Disclaimer: Friendly reminder that I still don't own these characters. Also, I may have taken some creative liberties with Kagome's Miko powers, ( and TVD vampire lore in general) but this is all very tame compared to some of the things I've seen her so in fanfics before. And it's all in good fun, anyway, like all fanfiction should be. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

"I would think you three of all people should know that appearances can be very deceiving, wouldn't you agree?"

The tension in the room swirled thick and heavy as they all processed just what exactly she could mean by those particular words spoken in that particular order. Kagome couldn't help but relish it for just one sweet second. This invitation HAD been an effort to pick apart her motives, if she could have a little fun and clear her name with them at the same time, then why not? Elena seemed to be the one to come to the right conclusion first.

"You... you know... you know that we're... "

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't have any idea what you are, I just know you aren't completely human."

"How?"

"I guess I'm not completely human either. Look, I know what this dinner invitation was mostly about. You want to know why I moved here and you want to know that I'm not here to cause you all any trouble. An inordinate number of non humans and beings of magical nature seem to congregate to this particular town. I'm going to guess that many of them like to wreak havoc once they get here. I can sense them, I know who they are. I sense souls and read auras and purify evil. I'm a miko, a Shinto priestess. I've been sent here to keep trouble from happening, not cause it. That's my job. And in case you were wondering, no, Shippo is not human. Neither are Inuyasha or Koga, though Inuyasha is technically half human. Kikyo is human but she rarely leaves the house so I don't think she counts anyway. So, any more questions?"

Damon stared intently at Kagome as she gave her spiel about herself and how she knew that they weren't exactly as human as they she knew they were something "other." Something about that bugged him. Most people wouldn't just agree to be alone with a bunch of strangers if they had any suspicions that they weren't completely normal.

"If you knew we weren't humans, then why did you agree to come here alone. You aren't afraid we might try to hurt you?" Even asking that out of pure curiosity caused an uncomfortable twist in his heart. The thought of hurting her for any reason was already completely unfathomable to him.

"Damon, there is one supernatural being on this entire planet who poses me any real threat, and I call him brother. My abilities as a miko leave me perfectly capable of defending myself against anyone with a magic soul, even if the nature of that soul is such that I can only incapacitate them for a while. For instance, Inuyasha is half human. If I needed to, my powers could strip him of his magical aura and render him totally human for a short period of time. Fortunately or unfortunately, my power is useless against normal humans. And in any case, I can read the intent in a person's soul, and I can tell none of you mean me any harm. You're all pretty swell."

"Wow," Elena breathed in wonder. "I didn't think we had souls anymore." Kagome tilted her head in confusion. Damon had to remind himself that she didn't know what they were yet, that they'd all technically died to become this way.

"Why wouldn't you have a soul? If you didn't have one, I wouldn't be able to sense you at all, but I can. Would you like to know what it looks like?" Elena appeared almost ready to cry. She shook her head eagerly and Kagome obliged her with a type of soul reading he'd never heard before.

"It's yellow, soft and bright. There's a dark core, that's probably your nature as a... whatever you are, but it's very strong and warm. It's lovely." She smiled kindly and reached out to cover Elena's hand with her own, a reassuring gesture to the girl who was obviously struggling with how to process that she wasn't the soulless monster that she must have thought she was now. Damon resisted the urge to roll his eyes; Stefan must also just love the sound of this.

"What do you mean 'dark core' and that it must be our nature?"

"Just that some beings have an innately darker soul than others, Stefan. It doesn't mean you're evil or anything, just that you may have a pension for violence or trickery or even bloodlust to a degree. Youkai are that way, that's what Shippo, Koga and Inuyasha are. There's a naturally darker aspect to them that leaves them more prone to bloodlust or mercilessness. A youkai is more apt to completely destroy someone they find to be a threat, and feel little to no remorse for it. As opposed to humans, who are, usually, more apt to give someone a second or third chance, even if that's not always the best idea. Anyone from any species is capable of good or evil though. I've met some vile youkai that I had no problems turning to ash. But I've met some that were better people than any human, darkness in their soul or not."

"Well that's a pretty damn accurate description of what we are," Damon replied, taking everything she said in stride. She was a pretty unique woman, that was for sure. He smirked at her and reveled in the fact that she couldn't stop her cheeks from pinking when she looked at him.

"Aren't you curious?"

"Well sure! But I'm not going to make you tell me what you are if you don't want to. This food is delicious by the way, Elena." Her ease and casualness about the whole thing was very contagious, at least where Damon was concerned. He'd tell her right now if it was up to him. But in an effort to be more considerate, which is something he wanted to be more of, he asked the others first.

"Shall we then guys?"

"Well, I suppose." Came Elena's nervous reply, and Stefan just shrugged and nodded, finally satisfied that this woman was not going to cause his loved ones any harm.

"Alright then. Kagome, oh wise priestess. We, my friend, are vampires." He smiled a wide, devious smile, though inside he feared she might decide that that was too much for her. That she would leave them, leave him, and never look back. Instead she surprised him again by smacking both hands on the table and excitedly babbling away how wonderful she seemed to find the whole thing.

"NO WAY! Vampires?! That's so cool! I've never met a vampire! I didn't even know those existed! Wow no wonder you guys feel mostly human, you were born human, weren't you?"

Something that had been bound tightly inside Damon released after he knew she wasn't about to turn tail and leave. It didn't make much sense why he felt such a need for this girl to accept him, to not fear him, but he wasn't going to question it. He liked how he felt when he was with her, and after feeling worse than he ever remembered feeling these last few weeks, he wasn't about to push away anything that made him feel like this simply because he didn't understand it. He'd lived too damn long to be THAT stupid.

Stefan watched his brother smile indulgently at the excited girl sitting across from him at the table. It had been a very long time since he'd seen such a peaceful look on Damon's face, and it warmed his heart. He and his brother might have a troubled, rocky past, but Damon had been trying to turn over a new leaf for a while now. Stefan could tell he was lonely, and losing Elena had been hard on him. He wasn't sure what, if anything, might be going on between this Kagome and his brother, but he hoped it would bring Damon some happiness. Besides, moody Damon was the worst Damon if you asked him.

"So," he interrupted Kagome's stream of excitement with a question of his own, "what are these 'youkai' you said your friends are? I don't think I've ever heard of them."

"Oh I'm sure you have, you just don't know it. Ever heard of a nine tailed fox? That's a type of youkai called a kitsune. Shippo is a Kitsune, though a very very young one. He only has two tails right now. Inuyasha is half inuyoukai, or dog, and Koga is ookami, or wolf."

"Oh, so like a werewolf?"

"No, and don't ever let him hear you say that either." She warned, and then giggled, covering her hand with her mouth until she caught her breath.

"On second thought, go ahead and ask him, he's pretty funny when he's that insulted."

Stefan laughed at her little joke, finally feeling at ease in her presence. He liked this girl. She was sharp, and brave, and if she could read souls as well as she seemed too, she would be an asset to have around to help curb some of the danger that found its way here. Yes, she'd be good for his brother. He needed someone who had the ability to look through all the vampire drama and see him. He'd have to call Caroline, she loved this matchmaking stuff.

-1-

"I've had such a lovely time, Elena, thank you! But I really should go, it's getting dark, and I walked here."

"I'll walk you home." Damon was taking a chance and he knew it, but he wasn't ready to part from Kagome just yet. He'd made his offer out of pure desire to be next to her for a while longer, and he was risking that she might not be comfortable being alone with him yet.

"Oh, are you sure? You don't have to. I would really appreciate it though, Damon." She was smiling shyly at him, her cheeks dusted pink and her eyes shimmering and Damon was in trouble.

"I don't mind." He ignored Elena's confusion at Stefan's knowing smirk and walked out the front door with her. It was a beautiful, clear night. The sky sparkled with a million stars and the air was crisp and he couldn't have picked a better atmosphere if he tried. He stuck his hands in his pockets and let her lead the way, admiring how the starlight shimmered in her raven hair.

"So I have a ton of questions."

"I figured you might. Go ahead, ask away. I am your resident vampire expert, a walking encyclopedia, at your service."

She giggled at his antics and bumped her shoulder against him.

"You're stupid. Alright, sorry if this is offensive."

"There's very little that could offend me at this point, I assure you."

"I'm sure. Alright then, do you really have to drink blood?"

"Yes. Obviously I can eat other food, as you saw tonight, but blood is the only thing that's actually nutritious for me now."

"Do you drink human blood?"

"I... I used too."

"But you don't anymore?"

"No. I guess you could call me a vampire vegetarian now. I just drink animal blood."

"You and I have very different definitions of vegetarian, Damon, that's for sure." He laughed out right at her and felt a lightness in his soul that was completely unusual for him. She knew he used to feed off humans, and she was still joking with him, trusting him with her safety and well being. Had he ever felt so warm?

"What does it taste like?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Human blood. What does it taste like? To you, I mean. To me it just tastes metallic."

"Oh? You drink a lot of blood then?"

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

"It tastes like... lightening. It's invigorating, addicting. It's easy to lose yourself to it. Animal blood is nowhere near as good, but it works all the same."

"Why'd you give it up? You don't have to kill people to drink from them do you?"

"Just trying to be better than I used to be, I guess. And no, you don't have to kill them. You can compel someone into letting you feed off of them. Then you compel them to forget and they go on their merry way."

"Compel?"

"It's a particular power all vampires have. We can... hypnotize someone into doing what we want. There are ways to protect yourself, vervain for instance."

"That must be what Stefan was trying to do to me at the store the other day... my own powers keep me from being susceptible to such manipulation, so it didn't work of course. It was very weird though."

"Yes, he was very upset by that by the way. I got to listen to him whine about it the rest of the afternoon." Her tinkling laugh reached his ears and he relished it. Making her laugh might be his new favorite thing.

"Sorry about that. Now, back to my questions. Can you turn into a bat?"

"Okay I was wrong. Now I'm insulted." She was overcome by a fit of giggles and she threw her head back and grasped his sleeve to steady herself. Damon was thoroughly enchanted.

"I'll take that as a no then!"

"Indeed. I can see myself in mirrors too, before you go down THAT road. However, I can't come into your house unless you specifically tell me that I can."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'll be stopped at the threshold until you verbally tell me to enter."

"That's kind of weird. I'd rather turn into a bat." It was his turn to throw his head back and laugh. She continued to surprise him, continued to delight him. He was absolutely in trouble.

"Would you like to know what your soul looks like?"

This question sobered him. Did he want to know? Did it matter? He'd resigned himself to not even having a soul. To being the monster that everyone else seemed to see when they looked at him. The earnest look in her eyes was the answer he needed. He wanted to know how she saw him.

"Yeah. Yeah I do." Her eyes briefly lost focus as they trailed over him, then they sharpened again and smiled brilliantly up at him, making him feel safe and exposed at the same time.

"It's blue. It shimmers, like a summer day. It's so bright. You have the same dark core Elena has, that's your vampyness. It's beautiful."

Her sincerity shattered something within him that he didn't know was there, a wall he didn't remember building. It exposed a part of his heart he'd thought was long dead. They'd reached her house. It was time to say goodnight. He wanted to stall. He reached up and brushed a stray hair out of her face and behind her ear. She blushed and he just managed to not kiss the life out of her.

"I want to see you again."

"Okay."

Her answer was simple, but there was no hesitation at all.

"Tomorrow." He clarified, he wanted no misunderstandings, he didn't want to dance around this with her, no games.

"Yes. You can buy me coffee."

He smirked. Well if he could play the straightforward game then so could she, he supposed.

"Alright then. 10?"

"Perfect."

"Goodnight Kagome." He leaned forward slowly, allowing her time to back away, to deny him. But she held firm, meeting his eyes with a curious mix of confidence and shyness and it made him feel fuzzy inside. He brushed his lips against her cheek and then smiled warmly at her. Turning and walking away was more difficult than he could remember anything else ever being, but the sooner he left, the sooner he could see her again.

Shippo had heard the approaching voices of his mother and some male he couldn't place. He dashed to the window and peeked out of the blinds, and the sight that met his eyes brought a smile to his face.

"Mom's home! And she brought a guy!"

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha and Koga shouted in unison and scrambled to the window to spy along with Shippo. They could hear every word that was being said, and Inuyasha resisted the urge to gag as he listened to Kagome tell this loser how beautiful his soul was.

"What a bunch of sappy shit."

"Shut up Inuyasha, you're just jealous."

"FEH!"

"Well I'm jealous, she's supposed to be MY woman!"

"Koga, mom had never been your woman."

"Well not yet, but I'll wear her down one day!"

"Fat chance you flea bitten bastard, you don't have a chance in-

"Just WHAT do you Baka's think you're doing at that window?!"

Matching looks of horror dawned on all of their faces as they realized their bickering had kept them from hearing her enter the house. They gulped in fear before using every ounce of their demon speed to hightail it to their bedrooms, locking their doors to keep out the fiery wrath of Kagome's temper. They were NOT ready to die, not today.

A.N.: TEEHEE. This chapter just would not quit.