Prompts given:
"I thought you loved me."
"Take that back!"

Kagome's stare deadpanned, her gaze on the crumpled leaves, weeds, and dirt at the tree opposite from where she stood blurring as she tried not to react to the pain laced in her own words. She held her hands behind her back, trying to keep her body language as casual as possible while she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists, her nails biting into the skin of her palms, keeping her stabilized for the time being. She could feel his amber eyes burning into her, and though she avoided looking at him herself, she could imagine the expression he donned, and she was terrified he'd see straight through her facade.

"Where's all this coming from?" Inuyasha finally asked, his tone low. Stern. He demanded to know what was going through her head.

"You know-"

"No! I don't know! One minute you were fine, and the next you're spitting this crap at me!"

"Face it, Inuyasha, things haven't been fine for a while! Things have been exhausting and stressful, and I'm... I..." Kagome fought the quiver in her bottom lip, squeezing her nails into the fleshy parts of her hands to keep herself from losing whatever composure she had. "I'm tired, Inuyasha." She admitted, finally looking at him.

She was hiding something, he could tell. Kagome wasn't the kind of person to run off with her tail between her legs. Yes, there was some truth in her words, and though they stung, he could see there was another force behind why she said them. She wouldn't look at him for more than five seconds at a time. He knew Kagome better than anyone, and if she was hurt, pissed, upset, you name it, she was never afraid to look you dead in the eye and put you in your place. Yet here she was staring at the ground, her feet, his feet, the roots of the trees, the leaves, the stars, the moon, anywhere but at him.

It was fucking bullshit.

"Kagome, tell me the truth!"

"I'm telling you the truth!"

"No you aren't! There's something else... something-"

"Inuyasha, drop it!" There was danger hidden in her tone, and he flinched the second it offended his ears. "Please, don't make this harder than it has to be."

She was close to begging. Close to breaking. He needed to believe her, but she was scared he would see that she didn't believe herself, making her job so much harder. Kagome was put on the spot and was given little-to-no time to prepare herself. To stone her features so he wouldn't be able to read her like the open book she always seemed to be with him.

"So, what? You're just gonna go home? You're just gonna give up everything we've been working for, just because you're upset with me?" Inuyasha asked, the clear dejection in his voice causing her breath to hitch painfully in her chest.

This wasn't what she wanted.

"Yes."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Look, the jewel is almost complete, you just have to get it back from Naraku. And you personally know the people who have the remaining shards. If you think about it, I've done my job as jewel shard detector."

"Job." Inuyasha scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're full of shit if you think that's the only reason you've been kept around."

"That was the reason I stayed in the first place!" Kagome fired.

"Yeah, and that was ages ago, Kagome! Things have changed, so don't give me that shit! What the hell is going on with you?"

"I told you! I want out! I don't want to be here anymore!"

"And?" He asked, anticipating the tail end of her answer.

"And," Kagome swallowed thickly, trying to come off as believable as possible. This was the part she had been avoiding. This was the part that would break both of them, her more so than he. She tensed her abdomen muscles, hoping it would help her brace for impact. "I... don't want to be with you anymore."

A painful lump formed in Inuyasha's throat, making it impossible for him to swallow or speak. He'd lost people before; he was well acquainted with that sort of pain, but this was something on an entirely different level. He never imagined he'd hear the words from Kagome. He never imagined he'd see the day where she jumped through the well and didn't plan to return. She was the most reliable, loyal, and trustworthy person in his life, and while he understood there was always the chance that she'd go back to her time for good when their travels were at an end, he never got the opportunity to prepare himself for it. To make matters worse, she wasn't just civilly leaving him to return to her life. She was leaving him.

The rational part of his brain told him that something was off. This wasn't Kagome talking, this was some other force. Someone was manipulating her. Kagome would never leave him. Not like this.

But the wounded part of him understood where she was coming from. It understood that she never planned on staying with someone from a different era. A different breed. It told him she meant every word that she said and this was a long time coming. How could he expect someone from her time to accept him as he was if a woman from his own wouldn't?

Still, Inuyasha couldn't bring himself to absorb the information. Something was off, and he allowed his gut to take the wheel. "You don't mean that."

"Inuyasha, I'm sorry." Kagome was visibly shaking, her arms now hugging the other over her chest as she looked off to the side, yet again avoiding his gaze.

"No, Kagome, you don't mean that! Tell me what I did wrong! Sit me if you're mad! Is it because I went off to Kikyo again last week? I told you nothing happened! Nothing's happened between us in a long ass time! Why won't you believe me?"

"God, Inuyasha, stop it! Why can't you just take what I say at face value?!"

"Because you aren't the face value kind of woman!"

"This isn't working! This never would have worked and you know it! I'm not meant to be here or with you! I belong in my own world with a man that doesn't have dangerous claws or a violent temper! I deserve a chance at happiness!"

"Y..." He felt the stab in his chest, the pain running deep and piercing him through. A pain he never imagined Kagome could or would inflict on him. "You aren't happy with me?"

Kagome hung her head, desperately trying to keep it together. The tears burned at her lids, spilling over and staining her cheeks. She was happy with him. She was!

"No."

"I thought..." He stepped closer, unable to help himself. His feet moved on their own accord. This wasn't happening. He wasn't hearing this. "I thought you loved me."

Kagome snapped her head up, her resolve damn near crumbling at the sight of him. Confused. Bruised. It was too much to handle, and she couldn't stop the words that left her lips. "I do! I love you so much, Inuyasha!" Her sobs caused her throat to swell and voice to come out weak.

"Then what's going on?" He stepped even closer, their bodies not even a foot apart. He resisted the urge to grab her arms and shake some sense into her, knowing it would only result in him clutching onto her for dear life. She had to give him some sort of sign that she was being manipulated. God, he'd never wanted Naraku to be on the other end of something so fucking bad before.

"I know my limits."

"Kagome, you gotta tell me. You gotta blink twice or something..."

"Wh-" He knew. She was being watched, though. As much as she wanted to throw in the towel and launch herself into the hanyou's arms, apologize profusely and take it all back, she couldn't. So much was riding on the line. "I don't know what you're talking about. Please, Inuyasha, just drop it."

"I can't do that." He said sternly, his jaw muscles flexing. "You know I can't fucking do that."

"I've gotta go." Kagome stated, trying to match his demeanor but knowing the tears soaking her face ruined her chances. She backed away from him, wishing she could step forward instead, turning on her heel to march off, tightening her arms over her chest to keep him from grabbing for her wrist. "I can't do this."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, but I don't believe you!" In an instant, his hurt was replaced with anger.

"That's not surprising." She huffed, continuing on with her trek toward the well, the half demon no doubt in tow.

"There's something else! Spill!" He easily kept pace with her, no way in hell about to let her out of his sight.

"Stop it, Inuyasha! I asked you not to make this harder than necessary, and yet that's all you seem to want to do! So stop!"

"Kagome, tell me! Tell me what I did!"

"Fine! You want to know?" Kagome yelled, spinning around to face him as they cut through the tree line, coming out onto the green field that housed her gateway to home. "You really want to know, Inuyasha?"

"Spit it out already! You've never been shy with what you've had to say before, so why hold back now?"

"You are such an idiot! You know what you did? You had the nerve to try and keep me wrapped around your bulky finger while you were wrapped around Kikyo's dead one! You-" She stalked toward him, jabbing him in the sternum with her index finger. "kept dragging me along with your stupid excuses and lies! Oh my god, one time you even had the gall to tell me you'd never chase after her again! You think that wouldn't take a toll on whatever the hell you want to call this thing between you and I!? You went after her twice last week without uttering so much as a syllable my way to indicate where you were going! Did, at any point, you think I was being treated fairly by you!"

Inuyasha was about to lose his shit. What the hell was Kagome talking about? He'd only gone to see Kikyo once, and she was asleep when the meeting occurred. He'd woken her up as soon as he returned and told her everything. He'd made it a point to be as open about their rendezvous as possible so as to deter her from thinking any sort of scandal was taking place. He didn't think it necessary to wake her up before he left, and she'd even thanked him for being honest, so what the hell was she babbling on about now?

"It's so clear that you love her! Not me! Her! So why the hell would I stay here and put myself through this?" Kagome continued, allowing the rage she felt from the predicament to consume her. She was beyond pissed with the position she'd been put in, and it was the best way she could channel it out, hoping that if Inuyasha was capable to see through any front she put up before, he'd definitely be able to see through this one. Hopefully.

"Take that back!" He growled, glaring down at her as she annoyingly stood her ground. "Who the hell are you to tell me how I feel?"

"God, how daft are you!? Two times, Inuyasha!"

Why the hell was she... . Blink twice. This was it. This was his sign. He tried not to look shocked in his realization, holding his brows in their pinched together position so hard, the muscles in his forehead faltered. "Okay! Shut up! I didn't think you noticed, alright!?"

Kagome let out a ragged breath, trying not to show her relief in his understanding. She shook her head, steeling herself once more, biting her lip as she backed away from him and closer to the well, the heel of her foot bumping against the wooden borders as she reached them.

An unfamiliar rumble came from his throat. It wasn't one she often heard of contentment or approval. It was an awful, deep-rooted emotion she'd hardly ever seen from him, boiling in the depths of his belly and breaking him down. Inuyasha was sad, and it caused a physical ache within Kagome at having caused the pain, a sob swelling in her chest as she swallowed repeatedly to keep the cry down. She hoped- dear god, she hoped he'd actually caught onto what she was saying and it wasn't just her imagination.

If he knew this was out of her control, he'd fix this right?

He'd come after her.

Wouldn't he?

Kagome held herself, as if trying to keep from falling to the ground, her nails biting into the skin of her arms through her shirt. Her lip trembled as fresh tears spilled over, and she couldn't hold back her sob any longer.

"I don't want you to go." He murmured, stepping closer. "It'll be fine. Don't go."

"I have to go, Inuyasha." She willed herself to sit on the border of the well and swung her legs over, pushing herself off and falling into the black abyss, awaiting the cold, hard floor of her home time.