Stay Chapter 12: Why Do I Feel This Way?, an inuyasha fanfic

A/N: Hi! Yeah, I know I really take so long before updating… I can't do anything about it. I just finished my examination week and it was like getting out of hell. It was really terrible. oo By the way, how come I haven't seen some of my recent reviewers….? Huhuhuhu…. Did they leave me because my story's already getting really annoying and really boring??? Huhuhuhu…. Poor me.

Anyway, enough of the drama. I still want to say thank you to those readers who still stick with this story (even though its author is really so annoying). Thanks to you I still choose to continue my story. And to the newcomers, welcome!!!!!! Please be patient because I really have a hard time balancing my time for school and writing. I'm still a student you know! And if I'm really taking so long already, why not read my one shot fanfic about Inu/Kag. It's really fluffy and it's just a one chapter so why not spare some time for me? Then review so I would know that I still have readers… Check my profile for the link of the story. Its title is "To Be Happy". Thanks.

Current events in the story: Kagome lost her memory and Inuyasha is still in denial that he loves Kagome. Keeps on saying that he loves Kikyou… (What a jerk!)

Please review after reading because I am currently upset about not getting many reviews lately… Sigh, I guess it's my fault….

Disclaimer: Just read the disclaimer in chapter 10… I'm really depressed right now…. Not so many reviews…. huhuhu…

This is a crappy chapter…

Chapter 12

Why Do I Feel This Way?

Inuyasha thought carefully about Kagome's question. Kagome had just asked him what he was to her. What would he answer her? He closed his eyes for a while, thinking of a good answer.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha patiently as she waited for his reply. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked him that," thought Kagome, seeing that Inuyasha was having a hard time with her question. "Um, it's okay if you wouldn't answer me…" She told Inuyasha, flashing a small smile at him.

Inuyasha opened his eyes to stare into Kagome's brown eyes. His eyes stayed locked with Kagome's eyes for a while, not knowing what else to do. She looked so innocent, like she hadn't suffered any pain at all.

Kagome felt like she would start melting if he would continue staring at her without saying anything so she shifted her gaze and landed on Inuyasha's ears. "Those aren't human ears…" She thought to herself. "Dog ears?" She thought curiously.

"I know what you're thinking." Inuyasha suddenly spoke, noticing Kagome's interested look on his ears. "I'm not human so I have them, I'm a hanyou." Inuyasha explained to Kagome, tucking his hands inside his long red sleeves.

"Half dog half human?" Kagome said, confirming her thought.

"Yeah, so will you stop staring already?" Inuyasha replied, getting annoyed at being stared at for too long.

"Sorry." Kagome whispered, lowering her head to look on the ground.

A deafening silence engulfed them. Kagome still had her eyes on the ground, not finding any words to speak to Inuyasha. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was looking at her but he seemed like he didn't have anything to say to her too. And so the silence continued.

"I guess we should be getting back." Kagome finally managed to say, getting tired of the silence between them. "They must be getting worried." She added, turning her back to leave. But even before she could make her first step, a hand took her hand all of a sudden, making her stop in her tracks.

"Wait,"

Kagome turned around to face Inuyasha. She stared at his hand holding hers then lifted her gaze to his face. "Inuyasha?" She asked, unable to understand the hanyou's reason for stopping her.

"I don't know what I am to you. You never told me." Inuyasha said with pure honesty. "But I know one thing that I know you know as well," said Inuyasha as he looked intently into Kagome's eyes. "I am your protector; whatever danger comes in your way, I'll always be there for you—I'll protect you." He said firmly.

Kagome was really touched by Inuyasha's words. Her heart seemed to work double time and she couldn't explain the wonderful feeling inside her. "Thank you, Inuyasha." She said softly, a smile secretly forming on her lips. But then, something else was at the back of her heart that stopped her from feeling happy about Inuyasha's words. It was the feeling of sadness and the fear of being left alone—being rejected. Why did she feel that way? She turned to look into Inuyasha's eyes once more, hoping to find an answer in his golden eyes.

"Will he leave me alone?" Kagome asked in her mind. "I don't want him to leave me…" That was what her heart had been whispering to her. What was Inuyasha to her? She deeply wished she had her memory back…

Inuyasha also looked into Kagome's eyes and he could clearly see the sudden change of expression on her face. She suddenly seemed to be upset about something.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, trying to know her reason.

Kagome blinked and managed to force a smile at Inuyasha. "Nothing." She answered, hiding the sadness in her eyes. She shadowed her eyes with her bangs in order to conceal what she really felt.

"Liar, you're hiding your eyes to me. There is something wrong! Why don't you tell me?!" Inuyasha said, clenching his fist tight.

"That's the problem! I don't know what's wrong with me. I can feel it but I don't know why I feel that way!" Kagome said, feeling angry with herself for being so helpless. "I really want to have my memory back…" She bowed her head and silently let her tears trickle down to her cheeks, not bothering to wipe them.

Inuyasha swallowed the lump forming in his throat and gathered all the courage he had to approach Kagome. He didn't want to see her shedding tears in front of him. It crumbled his heart to see her in such situation. He placed his hand on Kagome's cheek and softly brushed her tears away. "You'll get your memory back so will you stop crying?! You're not helping yourself if you'll continue crying and…" He paused to look at Kagome, retrieving his hand that rested on Kagome's cheek gently.

Kagome also looked up to meet Inuyasha gaze, waiting for him to continue.

"And you're really annoying when you're crying." Inuyasha continued, twitching his ears a little. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that…" Inuyasha thought, awaiting Kagome's burst of anger.

Very opposite from what Inuyasha had been expecting Kagome to do, Kagome just smiled—genuinely this time—and said, "I won't cry anymore then."

Inuyasha's heart felt relieved to see Kagome smiling again and was also thankful that she didn't get angry with him again.

"Let's go back, I'm already hungry." Inuyasha said, trying to change the topic.

"Okay." Kagome replied, following Inuyasha back to the village. "As long as Inuyasha is beside me, I'm going to be all right." Kagome thought to herself.

"Kagome!" Shippou cried, jumping into Kagome's arms. "What took you so long?" He asked, looking curiously at Kagome.

"Inuyasha and I were just talking about some things…" Kagome answered, looking at Inuyasha's way to ask for some help.

"Keh!" Inuyasha said, looking away from her. He sat down on the floor, folding his arms in front of him. "If you ask Kagome one more question, I'll cut your throat with my claws." Inuyasha said menacingly to Shippou.

"That wasn't the help I was asking you…" Kagome wanted to say to Inuyasha but she decided not to say it anymore. Instead, she just scolded him for being so harsh to Shippou.

"He's such an annoying runt!" Inuyasha reasoned out, throwing a glare at Shippou.

"Kagome…" Shippou murmured fearfully, hiding behind Kagome.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, glaring a little at him.

"Keh!" Inuyasha scorned, looking away from her. "Ungrateful bitch." He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Kagome demanded, pointing accusingly at Inuyasha.

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed, turning his back at Kagome. "I don't want this conversation anymore." He said.

"So do I!" Kagome said, turning her back at Inuyasha as well. "Why does he need to be so rude?!?!" Kagome thought, trying to control her rising temper.

"Kagome-chan, why don't we start eating?" Sango suggested in order to take Kagome's attention away from Inuyasha. "The food is already prepared." She said, beaming.

Kagome nodded, smiling back at her. "Yes, let's eat." She said, throwing a last glare at Inuyasha.

After finishing her food, Kagome stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.

Kagome smiled. "I just want to take a short walk. I'll be back soon, don't worry." She said and was gone.

"Do you think she'll be all right to walk alone, Sango?" Shippou asked worriedly as he licked the lollipop Kagome had given to him for dessert. "She might run into trouble if she went alone. Inuyasha! Why don't you go with—" He gasped when he realized that Inuyasha wasn't in the hut anymore. "Inuyasha's gone!" Shippou exclaimed in surprise.

"He already went after Kagome-chan." Sango explained to Shippou, who was still stunned by the hanyou's fast disappearance. "I think he knows that it's dangerous for Kagome-chan to be walking alone so he followed her." Sango said, looking at Miroku for his approval.

"He's just making sure that Kagome-sama wouldn't get hurt anymore," said Miroku, drinking what was left of his tea.

Kagome wandered around the village with her mind full of thoughts. "I wonder how long I shall be like this… I want to remember everything already…" She thought. "Inuyasha." She returned to the usual person that occupied her mind. "What is he really to me?" She held her head, trying to think about something. "Is he really just my protector?" Her mind was full of questions but none of them seemed to be answered.

Kagome looked around her and noticed a group of children looking at her. She stopped in front of them and stared at them. She could see intense fear within their eyes as they gazed at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She wondered, feeling her heart crush into pieces as she continued to look into their frightened eyes. She decided to approach them and ask them her question.

Just when Kagome was about to take a step forward, one of them shielded her arms in front of her and pleaded, "Please don't come near us!" Tears were threatening to fall down her pale white cheeks.

"Why?" Kagome asked, looking puzzled by the children's actions towards her. They were completely terrified with her but she didn't know the reason behind that fear.

"Mother! Mother! The Ice Lady has come back!!! She's going to kill us!!!" Another girl cried out, running frantically into a nearby cottage.

Women and men began to come out of their houses to go to their children. They immediately hugged their children and shielded them from Kagome.

"Murderer! Why are you here again?! Haven't you done enough damage to us?" A woman spat angrily at Kagome with a mixture of anger and fear in her eyes.

"Please leave us alone!" Another one cried, hugging her son tightly as if he would die if she'd let go of him.

"But I don't know what you're talking about." Kagome said, taking a step back.

A boy glared at Kagome and said to her with fuming eyes, "You're a horrible monster! We hate you!"

"Go away! You're a murderer! You don't suit here!" said another kid, giving her a deadly look that pierced Kagome's heart over and over again.

"You monster! Die!!!" A man carrying a sharp spear charged forward towards Kagome, planning to kill her with the weapon on his hand.

Kagome could see the spear drawing nearer to her. Was it her end? She didn't want to die yet. Not until she regained her memory… She remembered Inuyasha's words to her all of a sudden.

"I am your protector; whatever danger comes in your way, I'll always be there for you—I'll protect you." He said firmly.

"Inuyasha, help me." She prayed silently, putting her hands together and closing her eyes tightly as she saw the spear getting nearer and nearer.

Kagome felt a light gust of wind touch her skin and heard the spear being knocked from her killer's hand. "I'm saved." Kagome thought, sighing in relief. She finally opened her eyes and instantly saw the familiar red color of Inuyasha's kimono. "He came!" Kagome's mind shouted joyfully as her heart skipped happily in her chest.

"Don't ever try to hurt Kagome," said Inuyasha, gnashing his teeth as he looked at them ferociously. He picked up the man that tried to kill Kagome by his collar and revealed his claws in front of his throat. "You bastard! How dare you try to kill Kagome! I'll shred you into pieces for being so damn reckless." Inuyasha inched his claws nearer to his throat, growling angrily at him.

"Please don't kill me! Have mercy on me!" The man begged, his voice quivering and his eyes shaking in fear.

"Keh! Have mercy?" Inuyasha sneered, looking at him in disgust. "Why should I give you that? You tried to kill Kagome! You should die for that—" He suddenly stopped when he felt someone tugging his sleeve.

He turned his head to look into Kagome's soft brown eyes. There was fear in her eyes, Inuyasha could clearly see it and he was definitely annoyed to see Kagome like that. Together with fear was pain. Inuyasha couldn't take it any longer—he was totally enraged to see Kagome in pain.

"Damn it! This fucking stinking human's going to pay for making Kagome so miserable." Inuyasha thought, growling even louder as he looked at the trembling man on his hand.

"Don't Inuyasha!" Kagome said softly. "Don't kill him."

Inuyasha's ears flapped a little upon hearing Kagome's feeble voice. "Don't kill him?" Inuyasha's mind considered the words Kagome had said. Just the thought of not punishing this bastard was making his blood boil—almost making him turn into a youkai in anger. He growled louder and tried to kill the bastard with his glowering stare.

"Please." Kagome's voice pleaded.

That had finally done the trick. Inuyasha threw the shaking human aside and took Kagome's hand in his.

"Try coming near Kagome again and not even her will stop me from killing all of you!" Inuyasha told them before pulling Kagome away towards the hut where Miroku and the others were staying.

Inuyasha was still growling as he continued to drag Kagome with him. "Why the hell did she have to stop me?!" Inuyasha thought to himself.

"Inuyasha," started Kagome.

"What?"

"Are you mad at me?" Ever since Inuyasha had taken her away, Kagome felt that Inuyasha was enraged about something. Maybe it was because of her.

"Not really." He wasn't actually mad that Kagome stopped him—he was mad because he couldn't even protect Kagome that all of these things had happened to her.

"Why are they mad at me?" Kagome asked. "Did I hurt them?"

"Just forget about them, will you?" Inuyasha grumbled. "They don't know what really happened. It wasn't you. So just ignore them."

"How can I ignore them? They keep on insisting that I'm a murderer," said Kagome sadly.

"They wouldn't insist anymore. If they would, I'll cut off their tongues." Inuyasha muttered, wanting the conversation to end already. Kagome was definitely bothered by those bastards and he wanted her to forget about it.

"But—"

Inuyasha stopped and turned to face Kagome. "Believe me, you didn't do anything to hurt them. Just forget it." Inuyasha interrupted, trying to convince Kagome that none of those things were her fault. None. "It's all my fault." Inuyasha thought.

Seeing the pain in Inuyasha's eyes, Kagome finally nodded. She didn't want to bother Inuyasha anymore. It wasn't only her that was suffering—Inuyasha was suffering too. Even twice her sufferings.

"Miroku! We need to pack up already, we're going back to the village." Inuyasha announced quickly just after entering the cottage. He didn't even notice that Hikari was in the room, talking to Sango and Miroku.

Hikari instantly stood up and walked towards Kagome, who was standing beside Inuyasha.

"Kagome, did you really lose your memory?" Hikari asked worriedly.

Kagome managed a small smile and replied, "I'm afraid that's true." She looked at Hikari with interest and added, "I don't actually recognize you… What's your name?"

Hikari looked somehow sad to see Kagome in such state. Even though they hadn't been really close and she even caused trouble in their village—even if it wasn't really her fault, she didn't want this to happen to Kagome. Not really.

"I'm Hikari." She told Kagome in a friendly manner.

"Are you done?" Inuyasha asked impatiently. "I want to get going as soon as possible." He told them.

"Why leave so soon?" Hikari asked.

"None of your business." Inuyasha said, picking up Kagome's bag on the floor.

Miroku tried to reason to Inuyasha but it was no use. "But Inuyasha, the people here are still—" He was quickly cut off by Inuyasha.

"Keh! The people here don't need us anymore. They can handle themselves." Inuyasha told Miroku, handing Kagome's yellow backpack to him. "Carry that for Kagome." He added.

"Kagome-sama, do we really have to go now?" Miroku asked, turning to Kagome.

Kagome shrugged. "Inuyasha wants to go badly, no one can stop him." She answered. She turned to Hikari and said, "We'll be going. Thanks for your kindness."

"It was nothing. Thank you for fixing the problem in our village," said Hikari, bowing politely.

"Let's go, Kagome." Inuyasha said, afraid that Kagome would start asking again about the incident in the village.

Kagome obediently followed Inuyasha outside, waiting for the others as they said their farewells to Hikari.

"Hey, get on already!" Inuyasha called Kagome, bending his knees a little to help Kagome ride on him.

Kagome couldn't stop the blush that was creeping all over her face. "Um, Inuyasha, do I always travel with you—like this?" At last! She finally managed to ask her question!

"Most of the time." Inuyasha answered, preparing to leap as he saw their companions come out of the hut. "Okay, let's go!" He jumped into the air, finally relieved that he was taking Kagome away from this village—away from her terrible memory of being known as the Ice Lady.

Inuyasha was far ahead of the group. All he wanted that very moment was to reach Kaede's place so he could consult the old miko about Kagome's condition.

Kagome loved the feeling of being near Inuyasha. She felt safe whenever he was near her and she didn't know why she felt that way but she never felt any fear or worry that Inuyasha might drop her. Even though she didn't remember him much, she trusted him—completely. She smiled as the wonderful feeling inside her heart increased; the wind gently tapping her skin—she felt like flying. It was perfect bliss for her. The more time she spent with Inuyasha, the more she became eager to regain her memory. She wanted to remember Inuyasha—everything about him. She tightened her arms around Inuyasha's neck and leaned her cheek on Inuyasha's back; she didn't know why but she suddenly felt sleepy.

Inuyasha stilled a little when he felt Kagome leaning closer to him. "Hey, are you getting scared?" He asked, looking at her worriedly.

"No," Kagome said, shaking her head. "I just feel a little sleepy." She explained.

"You can sleep a little if you like," said Inuyasha, leaping into the air once again.

"It's all right, I can still handle myself." Kagome assured Inuyasha, raising her head to look at Inuyasha.

"Keh! Are you afraid that I'll let you fall?" Inuyasha asked, looking tauntingly at Kagome.

"It's not that!" Kagome said defensively.

Inuyasha took hold of Kagome's hands that were enveloping his neck and held them firmly. "You should sleep if you're tired. I'll hold you so you wouldn't fall." He told Kagome, taking a quick glance at her.

"I told you I could still handle myself!" Kagome pointed out as she blushed furiously. "It's a good thing he's not looking at me." Kagome thought, looking at Inuyasha, who was currently looking ahead of them.

"Heh! You'll fall asleep sooner or later," said Inuyasha with a smirk on his lips.

"No, I won't!" Kagome exclaimed, getting annoyed at Inuyasha for being so stubborn. She felt Inuyasha tighten his grasp on her hands all of a sudden.

"Just in case you fall asleep, at least you wouldn't blame me if you fall off, sleepyhead." Kagome heard him say.

Her hands felt really warm and the warmth that she felt was very pleasant. Nothing would ever harm her. That was the only thought in her mind as she felt her eyelids start growing heavier. And she finally gave in, sleeping peacefully as Inuyasha continued to jump from tree to tree.

Inuyasha took a peek at Kagome when he didn't hear any word from her anymore. He smirked when he saw Kagome sleeping on his back.

"Sleepyhead." He muttered, still wearing his smirk, as he checked his grip on Kagome's hands—it was tight and secured. Kagome wasn't going to fall—he wouldn't allow it.

Kagome slowly opened her eyes to find herself being laid on her sleeping bag by a certain silver-haired hanyou.

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha smirked as he looked into Kagome's beautiful eyes. "So, you could handle yourself huh?" He said teasingly at her.

Kagome instantly blushed a deep shade of red not only because of Inuyasha's comment but also because Inuyasha was very near her and her heart was beating like mad. "Where are we?" She asked so she could remove Inuyasha's attention from her flushing face. She took a quick look around and saw that it was already dark. "It's Inuyasha's fault that I overslept!" Kagome thought, looking at him. "I felt really comfortable sleeping on his back…"

"We're spending the night here in the forest. We'll reach the village tomorrow." Inuyasha explained to Kagome.

Miroku cleared his throat to get the two's attention. "I think you two should eat already or you might end up being glued together if you stay any longer like that," said Miroku, looking at them conspicuously.

Inuyasha and Kagome both froze in their positions as their faces glowed a bright shade of red all over.

Inuyasha's face had even outdone the red color of his kimono. He was so into Kagome's eyes that he forgot that he was still very near Kagome—his nose just a few inches away from her nose. He quickly moved away from Kagome, still blushing furiously. "Damn that perverted monk! I'm going to kill him!!!" Inuyasha thought, cursing Miroku in his mind.

Kagome could feel the heat on her face as she glanced at Inuyasha's way. "What's happening?!?!?!" Her heart thumping violently inside her chest.

Silence followed afterwards. Kagome was looking on the burning fire while, on the other hand, Inuyasha was throwing deadly 'I-Want-to-Kill-You-for-Not-Minding-Your-Own-Fucking-Business' glares at Miroku. Miroku didn't look at all bothered as he kept his cool, silently eating his food. Sango was looking at them innocently, blinking her eyes at the same time as Kirara.

Shippou took Kagome's cup of noodles and gave it to her. "Kagome, here's your food." He said, breaking the annoying silence.

"Ah, thank you, Shippou-chan…" Kagome managed to say, finally taking her eyes off the starry sky.

"Inuyasha, what do you plan to do when we get back to the village?" Miroku asked.

"Isn't that obvious?!" Inuyasha said. "I'm going to find some way to make Kagome regain her memory."

"Maybe you should let Kagome-chan go back to her country." Sango suggested, looking at Kagome for her reaction.

"My country?" Kagome asked uncertainly. "You mean I don't live here?"

"You live on the other side of the well." Shippou told Kagome.

"What?" Kagome said in confusion. "I don't understand."

"You travel through time. You don't actually live in this time. You came from the future through a well." Miroku said, trying to explain things in simple words.

"Wait," Kagome said, pausing for a moment. "A well? You mean the Bone-Eater's Well?"

Everyone stared at Kagome in disbelief.

"Kagome, you remembered something!" cried out Shippou.

"I want to see that well again…" Kagome said, her heart beating fast again. "I'm going to remember everything soon! I know I will!" She thought to herself.

"We should sleep then," said Sango. "So we can hurry to the village tomorrow and regain Kagome-chan's memory."

All of them agreed and went to their own sleeping bags to take a rest with the hope that Kagome would soon be recovering her memories. All of them were asleep except for Kagome.

Kagome was lying on her sleeping bag but definitely not asleep. She stared into the sky, watching the stars that were sprinkled on it. She shifted her body and laid on her side, looking at the tree Inuyasha was resting on. She raised her eyes to fix them on Inuyasha.

To her surprise, Inuyasha was also wide-awake—and was staring back at her.

"Oh no! This feeling again!" Kagome thought, feeling her heart race as she found herself under Inuyasha's gaze. "Why do I feel this way???"

If Kagome wouldn't get her memory back, all she could do was guess the answer…

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Hope you like this crappy chapter. I think it's very fluffy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So please review to tell me you agree or you definitely disagree. Review, okay? Thanks!!!!