Should've Stayed Dead [Inuyasha]

Should've Stayed Dead

Inuyasha growled and shot up, taking off towards Kagome's hut. Why... Why was that bastard's scent there of all places?!! And this early in the morning?!! Sesshomaru had visited Rin yesterday, having dinner with his ward, Kagome, and Shippo, but didn't he go home after that?!

"Kagome!!!" Inuyasha shouted as he barreled into the house, only to freeze in place at who was leisurely sitting by the fire-place. The hanyo glared at him, "You!!! Where's Kagome, you bastard?!!! What have you done with her?!!!"

Sesshomaru looked at him blankly, his armor off in the corner along with Moko-moko-sama, leaving him in his haori and hakama pants. "Hello to you too, half-breed."

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's soft, half-asleep voice spoke as she tumbled out of the sleeping room while rubbing her eyes. "Why are you being so loud? It's so early!!!"

Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief at seeing she was unharmed. He rushed up to the miko, holding her shoulders in his hands. But still, even as his eyes saw her... Kagome had no scent...

No, wait... it wasn't that she didn't have a scent. It was more like she was so coated in another's scent that hers was unrecognizable... It was on her skin, imprinted so heavily onto Kagome's body that only the one who put their scent on her could smell her own sweet scent. And the scent covering Kagome's own?

It belonged to Sesshomaru.

Said daiyoukai let out a threneting growl as he shot to his feet, "Hands off my mate!!!"

All the color drained from Inuyasha's face, "M-mate?"

Kagome blushed heavily, "I, uh..."

Sesshomaru pulled Inuyasha's hands off her, and tugged the miko into his side as he glared at Inuyasha. The faint hints of a smirk was on the inu's face, "You would do well to remember that fact, half-breed."

Inuyasha stared at Sesshomaru for a long moment, then looked at Kagome's pajama clad form. He did this a handful of times, before finally settling his gaze on the miko. "K-kagome... I-is this true? A-are you really Sesshomaru's mate?"

Kagome pulled away from the daiyoukai to smile softly at her long time friend, "Trust me. I was just as surprised when I found out... But I wasn't mad. After all-" she looked up at Sesshomaru with a beaming smile. "Now I don't ever have to leave the man I love!"

The silver inu looked down at her with a fond expression, his eyes softening ever-so-slightly. Inuyasha felt his heart shatter at that very moment... he could see it.

Right under his nose, Kagome had fallen in love with Sesshomaru, and somehow... The ice-cold daiyoukai fell in love with her.

And to top it all off, they were mates... soulmates.

How could Inuyasha compete with that?

At that moment, he tried to tell himself how if he hadn't waited, then Kagome could have been his... But even Inuyasha knew that was a lie. He knew that Sesshomaru and Kagome would have found their ways to each other eventually- that's just how mates worked.

Inuyasha looked between the two of them and sighed... At least this way, he wouldn't ever lose Kagome. Her life force was bonded to Sesshomaru's, so she'd be with him as long as he lived and wouldn't get much older than she was now.

He... Inuyasha supposed he could live with that...

For which would he rather? Have Kagome as a lover for a short amount of time or have her as a friend, a sister, for even longer? The latter, because Inuyasha couldn't force her to love him and if Kagome didn't love her partner- she could never be happy.