Author's Note: Update time peoples! I am rewriting where I wanna go with this story so forgive any small errors I'm making to make the plot flow better. This story is almost half finished but it may stretch out a bit further depending on what my imagination decides to do. Stay with me peoples!

Disclaimer: ALL MINE!

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Jitsugen Soshite Giketsu (Realization and Decision)

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Last Time...

Kaede sighed as she walked to the table and sunk into the chair. Her eyes stared off into the muted shades of dusk. Minutes later, her gaze rested on the glass of water Miroku had poured for Kagome. There was a fine red powder floating through the clear liquid.

With a triumphant look, she stated, "I think I've found the source of their mysterious illness." And before Inuyasha could say another word she left to start for the local healer's nearby hut, calling behind her, "Don't do anything rash, Inuyasha. Think of what Kagome would want." A frustrated growl was the only response.

Inuyasha had been sitting in a tree by the building, watching the monk meditate and practice a bit with his staff. Quite boring.

At least he's staying outside he thought.

Finally tiring of his own company and convinced that the pervert was in deep concentration, the half demon wandered down to the hut to see Kaede's progress. The night was alive with sounds of predators and prey. Inside the building, all was quiet.

"How's it going?"

"I believe this is crushed petals from the passion flower," the old woman stated.

With his distinctive smirk, Inuyasha said, "Keh. I don't care what it is-how do we get rid of it?"

"Hold on young one," Kaede chastised. "I've never seen it in use before, but the healer of this village says that when the red petals of the flowers are crushed, it becomes a potent drug rumored to increase sexual performance," she went on.

"So how long until it wears off?" Nothing could deter his train of thought.

"It's hard to say. If it was just the passion flower, they would have already recovered," she said. "Of course, they also would have been ripping the clothes off anyone in arm's length within minutes of drinking it."

Inuyasha snorted. "They were far from sex-crazed baka. It seemed as though they truly think they're in love."

"These other unknown ingredients must mute the sexual side effects of the plant while causing it to have longer-lasting effects on the body and mind. They are feeling what they consider true emotions of love and commitment towards each other," she mused.

Inuyasha's eyes had taken on a dangerous shade of pink, so Kaede quickly concluded, "It's just a theory, the important thing now is to find Balinda and discover the other substances in this powder and how to counteract it."

The sound of a nearby opening door cut through the air and Inuyasha took off in a flash. It had come from the hut housing Kagome and it didn't take a genius to figure out where the lovesick girl was going

He reached the inside room mere seconds after the sound but she was nowhere to be seen. Inuyasha was torn between laughing and pulling out his hair in frustration. He went outside and crossed quickly over to the spot where Miroku had been meditating and looked in just in time to see the would-be lovers embrace and share a heated kiss. He growled protectively and shot out like a bullet toward the couple. He wrenched him away from Kagome, causing gasps to emit from the two.

It was hard to describe all the emotions spreading through the handsome hanyou when he saw his friends locked together passionately. Jealousy, despair, anger, and betrayal all fought for supremacy even as he tried to remember that it wasn't his friends doing this but Balinda's concoction. His thoughts of the beautiful woman were not kind at the moment.

"Fun's over," Inuyasha declared in a very annoyed voice.

Miroku narrowed his eyes at his friend. Aggravated at the interruption he replied, "Ever heard of announcing your presence?"

"Ever heard of waiting until the wedding night," Inuyasha retorted, as his eyes started to turn a familiar red.

"You're the last person to be giving us a lecture on morals, Inuyasha," Kagome said matter-of-factly.

How do you argue with that the young male thought to himself. The truth was that he had dreamed of doing the exact thing Miroku was attempting to do now. Only difference was fear had kept him from taking the few steps. He decided to try to reason with them instead of going with his first instinct of beating Miroku senseless.

"I know what you're feeling right now seems like the real thing but it's not. You were drugged by Balinda and as soon as it wears off you'll both regret this."

Kagome and Miroku exchanged a glance. Kagome knew the woman had been the cause of their illness and that these feelings for Miroku had surfaced soon after the woman had left. Was it possible she wasn't really in love with Miroku?

Entirely she thought with a sigh. I'm going to kill that woman. But even knowing this she had to fight to keep her hands off the young man. With every ounce of inner strength she said, "Maybe I should go now, Miroku."

Inuyasha let go of his pent up breath and smiled a little as Miroku's gaze shifted between his friends.

He was about to argue when Kagome put her hand over his heart and whispered, "I need to talk to him privately. Besides, am I not worth the wait?"

Miroku raised her hand to his mouth causing tingles to run up and down Kagome's spine.

"You're worth anything and everything, Kagome," he promised her softly. Amazingly, no groping occurred.

He's more screwed up than I thought Inuyasha grimaced. He couldn't keep from rolling his eyes and started tapping his foot impatiently. When Miroku leaned in to give Kagome a goodnight kiss, he jumped between them and grabbed her arm.

"Time to go!" He dragged her across the clearing to the building and her room. When they were alone, he said, "Thank you, Kagome."

"Don't thank me yet, Inuyasha," she warned him. "I find it hard to believe that any drug could make me feel this way, but because of how I felt about you, I'm willing to wait."

Stunned, he questioned, "And what did you feel?"

"I…you were…a good friend," she said as she eyed him warily.

"Oh, very good friends," he answered and, feeling bold, continued his advance towards her.

"All right, very good friends," she said in a placating voice. Inuyasha noticed she had started backing away from him.

"I have a little experiment I'd like to try with your help," he said, abruptly stopping as an idea formed in his mind.

"Maybe you should just go hunt something-or better yet, go find Sango," Kagome muttered uneasily. The look in his eyes didn't bode well for her.

Sango? Where did that girl go off to…thoughts of the exterminator left his mind as he returned his mind to his previous mission. "Aren't you curious about whether your feelings are real?" Before she could answer he closed the distance between them and pulled her roughly to him.

"Inuyasha, don't do this," Kagome threatened. She realized that normally she would enjoy this type of behavior from him, wishing for a long time this exact thing would happen, but things were different now. "I'll yell for Miroku."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "If you want an audience…" He tightened his embrace on the beautiful woman in front of him and captured her lips. Feeling little tongues of fire dancing in his brain and down his spine, he deepened the kiss. Why did I wait to do this? he asked himself, lost in the taste of her.

It took a few moments to realize that her struggles had stopped and now she was merely enduring his kiss. Rage welling up inside him, he pushed her away quietly. Confusion, anger, and something like fear crossed his face as he studied her sympathetic expression.

This isn't happening his mind screamed. Even though he would never admit it, he had hoped all those fairy tales his mother had told him had been right and that true love's kiss would break the spell. Maybe I'm not her true love a snide voice echoed through his mind. Closing his eyes to block out the image of Kagome and Miroku, he decided to retreat until he could deal with the implications of what just happened. Stupid hanyou, making the first move you ever make on Kagome and it's while she's madly in love with your best friend. Baka, baka, baka…

Suddenly this situation held no more humor for him. As he visualized the events of the last day extending to the rest of their lives, all amusement drained from his soul and he vowed to find a way to stop the perverse effects of this love potion.

"Ahem," Sesshoumaru grunted from the doorway. Shoulders still slumped in defeat, Inuyasha eyed him wearily, too downhearted to remember he hated his brother. Kagome sent a weary but sunny smile in her visitor's direction as she pulled away from him.

"It seems I'm very popular tonight," Kagome said.

At the same time, Inuyasha demanded, "What the hell do you want?"

Before the demon could even answer, Sango was at his side and curled up next to him. Kagome sent a startled glance to Inuyasha as if to ask, "When did this happen?"

He explained dryly, "You and lover boy weren't the only ones to drink the water."

Despite Sango being in attendance, Sesshoumaru announced in an annoyed voice, "She won't leave me alone, Inuyasha. Do something about this human, or I shall."

"Miroku would die to have your problems, brother," Inuyasha said with a tired smile.

Sango was barely listening to the exchange, her feelings having been hurt from Sesshoumaru's lack of interest in her.

How can he be so distant when I'm about to burn up with my feelings for him? She knew it didn't make sense. Until a few hours ago, she had viewed him like any other demon. But she was tired of fighting her emotions. After all, what has that ever gotten me?

"I think we all need to get to bed," Inuyasha stated. "We'll be leaving first thing in the morning to find Balinda."

Confusion caused a frown to mar her lovely features and Sango asked, "Why are you looking for her?"

Kagome put her arm around the girl's shoulders and started leading her back to her room. In a hushed voice, she began to explain the situation.

I'm going to kill that woman, Sango thought again as they walked back to the vacant room.

Sesshoumaru had disappeared during this exchange, and Sango made a move to follow but was blocked by Inuyasha's arm.

"Not now, Sango. Please." The anxiety and gloom in his face kept the girl from continuing on her way. Instead, she nodded and took Kagome further into the room to lie down.

Inuyasha closed the screen slowly, looking longingly at Kagome for a moment. He sighed and went to find the hentai so they could all get some rest. He would feel better with the monk beside him than wandering outside, outside where he might find a way to creep into the girl's and, as far as the hanyou was concerned, off-limits room.

While he was searching for Miroku, he thought wonderingly Where's the brat?

The chapters are shorter than usual because the breaks happen at smaller intervals than I usually write. Sorry if this causes irritation.

Please write a short note. I feel as though I shouldn't publish the stories at all if no one is reading them, and you other writers know the feeling the thoughts that no one enjoys your stories bring up. So be true, review!

Rebecca Ashley