InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What's In A Name? ❯ Instinct ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Takahashi-sensei has yet to let me have my precious InuYasha, but never give up hope.

Wow, I would have to say I was a little shocked by the response I received on AFF to this fic. 50 reviews for the first chp. The other sites couldn't match that combined. Go AFF!

Now, for all of you who have just recently seen episodes 156 and 157 that were just released about a week ago on fansubs may have noticed a very familiar sight in the fight scene. I SWEAR I did not see that before I wrote the first chapter and as such, I feel very psychic at the moment. I watched and was like, hey this happened…but I wrote it two days ago. Yup, two days before I saw those eps I wrote that fight scene. Go ME!

OK, as not to bore anyone with idle banter, on to the story. What have I done to poor Inu…I wonder. No action in here, mostly through Inu POV so this is his mindset. Has to be told like this.

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The man directed a bright light into InuYasha's right eye, then his left causing strange shadows to appear in the confused boy's vision. The girl…Kagome…she said this man was a doctor and since he woke up wanted to check his…vitals? Was that the word she used? Or did the man use that word? Whatever he was checking, it seemed to be harmless, at least, he hoped it was.

The man stopped the source of the light and smiled. "Well, InuYasha, there seems to be no physical trauma left and all your autonomic reactions are back to normal."

"Auto…?"

"Autonomic. It means things you don't consciously think about. Like your pupils dilating, or your leg kicking when your knee is struck in a certain place. Things that you body does on its own."

"At least my body didn't forget who I am." The boy laughed, weakly.

The man smiled back. "A very good thing. Now, do you know what this is?"

He held up the source of the previous light, but InuYasha had no idea what it was called. He knew it produced light if you did something to it, but the name escaped him. This didn't help his confidence at all.

"Sanzo-sensei," Kagome interrupted, "he wouldn't know what it was even with his memory."

Both men looked at her confused. She seemed hesitant to speak, but after looking at InuYasha, his face undoubtedly showing his confusion, she proceeded.

"Where he is from, they don't have anything like that. So even with his memory he wouldn't know what it was."

Now InuYasha was very confused. Where he was from? Wasn't he from here, wherever here was? Where was here? Japan? Was he supposed to be in Japan? That was the only place he knew of? No, what was the other place? China? Yes, he knew of a place called China. Was he in Japan or China? Where should he be from? Maybe he should just wait and try to figure out where here was before he thought about anything else.

"Well, I need to know how much of his memory has been affected. Can you bring some things he would be able to recognize?" the man…the doctor…Sanzo asked Kagome.

She nodded and left the room, leaving InuYasha and Sanzo alone. The doctor smiled at him as he waited for Kagome to return. "Tell me, do you know why she calls me sensei?"

InuYasha nodded. "Because you are a doctor."

"And you understand things like mother, father, brother, and sister?"

InuYasha nodded again. "They are family members."

"How about Japan? Do you know what that is?"

"It is a country. So we are in Japan?"

"Yes, and do you know what year it is?"

InuYasha thought a moment and tried to think of a year, but nothing came to him. "No."

Sanzo patted the side of InuYasha's arm. "That's okay. You seem to still remember most common knowledge, which is a good sign."

A minute more passed before Kagome returned with her arms full of odd things, but to InuYasha's relief, he actually recognized most of them. She laid them out near his feet on the bed. Sanzo motioned to the items. "Can you identify these?"

InuYasha nodded and pointed to each item as he named them. "That's a bow. A sutra. A crystal…or piece of a jewel? A sword. A bag of chips. And Instant Ramen."

Sanzo smiled broadly at his correct naming of all the items, whereas Kagome seemed a little…disappointed. Was he supposed to know more about these things?

"It seems like the part of your brain that worked for data retrieval wasn't damaged, and that is a very good thing. It means you won't have to learn too much over again."

"How can he remember what a type of object is, but not know what the object itself is?" Kagome asked. So he was supposed to know those things.

"Knowing what an object is, is merely data retrieval. Knowing what an object means to a person requires an emotional connection that is formed through memories. When the ability to retrieve the memories of ones life is interrupted the emotion connection to something is lost. He can say 'This is a cup,' even though before the accident he might have said, 'This is my cup.' It seems that the part of his brain that was damaged was the part that functioned in recovering that emotional connection. Without tests I can only speculate on the extent of damage though."

"So you don't know if that connection can be fixed?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha could hear the hope and worry in her voice. It was the same sound that had been in it since he woke up. Worry when she asked a question that he wouldn't know the answer, but hope that he might remember later. What if he didn't? What was he to her? Or perhaps, what was she to him? If he never remembered would she leave him once he was able to go on his own? It saddened InuYasha to feel nothing towards her, only fear of being alone without a memory. Shouldn't he have felt saddened at the thought of losing her? She seemed sad, so should he?

Sanzo sighed. "It could, in time, repair itself, but there is also the chance he will never regain his memory. For now the best thing is for InuYasha to be surrounded by familiar things and people." He turned to InuYasha again. "I will check in on you everyday for a while to see how you are doing. Are there any question you have before I go?"

He nodded and pointed to the top of his head. "Why are my ears up here? You both have your ears at the side of your head, so why are mine up here? And why are they like an inu's?"

Kagome's eyes closed and he could tell she was trying to hold back tears. He must have been very close to her, for her to be so hurt. He knew he should know why he was like this, but he didn't.

"To be honest, I am not too clear on the details myself. Kagome-san, you should explain it to him."

InuYasha looked to the girl who was quickly composing herself. When she was ready Kagome turned to him. "InuYasha, do you know what a youkai is?"

He nodded. "It's an evil creature."

Kagome hesitated again. "Not all are."

"I'm a youkai?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "You are a hanyou. Half-human, half-inu youkai. That's why your ears are like an inu's."

InuYasha took a moment to absorb this new information. So he wasn't human. That explained his ears…and nails and teeth, he supposed. Was that also why he was from somewhere else? Was he from where youkai came from? But where did youkai come from? Damn, his head was starting to hurt again.

"InuYasha…do you understand?"

He grabbed at his head to try and dull the pounding he felt. "Why…"

Kagome stared at him. "Why, what?"

"If I am half youkai, why are you taking care of me? Am I good or bad? How did this happen? Why am I not from here? Why are you taking care of me?!" InuYasha's confusion was reaching his limits. "I just don't understand."

InuYasha shut his eyes hoping to shut out the light burning his sight. He stopped breathing a moment when two arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him against someone. When he inhaled again he knew it was Kagome, her smell was very unique. His head rested against her shoulder and he could tell she was crying.

"I…I don't know how to explain everything to you, but I won't stop trying. No matter how long it takes, I won't leave you, InuYasha. Never. I'll do anything to help you, even if you don't recover, I'll stay with you as long as you need me."

InuYasha didn't look up at her, he couldn't. A part of him was saddened now, very saddened. Not because of anything he felt, but because her pain was deep, yet, he still had no connection to her. He was saddened because…he wasn't sad.

"Arigato, Kagome-san," he whispered.

Something in what he said made her start crying even harder, though she never released him from her embrace.

Things went very, very slowly for InuYasha in the following days. He struggled to just understand where he was from. After Sanzo left Kagome had tried several times to explain it, but somehow it didn't seem real. He was from five hundred years in the past? That was why he didn't recognize most modern devices? And they traveled through the well that was on the shrine grounds in order to go to the past…was that possible?

Whether or not he understood where…when he was from he was forced to accept it. The next step was understanding how he had gotten hurt. This, Kagome was slightly more reluctant to talk about. She cried when she told him…she told him it was her fault. That he had been protecting her and got wounded because of it. Somehow InuYasha felt she had been hurt far more than he had. She remembered what happened and had to deal with the guilt, he merely lived with the consequences of his own actions.

Many times InuYasha had struggled to figure out what exactly his relationship with Kagome had been. She often paused whenever he called her Kagome-san. She had told him he could just call her Kagome, but not adding an honorific was usually done by family or those extremely close, like lovers, otherwise it was an insult. Were they really that close…or was he just considered part of the family? The rest of her family had been shocked when he had addressed them the same way. Was he so close to this family that it wasn't necessary, or was he just that rude? From the way they all treated him, InuYasha was leaning towards the former. He thought perhaps he should stop using the honorific, but…maybe it was for his own protection. As long as he used that it reminded them…reminded her that he didn't know them. He wanted to remember…but to him they were all still strangers.

Kagome kept to her promise and never left him alone if he needed something. She did everything for him, he never lacked for anything when she was there, and she was always there. As much as InuYasha appreciated this, it was beginning to become tiresome. He never did anything for himself, which left him only to think. The problem was all he could think about was how he couldn't remember anything, and hours of that began dragging down his hopes of recovering.

On the fourth day after he woke up he came down to breakfast to find Kagome and her mother arguing. He stayed in the hall so as not to interrupt.

"Mama, I don't want to go to school. InuYasha needs me here. I don't want to leave him alone."

"I will watch over him, Kagome. You need a break from this. You're completely exhausted mentally. Going to school and seeing your friends will help relax you. What good are you to him if you are constantly on the verge of breaking down."

"I don't want to go. I promised to stay with InuYasha."

InuYasha looked to the floor guiltily. He knew he was being a burden to Kagome, but if she needed to go out she shouldn't worry about him. She did though; she was always worried about him. She worried to the point it caused her pain. He was causing her pain. Even if he didn't remember her, Kagome and her family were the only people he knew and InuYasha didn't want to hurt them.

"You should go," he said walking into the kitchen. "I will be fine while you're gone."

"Inu…Yasha." Kagome stared at the hanyou, a defeated look in her eyes. "If…if that's what you want."

"I just…I just don't want you to get too worked up over me. I'm fine. You should go out."

The defeated look turned into a destroyed one and it scared him. Wasn't he doing the right thing? Shouldn't she go out and relax, like her mother said? If so, why did she look so…miserable? A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder as Kagome left the kitchen and headed to her room. He turned to see her mother smiling at him.

"Don't worry. You made the right choice, even if she doesn't realize it."

"But, she looked…"

The woman pulled out a chair at the table for him to sit in. "Don't worry. This will be good for her. I promise."

The morning meal was eaten in silence for the whole household. Kagome wore a green and white outfit. It was first time InuYasha had seen her wear it, but he knew it was a uniform. It felt weird, being able to identify something but not know how. Both Kagome and Souta left shortly after breakfast. She seemed so…scared? …disappointed? …lost? Yes, lost. She looked like she didn't know what was going on and was just moving forward.

InuYasha watched as she descended the long staircase leading to the outside world. This was the first time she was leaving him alone and it made him…uneasy. She really was the only person he knew since he woke up and even without his memory he could tell they were connected somehow, so maybe that was why he suddenly became concerned. Was that why he wanted to call her to return? He knew her. She meant safety, security. That must be why he was worried now? He didn't know any world that didn't have Kagome in it…he wanted her back. He was…scared.

But she needed her time away from him. He could tell how tired she looked, how exhausted she always was around him. Even so…even though he knew he was only hurting her…it scared him…to think she would leave him…so lost. So very lost. The way…the way she had looked. Had he made her that way? Had he sent her away lost?

InuYasha leaned his head against the post at the entrance to the shrine grounds. How he wished he understood more of this. He wished he could be of more help to Kagome, and less of a burden. He wished he could have remembered her, since he must have loved her a great deal, to be willing to sacrifice his life for her. He wished he could remember that feeling.

InuYasha was brought from his thoughts when something landed on his head. He removed the object and turned to face Kagome's mother smiling warming at him.

"I promised to take care of you, so let's go shopping." He looked down at the item in his hand; he recognized it, a bright red hat. "Of course you can't go dressed like that."

The woman led InuYasha back into the house and into the room he had been sleeping in. She made her way over to a closet and pulled out an old box. "I doubt anyone would believe you are a priest, so let's hope these here fit."

From the box she pulled a gray haori and black hakama, handing them over to InuYasha before leaving the room. He didn't really have any other choice so he discarded the white under kimono he had been given after he woke up and put on the new clothes. He was surprised to find they were actually too tall for him. To be more precise the hakama was too long, while the haori fit rather well. He exited and found the woman waiting for him in the hall.

"Whose are these?" InuYasha asked. The only men he had seen in the house were Kagome's grandfather and Sanzo.

A melancholy smile graced her lips. "They belonged to my late husband. One of a few pair I had kept after he died."

She motioned for him to follow her. The two left the shrine grounds and headed out into the town. The town, he began to realize, was enormous. It felt nothing like what he had thought the town would look like, so many people and machines. He was beginning to believe that he wasn't from this time, this didn't feel right to him. Every person seemed to follow completely different guidelines for dressing…were all of them from different times?

"Higurashi-san, no one is dressed like I am, but no one seems to care. Why does everyone look so different?" InuYasha asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"The way people dress isn't as restrictive as it once was. The clothes you have are more traditional, but not yet uncommon."

"Higurashi-san, where are we going?"

"We need some groceries for the week and a few other things. Nothing big, just some errands, but I thought you might like to get out of the house for a while."

He nodded. It was enjoyable being able to do something and not just sit in the shrine. Even though he had been nervous when Kagome left, her mother was kind and welcoming. It helped keep him calm and he found himself smiling for the first time since he woke up.

They went to a small store and bought some items Kagome's mother called necessities. InuYasha didn't care too much since he had seen them around the house and the sights in the town were far more interesting to take in. He knew what some things did, but still most of the city was amazing. All the sounds and smells and amazing looking people. It was completely different from what he had been expecting, which was a small quiet village.

They stopped at the edge of a road along with a large crowd of people. "Higurashi-san, why are we waiting here?"

"We have to cross the street, but we can't until that light changes and says we can. It is dangerous to cross otherwise," she explained.

"Why? What would happen?"

"You'd get hit by one of the cars going down the road." She pointed to one of the machines rushing past them at an incredible speed. "You could get very hurt or even killed if you get hit by one of them."

"Oh….wah…" InuYasha nearly tripped as the group began walking forward.

He hurried to keep up with the rest of them while keeping an eye on Kagome's mother. When they were all safely on the other side the crowd dispersed and InuYasha was shocked by how quickly everyone went. Didn't they know how to go slow?

"Ryu-chan, hurry up!" A man was calling to a little girl still in the street.

InuYasha smiled to himself. It seemed some still went slow.

"InuYasha," Kagome's mother called for him.

"Hai, Higurashi-san."

He took no more than a step before his attention was ripped back to the street by a piercing scream. "Ryu-chan!"

InuYasha's head snapped back to see the little girl fallen on the street, and one of the cars was heading straight for her. A sharp, high-pitched squealing was accompanied dozens of frantic screams as everyone watched the scene playing out before them. Without realizing what had happened InuYasha found himself on the side of the road, a shaking girl held in his arms. The man that had been calling for her rushed over and took the girl from him.

"Arigato! Arigato!" the man repeated over and over as people from all over the street surrounded him.

The people praised him and talked of how amazing that rescue had been, but InuYasha just stared down at his hands where the little girl had been. He had jumped into the street, retrieved the girl, and leapt back to the sidewalk without even realizing he had moved. How? How did he do that? How was he able to move like that? A normal person wouldn't be able to move like that…but then, he wasn't a normal person. He was a hanyou. Was that what it meant to be a hanyou? What else could he do?

"InuYasha!"

He looked up to the worried woman. "Higurashi-san. How did I do that?"

She smiled that gentle, comforting smile she seemed to have mastered. "It is just in your nature. Even if you don't remember, your instincts told you to help her."

A youkai was an evil creature. He was a hanyou. How was it in his nature? "But I am…"

"A good person," she interrupted. "If you weren't you wouldn't have saved her."

"I didn't even realize I did it."

The woman took him by the shoulder into a maternal embrace. "As long as she is safe does it really matter how you did it, just that you did."

That's right, the girl was safe. He did it because he wanted to help her. Isn't the fact that he did that enough…didn't it show he really wasn't just an evil creature? He smiled back to her and nodded.

"Let's go then, we still have to get food for supper tonight."

They made it to the grocery store and back to the shrine without any more incidents. InuYasha helped Kagome's mother with all the chores during the day, finding it more enjoyable than just sitting and thinking; besides that, she kept talking to him, telling him different things about Kagome and all the things she knew about him. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate all the time and work Kagome put into helping him, but InuYasha found he preferred her mother's way better.

"Higurashi-san, why did you ask Kagome-san to go to school today? Why take me out?" InuYasha asked as they were folding up some sheets that had been drying outside.

"Because that is what you both needed," she said simply.

"But, how did you know? I thought it was just going to get worse, I wasn't remembering anything, and Kagome-san was trying so hard."

The woman paused for a moment, a sheet hanging from her arms. She looked like she was lost in a memory. "Kagome, she was acting just as I did when my husband died."

"Higurashi-san?"

"Kagome and Souta were too young to remember a lot of that time, and I am glad for that. I wasn't a very good mother to them when it happened."

InuYasha highly doubted that. She seemed like a wonderful mother, even to him.

"I became so worried about how they were taking his death I could barely function. I never mourned for him myself. It was a month or so after his death that I realized I was no longer living my life because I was so worried about everything. If Grandpa hadn't been there to help out, I sometimes wonder what would have happened to Kagome and Souta."

"Higurashi-san."

She shook her head and smiled. "But when I realized that I forced myself to go back to acting as I did before he died, and I found that it was easier to deal with losing him that way. I felt I was able to mourn for him and honor his memory by moving on and raising our children as best I could.

'So when I saw Kagome locking herself and you away from the world, worrying about everything, I knew you both needed to do something. Didn't you feel better saving that girl, even if you don't remember how you were able to do it, wasn't it a natural thing to do?"

Natural? Was it a natural thing to do? Yes, it was. It was a part of him, a part he had lost, yet it was still there, just like the rest of him. And it had felt very good to do.

"Hai, I am glad I was able to do it."

"And it is natural for Kagome to go to school. She needs to get out and do something she normally does so that she can begin to accept everything that has happened." She finished folding the sheet in her hand and placed it in the basket on the ground. "InuYasha, Kagome will be home just before supper, would you like to help me make it."

"I don't know how." InuYasha wondered if he had ever known how to cook.

She just smiled again. "Then I'll teach you."

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"Kagome-chan," Eri whispered, gently poking her with a pen. "Are you okay?"

Kagome slowly blinked the sleep from her eyes as she took hold of her surroundings. She was at school. That's right, her mother insisted she go…InuYasha told her to go. So here she was and…class was over. Kagome hurried to stand with the rest of her class and bow. Slowly, she collected her books and closed her school bag. She yawned and stood above her desk just staring. When had she gotten that tired?

"That's it," a voice said behind her. "You're coming with us."

Kagome turned to see Eri, Yuka, Ayumi had surrounded her, effectively eliminating any escape she might have had. She missed spending time with her friends, but the only thing Kagome wanted to do was return home and check on InuYasha.

"Really, everyone, I just want to go home. I think I need to get some more sleep. Still sick, I suppose," Kagome lied weakly.

"Not a chance," Yuka said grabbing a hold of Kagome's right arm. "We're not letting you go till you tell us what is wrong."

"That's right." Eri took Kagome's left arm in her tight grip. "You're gonna tell us everything."

"Really, nothing is wrong. I just want to go home." Kagome's voice was much harsher than she had meant it to be, but they were being rather unreasonable.

"But Kagome-chan, we are your friends. We just want to help you." Ayumi, the closest to a voice of reason of the three girls, said. The concern in her voice was prominent, and since spending time with her friends was her mother's purpose in sending her to school, Kagome relented.

"Just a short while. I want to get home soon." All three girls smiled triumphantly.

Kagome sighed and stared at the table before her. How could all of them getting enough food for dinner be considered a short while? Who knew how long they would keep her here? Kagome herself had nothing more than a soda as she wanted to be out as soon as possible.

Her three friends watched Kagome, having boxed her into the middle of the booth seat. Finally, Eri spoke up. "What did he do this time?"

Kagome just stared at her confused. She had been too deep in thought to quickly understand the question. "He? He who?"

"The rude, selfish, violent, two-timing boyfriend of yours. What did he do?"

Her hands shook as they waited for her to answer. They thought InuYasha had done something stupid and made her mad again. How could she explain what happened? Could she explain what happened without revealing her little secret?

"Did he dump you for his ex?" Yuka asked.

Kagome lowered her head so that her eyes were hidden from view; she didn't want her friends to see the tears forming. "He…he…he was hurt."

"Hurt?" Ayumi's concerned voice asked in a soft whisper.

She lowered her hands to her pleated green skirt and clenched the fabric tightly between her trembling fingers. "He…almost…almost died."

"Kagome-chan."

"He was protecting me."

Eri and Ayumi leaned in and held Kagome by the shoulders. Somehow, it was comforting to tell them.

"Gomen, Kagome-chan," Eri said, "we wouldn't have said those things if we had known."

Ayumi squeezed her shoulder. "He must really love Kagome-chan, to protect her like that."

"But…it's my fault he got hurt." Kagome used all her will to not cry. "If he had just…"

"Let you get hurt?" Yuka asked shocked. "If he was will to do that for you do you really think he could have just let you get hurt?"

"That's right, he would probably feel the same as you do. He would think it was his fault Kagome-chan got hurt." Ayumi smiled at her. "I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

"He is probably happy you didn't get hurt," Yuka added.

That was true. Whenever Kagome had been hurt in the past he had blamed himself. He even tried to send her away to protect her. Still…still…

"Baka! Why is he so selfish? I don't want to see him hurt either!"

"Kagome-chan…" Eri started but Ayumi moving out of the booth stopped her.

"You should go see him, Kagome-chan. That's why you wanted to go home, right? I'm sure he will be happy for a visit."

"Ayumi-chan…arigato." Kagome slid out of the booth and smiled at her friends. "Arigato."

She felt a bit better after having talked to her friends. Maybe she really did need some time away from the shrine and her worries, and hearing them actually defend InuYasha helped quite a lot. She knew that he did it to protect her, and if needed he probably would have done it again, but she was just as selfish as him. She didn't want to see him hurt and feel the guilt any more than he did. One of them had to bear the pain and one the guilt; only if Hakudoushi's attack had hit her she would never have survived and he knew that.

Kagome hurried up the stairs to the shrine only to see something she never expected. InuYasha was standing at the entrance wearing a gray haori and black hakama, but what was most surprising was the expression on his face. He was smiling. Since he woke up she had not seen him smile once, and now, there he was, smiling and calling down to her happily.

"Kagome-san! Kagome-san! Are you hungry?"

She looked at him confused by his question. "A little, I suppose. Why?"

"Dinner's ready. I helped make it and all the time it just made me hungrier and hungrier, but Higurashi-san said I couldn't eat anything until you got home. So now we can eat." InuYasha took Kagome's hand and started to gently pull her towards the house. "Come on."

Kagome followed him, but her eyes never left his hand tenderly grasping hers. This was the first time he had reached out to her. The first time he seemed happy, but, she hadn't been the one to make him this way. In the days she was with him never once had he smiled to her or laughed. Wasn't it enough that he was smiling now, that he was happy and laughing? Even if she hadn't made him that way? Yes. She wouldn't stop his happiness.

"You helped Mama make dinner?" Kagome asked, forcing a smile on her face.

InuYasha looked back and nodded. "I didn't do much, just help slice vegetables and stuff. Higurashi-san did all the hard cooking."

"You seem really happy though."

He nodded again. "We went out into the city today, to get the food. It is amazing out there. Oh, I did something that Higurashi-san said you could explain."

"Did something?"

"Yeah, there was a little girl and she feel in the street. One of those cars was heading for her and I jumped out and got her without even thinking about it. I just suddenly was holding her on the sidewalk. Can I do lots of things like that? Move really fast and jump far. It was pretty far to the girl and back to the sidewalk but I did it in one jump. Is that normal for me?"

Kagome smiled again, though this time is was genuine. "Hai. You can do a lot more than that since you're a hanyou."

"Really? Can you tell me more about that later?" Kagome nodded. "It was weird though, doing that. I didn't even realize I had done it. Higurashi-san said it was an instinct, and that's why I did it. Do you think that's true?"

"You've helped many people before, including me. I can believe that."

So that's why he was smiling. That's why he was happy. He might not have remembered something, but he learned about himself and he saved someone. And, didn't that mean even if he had no memories a part of him was still there. The part of him that made him save the girl…the part of him that made him hold her hand. He was still there, lost somewhere.

"Kagome-san," InuYasha's voice brought her from her thoughts.

"Hai, InuYasha."

"Do you feel better now?"

She looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

"Higurashi-san said you were worrying too much and it wasn't good for you. Do you feel better now that you went out?"

"If he was will to do that for you do you really think he could have just let you get hurt?"

That's right, a part of him was still there. The part that worried about her. She had been too selfish. What's done was done; she needed to stop hating herself…hating him for getting hurt, and start seeing what she needed to do for him.

"Do you?" he asked again.

"Much better now."

"Good, you seemed really tired before."

"It's nothing. I'm better now. InuYasha, you liked going out into the city, didn't you?"

"Hai. It felt good to do something."

Kagome needed to do what was best for InuYasha, no matter how scared she was to do it. "Do you…do you feel well enough to go back to the Sengoku Jidai? Would you like to meet our friends there?"

InuYasha stopped in front of the door to the house. "You think I can go back now?"

"Well, Sanzo-sensei said to surround you with familiar things, and you aren't as used to my time as you are your own. It may help your memory."

"When can we go?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, we will need some supplies. How about you and Mama go out again tomorrow and get them? That way I can go to school again."

In truth Kagome want to go with him, but he was so happy she knew her mother would be a better choice. She would be with him all the time they were in the past, she could wait one day.

"So then I can meet the people you talked about before?"

"Yep, though once we are there we could also be in danger, by the one that hurt you."

"That's okay," He said smiling down at her. "You'll be with me, won't you?"

She nodded. Always.

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Hey, lookie, I ended this chp on a happy note. ::feels my forehead:: Am I sick or something? Me who loves toying with my readers emotions decided to be nice. Wow, I'm shocked. Anyway, yeah, we get to see the rest of the Inu group next time.

Just so people who haven't seen the jap version understand the thing with the honorifics, Inu never uses them. I think the only person I ever heard him use it to was Myouga and that was an insulting suffix. San is the equivalent to adding Miss or Mr., just politeness, and Inu really just either is that rude, or doesn't care about formalities and just says people's names. So for him to use them is extremely weird.

At least his instincts still work, though he is making a few mistakes in his interpretations of his relationships don't' ya think? I wonder if that will get him into trouble later.

So remember to review! Go AFF, give me the same response as last time. Ja