A/N: Woe, woe is me…Yeah, sure, whatever. ANYWAY, kissyness

Warnings: Kissing. LOTS of smoochies.

A/N 2: I just wanted to write some sap and make the last chapter and delay up to you guys… So, short little intermission.

Interlude—About Bloody Time

"Well?" Siri crossed her arms over her chest. "What's up with you guys?"

The others looked at her, dumbly. "Siri-chan, nothing that—"

"Oh, come on!" Siri snorted, disgust layering her voice. "You expect me to believe that? I know something's up with you guys. I mean, you show up and say you're 'old friends' but suddenly you show up, and you're all buddy-buddy with Kagome-chan. But she never told me about you guys! She told me about her mom, and Sota, and Hojo and Chiaki and the gang, but she never said anything about you! And I heard you two talking the other night, Kagome-chan, Sango-chan. It sounded like you were discussing something out of a manga! And unless I'm around, you guys never use the suffixes on your names. Kagome-chan, I thought you told me that only lovers and married couples dropped the suffixes, and sometimes not even then! I know you and Miroku aren't lovers." She blinked, reviewing her last words. "Are you?"

"Siri-chan—"

"'s nothing—"

"You don't need—"

Kagome cut through the other three's protest. "All right, Siri-chan, You were in mythology with me last year…. What do you remember about the legend of the Shikon jewel?" Siri shrugged, listing off a list of what she knew on her fingers. Most of the legend was inaccurate.

Kagome shook her head, seeing this was going to be different. Quickly, she began telling how her grandfather had bought her a "fake" Shikon jewel. She worked her way through being dragged through the Boneater's Well, becoming recognized as Kikiyo's reincarnate, and towards meeting Inu-Yasha.

"You stuck a rosary around his neck so you could control him?" Kagome shrugged, smiling slightly.

"I needed some way to control him, otherwise, he'd flatten me."

"Feh."

"Sit!" Kagome shot back, smirking as Inu-Yasha was slammed into the ground. "I can't believe you never took the rosary off…"

"Might I remind you, only you and Kadae could take it off, you never did, and Kadae was too amused to take it off. It didn't matter most of the time, since you were the only one who could trigger it…"

Kagome smirked and continued up to meeting Miroku ("He tried to kill you?" "He was being stupid.") And Sango, ("She tried to kill you?" "Naraku was duping her.")

"What happened then?" Siri asked after all four of them had recounted the final battle with Naraku.

"I stuck around for a while…" Kagome admitted, pulling back her hair. "Until the end of that school year. Then, before high school entrance exams, I went back." She shrugged, Siri watching her with wide eyes.

"You went back?" Kagome, confused, nodded. "You went back."

"Yeeeeessss…" Kagome hissed.

"You went back!" Siri's voice was rising now. "After all that, after everything you've been through, you just decided to go back?! You never gave your dearest friends and the love of your life a second chance, you just. Went. Back." She punctuated each word, really going off on a tangent. Miroku and Sango snuck out before she really blew up. "I mean, god! Princess Bride much? How could you do something like that? You never—"

"You think I don't beat myself up over it every day?!" Kagome cried, her own voice rising. "What else could I do?! I had friends! I had a family counting on me to get into a good high school! Do you think I didn't want to stay?"

"Do you know how lucky you are that they came back? If they hadn't, think what your life would have been like! They came back for you!" Siri spun on her heel and stormed out.

Kagome spotted Inu-Yasha, still there, and hissed. "You have no manners whatsoever."

"That did not go very well." Inu-Yasha opinioned, leaning against the door.

"Feh." Kagome snarled, falling back on the bed.

"That's my line." He joked, sitting down next to her cautiously. She managed a weak smile, but then spun on him quickly.

"Are you human?"

"What kind of question is that?" He asked, drawing away angrily.

"Are you human." She watched him, eyes confused. "The facts don't add up. You were going to turn youkai, but you turned Human instead… and now you say that Youkai have the power to transform into human form…"

"You think I used the jewel to change into a Youkai, and have been lying?" He snapped, eyes burning. "What've I ever done to you that would make you think I'd lie like that?" She shrugged helplessly. "You might… just because you'd want to come here, and fit in…"

"Did you really not want to leave?" He asked suddenly, throwing her completely off balance.

"I… well, I… I mean…" She wilted under his unforgiving gaze. "No. I didn't want to leave."

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, anger evaporating. Quickly, before he could change his mind, he gathered the surprised Kagome into a hug, relieved when she relaxed against him. "I turned human for you…" He murmured into her ear. She looked up at him, searching his eyes for… something. He didn't break away, just let her look, hoping he'd pass the test. Apparently, he decided when he felt her lips on his, he did.

§

"About bloody time." Siri snorted, watching them kiss, and bidding a goodbye to any chance of winning Inu-Yasha's heart. "What do you two—" Turning around, she saw that Sango and Miroku were both gone. Rolling her eyes, she started off down the hall, innocently kicking at a slightly ajar closet door on her way and snickering at the startled yelps from inside.