Long lashes fluttered open and a head of long dark hair turned towards the sounds of birds outside the window on her right. Groggily she tried to sit up and realized she couldn't. "The hell?" she whispered as fear streaked her spine. Except for the cords around her extremities, her room was the same as when she'd laid down to sleep the night before. Lifting her head, she noted the light blanket over her form but closer inspection made her realize there was nothing but her thong and bra underneath.

When she heard the handle to the door twist, she shut her eyes and tried to slow her heart, feigning sleep as some unknown person entered what she had once considered her sanctuary.

A chuckle filled the room and she whipped her head towards the door. "Good to see you are awake, it seems like you have been asleep for-ever, Kagome."

She gave him a glare, trying to convey just how angry she was at her 'friend'. "Hojo! Mind explaining what this is about?" she asked as she used her eyes and chin to indicate the four bindings keeping her in place.

"Simple really, I don't want you to go anywhere and knowing you as I do, if you do manage to get out of your binds you'll still have to find some clothes…" He slid her closet door open and indicated its emptiness and her eyes widened. "Not that I minded the view, you are very easy to look at." He sat on the edge of the bed and used a finger to trace a soft caress from the inside of her elbow to her armpit. "And your skin is just so soft" he chuckled again as a shiver wracked her form and she tried to pull herself away.

Anger and dread pooled in her gut at his softly spoken words and evasive statements coupled with a gleam in his eyes that she had seen too many times but had never dreamed to see on her friend's face. "You still haven't told me why you've done this."

"Mmhm, frustrating, isn't it? You see, I saw you disappear Tuesday and it dawned on me that all this time you haven't been sick… for years you've been lying and evading me and now I'm going to get some answers… I think I've been a good enough boyfriend to deserve some answers, don't you think? So, what is the truth? Where have you been and who with? Why have you been lying?"

She let her shoulders sag as much as possible, if she could keep Hojo talking and buy some time, just maybe her knight in not so shiny armor would get her out of this mess, he was due around noon but he was never late.

"Hojo, first, you are not my boyfriend, that was an assumption you and the girls made on my behalf and I was too stupid to protest harder and didn't want to hurt your feelings. Hell, I think today might be the first time you've even used my first name. But I will be clear now, we are not now, we never were, and after this, we never will be, an actual couple. Secondly, you wouldn't believe me if I told you… I wouldn't even believe me. Even so, this is ridiculous, give me my clothes and we can talk like normal people and I'll tell you everything I can."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"I said no, I rather like you like this, you will talk and then I will decide what happens next. And if we get interrupted by that guy, well I have something for him too" he said as he patted the holster she had not noticed before.

Trying to stay calm she started talking. "Ok, ok, look, I haven't been sick all these years, I've been time traveling to 500 years into the past." She looked him in the eye "you said you saw me disappear?" when he nodded she continued "The bone eater's well is the portal I use to go into the past. You know the story of the jewel of four souls?" Again, she waited for a nod "Well Inuyasha and I are trying to track down the pieces of it that were scattered after I accidentally shattered it. Inuyasha is the only person besides myself who can use the well, and before you ask, I don't know why."

"You understand this is a little hard to believe, right?"

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me. But you've met Inuyasha, does he look or act anything like a person who grew up in Japan as we know it now?"

At his incredulous look, she continued. "Look, watch my hands" She concentrated and channeled her purifying powers into her hands. "I'm a miko, not just the traditional ceremony kind but an honest, purifying power kind that has responsibilities in the past that have to be met or our very present could be endangered. Sorry I couldn't let you all know, it's a little far-fetched sounding but I wanted to graduate and I was hoping we would be done by now. Now please let me up."

"No, not yet. Tell me about this Inuyasha, who is he to you?"

"He's my friend and protector and if you don't let me up he's going to kick your ass when he gets here."

"hmm, there's more to it than that, he's the reason you keep leaving me, isn't he? You love him." It was a statement and she didn't answer him. "You said he's your protector, but he's just lost his job, you are mine and I say you are never leaving me again. The way I figure it your powers only work on demons, without your powers you won't be able to go back and what better way to rid you of your powers than to introduce you to the power of the flesh."

She saw the madness glowing in his eyes as his fingers traced the edge of the sheet and started to draw it down the length of her body. She started to shake, a tear sliding down her cheek, but she could feel the tug from the well and knew she wouldn't be alone much longer.

"Hojo, stop, you were my friend, STOP, I don't want this, Inuyasha is going to kill you when he gets here."

"Shut up!" he roared as he wrenched the bra from her chest "He might try, but as I said, I have something for him and he is never going to have you, you are mine."

Suddenly Hojo felt his back slammed against the wall, his body dangling from a vice like grip around his neck. He stared into glowing red eyes as he scrabbled at his neck and for his holster.

"Inuyasha, watch out, he has a gun!" she hollered as she watched the pistol come free then sighed in relief when Hojo fumbled and dropped it, barely a moment later his eyes rolled back and head lolled.

Inuyasha dropped Hojo to the ground unceremoniously and picked up the gun. Looking at it curiously he gripped the muzzle and handle and twisted until it made a crude circle that he sealed around Hojo's wrist like a manacle, a reminder and a warning rolled into one. Then he turned to Kagome and flushed on seeing her trying to free herself from the ropes around her hands. Her movement causing her cleavage and legs to move in interesting ways. He gripped the sheet to cover her and dropped kiss to her brow that made her freeze.

"Stay here, I'm going to get rid of this garbage."

"What, no! Untie me or I'll it you into the ground!" she yelled and resumed trying to escape. He gave a cheeky grin at her frustrated growl and said, "I'll be right back, promise."

In a blur, he was out the window with Hojo slung over his shoulder like a sack. Bounding through the woods behind the shrine and then across the rooftops until he reached the park next to Kagome's old school. In the branches of the tallest tree he finally stopped, propped Hojo against the trunk and slapped him awake.

"The only reason you are not dead right now" he hissed "is because Kagome used to consider you a friend. But this will never happen again. If I ever find out you have been anywhere near her or her family, I will kill you, no questions asked, you won't even see me coming. And your little trinkets…" he lifted Hojo's wrist to bring attention to his new adornment "will do nothing to save you. Do you understand?"

Hojo nodded, his whole body quaked as he scrambled to grip the trunk at his back. Swallowing thickly, he managed to choke out "Who… what are you?"

"She already told you, her protector and friend, I have killed to protect her and I will die to protect her if I must, but we have faced bigger evils than you and you will never go near her again. Now, you can find your own way down." With that Inuyasha raced away across the treetops as Hojo slid down to sit on the branch where he'd been abandoned, his eyes fixed on the rapidly retreating red blur and then the mangled piece of metal around his wrist.

Frustrated she flopped back and decided to wait on Inuyasha, he wouldn't stay away long and she didn't really want to deal with rope burn today. She was going to rip his ears off when she got her hands on him. Who did he think he was distracting her like that then leaving her chained up and at his mercy. What did she have "damsel in distress" plastered on her forehead? She resumed tugging, trying to pull at least one hand free while she waited and tried to build up the anger that was tempered by the fact that he had rescued her… again…

She looked to the clock on her nightstand and watched the minutes tick by. A fifteen-minute eternity later her rescuer returned. He had a pensive look as he took the time to go through the house and look for her family before climbing the stairs and entering her room.

"Kagome, where is your family?" he asked her pointedly as he crossed the room and slid his claw between the rope and her right ankle. He felt her flinch when his skin touched hers and he slit the loop off.

"They went to Hokkaido for the weekend." She answered as she rolled her ankle and waited for him to free her other limbs.

"You knew they would be gone and still came home alone?" The accusation was heavy in his tone.

"No, I didn't know, I found out last night and decided to stay home instead of going back through the well to be yelled at for being in the forest alone at night." She huffed.

"And yet trouble still seemed to find you."

"Not. My. Fault."

Slightly mollified he climbed onto the bed and straddled her lap, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Hmm, I kind of like you immobile and unable to use the sit command" he whispered near her ear.

"That's almost the same thing Hojo said, are you going to keep me chained up too?"

He loomed above her and stared into her eyes as a blush bloomed on her cheeks and flushed down her neck to disappear below the sheet.

"You know I'm the good guy here."

"I know, thank you." Her quiet response was accompanied by a short nod.

His serious stare morphed into a mischievous grin "So…Do I get a reward for rescuing you?"

Swallowing, she licked her lips before whispering "What did you have in mind? As far as I can tell I'm still tr…" he swooped down and kissed her, stealing her words and breath as he plunged his tongue down her throat.

"Mmm, I've wanted to do that for a while now" He rumbled as he lifted himself up to his knees again and reached to release her hands from the ropes. He took the time inspect her wrists, rubbing them gently to soothe the redness where the binds had bit into her skin before turning his gaze back to her dazed expression.

"We need to talk."

"Can I at least get some clothes on first…"

"You can, but like I said, I kind of like you like this." He shifted to lay beside her and slid his left arm under her head while using the right to tuck the sheet under her other side, to secure it more firmly. He felt her relax into him and allowed himself to relax as well. Moments ticked by and he simply breathed in her calming scent and traced his claws lazily up and down her bare arm from wrist to shoulder and back before twining with her fingers and resting at the swell of her hip.

A few more moments passed and she finally broke the silence "What do we need to talk about?"

"Us."

"What about us?"

"I don't think I can let you go…"

Her breath hitched "In what sense do you mean that?"

"I mean that when all this mess with Naraku and the jewel is over, I don't think I will be able to let you go… either you stay home with me or I figure out some way to stay here with you… but either way, I won't let you go… so yes, I guess I will keep you chained if I have to."

"Are you, are you saying what I think you are?"

"I love you."

Twisting in his embrace she stared into his eyes and asked, "What about Kikyo?"

"Kikyo is a memory and I want what is left of her to find peace, to do that we need to get rid of Naraku and the jewel. But Kagome, it's you I want to spend eternity and build a family with, if you'll have me. You accept both my demonic and human sides completely, even when I've doubted myself, you haven't. You can call me back from the edge and stood at my side when even I tried to make you leave. I feel hollow when you are away, but you make me stronger and you make me want to be better and I have never felt about anyone like I do about you… I want you with me Forever and making you my mate will do that, even in the next life our souls will be bound. Will you be my mate Kagome?"

He put a finger to her lips when she parted them to speak. "Before you decide, I can think of a couple practical reasons why this would be for the best… Some of my healing abilities would transfer to you making you stronger and more resilient physically. We will always be able to find the other and know if the other is in danger. And you'd be bound to my life force, which means we could go home, stop using the well and take the long way around to see your family again, no more worrying about the well cooperating."

Her eyes widened "You can do that?"

"Yes, it's one mercy the Kami have given us that want human mates… but it'll only work if both mates want it… and it means you will live to see every human you love pass on."

"That is a long time. Do you… it would kill me if you did this and went back to Kikyo."

"Nothing and no one from heaven, earth or hell, in space or in time, is going to keep me away from you if you accept, ever. I love you, and I'm not letting go."

"I accept."