Many, many, MANY thanks to missloveable, (bet you readers are getting sick of hearing this) I just want to acknowledge all the effort she puts in and all the stuff she puts up with. Believe me, being my editor is no walk in the park!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Chapter Thirteen

Admittance

Inuyasha didn't like the silence, he found it odd, and especially considering that he was in Kagome's company. There never seemed to be a dull moment when she was concerned, but now, he found that that was exactly what he was experiencing. He examined her closely, still perched on the tree branch. Kagome had her knees drawn up against her chest, her chin resting upon them; she seemed to be in deep thought. He opened his mouth to ask if anything was wrong but she beat him to it.

"So…what happened last year? Why did you break up?" She cringed, after admitting to herself that she liked him, the last thing she should've done was to pry into his past relationship. She was openly snooping now, he probably realized that too.

Surprisingly he answered, "You didn't hear about it?" Inuyasha wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her, digging up the past wasn't on top of his to-do list. But when Kagome was around…when this bright, honest, cheerful girl was with him he felt he could trust her, he told her things he promised himself he would never remember.

"Last year, there was a senior in our school, with his reputation I'm sure you've at least heard of him, Naraku." Inuyasha practically snarled saying the name.

Kagome visibly trembled, causing Inuyasha to grow concerned, she had heard of him alright. He was the crimson-eyed, dark-haired, notorious evil-doer of the school. Naraku made most students, and staff for that matter, shiver at a glance. The few times that Kagome had passed him in the hallways had made her aware of his sinister demeanor and of his shadowy, powerful aura. Naraku seemed to save a watchful eye just for her when the passed, as if he almost knew about her secret, if he had…No. He didn't know. She shuddered, fiddling with the round object in her pocket to calm herself. If Naraku ever found out about her being the protector of the jewel who knows what would happen to…to everything really.

"Naraku has the power to change forms. He was banned from doing it by law, but who really expected him to obey the rules?"

Kagome nodded in agreement, "It surprises me that he even attended school, I wouldn't be shocked if he had an ulterior motive."

Inuyasha continued, "Yeah. Well, a couple of weeks before school ended last year, I came to the front gate to meet Kikyo, I found her there kissing Naraku." Inuyasha just about spat the name out. Kagome gasped.

"The next moment Kikyo slapped the bastard, then she saw me. You were right when you said Kikyo was indifferent Kagome, all she did was avoid my eyes, then she turned away and left." That seemed to be the end of Inuyasha's explanation.

Kagome felt enormous guilt envelope her, why did it feel like he was obliged to explain? She wasn't sure if she wanted to know anymore. "Inuyasha." she whispered. She wanted desperately to comfort him, but she wanted him to keep on talking too. The latter won out, "Did you go after her?"

Inuyasha was startled onto a response, "No." For some reason he elaborated, "Like I said, I respected her, if she wasn't about to explain, if she wanted to leave it like that, then so be it. I had to find out the full story from somebody else." He paused to collect himself as painful reminiscence took place.

"Naraku had changed into my form, Kikyo thought she was kissing me at first. Many students saw it, many saw him change back while they kissed, just as I was coming out. Even so, even though she knew she would have others as back up, she didn't defend herself. She didn't say anything. Kikyo…she didn't think I'd believe her, she didn't trust me enough to believe in her."

Kagome stood up and looked into Inuyasha's eyes, she saw it, she saw it clearly. The feelings of hurt and betrayal mingled with regret, melded into his amber orbs. As she continued to gaze, the feelings became reflected in her own eyes, she felt what he felt. Kagome lunged forward in Inuyasha and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his chest. Inuyasha's face tinged and he tensed up until the scent of salt reached him.

He heard her muffled voice say, "Don't be hurt Inuyasha. It pains me too."

Confused, he tentatively wrapped his arms around her in what he hoped was a reassuring embrace.

Kagome…Inuyasha thought, his eyes softening. Kikyo had never hugged him like this. Kikyo had never made him feel needed, they had kissed, but that's all it really was, a kiss. At the time, it had seemed significant, yet it felt like there was something in the way between them, as if Kikyo had held a pole in front of her, stopping him from getting too close. But now that he was here with Kagome, she was giving him her all, with no barriers in between. He was already closer to Kagome than he had ever been with Kikyo. He believed he knew Kagome. He could tell that Kagome really did care for him. If only she would stop crying!

Inuyasha let her hug him. He rested his chin atop her head, "Shhh…It's alright Kagome, don't cry. I hate seeing girls cry."

He gently lifted up her chin with his hand and looked her in the eye. Kagome had stopped shedding tears, but there was still a trickle running down her cheek, he brushed it off.

It was then when he realised that he didn't really know Kagome as well as he had implied. He knew she was bright, friendly and open. Then again, most people could see that in a first glance. The only thing about her that he knew which not many others knew was that she was a miko and even then, there was another secret behind that. It frustrated him to think that he felt close to her but knew virtually nothing about her. So Inuyasha chose to ignore what he didn't know and focused on the matter that was at hand. Kagome.

"You okay now?" he asked gently.

She nodded, too stunned to speak. Here she was, in Inuyasha's arms. In his lap! And he was…comforting her? The more she thought about it the less shocked she became, how many times had she seen flashes of this behaviour? How many times had he been kind to her already? She was used to the way his mood changed now; she was used to Inuyasha being well…Inuyasha.

"How about you?" she whispered.

"Keh, when was I not okay? It was you who broke down." he claimed, letting his pride get to him.

Kagome's cheeks flamed and she clumsily got off him, momentarily forgetting that she was on a tree branch.

"Ahh!" she cried falling off and landing on her back, "Itai…"

Inuyasha snickered, "That was graceful." He himself skilfully hopped from the branch and landed on his feet in front of her.

Kagome noted the sarcasm and huffed, You should be used to his moods by now Kagome. Do not snap. Do not snap. Do not snap. She repeated this in her head like a mantra as she stood up.

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side and observed her odd behaviour. She was glaring at him, one eyebrow raised and twitching, she seemed to be muttering something.

"Nani?" he asked gruffly.

"You! Stop doing that!" she said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"What did I do?"

Kagome began to rant angrily, her arms waving around for emphasis, letting the words flow out of her mouth without really thinking about them, "You keep chopping and changing! One minute you're nice. Then you switch back to being grumpy! Then you act clueless! Then you manage to convince me that I can have a decent conversation with you before you start to insult me again! Stop it! WHY THE HELL DO I LIKE YOU!"

What came next was a natural reaction.

"…"

I'm sorry for leaving you at a cliffy on top of it being a short chap! (Partly my editor's fault.) But I haven't worked out what to do next! How will Inuyasha react? Besides, it was either this or a long wait till the next chap! Either way I'm gonna get mauled!

A while ago I forgot to mention that I went back and did a little editing on the first couple of chapters. No need to re-read, just a bit of grammar ('cos my writing has improved since then, yay for me!). The only thing that might make a difference is that I changed Satsuke's (Kouga's aunt) name to Inami because in the series Satsuke is Shippo's sweetheart! That's all for now!

Read & Review!

Glossary:

Itai – Painful

Adiosu!

Cat