit it; otherwise, it would just hurt too much.

I do care about you, Kagome, more than you'll ever know, Inuyasha thought, he couldn't tell her, it would make it so much more difficult, for both of them.

Kagome pulled away from Inuyasha a little more. "I know I'm not Kikyo, I don't try to be, and I don't want to be. It hurts so much that you see her when you look at me." Your wrong Kagome, it has been a long time since I looked at you and saw her. Now, I look at her and try to see you.

"Inuyasha, I can't change how I feel about you, but I will make myself accept your choice, and," her voice quieted, "after you make your wish, we won't even remember each other."

Inuyasha heard the pain in her shaky voice, and tried to move closer to her, but she moved back. "Inuyasha, don't. I'm going home, but I will wait until tomorrow, first I have so much I need to say to you, even if in a matter of weeks, neither of us will remember, I need to say them, for the here and now," Kagome said almost in a whisper.

Kagome looked down at her lap, tears were still rolling from her eyes, but she smiled softly, "I always thought you and Kikyo looked so perfect together. I hoped, that maybe one day, people would look at us, and think the same thing. I don't know what I was thinking."

~Perfect by nature

Icons of self indulgence~

A thought suddenly struck Kagome and she looked up, her eyes burning with anger, "You weren't going to tell me that you chose that dead bitch over me, were you! " She said it as a statement, not as a question, because in her heart she already knew his answer. Kagome was bitter, and she wasn't going to bother hiding it.

Inuyasha was very taken aback by her bluntness. Frankly he had been praying that she wouldn't figure it out, and that played all over his face.

Kagome, unfortunately for Inuyasha, saw the look and correctly interpreted it. "I can't believe you! You were going to lie to me and then send me back without so much as telling me!" She couldn't hold back her sobs now.

~Just what we all need

More lies about a world that

Never was and never will be~

"How could you do that to me, Inuyasha?"

~Have you no shame don't you see me~

"You were going to play me weren't you," she began quietly, not sure if he would understand the euphemism, but pretty sure he got the point. "Well, no, I guess you weren't. You couldn't since we were never together, but you knew," her voice rose, "don't even tell me you didn't know I felt, how I feel. Don't Inuyasha! You knew what you were doing, didn't you? You had the whole damn thing planned out."

~You know you've got everybody fooled~

Inuyasha knew there was no point in lying, so he bowed his head down, his eyes downcast and ears flattening against his head. But Kagome didn't notice, for as soon as he bowed his head, her shifted and focused over his shoulder. Inuyasha looked up, wanting to see her response to his silent admission, he knew she was mad, and he could hear her deep breathing. He then noticed her gaze was focused behind him, then he smelt it… death. Shit! Why me?!

He looked into Kagome's eyes, blocking her view of the miko behind him and bringing her attention back to him again.

~Look here she comes now~

"Inuyasha, I watched you betray me once, please, don't make me do it again," Kagome asked, her eyes pleading more than her voice ever could.

Inuyasha looked at her, leaning in a bit. Kagome knew that he was going to go. "Don't say it, just leave," she said coldly, forcing the tears to stop.

~Bow down and stare in wonder~

"I need to explain, Kagome. I care about you, more than you'll ever know. I owe you an explanation on my decision, and I'll give it to you," he said quietly, "I owe you that much," he whispered in her ear, before turning away. His last comment seemed as though it was aimed towards himself, just as much as it was at Kagome; as though he was trying to convince himself that that was all he owed her.

"I love you, Inuyasha," she whispered not loud enough for Kikyo to hear, Inuyasha paused, but Kagome didn't notice, for her head was bowed, staring at the ground. When she looked up, they were both gone. She wasn't sure if he heard her, not sure if she had wanted to hear, and pretty upset with herself for saying those three words aloud, especially after she swore to herself she wouldn't

"I won't say it again, Inuyasha, I don't think I can say it again, it hurts too much."

~Oh how we love you

No flaws when you're pretending~

With that Kagome hung Inuyasha's haori on a low branch on the Goshinboku tree, the branch really was out of place, that low on such a big tree, almost as if it knew she would be there, hanging the haori on it. For her she was hanging her love for Inuyasha on the tree where he stole it damn near four years ago. Time flies when you're being hunted by evil demons trying to kill you. Okay, so humor was a start to recovery. After all, dry humor is still humor. She looked at the haori for a moment, hanging there, lifelessly, just as Inuyasha had been. Somehow, the memory calmed her. She turned around and walked back to the hut, unrolled her sleeping bag, grabbed Shippo, and went to sleep. As she was drifting off, she thought, wow, telling him how I felt really made me feel better; I may actually get some sleep tonight. Then her little voice came back, yeah right, you just exhausted yourself thinking about him. Her last conscious thought before drifting into a dreamless sleep was, I still can't believe he played me for HER, I mean she's dead, I'm real, one day, he'll see that.

~But now I know she

Never was and never will be~

Kagome awoke a few hours later, feeling a bit groggy, not knowing why she had woken up. She noticed Shippo nuzzling in her stomach, that must have been it. She laid back down and closed her eyes.

The next thing she heard was the screen door open. Oh, great, I woke up just in time for Inuyasha to come home. She slowed her breathing so he would think she was asleep. She really didn't feel like talking. Then, she heard another set of footsteps, even better, he brought Kikyo, the dead miko back with him. She wanted to laugh at her little rhyming nickname for Kikyo, but she didn't.

Inuyasha sat down, pulling Kikyo into his lap; he kissed her temple and rested his chin on her head.

~You don't know how you betrayed me~

"I love you, my Inuyasha," Kikyo said as she closed her eyes.

"I love you too, Kikyo," Inuyasha said, dutifully.

~And somehow you've got everybody fooled~

This is so beyond messed up; I'm going home. With that thought, Kagome silently moved the kit, ignoring his whimper, stood up, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door.

She stopped when Inuyasha's eyes snapped open and met hers. Kagome said nothing, but held her head up and walked out.

~Without the mask where will you hide

Can't find yourself lost in your lies~

I should've 'sat' him, then he would have flattened Kikyo under him, maybe she would have crumbled back into the dirt she was made of. Kagome thought on this for a moment and smirked to herself, would serve them both right, but they deserve much more than that, so much more.

Inuyasha moved Kikyo and ran out to follow Kagome, I have to make her understand, He headed for the well, pausing when he saw his haori hanging on the Goshinboku. Something struck his heart painfully, but he didn't know what or why. He pulled on his haori and kept going. Kagome was on the ledge of the well when he got there, and she just looked up at him.

~I know the truth now~

"Inuyasha, you can't lie to yourself or me anymore, I've figured your game out," she said slowly and quietly, but confidently. No tears even threatening her stoic eyes.

~I know who you are~

"I've been here so long with you, felt so many things, and you were going to take all of that away from me," she looked him in the eyes and continued. "And you're still planning to. You don't care about me," she said, anger beginning to flare, along with her aura. "So, don't give me that 'I care about you, but I have a promise to keep' bullshit! You don't do that to someone you care about!" When she finished, her aura was flaming, engulfing her in a blue flame, bigger than Inuyasha had ever seen it, and he was scared.

Kikyo's aura has never been that big, Kagome could probably purify me with a single strand of her hair; I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to.

"And ya know what?" she continued. "I can't care about someone that would do that to me," she finished on a softer, calmer, regretful tone.

~And I don't love you anymore~

Kagome looked Inuyasha in the eyes, walking towards him, "I don't love you Inuyasha," she said it with such finality, that it caused him more pain than it did to walk away from her earlier that day after she admitted her love for him. Hell, it hurt more than Kikyo pinning him to the Goshinboku tree.

~It never was and never will be

You don't know how you betrayed me

And somehow you've got everybody fooled~

"Inuyasha, I'm going home, here are the shards." With that she unclasped her necklace and dropped it along with the bottle containing the shards into his hand. "I'm sure Kikyo can find the rest for you. She will also be more useful in a battle, so you should be happy."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome cut him off, "You can't protect me from your decision. You've already made it and that was your choice. I kept my promise to you," she motioned to the Shikon shards in his hand. "But know this, making it so I never came here, won't be keeping yours to me," she said bitterly as she walked back towards the well, and put her book bag on.

~It never was and never will be

Your not real and you can't save me~

Kagome chuckled lightly to herself, one of those 'I can't believe this is happening, it's so horrible its funny' type laughs. Inuyasha lifted his head and stared at her, more than a little confused, "What's so funny?"

Kagome's expression remained comical. "Isn't it obvious Inuyasha?" she asked, quite amused that she had to spell it out for him. "I got passed up for a dead bitch, with no blood," her tone turned serious, "no heart, she's made of bones and clay for Christ's sake. And look at me," she smiled again, "I'm worried because I've lost you. Truth is Inuyasha, I feel sorry for you, because to make that choice, you must have lost yourself," she finished, still smirking, and chuckling lightly at her own twisted wisdom.

~And somehow now your everybody's fool~

Kagome took one last look at Inuyasha and smirked at the facial expression he gave her, before jumping into the well.

Inuyasha stared after her as if he were expecting her to jump back out of the well. But, she didn't. He stared down at the Shikon no Tama shards in his grasp. This is all your fault, he thought bitterly.

He thought about Kagome's words. They pierced his heart deeper than a jab from Toukijin could, but they were the truth, whether he wanted to admit it or not, she had laid it out for him.

I did lose myself Kagome, the same moment I saw that piece of your soul fly into Kikyo to bring her back. It was all my fault. The only question left is, how can I find myself again?

Inuyasha tightly squeezed the shards in his hand, and slowly turned to walk back towards the village, back to where he knew Kikyo was waiting for him, relishing her victory.

Actually, Kikyo was a bit closer than he thought, but her didn't smell her because Inuyasha was upwind from her hiding spot, behind a tree. And there she was, smirking in triumph. AS soon as Inuyasha left, she summoned her Shikigami to fly her back to village before Inuyasha got there.

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