Hello everyone! I'm going back to do a little bit of editing, now that the story's up and running. This was supposed to be a oneshot, but people like it-yay!-so I'm keeping it going. I originally said that additional chapters will be shorter than the first one, but apparently, I lied, b/c I think the 2nd chaps' shorter, and that's the only one that is. Oops-sorry. :) Ok-on to the editing! Disclaimer: I own all of the Inuyasha anime, movies, video games, and am starting on the manga, but Inuyasha himself does not belong to me. :(
Kagome and Sango are walking along the dusty path, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine on their faces as they discuss their latest encounter with Naraku. Shippo and Kilala are playing on the hillside to their right, taking turns rolling each other in the soft grass. Miroku and Inuyasha are walking ahead of the girls, just within Inuyasha's hearing range, but the girls think that no one's listening...
"It'll be okay, Sango. We'll get Kohaku back," Kagome says encouragingly to the demon slayer.
Sango sighs. "I know you're trying to make me feel better, Kagome, but he's still under Naraku's control." She looks down at the ground as tears fill her eyes. "I'm beginning to think he'll never return to me," Sango sniffles.
Kagome puts an her arm through other girl's before speaking. "We'll get him back, Sango. I...I don't want to give you false hope, but everytime we run into Kohaku..." Kagome looks at the slayer, who is watching her intently. "...I...I can't be positive... because so much is always happening, but I'm pretty sure that Kohaku's jewel shard is becoming less and less tainted." Sango stares at the miko with wide eyes. "It's not purified, but I think that means that Naraku has less control over him." Kagome looks at Sango with a worried expression. Don't give up hope, Sango. Please...
Slowly, Sango smiles at her friend before hugging her. "Thanks, Kagome. You know...I think you're right. You...you can see it in his eyes. They're losing the vacant look that I saw when Naraku first brought him back. It's like more of the Kohaku I knew is coming through." She smiles at Kagome again. "What would I do without you to talk to, Kagome?"
The miko laughs softly, grinning as she says, "You always have Miroku."
"Oh, yeah, right," the slayer says while rolling her eyes.
"What? Doesn't Miroku talk about stuff with you?" Kagome asks. Both of the them look at the monk, who is waving his staff at Inuyasha. The girls look at each other with raised eyebrows.
Sango shrugs her shoulders and sighs. "He tries. But you know how guys are--they have trouble understanding what they're feeling, much less what others might be."
Kagome looks at a certain fuzzy-eared hanyou while saying, "I know what you mean." She sees Inuyasha's ears flick in their direction before facing forward again.
"Do you?" Sango asks, one eyebrow arched at the miko. Kagome blushes and looks down at her feet. The tajiya laughs and puts her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "You two will figure it out." The miko sighs. Sango turns Kagome around to look at her directly. "I know you will," she says seriously.
Kagome looks at her friend. "Thank you, Sango," she says before hugging the girl.
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"They'll kill us if they find out, you know," Inuyasha tells the eagerly awaiting Miroku.
"Sshhh, you can't hear them if you're talking," the monk complains.
Inuyasha sighs. "Sango thinks she'll never get Kohaku back," he says sadly. He pauses for a moment. "We will. We'll make Naraku pay for everything he's done," he says through gritted teeth.
"I should go to her," Miroku says as he starts to turn around. "She needs me." His voice deepens in anger. "She needs to know that we'll do everything possible to get her brother away from that..."
Inuyasha interrupts Miroku before he turns. "She'll be okay. Kagome is with her."
Miroku gives the hanyou a semi-convinced look before relaxing a little and letting out the breath he'd been holding. "Remind me to talk to Sango later. Even though she's with Kagome, Sango still needs to know I'm here for her."
Inuyasha looks at the monk with surprise. "When did you become Mr. Sensitive?"
Miroku huffily retorts, "I'm in love, if you must know." Inuyasha raises his eyebrows further. Miroku waves his staff threateningly. "Look here, Inuyasha. I love Sango very much. I want to be there for her when she needs someone to lean on. Especially now, what with...are you listening to me?"
Inuyasha had flicked his ears back towards the girls when he heard the tone of Kagome's voice change. Sensing no danger, he swivels them back toward Miroku. "Yeah, I'm listening," he says gruffly. Miroku opens his mouth to start professing his love for Sango again when the hanyou says, " No... no, I'm not actually." He frowns in concentration.
Miroku, his annoyance at being ignored temporarily forgotten, whispers, "What are they talking about now?"
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"So, speaking of you two working it out, tell me about that kiss," Sango says while smiling mischievously.
Kagome blushes. "Oh, um..."
"Don't even try to get out of this. I've been waiting days--days--to talk to you about it without anybody around, and now's my chance, so spill."
Kagome looks at Miroku and Inuyasha, who have their heads together and seem to be discussing something, then over to Shippo and Kilala, who are still rolling each other down the hill, only now they are covered in stains with pieces of grass stuck in their hair. She smiles at them before looking at Sango. "Ok, what do you want to know?" Kagome says with a sigh.
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"Inuyasha, you're blushing," Miroku says with a grin. The half-demon glares at the monk. "I bet I can guess what they're talking about just by looking at your expression," the monk says, amused. "Stop me if I'm wrong, they're talking about you and Kagome, and..."
Inuyasha grabs Miroku by the front of his robes and pulls him closer while Miroku tries to loosen the hanyou's grip. "You just be quiet, Miroku. Don't go getting any ideas in that lecherous head of yours. Sango and Kagome don't talk...," Inuyasha stops abruptly. "Damn it!" he curses to himself as his face gets even redder.
"What? Miroku asks interestedly. The hanyou gives him an "I'll kill you if you make any comments" look before letting go of the hoshin's robes. "Come on Inuyasha, what're they talking about?"
Inuyasha runs his hands through his hair before replying. "The kiss," he says in a doomed voice.
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"What do I want to know?" Sango asks incredulously. "What don't I want to know? How was it? Did you like it? Do you think he liked it? Do you want to do it again? What..."
"Okay, okay, one question at a time," Kagome says, putting up her hands to stop the onslaught. The slayer looks at her eagerly. "Where should I start?" the miko asks, blushing a little.
"Anywhere--just start talking," Sango says, hopping a bit with excitement.
"Ok, well, it was really...uh, nice, isn't exactly the right word..." Kagome thinks for a minute. She puts on a huge smile as she turns to face her friend. "I...I can't describe it, Sango," she says while blushing once again, her voice giddy. "Even with all the fighting, and Inuyasha changing, it was still...it was perfect. Amazing."
"Oooo..." Sango clasps her hands together while making sighing noises. Suddenly they see a cloud of dust ahead. Even Shippo and Kilala stop playing to see what the commotion is about. Miroku has Inuyasha pinned face-down under him, and both are struggling to get up. "What are they doing up there?" she wonders aloud as they curiously watch the boys.
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"Rrrggghhh, get off me, Miroku," Inuyasha grunts.
"I'm trying, but Tetsusaiga is tangled in my sleeve, and I'd like to keep it, if you don't mind," Miroku huffs.
"Fine, whatever, just hurry up, will ya? You're heavy," Inuyasha retorts.
"How exactly did we end up on the ground anyway, Inuyasha? Please refresh my memory," the monk asks as he unwinds that last of his sleeve from Inuyasha's sword and they both stand up, brushing off the accumulated dirt. The half-demon's cheeks start to burn as he and Miroku start walking again.
"Hey, you guys ok?" Shippo yells as he and Kilala start running up the hill again.
"We're fine, Shippo--just tripped over something," Miroku mumbles as he waves at the two demons. "So--why did you trip, Inuyasha?" he asks solemnly, while obviously trying to hide a smile.
Inuyasha turns a deeper shade of maroon before mumbling, "Kagome...the kiss...sh...she said that it was perfect, amazing...th...that there was no word to describe it."
Miroku grins widely at his friend, then frowns a little. "She really said that, 'no words to describe it' ?" he asks. The hanyou nods. "Huh."
"What?" Inuyasha asks, slightly alarmed.
"Nothing. It's...just...I've kissed a lot of girls...," Miroku pauses to glace back at Sango, as if he thinks she can hear what he's saying, but the girls are talking again. "...and I would never say that about one of mine." But I haven't kissed Sango yet..... He turns back to the half-demon. "Fantastic, yes. Unforgettable, maybe. But I've never had one so good that I couldn't describe it," he says to the hanyou, who is now staring at his feet, waiting for the blush to leave his cheeks. "Kagome must really lo..." Miroku breaks off as Inuyasha frowns. What now?
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"Rrrgghhh. Sometimes I just want to "s...," Kagome grumbles.
"Better not say that," Sango warns.
"I know--he'd just get mad." Kagome stops walking and clenches her fists. "But sometimes I just want to "s..."
"KAGOME!" Sango says with more force. Kagome sighs.
"I know. But, what he said afterward," tears start to fill the miko's eyes. "Even if he didn't want me to, you don't say 'I didn't ask for it.' I...I didn't know what else to do. We weren't getting through. I...I thought we were gonna lose him."
Sango puts her hand on Kagome's shoulder. "I know. We all thought the same thing." She turns the younger girl to face her. "And it worked--didn't it? He came back and we took care of Kaguya, and all got away except..." Sango shakes her head before continuing. "Inuyasha's just an idiot, for saying what he did."
Kagome smiles a little. "Thanks, Sango. He does have his moments, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, usually a lot of them," the tajiya replies. Both girls laugh and walk in silence for a few minutes. "Kagome?"
"Hmmmm?"
"Despite the fact that he's an idiot sometimes," Sango pauses as if she's afraid to go on. "Would you do it again?"
Kagome blushes and looks at her shoes, then turns to Sango. "Uh-huh. But he would have to ask first."
"Huh?"
Kagome smiles playfully. "Because he said that he didn't ask the first time, so if he wanted to kiss me again, he would have to ask."
Sango stares at the young miko before laughing. "That's evil, Kagome. But would you really make him ask? You know how stubborn he is." She pauses. "Especially if he doesn't know you want to kiss him again."
Kagome sighs before responding. "That's just it. I'd like to kiss Inuyasha again, but I don't know if he wants to kiss me, particularly after that comment," she says, blowing her breath out, ruffling her bangs.
Sango tilts her head sideways while looking at Kagome. "You should make him do something."
A confused look comes across Kagome's features. "What do you mean?"
"Like...like, something to bring his pride down a bit. Something to show him how much his comment hurt," Sango says soberly.
"Oh--I see what you mean." Kagome thinks for a minute. "Like...Oooo...like, if he wants to kiss me, Inuyasha should get down on his knees in front of me, and place Tetsusaiga at my feet. Hmmm... Yeah, no way that's gonna happen," the miko says, shaking her head.
"That would be a good one, but you're right, there's no..." Sango stops walking as the words catch in her throat. She stares at a spot in front of Kagome.
"What is it?" Kagome asks as she turns around to see Inuyasha standing directly in front of her.
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"What did you say?" Inuyasha asks.
"Nevermind," Miroku says. "What are you frowning about?"
"Kagome wants to 'sit' me." An angry line appears on Inuyasha's forehead before quickly disappearing. He sighs as his ears droop. "It would have been for what I said later."
"Oh? You mean about not having asked Kagome to kiss you?" the monk asks. "That was really stupid, by the way. Even I know better than that."
Inuyasha glares at the hoshin before sighing again. "I know. I didn't know what I was doing at the time. You wouldn't shut up about it because you were trying to get Sango to kiss you, and me and Kagome were getting more and more embarrassed and ...it just sorta slipped out."
"But, you didn't mean it, right?" Miroku asks tentatively.
"Well, technically...I didn't actually ask her to do it..." Miroku scowls at the half-demon. "Of course I didn't mean it!" Inuyasha retorts. "Kagome saved my life. She saved everyone fr... No telling what I would've done if Kagome hadn't brought me back to my senses."
"I agree. Kagome saved us all that day," Miroku says solemnly. The boys walk silently for a minute, until Inuyasha starts to scowl more-so than normal. "What now?"
"They're saying I'm an idiot," Inuyasha says flatly.
"Well, can you blame them?" Miroku asks innocently. The hanyou is glaring at him when his eyes suddenly open in shock and the color leaves his face. Miroku looks at his friend questioningly.
"Kagome. She...she wants to kiss me again," Inuyasha says in wonder.
Miroku smirks. "You're surprised?"
Inuyasha glares again. "But...I have to ask her," he frowns.
"Ask her?"
"Yeah. Because I said I didn't ask for it the first time."
"Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense," the monk says thoughtfully.
Inuyasha rolls his eyes at the priest and frowns in concentration, listening intently. "They don't think I'd do it." Inuyasha's face starts to get red as he gets angry. "Rrr...Sango..." he says, balling up his fists. Almost immediately Inuyasha calms down again and gives the now extremely confused Miroku a defeated look. "Brace yourself, Miroku, we're about to be found out," Inuyasha says as he turns around and jumps back toward the girls, landing directly in front of Kagome, the befuddled priest following at a safe distance.
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Kagome stares at Inuyasha. "Inu...what?" The girl gasps and her eyes widen as she openly gapes at what Inuyasha is doing. He slowly lowers himself until both his knees hit the ground, then withdraws Tetsusaiga from it sheath and places it at her feet. The hanyou raises his eyes to Kagome's shocked expression and waits...
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Kagome can't speak. She takes a step back as if she needs to get a better view of the situation, and makes an attempt to say something, but no sound comes out of her mouth. She looks at Sango, who is wearing the same expression. How did he...? The miko finds her voice as anger floods through her. Turning back to Inuyasha, she says with deadly calm, "You've been eavesdropping." The half-demon simply nods. Kagome narrows her eyes at him. I should sit him right now for that! How dare he...and I bet Miroku knows, too...
She glances up as the monk comes walking up next to Sango, who promptly smacks him on the head with her Hiraikotsu. "You two have been listening when you shouldn't," she says, her anger obvious.
"Hey, what's going on? Why's Inuyasha sitting like that?" Shippo asks as he and Kilala come running up, Shippo hopping onto Miroku's shoulder, Kilala onto Sango's.
"These two were eavesdropping on a private conversation," Sango says.
"Uh-oh," Shippo says. He cocks his head sideways before asking, "But why is Inuyasha on the ground?"
"I don't know that, he stopped telling me what the girls were saying after they said he wouldn't ask Kagome to kiss him," Miroku says, while rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.
Inuyasha and Kagome blush deeply at this comment, while Sango quickly explains the end of the conversation, after which the two of them redden even more.
"Sango!" Kagome yells.
"They might as well know the end, especially if..." Sango trails off while giving Kagome a look that confuses the others.
Kagome glares at her friend. She actually thinks I'd...after...Sango looks Kagome straight in the eyes, then at Inuyasha sitting on the ground, then back at Kagome. Kagome is confused. What's she trying to tell...? Kagome gasps. She gapes at Sango as a small smile spreads on the demon slayer's face. He...he...that's why he's... She stares at Inuyasha as she realizes why he's sitting before her. The hanyou is still watching her, although now he's shifting slightly, his knees hurting from staying in that position. Kagome doesn't know what to do. She looks at Inuyasha, then to Sango, then back at the half-demon. Finally, a grin starts to spread on her features as she looks back at the tajiya.
Sango says, "You know Kagome's going to 'sit' you after this--don't you?"
Inuyasha's ears droop slightly as Sango says "sit". Then, confused, he turns back to Kagome. "Wait, wh..."
But the words are lost in his throat as Kagome quickly leans against the boy, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissing him passionately. Inuyasha--still somewhat lost--simply freezes for a second before he realizes what's going on. Kagome... He wraps his arms around the girl's waist and pulls her closer while kissing back intensely. They stay like that for a few moments, until...
SMACK! Inuyasha and Kagome reluctantly break apart and turn to Sango and Miroku, the latter of whom now has a rather red imprint of a hand on his cheek. "Serves you right," Sango says as she crosses her arms. "Trying to get something out of this," she says angrily.
"But, Sango," Miroku whines. "We're engaged and we haven't even kissed yet," he says while rubbing his cheek.
"You will never learn," she says while starting to walk again, Miroku following with a depressed look on his face. She smiles and winks at Kagome and Inuyasha as she passes.
"What was all that about?" Shippo asks, looking back.
"I'll explain it when you're older, Shippo," Sango replies as they walk, Miroku still complaining about kisses and getting slapped.
Kagome looks at Inuyasha again before standing up straight. The hanyou stays where he is. "Why aren't you getting up?" the miko asks.
"It will hurt less if I'm closer to the ground," Inuyasha replies.
Kagome smiles a little. "I'm not gonna do it this time." The half-demon brightens a little. "But no more listening in on private conversations," she says sternly, "or I will 'si...' The priestess doesn't get to finish her sentence as Inuyasha jumps up, grabs Kagome, and kisses her again. As he pulls away from her, both their eyes bright, cheeks slightly flushed, Kagome says, "You didn't ask that time," with a teasing look. Inuyasha grins and kisses her again. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" she asks breathlessly when they finally break apart.
"Hey, you guys coming?" Miroku yells, while shaking his head, the others grinning goofily behind him.
"Yeah, we're coming," Inuyasha mumbles while picking up Tetsusaiga. He grabs Kagome's hand as the two start after the others, leaning over to brush his lips over Kagome's cheek as he whispers. "Yes..."