Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't belong to me.

Kagome wasn't asleep, but she wasn't fully aware either. Her mind had been running non-stop all night. It had taken all her bravery to say what she had, and she'd meant every word. No one could ever say she treated Inuyasha like a leashed dog ever again. But that didn't mean that the thought of losing him didn't hurt. Kagome snorted softly.

I make it sound like he's dying.

He wouldn't be dying. If anything, he'd be living the life he wanted. And if what he wanted was to reconcile with his first love, destroy Naraku and then…She couldn't even finish the thought, the lie drowning out all logic.

I can't pretend to be happy for him, knowing the fate Kikyo desires for them. I want him to live! I want him to have more days like yesterday at the pond.

A rustling sound brought her out of her reverie. She blinked a few times, adjusting to the bright sky. The dawn colours were almost gone, replaced by cheery blue. She gasped, the full impact of that statement hitting her like a ton of bricks.

She bolted upright, looking towards the tree where Inuyasha had perched.

He wasn't there.

Kagome drew her hands into shaky fists, trying to control her breathing. How could he have left without even saying goodbye? She heard the rustling sound again, accompanied by an irritable grunt. Not daring to believe her ears, Kagome slowly turned.

Inuyasha was sitting cross-legged with her backpack on his lap and carelessly digging through it, tossing anything he deemed useless off to the side.

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Keh, what does it look like? I'm hungry."

By this point, Sango, Shippo, Miroku and Kirara were all wide-awake and watching the exchange with avid interest. Kagome hadn't answered the hanyou's question, she was too busy staring at him as if he'd vanish if she blinked. Inuyasha waved a clawed hand in front of her eyes.

"Hello! I said I'm hungry, wench! Where are you hiding the ninja food?"

Kagome slowly shook her head, mouth hanging slightly open. She seemed to be in a daze.

"We don't have much left, but there's some chips in the front pocket."

Inuyasha shot her a lop-sided grin, flashing his upper canines and dove for the chips. His face lit up when he saw they were his favourite kind. But he didn't get the chance to enjoy them. The bag was knocked out of his hands when he felt Kagome's arms encircle him and press his head against her chest.

The gang gasped, not bothering to hide their delight. Miroku would be lying if he said he wasn't just a tad envious.

"You're still here." Kagome breathed, holding him tighter. She didn't care they had an audience. She didn't care that any second now he was going to berate her for being so emotional and making a scene. She didn't even care that he'd called her 'wench' again. She'd take it all. He'd stayed.

"Kagome," Inuyasha grumbled. "Lemme go!" His voice was muffled, but despite most of his face being hidden, the blush on his cheeks was obvious. He only pushed her away when he was in danger of suffocating. Face brilliantly red, Inuyasha demanded to know what everyone was staring at before proceeding to inhale the bag of chips.

"So Inuyasha, I take it this means you've decided to grace us with your presence for a little while longer?" Miroku asked. Sango elbowed him in the ribs, warning him not to start a fight. Inuyasha balled up the empty chip bag and glared at the monk.

"Thanks for the sarcasm. Yeah, I'm staying. Got a problem with that?"

"Not at all," Sango soothed, holding up her hands, "But we are curious as to why." Inuyasha planted his hands on his knees and glared at his team.

"I'm staying because you guys can't take care of yourselves without me! Even if I didn't tell you what Kikyo learned about Naraku, you'd find out somehow. Then you'd all end up in dangerous country anyway and probably get yourselves killed."

"I see," Miroku said, not bothering to hide the amusement in his tone, "I'm sure we're all very touched by your reasoning." Inuyasha stared at him, unsure as to whether he was being sarcastic again. Kagome intervened by gently touching Inuyasha's hand.

"I guess we just want to know that you're sure about this. That you aren't going to regret it later." Inuyasha leapt to his feet, knocking Kagome's hand away.

"What's with the interrogation?" He snarled, "Is this how it's going to be from now on? All of you walking on eggshells around me, thinking I'm gonna change my mind?"

No one answered. This was apparently the wrong response. He snarled angrily.

"Doesn't anyone trust me around here? I'm not going anywhere! I'll prove it to you!" He picked up Kagome's knapsack and upturned it, dumping out the contents until the item he was looking for fell out. To everyone's astonishment, Inuyasha snatched the beads of subjugation from the grass and irritably pulled the necklace over his head.

Silence.

Miroku's jaw dropped. Sango's hand flew to her mouth. Kagome blinked, certain she was hallucinating. Inuyasha's triumphant expression at having proven his resolve slowly turned to horror as he realized just what the hell he'd done.

"Crap!" He shrieked, in a most un-manly way, trying fruitlessly to pull the necklace off. When it became clear that it wasn't going to work, he yelled about needing to pack up, and no time to waste, but he was going for a walk first. Regaining her senses, Kagome chased after him. He allowed her to catch up, and only grumbled a little bit that he'd meant he wanted to walk alone. They walked in silence while Kagome pondered the best way to ask the many questions she had swirling in her mind. Finally, she decided to just come right out and ask.

"Inuyasha, why are you staying?"

The hanyou stopped in his tracks. The look he gave her was mix of emotions that she couldn't quite make out. There was some anger, embarrassment, even a little sadness.

"Please," she took a clawed hand, covering it with both of hers. "I need to know."

Inuyasha sighed, all his previous bluster had gone.

"I thought about what Kikyo said to you. About treating me like a dog. But she," A growl rumbled in his throat, "She didn't ask me to leave with her, she told me to say my goodbyes and be back at dawn." Kagome rubbed his hand with her thumb, trying to quell the anger that had started to bubble up. Petty as it was, Kagome couldn't pretend she didn't feel even a little satisfaction; Kikyo had apparently been very certain that Inuyasha would do as she wanted. It was kind of nice to prove her wrong.

"And," he muttered, "I'm not mad at you about the necklace anymore. Whatever the reason, you still did take it off."

Kagome reached up and gently traced the line of the beads around his neck.

"I can take them off again, if that's what you want." He hesitated, clearly thinking it over.

"Nah, they have come in handy once or twice." Kagome's hand came to rest on Inuyasha's chest, feeling his heartbeat through the fire-rat robe.

"Let me know if you change your mind," Kagome whispered, tilting her face upwards. Inuyasha's amber eyes were warm.

"I'm not changing my mind." Inuyasha replied, pulling her close. When he kissed her, Kagome felt grateful for the arms holding her in place, without them she may have floated away. Rising onto her toes, she deepened the kiss, bringing up on hand to cup his cheek. A curious urge took hold. She held on to him and whispered.

"Sit boy."

In the blink of an eye, Kagome found herself flat on her back with a throbbing head and a heavy hanyou on top of her, pinning her down. She blushed, this wasn't exactly what she'd expected.

"What the hell is your problem?" He asked, incredulously. Although truth be told, he wasn't entirely minding this position.

"Sorry," Kagome answered sheepishly, rubbing her head where it had collided with the ground "I wanted to know what it was like. Sango was right, it does hurt."

"Keh, I could have told you that." His eyes softened, "Are you alright?"

Kagome nodded. Inuyasha tenderly kissed the forming lump on her head before claiming her lips again.

Hadn't he just said that the beads came in handy once in a while?

FIN

A/N: Thank you so much everyone! I hope you enjoyed it!