Chapter 3 "When You Wish Upon A Star"

Once again, thanks for all the support. My ID family is wonderful!!!! Love you guys!!!

Ms. Takahashi is still not finished with my adorable lil puppy. *SOB* So, everything still belongs to her.

And now. . .*drum roll* chapter 3!

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Kagome was floored. She had just received her first kiss, and she couldn't even enjoy it. To top of matters, Inuyasha claimed to have no idea about who 'this Kikyo person' was.

"Hmph! He's just saying all that to make me feel better! What a jerk!"

She started gathering her things up again, but couldn't help wondering. She wanted what he said to be true. And the look on his face had been seemingly genuine enough. . .

"Maybe I should go talk to him and find out what this is all about. . .NO! I won't do it! After what he did to me? He can come apologize to me first!" With that declaration she went off to look for the wayward monk and the undoubtedly enraged taijiya.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile. . .

Inuyasha had found the others on his tirade through the forest, and decided to wait for Kagome to show up so he could tell her what a stupid bitch she was. 'But she's not a stupid bitch. . .and who the HELL IS KIKYO??' He had this strange feeling that he should know who she was, but had no recollection of ever meeting anyone with that name. If only. . .

"Why the hell is everyone staring at me? I didn't do anything wrong this time!!"

"Well, your sudden show of emotion like that even took me off guard, Inuyasha-sama. Especially after declaring your intent to protect Kikyo only a few days before this." The monk spoke cautiously, not wanting another scar on his scalp.

The infuriated hanyou glared at Miroku. "For the last fucking time, WHO IS KIKYO??? I'm gonna find this bitch and give her a piece of my mind!!"

Sango looked at Miroku, searching for any shred of sanity in her already tumultuous day. "I think we need to get him to Kaede quickly, he must have hit his head harder than we thought last time." Miroku, however, offered no explanation for the outburst.

"Are you serious, Inuyasha? We both know you've run off after her every time her soul catchers come floating by, Kagome sees you with her, and the two of you won't speak for two days or more. My word. You can't pretend like this."

"I should think you'd be the one running off after women, lech. I still don't know what you're talking about." Frustration was setting in. He seemed to be the only one who didn't know this mystery woman. If everyone else knew her, how was he ever going to convince Kagome he was telling the truth? Even better, how did he NOT know? And why did he get the feeling he had never kissed Kagome before? 'I've felt like this for so long, and I've never kissed her before this? What the hell happened to me?' He sat in his perch pondering the days events so far when Kagome walked into the small clearing they had gathered in.

"Sango? I need Kirara to take me home please."

"Kagome, wait. I need to talk to you."

"You've done quite enough talking today, Inuyasha. I'm going home to be by myself for a few days. DON'T come for me."

With that she took off for the well, leaving a very confused group behind her

*~*~*~*~*

"Thank you Kirara. You're a wonderful friend." 'Which is more than I can say for some people,' she thought to herself. Kirara took to the skies again to return to Sango and Miroku. Kagome walked over to the well and sat down for a moment. She was still trying to absorb what had happened that morning.

'He really doesn't remember Kikyo. . .that can't be true! He's lying to me!" She started trembling. 'I wish it was true. . .' She thought back to the kiss she had received earlier and smacked herself for stopping it.

"Kikyo or not, I have to find out how he feels! He'll come for me if he really cares about me. . ." She stood up to jump into the well when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Warm lips on hers and strong arms around her waist appeared out of nowhere. This time, she was going to kiss him back!

Their kiss deepened, and long pent up emotions started to surface. Her tongue searched for his, and he gladly accepted the invitation. Being this close to each other like never before had an amazing effect, and Kagome's knees lost their ability to support her. As she faltered, the kiss broke, and Inuyasha looked down as he supported her weight against him.

"Does that tell you if I really care about you?" His cheeks turned a color matching his coat, but his gaze stayed fixed in her eyes. There was a depth to them like she had never seen before, and couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it this morning.

"I. .I. . .It doesn't tell me you don't care about Kikyo. . .I told you I'd stay beside you no matter what Inuyasha! Why are you doing this to me! It's not fair!" She started to cry, and collapsed to the ground. "You know how I feel about you!" she said through sobs. "But I still don't really know how you feel about me! Am I still just a replacement? Or a shard detector?" No matter how hard she wanted to, she couldn't admit to herself that he may really care about her. She couldn't hurt herself like that again.

"Kagome. . .please, don't cry. I really don't know who you're talking about! You're the only one I care about! I always have." He knelt down and put his arms around the shaking girl to comfort her, and prove that he meant what he said. 'Why won't she believe me? What did I do to her to make her think these things?' He wanted to make it up to her more than anything and saw a small white flower beside the well.

"Here. This is for you. To show you that I mean it. . .I don't know what I did to make you feel this way, but I want to make it right. . ." He was at a loss for words. He'd never talked to anyone like this before, and wasn't sure of what he was supposed to say. He noticed that Kagome stopped crying, and she reached out to take the flower from him.

'It's just like in my dream. . .is this really happening?' She blinked to get the tears out of her eyes, and looked up at Inuyasha. She wanted to stay in this embrace forever, but knew she had to get up. She rose, and looked the hanyou right in the face.

"You mean, you want to be with me too? You're not gonna run after Kikyo anymore, and you won't go to hell with her?"

"Hell? Why would I want to go to hell?" He looked confused for a moment, and continued. "Yes, Kagome, that's what that means. I don't know who she is, but you will never see me with her. The only one I want to be beside is you. Really." He hugged her again, hoping he had gotten his point across.

Kagome had no words. No more arguments. She believed him. What choice did she really have in the matter? She would always believe him, and follow him, no matter what he wanted to do. Now, the feeling was mutual. Everything was right with the world. . .atleast in this one moment it was.

"Well, since I'm here. . .I may as well go home and get some more supplies. I'll be back soon, I promise! You could come with me, if you wanted. . ." She waited for him to try and stop her like he always does. When no reply came, she looked over and realized he was already on the lip of the well, waiting for her to join him. She took his outstretched hand, and they went through the time portal together.

*~*~*~*~*

They never noticed someone listening to every word they had said. As they disappeared through the well, she stepped out from behind the God tree where she had been resting when the girl showed up.

"So. . .Inuyasha has forgotten about me, has he? How dare he betray me again! This time, his life will be mine! Whether he agrees or not!" Kikyo's form rose to the treetops with her soul collectors around her, and she was gone.

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Well, what do you think? Took me a while to get this chappie right, sorry for the delay!! R&R please!