Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha, not mine.

Notes: Hullo! ^^ *sigh* I have such a bad habit of starting stories even if I haven't finished any of the other ones I invented to begin with. Eh...Just let me know which ones you REALLY like, and I'm talking about one or two choices here, hehe.

Full Summary: A rebellious, incorrigible young man in his late teens named Kyô has never known true love, always having to rely on himself for survival from a very young age with no one else to guide him. One bad road he takes will change the course of his life - and even his death. His soul goes wayward losing its way, his life tainted and bound for hell, but his heart and soul had yet to experience love and somehow he finds it...in the body of Inuyasha, to whom Kagome loves. Rated PG-13-R for language, etc.

~In Too Deep~

By Ai-no-Tora (Mia)

Chapter 1: First Plunge

The fist came out of nowhere, his confidence hindering his senses enough so that he couldn't avoid it in time. The heated blood splattered against the wall, and as Kyô followed the trail closely with his blurred vision, if he were in any other position he would have thought it looked like ink, almost as dark as the substance and equally as thick and tainted.

He sniffed in defiance, wiping the rest of it that dripped from the side of his lip. Bright green eyes flashed toward the huge village man, vision narrowed and now focused. He was still so very weak, so tired, but he couldn't fall down now. If he had to die, he'd take this bastard down with him. "Shit, you didn't have to go and get fuckin' mad about it," he spat out some more of his own salty blood. "Go ahead and get mad, just don't fuckin' whap me around like I was your daughter." The young man hid his smile from underneath his hand as he saw the effects of his words on the overweight glutton who stood in front of him, nostrils flaring, eyes huge and trembling, knuckles white, weak human aura rising. It felt good to make someone feel such strong emotions; it almost gave the illusion that he had power, could instill fear and anger into whomever he desired. His voice rose into accusation. "So I hit a sore spot, eh? I saw the bruises. She showed me. What the hell do you think about when you hit a girl, you fat fuck? Much less your daughter, for fuck's sake?"

"You..." The man began, taking a step forward; by that time, Kyô already had his hand searching behind him until he found it; fingers gripped around the cold handle of a mallet. The voice boomed and ricocheted off the walls, the footsteps vibrating underneath Kyô's feet. "I'd wash your mouth out but first...get...out of my house...AND STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER---!" The monster of a man leaped toward him just as Kyô brought the weapon over his head, the connection between iron and skull was ultimately divine.

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Later...

It was certainly a beautiful day out, warm and lively, an afternoon for rest and play. For once Inuyasha had let the traveling group stay and recuperate, secretly glad that Kagome had not yet retreated back to her world and savored the little morsel of time where he could be by her side, not a worry furrowing his brow. He watched her, easily keeping track of her slender form because she was the tallest amongst the littler children that crowded all around her legs trying to capture her attention. His mind wandered thoughts unchecked until one in particular escaped him. Would she be this happy if we had children of our own...? He mentally slapped himself across the face; even without the slap his face still burned from the thought. What the heck? When did I ever think about something like that?!

Kagome let out a startled gasp when something tugged at her skirt. Inuyasha simultaneously jerked up at the sound from where he sat on Kaede's little porch, and calmed to see that a small village boy was gently pulling at Kagome's short green clothing, an equally small flower - no, it was a weed, a purple-flowered weed grasped tightly in determined grip. Kagome turned, and it was like the sun came over the horizon, her smile just as bright when she kneeled down to be level with the child.

"Hello there..." Kagome greeted, gazing into the dark brown orbs that looked up at her with such adoration. "What's your name?"

The little boy blushed easily, and several meters away Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Mute huh? He thought as he continued to watch out of the corner of his eye. The rest of the village children wove all around Kagome, a pair chasing one another, three others just dancing around and giggling, and Shippô happily played and laughed with one little girl in particular.

"...." The boy couldn't form a single word, sweat forming at his temple and with his silent frustration, he thrust the flower in Kagome's face, waited for her to accept it before running off, away toward the village and disappearing amongst the crowd.

An awkwardness washed over Kagome's features, holding the flower daintily before dropping it onto the ground, an large, unbidden thorn thrust into the soft pad of her finger. The shock was minute and her pain silent, small. Blood swarmed forth from the puncture, the shiny red liquid warm and throbbing. A single droplet escaped and plummeted to the ground, landing on the soft dust of the earth. It was then that a shadow blanketed over her and she looked up into the concerned eyes of a hanyou.

"Hey...you're bleeding," Inuyasha stated the obvious, going down onto his haunches.

She passively waved his worry away, "Yeah, it's just a thorn..." Not another breath was wasted on words as Inuyasha reached out grabbing her hand, removing the thorn and pressing her finger against his lips. Her body responded by tingling at the suckling of his rough tongue lapping against the tiny rip of skin. It felt like everyone had stopped to stare as the crimson she shed matched her face not a second later. How embarrassing and yet..."I-Inuyasha..."

It wasn't like he'd never done so before; he had performed such ministrations before their bout with Menoumaru, one annoying nemesis they've encountered. Though she felt this was different. About another year had gone by when that happened; feelings had grown stronger, bonds were based and built. Love grew where there was only affection and friendship. Maybe she would lie to others, but she wouldn't lie to herself; she was deeply and madly in love with Inuyasha. The only trouble was she didn't know if he felt as strongly for her - though she knew for a fact that he cared and not just because she was his shard detector, but a very close companion. She just didn't know how highly he regarded her if more than a friend and as a lover, she just didn't have a clue.

"Oi, Inuyasha!" Shippô leapt onto the hanyou's head, resulting in the breaking of contact between the two. "What're you doing?? Everyone's watching, you know!" And indeed, everyone was. Inuyasha had but only to growl and glare and they all went about their merry ways. He reached up and grabbed the kitsune by the collar and brought him close to his face for questioning.

"And why the hell do you care?" He growled slowly and Shippô began to squirm and wriggle in his hold, until he was dropped onto the ground without warning.

"Itai! Inuyasha, you baka, baka, bakaaa!" A tiny tear escaped the kitsune's eye, rubbing the small lump on his head before turning a curious eye at Inuyasha and noticing something quite peculiar. "...Eh??" Kagome began staring at him too. He still had his hand up where he had grabbed at Shippô, but there was this look in his eyes, one of confusion and shock, eyes trembling in their sockets as he looked unseeing at the ground. Sweat formed on his brow; he was shaking from ears to feet. "Hey, stupid idiot! Wh-What's wrong with you?" Shippô demanded.

Kagome laid a hand on his shoulder. "Inuyasha?" She took a sharp intake of breath; when he looked at her it seemed as though he was looking at someone he'd never seen before.

She heard his throat close in a loud swallow, bright honey-amber eyes looking around, his focus alertly shifting in his surroundings before he finally rested again at Kagome, one eyebrow skeptically raised. "Who...who are you...?"

The question quaked through the young woman's soul. "Huh?!" Kagome declared wide-eyed and puzzled. "Wh-What did you just say...?" At the scared tone in her voice, they once again earned the stares of onlookers.

Shippô bonked him on the head in another attempt. "Hey, quit joking around! You're scaring Kagome! Gak!" Then was promptly swatted away by Inuyasha's large hand.

Inuyasha's frown deepened. His voice sounded different, as though someone else were using it. "Let me repeat myself, stupid whore: Who--" There it was again. That blank expression on his face then the usual normal tough look that creased his eyebrows since the day she met him. He raised his head, blinking several times before he found himself kneeling in front of a confused and worried looking Kagome as though what had just happened took place within only a second - as though the sun had just temporarily gotten into his eyes. "Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" He seemed to remember what he was doing before and so asked, "Oh, do you want me to go get something for your finger? It's still bleeding." With that, he stood and headed for Kaede's hut, completely unaware at what he was saying earlier.

Shippô hurried toward Kagome, jumping onto her lap and clutching onto her clothing in fear. "What's wrong with Inuyasha?" He asked while they both watched the hanyou stride away and disappear into the hut and reappear all too quickly. She stood up as soon as she saw him.

"I don't know, Shippô-chan, but let's just not say anything for now." Kagome bit her lip, still staring at Inuyasha as he reached for her. What surprised him the most was when she pulled away almost jarringly; it had hurt, but all he did was look at her dumbly.

"Hey, it doesn't hurt that bad does it? It was just a stupid little thorn," he mocked, trying to hide the hurt in his voice at seeing her move away from his touch like that. It was then that he looked more closely at her was when he finally asked. "Okay, what is it?" His voice was authoritative. "Why do you stare at me like a pair of fools?"

The other children had stopped at their play; some walked home and others stayed to watch. Miyuki, Shippô's friend was still there, and had watched the entire exchange from beginning to end. Kagome looked sideways for a moment, before reaching for the band-aid he held in his hand - only to have him grab it and apply the band-aid himself. "Inuya--"

"Are you going to tell me or aren't you?" He said gently, not looking at her but at her hand as he administered the band-aid.

Shippô was growing tired of this nonsense and went ahead to spit it out. "You were acting like you didn't know Kagome!" He accused, index finger jabbing at the air before Inuyasha. "You asked her, 'who are you' like a dumb fool, and she said, 'what did you say' and then you were like - after hitting me of course - 'let me repeat myself stupid whore, 'who--' and then you'd stopped and seemed like you went back to normal." The kitsune had let it out all in a rush, and inhaled emphatically when he was done.

Kagome sweat dropped. Well, so much for going about it quietly. She sighed and fixed Inuyasha's puzzled face with her own apologetic one. "Yeah, that's basically what happened. Were you just playing around or do you remember any of it?" He better remember the part where he called me a stupid whore...I mean he's like that all the time, but this time around it actually hurt my feelings. She frowned at the thought.

Inuyasha snorted, crumpling the band-aid wrap and tossing it over his shoulder (litterbug! ^^). "Either you lot have gone insane, or you're just playing around with me," he stated casually. "Other than that, I have no fucking clue as to what you're talking about. I'm gonna go take a nap. Later." Both Shippô and Kagome watched as he walked back to Kaede's once again, their faces falling.

"Geez, talk about ignorance is bliss." Shippô muttered cooly.

"Grr, that stupid idiot...I was being serious," Kagome thumped her foot on the ground for a second, then noticed the flower-weed on the ground near her small droplet of blood. She bent over and picked it up as Shippô simultaneously went over and joined Miyuki, going off somewhere into the fields to collect flowers to make little adorning crowns. Carefully holding the plant in her hand, Kagome sighed as she straightened. I don't get it...maybe it was just a fluke. Or something... She walked off in her own direction, searching for her youkai-taijiya friend Sango.

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