"I see. So, it was merely a matter of cleansing her spirit?" Toga surmised with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow. Inuyasha nodded.

"We went in, got the job done, and came right back out," he nodded with a smug grin. He made a sound like a chuckle before groaning in pain. Toga rose from his son's bed, allowing the boy the opportunity to get some proper healing done.

When Inuyasha and his crew had come in, broken, battered, yet successful, he could scarcely believe his eyes. He knew that Inuyasha was quite capable when he applied himself, but he couldn't help the warm pride that stirred within his chest. Izayoi had been the first to approach her wounded son, coddling and cooing in his ear as she led him to his room to recover. They had all followed, recounting the tale to himself, his wife, and Sesshomaru, who had largely remained passive throughout the story.

"Very well done, son. I am impressed with your success. Though, it does worry me that you did not bring her here. She should be taken to the demon court for trial," he reminded them.

Inuyasha huffed and rolled his eyes at that.

"Whatever. We already discussed this. She can't go to demon court because they'll just sentence her to death. Everything's been fixed, so there's no harm," Inuyasha retorted with a snort.

"She's bonded to one of the creepiest and grossest demons alive—I think she's had punishment enough," Kagome chortled, shaking her head in disbelief.

"She tried to kill you, your aunt, and your intended," Toga pointed out. "There needs to be more serious repercussions."

"I agree," Sesshomaru voiced, his baritone cutting through the conversation like a sword.

"Well, that's a worry for another time. Naraku has surely hidden them away for the time being, so why bother to dwell on it?" Izayoi chimed in, placing a hand on her husband's arm. The touch made them grin, that familiar shiver passing through the both of them. It was a pleasant reminder that they were once again bonded and happily mated.

"If she ever crosses my path, I will destroy her without hesitation," Sesshomaru informed the group with a cold stare. He moved to leave the room, though paused for a moment as he approached the door. "I commend you for your competence, Inuyasha," he bid before exiting the room, carrying the icy atmosphere with him. Toga watched as Inuyasha's expression widened.

"Alright. Well, enough of that for now, I suppose. Let's give him some space. We have food downstairs for everyone," the oldest demon bid, wrapping an arm around his wife and leading the crew downstairs. He watched as everyone said their goodbyes. Everyone except Kagome. Toga smiled knowingly and closed the door for the two of them to be alone for a moment.

After everything that had happened, Kagome was feeling more than a little out of sorts. It wasn't everyday that she experienced being impaled and thrown around like a ragdoll. Then again, maybe it wasn't so bad? Things surely could have turned out far worse than they had.

As she watched the rest of the family trickle out, along with their companions, Kagome let her gaze fall to the broken boy laying in his bed. His eyes seemed to be closed for the moment, face scrunched in pain as he breathed through his nose. She knew that the whole ordeal had been taxing on him—particularly when Kikyo had stabbed him as many times as she had. She supposed that the more demonic side of him didn't have as much sensitivity to pain as his more human side. She took a seat beside his bed, pulling up a chair from his desk. As she sat, she reached out to wrap her hand around his wrist gently. His face calmed immediately, and his eyes opened to meet hers with a soft gaze.

"Kagome," he breathed, as though her name were merely a whisper on the wind. She gave him a small smile.

"Inuyasha," she greeted back, whispering his voice as well.

"We did it…" he chuckled, shaking his head slightly. She knew that his neck was still sore from being restrained by the spell, but he didn't seem to mind it too much.

"Sorry for using the command…" she apologized, her eyes no longer able to meet his intense gaze. "I know I was only supposed to use it for emergencies, but—"

"No, you did the right thing. I wasn't… I wasn't in my right mind. If you hadn't done that…" he looked away as well, his expression somewhat sheepish. "I don't know if I would have been able to recover," he admitted, now looking back at her. "That's why I trusted you with the command word," he explained, nodding a little.

His words eased the pain within her chest. She had been so worried that she had broken his trust by using the words of subjugation. He had been so angry at the time…

"Do you… Can you feel it?" he asked, his voice small and shy. She blinked and looked back at him, taking note of the way his ears pressed down against his head and his eyes flicked about the room as though trying to focus on anything else but her. His shyer nature warmed her heart and made her smile. Surely, he knew that she could feel the link, especially from all the touching that they had been doing. Still, she figured that he would feel better with a confirmation.

Kagome didn't answer at first, she merely took her hand away from his wrist and moved it to his clawed hand, barely grazing a fingertip before feeling that intense bold of lightning shoot up her spine and warm her gut. She shivered a little at the feeling—glad to have it back—and looked back to him. He couldn't contain the grin his face held. His hand wrapped around hers, giving it a soft squeeze as he shivered a little himself.

"It feels… weird," she admitted to him. His face seemed to pale a little at her statement and she felt his grip tighten ever so slightly, as though it were his silent refusal to accept her words.

"Weird… bad?"

"No. Weird… good. It's like…" she lifted their joined hands a little, carefully turning his around to get a better look at it. "When I didn't have it, I felt like I didn't have this weird adoration or infatuation with you," she admitted, trying to be delicate as she spoke. She watched Inuyasha swallow nervously, and she gave his hand a squeeze in reassurance.

"But I still held those feelings for you," she continued. "I still cared about you and still wanted to make sure that you were okay. The only difference was that it didn't feel like I had some magical connection with you. It just felt… natural," she explained, giving him a smile. His expression seemed to harden a little, his guard up.

"So… it doesn't feel natural anymore, is that what you're saying?" he asked, hurt creeping into his voice. She shook her head.

"It's not that. I guess… I feel more connected to you. I feel more aware of you in a way that I don't think humans can feel on their own," she conveyed simply. "I'm… I'm glad to have it back."

Inuyasha blinked a little and looked at her, searching for something that she couldn't describe. His hand moved from her own to cup her cheek softly. She leaned down to make it easier for him and placed a hand over his own. They both shivered at the contact, sharing smiles as they did so.

"And your wounds?" he asked, looking at her bandaged middle section. Naraku had managed to heal her, but without the power of a well-trained priestess like Kaede, her wounds might still hurt her.

"Getting better," she admitted with a nod. "Just a little sore."

Inuyasha's hand seemed to still against her face, and she could tell that he was fighting some kind of internal battle.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked softly. "When we go back, the whole school is bound to know about us. Most of the jocks got beaten to a pulp and a couple unlucky ones had to have their souls returned to their bodies."

Kagome sighed a little and shook her head. "Well, we just let them think what they want. If they want to know what happened, they'll either have to ask us directly, or just deal with it," she decided firmly. Inuyasha's grin seemed to widen at her words.

"Well, alrighty then. We'll straighten them out as they come," he nodded. "Only, uh… about the other thing…" he seemed to get a little pink in the face, and she almost wondered if he were coming down with another fever. "About us."

At his words, she felt her entire face heat up, knowing that she must have been bright red. He wanted to talk about their relationship? She supposed that it was only fair, considering that Kagome had made her choice and decided to fix the mating bond and keep it attached to her soul. She truly had come to see it as more of a gift than anything. She took a moment to scrutinize Inuyasha's expression. He looked up at her with daring, intense golden eyes. He was challenging her to reject him, readying his arsenal of quick replies and arguments. She could see behind the façade he tried so hard to maintain, but she knew at the end of the day…

Inuyasha was a vulnerable, scared boy who only really wanted to be loved.

Did she love him? Yes, yes, she did. With all her heart she loved him. She had been willing to die for him, to help him get better in any way that it took. When there was no bond pressuring her, no artificial feelings at play, she still chose him. She still needed him.

Of course, she couldn't just give him a straight answer.

"What about 'us'?" she asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly. Inuyasha's face grew red, and he seemed to balk at her.

"The fact that we're soulmates," he stated as though she were an idiot. She pretended to pout and stuffed her nose in the air.

"I thought we already had that conversation," she stated pompously. Inuyasha seemed at a loss for words for a moment before narrowing his honey eyes, realization dawning on him.

"Oh? Looks like I forgot. You'll have to jog my memory. What was the decision?" he asked, raising a challenging eyebrow at her playfully. She grinned when he began to play along.

"That we would just be friends. Good friends," she teased, her fingers dancing across his arm as she brought his hand down from her cheek and into her lap.

"Oh yeah? Huh, well, that ain't gunna fly," he shook his head. "Also, I'm pretty sure that I told you that I wasn't gunna give up," he reminded her, a toothy smirk on his lips.

"Good. I wouldn't want you to," she admitted seriously, looking at him with a genuine smile. Inuyasha seemed to halt at her words, caught off guard. He blushed wildly and looked away, tearing his eyes from her gaze.

"Do you… How does it sound?"

"What sound?"

"A… A life with me…?" he asked, his voice extremely gentle. Kagome's own expression softened, and she leaned forward with a smile.

"Get me through high school, and we'll see where you're at," she responded playfully, giving him a wink.

The next school day was a little strange. People were looking at the new couple warily, uncertainty flashing in their eyes as they passed. Inuyasha figured that it was probably because they had been wrapped around Kikyo's finger for so long, they just didn't know what to do now that everyone knew about Kikyo's meddling with the mating bond. A lot of demons moved out of their way, putting plenty of room between themselves and the group. Kagome gave his hand a squeeze and he looked down to meet her amused expression. Apparently, she found it just as amusing as he did.

"Looks like they've finally learned their place," Koga commented from behind them, moving up front and draping an arm around Kagome loosely. Inuyasha felt annoyance and possession creep up his neck at the proximity, but he knew that Koga was hopelessly devoted to his own intended, so there was little to worry about.

"They don't need to be afraid of anyone though," Kagome commented, her voice a little quiet. Inuyasha felt his ears press against his head. It was probably partially his fault that they were acting so strange. He had absolutely been putting off an intimidating aura, letting his demonic presence stretch out as a warning signal. He had just been wanting to make sure that no one was going to try anything funny with them today. Clearly, it had worked.

"Yeah, well, better for them to be scared than for them to be givin' us dirty looks," he shrugged, giving Kagome's hand a squeeze in return.

They had yet to solidify their relationship. She hadn't given him a clear answer about whether or not she was going to stay with him, but he found himself not worrying as much. Though she may not have outrightly said so, he could tell that she wasn't planning on leaving him any time soon.

"Did you all hear? Apparently, Kikyo and Naraku have been expelled from school," Miroku gossiped, peeking his head through the blockade in the front of their group as he walked behind them.

"Really?" he heard Kagome ask, looking back at the boy.

"Yes. Apparently, Principal Meido heard about the situation. The demon council was informed, and now she has to go face charges. One of the stipulations for a lighter punishment was that she would have to be expelled," Sango elaborated, shaking her head a little. Inuyasha looked back at the two humans with a bit of a shocked expression.

While it was true that what Kikyo did was wrong, she didn't deserve punishment from the demon council. She was a human, messing with things that she didn't know enough about. She didn't know that what she was doing was going to disrupt the very foundation of demon culture. Demon council didn't even deal with humans most of the time. If a human managed to disrupt their world in any capacity, they were usually just hunted down and executed. Inuyasha swallowed nervously. It was true that his heart no longer belonged to her, but Kikyo had been an important person in his life for a while. The thought of Kikyo being executed…

He felt Kagome give his hand another squeeze, and his eyes bolted down to look at her. She was gazing up at him with a conflicted expression. She looked like she was trying to ask him something, but wasn't sure if she could ask it.

"She didn't know what she was getting herself into," Inuyasha commented lightly, giving his intended the opportunity to understand his thoughts.

"Which is what makes it worse, don't you think?" Koga snorted, giving Inuyasha a snarky expression. "You can't go and tear apart everything that demons hold dear just because you aren't happy about it."

"Yeah, but the council is probably not gunna listen. She'll most likely be ruled against and then executed. That doesn't seem all that fair," Inuyasha protested.

"Maybe not, but it wasn't like she gave any of us a choice when she decided to just rip the bond away from some demons and throw all of it onto others," Koga pointed out, straightening his posture and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but that-"

"She tried to kill several demons and take their powers from them," Sango pointed out.

"Yeah, but-"

"She tried to kill you," Miroku pointed out.

"Yeah-"

"She tried to kill Kagome," Koga stated definitively.

Inuyasha's mouth shut tight, his teeth clamping down. Kikyo absolutely had tried to kill Kagome, and that… he wouldn't be able to forgive her for that. He shook his head and slumped his shoulders.

"Yeah… that's true," he conceded, looking down at the floor in front of them as they walked to the lunchroom. He felt Kagome's other hand come up to rub his arm in gentle, circular motions.

"Your dad is on the council, right? Maybe he will be able to convince them to go easy on her?" Kagome suggested. Inuyasha winced a little.

"Yeah… but Sesshomaru is on there as well…"

The words left in the air were answer enough.

With his brother on the council seat, there would be no easy trial. Kikyo would be facing a full panel of angry demons who cared little about the fragility of her humanity.

"Would she be able to hide?" Kagome asked, looking up at him. Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders.

"Actually… Naraku has been in hiding from the demon council for years. Apparently, he was praying off of human lifeforces within the town. He's been on the run for a while," Inuyasha remembered, looking down at her. "So… he might actually be on the run with her."

"The demon council will get them eventually, though," Koga added, shaking his head. "They never let any demon run free for too long."

Inuyasha felt a little surge of hope in his chest. He didn't like Kikyo, but he had hope that she would be okay. Death by demon council was one that he worried for any person, let alone someone who he had once thought he would spend his life with.

"In the meantime, let's just worry about getting through the winter finals," Kagome assured them, giving him a soft smile. He immediately thought back to when he had first seen that smile, and he was grateful that he had her in his life. He could have been stuck never knowing this kind of joy.

When Kagome had gotten home from Inuyasha's on Sunday, she had immediately rushed to see if her aunt was okay. What had surprised her the most was that the woman was still sleeping. When she called Izayoi about it, she had been told to give the woman a few days to recover. As the school day went on, she wondered if her aunt had woken up yet. She really wished that she could be there for when she did, but she knew that she had to be patient. Regardless of this, she found herself to be full of nerves and worried jitters. What if her aunt woke up and was confused? What if she woke up and didn't even know her name? What if she never woke up? What if-

"Would Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha Takahashi please report to the Principal's office?" the speaker blared, disrupting her panicked thoughts. Everyone in her classroom gave her a questioning look—all curious to know just what had gone down yesterday. Kagome couldn't spare them an answer, because the teacher was motioning for her to leave quietly with her things.

When she arrived at the principal's office, Kagome noticed that Inuyasha was already there. Well, she felt it before she actually saw him. That familiar pull in her gut always told him when he was nearby. A grin etched its way on her nervous face, despite her trying to remain passive and calm. When his eyes met hers, he mirrored her grin, showing a couple teeth as he did so.

"Glad to see you could make it, Miss Higurashi. Now, please come in," a voice greeted her, causing her eyes to snap away from Inuyasha and focus on the slender form of Principal Meido. The principal didn't seem hostile or upset, but Kagome knew from her experience with demons so far that they didn't always wear their emotions so easily on their faces.

When the two of them sat down on separate chairs, Kagome felt Inuyasha's hand reach out to hold her own. She accepted, giving it a squeeze before returning his hand to him. Principal Meido stood before the two of them as she took her seat behind her desk, not looking at either of them just yet. When she was settled, she sighed and turned her attention to both of them.

"I already know what happened yesterday. Mr. Takahashi told me everything," she began, looking at Inuyasha for a moment. "What I need to understand is why. Do you understand why Kikyo would be so willing to risk her life and humanity for something like this?"

Kagome swallowed, unsure of whether it was her place to answer or not. She glanced over at Inuyasha, whose hands were gripping his chair tightly.

"She said that she hated being soulmates with someone like Naraku," Inuyasha answered, looking away. "She said it was torture."

The principal seemed to consider this for a moment before looking at Kagome. "Did any of this seem premeditated to you? Did you know that she was going to do something like this?"

Kagome's eyes went wide as she thought back to the moment in the library… Where Kikyo had cornered her and given her that proposal.

"She… well… she asked me one time how I would feel if there were a way to get rid of the mating bond," she answered. "But other than that, I had no idea that she had been planning this. I don't think she knew what she was doing until she met Naraku."

"Ah, but that last part is opinion. I need facts. Did you know, Inuyasha? You were with her for a year," the Principal prodded, leaning forward in her chair slightly.

"I… No. I had no clue she was going to do something like this. She had never been fond of the idea of a soulmate, but she never said anything about getting rid of it or knowing how," he answered. "She wasn't happy when we broke up because… I had met my soulmate. I tried to tell her that she and I could work something out, but she didn't want to hear it. Honestly, I think she knew that I wasn't going to be able to work it out with her…" he admitted, looking down at his lap in shame.

The principal was quiet for a moment, jotting down some notes on her stationary before looking at the two of them.

"So, this started because you two met?" she deduced, raising an eyebrow. Inuyasha's face went red at that, but he nodded. Kagome bit her lip.

"Is she… is she going to get a fair trial?" Kagome asked, looking up at the principal. The white-haired woman regarded her with a soft expression.

"Though my son may wish for it to be swift, I can assure you that so long as Toga and I are on the council, there will be a fair trial held for Miss Kikyo," Principal Meido assured the two of them. "Actually, that was something that I had to bring up with the two of you, as well. It has been several months since the two of you first met. According to demon law, you must appear before council to decide your fate."

Kagome's eyes went wide at that, and she looked at Inuyasha with a surprised expression. Inuyasha seemed to mirror her face and looked to the Principal with a bit of shock.

"What? I don't remember dad ever saying anything about that!"

"Did he give you the book?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Inuyasha shrank a little and he looked at the ground. "Well… maybe, but I don't see why that matters."

"If you had read the book, you would have known that three months after meeting your chosen, you have to report to the demon council as to the status of your bond. If they determine that things are going well, they will issue a date for the mateship. If things are going poorly, they will issue a priestess to act as a mediator," the older woman explained to the two of them.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha with a panicked expression. She hadn't known that they would have to make such a big decision so soon.

"Thankfully, because you are both still young, you won't be asked to schedule a date until after high school," she assured them, somehow able to read Kagome's expression. "Not only this, but you will only have to seek out the Inu-yokai members of the demon council."

Kagome looked over and watched Inuyasha's shoulders slump.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a little surprised.

"That means my dad, brother, and my aunt are going to be our judges," he explained, pouting a little.

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"They'll already know how it's going…" he answered cryptically, glancing up at the Principal with narrowed eyes. Kagome looked up at the woman who was merely smiling back at her softly. When she noticed the crescent moon on her forehead, realization clicked in.

Principal Meido was his aunt.

She immediately straightened her posture a little better.

"But what if they don't want to decide on a date?" she asked, speaking mostly hypothetically. The principal seemed to raise an eyebrow at that.

"Then they would be required to provide reasons and proof. If those reasons can be resolved, the priestess resolves them," she repeated, grinning slightly at the both of them.

Kagome shook her head and looked over at Inuyasha who was clearly embarrassed and unhappy at the new information.

Now that it was something that they were going to have to make a decision on, she figured that it would be about the right time to actually talk about it.

When the Principal excused the two of them, Kagome felt Inuyasha's hand brush up against hers. She accepted it immediately, both of them shivering a little, and looked up at his red face.

"Do you want to come over and talk about it?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, we probably should," he answered, though he sounded a little defeated. "I'm sorry that this is being forced on you. I didn't know that we would have to give a report."

"It's alright. Honestly, I think it'll help us a lot," she admitted, blushing a little at the intense expression that she received.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… we're soulmates. It was bound to happen anyways," she answered with a shy smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

"But… but you-"

"I think our report is going to go really well," she informed him, a sly grin eating at her face as she watched Inuyasha blush and stop her.

He looked down at her, something in his expression leading her to believe that he was trying to tell if she was lying. When he brought her to his chest for a tight hug, she laughed a little and squeezed him back, reveling in the feeling of being embraced so warmly by him.

When he pulled away slightly to look at her, she felt like she was on air.

When he leaned down to kiss her, it was as though life itself had stopped.

Yeah, she could get used to that.

Author's Note:
Second part of chapter 18! We are quickly coming to a close here. I am at a crossroads. I can either make the next chapter an epilogue or I can make chapter 21 an epilogue. Which would you all prefer? I hope you are all doing well and getting through any finals you might have. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! See ya later!