InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Remembering You ❯ Unveiling ( Chapter 12 )

Author Notes: How long has it been since I updated? A month? A month and a half? I have no idea. But you all know that I am not a dependable person when it comes to deadlines. Too much work with school and on top of it all my computer had this thing where whenever I went on the internet to go to a website it would take me to this thing called incredifind... until I reset my PC to factory conditions I wasn't able to use internet. And I had realized I hadn't saved the edited version of this chapter, so I had to do that over. I seem to be always full of excuses. But here it is, the long awaited chapter of `Remembering You' (I think I may change the title...) Enjoy the chappie!

Disclaimer: Inu & Co. Does not belong to me... yet another harsh truth I face every day.

". . ." dialogue

`. . .' thoughts

Unveiling

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

#warning: curse words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to swear in real life. . . sorry#

The pregnant moon that usually hung ominously in the sky as missing. The air was filled with a foreboding darkness, the only light was the dull glow of the stars. It is said that people could go insane if they slept under it, but what about just being under it? The world was insane enough. Everyone sleeps under the moon, the reasoning behind the crazy world. And for some people their lives just never felt sane. One of these people is Inuyasha.

His brother still had his wrist sternly held as he leapt and flew, following the miko's scent. The two brothers had a called a truce years ago, and now it was coming into play. Even after burying their hatred toward each other, it did not mean they were ever going to be going out on companionable Sunday baseball outings. Instead, the two inu youkai brothers would go on occasional demon excursions. Each family had their own way of functioning. This was theirs.

"How much farther?!" Inuyasha yelled, for the wind was whipping through his ears and drowned all the sound, just by the sheer speed Seshoumaru was going at.

"We're close." Was the older demons stern reply.

The anticipation made the hanyou's blood pump faster. Adrenaline would be the driving force in this fight. He was not going to let his brother step a single foot into the fight. This was about youkai dignity and pride. You protect what's yours. Even if it may cost you your life.

The night mocked him. The new moon. His human blood was dominant that night. His demon blood went god knows where and left him feeling weak and uncomfortable with his surroundings. And now, he was about to rush into battle in his human form. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he would make it. But he was damned well sure that Kagome would.

Suddenly Seshoumaru came to a stop in a clearing that opened up in the woods they had been chasing the moth demon in. Standing next to his brother, Inuyasha growled the best as he could in his present form. "Why did you stop?!"

"She's here. Somewhere."

Inuyasha's eyes widened and whipped his head around every which way, but he saw nothing. Then, remembering how a similar situation was met when the moth youkai had crashed into the house he looked up. And sure enough there was the youkai flapping his wings a hundred feet in the air with the still unconscious Kagome limp in his arms.

"Would you like some help? Maybe cut off a wing to give you a fairer chance in fighting that thing?" Seshoumaru offered, but that was as much as he was willing to offer. He knew Inuyasha wouldn't let him fight. The inu youkai were stubborn and too proud for that.

"Nah." The hanyou menacingly cracked his knuckles, still able to look intimidating even in his present lack of demon blood state. "This is personal. I want to have the pleasure of ripping that thing limb by limb, then tear those fucking wings off."

"How do you plan to get him down? I doubt he'll come down so you can attack him."

"Just watch." Picking up a rock that lay near by he pulled his arm back ready to throw.

Seshoumaru stared at him flatly, "You plan to hit him down. With a rock." Without giving his brother's comment a thought Inuyasha lunged the rock. . . and hit Kagome directly between the eyes. "You missed. You hit your mate. The one you were trying to save."

Inuyasha smirked, "I was aiming at her."

Raising a fine sculpted eyebrow Seshoumaru looked toward the moth demon, and saw the miko stirring. She scrunched her eyes a bit, then slowly opened them. Taking a few seconds to take in her surrounding, her eyes suddenly went wide. She was precariously held by a moth demon a hundred feet in the air. The only thing keeping her from her untimely death was the demon, and he didn't look all that friendly either. She panicked and her miko aura kicked in. It was like a gut reaction and so, appropriately, she let out a gut-wrenching scream. That was when a burst of pure pinkish light glowed from her and burned the moth demon. Startled by the scream, and the skin burning sensation of the purifying powers the demon let go. And Kagome went plummeting to the ground.

Although completely disoriented one thing registered in her head. She was falling, and very quickly to the hard ground. Looking down with only thirty feet left she saw Inuyasha with his arms out ready to catch her. Spreading her arms apart to fall into his embrace. When she finally reached him her arms clasped around his neck and his around her waist. The light that had surrounded her, now was protectively around the both of them. From the sheer momentum Inuyasha fell onto his back with the girl of his dreams in his arms. Hey, a guy could do worse.

Laying on top of him and safe in his arms she let out breath. "Inuyasha."

He smiled down at her, "Miss me?"

She sighed, "You're so arrogant."

"Only adding to my charm."

Shaking her head she looked up at the moth demon that now had charred arms. It looked livid. It swooped down slightly to be a bit closer, hissing menacingly at the two on the ground and Seshoumaru. "Her soul. Give it to me."

Pulling them both up to stand, Inuyasha pushed Kagome to stand behind him. "You're not going anywhere near her."

"The master desire's her soul!"

"Why?!"

"Just give her to me!"

"Like hell I will." Inuyasha lunged at the demon that was now barely in his jumping range. Grabbing onto the demons lower legs he tugged down. Then Inuyasha felt flesh flaming below his palms, but it wasn't his skin. The glow from Kagome still left traces upon his hands and it was purifying the demon. The thing shrieked and struggled but Inuyasha, completely determined and stubborn, held on fast.

"Let go of me you half breed!"

"Not in your lifetime!"

That's when the lifetime ended. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha around the waist and allowed her miko energy to flow through him like an electrical conductor and it went straight to the demon. An anguishing cry bellowed into the night as the moth demon burst into flames, his wings first, then the rest of him. Inuyasha let go and fell backwards on top of Kagome as the demon burned to ashes before their eyes.

". . . That was interesting." Inuyasha scratched his head. The fight was over. All in all, it was pretty uneventful compared to the other ones he had been in. But the recent display of power from Kagome was something he didn't expect. Then he realized he still had the girl squashed under him. He quickly shot up and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry, forgot you were down there."

"Don't I just feel loved."

"Come Inuyasha. I'll take the two of you home." It seemed as if this was the first moment Kagome noticed that Seshoumaru was there and she ran behind Inuyasha in instinct. The older one looked amused, "What is wrong with your woman brother?"

"Y-you!" Kagome pointed an accusing frightened finger at Seshoumaru.

"Me?"

"Do something Inuyasha! It's your brother!"

Seshoumaru looked toward his younger brother. "I don't remember her being this hysterical."

"Me neither."

Kagome froze, "Is this an amiable conversation?"

"As friendly as it's going to get between me and Fluffy."

"That's `Fluffy and I.' And don't call me Fluffy."

Kagome stared at them. "You two get along?"

Inuyasha unconscious leaned his weight on Kagome as she stood next to him. "We're not calling each other up to go fishing but we have a reasonable truce."

Feeling his weight on her and the tired look in his eyes, she looked at him critically. "Are you okay?"

He held fast on her wrist to hold his balance as a nauseous dizzy spell came over him. "Never bet-" Then he blacked out and fell to the ground.

Her eyes widened. "Inuyasha!" And she panicked.

^~*~^

Seshoumaru stared at the worried miko as she fidgeted around the house looking for medicine. "Calm down. My brother is a hanyou. There is no need for medicine."

Her nervous hands made busy with drawers that had already been check twice in her search. "But he's human right now. . . and I think I hurt him. . . oh God! What if he dies?!"

"He is not going to die."

"How can you be so sure? He might just keel over any second now."

He looked slightly amused at her distress. "I'll be the last to admit it but Inuyasha is not weak."

"I practically purified him to death! My God. . . the guy saves me and I try to vaporize him!"

"Since he was human when he was in contact with your purifying miko energy, I am sure he will be fine. Only the waning demon blood in his system on this night was hurt. It retaliated and his human body could not take it. It was not your fault."

"But I used him like a lightening rod! How horrible am I?!"

He looked bored, "I am not going to sit here all night to comfort you and tell you the same thing over and over. But I would like to speak to you about something."

Kagome quickly nodded, she was willing to talk about celery if it meant to calm her rattled nerves about Inuyasha. Because in reality, he would probably back to normal and kicking by the rising of the sun.

"Has Inuyasha spoken to you about the Wakahirume prophesy?"

"No. . ."

"I had thought so. He was determined not to believe it yesterday. Although it goes against inu youkai tradition for me to tell you something when Inuyasha does not want you to know, I think this calls for different circumstances."

"What are you talking about?"

So, Seshoumaru went into a detailed telling of everything he had told Inuyasha. About the hamaya, Amaterasu, Wakahirume, the prophecies, the possibility that she may be a goddess, and the consequences of that.

"You're kidding right? I mean there were enough things that were trying to tear us apart and now this?! How is it even possible that I'm a goddess?! I'm just a normal girl!"

"With amazing amounts of miko power without training."

"That's because Kikyou-"

"But you now know you are not Kikyou's reincarnation. Your power comes from elsewhere. It is the most logical explanation. There is a chance that you could be Wakahirume."

"Stop saying that!"

"I am not saying this to upset you. But I would like for you to consider the possibility. If you prove me wrong it will be all the better for Inuyasha. However, do not be stubborn like he is and out rule it because you are not pleased with it."

She took in an erratic breath trying to calm herself. "Fine. Then, how do I know the truth?"

He closed his eyes, "I am not sure, but I am sure it will be revealed within your next calling."

"When is my second calling?"

"Tomorrow? Next month? In a decade? We are unsure. Midoriko did not give an exact place, date, and time."

She raked a tired hand through her hair. "This is ridiculous." Looking over at the clock she noticed that she had left Inuyasha alone for nearly an hour now. "I'm going to go check on him."

"Dawn is in a few hours. I would not worry about him. His youkai blood will repair any damage done."

She silently nodded as she slowly climbed up the stairs. Seshoumaru watched the girl leave the living area and got up as she disappeared up the stairs. He set down the hamaya that had not left his side since he had attained it from the dragon clan. He was to part with it now, and Inuyasha and Kagome would have to figure this one out.

^~*~^

She opened the door and saw that Inuyasha was still lying in bed. If she hadn't witnessed everything that happened that night, she would have said that he was peacefully sleeping. She walked over to his side and sat on the floor with her head laying on the bed and held his human hands in hers. She knew there really was nothing to worry about. The sun would come up and his demon blood would kick in and he would be fine. But what bothered her was that she did this to him. She was afraid that one day she would loose control of her power and kill him.

And she could be a goddess.

That was one pill that was hard to swallow. It would need to be mashed up and slipped into her soup bowl without knowing. But Seshoumaru went for the unorthodox method of shoving it down her throat.

Why hadn't Inuyasha told her? She looked over to the hanyou turned human and sighed. He probably had a pretty good reason right? Sleep was taking over her body and she yawned. Still on the floor, with her head resting on his bed she fell asleep to the sound of his steady breathing.

^~*~^

Ow. That's the word that came to mind. Then again was `ow' a word? Inuyasha groaned as he laid in his sheets not really remembering when he had made his way to bed. He didn't really recall the night before either. . . it was kind of fuzzy. . . had he been drinking?

Sniffing the air around him he soon knew there was no traces of alcohol nearby, but Kagome was in proximity. Turning his head to the direction of her calming smell his body screamed. Ow.

Whatever happened last night had caused his body to hate him. Then the memories came slowly slipping back into place. The moth youkai, calling Seshoumaru, and throwing a rock at Kagome. Wonder if she was mad about that.

He felt the girl in question stirring next to him and a deep yawn emitted from her. She stood and leaned over him. Her face directly above his as she smiled down at him, her hair falling around them like a curtain from the world. "How are you feeling?"

He smirked, "Like you used the rosary a hundred times over to pummel me to the ground. But besides that, I'm peachy."

"This is all my fault. I almost purified you to death."

Sighing, his eyes drifted shut. "Oh is that all that happened? No big deal. Give me half an hour and I'll be better than ever."

"What do you mean `is that all'? I nearly killed you!"

He lightly shrugged, an action that caused a searing pain to go through his shoulder blades. "I've almost gotten you killed a couple times, we're even now."

"Inuyasha, this isn't something like owing someone money. You could have seriously been killed if not for your human form. . . God, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if you had been hanyou last night. You should be running for the hills, screaming to the villagers that a homicidal miko is in town."

Opening his eyes he scowled, "God Kagome, it's not like you did it on purpose. And I won't ever run for the hills. You never did." He averted his gaze from her, "Do you honestly think I'm that shallow to run off on you?"

She sighed and laid her head lightly on his chest, "No. I'm just panicking. Give me a half an hour and I'll be better than ever." She turned her head so she was looking up an him and smirked, "Right?"

Returning the smirk he closed his eyes so that he could recover from the events of the night before. It had only been two hours since sun rise, he really only needed half an hour. "Right."

^~*~^

"Gramps, Mom, Souta! I'm home!" Kagome pleasantly exclaimed as she was bent over taking off her shoes at the entrance of her childhood home. Inuyasha was a dependably next to her toeing off his shoes as well.

"Kagome! Welcome home! Did you have breakfast yet?" The disembodied voice of her mother came floating out of kitchen.

"Yeah, we already ate."

"We?" Satsuki turned around form the stove as her daughter came into the kitchen. She softly gazed at the man next to Kagome. Although with some strange features such as long silver-white hair, amber eyes, long fang-like canines, and claw-like fingers; she couldn't deny that the man was attractive. A definite catch worthy of her daughter. "Oh! Who's your friend?"

Getting a knowing smile from her mother Kagome blushed a bit, "Mom, this is Inuyasha Touken. Inuyasha, this is my mom Satsuki Higurashi."

Satsuki blinked, the familiar name registering in her mind. "Touken? Oh it's lovely to see you again! Kagome told me you moved away to America. It's nice to finally see you home."

"Thanks Satsuki-san." He grinned. Although she did not remember him as Inuyasha it was nice that she remembered him as a different entity.

"Although your hair and eye color does throw me off a bit. And I didn't realize your first name was Inuyasha. Imagine, all those years just calling you Touken."

Scratching his head sheepishly in answered, "This is my natural hair and eye color. I used to dye it and wear contacts so I wouldn't stand out, but I'm too lazy to do that now."

Kagome raised an amused eyebrow. Dye and color contacts? He couldn't very well tell her mother that it was a concealing spell.

"You should have never hid your unique features, makes you one in a million. Perfect for my daughter!" This comment caused the girl to blush and the guy to grin. "So how did you end up running into my Kagome to end up on the shrine grounds again?"

"He's my boss."

"From your new job? How wonderful! He is much better than that Matsuhito." With the mention of the name she earned a glare from Kagome, a subtle warning for her not to elaborate any farther on the topic. Sighing, Satsuki switched gears, "That reminds me, Guy is coming over today."

Kagome groaned, "He's going to be smothering me with his big brother ego again isn't he?"

"He just worries about you."

"I know."

Wiping her hands on her apron Kagome's mother smiled, "So did you two eat breakfast?"

"Yeah. I'll just go get changed while Gramps and Souta eats."

Inuyasha grinned, "I could go another round in breakfast."

Shaking her head Kagome climbed the stairs, "With your bottomless stomach I'm not surprised."

One her way up she passed by Gramps and gave him a word of greeting and shuffled to her room to change into what she called her `Sunday Outfit.' Donning the clothing she made her way downstairs where Satsuki, Gramps, and Inuyasha were eating. Inuyasha, surprisingly was not wolfing down his food, but showing signs of restraint usually exhibited in the normal. She sat down in the empty chair next to him waiting for him and Gramps to finish breakfast.

Taking a break from his food he glanced at Kagome and his eyes bugged out at what she was wearing. "Are you seriously going to wear that for the entire day?"

"It's not that strange Touken-kun. Well, it might be strange seeing her in traditional dress being that you left before she started her miko training. . . But Souta dresses in the priest clothes as well. That's what the shrine visitors expect." Satsuki answered brightly as she finished off her breakfast.

Inuyasha nodded but eyed the white gi and red hakama that went along with the traditional Shinto priestess clothing that Kagome now had on. Even after all the years it still irked him in seeing Kagome in those clothes. He was aware of the differences between Kagome and Kikyou now, and the vast differences in their faces. But it still irked him seeing Kagome in those clothes. During his five century wait he had a couple reoccurring dreams, one of them was where Kagome would be dressed like Kikyou and would be the one to shoot him onto the Goshinboku tree instead of Kikyou doing it. He hoped to God it wasn't prophetic.

Finishing breakfast everyone but Satsuki headed outside to start the chores. Kagome went on her way to do her weekly routine as Gramps abused Inuyasha by telling him to fix every little thing that was broken in the shrine. And it had been years since anyone had actually went about to fix anything. About a half hour later Souta came rushing up the stone steps, into the house, then out again wearing his traditional clothes. He ran over to over to Gramps who was supervising as Inuyasha was on the roof of the shrine replacing broken shingles.

The boy noticed the white-haired man on the roof and leaned toward Gramps in a hiss, "You got a senior citizens to fix the roof?! What happens if she breaks a hip or something?! I know you're cheap Gramps, but this is ridiculous!"

Inuyasha leaned over the edge of the roof so that his hair dangled next to the whispering two. "I'm no old lady."

Jumping back from Inuyasha's sudden presence Souta gasped, "Don't scare me like that! God, I want to live to an old age instead of having someone scaring me to death!" Shaking his head the hanyou flipped back up to continue on with his shingle replacing job. Souta raised an eyebrow, "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Oh, that's Kagome's friend Touken. You remember Touken, don't you?"

"Not really. . . he moved when I was eight. He was more Kagome's special visitor than mine. My question now is: why the heck is he here?" He raised his voice so as to direct it at Inuyasha, "Aren't you supposed to be in America or something?"

"I came back. I'm your sister's boss now." The hanyou continued to do the replacements, unbeknownst of from the glance that Souta gave his grandfather. Gramps nodded to the boy, his suspicions were true.

Keeping his voice at a bare minimum Souta whispered to Gramps, and Inuyasha would not have been able to overhear. . . if he wasn't hanyou that is.

"So she quit her job with Matsuhito?"

Gramps nodded, "That is what Guy told us. Kagome won't utter a word about it. You know how she is."

Souta let a string of curses, "She's too worried about paying for my school then herself. God, sometimes I want to get a two by four and smack her upside that head."

"It might shove some sense into the girl."

Suddenly the girl in question came around the corner of the shrine building. "Souta!"

"Hey nee-chan. How's your new job?"

Kagome smiled and looked over to Inuyasha then back at her brother, "It's great! Mr. Williams is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He's helping me out in getting settled in so I can smoothly fill is position when he retires."

"Mr. Williams? An American?"

"Yup. A sweet old man that humors me too much."

Souta smiled sadly, "You seem happy."

"Yeah, I guess I am. All things considering of course."

"What about what happened at HitoGin? Are you going to report it?" Kagome shook her head frantically and averted her eyes to Inuyasha. A clear indication from sister to brother to change subjects. Souta sighed, "So your boss is Touken huh? Wow, small world."

"Freakishly small. I never thought I'd be walking into Inuyasha's office anytime soon. . . or ever thought he had an office."

Souta scrunched his eyebrows, "Inuyasha?" His eyes suddenly widened and he whipped his head toward the mentioned man that was now about to come down from the roof being finished with the repairs. Souta returned his stare back to his sister, "As in the Inuyasha from the coma?"

Kagome eyes widened and panicked, "Oh. . . um. . . I think I might have heard his name before but had forgotten it. You know, me and my selective memory."

Souta shook his head, "No, we went through all possibilities of where the name came from. We mentioned Touken in the mix."

Raising her hands to brush the subject off she back up, "No big deal. It just slipped my mind a bit."

"You were crying hysterically for this guy!" He glared at Inuyasha who was now standing next to Kagome, "What the hell did you do to her?!"

"Nothing!"

"She wouldn't have cried over nothing."

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh, "Leave him alone Souta. My mind was jumbled back then." Then a frown set on her face, "And why are you late? You're usually here a half hour before me."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "I slept in."

"Then make up for it by setting up the store before the visitors start coming."

Leading her brother around the corner again Gramps nodded then addressed Inuyasha who remained in the same spot. "Don't take offence of what Souta says. He just worries about Kagome. She has a tendency of putting other before herself, and end up silently carrying the burden later. With Kagome in the coma, he had lost his sister for two years. He kept on beating himself up when she was asleep. Says it was his fault she fell down the well, that he shouldn't have suddenly approached her when she went looking for Buyo. . . He's afraid that you might hurt her or use her."

"I'm not mad at him."

"Glad to hear that. Souta's a good boy. When my son died a few years before her coma he was completely convinced he would need to be the man of the house. Granted, he was seven at the time and I am still around but he was convinced. He didn't really take on those responsibilities until Kagome's incident. He was nine years old and being a vital support in Statsuki's life." Out of the blue Gramps pulled out a broom and thrust it at the hanyou.

Inuyasha stared down at the broom, "I'm guessing you don't want me to hop on and fly away?"

"Sweep the grounds."

"I don't know why people sweep outside, it's dirty all the time anyways."

He patted the younger(looking) man on the back with a smile, "Tradition my boy. Now hop to it."

Growling a bit Inuyasha obediently swept the shrine grounds that never seemed to be clean enough for the senile old man.

"And to my left is the Goshiboku, a sacred God tree that has looked over this shrine for centuries."

Inuyasha turned his head toward the familiar voice of Kagome as she was leading a group around the grounds, explaining its history. She caught his gaze and smiled, but continued telling the stories.

"There is a great legend of a great hanyou and miko that surrounds this tree. It is a legend filled with tragedy, death, and love."

A little girl with her front teeth missing, exclaimed as she clapped her hands as her eyes grew wide in excitement. "Tell us the story!"

She smiled down at the girl, ecstatic with all her might.

"The legend begins with a lonely inu hanyou. His youkai father killed protecting his wife and son, his mother died soon after from an illness. The hanyou was left in the wilderness to fend for himself. Then it all changed. He met a miko, a beautiful gentle miko that he found only as a barrier to ultimate power. But as much as he thought her annoying at first the feelings grew to fondness then finally to love. They planned to live a life together, but she asked him to become human. And he agreed. Before he could become human an evil demon interfered and made them betray each other. The miko was killed and the hanyou was pinned to this very tree.

"Fifty years past and the hanyou remained sleeping pinned to the tree when a girl came by him one day. He suddenly awoke and saw that she was in trouble with a demon. Telling her to free him, she did and she was saved by him. The hanyou and the girl became friends, and banned together to defeat the evil demon that deceived the hanyou decades before. During which time the hanyou's first love, the miko, was raised from the dead. But the miko came back with a heart filled with hatred and vowed to kill the hanyou as revenge. After years of fighting the hanyou, the girl, and friends they accumulated along the way defeated the evil youkai. The girl had fallen in love with the hanyou, but his heart remained with the miko. So the girl left to return to her far away home. The hanyou remained with the miko that lost her hatred after much persistence from the stubborn hanyou. They married and lived a happy life together. In the end the lonely hanyou and miko found each other, even after death."

The little girl of before scrunched up her face, "What about the girl from the far away land? Did she live happily ever after?"

Kagome smiled sadly, "I'm not sure. The legend never specifies too much on the girl." She gestured for the group to follow her as she led them toward the well house, "Come along, there is still much left to see."

Inuyasha stared blankly as she began telling the group about the well house. He had overheard the legend as Kagome had told it. According to what she said he lived a happy life with Kikyou? How does that make sense? Kikyou was sent back to the earth before Kagome returned to her time. It was too strange. It was like someone had gathered up a plethora of rumors that floated around the local villages and made a story. And who the hell wrote the legend down?!

Inuyasha grudging continued sweeping the shrine grounds. Kicking up dust, only to have it settled around him once again. He would talk to Kagome about this later. He snarled at the thought that, possibly, all insecurities of their relationship was due to the legend. He loved her and was willing to wait for her sort out her feelings, but he wasn't about let her wallow in the wrong facts. Inuyasha would set her straight.

That's when he felt it. A demon. It was coming to the shrine, and it was not happy. With the events of the night before still fresh in his mind he dropped the broom and sprinted to where Kagome was waving her farewells to the departing tour group. He skidded to a stop in front of her and blocked the supposed path of the oncoming demon toward Kagome.

"Inuyasha?" She was more than confused.

"Stay behind me, and stay out of danger." He growled menacingly at the youkai that was fast approaching. Only a few more seconds before it would be directly before them.

"What are you talking abou-" Her question was cut off when she felt the presence as well and the sudden appearance of angry tiger demon was before them. It seemed that the said youkai had no qualms of running around the city streets without his concealing spell in place. Or maybe he was too upset to realize. His ears were pointed much like Seshoumaru's. He had black stripes that adorned his tanned skin, a clear indication of his tiger heritage. His hair was black, but seemed to reflect in an orangish glare when hit by the light. His eyes were that of a feline, bright and yellow as the sun with vertical slits as pupils. All in all, taking a step back and assessing all the youkai's features, he was quite attractive.

"What the hell do you want?" Obvious, Inuyasha didn't care about the demon's looks. His growl was definite evidence of that.

"That's exactly what I want to know." It seems the tiger youkai can also growl. . . or was it a roar?

A loud sigh from Kagome made both pairs of eyes focused on the woman with priestess garb. "Do I have to be here to watch a battle of testosterone?"

Both narrowed their eyes at the female and growled at each other in unison as they directed a question at her, "Who the hell is he?!"

Another audible sigh, "Guy, this is Inuyasha Touken. Inuyasha, this is Guy Donohue. Introducing Inuyasha seems to be my activity of the day."

Inuyasha calmed down a bit, as it seemed like Kagome trusted the youkai. Also the mention of him protecting her during dinner two nights ago did it too. Anyone that helped his Kagome out was alright in his book. Note to Inuyasha: get a book.

"So you're Guy Donohue. Heard some things about you. It seems that Kagome here trusts you with her life." Okay, maybe there was a slither of jealousy seeping in.

"And I haven't heard anything from Kagome about you so I assume you're new acquaintances." With that Guy had made his way around Inuyasha and pulled Kagome into his reach and held out a arm in front of her. "So I kindly ask you step off the shrine grounds, and out of Kagome's life."

Any form of politeness that Inuyasha was willing to hold up for the sake of Kagome was doused by the tiger youkai's words. "I would appreciate it if you would get away from my Kagome."

Although Kagome was every bit the modern day independent woman, she couldn't help but smile at Inuyasha's possessive nature.

Guy growled, "Your Kagome? I've known her for five years now and I haven't heard hide nor hair of an `Inuyasha' so I doubt you can claim anything over her."

The hanyou bristled in anger and stood up to his full height to use it as an intimidating towering method over the only slightly shorter younger youkai. "I've known her for half a millennia and for the better part of her life. If any one has say over her it would be me."

As much as Kagome loved Inuyasha's sometimes primitive and crude ways of showing her cared, even the young miko had her boundaries. She stepped out from behind Guy and stood between the two. "How about this? Neither of you have a say over me. Who died and gave either of you the right to dictate who I associate with?!"

Guy sneered a bit but dejectedly stood back. Inuyasha, however, with his elephant sized confidence stood his ground. "I have a say! After everything that you managed to get yourself into in the past, someone has to keep an eye on you!"

Kagome stared at him disbelievingly then narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm not some toddler that you have to watch over so I don't swallow lego pieces! God! You haven't changed at all!"

"Just the other night you said I changed too much!"

"Well, it seems you changed in all the wrong places!" Kagome slapped a hand to her mouth. That had come out a lot harsher that she had wanted. It was somewhat true, she held fears within her that Inuyasha had changed so much in the years apart that he would be unrecognizable to her. That after a while of being with her, he would realize that the girl he had envisioned in his mind and had been his driving force: had only been a foolish teenage thought. She hadn't meant for that fear to come out, so she had turned them into stabbing words. "Oh God. I didn't mean that Inuyasha."

Her words had hurt. Live through centuries to meet the girl of your dreams, only to have her say you weren't good enough. If that wasn't a well placed kick to the gut he didn't know what was. Inuyasha ignored her apologies, he just couldn't accept them at the moment.

Looking over at the confused feline demon Inuyasha addressed him, "Put your concealing spell on."

Guy nodded slowly and did so, not about to push the buttons further on the tension he felt that sparked the air. Right when the final strip had blended back into his skin and his ears rounded Gramps came around the corner.

"Oh Guy, it's nice to see you again. I see you found Kagome already."

"Yeah. Thanks Gramps."

"Ah, and I believe you have met Kagome's guest. He's been helping me about the shrine today. His strong back and good pair of legs have been a life saver for me. It seems that in my old age I can't hop about the shrine roof and fix the leaks."

Kagome had averted her eyes to the ground, not wanting any eye contact lest allow Gramps to see the fear within them. Inuyasha continued with his standoffish attitude, not one that was completely foreign to him. And Guy was left with the task of talking to the old man that knew nothing of what just transpired.

"I could have done that for you if you asked Gramps."

Gramps smiled, "I appreciate that, but you always seem to have places to go, people to see. Not enough time on your crime fighting hands to bother with a little old shrine."

He smiled despite the heavy air, "I'm not Batman gramps."

"Ah, yes. But a man in law enforcement's work is never done."

"I guess not."

With that Gramps nodded and headed off for his previous destination of the house, leaving the trio abandoned with the awkwardness.

It was Kagome that broke the silence, "I'm really sorry Inuyasha."

"Keh, whatever."

She sighed at the tone he used. From past experiences with the hanyou it told her that he was hurt but not all was lost between them. She felt assured that they would talk about it later. Turning toward Guy she gave a tired sad smile, "Not that I don't love seeing you Guy, but is this a social call?"

The tiger demon rubbed his neck sheepishly, "It seems it never is. Sorry Kags, this is going to be shop talk."

Inuyasha scrunched his eyebrows, "Shop talk?"

The other demon nodded, "The Underground."

"What's the dire in demon central?" Kagome tried her best to liven the slightly grim mood.

"There are rumors about a price on your head. Some demon really wants you all to himself."

The hanyou growled, "Who?"

"I don't know. I've asked around, sucked my sources dry but no one knows anything. All I know is that he's one rich bastard, and he's willing to use large sums of money to get to our Kags."

Inuyasha noticed his purposeful use of `our' as a form of subtle compromise between the two demons.

"What does he want from me? I mean, besides being one of the few priestesses left with actual power, there isn't much to me."

Guy shook his head, "I'm not sure, but there is constant mention of your soul. He wants it."

"My soul?" Her eyes widened at his comment and she contemplated for a moment before answering. "What's so great about it? I mean, it's just my soul. Just a soul of an ordinary human girl. . ."

That's when realization hit her and Inuyasha with force. What she said wasn't true. She might not be an ordinary human girl. She could quite possibly be a goddess and this seemed to confirm it. Kagome searched for Inuyasha's eyes, and when he met her gaze Inuyasha realized that she knew. Some how she had found out about the legend and her possible holy status. Probably from Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha clenched his fists at the thought. Heads would be rolling soon, if not a certain silver haired brother's.

Guy, not knowing of the legend of Wakahirume or the past of these two people sighed. "I have no idea. There are a lot of uses for a soul, but yours in particular? No idea. Maybe it is just because you're a miko. I'm not sure."

Kagome nodded numbly and sat down on a nearby stone bench. Guy and Inuyasha silently followed her. Then Guy tried to break the tense air, "So. . . What's your deal?"

It was Inuyasha who had been addressed, "My deal?"

"Yeah. You're the Inuyasha Touken, one of the strongest, most respected youkai known in existence. You're only rivaled for your status by your brother. And only a few that can even shed a light to your power."

"Kouga, Myouga, Shippou, and Kirara?"

"Yeah."

Inuyasha nodded, "All friends of ours."

Guy jutted his head forward in surprise and whipped his head toward Kagome, "You know those people."

"Old friends of mine. I hadn't seen them in years but I recently met with all of them over a reunion dinner of sorts."

The black-haired man plopped down into the available space next to Kagome, "I can't believe this! You know the youkai's from the highest circles of not just the Underground, but of the general society and you failed to notify me?"

She gave him an apologetic look, "I'll explain everything to you at one point, but not right now. All I can explain to you right now with a short amount of time is that it has to do with my coma and something that occurred when I was supposedly asleep."

"Your coma?" With her pleading look to let the topic slide for now he sighed. "Fine. Well, back to the note of someone being after you. I don't want you out of my sight until I know that a psychotic maniac isn't after your soul."

"I'll protect her."

At the proclamation Guy seemed reluctant to accept it, "Look, I understand you and Kags go way back, but I would feel more comfortable knowing she was under my watch."

Inuyasha shook her head, "I have years of fighting experience over you and my strength is multiple times to yours because of it. I would much rather you finding this bastard and killing him before this gets any worse."

The tiger youkai objected, "But!"

Inuyasha looked on sternly toward the younger youkai, "That's an order."

Guy was taken a back by the sudden use of demon hierarchy. But it was true, being that Inuyasha was second in line to be the Lord of the Western Lands, and co-head of the inuyoukai clan along side his brother. In the demon world, Inuyasha was way up in the chain of command then Guy, even if he held the respectable position as the head of the Tokyo Police Department.

Looking toward the ground he gave in with a: "Yes Sir."

Inuyasha nodded in approval. He rarely used his ranking to have his will done, but certain times called for such measures.

Kagome, although surprised by Inuyasha's `it's an order' and Guy's `yes sir' she did not question it at the moment. "So is that all Guy? No other news of impending doom? No one out to get my liver or anything?"

Guy shook his head, knowing her slight use of humor was her way of coping with her sometimes overwhelming life. "Not just yet. . . but I'm still waiting for you to testify against Matsuhito."

She shook her head and waved her hands before her, anything to draw attention away from the present topic. But Inuyasha had picked up on the mention of the rival name. "Matsuhito? As in Hizuki Matsuhito? As in the CEO of Hitobito no Ginkou (translation: The People's Bank) the rival bank to my own? As in Kagome's old boss?"

"She didn't tell you about him?" Guy had completely missed Kagome's signal to change the subject.

Inuyasha glared at Kagome, forgetting that he had been ignoring her. "What didn't you tell me?"

"Nothing!" She in turn glared at Guy, "It's nothing, right?"

Guy shook his head in anger, "It's not nothing Kags. I don't care how much you write it off but you have to come forward about it. And seeing that Inuyasha here seems to care a lot about your well being I think he deserves to know."

"He doesn't need to know." She seethed through clenched teeth.

Guy turned his head away from her and stood to face Inuyasha, "Do you want to know what this idiot of a woman did?"

Kagome shot up from her seat and stepped in front of Guy, "Don't do this Guy! There are some things that doesn't need to be said! This is one of them!"

He didn't avert his eyes from the hanyou, who now wanted to seriously know what had happened with Matsuhito that Kagome didn't know him to know. Guy spoked to Inuyasha, ignoring the protests by Kagome. "I'm hoping you can shove some sense into her."

Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome that now adorned panicked eyes, then back up at Guy. "What's this about?"

Guy took in a breath, "Kagome is letting it go that Hizuki Matsuhito sexually harassed and molested her while she worked at HitoGin."

There. It was said. And Kagome was furious and frightened. She was livid toward the tiger youkai for saying things to Inuyasha she had told him in confidence. She was terrified of what Inuyasha would say to that. Although Matsuhito hadn't gone as far as to rape her, but she still felt as if his advances and unwanted touches had made her feel dirty. Like she had unknowingly sent him signals that she wanted his attention. Even after stating that she did not like how he treated her, Matsuhito continued to take advantage of his higher position. In the end, Kagome had quit that bank and never looked back. Also, to never go and testify against her former boss.

"What?" Inuyasha had a disbelieving look on his face as he stared at Guy, unable to fully take in his words. Then he turned toward Kagome their eyes met but she averted slowly to the ground, "Is that true?"

"It doesn't matter."

Fury burned within the inu youkai, "Doesn't matter?! A man touched you and you didn't want him to! Why don't you say anything?!"

"What difference would it make? He's rich, he'd just pay his way out of it. Who would believe me anyways?"

"You wouldn't make something like this up Kagome."

"The court wouldn't know that would they?"

Guy shook his head, "They would be more inclined to believe the woman. Especially if she was willing to quit her job to get away from the abuse. If he had fired you it would be a different story, but you left Kagome."

"Because I'm too much of a coward to face him head on."

He set a hand on her shoulder, "You were brave enough to leave a secure job that would have set you for life, to preserve your self dignity. You're not a coward."

"Testify Kagome." Kagome looked over to Inuyasha who had calmed down considerably.

"What if. . ."

"What if what?" Inuyasha's penetrating stare was what did her in.

"What if I had sent the wrong signals? What if I had unknowingly led him on?"

"Did you ever tell him to stop? Did you ever say no?" She nodded slowly. "Then there's nothing to discuss. You'll testify."

"But. . ."

"Not ifs, ands or buts." Inuyasha turned to Guy. "I'll take her down to the station after work tomorrow."

"So you'll swing by her apartment to pick her up?"

"My apartment? What would I be doing in my. . . oh, I didn't tell you did I?"

Guy tilted his head, "Tell me what?"

"I got a job. I work for Inuyasha at Touken Ginkou."

"That's nice of you to do her that favor." Guy nodded toward Inuyasha.

"Actually, I didn't hire her. My secretary forgot to hire someone new for a position that needed filling, my present worker is retiring. It's just a coincidence that I know Kagome. I didn't know she was hired until she walked into my office the first day of her job."

"Why didn't you just promote someone?"

Kagome jabbed an elbow in his rib, "Hey! Don't make him regret hiring me and have him come to his senses."

Inuyasha shook his head, "I needed someone knew that met the qualifications. No one else in the bank has the required degree for the job and speak English fluently."

Guy nudged Kagome playfully, "See I told you all those hours of studying English did some good."

"You have no idea how grateful I am."

"Any time." He grinned.

Inuyasha watched the exchange. He was jealous. Then again, when wasn't he? But this time it was different. He had been jealous before, Kouga was the cause of it most of the time. But one thing he prided himself from having over Kouga was that Inuyasha knew Kagome a lot better than the wolf could ever hope to. But the interaction between her and Guy was different. It was comfortable, they had been through ups and downs together. Maybe Kagome had lied. Maybe there was someone else. Maybe it was Guy. Was it possible that Guy was the man of Kagome's affections?

"Kagome!" The voice of Satsuki caught the trio's attention and turned toward her as she and Gramps was making there way out of the house. "I was wondering if you and Touken-kun could help move some boxes from the house to the store. The delivery men left it there when I wasn't home yesterday. Now we have to move it all across the grounds to the store."

"Sure thing mom, come on Inuyasha." It seemed that all awkwardness from before was gone, but she knew she would not escape the inevitable talk between the two when they were alone. "Want to help out Guy?"

"Why not?" He began rolling up his sleaves. "Where do you want us Mrs. H?"

"Follow me." She smiled brightly as she led them back into the house. Indicating toward a good pile of twenty boxes nodded, "Thank you, without you three it would have taken all day."

She was about heft up a box when Inuyasha took it from her, "Don't worry about it Higurashi-san. We've got it."

"That's so considerate of you Touken-kun." She smiled and looked over to Gramps, "This one will Kagome some good."

Kagome blushed as she picked up her a box of her own. "Mom!"

"Well a mother has to make sure of these things." Satsuki let out a sigh, "Especially when it seems Guy won't be wooing my daughter anytime soon."

"Wooing?" Guy raised an amused eyebrow as he followed Inuyasha's example of carrying two boxes, taking advantage of demon strength but not full advantage. If they wanted, the pair of them could carry the boxes in one trip, but Satsuki and Gramps didn't know about their youkai status.

"Too late Guy. My daughter has moved on." She shook her head, "I had such high hopes for you two. I was even imagining cute little grandchildren with black hair running around the shrine within the next few years."

"Oh God." Kagome blushed even farther.

"What? You don't think our children would be cute?" Guy snickered.

"But too late Guy. My daughter now has Inuyasha. If you try anything now there will be a love triangle. That would complicate matters and delay the coming of my grandchildren."

Kagome shook her head, "Mom, stop before you embarrass me further. Also, I have no idea why you haven't figured it out mom, but Guy's married."

Surprise came over Satsuki's eyes, relief over Inuyasha's, and amuzement in Guy's.

"Oh dear, married? For how long have you been married?"

"For four years Mrs. H."

"Four years! My goodness! Now Guy, why haven't I met her? You should have brought her so I could meet her."

"I did, but that weekend you and Gramps were in Kyoto visiting a relative. And she's always so busy. She works as a trauma surgeon in the Tokyo General ER."

"Well then I guess she would be busy." Satsuki let out a sigh and faced Inuyasha, "I see you're my only hope."

"Stop trying to rope him in mom." With that she nudged the two demons out the door with boxes in hand, "Come on guys. Let's get this over with."

^~*~^

A/N: I was going to keep going on this chapter but I thought it was a good place to stop. I'm sure people get annoyed by cliffies, and frankly, I think I get annoyed by them too (says the author of the fic...). Also, I would like to say that this fic is no where near over. Some people have left reviews about posting up my final chapters... where did you get that idea? Because there is a lot more to come in the wacky world that belongs to hoshi-ni-onegai. Do you honestly think I'll let Kag and Inu off that easily? Come on! I am a young adult that is in her prime of angst, let me share it to all my fanfic characters! Well, I know I am a horrible person when it comes to keeping to deadline but this fic will continue (because in all honesty, I love writing it). I may not have all the time in the world like I want but I do hope to write a story that appeals to someone out there. So, without further ado, I bit you farewell. And a review left would be nice, and a nice way to boost my very low confidence when it comes to my writing. C ya ^o^