The few days it had been since I received the news of Inuyashas impending arrival seemed to fly by. I tried to keep my mind of the confrontation I knew would happen. Inuyasha wasn't mean or bad by any means; he was just a boy in love with someone. I happened to be the one who got my heart broken. It would have been nice if he hadn't played with me so much beforehand though when he always knew who it was that he wanted.

It took some time being here that I realized I didn't need him in that way anymore. I could be strong and protect myself without him. He had grown to be more of a brother to me but I knew deep down we would always have a connection. I could finally admit to myself that I was no longer in love with him; the love I felt had been more of a puppy love anyways. What he had with Kikyo was much more real now than what I thought we had.

Sesshomaru came to collect me when my friends arrived at the gates surrounding his castle. I had missed everyone, Sango, Shippo. Heck I even missed Miroku despite the wandering tendencies of his hand. Sango was my best friend; I need her around to help me solve the mysteries of being a girl. Plus this little crush on Sesshomaru I seemed to have is exactly the kind of thing we could spend hours gushing about.

Dressed in my clothes from my time, yoga capris and a simple grey t-shirt, I headed down with Sesshomaru by my side. It was almost strange to see his full mask back in place, I had become so accustomed to it being somewhat down. He seemed so cold and distant now, though as he led me closer to the now yelling masculine voice of Inuyasha, his grip on my shoulder tightened ever so slightly. I doubt he even noticed he did it but my over active nerves certainly did. With a small smile I stepped outside to greet my friends.

"Sango! Shippo!" I called then watched the heads spin in my direction. The little fox demon I thought of as my son rushed over, engulfing me in a hug which I quickly returned. Soon I was being hugged by all of the people I considered friends, minus Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. The latter looked almost amused by the easy display of affection show to me by my friends by the slight raise of an eyebrow. It was strange how I had learned the basics o his body language.

"Hey wench! So you get angry and storm off to my brother off all people! Talk about betrayal. Did you spill all our secrets?" Inuyasha demanded, narrowed eyes focused on me and Sesshomaru who stood nearby.

"Inuyasha I was hurt, I ran because of that. I was attacked and your so called terrible brother rescued me. I was graciously allowed to recover here and YES I did choose to stay. I am not yours to command, you have no say in what I do! I choose to stay here largely due to Rin and because Sesshomaru generously offered to help me train"

"I could have trained you! You were just too stupid to learn. Besides you're coming back with us, you love me too much to cheat and stay with him" he spat harsh words at me.

"It is not that I am too stupid to learn, it was that you are too incompetent to teach. Your brother is a master of fighting considering he's been doing it longer than any of us. He commands armies Inuyasha, he has helped me learn a lot more than you ever did. I did love you once. It hurt me time and time again that you choose Kikyo, knowing how I felt. The last time, in front of me, was simply too much. It was not cheating nor is me being here. You and me, our relationship, never escalated to one of love so neither you or me have 'cheated' on the other. You protected me and I stayed with you because of it. I am more than capable now of defending myself should I have to. I won't have to do it alone though because you and Sango and Miroku are my friends. Yes we were never meant to be more than friends"

The small area we were in had fallen silent during my speech, even Sesshomaru had seemed surprised by my long winded speech. It held the truth though, I just wish I had realized it earlier. Inuaysha was never meant to be the one I was with, we simply weren't going to work long term. I didn't want to lose him as a friend, we got along great and I was still close to him.

"I am not going to lose you Kagome, especially not to that bastard. I may not be the best guy but I am your protector. I don't love you like I do Kikyo but as your protector I cannot allow you to stay with him. He's a cold blooded killer" Inuyasha said, his tone suggesting superiority to me. It just made me angry, he had no right.

"You have no authority to allow me to do anything! I make my own decisions and you'll have to accept them. We are all killers! All of us have killed someone, a demon or a person. Why is he different? We all have blood on our hands and so does he. At some point or another he accepted it as part of protecting his land" I glanced at the subject of our conversation, Sesshomaru, as I spoke. Unsurprisingly his eyes were on me as well. Had he known I would look at him? Could he see the slight flush to my cheeks now? Oh good lord I hoped not.

"I- but no thats not fair" Inuyasha huffed before storming off into the forest. I tried calling for him but he ignored it. Had I just lost my friend by protecting someone else? It was Miroku whose hand came on my shoulder in comfort. The monks eyes were watching the spot were our friend disappeared.

"Do not worry Lady Kagome, he just needs to cool off. You frightened him when we could find you and now he is just angry. He will see your wisdom and return"