AN – I don't own Inuyasha.

Thank you for all the reviews, you make me want to update! And please read the authors note at the bottom.

xXx

Kagome's eyes fluttered open and she inwardly winced at the sunlight that momentarily blinded her. Three years since she'd been in the Feudal era and she still couldn't get used to the different amount of sunlight.

But then again, I don't really mind. My skin looks more tanned and the sun works better here than in my time! She grinned to herself. Too lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice the white haired figure that had gazed at her longingly since sundown. And before she could notice, the figure slipped out through the flap of the hut—completely undetected.

Throwing the blanket off her and onto one side she sat up, paused, and then stood up slowly as to make sure she didn't pull any muscles. She stretched her body and let a few yawns slip past. She quickly folded the blanket and put it to one side neatly before walking out the hut. Smiling as brightly as the sun she turned to greet her friends.

"Morning guys." She called out.

"Good morning Kagome." They chorused. Hurriedly walking to join them, she sat down next to Sango and graciously took the food she gave. Whilst eating her food, she scanned her surroundings searching for a certain hanyou who these days would spend little time with them and at the same time thought of reasons that would make her friends this quiet.

She wasn't stupid. She'd observed them for quite a few weeks now and knew that something had definitely happened. Shippou no longer played as many pranks and was hardly as playful and mischievous as he had been. Miroku, who usually would appreciate the body of any curved woman had stopped his perverted antics and was unusually silent. Sango, her best friend didn't seem to be as violent as she had been—she guessed it was because Miroku wasn't feeling her up like he usually did. Another thing she quickly added to her mental list. At first she had believed it was because Shippou was growing up, Miroku was learning after all the beating lessons Inuyasha, herself and of course Sango had given. And Sango no longer had a reason to beat the monk and had seemingly chosen to be more mature.

Not that Sango hadn't been mature she was, after all, Sango had been the one to give her a lesson on packs. And she wouldn't be forgetting that anytime soon! But, she couldn't help the worry that gnawed at her. Her friends who had become her second family were acting strange and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She also blamed it on the fact that despite knowing them for so long she didn't know how to approach their new behaviour. It could be something extremely personal but Kagome doubted her first option because for god's sake they were all silent and close to acting the same! Her second option had been that they were hiding something important from her—and Inuyasha was obviously on it as well!

Her third option was that one of them had caught her doing something embarrassing and had told the others. And now they were avoiding her in hopes of not remembering it and poking at her curiosity, which would ultimately lead to problem, especially if it was Inuyasha. Like the time she had been dancing her sexy ass off to Justin Timberlake's, 'Sexy Back.' She stiffened. Her stomach fluttering with butterflies as she remembered the incident. She had been in her time listening to music when it had come on. Inuyasha had caught her dancing and had begun an endless stream of questions. In the end, she had forced Inuyasha to dance with her and recorded it, for blackmail. It felt good to be prepared.

Heat pooled in her stomach and she could feel herself turning red. At that time she had been busy enjoying the music and the prospect that Inuyasha was dancing with her. So she never got the opportunity to admire him and the way his body had moved against hers. But now…damn she could feel herself blushing. Okay, come on mind! You can think of something else...

She ignored the looks her companions shot her. Kagome inwardly beamed as an idea hit her. Placing down the bowl of soup she had been having she opened her mouth.

"Guys, I'm going to go find Inuyasha!" And have a quick walk. She mentally added. Without waiting for an affirmative she stood up and walked towards the hut, remembering her arrows. She had to keep some protection for herself. Inuyasha couldn't always protect her and she could take care of herself dammit!

.

Shame. It had been the perfect timing to find out the real reason for her friends behaviour. Had she not been too lost in her musings she would have discerned the tenseness in their bodies at the name of the hanyou.

.

Kagome quickly grabbed her arrows and was about to walk out when a thought hit her. Inuyasha was probably still sulking over something and was probably in a bad mood so…Ramen will definitely be needed. Immediately reacting to the advice her mind had given, she began searching for Inuyasha's favourite modern food. Kagome froze. Eyes widening she gripped her yellow pack from the bottom and turned it upside down. Only her books and a few emergency clothes she brought with her came tumbling out. Frantically, she shuffled through her clothes looking for the food she had brought.

Gone. All gone. All the supplies of ramen I brought are all out! Even the candy I bring for Shippou!

Closing her yellow pack after re-filling it with her items she stood up. Only one thought in mind. Alright. It's time for stocking up!

xXx

He was not sulking. He was not upset. He was hurt. Emotionally and mentally. He felt drained and extremely tired and this outweighed everything he had been through so far. His troubled past, the betrayal and misunderstanding between him and Kikyou, Being pinned to the Goshinboku and awakened fifty years later, the mishaps that followed after—especially between him and Kagome (the thought of the name made his heart ache), the entire mess with Naraku, Kikyou being resurrected, his demonic-self taking over and and and…

He just wanted all the pain to stop. Part of him wished he was pinned to the old tree again and all this was just a dream that would never come true. He wondered if he could call it a dream, with all this pain and suffering wouldn't it be better to call it a nightmare?

No. Even if there was so much heartache and so much anguish he couldn't name this a nightmare. Never. Because Kagome—

His chest tightened, his body stiffened, bile rose up in his throat and he felt the familiar moisture gathering at his eyes.

He sucked in a harsh breath and blinked the tears away. Kagome. Kagome. Kagome. Would she leave? Was his foolishness and habit of pushing people away costing him the loss of the only person that had unintentionally became the centre of his wretched, broken world. Was he—was he losing her?

The thought of losing her only caused the agony to come back a thousand fold. He was an idiot. But he was extremely clever at the same time. He was only an idiot because he had never dealt with emotions, never dealt with having friends by his side and backing him up. He had been used to being alone, the thought of ever having a family, friends and a mate had never crossed more than once. He had pondered what it would have been liked but never beyond that. Because from there, it had been a full stop. Darkness. And he had been terrified that after planning to such extremes all of it would fall apart, just like his world.

And then she was there. Accepting, smiling, laughing, screaming, crying, hurting but Kami—she had been there. Was all of this going to change? After all the jewel shards had been gathered would she leave? Had he ever told her that she was more than a jewel shard detector? Had he ever told her that he needed her? That when she left she always took most of his heart with her? And when she returned she would be giving it back, mending it and the whole in his chest.

Had he told her that he loved her with every fibre of his being?

No. God fucking dammit he hadn't… because he was afraid. Afraid… that he would be rejected. He was a hanyou—unwanted by the humans and a disgrace to all demons. That was one of the thoughts he had lived by. And he had lived with that thought for two hundred and eleven years. He had spent three years with his current pack and two hundred and eleven years knowing he was disliked by everyone except his mother.

He let out a bitter chuckle. Were people expecting him to get over that?

H hadn't loved Kikyou. Really. He had merely treasured the prospect that someone out there other than his mother had really loved him—to an extent of course. Kikyou had been his first woman, first taste to liking someone. She had not been his true love or his first love, merely a woman who had given him a preview on what it was like to be in love. But none of it had been true. Naraku had showed them and everyone else that. They had betrayed each other so easily—because they had never truly trusted each other, never truly loved each other.

Kikyou found peace that to a hanyou she had been normal and he had been delighted that a beautiful priestess like Kikyou had given him her attention. There was no love, purely a comfort that they both selfishly enjoyed—something neither of them would never say but accepted as resentful truth.

If there had ever been someone he truly, madly, deeply fell in love with then it was her. Kagome. His Kagome. His true love. His mate. And he couldn't imagine a second with her and because of that one fact he had gone to extremes.

He had made sure that his scent enveloped her entire body making it impossible for even the strongest demons to differentiate whether or not Kagome and he had truly mated.

One time when Kagome had been deeply injured (and he terrified out of his mind) he had cut his arm and placed it over the blood pouring out of her wounds, their blood had mixed and the first mating ritual had been completed. Strangely, Shippou hadn't exposed what he had done—something he didn't expect since Kagome was his adoptive mother in youkai terms, but he was grateful nonetheless.

He was anxious of Kagome's reaction once she found out how she had really heal—

His musings came to an end, the split second her scent invaded his nostrils. And the fear gripped him when his reliable senses informed him of her destination—

The well.

xXx

IMPORTANT:

Yeah, I know I said that this would be a two shot, however I've got a crap of work piling on me and I want to get rid of it, demolish it out of existence. This doesn't mean I'm not going to update in a long while because seriously when I have the time I'll be writing and that's between six pm till pass midnight—if I'm not ridding myself of work. And I'll add the next chapter if I know people are reading this. And I don't mean reading it and then moving on to another story because seriously so far I've 233 people have viewed this story and only 9 have reviewed. Like seriously?

I want to thank those who have reviewed and added this story to their favourites, It's because of you guys that I updated. So I hope you all enjoyed it.

Until next time. Peace, Nuria Sato.