Author's Note: For those of you who have read "I Hated Him," this is the story behind will be mostly in InuYasha's POV as the first one was in Kagome's POV. If that doesn't work out, then it will most likely be in 3rd person. Well, until then, ENJOY YO!

Prelude

Vows

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed a very red faced, white haired teenage boy. He stood stock still, as if shocked into paralysis, gaping in pure disbelief at the outfit that had just been presented to him.

"What's wrong with it?" huffed the young, raven haired girl who was holding the outfit in her hands. She studied his flushed face as well as the look of great distaste that painted his handsome features. Her piercing, hazelnut gaze bore into him, but true to his overly stubborn nature, he just snorted as he crossed his arms across his toned, broad chest; his white mane of unkempt hair swished around his shoulders as he turned his head from her gaze. His white ears, which very much resembled those of a dog's, twitched as he heard her sigh heavily.

"It's ugly…and weird. I mean, what is this and what are these?" he said as he turned back towards her and plucked at the pieces of the ensemble she had put together for him; her fingers dug into the cloth as he resumed his usual whining and her patience grew thinner and thinner with every word he uttered. His clawed fingers brushed against the smooth, pallid skin of her hand and her paper thin patience vanished as a shiver ran through the length of her body; a light pink blush began to powder her cheeks so she quickly hid her face behind the clothing she held in her slightly trembling grip. Peeking around at it, she marveled at his weather tanned skin; his beautifully glowing honey eyes; the tangled mess of white that sat atop his head and his battle hardened, yet still tantalizing face stirred in her familiar feelings of longing and of undying devotion. Her eyes wandered down the rest of him and her blush turned to a vermillion rush of color as she remembered how she had stumbled upon him and Miroku bathing in a hot spring. She had seen him reclining against the smooth surface of the spring's rocks and the image of his battle scarred yet flat and toned chest, strong, lean arms and how the steam from the water made him appear as some sort of vapory fantasy was forever imprinted on her brain. She had stood there until he turned his head and looked dead at her; even though she was hidden by both the thick trunk of a tree and a thicket of bushes, she could have sworn he had known she was there. She fled when he turned his head back towards Miroku. She had never breathed a word of it to anyone, not even to Sango, but on occasion he would look at her and a wispy smile would appear and she knew, deep in the corner of her mind where she kept that incident filed, that he had known all along.

Not seeming to notice, the young boy continued to meticulously pick apart his outfit, not being shy in voicing his distaste at every piece he disliked; which was pretty much the entire garb.

"Well you're the one who wants to follow me through school. You can't expect me to bring you there looking like…like you're dressed for an early Halloween! People in my time have never seen a hanyuo, they've only heard about them in stories and brief mentions in books. If you want to come, you'll put this on, one way or another," the ebony locked, chestnut eyed girl said, a hint of anger and a dash of a threat seasoning her words. The young hanyuo just narrowed his golden eyes and sneered, exposing a bleached white fang. A mocking challenge seeped into his voice as he boldly stood up straight and turned his back on her.

"Oh yeah? How do plan on making me, one way or another?" but as the words left his lips, his brain managed to finally catch up and he reflexively grasped at the purple beaded and fang charmed necklace that hung around his neck. Panic flooded his blood and mind as he spun around as she opened her mouth to utter the one word which could cause the noble and arrogant hanyuo to gravel.

"Wait! OK, OK, I'll put the damned things on," he cried, clamping a hand over her mouth before a single syllable could be uttered. He let go of her mouth when she nodded and began to lick the palm of his hand; he muttered curses under his breath as he wiped his saliva covered hand on his pants. A look of gratified triumph covered her face as a smile broke the anger and a glitter of her old, enthusiastically happy self lit up her eyes. In that moment, he was mesmerized by her beauty; it was times like these that he found himself drifting away, lost in toffee seas. She was truly more beautiful than any woman he had even known, even Kikyo; that much he could no longer deny. He still felt an obligation to the long dead, yet living priestess who had stolen his heart so many decades ago. His love for her had diminished nearly entirely as Kagome now occupied his heart fully; yet he could not let Kikyo go. A very audible throat clear broke him from his trance; he quickly refocused on Kagome's face and immediately noticed the blush powdering her fair cheeks. Feeling a blush of his own beginning to form, he quickly snatched up the clothing now lying on her bed and stalked towards the bathroom.

"Do you need any help putting any of it on?" Kagome's voice said softly from the other side of the door. He could not help it as his face flushed a light red at the thought of having Kagome in the bathroom with him as he got undressed. He shook the arousing image from his head and rolled his eyes as he slipped out of his usual outfit that consisted of his fire-rat skin kamon and fumbled with the pieces in his new look.

"I'm sure I can figure it out," he answered as he slipped into each new piece, only to have to strip them off again to either turn them around or right side out.

"If you say so InuYasha," Kagome said, a giggle bubbling under her words. Although he knew that he should be aggravated at her suggestion that he could not even get dressed on his own, the combination of the images that now played through his mind and the fact that her voice always had the power to sooth him, he could not help but to feel at ease.

He yearned to hold her in his arms and whisper to her everything his heart was bursting to say, but his pride and insecurities at being a half-breed stopped him cold each time. Even though he knew that she did not care that he was half human or half demon, he felt as if she would love him better if he were more powerful; he could protect her better and give her everything he could not know if he was a full fledged demon. He heard her humming to herself as she waited for him to finish and a smile of deep rooted sadness crept onto his still features.

"I will always be there for you Kagome. I will protect you at all costs, I will not loose you, I can't loose you," he silently vowed as he fitted himself with the last piece of his outfit, a black cap with the bill shadowing his features so that only his mouth was visible under the darkness it cast, and nodded to his reflection. He would protect her forever, at all costs; even his own.