Hello, all. No too many reviews for my latest chapter, but I don't care. This story will come out. No matter if NOBODY reviews it! No matter if it is SPURNED by the teeming masses of ff.net! EVEN IF I HAVE TO BREAK INTO THE FF.NET OFFICES AND STAPLE IT TO THE TABLE, THIS STORY WILL GET TOLD!!!!!!! ... Ahem. Feeling better now.

Chapter 12: Thank You, Mr. Exposition

Inuyasha woke up. Actually, he only sort of woke up. This is what went through his head:

Dark.

Where am I?

What happened?

Smells like...Kagome.

Heat is over. Good.

Still dark.

Comfortable.

Warm. Soft. Almost like...

Like Kagome's bed.

Smells like Kagome, Kagome is near, Kagome is...AGH!

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. He found himself on Kagome's bed, with Kagome snuggled up next to him, her arms around his waist, asleep. The sun had risen. Inuyasha tried as hard as he could to piece together what he did last night, why he had a headache like someone had beat him against a stone wall, and why Kagome was currently sleeping next to him.

At least she had let go of her heat scent. He didn't have the temptation anymore...well, there WAS temptation, but one he could more easily resist. He struggled with his very uncooperative memory, and came up with some broken fragments. Going to the bar with Tobias...having a few drinks...having a few more drinks...having a few MORE drinks...telling him...oh, shit. He knows. But does he remember? Inuyasha attempted to get up, but Kagome only made a soft noise and tightened her grip around him. He sighed and sank back onto the bed. Nothing to do now but wait for Kagome to get up.

In Sota's room, Tobias arose and immediately wished he hadn't. He felt like another building had fallen on him, and he clutched at his head as he dizzily navigated the room. Hangovers he'd had, but this was something totally else. Arrgh...my head. What happened last night? Oh yeah...we got drunk...and...he told me some very interesting news... He stumbled out of the room and went downstairs. Mama was making breakfast and Sota was sacked out on the couch. Mama smiled at Tobias as he came into the kitchen.

"Oh hello, Tobias. I'm trying something new today. Belgian waffles. Are you feeling any better after last night?" She seems peculiarly unfazed about last night, Tobias thought blearily.

"I'm fine..." he said weakly. "Just...a hangover, I guess. I'll be okay in a while."

Back upstairs, Kagome finally woke up. She groggily noticed the position she and the very red-faced Inuyasha were in. She smiled inwardly at Inuyasha's reaction. He's so cute when he's confused... She disentangled herself from him and rose.

"Inuyasha, could you leave for a minute while I get dressed?" she asked sweetly. Inuyasha got up, then staggered. Kagome laughed out loud. "Paying for last night, right? I hope you enjoyed yourself. Now scoot." She shoved him out the door. The door closed behind him, but didn't quite catch, and remained a fraction open.

Inuyasha tried to sort out his thoughts, but one kept coming up and demanding to be noticed.

Kagome is in that room, changing, and the door is open enough for you to look.

With his sleep-fogged brain, Inuyasha did not even consider the ramifications (and possible consequences) of peeking. He tiptoed over to the door, ears focused on any sound that came, as he stealthily slid over to the crack, where he saw...

"INUYASHA!!!" came a voice from the stairs.

Normally, this would have upset Inuyasha's sensitive ears and caused him to shout at the person who yelled it. But the combination of his sensitive hearing, the fact that he was currently focusing his hearing to pick up anything, and his headache; well, he clutched at his head and fell over on the floor.

Sota's head appeared at the corner of the hallway. "Inuyasha! Kagome! Mom says breakfast is ready!" Inuyasha whined to himself. He scuttled away from the door moments before it flew open, and Kagome stepped out, now dressed.

"What are you doing just lying there? Come to breakfast!" She skipped through the hallway and into the kitchen. He pulled himself into a standing position and went down the stairs as well. Inuyasha seated himself at the table, where Kagome, Tobias, Sota, and Mama were waiting for him. Tobias looked as bad as Inuyasha felt. He sat down heavily.

Mama served the waffles, and everybody started eating. Sota spoke up.

"So, Inuyasha-" Tobias and Inuyasha both cringed.

"Not so loud," Inuyasha whispered.

"Head hurts," mumbled Tobias.

"Well, you had enough to drink last night, I'm not surprised," said Kagome cheerily. They both glared at her. She was entirely too happy this morning.

"Inuyasha, I remember something from last night," Tobias mumbled. "You told me a wonderful story about demons, and monsters, and the Shikon no Tama." Everybody froze. He had told him? "Now tell me," Tobias continued, almost giggling at the looks on everybody's faces. "One thing you neglected to make clear is how exactly you get to Feudal Japan. Could you explain that? You told me everything else, so this can't possibly hurt..."

Kagome turned and looked at Inuyasha. When he looked at her eyes, he was practically knocked off his chair by the death glare she sent him. He recovered and gave her a mean look.

"What?" he barked. "I wasn't thinking straight!"

"You're DAMN RIGHT you weren't thinking straight!" Kagome screamed. "What in all creation possessed you to tell him about the jewel? How drunk were you?! You're not supposed to tell ANYBODY and you KNOW it! You're lucky he doesn't think you're a mental case right now!" Kagome breathed hard as she gave him a furious glare.

"Actually, I believe him. But could someone answer my question?" Tobias had a big smile on his face. Ha! The mighty Inuyasha, chewed out by Kagome. That's a riot. But his smile vanished when Kagome turned to him with an evil grin on his face. Tobias hid his expression by gobbling another waffle.

"So, Tobias...what's this about you being a prince?" Tobias choked on his waffle. He coughed a few times, then cleared his throat.

"A...prince?" She nodded. "Did I say that?" She nodded again, and Sota nodded too. Beads of sweat appeared on Tobias's forehead. "Well...what I meant was...I...we had a knighting ceremony!"

Kagome's evil grin melted into a confused look. "What?" Inuyasha looked mighty puzzled, too.

"Yeah! A knighting ceremony. We took our swords, and knighted each other, and declared each other princes of the kingdom." Tobias seemed calmer now. "It was a lot of fun. From what I can remember, we commanded the 'peasants' to buy us drinks and sent a few people to the dungeon."

"I don't remember that," Inuyasha said.

"Well, I don't remember half the stuff we did either. But rest assured that we did." Tobias drank some milk. "I heard you say you were leaving today for something. Using all of my powers of logic and deduction-" "Not much," Inuyasha muttered, Kagome suppressed a laugh- "I determined that you're going back to Feudal Japan today. And so, I present you with a question."

"Can I come?"

Stunned silence. This was totally not what they had been expecting. Finally, Inuyasha cleared his throat.

"Umm...you know, all we do is hunt for shards. No partying or movies or anything, just hunting for shards."

"In fact, there are no parties or movies. Just more shards," Kagome cut in.

"I know. I don't mind. Can I come?"

Kagome and Inuyasha thought about this for a while.

"Umm..."

"What, are you afraid I'm going to steal the jewel?" Tobias laughed. "Kagome wears it around her neck, right? I wouldn't take it. I have no need for it, not being a demon and all. Even if I wanted it, I can't use it now; it isn't finished and I have no idea of how to get the rest."

He stood up and swayed with the effort. "I think this hangover is finally leaving me," he muttered. "Yours should be too, Inuyasha. At any rate, I have to go back to my house to get some supplies. I'll stop back here once I've gotten everything. If you want to take me along, stay here and when I come back, we'll go. If you don't, just leave. I'll manage." He walked to the door. "So long. Be back in an hour." He left.

Kagome bolted upstairs. Mama gave her a puzzled look, then turned to Inuyasha and shrugged. Inuyasha went upstairs after her. He went into her room, and saw her on her bed. She looked very angry. He sighed and closed the door, prepared for a shouting. And a shouting she gave him.

"What the HELL were you thinking? Telling him about the jewel? You are so STUPID! You're the DUMBEST JERK in the WORLD! What if he decides to attack me and get the shards? What if he finds out how to get to the past? What if he's secretly siding with Naraku? YOU DON'T KNOW! I cannot BELIEVE that you told him EVERYTHING that I have tried SO hard to keep SECRET for the last THREE YEARS OF MY LIFE! And YOU go and just BLAB EVERYTHING to some guy you've known for LESS THAN A WEEK!!!!" Kagome seemed spent. She flopped backwards onto her bed, still growling at Inuyasha for his stupidity. Then she sat up a little.

"So...do you think he can come?"

Inuyasha was completely thrown by this. He scrabbled for an answer. "Uh, yeah. But only for a few days! And if he tries anything funny, I'll kill him." Kagome giggled.

"Yeah, I know that," she said. Inuyasha cautiously approached her.

"Kagome, you aren't angry anymore! Why not?"

She turned to him. "What's the use of being angry? It's not like we can do anything about it. What are we gonna do, erase his memory? I used up all my anger shouting at you just now. I just had to get it out of my system, that's all. I'm still a little upset, but he seems trustworthy enough." Kagome fell back on the bed again. Inuyasha gave a small smile and lay down next to her on the bed.

"I could always kill him. That'll stop him from telling anyone else." Kagome looked at him with an inquisitive look.

"You think you can? He's pretty powerful..." She grinned slightly as Inuyasha's face contorted into fury.

"Of course I can, wench! He may have armor, but there isn't a human alive that can beat me! That sword is nothing! I could tear him to pieces even without Tetsusaiga!" He looked down at Kagome and noticed she was rocking with silent laughter.

"Aww...my little puppy has a fragile ego...that's so cute!" Her hand edged up Inuyasha's back to rest between his ears. She took one in her hand and began to rub it gently. "Little puppy want his ears rubbed?"

He didn't want me to do this before because we weren't close enough. But we're close now... All dogs like it when you rub their ears. Inuyasha must. Kagome's thoughts were confirmed when Inuyasha leaned his head into her hand and let out a faint growl that almost sounded like a purr.

Inuyasha vaguely thought there was something wrong with this, but right now he didn't care. Like Kagome had thought, he loved having his ears massaged. But he didn't want her to know that before. Now...now was a different story. He scooted his body to get closer to hers and relaxed completely. Waves of contentment rolled over his body, and he purred again. Kagome giggled at this, and used her other hand to massage his other ear.

Inuyasha felt like he would just melt into a puddle at Kagome's simple caresses. He curled up into a ball and just lay there as Kagome stroked his ears. If he had a tail, it would be waving with gusto right about now. He didn't ever want her to stop...

"Hey again. I left my cell phone here. Have you seen it?" Tobias poked his head into Kagome's room. The ear-massage abruptly ended as Kagome whirled to confront this new invasion. Tobias looked mildly surprised. "I'll come back," he offered. Inuyasha sat up a little, and watched him leave. He held a finger to his lips to silence Kagome, then crept out into the hallway.

A series of satisfying thumps, a crash, a very loud and very rude utterance from Tobias, and Mama's answering shout all told Kagome that Inuyasha had just pushed Tobias down the stairs. Her suspicions were confirmed when Inuyasha came back into the room, grinning from ear to ear.

"He interrupted us one time too many," he said for an explanation. His face told the rest. He deserved it, was the clear message. Kagome laughed out loud and walked out of the room, followed closely by Inuyasha.

Agh! Tobias strikes again! How many of you think he deserved it? To answer, just REVIEW!

Lasako, I was interested in putting you in my story, since you seem to like it so much. I sent you a few emails about it, but you never responded. (It might be my crappy email system, though. It does things like that.) So answer in your review! That way I'll be sure to get it. And to everyone else...REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to all, I have decided to make this story more reader-interactive. So at certain points, the reviews will indicate which way the story goes! Where someone goes, what someone does...whether someone lives or dies...

And yes, Koga, Sesshomaru and Kikyo will ALL make appearances at one point. However...I can tell you this much. *sideways glance* *nonchalant check* At least one of them will die. BUT I WON'T TELL YOU WHO!!!