Kagome didn’t know what to do. What to think. Still reeling from that night when she’d blurted out Sesshoumaru’s name, and the whole ugly truth had first come out, she seemed to observe from afar, as if from outside of herself, that she was very much in shock.
Inuyasha’s sudden, unexpected reappearance in her life only complicated matters. His reaction to all this treachery and deceit bewildered her more than anything. She’d expected anger from him. She’d even expected violence. But as he spent the next few days with her at her family’s home in the Modern Era, he seemed more grave and resolute than anything. He seemed to have taken everything that had happened in stride, almost as a matter of course, and that troubled her in a way she couldn’t frame.
His sober resolve unnerved her.
A part of her even envied him, that he’d so neatly settled matters in his own mind, whereas she remained so helplessly upended by it all.
Her mother couldn’t help but to dote on him. Kagome didn’t blame her. After all, Inuyasha was the slighted party in this affair, and Mrs. Higurashi had always been partial to him. Souta and Gramps—picking up somewhat on Inuyasha and Kagome’s marital strife but not knowing the specifics—assumed the role of unequivocal supporters in the struggle. The end result was that Kagome felt ganged up on by her own well-meaning family.
Even Shin, thrilled to have Inuyasha around to join in his Modern shenanigans, only added to turmoil she felt. Under the cover of darkness, she’d spy them perched together on the shrine roof, or high in Goshinboku’s branches, Shin’s claws hooked in Inuyasha’s fire-rat haori, their pointed ears swiveling in tandem. Their glowing eyes gazing through the smog at all the stars and finer details of the city which Kagome couldn’t see. Conversing together in a language which she could never understand.
And then there were those moments alone with Inuyasha himself. Moments where they both spoke so freely and frankly to one another that it seemed an invisible noose had finally loosened from around their throats.
“What now?” Kagome asked him.
She was sitting on her bed—well, Souta’s bed. Inuyasha was sitting in the window. It almost seemed to her like old times, and the bittersweetness of the recollection made her eyes burn. Even the question she’d put to him made her think of those days gone by when they’d been hunting down Jewel shards, wondering which path to take next.
“Keep moving forward.” Inuyasha shrugged. “What else?”
“That’s the trouble,” Kagome said, frowning. “I just can’t see it. All I see here is a dead end.”
“Okay,” Inuyasha said with a nod. “Then let’s go back.”
Before the sun rose the next morning, Kagome packed up her things. She, Shin and Inuyasha bid goodbye to her family, and the three of them traveled together through the Bone-Eater’s Well, back to Sengoku Jidai.
The moment Kagome scented the wild air, felt the stirrings of magic in the land as surely as she felt the untamed grass beneath her feet, the rightness of the time settled in her bones. With Shin in her arms, she wandered a few steps through the overgrown clearing. She didn’t even realize she was searching for anything until her eyes lighted on some pale distant peak, far to the West.
Then all she felt was remoteness, vague longing. She looked down at her son, but his green eyes were fixed on her alone.
“If you’re feeling disappointed, you shouldn’t be,” Inuyasha said, his arms crossed at the chest. “The fact that Sesshoumaru’s not here should tell you something.”
Kagome looked at him sharply. “And what is that, exactly?”
“That for all his trying, he couldn’t get you to turn against me. That’s why he took off like he did. Because he finally gave up. He’s not hanging around here to gloat because there’s nothing for him to gloat over. You got the better of him, in the end.”
Triumph gleamed in his eyes, but Kagome felt no part of it. She didn’t want any part of it, either. Shaking her head, she turned away. But Inuyasha’s voice pursued her.
“Remember what I told you. You saved yourself a nasty drop from him, Kagome. That’s all.”
Kagome’s eyes flashed back at him. “Stop it, Inuyasha. I won’t hear any more of it.”
Inuyasha’s jaw snapped shut. In silent stalemate, they eyed one another from across the clearing.
“I don’t know what to do,” Kagome conceded bitterly, at last.
“You promised you’d stay by my side,” he said, extending his clawed hand to her. “So if you don’t know what else to do, then just do that.”
In resignation, Kagome put her hand into his. And in another parody of times gone by, they walked hand-in-hand together through the woods back to Edo.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Char you spoil us 😭😭 Tysm for another update! I am foaming at the mouth waiting for sess’ reappearance.
So glad you enjoyed the update, Becky!! <3
So happy to see another update from you! I definitely figured Inuyasha would play it out that way and forgive her in the shadow of his own childhood doubts and family problems. They’ll be back together for a little bit, I guess? But at what cost? Because clearly something has cracked in her, and whether or not it can be repaired or by whom still stands unanswered. I really appreciated the imagery in this chapter, and I’m eagerly awaiting more!
This is just so good! I’m obsessed with this story and your writing!!! I love that she’s trying to state her feelings now, I can’t wait for Sesshomaru to come back <3
Aww thanks so much, alli!! <3
So glad you enjoyed the imagery in the scene, Tsuyoku! Thanks for sharing your thoughts <3
Why is my heart crying like “this is it”? You’re such an amazing writer, I don’t want it to end.
Thank you, L-desu!! <3 Hope you enjoy how the story plays out from here!
Awwwwww 🥺 InuYasha can be a sweet asshole sometimes it makes me swoon a little. Even though I feel like he has other motives, if he didn’t care about Kagome at all, he wouldn’t be nice at all to her. He’s even being her supportive rock during her time of strife and uncertainty. This is the InuYasha he should’ve been from the beginning lol Oh well. Sometimes we don’t realize what we have until it’s gone. In this case, Kagome’s heart.
Lol yeah, very sad but very true…
Thanks for sharing, Blackberry!! <3
“You promised you’d stay by my side,” he said, extending his clawed hand to her. “So if you don’t know what else to do, then just do that.”
There IS comfort in routine and the “known”. Although everything is tipsy turvey right now, I bet going back to the hut seems a lot better than just aimlessly going through the motions in the modern.
Yepp that’s why old patterns are so hard to break…
Thanks for sharing, mim! <3
Hhhmmmmmm…….🤔
Inuyasha’s reaction is beginning to intrigues me….
Thanks for another update 🩵
I was pleasantly surprised to find it when I got home from work🤭
Thank you, Maya! So glad you enjoyed the update <3
This is strange but it just seems like Sesshoumaru should be around? It’s almost as if Inuyasha has done something to Sesshoumaru? I mean could it be that Inuyasha caught Sesshoumaru off guard which I know isn’t likely and hurt him? Never seen Sesshoumaru to give up so easily unless, what I thought was right and Sesshoumaru wanted to hurt Inuyasha , but surely his son should at least mean a little to him. This is a curiosity? I want more, I am so happy with all your updates.. It’s very nice of you.
Thank you, Redwolf! So glad you’ve been enjoying the updates! Appreciate you sharing your take <3
“That for all his trying, he couldn’t get you to turn against me. That’s why he took off like he did. Because he finally gave up. He’s not hanging around here to gloat because there’s nothing for him to gloat over. You got the better of him, in the end.” Triumph gleamed in his eyes, but Kagome felt no part of it. She didn’t want any part of it, either. Shaking her head, she turned away.
The way you started this paragraph and the way you ended it is a chef’s kiss! Inuyasha again is making it all about himself in the first 2 sentences and then tries to say Kagome was in on it in the last couple of sentences. Inuyasha stated that he wanted her as a wife not a slave…..but now Kagome is a slave in this oppressive marriage. Again this relationship was never about love it is about ownership. He doesn’t care about her feelings he just want her to stay even if she is unhappy because that means he is “winning” against Sesshoumaru.
Thank for another chapter Char 🙂
“The way you started this paragraph and the way you ended it is a chef’s kiss! ” – yay thank you so much, Badtzmaru!
So glad you enjoyed the scene <3
ngl, this chapter pissed me off… xD
please make sesshoumaru come back and prove inuyasha wrong. hopefully rin managed to get through to sesshoumaru that she wants to live a human life and die with kohaku and tell him that no matter what kagome said she was gonna do it anyway.
with this cliffhanger, i feel like kagome is back into the same loop again where sesshoumaru will show up to bang and kagome will do it secretly again and back to square one again. inuyasha is way too calm for my liking but i guess he is used to bad news since his whole life has been bad news and he will forever be an outcast since no one accepts him only the friends he has left.
“ngl, this chapter pissed me off… xD” – lol sorry, Kimiko!
Hope you enjoy where the story goes from here <3
Thank you so much for another chapter!!! I’m so happy!!
I can’t believe Kagome Is just going back with Inuyasha!!! Like girl, go live on your own
Aw thank you, Kathy! So glad you’ve been enjoying the updates <3
First of all, I’m a big time fan of your works Char!
Gotta say, the pact I think, is my favorite so far; the pact’s seshoumaru is so fascinating as a character, truly how I envision his canon self, in the full spectrum of grays, however I thought I had a good grasp of his psych in the story but these later chapters are making me doubt the assumptions I had of him. Seeing Inuyasha doing an 180 completely from how he was previously acting is confounding but seriously I think that’s not how a man in love with his wife would act confronted with an affair that even resulted in said wife falling in love with his brother, so yeah I’m really suspicious of him right now, how neat of him to be so logical and understanding now when all kagome wanted from him before was a more grounded and less volatile husband.
“the pact’s seshoumaru is so fascinating as a character, truly how I envision his canon self, in the full spectrum of grays, ” – thank you so much, Giss!! So glad you’ve enjoyed my works, including this one! Love hearing your thoughts on the scene & hope you enjoy the next chapter! <3
…. he has lost it 😳 Something definitely split right apart in his noggin in the course of those few days. He’s coming up with this whole story in his head and reeling Kagome in as an ‘accomplice’ against Sesshoumaru. Kagome is at a loss, we’re all at a lost. What’s there to do but follow along with him for now? Ee 😬
Somehow this is a scarier turnabout than if he’d simply blown his top. The damage is internal and most likely frighteningly deep. There’s no point in making sense of his actions when he’s lost his senses, only to see what it’ll drive him to do in the end.
“Somehow this is a scarier turnabout than if he’d simply blown his top. ” – haha yeah i hear ya…
Thanks so much for sharing, hanayome!! <3
Idkkkk guys, I’m starting to crush on Inuyasha. The way he handled this was so gentleman-like that I kind of love it? 🥰
Tbh if we hadn’t followed along on Sesskag’s romance, I think a lot of what Inuyasha’s been saying here would seem plausible. It all just makes so much sense. It’s believable.
I do really want to know why he didn’t mark Kagome. I was reading comments on the last chapter and dang. Just dang. What are you hiding Inuyasha?? Did you mark someone else already? Did you just not have that strong enough of a desire because you’re only half demon? Did you just not want to because idk, maybe you thought you’d be insulting Kikyo’s memory?? IDK. I love this fic sm, the plot thickens every time. It’s my fav fic of yours 100000% (and I think my fav fic in general). i LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT
“Tbh if we hadn’t followed along on Sesskag’s romance, I think a lot of what Inuyasha’s been saying here would seem plausible. It all just makes so much sense. It’s believable.” – yep, we’ve mainly been seeing things through Kagome’s eyes after all 😉
I’m so thrilled you’ve been enjoying the story so much, bella! Honored by the praise <3 thanks so much!
Ugh. Those closing lines:
“You promised you’d stay by my side,” he said, extending his clawed hand to her. “So if you don’t know what else to do, then just do that.”
In resignation, Kagome put her hand into his. And in another parody of times gone by, they walked hand-in-hand together through the woods back to Edo.
💔
Just when I thought the awful hopelessness couldn’t get any worse. This is such a psychologically dark Inuyasha. 😞
Yeahh Inuyasha can have his moments, that’s for sure…
Thanks so much for sharing, friend!! <3
EATING SO GOOD WITH THESE UPDATES
Inuyasha can keep yapping but I doubt Kagome would be moved one bit (especially since he’s essentially just talking to himself, thinking of himself, and considering only his own version of the events). It’s pitiful to see such an extreme defense mechanism going on, but I guess if it keeps him from bursting at the seams…
Also, I think if Kagome really wants to, she can just summon Sesshoumaru any time she wants. One burst of concentrated reiki and she could alert like every demon in Japan or send +100 Psychic Damage through the mating mark 😂 Or she could nudge Shin to go AWOOOOOO and Papamaru would surely hear it wherever he is
“Or she could nudge Shin to go AWOOOOOO and Papamaru would surely hear it wherever he is” – awww this is too cute of an image! *cries*
So glad you’ve been enjoying the updates!! <3
I’m just lying down and thinking about the fact that inuyasha knew about mating marks and yet he’s said nothing about hers all this time…..
That is so HUUUUGE. What is wrong with him??? His girl was stolen a long time ago and he KNEW!!!!
Exactly, he knew this whole time and even more bewildering is the fact that they have been married for some time and inuyasha coming up that he didn’t want to own her as an excuse for never mating her, like are you kidding me? It’s just crazy, he has such a hard time controlling his demon side, am I supposed to believe he never had the urge to do it. He’s just saying that to hide the fact that he never loved her as he loved kikyo.
He would’ve never hesitated to mate Kikyo.
OMGGG that didn’t even hit me. He knew… the whole time. Also, mating marks tie their life sources together… sooo did Inuyasha not want Kagome to have his lifespan i.e hundreds of years? I swear he has so much explaining to do.
THIS THIS THIS!!!
Like what is he hiding! And sess said to him “what marriage” when Inu thanked him for coming to their wedding.. sess knows Inu has not looked at Kagome as one would their mate. I don’t know what Inu is hiding but I don’t buy his nice guy act rn. I think he was a nice doting wife, not Kagome. (They’re all so grey as characters, it’s fun to analyze!)
😉
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on these developments, catmechanic!! <3
Inuyasha’s sudden, unexpected reappearance in her life only complicated matters. His reaction to all this treachery and deceit bewildered her more than anything.
–
hehe i don’t think kagome ever expected to see him again after that night so this is a curveball😅 but she had a taste of being free of the secret and free of the marriage so i doubt she’d want to get back to that. sesssss come get your (possibly) pregnant mate and babyyyy
“hehe i don’t think kagome ever expected to see him again after that night so this is a curveball😅” – yepp for sure!
Thanks for sharing, rehizakki!! <3
They have entered a strange twilight zone.. 😳
Lol yep, that’s a great way to put it! Thanks for sharing, Kova! <3
‘saved yourself a nasty drop from him’ MY BOY HE SAVED HER FROM A CLIFF DROP. HE SAVED SHIN FROM A RAGING WATERFALL. LET IT GO.
Sess has punched Inu so many times in canon that people have made a compilation of Sesshomaru punching Inuyasha on Youtube, I’m not surprised it knocked something loose in him.
Ooh yeah Shin may have inherited a bit of his mama’s clumsiness XD
And Kagome doesn’t need a demon to drop her in some pit or sea, she’s the type to trip over her own ankles and end up there herself 😅 They’re actually lucky to have someone as nimble and coordinated as Sesshoumaru around to catch them.
“Sess has punched Inu so many times in canon that people have made a compilation of Sesshomaru punching Inuyasha on Youtube’ – ahahah now I have to find this XD
Thanks for sharing, oskorreia! <3
Thank you so much for the update! The closing had my heart strings pulled! Can’t wait to see how it all unfolds next 😸
Thank you, Delys! Hope you enjoy where things go from here…! <3
There’s nothing else that highlights how young of a half-demon he is than the fact that he keeps bringing up the same trauma over and over.
Which does make me sadder because… he has to deal with all this shit so young (by demon standards) 🥲 How much older is he now compared to the time he first met Kikyo, in fact? He probably hasn’t aged that much even after having his time frozen for 50 years.
Yeah good questions! It’s rather unclear how demons age in this universe (which is great for playing around in fanfics XD). Regardless of how old Inuyasha is, he’s always struck me as pretty immature lol
Thanks for sharing, Inupapa! <3
Inuyasha’s been this way about Sesshomaru since early in the story, so I don’t think he needed to bend over backwards to reach this unhinged conclusion. I’d like to refute him, but it’s hard to defend someone who’s not there to confirm or deny Inuyasha’s whole conspiracy ravings XDD
Sesshomaru where are youuuu? How are you doingggg?? Is Jakken still alive!?!?
“Inuyasha’s been this way about Sesshomaru since early in the story, so I don’t think he needed to bend over backwards to reach this unhinged conclusion. ” – hahah yeah good point XD
Thanks so much for sharing, magi! Hope you enjoy the next update <3
You’d think Inuyasha’s the one in love with Sesshoumaru the way he’s so fixated on Sess fixating on him 😅
I’m dreading Sess’s reappearance as much as I’m looking forward to it because Inu’s definitely up to some nonsense. Shenanigans are afoot.
XD
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the scene, friend!! 💕