Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Times Change
By : theMaven
Category: InuYasha > General
Views: 4397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter List
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                                                            Times Change
                                                                 Chapter 6
            They'd just gotten back from the wedding, and InuYasha was enjoying a few moments to
himself beneath the God Tree. It felt good to be back in his own clothes. But, despite the gaiety
of the evening's events, his heart felt heavy and he found it hard to focus his thoughts.
            Before the ceremony they'd packed their things and brought them to the temple. They
were going to spend the night here, and make the trip through the well in the morning. As they
were packing, Kagome had commented on how much stuff he seemed to be taking with him.
He'd tried to laugh her off and insisted he still had many things left in their flat–clothes, shoes,
hats, his sword rack . . . many things he wouldn't have use for on the other side of the well. She
didn't argue with him; she just kind of stood there, sadly in the doorway, watching him stuff his
belongings into one of her old backpacks.
            He'd planned on talking to her after the wedding. He'd planned on telling her how much
he loved her and how much her presence in his life meant to him. He was then going to tell her
how miserable he was here. He had to wear such weird clothes, and he couldn't go outside
without a hat. He didn't have any friends here; he couldn't get a job. And it was unfair that she
had to work to support him. It was high time he started pulling his own weight, and if he
couldn't do that here . . . then he'd stay on the other side of the well.
            Of course, he didn't want to stay there alone, so he and the others were going to convince
her how needed she was in the feudal era. She could become Kaede's apprentice, and then she
could take over for her. She'd be tending to the injured, healing the sick, helping the needy--everything she said she wanted to do as a doctor in the modern era. She wouldn't have to go to
school any more and get so stressed out about classes and tests and grades. She wouldn't have to
work at that infernal café. She wouldn't be so tired and bitchy any more. And she could earn her
credentials in months instead of years. AND, on top of that, a miko was much more highly
regarded than an ordinary doctor. They were spiritualists and protectresses, in addition to being
physicians. When her mother found out how much good she'd be doing, there was no way she
could object.
            So Kagome could fulfill her mother's wish, and they could live together as true mates.
After a time there would be sons and daughters, and they'd all grow older together in happiness
and relative peace . . . Except for the demons, of course. But that's where he came in handy.
            He fingered the hilt of Tessaiga. If any demon dared come near him or his family, he'd
serve their head to them on a platter.
            Yes, that's how he'd planned it. But then something unexpected happened.
            He saw how happy Kagome was with her friends and family. He watched her face light
up when she was with them. She sang and laughed with her friends. She talked with and teased
her little brother, Sota. She danced with her grandfather and mother . . . She'd even tried to get
him to dance.
            He laughed to himself. He'd refused of course, claiming to have no more grace on the
dance floor than he did in a politic discussion. So he sat on the sidelines and watched. Watched
her dance, watched her smile, watched her running around with her friends and hugging her
family . . . watched her truly enjoying her life . . .
            He sighed.
            If it was a few years ago, he simply would've grabbed Kagome by the arm and said,
"You're coming with me, whether you like it or not."
            But it wasn't then, it was now. And he had far too much regard for Kagome's feelings to
force her into a life where she'd be indefinitely deprived of the ones she cared for most.
            Yes, he decided. She'd be happier here–without him getting in the way. And he'd learn
to make do over there–without her . . . It was just the way things had to be.
            The door to the Higurashi home slid open. He glanced over his shoulder and watched
Kagome approach.
            "Staring up at the stars?" she asked.
            He nodded his reply.
            "It is a nice night." She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.
            "You ready for tomorrow?" he asked. "Our little trip through time?"
            "Yeah," she nodded. "It'll be nice to see the others. I wonder how they'll have changed?"
            "No clue," he said. "I guess we'll just see when we get there."
            "It'll be nice to see them all again. Kaede and Miroku and Sango. Shippo and Kirara. I
bet we'll even bump into Myoga."
            "It's a possibility," he said.
            "And we can't forget about your brother," she said. "I'm sure he's still skulking about."
            He grunted. "Well, if he tries anything, I'm ready for him."
            Her grip on his arm tightened. "I know you are."
            He glanced down at her, then up at the stars. "Something wrong, Kagome?"
            She shook her head. "I'm just glad to be here with you," she said. "We've been so good
for each other."
            He nodded in reply.
            "And no matter where we go, we always tough things through."
            Something about that statement struck him as odd . . . Did she know? Did she know
what he was thinking? What he'd been planning?
            He glanced down at her again. She seemed blissfully unaware, smiling up at the
starshine.
            It wasn't fair to lead her on like this. It wasn't right to try and steal her away from her
family. It wasn't right that he leave her without giving her an ample explanation why . . .
            He'd wanted to wait till after their month was up. Till it was actually time for Kagome to
return to her world and for him to stay in his. He didn't want to wreck their last month together
with doubt and accusation. He wanted them to go through the well together and meet up with
their friends. He wanted a month to live out the life he'd always thought they'd have. He wanted
a month to soak up as much of her as he could, so when she left he'd have a little something of
her to cling to . . .
            But that wasn't right. He'd just be using her. It wasn't fair to leave her hanging when
he'd already made up his mind.
            He sighed. He should've been honest with her from the beginning.
            She snuggled up closer to him.
            "Kagome, I--"
            "I wanna get married."
            He instinctively pulled away from her. "Wh-what? What did you just say?"
            She grabbed his arm again. "I wanna get married," she said. "I've been thinking it over
and over and over again, and it's the only thing that makes sense to me."
            He laughed to himself, shaking his head.
            "What?" she asked. "Doesn't that make you happy? Isn't that what you wanted?"
            He removed her hand from his arm. "I can't," he said.
            "Whatta you mean 'you can't?'"
            He took a step away from her. "I can't stay here any more. I'm no good here. I'm no
good for YOU here."
            "I don't care about that," she said. "I don't care where--"
            "Just listen!"
            She stopped mid-sentence, her hands suspended in air.
            "I can't stay here," he repeated. "When I first mentioned going through the well again, I
didn't think you'd wanna go with me. I didn't think you'd say 'Let's go take a vacation.'"
            "Well what did you think I'd say?"
            He shrugged. "I thought you'd try and convince me to stay. And after a long, drawn-out
argument, I'd go back through the well, and you'd stay here . . . It wasn't the happiest of endings,
but I thought it was pretty inevitable, considering."
            "Considering what?" she demanded.
            "You can't cut back on school. You can't cut back on work. You can't cut back on your
family. You can't cut back on your friends. You can't come home and show me a smile after
doing all that . . .." He shrugged again. "I guess I'm just expecting too much from you. I guess I
can be pretty tiring at times."
            "I'm not tired of you," she said. "I told you that before. I'm not tired of you, and you're
not a nuisance. I love you, InuYasha."
            "And I love you, but--"
            "Stop." She put her fingers up to his lips. "Let's just take a moment to reflect on that."
            He grumbled to himself, but took her words to heart. Frozen in that moment of time, he
couldn't remember anything about yesterday; he couldn't begin to imagine tomorrow. The only
thing that mattered was the here and now–the beating of her heart, the warmth of her touch, the
sound of her breath, the gentleness of her scent. Her fingertips were so soft, and her eyes, so
open and expressive.
            "I can't stay here, Kagome . . . I can't torture myself like this any more."
            "Who's asking you to stay?" she slipped her fingers down the front of his face.
            "Well, you can't go with me!" he said. "You've got friends and family and school!
You're gonna be a doctor, and you've gotta be in a wedding and plan a baby shower . . . You've
gotta work. And you've got your apartment, all your things. Your parks and your plays and your
concerts and beaches and mountains . . . And laughing and dancing and smiling and tests and
classes and–and . . .You've got a whole fucking life here!" He was out of breath and out of
patience. "What the hell do you need me for?"
            "InuYasha," she smiled, "I need you because I love you."
            "No!" he swiped at the air between them. "It's not enough any more."
            "I know that," she said. "But it's a good start, isn't it?"
            He kicked at the ground. "We're way beyond the starting point."
            She took a seat on the bench beneath the God Tree. "It's never too late for a fresh start."
            He grumbled to himself, now uncertain of his mission. "Whatta you want from me?"
            She smiled up at him. "I want you to be happy, silly."
            "Silly? Me?"
            She nodded. "You're exactly the same as you've always been."
            "Hmph," he grumbled again and folded his arms.
            "Sometimes I forget how uncomplicated you are."
            "So now I'm simple?" he asked.
            She waved him away. "Will you stop trying to pick a fight with me?"
            "If you'll stop talking in circles."
            "I'm being perfectly plain," she said. "Where you go, I'll follow."
            He shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that. I can't ask--"
            "You don't have to ask," she said. "It's a given."
            "But--"
            "The only reason I came back here was to finish school–high school," she added. "I
thought I owed my mother at least that much . . . I thought that after I graduated, I could go back
to the feudal era, and we could be together. All of us. You and me and Sango and Miroku,
Kirara, Kaede and Shippo . . . And then my mom asked me about my plans."
            He took a seat beside her.
            "I could've been honest with her and said, 'I wanna go back to the feudal times and live
with InuYasha,' but . . . I guess I didn't think she'd take me seriously. So I said I didn't have any
plans, and that's when she brought up college and my dad and pre-med . . . She said she thought
I'd make a really good doctor like my dad. I seemed to have a natural knack for first aid, and the
older I got, the more I reminded her of him. She was certain I'd be as good to my patients as my
dad was to his . . . And then she got a little misty-eyed, and I ended up agreeing to everything
she said." She laughed to herself. "What a wimp I was."
            He shook his head. "You're not a wimp," he said. "You're just good to your mother."
            "I try to be," she said. "I try really hard, sometimes too hard . . . But, anyway, I knew
you weren't gonna be happy with me when I told you I had to go off to school. And I knew even
if you came to visit, there was no guarantee I'd be able to see you . . . So I forced myself to get
used to the idea of not having you around." She offered him a weak, and seemingly apologetic
smile. "It was a really tough time for me. I had no clue what would happen to us. I mean, I
knew what I wanted, but things just weren't working out that way.
            "And then you gave me the surprise of all surprises." Her face shone brighter than the
stars. "You said if I couldn't come visit you any more, you'd just come and stay with me . . . And
since I knew my mom couldn't stand for that, I went out and got a job and rented our flat."
            He remembered that, too.
            She smiled at him again. "And . . . I remember that first night we spent together."
            He laughed to himself. That was one of his favorite memories.
            "But the thing I remember most . . . is not having to ASK you for anything. You did it as
if it were the most natural thing on earth. I didn't ask. I didn't drop a hint. I didn't say a word.
And you were still there."
            He smiled to himself. "It wasn't a big deal. What else did you expect me to do?"
            "Yes," she nodded with a smile, "what else would I expect you to do?" She smiled at
him, and he smiled back.
            "Kagome . . . I don't want you to feel that you're missing out on something. I don't want
you to feel out of place or uncomfortable."
            She gave his shoulder a little shove. "Those are the things I should've said to you, you
moron. But my head was too far up my ass to see anything beyond my own happiness."
            "I wanted you to be happy," he said. "I still want you to be happy."
            She sighed out loud. "The more things change; the more they stay the same."
            "Hmm?"
            "It's an old saying. Like, 'Times change; people don't.'"
            "Are we still the same?" he asked.
            "My feelings haven't changed," she said. "Have yours?"
            He shook his head. "I keep saying that I'll leave and never come back . . . but I know
that's not true. I doubt I could go a week without seeing you."
            She shoved him again. "But you were still gonna try and leave . . ."
            "A guy's gotta try and strike out on his own, you know. Having a woman like you
around, could make any guy feel useless."
            She shoved him again.
            "Will you stop with the shoving?"
            "I don't know what else to do with you," she laughed. "You're so infuriating sometimes.
What do I have to do to make you feel useful?"
            He grabbed her hand, then gave it a gentle squeeze. "Stay with me," he said.
            "That's already given," she reminded him. "Think of something else."
            He squeezed her hand more tightly. "Stop taking those pills."
            She gave a nervous laugh, then looked away from him. "Okay," she nodded.
"Really?"
            "On one condition," she said.
            He raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
            "You have to marry me first," she said. "Otherwise, my mother would never forgive
you."
            "You mean like today?" he asked. "Like with Eri and that bald guy?"
            Kagome laughed. "His name is Tomei . . . And it wouldn't be as big as the one they had.
Something small and intimate. Just you and me and my family. We could do it tonight and
leave for the feudal era tomorrow."
            "Tonight?" he repeated.
            "Grandpa's a priest, you know. And my mom said we could use hers and my dad's
rings."
            "Rings?"
            "A symbol of our love and fidelity. A promise to stick by each other no matter what."
            "And this'll all happen tonight?"
            She nodded. "If you're up to it."
            "And you'll leave with me tomorrow, and you'll stop taking those infernal pills?"
            She nodded again.
            "Okay," he shrugged. "Let's get married."
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Times Change	By : theMaven Category: InuYasha > General Views: 4397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Times Change