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After 3 glorious days in her world, Kagome was finally returning to the feudal era. She didn’t get to go often these days, so the fact she had spent those days away from all the chaos of the past was just enough to make Kagome very happy.
Although the day had been beautiful back at home. In the feudal era, it seemed like it wasn’t as nice. The day was very overcast, the wind was strong, and the air smelled as if it wasn’t long till it began to rain.
Still, It was rare that she got to enjoy walks by herself through the village, usually Shippo or Inuyasha were with her, and Kagome did enjoy this type of weather anyway.
Today she had decided to come back early and surprise them. It wasn’t rare that Inuyasha went to her world to “drag” her back. Honestly, she enjoyed making him go get her. But she was in a good mood, and thought that coming before he went to fetch her would get him in one as well.
Kagome was just making her way around a hut knowing it was a shortcut to Kaede’s house when she overheard a loud conversation coming from the window.
“I agree, she’s a nice girl. But it’s been nothing but chaos since those shards were scattered”
At that Kagome stopped. She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop but she couldn’t help it given the subject of the conversation. Kagome slowly made her way closer to the window to get a clearer sound.
“I just got back from visiting my friend a few villages over, and it was completely destroyed. They’re lucky they didn’t lose that many people. But their homes were completely ruined.” said the same voice she heard at first. It had to be one of the older women from the village.
“Honestly, no amount of niceness takes away from the fact that she brought all this destruction with her. We were good before that jewel came back” Another older said. Kagome couldn’t recognize the voice to put a name to either of them, and she didn’t know who lived in this specific hut.
“At least she’s attempting to fix the mess she made…”
“Not that it does anything for all the lives we’ve lost. She might as well have killed them all herself… and it’s not as if they’ve actually made any progress. If anything they’ve let all that power fall into the wrong hands, and here they are lying around as if nothing is happening”
At that Kagome felt something in her chest tighten. She couldn’t keep listening to this.
As quickly as she could, she turned around and started walking back to the forest. Her mind racing at a thousand miles per hour.
She knew the damage the jewel had caused. She had seen firsthand the destruction and loss it had brought. But not even once had she thought it was her fault.
But maybe they were right…
It was her after all that had brought the jewel to this time in the first place. Kagome’s breathing was becoming more and more labored. The world around her seemed to spin.
Kagome looked around to try and determine which direction the well was but she had walked so fast without direction that she didn’t realize she had walked so far into the woods she didn’t really know where she was.
With a sob she let herself fall to the floor.
They were right. She knew they were right.
How could she not have seen it before? How many lives had she altered forever because she had failed to do what she was supposed to and find those shards?
She hadn’t meant to break the jewel, but did that matter? It was her who had broken it. If she hadn’t been so bad at archery she wouldn’t have had to attach the leg of the raven and maybe she would’ve been able to aim at its leg instead of the body when saving that child.
Suddenly Kagome’s mind was filled with every single decision she had made up to that point and began questioning everything.
The one thought that was louder than everything else was… if she hadn’t been born none of this would have happened.
“Kagome, what’s wrong?”
Inuyasha’s voice was frantic as he lowered to the floor and raised her face with his hands, assessing if she was physically hurt.
“I can’t smell blood, but are you hurt?”
Kagome couldn’t stop crying. By this point she was hyperventilating, and was spiraling too much for Inuyasha’s presence to be any comfort. If anything she felt worse.
“Hey, hey. Breathe.” Inuyasha had never felt so worried before. He always worried about Kagome, every time she had gotten hurt during battle he had nearly had a heart attack before realizing that she would be okay.
Even that time he thought she had died after being poisoned, he had been beyond devastated, not sure if anything mattered anymore.
But he had never seen her like this. Her chest was heaving with each ragged breath, he could hear her heart racing as if trying to escape its confines. Her tears were streaming endlessly down her flushed cheeks, and the look on her face…
He had never seen such turmoil displayed across her features like this.
Inuyasha brought Kagome up and sat her between his legs facing him, both her legs over his right hip. One hand still on her face and the other behind her back.
“Breathe with me. Come on. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe In. That’s it…” Slowly Kagome was trying her hardest to match his breathing pattern until her breathing returned to normal.
She was still crying, but she was no longer hyperventilating. Her heart rate was going down as well.
Inuyasha had been making his way from gathering water for Kaede at the river when he had seen Kagome from afar. Like every time he saw her, his heart gave a little jump, and he thanked Kami that amongst his dog features there wasn’t a tail, cause he knew he would have been fucked if it wagged every time he laid eyes on her.
But she was running, and looked panicked which was strange. He didn’t sense any demonic presence anywhere near the village. So he had left the bucket of water on the floor and ran after her.
When he saw her on the floor sobbing and looking completely destroyed, he felt his heart break at the helplessness of not being there for her to protect her from whatever had put her in this state.
“What happened?” he leaned down putting his forehead against hers and stroking her cheek with the hand that held her face.
A mumble of incomprehensible words came out of Kagome, followed by another gut wrenching sob.
“Hey, breathe. Come on… it’s okay” with his other hand he began stroking her back slowly. He wasn’t good at comforting people, but he wasn’t thinking about that, all he cared about was getting Kagome to be okay. He had seen the way humans interacted with each other.
So he knew in theory what movements were meant to be comforting. This was finally the day he would find out if they actually worked.
“I killed them” she let out amongst an agonizing sob.
“I didn’t smell any demons in the village, but we’ve gotten rid of demons before, why are you crying over it?” Inuyasha was feeling very confused at her statement.
“N- No.” Sob “N-not d-demons” sob “A-All” sob “All the p-people wh-who died because of the jewel” sob “ I k-killed them” At that she burst into a harder sob, as if that were possible.
“What?” Inuyasha couldn’t make sense of what she was saying. Where did she get that idea?
“I broke the jewel. All the villages that have been attacked, all the people Naraku has harmed. That all happened because of me. They’re dead because of me” Her eyes were tightly shut, a river of tears escaping from them.
How could she think that? Inuyasha wasn’t sure what had brought this up, but he knew whoever had put those ideas in her mind were gonna feel his wrath.
“Naraku killed those people, not you. Kagome, where is this coming from?”
“If I hadn’t come to this time, none of th- none of this would’ve happened. If I hadn’t been born, the jewel wouldn’t have been brought back. If I hadn’t been born everything would be bett-”
“STOP”
It killed him. It killed him to see her like this. It killed him that she thought of herself like this. She was his light. He had never said it aloud, but it was true.
Ever since Kagome had come into his life, everything was better. HE was better because of her. She was joy, and light, and how could she think that anything would be better if she weren’t here?
So why hadn’t he told her before?
“Kagome, you -” He took a deep breath and pulled her face so she was looking at him. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don’t know where you came up with this shit. But the entire world would be fucked without you in it”
He realized he was talking to her in a strong tone and he should probably speak more kindly. But he was beyond pissed that she would even suggest that she shouldn’t exist.
“Inu-”
“Let me finish,” he said. “The jewel was gonna come back whether it was you who brought it or not. But I’m glad it was you, I’m glad you’re here”
Kagome was looking at him so intensely, her emotions running wild. Heart beating so fast in her chest. She was overwhelmed with guilt, but also something she couldn’t describe. Hearing Inuyasha say things that never in her wildest dreams she thought would ever come out of his mouth.
“Before I met you, I was alone. I was mean, and resentful, and thought that I would never be able to be someone. But since you came into my life I’m better, you’ve taught me so much. I never -” Well fuck it. If there was any time to admit how he truly felt, this was it.
“I never thought that I could love someone without worrying that they’re repulsed by me. Or that they fear me. But you don’t, God, Kagome. You are so kind, and smart, and have given so much and make everyone you meet lives better. Don’t think for one second that anyone would be better off without you. Certainly not me.”
She had stopped crying, she hadn’t realized when. But some time during Inuyasha’s speech her tears had stopped rolling down her face, and her heart was beating fast for different reasons.
“I don’t expect you to feel the same way about me, but I need you to stop thinking of yourself like this. I know- I know how that feels. Growing up I was blamed for things that were definitely not my fault, and it took me a long time to realize it wasn’t my fault. You’ve made me realize that. So now I’m helping you.” Inuyasha’s eyes were filled with all the love he hadn’t allowed himself to show all this time, but he couldn’t keep it in any longer.
“None of this is your fault. And even if it were, I would stand by you the way you’ve stood by me when I’ve actually done things. I mean, I’ve actually killed innocent people”
“That wasn’t your fault,” Kagome interrupted.
He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a knowing look.
“Oh” She said, a slight blush coming across her face.
“Are you gonna tell me who put these thoughts in your head?”
“They didn’t do it on purpose… no one said anything to me. So don’t be mad. I just overheard some people in the village talking about it, and I just…” Tears started welling up in her eyes again.
“Stop” this time Inuyasha said it with such kindness, that Kagome’s tears went away by the shock of hearing him talk with such gentleness.
“I don’t want you to think like this again, you hear me? You know who you are, and I know who you are. These people from the village don’t know shit. They shouldn’t be talking about this. I want to see them do any better. They would probably get themselves killed within 10 minutes” he scoffed.
Kagome giggled at this. “Keh, and don’t expect me to start getting all sappy again after this. I just… I just hate seeing you like this”
“Thank you, Inuyasha” Those words weren’t enough to express how grateful she was that he had found her, and how he had calmed her down.
In the heat of the moment, Kagome had also failed to realize at first that Inuyasha had admitted that he loved her. But suddenly it hit her.
She had always wondered if he did. There were moments when she thought there might be a chance, but something always happened that put those thoughts away. There was no way.
But he had just said, outloud, that it was true. And she didn’t know how to circle back to that. So, she did the only thing that could convey her feelings in a way that words could not. Something she had done only once before.
She closed her eyes and gently pressed her lips against his. She felt him gasp when she pressed a little harder.
But unlike last time, where he had returned the kiss only briefly before coming apart. He pulled her closer and began kissing her like there was no tomorrow.
Her lips were soft, and tasted as if she had eaten something sweet before she came back to the feudal era.
He deepened the kiss, and boldly pressed his tongue against her lower lip, asking for access. Kagome happily complied.
Heaven. This was absolute heaven. Their hearts were beating at the same rhythm, their arms tangled around each other. Bodies pressed together, heads moving from one side to the other as their tongues battled for dominance.
With each gentle touch, sparks seemed to ignite, sending tingles of electricity across their skin. The warmth of their embrace contrasted with the cool rush of air that seemed to sweep around them, heightening their senses.
Her fingers traced the contours of his back, feeling the play of muscles beneath the fabric of his haori. His hands rested on her waist, holding her close as if afraid that the moment might slip away.
Slowly, they pulled away. Both of them breathing hard but feeling happier than they’d ever felt before.
“I love you too,” Said Kagome quietly, knowing that if he didn’t have heightened hearing, he probably wouldn’t have heard her.
But he had. Blush covering his entire face.
Kagome smiled and all his embarrassment went away. After all that crying, she smiled… FOR HIM.
Inuyasha bent down and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. This is something he could get used to doing.
Now it was Kagome’s time to blush once he pulled away.
“We should probably get back to the village, it’s getting colder and I smell rain nearby. I think we can make it in time” Although he had mustered all his courage to confess his feelings, he was still Inuyasha.
He knew they would need to talk about what this all meant later, but for now he knew that she understood.
Untangling themselves from one another they got to their feet and started walking back to the village.
Neither of them realized at what point they had gotten shoulder to shoulder or when their hands had intertwined. But it didn’t matter because they knew that no matter what anyone said or believed.
Even in their darkest night, they would see the truth in each other. And that’s all that mattered.