Hello! So this is a super random one-shot. It's the middle of the night where I'm sitting alone in my room on my bed surrounded by homework I should be doing. College sucks.

But hey, when you get an inspiration for a fic, you can't ignore it ;)

I'm not really sure where I'm setting this as far as a timeline goes lol. It's definitely during the Final Act and it's definitely before Kikyo dies, but idk what episode it would fit in. I mention an event from an episode, I think it's the one that's actually called Kanna's Mirror, but I'm not sure what number episode it is. My bad. Hope you like it anyway.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters. All rights to Rumiko Takahashi.

Plain and Simple

"Just shut up already!"

My eyes widened at Inuyasha's sudden outburst. "Excuse me?" I fired back. "You don't get to talk to me like that! Especially not after what you've done!" Inuyasha looked so mad that I half-expected him to rip Goshinboku out of the ground and throw it all the way across the country.

"You don't know anything," he countered. "Nothing!" I felt my eyes fill with tears of frustration.

"You treat me like crap!" I shrieked. "That's something I know!" Inuyasha looked a little shocked. I'd never called him out on that. Sure, we all knew he wasn't the nicest person and that he could be really defensive. But in the end, he took care of me and protected me.

But I had to admit…sometimes he really did treat me like crap.

"That's what you think?" he asked in low voice. "You think I treat you like crap?" I balled my hands into fists and nodded firmly.

"Yes!" I yelled. "Because you do! You don't let me go home when I need to, you always complain about my 'human' problems, and you make it so hard for me to believe you care about me that I feel like I just shouldn't come back here at all!" My final exclamation silenced Inuyasha, and that's when I knew I'd gone too far.

For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to care. It was all true.

Inuyasha was staring at me with a stunned looked on his face. I stared at him with what I knew were fiery eyes, waiting for him to argue with me further. Finally, he just shook his head.

"You really are stupid," he said in a normal tone of voice. "So stupid, Kagome." Before I could retort with a few harsh-sounding words of my own, he suddenly moved.

In what felt like a millisecond, he moved towards me and pulled me into his arms. Then I was the one stunned into silence.

"So stupid," he repeated in a soft voice. His arms tightened around me and I felt him bury his face in my hair.

"Inuyasha-" I began.

"So stupid," he said, cutting me off. That brought the anger right back.

"Alright, I get it," I said through gritted teeth as I tried to pull away from him. "You think I'm stupid. Can't you for once just say something nice to me?" Inuyasha kept his arms around me, but he loosened them so I could pull a few inches away.

"I love you," he replied. My eyes widened. That was definitely not what I was expecting him to say. "Seriously, Kagome. I love you so much." His hand came up to cup my cheek.

"So stupid," he said for the millionth time. "How could you not know?" I searched his eyes, looking for amusement. This must have been a joke.

"You…I…" I stuttered. "You're just saying that so I won't be mad at you anymore." Inuyasha looked at me for a moment and then moved again.

This time, he pressed a soft kiss on my lips. I froze and nearly pushed him away, but then I realized that I'd been waiting for this moment for months. Right now, I didn't care what his reasons were. I just wanted to relish in him.

My arms reached up and went around his neck, effectively pulling him closer. His hands slipped up into my hair as he moved his mouth to sprinkle light kisses on my cheek until he reached my ear.

"I love you, Kagome," he murmured. "I love you so much that it hurts."

There was a raw tenderness in his voice that made me believe him. It was almost as if our souls connected in that moment, that wonderful moment when Inuyasha's guard was finally down.

His mouth found mine again as our kiss deepened. I could feel how much he loved me radiating from his body to mine, and all I could think about was how much I'd come to love him and, even though it kind of scared me, needed him.

After all we'd been through, this kiss felt ridiculously overdue. Ever since he'd nearly been killed by Kanna's mirror, it felt like there was an urgency between us. He seemed to always be by my side no matter what we were doing, but he'd also become gruffer towards me. Inuyasha was a walking paradox. He protected me almost as if his reason were so he could take out his anger on me.

But I knew it wasn't that simple. He just didn't know how to be gentle.

But right now…locked in his arms…connected to his lips…I found that he had become gentle.

Finally, after several minutes, we finally pulled away from each other.

"Kagome," he said tenderly. "You have to believe me now." I nodded and lay my head on his chest.

"I believe you," I replied. "I believe you." Inuyasha's arms tightened around me again and I thought about everything we'd been through: everything that had led up to this moment.

The battles, the fights, the pettiness. His loyal protection, the not-so-subtle glances I'd seen from him within the last couple weeks, this powerful kiss. They were all small parts of a greater whole.

And that whole was Inuyasha and me.

"I love you," I murmured into his haori. "So much that it hurts me, too." Inuyasha pulled back and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.

"So let's stop hurting," he said simply. "I love you and you love me. It's as simple as that." I smiled at him and nodded.

"Plain and simple," I confirmed. "I love you and you love me." We were quiet for another moment.

"Man," Inuyasha said. "Can you believe all this came from you getting mad about me asking for more ramen? As if I could like ramen more than you…psh." I tensed up, already feeling my anger coming back. Yeah, it was a stupid reason to get mad, but he'd been pushing my nerves for a while now.

But here in his arms, so warm, so safe, so loved, I couldn't bring myself to care. He was right…it seemed so pointless now, but all of it had needed to be said.

All of it needed to be said so we could wind up right here, right now.

We were so complicated, so confusing, but also just so plain, so simple.

So us.

FIN.

Just a little something I wrote while procrastinating on my homework. I hope you guys liked it!

Also I know that the reason Kagome got so mad in the first place was pretty stupid, but she can be a little immature at times haha and also I didn't know a serious thing to make her so mad about and honestly, I feel like at that time just about anything could've served as the straw that broke the camel's back. Just a little comedic relief I suppose.

Also I swear I'm working on How Far We've Come! I find a few minutes here and there to work on the current chapter I'm writing, but it's gonna be a long one so it'll take a while longer. I'm hoping finish it and get it up this weekend!

Much love. :)