What It's Really About by dixiepixie

The Goal

                                                       Chapter One: The Goal

Books on dog training were a dime a dozen: "The Idiot's Guide to Fun and Tricks With Your Dog" by Sarah Hodgson, "Dog Training made Easy" by Michael Tucker, "How To Behave So Your Dog Behaves" by Sophia Yin... Really, countless methods and ideas... Since the 1940s, it had been popular to train dogs based on "scientific evidence" that "dogs were essentially wolves" in domestic fur coats. However, was it really scientific?

The wolves that had caused the stir up were contained in man's enclosures... handled and fed from a distance, but not truly wild wolves. And Kagome would know.

Another thing Kagome knew was that, training a dog to do as he was asked could be as simple as politely asking him... "Inuyasha, could you please SIT down and listen?!" Her exasperation would of course make him comply, but, in the future, he would learn... Although, this was technically based on the 40s ideal of "being an alpha." Perhaps, with certain dogs, it was necessary to be more firm in what was and was not acceptable behavior. But Kagome longed to be one of those girls who would walk their handsome Shibas through her modern day streets, leash held loosely, as though it wasn't even needed... Calmly speaking to their friends, and giggling at the dogs' antics, which were always polite, even if somewhat mischevious. She desired that her dog, like theirs, would do as she asked out of his heart's desire, not because she had forced him to follow her lead.

Kagome didn't want to be an alpha. She wanted to be a partner.

Tucker and Hodgson would ask her to have started with a puppy, and perhaps in some ways Inuyasha was a puppy. However, she knew that he had already learned some bad habits, and that without her slip collar, without that magical rosary, Inuyasha might slip up and bite someone one day. He was perhaps not the best candidate. And as the days went by and she had to continually teach him the same command, again and again, she wondered if perhaps he just needed someone else to take over. Was it possible that she had chosen the wrong puppy, and that this particular dog was just too much for her to handle?

As she mulled it over in her mind, whether or not she truly wished to be Inuyasha's partner anymore, she considered their relationship as it stood. He claimed to want to protect her, but he sometimes inadvertently put her in danger. And whenever she tried to point out to him the multitude of ways in which he could keep everyone safer, he would resolve to sulk for days, refusing any kindness and trying to move on that Kagome might offer. He claimed that they were friends, and yet the first sign of trouble for another...

The pang that used to come with this thought, which itself used to come first, was somehow empty these days. It seemed as if it no longer bothered her; he had trained her to accept that he had other duties, other promises. And she had been the second girl, it was true, to try and train him to be a partner... If she turned it around, well, if the puppy didn't want her to adopt it and continued to seek the other girl in the room, who was she to force him to heel to her?

Behaviorism applied to all creatures, anyway, and Kagome could always just wait for another puppy. One of those girls in the streets back home, she supposed, would be happy to direct her to a litter of Shibas whose eyes hadn't opened yet, and alighted on any special girl. She could shine brighter in their eyes, she knew, than ever she could in Inuyasha's.

Besides, the jewel was nearing completion, and Inuyasha's chosen partner was not going anywhere anytime soon. Kagome was going to give up on this one. It was a cute puppy, and very sweet, but just not the one for her. Oh well.

As the evening's fire waned, fizzling and crackling merrily and lowly, Kagome opened her eyes and observed. Shippo was asleep, curled tightly into a ball to her left. He had the remains of a sucker in his mouth, drool beginning to work its way from the corner of his mouth and down the stick. She was grateful he had chosen to pass out NOT on her sleeping things. That would be a sticky mess soon. To Shippo's left sat Miroku, leaning against a tree stump. It had softened with rot, and he seemed comfortable... but not nearly as comfortable as Sango, who had one hand curled against his heart, her head tucked underneath his chin. They were a perfect match, very complimentary of one another for all of their contradictions. Sango too had to teach her partner again and again, the same thing: respect others' space, and pay attention to your partner. However, unlike Kagome, Sango didn't mind. The feeling that perhaps Kagome had chosen the wrong partner reiterated itself and she sighed. Sango's lips were upturned in her sleep; it must be a good dream, Kagome thought. To Sango's left, Kagome's 8 o'clock, Kirara was curled around herself. A gentle purr eminated from her engine, a humm that soothed and calmed Kagome. Cats were so very good for health. The firecat was resting as well as her mistress, both partners at ease thanks to the situation they had placed themselves in. Kagome wanted that. She wanted very much to place herself in a situation appropriately geared towards comfort and trust in one's partners. Obviously, they rested well because of it!

And finally, to Kirara's left were the two figures that most hounded Kagome's constantly running mind: Kikyo was sitting cross legged, her eyes nearly closed, staring into the fire. She didn't appear to be at peace, but neither did she war with herself, at least not visibly. The miko was still as the night itself, her cheeks warmed by the fire, but not quite as rosy as Kagome thought they could be. Even if she was the right partner for Inuyasha, she didn't smile in her sleep like Sango... She couldn't, Kagome supposed, because the turmoil that surrounded her previous life and death had followed her into this one. How hard it must have been to slip into the black, only to wake and find yourself in the same position: monsters all around and your partner betraying you. Kagome knew it must have felt like a betrayal to see Inuyasha trying to carry on living, when Kikyo's own life had come to a screetching halt. She had thought she had given him the same too, so what a surprise when he gallivanted about the countryside with someone else...

To Kiyko's left, Kagome's eyes finally rested on Inuyasha himself, directly to her right. Caught in the middle as always. She restrained her sigh here, knowing that he wasn't asleep, even if his eyes were closed. Every now and then, his left ear would give a gentle flick, and then his right. He was carefully watching over Kikyo and Kagome both, because his heart was torn. Kagome knew that he truly loved them both in his own way, but it wasn't enough for her. She couldn't even bear to dissect his feelings anymore. Part of her was still wounded every time he'd look at her, trying to explain himself. Another part of her didn't care. It was unacceptable, because she would never do that to anyone else. She would never make explanations and excuses; of course, she hadn't been in his position, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't hold him to a promise made in the past, if she were Kikyo... nor would she hold him to a promise made now that Kikyo was back, not even if it was to herself. She didn't want to be involved anymore, and it was easiest to sit back quietly at night, and let him choose where to be. And if danger should strike, she knew she'd roll to her left and grab Shippo first. Let Inuyasha roll where he may.

There, she had said it! Well, to herself. It was another step, one in many that she had been taking, towards liberating herself. For a brief moment, she smiled. She could do it. By herself and for herself; she had needed a savior when she had fallen into this world, but she was beyond that now. It was nice. As the fire dimmed and warmth flowed through her at her own admission to herself that she wasn't right for Inuyasha, Kagome slipped away into a dream. In her dream, she was a dog trainer back home. She taught other people that, it wasn't about being the boss of your dog, it was about being a friend, about protecting each other, and about being completely at peace. No strife could exist in modern Tokyo, and there was no reason for anyone to be upset with their 4 legged friend, and vice versa: everyone could get along and enjoy everything life had to offer with the right partner!

                                                                                 &D

I know there seems to be a lot of Inuyasha and not enough Sesshoumaru, but I always hate when there is no "bridge" between cannon and what I write. I have to include it! Review if you feel the need, it would be nice to know what the readers think. Thank you!