Yay! Chapter Seven! Sorry again for the lateness and shortness of the last chapter, so I made sure I got this chapter out on time, and it's pretty long too. Hope you enjoy the next chapter of 'Anything but Paradise'!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM OR ANY CHARACTER ASSOCIATED WITH INUYASHA. That all belongs to RUMIKO TAKAHASHI-SAMA. However, the plot and overall story belongs to ME!


Chapter 7: Moonlight Secrets

"Are you sure you can take care of this?"

"Yes, not to worry. He'll be gone before you know it,"

"Okay…he'll be difficult though, won't he?"

"There's nothing I can't do. You worry too much,"

"I know. Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course. See you there,"

"Love you!"

And the line went dead.

Naraku hung up the phone. He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on his desk. Taking a sip of his martini, he reflected on his conversation with Kikyo.

She had told him about Sesshomaru's visit. It must have scared her; he could hear the fear in her voice. She wanted him to take Sesshomaru out. He understood her reasons, but felt she was over-reacting. They would never get caught. At least, he would never get caught. He took another sip of his martini, and then leaned over to push the intercom button on his desk.

"Kanna, get Kagura and Musou on the line," he ordered. Although he knew Kagura and Musou fled Japan, he still kept in touch with them. They were, after all, his incarnations.

"Yes, Master Naraku," Kanna replied quietly. How he loved to be called 'Master'. There was silence for a few moments and then it was interrupted by the phone ringing. He picked it up.

"You called for us Master Naraku?" It was Musou on the other end.

"Yes, I have a task for you," He replied.

"Of course, Master,"

"I want you to do a small search around the area in which you crashed the plane and see if there are any survivors. Kikyo suddenly has a gut feeling InuYasha could still be alive," Naraku explained.

"I highly doubt it. There is no way anyone could've survived a crash like that. Anything else Master?"

"Yes. Tell Kagura I want her to track down Sesshomaru Takahashi, and then take him out. He's proving to be more of a problem then when we first thought," Naraku replied. There was some murmuring on the other end, as Musou relayed the message to Kagura. From what he could hear in the background, she didn't sound too happy.

"We'll be right on it, Master Naraku," was Musou's answer.

"Good," Naraku said, hanging up the phone. He took the last sip of his martini.

It felt good to be powerful.


Musou hung up the phone in their motel room outside of Sydney, Australia. He looked over at his sister, Kagura, whose red eyes were flaring with anger. He sighed and sprawled across the bed.

"What is Naraku thinking?" she hissed, "Sending me to take down Sesshomaru? Typical! Naraku is too much of a coward to take down people stronger than him, especially full-blooded demons like Sesshomaru!"

Musou tuned out Kagura's angry rant. She really seemed to hate Naraku…but then again, he did have a hold of her heart, which he would crush for punishment or simply for his own pleasure. But did she have to complain about it everyday?

But he had to admit to himself, going after Sesshomaru was dangerous. No doubt he already had people out finding out what happened to his half-brother. Although Kagura was strong, she certainly was no match for Sesshomaru. Not even Naraku would have a chance against him.

He sighed, and decided to just wait and see how everything would fold out.


"Are you sure you can take care of this?"

"Yes, not to worry. He'll be gone before you know it,"

"Okay…he'll be difficult though, won't he?"

"There's nothing I can't do. You worry too much,"

"I know. Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course. See you there,"

"Love you!"

Bankotsu re-read Kikyo's latest phone conversation. Certainly suspicious enough, seeming she was conspiring to kill Sesshomaru. All her phone records and emails were constant; suspicious planning and the same contact.

He had gone through her phone records and transcripts for the past six months, and Jakotsu took over reading her emails. She seemed to keep in touch with one person in that time: a man named Naraku.

He picked up the phone and dialed Sesshomaru's contact number.

"What have you come across so far?"

"Quite a bit, actually. Turns out Kikyo's been planning to get rid of InuYasha for almost six months. Pretty accurate plans, too. Ashamed that they've just been exposed…"

"Get on with it. Is she working with anyone?"

"Yeah, a guy named Naraku. Jakotsu and I did a search on him, and there's nothing. Zip. Zero. It's like this Naraku guy doesn't exist. But Jakotsu is going to Kikyo's new mansion to set up video recording devices so we can get a look at this guy's face," Bankotsu explained.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, now they're planning to kill you," he responded, his tone dripping with amusement.

"That's no surprise. Call me when you get more information," and with that, Sesshomaru hung up his end of the line. Bankotsu did the same.

"Geeze, not even a 'good job' or 'keep up the good work'," Bankotsu said to no one in particular. He sighed. "I guess that's all we can expect from Sesshomaru, but hey, we're getting paid nicely aren't we?"

He smiled, and went back to work.


Damn…I forgot that it was tonight…

InuYasha punched the nearest palm tree, causing some coconuts to fall down. Being unlucky today, one fell and hit InuYasha right on the head.

"Shit!" he yelled, massaging his head, then attacking the coconut which so dared as hitting him on the head. After smashing it to pieces, he kicked whatever remained of it in the sand. He plumped to the ground in frustration, still holding his head. The only part that really throbbed slightly was the cut that Kagome had cleaned only a week ago.

That night seemed ages ago. That was the same night Kagome learned about him being a hanyou…and not caring at all. She treated him like she would anyone else. He and Kagome didn't fight nearly as often anymore, so they must be friends now, he thought. His ears twitched as he heard someone walking towards him. His nose told him it was Kagome. She sat down beside him.

"Hey InuYasha, are you okay? I saw what you did to that poor coconut…" she said, obvious she was trying to hold in her laughter.

"I'm fine," he said sharply, turning his head away from her. He didn't want her to know.

"No need to be cranky. Geeze, did that coconut knock some sense out of you or something?" she asked, her tone mixing with anger, amusement and even a twinge of hurt. But InuYasha, being filled with unnecessary pride, did not take notice to any other emotion but 'amusement'.

"If you just came here to laugh at me then GO AWAY," he yelled.

"You can be such an asshole!" she yelled back!

"Jerk!"

"Dumbass!"

"Bitch!"

"Fine! You want me to leave you alone, then I WILL!" she shouted. She stormed off back towards the airplane.

So much for 'friends'.


The night neared, and Kagome was still not talking to InuYasha. A part of him wanted to apologize, but his pride (being the strongest part of his body) would not allow it. She was making fun of him. But then again, he did attack a coconut. He stroked the bandages which covered his cut. He thought of that night again…

Damn! Why do I keep thinking of her? Could it have something to do with…?

His thoughts were cut off by the sound (and scent of Kagome) approaching again. She down next to him, but he turned away.

"Suppose you're here to laugh at me again?" he asked stubbornly.

"No," she responded quietly, "I came to apologize," He stiffened in shock. She was apologizing to him?

"I shouldn't have really made fun of you like that. So I'm sorry. But you also seemed pretty upset about something. Is something bothering you today?" she asked; his back was still turned to her.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it," he answered quietly, "and by the way, I'm sorry too," There goes a chunk of his pride. He heard Kagome taking in a quick breath out of realization that he just apologized to her. She smiled.

"Thanks, InuYasha," she said. She got up onto her knees. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Goodnight, InuYasha," she said, giving him a small hug from behind. She then stood up and left.

He felt his cheeks turning redder by the second. Did she do what he thought she just did? Although the embrace was short, he still felt a warm feeling inside of him, like nothing he ever felt before.

Sure, he had been held by Kikyo many times, but she didn't seem to give off the same energy, the same warmth that Kagome did. Her smile brought more joy than Kikyo's ever did.

What was this feeling?

The sun began to set. He could feel himself changing. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

It's going to be another damned long night…


Kagome opened her eyes. She just had the strangest dream, that someone who looked like her was being embraced by InuYasha, yet held a dagger behind her back…

She sat up, noticing it was still dark out. The dream had unnerved her slightly, so she peeked around the curtain dividing the female/male sleeping quarters to make sure everything was alright. Well it would be, only…

…InuYasha wasn't there.

She decided to get up and investigate. The only sounds she could hear were the ocean's waves, the rustling of the trees in the wind and the small crackling of the fire…but otherwise…silence.

She looked around the fire, and no one was there. She looked around the plane, but no one was there either. She wondered if maybe he was still in the same spot where she hugged him earlier…

Thinking about it made her blush. She had no idea where the impulse came from, but it felt so right to do so. Although InuYasha seemed like a jerk most of the time, he could actually be pretty sweet.

She arrived to her destination, seeing the silhouette of InuYasha's figure lying on the ground. She sighed in relief. He seemed to be sleeping, so Kagome decided to wake him up so he wouldn't catch a cold outside. She shook him lightly.

"InuYasha…" she whispered. He jolted straight up, knocking Kagome over. When she looked up she noticed he was in a defensive stance…but his hair…and eye colour…were…different?

"What do you think you're doing here!" he hissed through his teeth. Kagome couldn't find the words.

He had changed. His once silver hair was now dark ebony, and his eyes were now a brownish-violet colour.

"InuYasha…you're hair…it's…it's…?" was all she managed to say. He slumped back down to the ground in defeat.

"No use hiding it. You've already seen me…might as well explain," he said. He sighed angrily.

"You know how I'm a half-demon right? Well, my other half is human. While our demon half is pretty strong, our human half is, well, human. So there are certain times of were our human blood takes over and were left to be a weak human for a while. My time is during the night of the new moon. It's only temporary. I'll be back to a hanyou by tomorrow morning," InuYasha explained. Kagome sat and took it all in.

"So that's why you were so touchy today! If it was upsetting you so much, you could have told me you know!" Kagome said.

"Feh," was his response. "I don't make it publicly known that I have a weakness. Only two other people know, and that's my half brother Sesshomaru, and Miroku," he added. He glanced at her. She seemed upset. Wait…was she crying? He turned to face her completely. Not exactly crying…yet.

"I know we don't get along in the greatest way, but I thought we were still sort of friends. Don't you trust me even in the slightest?" she asked. He noticed the tears border lining the rims of her eyes.

"Aw, come on! Don't cry! I'm just not used to people knowing about my secret…please don't take it so personally…" he tried to say. Why did women have to be so complicated?

She sniffed, looking directly into his eyes. She looked sad, but her eyes glinted with understanding.

"Okay…" she said quietly. "How about we go sit by the fire. You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here too long," she asked. Reluctantly, he agreed.

Once they say down by the fire, she got a better look at the now human InuYasha. She noticed his eyes were more violet than brown, but he still looked as handsome as he did when he was a half-demon.

Stop thinking things like that, Kagome! She thought to herself. She glanced over and noticed his bandaged cut.

"I think I should look at your cut and see if it needs some new dressings," she said, leaning closer, beginning to undo the bandage on his head.

InuYasha blushed at the sudden closeness between the two. He inhaled, catching Kagome's scent. She smelled really nice…

He jumped slightly when she gently pushed his hair away from the cut to get a better look at it. Kikyo was never so gentle like Kagome was…let alone this caring. He felt slightly disappointed when she removed her hands and moved back. He noticed she was smiling…what a beautiful smile she had…

"It looks all better now!" she said happily. He gave a slight smile in return.

"It's all thanks to you, Kagome," he replied. She shrugged.

"No problem," she answered back.

He smiled inwardly. What was this feeling inside of him? There was something about Kagome that made him at peace…

He felt his eyes dropping slightly. He was very tired. He yawned. He forced his eyes open and noticed that Kagome was leaning against one of the airplane chairs, staring at the fire. She looked beautiful like this. Sleep was overcoming him fast.

"Kagome?" he said quietly. She looked over to him.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"May I please lie on your lap?" he found himself saying. Must be the drowsiness. Kagome blushed.

"S-sure," she answered.

Kagome felt really warm. He closed his eyes. She started stroking his head softly as sleep started taking over her too. No one had been so gentle with him before. He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent.

"You know Kagome? You smell really nice…" he said, finally falling asleep.

Kagome blushed harder, but continued stroking his head softly. She found herself smiling at the sleeping hanyou, and then she began to drift to sleep herself.

InuYasha...I think I just might be falling for you…

With that final thought, she fell asleep.

Both dreamt of each other that night.


There it is! Please REVIEW!

Shout-outs

animearlinefreak: Thanks for liking my story!