A Little Part of Me

Summary: He has to show her that he cares, even if it hurts her… InuYasha takes two things from Kagome that day; one is the jewel shards and the other she can never get back. Too bad he gave her something as well… KagInu

Disclaimer: InuYasha and company do not belong to me, or you for that matter!! Mwahahah!! Oh come on, cry me a river, build me a bridge and get over it. Lol, this is what happens when I'm avoiding homework and I think of one of Emily's favorite sayings… -Sigh-

Font Key:
Thoughts
Flashback
Everything else

Previously:

I didn't think I left this window open, she thinks, moving through the vacant room. Glancing out the build-in gap in the wall, she looks hopefully around. He's not here. Her heart sinks to the pit of her stomach. Could he have left already? Even after he promised that he would say?

InuYasha… her heart cries as she turns to answer the door, her curtains to the open window flapping in the gentle breeze that enters the room.

Chapter 8: Cease the Annoyance

InuYasha, where are you? The distraught girl keeps questioning herself, forcing her body to move forward. She has a task to complete, and, no matter how miniscule it is, it must be seen to the end. Yet, the troubled girl can barely lift up her feet. Apparently the force of her heavy heart is weighing her down. Salty droplets dare to trickle down her cheek while she attempts to maneuver her way to the still banging door. Curse the annoyance!

Perchance her response to his vanishing is an overreaction. Yes, of course. That must be it.

But, what could have made him leave so suddenly? He said that he loved her, that he would stay with her forever. Was that all one enormous lie? Was the plan to allow her hopes for a joyous future to soar, only to force them to dive straight for the ground? Perhaps the truth got to him. Perhaps a loophole to his promise was discovered? He said that he'd stay with her, but did that include the child? Maybe he realized that children can't take care of children. Maybe he doesn't want to be a father. Maybe… he doesn't want to be with her.

'Maybes' fill the child's head as she rushes through the hallway, her bare feet slipping slightly against the cold wooden floor. "Coming!" she yells, her voice crackling in midst the attempt to fight back tears. Did he leave me already? She forces all of her energy into biding her legs to sprint forward until she reaches the egg white doorway.

"Kagome?" the masculine voice calls again, worry consuming his tone. "Kagome?"

She reaches for the door, her fingers trembling. She doesn't want a visitor. She can't take having a visitor. How can she fake a smile now that her baby's father has disappeared? How can she act like her whole world isn't crumbling apart? How can she be expected to live life as though nothing had happened? The man who has carried her though some of the toughest parts of her life has just deserted her, right when she needs him the most!

Carried… A smile peaks upon her lips, a ray of hope illuminating her mind, pushing back the blackness of her previous thoughts. The word has significance in the fact that he would support her, but taken literally, it has an even deeper meaning compared to what one would think. Every time she tuckered out in the feudal era, he would carry her on his back. Then there were those times when he would just pick her up and walk for hours, even when she wasn't tired.

He cared for me then too. Kagome's smile broadens as she realizes why he would always carry her, in every sense of the word. He loved her, at least in his own way, and that is how he showed it. Knowing his personality, he probably was too shy to show is affections. Carrying her on his back was probably just a way for him to get closer to her. The best part was that he wasn't trying to grope her in the process, unlike like a certain individual…

Miroku; of course! That must be why he left! He returned to tell everyone that everything is alright. That has to be the truth.

He wouldn't leave me. He never has and he never will, how foolish of me to ever think such a thing. InuYasha, forgive my stupidity…

Naivety, the curse of the young and the dreamers. If she only knew, if he would only dare to speak it… So many questions left unanswered, so many thoughts yet to be pondered. Yet, if they wait any longer, there may never be a chance. But the choice is to either grasp upon the thin string of hope or drown in a river of one's own sorrow. Her choice is made, but how long can she keep the iron mask to her soul?

"Hold on a second!" she exclaims, the new hope rejuvenating her soul. She sighs in relief as her visitor is finally reviled and the knocking finally ceases to exist. "Hi Hojo."

"Oh Kagome, it's you! I was so worried, that's why I stopped by to…" His eyes glance over her striking body, his excited expression fades as pink hues attack his face, turning his sun deprived skin into a deep scarlet cherry.

"Hojo, what's wrong?" General concern fills her voice as she leans in closer to examine what could be wrong with the boy. "Are you okay?"

Shutting his eyes, he waves his arms frantically in front of himself in a mad attempt to end her movements to get closer. "It's nothing, nothing at all Kagome."

She may be foolish, but the girl is far from stupid. "Come on; tell me what's the matter." She moves directly in front of him, both of them now occupying the small space that is the doorway.

"Well, ummm… I…" he stammers. Opening his eyes once more, he quickly shuts them again. "I swear I saw nothing!" he shouts. "I'd never do anything to taint your honor!"

What is he talking about? She asks herself, a pool of concern and curiosity swarming into her deep brown eyes as her friend's head begins hysterically shacking in the universal 'no' head bob.

"I'll come back later. Now must not be a good time. Later. I didn't mean to. Please don't think…" his words blurt out in a nervous chant, his voice squeaking like a male just entering puberty.

"What's the matter?" she demands as he begins walking backwards away from her.

"I didn't, don't, just, I… well…"

"Hojo, just spill what's wrong!" She shouts, utterly frustrated. Her heart is slowly being pulverized and now she has to suffer with her classmate's useless chatter? Why is fate so cruel?

Regretfully, the only way to cease the annoyance is to discover the source of the boy's mayhem. Weary eyes trail the perimeter of the area in hope to find what can possibly be amiss.

What can be causing his actions? She asks herself, her lack of an answer fueling the annoyance that is currently trying to cover her heartache. He started acting strange when he saw me, right? Maybe it's me…

She glances down at herself, her face immediately boiling from the immensity of her blush and mortification.

"I… ummm… You… Ehhh… Errr… PERVERT!" She stammers, yelling the last word a tad louder than necessary. Grabbing at her towel to prevent her only clothing from falling, she quickly searches for something else to cover her body. How could I have forgotten? In the midst of her quest to end the annoying knocking, she had forgotten a one very important thing: clothing.

Allowing her labored breathing to calm down, she allows her mind to mull over the situation. Finally coming to her senses, she asks her still nonsense chattering peer, "Hojo, can I borrow your jacket?"

Waiting for a response, embarrassment and frustration nags at her to the point where she can't hear his words. But, that's just it, his senseless blubbering just stopped. She looks at his face hoping to find the answer to his curious behavior. The pure terrifying panic in his eyes forces even the young girl to take a step back.

The stiffness of his stance makes the boy resemble one who has his back up against a bed of thick, rust coated nails and is trapped there by a horde of venomous snakes. And his eyes, they have an aura of terror radiating from them so intense that you need not feel the fear from the rest of him to know that he's never been more petrified in his life.

"Hojo… Are you okay?" Her voice barely is able to leave her mouth, a lump in her throat forming in apprehension as to why her class mate is acting in such a way. Despite herself being in an extremely uncomfortable situation, she can't help but be more alarmed at his behavior rather than her predicament.

"Kagome, I…"

The quiet of the morning gives way for a low rumbling; a protective and furious thunder being generated from the so-called 'bed of nails' behind the horrified boy. Her eyes dart from the boy's rigid facial expression to the source of the sound. A red blur forms in her vision as the source of the noise shoots in front of her.

"Get the fuck away from her." The deep growl doesn't need to be followed by a threat, its warning clear from the malice dripping from every syllable.

"InuYasha…" Kagome sighs in relief; he didn't leave her after all. Yet her joy quickly transforms into distress.

Before her very eyes, one of her classmates is hoisted up into the air, her mate's claws positioned tightly against the defenseless boy's pale neck. Blood trickles down the child's pasty skin, leaving a burgundy stain on his heavy shirt.

"Kagome, run…" Hojo breaths with the last of his frightened breath. Looking into his peer's eyes, he sends what can only be a sign of distress.

"Told you not to look at her," the hanyou snarls, baring his sharp pearly daggers. "Now you'll pay."

"InuYasha… No!"