Disclaimer: I have an Inuyasha and Shippo keychain… does that count? No? Okay, I don't own them.

Chapter 5

Kagome stared in wonder as they went in to the lobby of the building and up the mirrored elevator.

Somehow she was not surprised when they went all the way to the top. Of course he would have the penthouse suite.

Inuyasha let her into the apartment. She gasped in awe at the apartment. The living room was a comfortable mix of eastern and western cultures. There was a western style sofa, but the coffee table was lower with a few floor pillows around it. In the corner sat a state-of-the-art entertainment system complete with surround sound, VCR/dvd player and a playstation 2. There were varying wall scrolls and pictures decorating the walls.

The kitchen was done in a more modern style. It was made out of stainless steel and shone brilliantly. She looked at her wavy reflection in the refrigerator for a moment. She noticed a big picture window reflected there as well.

Inuyasha quietly watched her as stared at her reflection and then turned and walked over to the picture window. She gazed out at Tokyo. In the distance she could see a house setting on a hill. There seemed to big a large tree near the house. She felt Inuyasha come up behind her and put his arms around her waist. After a moment she laughed.

"That's my shrine!"

"One of the reasons I bought this place," Inuyasha replied as he kissed the side of her neck. "I'm going to go change. May I suggest that you do the same?"

"But – but I have no clothes to change into!" she exclaimed.

He laughed. "Go look in the bedroom to the left of the kitchen."

She was not sure what she was going to find when she switched on the light. There sitting on the bed was her duffel bag.

She smiled as she opened the bag. Her mother had been sneaky. She started changing. Mama had known. She knew it was Inuyasha I was seeing and that I would be spending the night. She knew. All those phone calls…they must have been Inuaysha.

She was comfortable in the blue flannel pajama pants and a very soft light blue T-shirt. She wondered back into the living room.

He was waiting for her on the sofa. He had on a pair of red and black flannel pants with a red muscle shirt.

He patted the spot next to him. She obligingly sat down. He put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

"This is where you live?" she asked after a moment.

"Not exactly. I still live with my brother in the palace. However we have this apartment to get away from each other or from the noise."

"The noise?"

Inuaysha laughed. "You wouldn't believe who all lives there. There is myself, Sesshomaru, his son, Shippo, Soten, and Rinku." He paused for a moment. "We had a cave built so Shiori could come and go as she pleased. The same goes for Kouga's wolf pack. So with all the different people and projects going on, it can be quite hectic around there. That's the reason we came here instead. I didn't want you to be bombarded by everyone and everything."

She nodded. She processed everything she had heard. Inuyasha was here… and rich. He and his brother had come to terms. But she wanted to know what happened so many years ago.

She looked up at him. "Inuyasha, how was Naraku defeated?"

He sighed. "The simple answer is teamwork. And a bit more help came. Sesshomaru and Kikyo showed up.

"The wolves and other demons acted as decoys. Miroku blessed Sango's weapon by adding his staff to it. The arrows that Keade and Kikyo shot cleared a path for mine and Sesshomaru's attacks. The combined attacks left nothing of Naraku. With the Jewel gone he couldn't come back."

Kagome looked up at him. "I wish I could have stayed to help."

He pulled her closer to him. "I know. But you wouldn't want to have been there afterwards. That's when things got crazy."

xxxxx

Everyone stood there in silence watching the wind scatter Naraku's dust to the four corners of the world.

Though no one could whisper it, the question on everyone's mind was, "Is he gone?"

Miroku closed his eyes. Slowly he unwound his prayer beads and folded back his glove. He opened his eyes to see that his hand was whole. He released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. A slow smile spread across his face.

Shippo hopped upon his shoulder and looked down.

"Miroku! Your wind tunnel is gone!"

"Yes. Yes, it is," the monk whispered. He slowly turned to the group. Suddenly he found Sango wrapped around him.

He laughed. "So I take it that you'll bear my children then?"

Sango could only nod into his robes.

Kikyo turned to Inuyasha with a sadistic smile on her face.

"Come Inuyasha. Naraku is dead and my reincarnation is back in her own time. It is now time for you to come with me to Hell."

Inuyasha gulped and shook his head. "I promised Kagome I'd come for her."

Kikyo's eyes flashed. "I was the first one to care for you!" She took a step towards the hanyou.

Sesshomaru stepped between the two. He glared at the priestess.

"I told you before, nobody kills my brother… except me!" the demon lord growled.

The priestess did not back down. Neither did the demon lord.

"I have no qualms with killing you. I do not care for you as my brother does."

"And I have no problems disposing of you," she retorted.

Sesshomaru smirked. "You would leave a little girl without her guardian?"

Kikyo faltered for a moment. Kaede reached for her sister.

"Kikyo-sama, please reconsider. Inuyasha has done many good deeds. There is no reason for thee to take his life."

Kikyo glared at her aged younger sister. "Whose side are you on?"

"He did not harm thee, sister," Kaede pleaded.

"Hmph." Kikyo turned back to the demon brothers. "Inuyasha comes with me."

She took another step forward. At Sesshomaru's side, Tensaiga pulsed. He gave it a curious glance. Behind him, Inuyasha took a step back as his friends circled to join him.

"Interesting," Sesshomaru whispered as he drew his father's fang. He studied it for a moment and then look at the miko. Why does father's sword wish to be drawn against her?

Kikyo gave him a questioning look.

Miroku picked up on the questioning looks from the combatants. "Her souls," he whispered.

Tensaiga pulsed again. You have your reasons, Sesshomaru thought. He shrugged and sliced across the miko.

In a bright flash of light Kikyo screamed. Her soul collectors disintegrated and the souls returned to their bodies or proceeded to heaven. When the light faded, Kikyo looked the worse for the wear. Tiny lines criss-crossed her exposed skin.

She reached out for Inuyasha, bits of clay crumbling from her movement.

He shook his head. "I. Love. Kagome."

Her expression was pained as she bowed her head and the dry clay body crumpled to earth.

Sesshomaru sheathed his sword and started walking away.

"Are you not going to try to kill me, too?" Inuyasha shouted after his brother.

The demon lord stopped and turned to face his younger brother. "You have lost both of your wenches today. To kill you in such a state would be… unfulfilling." With that said, he turned and continued on his way.

Inuyasha looked at the pile of dust that Keade was collecting to return to her sister's grave.

"I'm sorry Kikyo, but I am in love with…" He turned towards the well. "Kagome!" He dove into the well to bring her back.

He could only think of one thing as he hit the bottom with a blue sky still above him…

"Damn."

xxxxx

Kagome was speechless after he finished his story. After a few minutes she asked, "You love me more than Kikyo?"

He nodded.

"Why?" she questioned.

He pulled her close. "Because you trusted me, believed in me, and never asked me to change. There are other reasons that I can not even begin to name."

He leaned down and kissed her. She melted into his embrace.

When it ended, she laid against him.

"So Miroku and Sango got married?" she queried.

"Yep. Shippo and I helped them rebuild the demon slayers' village. Sango taught demon slaying to the young men and women from surrounding villages.

"I lost count of how many children they had. Shippo and I stayed until their oldest got married. All this time, Sesshomaru would come and call me out to fight him. We constantly killed each other as I told you earlier in the evening.

"When Shippo and I left, I wanted to go home." Inuaysha laughed.

"You can imagine how my brother felt about that. I argued that it was my home, too. He finally gave in. At least he would be able to keep an eye on me, and it made it that much easier for him to track me down when he decided that he wanted to kill me."

"How did you two come to terms?" Kagome inquired

He smiled. "Rin. One day she told the both of us that we were brothers and shouldn't fight with each other. She was sick of taking care of us just so we could kill each other again. She stated that she was not going to do it anymore. And if we continued to kill each other, then she would run off with Shippo. Because Sesshomaru loved her, he tried to work things out with me.

"We still had our moments and occasionally we'd beat each other with sticks. We took up fencing a while back, and that is usually how we take our aggressions out on each other."

Kagome laughed. "Wow. This is all so…" She turned away. "I've missed so much. I wish I could have seen Miroku and Sango again."

"I know." He held her close to him. They sat in silence enjoying the company of the other.

xxxxx

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was longer than the last one. I know the next (and last) chapter will be shorter.

Wow, I got a lot of new reviewers for the last chapter. Welcome to my crazy little world!

M.M: Is it not already a good fic? Slightly confused by that comment. And even though I didn't state it directly in the story… yes, Rin in the mother of Fluffy's son.

TennyoKameko: It is finished… one more chapter to go. How are you weirded out by this Inuyasha. He's older, that's all. I think it will be easier to bug me, as smiting me would mean I couldn't update. But I've updated so you don't have to do either.

Shiru: I mention in my other fics that Inu/Kag fluff is sometimes hard for me to write. I know I like to read my fair share of fluff. Thanks for reviewing.

Thanks again for the reviews. Until next time!