1095.73 Days Without You

What were the odds that someone would actually drop their hairdryer into a bathtub or a sink filled with water? Then again, what were the odds of time travel being real or a sixteen year old girl being able to do it?

It probably wasn't fair to compare history to something as casual as a machine, but Kagome couldn't help it. She never cut the warning label off of her hairdryer's cord so it swung freely in and out of her vision. Her thoughts imitated its motions. First she would recall the warmth that encompassed Naraku as he died, then she'd close her eyes and wait for her mind to construct InuYasha just as he appeared to her in the Jewel.

It was odd to witness Naraku find peace. Kagome wondered if the warmth he found in death was similar to the relief her fingers found as they ghosted across the coarse fabric of InuYasha's fire rat robe. Maybe the weight of her tears in the darkness was exactly like the peace Naraku found. It was a sign that they were both saved, but it wasn't fair. Naraku got to stop while Kagome was left wrapping the cord back around her hairdryer, comparing her life to a warning label.

Kagome stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair wasn't greasy anymore but she still looked kind of crummy. There were these bags under her eyes that muffled every other feature on her face. Moreover, the edges of her brows were crinkled, paralyzed by a threat that no longer existed. Sighing, Kagome turned away from her reflection. In a few hours, she would be at school where a whole onslaught of teenagers would be looking the same way.

"'Sis?" Souta asked, knocking on the bathroom door. Kagome scowled at his cautious tone. He was trying to be safe like Mama and Grandpa. All three of them refused to confront her about InuYasha's disappearance yesterday. Instead, they pretended not to notice how often she tried to use the well. Kagome scrunched up her lips. Now she understood how InuYasha felt after murdering those bandits as a full demon. He was right: Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and she had been treating him with too much care. Back then, there was really nothing to be sensitive about. Her family had nothing to worry about either because the past was overflowing with spiritual energy. She and InuYasha were still connected. In three or four days he'd get tired of waiting and come to get her. She figured his yoki would jumpstart the well on this side.

Tucking her hairdryer away, Kagome replied with an even, unbothered tone. "Yes?"

"Are you done yet?"

The question reverberated through her brain.

Are you done yet?

Was she done time traveling? Was the well permanently sealed? Did a whole year of her life just become a gripping bedtime story?

Are you done yet?

Kagome glanced at the mirror, picturing a half demon in her stead. When InuYasha faced a problem, he wasn't very secretive about it. Admittedly, he tended to run off his mouth for a while but in the end he would always do his best to confront the issue. Kagome decided that she could, too. So instead of mulling over Sota's question, Kagome gave that warning label a second thought. It seemed ridiculous that someone would be irresponsible enough to submerge a hairdryer in water. Then again, she had her own grocery list of ridiculous accidents from roughly five hundred years ago. Of all of them, freeing InuYasha was the greatest. He made her look so good—like hair that was blown dry.

Kagome groaned internally. It was horrible to compare a person to an object. Still, if InuYasha was like her hairdryer she hoped the well wasn't a bathtub and prayed that she hadn't dropped him in. Offering the mirror her best straight face, Kagome squared her shoulders. "Yup," she said, opening the door and walking into the hallway. "Bathroom's all yours."

-X-

A/N: Whenever I use a hairdryer my hair just poofs up and frizzes a lot, but I have no doubt that Kagome could wield one like a champ. Anyway, I plan on making this a dumping ground for drabble pieces centered around the three-year separation. We always focus on the pain InuYasha must've gone through after losing someone so precious so quickly, but we forget how hard it must've been for Kagome to readjust to life in Tokyo. And I mean, something about her healing process had to lead her to the conclusion that an InuYasha-less world is not the place for her. Maybe I'll find my own conclusion over her conclusion as I go along. Anyway, huge thanks to my girl sankontesu for requesting that I put this together!

-hanmajoerin