Okay, I know that there isn't much to this chapter...but the next one is going to be super special, and I just wanted all the specialness to be in that chapter, so this one had to stop there. Sorry, but I'll get the next one up soon! Also, thank you to ALL of my readers, even to the ones who don't favorite, subscribe, or review. I still think you all are awesome, just for checking it out ^_^ I was also pleased to see that alot of the people who read this story are from many different countries! Not only from my native U.S.A, but from all over the world in the Phillipeans, the Carribean, many countries in Europe, including Finland(which happens to be one of my favorite places in the world, I want to go there so bad)! So I just wanted to use this beginning note as a giant thank you :] Yet this doesn't even touch the surface of how much I appreciate you all, much love to everyone! Also, I don't own Inuyasha or anything affiliated; the only things I own are this plot and story line, my original characters, and my hillbilly =B later players!

If there was a law that said you couldn't get up before the sun rises, then today Kagome would have been charged severely. It was probably close to four in the morning, but she was completly rested and ready to go for the morning. In fact, she needed to burn off some of her extra energy she had. Crawling out of bed she searched through her desk and found a quill, ink, and some paper. Quickly as she could she scrawled out a little note to Kimiko for when she woke up.

Leaving the note on the small table next to the side of the bed Kagome tip-toed to her closet and put on a clean fighting outfit. It was similar to the demon slayer's fighting outfit, but instead of having pink trim it had light blue and a silver moon on the back. She didn't know if she should be wearing something with the house crest on it, but decided that her hair would be covering it anyways.

She snuck out the door and made her way past Touga's door as quietly as she could before sprinting down towards the stairs. When she got there she hung onto the banister and swung herself onto the next floor down. She then sniffed her way to where she knew Inuyasha's room was. It wasn't hard to find, as it was already drenched with his scent. While walking down the hallway she had noticed that each of her friend's had their own room to theirselves.

Deciding that she needed to stay focused she tried to open the hanyou's door, but it was locked. Extending her claws she poked her index finger into the lock hole she turned and twisted it until she heard a small click. Kagome opened the door and slid over to the hanyou's bed. He looked so calm and peaceful when he was asleep, not pretending, but actually dead asleep.

"Inuyasha." She whispered into his ear and then covered his mouth with her left hand as his eyes shot open. If she hadn't surely he would have yelled and woken the whole palace up. She then saw him calm down slightly and she put a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet.

"What the hell do you want? It's the middle of the fucking night!" He said in a harsh whisper. She just rolled her eyes and took a hold of his sheet and pulled it out from under him, dropping him to the floor in an instant.

"We're sparring, come on." She noticed he had a look on his face that said 'Yeah right, I'm staying right here. Leave me alone, wench.' Bad move. "You lazy pile of shit! You owe me this! You've treated me so bad in the past few days that I get mad even thinking about it! So I suggest you just shut that damn hole in your mouth and follow me, if you know what's good for you." She whispered through clenched teeth.

He rolled his eyes at her and attempted to pull himself up. Too late. Kagome grabbed him up by the collar of his haori and pulled him to his feet and motioned him to follow her. Deciding that if he didn't he would be in deeper trouble than he already was, he followed her being completely silent. The duo made it to the staircase and she threw him over her shoulder and then made a small rectangular barrier under her feet and jumped off the side of the railing. She could practically see Inuyasha's face, and she wished that she had, it would be priceless.

Just as she was about to his the ground the barrier prevented her from doing so. She stepped off of it and it dissapeared into thin air and she dropped Inuyasha to the floor on his butt. She heard him growl a little bit and thwapped him on the head. After that he shut up and began trailing her to the dojo that was located outside the palace.

"Why are we sparring anyways? It's not even dawn yet!" Inuyasha complained as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Because I'm wide awake and I need to get rid of some of this damn energy."

"Well why didn't you get someone else to do it with you? Someone awake?"

"You're the only one that I know I can beat on without getting myself killed or having to submit." Kagome answered and heard him give a low growl. She led him to the main door and stepped aside so that he could open it. He begrudgingly opened the door and let her slip outside before he followed her and shut the gigantic door behind him as quietly as he could manage. They walked behind the huge fortress and found a large dojo behind it.

"Come on, I'm ready to play Yasha!" She said and grabbed his hand before rushing inside. He just shook his hand from her and grabbed a wooden sword.

"Then let's play. I'll teach you how to defend yourself with a sword, it's not like I have anything better to do." Inuyasha muttered the ending and tossed her a matching sword, which she caught with ease.

He began showing her the basics at first, about the proper stance and a few techniques. She was actually impressed, he knew more about swordsmanship than he let on. After at least a half an hour they began to do some sparring, nothing too serious, just practicing. But eventually things started becoming more and more intense.

"At least I know I'm still better than you at something." Inuyasha told her with a smirk as he blocked a shot to his left arm.

"Not for long!" She told him and they began going at demonic speed. If they didn't have increased sences, they wouldn't even be able to tell where the other one was. This went on until the sun started to rise and the dojo was being lit by the sun and not the torches that lined the walls.

"Stupid human turned demon!"

"Stupid half breed!"

The two said one right after the other and then they swung their wooden swords at the other and locked them right in between the sparrers. It was a battle of wills, whoever dropped their sword first had a lesser will. It also meant that they had less endurance and strength, something neither wanted to admit.

With a loud crack both of their swords snapped in half where they met. The two fell into each other with Kagome landing on top of Inuyasha when they fell onto the ground. She opened her eyes with a groan and looked down into the eyes of the hanyou below her.

"I'm sorry Kagome, for everything..." He told her and averted his eyes from her intense gaze. Despite what he told others as well as himself, he was ashamed of his behavior. She rolled off of him and sat up.

"I'm sorry too. You made some mistakes and I took all of my anger and frustration out on you. It wasn't right of me, and I'm going to make it up, I swear!" She said as her eyes began to tear up.

Inuyasha just sat up, propping himself up with his shaking arms, and looked at her like she was insane. He had abandoned her, humiliated her, and even tried to kill her. And she was apologizing?

"You don't need to make anything up to me Kagome. You're my best friend. It was wrong of me to do everything that I did. Can you forgive me?" He asked her and brought her into his arms. Kagome hugged him tightly and cried silently into his shirt.

"Of corse I forgive you, I missed you so much Inuyasha! I don't ever want to get into a fight again!" She said as she let him go and wiped off all of her tears. He just smiled at her and agreed before he got up and helped her to her feet.

"Go inside and get cleaned up, then maybe you'll join me in my room for breakfast?" He asked her, trying to make things right between them. She smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that." She said and walked out of the dojo, still sniffling.

D*I*F*F*E*R*E*N*T

Kagome stripped out of her dirty clothes and slowly entered the warm water of the hot springs. She knew there was a possibility that Touga might walk in on her again, but this time she was prepared. Her soap, towel, and clothes were all within arms reach. Nevertheless, she tried to wash all the grime off of her quickly. She dunked her head in the warm water to drench her locks, then came back up to caress them with soft smelling soaps.

"If only ever day could be as perfect as these past few days have been." She thought to herself. Okay, so maybe there had been a few difficulties and challenges, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She massaged herself with the sweet liquid until it bubbled up and then submerged herself, getting rid of the suds. She emerged from the water and dried off with her towel and put on a bright blue mini kimono on and ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to untangle it some before she got back to her room. Kagome grabbed her dirty clothes and her wet towel and left the hot springs room and made her way back to her bedroom.

Upon arriving back she noticed that Kimiko was no longer there, she must have gone down to eat breakfast with everybody else. She went through her hair with a brush after putting the clothing and towel in a basket. It was long and very shiny, and actually dried out quickly.

"I swear, there is no downside to being a demon." She mused and giggled to herself as she walked by the door that connected to Touga's room, and she heard something from inside. Was that, snoring?

"I can't believe that he's still asleep!" She said, astounded. "Well, if he's still asleep when I get back from breakfast, I'll attempt to wake him up. Since I'm now officialy making myself the sleeping police."

So she left her room and walked to the staircase in peaceful silence. When she got to the staircase she decided it would be good for her to walk, so she did. In fact, she walked all the way down those steps to the floor below her own, and then made her way to what she remembered as Inuyasha's room. When she got to the wooden door she knocked.

"Come in." Was the muffled response she got, the doors kept sound from going in or out very well it seemed. Kagome turned the knob and pushed the door in, walking into the room she had neglected to take a look at earlier this morning. It was gorgeous to say the least, not to mention gigantic. It was nearly the size of her own bedroom and almost the same style, only his was clad in black and red.

"Nice digs." She said and sat down on a black cushion across from her friend. In between them was a tea tray filled with morning foods and drinks.

"Kagome, your face!" Inuyasha said and pointed at it. Kagome became worried, what was wrong with her face?

"What? Give me a mirror!" She said and touched her face to make sure that it was mangled in some way. She didn't feel anything different.

Inuyasha scrambled to a desk and swung open a droor. He began stiffling through it, eventually pulling out a small mirror. He ran back and gave it to her, but by this time she was really freaked out. What if something horrible had happened to it?! But wouldn't she have noticed? It was all so confusing, did she really want to know?

Kagome lifted the mirror up to her face and gasped at what she saw. She had markings! Actual demonic markings! And they were the coolest things ever, as her hippie aunt would say, 'they were the cat's meow!' There was a light blue stripe across each of her cheeks, and they were gorgeous.

"When the heck did you get those?" Inuyasha asked taking the mirror back to keep her from gawking at herself. Kagome just shrugged.

"I don't have a clue, they must have just shown up since you didn't see them earlier." She said and felt them, they were so soft, almost like silk. The two stripes were also ice cold, but only to the touch. Her face didn't feel cold in the least.

"That's kinda weird, but they're cool. Can I feel them?" He asked and leaned over to touch them before she could even reply. Some things would never change. "Wow, I always wondered what markings would feel like."

"So have I, they're rad though." She said and then shoved a bite of rice into her mouth. Inuyasha followed her lead and began to eat, talking could be done later. Right now they were both starving from their early morning work out. When they had both eaten to their heart's content, leaving the tray completely empty, they stood up.

"Thanks for breakfast, I have to go to my room for a little bit. Want to do something later this afternoon?" Kagome asked him.

"Sure, I still need to talk to you about some things. Later Kags." He said as she waved and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind her. Kagome walked down the hallway, up the stairs and then down the hallway again before she came to Touga's door. She put her ear to the door but still heard nothing. She walked into her room and then listened again to their connecting doors. Once again there was the snoring.

Kagome knocked on the door and waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she tried again. Still nothing. So she opened the door up. The only thing she saw that proved that Touga was in fact in the room was the silver hair she saw that was heavily contrasting with the black sheets of the bed. Kagome walked over to the side of the bed where he was and kneeled down in front of it. She began moving strands of hair back and soon revealed his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful she almost didn't want to wake him up, almost.

"Touga, wake up." She said softly into his ear, but only received snoring as an answer. She giggled at that and then shook him softly to try and rouse him from sleep. Still nothing.

"Touga! Come on, wake up sleepy!" She said loudly and shook him harder; nothing still! This man was so difficult! She pushed him, with much difficulty, so that he was dead center on the bed and then crawled up next to him. "Touga!" She said as loud as she dared, trying not to let everyone in the castle hear her. Kagome heard him groan, almost inaudibly, and that sparked her to try even harder. She stood up and started jumping on the bed, seeing if such sudden movement would help. It didn't, and it appeared the groan didn't signal he was close to waking up, it must have just been from his dreams.

She sat on his chest and then tweaked his ear a bit, annoyed that she couldn't wake the demon up to save her life. As she was about to start pounding on his chest to wake him up, he rolled onto his side, causing her to fall next to him on the bed. Touga then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close to him as was possible. She squeeked in suprise and was about to scold him when she noticed that he was still in a dead sleep. Kagome let out an exasperated sigh and then put her hands on his chest and tried to push herself away.

That seemed to do the trick and his eyes snapped open. Touga saw the girl in his arms and looked at her somewhat confused as to how she got there.

"Um Touga? Could you let me go?" Kagome asked with a red blush tinting her face. He raised and eyebrow and flashed her a smirk, leaning in to her ear.

"And why would I want to do that?" He whispered to her; he could basically feel the heat radiating off of her cheeks. "How did you get in my arms in the first place?"

"I was trying to wake you up, and then you arms took me captive. So this was prettymuch against my will, so it's only fair that you let me go. Besides, you should be getting up too, it's already really late this morning." Kagome said, trying to get him to release her. It was quite the uncomfortable situation for her.

Touga sighed and released her from his grip, and watched amused as she scrambled off the bed. He then got up and began taking off his night clothes. Kagome's face burnt up even more, if that was even possible.

"I-I'm going to go back to my room now," She said and walked briskly backwards towards her door, tripping only once or twice before the frazzled girl made it back into her room. "Come get me when you're done, I was wondering if we could take a walk after breakfast?" She ended and shut the door tightly.

Touga merely chuckled and proceeded to get dressed for the day in his regular lordly attire. He would also have to discuss things with his eldest son; was he accepting of him taking over as lord? As he was contemplating he tied his obi and stuck his sword in it's scabbard placed on his left hip. Touga then walked over and knocked on his future mate's room door, corking a smile as he heard her run towards the door to open it. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who wanted to see their significant other.

"Are you ready for that walk now Kagome?" He asked and extended his arm out to her, which she took enthusiastically.

"Of course, but don't you want to eat first?" She asked him, a little concerned. Demon lord or not, you still needed to eat. He began leading her out of his room and into the massive hallway before he responded.

"I do not wish to eat right now, I'm not all that hungry. Besides, if it really is as late as you say it is, if I ate now then I wouldn't be hungry for the midday meal." Touga told her. She nodded in response and the rest of the walk to the staircase was left in a comfortable silence. When they reached the formidable stairs, Kagome began to walk down them, much to the older Inu's suprise. If he had it his way, then she would be in his arms as they were falling down to the floor. Not only was it much faster, but he got to be even closer to her. But if she wanted to walk down the stairs, who was he to tell her no?