Chapter Five: What Happens Now?

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Darkness. Always darkness. He almost cursed it out loud, but stopped when he felt the blanket that was covering him be pulled back, and the bed lowered as She lay down next to him. Her hands found his long hair, and his arms encircled her waist. His mouth made it's way down her neck, and across her shoulder, trailing feather-light kisses along the path. His hands found her hips and as he drew her nearer, she clung to him as if she would never let go. He never did want her to let go, ever. Her long, soft hair lay across the pillow, brushing against his face whenever either of them moved. He lost himself to the feelings playing though his body. A light went on, and she was no longer in his arms.

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Sunlight was streaming in through the open curtains in the bedroom, slanting right across Inuyasha's eyes, and making him wake up. He got up and went to the small kitchen to get the coffeepot started before taking a quick shower. When he returned to the kitchen, he noticed a note on the table.

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Inuyasha,

Sango and I went to Shippou's for the day. We'll be back later tonight, but we have to run some errands too, so don't expect us back early. Please treat our guest nicely, she fell asleep last night and we didn't have the heart to wake her up.

~Miroku and Sango

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Guest? Inuyasha looked over at the sofa; there was no one there. Quietly, he walked back to the bedroom and peeked around the door at Miroku's bed. Sure enough, there was Kagome, sleeping soundly. He was lucky he hadn't woken her up yet. He must have been asleep when she came over, obviously the night before. He went back to the kitchen and added more coffee to the pot, then mentally prepared himself for whenever she woke up and found them alone in the apartment.

Inuyasha guessed that the three friends had stayed up quite late the night before, because Kagome showed no signs of waking until near noon. He was sitting across the room on his bed, reading a book, when movement from her direction caught his attention. He thought to himself that Sunday afternoon was as good a time to talk as Monday evening. He doubted he could avoid talking to her anyway. She sighed and opened sleepy eyes, just in time to catch Inuyasha watching her. Silently, he got up from where he had been sitting on his bed and walked out of the room. Kagome sat there for a moment, wondering what had just happened before getting up and using the shower.

As she came out of the bathroom, wet hair in a towel and wearing another one of Miroku's too big shirts, but this time with her own pants, Inuyasha watched her from the bedroom. She caught sight of him looking at her, but decided to ignore the strange feeling that passed though her.

"Ohayo, Inuyasha," Kagome said cheerfully, avoiding looking into his eyes, they both remembered the last time they had been alone together.

"Um… It's afternoon now" he wanted to ask her what was going on and why she was there, but he couldn't think of a good way to word his question. "Uh…" he stumbled on, trying to think of anything else to say. It wasn't supposed to feel that way; they were supposed to be best friends, able to talk about anything, right? He didn't want to ruin that, but he saw no other choice but to tell her about what was going on. He hoped she would understand. Now to find a good way to open the subject.

"So it is."

"Would you like something to eat? I was just about to make lunch," he said, surprised how normal his voice sounded. She either hadn't fastened most of the buttons, or they wouldn't stay closed, in either case, the shirt was open, showing more of her skin than Inuyasha was used to seeing. She didn't seem to take notice of the buttons at all.

"That would be nice," she answered his question, well aware of the cool air on her almost bare chest. Her fingers itched to re-button the buttons, but she knew that if she did that he would instantly take it as a sign that she wasn't comfortable around him. She would wait until he said something, or he went out of the room. It was too bad that her shirt had shrunk after getting soaked in the rain and then subject to Miroku's idea of laundry and how it should be dried. At least her pants were okay.

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Author's Note: I'm not sure if I made everyone's personalities quite right… but then again, this is an alternate reality, and they can act however I want them to, right? Right?? Good. No disagreements with the author! I am all-powerful! Well… not really, since I do need your comments…

~Avi