Editor's note: I'm very disappointed BECAUSE I thought this chapter was absolutely brilliant, HOWEVER, SADLY, not many reviewed. So if you're reading this note and this chapter it would be very appreciated if you would take one 30 second of your time to comment on this story. Coz it only takes one nice comment to brighten up someone's day. Hope you enjoy this chapter and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

Chapter Twenty

I Promise

It was about halfway down the steps that realization struck her, "Inuyasha… where are we going?"

He replied with a nonchalant shrug which caused Kagome's eyes to bulge.

"Nani? Then where are we walking to?"

Inuyasha shrugged again and pointed down the steps to what was parked by the curb. "I figured we'd get in that limo and let the driver do the rest."

Rich aroma wafted around them and the feel of fine silk brushed against Kagome's knees. The feeling of elegance and luxury was overwhelming and well…intimidating! She fidgeted in her seat and she could sense Inuyasha feeling just as out of place. They had already ordered a few moments ago and were waiting in a somewhat awkward silence for their meals to arrive. Since getting into the limo they had barely spoken to each other. After all, what was there to talk about on a pseudo date?

Plucking up some courage, Kagome attempted to start a conversation, "Ano…do you know which one of our friends picked this restaurant?"

Inuyasha had been tapping a non-existent tune on the table with his fingers and it took a moment for him to realize she was talking to him.

"Huh? Oh…yeah. Didn't you know? The mangy wolf's uncle owns this place so they thought it was a good idea for us to eat here since they're the ones funding this date, save money for the limo or whatever..." He thought for a moment, "I guess taking a bus or train to this place didn't seem all too romantic to them did it?"

"Oh…" she replied faintly cracking a nervous smile. The conversation stopped there.

Inuyasha resumed tapping after giving her an uneasy look, she didn't look like she was feeling too good and truth was, neither was he. This place was stifling, everyone here seemed to be dining with a loved one and they were all high class too, jewelry gleaming on every female and a smart tuxedo on every man. No one seemed casual or to be just friends.

Kagome licked her lips, the atmosphere in the restaurant was really getting to her. She felt like she was suffocating.

Finally, Kagome cracked, "This really isn't working."

He picked up on what she meant in an instant, "Agreed, this place is too…" He shot her a look and she caught on. "You don't like it either right?"

She nodded, "So what are we gonna do? I don't think I can eat here without feeling like I'm missing a few hundred diamonds wrapped around my neck."

He grinned and noticed the waiter coming with their dishes, "I've got an idea."

"Nani?"

The waiter reached them and they both recognized him as one of Kouga's friends, "Ginta, can you put those in take away boxes?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes shining at his own cunning.

Kagome and Ginta both shot him bewildered looks, Kagome mouthed him a silent, 'Nani!' while Ginta started contemplating Inuyasha's request, "Uh…maybe…I don't think we…I mean…you just got here an-" he saw the pointed look Inuyasha was giving him and regained his composure, "Yeah, of course, I'll…uh…go ask the chef or something…" He scurried away in fear of being seriously maimed.

Twenty minutes later, after leaving with cartons of steaming, high class food, getting into the limo (surprising the driver who had settled down for a nap) and telling him to drive somewhere more 'natural' as Inuyasha had put it, at which the driver had grinned and stated that he knew the exact spot.

Kagome now leaned back on the grass with her elbows propped up behind her and gazed at the glinting lights of city buildings. The driver had taken them to a secluded park situated at the top of a hill overlooking the many highways, skyscrapers and homes that made up the city of Kyoto. It was set away from all the rush and even though they could see it, not a sound of the hustle and bustle was heard. It was a picturesque area. How the driver knew of its existence would forever remain a mystery to them.

She turned to Inuyasha in order to share some thoughts on the place only to see him guzzling down the food with growing enthusiasm. He had already finished three cartons and was halfway through the fourth when he noticed her annoyed look.

"What's wrong? Did you want some?" he asked indicating the bag sitting next to him with a few cartons still left in it.

She was tempted to answer 'no' but her stomach chose to rumble at that moment reminding her that she still hadn't had anything since lunch. Sitting up, she reached over to the bag and picked up a random carton still looking pretty peeved. He handed her a pair of chopsticks before resuming eating, slightly confused at Kagome's behavior.

They ate in silence, excluding the munching, slurping and crunching sounds coming from Inuyasha, Kagome made a habit of eating half of one dish and leaving the rest for Inuyasha while she tried the others. Not that he was complaining. When they had finished they sat in more silence, both facing the view.

Kagome sighed, remembering their time at the resort, how they had been able to actually see the stars which was made impossible in the city due to all the lights, she reminisced on the easy conversations that they had shared which had ceased once coming back. She sighed again.

It was Inuyasha's turn to be annoyed, "Why are you sighing so much? And why did you act so irritated before? I thought you didn't like the restaurant!"

Kagome's head whipped around to face him, "Is that why you think I'm annoyed? Look around you Inuyasha! We're in a place like this, the perfect scenery and everything! And what is the only thing you can think of doing? Scoffing down as much food as possible! And on top of that, we can't even have a decent conversation anymore!" she groaned in frustration, "What changed so much? Why can't we talk anymore?" She glared at him, expecting some sort of answer, some form of anger, regret, frustration, some sort of emotion. Some sign that he felt the same way that she did.

He was silent and his eyes wouldn't meet hers.

Kagome calmed down and her eyes shadowed, but before turning away like she so desperately wanted to do, she leaned forward slightly and uttered one last question.

"What happened..?"

He broke and his eyes caught hers.

:Flashback:

Inuyasha walked on auto drive, his mind was full of thoughts and conflicting emotions. He had been thinking long and hard about his dilemma which Miroku had felt the need to constantly bug him about; otherwise he probably wouldn't have cared about it at all. The summer 'formal', an event that was extremely uncommon at their school and therefore a big event. All students were invited to come, the seniors especially. And Inuyasha had just about settled on who to ask.

"Inuyasha?"

He turned at the sound of his name and there she was.

"Kikyo?" He eyes darted around, what was she doing here? Kikyo didn't live in his area… "What are you doing around here?"

"I came to see you of course," she said calmly, they began to walk together, "I wanted to talk to you about something in private, but I could never find you alone." She gave him a questioning look but he remained quiet. "I decided to catch up with you on your way to school."

He nodded mutely, "So what did you want to talk about?"

They stopped walking about a block away from their destination, "Inuyasha, I want to talk about what happened…" she saw his eyes glaze over and she felt a pang of hurt course through her but still continued, "I know what you saw, and I know by now that you know the story… Gomen Inuyasha, for how I acted. For how I didn't tell you because I doubted that you'd have believed me. For how I didn't trust you. Gomen Inuyasha… I was wrong…"

There was a pause. That was it. That was what Inuyasha had been waiting to hear for so long. And yet somehow…it seemed hollow. Two weeks ago, maybe even a week ago, he would've believed that without a doubt. He may have gone back to her without hesitation. He would've still tried to trust her. But then again…A week ago, he didn't truly know Kagome.

"Kikyo, you're holding back on me. What aren't you saying?"

Kikyo's eyes widened for a moment and she seemed to take half a step back before collecting herself again. "Inuyasha, you've changed haven't you?" she said with a wry smile. "I wonder how you picked that up. I wonder if it was her…" Inuyasha barely caught the last part, but he smirked inwardly at it. She was right, he had changed.

"I'm leaving Inuyasha." She said softly.

That caught him off guard, "Nani? When? Where? Why?" He now had no idea what this was about anymore, he had assumed it was simply because she wanted to apologize, why would her leaving have anything to do with it?

"Yes, it surprised me too. I'm going the day after the summer formal. I'm moving to China where my father has decided to expand his business." She smiled to herself, the fact that Inuyasha cared enough to ask all those questions meant that she might still have a chance…

"Wait, why are you telling me? We're not together anymore Kikyo, despite your apology, I can't forgive and forget that easily an-"

She interrupted him, "I know Inuyasha. I know what your about to say. But please, give me a chance Inuyasha. You're someone I don't want to give up on, I was happy when I was with you, I had someone who I could connect with. You remember that don't you Inuyasha? You can't say you didn't feel it."

Inuyasha looked away from her. She was right. No matter how hard he had tried to lock those memories away, not matter how hard he had tried to bury them, at a moments notice, they easily broke free. He remembered. She could tell.

"Inuyasha…" she reached for his hand but he pulled back. She frowned.

"Don't do this Kikyo." Inuyasha growled.

She froze, something was definitely different with Inuyasha. He had truly changed, but she didn't want to give up that easily, "Think about it please, think about it…" She dropped her hand and walked away.

:End Flashback:

She searched, she searched frantically. She had to find it, some sort of indication in those golden orbs; some hint that he shared her feelings. But as soon as she found a glimmer of it, his eyes were masked.

She felt her heart ache and pulled back, away from him. Without warning he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She felt him hold onto her tightly as if afraid to let go, but as much as she wanted to melt into the embrace, she felt its familiarity.

:Flashback:

Fireworks

He enveloped her in a hug

"Arigato Kagome, arigato for being my friend…"

:End Flashback:

"No…" she whispered into his shirt. Not again, he couldn't break her again. He wouldn't break her…

He spoke, "Gomen Kagome, I can't love you yet…I can't let myself love you…"

She choked and tears started to well up in her eyes, he continued.

"Gomen Kagome. I can't love you yet." He repeated, forcing himself to the resolution. "But I can promise you this."

She wanted so desperately to pull away now, to save herself from whatever compromise he had made up. She wanted to let go now, to save herself from any more…

"Kagome…I promise I will protect you…" he let her go and she stumbled back, tears cascading down her cheeks, she hiccupped softly which made Inuyasha want to take her back in his arms and wipe those tears away. He wanted to take it back, he wanted to take back the lie he had just told. He could love her. He so badly wanted to love her…

Suddenly she stopped crying, she froze and gasped. The light surrounding her glowed pink and then abruptly stopped just as it had begun. Fear replaced the tears in her eyes.

"I need to get home. Something's wrong."

This was the hardest chapter I've had to write so far. I tried really hard to get their emotions across. Especially Inuyasha's really confusing ones. Remember – it is a big step for him to apologize to someone. I hope you liked and I'm sorry to say that I will be updating late next week because I'm going on a holiday to New Zealand! But I will get it up asap! I also kinda went back to my first chap and did a little tweaking, but once again, nothing big!

Glossary:

Gomen – Sorry

Arigato – Thank you

Nani – What

Ano – Excuse me or um…

Thanks to:

Priestessmykala – Thanks for the info! I was really getting confused when I was doing some research to find out about the school year in Japan. I heard about the Saturday classes which is a real killjoy but I didn't wanna make things too complicated and their summer break will probably come later in the story (if at all hehehe…) It was fun to incorporate some of Shippo and Inuyasha's meeting into the story too!

My editor's computer broke down the other day so that's why she isn't in this chapter if any of you were wondering!

JennyKim319 – Well, I wouldn't want to spoil the fun of keeping my readers in suspense would I? I was kinda hoping for them to do more during the date but my imagination sort of fizzled out at that point!

InuGoddess715 – I'm glad you like the 'meet the family' chapter! It was one of the funnest!

sakura4594 – That's good to know! I hope you like the rest of the story too!

Punk Rock Miko2 – Lol, that was a tempting choice but then we would've never got to that date!

aristocratic.hobo – Whoa! I'm honored! I'm really really really like the fact that you're enjoying my story!

mangadreams – I have to admit, even I didn't know how the date would turn out!

singerme5791 – You're right about the Sango/Miroku relationship but I don't think I'd do it justice if I tried but I will! I think it was supposed to be all three, but then again, it wasn't actually Inuyasha who had to pay for it!

DmonXtrmN8r – I will keep updating and Kagome will get her turn with Inuyasha's ears sooner or later!

kagome555 – I will provide more and make it as interesting as possible!

Smiley Gurl 87 – I love it how everyone's was so excited about the date, though at the time, I really had no structured idea about what was going to happen during it!

silverkonekotsukari – Lol, Inu/Kag fluff rules! Do I get an Inuyasha or Sess plushie? Pretty please! (Blinks with wide puppydog eyes)

Thanks for reading everyone!

Adiosu!

SuperCat