InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Buffy the Youkai Slayer ❯ Puppy Love ( Chapter 20 )

20. Puppy Love

Naraku's Castle, late 16th-century Japan

"KOHAKU!" Sango screamed, stumbling to a halt on the verandah as the giant feather carrying Kohaku and Kagura disappeared over the castle rooftop.

She fell to her knees, head bowed, shoulders shaking.

Maybe Japanese folks weren't into hugging, but Buffy didn't care. She knelt next to Sango, and gathered the other girl in her arms, patting her back.

In between sobs, she heard Sango's disjointed words: "...bastard...kill him...took Kohaku...couldn't...save him..."

And realized that the youkai taijya wasn't overcome with sorrow as much as with frustrated rage...and the sense of failure.

Yeah, sometimes all you can do is cry like a girl, Buffy thought sympathetically, and wished she had some Kleenex to offer her friend.

Sango's breakdown was brief. She had wiped her eyes and rose to her feet, her face composed once more into its usual serene, slightly sad expression.

"Thank you, Buffy-chan," she said, a little hoarse. "We should go find the others now."

* * *

The first things Kagome noticed were all the different kinds of pain. A large, throbbing cloud of pain behind her eyes, filling her skull with reddish-brown agony. A sharp, stabbing pain in her side every time she took a breath. A fiery stripe of pain across her upper arm. And dull, bruised pain from her lower back and bottom.

All in all, she regretted her slow return to consciousness. The last thing she remembered was--

Her eyes snapped open, and sunlight stabbed them, painfully. She immediately closed them again, but not before she noticed that she had somehow gotten out of that awful room, and that Inuyasha's red-clad legs were standing right in front of her.

They were alive. But how?

Still keeping her eyes closed, Kagome took an assessment. She was sitting on the ground. Cool stone at her back. Fresh air, smelling only faintly of the thick rotten-meat stench that had clouded the inside of the castle. Someone--a woman--nearby, crying.

And Inuyasha was still alive, still with her. She remembered she had been very frightened. There had been something--

A shadow fell across her face, mercifully blocking the sun.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice was low. Worried.

With an effort, she opened her eyes, focusing on the leg right in front of her. Smiling was more than she could manage. And she thought that her head might explode if she moved it to look up at his face.

But she felt vastly relieved.

"Inu...yasha," she managed. Her throat was sore, and she had a foul taste in her mouth.

"Are you all right?" he demanded. She saw the curved, battered blade of Tetsusaiga dangling from his hand, and realized he was standing guard over her.

"M-monster?" God, how she wanted a drink of water!

"You got him, Kagome." He sounded...proud. "I put his shard in your vial."

She blinked, trying to marshal her thoughts. I got him? Me? There had been tentacles...and teeth. She definitely remembered the teeth. "But how...?"

"Shh. Don't try to talk too much. The others'll be back soon."

He squatted beside her, still vigiliantly gazing out at the castle courtyard, and patted her left shoulder, possibly the only place on her body that didn't hurt.

A breeze blew his long hair sideways, across her face and neck, where the silky strands clung like a caress.

His long...black...hair.

"You killed that thing. Blew it away like-" He made an emphatic gesture with his free hand, giving her his familiar, cocky smirk as she turned her head and stared at his profile--his wholly human profile--in horror.

"W--what did I do to you?" She liked his dark-haired, dark-eyed human form nearly as much as she liked him as a silver-haired, golden-eyed hanyou --but it was the wrong time of the month. And it was full daylight. Inuyasha wasn't supposed to transform to human for another two weeks, and then only for a single night.

"Inuyasha," she said again, lifting her left hand with an effort, and touching the smooth curve of his human ear. "Did I? Oh, I'm sorry--I didn't mean to--I'm so sorry!"

He caught her hand in his. "Eh, don't be stupid. You did what you had to. As for this--I'm sure it'll wear off." He hesitated, and she sensed the uncertainty beneath his bluster. "Eventually."

"And if it doesn't?" She clung to his hand. His fingers were still long and slender, but tipped with rounded nails rather than his usual claws.

He shrugged, not looking at her. "It will. It has to."

She saw the muscles working in his jaw. "Human or hanyou, you're still my...friend," she said, quietly. "As long as your heart remains Inuyasha, I don't care what you look like."

"Keh. I hate being a puny, weak human! Can't protect you. Can't even protect myself!" He released her hand and stood up, holding Tetsusaiga at the ready. Still guarding her.

"I'm sorry," Kagome said, again. She leaned her head against the wall supporting her back, and closed her eyes.

The sobbing had stopped at some point while she had been talking to Inuyasha, she noted, wearily. And it worried her that it hurt so much to breathe. Should she return through the well, and go to the hospital?

Then she remembered that Minamide-sensei had sealed the well. She let her shoulders slump.

She felt cold despite the sunlight, a deep icy shiver that settled in her bones and made her teeth chatter. Kagome tried to stop it, because shivering awoke the pain in her side.

Then she heard Buffy's voice. "Who the hell are you? And what did you do to Kagome?"

* * *

He was wearing a red outfit that looked just Inuyasha's, but she didn't recognize the kid with the long black hair and the sword standing over Kagome.

Who was sitting against the wall near the castle gate, hunched over. She looked bad--her face was sickly-pale with a grayish tint, and she was shivering. Going into shock, Buffy thought, recognizing the signs.

And where the hell was Inuyasha? Was this another one of Naraku's tricks?

The kid's face assumed a very familiar scowl when he saw her, and Buffy felt a shock of recognition just as Sango said, "Buffy-chan, that is Inu--"

"Inuyasha?" Buffy asked, incredulously.

His scowl deepened. "Yeah." He brandished his katana. "Fucking sword won't transform when I'm...like this."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief. It was definitely him--that pissed-off tone hadn't changed at all. "Take off your jacket, " she ordered.

"What?"

"I said, take off your jacket. And put it over Kagome. Hurry!"

He glanced down, noticed the shivering, and obeyed without further protest. In another minute, he was draping it around Kagome, gently helping her arms into the sleeves. He murmured something to her that Buffy didn't catch, but Kagome shook her head.

"I'm--I'm all right," she said, her teeth chattering.

Inuyasha stood up again, but he kept looking down at her with a worried frown.

Buffy took the opportunity to study him. His facial features were still essentially the same, so was his hairstyle, though the shining mane was now as dark as a raven's wing. But he looked younger--and much more Japanese--without the white hair and yellow eyes.

"What? What are you staring at, bitch?" His glance slid sideways, then back down to where Kagome was huddled.

"Just wondering what happened. Not that you don't look pretty hot as a brunette," Buffy couldn't help saying.

Not only was it sure to get a rise out of him, it was true.

Inuyasha blushed a little, then snarled at her. The expression was much less intimidating without his fangs, though.

"I purified him...by accident," Kagome said, weakly.

"But she kicked that demon's ass," Inuyasha added, with an air of satisfaction.

"Kagome! Inuyasha!" Shippou called, an instant before he streaked through the gate, and made a beeline for them.

Inuyasha scooped him up before he could reach Kagome, and with a grimace, tossed him to Buffy. She caught the little kitsune reflexively.

"He's gone! I saw him leave!" Shippou said. "Naraku's gone! And you're human, Inuyasha! Why are you human?"

Inuyasha scowled, and turned his face away. Shippou began twisting and pushing back against Buffy, trying to wriggle out of her arms.

"Shippou, don't," said Buffy, tightening her grip on his clothing. "Kagome's hurt."

The little guy's face crumpled in dismay, and Buffy hastily added: "Can you go fetch the first-aid kit? And maybe some water?"

He nodded, eagerly, and Buffy let him leap from her arms. Shippou paused long enough to ask Inuyasha, "What's wrong with her? She isn't gonna die, is she?"

"You little moron!" growled Inuyasha. "She just got knocked around a little. She'll be fine."

Kagome added: "I'm okay, Shippou. Just really...bruised."

When Shippou had gone back out the gate, running for the bikes and their gear as fast as his little paws would go, Inuyasha turned his glare on Buffy, and on Sango, who was standing nearby, leaning wearily on Hiraikotsu.

"You two!" he growled. "How could you let that bastard get away?"

Buffy bit back the angry retort that rose to her lips--she didn't want to rub in Inuyasha's own incapacity--but Sango looked like she was ready to cry again.

"I'm so sorry, Inuyasha. We tried our best. But we failed." She bowed deeply, her ponytail falling forward. "I'm so very sorry!"

Inuyasha, to his credit, looked profoundly discomfited by Sango's reaction. He gave what sounded like a forced laugh. "Eh, I should be glad you left that bastard to me. It would have been too boring to see a villain like Naraku lose to two girls!"

All of this would have sounded more convincing, thought Buffy, if he wasn't human at the moment. But she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to upset Sango--or Inuyasha--any further.

Instead she looked around the courtyard, and spotted Mirokou making his way slowly toward them. He was leaning on his staff, limping a little.

"Hey, what happened to the wolf guy? Um, Kouga?" called Buffy.

"Gone," replied Miroku.

His dark monk's robes were smeared with dirt, but he didn't look seriously injured. He had a number of items gathered under one arm, and Buffy recognized Kouga's fur kilt and leggings, as well as his sword and armor. "The last I saw of him, he was racing after Kagura's feather."

"Must have been a helluva fight," commented Buffy, looking around.

The courtyard showed signs of a terrific struggle--spots of blood and scattered debris and giant paw-prints everywhere.

"Was Kouga-kun okay?" Even injured, Kagome seemed to be more concerned about the others.

"That wimpy wolf? Don't make me laugh," said Inuyasha.

Miroku frowned. "What happened to you, Inuyasha? It's not the n--" he shot a glance at Buffy. "Um, it's not your usual time."

"It's my fault!" Kagome said, from her place on the ground. "I didn't mean to do it."

Inuyasha shrugged. "I think I can feel my powers starting to return, a little. Maybe by nightfall, I'll be...my usual self again."

Buffy noticed that despite his usual habit of verbal abuse, he hadn't yet said a single thing to blame Kagome for his predicament. Yeah, there's a nice guy in there. He just hides it really, really well.

Everyone nodded at his prediction, but their expressions were more hopeful than convinced. He was the strongest one, thought Buffy, and if the transformation didn't wear off, they'd all be in really deep doo-doo.

"But did we get what we came for?" asked Miroku.

"We got a shard," Inuyasha offered, a little defensively.

Sango's shoulders slumped.

"No," Buffy said, tasting failure like a bitter pill. "Naraku got away. With the Portal Key. I--we--weren't strong enough to stop him." In this time and this place, I'm not strong enough.

"But--" Kagome started to say, her eyes wide.

Then a howling whirlwind descended, ripping up tiles from the roof.

"Run!" shouted Inuyasha, scooping up Kagome. She cried out as his arms tightened around her.

The rest of them followed his lead, running for the edge of the forest as fast as their exhausted bodies would take them. They met Shippou, who was staggering gamely along under the weight of the first-aid case and one of Kagome's plastic liter bottles of water.

Buffy looked back, and saw the castle begin to disintegrate, fragments of tiles and building blocks and beams swept up into the heart of the whirlwind.

In a few minutes, only bare ground remained where the castle had been. The great dark tornado spun off, presumably following its master to parts unknown.

"Wow--that gives new meaning to the term 'portable housing,'" said Buffy, and received blank looks from the others.

* * *

They made it as far as the hot springs that evening, after a long, painful journey for Kagome. When it became apparent that neither walking, biking, nor riding on Inuyasha's back were bearable to her injuries, Miroku took charge of Kagome's bike and Kagome rode on Kirara with Sango.

They made camp at sunset and Buffy managed to shoo Inuyasha from Kagome's side long enough to examine her.

The cut that Kagura had inflicted was the easiest to treat--a bit of disinfectant and a bandage, and nature would take care of the rest. Then Buffy ordered Miroku and a seething Inuyasha to turn their backs.

"And no peeking," Sango said sternly, hefting Hiraikotsu.

Buffy lifted Kagome's blouse, and sucked in her breath in sympathy.

"That's gotta hurt like a bitch," she muttered, gently probing Kagome's back and sides. There was barely an inch of skin on her ribs and torso that wasn't purplish-red with giant bruises.

Kagome gasped and whimpered a little as Buffy ran her fingers over the bruised areas, feeling for broken bones. Inuyasha's hands clenched into fists every time Kagome made a sound.

Buffy finished her examination at the back of Kagome's head. Also bruised, but she couldn't feel any obvious lumps.

"How long was she unconscious?" Buffy asked Inuyasha.

"Just long enough for me to carry her outside," he replied.

"Headache? Blurry vision? Nausea?" she asked Kagome, briskly.

"Just a headache...but I think that's from using my power to, um, purify the youkai who was attacking us." Kagome threw a guilt-stricken glance at Inuyasha' waist-length hair. It was still dark, though Buffy noticed a few pale streaks, like sudden highlights.

Inuyasha whirled around as soon as Buffy stood up. "Well? How is she?"

"Badly bruised, and she probably has a couple of cracked ribs, though I'm not sure about that. No concussion though, and no major trauma." Buffy smiled at his worried expression. "A few days of rest, and she'll be fine. She's gonna be hurting tomorrow, though," she added, with a grimace. "Kagome-chan, do you have any Tylenol? Motrin?" At Kagome's blank look, she clarified: "Painkillers?"

"Oh. Yes." At Kagome's words, Shippou dug in her pack and pulled out a bottle of Panadol. "Thank you, Shippou-chan."

"What have you done to my woman, Inu-koro?" came a weary voice from the bushes nearby. "I thought you were supposed to protect her!"

Kouga staggered into view. He was naked, and covered with dried blood from a multitude of deep slashes, but despite his beaten-up appearance, he seemed as confident as ever. Sango and Kagome both blushed and hastily looked away.

"Yeah, you look like you did a whole lot better against Kagura," Inuyasha retorted. "Did you bring back her scalp, like you swore to do?"

Kouga shook his head. "I tracked her for several hours, but then I lost her scent."

"Hah!" Inuyasha said, nastily, but for once, he stayed at Kagome's side instead of trying to punch Kouga's lights out.

Buffy squinted through the gathering darkness, giving Kouga the once-over--not bad, not bad at all, but really needs a bath--then reached over to the pile of stuff that Miroku had rescued, and threw him his fur kilt. "Here you go, nature boy!"

He caught it, and a second later, was at least decent enough that Sango could look him in the eye.

Speaking of looking...it was getting awfully dark now that the sun had set. Buffy went to fetch Kagome's lantern from the pile of camping gear. In its harsh, white light, she saw that Inuyasha was slowly but surely reverting to his hanyou form.

He was still only partially transformed at this point--his hair was heavily streaked with white now, his black eyes had paled to dark amber, but he still only had minimal claws and the barest hint of his fangs. At least he was definitely changing back.

"Buffy-chan?" Kagome asked. She had wrapped herself in Inuyasha's jacket again, and Buffy saw little more than a few wisps of dark hair and the tip of her nose peeking out from under the scarlet wool. "Kouga-kun is hurt. Could you...?"

"Sure." She picked up the first-aid case, and looked at Kouga. "Shippou, Miroku, could you fetch a bucket of hot water from the spring?"

The wolf-prince sat obediently as Buffy sponged him off with warm water and a cloth. He had numerous deep slashes and bruises, and looked like he'd lost a lot of blood, but he turned aside Sango's attempts to bandage him with a smile and an imperious gesture.

"They've already stopped bleeding," he said, his gaze fastened on Kagome. "But I have a favor to ask of you." He looked almost abashed.

"Anything, Kouga-kun!" Kagome chirped, and Inuyasha grimaced.

Careful what you ask for, wolfie, thought Buffy.

"May I impose on your hospitality for one night? I need somewhere...safe...to sleep."

"If he's like other youkai, he'll be helpless while he's in a healing sleep," murmured Sango to Buffy. "He really trusts Kagome-chan, neh?"

Kagome was blushing. "Of course you can, Kouga-kun!"

The wolf-prince inclined his head. "Thank you."

"Keh!" said Inuyasha. "I guess I can stand guard over that wimpy wolf for one night, since I'm going to have my powers back soon."

"You try anything, Inu-koro, and I'll skin you and turn you into a winter cloak," Kouga said, interrupting himself with a huge yawn.

* * *

Exhausted from the fight, but ravenous, they ate a hastily prepared meal of packaged noodles and canned stew from Kagome's bottomless pack.

Inuyasha noisily began slurping up his portion.

Kouga sniffed suspiciously at his bowl, then dug in cautiously.

"Mmmm, good," he said, after swallowing the first mouthful. "Salty. I like this food from your realm, Kagome."

After Buffy, Miroku, and Sango washed up, no one seemed much inclined to talk around the campfire. Naraku's escape weighed heavily on all their spirits.

Kouga was actually drooping, despite the silent grimaces and snarls he was exchanging with Inuyasha, and Sango briskly supplied him with a blanket. He thanked her--if nothing else, he had better manners than the dog-boy, thought Buffy--then curled up next to the fire and was almost instantly asleep.

"Isn't life interesting, Buffy-chan?" whispered Sango, as she rejoined Buffy and began to help untie and roll out Kagome's sleeping bag and pillow. "I grew up learning how to exterminate youkai, yet, in Kagome-chan's presence, I seem to spend a lot of time making friends with them. And bandaging them up."

Buffy grinned. "Yeah, and I'm the vampire slayer who's had two vampire boyfriends, right? Life is pretty strange. But mostly...pretty good."

Sango bowed her head, her expression remote again. "I'm glad you think so, Buffy-chan."

Buffy sighed, and patted Sango on the shoulder. "You'll rescue Kohaku, someday soon. I know you will."

"Hai," Sango said, listlessly. She moved away, and putting Hiraikotsu down within easy reach, stretched out next to Kirara and closed her eyes. After casting an anxious glance at Kagome's huddled form, Shippou slipped between Kirara and Sango, and let his head rest on the firecat's flank.

Inuyasha and Miroku had already taken up their usual stations on either side of the campfire, sitting cross-legged against convenient tree trunks, their weapons placed across their knees.

"Wake Sango and me in a few hours," Buffy said. "You guys need some sleep, too."

Miroku inclined his head. "That is very thoughtful of you, Buffy-sama."

Inuyasha merely shrugged. "Eh, I don't need much sleep. I'm different from you wimpy humans...and someone should keep an eye on that smelly wolf."

Who hadn't moved a muscle since closing his eyes. Only the gentle movement of his chest indicated that Kouga was still alive.

"Whatever," said Buffy, rolling her eyes.

Inuyasha still looked mostly human to her...and as dead-tired as the rest of them. But if he wants to act like a tough guy...She smothered a yawn and tended to her final task of the evening.

Buffy picked up Kagome's sleeping bag and pillow, and dragged them over to the base of the nearest tree. Then she helped Kagome to her feet, and fed her another dose of Panadol. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Here, why don't you lean up against this?" Buffy suggested, helping Kagome climb into the sleeping bag, and zipping it up for her. "Just from personal experience with broken ribs, it's better to sleep sitting up."

Inuyasha wasn't looking at them, but Buffy saw his ears twitch at Kagome's sharp gasps as she tried to settle herself into a comfortable position

"Thank you for taking such good care of me, Buffy-chan," Kagome said listlessly.

Buffy touched the other girl's cheek. "I'll leave the bottle of water and the pills here, in case you need them. Good night, Kagome. I hope you feel better in the morning."

* * *

It was very late--or very early.

Everyone else, even Miroku, had fallen asleep hours ago, but Inuyasha was still awake, relishing the stinging pulse of his youkai blood as it reclaimed his body. His transformation from human to hanyou was usually damned near instantaneous, but this time, it had taken hours.

But at least now he knew he wouldn't be trapped in his human form forever.

His ears twitched at Kagome's soft cry as she woke up yet again from having relaxed too far from her sitting position. Shit, how he hated to see her like this! It made him feel so damned helpless.

With a soft growl, he rose and went over to her. Her eyes were closed, but he sensed she was awake...and in a great deal of pain. He struggled with the cap on the jar of pills for a few seconds, then simply plunged one clawed finger through the jar's soft side, and shook out two or three tablets into his hand through the hole he'd made. "Here."

She opened her eyes. "Inuyasha," she whispered, and bent her head. With a pleasant shock that tightened the muscles in his belly, he felt the brush of her lips against his palm as she took the pills.

His cheeks heated, and he snatched his hand away as if she'd burned it. He grabbed blindly for the water bottle that Buffy had left.

She drank, and let her head loll back against the rough wood of the trunk behind her. "Thank you."

He sighed, and picked her up, still swaddled in the cocoon-like shell of the sleeping bag, bracing himself for her gasp of pain as he moved her.

"What are you--?"

He sank down in the place she'd just been, and settled her into his lap.

"You need to sleep," he said. Her scent, her wonderful scent, rose from the folds of the sleeping bag to envelop him in a sense of comfort, of rightness. "And you keep falling over."

"Hmmm." Her eyelids fell shut again, and he felt her head come to rest just under his collarbone.

He heard the barest whisper of a growl. Kouga was awake, and sitting up. The wimpy wolf looked dazed and heavy-eyed in the faint red fireglow. "Inu-koro," he mumbled. "You'd better not be...."

It had been Inuyasha's recurring nightmare for months that, one day, he'd see Kouga bear Kagome away, and she'd go willingly.

But Kagome was in his arms now, her head on his shoulder, and it was his nose that was filled with her scent. Inuyasha raised his chin and coldly stared down the yourouzoku.

Narrow-eyed with displeasure, but clearly unable to resist his healing body's imperative to go back to sleep, Kouga stared back for a few seconds, then turned his back on them and curled up. Within a few moments, Inuyasha heard the pattern of his breathing slow as Kouga fell back into the deep healing sleep of the youkai.

Inuyasha let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, and relaxed back against the tree.

"Sleep, Kagome," he whispered, adjusting her weight across his lap. "I'll make sure you don't fall."

Her eyes heavy-lidded and her movements languid with sleep, she smiled up at him.

Time stopped for Inuyasha. He had Kagome in his arms, and he wanted very badly to kiss her. But...

If he kissed Kagome now, what would happen? Of all the people he had ever known, she had been the first to look at him, a despised hanyou, and see him. Not human. Not youkai. Not a polluted half-breed. But simply...Inuyasha.

She believed in him. Thought he was good, and kind, and noble. And because she believed it, he tried to be all those things. Because he couldn't bear to disappoint her.

And yet he did disappoint her, time after time.

She had been so broken-hearted when she saw him embrace the replica that still held a remnant of Kikyou's spirit. What Kagome didn't know, what he couldn't bear to say out loud, was that Kikyou's kiss--his first kiss--had broken his heart, too.

He had wanted that kiss so badly while Kikyou lived, and to receive it now, from porcelain-cold lips that smelled of decayed earth and broken bones...it had been more than he could bear. He had sworn to protect Kikyou, had bound himself to her, but he was also bound to Kagome by ties that somehow ran deeper than duty and loyalty.

He was afraid. If he let Kagome fully into his heart, how badly would she make him suffer?

You're a fucking coward, Inuyasha. Don't you already suffer when she's injured...or when she goes away to her world?

But still he hesitated, torn between the promise of Kagome's warmth and his lonely but safe habit of self-denial. Don't ever reveal a weakness. They'll use it against you.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kouga's ear twitch. The wolf-prince might be asleep. Or maybe he was just waiting for his chance to take Kagome away...

Without another thought, Inuyasha bent his head, and kissed her.

* * *

It still hurt to breathe, the ribs on Kagome's right side protesting every lungful of air, but between the tablets and the fact that she was currently nestled against Inuyasha's chest, the pain had receded to bearable levels.

She was pleasantly warm, bundled in her sleeping bag...and in his arms. Her cheek was resting against the rough fabric of his haori, and if she looked up, she could see the smooth, pale curve of his jaw and cheek.

He drew her closer, somehow knowing that turning her just a fraction of a degree closer to him would miraculously ease some of the pressure on her aching ribs.

"Sleep, Kagome," he said in his rough whisper. "I'll make sure you don't fall."

No, he would never let her fall. He acted so tough and defensive most of the time, and yet, whenever she got sick or injured, the façade dropped, and she saw the gentle, compassionate person he really was.

He was staring down at her with an odd expression on his face. Not his usual cockiness, or familiar annoyance. He looked...intensely hungry, like a starving person forced to watch others eating.

Kagome felt a deep shiver of anticipation, and her cheeks heated. But she couldn't move, couldn't speak. She didn't want to break the spell. How often had she daydreamed about a moment like this? Alone with Inuyasha, and his arms around her...

He bent suddenly and before she had comprehended that he was really going to do it, something warm and soft touched her lips.

He was kissing her. Of his own free will.

Oh.

She forgot about her sleeping companions, the pain from her sore muscles and battered ribs, his commitment to Kikyo. Nothing mattered, except that his mouth was on hers.

My second kiss, she thought. And it's Inuyasha...again. I don't want it ever to be anyone else.

Their first kiss had been born of fear and his desperate clinging to the humanity he'd so nearly lost at Kaguya's hands. She had been terrified, and it wasn't until afterwards that she could stop and think about the fact that they had kissed at last.

This time, there were no enemies lurking, no danger to flee. It was just the two of them in the quiet darkness. Kagome closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the sensation of his mouth against hers.

He was very gentle, very tentative, as if she were something precious, something breakable. He isn't used to kissing, she realized suddenly, and that made her happy.

If he was going to get used to kissing anyone, she wanted it to be her.

Yuki-chan had warned her once that boys liked sticking their tongues in your mouth. Gross! But Inuyasha's kiss wasn't like that. It was just...nice. And it was making her feel warm and tingly in places a long way from her lips. She didn't think she'd mind even if he did try to stick his tongue in her mouth. That might feel...nice...too.

After a timeless interval, she tried to free her arm from the sleeping bag to draw him closer, and the sudden pain reminded her that she was breakable.

He drew back, looking dismayed. "I'm hurting you. I'm sorry." His mouth tightened in that familiar expression of I did something wrong, and she felt her heart contract.

"No." She wanted him to kiss her again. What if she was dreaming this? What if he wanted to pretend it hadn't happened--like their first kiss? "No, you're not hurting me. You never would."

Her hand finally escaped its captivity in the sleeping bag, and she reached up to touch his hair--finally silver again--his velvety ears, the side of his face.

He gave her a shy, radiant smile, and leaned his cheek into her palm. He was looking down at her as if she were the best, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

She liked that. She liked him. She liked everything about him, even the parts that weren't human. It made him...unique.

"Inuyasha, will you--do you mind--" Why was it so hard to ask? Why was she so afraid that he'd recoil, say no? "Please kiss me again?"

And he did.