Funny, he'd never been like this before.

Ironic, really. Usually this kind of thing - well, you know, kissing and such - turned him into someone. Someone a bit more shy and introverted, reluctant and slow to the uptake. Maybe being around Kagome allowed him to be himself, or maybe Kikyou had given off the air that had made him hesitate so much more. Either way, he was definitely acting like himself now...

Pulling back from the kiss, he held her as close as he dared, trying not to suffocate her or anything.

"Kagome, we're free."

Free from everything. No more collecting jewel shards, no more Naraku. No more demon-hunting, if they didn't want to. No more hiding from each other. Free from feelings for the dead miko, free from her entirely. No more impending doom of hell. No more worrying about Miroku and his kazanna. No more worrying about Kohaku. Any problems they had were irrelevant to the moment, and so they were free from that too.

"Aishiteru...." The hanyou half laughed, half snorted. "I'm wet...."

It was a delirious, dizzying feeling to be so ... fearless ... but lacking the actual fear. To be entirely at ease, considering there was nothing to worry about. It was actual bliss to know that the fact that her cheeks were wet was not because of tears ... and that yes, it was amusing that they'd both half-drowned in a pond, though towards a greater extent for the hanyou.

It was funny now because they were together, and it was still truly incomprehensible that they were. The hand on his shoulder reached up to tug on a dripping bang lightly as one of the truest smiles she'd mustered in an extremely long time made its unfamiliar way across her face.

"Aishiteru, zubunure baka."

Her teasing was almost unfamiliar as well -- it was snapping into some ancient routine she'd never experienced before. But she liked it ... she liked the idea of this giddiness that was made from the essence of acceptance and love.

"-- we should head back to my era. There are dryers there ... otherwise we'll probably freeze to death."

Kagome didn't bother to explain the job of a 'dryer'. The word was pretty self-explanatory, right?

"You sure your grandfather won't try to curse me out of the house or anything? Or your mother, for that matter? Can't imagine she'd be very fond of me, concidering..." He let it hang, not wanting to ruin a happy moment with things that would upset Kagome's mother.

The teasing was unusual for her, but just the smile the miko had on her face was more than words could say. For the first time in a long time, the hanyou's face broke out into a true smile. He shook his head, sending light droplets on both of them. Though since they were already soaking, it made no difference. His ears twitched, moving a fraction of a second behind the rest of his head.

"I'll still go to your era with you, but I just want to know what to expect..." Okay, dryer, getting dry. The two concepts seemed to match well enough. "And I'm tired of being wet."

"I think it'll be alright. Okaa-san doesn't hate you ... she just doesn't know you, I guess. Maybe her fondness...will return?"

Kagome felt overly hopeful as to that fact. She was already awaiting a long conversation with her mother when she brought Inuyasha into the house.

She doesn't /know/ you, OR she thinks that you randomly attack me, or that every mishap in my life revolves around you, or that you're the reason I stopped going to school when I was generally in my own era...

Her smile faded slightly, though not entirely. "It'll be okay..my family won't attack you."

Well. Kagome hoped, prayed, and halfway /believed/ that they wouldn't attack him with either flimsy ofudas, biting words, or just extremely pathetic chibi eyes. Souta had missed the hanyou a lot more then he would ever let on.

The miko pulled out of his embrace, entwining his hand with her own. "Come on.."