Kagome wandered around. She hadn't seen Inu-Yasha ever since he found the herbs needed to save her. She wondered why he was so silent and refused meeting her eyes. He only did that when he secretly met with Ki…

"Maybe THAT'S what he did," she thought, downcasted, "but I wouldn't have minded THAT much. He could at least talk to me. Oh well, I'll tell him that I don't mind so he'll talk to me again."

***

He caught a whiff of Kagome's scent nearby and knew he should leave soon. If he didn't she'll just osuwari (sit) him and find him. But still, he couldn't bring himself to leave.

"Inu-Yasha! Please come out!"

***

She seriously considered sitting him out of a tree he's hiding in. But…it wouldn't make him talk to her, only madder at her.

"Inu-Yasha! Please! Will you stop avoiding me?" Then, lowering her volume, "Am I really that despicable?" Inu-Yasha's heart pained when he heard this. Sighing, he jumped out of his tree to find her.

***

"Inu-…"

"Yeah?" Kagome was startled. She never thought he'd comply with her wishes.

"Why…why have you been ignoring me?"

"You know why."

"If it's Kikyo. I don't care if you've seen her or whatever." Kagome toed the ground. Inu-Yasha smirked to himself. He never told her that she was the one that he loved. All the better, since she seemed to have an aversion to him.

"Saved myself loads of humiliation," he thought.

Kagome noticed the streaming emotions on his face and wondered at it. When he didn't answer, a horrifying thought suddenly struck her.

"You…you've decided to…to go with her down to…" she trailed off, no longer able to speak.

"Why would you care?" His words cut her like sharp knives.

"Inu…" Kagome had turned to talk to him but he'd already headed back towards the campsite, ignoring her again. She ran in front of him.

"Why won't you talk to me?" He choose to ignore this and tried to walk past her.

"SIT!!!!" Unfortunately, being that she was in front of him, Kagome was dragged down as well.

After he got Inu-Yasha instinctively held out a hand to help Kagome, who took it. When she got up and thanked him, he realized that he had mistakenly showed his feelings. Cursing himself for his own weakness and lack of self-restraint, he headed back to the campsite.

"P-Please Inu-Yasha. Won't you tell me what's wrong?" Kagome asked, half in a whisper, biting her lips to keep the tears from flowing out. Finally, he gave in. Leaning on a side tree, he recounted the words though it hurt him like hell.

"Do the words 'stop it…I hate you' mean anything to you?"

"W-What?" She didn't remember saying that to Inu-Yasha, but it did strike a bell. Then, suddenly…

"That looming of Naraku. Wait, just a looming figure-before I became conscious," she thought.

"Inu-Yasha, I can…" but, once again he'd left for campsite. She hurried after him.

"No! Wait Inu-Yasha…I can explain."

"Explain why you hate me? Well I don't want to hear it!" he yelled. "This is who I chose over Kikyo?" he muttered, snorting at his own stupidity. Kagome caught on to the last words.

"Over Kikyo?" she said quietly, not quite understanding.

"Yeah, thought I liked you better. Huh! Yeah. OK. As if! You 'hate' me." He was silently trying not to keen over due to the pain under his nonchalant mask.

"But…I can explain. It wasn't that. I was unconscious and I thought the looming figure was Naraku. Please. Inu-Yasha. Don't be like this," Kagome hugged on to him tightly, letting herself cry. "You had know idea. I thought. I thought. I thought he'd…he'd…do that again."

"Kagome."

"I don't want to lose you."

"B-But why."

"The same reason as," Kagome answered, smiling through her tears at Inu-Yasha.

"What?"

"Love."

"B-But, are you sure you don't want Kikyo instead?"

"Yes."

"How can you be?"

"Because I can live without Kikyo, but I can't live without you. That love," he brought her hand to his chest as if letting her feel it, "is from my soul."

***

Yes. Unfortunately, this is the end of my story. But...I have a SEQUEL! If you like this one, please review this one last time to give me a final count of my readers. PLEASE! It will also account to whether I'll put up more of the sequel. The sequel is called:

Lord and Lady

An amusing fanfictions is:

New Life, New School, New Problems, New Foes

***

I seriously considered adding this amusing part at the end, but I figured it may ruin the atmosphere.

"HENTAI!" The pair turned to find the very pissed Sango and smiling monk spying on them.