Archive of Our Own

To stop her at this point would’ve been solely for his own pride. The havoc of firewood haphazardly scattered all over the hillside was looking a bit ridiculous, even to himself. Inuyasha grunted in resignation. Kagome was always faster at organizing things than he was, anyway. And, well, he always welcomed an excuse to be near his wife... not that he’d ever admit that out loud.

“It’s tough in this era, isn’t it?” said Kagome. “I took a lot of things for granted back in my time.”

“What, you didn’t have to gather firewood over there?”

She shook her head, a cheeky smirk spreading across her face. “Just had to flip a switch and bam! Instant heat!”

Inuyasha scoffed. “I don’t know what a ‘switch’ is, but must be nice.”

With the day’s end chipping at their heels, the pair worked swiftly alongside each other, Kagome shrieking every now and then as she braced for yet another shower of wood chunks. Inuyasha insisted on using “Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer” to slash the logs — but apparently, there was no way he could be any neater about it. (”Can’t you just use an axe?!” Kagome screeched.)

The occasional roaring they shared between themselves reverberated through practically the entire village, but it was a comforting cacophony to everyone who knew them.

“Do you… miss it there?” asked Inuyasha. Finished with cutting trees up for the day, he crouched to pick up his mess of firewood.

“Hm? Miss where?”

“Your era.”

“Oh.” Kagome chuckled softly. “Of course I do,” she said. “It’s only natural. My fluffy bed, my house — oh, the baths — the shopping malls, even the convenience stores… Ah! I remember I used to blast music super loud on the radio and dance all over my room,” she giggled. “It’s been so long since I did that.”

Her smile was so beautiful as she spoke, but it made Inuyasha’s heart sink.

“Kagome—”

“Ah! I’m done!” she cried out, stretching out her arms in languid triumph. A sight once nearing calamity was now organized in neat, orderly piles, ready for transport back to the village. To reward herself, Kagome fell blissfully on the grass, splaying her arms and legs out comfortably. “I’m going to rest a bit, Inuyasha.”

“O-oh, sure.”

The waning, evening sun slowly inched its way behind the mountains in the distance, hinting at the two of them to head back to the village soon. Though, for Inuyasha, merely returning to the village wasn’t the only thing it was hinting at.

“Being out in the sun always feels so nice, doesn’t it?” cooed Kagome. “It feels just like I’m at a park back home... you know, those small places with lots of trees and paths to walk on. But there was this one big park, called Yoyogi Park — I used to go there with my friends after we went out shopping. The sunsets were so romantic…”

She exhaled a dreamy sigh. “I wish I could’ve taken you.”

Inuyasha felt his throat tighten. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked her — because the more she spoke about Tokyo, the more he grew afraid.

The sweet inflections of Kagome's voice whenever she reminisced about her era permeated an uneasiness in Inuyasha's mind. Uneasiness melted into worry, and he had begun to fear the more she spoke, the more she would come to regret her decision to live in the Sengoku era. He tried, countless times, to brush his worries aside, but they insisted to linger among the branches of his heart.

They weighed on him each night, as he felt her body rise and fall with the precious breaths she took as she slept beside him.

His shoulders dropped.

“Kagome, will you be okay here?”

Stirring, she trailed her gaze to him through the suddenly solemn air. “What do you mean?”

Hesitantly, Inuyasha dropped himself down next to her with his back facing her, boyishly stuffing his hands into his sleeves and shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“Listen, Kagome. Over there, you had your mom, your grandpa, brother, friends… they barely knew who I was, but everyone always treated me well whenever I came over. Your mom always cooked food for me. Your grandpa was kind of… weird, but he was funny to listen to. And Sōta was a good kid. Your era had cures to all sorts of illnesses, too. When you were over there, I never had to worry about your safety.

“But, me… I had less than you to hold me back. Compared to you, I had almost nothing. But you gave up your world for me. I’m happy you’re with me here, but sometimes... I don’t know if I should be.”

His unwavering, stoic gaze blanketed over Kaede’s village in which they lived, now painted an amber gold by the sun's parting rays.

“I think back to it all the time, Kagome. If I could’ve gone to your time instead, I would’ve done it.”

“Inuyasha…”

“I just don’t want you to be unhappy here.”

The deafening silence that followed Inuyasha’s words trickled down the bones of his spine. He didn’t like it. He would rather fight a horde of the most powerful demons than voice the ones that wrangled him in his mind. But unlike the demons he slew in his daily life, there existed no method to defeat his own, other than to release them. He couldn’t keep going this way. He had to know how Kagome felt.

After all they had gone through, he had to know if she was going to be okay.

Kagome laid still, facing the blushing, sunkissed clouds above her.

“Mama… Grandpa… Sōta,” she said, “I love them all so much. I do miss them… everyday. But, you wanna know something? When I was over there, every time something good happened, I always thought, ‘Oh, I wish I could tell Inuyasha.’”

He felt that way too.

“Every time I studied for another test, I always, always hoped you would show up at my window again.”

He would’ve come to her if he could.

“Every time Mama made her spicy curry, I would think of you and your burning tongue…”

Okay… he didn’t miss that.

Kagome’s hushed laughter slowly settled into a poignant breath. “In the end, I thought to myself,” she said, “when Mama and Grandpa leave me one day… and when Sōta finds someone he loves, too… what then, for me? Could there be someone else who can do what you’ve done for me? Could there be someone else who can replace you?”

Her eyes, steady and calm, broke away from the sky to meet his back that faced her, a sight all too familiar to her.

“There is no one who can.”

A rush of cool, spring evening wind. The last remnants of warmth gifted by the setting sun. His soul, gripped by what she was saying, he almost couldn’t breathe. In that moment split from time, there was nothing else he wanted to do but to reach for her and hold her body against his own.

To breathe her scent forever.

“Inuyasha, will you come here?”

Kagome reached out her hand, beckoning him to join her on the spot she laid on. Finally allowing himself to face her, he complied, falling into the comfort of her embrace.

He grazed his lips against her before he let his eyes close.

“You said you had almost nothing,” she said softly, “but you’re wrong. You have Miroku, Sango, Shippō, Kaede, even your brother. I love them all too, you know. I want to see Miroku and Sango and their kids. I want to help look after Rin and Shippō. I’m… useful here. I want to help Kaede and her village. I want to protect the people here.

“And I’m happy where I’m with you, Inuyasha.”

Her kimono that enveloped the curves of her body felt like the finest silk. Her breath against his chest warmed him in a way no fire ever could. With each word she spoke, the walls he erected around his own happiness, finally, slowly, were allowed to crumble.

“Kagome.”

“Mm?”

“Tell me more about Yoyogi Park.”

A silvery laugh rang through Kagome’s lips. “Let’s get this firewood back to the village first.”