Stay Chapter 14: The Long Talk that Made Inuyasha Stay, an inuyasha fanfic

A/N: How come no matter how hard I try to make it on time, I always end up updating super late?.! I won't explain anymore. You know my reason. Again, I'm sorry about that…

Anyway, let's just go to the happy side of this author's note. I want to thank all of my reviewers! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Especially to those who made a loooong review! I really loved reading them. Thanks for the time you allot just to read my fanfic and, of course, to review afterwards. I'm extra happy because I got plenty of reviews for that chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Who said I did? Nobody so let's just get on with the chapter! -

Chapter 14

The Long Talk that Made Inuyasha Stay

Inuyasha continued to stare into Kagome's brown eyes without uttering a single word. The more he stared at those eyes, the more he was tempted to stay. What harm would it do him to stay, right?

"Hey!" Kagome snapped, glaring impatiently at Inuyasha. "Are you staying or what?.!" She continued to pierce Inuyasha with her dagger stares.

Inuyasha scowled at Kagome's sudden change of emotions. Her eyes lost their hypnotizing power and all that was left was annoyance and impatience. Inuyasha sighed in relief inwardly. "Damn! If she kept those eyes just for one more second, I would have agreed into staying here!" thought Inuyasha.

"Hey!" Kagome shouted in front of Inuyasha to snap him out of his stupor. He was staring at her but his mind seemed preoccupied with something that was why he couldn't hear her.

"Hey! Why the hell are you yelling at my face?.!" Inuyasha demanded, matching her icy glares.

"Because you were spacing out!" Kagome retorted.

"I was not fucking spacing out!"

"Yes, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"Then why didn't you answer my question?.!"

"Fine, I'll answer your damn question!" Inuyasha barked. "I'm NOT staying. No way!"

Kagome hands balled up as her anger increased. "WHAT?.!" She burst out.

"Keh! You heard me, I said I'm not staying." He repeated, his face as arrogant as ever.

Kagome continued to glare at him, greatly hoping that her glares could kill the stupid annoying moron in front of her. "Insensitive punk die! Insensitive punk die!" She kept on repeating those same words in her mind, trying to keep herself from strangling the white-haired hanyou to death.

After a few moments of silence, Inuyasha turned his back, planning to leave already. But before he could make his first step, he felt Kagome's hand tightly holding the sleeve of his coat.

"What?.!" Inuyasha said, looking back with irritated eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?.!" Kagome asked hotly.

"Keh! Stupid bitch!" Inuyasha said, leaning his face forward to make sure his eyes were connected with Kagome's. "Haven't I made myself clear yet?" He said the words while his gaze stayed fixed in Kagome's eyes, his lips wearing a smug smirk.

The young miko swallowed the forming lump in her throat as she stared back at Inuyasha's golden orbs. The seeming indestructible anger she felt suddenly melted away the moment she saw Inuyasha's eyes. "Oh no! My heart's starting to beat faster again!" She thought in alarm.

Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk even more at the way Kagome's anger vanished from her eyes to be replaced by nervousness all of a sudden. "Good little girl…" Inuyasha thought happily, looking at the once domineering scary witch in front of him—now known as the submissive little Kagome. He widened his smirk and said, "Now stay here while I go back to the other side of the well." He loosened Kagome's grip on his coat and began walking towards the well house again. "Just be a good girl and I'll pick you up tomorrow," said Inuyasha, his back facing Kagome as he continued to leave.

"Be a good girl?.!" Kagome repeated the words in her head, her anger immediately returning. "What does he think am I?.! A little puppy?.! That jerk! I'm going to teach him!" "Wait!" She called out to Inuyasha.

But Inuyasha ignored her; he just kept on walking away.

"I said WAIT, YOU JERK!" Kagome shouted louder. "How dare he leave me here when he knows I need him here!"

"Keh! Shout all you want! I'm still leaving!" Inuyasha replied loudly, still walking away and not bothering to look back at Kagome anymore.

Kagome clenched her fists tightly as she glared at Inuyasha's departing figure. "Why you—you insensitive dog boy! SIT!" Finally, she had said it. She didn't know why that word kept on popping out of her mind whenever she felt very mad at Inuyasha. Her mind kept on bugging her to say that word, as if that word would inflict the most terrible punishment to Inuyasha for being so infuriating. And when Kagome saw what happened to Inuyasha—"Ah? He actually sat?.!" Kagome thought, looking at Inuyasha's body sprawled on the ground.

"Bitch…" groaned Inuyasha, trying unsuccessfully to pull himself off the dirt.

Kagome ran towards Inuyasha, looking down at him with interest. "Are you all right?" She asked worriedly.

At last, the spell weakened so Inuyasha immediately heaved himself off the ground and glared at Kagome. "You wench! How dare you say the word and then ask me if I am okay!" He growled, pointing an accusing finger at Kagome.

"What are you talking about?.!" Kagome asked, unable to understand Inuyasha's drift. "I didn't do anything to you! All I did was say 'sit' and—" She paused when Inuyasha crashed down the earth once more. She bent down to Inuyasha and looked at him. "And you suddenly hit the floor flat—just like that." She explained, looking thoughtfully at the hanyou. "Are you all right?" She asked again.

Inuyasha lifted his head, fixing his annoyed amber eyes at Kagome. "Damn it! Why can't you just shut up?.!" He grumbled. "And she has the guts to ask—for the second time—if I'm all right! She's really fucking annoying!" When the spell waned, Inuyasha grouchily sat up, crossing his legs and inserting his hands in his long sleeves. "Will you stop asking if I'm all right?.! It really ticks me off." He stated sharply, not lowering his glowering eyes.

Kagome matched Inuyasha's glares but her face was still with confusion. "Why are you mad at me?.! I didn't do anything! All I did was say the word—"

Moving swiftly before the dreadful word could leave Kagome's mouth, Inuyasha covered Kagome's mouth with his clawed hand, leaning his face crossly to meet Kagome's chocolate brown eyes. "Didn't I just tell you to shut up?.!" Inuyasha said through gritted teeth while growling lowly. "Stubborn bitch." Inuyasha said in his mind.

Kagome yanked Inuyasha's hand off her mouth and said, "Tell me what's going on or I'm not going to shut up!"

Inuyasha leaned back and looked at Kagome with a vexed expression on his countenance."You're so impossible!" He told her.

"I still don't get it," said Kagome, looking at Inuyasha with narrowed eyes—definitely looking as annoyed as Inuyasha.

"You remembered the word yet you didn't remember its effect?.!" Inuyasha pointed out. "Why do you always have to remember the crappy things?.!" He complained.

"What word are you talking about?" Kagome inquired, reviewing the words she had used when Inuyasha started plummeting himself on the ground. Then the answer finally hit her. The word that always bothered her when Inuyasha was being his usual exasperating self. "You mean—sit?" She asked naively, forgetting the effect once again.

"Argh!" Inuyasha uttered as he felt himself being dragged down—for the third time—to eat dirt.

"Ah! Sorry!" Kagome said immediately. "I thought that wasn't the right word but it appeared to be the correct one, all right…" She flashed a little cute smile when Inuyasha raised his head to finally kill her with his deadly glares.

"Bitch…" Inuyasha grunted, trying to stop himself from eating the irritating little bitch in front of him alive. He slowly pulled himself off the dirt and began brushing the dust off his red haori. Then a horrible thought struck him, making him wish that Kagome didn't remember the damn word. "Shit! Now she knows how to subdue me! I just hope she doesn't use that to make me—"

"So do you still plan to leave me here?" Kagome asked, her eyes glinting mysteriously that gave Inuyasha a feeling that he would be doing something he didn't like to do really soon.

"Gah! I knew it! She's going to make me stay here!" Inuyasha thought in horror.

"Hey!" Kagome said in irritation. "Don't look at me like I'm blackmailing you!"

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "Aren't you?" He asked, his eyes looking at her attentively. Then, suddenly, he smirked. "Keh, I forgot. You're not blackmailing me yet but you are planning to blackmail me!" Inuyasha pointed out.

"Well…" Kagome said guiltily, averting her gaze from his eyes. "Okay, so he's got a point… I am planning to blackmail him to stay here…" She thought.

Inuyasha smirked victoriously. "So I was right." He said smugly then stood up, still not taking his eyes away from Kagome as he waited for her response.

"Okay, so you were right!" Kagome told him. "But I've got a valid reason for blackmailing you!" She continued defensively, standing up too.

"Then let me hear it," said Inuyasha sternly, his eyes stayed fixed on Kagome's face and his arms folded in front of him.

"Fine." Kagome said, looking determinedly into Inuyasha's eyes. "As much as possible, I mustn't resort in using the word just to make him stay…" Kagome thought decidedly. "I want you to stay here because I'm afraid! Yeah, I know, I'm really pathetic. But can you blame me? I'm a girl that can't even remember my name or anything from my past… Even my family… I don't know any of those people in there…" She said, looking at the direction of her house gloomily. Her voice had lost its confidence and courage; it now sounded meek and frightened.

Inuyasha's face softened when he saw Kagome's sad face. "Maybe… I should stay?" Inuyasha thought, unable to stand the lonely expression on Kagome's face.

Kagome looked at her house for a while, trying to remember something about it. Unfortunately, her mind couldn't remember anything yet. She sighed in defeat then said, "You're the only person I know right now so… I would really like you to stay with me. I don't know why but…" Kagome returned her gaze to Inuyasha's warm tawny eyes. "When you're beside me, I don't feel that lost…" She smiled softly.

Inuyasha's heart sighed in relief. "Finally, she smiled." Inuyasha thought. "I really hate seeing her when she's sad… It makes me want to rip something apart…I guess it wouldn't hurt if I stay with her. After all, she needs me here." The thought that Kagome needed Inuyasha made Inuyasha's heart warm and happy. He had always wanted to be there for her—never leave her again when she needed him.

"Okay, so I'm finished stating my valid reason. Will you stay here now?" Kagome said, her hands hidden behind her as she looked hopefully at Inuyasha with a smile on her lips.

"Keh! Fine, I'll stay!" Inuyasha said, looking away from Kagome. He began marching back towards Kagome's house, his back turned to Kagome.

Kagome's eyes widened in disbelief. She hurriedly ran after Inuyasha to stop in front of him. "Really?" She squealed in delight, her smile was bright like the sun.

Inuyasha flashed him an irritated look and said, "Yeah, really. And because I'm staying, don't piss me off or I'm going back to the well."

Kagome pouted her lips when she saw Inuyasha's annoyed face. "Is that a threat?" She asked suspiciously.

Inuyasha scowled. "No. Now get out of my way so we can go inside your house." He said simply; his face still wore a peeved expression.

"Hey! What's with you? You really don't want to stay here, do you?" She said, noticing Inuyasha's irked face.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. "I told you. I'm staying." He told her, emphasizing his last sentence to drill inside Kagome's head.

"Yeah, I know you already told me," said Kagome calmly. "But the way you look at me, it's like you're begging me to just throw you back to the other side of the well."

"What look are you talking about?.! And me, begging a stubborn girl like you, NO WAY!" Inuyasha said hysterically. "You're just thinking too much! I told you I'm staying! Now, let's go inside." He grabbed Kagome by the wrist and began dragging her towards her house.

"Ah!" Kagome exclaimed, pulling Inuyasha to stop pulling her.

"What?.!" Inuyasha demanded, turning around to look at Kagome.

"Don't tell me you stayed here just because you were afraid that I'd—um—say the word?.!" Kagome asked, looking very disappointed.

"Of course not!" Inuyasha snapped. "At least it's not my main reason…" Inuyasha thought to himself.

"Then why are you suddenly staying then?.!" Kagome said.

"Because I hate seeing you sad and I always want to be beside you when you need me. Because you said you feel safe when I'm around. Because I don't want you to be alone anymore—because you always get into trouble when I leave you alone. Because I want to protect you. Because you were the one who asked." Inuyasha had several reasons to tell but none of those came out. Instead, he said, "Will you stop bugging me?.! The hell with my reasons! What matters is that I'm staying! Now shut up or I'm going to have to gag your mouth and carry you to your house!"

Kagome silenced for a moment, trying to stop herself from bursting into tremendous fits of anger. As Inuyasha glared at her, she was currently having a conversation with her mind. "Why does he need to be so mean?.!.?.! He really deserves a hundred of sits! Okay, calm down… Let's just pretend that he's the type who always puts up an 'I-am-Strong-and-Heartless' front so he really doesn't mean those words. In reality, his words meant 'It's not the word. I'm staying here because I care for you and I don't want you to be alone…' Yeah, that's it." Kagome told her mind. She took a deep breath and looked at Inuyasha. "Okay, I'll shut up now." She said, smiling cheerfully. "Because if I don't, I'm really going to sit you!" Kagome's mind screamed.

Inuyasha blinked at Kagome, gaping at her in disbelief. "What's with her just now?" Inuyasha asked in his mind. "Her smile's really scary… Like she wants to say, 'Be thankful that I'm controlling myself or I'm going to sit you!' She must be totally pissed off." Surprisingly, Inuyasha knew that Kagome was faking her smile and that she was very pissed off but being the jerk that he was, Inuyasha still ignored the voice inside him that told him to apologize. "Keh! The hell I care if she's mad! Let her be!" He told his conscience. "Keh! Good!" Inuyasha told Kagome, looking away from her.

Kagome clenched a fist then loosened it. She sighed mentally in defeat. "Guess even reverse psychology doesn't work with this annoying bastard." She thought, completely giving up and making a mental note to remind herself that Inuyasha didn't often apologize so she mustn't expect. "In fact, when did I just hear him apologize?" Kagome browsed her mind for that certain single instance.

"I don't like the feeling I feel when he's near me," said Kagome, looking slightly afraid. "I don't know why but I feel terrified when he's near me."

"Don't worry, I won't let him near you again." Inuyasha said, pulling Kagome protectively into his arms and breathing her sweet scent. "I'm sorry Kagome." He said, hugging her tighter.

"As far as I can remember, Inuyasha just apologized once." She sighed in her mind. "I wonder, how many times Inuyasha actually apologized to me when I still had my memory…" She pondered, looking at Inuyasha's face curiously.

The deafening silence began to get on Inuyasha's nerves. He looked sideways to check on Kagome and that very moment he glanced at her, he caught her looking at him in a questioning manner.

"What are you staring at?" Inuyasha asked rather roughly.

Kagome's eyes narrowed and murmured, "Nothing." "Maybe he never said sorry to me before." Kagome thought. "Because he's really insensitive and his pride is as big as the whole world."

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "Then stop staring at me!" He turned his back and stomped away, heading towards Kagome's house.

Kagome sighed for the nth time and ran after Inuyasha.

"At least he's staying with me." Kagome thought and that simple thought painted a beautiful contented smile across her lips.

Inuyasha and Kagome entered the house to find Souta waiting for them at the door.

"Neechan!" Souta cried out. "What took you so long? Mama thought you had gone back to the other world with Inuyasha-niichan!"

"I'm sorry, um, what's your name? You're my younger brother, right?" Kagome said uncertainly, looking at the little boy in front of her.

"Yes, I'm your brother, Souta." Souta replied good-naturedly.

Kagome smiled. "I'm sorry, Souta. I had to talk to Inuyasha to stay with me and he was really being stubborn so it took a while." She explained, glancing at Inuyasha.

"Keh! Bitch, you're just as stubborn!" Inuyasha said rudely.

"Jerk!"Kagome thought, glaring at Inuyasha, who currently had his face turned away from Kagome.

"You mean Inuyasha-niichan is staying here with us tonight?.!" Souta said excitedly. "That's great!" He exclaimed then immediately ran towards the kitchen, hoping to find his mother there to tell her the news.

"Why does he need to be excited with that?.!" Inuyasha complained as he watched Souta scamper away.

"You're so mean!" Kagome scolded. "He was just happy, that's all!"

"Well, he's being too happy for something so worthless," stated Inuyasha. "Really annoys me."

"Kagome?"

Kagome turned around to find her mother behind her, carrying bulky photo albums. "I thought you already went back to the other side of the well." She said, a relieved smile on her lips.

"No, Mama." Kagome said, feeling a little strange when she pronounced the word 'mama'. "I must get used to saying that…" Kagome noted in her mind. "After all, she is my mother." She smiled kindly at her mother and her heart sighed with satisfaction when her mother returned the smile without any pretenses. "I just had a very long talk with Inuyasha outside." She explained. "Because he's an unbelievable insensitive moron."She itched to say but decided against it because she knew that that would only cause another smart ass comment from Inuyasha—which would make her more frustrated than before. Instead, she said, "By the way, Souta was looking for you. He wanted to tell you that Inuyasha would be staying tonight."

"That's nice," replied her mother, smiling at Inuyasha. Then, she looked thoughtfully at her watch and said, "It's getting dark. I better start preparing our dinner." She turned to Kagome and smiled again. "Would you like to see your pictures in the kitchen while I prepare the dinner?" She inquired.

Kagome nodded eagerly, beaming, and added, "I'd also help you with the cooking."

"Thank you then," said her mother, moving past Kagome and straight towards the kitchen.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha and said, "You coming?"

"What do you expect me to do there? Help you cook?" Inuyasha said disgustedly. "I'd just go sleep somewhere. Call me when dinner's ready." He said, turning his back to walk away.

"You won't leave me and go back there, will you?" Kagome asked, her heart beating nervously inside her chest.

Inuyasha smirked at Kagome's worried face. "You always worry too much." He said, turning his back at Kagome again and walking away.

"Then tell me you'll stay and I won't worry anymore." Kagome replied, hoping to hear him assure her that he would be staying.

But not a single reassuring word was spoken by the hanyou.

"Keh!" And he was gone.

"I guess that meant 'I'm not leaving.'" Kagome thought to reassure herself as she stared at the door where Inuyasha had disappeared. "What a jerk!" Kagome spoke to herself then turned to head to the kitchen.

Kagome felt herself enjoying as she looked at the photo albums, all containing pictures of herself. While she flipped through the pages of the album, her mother would tell her stories to help her remember some things.

"And ever since you went through the well and met Inuyasha and your other friends there, you've been very busy and you would often be absent at school." Her mother told her.

"You must be very worried about me then. I always have to stay away from home and go somewhere else instead of studying." Kagome said, smiling apologetically at her mother. "I'm sorry about that." She closed the photo album she was looking at and went to help her mother peel some vegetables.

Her mother shook her head side to side and smiled reassuringly at Kagome. "You don't need to apologize, Kagome." She said. "I know you are happy with what you are doing so I'm also happy for you. And besides, you don't neglect your studies and I think you can manage both so it's all right. Just don't pressure yourself too much."

"Thank you, Mama." Kagome said, hugging her mother gratefully.

When they pulled apart, her mother smiled and said, "I remember, you would always get annoyed with jiichan because he would invent all sorts of illness just to make an excuse for your absences."

"He does that?" Kagome said in disbelief.

"Yes," said Mrs. Higurashi, placing all the vegetables in the cooking pot. "No matter how many times you would scold him, he'd still do it."

"Now I understand why I'd be so annoyed," said Kagome. "If that's the case, jiichan is annoying."

"You better call Inuyasha now. The food will soon be ready." Her mother suggested.

"Okay."

Kagome stood outside the house, looking around for any sign of Inuyasha. She tried looking for Inuyasha inside the house but he wasn't there so maybe he went outside for some fresh air. "Inuyasha!" Kagome called out once more but still no answer came. "Maybe he went back and le—no!" Kagome pushed the thought aside quickly. "He's just far from the house that's why he can't hear me." She walked farther, thankful that the moon was bright that night so it wasn't difficult to see things even though it was a little difficult.

"Inuyasha!" She tried again, wishing to see Inuyasha's silvery white hair. Farther and farther she went towards the direction of the well house. "Inuyasha! Where are you?" She said, feeling more and more anxious. "He told me he'd stay. Where is he?" Kagome thought as she continued to walk while looking around for Inuyasha. "Inuyasha!" She shouted desperately. "Please answer me!"

Still, no answer. The only sound she heard was the whistling of the soft breeze as it blew by.

"If he really did leave me, I'm going to sit him so hard he'd wish he never left me." Kagome thought, anger welling up in her heart. "Inuyasha! This will be the last time I'll be calling you! If you don't show up…" Kagome shouted loudly, looking around; her last piece of hope fading away slowly. She turned her back to go back already, her eyes filled with disappointment. "That means you're really gone…" She whispered sadly.

Then the bottle hanging around her neck glowed faintly.

Kagome took the small bottle in her hand and looked at it curiously. "It's glowing…" She said, looking amazed. Another soft gust of wind blew, making the leaves of the trees rustle. Kagome suddenly turned around and saw an outline of a huge tree not far from where she was standing. "There's something about that tree…" Kagome thought, scanning her memory for some association with that tall tree. "Goshinboku…" She whispered, remembering the name of the tree all of a sudden. "Somehow, I feel that tree is very special for me… why?" She wondered, still not remembering completely. She set the thought aside for later when she remembered that she should be going back.

When Kagome turned around once more, her eyes widened in surprise while her heart began jumping in joy. "Inuyasha!" She said the hanyou's name happily, seeing him standing in front of her.

"He stayed!" Kagome shouted mentally, her eyes sparkling with joy and relief.

A/N: Yup, and so Inuyasha stayed. Really, the two of them are so stubborn that they had to talk so long before one of them gave in. Anyway, at least Kagome had made Inuyasha stay. More of Kagome's memory will be recovered next chapter. As usual, please leave reviews and make them long! Thanks again for reading and of course, for always leaving wonderful reviews! Keep them coming, okay? Okay! I'm off!