O.k. this is my first Fanfic so be nice. It's a little dark, but I hope you enjoy it! It's not that good but please tell me what you think. Flames are welcome but not wanted.

"Talking"
'Thinking'

A.N: I was on some type of drugs when I originally wrote this, so I revised it. 10/12/08

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What Lies Beneath

Tears fell from her swollen eyes. Pain was clearly etched on her perfect face. Her hand clutched the object harder. With one swift motion she brought the knife up and slashed her arm. She bit her lower lip in order to prevent herself from crying out in pain, for the cut was long and deep. Blood started to ooze out of the fresh cut; she allowed her eyes to close as the pain washed over her like a wave of fire. She sat there, under the tree, for a few minutes before she decided to clean up. With small steps she walked toward the nearby stream. With care, she washed her wound and dressed it. She couldn't allow InuYasha to smell her blood. Tenderly, she wrapped her wound with her mind peacefully balnk. As soon as she was finished changing her clothes, she heard the voice of the one she loved, InuYasha.

"Oi! Kagome! What are you doing down here? You better not be gettin' into trouble!" The han'yo said as he approached the young miko.

'Oh, but I am in trouble! There is so much you don't know InuYasha; so much.' Kagome thought to herself as she turned to face InuYasha with a smile in place. "Sorry InuYasha! I wanted some water so I came down here to get some." Her voice as happy and calm as always letting nothing of what happened only moments ago show. She had her mask down perfectly.

"Feh! Come on, let's go back." His voice solid yet dipped in confusion.

"Right." Kagome started to walk toward the village with InuYasha close behind.

'Why do I smell blood on her? And her blood no less. Is she hurt? No, she would have told me, right? Maybe I should ask her.' The young han'yo thought as he was walking a few steps behind Kagome. "Kagome?"

"Yes, InuYasha?" Her voice filled with fake happiness.

"Can I talk to you?" His voice was timid.

"Yeah. Sure." She answered as they started to slowly walk to a more secluded area. When they reached a spot where onlookers would not spot them right away, they sat down in front of each other.

"Umm. You know, uh, Kagome, you can talk to me. I will always be here, uh, for you. I want you to trust me. So, um, are you bleeding? Did ya get hurt? You can tell me ya know. I need to know these things; or else you'll slow us down!" A lit blush stained his cheeks as he talked to Kagome. His slight rudeness was hollow for Kagome knew what he meant. His eyes were full of concern for the miko and he couldn't bring his amber eyes to look into hers.

'Oh no! He can smell my blood! I hate to lie to him, but what could I say?! Should I tell him the truth or not?

Maybe I should tell him. I want to tell someone so badly! I want someone to help me! I've got to trust him!'

The two sat there for a few minutes before Kagome spoke in a soft, timid voice, "Okay. I'll tell you everything. You have every right to know, but you might not like. You have to promise me that you will still be my friend ('hopefully something more one day') no matter what I tell you." Her voice was filled with worry and fear.

InuYasha was a little taken back. He would always be her friend, and hopefully one day something more, no matter what, he would always be there, to love her and care for her. "I promise to always be your friend, no matter how bad what you tell me is." His voice was strangely serious.

With a small nod of approval she started her explanation.

"It all started two months ago when my grandpa died. I was so mad at myself for not being there for his last moments. How could I not be there for him when he was always there for me? I let him down. I never said good-bye or told him how much I loved him! I'm here in the past playing around while he was making excuses (lame ones but it was the thought that mattered) for why I couldn't go to school or why I need another uniform. I never got to say
thank you. I was filled with so much guilt; I didn't know what to do! And then to top that off, I missed my brother's 14th birthday! I didn't even know what to get him, my own brother! How can I be in to places at once? I feel like my soul is ripping in two."

Kagome paused. Tears started to fall from her blue eyes into her lap. "I feel like I don't have a real home anymore. I don't have a real live; I'm just a tool to find the Shikon No Tama. And then to make matters even worst, I feel in love with someone I could never be with."

InuYasha's eyes widened as he looked at Kagome.

"I knew I shouldn't, I knew we could never be together but I fell in love anyway. The worst part is he doesn't love me back; he loves another girl who treats him like he is a piece of shit. And you know what, he puts up with it! How could he allow someone to treat him like shit?! He is such a good person it hurts to see him with her. If he were happy with a girl who loved him back and treated him like he should be treated, I wouldn't mind. I wish I could tell him how I feel about him, just so he knows, but I can't. I've tried once but it came out wrong. I shouldn't even try; we can never be, as much as I hate to admit it, it's true. And finally, what if we fail in defeating Naraku? Would all of it be in vane? My world could end and hell could break lose. All the people that died wouldn't be avenged. I couldn't live with myself if that happened.

I can't deal with all of my pain so I hurt myself to help myself. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to move on, to believe that all will work out in the end. It's how I deal with everything. I hope you can understand."

InuYasha looked stunned, to say the least. Here he thought Kagome was strong and full of hope. He thought she had the answers for everything; and now he finds out his Kagome is just as normal as everyone else. It made him feel happy in a way. Now that he knew she was as normal as him they could be together without him feeling like she was too perfect for him to be with. However, she still didn't answer why she was bleeding. "Kagome, you still haven't told me why you are bleeding." InuYasha's voice was soft and caring. His eyes soft and warm.

A sigh came from Kagome as she slowly rolled her sleeves up. What InuYasha saw shocked him. Scars ran up and down her arms like stripes on a tiger. With caution, Kagome un-wrapped the bandage on her left arm to show a two inch long cut that appeared deep. Horror hit the han'yo as he realized Kagome was cutting herself to deal with all her emotional problems. His thoughts were cut off when she started to talk again, "When I watch the cuts heal I feel like my problems are healing away also. It gives me the strength to do one more day." Kagome whispered just loud enough for InuYasha to hear.

Gently InuYasha grabbed her left arm and brought it close to his face. Kagome allowed him to do what he wanted, but looked on in wonder. He brought his mouth to the wound and started to clean it with his tongue. A tingling sensation went up Kagome's arm as he cleaned her wound. He kissed is tenderly before looking at Kagome.

"Kagome, I want to tell you that. I… I... I love you." Kagome's eyes shot up. "I have loved you for awhile now. You mean the world to me. I would die if you left me. I know you think that I love Kikyo, but I don't. The only reason I deal with her is because I'm the one who let her die. I feel responsible to make sure she is o.k. I will not go to hell with her, but I
will make sure she stays alive to see Naraku die and that's it." InuYasha looked into Kagome's eyes to see them full of love and happiness. A blush appeared on his face again as he continued, "If you allow me I will help you in any way. We can work this out. If you want, after we kill Naraku, we can get married and live in your time and raise our kids at your shrine. But please stop hurting yourself!" InuYasha looked at Kagome to see what she would say. Kagome, however, was speechless. How could he solve her most of her worries in a few minutes?

With a small sob she jumped into InuYasha's arms and started to cry into his shoulder. He started to pet Kagome's hair while whispering calming words into her ear. After she cried herself out, she looked at InuYasha and asked, "How did you know I was talking about you when I said I fell in love with someone?"

"Well when you where talking about this 'guy' you kept glancing at me and besides, I fit your description." He answered while wiping her tears away.

"Oh InuYasha, I love you so much. Thank you." Her voice was soft and light as if she was about to fall asleep.

"For what?" He asked confused.

"For listening and loving me."

"Feh! It was nothin'." He answered while a deep blush rose to his cheeks.

A smile spread on Kagome's face as she realized InuYasha would always be InuYasha, the soft guy hiding from the pain like her. 'As long as I have InuYasha, I might just make it...' She thought as she fell asleep in InuYasha's arms.

The End

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I hope you liked it! Please review!

- Nami