Okay... so, if anyone was wondering, this chapter and an upcoming chapter are one of the reasons I gave the story the rating I did. I wasn't sure how far I wanted to carry it, considering there isn't really any of this stuff in the anime.

Inuyasha is not mine, nor are any of the other characters. (Sigh, tear...)

Her lips were still tingling.

After fleeing from Inuyasha, Kagome had locked herself in the bathroom and sat down on the edge of her bathtub. It was the only room in the house where she wouldn't have to worry about someone coming in. She wasn't sure how much time had passed; it could have been hours, it could have been minutes.

Raising a shaking hand, she touched her lips. That was what she had wanted, had dreamed of, all these years. So why was she shaking? What was wrong with her?

He's just looking for a way home, a voice in the back of her mind whispered. He's just going to leave you again.

"I wish he would go home." She whispered aloud.

Then the burning started.

Gasping aloud, she jumped to her feet and thrust her right arm under the faucet of the sink, dousing her skin with cold water. Her skin... it was glowing! It had a purplish-blue haze around it, skating across the top of her skin like ghostly flames. And then, as quickly as it was there, it disappeared.

With her other hand, she slowly reached down and touched a fingertip to her skin. Upon contact, she received a shock so strong the whole left side of her body jerked in protest. And she could even see the electricity that caused the shock; it was purple.

"Oh, god." Stumbling backwards until her back collided with the wall, she slowly slid down to the floor. She was so stupid! The Shikon jewel, it was inside her. That's why she hadn't been able to sense it before; it had rejoined with her body.

That night, that night the jewel disappeared, she had been wishing, longing, for Inuyasha to come to her. And he did. And just now, she had been wishing he would go home. Had she not lost her train of thought when the pain set in, it might have worked. She had been unknowingly using its power. And the bone eater's well... it had to be her, too. She was the reason the well wasn't working. It was because she had wanted him to stay there.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome sighed.

"Kagome?" There was a soft knock at the door. Reaching over, Kagome unlocked the bathroom door, but she didn't open it.

"Yes."

"Kagome, I wish to speak with you." The door swung open and a human Inuyasha stepped inside. "Kagome, I..." His voice trailed off when his gaze fell down on her. "Why are you shaking?"

"I... I'm just cold. Has the sun set already?" Her voice sounded raw, strained. Oh, god, she thought. What do I say? What do I say?

"Would you like to go for a walk?" He reached up and pushed back some of his now-black hair, showing her his human ears. "I can go outside without a hat, now." Bending down, he held out a hand to help her to her feet. "I think we need to speak about a lot of things."

"Alright." Accepting his hand, he helped up her and surprised her by turning her hand over and lightly kissing her palm. "I'd like to change my clothes, first." Inuyasha nodded.

"I can wait."

> > > > > > >

Never in his wildest dreams would he have guessed that he would someday be walking the modern streets with Kagome, her slender hand clasping his. And him as a human, no less. It was odd, not needing to hide himself, not needing to worry that someone might see him for what he was. Though his senses were dulled and his body was weaker, it was strangely freeing.

"I was found something today, Inuyasha." Kagome's grip on his hand suddenly tightened. He glanced down at her. She looked so beautiful tonight; she was beautiful for him tonight. The white sundress she was wearing accented her curvy frame and the golden color of her skin. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, the ends long enough to still brush her shoulders. But most of all, she looked content. He couldn't remember the last time she looked so at ease, so relaxed.

"I discovered something today, too. I had today what is called a 'hot dog'. A man with a cart was selling them in the park. I'm not sure what part of the dog the meat came from, but it was awesome."

"Awesome?" Kagome tilted her head and grinned up at him. "Where on earth did you learn that word?"

"I heard a young boy say it. Did I misuse it?"

"No. I just wasn't expecting it." Inuyasha bent down to gently kiss her while her face was still turned up towards his. Kagome's hand slipped free from his and slid up to his shoulder, pulling him down closer towards her. It had been his intention to keep it short and light, but once the tip of Kagome's tongue darted out to tease the corner of his mouth, instinct took over.

Crushing her to his chest, he ravished her lips, her jaw, her throat. His head was spinning from the scent and taste of her; it was taking all his self-control to keep himself from laying her down on the ground and taking her right then-and-there.

"We have an audience," Kagome laughed into his ear while he was kissing the tender skin at the base of her throat. Raising his head, he saw a group of teenage girls watching them and giggling. Instead of acting embarrassed, though, Kagome took his hand in hers and gave a small bow. Grinning, he followed her suit, and the girls giggled louder and clapped. "Thank you, thank you! Repeat shows on the hour, every hour!"

"Really?" Inuyasha waggled his eyebrows at her. "I like the sound of that."

> > > > > >

"Lets run away, now. This is kind of weird." Using his hand, she guided him away from the group of girls and down an alley. "You didn't really want to talk about your hot dog experience tonight, did you?"

"No. But it was delicious." He took a deep breath, and Kagome felt a swarm of butterflies rise in her stomach. "I have decided to stay. Here, with you."

"You... what?" She hadn't been expecting that.

"We may never find the Shikon jewel, and I think we should accept that. I think that maybe I was meant to come here. You came to me all those years ago, and now it was my turn."

"But what happens if we find the jewel?" Kagome asked softly, her breath catching in her throat. They stopped walking, and Inuyasha turned so he was fully facing her.

"If we find it, we use it to make me human."

"You would become human?" His dark human eyes met hers unwaveringly.

"Yes."

"Oh." Was all she said, and then to her horror she began to cry.

"Why are you crying?" Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she wept.

"I don't know! I've cried more the past couple days than I have in my whole life!" She shook her head as she buried her face in his shoulder. "And now I'm getting your shirt all wet."

"I don't care about my shirt." He began to stroke her hair, talking softly to her until her tears finally subsided.

"You really mean this?" Her fingers gripped the fabric of his shirt. "You would really stay, even if we found the jewel?"

Tell him, you should tell him!

"Yes." He frowned down at her when another tear rolled down her cheek. "Are you upset with me?"

Rather than answer with words, she decided to show him just how she felt. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down and kissed him with all the passion and longing that had been building up inside of her for the past seven years. A rumbling came from deep inside his chest, and then she was being moved backward until her back met the brick of one of the buildings.

She gasped slightly, and Inuyasha took the opportunity to sweep his tongue into her mouth. And while his mouth was doing incredibly clever things to her, his hand had slipped into the top of her dress and his hand began doing incredibly clever things to her breasts.

Moaning, her hooked one of her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. She could feel him through the thin fabric of her dress, hard and straining towards her. Rocking herself against him, she was rewarded with a hoarse gasp from Inuyasha.

"We can't do this." He whispered, pulling back just far enough for her to see his face.

"What?"

"We can't do this here. I am not going to take you in an alley like an animal." She smiled slowly, lightly trailing her fingers up and down his spine.

"Who says I'm not going to have you?"

"Oh, you have me, Kagome. I think you've always had me."

"So let's go home."

I'm so sorry, but I have to stop there tonight! Please don't kill me! More will be posted either tomorrow or Tuesday at the absolute latest, I promise!