Exhausted by SacredHanyouPriestess

This fanfiction is in our annual fanfiction contest!

 Vote for your favorite story by clicking on the heart below!

GO BACK TO FANFICTION CONTEST HOME PAGE

Tags/ Warnings: Canon Compliant, Inuyasha and Kagome, Fluffy, Dramatic

---

Exhausted

by SacredHanyouPriestess

Kagome stomped her way through the forest, her hand tightly gripping the bow she carried with a deep set frown on her face. It was sheer coincidence that she happened to be unable to sleep that night and saw the soul collectors before anyone else.

She wasn't sure why, but suddenly Kagome found her patience had run very thin, or more accurately, nonexistent. So she grabbed her bow and arrow, then disappeared into the woods.

She followed the spirits further into the forest until they stopped at a small clearing. There was Kikyo, lounging against the trunk of a large tree. When the woman spotted Kagome, she looked both alarmed and annoyed. "Suprised to see me?" Kikyo narrowed her eyes. "I guess I'm not who you were expecting."

"What are you doing here, Kagome?" Her voice was seemingly calm, but there was an underlying edge to it.

"I could ask you the same question. Is there a reason you decided to pop up this time?" Kikyo smirked and made a short noise that almost sounded like a laugh.

"You seem bothered, Kagome. Why is that? Perhaps you might be a bit jealous? I'm not sure why that could be as my only goal is share information on Naraku. That is all." Kagome grit her teeth in pure frustration. She even let out a small growl involuntarily.

"Cut the crap! I'm beyond tired of this! It's always the same! If that were really the case, why do you insist on luring Inuyasha away, and always in the dead of night! On top of that you never give him time to tell anyone! What news about Naraku do you have that has to be so private? Something you can't share with the rest of us?"

"So you are jealous then?" There was amusement in Kikyo's voice that made Kagome's blood pressure rise with agitation. She took a deep breath, determined to not let this spector of a woman get to her.

________

Inuyasha wasn't sure what suddenly woke him up in the dead of night, and from an unusually deep sleep at that, but the first thing he noticed was that Kagome was gone, along with her bow and arrows.

Panic started to set in, but then he noticed the soul collectors that were hovering over the trees of the forest that sounded them. Inuyasha could smell Kagome's scent that led towards the same direction. He jumped up, put his sword in it's place in the belt of his pants, and took off.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Inuyasha muttered to himself as he ran. Kagome's scent was getting stronger, practically making a path for him. Along with hers, the smell of bones and grave soil was permeating the air. He slid to a stop at the sound of familiar voices. Inuyasha quickly leapt into a tree to hide himself to listen.

"So you are jealous then?" He heard Kikyo ask in an almost taunting tone of voice.

"Of course I am! Just like how jealous you get over mine and Inuyasha's relationship, but I won't take this lying down anymore!" It was Kagome talking now, and she sounded upset. "Yes, I'm jealous, but I'm also beyond exhausted of this."

"Exhausted, are you?" Kikyo sneered back at her, finally losing the calm facade. "Then perhaps you should just leave! You don't belong here anyway! You seem to think you matter somehow! Well you don't! You're just my copy! A weakened version of me! You even copied my feelings for Inuyasha." Hearing Kikyo say that made his chest ache. He was seconds from leaving his perch to defend Kagome when she spoke again.

"You're wrong! I'm not just just a copy! I'm myself! My own person. As for any feelings for Inuyasha, those are my own too!" Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock. Of course he knew about her feelings, she had said them at the well that day.

He knew his own feelings for her too, that he wanted nothing more than to be with her every second of the day. He couldn't though, not yet anyway. He wasn't worthy of those feelings right now. "I know how he feels," Inuyasha almost laughed. Of course she vocalized exactly what he had been thinking.

"But I also know how he feels about you, as much as it hurts sometimes. All I want is for him to be happy, whether that's with me or you. More than anything, I want him to live. I want Inuyasha free of the darkness that always surrounds him!" His breath caught in his throat. Inuyasha fought the nearly overwhelming urge to rush to her.

"What frustrates me more than anything is why you wouldn't want the same for him," Kagome continued on. "Why do you want him to die with you?!" The salty smell of her tears drifted into his nose and made him grip his arms so hard it almost hurt.

The crack of emotion in her voice was too much to bear. His nails pierced the bark of the tree. "If you truly loved him, then how could you not want him to keep moving forward? Just because you can't? I understand the guilt, but the idea of him gone crushes me! I... I love him too much for that!"

Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. He jumped down from his perch and walked closer. He didn't say anything when they turned to look at him. Neither of the women seemed particularly surprised either. He watched as Kagome's head turned slightly away so that her bangs shaded her eyes.

The trembling hand that gripped her bow tightened. "I've said all I needed to say. I'll leave you two alone to talk now." Her voice was soft and quiet, too quiet. Kagome started to walk away, but stopped momentarily. "Don't worry, the bow and arrows are in case demons attacked. They weren't for Kikyo." She whispered before continuing on.

Inuyasha quickly turned to look back at her. A chill ran down his spine. Something about her tone scared him deeply. He could feel it down to his core. "Hmph," Kikyo finally spoke, getting his attention again. "Such an impudent girl. If it weren't for me she might not even exist. A bit ironic isn't it? If not for my death she wouldn't be here."

"Stop it." Inuyasha whispered under his breath, keeping his face hidden from her. He clenched his fist so tight it drew blood from his palm in frustration. Kikyo didn't listen though.

"To think a mere imitation of me would-"

"I SAID STOP IT!" Inuyasha snarled while his teeth mashed together, which shocked the woman. "If you keep talking about Kagome like that, I don't give a shit what past we shared! You can forget meeting with me like this ever again." He heard Kikyo's breath hitch as he turned away from her.

He left her with those words before rushing off in the direction Kagome had disappeared, not even bothering to give Kikyo one last glance. Kagome's scent got stronger the closer he got, but it was mixed with the smell of salt. Inuyasha abruptly stopped when he saw her leaning with her back against a tree, her eyes downcast towards the grass.

"Kagome!" She flinched at his voice, turning her head to not meet his gaze while a gentle warmth bloomed in her cheeks. He could smell both shame and frustration wafting from her.

"Sorry, I was out of line earlier. You probably hate me now, and I don't blame you for it." The sound of her voice, so soft yet sad, broke his heart. He whispered her name again before taking a closer step towards her. "W-what did you talk about?"

Kagome put on fake smile with her eyelids shut tight, but the strain in her voice and the moisture that gathered in the corners of her eyes made his heart feel like it was in a vice. "I kinda ruined something important, didn't I? I acted selfishly and -"

"No," Inuyasha interrupted her in an unusually soft voice. "You... You were only speaking your feelings and," he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "Y-you were right. Everything you said was true." Kagome slid her back against the bark of the tree until she was sitting on the forest floor. Relief flooded her chest enough that her legs gave out. Kagome had been so sure that she had royally screwed up and that Inuyasha would never talk to her again.

"I figured you would definitely hate after all of that!" She let out a sound that was both a laugh and a sigh.

"I could never hate you, Kagome! I am curious about what caused that conversation though." She was silent for a bit before talking again.

"I happened to be awake when I saw her soul collectors. I don't know why, something in me snapped. I'm just tired of the games. I'm sick of feeling like second place, sick of you running off in the middle of the night, and really sick of how she just shows up out of no where."

Kagome dug her nails into the soil below as the sun peaked over the horizon, turning the inky black sky into a soft purple. "Most of all, I'm sick of seeing how sad you look around her! I know you worry for Kikyo and I understand that, but like I said, I just want you to be happy. You deserve to live, and surrounded by light."

Inuyasha gasped softly when she was blanketed by the warm, yellow rays of the sun that rose higher in the sky. Kagome was so beautiful that he momentarily forgot how to breath. Inuyasha sunk to his knees in front of her. "I didn't talk to Kikyo after you left, Kagome." She seemed surprised by that admission. "Kikyo, she- She was saying things about you, and it pissed me off. I told her that if she kept talking about you like that, then I won't meet her again."

"What?! But -!"

"No, buts, Kagome!" He interrupted her with a firm voice. "I won't tolerate anyone saying that shit about you! Not even Kikyo!" There were several seconds of silence while Kagome stared up at him with wide eyes.

The tears came again, and for a second he thought he had said something wrong. Then she exclaimed his name before her arms were around his neck and her body hit his with enough force to knock him onto his backside. After the initial shock wore off, Inuyasha slowly slid his arms around her waist and held her close. "You're not second place, Kagome. Never have been."

Those were the words she had been waiting to hear him say. The ones she had been aching for in secret, only allowing herself to let all of those feeling flow at night in the privacy of her bed room where she could cry in her pillow. Her choked sobs that were muffled by the crook of his shoulder, were truly heartbreaking.

Inuyasha knew he was to blame for this, and a wave of guilt crashed over him. It was his fault for being so shitty with communicating his feelings. His fault for hurting her this way. "Thank you, Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, her fists gripping his haori so hard it nearly hurt. "I'm so happy to hear you say that! You have no idea how I've longed to hear it!"

"I'm sorry it took so long, Kagome." His voice was low and soft. With the mixture of that and how carefully he was holding her, it made Kagome's face flush with heat. She looked up at him with her eyes swimming, while his own looked deeply back. They slowly inched closer and closer until Kagome could feel Inuyasha's warm breath against her skin.

With the most gentle touch, he pressed his lips against hers. Kagome tasted so sweet. If he wasn't careful, this could become an addiction. As she pressed further, beginning to fully indulge in their pent up desires. A voice was heard calling their names.

"Inuyasha? Lady Kagome? Are you there?" Miroku called from a short distance away. The pair jolted in sudden awareness of the situation. They jumped apart, their faces flaming red. Inuyasha stood to his full height and began to walk towards the Monk.

"Uuuhhh, y-yeah! We're over here, Miroku!" His voice was calm, but Kagome could tell by his tense body language that he was not happy about the interruption. "This isn't over, by the way." Inuyasha whispered with a pointed glance in her direction.

Kagome couldn't fight the happy smile that spread across her face. She joined him by getting to her feet and hurried after him, lightly gripping his sleeve. Kagome fully enjoyed the embarrassed blush in his cheeks and the hard gulp in Inuyasha's throat.

This fanfiction is in our annual fanfiction contest!

Vote for your favorite story by clicking on the heart below!

GO BACK TO FANFICTION CONTEST HOME PAGE