InuYasha leapt out of the well into Kagome's time. Damn wench was always fucking late. She'd come back with him if he had to drag her by her hair! Angry, he opened the doors to the well house with more force than he had honestly intended. The resulting crash caused him to wince and look towards his left. What he saw there made his heart plummet to the ground.

About 50 yards away, Kagome was standing with her back to him with some stupid looking human boy. He reminded InuYasha too much of that Akitoki Hojo they had ran into a while back. InuYasha had looked in their direction just in time to see the boy lean in and kiss Kagome. Red faced and hurt well beyond what he would ever admit even to himself, he jumped back down the well to his own time.

Kagome watched in slow motion as Hojo leaned in and kissed her. She was too shocked by his action to stop him, but when she regained her senses she pressed her hand against his chest and pushed him gently away. "Hojo, I... I'm flattered. But I..." she stumbled over what to tell the poor boy. "I have a... a boyfriend?" The inflection of her voice sounded unsure, even to her own ears.

Hojo's face widened in surprise. "You, you do? You've never mentioned him before, Kagome."

She played with her hair nervously. "I... well, it's not really official or anything. But it's definitely something. I just don't want to give you the wrong idea or anything. I'm sorry, Hojo."

He smiled at her, though she could tell he was disappointed. "It's alright, Kagome. I guess I'll see you around school then?"

"Sure, Hojo." She smiled back at him. "Listen, I really have to go. Thank you for checking on me!" She waved back at him as she lifted her overstuffed yellow backpack over her shoulder and ran towards the well house.

Frowning when she noticed the doors were open, she made a mental note to yell at Sota for being so careless. Closing the doors behind her, she threw herself over the ledge and allowed the beautiful timestream take her back to the feudal era. The place she now considered her true home. She loved her family, true, but this place felt more like home to her now than the shrine ever really had.

Landing in the bottom of the well once more, she called out, hoping InuYasha would be near to help her up. When he didn't come down, however, she sighed and resigned herself to climbing up on her own. Kaede had provided a rope ladder for just such occasions.

As Kagome made her way back to the village, she began to wonder where InuYasha was. She had been late afterall, and normally her hanyou would've been carting her off by force by now. As she stepped through the straw door into Kaede's hut, she saw him sitting in the corner, obviously sulking. She sat down next to him and tried to smooth things over.

"I'm sorry I'm late, InuYasha."

"Keh."

"That's it?" she said, looking over at him questioningly. He didn't even look at her.

"InuYasha, Kagome, ye will be on yer own for a bit. Sango, Miroku and Shippo took Kirara back to Sango's village for a little while so she could do some repairs to her hiraikotsu. It will be atleast a week before they return. In the meantime, I've heard rumor of some jewel shards being just a couple days travel from here. From the sounds of it, I don't think it's anything the two of ye can't handle on ye own. Ye best make yer way that direction now before dark sets in."

InuYasha stood up without a word and walked out of the hut. Kagome stood and followed, though she was very confused. Hearing her approach, he knelt down to allow her to climb onto his back so he could carry her for faster travel. She climbed on and held onto his shoulders as he stood and took off at full speed. Normally, he didn't travel quite so fast with her on his back, so it made it harder for her to miss getting hit by the occassional tree branch. One hit her particularly hard and she could feel a small cut welling up on her cheek. She thought he slowed a bit after that, but it was hard for her to tell.

They ran that way for several hours, long into the night before InuYahsa stopped and allowed her to climb down. Silent once again, he gathered a small amount of wood from the area and made a tiny fire for them to cook on. Not feeling very hungry herself, and hoping to cheer up her hanyou, Kagome simply put a kettle of water on for some ramen. Though he ate it vigorously like always, he still would not even look at her. When he had finished his meal, he jumped up into a tree above their heads and rested on a fairly low tree branch.

Sighing in confusion, Kagome unrolled her sleeping bag and climbed in. She lay inside it for a long while, staring at the slowly dying fire, unable to sleep. Her thoughts traveled to the half-demon she cared so much for that had suddenly become so cold towards her. Why was he so distant all of a sudden? Had something happened while she was away? Had Kikyo returned once more to torture him? Had he simply grown tired of having to protect her all the time? All of her negative thoughts caused a few tears to roll down her cheeks.

Slowly, her mind wandered deeper into negativity. Nothing about this situation was ideal. What had she been thinking? She was a 15 year old girl from modern age Tokyo. Why did she think a strong half-demon like InuYasha would want to even be around her, let alone have to protect her all the time. Then there was Kikyo and his promise to follow her into hell. The fact that neither of them had ever made any long term promises to eachother beyond finding the shards and defeating Naraku. All of these thoughts led her to one conclusion. Slowly, she rose from her bedroll and began rolling it back up. She gathered up her backpack and bow and quiver and began walking back in the direction of Kaede's village.

She didn't make it more than a few steps before InuYasha jumped down in front of her. "Where d'ya think yer going, wench?" He asked her angrily.

Kagome simply stepped around him and continued walking. "Home. I'm not going to stay here with someone who obviously doesn't want me to be here. You haven't said two words to me since I've been back. It's pretty clear you no longer want me around. Go find Kikyo. You two will probably find the shards and defeat Naraku a lot quicker and easier without me around to slow you down. Goodbye, InuYasha."

She had only walked a few steps when he spoke. "I saw you, Kagome." His words were quiet, almost too quiet for her to hear. The pain in his voice was what caused her to pause her steps. She turned to face him.

"You saw me what, InuYasha?" her voice was tired.

He shoved his hands into his haori. "You and... that boy. From your time."

She looked at him, confused.

"I saw you kiss him, Kagome."

Understanding finally dawned on her. He had probably come to retrieve her and saw Hojo kiss her. Talk about bad timing. She took a small step in his direction. "Is that what you're upset about?"

He didn't move or say a word. But his eyes spoke of the pain he felt and that was all she needed. "Oh, InuYasha, did you not see me push him away?"

His ears perked up slightly at those words.

"I pushed him away and I told him I had a..." she paused, knowing he wouldn't understand boyfriend. "A... mate." She blushed slightly using a word she knew meant more than boyfriend, but she couldn't think of anything else he would've understood.

"A MATE!?" He yelled at her. He stormed at her and clenched his fists at his sides. "AND WHO THE FUCK HAVE YOU 'MATED' WITH, KAGOME?"

Kagome's own hands clenched in fists as she stuck her face close to his and shouted, "Nobody you idiot! But I was talking about you!" Her hands flew to her mouth the second the words left them. What had she just done?

InuYasha's face widened in shock. She had told some stupid boy from her time that she was his... mate? Why would she do such a thing? She couldn't possibly actually want that? Could she?

Seeing the fear in his face, as well as his lack of response, Kagome took this as the ultimate rejection. He really did want Kikyo over her after all. Tears welled up in her eyes, and unwilling to cry over InuYasha in front of him once again, she turned tail and began running, blindly. Vaguely, she heard him call after her, but she ignored him and kept going. In the back of her mind she knew he could catch her with ease, but she hoped he would just let her go. She wasn't so lucky. Once again, he landed in front of her and allowed her to run into his chest.

InuYasha reached out and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling backwards. Slowly, he placed a single claw under her chin and lifted her face up to look at him. "Why would you do that, Kagome?" he asked, voice calmer than she had ever heard it.

Tears continued to stream down her face as she answered him. "I'm sorry, InuYasha. I know you love Kikyo, I do. I just thought that we had grown so close and I allowed myself to hope that maybe..." her voice trailed off and she looked down as much as his clawed hand would allow.

"You hoped what, Kagome? Tell me."

It was a long while before she replied. When she did, her voice was little more than a whisper. But he heard every word as if she shouted them. "I hoped that maybe you could love me, someday. The way I love you."

Once more, he gently pulled her eyes up to meet his own. "Kagome, don't you know I'm the one who's been thinking that all along? How could a beautiful, smart, compassionate, strong woman like you ever want a mere half-breed like me? Why do you think I've always kept you at arm's length, Kagome?"

"InuYasha..."

"Why do you think I get so jealous when Koga comes around? Or any other guy for that matter? Even though I have no right to, I... I love you, Kagome. I haven't wanted Kikyo for a very long time. I have no intention of actually following her into hell. The only thing I want is to help her finally find peace. She deserves that much. It's always been you, Kagome. Even though I know I can never have you."

Kagome's eyes widened in shock. Never had he spoken so much from his heart before. Never had he been so forward with his feelings. Never had she imagined he could possibly have those feelings for her. It all was making her head spin. But she knew if they were ever going to to be anything to eachother more than friends, now was the time for action.

Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Amber eyes met her chocolate brown. She felt like she couldn't breathe as she watched so many emotions play out on her hanyou's face.

"Kagome..." he whispered, his face barely an inch from hers.

"Shut up, dummy,"she whispered back before closing the distance between them and planting her lips against his. He stiffened at first, obviously unsure what to do. But it wasn't long before she felt one of his hands tangle in her hair and the other plant itself firmly on her back. InuYasha pulled her firmly against him and deepened the kiss, sending his tongue flying into her mouth.

Kagome accepted him and countered back with her own forcefullness. She held onto him for dear life, as if if she let go he would suddenly disappear. A soft moan escaped him, and she smiled.

Moments later, he pulled back from her. He looked into her eyes, searching for any clue as to what this could mean for them both. He could never ask her to stay with him, and he knew without a doubt he could never belong in her time, even if he could hide his ears from the humans all the time. No, this was why he had never told her his feelings in the first place. It could never work. InuYasha sighed and pulled away from her.

Kagome's face fell when he pulled from her. She saw it in his eyes, the uncertainty, the hurt and confusion. Of course she knew how he had been treated before, how he expected people to treat her if they did become... mates. But she hoped he knew that it could be different. It seemed he did not.

"InuYasha..." she called out as she reached for the sleeve of his haori. He paused his steps backwards. "Please, don't pull away. Not now."

"Kagome, don't you know this can never be? I would never fit in in your world. And asking you to stay with me is just selfish. No one would accept us, Kagome. They'll be just as cruel to you as they are to me. I couldn't stand to watch that happen to you."

Sighing, she pressed herself into him and lay her head on his chest, the way she had so many times before. "InuYasha, the people that matter aren't cruel to us. And they never would be. If anyone else is, so be it. That's their own prejudice and I won't let it effect me one little bit. And neither should you. As for where we'll be, I don't have an answer for that, yet. But I know that no matter what I want to be with you."

InuYasha wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her tight. "Are you sure, Kagome?"

She looked up into his face. "I couldn't be more sure."

These words lit a fire in InuYasha he had never experienced before. He crushed his lips down on hers, feeling more complete in her arms than he ever had before. In this moment, with her, nothing else mattered. Not even the jewel or Naraku. All he cared about was the woman in his arms and the fact that she loved him and he loved her, and nothing would keep them apart.