I originally wrote this story several years ago, but upon rereading it recently, I've decided that I definitely don't like my writing from when I was younger. I've decided to re-write this chapter and possibly start writing on this story again. Please be gentle with me, since I've gotten out of the habit of writing.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha in any way, shape, or form.

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It was sudden, the complete obliteration of everything Kagome thought she knew.

She had aimed one of her purifying arrows at the snake youkai, but it had twisted its body away at just the last moment, leaving Inuyasha to be struck by the projectile. The light that washed across the clearing as it connected with his chest was intense and trailed behind it a wave of heat that stung her eyes. She crouched down and covered her head to avoid the dust and debris swept up by the pulse of power that exploded in every direction and heard the alarmed cries of her companions from behind her. She felt her heart convulse in horror, paralyzed with the thought that she had just killed Inuyasha.

But when the light died away, Inuyasha wasn't a charred corpse like she expected.

His figure was blurry with ominous, red light but he definitely wasn't dead if the slight rise of his shoulders as he breathed was anything to go by, and the snake youkai he had been fighting was no where to be seen. Even from her vantage point on the other side of the large clearing, she could tell his appearance was different. His fire rat robes were gone, and in their place, regal white robes draped over his form, held in place by a dark sash and some kind of armour. Probably the most shocking changes, for Kagome, was the intricate braid containing Inuyasha's pale silver hair and his obvious lack of dog ears.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, in awe and fear. She stood up out of her crouch and took a few hesitant steps toward him. His shoulders rose in a deep breath and he lifted his head.

Kagome gasped when she saw his face. The marks from his full demon form cut across his cheeks, red instead of violet.

"You probably weren't expecting something like this," he drawled, voice a smooth baritone.

They group stared at him in a mixture of trepidation and confusion. He sighed and took several steps forward. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kilala all moved several steps back in turn. Only Kagome stood, unmoving.

Inuyasha raised his hands in a gesture of peace and continued forward but stopped when Sango shifted into a fighting stance and raised her hiraikotsu defensively while Kilala transformed and stepped infront of a petrified Shippo. Miroku held his shakujo at the ready, and it seemed, would be the one to start the interrogation. "Inuyasha? What in the name of Buddha has happened to you?" Straight to the point.

"Nothing's happened to me. Not like I know you think. I can explain this, just not her-"

"It sure seems like something has happened to you." Sango snapped," Have you been a full Inuyoukai the whole time? Were you just lying in wait, getting close to Kagome and the rest of us so you could steal the Shikon no Tama at an opportune moment!?"

Inuyasha's face transformed into a snear. "Of course you jump to conclusions! Where'd the comradery go, Sango? You don't know what's going on, so suddenly you decide I'm evil and I've been plotting behind your backs!? I could expect nothing less from a trained youkai killer!"

"What happened to your ears, Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, staring up at him imploringly, knowing that Sango was wrong but hurt that Inuyasha had kept this from her.

For the first time since his transformation, Inuyasha looked Kagome in the eyes, and his face softened with guilt. "I've never actually had dog ears, Kagome."

Kagome shook her head in denial quickly and vehemently. "But I've seen and felt them! Shippo tugs on them all the time, and you always complain that it hurts! How could they not be real?" Shippo peeked his head out from behind Kilala's guarded form and nodded his head quickly in agreement to Kagome's statement.

Inuyasha's gaze on Kagome was steady, before it swept warily over the entire clearing they were in. He could sense no demons nearby, but he still didn't want to speak about this in the open. He cut his eyes back towards his friends and said, "If you really want to know, I'll tell you. I owe you the explanation. But I won't do it here in the open. We can go back to Kaede's hut and we'll discuss it there."

His answer didn't seem to sit well with any of them and the frustration in Miroku's voice was obvious. "Inuyasha, we deserve to know who we've really been traveling with all this time! There's no reason not to discuss it here!" He waved his arm wildly, gesturing to the space around them.

Sango pointed the end of her hiraikotsu at Inuyasha in menace, spitting, "And I know I don't want to be in such an enclosed space such as Kaede's hut with a dangerous individual that I don't trust anymore."

Inuyasha snarled in frustration, but instead of a violent action, he only pinched the bridge of his noise. When he spoke, his voice was deep with restrained violence and anger, "We aren't going to talk about it here because anyone could here us. Dangerous people that you haven't the hope to survive!"

Miroku made to retort, the rings on his shakujo ringing together as he thrust it into the dirt angrily, but Kagome intervened. "I think it would be best if we continued this at Kaede's. Whatever he's going to tell us, he obviously wants to do it in private, and I doubt we'll get him to answer our questions before then. As for you concerns about being in an enclosed space with a dangerous individual, Sango, Inuyasha's always been dangerous. Just because he's always fought beside us and defended us doesn't mean he didn't have the ability to kill us if he ever had the whim. He didn't then, and I trust him not to do it now, no matter his transformation." She glared at Sango stubbornly.

"Kagome!" Sango hissed, outraged, "Stop defending him! How could you trust him when he's been lying to us this whole time!?" She took hold of Kagome's arm and shook her angrily, trying to get her to understand how ludicrous she was being. The clawed hand that clamped down on her wrist in a crushing grip was followed by the dangerously quiet voice of Inuyasha, "Get your hand off of her."

Sango released Kagome's arm in a hurry, as soon as she was able. She jumped back and lifted her hiraikotsu at the ready. "And you defend him, Kagome!" Sango snapped. Miroku shook his head in dismay from behind her.

Kagome's mouth dropped open at the hatred in Sango's voice. She took a step closer to Inuyasha, clearly siding with him. "Yes! I defended him because he was defending me! From you, since you're acting like a crazy person!" Kagome took several deep breaths, panting from yelling with such emotion. She turned to Inuyasha and swallowed nervously, but with conviction.

"Will you carry me back to Kaede's, please, Inuyasha?" She waited with baited breath for this new Inuyasha to turn her down, but was pleasantly surprised when instead he showed her his back, crouched down with his arms up, ready to carry her on his back. She smiled gently before climbing on his back, looping her arms around his neck loosely. His grip on thighs was firm but gentle, and in the neck instant, he sprung into the air. They disappeared from their friends view in the blink of an eye, too far away already to hear their cries of anger and alarm.