Kagome was never known for her rashness. She usually thought things out beforehand, looking at all the consequences. This technique had always kept her out of trouble and out of doing something incredibly stupid.

Like following a man she barely even knew to his house in the middle of the night.

This was not one of her more intelligent moments.

Inuyasha continued to walk, his pace even and constant. Kagome had to maintain a brisk stride just to keep up with him. She was surprised he didn't try to run to get away from her. Of course, she was just a seventeen-year old girl who was at least a foot shorter than he was. Menacing stares and edgy tones didn't seem to phase her, so Inuyasha just kept walking.

They traveled through the deeper part of the silent city, their footsteps reverberating off the walls of the buildings. Kagome kept up her speed behind him, her eyes lingering on his leather-clad back. His fists were jammed deep into the pockets of his dark blue jeans, his shoulders a little hunched, his silver-white hair flew up just a little with every step, catching the light of the moon each time.

Kagome shivered suddenly despite the warm night. She looked around as they turned the corner of a small flower shop. The familiarity of the place was overwhelming. She hadn't been to this part of the city for almost a year. It hadn't changed much; as they passed an old apartment complex, Kagome noticed the fading red and blue graffiti and the billboards that still had advertisements for a travel agency.

Her heart began to thud painfully against her ribs. She was afraid of where she was headed, of the peculiar feeling she had toward Inuyasha, and why she used to come here in the past.

She wanted to turn back. She had had no idea that she would be heading this way. She should have just left Inuyasha alone. Kagome looked over her shoulder and saw the bright lights of the metropolis, flickering in the distance. She was too far ahead and it was too late to go back home.

They continued walking through the streets, passing a market, an old coffee shop, and a record store. Kagome remembered buying a CD from there once. An unwelcome gift at the wrong time, she realized sadly.

Inuyasha's abrupt halt yanked her out of her reveries. She watched as he rang the buzzer to the old apartment building.

"Who is it?" crackled a gruff voice through the intercom.

"It's me," Inuyasha said, his voice low. His eyes glanced over at Kagome as she stood motionless in the shadows. He quickly looked away as the door opened. Silently, he went inside, disappearing into the darkness.

Kagome wasn't exactly sure what to do. Her rationality was coming back full force, and the trepidation that accompanied it was telling her not to enter the ancient, dirty building with a man she barely even knew.

She took a step forward and hesitated again. It was either the deserted streets outside or the cryptic fate that awaited her inside. She didn't have much time to think though, because the door was slowly and loudly closing shut.

A hand shot out from inside, catching the door just before it shut all the way.

"You comin'?"

Surprised, Kagome finally made up her mind and followed Inuyasha inside.

The inside of the building was darker than outside, with only a weak orange light emanating from under one of the doors to reveal any indication of life. She could barely see the gray outline of Inuyasha slightly ahead and above her. He was standing on the bottom of a steep and narrow staircase, holding a lighter in his right hand and a cigarette in the left. He did not look at her as he lit it, but instead turned around and began climbing, his feet barely making any noise. Kagome gripped the metal railing and began climbing after him, her heart still pounding so loudly, she could hear the pulse in her ears.

"Don't worry," Inuyasha called over his shoulder, the cigarette hanging from his mouth. "I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Kagome pursed her lips. His words calmed her down a little, but the fact that she barely even knew this guy did not exactly help to alleviate her fears. She was miles away from home, with no transportation back. She was about to walk into the home of a stranger, one that looked a little odd at that. She only had a couple hours until dawn, until her family woke up and found her missing.

With a sigh, Kagome followed him up slowly and carefully to keep herself from missing a step. The building was dark, but she kept her eye on the burning orange end of Inuyasha's cigarette as it floated up the stairs, it's holder unseen. The only sounds were the mysterious noises in the other rooms and the metal clanging of their footsteps as they ascended the precarious staircase.

They climbed three flights until Inuyasha finally stopped. Kagome listened as he fumbled for the key in his jacket. Kagome waited as he dug around, and then stepped back. Inuyasha muttered some angry curses and then punched the door, causing it to swing open in an explosion of loud noises. Frowning, Kagome followed him inside.

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" she asked with a small, fidgety laugh. She blinked her eyes as a bright light turned on. Inuyasha was standing by a tall lamp with a scowl on his face.

"I didn't want you to think I was breaking in." he snapped. Kagome stood in the doorway and watched as Inuyasha shrugged off his jacket and flung it on the couch. He then went into the room to his left, leaving Kagome all alone.

She surveyed the room from where she stood, still feeling uneasy about what to do. The room she was in was comprised of a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room and was no bigger than her bedroom back at home. The floor was littered with all sorts of scraps of newspaper, magazines, books and other things she couldn't quite make out. There was a small stove settled into the corner, with two pots sitting on top of it. Plastic plates and paper bowls were stacked to the right of a standalone sink. A black leather sofa was placed in the opposite corner. Bits of stuffing stuck out in various spots where the material was torn and punctured. On one end was what looked like three deep scratch marks, etched so deeply she could see the wooden skeleton. In front of the sofa was a small glass coffee table covered in a layer of thick books. Cracks in the form of a spider web were centered directly in the middle.

Kagome looked up and saw that there were no lights on the ceiling. The warm air she felt on her face from a lone window told her that the apartment didn't have any central air system. She inhaled deeply, smelling the faint scent of burnt wood and cigarettes. Her eyes watered slightly at the pungent and rich smell.

She heard footsteps and looked up from her surveillance of the room. In the bright golden light, she saw him more clearly. His featured were sharp, compared to the haziness she had to go by outside in the weak moonlight. The sudden emphasis on his features brought out an inward gasp.

His hair was a stark white, shimmering slightly in the light as he moved across the small room, watching her quietly the whole time as he became lost in his thoughts. He stopped in front of her, holding something in his hands. She stared up at him, into his eyes, bright as the early light of a setting sun. The ethereal quality they held caused her breath to catch in her throat. The eyes caught whatever lumination there was and held it there like two dancing baubles.

There was something…

She broke the silence that hung heavily between them.

"What are you?" she asked. Her eyes wandered his unusual face. Inuyasha frowned, and his face furrowed at her question. Her eyes traveled up to where his ears were…and didn't find them. Without thinking, her hand slowly lifted from her side and traveled to the top of his head where his messy bangs were. Astonished at her bold actions, Inuyasha watched on in astonishment as she transgressed the law of personal space.

Kagome found them. His ears.

She drew her hand back suddenly, surprised more than scared. They were unusual. Triangular, soft. She finally realized. Dog ears?

"What are you?" she asked again. His eyes had never left her face, even as he answered her.

"I'm a youkai," he answered, his word were clipped, his tone annoyed and incredulous at her question. A moment passed.

Kagome threw her head back and laughed.

"What the hell is so funny?" he asked angrily.

"Are you serious?" she asked in mid-laugh.

"Yes!"

"Youkai?"

"I am one! Maybe not a full one, but--"

"No, there can't be," she stated, crossing her arms. He glared at her and she laughed at him. "Youkai are from storied my father told me," she continued. She looked again at his peculiar features and hesitated. She looked at his ears, half-hidden behind his bangs. She looked down at his hands, tipped with full claws. He smiled, revealing two very sharp, gleaming canines. She remembered something, the same disbelief, and the same situation.

She asked another question.

"Who are you?" Her voice was quiet. Inuyasha hesitated for the first time.

"You don't know?" he asked finally. She stepped back as Inuyasha shook his head in disbelief. "You don't remember?" Kagome bit her lip.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. But the feelings she had experienced later had already been identified. The feelings of recognition, touching at the edges of her memory. Kagome was scared all of a sudden. "Why did you lead me here?" Inuyasha held out the object in his hand.

"Do you mean why did you follow me?" he asked suddenly and angrily. He thrust the object into her unwilling face. She let out a small cry when she noticed what it was. It was him, from last summer. And her, sitting together at the park. They were laughing and were unaware of the hidden photographer.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, her hands shaking suddenly. Inuyasha didn't reply. He threw the picture down and turned around, facing the solitary window.

"Kagome…" he started. Once again, she was surprised. He knew her name before she had even told him. "When I saw you last week, I hadn't been sure. I barely even knew you before… and only recognized you by name and face."

Kagome moved towards the door.

"God, it's been so fucking hard," he growled. He turned to face her and flexed his fingers as if he was ready to pounce. "I've looked all over for you. I need to know what happened--,"

"Stop!" Kagome cried. The tears that had been threatening to spill were close to it. She couldn't bear to bring back those memories. They were still fresh, unresolved. They hurt like hell. "I can't do this…"

"I just need to know what happened that night," he said. She shook her head.

"I don't even know you…I don't even know why you're so familiar. I don't even know half the shit that's going on!" she cried. Inuyasha moved forward, the anger on his face dissipating.

"I can help. We can put our information together," he said slowly.

"I don't even remember half the things," she said, her voice cracking.

I don't want to remember half the things. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears reigned in.

Inuyasha looked away. His voice was low, as small as a whisper.

"Did you see her? That day? That night?" he asked. Kagome opened her eyes.

"I don't remember! I don't know! These things are half-formed! I don't think I'll ever remember what happened. Is that what you wanted to know?" she cried. He looked at her, disappointed. "I don't even know where you fit in, or even Kouga. I just remember images and that's all. The only thing I have is the familiarity that at some time, I've seen you guys somewhere ," she saw the expression on his face and tried to calm herself down.

"I don't know how I can even comprehend the fact that you're a youkai…or hanyou?" Inuyasha nodded. "Kouga is one, right. I don't know why I can't remember all this. How do I even know the stuff I know in the first place?"

"It's all right. We can work this out," he said. She shook her head.

"I don't know what happened to whoever you lost…that girl? I don't know. I just remember waking up in the hospital, covered up in bandages and hooked up to a machine and someone telling me that one person was missing…," she looked down at her trembling hands.

"…and that one was dead," she finished. Kagome heard a car horn blare through the empty streets and knew that it was time to go.

"I have to go home," she said. He reached for her.

"Wait. I need to know," Inuyasha said. His voice had turned gruff again, his tough façade back in place. Kagome took a step back. She felt a tear slide down her face. She felt utterly helpless. Her encounter with Inuyasha had opened old wounds from the past. She couldn't take it anymore.

With one last sigh she made her way out the door.

She didn't look back.

It had taken three hours to walk home. After the confrontation with Inuyasha, Kagome had become both mentally and physically exhausted. Her legs ached, her head ached, her stomach ached, and she knew that her family would be up and would not find her sleeping safely tucked in her own bed. Her heart thudded as she made her way through the streets of Tokyo. The Sunday activity was the usual lazy morning routine and the city was not as busy as it usually was. Her trek home was filled with only a few obstacles, other than energy and distance.

She arrived to find her mother cooking for Souta and Grandpa. Her cheerful figure hummed and danced to the radio as she cracked an egg open.

"Mom?" she asked. Everyone looked at her as she stood in the middle of the bright yellow kitchen, the colors obviously contrasting with her mood and attire.

"Kagome. Where were you?" her mom asked, not setting down the spatula she was using.

"I--,"

"Sango called a half hour ago saying you were on your way back over, but you took awhile so I was very worried," her mom said. Kagome stared at her. Sango had called?

Not wanting to push the problem any further, Kagome took the blessing and ran with it.

"Umm… I just felt like taking my time on the way back here," she smiled. Taking that as a positive indication in the change in Kagome's usual brooding mien, her mom only smiled back and returned to her cooking.

"I was going to ask you to pick up some milk, but Souta found some in the back of the fridge. We still need to get a few things for dinner tonight. It turned out that the kitchen is completely empty of anything good. And also, I don't know why you wore that shirt to Sango's, unless you were planning to go somewhere with her," Mrs. Higurashi rambled. Kagome shrugged.

"I just threw on whatever was in front of me," she replied, feeling horrible lying.

"Oh well. Just go upstairs and get cleaned up, okay?" her mom asked. Kagome nodded and went upstair.

They had left for grocery shopping by the time she had finished taking a shower and put on some clean clothes. It was a beautiful day, cloudless and clean. The temperature was perfect.

Kagome decided to read outside. She hadn't done any of her homework. She was too tired from staying up the previous night. She desperately wanted to go back upstairs and go to sleep, but if she did, she knew she would sleep well into the next day. Hoping the bright sun would keep her from falling into a deep oblivion, she brought out her history book and sat down in the front yard, enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun on her back.

She felt sleep slowly creep up. The gentle buzz of bees and the distant hum of a lawnmower contributed to the natural lullaby. Kagome laid down on the cool grass as her mind drifted back to just a few hours ago.

Her talk, or whatever it was, with Inuyasha hadn't completely thrown her off guard. She had had a feeling, while she followed him to his apartment, that something was building up to a climax. The tension between the confused pair had risen until Inuyasha brought it out in the open. It turned out that both of them had questions about…the incident. And about what happened before and after.

Kagome rubbed her tired eyes and kept them closed as she tried to remember something specific in the past year about Inuyasha, but it was as though her mind had a permanent barrier in that section of her mind.

She was lost in her thoughts when sleep finally overcame her.

"I thought I would find you here. I can smell your scent a mile away."

Kagome was snapped awake by the voice. It had appeared in her dreams and finally her consciousness. She realized who it was.

"What? How did you--? What are you doing--?" Kagome couldn't get her thoughts out to form a single coherent sentence. From her sitting position, Kagome stared up at the figure before her, his face obscured by the shadows created from the setting sun.

"Get away from here! Are you stalking me?" she cried, inching away from him. Inuyasha laughed obnoxiously.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said. She gaped at him. From the levity of his tone, it was as if the conversation they had had that early morning never happened.

Kagome stood up, suddenly furious.

"How dare you just come here like you know me? I should call the police right now. Actually, I think I will!"

She began marching in the direction of the house, her heart beating wildly. Shechided herselfwhen she saw Inuyasha gracefullystep infront ofher.

How dare he just come here like it's okay. Stupid stupid stupid! I'm so incredibly stupid for even talking to him! Now he's stalking me like some lunatic! Shoot, mom is not gonna like this—

Kagome stopped. In front of the garage, standing next to a smug Inuyasha, was her pink bike.