Author's notes: Sorry everyone for such a short chapter last chapter, I just needed to leave the house and wanted to post it that day. So, you got a mega short chapter, hopefully the next ones won't be as short. ^_^ And to my fanfiction.net readers, I'm sorry but I cannot post the lemon there since I've already had my stories deleted because of the lemons in those stories, I don't want to risk being totally deleted from the site, Sleepy-Chan will never forgive me if I do, since its her account! ^_^

And to my adultfanfiction.net readers, thanks so much; you guys are awesome as are the ff.net readers! Enjoy this chapter

Warning: Contains spoilers (and for aff.net a lemon)




Chapter two
Quiet Temptations




The walked along the village, some villagers nodding their welcome and others ignoring them. The sun was shinning brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Small children scurried down the road of the village, their parents shouting warnings after them as they went about their daily chores. Kagome couldn't feel more at peace. Now that Naraku was dead, now that he was no longer a threat, the world seemed so peaceful here; rarely did a youkai come for the village now that word had spread that a mere hanyou had beaten Naraku. She wasn't sure if they were waiting to strike as one big army or if they were truly afraid of the handsome hanyou who walked silently beside her.

She turned to Inu yasha with a smile but he wasn't looking at her. He seemed to be lost in a trance of some kind, his silver hair was blowing softly behind him as they walked against he breeze and his adorable puppy dog ears were twitched towards her direction. However, his golden eyes were looking at his feet, as if ashamed of something. As they neared the outskirts of the village, Kagome veered off the left to walk beside the river. She dragged the hesitant hanyou with her. "Its such a nice day, ne Inu yasha?"

"Aa," he agreed softly and blushed as Kagome grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the river.

As they approached the river and began walking beside it, she didn't release her hand, and he was happy to keep the contact between them. His hand closed tightly around her and squeezed it gently; he was delighted to see the small blush form on her cheeks. She was such a beautiful girl…

They came to the bridge that connected one side of the river to the other and they cross it to get to the forest. They traveled slowly down the long path between the rice fields, the rice patties swaying in the breeze. Kagome smiled and she closed her eyes, enjoying the caress of the breeze against her cheek. Inu yasha watched her out of the corner of his eye. The conversation he'd had with Kaede still haunted his mind and he felt ashamed of having to hide his feelings from her, but the insecurity was still there, why tell her if she was just going to leave him?

He sighed softly and Kagome opened her blue eyes to peer at him. They approached the incline of the hill and they made their way up, the light filtering through the tree leaves leaving small shadows on the forest floor. It highlighted Kagome's hair and her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at him and he found him self drowning in her beautiful ocean orbs. She smiled and squeezed his hand before releasing it. He missed the warmth.

She gave him a grin before taking off running, "Come on, Inu yasha!" Her giggles penetrated the silence of the forest and Inu yasha smirked. So the wench thought she could out run him, huh?

He gave her a few moments head start before he took off after her, taking to the trees. He flashed from one tree to another, his whole body appearing to be a red blur as he quickly caught up to Kagome, her squeals and laughs of joy were louder now and her eyes were sparkling with mischief.

He'd never felt so carefree, like he no longer carried the world on his shoulders, he felt like he could just start laughing now, but…that would be going too far, as happy as he was to spend this time with Kagome, the thought of laughing in front of her seemed too uncomfortable, even after all this time he still felt reserved around her.

As they entered the clearing of the bone eater's well, the trees disappeared, though he could easily jump across the small field of tall grass, he decided that it would be more fun to chase after the school girl where she had the feeling of false panic. He smirked and jumped high into the air to come crashing down to the ground in front of a giggling Kagome. She shrieked in surprise before dodging him and continuing to run into the other side of the forest. Inu yasha smirked and gave chase once again, the feeling of adrenaline pumping in his veins as he watched the beautiful woman run from him, the wind whipping around her hair and skirt, giving him a nice view of her creamy legs and the back of her pale neck. He felt his heart beating faster, and not because of the way he was running…

Finally they entered another clearing, he hadn't known that there was another clearing in his forest, but then again he rarely went this deep into the forest. He was so transfixed on Kagome that he missed the root that protruded from the ground.

His bare food caught on it and he felt the painful bash of skin against wood as he lost his balance. Kagome had stopped to catch her breath and had turned to watch the hanyou approach. Their eyes had locked and she felt her heart race from something other then exhaustion. But the moment was shattered as Inu yasha lost his balance and fell towards her. With a small cry of surprise they began tumbling down a grassy hill. Inu yasha closed his eyes in pain as he rotated the two so she was on top of him and his back took the scrapping and the snags from random twigs and roots on the hill.

They skidded at the bottom of the hill for a few moments before they fell still. Kagome and Inu yasha lay there panting, their eyes alit with laughter and joy. The tension was shattered as Kagome began to laugh and Inu yasha allowed a small smile to escape him.

Kagome rolled off him and tried to dust the dirt off her uniform, however, it seemed to have caused small holes in her shirt and grass stains; the mud stains seemed to be so deep that they'd never come out. Kagome sighed in annoyance.

"Are you ok?" Inu yasha asked hesitantly, unsure as to how to react to Kagome's sigh. He felt ashamed of the fact that he, who had perfect balance, allowed himself to be conquered by a mere tree root. It was absurd. And the fact that he had taken Kagome down the fall of shame, he felt responsible.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kagome said with a warm smile as she turned to him. "I'm not hurt, Inu yasha."

"Good," he snorted and crossed his arms and legs, sitting in his classic position, though normally his ears wouldn't be drooped and his eyes wouldn't look so ashamed.

~*~*~*~

Ok, so that was one hell of a short chapter, so sue me…-.- *Sigh* I'll try and update frequently to make up for the shortness of chapters. Gomen nasi, minna *bows in apology*