Disclaimer: Inuyasha is sooo not mine.

Chapter 11

Miroku awoke to find Kagome gone. He sat up and looked around the room for a moment in confusion. He'd forgotten he'd returned to Kagome's...their...time. He no longer felt that truly belonged on the other side of the well. This new life Kagome had shown him was better. Much, much better. When he had first come into their home, he thought that Kagome was born into a life of wealth. He had marvelled at how many things they had. But later he finally realized that while Kagome's family was by no means rich, they had enough to get by and to afford simple luxuries.

He slid his dark blue eyes to view the rest of the room. The money he had brought in from the exorcisms he had performed had helped refurnish Kagome's room, not to mention the rest of the house. It had been difficult to persuade the family to redecorate the house, for Kagome's mother and grandfather felt that the money brought in by the shrine shouldn't be used for frivolous things. But Miroku had managed to talk them into it. Fixing up their house was not a sin, he gently assured them. Seeing as how they hadn't done anything really nice for their home in years, he felt that it was perfectly alright for them to do so.

Miroku got to his feet and stretched his tall frame, the tips of his fingers reaching for the ceiling. The warm afternoon sun shone through the open window beside the bed and a gentle breeze ruffled the girlish curtains. He reached out to touch the filmy material, which was the same color as her last set of curtains but with a different design. It was a soft hunter green with gold thread running through it. The type of green that brought out Kagome's beautiful brown eyes.

He changed into a pair of boot cut blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt. All the while, he thought about how much he loved Kagome's room. It was so earthy, yet so light and feminine, just like her. No wonder Inuyasha didn't mind staying here when he would come to get Kagome when she stayed away too long. Kagome and Inuyasha...

Unwillingly, his mind went back in time to when Kagome was happy with Inuyasha. Well, as happy as she could ever get with Inuyasha. He remembered when Inuyasha would go nuts when Kagome hadn't come back soon enough to suit him. Inuyasha would wait impatiently on the roof of Kaede's hut, staring off in the distance, his foot tapping impatiently, his irritated sighs filling the air. Then with an almost feral growl, Inuyasha was off, a silver and red streak zipping towards the Bone Eater's Well.

The houshi leaned out of the window and rested his arms on the sill. A warm breeze caressed his face and he shut his eyes. He still couldn't believe that Inuyasha had taken his and Kagome's relationship so well. He felt sure that Inuyasha must be upset about it. He had to be. It wasn't like the hanyou to not be upset about something.

There was a sound of clattering somewhere on the roof and Miroku opened his eyes. He caught a flash of burning golden eyes before feeling iron-like fingers wrap around his neck in a steel-like grip.

"You dirty bastard! You filthy, dirty, Kagome-stealing bastard!!" Inuyasha roared, shoving Miroku to the floor and throttling him. "How could you, Miroku! How could you?!" His voice broke but his grip never relented. "So this is how you got close to her! I knew something was up... I knew that something wasn't right...!"

The sound of feet pounded up the stairs and the bedroom door burst open. "Inuyasha! Get off of him!" Kagome cried, rushing into the room.

Despite the spots floating in front of his eyes, Miroku could see Inuyasha's indecision. He knew that Inuyasha wanted to snatch Kagome up and rush off with her. So, summoning his strength, Miroku balled up his fist and punched Inuyasha in the face. Inuyasha let him go and dashed towards Kagome. Miroku had just jumped to his feet when the familiar cry of "Osuwari!" rang out. A loud crash followed, just like always. Miroku stifled a sigh of relief.

In an instant, Kagome was beside Miroku, helping him to sit up. When he did, she reached up and touched his face, allowing her fingers to brush his reddened throat. "Oh Miroku, poor baby! Does it hurt very badly?"

Miroku took her fingers in his hand and kissed her. "No, I'm fine," he croaked. "My throat's a little sore, is all."

"I shoulda ripped your fucking head off," Inuyasha growled from his spot on the floor. He was just now able to move. He pulled himself slowly up into a sitting position and glared at his rival. "I always wondered why you two seemed to always come back at the same time, smelling of the same soap or shampoo. But I never thought you'd be able to cross through the well, Miroku. I just knew that you two spent a lot of time with each other." His eyes slid over to Kagome, who was staring sadly back at him over one slim shoulder.

For a moment, all Inuyasha could see was her, kneeling on the floor. Her dark hair was loose and it flowed down her back. She looked like Kikyo... but not. Most definitely not. How did he ever confuse Kagome for Kikyo? The way she held herself, the way she spoke...it made her completely different from Kikyo. Kagome may be Kikyo's reincarnation, but she was entirely her own person.

He looked back at Miroku. The houshi's eyes stared back at him, blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. His arm went around Kagome, pulling her to him.

Inuyasha's dark brows snapped down and slipped his hands into his sleeves before he did something Kagome would hate him for. "What's the matter, Miroku? Think I'll steal her away from you? Or are you just hiding behind your woman?"

Miroku lunged forward, but Kagome held him back. "Don't Miroku! That's what he wants you to do!" she murmured against his chest. "Inuyasha, please! What do you want from him? Why don't you leave him alone?"

"Come on, Kagome. You should know that."

Kagome looked up and stared quizzically at Inuyasha. She felt Miroku's body tense beneath her hands. "I should? What do you mean by that, Inuyasha?"

"You." Miroku didn't turn to look at Kagome. His eyes steadily bored into Inuyasha, knowing that if he should so much as blink, the hanyou would snatch her up and take off with her. "What he wants from me is you, Kagome. Not that he will ever again have you, koiishi, so don't you worry. Kagome and I are getting married whether you like it or not, Inuyasha. Besides, if she comes up pregnant, you'd only want to kill my child. I couldn't put her or the baby at risk."

White, silky ears stood up straight before laying flat against Inuyasha's skull. "What are you babbling about, houshi? Kagome isn't pregnant." He quickly sniffed the air just to make certain.

"I said if she comes up pregnant, you baka. Haven't you been paying attention?" asked Miroku in a derisive manner.

"How... I mean... why should she come up pregnant? Wait a minute!" Inuyasha's body straightened suddenly and he slowly got to his feet. "What have you done to Kagome that you must be afraid I'll hurt her and a... a... baby?" His golden eyes grew round with shock as he shot looks at both ningens on the floor. "You didn't! Please tell me you didn't, Kagome!"

"What if I did, Inuyasha? What could you possibly do about that now?" Kagome turned to face the surprised hanyou, her arms crossed over her bosom.

Inuyasha rushed over to her and knelt down in front of her. "Don't play with me, Kagome, please. It's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny," she replied, taking his hands in hers. "I'm going to marry Miroku and earlier today I gave him my body. I'm afraid we didn't use any protection, hence the comment about the possiblity of me becoming pregnant."

Inuyasha said nothing. Instead, he wrenched his hands away and stood up, turning his back on them. "I don't want to hear this, Kagome."

Kagome got up and grabbed his arm, yanking him around to face her. "Well, you need to hear it," she said gently. "You need to..."

Inuyasha grabbed her arms and pulled her close, an action which drew a protesting shout from Miroku. "What I need is you," he uttered in a rough voice, shaking her slightly. "How many times must I apologize to you for what I've done? I'll do it as often as I need to so you'll forgive me. I love you, Kagome. All I want is another chance. Please."

"What?!" Miroku cried out and reached for Kagome. Kagome tried to free herself from Inuyasha's hard fingers, pulling away from him. She wanted to hug him, soothe him, but she knew that would only upset Miroku even further. Sometimes she worried about her forgiving, loving nature. Hadn't Inuyasha hurt her horribly? Hadn't he chosen someone else over her? Why should she care about soothing his hurt feelings?

"Let me go, Inuyasha and we can talk about this," she gasped as the two males played tug-of-war with her body. Miroku had her by the waist and Inuyasha had her by the arms. "Please! I'm not made of rubber, you guys!"

Inuyasha let go reluctantly, seeing Kagome's face twist in pain. "I'm... I'm sorry," he stammered, quickly turning his face away. "I don't want to hurt you, Kagome. I just... I just wondered..." He stopped, his face a bright red.

"Kagome," Miroku warned, but Kagome shot him a look.

"Inuyasha? What did you wonder?" she asked gently, rubbing his shoulder softly. "You can tell me."

The hanyou turned an earnest face to her. "Leave him!" he burst out. His eyes had taken on a glazed, almost fevered look. "Leave him and come back to me, Kagome. I love you! You know I do! I won't screw up this time, I promise!"

Kagome shot Miroku a worried look. "Inuyasha, I don't think that's going to be possible. You see, I want to be with Miroku."

Ignoring her protest, Inuyasha grabbed her by the upper arms. "That doesn't matter! I'll be the man you need this time around. I won't let you down! I'm supposed to protect you, remember? We're supposed to be together!"

Kagome tried to scoot away from Inuyasha. What was he thinking? Had he lost his mind? "Inuyasha, you're babbling. Please, listen to what you're saying! You don't love me, remember?"

"Yes, yes I do, Kagome!" he cried, pulling her closer.

She shook her head. "No, you don't. If you loved me, you wouldn't have left me for Sango, would you?"

During this little scene, Miroku tried desperately to keep his cool. He didn't like Inuyasha touching his woman like that, much less telling Kagome that he still loved her. "She's trying to reason with you," he muttered angrily. "She doesn't want you anymore, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha glared over at Miroku. "You shut up," he snarled viciously. "You can't put words in her mouth, houshi."

"I don't have to. If you were paying attention just now, you would have heard her say that she wanted me. Not you... me." Miroku stared hard at Inuyasha. "You really need to take a hint, buddy."

Inuyasha pulled Kagome closer to him, not daring to let go. "Keh! And you need to take a hike," he shot back.

As the two went back and forth, Kagome shook her head. She needed to get these two to calm down, especially Inuyasha. If anyone could erupt and cause things around him to get destroyed, it would be him.

And now he was beginning to shake with rage. Crap. Kagome knew it wouldn't be long now before Inuyasha started destroying her room. As for Miroku, his voice was getting more threatening.

Kagome sighed inwardly. Sure, it was flattering having two gorgeous guys fight over you, but these two were about to come to blows and seeing as how one was half youkai, she already knew who would get their ass beaten. Something must be done to stop them.

So, gathering every bit of her acting talent in her body together, Kagome gave out a gentle sigh before letting herself become dead weight in Inuyasha's grasp, startling him. Once free, Kagome sank into operatic swoon, sliding gracefully to the floor.