Disclaimer - It's not mine. Never was. The only thing I own are the attempts to make Inuyasha fall out of a tree in surprise. ;;

A/N - Well, this little ficlet started out as a humorous attempt to make Inuyasha jealous, but unfortunately, I find myself unable to channel the funny events in my head down onto paper. As such, I have changed the genre to drama.

Oh, and special thanks to MidniteTimberWolf, matina-san, and beautiful-cherry-blossom for taking time to review and leave me their opinions.

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Misunderstandings

Chapter 3

Denial is Not a River in Egypt!

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When Inuyasha got back to the Feudal Era, his mind was reminiscent of a battlefield. His thoughts were in a tangle, and his emotions were even in worse shape. What he had seen in Kagome's time had shaken him badly. The sight of her being with not one, but two, different guys, and laughing and carrying on as if she had not a care in the world had quickly made him realize exactly how much he was at risk for losing her to someone else. The grumpy hanyou took to the top of the trees, heading towards the God tree to think.

---"You still hanging around with him? Didn't we tell you that you needed to get rid of that tempremental jerk?"---

Had those two other guys actually told Kagome to ditch him, to leave him alone? But even if they did want her to, she had not. At least not yet. She had stood by her word and stuck by his side, despite him being a tempremental, egotistical, and at times flat out mean, jerk. She always forgave him, and she never really let him get away with anything unscathed. So, that had to count for something, right?

---"I just look so much like his first girlfriend that he goes a little overboard at times. He's really a good guy at heart, just a little headstrong."---

Even when he had chosen Kikyou over her, knowing damn good and well that the Kikyou he had loved so long ago was dead and gone, she had stood by his decision. He was beginning to regret his rash decision to protect the once alive miko that was now made of bones and ashes. He had come to the realization a long time ago, after almost losing Kagome to Kikyou's arrows, that the two women were anything but alike. Kagome was honest and caring, a forgiving person who trusted everyone around her. Kikyou, on the other hand, was cold and isolated, just a hollow shell of what she had once been, fifty years before. But even though the differences were profound, there was still one thing that they shared, their love for him at one point or another.

---"Did you ever tell him about us, Kagome?" the white headed man asked. "I know you were thinking about it, considering the amount of time we're going to be spending here from now on."---

Now he was beginning to wonder if he was on the verge of losing not only Kagome's trust and friendship, but her love as well. She had not even mentioned the two men to him before, even though she often times spoke of her other friends on the other side, some girl named Ayumi along with two others.

Why hadn't she said something to him? It was his job to protect her, to watch out for her and make sure everything was okay. But on the other hand,he had noticed Kagome getting better at defending herself against the demons they faced. True, it was nothing too outrageously, glaringly obvious, but it was visible to him. Her aim with her arrows were truer, and she did not get as frightened when they battled as she had before.

She was changing right before his eyes, and it scared him deep down, to think that these mysterious two men were possibly the reason for her change. It was then, he realized, that he had started treating her differently out of defense to what he was seeing.

In his own mind, if he was even meaner, even ruderer to her than before, then he could protect himself from the hold she was slowly gaining over him. Granted, idiots like Kouga never minded complementing her or showing her exactly how much she meant to him. Hell, even his older half brother Sesshomaru seemed to find Kagome somewhat intriguing, even going so far as to call her an 'interesting woman with the patience of a deity' the last time they had fought. Granted, it had surprised Kagome a great deal to receive something like a comment from the taiyoukai, and Inuyasha had almost fell down in utter shock. But Sesshomaru had seen exactly how thin that patience could be when he'd tried to attack Inuyasha, and Kagome had sent a glowing pink purification arrow at him, causing the attack on the hanyou to be put on hold, and almost causing the proud taiyoukai to lose his other arm in the process.

---"I put up with both of you because I have enough practice doing the same between Inuyasha and Kouga!" Kagome called back. "Now get in here and I'll fix something to eat to hold us over until mom gets back!" ---

He wondered if she was really as attached to the two men as she had seemed. Sure, she always fixed him food, along with everyone else in their rag-tag shard hunting group, but he had never contemplated the thought that she would do it for anyone else. He had gotten used to her doing little things for him, personal things like bringing his favorite foods from her time, and making sure his wounds were taken care of after a battle, despite the fact that he healed quicker than them all. Even when she nagged at him to wash his clothes after a battle, and she gave him soap from her time to help clean all the blood out. Inuyasha just couldn't imagine her doing things like that for some other guy. She didn't even do things like that for that blasted wolf Kouga, would she do it for Yukio and Seto?

---"Sounds like you're something special to him, Kagome." ---

Yeah, she was something special to him alright, and he was losing his relationship with her slowly. He had tuned her out of his life so much lately, that it should not have been all that surprising when she turned to others for some sort of friendship. In fact, he kept telling himself that he wanted her to leave him alone, he wanted her to go to someone who was better than him, someone who didn't have a mixed heritage, and so much blood on their hands. Kagome deserved better than that, at least in his mind.

But she had told him something one time, that had stuck with him afterwards. 'You can chose everything about your life, except two things.....your family, and the people you love.'

Inuyasha was just about to settle into his favorite branch of the God tree, when he heard the annoying voice of Shippou calling for him from the path towards Kaede's village.

"Inuyasha!"

"What do you want, brat?" he asked when the kit stopped at the foot of the huge tree and glared up into the branches. "I'm busy."

"Where's Kagome?"

"How should I know?" he grumbled.

"Did she send you back here?" Shippou asked, a grin on his childish face. "I know you found her. And you must have met Yukio and Seto by the sour look on your face."

"Get lost, brat!"

"Answer me, Inuyasha!" Shippou yelled. "Is Kagome okay? Those two demons aren't going to hurt her, are they?" The little kitsune had finally decided to take matters into his own hands. He was utterly tired of seeing his mother unhappy, and he was sick of seeing Inuyasha being the cause of it. If it took the hanyou getting jealous beyond all reason to see what was in front of him, then he was willing to do what it took. Besides, he already knew what Seto and Yukio really were, so playing along with the fuming hanyou would be easy enough.

"How should I know?" the hanyou yelled back, his temper finally breaking through. "I'm not her faithful guard dog! She can stay around whoever she damn well wants to!"

"Coulda fooled me." Shippou grumbled. "Are they after the shards?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Shippou asked. "How do you know?"

"I just know. Will you just go away already?" Shippou quickly scurried up the tree and sat down in front of Inuyasha, his head cocked to one side in contemplation.

"Well, if they're not after the shards, then why are they around Kagome?" he asked.

"How should I know?"

"You don't think they're going to try and take her away from us, are they Inuyasha?" Shippou asked, forcing his eyes to go wide in fright and start to tear up. "Maybe their looking for a mate, and that's why they've tracked Kagome down."

"A WHAT?!" Inuyasha bellowed, startling the little kit.

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?" Shipou asked innocently. "Kagome is a good person. She's really good at taking care of everyone around her, including kids, and she's easy to get along with. Isn't that what demons look for in a female to mate? Besides, you know as well as I do that the demon scent still clings to her after she leaves our time. Maybe that's what attracted those demons to the shrine in the first place."

"But...but..." Inuyasha stuttered, realizing that the kit was more than correct.

"Oh, Inuyasha! This is horrible! If she takes a mate, they won't let her come back to our time! They'll force her to stay with them forever! Especially if they are dog demons. You guys are the most protective as it is!" Shippou cried out, starting to wail uncontrolably. "I don't want them to take Kagome away from me! I want her back!" Inuyasha blinked as the realization of what Shippou was saying sank in. His heart started pounding and he broke out into a cold sweat.

One of those two idiots were trying to get Kagome as a mate! That was the only logical reason for them to be around her. They weren't after the shards, so that could only be the reason why.

Inuyasha realized that he was possibly jumping to conclusions, as usual. But he also quickly realized that unless he did something to stop it, they were going to lose Kagome for good. Jealousy surged through him, followed by a sharp pang of anger, and he jumped out of the tree, leaving a sobbing Shippou sitting on the tree branch wailing about losing Kagome to someone else. He had to get back to Kagome's time before she did something she would probably regret.

Shippou watched as Inuyasha sprinted down the path towards the well as fast as he could possibly go. The little kit immediately shut off the fake waterworks and used a small handkerchief Kagome had given him to dry his face. A small grin came to his face when he realized that he could hear someone coming down the path towards the God tree. He stuck his head out of the thick overhead branches and looked down, seeing Sango emerge from the treeline.

"Shippou?" she called out, scanning the area for the little fox demon.

"Right here, Sango." he answered, dropping down to the forest floor.

"Did Inuyasha come back yet?"

"Yes, but he's gone back to Kagome's time." Shippou answered easily. "He seems to have come to some conclusion that Yukio and/or Seto are going to try and take Kagome as a mate." Sango blanched at the words coming from the kit's mouth, and shook her head.

"Now how did he come to that conclusion?" she asked, her hands going to her hips. "Shippou, you didn't...."

"I just gave him a little push." the little boy said defensively. "Besides, he was going to sit there and drive us and himself crazy until he found out the truth, and you know it." Sango just sighed and leaned up against the trunk of the tree.

"So, what do you think he's going to do when he realizes that Yukio and Seto aren't demons, but just regular dogs?"

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Kagome was having the time of her life with her two cousins, just like she always did when ehey were around. The two young men were like two ends of the proverbial specturm. Sakaki , the younger of the two, was the comedian of the family. He always had her in stitches by the time he was around. And Mayusashi, also affectionately known as Yuyu, was the serious half of the two twins. Unfortunately, it was when Sakaki got a call on his cell phone soon after their arrival saying that they were needed at their apartment in town, that they were forced to leave not long after they had gotten to the shrine. Thankfully, Kagome's mom and had returned from thir trip downtown by that time.

"Need you run off so suddenly, Sakaki, Yuyu?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, coming out of the kitchen where she was putting up some groceries. "I'll have dinner ready in a little while. Won't you stay for dinner?"

"Sorry, Aunt H." Sakaki said, hugging the shorter woman. "But duty calls."

"What's wrong at your apartment, anyway?" Kagome asked.

"Apparently the hot water heater burst. And our belongings are sitting in six inches of water." Mayusashi said, pushing his white hair out of his face and back behind his shoulder, a frown on his face.

"Yeah, our insurance is going to love this." Sakaki said with a grin, his shoulders shaking in merriment. "This is only the second or third time this has happened since we started our classes at the university, and the landlord keeps telling us that the problem is fixed. Shows what he knows, doesn't?"

"Would you like for me to run you downtown?" Mrs. Higurashi asked. "You'll get there a bit quicker if I do."

"Yeah, you guys walked down here, didn't you?" Kagome asked.

"As a matter of fact, we did." Mayusashi said. "You don't mind, do you Aunt Mei?"

"Of course not, boys." Mei Higurashi said, grabbing her car keys and coat. "Let's get you all down there before everything else gets flooded." Kagome gave both of her cousins a hug and kiss, and followed them to the top of the stairs leading down to the street below, along with her mother.

"Now, Kagome, Souta is staying the evening with some friends, and Grandpa will be home later this evening from a temple meeting in the city." Mrs. Higurashi said. "The boys should be up and going again in a few minutes. Ah, here is one of them now!" Kagome looked back from the house and smiled as a large white came lomping over to her, his tail wagging in anticipation at seeing her. "The vets said that they will be back to normal by the time we got home. Now, make sure to keep a watch on dinner, and I'll go see if I can help my wonderful nephews with their plumbing problems."

Mrs. Higurashi climbed into the car with her two nephews, and Kagome waved to them until they were out of sight. She turned around and walked back towards the main courtyard, only to get bumped in the legs by a large, white, furry head with deep set amber colored eyes. She knelt down and the dog licked her face in welcome.

"Well, Yukio, I see you are feeling better now." she said, petting the thick white fur. "Now, where is Seto? He's never too far from you." A yipping from behind her caused her to turn and look back. Bounding towards them was another dog, this time with midnight fur and blue eyes. "Seto! that's my boy!" Kagome patted the heads of the two dogs as she walked back towards the house. She had work to do, and there was no point in standing around and waiting for it to finish itself. She could go play with the dogs after dinner was finished.

When Inuyasha got back through the well, he immediately headed for the main house of the Higurashi residence. He had every intention of sitting Kagome down and talking to her when he found her, mainly to try and convince her....well, he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to try to convince her of, but he'd think of something when he got there. Luckily for him, by the time he got out of the well house, it seemed like Kagome's two guy friends were leaving the shrine grounds, along with Kagome's mom, who was holding the car keys. They were laughing and talking to Kagome and her mother as they went along.

He watched from the safety of the well house until they were out of sight, and decided to wait until Kagome returned instead of jumping out into the open out of the blue. He waited for a few minutes until he heard the sound of the Higurashi's car crank up and leave. He walked out of the well house, and the smell of dog hit him smack in the face. He growled in anger and stalked over towards where he'd seen Kagome walk, intent on dragging her back to the Feudal Era and away from the other two dogs.

As he drew closer, he could hear Kagome laughing and yelling at the notorious Seto and Yukio. He quietly slipped behind a tree to get a better look at his advisaries, and to come up with a better plan of attack instead of charging them all out, especially if they were in their demon forms. Inuyasha's hand went to the hilt of the Tetsusaiga, willing the two imposers to come closer so he could rip their entrails out.

When Kagome came over the steps with the two dogs beside her, yelping and wagging their tails in happiness, Inuyasha's anger shot through the roof. When the black one knocked her to the ground and tried to play with her, the white one started growling and nipped at him, seemingly causing the two dogs to start a tussle right in front of their mistress.

"All right, you two." she said, grabbing the collars of the fighting dogs and pulling them apart. "That's enough, the both of you. Now behave yourself, or I'll see to it that you are sleeping outside tonight, and not in my room. And quit snipping at him, Yukio, he's not going to hurt me." The girl continued on her way to the house, oblivious of Inuyasha in his hiding spot. When she got to the house, she shooed the dogs away from her and entered, leaving him to confront the mongrels. He stepped out from behind the tree and stalked forward, quickly getting the attention of the two dogs lying beside the front screen of the house.

"Alright you morons." he said, unsheathing the Tetsusaiga and letting it transform into its active state. "We've got some business to discuss." He could hear their growls, even though he was standing a good ways away from the house still, and growled back in challenge.

Seto and Yukio rose to their feet, ready to defend their owners from this strange man with the unfamiliar smell. They stalked forward, eerily reminding Inuyasha of the wolves of Kouga's tribe. He took off towards the front part of the shrine, so as not to gather Kagome's attention to the impending fight. Just as he had planned, the two dogs took out after him. When he was far enough away from the house, he turned on his heal and brought Tetsusaiga forward. The two canines stopped in front of him, just out of swinging range of the blade.

"Alright, I've had enough of this!" he barked. "Show your true forms you two mangy dogs!" The two canines, however, took no head to his words and began circling him slowly, looking for an opening to attack the intruder.

"So, you want to fight, then, do you?" the hanyou asked. "That's fine with me. I'll show you two that you don't deserve to be around Kagome." The demi-demon took off towards the closest dog, the white one, and brought his sword up in a high arc, ready to chop the mongrel in half when he was hit from the side by the other one. He rolled to the ground, tucking on instinct, and wound up landing against a tree not to far away.

The dogs set on him immediately, biting and growling. They tried to gnaw his arms and legs off, but the Inuyasha's fire rat clothing kept the teeth from penetrating his skin. In retaliation, the demi-demon tried to punch the living daylights out of his two attackers, but the dogs did not seem to even flinch when he landed the punches. He was just about to try and strangle one of them with his bare hands when he heard the approaching sounds of someone.

"Inuyasha?!" came a woman's voice from behind him. "What's going....Seto! Yukio! Get off of him this instant!" The hanyou spun around and was more than surprised to see Kagome's mother standing at the top of the steps with the two men he'd seen earlier. And he was even more confused when the two dogs that were attacking him immediately ceased from their biting and growling and went to Mrs. Higurashi's side and sat at her heels.
"Oh, so this is Inuyasha." the dark headed man said, frowning. "What are you doing here? Come to pick on Kagome some more? And what's up with your clothes?"

"That's enough, Sakaki." said the white headed one, casting a cursory glance at Inuyasha before taking the bags in his aunt's arms.

"No, it's not, Mayusashi!" the aforementioned Sakaki growled. "This is the guy that keeps giving Kagome a hard time! She said so herself!"

"Calm down, boys." Mrs. Higurashi said placatingly. "Take these bags into the house and see where Kagome is, will you? I need to speak with Inuyasha for a moment."

"But, Aunt Mei...."

"Now, Sakaki." Mrs. Higurashi said firmly, leaving no room for arguement. "And take Yukio and Seto with you, please." The two men that Inuyasha had taken to be demons nodded and quickly took hold of the dog's collars and drug them back towards the house. "Now, Inuyasha, what brings you here?"

"Didn't you just leave with those two?" the hanyou asked, watching as the two men walked into the house along with the dogs.

"They left some of their stuff here, and needed to come back and get it." the woman before his answered simply. "Now, answer my question. Kagome said you were supposed to come get her in a couple of days, not today."

"I...well...I came to check on a few rumors about some demons." he said pathetically, trying to find a half decent excuse as to why he was there.

"In this time?" Mei Higurashi asked, not believing the hanyou's story at all. "How surprising."

"Yeah."

"Well, let's get you to the house and tell Kagome you're here." she said. "My nephews should have there belongings by now."

"Nephews?" Inuyasha questioned, "Those two guys are family?"

"Yes, they are my sister's twin sons, and they live on the other side of town. They started the university in town and live there now." Mrs. Higurashi said, beginning to walk towards the house. "They're only visiting for a while, but some problems have come up and I'm going to take them to their apartment in the city." Inuyasha remained silent until they got to the house. Mrs. Higurashi let him in and he braced himself for Kagome's wrath, knowing very well she was likely to 'sit' him until his back broke for coming after her.

"Kagome?" called Mrs. Higurashi.

"In the...NO! Sakaki, put that down!....kitchen, mom.....Seto, quit growling at Yuyu! Damn it, Sakaki, put ME down!" The noise coming from the kitchen was loud enough for the hanyou to think a war was commencing in the little house, but Kagome's laughter put him at ease.

"Kagome, Inuyasha is here." called Mrs. Higurashi, putting her coat onto the coat rack by the door. Suddenly the noise from the kitchen stopped, and Inuyasha could already feel himself eating dirt when she came through the doors. Sure enough, out walked one rather pissed Kagome Higurashi, followed by her two cousins, and Seto and Yukio. The dogs were still regarding him as an intruder, and the two young men on each side of Kagome looked just as threatening. "Did you get what you need, boys?"

"Yes, Aunt Mei." Mayusashi said, glaring at Inuyasha in a way that earily reminded him of his older half brother Sesshomaru.

"Well, let's not waist time. You two need to get to your apartment before the landlord finds the need to invest in scuba gear." Mrs. Higurashi nodded towards the door and the two men followed her out, glaring at Inuyasha the whole time. When they were finally out of the house, Inuyasha's ears picked up the arguements of Sakaki asking why Mrs. Higurashi was leaving Kagome to deal with that white headed jerk. When the older woman chuckled and said 'Kagome can handle Inuyasha, don't worry about it.', the hanyou in question turned to Kagome expecting the worst.

"What are you doing here, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Who were those two?" he asked, pointing towards the entrance to the house.

"Family." she said simply. "My cousins, Sakaki and Mayusashi. Now, what are you doing here? I thought I told you I'd be back to the Feudal Era in a couple of days."

"Then who are these mutts?" he asked, looking down at the dogs who were still growling at him and looking like they wanted to tear him limb from limb.

"This is Yukio, and Seto, the new family pets." she said. "Now why are you here?"

"These two are who you've been hiding from me?" he asked, completely outraged. "Why didn't you just tell me that you had some pets!"

"Why do you even care?" she asked. "They're dogs, plain, normal dogs. They're not demons, so get over it."

"How do you know?" he challenged arrogantly. "You can't be sure of that."

"Don't you think I've been tracking demons with you and the others long enough to recognize one when I see it?" Kagome asked, the sarcasm thick in her voice. "I'm a miko, Inuyasha, or have you forgotten?"

"You don't need no dogs around here stinking up the place." Inuyasha said.

"I know where this is leading, and you don't have to worry about your precious jewel shards." she said stonily. "Yukio and Seto or as normal as I am."

"That doesn't really reassuare me all that much." the hanyou groused. "You're not exactly normal, wench." Kagome's face flushed red and her fists closed into balls as her anger began to overload.

"I'm giving you three seconds to get out of this house before I send you straight into the ground, Inuyasha." she fumed.
"Why'd you want to come back here so much, lately anyways?" the hanyou asked, completely ignoring her question and threats, walking closer towards her only to be warded back by the growling dogs at her feet.

"One..."

"You've been spending too damn much time over here, and not enough gathering jewel shards." he groused.

"Then go find your beloved Kikyou and let her find the shards for you." Kagome said, her anger flowing over the top now. "Two...."

"Quit trying to change the subject, wench." Inuyasha yelled. "And call off your damned guard dogs! All this growling is pissing me off!"

"Quit acting like some ridiculously jealous school boy, Inuyasha!" Kagome ranted. "Just because I have friends on this side of the well, and people who care about me, doesn't mean I'm not coming back to you guys." She put her hands on the dog's heads, causing them to stop growling and look up at her questioningly. "Two and a half....."

"Well you sure have been awful happy ever time you've come back to my time." he said. "How do I know these two mongrels aren't demons that you're running around with while you're here?"

"They. Are. Dogs." Kagome said fiercely. "Not demons. And we've already had this conversation. Now get out!"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's been going on to have you running back home so much, and then being so happy when you get back to my time, only to start acting like your best friend died a few days later!" Inuyasha ranted, closing in on her, only to be warded back once again. "And get these mutts out of here!"

"They're staying right here with me." she said firmly. "And as for my life, you've got no business digging into it! It's not like you tell me anything about what you do anymore, so why should I return the favor?" Her hands flew back to her hips, and she waited. "Two and three quarters....You're pushing your luck, Inuyasha."

"Kagome...."
"Sit boy!" Inuyasha cursed as he was thrown down onto the hardwood of the floor. Kagome sent her two dogs into the kitchen and pulled the screen shut so that they couldn't get out. She then knelt down beside the fallen hanyou, and sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately, Inuyasha. But I really wish it would go away. You're worse than normal. Heck, you almost killed Kouga the last time he was around me. Then, you blow your top because your brother pays me a single compliment for being able to put up with your ridiculous behavior. Which, considering the way you've been acting lately, I think I more than rightly deserve. Now, you're getting mad because my two cousins are coming around, and I've got two dogs at my house."

"Oh, shut up...."

"Sit boy!" she said firmly. "Now, I don't know why you see it as your perogative to jump down the throat of any guy that tries to pay me a compliment, or even pay attention to me, cause Kami knows it's good to hear them after putting up with your demeaning remarks about my inadequecies; and your constant comparisons of me to Kikyou. They make me feel good, even if you get mad. So get over it."

"Kagome..."

"Sit boy!" she said. "I quit making a fuss about you going to see Kikyou a long time ago, Inuyasha. Even though the woman has tried to kill me countless times, I kept my mouth shut because it made you happy to see her whenever you could. Now, do me a favor and let me be with the ones who make ME happy. Yukio and Seto don't judge me for who I am supposedly the reicarnation of. They like being around me because I can make them happy, which is more than I can say for you. And I haven't seen Yuyu and Sakaki in a long time. Now get out of my house." Kagome stood opened the screen to the kitchen, letting the dogs out, and then walking up the stairs to her room with her pets in tow, slamming the door shut when she finally got to her room.

By the time Inuyasha could peel himself up from off of the floor, his mind was racing once again in utter confusion. He had to try and set things right with Kagome, and he knew it. His jumping to conclusions about her pets had made her angry, that was plain enough to see. He straightened out his clothing and took to the stairs to try and calm her down. He found her room easily enough. He'd been in it enough to find it in his sleep. But the whimpering from the other side of the door caused him the most alarm.

"Kagome?" he asked, trying to open the door only to find it locked. "Why are you crying?"

"Go away, Inuyasha." came a muffled voice. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Well, I want to talk to you, and if you don't open this damned door, I'll break it down." he said fiercely.

"You wouldn't dare." came Kagome's angry voice.

"I can and I will if you don't open this damned door." he yelled. 'Good Kagome, get mad again. Your anger I can deal with, just shut up crying already, will ya?' he thought. Two seconds later, the door to her room flew open and he could tell she was just about to 'sit' him again, so he took advantage of the situation and grabbed her with one hand while shutting the door with the other, effectively locking her two dogs into her room and away from them.

He knew he needed to apologize, and he knew he couldn't do it with the smell of those two other dogs and Kagome's tears in the air. The mongrel's scents were already on her, and that only made things worse, causing his more demonic side to get angry and riled up. He quickly jumped down the stairs and was out of the house, heading for the back part of the shrine before Kagome finally clocked into reality and realized what he was doing.

"Put me down! Put me down, or I'll say it, Inuyasha." she threatened.

"You say it now, and you're going down with me, Kagome." he growled. "So shut up and hold on."

"What are you doing?" she asked angrily. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere away from those damned mongrels so we can talk." he answered briskly. "I've had enough of this." A couple of minutes later, and they were at the forest line of the shrine property. Inuyasha put her down and she turned to face him.

"You wanted to talk, now talk." she said stonily.

"I'm sorry." he said, his head bowed down.

"What?" Kagome asked, not sure she had heard the proud demon before her. "You're what?"

"You heard me." he said.

"No, what are you apologizing for?"

"As if you don't know."

"You could apologize to me for the rest of your life and it wouldn't cover half of what you have done since I met you." she said, her hands on her hips. "Now what is all this about?"

"Those two bastards at your house."

"My cousins?"

"No, the dogs." he said.

"What about them?"

"I thought they were demons, going after the jewel shards." he said. "That's why I came here. To try and get you away from them before they tried anything."

"I already told you, they're..."

"I know that now, but you didn't tell me that you had gotten any new pets." he said. "When I heard you and Sango talking about two pureblooded dogs, I assumed that they were demons."

"Do you have so little faith in me that you think I can't tell a demon from a human?" she asked. "I've already told you that I relatively sure demons don't exist in my world anymore, or if they do they stay in hiding. What else has you so riled up?" Inuyasha mumbled something, and Kagome couldn't make out any of it. "What was that again?"

"I said that we thought we were going to lose you to someone else, here in your time." he said. "Shippou even thinks that one of these guys is trying to take you for a mate."

"He is, is he?" Kagome asked, rolling her eyes at the kit's antics, but her temper quickly evaporating to nonexistent now that she knew exactly why the hanyou seemed so angered. Kagome took a deep breath and sat down at the base of the closest tree, patting the ground next to her and motioning for Inuyasha to sit down as well. The hanyou followed her request and sat down, still wary of the young woman next to him. "Inuyasha?"

"Yeah."

"I've told you before, I'll stay by your side as long as I possibly can." she said quietly. "Don't doubt that."

"It's just that....knowing there was someone waiting for you...on this side of the well..." he stuttered, trying to figure out how to say what he wanted. Kagome just smiled and shook her head, placing her hand over his and squeezing. "You've got us, why would you need anyone else?"

"I'm not going anywhere." she said again. "Not for a very long time. Now quit worrying about my cousins, and my dogs. Neither one of them are going to hurt me, although they might be likely to take a few swings at you."

"But those two humans were saying that you thought I was tempremental and hard to get along with." he said with a scowl.

"And I'd be lying if I said you weren't." she said with a smile. "You're a grumpy, egotistical, hot headed little puppy at times, Inuyasha. But I don't mind it, not anymore anyways. So don't let it get to you, I don't."

Inuyasha just nodded, knowing that she spoke the truth as far as his behavoir was concerned. He gave a half grin when Kagome reached up and gave him a hug. He felt better now, knowing that she wasn't in danger of leaving them. He had already been forced to let one woman he loved be taken away from him because of trickery and maliciousness, and he wasn't about to let this fall away from him just because he was overreacting. He loved Kagome, and be damned anyone who would ever come between them.

"And you'll kick those two mutts out of your room?" he asked.

"Why?" Kagome asked, puzzled over his odd request. "Yukio and Seto have been sleeping in my room since they got here."

"I know. They stink." Inuyasha grumbled. "And the smell clings to you. Makes me want to puke. It's even worse than the smell of that mangy wolf Kouga." Kagome just shook her head in exasperation and finally caved.

"Fine. I'll make sure they stay out from now on, but I can't promise you much of anything." she said.

"Good."

"Are you done?" she asked.

"Yeah. For now, anyways."

"Hungry?"

"Ramen?"

"Yep."

"What are we waiting for then?" Inuyasha said with a happy grin on his face. "Let's go, Kagome!" The half demon quickly took off towards the house, leaving Kagome to dust her clothes off and get to her feet.

Her heart leapt, knowing that the stubborn hanyou had been jealous enough to come after her. Somewhere deep down, she knew that a part of him still longed for Kikyou, and always would. But another part of her could see that Inuyasha was slowly starting to realize that there was more to the world than chasing after the now dead priestess. Their travels had been long and dangerous, and through the entire time, she'd stood by him.

Somewhere in her heart, she knew he would see what was in front of him eventually, and when he did, she'd be waiting for him with open arms. She was willing to wait for ever if need be, but her love for the grumpy hanyou had no bounds, and she'd wait as long as she had to.

"Hurry up, Kagome! I'm hungry!" came the petulant whine from above her where he was standing on a tree, looking down at her with big amber eyes.

Yep, she had it bad all right, but hey.....she didn't mind it.

Not at all.

And she really didn't think Inuyasha did either.

"All right, Inuyasha." she said, sighing. "I'm coming."

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A/N - Yes, I know it's a sucky ending, but I'm sorry, and I plan on going back and fixing it soon. Merry Christmas to everyone. And I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.

Later,

A.A.

Please remember to review, I want to know what you all think. Even if it is just to get on me for ending the story that way...I deserve it and I know it.