InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Anamnesis ❯ Journey's End ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 6 – Journey's End




Inuyasha regained consciousness in phases, his dream so delightful that he didn't want to leave it, imagining that he held the naked Kagome securely in his arms. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't a dream, and that while he had dreamt of making love to the miko that was only because it'd been a reprise of events that had actually happened the night before. Coming fully awake, then, he stifled a groan as his morning excitement made itself known in that moment, pulsing and throbbing the way it was pressed snugly against Kagome's bottom, pinned between their bodies. He tried not to move, wanting so badly to rub himself against her but wanting even more badly to not wake her up, not because he was worried about what her reaction would be to discovering just how 'excited' he was to be lying with her like that, but more simply because he wasn't ready to give it up yet. The sensation of holding her in his arms like that was just so pleasant, this moment in time so perfect, that a part of him wished he could cherish it forever. Especially since his left hand had managed to keep purchase of her breast throughout the night; even in unconsciousness his body apparently knew a good thing when he had it and hadn't been about to do something stupid like make himself shift in his sleep and lose claim of his treasure.

Inuyasha didn't know that he'd trained his body long ago to hold perfectly still while he slept so as not to risk falling out of his tree perch or give his position away to a potential predator. Such negative types of thoughts were the farthest thing from his mind in that moment as he inhaled slowly and deeply through his nose, relishing in their combined scents, the lingering perfume of their joining still clinging to their bodies. He could smell his seed still within the miko, and that was a truly satisfying odor, indeed. He wasn't worried about an unintentional conception since he could also tell from her scent that her fertile time for this lunar cycle had already come and gone, her body not presently in the right phase to make a baby. He couldn't really explain how he knew that; it was just something that he automatically knew and he assumed it was because he'd gotten used to her changing scents over the span of time they'd known each other, and so subconsciously he still had the ability to recognize what her current scent was telling him despite the spell he was under because prior to losing his memories identifying her body's cycle had become second nature to his nose. Her scent to his nose was like the phases of the moon, and just as a simple glance up at the moon in the sky would immediately tell anyone with working eyes and comprehension of the lunar phases where the moon was in its cycle, so too was her cycle that clear and obvious to his nose.

Had she been fertile last night he would have forced them both to stop before going all the way, not that the idea of having a baby with her was a scary or bad thought but it was rightfully an irresponsible one while they didn't know anything about themselves, or more importantly the true depth of this mission they were apparently on to collect and purify all the shards of this shattered 'sacred jewel', whatever the hell that was. He didn't give a rat's ass about the jewel or what it could or couldn't do for whoever possessed it, although he did agree that it wouldn't be a good idea, for everyone's well being, to let such a thing fall into the hands of an evil youkai, like that tengu. Why it had to be their responsibility he still had no idea, although he did know that it didn't really matter because regardless of why or how it was Kagome's job to collect and purify those shards, and it was his job to protect her, and so wherever Kagome went he would follow, simple as that. It just wouldn't be a very good idea to bring a baby along for the ride. Maybe...one day...after they had the entire Shikon no Tama put back together again and had figured out what the hell to do with it after that so that it'd no longer be a threat to anyone...

His lips curled up into a playful smile at the thought, imagining that the miko would be an excellent mother. He could see her holding a baby in her arms, a child that looked human at first glance, with a full head of raven hair, until upon closer examination little puppy ears would be spotted peaking out from the top of the baby's head.

He knew he was getting way too ahead of himself entertaining those kinds of fantasies, but that was really all it was, a fantasy, and there was no harm in daydreaming about what might one day come true in the far off, distant future, right?

Right.

So with that last thought in mind Inuyasha took another deep breath, enjoying once again the combined fragrance of their recent joining. Hopefully the strongest aspects of the smell would linger for at least a few days; if the stubborn wench wanted to bathe then that would surely wash it away much sooner.

Where the hell did that come from?

Inuyasha frowned to himself as the random thought of being perturbed by her wanting to bathe came to mind, the sensation so out of the blue that he couldn't even describe it, nor could he quite latch onto it again as the harder he tried to stay focused on that mental image the more quickly it seemed to slip away between his fingers. Eventually he chalked it up to one of his locked away memories, although the notion of being put out by her wanting to be clean didn't really make any sense, unless she were actually obsessed with bathing and wanted to do it all the damn time, to the point where it was a legitimate inconvenience. She had made some kind of passing comment the night before, during that brief instance when she'd thought he found her smell unpleasant, apologizing for not having bathed properly when she'd dunked herself in that stream to wash the last of that tengu's powder off, but hell, he actually found her natural scent so soothing that he couldn't imagine he'd actually be bothered by her wanting to keep her scent fresh and clean unless she wanted to stop so often that it was hindering their progress. Either that...or maybe just like now and what had originally triggered that random thought of his, her bathing washed off their more prominent combined scents, like from whenever he carried her on his back, and he didn't like her washing off his scent from her body. He supposed that made sense, and he briefly wondered in that moment if he'd ever even actually had the balls to tell her how he felt about the issue. In fact, mind made up, Inuyasha decided in that moment that if the subject of bathing were breached that morning he would in fact tell her that he would prefer it if she didn't wash for a few days, and why. Why keep something like that a secret from her? That didn't make any sense, either.

Though of course, to be fair, nothing really made any sense when you couldn't remember the reasons behind it.  

Mentally shrugging it off, Inuyasha resolved not to worry about it, simply enjoying the feel of Kagome in his arms, her body pressed flush against his own. His bliss was about to be cut short, he'd noticed, his ears twitching as the sound of her heartbeat and breathing changed, indicating she was waking up. At least it wasn't because of anything he'd done, since he'd remained perfectly still during his introspection.

Kagome awoke slowly and peacefully, thinking briefly that she couldn't remember ever having felt so happy before in her entire life until it dawned on her that she couldn't remember very much about her life at all. During that limbo between sleep and awake she'd forgotten about the fact that she'd lost her memories, as she'd once again had a dream in which she fully remembered their other companions. This time she and the other human woman had been soaking in a hot spring, although she couldn't remember now what it was they'd been discussing during the relaxing bath. It was as if her subconscious mind was trying to show her what she was missing, giving her the pieces to the puzzle, but they faded away like a morning marine layer burned off by the sun as she came fully awake, her beatitude the only thing that remained. Fully conscious, then, and aware of her own nudity as well as her equally naked companion still intimately holding her in his arms, Kagome mused that her initial thought on the matter had still been an accurate one; she didn't need to remember the past events of her life to know that she was utterly and truly happy in that moment. She was mildly surprised to note that neither of them had shifted in their sleep, especially since she had rolled over a couple of times the previous night, but she imagined that she'd just felt so content and at peace with him holding her that there had been no need for her to try and get more comfortable. Nothing could top the comfort of him holding her in his arms the way he was presently doing. The youkai spell blocking out her memories from before the spell was cast didn't hinder her ability to recollect the activities of last night, and wiggling her bottom in that moment, she stifled a giggle as she felt more than heard Inuyasha moan against the back of her neck, his left hand giving her breast a playful squeeze.

She'd known he was awake; somehow, she'd just been able to feel it in his aura

“Good morning.” she murmured playfully then, which earned her a vocalization from the hanyou that sounded like a cross between a growl and a chuckle.

“Yes, it is.” he agreed then, his tone of voice both playful and sultry.

The hand on her breast drifted lower, and it was Kagome's turn to moan, as he shifted his body within the sleeping bag to tower over her ever so slightly and started licking and kissing the side of her neck, admiring the mark he'd placed there the night before.

“I would love to make it an even better morning,” he stated as his fingertips teased the nest of curls above her womanhood, “but we should probably get up.” he stated regretfully then, pulling his hand away as he moved his mouth around from her neck to her face, his eyes smiling his greeting as he kissed her lips, Kagome eagerly tilting her head to meet him halfway, returning the kiss.

Her left hand snaked behind her body and found the object still pulsing against her bottom. Giving his member a squeeze, she smirked as he groaned.

“Looks like some of us are already up.” she teased.

He chuckled, and gave her another quick kiss, before then reaching for himself with his hand to pull hers away.

“Yeah, well, he'll get over it. I can hear the villagers all shuffling around, and breakfast is already being served in the headman's main house. I know he said we could 'sleep-in' however late we wanted, but we need to hit the road.”

Sighing, Kagome knew he was right. She contemplated suggesting they try to just knock out a quickie really fast, but the problem with that was that she wasn't really all that into the idea of a quickie, and she imagined that neither was he. If they were going to do it then she'd want to do it right, and he was right, they didn't really the have time for that.

“As soon as we can, we've got to try and make the time for us, no more excuses, whatever our excuses might have been in the past.” she stated then, referring to the fact that they'd both come to the conclusion that the two of them had never slept together before even though they were both just as certain that they'd each wanted to for quite some time now.

“Oh, I definitely agree...” the hanyou purred, leaning in for one more kiss before finally scooting himself out of the sleeping bag, standing up.

Kagome immediately shimmied herself out of the bag as well, showing no concern for her nudity as she rose to her feet, or the fact that her equally naked companion was openly waggling his eyebrows at her. She did blush – she couldn't help it – but that actually had more to do with the fact that his raging morning hard-on was on full display than the looks he was giving her. Doing her best to compose herself and not openly stare at his male perfection like a sex-crazed pervert, Kagome still didn't try to cover her own body from his view as the two of them went about gathering their haphazardly discarded clothing and getting redressed.

Using her dirty panties from the night before to wipe herself off the best she could before donning the last clean pair in her backpack, Kagome lifted an arm to sniff herself, and crinkling her nose, she said rather apologetically, “Ugh...I know you said you like my scent but I bet I'm starting to stink to you now.”

“Keh, you smell even better now.” Inuyasha replied, waggling his eyebrows again, which earned a giggle from the miko.

“I probably smell like sex!” she stated, her tone of voice amused.

He smirked.

“Exactly.”

“Ugh...” she grumbled again, her tone growing more serious as she slipped on her skirt, bra and blouse. “Well, I don't really want to impose on anybody here by asking for a bath when they've already been so nice to us and we're about to go eat a free breakfast, but as soon as we can find a river or spring or something out in the woods I'd like to stop and wash up real quick. I'll try not to take too long since I know we really need to try and catch up with our friends, so no lazy soaking in a hot spring or anything, but I need to scrub. I feel all sweaty and yucky.”

Inuyasha listened to the way she made her request, thinking it sounded perfectly reasonable and not the demanding tone of somebody who was literally obsessed with being clean, like that brief flash of annoyance he'd felt had tended to imply. Was it possible that he'd just used to find her desire to bathe annoying because he hadn't really thought about it from her perspective before now, thinking only that she just wanted to wash his scent off? It was clear from the way she'd spoken just now that while she was aware of the fact that she had his scent on her that that wasn't her main reason for wanting to get clean. She legitimately felt dirty, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to get clean in that case.

He'd give himself a headache if he spent too much time trying to analyze how he might have used to feel about certain things; all he knew was how he felt right then, in that moment, and so he'd respond based on that feeling.

Having already donned his fundoshi, kosode and suikan by that point, he met Kagome's eyes while pulling on his hakama and said, “To be honest, I really like the way you smell right now. You're totally covered in my scent, both inside and out, and it's like it broadcasts to all the other youkai that you're mine. I'd rather you didn't bathe for at least a couple days so that our joining has a chance to fully seep into your scent, 'cause then when you bathe a bit of my musk'll still remain for a while 'cause it'll have become a part of you. If you wash it off too quickly more of it'll go and the scent of our coupling will be gone faster. It'll eventually fade away no matter what, so if you really wanna bathe I won't bitch and I'll find a river for you, but I guess I'm just kinda really enjoying the way you smell right now so I'd rather you didn't hurry to wash it off. Sorry if that's selfish; just bein' honest.”

Kagome blinked in surprise at his unexpected statement, totally surprised and actually a bit relieved, although that bizarre and unexpected feeling also had her feeling surprised for an entirely different reason. She hadn't thought anything of it when she'd first voiced her desire to bathe, but as soon as the words had left her lips she'd suddenly had the strangest sensation in the pit of her stomach, like she was mentally cringing, bracing for impact, as though she were expecting an argument from him. Why had she believed that he would be upset with her voicing her desire to bathe? Was that an argument the two of them had had in the past? If so, she imagined that it would have had to be a fairly regular occurrence in order for her subconscious mind to be expecting it, like it was something that happened every time she asked to bathe. But even with as yucky and gross as she kind of felt in that moment, Inuyasha's words were so heartfelt, and also logical from a canine's perspective, that suddenly, she actually felt that even if they had argued about it in the past, she now kind of understood his point of view on the matter. She remembered plainly how he'd told her before that he could tell he carried her around on his back a lot, because of scent, so was it possible that the inu-youkai in him hated the idea of her washing his scent off because it was like she was rejecting him in a way or something? And this was a whole lot more important than just the scent of her riding on his back. He'd plainly said it, some of his scent was inside of her, and it made sense that if given enough time her body would absorb it, which explained why, regardless of how much bathing she'd done, he'd stated before that he would've been able to tell if they'd had sex before because he would've noticed it in her scent, unless the last time was so long ago that it had completely faded.

If given the time necessary for her body to soak it in, then it would linger as a part of her, otherwise, while it was still fresh, she had the opportunity to more fully wash it away, but he was asking her nicely not to do that, even admitting his reasons were mostly selfish. Sighing, Kagome supposed it wouldn't kill her to not bathe for a couple more days, although she'd still like to find a stream to at least wash her clothes in, since she was now out of clean underwear. But so as long as she could wash her clothes to have something clean to change into then she supposed she wouldn't feel quite so gross, and she voiced her idea for the compromise in that moment, agreeing to wait two days to bathe herself if she could at least do her laundry.

Inuyasha immediately agreed to her second request, finding it perfectly reasonable as well, and for a minute he was unable to wipe the huge smile off his face from the simple knowledge that she had agreed to wear his musk. It was like her carrying a giant, brightly colored banner that announced to all the world, or at least to anyone with a decent nose, what the two of them had just done. She knew that, and she had agreed to it. She wasn't trying to rid herself of his scent, and that knowledge made him almost as happy as he'd felt during their actual joining. Why he felt so unbelievably elated in that moment he couldn't really explain, either, as if he had actually been expecting her to want to keep what they'd done a secret. It wasn't as if he wanted her to actually blab it to the humans; just announcing it to the youkai of the world was enough, and the fact that she didn't want to hide it and pretend it hadn't happened really meant a lot to him. She wasn't ashamed to be with him. Why he had suddenly feared that she might be was yet another one of those pesky, unexplainable emotions that came out of left field and left him more befuddled than anything else, but he quickly decided it didn't really matter why some subconscious part of his mind had been afraid that she might possibly regret their joining because she didn't, and that was really all that mattered.

Announcing that he'd be right back after relieving himself, something he hoped would help the swelling in his pants to go away, Inuyasha stepped outside in that moment, allowing Kagome a moment to herself.

Murmuring an acknowledgment, Kagome dug around in her backpack until she found her travel size stick of deodorant, applying it by sticking each hand up under her shirt one at a time. She didn't figure that wearing the antiperspirant would interfere with youkai noses when it came to the scent Inuyasha wanted her to preserve; he knew she had that deodorant because she'd already found it and had put it on the previous morning out in the woods, so it was his own fault for not telling her to not put it on if he'd be displeased to discover that she had. She really didn't think he would be, though, because the scent of their joining wasn't coming from her armpits, after all, and she would feel much too yucky without it so that settled it right there. Running her brush through her hair, next, the miko wasn't unaware of just how happy her agreeing to not bathe had made her hanyou companion, and she found herself feeling genuinely happy as well in that moment, caring less and less about her feeling of ickiness because to her, all that really mattered was Inuyasha's happiness. Or at least, that was the predominant thought she'd had in her mind until she noticed the nasty bruise on the side of her throat as she looked herself over in her small travel mirror.

Reentering the hut at just the right, or wrong, moment, Inuyasha caught it as Kagome's breathing hitched, and turning to glance her way, his ears lowered to his head as he saw the way she started fiddling with the collar of her uniform shirt, trying to hide his mark. He did agree that blabbing their joining to the humans wasn't necessary, and might actually be a bad idea, and that hickey on her neck was a dead giveaway, the human side of him having wanted to mark her just as badly as his inu half had. At the time, he'd thought that her clothing would fully cover it and that there would be nothing to worry about. Apparently he'd gone just a little bit too high up.

Oops ...

Fiddling some more, Kagome lucked out when she was able to adjust the collar of her sailor fuku to mostly covered the dark purple hickey, brushing her hair over her left shoulder to hide the last of it. Or rather, Inuyasha was lucky she was able to fully cover the mark, if the glare she gave him in that moment was any indication. He chuckled nervously, the sound turning into more of a genuine laugh as Kagome herself cracked up and stuck her tongue out at him. She'd known what he was doing the night before, after all, so she could hardly place all of the blame on his shoulders that morning.

“It's my fault too...” she stated then, letting him off the hook. “We both got caught up in the moment, I guess, not that there's anything wrong with that.”

His ears perked up at her words, and offering her a genuine smile he gave her one last chaste kiss before she moved to don her shoes and socks. Once they were both ready to go, Kagome's pajamas and other supplies tucked back inside her backpack, said backpack slung over her shoulders beside her quiver of arrows with her bow in hand, Tessaiga tucked through Inuyasha's obi, they made sure the ashes from last night's fire were free of embers that might possibly ignite during their absence and then they were out, heading to the headman's main house for their open invitation to breakfast. It would certainly be a tremendous time saver not having to hunt for anything to eat that morning.

Hanyou and miko were both openly welcomed once they arrived, and a modest breakfast was immediately served, although much to the duo's surprise and delight that wasn't the only food prevision they were gifted with, as the headman's wife also provided them with a few different types of leaf-wrapped onigiri they could take with them as traveling food for later while out on the road. She also topped off Kagome's plastic water bottles, making no outward comment on their bizarre appearance although her initial surprise and confusion upon seeing them did not go unnoticed by the miko, who mentally filed the woman's reaction away to be  analyzed later. The headman entertained his guests with pleasant conversation while they ate, since he had no new information that he could think of to fill them in on regarding anything important the two of them might possibly be missing thanks to that tengu's spell. He'd already explained all that he could about what he knew of the Shikon no Tama the previous evening, the man unaware of the fact that the Inu-tachi were actually in a race to collect the shards before Naraku could complete the jewel, nobody in that particular village having ever heard of any rumors regarding the dark hanyou's existence.

It was fortunate, for the village's sake, that none of them had ever heard of Naraku. Hopefully theirs would at least be one village that the dark hanyou would leave alone throughout his reign of destruction.

It was even more fortunate that Inuyasha and Kagome had shown up when they had, relieving the village of their burden of harboring a jewel shard, because surely its presence would have eventually earned the dark hanyou's awareness, and speaking of which, it was probably about time for them to be on their way, the couple stated a few minutes after breakfast was completed. Even though they knew nothing of Naraku they were both aware that youkai were attracted to the shards, just generally speaking, and for the sake of the villagers they wanted to leave before the shards Kagome carried ended up luring something else there. Even though lesser youkai weren't as drawn to them because of their purity another higher youkai like that tengu could theoretically be on their trail, and that was the last thing the hanyou and miko wanted to risk happening after how much pain this poor village had already suffered through, and especially after how nicely they'd treated the two of them despite their unusual appearances.

The headman waved off Kagome's thanks, stating once again that all they had done for them was the least they could do after the pair had gone out of their way to save them. As everyone stood up and away from the low dining table he surprised the miko even more so by bowing her way respectfully before accepting the bundle his wife had just handed him to give to the young miko, which was a wrap containing six arrows, giving her a total of thirteen.

“Oh wow, this is too much...” the miko tried to politely reject, but the headman was having none of it, holding his hands up palm out in a polite gesture of rejecting her rejection.

“Nonsense...what use are arrows if there is nobody alive to shoot them?” he stated, his smile never wavering. “Surely our entire village would have been lost had it not been for the both of you.” Glancing over to meet Inuyasha's eyes he then added, “I only wish I had something more to give you.”

“Keh...” the hanyou replied, crossing his arms while shoving each one through the opposite sleeve. “You've given us plenty. Any more and we'll be in your debt.”

Smiling broader as the hanyou chuckled a bit at his own statement, the headman bowed again, accepting the young couple's farewell wishes as they got on their way. Honestly, the man wouldn't be surprised if they had bedded together in his late nephew's hut, but he'd known from the beginning with the way the miko had been riding on the hanyou's back as they'd leapt from the sky, not to mention her strange, rather indecent manner of dress, that she was not your average miko. The fact that she was keeping those sacred jewel shards so pure was the only proof he needed, though, to know that regardless of whatever type of relationship she might or might not have with that inu-hanyou her heart, and in fact her very soul were still as pure as ever. He had not wanted to seem rude by implying that it would be immoral for the couple to share the same dwelling for the night; automatically presuming them to be maintaining a 'proper' camaraderie could have very easily offended or even worried them if that were not the case, if they could have possibly felt scorned or shunned in any way, and so he had wanted to make sure that they knew they were welcome in his village no matter what. Logically, if they were maintaining a proper boundary along those lines, then the miko surely would have requested a privacy screen be placed within the one-room hut, which was one of the reasons why he'd taken them there first before serving dinner. They could have just as easily left their supplies in the genkan of his own home during super, but he'd wanted to make sure they were aware of what he'd had in mind to offer them for the night. The fact that neither of them had even so much as blinked funny at the idea of sharing the small quarters had spoken volumes, but he would not speak ill of their saviors, and neither would any other member of his family. He'd meant what he'd said when he'd promised them that they would always be welcome in his village, and that offer would not be changing so long as he was the headman, and probably even beyond. He imagined that tales of the hanyou and miko's rescue of their village would be told for generations to come, of how the two had literally dropped out of the sky to save them. They would always be heroes.

Said heroes didn't dawdle long on their way out of town, nodding back to the few bows they received along the way. They made a quick pit stop so that Kagome could relieve herself, and then with her new arrows tucked securely into her quiver she climbed up onto Inuyasha's back and then they were off, racing back through the trees the way they'd come. They calculated that they could probably get back to the area where they had been attacked by the tengu by mid-evening, and then they'd find a suitable place to make camp before heading back out in a straight line following the path that led from the village to what they were calling the tengu's field. Hopefully if they just kept on traveling in that same direction, as the bird flies, then they'd eventually come across another village, and one that had actually heard of their mystery friends. Kagome could at least fortunately remember what they looked like thanks to her two nights of dreaming about them, but if her description wasn't enough to ring any bells with whatever villagers they happened to come upon then they honestly didn't know what they'd do from there. It was a worry in the back of both of their minds, although they were trying to remain optimistic. They did know for a fact that these friends of theirs existed, and so they would do their best to find them, no matter what. Hopefully, because surely they were late by now and being missed by these other people, their friends were actually actively trying to find them as well, and Kagome and Inuyasha knew that they were much easier to describe when trying to find individuals who may or may not have happened through any given village. If whatever settlements they came upon did not know of the people they were trying to find then they would definitely make sure that the villagers knew to be on the look out for people asking about them, and they would give them the direction they were traveling in so that they themselves could then be followed, if it came to that.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Keeping her eyes to the sky as they ran, mainly to be on the lookout for any more tengu or other flying youkai, Kagome remembered what the headman had told them of how they themselves had all been riding upon a giant, flying youkai. They were now traveling in the direction their friends had traveled in, and so hopefully if their friends were out there somewhere looking for them now as well then they were doing so by air. Hopefully they would meet in the middle somewhere. Kagome knew that that was a lot of 'hopefully's, but there was nothing wrong with hoping, was there?

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“I hope they're all right...” Shippou murmured worriedly as he clung to the front of Miroku's robes, the kitsune riding in between the slayer and monk who were riding upon Kirara, the group having left Mushin's temple that morning at first light, before the sun had even risen.

“I am quite certain that Inuyasha would never let anything happen to Kagome-sama.” Miroku attempted to sooth the boy.

“But what if something happened to Inuyasha?” Shippou countered. “What if that oni was tougher than we thought?”

“That oni's youki was fairly weak, Shippou. I am quite certain-”

“But then what if something else attacked them afterwards?!” the boy interrupted.

Sango didn't want to join in on the conversation, because the truth was she was just as worried as Shippou, and actually, she knew that Miroku was, too; he was just trying to keep a brave face for the boy. At first when Inuyasha and Kagome had not arrived on schedule, during the afternoon of the day after they had parted ways, they had thought little of it, knowing that they might have been delayed in that village if they had felt obligated to help tend to the fallen and injured, or perhaps even to offer assistance in rebuilding some of the damaged structures. Inuyasha might have even felled and split a few trees for the people, and if it had gotten too late then they definitely might have agreed to stay the night, as would surely have been offered for them having ridded the village of the oni, an oni that Sango did agree hadn't seemed very strong and one she was quite certain the hanyou and miko had handled without issue.

While they both knew that Inuyasha would never have wanted to dawdle in the village that long, they also knew that Inuyasha wouldn't have wanted to argue with Kagome about it, either, and so if she had given him 'the look', indicating that she wanted to stay the night, then that surely would have been the end of it. Yes, it did seem odd that they would opt to stay overnight when even Kagome would have believed that the matter of getting to Mushin's was pressing, but Sango did not think that the future-born miko had decided to make a vacation of it, enjoying a soak in a bath or anything of the sort. Perhaps it had taken a bit longer to kill that oni than originally anticipated, and then perhaps dealing with the dead, not to mention treating any injured survivors, had also taken longer than planned, and so then perhaps it had simply gotten so late that they would've needed to make camp soon by that time, anyway. If they would have only been able to run for maybe an hour or two before being forced to make camp somewhere out in the woods then staying the night in the village would have suddenly become a matter of practicality, so that they could have good bedding, and good food, starting fresh first thing in the morning. Inuyasha might have also had a mild injury (for him) that Kagome could have insisted he let heal before pushing himself too hard with so much running.

So assuming they had started out first thing the following morning, of the day she and Miroku had originally been expecting them to arrive in Mushin's village, then Sango knew they probably wouldn't have been able to make it there in one single day. Running non-stop at his top long-distance speed with no breaks for even a quick meal, it would have been getting dark by the time they would've arrived, and it was unfair to expect even Inuyasha to exert himself that much, not to mention poor Kagome. No, if they hadn't gotten started until that morning – and that was definitely the latest they should have been delayed by – then they definitely would have camped out in the woods at some point and so they should have arrived somewhere around mid-morning the following day. Sango hadn't really started to get worried until that next morning had come and gone and there had still been no sign of them.

Asking Hachimon to distract little Shippou with a contest of who could transform into what, with a drunken Mushin merrily playing the roles of spectator and judge, the slayer had pulled Miroku aside and the two of them had come to an agreement. While the houshi had been beginning to feel just as worried, and he'd admitted as much in private to Sango at that time, they had agreed that they didn't want to head out in search of their friends too prematurely and risk their two groups missing each other. Inuyasha was a big boy, and Kagome truly wasn't helpless and could defend herself in her own right, and so while they'd both been getting more and more worried as time went on they'd also both tried to convince themselves that whatever had happened, their friends were fine, and had merely been delayed. Surely the hanyou and miko would arrive on the scene any minute now with a tale along the lines of “Oh you would not believe what we encountered...”

Or so the slayer and monk had both tried to convince themselves.

They had agreed, though, that if the pair did not arrive by the next morning, that morning, that they would have then given the two plenty of time to show up on their own. They'd waited more than a reasonable amount of time 'just in case' the two came strolling in perhaps a bit exhausted but otherwise none the worse for wear. Now it was time to start worrying about them, 'just in case' something bad really had happened, and as Kirara pushed herself to fly even faster in that moment Sango bit her lower lip as she tightened her fists on Hiraikotsu's strap, praying they hadn't made a terrible mistake in deciding to wait so long before acting.

They were about three hours in on their flight or so when Kirara suddenly roared to get their attention, her demonic eyes and nose picking up on something it took the humans riding on her back a couple more minutes to catch sight of; the western edge of the field below them was absolutely charred in a few scattered places where some sort of a battle consisting of demonic energy had definitely taken place. Instructing the nekomata to fly low so that they could get a better look at the deserted battleground below, it didn't take long for the tajiya and houshi to both notice the very tell-tale levels of destruction they were positive had to have been forged by a certain special katana they knew quite well, and that sealed the deal for the lot of them; it was time to land and investigate.

Kirara touched down in a fairly unscathed area, and one of the first things Shippou said upon taking a look around, his little nose twitching, was that he could in fact smell Kagome and Inuyasha's scents, but that they were stale, a couple of days old. He could also detect the scent of some kind of bird-like youkai, although he wasn't certain what it was, and its scent smelled about the same age, indicating it was probably what Kagome and Inuyasha had been fighting. There was no strong scent of blood in the air belonging to either of their friends that he could detect, and that was definitely a comforting bit of news for the slayer and monk, plus the fact that Inuyasha had obviously gotten in at least one good hit, but despite the lack of a blood scent one thing was very disconcerting for the group. If Kagome and Inuyasha had actually made it this far two days ago then that meant that they had actually been arriving on schedule, after all, so then where the hell were they? What had happened to them? Where'd they go? Had they been kidnapped? Eaten? Dissolved into nothingness?

Shippou was fortunately able to answer that question a few minutes later when in a direct attempt to follow their scents he ended up discovering that their trail appeared to turn back around and head back into the woods the way they'd come, going west. Why they had decided to turn back didn't really make any sense, unless they'd been too injured to go forward and had needed the cover of the trees while they healed, but the investigating members of the Inu-tachi hated to think about either of their friends becoming severely injured like that. Just because neither Shippou nor Kirara could detect high traces of either Inuyasha or Kagome's blood in the area didn't mean that neither of them had sustained any injuries during this battle whatsoever, and the slayer and monk both knew that, loath as they were to admit it, but they wanted to stay optimistic to the best of their abilities. Perhaps the hanyou and miko were unharmed and there had been some other reason why they'd needed to backtrack?

Further investigation bore more questions than answers when Kirara spotted what looked like an opened carrying cloth lying on the ground with some kind of a white powder scattered all around it. Sango immediately instructed Kirara to stay away and make sure not to breathe in any of the powder, just in case, and then applying her taijiya gas mask she got in close for a more thorough examination. Miroku, who was being careful not to breathe too deeply with his sleeve over his nose, said that he could sense lingering, left over traces of dark magic associated with the white substance. It wasn't just a nasty ground up mixture like one of Sango's taijiya potions, which were really just a combination of special herbs and spices. Rather, there was a lingering trace of, not demonic energy, but more like a human's brand of black magic, like the tainted aura of a kuromiko. It was a witch's concoction.

Shippou stated at the monk's comment that he could not detect the scent of any other humans in the area, or anyone else for that matter other than that single youkai that smelled somewhat bird-ish although he couldn't quite put his finger on it, and everyone quickly came to the conclusion that if this powder had in fact been involved in some way, and had in fact been charged up with a dark witch's magic, that it had to have been this mystery youkai who had utilized the potion. It was not unheard of for higher youkai to partner up with human witches, and the why was fairly obvious when they took Kagome's jewel shards into consideration. That almost definitely had to be the reason for what they were starting to fear might have been an ambush, since the youkai smelling somewhat bird-like strongly implied an aerial assault. Shippou also stated that Kagome and Inuyasha's scents were mildly tainted with something bitter-sweet, like a floral scent but not quite, and although he was careful not to breathe in any of the white powder itself it was easy for him to know that that was the source of the funny smell. Inuyasha and Kagome had become coated with the stuff. The bundle had probably been dropped on them from the sky and they hadn't had any time to react.

That realization, combined with the fact that their friends, having thankfully both survived against whatever had been attacking them, had decided to turn tail and head back into the woods instead of completing the relatively short journey by that point to Mushin's temple, really had the monk and slayer on edge. While the magic dust had lost most of its potency by that point there was no telling what it had originally been strong enough to do, or what it might have done to their friends. No longer even worrying about trying to keep up appearances for Shippou's sake the lot of them immediately got back on Kirara and continued their search, now feeling more as if they were in hot pursuit of the missing duo. At least now that Shippou and Kirara both had the hanyou and miko's scent trail Sango and Miroku could relax by the minutest amount, knowing that they would eventually find them. They were no longer flying blind but were actually tracking the pair, so catching up to them was now a matter of when, not if. Of course, if they would have failed to find either the pair or their scent trail out in the woods their plan had been to travel all the way back to that village with the oni problem if necessary and pick up Inuyasha and Kagome's trails from there, but finding their trail now had definitely been a time saver and for that they were grateful. What condition their friends would be in when they found them was yet to be seen, but the sooner they found the hanyou and miko the better, they were sure.

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Kagome and Inuyasha stopped for lunch a little after the sun's zenith, the couple pleased with the amount of ground they'd been able to cover so far. They were right on schedule; Inuyasha could tell by scent, his nose recognizing the general area of forest they currently rested in while they enjoyed some okaka-filled onigiri courtesy of the headman's wife. It was a nice change from roasted rabbit and a time saver to boot, so that was a win/win as far as they were concerned. They ate their meal in companionable silence, neither of them feeling the need to fill the moment with mindless chatter. They were still feeling a little anxious to find their friends – and hopefully a cure for the spell they were under while they were at it – but other than that they both really felt content and at peace with the world around them. They also hadn't run into any youkai trouble all morning, and that was a pleasant bit of good luck they hoped would continue on for the rest of the day.

Finishing up their meal, Kagome checked the status of her laundry, Inuyasha having found the perfect spot to stop for lunch that was near a forest stream. She had washed her underthings first, so that they could dry while they ate. They'd also taken the time to build a quick fire and boil a pot of water so that they could refill their drinking bottles again; it would've been foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to do so.

Dousing their fire with another pot of water once they were through, Kagome packed up her things and then they were off. Everything remained as uneventful as before, a few random lower youkai they could sense here and there scrambling to get out of the way as they approached being their only encounters with forest youkai so far. That didn't mean they'd let their guards down, though, just in case. Kagome kept her miko senses stretched to the max, her eyes to the sky. Nothing would be getting the drop on them this time around.

Everything was smooth sailing for around another hour or so until suddenly, hanyou and miko both stiffened at the same time, a much stronger youki signature than anything they'd felt so far suddenly at the edge of their senses and approaching fast. Coming to a stop on a sturdy branch Kagome remained on Inuyasha's back as he stood still up near the top of the tree he'd landed on, the two of them looking all around for whatever it could be. Inuyasha sniffed the air but unfortunately the wind was not on their side, as whatever it was, he couldn't smell anything unusual.

Suddenly, though, he saw it. And it was coming from dead ahead.

“Look! I see some kind of flying youkai coming from the east!” he said to Kagome eagerly, not pointing as he still had both of his hands firmly clasping her legs for support.

Squinting, it was hard for the miko to see anything, although with the early afternoon sun slightly behind them she at least wasn't being blinded by the morning light any more. It took a couple of minutes, but then her human eyes could finally make out what looked like some kind of a dot far off in the distance. Focusing her miko senses on that dot, Kagome could immediately feel it in her soul that that was indeed the source of the youki she could feel, and it was still getting stronger. Whatever it was was headed right for them.

“Does it feel hostile to you?” she asked her companion hesitantly, not wanting to get her hopes up prematurely.

“Not yet.” he replied, his tone cautiously optimistic as well. “Hang on.” he said then, as he leapt down from the tree and ran along the forest floor for a moment to build his momentum back up until he could once again launch them through the tree tops.

The 'dot' now had visible flames attacked to it, and...passengers?

It wasn't the giant flying youkai the village headman had described, but somehow, the image struck a cord with the hanyou and miko; they both knew they'd seen it before. Jumping high between the trees, Inuyasha gave his leaps a little more oomph than necessary, focusing more on achieving greater height than distance in an attempt at letting whoever was approaching know that he knew they were there, as well as making sure there was no way the approaching individuals could miss seeing them.

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Only stopping once more for a few minutes to eat some rice balls they'd gotten from Mushin and to relieve themselves, while Kirara quickly caught herself a fish in the nearby stream, it was over four hours after they'd left that eerie field of destruction where they'd first picked up Inuyasha and Kagome's trails that Miroku suddenly announced that he could sense Inuyasha's demonic aura. After having traveled so closely with the hanyou for so many months he knew the feel of Inuyasha's youki inside and out.

“I smell him! He's getting closer!” Shippou chimed in at Miroku's words, and peering ahead in the distance it only took the two humans a couple of minutes to make out what they thought looked like a tiny speck bouncing up and down on the distant tree tops.

“Heh, he looks like a flea jumping on a dog's back.” Shippou chuckled, the boy immediately losing his worry at the sight of their companions' seemingly unharmed appearance. His demonic eyesight already enabled him to make out the form of Kagome riding on the hanyou's back.

“I would advise withholding that comment until after we have assessed Inuyasha's mood.” Miroku stated through a tiny chuckle of his own, unable to conceal his own amusement at the kit's comparison.

While it was a crude, albeit actually somewhat accurate analogy, the reason behind Inuyasha's unusual leap patterns quickly became apparent when it dawned on both Sango and Miroku that he and Kagome had spotted them, as well, and he was merely trying to make sure that their appearance did not go unnoticed, as might have been the case if they had been running down within the trees instead of along their tops. It became even more obvious that they were trying to get their attention when Kagome, bow in hand, waved her arm from side to side. Sango replied by immediately lifting and waving Hiraikotsu from left to right as well, and then she instructed Kirara to find a suitable place to land.

``````````````````````````````````

“It's them. I recognize them from my dreams. I'm sure of it.” Kagome stated confidently as she lifted her left hand and waved her bow from side to side, trying to flag them down.

“Keh...I might not've dreamt of 'em, but I gotta admit, they sure do look kinda familiar, somehow. Just the same as you in your funny clothes had looked familiar to me right away, I know I've seen that lot before.”

Completely ignoring his 'funny clothes' comment, Kagome squealed with excitement as they both saw the woman respond to her wave, hoisting some kind of a giant boomerang up into the air and waving it back and forth in a clearly non-hostile manner before the nekomata they were riding upon swooped low and veered off towards a nearby clearing within the trees.

“Keh, guess that's my cue.” Inuyasha stated as he made a bee-line for that clearing as well.

``````

Hanyou and miko touched down right as the slayer and monk were dismounting Kirara's back, and at the sight of his favorite human standing before him completely unharmed little Shippou immediately ran up to the girl, shouting “Kagome!” at the top of his lungs.

He completed the maneuver, leaping into the girl's arms – who moved to catch him on instinct – before giving his nose a chance to fully catch up with all the new information it was receiving from the pair. As Kagome stared down at the cute little youkai child in her arms with what she was sure was an awkward smile, unsure of how to go about breaching the subject of their lost memories, Shippou's eyes grew huge, and he suddenly turned and scrambled to get out of her arms as quickly as possible, as if terrified Inuyasha was about to pound him one for daring to touch the girl without permission.  

Inuyasha of course was mildly annoyed by the boy's behavior, although he'd hardly been about to hit him over the head for it. He was obviously just a child and not a rival male, after all, and he also clearly hadn't meant to cover up his scent marks on the miko. He was just happy to see her; the hanyou could understand that. Inuyasha, too, was more worried in that moment about how to go about explaining what had happened to these friends he had no memory of than Kagome's shirt smelling a little of an underage kitsune. She still smelled exclusively of him where it counted most. Inuyasha inwardly smiled at the thought, taking a nice deep breath of their combined scents coming off of the girl to help ease his nerves.

Sango and Miroku observed Shippou's reaction in confusion and trepidation. What on earth could possibly make Shippou afraid of Kagome? Stretching his senses, Miroku was positive that this was the real future-born miko and not an imposter, and neither was Inuyasha a counterfeit of any kind; their spiritual and demonic auras gave them away. So then what on earth...

“Y-you two mated!” Shippou blurted then, 'causing a lovely shade of tomato red to adorn Kagome's cheeks.

Okay, now it was beyond obvious that she and Inuyasha had never had sex before, but did it really warrant that much of a surprised reaction?

Apparently so, if the two humans' faces in that moment were any indication.

“Kagome-chan...?” Sango started, her tone both surprised and confused. “What...?”

“It's a very long story...” the miko stated then, earning a snort from the hanyou that indicated his belief that that was the understatement of the century. “Uh...” Kagome continued after a moment, clearing her throat nervously. She glanced Inuyasha's way for help.

He rolled his eyes.

Best to just get it over with... he decided then, squaring his shoulders.

“We got hit with some kind of fucking magic powder while fighting a tengu after her jewel shards, and it fucked up our memories. We pretty much don't remember shit about ourselves or anything else from before the tengu's attack.”

“What?!” Sango and Miroku both yelled in unison, utterly horrified to learn the true extent of what had actually happened to their friends during that battle. A tengu was bird-like, so that had to have been the youkai Shippou had smelled, the boy probably just not being able to identify the scent as he'd never come across that type of youkai before in his short life.

“Yeah...pretty much.” Kagome continued then, feeling the tiniest bit relieved now that the hardest part was over. “We could kinda both tell right away that we knew each other, somehow, and well that tengu was still trying to kill us so we had to join forces pretty quickly in order to not die. We figured most things out on the fly, like how I have miko powers and can fire purifying arrows, and how Inuyasha can use some magical attacks both from his claws and sword. But we didn't even know our names until we followed our scent trail back to that village where we all split up before, where they told us you guys dropped us off to take care of that forest oni. Fortunately the villagers there had learned our names from before and so they'd been able to tell us that much, plus a little bit about the Shikon no Tama, like how I'm collecting and purifying its shards, and they also told us about you guys, that we'd said we had some other friends we had to travel east to meet, and so then here we are, traveling east to meet you.”

Sango shook her head in bafflement.

“How did you even know it was us?” she asked, almost unable to grasp the true severity of what they were telling them they'd been through.

“I actually kinda dreamed about you guys for the last two nights.” Kagome admitted at Sango's question. “Just random, vague things, like camping and eating ramen, and bathing in a hot spring. But so I recognize you.”

Sango nodded slowly to that.

“Even I can tell you're familiar.” Inuyasha chimed in. “It's like we can kinda sense what seems right or wrong, and so we've really been goin' off of instincts for the last two days.”

Miroku and Sango exchanged a silent glance, their expressions uneasy. Shippou's comment had not been forgotten, and if what the pair were saying was true then they had a very big dilemma on their hands. Not that either the slayer or monk actually thought it was a problem, per se. They knew the hanyou and miko were in love with each other, and apparently, on a subconscious level, the hanyou and miko knew it, too, and had now been able to express those feelings freely. But what would happen when the spell was reversed? Fortunately, neither the slayer nor monk were worried about the possibility that this spell could not be lifted; based on their descriptions, the way Kagome had dreamt of them and the way certain things still felt familiar, it was clear to both Sango and Miroku that their memories were not erased but merely blocked in some way. They were each familiar with various spells that could accomplish this, and they were certain that Kaede would know of a way to reverse it.

Of course, the silent exchange between taijiya and houshi did not go unnoticed by the two inflicted with said spell, and since they both felt rather comfortable with their newfound level of closeness, even despite their friends' initial shock, their first thought was that the monk and slayer were actually worried about the spell they were under.

“Do...do you know if there's a way to reverse this spell?” Kagome asked timidly then, and Sango's heart immediately melted at the level of worry in the miko's eyes, the taijiya quickly realizing that her and Miroku's worry regarding other matters was giving the poor, confused miko the wrong impression.

She smiled warmly.

“Oh yes, Kagome-chan, I am quite certain that this spell can be reversed. You two will just have to trust us enough to follow us back to a village we all stay within on a regular basis. There's an old miko there, named Kaede-sama, and I'm sure she'll be able to undo that tengu's borrowed magic.”

Inuyasha could detect no trace of deceit or dishonesty in the taijiya's scent, and tapping his nose with his right index finger, he offered the youkai slayer a nod and said, “I trust you”

Miroku and Sango were both mildly shocked again at his words, not at the fact that Inuyasha was trusting them in that moment so much as he'd admitted to it, but they did know that if his instincts were still intact as far as what felt right or wrong then surely he would sense it that he knew them and could trust them, and so that was a good thing. They both smiled then.

“Well then, it looks like introductions are in order...” Miroku began with a friendly expression, moving to clasp Kagome's right hand in between his own, which earned a quietly grumbled, “Behave yourself, Houshi-sama.” from the slayer.

Miroku awkwardly laughed it off at Kagome's confused and mildly cautious expression, as she slowly retracted her hand away from his reach as if wary to let him touch her after Sango's warning.

“Ah...Kagome-sama, I am Miroku, and my affections are quite harmless, I can assure you.”

“That's not what all the ladies whose bottoms you've touched think!” Shippou chimed in, earning a low growl from the hanyou as he made a step closer to Kagome.

Miroku nervously cleared his throat, retracting his own hands and holding them palm up in a gesture of peace.

“Okay...I admit that I have a bit of a flirtatious side to my nature...” he began, earning a snort from the taijiya. Ignoring Sango, Miroku lowered his hands and turned his gaze, meeting Inuyasha's eyes, the look in his own surprisingly sincere. “But you told me long ago, Inuyasha, that Kagome-sama was off limits when it came to that type of attention, and I can assure you, especially now, that I have no intention of stepping out of line in that regard.”

The hanyou immediately relaxed his posture, detecting no dishonesty in the monk's scent, either.

“Keh...just so long as we're clear, Bouzu.”

Miroku was mildly surprised but also strangely pleased to hear the usually rather unpleasant nickname. It had to be true, then, that their conscious memories were merely being suppressed.

“My name is Sango.” the slayer spoke up then, effectively changing the subject as far as Miroku and his questionable ways regarding women were concerned.

“I'm Shippou!” the kitsune chimed in next, puffing his chest in pride. “And she's Kirara.” he added, pointing to the still transformed nekomata who gave a soft roar at the introduction that some might have found scary but somehow to the miko and hanyou it just sounded like her version of a hello.

“I must have dreamt something wrong, 'cause for some reason I can see her being little, kitten size.”

“Oh, she can transform into a smaller form.” Sango confirmed, and as if on cue Kirara transformed into her kitten form in that moment and approached Kagome, who proceeded to coo over how cute she was in that form. Mewing softly, Kirara rubbed up against Kagome's legs for a moment before walking back over towards her mistress. She was just as relieved that they'd found their friends unharmed as everyone else was.

“Well, then, I suppose we should make haste. The sooner we reach Kaede-sama the sooner you two can have your memories restored.” Miroku stated then.

“Keh, no arguments here.” Inuyasha readily agreed.

“What do you say, Kirara?” Sango asked her feline companion. “I know you've been pushing yourself all morning already. Do you need to rest for a little while first?”

Kirara meowed something in her kitten form and then with a burst of flame she transformed herself back into her saber form, making her own thoughts on the matter crystal clear.

“Thank you, Kirara. We truly appreciate it.” Kagome acknowledged to the neko-youkai, and if it weren't for the fact that cats supposedly couldn't smile the miko would've sworn it looked like Kirara offered her one as the monk, slayer and kitsune all climbed back on board.

“The journey back will take a few days, so if everyone feels up to it we should try to push it as far as possible today before finding a place to make camp for the night.” Sango said before they took off, Kirara roaring her own agreement.

The nekomata was used to pushing it when the moment called for it, and since they'd just had a couple of days rest at Mushin's temple after a youkai battle that hadn't been too exerting for her the two-tailed cat had more than enough energy reserves to handle the current demand. She too felt the sense of urgency involved in this matter and refused to be the cause of any more delays. Plus she was sure that once they did make it back to Kaede's village Sango would pamper her with a few days' rest and plenty of fish, not to mention how Kagome was bound to want to go home after this, and would almost assuredly bring back some of those extra delicious cat treats from her time when she returned, as she always tended to do in thanks whenever the nekomata had played an extraordinarily large role in whatever had recently taken place. Mentally licking her lips, Kirara could almost taste it.

With everyone in silent agreement as they got going that beyond the name exchange there was really not all that much else that needed to be discussed right then in that moment, since presumably as soon as they got back to Kaede's village the elderly miko would be able to reverse the spell, Kagome and Inuyasha were content to remain in the dark regarding their many questions for the time being as they followed behind their friends upon the flying Kirara. Sure, they each had a ton of things that they wanted to ask buzzing around in their heads, but they both figured that if there was anything they desperately wanted to know the answer to instead of just waiting for their own minds to be unlocked they could quiz their friends about it that night at camp. Right now the most important thing was to cover as much ground as possible, so that the trip back to this Kaede person would take as little time as possible.

As Inuyasha leapt through the trees following behind the nekomata, who was making sure to stay low enough that her riders could shout back and forth with the hanyou and miko if need be, he gave Kagome's legs an extra squeeze, which she returned by squeezing his shoulders. They were both more excited than anything else, tremendously relieved to learn that there was in fact a cure for what that tengu had done to them. Kagome was starting to feel a bit of a butterfly effect in her stomach, but in a good way, for the most part at least. Their friends' shock regarding the news of their nighttime activities was still buzzing around in her head, but Kagome knew in her heart that she loved Inuyasha, and that she must have already loved Inuyasha because it was those feelings that she was feeling now; she wouldn't have felt drawn to him in that way otherwise. So knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that her feelings for him were real, and that according to him his feelings for her were just as legitimate, then she couldn't imagine a reason why she would end up regretting what they'd done. She wouldn't. She couldn't.

Inuyasha's thoughts were traveling in similar circles, although he was trying not to worry about it too much, but he wasn't the only one who couldn't get thoughts of his and Kagome's recent mating out of his head, and about a half hour or so in on their journey he unintentionally ended up getting a sneak preview of things to potentially worry about.

All members of the Inu-tachi aboard Kirara had begun the journey in contemplative silence, thinking about recent developments in the privacy of their own minds, but finally it was little Shippou who could no longer keep his curiosity to himself, being the (mostly) innocent child that he was.

“I don't get it.” he spoke up suddenly, his voice low, but not low enough.

“And what would that be?” Miroku asked in reply, Sango silently hoping the kit wasn't about to ask what she thought he was.

“If Inuyasha and Kagome don't even really remember each other, then why did they mate? Shouldn't they have forgotten about their feelings for each other?”

“You heard what they said about how certain things still feet right or wrong.” the monk reminded, handling the subject with a surprising amount of maturity, much to Sango's relief. “I imagine that deep down inside, their hearts remembered.” he clarified.

“But what about Kikyou?” Shippou asked then. “Won't she cause problems? Isn't that why Inuyasha never approached Kagome before, because he's still not over Kikyou?”

“I believe Inuyasha's romantic feelings toward Kikyou-sama are long gone.” Miroku stated. “He cherishes her memory, yes, but he also knows that she is his past. Avenging her and protecting her from Naraku has become Inuyasha's giri, but to me it is obvious that his heart now belongs to Kagome-sama. Whether or not she has realized this for herself I am uncertain, but if not, then under the circumstances, I do not believe that Inuyasha will allow Kagome-sama to continue to believe that he loves Kikyou-sama more than her.”

“I hope you're right.” Sango murmured in agreement, knowing herself just how deeply Kagome loved the hanyou and also knowing that Inuyasha did love Kagome in return, although he'd clearly been reluctant to admit it. Hopefully, now, he wouldn't have a choice.

From his place several feet below and behind their friends, Inuyasha listened to the others' quiet – but not quiet enough – conversation with a furrowed brow, suddenly realizing what might be the real reason why he and Kagome had not previously gotten together. It'd had nothing to do with her jewel shards or a simple inability to find intimate time alone together. It was his doing, because of some honor-bound responsibility he apparently had to some other woman he had apparently once loved.

Thinking about it for a moment, Inuyasha quickly decided that he agreed with the monk; he would definitely make sure that Kagome knew she was the one he wanted romantically, even if after getting his memories back he realized that this giri was something he still needed to attend to and could not ignore in favor of his newfound level of closeness to the miko currently riding on his back. The possibility of there being some other woman in his life had never even crossed his mind during their intimate activities together, because in his heart, even now after hearing this, he still felt that there was only Kagome; it didn't feel like anything was missing, and he still agreed with what he and the miko had previously discussed, in that if they had hypothetically never been able to find their friends or reverse this spell he could have lived happily ever after with her in some random village somewhere, doing their best to protect her jewel shards while not worrying about anything else. In his heart he felt like all he needed was the miko presently riding on his back and he would be whole, content and at peace regardless of the surrounding circumstances. To learn now that he had responsibilities regarding some other woman was an unpleasant hurdle, but he would clear it without difficulty; regardless of whatever his duty forced him to attend to, Kagome was the one he would share his private life with, of that he was sure. Why he had never previously made his feelings on the matter known to her he couldn't say while his memories were still blocked, but it didn't really matter now that he and Kagome had already had sex. He had a sinking suspicion that he'd lose some of his bravado once he did get his memories back, once he knew precisely who this Kikyou person actually was, but no matter what it turned out their previous situation had actually been Inuyasha felt confident that he could swallow his pride and take it like a man. He had no choice. His relationship with Kagome was at stake here, and he would not ruin his chance to be happy with the miko that was his whole world. If he had some kind of responsibility to this other woman then so be it, but he would not let his giri interfere with his and Kagome's relationship, or at least, not any longer.

He wondered briefly if he should share this revelation with Kagome in advance but ultimately decided there was no point in worrying the girl. It was only his advanced hearing that had allowed him to hear the monk and kitsune's conversation and she was presently none the wiser so why bring up a heartache she couldn't even remember? He'd deal with it after they both got their memories back, and for once he'd actually deal with it, instead of apparently acting like the coward he had previously been. Their friends were all hoping that he'd do the right thing, and why they were worried about how he might possibly react worried him in return, but all the more reason to actually do the right thing, right? He was sure there was more to it than what he'd overheard, but trying to fill in the gaps with random hypotheses wouldn't really do him any good, either, and so deciding to put what he'd heard out of his mind for the time being Inuyasha instead concentrated on the feel of Kagome's arms wrapped around his shoulders, his hands cupping the backs of her thighs. He minutely tightened his grip on her legs, finding tremendous comfort in her nearness. No matter what happened, no matter what he remembered, he would not let anything keep he and Kagome apart, not even himself.

``````

Making camp several hours later, the rest of the day's journey had passed by in moderate silence, the group upon Kirara engaging in only a couple other brief conversations regarding their hope that Kaede could reverse the spell in relatively short order, and also that they could make back it to her village without running into any major youkai trouble along the way. So far so good on the latter; the former was yet to be seen although they were relatively optimistic.

As everyone settled around the campfire Kagome had started with her matches she couldn't contain herself any longer, and as she took a drink from one of her plastic water bottles she asked the others one of the questions that had been plaguing her mind since almost the beginning.

“How come we haven't come across any signs of modern-day life? We've been traveling non-stop over forests and fields without a single city as far as the eye can see, and Japan just doesn't have that many open areas left. We are in Japan, aren't we?”

She thought that was a silly question, since they were speaking Japanese, but she just had to ask.

Miroku and Sango shared an uneasy glance, and then Sango answered, “Yes, Kagome-chan, this is Japan.”

“Well then how come everything looks like it's out of the pages of a history book?” she asked next, referring even to Sango and Miroku's own manner of dress, not to mention Inuyasha's even more archaic robes, and then there was that village where they'd previously battled the oni; not a pair of jeans or sneakers to be found.

Wanting to stay traditional was all fine and good, but even everyone's dialect was old-fashioned. Kagome could only assume she'd gotten used to it from her time spent in the area, as she had been able to carry on a conversation with that village headman and the others without difficulty, but it was really starting to make her feel like she was stuck in the past or something, as silly as she knew that sounded.

Sango and Miroku exchanged another nervous glance, which in turn made Kagome nervous, and then the slayer cleared her throat and dropped the bomb, telling the young miko that, to her, she was in the past, because she was actually from their future. That of course earned another exclamation of “What?!”, this time from the hanyou and miko, but Miroku chimed in in that moment explaining only that it was a very long and complicated story, and one they would most definitely take the time to explain if they had to, but that hopefully Kaede would have a remedy already on hand and that no explanations would be necessary because soon, the two of them would be getting their memories back.

Kagome just shook her head in amazement, able and willing to wait until the spell was lifted because she didn't even think she would be able to follow the story if they decided to explain it to her, anyway. She was from the future? Or rather, she was in the past?

What in the huh?

She almost wanted to laugh it off as ridiculous, except that in a crazy, far out there sort of way, it actually explained everything. Especially when, after Inuyasha chimed in stating that that couldn't be right because so many things about what Kagome had said she still somehow knew of the world around them had seemed familiar to him, too, Miroku and Sango did explain that Kagome's method of transport between their two worlds was by leaping into a magical well, and that Inuyasha could also travel through this well and go into her world. Things from her time, like cities, would seem familiar to him then because he had in fact seen them for himself.

That there was apparently some kind of a magical time portal that only she and Inuyasha could use, Kagome found that notion absolutely enthralling, and to her it only reinforced the feeling of rightness she had deep in her soul that she and this inu-hanyou were meant to be together. Nothing more was said regarding the fact that they'd had sex...thank goodness, Kagome didn't think she'd be able to make it through such a conversation without her face bursting into flame...but so regardless of whatever reasons why they had never gotten together before, if she could travel here into his world and he could also travel into hers...well, nothing shouted destiny quite like that did, in her opinion.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was beginning to realize just how highly the odds had been stacked against them. Not only was there some other woman from his past for whom he'd outwardly left his present feelings unclear because of being tied to her via some kind of honor-bound giri, but now, on top of that, Kagome was from another time? He wouldn't let that detour him, though. Especially not with the way she was smiling at him in that moment. He couldn't ignore his own feeling of rightness in his heart as he nodded her way with a small grin in return, and the fact that he was apparently the only one from his century who could travel into Kagome's world had not gone unnoticed to him, either.

The rest of their dinner conversation was just as intense, with the hanyou and miko taking a turn being the ones to answer the questions, as Sango and Miroku asked about how things had been for the two of them upon waking up into a world of confused nothingness and instantly finding out they were under attack. As they relayed their story, the slayer and monk both felt a chill run down their spines at the realization of just how close they had actually come to losing their friends, while Shippou cuddled tightly to Kagome, relieved that she was unharmed.

He'd given a subtle glance Inuyasha's way to silently ask permission, first, and the hanyou had nodded his consent, the exchange going unnoticed by the miko who easily comforted the boy, wrapping her arms around him as he sat on her lap. She still smelt strongly of Inuyasha, but Shippou didn't mind it; he'd thought when he'd first met the two that she was Inuyasha's woman and he was actually happy for the both of them, assuming things worked out all right in the end. If Inuyasha ended up breaking Kagome's heart he'd never let the baka get away with it, and he'd torture him non-stop until he stopped being such a baka, but he wouldn't get mad at Inuyasha prematurely; he hadn't made Kagome cry yet and so maybe he really would do the right thing. Shippou had decided to wait and see.

Talking about battling that tengu as well as the other smaller youkai they'd come across over the last two days reminded Kagome in that moment of what the village headman had said about what she had originally said about how they'd been in a rush to get going because another village had been in need of their aid, the village Sango and Miroku had gone on to help, and inquiring in that moment on how that mission had gone and expressing her concern that their delay might have caused any distress, the miko was relieved to learn that the emotion-eating youkai that had been plaguing Mushin's villagers had been taken care of by the slayer and monk without too much difficulty and that her and Inuyasha's absence had not been detrimental to the success of that mission. That didn't stop her from apologizing, of course, but Sango and Miroku both quickly waved off Kagome's concerns, again expressing their relief that she and Inuyasha had walked away from that tengu's attack relatively unscathed and also that they'd been able to do so well for themselves over the last couple days of living in the unknown. His magic could have been so much worse; that tengu could have so easily dropped a plain ol' poison on them that could have incapacitated or even killed them both. Miroku hypothesized that such a potion might have been harder for the tengu to come by, that he had befriended some random human witch who only specialized in certain types of magic, but whatever the reason, it was unanimously agreed that things could have been much worse, and they were all tremendously grateful for the fact that they were not.

As everyone settled into bed for the night Inuyasha felt torn, a part of him wanting to sleep with Kagome – just sleep – and hold her in his arms all night, even though another, larger part of him knew he really needed to keep watch up in a tree, as he imagined was his usual position. Finally, he made the decision to lightly doze in the tree, keeping himself mostly on alert; he just couldn't risk all of them falling into a deep sleep and then something sneaking up on them as a result of his failure to detect it in advance. Yes, there were two other youkai present now, but he still felt as if the job of protecting Kagome, specifically, fell on his shoulders and his shoulders alone. Not that he didn't give a rat's ass about the other two humans. He did in fact care about them in a way, for some reason, presuming his subconscious mind simply recognized them as the friends and comrades in arms that they were. They were most definitely his responsibility, too, as was the kitsune child and two-tailed cat, and so with even more people to protect on this night he definitely couldn't permit himself to drift off completely.

That didn't stop the hanyou from giving Kagome a quick goodnight kiss, though, and he didn't give a damn if the others' eyes popped right out of their sockets. Smirking to himself as he leapt up into his chosen tree for the night afterwards, his smug satisfaction came not from the way the others had all smelled of surprise or total shock, but from the way Kagome's scent had spiked with desire.

There was no way in hell he was going to give her up, no matter what he remembered.

``````

The morning was relatively uneventful as they packed up their camp, and after a quick breakfast of more fire-roasted rabbit the gang was once again on their way. They ran into some mild youkai trouble a couple of hours in, just some lowly oni of one variety or another demanding Kagome's jewel shards, but said miko felled the beast with a single arrow and then they were back on the road. They stopped a couple of times throughout the day to relieve themselves or even just to stretch their legs, as the non-stop riding was a little hard on the three humans of the group, but they were making pretty good time and  Miroku and Sango guessed that if they could maintain the same pace that they would probably reach Kaede's village by the end of the next day.

Around early afternoon the gang encountered a slightly more advanced youkai than an oni, some kind of ugly reptilian thing that looked like a cross between a turtle and a dragon, but it was still lacking in the intelligence department and it was a fairly easy task for the Inu-tachi to take it out, even though it was more of a group effort that time. Sango and Miroku got to see Inuyasha in action as a result and they were immediately impressed with how quickly and naturally he controlled Tessaiga, and while Miroku opted to leave his kazaana covered as it was not that serious of a youkai battle he had no fear that the air void could have caught the others off guard and put them in danger after he observed the way they naturally fell into the flow of fighting as a group of four, the miko and hanyou effortlessly working around and with the monk and slayer as Sango threw Hiraikotsu and Miroku used his ofuda. The monk and slayer had both already known, because their friends had said so, that they were able to function on instinct and that certain things that they were obviously used to doing still just came naturally to them, but actually fighting that youkai together proved it to the other two humans in that moment, now that they'd actually seen it for themselves. Even hypothetically if Kaede could not reverse this spell then Sango and Miroku would not mourn the loss of their friends, because they were right there; Inuyasha and Kagome had not gone anywhere.

The rest of the day's travel went by uneventfully, and as Sango began to recognize the area they were in she instructed Kirara where she wanted the nekomata to take them for the perfect spot to make camp for the night. They reached the area Sango had in mind around late evening, a little before sunset, and everyone agreed that it was perfect timing so settling down in the small clearing near a mountain stream they went about making camp for the second night of their journey back. It didn't take long for Sango to reveal the real reason why she had chosen such a precise location.

“Kagome-chan, there is a hot spring only a few minutes' walk from here, if you would like to join me in a bath.” the slayer invited after dinner was through, catching the miko off guard.

It wasn't as if Kagome felt uneasy about the idea of bathing with the taijiya; heck, she'd had a dream about it, and to be perfectly honest the idea of soaking in a hot spring sounded absolutely lovely in that moment. She really wanted a bath; her hair felt tangled and greasy, and there was dirt in the creases of her skin and underneath her fingernails. But hesitating in that moment, as Sango gazed her way expectantly, Kagome responded by sending a glance in Inuyasha's direction, her eyes questioning, and it was easy for the hanyou to recognize why she was torn; she had promised not to bathe for at least two days.

But that was two days ago.

Well, yesterday morning, but the scents in question were two nights old by that time.

“Keh...go ahead.” he told her then, giving a small, encouraging nod. “It's had enough time to soak in.”

Kagome blushed mildly as she caught Sango's own awkward smile and blush, the taijiya realizing quickly enough what Inuyasha was talking about, but clearing her throat and gathering the necessary supplies from her backpack Kagome only murmured a quiet thanks and promise to not take too long before slinking off with the slayer, a kitten-sized Kirara tagging along to provide security.

Reaching the hot spring, Kagome lost whatever lingering awkwardness she'd felt in her gut as the steamy pool of warm water almost seemed to call out to her, and immediately she and the taijiya disrobed and climbed into the spring with duel sighs of contentment. It felt soooooo good to get clean again to the future-born miko, who was much more used to regularly scheduled baths. Even without her memories bathing regularly just seemed to her like something that should be done, and she'd really been pushing it in the gross-feeling department, her only reason for compliance with waiting having been Inuyasha's comments regarding his scent marking her and a desire that had stemmed from deep within her heart upon learning that fact to not do anything that could possibly be seen by him, or other youkai, as her somehow rejecting his claim. She couldn't put her finger on it, but for some reason she'd just felt like it was important for her to announce, at least in the youkai way, that she and Inuyasha belonged to one another. Perhaps other youkai had taunted them in the past? Maybe enemies they'd fought, who had been aware of their desire for each other but also of the fact that they had yet to do anything, had used their inaction against them, sneering to Inuyasha that she wouldn't have him because he was a hanyou, and that was most definitely not true. She wasn't disturbed by his mixed blood whatsoever, and hypothetically if enemies had taunted them in the past, taunted him that he was a loser who couldn't get the girl, then Kagome wanted to shove it in their faces just how wrong they really were. She might've been a little embarrassed to talk about it, but she was not ashamed of what she and Inuyasha had done, and her agreeing to not wash off his scent before her body had had a chance to 'absorb' it was proof enough of that. Plus, it had made him so happy...and really all that mattered to her above anything else was Inuyasha's happiness. Even if she were never allowed to bathe ever again she would still choose to be with Inuyasha. Certainly they could work around it...if she ever really needed to get clean then he'd just have to make sure she smelled of him all over again immediately afterward...

Gah! Bad Kagome! she mentally scolded herself at the random and somewhat perverted direction her thoughts had taken. Hoping her companion hadn't noticed the way she'd temporarily zoned out Kagome dunked under the water for a moment, scrubbing her hair; at least the hot water would be the perfect excuse to explain away her flushed cheeks when she resurfaced.

Sango had in fact not noticed the way Kagome's mind had wandered off, the slayer too preoccupied with her own thoughts as she worried about what would happen between the hanyou and miko once they got their memories back, but as Kagome came back up and slicked her hair back Sango did noticed the lingering, healing mark on the left side of her neck. Not immediately putting two and two together, and assuming the bruise had come from that battle with the tengu or some other youkai, she spoke up with a mild bit of concern in her voice as she asked, “Are you all right, Kagome-chan? That looks like it was a nasty bruise.”

Flushing even darker, beyond what she could blame on the hot water, Kagome reached her left hand up and self-consciously covered the hickey, before chuckling nervously and lamely confessing, “Uh...it's not a bruise.”

Sango's brow creased in confusion for only the briefest of moments before her eyes opened wider as realization dawned, and a deeper shade of pink tinted her own cheeks.

“Oh...” was all she could manage to say in reply.

A few minutes of awkward silence went by after that, and then it was actually Kagome who finally braved broaching the subject, the miko having spent the last couple of minutes arguing with herself that she had absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about. If she was more than willing to broadcast it to all the youkai of the world, then why couldn't she openly talk about it with her human friend? It didn't make any sense. And it wasn't because of the spell she was under; the female taijiya did not feel like a stranger to her. Just as she'd been drawn to Inuyasha from the beginning, she could also immediately tell, now that the two of them were alone like that, that she and this woman were actually really good friends; she could tell her anything.

“You can ask me about it, you know.” the miko stated then, earning surprised eyes from the slayer who immediately turned to meet Kagome's gaze, her own gaze silently questioning herself whether or not she'd heard the miko right.

Reading that thought in her eyes, Kagome nodded, confirming.

“From how surprised you looked when Shippou-chan blurted it out it's clear it must have come as quite a shock, for some reason, and you're probably worried about how I'm going to feel about it after I get my memories back, too, if it was so surprising, so unbelievable that it had happened.” Kagome logically guessed. “But while I can't answer how I'm going to feel after I get my memories back, I can definitely tell you how I feel about it right now; I'm not ashamed, and I don't regret it.”

Suddenly finding herself wishing for some cool water to drunk into for a moment as she felt her face flame even hotter, Sango mentally shook her head at herself, realizing that Kagome was actually being very mature about this and that she was being the silly one.

“It's not that I'm uncomfortable talking about it.” Sango wished to clarify then. “In fact, a part of me had always kind of entertained the idea that one day we would be discussing such things in this very setting. I would have loved under any other circumstance to learn that you and Inuyasha had finally admitted your feelings for one another, even including expressing those feelings physically. It's no secret to me that you two love each other very deeply, but...”

Biting her lower lip, she was unsure of how to continue, but Kagome seemed to sense where she was going with it and correctly guessed, “But it was a secret to us?”

Hesitating for only a brief moment, Sango nodded.

“How is it that we both loved each other so deeply but were unaware of each other's feelings?” Kagome just had to ask, honestly perplexed by the notion. “Even not knowing who we were we were aware of our feelings for each other.”

Sango continued to chew her lower lip at that one, not wanting to have to tell Kagome about Kikyou. She knew that the young miko was in fact aware of the fact that Inuyasha had some kind of feelings for her; the problem was that she was convinced he had stronger feelings for Kikyou, and that even if he did in fact love her he still loved Kikyou more. Sango also wasn't as convinced as Miroku was that Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyou were completely gone. She did personally believe that his feelings for Kagome surpassed his feelings for Kikyou, but it was clear to her that he had trouble letting go of the past. She didn't honestly think that he wanted to be with Kikyou as she was now, an animated corpse, but she did get the impression that he sometimes wished things could have been different between them, fantasizing about what could have been. That wasn't to say that he didn't wish for a future with Kagome, though; Sango felt that Inuyasha probably misguidedly believed that fantasies about Kikyou were the only ones he could have because thinking about what could have been was less of a stretch than longing for what could never be. He probably didn't think he had a potential future with Kagome to fantasize about because of the fact that the miko was from the future, and as such she would certainly be returning to her own time after the mission was over with and he would therefore never see her again, even though Sango knew for a fact that Kagome would give up her life in her time, even her entire family, if it meant getting to actually be with Inuyasha, as his woman. They'd had that particular discussion before, during a previous soak in that very same hot spring, no less. Sango had asked the future-born miko what she would do, as they'd been discussing her supposedly unrequited love for the inu-hanyou. Sango had asked Kagome what her plans were if, just if, it turned out Inuyasha really did feel the same way and did want to be with her. Kagome had told Sango that she would gladly live in the past if the two of them could actually be together, although she'd immediately gone on to state that she felt that that outcome was slim to none in the likelihood department. Sango had secretly been hoping that Inuyasha was spying on them from somewhere within earshot, but no such luck. His lack of change in behavior had quickly indicated that he hadn't heard a single word of the girls' crucial conversation.

Now, as she stared at the young miko who was waiting less and less patiently for an answer as her facial expression grew more and more troubled, Sango sighed, and confessed lamely, “It's complicated, but there are reasons for you to believe that while he does have feelings for you, he has other...obligations...that take precedence.”

Quickly continuing before Kagome could think to ask if another person were actually involved with those 'obligations' in any way, figuring out for herself that there was a love-triangle at work, Sango added, “And I also think he may have been holding his true feelings back for fear that the two of you were simply not meant to be, because of you being from another world. He's probably certain that you will be returning to your own time for good once the Shikon no Tama is completed and purified.”

Kagome had in fact been about to say something in reply to the first half of Sango's comment, but after the slayer added that second part Kagome closed her mouth with an audible click. She had no idea what his supposed 'obligations' were, although she felt something uneasy settling in the pit of her stomach at the thought, like she was remembering the emotions she usually felt whenever thinking about whatever that issue was, but regardless of that unpleasantness Sango did make a very good point when it came to the fact that she was, apparently, from the future. Kagome felt in her heart that she could be perfectly happy living in that time, the Sengoku jidai, with Inuyasha by her side, although she could also agree that it was unfair to so easily toss her family aside while she couldn't even remember them. She shouldn't make such a rash decision in her current frame of mind and should really wait until after getting her memories back, she conceded then.

Shaking her head at the mess of it all, Kagome was starting to get the impression that loving Inuyasha had been a dream of hers for quite some time now, but one she had not honestly thought would ever come true, regardless of how badly she might have wanted it. Now that they had actually slept together, though, she refused to fall back into their apparent previous game of 'let's not talk about our feelings even though they're obvious to everyone around us'. If Sango was telling her now that she had already known from before how deeply she was in love with the hanyou, and how deeply Inuyasha loved her in return, then Kagome couldn't think of one reason why the two of them couldn't make it work, regardless of whatever other obligations or responsibilities they had to take care of in their lives. If her main hangup had been because she'd feared that he hadn't actually loved her as strongly as she loved him then that hurdle was already cleared, because now they both knew that they did in fact love each other. And perhaps Inuyasha had had a similar hangup, not knowing that her feelings ran as deeply as they did, and he had been reluctant to confess his love to her for that reason, believing his feelings were one-sided.

Now, they both knew the truth.

Kagome fully believed Inuyasha's sincerity when he'd told her how strongly he felt drawn to her as well, knowing that he must love her, that he felt in his heart that all he needed was her, and so whatever – or whoever – this other obligation was, perhaps he had previously been trying to keep his feelings for her hidden for her own sake because of it, from some twisted sense of honor. Why let her know he returned her love if they couldn't be together regardless, right? And maybe he'd honestly thought that they couldn't be together, because regardless of his feelings for her this other obligation would simply not allow him the time for such happiness. She refused to accept that possible outcome, of course, although she believed it was a possible explanation, but just because he'd thought they couldn't make it work because of whatever else he had going on in his life, just because he'd thought that not letting her know he shared her feelings was the right thing to do, that was before this mess, and now that the cat was out of the bag...or dog...then denial and pretending obviously wouldn't work anymore. Kagome knew she was debating in a vacuum when it came to most of the details that Sango was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of discussing and so she wouldn't ask, but nodding to herself in determination Kagome silently vowed to herself in that moment that no matter what, she and Inuyasha would find a way to make it work. Even if they really couldn't be together just yet, even if their relationship really did have to wait, that was still perfectly all right with her, just so long as they each knew they loved each other. She would wait for him, however long he needed her to, until his other obligations were taken care of.

Deciding to change the subject, then, since there was really no point in running all of the various what-ifs around and around in her head, knowing she wouldn't get any answers until the spell was broken, Kagome spoke back up with, “I guess the best thing to do is just wait and see what we actually remember once Kaede-sama restores our memories, and then we'll go from there.”

Visibly relieved that the miko wasn't going to badger her for any more answers, Sango thought about it for a moment, and then decided it was her turn to ask the questions, as she suddenly turned into the girlfriend Kagome felt in her heart that she really was as she slyly, and with a wink, asked her about her night with Inuyasha.

Laughing instead of blushing, Kagome's expression took on a starry-eyed, far off look as she happily relayed the story with more pure love for the hanyou in her voice than Sango could recall hearing from the girl in quite some time. It was actually rather refreshing, this new Kagome who had no worries about where she lied in the hanyou's heart, and Sango sincerely hoped that the miko wouldn't lose her newfound confidence with the lifting of this spell. To learn how open and honest she and Inuyasha had been regarding their attraction to one another from almost the very beginning, that attraction turning into a sexual desire that neither of them had seen any point in resisting, the slayer couldn't help but think how hopelessly romantic the whole story sounded, Kagome's night with Inuyasha almost perfect. Of course, she didn't pressure the 21st century miko to spill the more intimate details of their night alone in the village, but Kagome voluntarily shared a few things that had the slayer blushing all over again. A nasty little part in the back of Sango's mind that she prayed Miroku never found out existed was sorely tempted to ask Kagome for a more physical description of the hanyou, but ultimately she decided to let it go, and with their conversation fizzling out it was time to scrub and head back to camp.

In that same moment, at said campsite, Miroku was presently rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head, the houshi having learned the hard way that the surly, private Inuyasha he'd known before was still in there if pressured too hard. The hanyou had seemed more laid back and open with his feelings than usual and so Miroku had thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to question him about his night with Kagome, specifically wanting the more intimate details, but Inuyasha had only snorted and crossed his arms, stating that it was none of his business. The hanyou didn't want any other males thinking about his Kagome in such a way.

At first Miroku had conceded, and backpedaling he had asked, from a place of genuine curiosity, how it was that the two of them had even ended up being together at all. Though it was a little embarrassing to talk about such things, Inuyasha had reluctantly admitted to himself that he supposed the monk was within his rights to be curious, especially knowing what he'd overheard the holy man discussing with the kitsune, even though Miroku didn't know Inuyasha had heard that conversation. So he'd openly admitted, then, about how drawn to Kagome he'd felt, and about how he knew in his heart that she was the only thing that really mattered to him, stressing the word on purpose to indicate that he presently had no thoughts or feelings regarding this other woman, whoever the hell she was. All that mattered to him was Kagome, and it was easy for him to know that he loved her, and had in fact loved her prior to losing his memories, because it was definitely more than just a physical attraction he felt for her now, although he would be lying if he tried to say he didn't find her physically attractive, too.

Miroku, in his skillful way, had quickly managed to bring the conversation back around to their intimate night in the village, but Inuyasha had once again told him that those details were none of his damn business, and when the houshi had continued to pester him, begging for Inuyasha to give him something, almost like a kid asking for sweets, the hanyou had finally gotten fed up with it and pounded him one.

“Serves you right.” Shippou mumbled quietly, flashing the hanyou a look that assured the older youkai that he most definitely did not want to know the more intimate details, before giving Miroku a look that told the monk he was lucky Kagome wasn't herself right now otherwise he would be in big trouble for trying to discuss such things with Inuyasha, and especially in front of a 'child'.

Yes, Shippou knew what sex was, and despite his small stature he was old enough to actually find girls attractive, himself, but Shippou didn't think that way about Kagome and while he was happy for her, provided Inuyasha didn't turn into a baka after getting his memories back, he didn't want the mental picture. It was bad enough that his nose had already pretty much told him the whole story. Shaking his head, Shippou resumed playing with his top, spinning it without enlarging it. It still took concentration and kitsune magic to get it to spin so perfectly on the soft, forest floor.

A few minutes later, when two fully sated and shampooed women slowly returned to camp, their arrival was greeted by Shippou first, who looked up from what he was doing to call out his welcome back to the girls. Miroku appeared to be in deep meditation, sitting quietly against the base of a tree with his shakujou resting against his shoulder, and Sango suspected all was not as innocent as it appeared with that picture, but she would let the matter go as she observed the way Inuyasha openly smiled at Kagome's murmured greeting, the hanyou standing up and heading over their way.

Offering Sango a brief nod to politely acknowledge her presence, Inuyasha then closed the gap between himself and the miko, making no effort to hide the way he inhaled deeply, taking in and analyzing her scent. She smelled clean and fresh, wholly of Kagome on the surface with all of the various scents of the forest washed away, and that was actually a good thing. Then, as he delved deeper, truly picking apart the subtle nuances of her scent, it didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, himself, and that was a very good thing. Buried beneath her hair products and deodorant, beyond the fabric of her clothing, was the subtle and yet obvious scent of their joining. His seed was breaking down, unused, but much of it was still within her, and would remain so for quite some time. Her body was no longer fully covered in his scent the way it had been before, but that would be remedied in part when he carried her on his back again tomorrow. It was still obvious to the youkai of the world that she was his, it was simply also obvious that she'd bathed since their last joining, but there was nothing wrong with that and he gave her another smile in that moment to let her know that he was pleased with what her scent was telling him.

Besides, he had no intention of bathing, at least just yet. As time went on he wouldn't obsess over it so much; obviously the two of them would need to get clean from time to time and re-scent-marking each other afterwards could become something fun to look forward to, but for right now he wanted to preserve the scent of their intimacy that he presently still wore on his skin. It brought him comfort, and the bits and pieces of their friends' conversations that he'd managed to overhear were still causing him worry, a feeling that was getting stronger the closer they got to he and Kagome getting their memories back. Just on the off chance that he would totally freak out upon remembering whatever the hell it was that he'd apparently thought was so damn important that he'd had to keep his feelings for Kagome to himself because of it, then Inuyasha wanted to still be covered in her scent at that time so that he would then be able to use it to calm himself back down if need be, and also to help remind himself of much more recent, and in his present frame of mind, much more important issues. No matter what his other obligations were, nothing was more important to him, no duty greater, than making sure he didn't fuck things up with Kagome.

Unaware of his current thoughts on the matter, said miko smiled as well in that moment, before telling him invitingly just how nice the hot spring had actually been, suggesting that he, Miroku and Shippou take their turn as well since surely they could use it just as much as she and Sango had. Opening his eyes, Miroku rose to his feet at Kagome's words, agreeing that the chance to get clean was indeed too good to pass up. Inuyasha politely declined, however.

“You two go ahead, then.” he stated to the monk and kitsune, little Shippou having also agreed that a quick bath would feel good.

Kagome suspected she knew Inuyasha's reason for opting to skip the bath, but chose not to say anything on the matter as she ducked behind the trees with her pajamas in hand. She reemerged a couple of minutes later dressed for bed, and settled down quickly enough, Sango tending to their campfire. The monk and kitsune returned around twenty minutes later, and it didn't take long for everyone to call it a night, Inuyasha agreeing to keep watch again. That night would be the last he'd have to go in a row without sleeping, as they estimated they'd reach Kaede's village sometime before nightfall the following evening. The hanyou had no idea how hectic things might become for them in that village, and what all would be involved with Kaede reversing the spell he and Kagome were under, but with them no longer being out in the woods and in possible danger from a rouge youkai attack one thing Inuyasha did know was that he would take advantage of the opportunity to get a good night's sleep, and hopefully with Kagome in his arms.

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The next morning was pretty much a repeat of the previous day, as Inuyasha hunted another large rabbit for everyone to share for breakfast, and then packing up camp they got back on the road, or rather, took to the skies. Kagome briefly wondered if Inuyasha actually had the ability to alter gravity around himself as some pure youkai could do, as Kirara could do, as he almost seemed to fly through the air himself as he followed after the others atop the nekomata. He wasn't actually flying, of course, but in Kagome's opinion he came just about as close as any non-flying creature could do, touching down on the high branches almost weightlessly between leaps that were far too precise for a non-magical being to accomplish.

He was magical, and there was no way that Kagome could forget that fact, and the fact that he wanted her was like a fantasy come true, apparently in more ways than one. She was starting to feel the tiniest bit apprehensive regarding what would happen between them once they got their memories back, but she still fully believed that they were meant to be together. Everything happened for a reason, right?

The rest of the morning passed by fairly uneventfully, with each member of the Inu-tachi lost in their own thoughts as they raced towards Musashi. Worries and concerns for the future were quickly put on the back burner, though, when they ran into another small bout of youkai trouble around mid-day. Fortunately the lowly creature was dispatched easily enough, and the rest of the journey was again spent peacefully, or as peacefully as it could be with the growing sensation of butterflies Kagome had in her stomach. Inuyasha wasn't much better off, once again overhearing the conversation of their friends above, although this time their talk revolved more around an apparent enemy of theirs named Naraku and their concern regarding how long he would stay in hiding. Apparently this Naraku guy, whose name Inuyasha recognized from the day before as the one he needed to protect that Kikyou woman from, was quite a formidable foe and somebody the others did not want he and Kagome to face off against while they were in their current frame of mind. Inuyasha was inclined to agree. Whoever this guy was, he sounded like serious bad news, and with the others voicing their concerns regarding what the dark hanyou might possibly do should he become aware of his and Kagome's current condition, Inuyasha knew he did not want to risk finding out. Hopefully this Kaede person would be able to reverse the spell in short order.

With that last thought in mind, Inuyasha did his best to tune the others out and concentrate on the simple pleasure that was Kagome's nearness. As anxious as he was to get his memories back, he was also undeniably nervous, although with a nemesis as powerful as this Naraku person out there somewhere he definitely agreed that they needed to get their memories back as quickly as possible, despite the blissful ignorance that had been he and the miko's relationship prior to finding their friends. So he wouldn't dillydally; as soon as a cure was available he would take it immediately, consequences be damned. In the meantime, though, he wanted to savor these last few moments with the miko while his heart remained unclouded.

It was a sensation the miko was enjoying as well, his nearness bringing her a feeling of peace and contentment. While Kagome didn't share all of Inuyasha's current worries, her human ears having been unable to pick up the others' talks about Kikyou and Naraku, the future-born miko was still starting to feel a little anxious, a few more butterflies hatching in her stomach the closer they got to the finish line. Her growing anxiety mostly revolved around their friends' reactions to the knowledge that she and Inuyasha had slept together, as she worried more and more about what her own thoughts on the matter would become once she got her memories back, but regardless of her newfound level of closeness with Inuyasha being the source of her trepidation, in a way, his closeness, and knowing that he was there for her no matter what, was also what was calming her back down again. She was certain that his head was in just as much of a whirl, but no matter what they had to be there for each other; they had sworn that they would be there for each other and she did not believe he was the type to go back on his word, no matter what they ended up remembering. She imagined it might feel a little like waking up after a night of too much drinking, if she ended up getting that cliché 'Oh God, what have I done?' feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she wouldn't let that momentary regret be the end all be all to their relationship. Right now, as of that moment in time as they raced over the landscape, she wanted to be with Inuyasha, and she couldn't honestly fathom that feeling ever changing. It was a feeling she'd obviously had from the beginning, from before she'd lost her memories, or logically she wouldn't be feeling that way now, either, since she didn't even really know him outside of that unexplained feeling of closeness to him she felt in her heart. So knowing that regardless of where their relationship had lied before all of this had happened she really had, and really did love him, she was sure the rest would work itself out.

Or at least, she hoped it would.

And that was a feeling shared by the rest of the Inu-tachi as they continued to race back to Kaede's village at Kirara and Inuyasha's top speed. Going for so long at such speeds was a little difficult for Kirara, since despite being a youkai she was still a cat and as such she was really designed more for quick bursts of speed rather than long-distance travel, but she was pushing herself in that moment, the nekomata also understanding the severity of the situation and knowing that she needed to lead the hanyou and miko back to Kaede's as quickly as possible. Plus she was still looking forward to all the yummy treats from the future Kagome was sure to gift her with as her reward for a job well done. She wasn't doing it only for the treats, of course, and would most certainly be giving it her all regardless, but the treats were sure a nice bonus. Licking her lips, she pushed it even faster, Inuyasha easily keeping up.

Fortunately, the group only ran into a two more mildly troublesome youkai throughout the afternoon, and then finally, at long last, with the evening sun hanging low in the sky Kaede's village came into view.

Inuyasha and Kagome both marveled at the lack of reaction most of the villagers gave to their hasty approach, as if they were used to seeing the group coming and going and a fiery, flying saber tooth and brightly dressed inu-hanyou were nothing worth gaping at in surprise. In fact, some of the farmers waved pleasantly before getting back to work, as if their arrival from the forest was no less common than a tradesman heading into town along the beaten path. Their reactions certainly added validity to what Miroku and Sango had said about this village being a regular resting place of theirs, not that either Inuyasha or Kagome had doubted their word before, but it was still a funny sight to see, how normally everyone treated their appearance. The hanyou and miko also couldn't ignore just how incredibly familiar this village seemed to them, unlike the other village where they had stayed the night and been treated like heroes. They had been unfamiliar with that village, needing the headman to guide them and show them which buildings were which, but somehow, in this village, they felt like they already knew its layout. In fact, as the nekomata touched down and he and Kagome began walking behind the others towards Kaede's hut, Inuyasha was sure that he could probably walk there by himself, as if he just somehow already knew exactly where they were going. He still let the others lead the way, though, as he tucked his hands into his sleeves and tried to act nonchalant despite the way his gut was doing flip flops, an equally nervous Kagome walking as calmly as possible beside him. He wanted to hold her hand, but figured logically that such a public display of affection might just garner the shocked reactions the villagers hadn't given them at their initial arrival. The last thing he wanted to do was make anything unnecessarily more awkward for themselves, and so he kept his arms crossed to avoid temptation.

“Kaede-sama, we have a matter most urgent to attend to.” Miroku began as he entered the elderly miko's hut first, the woman in the middle of preparing an evening stew for herself.

“Goodness. And what is this matter, Houshi-sama?” Kaede asked as she looked up from her cooking, the others filing into the hut behind him.

Everyone quickly took turns explaining the situation, starting with Miroku and Sango although Inuyasha and Kagome chimed in themselves at times. The entire matter was explained to the elderly miko, minus of course the more intimate details of their night alone at the oni village. Kagome was the one to tell that part of the story, of how she and Inuyasha had made their way back to the oni village, and that after being offered a place to sleep as well as dinner and breakfast they were then off the next morning in search of the others, who they thankfully found later that same day. For once Miroku had no desire to embarrass the pair, or maybe he just feared another whack to the back of the head, but either way he wisely chose to give no indication that Kagome had left certain things out of her retelling as he picked up the story where she left off, stating how he and Sango had found them, and what his and the slayer's shared beliefs were regarding the exact nature of the spell they were under.

Listening to the tale with her one good eye growing wider and wider in surprise as the story progressed, Kaede murmured a quietly spoken “Merciful kami...” once the story was completed, rising to her feet and moving to examine the hanyou and younger miko. Turning Kagome's face gently from side to side with her fingers under her chin, so that Kaede could look into the young girl's eyes and better read her aura, the elderly miko then stated that she agreed with the others. Their memories were still there, merely sealed away, and it was a seal that was fully removable.

Kagome and Inuyasha both exhaled in relief, smiling each other's way as Kagome reached over and clasped Inuyasha's hand for a moment. Rather than seeming either annoyed or embarrassed by her show of affection he repeated it, lifting his other hand to place on top of hers as well, a smile in his eyes and on his lips as he nodded. She nodded as well, as if the two were mutually congratulating each other for having survived something so perilous, before they finally released each other and Kagome asked the older miko what all was involved with curing them.

Watching the exchange in mild surprise and curiosity, Kaede supposed it made sense that if Inuyasha had forgotten all about his past he would therefore not have returned to the gruff man he had been prior to Kagome's calming influence in his life, but instead, he would be the kind man Kaede too suspected had resided somewhere deep within him all along, the man who had had to create a wall of stone around his heart only because of the horrible way he'd been treated his entire life. It was still a mild shock to see he and the young miko acting so affectionately, though, and Kaede wondered in that moment if the feelings she knew the two of them shared for one another had also blossomed during this adventure, with neither of them possessing any knowledge as to why such feelings should supposedly be denied, but she wisely chose not to comment on that possibility as she proceeded to answer Kagome's question.

“It will take me a little over an hour to prepare, but I do believe I have the necessary ingredients on hand to brew a tea that will remedy this situation by morning.” Kaede stated then, inviting the others to join her for dinner as she added more water and ingredients to her stew pot.

Asking Kagome to take over watching the stew, which the young miko gladly agreed to do, Kaede then headed over to her cabinet of herbs and potions used for removing bad magic from one's system. Getting another, smaller cooking pot and more water to boil, Kaede quietly began mixing herbs, mumbling a few small chants from time to time. Kagome remained quiet as she tended to the stew close by, not wanting to distract the elderly miko; she could feel the woman's spiritual powers as well as the magic she was infusing into the strange smelling tea.

When dinner was ready everyone ate in companionable silence, the tea steeping, and after dinner was through Kaede poured the tea for Kagome and Inuyasha, instructing them both to drink it all down despite it's rather unpleasant flavor. She explained that it had an element that would aid them in falling asleep in short order, repairing their minds while they slept so that when they awoke, probably sometime in the late morning, the seals would be gone, their memories fully restored. She also reassured, upon Kagome's hesitate inquiry, that they would not lose the memories of all that had transpired over the last few days. Her spell was designed only to lift the veil that had already been draped over their minds' eyes, not to replace it with a another one. The young miko's question made Kaede even more curious regarding what might have transpired between the pair during this experience, but she knew it was not her place to ask such things, and so as they both drank down their teas with scrunched up faces she mentally offered a silent prayer that whatever had happened between them, it would not make things more awkward for the two once they got their identities back. She hoped that instead, it would help them to remain closer together. In her opinion, those two were meant for one another.

“Bleh, that crap tasted even worse than it smelled.” Inuyasha grumbled as Kagome went about gathering her pajamas, giggling a little at his comment.

“That's how you know it's real medicine.” the future-born miko countered, ducking behind the screen in the back to change into her bed clothes. She was desperately trying not to let the butterflies in her stomach take over. What was done was done and come morning, for better or worse, she would be herself again.

She was surprised when, as she stepped back into the main room with her school uniform in hand, Inuyasha was right in front of her.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome asked, taken aback by the look in his eyes.

Suddenly, he pulled her into a hug, which caused all of the other occupants of the room to gape in surprise and quickly find a fascinating floor board to study.

“No matter what, just know that I love you.” he whispered into her ear so quietly that only Shippou also heard him, and the kitsune did nothing to betray Inuyasha's privacy, smiling to himself a little bit that maybe, just maybe, the hanyou wouldn't be a baka and hurt Kagome after all.

His words didn't bring Kagome as much comfort as he would've liked, as the hanyou scented the spike in her anxiety, but he'd suspected the reassurance might make her nervous tonight, as she wondered just why he'd felt the need to reassure her so. Hopefully his words would be more comforting for her come morning. Figuring there was nothing he could do at that point but wait and see, Inuyasha watched as Kagome put her day clothes away and pulled out her sleeping bag. He then proceeded to shock everyone else in the hut yet again as he settled down on the floor right beside her. He wanted to hold the young miko in his arms but he would wait until the others were settled down as well to make the adjustment, not quite feeling comfortable enough to do so with so many eyes upon them.

Sango and Miroku took the hint that it was bed time quickly enough, as they swiftly went about setting up their own sleep rolls for the night, while Kaede bid everyone goodnight and retired to her private sleeping room in the back. Once the hut was quiet, the food dishes put away and the fire properly stacked and banked, Inuyasha shifted and cuddled himself up against the miko, although he kept himself on the outside of her sleeping bag. He didn't want to totally scandalize their friends, but since everyone except for the old miko already knew they'd slept together he didn't really see the big deal as he draped his arm over Kagome's body, pulling her into a loose, spooning embrace with the material of her sleeping bag between them. He couldn't feel much when it came to the shape of her body pressed against his own, unfortunately, but he could still tuck his nose into the crook of her neck, and that was the most important part as far as he was concerned, at least since they wouldn't be doing anything else with an audience present. Inhaling deeply, he found her scent even more soothing than usual, or maybe it was that tea already starting to knock him out, but either way, especially after having stayed up the last two nights in a row, Inuyasha had no trouble falling asleep that night, Kagome's even breaths indicating that she had drifted off fairly quickly as well.

“What do you think?” Miroku whispered to Sango on the other side of the room, his voice slightly amused.

“I think we should give them their privacy in the morning, and duck out at first light before they wake.” the slayer answered, her tone quiet but still leaving no room for argument.

Although a part of him would love to bear witness to the pair's conversation in the morning, Miroku reluctantly acknowledged that Sango was right, replying with a somewhat disappointed “Agreed.”

“You better, otherwise Inuyasha 'n' I'll both pound you.” Shippou chimed in. “He needs his chance to not mess this up.”

Kirara softly mewed her own agreement.

I'm so misunderstood ... Miroku thought to himself, before offering his own silent prayer that all would go right for their friends come tomorrow.