Disclaimer: Never owned nothing.

A/N: Was my last chapter so bad??? I knew it sucked but 2 reviews? Only 2? Come on have a heart. Is nobody reading this?? The only reason I wrote this chapter was coz two people are still reading it and that I was myself curious as to what would happen.

Now, on with the story...if anyone is reading this that is.

Chapter 7: Return

Kagome smiled to herself as she jumped into the well to get home. Three months had passed since Inuyasha's death and her accusing nightmares had subsided, except for a few seldom ones. The shard hunt still did not have as much enthusiasm in it as it had during Inuyasha's leadership, but they had managed to gather a grand total of four shards after the death. Not exactly impressive but with the jewel almost complete, it was getting harder and harder to come across jewel shards.

She had told her family about the loss about two weeks after the death and they had been very supportive. Souta (spelling??) was heartbroken when the news of his hero's demise reached him. She thought he was still in denial but since he was barely ten, she didn't destroy his hopes of Inuyasha's return. Today, she had other news to tell her family. She, Kagome Higurashi, had received her first kiss.

Kagome practically jumped out of the well to get to the house. She was so excited. True, she had seen lots of people kiss before, but she had no idea it would feel so good. It still hurt that it wasn't Inuyasha's lips that were pressed on her own, but she had found love again. Well, she had found someone who loved her, even if she didn't feel the same way about him.

Her mother should be held responsible for the relationship she has found herself in. It was her mother who told her that it's better to be with someone who loves you rather than one you love but who doesn't return the feelings. Inuyasha, if he was still alive, would be pining after Kikyo, so she'd still be alone.

It just sucked that Kouga couldn't cross over to the modern era, or she would have made him meet her friends. She was having a sleepover tonight. Her friends, Yuka, Eri and Ayumi, insisted that she spend some time with them so Kagome suggested a sleepover during the weekend. It was perfect since her mother and grandfather were going to visit her aunt. Kagome's mother was more than happy to see her daughter acting like a regular sixteen year old. Ayumi had then invited a couple of the guys to watch movies with them. Hojo and a couple of his friends who were supposedly the 'cool' guys in school were coming. The girls couldn't stop giggling about it when they told her. Strange, how Kagome felt that these were petty things to be happy about.

She opened the door and happily greeted the empty house.

Huh? Kagome thought, where is everyone?

"Kagome!!!" Souta ran into the living room followed shortly by Ayumi and Eri. Frankly, Kagome was a little surprised that they were so early.

"I thought you had forgotten. You're late." Ayumi said with a friendly smile on her face.

Me?? Late?? Oh no. "I'm late?" Kagome questioned. Ayumi and Eri nodded happily. Oh, Her friends didn't know that the two-timing bastard was dead. "Hmm..." Kagome realized when she looked at the time. She was late. They were supposed to meet her at 6 pm and Kagome was almost two hours late.

"I'm so sorry. I'll be ready in a minute." With that Kagome ran up to her room to change out of her dirty green and white school uniform.

Ayumi just smiled and Eri looked confused. Kagome was still changing when she heard the doorbell ring. Yuki must be here.

Yuki had gotten the movies they were supposed to watch hence she was late. They sat in the living room watching TV until the guys showed up.

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A group of four guys made their way to the Higurashi shrine, looking forward to spending sometime with the girls. They were the popular guys in school and Kagome's absence in school had turned her into a mysterious girl. Hojo, however, had made it clear that he liked Kagome so none of them were to make any moves on her. Hojo was a very quiet guy and his friends respected him. The group consisted of the brown eyed, brown haired calm gentle Hojo, and blonde brown-eyed spontaneous boy named Jonouchi; brown haired, dark eyed calm but easily angered Honda and brown haired blue-eyed egoistic Seto (recognize them anyone?)

"Yo, Hojo," Jonouchi's voice shattered the calm silence, "this Kagome you are always talking about, how come I've never seen her?"

"Yeah, me neither." Honda added. Seto just kept his eyes on the road but kept his ears on the conversation.

"She's been ill a lot recently, she doesn't come to school very often." Hojo answered quietly.

"Oh, hope its not contagious." Jonouchi spoke up with a wide grin on his face.

"But look at the brighter side, absence makes the heart grow fonder, don't you think?" Honda piped in. Jonouchi broke into hysterical laughter and patted on Honda for thinking it up and nearly doubled up when he saw Hojo's beet-red face.

Seto stopped suddenly, nearly knocking the other guys onto the hard cement floor.

"Hey man, wh..." Seto grabbed Jonouchi's mouth with one hand while putting a finger to his lips with the other. Jonouchi nodded meekly and Honda started sneaking up to the door of the small shrine that contained the ancient well.

The group froze when they heard a muffled groan from the inside. Jonouchi and Honda pulled out a small pocketknife from their pockets and signalled Hojo to go get Kagome and call 911.

Suddenly, the door flew open and a shadow jumped out of the shrine. It seemed surprised by the boys standing in front and made a dash for the house. Jonouchi knew that there were no men in the house at that moment and the shadow was definitely that of a man.

Not thinking straight and keeping the man out of the house being his only priority, Jonouchi jumped on the man to stop him. He jumped onto the man's back and felt something warm seep into his shirt onto his chest, the man hissed in pain before whispering, "Kagome."

Jonouchi realized that this man knew Kagome, and tried to get off of him but Honda had thought that Jonouchi was being threatened by the man and was now holding the knife to the other guy's throat.

Kagome rushed outside when Hojo came to tell her that a guy was sneaking around in the shrine and called 911. Kagome's main concern was that a demon had managed to find out how the well worked and had crossed over to the modern era.

It was dark in the courtyard, Damn the new moon, brings nothing but trouble. Kagome's thought was cut short when she saw the scene in front of her. Jonouchi was sitting on the man's back and Honda had his head pulled back with one hand and a knife to his throat with the other. The man was in a difficult position and hence they seemed safe for now.

Kagome pulled out the flashlight she had grabbed on her way out and switched it on.

Kagome froze. The flashlight dropped from her hand as her friends rushed to see what had upset her so much. Meanwhile, Jonouchi had realized in the light of the flashlight that he was drenched in another's blood and had jumped off of the man and taken off his shirt.

"Hojo," Kagome said softly, "please call 911 and tell them it was a false alarm." Then she turned to Honda, "Honda, please put that knife away."

Worried, Honda reluctantly put his knife away but not before painfully banging the bloody boy's face into the ground.

"Kagome, what...?" Hojo's question was cut short when Kagome dropped onto her knees in front of the shadow and pulled his head into her lap.

"Ayumi, Yuki, Eri, please take Jonouchi inside." She turned to Honda and Seto, "please help me carry him inside."

Honda grunted and Seto gave a curt nod before grabbing the unconscious boy's legs and Honda grabbed the boy's shoulders, wincing when his hands came in contact with fresh warm blood.

Kagome had them carry him to her room where she silently took his shirt off and worked on his injuries.

He's alive? But how? Why?

Her friends were an asset; they helped her wash his wounds and tend to them. Kagome knew she owed them an explanation but they could wait until Inuyasha had stopped bleeding.

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"I'm sorry for all that," Kagome found herself saying to a fleet of police cars that had appeared at her doorstep, "It was all a misunderstanding."

The police left after sometime, after Kagome managed to persuade them that there is no need to search the area. She still hadn't found enough time to wash the blood off of the shrine steps and she didn't want to have to explain that.

Inuyasha was sleeping peacefully in her bed upstairs. His bloody clothes had been taken off and the pants had created a problem; they were filled with dirt and blood and they had to be removed. However, Kagome didn't want to be there to witness the unveiling. Jonouchi had volunteered and Seto had helped. Hojo looked more or less betrayed and Kagome had to say something.

"Umm...guys?" She didn't need to call for their attention; they were all eyeing her with big confused looks, "meet Inuyasha."

They were in the living room and Kagome was glad that Inuyasha wouldn't be disturbed by the loud arguments and questions that were to follow.

"Inuyasha?" Ayumi asked.

"The Inuyasha?" Yuki questioned.

Eri couldn't be left behind, "You mean...he's the two timing bastard?"

"Okay, okay, let's not get insulting here." Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose. Too many questions were plaguing her mind and answers were scarce.

"What was he doing in the shrine?"

"Why is he all bloody?"

"Can you wash my shirt?"

"You still didn't dump him, did you?"

"Don't tell me you still care for him."

"Can somebody please give me a shirt?"

"Did you... do that with him?"

"Oh my god, that's it isn't it? You did ...that, didn't you?"

"No, no!" Kagome answered quickly. "I didn't sleep with him ok? If that's what you mean."

Everybody except Honda, Jonouchi and Seto looked relieved. Honda was staring at the ceiling and Seto had taken a book from the shelf and was browsing through it. Jonouchi, well he was eyeing everybody else's shirts.

"Look," Kagome tried to explain, "He's..."

"Kagome?" she spun around at the weak call from behind her. There he was, standing at the door with one hand holding the sheet she had covered him with in place, the other hand grasping the doorframe for support.

Inuyasha seemed to realize suddenly that there were other people in the room, including girls, and blushed a deep crimson when he realized that he only had a bed sheet covering him.

"Inuyasha" Kagome spoke softly to him closing the distance between them Oh my God! He's alive. I can't believe it. He's alive. "You're wounded, you shouldn't be moving."

"Keh..." Inuyasha lifted his chin up to add an air of authority around him, "This is nothing... I'll be as good as new by morning."

What?

Kagome's face suddenly fell and Inuyasha started studying her expression wondering what he had said to upset her so.

"Really Kagome," He tried to reassure her, "I'll be fine."

"Don't say that!" Kagome snapped, "don't ever say that." She fought a losing battle with her tears and her eyes glazed over.

Ayumi and Yuki rushed over to console her while the guys just stared. Well, Jonouchi looked glad that someone else was topless besides him and Seto was looking at them with interest apparently forgotten about his book.

Inuyasha just stared at her, wondering what to say to her to make her stop crying.

"Don't cry." LAME!

"I'm not crying!" Kagome said louder still, wiping her eyes furiously to prove that she wasn't crying.

"You are too." Inuyasha couldn't let this go, something he said had upset her and he was going to make her stop crying, but to do that he first had to prove that she was crying. "Am not."

"Are too."

Kagome wiped at her eyes furiously again, "You are such a jerk. I'm going home. Don't try to come get me."

With that she turned around to leave when she realized that she was 'home'.

She turned around to see Inuyasha smirking. He took his free hand and softly wiped away a stray tear that had survived Kagome's violent wipes.

Hojo suddenly appeared next to Kagome and batted Inuyasha's hand away, his tone accusing, "you made her cry."

Inuyasha sent a single death glare his way, which shut him up for good; Hojo stood his ground however still holding Kagome's hand. Hojo was quiet, no doubt, however her friends were just starting with him.

"How dare you make her cry like that?"

"You know you are the coldest two timing bastard ever." Inuyasha flinched when he heard the word 'bastard' but realized that she didn't mean it that way.

"Let her go." He said so softly that it was almost inaudible. Kagome looked to up to see Inuyasha regarding Hojo with a very cold stare, "I said let her go."

"No." His words were strong but his voice was quivering.

Kagome noticed Inuyasha clenching his fist and grinding his teeth to keep from punching the guy's lights out; she untangled her hand from a protesting brown haired boy and used that hand to gently caress his left cheek.

"I missed you." Inuyasha looked into her eyes at that point, his expression softening immediately. He smiled softly at her but remained quiet.

Kagome eyed the room full of teenagers.

"I'm sorry, but we won't be able to watch any movies tonight." Everybody looked at her with understanding, except Seto; he looked bored. Kagome decided that she didn't like him too much.

"Can I umm...if its not too much trouble...can I get a shirt?" Jonouchi asked sheepishly.

Kagome smiled and said that he could have one of her father's leftover shirts and she will give him his shirt back at school.

A few hours later, all her friends had left reluctantly. Hojo had been most persistent; he refused to leave Kagome alone with Inuyasha. Many death glares and threatening hand gestures later, he left.

Kagome forced Inuyasha back into her room. His wounds had opened up during the whole 'discussion' and the bandages covering a huge part of his chest were soaked in blood. Souta had miraculously slept through all of the commotion and presently had no idea that his hero had been reincarnated.

Kagome went to her room after getting some 'ramen' for Inuyasha. It was dark there and she could barely make out a shadow slumped on her bed, his knees pulled up to his chest. Kagome switched the lights on only to have him tell her to 'make it dark again'. Apparently, he found darkness soothing.

"Here, have something to eat," Kagome handed him the steaming cup of ramen only to have him refuse it with a small jerk of his hand. Strange, he doesn't like ramen anymore?

"Do you want something else then?" He shook his head slightly.

"Let me change your bandages."

"Keh, how will you do that in the dark?" Kagome could hear the smirk in his voice and it made her smile.

"So maybe I should switch the lights on again?"

"No," he said suddenly, he quickly grabbed her hand to stop her from moving to switch the lights on. Kagome put the cup of noodles onto the side table before sitting on the bed, facing Inuyasha.

"Why not?" She said softly. She had no idea how or why he was alive and she was pretty sure the story wasn't pleasant.

"Because," He made no further attempt to complete his sentence. The darkness made it impossible for her to figure out anything by his expression instead, so she went for the old fashion interrogation.

"Because what?"

"Just because."

"That's not an answer, Inuyasha." Kagome requested stubbornly.

"Is too."

"No it isn't," Before the argument progressed into a loop, Kagome proceeded to coax him into talking, "please answer me Inuyasha."

"Because," Here we go again. Kagome thought to herself, "nobody can see me when it's dark."

Kagome was taken back by his reply; sure she knew what he had been must not be pretty but for him to hope no one saw him...it was heart-wrenching.

"Why would you want no one to see you?"

"Because that's what heaven is like. At least I think it was heaven."

"It was dark in heaven?"

"No...no one could see me in heaven."

Kagome didn't know what to say. Inuyasha was alone...even in heaven? How could one be in heaven if he felt all alone?

Inuyasha snickered. Kagome drew her worried eyes onto his dark form again wondering what would be so funny.

"What's so funny?"

"I don't belong to either side." Kagome gave him a confused look, not like he could see it but he got the message, "first I was neither a demon nor a human. Now, I'm neither living nor dead. I belong nowhere."

Kagome extended her hands to cup his face, he leaned into her touch and they stayed like that for sometime before Kagome whispered softly to him, "You belong here, Inuyasha, with me...with us."

Inuyasha looked up at her, his violet eyes shining in the dark. Suddenly, he whipped out his arms and grabbed Kagome's middle pulling her into his body, giving her a very awkward embrace. It was awkward no doubt, but it was heartfelt. Kagome grabbed his shoulders to steady herself and then wrapped her arms around his neck. She could feel his warm breath caress the sensitive flesh of her neck and it sent some pleasant shivers through her body; shivers which mysteriously turned into soft warmth that enveloped her heart.

"I missed you Kagome." His lips brushed against her neck when he spoke, sending another wave of shivers through her.

"I thought I'd never get to see you again." His voice faded and Kagome pulled back slightly to see if he was still coherent, he was coherent enough to retaliate the movement. They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Kagome felt his hold on her go loose.

She supported his neck with her hand and then lay him down gently on the bed. She gently changed his bandages using a candle for light and then tucked him in. She never got to really see him sleeping, only a select few times earlier. Only this time, she was seeing him after a long time and he looked absolutely angelic in his sleep. Kagome brushed a few strands of his hair aside, and tucked them behind his ear. There were still a few hours to go before the sun rose and those ears would disappear, the strands would be free to reign then.

She tucked the blanket around him one last time before making herself comfortable on the chair in her room. If he needed something, she would be right here...always.

I loved the name Moero, just I have no idea how its pronounced. I don't wanna keep it Rei coz it sounds like a guy's name to me. I can't keep it Moero since it means fire and well...the newest demon is actually an ice demon...kind off not suiting. I might end up calling her Rei though, if no one gives me any more suggestions. U people broke my heart though... no reviews are worse than flames. Just let me know if I suck, ok?