InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All Things Come Full Circle ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

Last time:

Both girls got up from their seats on the forest floor and slowly made their way back to camp and their companions.

They were halfway back when Kagome froze and stopped in her tracks. Inukigo stopped and looked back at Kagome with concern.

"Kagome? Daijoubou ka?"

"I'm alright. It's just that there are two jewel shards coming toward us fast. It's…" Inukigo cut her off by holding up her hand and then sniffed, not really liking what she smelled.

"I smell a…"

"OII!! KAGOME!!"

This time:

No sooner had those words been yelled from somewhere in the forest, a person sized tornado, which Inukigo looked at oddly since it seemed to have a mind of it's own, came flying through the trees and headed directly for them. Just as Inukigo was about to raise her guard, the whirlwind dissipated, revealing the well-toned body of the young wolf demon prince, Kouga. She stood up straight and crossed her arms in a very Inuyasha-like pose.

"Wolf," she finished, in an irritated voice that matched her irritated look when said wolf walked right by her as though she wasn't even there, and went straight for Kagome. She then watched as two more wolf demons appeared from the tree line. They looked like they had been run to death, and about pass out from lack of oxygen, but they managed to say hello to her, and she smiled and waved back at them.

"Kagome," Kouga said gently as he grabbed her hands, "I thought I picked up your scent. Where's inukuro? He'd better be taking better care of you than to let you wander off on your own."

Kagome looked at him nervously for a few seconds, not really sure what to do. She cast a glance over Kouga's shoulder to look at Inukigo, who was giving her an expectant look. Kagome's features hardened as she grew determined, and instead of giving Kouga the false, happy smile that she usually did, she pulled her hands from Kouga's and moved back a step before answering.

"I'm fine Kouga."

Inukigo grinned, proud that Kagome had remembered to make that little change.

"Inuyasha isn't very far way, besides, I'm not out here by myself."

Kouga looked a little startled when Kagome moved away from him, but decided to ignore it, and went to grab her again. He became thoroughly confused when she stepped away from him again. Inukigo was biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud at the expression on his face. Kouga decided to let it drop for the time being.

"If you not here by yourself, then who are you out here with?"

Inukigo's mouth dropped open in shock. She thought he had just ignored her, but it turned out that he had been so caught up in getting to Kagome as quickly as possible, that he actually hadn't noticed her there.

'Doesn't this guy have a nose? Or eyes for that matter.'

She looked over to the two other wolves as if to ask 'is this guy for real?', and the two of them put their heads in their hands and turned away in embarrassment.

Kagome was shocked as well. Instead of answering him, she just pointed over his shoulder at the hanyou that was still staring at him weirdly. Kouga turned to see what she was pointing at, and not recognizing the hanyou woman as one of the regular travellers in Kagome's group, decided to give voice to his curiosity.

"Who the hell are you?"

Inukigo's face immediately darkened at his remark, and her eyes narrowed slightly in anger at his demanding tone.

'Don't think you can order me around, prick.'

She was about to open her mouth to tell him just that, but closed it again when he approached her, sniffing curiously. She left him alone, not really sure what he was up to. He kept advancing, but Inukigo held her ground and started letting off a low warning growl, which Kouga ignored. He drew closer, until he was just inches away from Inukigo's neck. He was still sniffing, and his attention had caused her to stop growling and a slight flush crept onto her face.

'Wha-what is he doing?'

Then he stopped suddenly and straightened to look her in the eye.

"Ooi…" he said in a slow voice that had Inukigo and Kagome confused, then he continued.

"…You smell like dog-turd."

Inukigo froze for a moment before the words registered in her head. The flush on her face changed from embarrassment to anger and her mouth curled up in a snarl, baring her teeth at him, just before she exploded.

"What…WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!!!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where the hell are they! They should be back by now!"

"Calm down Inuyasha. They can take care of themselves," said Miroku.

"I don't care. I don't understand why they couldn't just have their stupid conversation here."

"Because it was something that Inukigo-chan thought that Kagome-chan might want discussed in private," Sango explained.

"What could be so private that they needed to go into the forest for it?"

"Oh, for Kami's sake Inuyasha, she wanted to talk about you courting Kagome-chan," Sango said in an annoyed tone.

'Oh yeah, Inukigo mentioned that didn't she?' Inuyasha thought, although he wasn't about to let his current companions know the truth about the situation.

"N-Nani?! I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Inuyasha cried defensively.

"Lose the act Inuyasha," Miroku said calmly, "We all know about it so there's really no point."

'N-Nani?!'

"B-But, how?!"

"I already knew about youkai courting, and Inukigo explained it to Sango," Miroku explained.

"I knew about it too," Shippou piped up.

"How the hell would you know about something like that?!" Inuyasha yelled as he grabbed the kit by the tail.

"Hey! What do you take me for. I might be just a kid, but I'm still a youkai. I know a courtship ritual when I see it."

Inuyasha struggled for a moment to try to come up with something but came up empty handed.

"Keh!" he spat, dropping Shippou, then turning his back to the others and dropping to sit cross legged while folding his arms in the sleeves of his haori across his chest.

"There's no need to be embarrassed about it Inuyasha," Miroku said.

"Yeah," Sango added, "There's nothing wrong with going after someone that you're interested in Inuyasha."

Inuyasha said nothing and refused to turn to look at either of them. He was still embarrassed regardless.

'Wait, if it has been this obvious that I'm courting Kagome, does that mean that Naraku already knows what she means to me? The attack the other day was meant solely for her after all. Maybe I can go ahead and mark her.'

Inuyasha went off into his own little world, making Miroku, Sango, and Shippou very happy. He had be complaining ever since Kagome and Inukigo had left, and was now finally being quiet. The entire forest was actually silent and peaceful, until the serenity was suddenly shattered by an enraged scream.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!!!!"

Everyone's heads jerked in the direction of the shout, even the humans. It had been so loud that there was no way they wouldn't have heard it.

"What in the…?" Sango started incredulously.

"Inuyasha? Wasn't that Inukigo?" Miroku asked, looking towards the hanyou.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, standing up and walking towards the path, sniffing tentatively, "She and Kagome aren't that far away…" he paused, then frowned and started growling.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, becoming concerned by his growling.

"They're not alone," Inuyasha bit out.

"If they're not alone, who's with them?" Shippou asked curiously as he came to sit on Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Kouga," Inuyasha growled out, before he took off, causing Shippou to scream and hold on for dear life.

Sango and Miroku looked at each other with identical worried looks.

"This might not turn out well," Sango stated.

"No, I very much doubt it will," Miroku replied, "We should go and see if there's anything we can do."

"Right," Sango agreed, nodding her head, "Kirara!"

The small fire cat was instantly at her side and transformed so Miroku and Sango could climb on.

"Let's go."

Inuyasha arrived on the scene in seconds, taking in the situation in front of him. Inukigo was seething - there had been few times when he'd seen her so mad. She usually kept a calm outward appearance, letting her scent and eyes tell that she was pissed off at you. But this time he could actually see it - she looked like she was ready to tear Kouga's eyes out. Kouga just looked at her strangely with an indifferent expression, like he had no clue why the half demon woman in front of him was so mad. Kagome looked panicked - if they started to fight there would be nothing she could do, and would have to watch them tear each other apart.

"What's going on here?" he bellowed, as Kirara stopped beside him with Sango and Miroku.

Kagome looked at him gratefully, while Inukigo and Kouga both turned their eyes to them.

"Ooi," Kouga spat indignantly, "Who the hell this crazy wench is that's with Kagome?"

Inukigo looked back at him, trying to burn holes in his head with her eyes.

"W-wench?! Who the hell do you think you are bastard!" she yelled in his face.

"Shut-up would you?!" Kouga yelled back, "I don't get why you're so pissed at me in the first place, wench."

Inukigo was livid.

"You said that I smelled like dog-turd you idiot!!"

"Yeah, so? You do, that's why I said it."

"Why you…" Inukigo threatened, pulling her fist back, ready to take a swing at his jaw.

"Okay, okay, enough." Inuyasha said, rushing over and grabbing Inukigo's raised arm. As much as he hated the wolf, he didn't want to see him dead, and he was sure that Inukigo would kill him if they were allowed to continue.

"Ooi, let go. He's got it coming," Inukigo complained, trying to pull her arm from Inuyasha's grip, to no avail.

"Calm down," he told her sharply, leaving no room for argument. She whimpered and let her arms go slack. Inuyasha felt her give up and let her go.

Kouga watched the two, still annoyed that he hadn't gotten his answer.

"Am I gonna get an answer or what?"

Inukigo returned her glare to him once again.

"We're siblings you dumb fuck. Use your damn nose."

Kouga returned the glare with equal fire.

"What was that, wench?!"

"It was exactly what it sounded like, wolf shit! What, your ears not working either?!"

"That's it half breed! I've got no problem with killing you!"

"Keh! I'd like to see you try, dumbass! Let's see you land one hit!"

They were about to jump at each other with claws and teeth bared, but thankfully both were stopped by outside intervention. Inuyasha had quickly grabbed Inukigo under the arms using his elbows, and Ginta and Hakkaku had grabbed onto Kouga in various places to pull him back. Both were still growling, snarling, and throwing insults at each other while trying to pull free from their captors. Unable to move her upper body because of Inuyasha's hold, Inukigo was trying to reach out and kick Kouga with her foot, to no avail, and Kouga was almost dragging Ginta and Hakkaku as he tried to grab onto any part of Inukigo that came within his reach.

Inuyasha, Ginta, and Hakkaku managed to finally drag their respective captives apart so they could work on calming them down. Inuyasha dragged Inukigo back to where the rest of the group was waiting and forced her to sit down then crouched down in front of her.

"What started this?"

Inukigo growled before pointing over Inuyasha's shoulder at Kouga.

"That yarou told me that I smelled like dog-turd!"

"Yeah, because you do, baka onna!"

Inukigo's growling escalated, and she was about to get back up, before Kagome knelt down beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Kagome?"

"There's no need for fighting Inukigo-chan," Kagome explained calmly, "I think this is just a big misunderstanding."

"How do you figure that?" Inukigo asked, relaxing her posture again.

"Well, he said that you smelled like dog-turd. That's what he calls Inuyasha sometimes instead of using his name. He was saying that you smelled like Inuyasha. Is that right?" she asked turning to Kouga.

"Uh, yeah. What did you think I meant?"

Everyone present just shook their heads.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Inuyasha asked, irritated.

"I came to check on my woman of course," Kouga answered, walking over and making a grab for Kagome's hands again as she stood up. Inuyasha quickly stood as well and got ready to separate the wolf from Kagome, but stopped abruptly and became silent when Kagome stepped back to stand by his side, out of Kouga's reach.

'Huh?' This was different.

Kouga seemed more confused than Inuyasha did at her cold shoulder attitude towards him.

"Ooi, Kagome? What gives?"

All eyes were on Kagome, waiting for her response. She wasn't really sure what she should do. She wasn't accustomed to acting the way that she was. She looked to Inukigo for help, and Inukigo gave her a reassuring look as she got to her feet.

"Go ahead, tell him."

Kouga looked at Inukigo in confusion.

"Tell me what?"

Kagome took a deep breath to ready herself, then steeled her features.

"Kouga," she said, catching his attention before continuing, "Back off."

Everyone stared at her wide-eyed, except Inukigo, who had a smile on her face.

"N-Nani?"

"I said back off - don't touch me, don't talk to me so familiarly, and stop calling me your woman."

"I don't understand."

"What's not to understand?" Inukigo asked him from his right side. He turned to look at her, "She's saying she doesn't want you. Your claim is rejected."

Kouga looked between Kagome and Inukigo's smirking face in disbelief, then turning to pin a deadly glare on Inukigo.

"What the hell did you do?"

"Me?" Inukigo asked innocently, "I just took the liberty of explaining to Kagome how courtship worked."

"Like hell that's all you did. You forced her to react this way to me, didn't you?" Kouga said accusingly.

"I did nothing of the sort," Inukigo replied, crossing her arms and turning her head away, "I explained youkai courting to her, and how her actions were affecting both you and Inuyasha. Then I told her how she could get across the point that she wanted to. She's rejecting your claim all on her own."

"Wench, you've ruined everything," Kouga snarled at her.

"I ruined nothing. If you had eyes you would have known that you had nothing to begin with," Inukigo thought for a moment before turning her face back to him and narrowing her eyes, "But that's not what you meant was it?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm thinking that you knew Kagome had no idea about youkai courtship rituals. You knew that she was naïve to her actions and you were taking advantage of that, weren't you?"

"T-that's ridiculous!"

"I don't think it is. Not a very honourable thing to do, taking advantage of someone's kind nature to get what you want."

"Kouga…is that true?" Kagome asked softly from Inuyasha's side.

"N-NO! Of course not!" he said frantically, then rounding on Inukigo, "I care about Kagome! I'd never do that!"

"I have no doubt that you care for Kagome," Inukigo answered, "But I also have no doubt that you knew that when it came to Kagome's affection, that Inuyasha would always come before you," Inuyasha and Kagome blushed at the comment, "That's why you've been doing things like picking fights with Inuyasha, and coming on to Kagome. You knew that her reaction would be in your favour, and were hoping that Inuyasha would eventually give up, didn't you?"

Kouga said nothing, just growled deep in his throat. His silence spoke volumes, and anyone present with a youkai nose could smell that Inukigo's words had hit home with him. Ginta and Hakkaku were shocked that Kouga had done such a thing.

"Kouga…" Kagome said in disappointment.

Kouga closed his eyes, breathing deeply, then his eyes shot open and he glared at Inukigo from the corners of them.

"Fucking wench," he swore as he struck out at her.

Inukigo had been expecting a blow to come, since she could smell and sense his anger. However, she had been expecting him to try and hit her in the face, which was where her arms went to guard. Instead he struck out with his foot, hard, catching her in the stomach with his heel, which sent her flying into a large tree on the edge of the path. Inuyasha, Kagome, and the others called out her name in panic as she hit the tree. There was a loud crack, which everyone but Kouga prayed had been the tree. After hitting the tree with a cry, Inukigo fell to the ground on her stomach, which nearly wretched another cry from her lungs, but she managed to cut it off. She groaned and her face contorted in pain as she rolled onto her side, wrapping her arms around her stomach. Kouga starting to make his way over to her, when Kagome ran along side him straight to Inukigo's side. He made no move to stop, until Inuyasha blocked his path.

"Don't even think about it. Take another step towards her and I'll kill you on the spot."

"Like you could, inukuro. Now, move outta my way."

"I don't think so, Kouga," Sango stated, as she, Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara flanked Inuyasha, preventing Kouga from moving any further.

"I'm warning all of you to get out of my way. I'm not finished yet."

"Yes you are," Kagome said from where she was helping Inukigo sit up. Her voice held both anger and disappointment, "I suggest you leave Kouga. If you start a fight with Inuyasha, I won't be stopping him this time."

Kouga seemed to deflate a little at that. He knew that there was no way he could take on Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku, and he had a feeling that Ginta and Hakkaku wouldn't be in a hurry to help him if he decided to take his chances. He huffed and turned his back to them.

"Fine, I'm going," he threw over his shoulder, "I'll be back."

And with that, took off in his whirlwind through the forest. Ginta and Hakkaku watched him go, not in any particular hurry to follow him. They walked over to Kagome and Inukigo, who were both still sitting on the ground and squatted down on their haunches in front of them with guilty looks on their faces.

"We're really sorry that happened," Ginta said.

"Yeah, he didn't hurt you that bad, did he?" Hakkaku asked.

Inukigo managed a smile, despite the pain in her midsection and back.

"I'll be alright. Thanks."

Both nodded and stood up, said their goodbyes before apologizing again for their leader's behaviour, then ran off in the direction that Kouga had went.

The rest of the group approached as they left, Inuyasha coming up and kneeling directly in front of Inukigo.

"You alright?"

"I think so," Inukigo answered, "I'm pretty sure he didn't break anything," she added, wincing as she laid a hand on her stomach, "But I'll have bruises for the rest of the night, that's for sure."

Inuyasha nodded, satisfied at the moment with the assessment of her injuries.

"We'll check them out once we're back at camp."

"Alright." Inukigo answered, not really in the mood to argue with him.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah," Inukigo said, using Inuyasha's shoulder for leverage to pull herself up, only to double over and wrap an arm around her stomach when she tried to straighten into a standing position, "No," she corrected herself with a sigh and a grimace.

Inuyasha stood up beside her and lifted her into his arms, being careful not to jostle her too much.

"Shit," Inukigo groaned after she was comfortable, "I hate to admit it, but that was one hell of a kick. I've never felt like this after just one hit before."

"Got you good did he?" Inuyasha asked as the group walked back to camp.

"Yeah. Although, it's mostly my fault. I thought he was gonna punch me, not kick me. I wasn't ready for the hit, couldn't brace myself for it."

"Kouga has jewel shards in his legs. He tends to use his legs more often in battle because of that," Inuyasha explained.

"So that's why," she said laying a hand on her face, "I'm glad I decided to block, not duck."

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. Had she ducked, Kouga could have hit her in the neck or face, and judging from the pain she was in now, a shot to either of those areas could have very well killed her. Inuyasha mentally shook himself to get rid of the thought.

"You let your mouth run away with you," he chided, "Kouga fights with me when he comes around, but he's never all that violent. You got to him."

"Yeah, so what? It was about time he faced reality. Not my fault he couldn't handle it."

"No, but you're paying for it now."

"This is no big deal Inuyasha. Just bruises. They'll be gone by morning."

"But it could have been worse, Inukigo-chan," Kagome said as she came to walk next to Inuyasha, "What if you had ducked? He might have killed you if he had hit you in the face or throat," she said, voicing Inuyasha's earlier musings.

Inukigo looked at Kagome, a guilty feeling settling in her stomach.

"Gomen ne, Kagome."

"Eh? Why are you sorry?"

"Well, you consider Kouga your friend, and back there, I kinda beat him into the dirt. That, and I wasn't very caring when I brought up him taking advantage of your kindness. I admit, that I sort of lost control of myself, and I'm sorry for that."

"It's alright," Kagome replied with a small smile on her face.

The group remained silent as they walked, not taking very long in returning to the campsite. It was just getting dark, but their well-sized fire kept their small camp well lit. As soon as they entered the small, treeless area, Kagome ran for her back pack.

"I'll get my first aid kit," she called over her shoulder.

Inuyasha nodded in acknowledgement, then walked over to the fire and sat Inukigo down close to it so they'd have plenty light to take a look at her injuries. He took her kimono when she handed it to him, then sat behind her with his back to her while she started unwinding the thick binding that was wrapped tightly around her breasts and ribs. He glanced over his shoulder at her once, getting a vague look at the large bruise on her back from where she hit the tree. It covered most of her back, and didn't look too bad, but he figured the one on her stomach was probably a lot worse. He turned around again when she gave a muffled cough, only to see that she was looking at him. He looked at her questioningly, and she inclined her head towards the other side of the camp fire. He sighed when he saw the reason she had stopped what she was doing. There was Miroku, trying very hard to appear like he had no interest in the fact that Inukigo was practically half naked, but failing miserably. Had it been during the day, they could have looked at Inukigo's injuries somewhere away from camp, but they needed the fire light right now. Deciding to pity the monk this once, he didn't tell Sango, but called out to Kagome instead.

"Ooi, Kagome. Bring over one of your towels with you."

"Alright."

Moments later she appeared with her first aid kit in one hand and the towel in the other. She held the towel up in front of Inukigo to block Miroku's view, who did lose interest and went over to talk to Sango while she polished her Hiraikotsu. After Inukigo finished with the bindings, Kagome handed her the towel so she could use it to cover herself.

"How about we take a look at your back first, Inukigo-chan?" Kagome suggested. Inukigo nodded and carefully shuffled around on her bottom so her back was to the fire and she was facing Inuyasha. The towel fell down to cover her stomach, so he couldn't get a look at it. Kagome sat down behind Inukigo, and grimaced at the large, dark bruise that travelled straight down between her shoulder blades to just above the small of her back. Inuyasha saw the grimace, and thinking that it was worse than he first thought, went behind Inukigo with Kagome. He saw that it wasn't, and explained to Kagome that to a hanyou, a bruise like that wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. He was proven correct when Kagome rubbed some ointment for bruises on her back, and she flinched from the cool feeling of the cream, not pain from having it touched.

When she was finished, Kagome suggested that Inukigo lay on her back, seeing as she couldn't sit up completely straight. Inukigo agreed, and Inuyasha helped her lay back on the ground. Once she was settled, Kagome moved the towel away from her stomach, and gasped in shock. Inuyasha grimaced and looked up at Inukigo's face.

"You sure he didn't break any ribs?"

"Yeah," Inukigo replied, taking a deep breath and wincing at the pain it caused, "Probably a few cracked and bruised, but not broken."

"You're fucking lucky then. Shit, this looks awful."

And it did look awful. It wasn't nearly as big as the bruise on her back, but it was at least twice as dark, with dark purple blotches. Inuyasha admitted to himself that it was something that he would definitely find painful. He reached out to inspect it with his hand and frowned when Inukigo flinched and drew in a harsh breath through her teeth.

"Sorry," he said sympathetically as he started to gently press at her ribs to confirm that none were broken.

"S'ok," she managed to get out between small grunts of pain as he pressed at her tender ribs. She knew that he was being as gentle as he could, but that didn't stop it from hurting. She was actually glad that he was doing it, since truth be told, she wasn't sure if she had any broken ribs. She was fairly certain, but that could have simply been wishful thinking on her part. As he finished, she barely suppressed a whimper as he touched a particularly bad spot.

"None broken," Inuyasha said as he moved away from her stomach and towards her head so Kagome could treat the bruise. Inukigo whimpered again when Kagome started to apply the ointment to her stomach.

"Ah! Gomen ne, Inukigo-chan!" Kagome cried out, worried that she had hurt her friend.

"It's alright, Kagome," Inukigo assured as she forced a smile onto her face, "Go ahead, I'll be fine."

"Okay," Kagome agreed hesitantly, resuming her previous actions.

As soon as she began, Inukigo bit down on her lower lip to make herself silent. She knew that Kagome would feel guilty for causing her pain, so she wanted to make it seem as painless as possible. Just as Kagome was finishing, and Inukigo was biting her lip hard enough so that she was about to draw blood, a hand rested on her chin, startling her a little bit. The thumb of that hand then gently pulled her lip out of her mouth. She looked up at Inuyasha to see a smirk on his face, but sympathy in his eyes.

"Keh, can't go two days without hurting yourself, can you?" he asking in a joking tone.

"No, I guess not," she replied, grateful that he was trying to take her mind of things, "Just like always, ne?"

"Yeah, just like always," he replied, thinking about how things had been in that past. She had always been hurt a lot back then. So had he, but she took most of the harder hits. He felt bad for it, since he was often the one that got them into the trouble, but she was the one who ended up getting hurt the most, usually because she had taken a hit meant for him. He looked down at her stomach and frowned to himself. How long had she been back, almost two weeks? In such a short amount of time she had already been injured three times.

'Definitely just like always,' he said to himself.

He reached up a little and started scratching her ears and head.

"Damn wimpy wolf is going to pay for this."

"No, Inuyasha," Inukigo said with her eyes closed. Having Inuyasha rubbing her ears was comforting, and Kagome had finished with her stomach and was digging through her first aid kit, "I was the one who made him angry, so it was mostly my fault. Besides, he's probably already paying for it," she whispered low enough so Kagome wouldn't hear.

"What do you mean?" he asked. She didn't answer, but glanced at Kagome, who had her back turned to them. Inuyasha eyes narrowed in thought, then widened slightly when he realized what Inukigo was saying - Kagome had probably lost her trust in Kouga.

'I see. The wolf is a wimpy asshole, but he does care a lot for Kagome. Having her lose her trust in him would probably deal him a bigger blow than I ever could. I know that it would be the same for me.'

"Yeah, I see what you mean," he agreed as he continued to rub her ears.

"So, what's the damage?" Miroku asked, as he and Sango made their way over and sat down next to Inuyasha. Shippou, surprisingly enough, climbed into Inuyasha's lap so he could be closer to Inukigo's face. Inuyasha looked surprised for a moment, but left the kit alone.

Miroku and Sango, who had not seen Inukigo's injury beforehand, both winced when they got a good look at her bruised stomach.

"Kami, Inukigo-chan…that looks horrible," Sango gasped.

"I have to agree with Sango," Miroku added, "It must be causing you great pain."

Inukigo gave them a small smile for their concern.

"It's not as bad as it looks. It'll be gone by morning."

"Are you sure, Inukigo?" Shippou asked in a worried voice.

"Hai, I'm sure," she replied, giving him a reassuring pat on the head. He was leaning into her touch, until she jumped and sucked in a harsh breath. She immediately looked down towards her stomach, where Kagome sat, her hands hovering over the bruise, which now had a medium sized white patch placed over it.

"Gomen ne, Inukigo. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, it's alright," Inukigo replied, her eyes widening slightly as she looked at the patch. 'Weird, it's warm…mmmm…feels nice though,' "What is this thing?"

"Oh, it's a heating pad. It's supposed to be good for sore muscles. I thought it might help your stomach. It's not hurting you is it?"

"No, it's not hurting," Inukigo responded, shaking her head. She closed her eyes and a small smile came to her face, "Total opposite actually."

Inuyasha chuckled when she started making a low, contented rumbling deep in her chest. He moved Shippou from his lap to his shoulder, then moved to pick her up.

"C'mon lazy," he said jokingly as he carefully hefted her into his arms.

"Hmm?"

"You're going to go to sleep for a little while."

Inukigo didn't protest as he moved her a little ways away from the campfire and laid her down next to Kagome's bag. Kagome followed him, and draped a spare blanket that she had pulled out of her bag over Inukigo. Inuyasha watched her drift off as he continued to scratch her ears and head. As soon as she was asleep he plucked Shippou from his shoulder and laid him on the ground next to Inukigo's head. Shippou looked up at him, confused by his very uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Inuyasha?"

"You stay here and keep an eye on her for me, alright runt? Let me know if she looks like she's hurting."

Shippou's eyes widened, surprised that Inuyasha would trust in him to do such a thing for him. He smiled widely and nodded his head vigorously. Inuyasha smirked at him and ruffled the kit's hair affectionately. Meanwhile, Kagome watched the whole exchange with a gentle smile on her face.

'And he says that he doesn't like Shippou. What a faker.'

Inuyasha got to his feet as Shippou curled up against Inukigo's shoulder, and Kagome followed him back to the campfire. They were quiet for a few moments before Miroku broke the silence.

"So, Inukigo said that her wounds would be completely healed by sunrise, correct?"

"Aa. The visible bruises on her back and stomach should be gone within a few hours. Her ribs will be healed by morning."

"Kouga hit her awfully hard. He must have been extremely angry. The only other time I've seen him like that was when he thought that you had killed his pack Inuyasha," Sango said, petting Kirara, who was sleeping on her lap.

"What she said got to him, I guess."

"Do you think what she said was true? About him taking advantage of Kagome-chan's kindness?"

Inuyasha shrugged, looking into the fire.

"I don't know. Either he was ticked off by the accusation Inukigo made, or he was ticked because she was right. Wouldn't surprise me all that much if the wimpy bastard was taking advantage of it. It doesn't really matter either way."

"Ahem…Inuyasha…" Miroku said, catching the hanyou's attention.

"Nani?"

He looked over at Miroku and Sango, who were both wearing identical concerned looks, and at his curious glance, jerked their heads towards Kagome. He turned his head to see what they were worried about, and his expression drooped at what he saw.

'Kagome…'

She wore a downcast expression, and was staring at her clasped hands. Inuyasha felt guilt creep over him as he watched her. She looked so sad.

'Baka, it's your fault too. Her feelings may have been taken advantage of, and you just said that it didn't matter. Baka, baka, baka!!!'

After a few silent moments of debating, Inuyasha got to his feet and walked the few steps towards Kagome. He stopped in front of her and bent down long enough to grab her clasped hands and pull her to her feet. She looked up at him curiously, although he could still see sadness in her eyes.

"Inuyasha?"

"Come with me for a while? For a walk?" 'Please, Kagome.'

He didn't release her hands, and waited for her response. Kagome looked at him, searching for the reason behind his actions. In the end she nodded in acceptance, and he turned and walked off, still holding onto one of her hands. As they passed by, Sango made to get up and say something to them, but Miroku's hand on her shoulder quieted her.

"Houshi-sama?"

"Let them be."

"But…"

"It's alright. I think that they should go and talk by themselves for a while."

Sango eyed him sceptically.

"You mean, you're not planning on eavesdropping on them?"

Miroku shook his head.

"No, I believe that they deserve to have a private talk this time."

Sango narrowed her eyes in agitation.

"This time, you say?"

Miroku laughed nervously, having been caught in his little slip up.

"Of course, it's not as though I have ever eavesdropped on their conversations. As a humble monk, I would never resort to such a thing."

"Of course," Sango replied sarcastically.

'Humble monk, my ass.'

Sango sighed before she spoke again.

"Do you think that they'll be alright, Houshi-sama?"

Miroku smiled and pushed himself to his feet.

"I'm sure they will be Sango. Why don't you and I prepare the evening meal. We'll keep some for them for when they return."

Sango nodded and stood as well to go gather food from Kagome's backpack, while Miroku went to collect water from a nearby stream. They cooked the meal in relative silence, and then settled down to eat without much incident. Sango was surprised that he hadn't tried to touch her once. It wasn't until they were half finished their stew that Miroku spoke again.

"I wonder…maybe he's going to ask her."

"Nani?" Sango asked, looking up from her meal.

"Inuyasha. Perhaps he will finally ask Kagome-sama to become his mate. It might be that her clear refusal of Kouga today will give him the courage to do so."

"Do you really think so, Houshi-sama?"

Miroku shrugged before answering.

"It's highly possible. With Inuyasha one can never know."

"True. I hope that you're right about it though. It would make Kagome-chan so happy if he asked her."

Miroku nodded in agreement and ate another mouthful of his stew.

"That it would," he replied after he swallowed. He was silent for a moment, as though he were contemplating something rather important. He was still staring thoughtfully at the bowl he held in his hands when he spoke again, "Sango…? I was wondering…could we…perhaps…talk about something other than Inuyasha and Kagome?"

Sango looked at him in confusion. Miroku sounded almost…nervous? She couldn't figure out what he was getting at. He was close to stuttering.

"Of course, Houshi-sama. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Us," Miroku replied evenly after taking a deep breath.

"Us?" Sango questioned. She tilted her head slightly to the side.

Miroku nodded, but didn't say anything, just continued staring at his hands.

Sango was becoming more confused by the minute. Miroku never acted so shy. It was as if he was afraid to ask her something.

"Houshi-sama?"

"Do you remember, when I asked you a few months ago, to live with me and bare my children, once we defeat Naraku?"

Sango's face took on a slight hint of pink and she smiled warmly at him.

"Of course I remember. How could I ever forget that?"

Miroku let out a relieved sigh and finally looked up at her with a smile on his face.

"I'm glad. I was beginning to think that you had forgotten about it."

"Nani? Why would you think that I had forgotten something so important to me?"

Miroku smiled sheepishly at her.

"Forgive me for doubting you Sango."

"Why is it that you were doubting me in the first place?" 'I bet I know…'

"Well, when one receives such cold responses, one has to wonder, ne?"

'I knew it. Pervert,' Sango thought as she gave him a dry look. The look on Miroku's face revealed that he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

She sighed before laying her empty bowl on the ground and scooting over closer to him and tentatively laying her head on his shoulder. Miroku took it a step further and wrapped his arm around her. Sango leaned further into him and sighed happily.

"I'm not going to change my mind. I meant what I said about wanting to be with you once we defeat Naraku."

Miroku nodded and leaned his head atop of hers.

"And," Sango said, closing her eyes, "Keep your hands from wandering and they'll still be intact by the time we get married," she added, pinching the back of his hand as it started to travel south.

"Hai, hai," Miroku laughed nervously, returning his hand to it's previous position.

The couple remained silent after that, each enjoying the other's company.

Behind them, lying on the ground, Inukigo smiled as she watched the young couple, before drifting back into a light doze.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~

As Inuyasha dragged Kagome away from camp, she had to wonder what had brought on his sudden mood.

'Why did he ask me to come for a walk with him? What's bothering him?'

"Inuyasha?"

No answer.

"Inuyasha?" she asked quietly, fearing that there was something that she had done to upset him, and now he was ignoring her. He didn't answer her right away and she hung her head sadly.

"Nani?" Inuyasha replied after a few moments.

Kagome jumped, since she hadn't been expecting him to answer, and realized that they had stopped at the base of a large tree. Inuyasha was looking at her curiously, like he was waiting for her to say something, and Kagome shook herself, remembering that she had wanted to ask him a question.

"Is there something wrong Inuyasha?"

"Iie, nothing's wrong. What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you did drag me off, then ignored me."

"I wasn't ignoring you," Inuyasha explained as he sat down between the roots of the tree, pulling Kagome down next to him since he was still holding her hand, "I just wanted to make sure that we didn't have any eavesdroppers before we started talking."

"Oh," Kagome replied sheepishly.

She watched him curiously, waiting for him to speak, because the look on her face told her that he was trying to say something.

"I didn't mean it," he said quietly.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

"Back there, I said that your feelings being used didn't matter. I didn't mean that," he replied, turning his head to look at her.

Kagome smiled at him. He was so worried that he had hurt her feelings.

"I know that you didn't mean it Inuyasha. Thank you for being worried about me."

"K-keh!" he coughed out, turning to look at the ground as a light flush came across his face. Kagome fought back the giggle that wanted to come forth at his expression.

"Was that all you wanted to say Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha fidgeted a bit, looking as though he was considering something else. She remained silent, knowing that he would talk when he was ready.

"Inukigo explained courtship to you earlier," he stated the blush on his cheeks becoming slightly darker. He was glad that it had become dark enough for Kagome not to notice.

"Aa," she answered, colour coming to her face as well, "Gomen ne, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's head jerked up at her words.

"What are you apologizing to me for?"

Kagome played with the hem of her skirt and looked up at him.

"For the way I've been acting whenever Kouga comes around. I didn't know that I was encouraging him so much. I never meant to give both you and him the wrong idea about my feelings. Gomen ne."

Inuyasha smiled at her warmly.

"It's alright. I know now that you didn't understand what was happening. I should have known it sooner, and I…I'm sorry…that I always got so angry with you over it."

Kagome's eyes widened. He had just apologized, for getting mad at her all those times. She smiled back at him just as warmly, then leaned against his shoulder. They sat there silently for a few moments, before Inuyasha remembered something else that he wanted to ask her.

"Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

"Was there anything else that Inukigo mentioned to you?"

Kagome thought for a moment, remembering the conversation that she had with Inukigo earlier.

"She explained the courtship and a few other things, and she said that you wanted to talk to me back in my time."

Inuyasha nodded. He had been hoping that his sister had mentioned that.

"If it's alright, could I have that talk with you now?" he asked quietly.

"Are you sure? I guessed that you wanted to do it there because of the added security that no one would hear us. If you really want to though, it's fine."

"I'm sure. I don't want to put it off anymore."

Kagome looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. He looked like he was struggling to find a way to start. She remembered Inukigo telling her to be supportive of him and after a moment of nervous hesitation, she turned so she could wrap her arms around his waist. He stiffened for a moment, looking down at her.

"It's alright, take your time."

Inuyasha smiled again and wrapped an arm around her. How was this girl able to take down all his barriers so easily. He took a steadying breath before he began.

"I'm sure that if Inukigo explained courting to you, that she explained the marking to you as well, right?"

Kagome nodded her head in agreement.

"You have to know Kagome…that I've wanted to mark you. For so long, I've wanted to mark you as my intended. There are just…so many things, that kept me from asking you."

Kagome looked up at him in wonder. She hadn't been expecting him to say that right away. The blush on her face deepened as Inuyasha looked down and smirked at her.

"Although, the way you handled the wolf put one of those worries to rest."

Kagome smiled at him and giggled before looking away from his face again. When she was quiet again, Inuyasha continued.

"That aside, there's something that has me more worried than the wolf. The mark would be a very physical sign that I care very much for you. I worry that, with it out in the open like that, that it would be used against us. That someone would hurt you to get to me," he said as he tightened his grip on his shoulder slightly.

"Naraku," she said in reply, hugging him a little tighter.

"Aa. I don't want to put you in any more danger with him Kagome, but after what happened the other day, I'm not sure if you having my mark will make much of a difference."

"When that youkai attacked Sango-chan and I at the spring?"

"Yeah. The youkai said that the attack was meant for you right?" he paused, waiting for her nod before continuing, "I think that it's already obvious to Naraku that I care about you. The mark wouldn't add to that," he said blushing.

Kagome smiled, noticing the shy note in his voice.

"There's one more thing, Kagome, that you need to understand about this."

"Okay."

"It's about Kikyou."

Kagome couldn't help but stiffen at the name. She managed to calm herself, remembering what Inukigo had told her.

'I was there when he was courting Kikyou, and I can tell you that what he feels for you goes much deeper than what he ever felt for her.'

Inuyasha had felt her body go rigid, and his ears drooped. He knew that Kagome didn't like it when he talked about Kikyou, but he had to tell her this.

"Kagome, you know that I've made promises to Kikyou. In the beginning I intended to honour every one of them," he didn't pause long. He didn't want her to become upset from this.

"But things have changed now. I no longer believe that I owe my life to Kikyou, and I no longer intend to die with her. I know that the Kikyou I loved died years ago, and that the one that walks now isn't the true Kikyou. If she was than she would never ask that of me."

Kagome sighed in relief. Despite Inukigo's reassurances, she had still been unsure. Hearing it from Inuyasha directly had been what she need to alleviate her doubts.

"However, there is one promise that I want to keep," he felt Kagome's eyes on him and tilted his head to look at her," I will defeat Naraku and avenge her death. It's true that I don't love her, but I will always care about her. Because of that, I will protect her from Naraku. You see Kagome, how can I promise myself to you, when I can't fully devote myself to you? I would never ask you to promise yourself to me, when I can't give you all of myself in return. I could never do something like that to you."

"Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha watched the emotions play across her face. He wasn't really sure what it was that he was seeing. There was such a mix of emotions in her eyes that he couldn't tell one from another. When she pulled her arms from around his waist his ears drooped and he closed his eyes as he lowered his head. He had feared this - her rejection.

His breath hitched and his eyes shot open at the feel of soft, warm hands cupping his face and lifting it up so he could look into her eyes. She was now kneeling in front of him, her eyes shone with tears, and she had a bright smile on her face. She was so beautiful, looking at him like that, and he had to force himself to remember how to breathe.

"I understand," she said in a whisper, "that you will always care for Kikyou. I never expected you to stop caring about her, and I respect the feelings that you have for her. She's the first person you ever loved, it would be cruel of me to expect you to forget her."

Inuyasha couldn't speak. He just listened as she continued.

"Hearing all that from you, Inuyasha, is something that I've wanted to hear, for such a long time. I think that knowing this I have the courage to say this now."

The smile never left her face as she closed her eyes, causing two tears to fall down her cheeks. When she opened them again he could see nothing but love in them.

"Ask me."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he finally found his voice.

"N-nani?"

"Ask me, to bear your mark."

"D-demo…"

Kagome shook her head, placing the fingers of one hand over his mouth to stop him.

"I know. But I want you to. I want you to mark me, because I want to promise myself to you."

"Kagome…" Inuyasha said quietly, reaching up with both hands and resting them on her face to wipe away her tears with his thumbs. He didn't move for a few moments, just looked into her eyes, before becoming bold and sliding his hands back into her hair, gripping the back of her head. He dragged her forward gently, and after being sure that she wasn't resisting him, dropped his mouth on hers.

The kiss started off tender and gentle. He moved his mouth slowly over hers, trying to show as much feeling for her through that kiss as he could, and marvelled at how easily she gave it back to him. He was surprised when she took the initiative to deepen the kiss by pressing closer and drawing his lower lip into her mouth, then started nibbling and sucking on it, but he didn't stop. She surprised him again when her tongue darted shyly into his mouth. When had she become so bold? Was he making her this way? He swelled with pride and nearly smirked at the thought. He was quick to react, and languidly tangled his tongue with hers, tasting her as she did him. He was so caught up in the taste and feel of her that he was forgetting to breathe.

Kagome was in much the same condition. She wasn't sure what had compelled her to act the way that she was. She hadn't even kissed a boy like that before. She was glad that he was responding to her the way that he was, otherwise she would have been mortified. Those thoughts quickly left at the feel of his tongue mingling with hers, then running over her teeth and the roof of her mouth. For her, there was nothing but Inuyasha.

Needing to breathe, Kagome pulled back enough to break the kiss, giving him a few quick pecks as she moved away, but did not leave Inuyasha's grasp. He leaned his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes and breathing just as heavily as she was. He swallowed hard before pulling back, only to rest his cheek against hers so that his mouth was next to her ear.

"Would you," he began softly, breathing still laboured, "bear this hanyou's mark? Become intended to this hanyou?"

His tone nearly made Kagome cry. He sounded so unsure of himself, as though he feared that she would say no, even though she had wanted him to ask her.

"Hai," she whispered.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Her arms, which had dropped down to his chest during the kiss, slid around to his back and held him to her tightly. She nuzzled his cheek in the way Inukigo had explained to her and whispered to him softly.

"Did you think I would say no, because of what you are?"

He didn't answer, and Kagome took his silence as confirmation.

"Inuyasha," she said, pulling back and bringing one hand up to stroke his cheek, "Right now, when I look at you, I see what I have always seen. Not the demon, the human, or the hanyou. I see what's in your heart - loyalty, determination, compassion, love. Everything that makes you who you are. And beyond that, I see the man that you are," she wrapped her arm around him again and rested her chin on his shoulder, "The man that I love, with all my heart."

Inuyasha was frozen. He stared ahead, eyes wide and unblinking, unable to move or speak. Her words had hit him hard. No one had ever said such things about him before. He had been ready to gather her to him and thank her with everything he was worth. But that last sentence, those last words, floored him.

'She…she loves me?'

He couldn't contain himself. He pulled her to him tightly and buried his face in her neck, whispering her name, and thanking her, and letting her know just how much he adored her. And he did something that he hadn't done since he was a very small pup - he cried.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered when she felt the tears on her neck.

She smiled, knowing that the tears weren't those of sadness. She let him cry as she held him, rubbing his back to offer him comfort.

"Forgive me," he said quietly, after a few moments.

Confused, Kagome pulled back and pushed on his shoulders to make him sit up. His eyes made her smile. They were so open and unguarded, and there was so much trust for her there. And added to that she could see it - the vast amount of love that he had for her, only for her.

"For what?" she asked, reaching up to gently wipe away the moisture on his cheeks with the sleeve of her blouse. He grabbed her wrist and lay her hand against his cheek, taking comfort from her touch.

"I…I can't say that to you. I don't have the right to say that to you, not yet."

The smile never left Kagome's face.

"It's alright," Kagome said, "I understand. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Until you can, look at me like that more often."

Inuyasha smiled and nodded his agreement.

"I can do that," he said, before leaning forward and kissing her neck in the place where his mark would be, "You ready?" he asked, pulling back slightly. She nodded, and he grabbed the back of her elbows to pull her forward, "I need you closer."

'Closer? How can we get any closer? We're already hugging.'

Her answer came moments later. When Inuyasha had them situated comfortably, his back was braced against the tree, and she was straddling his hips. Inuyasha pulled her flush against him, and Kagome blushed profusely at the contact.

'I take that back. This is definitely closer.'

"You know what you're supposed to do, right?" he asked, pulling her out of her musing.

"H-hai. I need to bite you too right?"

"Aa. You need to bite me at the same time I bite you. I'll let you know when I'm about to do it."

"Alright."

Inuyasha didn't say anything else and started kissing and licking her neck. Kagome was so caught up in the feelings that he was causing that she forgot what she was supposed to be doing. A tiny nip to her neck woke her up and she immediately lowered her mouth to his neck and started to mimic his actions. After a few moments, Inuyasha began pressing his fangs to her neck, just enough to let her know what he was about to do. Kagome got the hint, and prepared to do the same. When she felt his fangs biting into the flesh of her neck she winced. She had known that it was bound to hurt, and began to subconsciously clench her jaw against the pain. The action caused her to press her teeth firmly against his neck, and she could hear Inuyasha's low growl of approval. Inuyasha kept biting deeper, and by the time his fangs were fully embedded in Kagome's neck, her teeth had broken skin, and her mouth was clamped down firmly.

For a few moments, both were completely still. Neither of them could move. Inuyasha was the first one to stir, as he gently removed his fangs from her neck. He began to lick at the wound lazily, lapping up the blood that had spilled and soothing the pain he had caused. Her blood had given him a heady feeling, and he was now so absorbed in her that he had no awareness of the world around him. Kagome made a noise that sounded oddly enough like a cross between a whine and a moan. She slowly released the hold that she had on his neck, then began to lap at the wound she had made in time with his motions.

Inuyasha immediately drew a deep breath and without thinking thrust his pelvis up against hers. Both of them moaned deeply at the friction the movement caused, but neither stopped what they were doing.

Inuyasha didn't know what was going on. All he knew was that he was with Kagome and she was making him burn. But it was strange. He was burning, he was sure, but he wasn't in any pain. Far from it actually. He had never felt anything so good before.

Kagome was in much the same condition. To her, there was nothing beyond Inuyasha and feelings that he was causing within her. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she was sure of one thing - the pressure building up between her legs from the grinding that they were doing was the best thing that she'd ever felt in her life.

It was the deep moans coming from Kagome that finally brought Inuyasha out of his daze. It only took him a split second to realize what they were both doing, and another to figure out that it was too late for them to stop. He had reached the point where he didn't want to stop. All he could feel was Kagome rubbing hard against him and her mouth on his throat.

'Ohh fuuuck…' he groaned mentally as tore his mouth from her neck and threw his head back and growled out her name. His hips flew up into hers on reflex as he came, and after she ground into him a few more times he felt her body go rigid and knew that she had found her release as well. She was gripping him tightly with both her arms and legs, and had muffled her scream by biting on his fire rat haori.

Inuyasha slouched against the tree as his body relaxed, and he brought his hands up from where they had been digging into the tree roots on either side of him to hold her to him as the both tried to catch their breath.

"You okay?" he asked once he had gathered himself enough to speak.

"Yeah," Kagome answered after taking a few more deep breaths, "Did we just…?"

"Yeah," he answered before she finished the question, knowing what she was going to say.

"Oh Kami…" Kagome groaned in embarrassment.

Inuyasha looked at her with worry. Did she regret what she had just done with him?

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I should have stopped us when I realized what we were doing."

Kagome looked up at him with concern when she heard his worried tone. When she looked at him and saw how frightened he looked she was quick to reassure him.

"No, no, it's alright, Inuyasha. I wasn't expecting something like that to happen. I'm just a little embarrassed by the way I acted, that's all. But," she continued, lowering her eyes and sporting a shy smile and a blush, "I enjoyed it very much."

Inuyasha grinned at her, showing a slight flush of his own.

"So did I."

Kagome looked up at him and smiled warmly, then leaned up to inspect the mark she had made on his neck. The moon was still fairly large, so there was just enough light for her to get a look at it.

"So, this is it, huh?" Kagome asked, gazing at the teeth marks left on the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

"Yeah," he answered, smiling at her curiosity, "For now it will look just like a regular scar, and we'll have to re-mark it every few weeks since it's temporary. But after we…well…take the last step in courting, it'll change into a permanent symbol, like a tattoo."

"What will it be?" she asked, not taking her eyes away from the mark.

"Don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

"Guess some," Kagome replied, reaching up to trace the mark with her fingers. As soon as her skin came into contact with the mark Inuyasha's breath hitched and his hips jerked upwards, causing him to groan again. Kagome gasped - and not totally from surprise - and a dark blush came across her face. Inuyasha raised his hand shakily and took her hand away from the mark.

"What was that? Was that supposed to happen when I touched it?"

"I have no idea," Inuyasha managed to get out. That little touch had felt way too good, "But I think that you probably shouldn't touch it for now," he grimaced. The movement he had just made had reminded him of the 'mess' that he made the first time.

Kagome nodded in agreement. It might not be a good idea for them to start that again.

"We should probably go back," Inuyasha said, "The others will probably start worrying."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed. She didn't even have time to get up off of him before Inuyasha had stood up with her still in his arms, facing her. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Inuyasha?"

"We're going to go clean up a bit first. I don't know about you, but my pants are getting a bit uncomfortable."

Kagome blushed when she realized what he was talking about, then giggled.

"That would be a good idea. Should we go get my bag first?"

"Do we really need it?"

"Well, we'd be able to get something to dry off with, and I wouldn't mind getting a change of clothes."

Inuyasha nodded.

"If no one's awake to see us and ask about it, then we'll get your bag. If not, we'll do without it."

"Okay."

Inuyasha began walking back towards camp with Kagome still in his arms, one arm across her back and the other under her bottom. They were nearly there when he spoke again.

"Arigatou, Kagome."

Knowing what he was thanking her for, she turned her head and placed a sweet kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Your welcome, Inuyasha. Aishiteru."

Inuyasha smiled and kissed her temple.

'I love you too, Kagome. And as soon as I earn the right to tell you, you'll hear me say it.'

*************************************************************** *********

Whoa…*fans face* I can't believe I wrote that. I nearly fainted from the rush of blood to my face. It's my very first lime, and no, it is not from experience, nor will any of the other citrusy stuff that I end up writing. So please, be nice.

I managed to get this chapter out quicker than I normally would, that's all thanks to the very nice reviews I got on the last chapter here at media miner. See, reviewing does make me type faster! *wink wink nudge nudge*

I'm not sure about how long the next chapter will take to get up. I have exams until the 16th, but after that I'm free for three glorious weeks, so we'll see.

Well, I hope you all liked it, and I hope for some more of those wonderful reviews! Until next time!

Ja ne!