A/N: Hello again! Everyone have fun during their holidays? Good, because after those accursed finals, I'm ready for a little writing, which I'm hoping to finish up today. I've been hiccupping almost all today, so I'm not pleased but I guess I can survive if I'm well enough to be daydreaming about fanfictions and popularity. Alright, now for those silly notes I put up every time just in case some people are too stupid to know who's thinking when and so much so that I don't know why I'm still putting these up, but better safe than sorry, huh? Alright…

Kagome's Point of View

Miroku's narration

Sango narration

-InuYasha's narration with a bit of POV thrown in

-Narrated by author (me)

…Well, let's do this thang! ;) (God, I'm such a dork.)

Mourning of the

Bloody Valentine

Chapter Thirty-Eight : The Island

I was drifting into a happy never land of senseless dreams when I felt a tugging on my sleeve. Well, not even a tugging, more likely a kind of rough shake. I was unpleasantly pulled from my peacefulness into a world of heartbreak looking into InuYasha's irritated eyes.
"Get UP, already. We're here." He barked gruffly into my face and I groggily was pulled up into a standing position. Shippo was being piggy-backed by Miroku, and Sango was leaning against Miroku's shoulder for support as well. So that left InuYasha with me. Good or bad, you tell me. Maybe I had been trying to ignore InuYasha, but now it sure wasn't going to work anymore. I was just getting tired of the fighting. I was practically half-dead when he nearly dragged me out of the bus and then the few blocks back to the house. Yura was waiting patiently for us there, and just snickered not so secretly when we pulled ourselves into the foyer, bedraggled and corpse-like. I barely pulled my fingers together to middle finger her, which I'd been waiting to do ever since we arrived in the first place. She damn well deserved it and I was too tired to care about the repercussions. I gave myself a weary but triumphant smile at the look of her shocked face, and I was sure I heard Sango snort with suppressed laughter. I rotated my head over to peek at Sango and Miroku who were collapsed on the stairs, and Miroku was hardly biting back a smile. I was enjoying the attention, basking in it like the last rays of the sun the day before winter. However, my little winter just turned a whole lot colder when InuYasha pulled me up the stairs and insensitively pushed me in the direction of my room.
"Good night?" I mumbled, exasperated.

He slouched off down the hall and left to his room. I heard Miroku and Sango arguing quietly downstairs. I pushed my door open, and a wave of relief came over me when I saw everything was as it should be. I kicked off InuYasha's jacket; I supposed I would have to give it back later, and I was rifling through my dresser drawers for clothes when a knock came at the door. I called a light "One second!" while I pulled on some under things, as well as a big shirt, which had once been my dad's, and a pair of cloth shorts. I closed my gaping dresser drawers with a now socked and slippered foot, and waddled over to see who was knocking.
It was Yura; all decked up, still, in her still-very-busty maid outfit, with her most likely natural hardly-discreet grimace.
"There's food downstairs. Do you want to come eat?" She said through clenched teeth. I didn't know how much InuYasha paid her to be a maid here, but it sure as heck must be quite a bit to make someone as unrefined as Yura continue working here. I took my time deciding, out of spite, as I dimly noticed her tapping her white socked foot impatiently.
"Hmmm…well, I just got back…I don't know…I AM a little hungry though… what's to eat?"
"Ramen." She spat venomously at me.
"Ooh, that sounds good. Maybe I will." I wandered past her and down the stairs, and I heard her mutter obscenities under her breath as she made for the next room.

In the kitchen, Miroku and Sango were chatting slowly, they were both definitely exhausted. When I sat beside them they gave me a slight smile and handed me a bowl and a pair of chopsticks. Sango plopped a strawberry juice box by my right arm and I thanked her with a relieved sigh. We ate silently except for slurping noises and the draining of our juice boxes. InuYasha joined us halfway through our meal to heap a bowl high with the noodles and snatch a pair of chopsticks rudely from beside me. He was wearing his boxers and no shirt with his habitual upturned mouth expression. He grabbed three juice boxes for himself and then retreated to the living room to watch television. I rested my chin on my hand and it occurred to me that Shippo was not with us.

"Where's Shippo, Sango-chan?" I inquired.

"We had Yura put him to bed…he was totally worn out." Sango replied through a mouthful of noodles. A drop of soup dribbled down her chin, and I couldn't help but giggle.

We ate quietly, not quite sure what to say to each other over the blasting of the TV in the other room.
After I finished up, the silence still floated thickly around the kitchen and as I moved it seemed to stir its other residents. Miroku spilled his juice and as Sango moved to grab a cloth from the island table in the middle of the kitchen, he grabbed the back of her thighs and I, from the sink, heard a snapping sound of panties. Sango froze. I glanced disapprovingly at Miroku, who had such a gleeful look on his face, his both hands still caught in the act of caressing both her buttock cheeks. It was totally silent. It remotely reminded me of a kind of tense silence before a tornado hit. Which it was. Sango lifted up the glass fruit bowl, fruit still rolling about within it and planted it with all her might, on Miroku's unsuspecting head. I could almost see the glass bowl shatter in slow motion as my mouth fell agape, and a loud crash followed a millisecond later. I moved forward to grab a broom at the other end of the kitchen, and the first aid kit, when InuYasha plummeted into me. I actually kind of tripped him because I grabbed him to keep myself away from the broken glass shards sprinkled around the floor. I was kind of shocked to be so close to InuYasha after all this time; and his bare chest was kind of hard, but warm and I immediately blushed. I tried to push myself away and turn but only succeeded on slipping in my socks on the linoleum and smacking face first onto a cupboard. I remember falling onto the floor and InuYasha hovering over me and glancing over and seeing the glass to my left, and thanking God I hadn't landed there. And then…I, pathetically, passed out.

When I woke up, I realized I was in my new room, lying there, and I heard loud snoring from the across room. It was Miroku, I vaguely recalled. I had had a sleepover with him and Sango in fourth grade, he had been pretending for hours to snore really loudly. At first Sango and I just laughed at him and kicked at him, but it turns out he had really been asleep and it was a real hassle to shut him up without killing him. So, logically, Sango slept with earplugs. Whenever he was over. I usually buried my head in blankets and pillows to muffle the racket. I shook my head and yanked myself out of my nest of comforter blankets and rummaged my hair into an only slightly shocking array of sleepiness. I scratched at my bangs as I yawned and stretched out of bed and out of my room. I padded down the stairs softly and heard the slight noise of the television. I could make out InuYasha's head sitting on the couch. The head tilted back as it drank the last gulps from an aluminum can and then the hand, bodily connected to the head, crumpled it, as if like paper, and tossed it to the dustbin in the corner. I heard the head exclaim, "Ten points…" half-bored. I felt a tug at my already slightly bruised heart. I hastly walked past him, avoiding any eye contact, to the kitchen where I finally was able to rest. Whew. I got away without confrontation. Yeah…let it cool down for a little bit. I sighed. This trip was definitely not turning out what I had thought it would be. Sure, we all dream about love and eloping and all that jazz. But I had already come to the conclusion that my love for InuYasha had definitely turned a little more towards a cautious attraction at the very moment. I had been willing to admit my feelings for him before, but now I was picking up my feet just to get away from the very room he was in. I knew deep inside that I couldn't be this way. Just seeing him without a shirt and his hair tied back made me blush. It was regrettable, and quite sad that I was still so immature about it. It makes me laugh really. So there I was, leaning on the island table, and thinking about it, until I heard someone come in. Of course it was InuYasha, and I quickly yanked open the refrigerator and stuck my head in to yet again avoid any conversation that might arise.The refrigerator smelled like cheese and of some kind of glue, perhaps. I quickly delved into the assortment of unwanted foods discarded in what seemed like the cold storage box. I saw a camera and some film beside the eggs and a bottle of flu medication that looked slightly like some kind of emulsion. I could feel InuYasha looking at me funny from behind me as he passed me to search for chips. He seemed to have found some as I heard the crackling of a cellophane bag and his exiting footsteps. I slowly lifted my head from the cold chamber and looked around to be sure it was safe. Suddenly the fridge door I had been holding with my left hand yanked farther back to reveal InuYasha. I mentally shrieked. Great. Now he had me just where he wanted me. I kind of stepped back and my forehead throbbed for an instant. The slight pain caused me to wince in the memory of the cupboard slamming I had done. Not so much from the pain, but the remembered rush of bumping into a shirtless InuYasha. InuYasha closed the fridge; his chips on the table behind him, and he kind of frowned at me.

"You okay?" he said, surprisingly tender. His look was actually kind of hard, and the rugged sort of handsome, but his words were kind enough.

I kind of swallowed as my eyes reopened and I kind of gulped, "Yeah…I-I'm fine." Memories of the little cave so far underground were beginning to haunt.

"Well…" he looked away and out the window as if trying to avert any of our meeting glances. "You should eat something. You haven't eaten much and its not good for you."
Now this would sound fine any day, but he said it kind of bossily, so I was taken aback. Naturally, I'm a girl of protestation.

"No…it's okay. I'm fine, like I said." I snipped.

"I'm telling you you should eat something." His voice kind of grew a little deeper, and I could tell he was insisting.

I tried to laugh to shrug it off, "Well I'm telling you I'm fine and if you don't believe me, you should." I crossed my arms to seem less weak and strengthen my point.

"Well maybe I believe that you're just saying that because you're trying to get away."

"Away from what? You?" I verbally pushed back.

He sighed, exasperated. "C'mon, Kagome, you know that you've been ignoring me since we came back. I did what I had to do okay? Let it go!"

My mouth kind of hung open because here, for the very first time, it was InuYasha here turning down a nice heated argument. Well, he cut straight to the point.

"I already I have." I said with an amount of pride, as I got myself back together.

"Then why won't you talk to me. Why won't you even want to be next to me or touch me. Why are you running away." He looked dreadfully serious, and that's what I hated most about guys. They got all serious and less playful.

"I'm talking to you now, am I not? And as for the other, I haven't had a chance to sit next to you when you're being so…so…antisocial."

He paused. "Antisocial?" He kind of raised an eyebrow at me. But it wasn't in interest, but in frustration, and most probably anger soon.

"And I HAVEN'T been 'running away' or whatever you want to call it. I was just on the lookout for food." I reasoned with him.

"Kagome…" He moved closer, and before I knew it, he had grabbed my arms. Just after my wrist and before my elbow.

"InuYasha…let go…" I quietly squirmed.

"No…listen to me. What's wrong with you? Why won't you give me a straight answer and not try to confuse me with all of your backtalk and shit?" he leaned in close, his face inches from mine.

"Well…I…see, I…" I was stammering. Oh, God. I hated it when I stammered. Stumbled. I felt my face heating up. "There's nothing wrong with me. Really."

He looked doubtful. "Really."

"REALLY really."

I saw him roll his eyes a little, as he said, "Then you won't mind me doing this-"

And his lips were on mine. My eyes were still wide open like some kind of deer in headlights, and my brain was screaming NO…but my body was nodding OH YEAH…

So I did the thing that came most naturally : draped my arms tightly around his neck, his body pressed to mine, and kissed back.

The kiss was deep, and it told more emotions and feelings than either of us could ever hope to verbalize. It was so warm and embracing, I just fell into it, and the truth was, I couldn't stop. It seemed he didn't want to either. His tongue warmed mine and as our lips and tongue clashed violently, yet, softly, his hands began to drop from the sides of my cheeks to my back, to my waist. It helped me lean forward; more a part of him. His body was really warm, and I just wanted to get lost in kissing him over and over and over. His lips were soft, and inviting. My hands unconsciously played with his hair, slowly untying it lovingly. My hands moved to his ears, and touched them lightly, stroking their silky rims and massaging their texture. His kisses became more slow; deep, but his tongue became more passionately violent. I moaned into his mouth and I felt him smile when his hands dropped a little lower to my hips. Even though I was practically high off of him, his taste and the feelings, I had enough logic sense to pull together some train of thought. I knew where this was going. He'd try to see if he could pull off a 'Miroku' on me. Well…if he kissed well enough…maybe I'd let him.
My hands moved to his head, as I mussed his hair and massaged the back of his head sensually, and he groaned with a loud "Mmmmmm" to me, at which I practically started to giggle, but it was silenced as soon as it surfaced by another hot continuing kiss. My legs began to move forward, so my whole body was against him just as his hands found my bum. He touched it lightly at first, making sure that I wouldn't abruptly stop and slap him silly. But I decided I was going to pretend like I didn't notice and gave a soft purr of satisfaction against his tongue. InuYasha's hand became more aggressive after that. He smoothed his hands over my bum, and tucked his hands just where it ended and the back of my thighs began, so much that it seemed he was going to try to lift me up. He did. My eyes fluttered and almost opened at the sudden movement, but I became accustomed to the position. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and his hands held my bum securely against him. We must have backed up slightly, as I soon found myself half-sitting on the island table, out tongues making love to each other, and our bodies humming with thoughts of reproduction. His hands left my bum and started creeping back up my hips, locked against his hips, and he fiddled with the hem of my shirt. Then the hands started going up, inching towards a seen goal. Just as his fingernail grazed my bra and his other hand cupped my bra-covered breast, there was a particularly loud echoing boom from the television. My eyes shot open, my legs unlocked from behind his cute behind, and I found myself staring at InuYasha like no way I ever had before.
He just gave me a crooked little satisfied smile/smirk, and removed his hands from beneath my shirt and he lifted me down. He gave me one final little nuzzle to my neck at which my body pulsed; especially in the lower regions, and I started laughing softly. He hugged me gently and asked me hoarsely, "Wanna watch TV?"

We sat there, kind of flushed in the face from the whole day's experiences. I was feeling tired again. Probably the forehead injury returning for a second round. I leaned on his shoulder casually, as if I leaned on men's shoulders everyday, and linked my closest arm with his. I closed my eyes, and sighed. So…it was finally all over, wasn't it? Our little escapade and elopement and adventures. The last thing to do was to patch things up with InuYasha which seemed well on the way to mending. I knew it wasn't over yet, though I couldn't imagine what it would be like to just settle down with the one man who showed me everything. Sango and Miroku seemed perfectly fine on their way as well, and I decided that tampering in this late stage would only be slowing them down. I could tell InuYasha still hadn't told me everything, but I think I'll leave that for another night. Tonight, we rest.

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A/N: I am SOOOOOOO unbelievably sorry that I'm so very slow with this update. It's been difficult lately, at home and school, with friends and everything. But haha! I've done it! I'm so pleased. IM VERY VERY SORRY, though. I love this story and I'd hate to see it go. IT IS NOT THE END HOWEVER. Maybe just one more chapter or so.

ATTENTION: ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS MAY BE A LEMON. HOWEVER, TO PROTECT SOME OF THE MEMBERS' WISHES HERE, I'VE DECIDED TO POST IT UP ON THE OTHER SITE THAT KINDLY HOSTS MY STORY. THE LEMON HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN YET, I'M STILL PLANNING, BUT WHEN I DO WRITE ONE, I WILL LEAVE A SMALL NOTE WITH THE HTML OF WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT. IT WILL BE ON ...

STAY IN TOUCH TILL NEXT TIME! WE'RE ALMOST FINISHED THIS! THANKS YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!

Ja ne.

-Katana