Just Breathe

~~~Hey everyone! So for those of you who recognize my name, I’m a well-known author of SM/GW crossovers. But this is my first Inuyasha fic, so please be kind and review! I usually have somewhat original fics, so I promise it won’t be too cliché at the very least! This will be an Inu/ K romance, but I want it to be short, only 3 or 4 chs or so! Much love, Vixen~~~

~~~Rated: R- for POSSIBLE violence, lime, and adult themes

~~~ I DO NOT BELIEVE IN DISCLAIMERS

Chapter One: Foreshadowing

*Everything was so cold. Blinking slowly, a girl with long raven hair opened her large, glassy eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling the fresh air of the cool morning. Or was it air? Was she dead? Was this the world of the spirits, where she would reside for the rest of eternity? Where was Inuyasha… he always knew the answers… Birds. She could hear birds. Perhaps she was not dead after all.

Kagome lay still, she was far too cold to move. Unfortunately, her conscience told her she had better awaken, or it could be the last morning she lived to see. As she sat up, she shivered and her teeth chattered involuntarily. She was chilled right to her very bones. Where was she? Everything was so dim…

Vague memories began crashing back upon the petite girl, and soon she was no longer in her hazy dream state, but alert and tense. Where was everyone? What was going on? The night before had been their large battle with Naraku. It was over then. Everything that she and her friends had worked so hard for in the last two years of their lives was finally completed. But then, if it was true, and the Shinkon no Tama was once again a whole crystal, where was everyone? A light groan caught her ears.

“Hello?” She called out again. “Sango?”

“What?” Came the slightly annoyed answer a few moments later.

“Are you alright? Where are the others?” Kagome asked her gently. She watched as the other, older girl opened her eyes and looked around, suddenly just as alert.

“I don’t know. Gods… what happened? I feel sick…”

“Yeah, me too.” Kagome blanched, but managed a small smile. “At least we’re alive.”

“And look at it this way, the sun will soon be out from behind this thick fog.” Came another, deeper male voice.

“Miroku? Is that you?” Sango called out. A young man was black hair pulled into a short ponytail at the base of his neck appeared in-between the two girls.

“Yes, of course. Oh, my dear Sango, you look so tired! Just think… if only you would bare my child…” But Sango, though drained of most of her energy, managed to smack Miroku hard enough to pause his sentence in place.

“Where is-” Kagome began, slightly smiling.

“Shippo is here!” A sprightly creature that resembled a fox popped out from behind a tree nearby. He bounded towards Kagome and affectionately sat upon her lap, slightly purring as he nestled into her warmth… or lack thereof.

“Shippo!” Kagome coughed slightly, her voice hoarse and throat sore from the shouting the day before. Still, she was happy to see her friendly fox youkai was happy and well.

“It looks like we’re all here.” Miroku announced, still rubbing his sore arm where Sango had hit him.

“Wait, where is Inuyasha?” Kagome suddenly stood, still holding Shippo in her arms. “He’s here, isn’t he? Inuyasha? Inuyasha!” She called out through the dense forest.

“I hear you wench. I’ve heard you since the moment you came through the well and set me free, I’m that unlucky.” Grumbled a deep voice from overhead. All four of the people on the ground looked up to see the hanyou Inuyasha perched on the branch of a tree, smirking all the while.

“Inuyasha, are you alright?” Kagome ignored his bad mood and pressed ahead.

“Fine, just fine.” The demon boy spat, avoiding any direct gazes. He hated being stared at, lord he hated it. It always made him uncomfortable. And what was worse was when it was Kagome that was staring. She always made him feel so uncomfortable, but he knew could figure out why. Her eyes were so determined when they looked at him that he felt as though she could read his very soul- or the part of his soul that was left anyway.

“Well, that’s good. Is everyone else all right? No one is hurt I hope…” Kagome asked, looking from person to person in their small group. All of them looked dirty and disheveled, but none of them looked like they had been roughed up too much to make a huge problem.

“They’re fine too.” Inuyasha growled from the tree. He had been awake longer than the rest of them, and already checked them for injuries that might hinder their journey back to the village. “You, Kagome, have a broken ankle, however.”

“I do?” The raven-haired girl asked in wonder. “I don’t feel any pain though…”

“I already put some herbs on it that would numb it and decrease swelling.” Inuyasha stated proudly. It made him feel good he had somehow helped Kagome out without her having to ask.

Kagome examined her ankle and found that it was, indeed, already wrapped. How sweet of Inuyasha! Just when she thought he hated the entire world, most especially including her, he turned around and did something nice and thoughtful, like bandage her ankle without being asked. Maybe he didn’t hate her after all… maybe there was hope…

“Thank you so much Inuyasha.”

“I only did it so you could heal faster wench. The fast you heal, the faster I can become fully demon. Let’s remember that.” The sliver haired boy scoffed. But his cheeks flushed a pale rouge…

“Of course. I’m sorry. How foolish of me to think you would do something just to be nice!” Kagome’s temper flared slightly and she became slightly cynical. “Who says I’ll be granting your wish anyway?”

“I do! I’ll make you!”

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Sit!” And down out of the tree came Inuyasha, crashing to the muddy forest ground in a huge lump. Kagome and Shippo both began laughing, and soon after were joined by Sango and Miroku. As Inuyasha picked himself up off the forest floor, he wiped the mud away from his face.

“You are definitely not Kikyo!” He screamed. Kagome stopped her laughing and stared at him. Then in a quiet whisper, she began again.

“Stop comparing me to her.” She cleared her throat, and her voice became louder. “Just because I have her sight, or whatever power she had, just because I look a little like her, does not make me her! And I’m glad! I wouldn’t want to be the evil shell of a woman who had once been so great. I am not her, you’re right!” And she turned her head away from Inuyasha’s sight so he wouldn’t see the build up of tears that plagued her tired eyes. Silence over took the moment and nothing was said for a while.

“Let’s get back to the village.” Sango finally suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

“Ok. Kagome, would you like some help? I promise not to be an ecchi!” Miroku offered.

“Sure.” Kagome shrugged indifferently. “Shippo, do you mind walking? I don’t think Miroku can carry us both.”

“No, I’ll walk.” Shippo replied gravely. It was more important to him that Kagome get better sooner than anything else.

Inuyasha watched from a distance as Miroku moved in. He had planned to help Kagome! He had planned to carry her back! But now, what with this fight… damn. Another chance to flirt gone because of him and his demon mouth. Well, maybe later when Miroku became too tired Kagome would let him help her…

“I can’t wait to see the look on Kaede’s face when she finds out we’re finished!” Sango laughed.

“I can’t wait to see my mother’s face again! Or my grandfather or brother’s either for that matter…” Kagome sighed. Almost a full year had passed since she had been able to visit her family and real time. But now, her hunt was over. Now she could return home once more.

“Will Kagome leave us now?” Shippo wanted to know.

“Yes. I will try to come back and visit, but I miss my home very much.” Kagome looked at her friend’s saddened faces and her smile fell. She would miss them so much… she could tell they would miss her as well. But she could not see Inuyasha’s face, or his reaction to her leaving. He probably didn’t care one way or another. Her heart fell lower. But home…

Back to normalcy. School work, social outings, chores, dances, family, trips, friends, a bed every night with good food and a hot bath… yes, everything would be perfect, just the way it had been before she had ever fallen down the cursed well and met Inuyasha. Why, she might even find a boy who would make up for the heartbreak she was suffering for Inuyasha… wait… what heartbreak? Kagome sighed. It was no use.

As long as she had known Inuyasha, the half demon, half human boy, she had felt something for him. She couldn’t explain it, but it was just a feeling of… well, it was a certain connection, a bond that she felt they shared. And over her years traveling with him, Kagome knew that her side of the bond had developed past anything that could be considered friendship. She loved him. She, a human girl, loved Inuyasha, the dangerous hanyou from feudal Japan. But she knew he would never return her feelings. And so it was, in the truest sense, a heartbreaking experience for her.

As the group trudged on, Inuyasha became more withdrawn into his thoughts as well. She was leaving him. After so long, after so much, she, Kagome, was leaving him. Inuyasha frowned. He didn’t like this. It was wrong somehow. She shouldn’t be leaving him. Kikyo hadn’t… wait. Kagome wasn’t Kikyo. Wasn’t that why she was mad at him? Because he kept comparing her to the original? But Inuyasha had never loved Kikyo this way… he had never felt like his heart was being ripped form his chest when she had mentioned leaving for a journey. And now his heart shattered at the thought of Kagome leaving for good, only to visit sometimes. It just wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair!

“Uhh… Kagome? I think my arms are about to give out.” Miroku breathed hard, then stopped and placed Kagome’s body on the ground. “Sorry. I can’t carry you anymore.”

“That’s alright. Thanks for getting me this far. It looks like I’ll have to put up with dog boy now.”

“Who said I was going to help carry you?” Inuyasha frowned. Why did he always become so defensive around her? If he could just break that one habit…

“Well fine, I’ll walk!” Kagome announced wearily. She grabbed onto a nearby tree and began to hoist herself up. But she didn’t have the proper balance, and with the ground muddy and her one, injured ankle not there to help support her, she slipped backwards. Fully expecting to land in the mud, she shut her eyes tightly and yelped. Just as she could feel the ground below her touch her back, she felt two strong hands grasp onto her arms, right below her shoulders, and stand her up.

“You are not walking.” Inuyasha stated firmly.

“Oh?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Kagome pressed gently.

“Because. That’s why. Now stop being such a human and stay still so I can carry you.” Kagome blushed slightly, and made no remark. After all, he had been nice enough to catch her. Only a few hours later the village came into view.

“So soon?” Sango questioned.

“I could smell it from where we woke up this morning.” Inuyasha confessed grumpily. He hated the smell of humans. But Kagome usually smelled so nice…

“Then it’s over. Our task is finally finished.” Miroku sadly smiled.

“No, it’s not over.” Shippo shook his head. “There is still much to be done.” He laughed.

“Like what Shippo?” Kagome asked the demon fox. But he shook his head and kept laughing. What was the little fox foreshadowing? *

~~~How is this? Is it ok so far? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Review! Rix13Rix@aol.com! Much love, Vixen~~~