My chapters do seem awfully short, but I hope that you are still enjoying them. ^-^ I am not sure how much longer this story will go on, but let’s just hope it won’t be that 17 chapter monster SB was. ^_^  Please note that Rumiko Takahashi owns Inuyasha, not I. _

Summer’s End

Chapter Six

By: Lazuli

lazulidreamer@yahoo.com

               Kagome looked startled at the sudden statement. “We have to talk? You’re willing to talk now?” She tried to look scornful, but even her look could not disguise the hopeful tone her voice put out. It was stupid at how much she relied on this—of how much she wanted to believe it.

               Inuyasha’s broken arm was held in a sling against his chest, and his violet eyes stared into hers as he made himself comfortable on the bed. There was something about those eyes that were different now. Like they knew something—or had finally given in to previously known information. She waited expectantly for him to start.

               “Look—I’m sorry for the way grandpa was acting—“ He started out, but she shook her head, cutting him off.

               “No, don’t apologize. I was the one who told him to tell you.” She smiled softly. “When he told me—it made things make that much more sense. Things added up—“ Her expression was far off. “Tell the truth. What type of dreams did you have?”

               Inuyasha’s surprised expression said that he wasn’t expecting her to take charge of a conversation he initiated, but shrugging it off he started to explain some of the dreams, watching her very carefully for her reaction, ready to stop at any sign of distress or unhappiness from her.

               “Well, I’ve had dreams that I was him.” He started out, biting his lip. “Where I was talking to you—where it was a different place. There was a time when… well, I broke my arm trying to save you.” His expression was shadowed as if actually recalling a memory, and not a dream. “That was when I woke up and saw you staring over me. I had been having other dreams before that—and…the one I just had disturbed me.”

               Kagome looked at him carefully. His face was utterly serious and expressionless—not giving away any thoughts that were in his mind. Looking out the window, his eyes seemed to be intent on the tree outside.  She finally poked him when the silence stretched on too long.

               Jumping at her sharp claws he turned his gaze back on her and he started talking again. “I apparently had a talk with myself. I told myself that I really was at one point your Inuyasha. That I was reborn, waiting for you.”

               Kagome stared at him, not expecting such a blunt admission. “Wha…?” She asked intelligently. Shaking her head she looked at him intently. “You told yourself that you were my mate.”

               Inuyasha nodded, turning away from her intense gaze. “Yeah. I know it’s far-fetched, but you wanted to know what I dreamt about. That’s one of the most important things.”

               She frowned and turned her face back to his. “And what do you believe?” She asked quietly. “Do you think you are?”

               Yanking his face away from her, he winced at the slight pinpricks from her claws. “I don’t know what to think.” His voice was quiet, confused. “I’m not used to having myself talk to me in my dreams and call me an idiot.” He muttered.

               Kagome gave an unexpected laugh at that. “You called yourself an idiot?”

               Inuyasha grinned and nodded. “Apparently my past self or sleeping self…memories, I guess you could call it—was rather unhappy with me acting like such a baby.”

               “Hmm…” Kagome looked thoughtful. “How would we wake them up?” Her hands clenched into fists as she tried to hold back the urge to shake that other personality dominant.

               Inuyasha shook his head. “Why do you want them awakened?” He asked. “Wouldn’t it hurt you more to see memories and emotions in a man that was once your mate—but not anymore?” His gaze switched to meet her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you like that.”

               She shook her head. “You wouldn’t, though.” She paused. Would he? Have I really stopped to think about this? What it would mean if he started acting even *more* like my mate? Having memories and treating me more special?

               He put his hand on her chin and she flinched instinctively. He moved away quickly, nodding. “You see? You’re uncomfortable with me—you can’t treat me like your mate because I’m not your mate. We need to get to know each other still. I hardly know anything about you.”

               “But you would with the memories…” She protested. Inuyasha shook his head.

               “I want to get to know you now.” He said firmly. “How you act now, what you react to, your likes and dislikes—it’s a different environment—things from the past wouldn’t help me now.”

               Kagome pouted and didn’t want to give up. “Wouldn’t you like to know? I mean—if you were somebody before—you should know about it.” She edged closer to him again. “We can get to be together.” At his startled look, she hastily amended her sentence. “As friends, at least.” At first.

“Aren’t we friends now?” He asked. He touched her hand lightly, pleased when she didn’t jerk away this time. “Kagome—I may have been your Inuyasha, but you cannot treat me exactly like him all of a sudden. I’m still me, even if I was him.” His eyes pleaded with hers. “Please understand that.”

               Kagome nodded slowly, wanting to pretend, but she knew it wasn’t fair to him to treat him like he was her mate when he truly wasn’t. Being reincarnated did not make it a solid thing, and earning his trust and love all over again was the important matter. The fact that he simply *was* her mate, though, made her feel less guilty about wanting to be closer to him, and no longer questioned the need to do so.

               He squeezed her hand gently. “Then let’s go downstairs, eat dinner, and go from there.”

**

Months Later

**

               Kagome swung down from the tree to land beside Inuyasha, grinning widely. He was tending the grounds and looked bored, staring off into the distance at something. She had a feeling he was thinking about her, and she crept up directly behind him. She was about to pounce when he turned around and grabbed her.

           “Thought you could sneak up on me?” He asked, grinning, holding her waist gently. His broken arm had finally healed, and he was taking advantage of being able to use both arms. He and Kagome had gotten much closer than before—their friendship was very strong.

               She wrinkled her nose. “Why do you always have to know when I’m behind you?” She pouted. “That’s not fair.”

               Shaking his head, he tweaked her nose. “And you sniffing me out is?” He pointed out, smirking. “If I can tell you’re there, it saves me from jumping ten feet into the air. Which I’m sure you want to see.” His smile grew wider at her sheepish grin.

               “It’s no fun when you can tell ahead of time.” She finally laughed and pulled away from him. “You said you were going to show me that planetarium place once it got dark.” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Can’t we go now?”

               Inuyasha looked at the slightly ragged grounds, to Kagome’s pleading eyes and gave in. “All right—I’ll deal with Grandpa’s wrath tomorrow. I don’t want to do this anymore tonight.” He tweaked her nose again and went inside to change into something cleaner.

               Kagome was waiting impatiently for him to come back out, but smiled when she saw him in the fresher smelling clothes, long black hair pulled back in a tail. “Took you long enough.” She frowned, and practically dragged him down the steps, acting like an overeager child.

Or a puppy. Inuyasha kept that thought to himself the entire trip to the planetarium. 

               Once they arrived at the building, he got the pleasure of seeing Kagome’s eyes widen incredibly at the size of the place, and the rush of people. She was wearing a large, floppy hat over her ears, but he could tell the noise still pained her as they bought their tickets and pushed through the crowd. He guided her towards the correct room.

               “It’s much quieter in here.” He said softly. He looked around. “And rather empty. You can take off the hat if you want.”

               She looked at him gratefully and removed the confining article, ears twitching to get out the strain they had been under. She looked up, and her mouth opened in shock to see the levels upon levels around her, reaching up higher than she thought a building could have. There were stairs and strange pieces of metal—lots of seats arranged in the room, around the large piece of metal.

               “Machinery. It’s for the viewer.” He pointed up to one set of stairs, and she followed to where he was pointing to see something *huge* up on the top, pointing to the stars. She jumped up impatiently, latching on to him. “Can we go up there?” She asked eagerly.

               He nodded. “This is why I chose tonight to come here. You can look through the telescope—that’s what that piece of metal you see is—and you can see the stars. It’s a really great experience.”

               She smiled happily and began nimbly leaping up the stairs, Inuyasha following her more slowly. She had mentioned that she liked looking at the stars. He admitted that his shrine was not the best place to see the stars, but with the telescope, she could see further than she ever had. Am I tainting her with stuff from the future? It’s like…I’m changing her by giving her all this.

               He shook his thoughts off when Kagome pulled him up next to her. “How do you work this?” She asked, touching it carefully. She had respect for the machines of his time. She stopped calling them youkai, but she still was very cautious with them. Being attacked by the sprinklers at the park had surprised her so badly she nearly jumped out of her skin. She was determined to ‘not be tricked’ like that again.

               He carefully guided her face to the telescope. “You look in here and you can see the stars.” He stood directly behind her, one hand on her shoulder. Her gasp of delight told him that she found what she was looking for and he guided the telescope while she enthusiastically scanned the night sky.

               She finally pulled away, her face happy at the gift he gave her. “Thank you.” She said quietly, then hugged him. He held her in shock, smiling softly himself.

               “You’re welcome, Kagome. You’re very welcome.”

**

               Things progressed from there. Inuyasha tried as hard as he could to tell her about the modern world—and she showed him of what she knew. She made him hunt down the ‘old’ temples and she explained her past to him—about what the land was like, what the people did and worshipped. There was a slightly wistful tone to her voice as she went around, and he couldn’t miss the sad tone in her voice.

               “Kagome?” He asked softly. They were sitting in front of a temple that had been around for as long as his shrine had, and touched her hand softly. “What is it?” He asked.

               She shook her head, silver hair actually held back in a braid. She looked so modern, but there was still a part of her that showed that she wasn’t from the past. The way her eyes lit up at the winter festival, subways or vending machines. She was like an innocent child in so many ways, but so much older than he grandfather in others. The way she talked about things. The way she was acting now.

               “Please tell me?” He asked softly.

               She looked at him, biting her lip carefully. “Well—I’m unsure about asking you, Inuyasha. Because we already agreed…” Her voice trailed off as she looked up at the high entrance of the temple again, moving her gaze off of him.

               “Tell me.” He ordered softly. “I don’t mind if it’s something for you.” He turned her face towards his, hands gentle. “It’s okay.”

               Gulping, she moved her hands off his face, her own hands holding his. “It’s just…I wish…that…it’s not a bad thing…but…” She paused. “I would like it if…I could share this with you. Inuyasha….knew of these places, of course. It would be nice…if we could talk about it…about what we did…” Her face was red and she stared down at her lap. “I mean—I know its not you and all…”

               Inuyasha stopped the floor of words by tilting her chin up. He didn’t tell her—but he was remembering more now. From the past—memories that weren’t his now but were his then. He knew what she was talking about, and he smiled and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go back to the shrine. I can make some tea and we can talk there.”

               Kagome nodded, her face clearly showing her amazement as she followed Inuyasha back to the shrine, fingers clasping his as they walked down the street together. “Are you sure?” She pressed. “You’re not just doing this to make me feel better?”

               He shook his head, pulling her along. “Trust me—it’s not. The memories are there…” He sighed and looked up at the sky. “I’ve been having lots of dreams.” He muttered.

               Kagome smiled softly and gripped his hand tighter. Finally, he’s accepting.

               Inuyasha watched Kagome out of the corner of his eye as he set the teacups and pot of tea on the tray, carrying it outside to the Goshinboku. She was sitting up in one of the branches, but leapt down easily to sit in front of him. Her blue-ish silver eyes were fixed on his, and she deftly poured two cups of tea.

               “Do you still want to talk?” She asked. As intense as her gaze was, her tone was softer and more unsure. She pushed the cup of tea in front of him. “It’s okay if you…” Inuyasha shushed her again.

               “Don’t worry.” He gave her an ironic smile. “This is all filled to the bursting inside of me. Maybe you can help me sort it out.” He sipped the tea carefully, then leaned back on the palms of his hands, staring up at the sky filtered through the leaves of the tree. Even that casual pose…he noticed her looking and nodded. “It’s something I did before, isn’t it?” He asked.

               She nodded. “It is…” She edged over to him. “Tell me about what you remember.” She said softly. Inuyasha nodded and touched her hair gently for a moment before pulling away. “I remember…first meeting you.” It wasn’t hard at all—now—to say that the other Inuyasha was him, to refer to him as himself when speaking about memories or thoughts—feelings.

               Kagome’s eyes lit as she snuggled up next him, not even consciously aware of what she was doing. “Tell me.” She whispered, eyes half closed. He nodded and resumed stroking her hair.

**

               Inuyasha climbed up into the high branches of the tree, wanting to get away from the miko who was determined to ‘claim’ him. She said they belonged together—they could both guard the Shikon no Tama with their power. “I don’t have the type of power she’s talking about.” He grumped.

“Well, quit whining about it. I thought you male humans wanted to marry the bitch.”

 Inuyasha looked up in shock to see a girl—woman lounging above him, silver hair spread out on the branch. “Youkai!” She wasn’t doing anything, though, and looked vaguely amused at his reaction.

               “What, you’re not going to run from the evil creature?” She mocked. “Better be careful. Could rip you apart in seconds.” She flexed her hands, and his eyes went to the sharp claws. She was smirking at him, and he saw hints of fangs. For some reason he couldn’t be scared. She was too damn cute.

               He saw Kikyou coming up towards the tree, though—she would put a few holes in this girl-youkai. “You better get out of here.” He warned. “The miko here is a very good shot. She doesn’t care for youkai.”

               The girl laughed. “What human does, idiot?” She stood easily on the branch, staring down at him. Her long silver hair lifted in the breeze, swirling around her face. “I’ll be back here. Be sure to warn me of her again.” Her tone was mocking and soon she was gone.

               Inuyasha stared at the space that she was before Kikyou came up to him, pointing an arrow. “Oh, Inuyasha…I thought it was a youkai. I felt one here.” She lowered her bow and smiled at him. “Why don’t you come back to the village? I would hate to see you hurt.”

               Inuyasha shook his head. “You go back Kikyou. You have the Shikon no Tama to protect.” She nodded at the truth and left him alone, but not before giving him a strange look as she walked back. He shivered at it.

**

Kagome felt Inuyasha shiver beneath her, and she looked up at him curiously. Looking down at her he gave her a reassuring smile. “I was just…remembering…her.” He said softly. His eyes flashed pain briefly before he shut them. He opened them a moment later to stare down at her.

               “I’m sorry—I mean I probably said everything all wrong and got all sorts of details messed up.” Kagome wrinkled her nose and thought back. It wasn’t that far back and she smiled.
               “Oh, you left out a few minor details.” Kagome looked amused. “Like me telling you to go to your bitch when she called.” She tried to hide how shaken she felt at him reciting something from their past—it helped much more than she could actually admit, but it scared her that he could do that.

               His eyes widened for a moment, before his body relaxed into laughter. “I can see that…” He muttered. “It fits you all to well.” He tweaked her nose again. It does make sense, I can see it—how much more will I remember, and how will it change the way I treat her? I already don’t know if it is my feelings of now, or the feelings from back then.

**

To be continued