Be there for me by Walter205

Heart's Pain

Chapter 1

***

Kagome and Inuyasha were walking along a path in the village and were just talking away as the sun rose into the high noon position.

The former was a sixteen year old human girl who had the talents of a priestess. Her other talents included a slim yet enticing body and a very vibrant, although with the vice of perhaps being too trusting, personality.

The latter, on the other hand, was a two hundred fifty year old, half human/demon boy who was a warrior through and through. He was a tough individual with a strong physical build. However, his personality, left much to be desired.

"So...Inuyasha, what have you been up to lately? When I was in the future era, that is?" asked Kagome.

"Well, not much. I hunted down a few marauding demons to keep myself in practice, but mostly just waiting for you to return," replied Inuyasha. He glanced her way and stared at her with those large round eyes of his as soon as he was finished talking, and she felt herself blushing ever so slightly.

They then took hold of each other's hands briefly, before Kagome started skipping as they went to rejoin the gang.

But then Inuyasha stopped, his nose wrinkling in uncertainty, and he was looking around in all directions. Kagome wondered what was suddenly bothering him.

"I smell blood. And the scent is familiar. It's..." Inuyasha's eyes grew round, and he suddenly took off running into the forest. Shrugging off her backpack and taking along her bow, arrows, and a first aid kit, she took off after him.

Kagome lost sight of Inuyasha as he took off running full speed into the forest. She hoped that he wasn't running too far away, but then, as the wind rustled through her air, she knew that the scent wouldn't be carried, and so it couldn't be too far off.

She felt that she was quickly getting close to him, when suddenly, she sighted Kikyo's soul collectors orbiting around a tree. Emotions immediately flooded into her, and she stopped running and approached cautiously. She could hear voices now, and walked into the clearing where Kikyo was lying on the ground, blood seeping from a wound in her midsection. Inuyasha was standing over her, talking to her, saying things that Kagome really didn't want to hear.

"Kikyo, Kikyo, hang on, please hang on." whispered Inuyasha as he brushed the side of her face with the back of his right hand.

"I don't know what I would do without you if I lost you. I cherish you more than anything else in this world, even my own sword. Please, your the only one I really care about. I....I love you, Kikyo." Inuyasha chocked out as his concern grew into frantic worry.

With no danger evident, Kagome put her bow and arrows down and took out her first aid kit, but hesitated for a second. Inuyasha looked up just then, as if noticing for the first time that Kagome was standing there, that she had accompanied him when he had run off. He looked at what she was holding in her hands, the medicine that would help him to save his beloved. But he also noticed her lack of movement, and something inside of him snapped.

"Well, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" shouted Inuyasha in a pained and frustrated voice, startling Kagome out of her hesitation. "C'MON, WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY TO SAVE HER!!!"

"SIIIIITTTTTT!" screamed Kagome in an agonized and emotional tone. She didn't ever appreciated being yelled at, especially not by Inuyasha, and especially after what she had overheard him saying to Kikyo.

But her mind had been made up, and she settled down besides Kikyo, and went to work applying medications and bandages to her wounds. Kikyo started to rouse, and Inuyasha tended to her as needed.

Kagome stood up, and walked away. When she was out of sight, she started to run. When she was sure that she wouldn't be heard, she starting sobbing.

'Oh Inuyasha' thought Kagome, her emotions barely kept in check, 'How could you be so cruel to me?'

Kagome supposed she was being selfish, but she didn't really care at the moment. Her eyes brimming with tears and her emotions clouded, she didn't pay any attention to where she was running. She slammed into someone that was standing still while she was running at full sprint, and after the daze faded, she looked up and saw Sesshomaru standing there. Her eyes widened, fearful and certain for a moment that he would take offense at her running into him, with decidely fatal consequences in store for her.

He was gazing back at her with his yellow eyes, and she was still crying, with tears running down her cheeks. She felt hot burning shame at letting someone see her in this shape, and hung her head down so he wouldn't have to look at her face.

Kagome then stood up and resumed running. Sesshomaru looked after her when she departed, then shook his head. 'Humans' he thought with a disgusted sigh. Rin and Jakan caught up to him just then, the human girl waddling side to side with her arms spread, while the little green imp was breathing heavily as usual. Rin saw Kagome as she ran into the woods, and wondered what was going on. Rin decided to follow Kagome, even though Sesshomaru and Jakan took off in the other direction.

* * *

Later, Sesshomaru came upon the clearing where Inuyasha and Kikyo were. When he arrived, Kikyo was just departing with her soul collectors, and Inuyasha nodded good-bye to her. Lying on the ground, he noticed, were Kagome's weapons and a first aid kit.

He nodded his understanding of Kagome's anguish then, and looked to Inuyasha, who turned and saw Sesshomaru and Jakan standing there. And then, seemingly for the first time, he noticed that Kagome was no longer by his side.

"Kagome, Kagome!" shouted Inuyasha as he looked around for her. Seeing her nowhere around, he relied on his nose, and then looked in the direction of Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru, what did you do with Kagome?" demanded Inuyasha, his hand now coming to rest on the hilt of Tetsuagia.

Sesshomaru looked amused, then decided to answer.

"I came across her a while ago. She was so distraught that she ran right into me, before she took off running again." stated Sesshomaru, narrowing his eyes as he mentioned this.

Inuyasha's face fell as he realized what he had done to her, how he had yelled at her earlier as he reconstructed what had happened in his mind. He slipped past Sesshomaru and took off after her. Sesshomaru shook his head again, and started to walk again.

"Errr, Lord Sesshomaru, where is Rin?" inquired Jakan.

He stopped, and looked around him. He sighed, then reversed course himself, going back the way he had come.

* * *

When Rin caught up to Kagome, she was sitting at the base of a tree trunk. Her knees were pulled up against her chest by her arms, and served as an adequate resting place for her head. Rin could hear Kagome sobbing softly as she approached.

The snap of a twig alerted Kagome that she was not alone, and she looked up as Rin stepped closer. Kagome wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then smiled slightly as the young girl settled next to the tree.

"Kagome," began Rin in her soft voice, "May I ask why you are upset?" Kagome glanced over at the child, then sighted before answering.

"Oh, just....you know. Sometimes the people you consider friends do something to hurt you, or make you feel bad," muttered Kagome. No use going into too much detail about something that Rin wouldn't necessarily understand- at least, not yet.

"Oh. Well, sorry. I would never do anything to hurt you, Kagome. I consider you my best friend," stated Rin, beaming proudly.

Kagome glanced over at Rin in surprise, then smiled herself. "I like you too, Rin," she replied heartfully.

"Hey, Kagome... Remember that one time that we went into battle together?" Rin gently inquired.

Kagome remembered what incident she was talking about. Sounga, the sword from hell that Inuyasha's father had wielded.

"Yes, I do. Although many bad things happened, I remember it pretty well," said Kagome.

"I was just thinking about how you saved me from Inuyasha, and later, from that demon, and how you tried to protect me from that one bad person with the one horn..." muttered Rin.

"Yes?" inquired Kagome, wondering where Rin was going with all of this.

"Well, it's just that... it seems that, besides Sesshomaru and Jakan, you're the only person that looks out for me, and of those three, you're the only one that seems to want to talk with me," said Rin in a slightly sad voice.

Kagome tried to picture Sesshomaru or Jakan talking or gossiping with Rin, but the image just wasn't coming into mind. When it did, she just starting giggling to herself. Rin looked at her, confusion evident on her face. She noticed that Rin was staring at her in an odd way, and just smiled.

"You know, Rin, thank you so much for coming to talk to me," said Kagome.

"You're welcome, Miss Kagome. I was thinking, though, maybe sometime you could... oh, stop by the castle, so we can visit more often?" inquired Rin, with a "please oh please" look in her eyes.

"Well, I don't know what Sesshomaru or Jakan would make of that, but sure, I guess I could stop by," said Kagome.

At that moment, Inuyasha came upon them as they were sitting there and talking to one another. Rin was the first to look up, and seeing the puppy boy standing there, smiled, then got up and walked past Inuyasha. Inuyasha, briefly looking at the little girl with a confused expression on his face, went and sat down next to Kagome.

* * *

Sesshomaru saw Rin coming towards them, and came to a halt, with Jakan bumping into him from behind. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"And where have you been, Rin?" inquired Sesshomaru in a cool voice.

"Oh, I went to have a talk with Kagome-chan. She seemed sad, but I managed to cheer her up, I think," said Rin in a happy voice.

At that moment, they could all hear a very loud "SIT" coming through the woods, followed by a ground impact, followed by a tree falling down, followed by a loud yell of pain.

Sesshomaru shook his head. 'That brother of mine. So naive he is. Kagome deserves better' he thought. She deserves someone with the loyalty such as.... He shook his head. 'Come now, Sesshomaru, it could never work between you and Kagome. Or could it?' He smiled slightly, before walking off into the forest.

***

Inuyasha lay pinned under a tree, in some pain, but mostly just wondering what he had done wrong this time. All he had done was ask why Kagome was so happy all of a sudden. He was never going to understand women.

Above him, unnoticed, a single bee was watching the spot of the forest where Kagome had taken off from. Watching through the bee's eyes, Hakidoshi smiled at the developments that were in progress. He thought up a plan, checked it for faults, then decided to implement it without delay.

Looking over his shoulder, he caught Kohaku's attention.

"Kohaku. I have a task for us to complete. Come, let's go," said Hakidoshi.

Moments later, they were soaring above the forest, surronded by a purple barrier.