InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The New Student and Kagome's Secret ❯ Chapter 12: Reminiscing ( Chapter 12 )

"Kaede!!!" they all said in unison. Kaede limped into the room. She had been badly injured in the battle too and was now doing everything she could just to walk.

"Miroku!" she said motioning for Miroku to walk to the opposite side of the bed. He obeyed. Kaede limped towards the bed and motioned for Inuyasha and Sango to move out of the way. Normally Inuyasha would have protested, but he didn't feel like arguing and something about Kaede's countenance told him to trust her. Kaede was on the right side of the bed and Miroku on the left. They faced each other. Kaede leaned down and looked at Kagome. She lifted Kagome's arm and felt in random places of her body.

"What is she doing!" Inuyasha shouted starting to stop Kaede. Sango grabbed him by the arm against her better judgement.

"Don't!" she begged. "Kaede is the most powerful priestess in the area. She might be able to save Kagome!" When Inuyasha heard that, he stopped dead in his tracts. His face lit up. Could Kagome really be saved?

Kaede nodded to Miroku. "Do you remember, Miroku?" Miroku looked puzzled and then seemed as if he had suddenly remembered.

"Kaede! No! I am inexperienced! I could kill Kagome if I don't do this right!" Miroku stated. Inuyasha flinched.

"She's going to die if we don't do this anyway," she said flatly. Inuyasha felt as if a jolt of pain had been sent through his entire body when he heard Kaede say that. Miroku nodded in agreement. Inuyasha still braced himself with his crutch with Sango gripping his haori. She was just as nervous as he was. After all, she had known Kagome a lot longer than Inuyasha. Miroku looked at Sango and Inuyasha and took a deep breath. He didn't know if he could perform the incantation or not. But Kaede was right. Kagome didn't have much hope without it anyway so he might as well try it.

"Ready yourself, Miroku," Kaede instructed. Miroku stood facing Kaede across the bed. Kagome lay motionless. Inuyasha and Sango watched with hope and anxiety.

`Good luck, Miroku,' Sango mouthed with her lips. `You can do this.' He gave her a slight smile, but quickly took on a more serious and focused expression. It meant a lot to him that Sango believed in him. It gave him more courage and confidence. He knew, however, that he needed to get to work as soon as possible. He folded his hands in their usual praying position with the forefinger tips touching. Kaede did the same. They nodded to each other and closed their eyes. They both began to mumble something that even Inuyasha's sensitive ears couldn't pick up. Sango removed her hand from Inuyasha's haori as she stared intently. Sango suddenly realized that there was some wet, sticky liquid on her hand. She looked down to find her hand soaked in blood. She gasped and looked back to where her hand had been on Inuyasha's haori. He was bleeding through his bandages, now. `Inuyasha should be healing himself by now,' she thought. She then gasped when she realized how Inuyasha had pushed himself so that he could come be with Kagome. He had literally dragged himself to Kagome's room. The stress on his body had probably caused the wounds to open up again. She looked at him. He paid no attention to her as he strained his ears to hear what Miroku and Kaede were saying. She had to do something about his wounds, but she knew if she mentioned it to him at a time like this, he would only protest and probably use force to get her to leave him alone. She had to try.

"I-Inuyasha?" she began. He didn't even acknowledge her existence as he watched Miroku and Kaede. "Inuyasha?" she asked again. He still didn't look at her. She decided she would tug on his sleeve. "Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" he finally mumbled still watching Miroku and Kaede intensely.

"You're…you're bleeding, Inuyasha," she said softly trying not to alert Miroku or Kaede. She held out her hand as proof, but Inuyasha paid no attention to it.

"I'm fine!" he said abruptly ignoring Sango. Sango frowned. At this rate, if Kagome actually does live, he will be dead before she even revives. Sango did the only thing she could do. She left the room. No one seemed to notice when she left. Kaede and Miroku were too busy trying to revive Kagome and Inuyasha was too busy watching. Sango walked into the kitchen. She reached inside one of the medicine cabinets and pulled out some bandages. She shuffled around a little more and found some ointment to put on the bandages that helped speed up recovery. She rubbed the ointment on the bandage, then stared at her perfect, ointment bandage for a moment.

She then said, "I'll be damned if I am going to have two of my friends die in one night!" With that she grabbed the bandage and walked back into Kagome's bedroom. Inuyasha hadn't even noticed that she had returned. Good. `Maybe he won't notice if I try to bandage him up, either,' she said to herself. The incantations from Kaede and Miroku had gotten louder. They both seemed really zoned in on helping Kagome. `Come on, Kagome! Come on, girl!' she thought. She glanced up at Inuyasha. She slowly made her way over to him. Little by little, and as discretely as possible, she began to unwrap Inuyasha's dirty bandages. He didn't seem to notice until she pulled the last bandage off of him. He made eye contact with her, and Sango stood frozen as if she had been caught and was now going to suffer unimaginable punishment. Inuyasha and Sango stared at each other for a few moments. Sango decided to not say anything at all and continued to bandage Inuyasha determined to help her friend. Inuyasha just stared at her as she continued to bandage him. He began to speak when Sango interrupted him.

"Kagome wouldn't like it if I let you die," she said without looking up at him. He didn't say anything. Sango knew that she had stumped Inuyasha with any protest he might have. "Try to take it easy," she said finishing up her bandaging. She then looked up at him. He was a little angry that she had insisted on bandaging him, but complied. He said nothing to her and turned back to look at Miroku and Kaede still chanting away.

Suddenly, a burst of wind and light emerged from Kagome. Her hair flapped wildly as the wind and light rushed around her. Inuyasha took a step forward about to protest when Sango grabbed him and pulled him back to her.

"Let me go!" he shouted wriggling away from her.

"It's okay!" she said shouting over the wind. "Let them do what they can!"

"Are you NUTS???" Inuyasha responded angrily. "That's what almost killed Kagome in the first place!!!" Sango looked at the scene in front of her and realized that everything looked exactly the way it had earlier in the battle. Sango shook her head of these thoughts.

"I believe in them!" Sango shouted. "Just wait! You can't interfere! Kagome will definitely die if you do!!!" Inuyasha's expression softened. He looked at the events unfolding before him and knew that Sango was right. He was going to have to put his trust in Miroku and Kaede now. Still…Inuyasha couldn't help but think about some of the times he and Kagome had spent together.

<Flashback>

"Hi, Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted gleefully as he jumped in her bedroom window.

"Whassup, Kagome?" he said smiling. She ran over to him and hugged him. He was a little shocked by the hug, but hugged her back nonetheless. When she released him, she noticed that he had a confused expression on his face. Kagome giggled a little. "What gives, Kagome?"

She smiled. "I'm just happy to see you…that's all," she said mischievously. Inuyasha gave her a disbelieving look.

"Feh!" he said turning his nose up in the other direction. He noticed Kagome grinning out of the corner of his eye.

"I just went shopping!" she exclaimed running to her closet and pulling out random items to show him. She held up a red, off the shoulder blouse to herself. "Do you like it?" she asked. Inuyasha scowled.

"What are ya' asking me for?" he asked slightly blushing. He knew Kagome would look gorgeous in a paper bag, but he would never admit it to her. She frowned a little, but ignored his snide remark and continued showing him items that she had bought at the mall.

"Oh, and I had to splurge a little!" she said holding up a matching pair of bra and underwear. The bra was black and practically see through with a little, beaded, turquoise heart on the upper right breast. The underwear was a see through thong that also had the little heart in the upper left corner. Inuyasha blushed and nearly swallowed his tongue when he imagined what Kagome would look like in that. Kagome smiled, relieved that she finally had gotten a reaction from the hanyou.

"Why on earth are you gonna wear that?" he asked against his better judgement. "There's nothing to it!" Inuyasha growled at the thought of another guy seeing Kagome like that. He would kill them. Kagome decided she would have a little fun with this. She walked over to him seductively.

"I don't know, Inuyasha…why do YOU think I should wear it?" she said seductively. He gulped hard as she placed a gentle hand on his chest. He could feel himself becoming aroused. Her scent was enticing and he couldn't deny that he wanted her. He was just about to take her into his grasp when she jumped back.

"I almost forgot something!!!" she said returning to her things. Inuyasha cursed her silently for getting him all worked up over nothing. She reached into a bag to reveal a foot long wooden box. She walked over to him. "This is for you," she said sheepishly. Inuyasha looked at her overwhelmed with shock and disbelief. No one had ever given him a present on a holiday…much less for no reason at all. He hesitantly took the box from her hand. There was a small, gold latch on the front of the box. He looked at Kagome one more time before unlatching it. He opened the box to reveal a bottle of some type of cleaning liquid, some scrubbing cloths, and what appeared to be a rather large knife sharpener. He looked at her questioningly.

"I wanted to get you something in the mall today. I happened to pass by this Japanese Weaponry store. I saw some old swords in there so I walked in thinking that you might be interested in going in there some time since you like that sword of yours so much," she said sheepishly. "Anyway, the guy at the counter asked if he could help me and I just told him that my friend had a really nice sword so I stopped by to see what was in there. The guy asked me to point out a sword similar to yours. I found one similar and then was able to describe their differences. He said that you obviously have a really nice sword and brought this box to my attention." She pointed to the box. "It helps keep your sword in tip top condition. The formula is a special formula used only by the best of the best swordsmen in Japan, and the sharpener should sharpen your sword so that you should be able to cut a single hair in half!" Inuyasha stared at the box then back at Kagome. He sat, or somewhat fell, on the bed in shock. He just sat there in shock and disbelief. He couldn't believe that she had gotten him this. He absolutely loved it, but being the Inuyasha that he was, he wasn't going to let her know that. Kagome was beginning to get a little worried that Inuyasha didn't like it because he wouldn't respond. "Er…um…if you don't like it, I can take it back," she mumbled staring at the ground. Inuyasha closed the box and placed it on the bed. Kagome then felt his finger slide underneath her chin forcing her to look up at him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Inuyasha never was big on words, so she took that as him saying that he liked it. Kagome hugged him back.

"Thank you, Kagome," Inuyasha said so softly that Kagome almost didn't hear him. He was acting so strangely. He never acted this way around her before. She had actually half-expected him to turn his nose up at the box and say something mean.

<End Flashback>

`That was the first time that I really saw how pure and caring Kagome was,' he thought. `No one had ever given me a gift before…but she did it like it was nothing.' He glanced down at tetsaiga that was still holding him up and smiled. `That stuff worked, too, didn't it, tetsaiga?' Inuyasha then recalled many nights that he sat conditioning tetsaiga. He had used it so much and so often that Kagome had even given him another supply for Christmas as `one' of his gifts. `Christmas!' he thought. `Now, that was a night to remember.'

<Flashback>

Inuyasha trampled through the snow outside Kagome's bedroom window. It was extremely cold that December evening, and the snow seemed like it would never end. His feet were cold in the snow and the wind flapped his black hair wildly. It was still early in the evening so Inuyasha was still in his human disguise. He looked up towards Kagome's window. The light was on. Good. She was home. She had been doing an awful lot of Christmas shopping lately causing her to come home late sometimes. Inuyasha didn't like that at all. He leapt onto the tree limb just outside her room. He leapt towards her window to find Kagome sitting on the floor in her room wrapping gifts. She looked like she was having such a good time wrapping the gifts. Her cat Buyo was in there as well. He seemed to be having a good time playing with the various ribbons scattered across the floor. Kagome would laugh at him occasionally and then return to her work. Inuyasha smiled and lightly tapped on her window. She looked up and smiled. She stood up and walked over to the window. "Merry Christmas, Inuyasha!" she said gleefully through the glass pane. He smiled. She tried to get the window to open, but it wouldn't budge. She gave Inuyasha a questioning look. He looked down at the window to examine it. It had been frozen shut. It wouldn't slide open. "Go downstairs!" she shouted to him through the window. `Downstairs?!' he thought. `Is her grandpa home? Her mother? They will be able to catch my demon scent.' But before he could protest Kagome was already out the door and running down the stairs.

"Mom! I'm going to have company, okay?" she shouted. Her mother smiled from within the kitchen. She was busy making different Christmas goodies to give as gifts to her friends.

"Okay, Kagome!" her mother shouted. "Is it Yuri?" Kagome stopped in her tracks and realized that she hadn't ever introduced Inuyasha to her mother.

"Uh…no mom! It's…uh…a guy from school!" she stammered. Her mother emerged from the kitchen with a suspicious look on her face.

"A guy from school, huh?" she said suspiciously. "It's not that Kenta character, is it? You know we don't like him." Her mother had a stern look on her face.

"Oh…uh…no mom. It's someone you haven't met before. He's a really nice guy though," she said with a smile. "Light years from Kenta!" Her mother gave her a reassuring smile.

"Okay, honey," she said and returned to the kitchen. She was just about to reach the front door when Kagome's grandpa jumped in front of the door holding an amulet in front of him.

"Don't go out there, Kagome!" he stated. "There's a demon out there!" A dish fell in the kitchen as her mother came racing out of the kitchen.

"A demon?" her mother said. "Oh, god, Kagome! I hope you're friend is okay!" Her friend? How was Kagome going to explain that the demon was her friend? She didn't know what to do.

"Uh…haha…are you sure Grandpa?" she asked lightly. "It doesn't seem that a demon would be out this early." She walked around her grandfather. She had completely forgotten that her family could sense demon blood. She reached for the doorknob.

"No! Kagome!" her grandfather shouted, but before he could say anything else, Kagome had flung the door open to reveal a slightly snow-covered Inuyasha.

"DEMON!!!" her grandfather shouted. Her mother screamed. Her grandfather ran up to Inuyasha and through an amulet towards him. Inuyasha shredded it with his claws effortlessly.

"Kagome," Inuyasha began. "This was a bad idea. I should go home!"

"No, wait!" she shouted. Her mother and grandpa looked dumbfounded.

"Kagome? Is this the friend that you had?" her mother asked. Kagome smiled sheepishly.

"Uh…yeah!" she said.

"DEMON!!!" her grandfather shouted yet again racing towards Inuyasha. Kagome jumped in front Inuyasha shielding him.

"ENOUGH!!!" she said. They all looked at her in shock as her grandpa stopped dead in his tracks.

"Kagome?" he asked puzzled.

"He is my friend!" she explained. "He is a good demon. He has never harmed me. Give him a chance. He hasn't done anything to you yet. In fact, he has saved my life numerous times." Her mother and grandfather let down their guard understanding what Kagome meant. After all, it was Christmas.

Her mother stepped forward and said, "Forgive our rude welcome. It's not everyday we have a demon in our house. Most demons we come into contact with try to kill us." Kagome smiled at her mother's efforts to make things right. Inuyasha nodded.

"Understandable," he said. Kagome's grandfather was still glaring at him, but one look from Kagome and he cut it out.

"Would you please come in?" her mother asked. "You must be cold." Kagome led Inuyasha into the house. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Sorry for that, Inuyasha," she said. He replied with a "Feh!"

"You're a half-demon," Kagome's grandfather suddenly said. Kagome and Inuyasha turned to look at him. Kagome was nervous that her grandfather had insulted Inuyasha. Inuyasha just nodded his head in response.

"Would you like some hot cocoa, dear?" Kagome's mother asked Inuyasha.

"Sure," he said. Her mother was walking back towards the kitchen when she stopped in her tracks.

"I'm sorry, dear! I never introduced myself. I'm Kagome's mother. You can call me Mrs. Higurashi," she said with a smile. "And you are?"

"Inuyasha," he said gruffly. Her mother and grandfather gasped. Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged confused looks.

"Uh, Grandpa! Can you join me in the kitchen for a bit?" she asked nervously. Kagome's grandfather complied and followed Mrs. Higurashi into the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Inuyasha asked.

"You got me!" Kagome said shrugging her shoulders.

In the kitchen, Kagome's mother and grandfather were having a serious discussion.

"I didn't know that the prophecy would come this soon!" her mother said.

"Neither did I," her grandfather stated. "But it could still be a while. It doesn't seem like she knows about her powers yet and that has to come before anything." Her mother nodded.

"Until then, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a powerful demon on your side," she said as she put some whipped cream on the cocoa. "He and Kagome seem like they have known each other for a while now. At least I have someone protecting my daughter from danger." Grandpa nodded and followed Kagome's mother back into the living.

"Hello!" her mother said with a smile. "One for you, Inuyasha! And one for you Kagome!" Inuyasha took the cup of cocoa and began to slowly sip on it. He reached up and scratched his head. Kagome looked at him.

"Is your disguise bothering you?" she asked rubbing his head. Inuyasha nodded. "You might as well get comfortable. Everyone knows what you really are." He nodded. Kagome's mother and grandfather watched in amazement as Inuyasha pulled off the black wig and tape to reveal his long silver hair. Atop his head, his ears twitched.

"That's much better!" he said out loud. Kagome's mother was gawking at him. `He's so handsome,' she thought.

"OH MY! HOW CUTE!!!" her mother squealed. Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged some confused looks. They soon got their answer when Kagome's mom walked over to Inuyasha squealing. Inuyasha began to back down deeper into the couch as if trying to escape Kagome's mother by going into the couch. She finally reached him and started rubbing his ears. Kagome and Inuyasha sweatdropped.

"Run in the family?" Inuyasha said gruffly looking at Kagome through slitted eyes as he allowed her mother to pet his ears. Kagome blinked a couple of times and smiled sheepishly.

"AGHHHHH!!!" everyone suddenly heard someone scream. Inuyasha reacted quickly by turning around towards the scream and jumping on the couch.

"Souta!" Kagome exclaimed. Souta stood there at the bottom of the steps staring at Inuyasha and breathing heavily. "It's okay! He's a good demon!" Kagome explained.

"A good demon?" Souta said softly. Inuyasha folded his arms wondering if this night was ever going to end. Inuyasha jumped over the couch and in front of the kid. "Cool!" Souta let out.

"Yeah, kid, a good demon, so let's not draw this thing out, okay? I'm not going to hurt you," Inuyasha said somewhat irritated.

"Awesome!" Souta said.

"But you can't tell anyone!" Inuyasha warned. He bent down and then smiled at him. "This will just be our little man to man secret, okay?" He gave him a wink. Souta nodded his head and ran back upstairs to play video games. Inuyasha stood up to greet a smiling Kagome. "What?" he asked. Kagome shook her head.

"Come on! Let's go upstairs!" she said pulling Inuyasha up the stairs. Kagome's mother and grandfather returned to the kitchen. As soon as Kagome was in her room, she shut the door and locked it, then collapsed laughing on the floor. Inuyasha eyed her warily.

"Oh, man!" she said. "Sorry for all that! I had no idea that your presence would get such a response!" She knelt next to her presents and continued wrapping. Inuyasha sat next to the bed in his usual indian style position.

"So, it's Christmas Eve, huh?" Inuyasha inquired. Kagome nodded her head.

"Yep!" she said happily. "Which means tomorrow's Christmas!" She had a huge grin on her face which made Inuyasha smile.

"You like holidays, don't you?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"I love them! Presents, Christmas cheer, happy people everywhere, the decorations!" she said. "It's a wonderful time of year!" He smiled. He loved the way she seemed so innocent.

"Kagome!" her mother called from downstairs. "We're all going up to the mall for some last minute shopping. You need anything?"

"No, I'm okay mom!" she shouted. After they left, Inuyasha and Kagome continued to chat a while. Kagome finished wrapping her gifts while Inuyasha played with/tortured the cat. Finally, the gifts were done.

"I'm going to go change," Inuyasha said to Kagome grabbing the backpack he had brought with him containing his fire rat robe and his scent change. Kagome nodded her head and watched as Inuyasha walked out of her bedroom. `Perfect!' she thought. She ran to the bedroom door and shut it. She hurriedly changed clothes and got everything in place. She couldn't stand it any longer.

It didn't take long for Inuyasha to change and walk back to her room. Much to his surprise the door was locked. He knocked on it. "What gives, Kagome?" he asked. She didn't respond. "Kagome?" She still didn't respond. "Hey, Kagome! You okay?!" She still didn't respond. "Kagome answer me!" he shouted through the door. He was just before barreling through the door when he heard her.

"Just a sec!" she shouted. He folded his arms.

"You wanna respond a little sooner next time!" he said.

"Why?" she said playfully. "Were you worried?" Inuyasha blushed. Finally, Kagome opened the door. The smell of Christmas invaded his senses: cinnamon, cookies, eggnog, Christmas trees. Kagome had placed various aroma candles around the room. All the lights in her room were off except for the candles and a miniature Christmas tree that sat atop her desk. Kagome finally emerged from behind the door. Inuyasha nearly gasped. She was dressed in a red, long-sleeved, off the shoulder, sweater dress that clung to her curves perfectly. Her hair fell softly around her shoulders. He gave her a confused look. She motioned for him to come in. He walked in and she shut the door behind him.

"What's this all about?" he asked. She smiled and took his hand.

"Merry Christmas, Inuyasha," she said softly. She pointed to the tiny tree on her desk and under it were three presents. Inuyasha looked at her. She smiled. "Those are for you silly. Go open them!" She and Inuyasha walked over to the tree. "You have to do them in the order I say though." He nodded his head. "First we'll go with this one," she said lifting up a present that was about a foot long. "You may already know what this one is so I wanted to give this to you first." He smiled. He could smell wood and cleaning fluid, so he knew what it was before he even opened it. He tore open the package to reveal the same wooden box as before, except inside this box was an even larger bottle of cleaning fluid.

"Thanks, Kagome!" he said with a smile. "I needed some more of this." Kagome smiled content that she had been successful in the first gift. She lifted the next gift to him. Again Inuyasha tore through the wrapping no problem. He opened the box to find a gorgeous, blue sweater. Kagome had noticed that he didn't have that many winter clothes so she decided to get him a sweater. He smiled.

"Thanks!" he said again.

"And last, but certainly not least," she said pulling out the final and rather large present. Kagome was most excited about this one. She wanted to see his reaction. He shredded the paper like before to reveal a regular Christmas box. He opened the box to find yet another box. The box was wooden just like the first one except this one was red with a black, Japanese inscription on it. He opened the box and found small bottles of different types of herbs.

"It's special herbs for half-demons," Kagome began. "I know how you like to get going into battle again rather quickly after you are injured. These herbs will help you in doing that." Inuyasha smiled. He couldn't believe that he was getting all of these gifts.

"Thanks, Kagome!" he said with a grin. He was just about to put the gift down when…

"Wait! There's more in there!" she said.

"MORE???" he said. "Kagome…you've done enough!" She stood there insisting he continue so he dug through the rest of the tissue paper to find a book.

"Japanese Weaponry," he read out loud.

"It's a book that tells you everything that you need to know about Japanese Weaponry. I even had Toutousai put a chapter in there about your sword," Kagome said.

"Toutousai?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "When did you see him?" Kagome smiled.

"Just continue and I will explain everything at the end of the presents," she said.

"MORE???" he said. She nodded. He rummaged through the tissue paper to come across a picture. Tears formed in the corners of Inuyasha's eyes though he would have never admitted it to Kagome. It was a picture of Inuyasha with his mother and father.

"I talked to Myouga when he visited you last month. I knew Christmas was coming up and I thought that there might be a few things that you left behind that you might want to have. Unfortunately, most of your stuff had been destroyed, but Myouga found that picture and I thought that you might want to have it. Myouga is also where I was able to get in touch with Toutousai," she said softly. Inuyasha had his head bent over so that his hair blocked vision of his face. "Inuyasha?"

"Thank you, Kagome," he said and rather violently pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you so much." Kagome smiled.

"There's just one more thing," she said releasing herself from Inuyasha's grasp and walking over to her desk. Inuyasha gave her a puzzled look. She retrieved something from her desk and held it to heart. She turned around. "I had completely forgotten about this. This really isn't like a gift or anything…I just thought that you might want a copy." She opened her hands to reveal a picture of her and Inuyasha. Inuyasha stared at it.

"When did we take that?" he asked. "I don't remember taking any pictures."

"Neither did I," she said. "Sango or Miroku must have taken it while we were at their house or something." She gave the picture to Inuyasha. He examined it closely and slightly blushed. He and Kagome were sitting on the couch. Kagome had her head on his shoulder and he was resting his cheek on her head. Both of them were asleep. Kagome walked to where she was merely inches away from his face.

"Maybe these pictures will ensure that there is still something out there worth fighting for," she said obviously referring to the times that Inuyasha doubted himself. He stared at her. She stared at him. They wrapped each other in a tight hug.

"Thank you Kagome," he said. "This is the best Christmas I've had in a long time." Kagome smiled.

"I'm glad," she said, but then felt herself being lifted off of the ground. "Agh! What are you doing?"

"Well, I can't necessarily let you give me presents without giving you yours," he said hoisting her on his back. He then ran downstairs and out the front door. He leapt into the air. Kagome had yet to see all of the Christmas decorations lit up at night…mostly because she promised Inuyasha she would stay in after begging him to let her go see them. This was better than she had imagined. Not only did she see the lights, but she saw them from every direction…including an arial view.

"Wow, Inuyasha," she gasped as she stared at all of the beautiful lights of the city. He smiled.

"I knew you were going to like this," he said.

"Is this my Christmas present?" she asked excitedly. She knew that her Christmas present would be something that didn't involve money. He could barely afford to eat much less buy gifts, and she loved this ride through the night of Christmas lights more than anything she had ever done.

"Well…part of it," he said with a grin. `Part of it?' she thought. As they rode across the sky, Kagome would randomly point out her favorite lights as they passed them. Inuyasha would even point out his. They would even sometimes playfully argue over what lights were the prettiest. They finally agreed upon the huge Christmas tree in Central Park as being the best. They landed in Central Park and Kagome crawled off of Inuyasha's back. She stared up at the tree. He guided her to a nearby bench so they could sit a while. That sat talking for a little while before Inuyasha finally got up the courage to give her her remaining present.

"Kagome," he began. "I want to give you something that means a lot to me." Kagome's interest perked up. "When my mother was dying, she gave me something. It…was…something of hers…something really special to her." Inuyasha reached into his pocket. "It was given only by demons and only to those that you really wanted to protect, so that even if you passed on into the after life…you would still be able to somehow protect that person. I really think that this is the only thing that managed my escape from my brother and his legion of demons." He pulled out of his pocket a silver necklace. Attached to the necklace was a saphire stone in the shape of a crescent moon. Attached to the moon was a star-shaped diamond. "This charm is a symbol of my family…of my protection…over you." Kagome gasped. "Kagome, I want you to have this. Maybe it will protect you the way it has me…or at least provide you some protection until I can get there if you are ever in trouble again." Kagome looked at the necklace and then at Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha…I…I can't accept this!" she said. "You're mother gave it to you when she was dying!" Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Yes…and now I am giving it to you. I am old enough and strong enough now to take care of myself…but you're human…and…and…I don't want anything to happen to you," he finished blushing. Kagome gasped. Could Inuyasha be expressing how he truly feels? Kagome smiled and nodded her head. Inuyasha smiled back. He stood and walked behind her. He draped the necklace in front of her and clasped it behind her neck. He returned to where he was seated and stared at the Christmas tree as if nothing had happened. It was obviously all of the honesty he could handle for one night.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said holding the charm between her forefinger and thumb.

"Yeah?" he said. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek then laid her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," she said. Inuyasha blushed heavily. He looked down at her fiddling with her new necklace and smiled.

"Your welcome," he said.

<End Flashback>

Inuyasha looked over to Kagome's lifeless body, the wind still flapping her hair wildly. He could see the necklace still on her. `Damnit!' he thought. `Mother! Father! Please protect her! Please help!' Sango still held onto Inuyasha's arm. Miroku and Kaede began to cringe as one would trying to pick up something too heavy for them.

"Don't give up!" Inuyasha shouted, but he soon realized that this was draining a lot out of them. Miroku and Kaede couldn't last much longer. He had to do something, but what? There was nothing that he could do…except watch and wait. "Miroku! Kaede! You are strong! You can do this!"

`Inuyasha?' Sango thought. Finally, with one great cry Kaede and Miroku were both thrown to the floor. The brilliant light and wind ceased.

"Miroku! Kaede!" Sango and Inuyasha yelled at the same time. Sango ran over to Miroku and Inuyasha stopped at Kaede.

"Miroku?!" Sango shouted. "Are you okay?" He gave a weak moan in response, but kept his eyes closed tightly. `They've just been drained…they're not dead,' Sango thought looking at Kaede. "I'll be right back!" she said took off into the kitchen.

"Kaede! Kaede, are you alright?" Inuyasha asked the old woman. He, too, only got a weak moan in response. Sango soon returned with two cups. She handed one to Inuyasha on the way past him to Miroku.

"Make Kaede drink this!" she said. He nodded his head and tilted Kaede up a little so that he could serve her the drink. She drank it down. He laid her down on the ground.

"Sango! What is this stuff?" he asked.

"It's the same stuff we gave Kagome after she helped those men. It's made especially for occasions like this…when priests and priestesses over do it," she said feeding the liquid to Miroku.

`Over do it?!' Inuyasha thought. He whirled around to look up at the bed where Kagome lay. She still lay motionless. `No! No! Kagome, do something! Say something!' he thought. He stood up and rushed to her side. He began to become teary eyed again. He sat there for a few minutes just staring at her and waiting…waiting for her to move…when something caught his attention. It was the necklace he had given her for Christmas. That had only been a few weeks ago. He reached down and held the charm in his hand. He squeezed it more out of anger than anything. He was shaking again. He swore to protect her…he swore he would never let anything happen to her. And now…he couldn't believe that his Kagome was…was…DEAD!

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! Keep `em coming! Because of your reviews I stayed up all night so that I could study and write Inuyasha!!! I know…I'm obsessed.

Anyways…I am reading a lot of you guys' stories too…so here's the deal…you keep updating yours and I'll keep updating mine! ;p hehehehe

Okay…well I will update again soon…PROMISE!!!

Sorry this chapter was so long, but I know I kept mentioning some of the good times that Kagome and Inuyasha had so I decided to let him reminisce about them!!!

Next Chapter: THE PROPHECY REVEALED (Just for the record…this one is gonna be good!!!)