A/N: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! ONEGAI! I know I took a really took a long time with this chapter, GOMEN, but it WASN'T MY FAULT! Well, maybe it was, kinda.

I had this chapter typed up for about a week already. I actually did this before accomplishing my Humanities reading assignment. I even checked it, but then I found out that FF.net had BANNED me from use of my account!

Yup, they god damn BANNED me! It is sooo not fair!!! They had deleted my other story, 'Feverish', then froze my account for breaking rules of conduct stuff. Not fair! My fic was actually properly R! CHIKUSOOOO! I mean, there are tons of dirty, hardcore PWP's out there on this very site, but they don't delete THOSE! I actually tried to make mine tasteful, and they deleted it! Putang ina (That was tagalog!)!

So, I had to repost that story in another site. BUMMER! To those interested, they are on adultfanfiction.net and mediaminer.org (Hint, hint).

Anyway, to make up for my long absence, here is an extra long and extra 'revealing' chap for you guys. I had enough time to edit it, so hopefully, the errors would be minimal and the plot is REALLY starting to thicken in here. I revealed some stuff here that I kept hush-hush before, specially the ones about Azalea and Kagome's past. Actually, I left so many hints that I think you guys may figure it out already!

So, enough with my talk and sentiments. On with the chap!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. It pains me to think about it, but...

-----/---@

SEVEN WEEKS

Million Dollar Revelations

-----/---@

"OTOUSAN!"

Inuyasha shouted as he bolted out of the hay-made bed. He was drenched in sweat despite the coolness brought by an oncoming storm. Dry tears stained his cheeks the way the tiny drops of dew clung to the dry leaves of trees outside the cave. 'It was a dream. Why do my damn dreams always have to be so painful?' he asked himself.

He dreamt of the day of his father's death, a day which he could remember very clearly. After his brother told him of their father's departure, he had burst into his mother's room, not daring to believe it, asking his mother to tell him that Sesshoumaru was lying. She just fell onto the floor in a heap, dragging him with her in a crushing embrace, tears falling from her eyes like a waterfall. He had wished that it weren't true, but his mother's unspoken answer made him realize the painful truth: Inutaisho was gone.

Tears fell from his eyes slowly, almost imperceptibly, like that day when his father had died. Inuyasha and Inutaisho were very close...

"Inuyasha, is something wrong?" a sleepy Kagome asked as she sat on her 'bed', awakened by his sudden outburst. She looked up at him and he watched her eyes widen in shock.

"Inuyasha, omei wa... are you crying?" Kagome asked in disbelief as she crawled over to him, sitting less than a foot away from him. Inuyasha hurriedly dried the tears away.

"Keh," he answered. "What made you think that?"

"Mou," Kagome replied. "Yes you were!"

Kagome tried to brush the remaining stains on his face as Inuyasha fiercely yelled that he just had something in his eye.

"Right..." Kagome said with a smirk as she rummaged through her things to find something to wipe his face with. "And I suppose your cry for your dad was nothing?"

He remained silent. She knew he was crying, but no way was he telling her the reason WHY he was crying!

"Bad dream?" she prodded gently as she handed him a hanky, and Inuyasha felt his heart clench at her soft words. She was trying to soothe him as best as she could, and without thinking, he nodded.

"I... I dreamt of my dad," he said softly. "I remembered the day he - the day he died ten years ago. It was really bad. My mom was nearly crazy with grief and I didn't know what to do anymore. She really loved my dad, and actually, so did I..."

Kagome was sympathetic. "I didn't know that you had lost your dad. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It ain't your fault. But sometimes... I think it was my fault." Inuyasha replied, his head down. He didn't want her to see how upset he was.

"How could you think that? I mean, you wouldn't kill your own father, would you?" Kagome asked, making Inuyasha look up at her with a start.

"IYA! No, of course not. But he - he died because of me."

An uneasy silence settled over the two, broken only by the recurring blows of thunder. Inuyasha grimly spoke again. "As you can see, I'm a hanyou. In my world, hanyous are considered a disgrace by youkai."

"That is so judgemental! Why would they think that?!" Kagome gasped.

"Because they think humans are worthless trash and since hanyous are half human, we are scorned badly by youkai. Even if we use disguises, youkais can smell your heritage. It's a good thing that most humans do not know of the existence of youkai at present because we wear disguises, but in the olden times, youkai are rampant and even humans think lowly of hanyous."

"My father was powerful both as a youkai and as a businessman, but when he married my mom, some youkai lost their respect for him. Their union couldn't have been kept secret if he tried because their scents give it away. The police reports said that my father was shot, but they never found no bullets. He obviously wasn't shot by a human gun."

"That's terrible," Kagome remarked. "So he... he was..."

"Killed by a youkai, that's for sure. One good thing came out of it though. The damn youkais that used to bug my family stopped their harassment when oyaji died. They probably thought that it wasn't worth disturbing a family of one hanyou, one human and one youkai-lord-to-be that was my half brother."

Kagome looked down at her hands and clutched her eternally bandaged wrist thoughtfully. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She felt so bad for Inuyasha! She fought the tears and tried to distract herself by asking questions.

"You have a half brother? Youkai-lord-to-be?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha replied. "Sesshoumaru. My dad's son with his former mate. He's older so he gets my dad's title as Lord of the West once he is of age, which, by the way, was four years ago. Fluffy is five years older than me."

"Fluffy?" Kagome asked, confused.

"Sesshoumaru's nickname. My mom dubbed him that because of his tail. He despises the name, but it kinda grew on him. Besides, he couldn't use his talons on my mom. He kinda sees her as his own mom already."

"Oh," was Kagome's very articulate response. "You know, I'm glad you opened up to me like that. I... I never had anyone care enough to talk to me the way you just did, and I myself am not that good at revealing my true self and thoughts."

Inuyasha blushed. "It's ok, really. I had to get it out of my system. Besides, we're even. You told me a lot about yourself already. You told me who you really are. You told me about your past, your family... Kagome, are you crying?!"

Kagome had suddenly burst into tears, making Inuyasha panic. 'Gods, I hate crying women!' he thought as he desperately tried to make Kagome stop crying.

"Oi! Was it something I said?" Inuyasha asked in alarm.

Kagome just cried harder. 'You have no idea,' she thought bitterly as Inuyasha frantically tried to make her look back at him.

What he had said struck a nerve. * 'You told me a lot about yourself already. You told me who you really are. You told me about your past, your family...' *

The fact was, she lied to him about so many things! She couldn't bear it, but she had to, and now she was in tears again, and it sucked. She had cried and pondered on it the whole time she was away from him after his revelation. After she came back with the pots, she willed herself not to think about it, but now that he reminded her...

"God dammit, wench, stop your fucking crying!" Inuyasha freaked out as she cried even harder. He really hated seeing her in tears and yet she couldn't help it if she was emotional!

"Gomen, I just... well, I dunno why I started crying," she lied. "I'm sorry, I..."

His hand on her tearstained cheek cut off whatever she was about to say. Kagome almost gasped as she felt his fingers gently begin to brush her tears back.

"Isn't it funny," he began as a light, mischievous blush started on his cheeks. "A moment ago, YOU were trying to stop MY tears. But now, everything just reversed so quickly."

Kagome didn't even bother to think of a response. His fingers were practically numbing her brain and she barely registered the fact that they were now sitting inches apart, his compelling amber eyes staring deep into her gray/blue orbs. He glanced down at her lips for a very short moment, his face hovering a very short distance away from her own. She was blushing now and she would have screamed at his invasion of her personal space, but decided that she didn't mind at all.

She noticed absently that his face was coming closer, their lips a breath apart. Inuyasha's hand on her cheek had moved slightly to hold her more fully as he slowly moved forward. Kagome began to close her eyes as she felt his hot breath on her face, waiting to feel the shock of his lips on her own...

Thunder suddenly chose to strike extremely loudly right at that moment, and in surprise, Inuyasha and Kagome jumped apart quickly. Kagome sat stunned for a moment, blushing a hundred shades of red, before regaining her wits and turning back to her spot on the ground with a shrill 'goodnight' to the speechless hanyou.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome as she lay with her back to him, and he noted that her scent was laced with excited shock. He briefly recalled the violent shades on her cheeks as she went and hastily crawled back to her sleeping spot on the floor.

He stayed silent as he slowly settled back to sleep. He too had furiously flaming cheeks, and his eyes were wide with surprise.

'What was I thinking?!' he berated himself. 'Was I just about to... to... KISS her? Gods... where had that come from?!'

That thought sent endless shudders through his spine, and as he thought more deeply about what had ALMOST transpired, he just got more and more astonished. He was going to kiss her, he knew that now, but the question of where he had gotten that courage, even for just that one insane moment, made him shiver with shock.

Her uneven breathing alerted him to the fact that he was not the only one who lay awake. 'Maybe she's thinking about it too?' he thought almost hopefully. The thought that she may be contemplating on the 'almost kiss' comforted him somehow. Because if she was, it probably meant that it meant something to her somehow. And he knew that it meant a lot to him.

'Keh! God damn fucking thunder,' he thought bitterly.

Kagome, on the other hand, couldn't force the blush to leave her cheeks. 'Baka! Stop thinking about it! Maybe you were wrong! Maybe he wasn't really... oh Gods, but I just KNOW he was! Stupid thunder!'

He was gonna kiss her. She was sure of it, and she couldn't stop the excitement that pulsed through her veins at the thought, as she realized that she really WANTED him to kiss her! She furiously scolded herself.

'Iie! No! This isn't supposed to happen! Why am I... Why am I even thinking about this! I shouldn't be so attached to him in the first place. He'd leave... and even if he wouldn't... I couldn't be with him once this is over. I'll have to go back to my duty.'

She pulled at her hair as she thought of that. 'It hurts... but why? It's not supposed to hurt! Why don't I want him to leave?' She held back a sigh of frustration as she realized that she didn't really want to know why. Or perhaps, she just wasn't ready.

-----/---@

Morning broke bright and early for the pair who slept rather unsoundly. Both slept feeling a bit queasy about what nearly happened, still quite unwilling to admit that the reason they couldn't let it go was because they wished that it had NOT been interrupted by what Inuyasha now called 'fucking thunder'.

Kagome slowly opened her heavy eyelids, unconsciously sweeping her eyes across the cave to find the hanyou that lay but a few feet from her. He was still sleeping, albeit turning reflexively at about every other second.

He looked so innocent while sleeping. It was almost as if she were looking into the face of a worry-free child. He was just so adorable that Kagome had to physically restrain herself from going over to him to pet his ears.

She turned her head to find the bowls that they had used for eating their dinner the previous night, still unwashed. They sat right beside the pot and ladles that Inuyasha had used in cooking. He had made a sort of strange, thick broth from the veggies she usually kept in her pack and Kagome found the food delicious. It was nothing like the luxurious meals that she used to eat before Naraku took over, but it was still VERY good. Gods, Inuyasha can cook! Kagome had been shocked beyond words at the newfound knowledge and had stuffed her face with as much as she can handle.

She started rearranging her stuff and putting some of the mess away. As she passed Inuyasha though, she noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of his haori. Kagome decided to sneak a peak at what it was, and picking it out of his robes, she gazed in surprise as a small image of Azalea greeted her eyes.

She had taken his stuff for him when he was injured in that last battle with Kagura, but never bothered to look through them. She never realized that he kept an image of Azalea with him. At least, not until now.

The image had been drawn perfectly, making the princess look alive and real in the painting. Her blue/gray eyes sparkled with their usual brilliance and her beautiful ankle-length raven hair was pulled back in a complicated bun which left thick locks of it to hang loosely behind her back. She was smiling, looking innocently blessed.

Kagome's blood started to race with nervousness as she stared harder at the image. She touched her hair in quiet alarm as if trying to feel for the tips of the shiny strands. She hastily ran out of the cave to find the brook that had been nearby.

The pavement was still wet from the previous night's powerful onslaught and she tripped as she manically ran towards the brook. As soon as she reached the water's edge, she looked into it almost cautiously, staring at her own image. She swept her hair back with her hands in a slight imitation of the way the princess' hair was done. She pulled the remaining locks down to frame her face as hair framed the face of the lady in the image, and mimicked her smile. She held her hair in place with one hand and held the picture with the other, comparing her reflection on the water's surface with the picture that she held in her hand. Her smile instantly faded.

'Shimatta,' she swore mentally. 'I still look too much like... like...' Kagome cringed as she looked at herself and the picture once again.

'I'm lucky he hasn't noticed yet,' Kagome thought in slight relief. 'But what do I do when he does? Gods! I thought for sure that cutting my hair and dressing differently would do the trick, but no! I still look... the same,' she bristled in agitation as she let her hair fall back against her shoulders. "I'll bet the others would know if they saw me."

She reluctantly stood up and pocketed the picture. 'Maybe if I keep it, just maybe, he wouldn't realize it?' she thought in hope, knowing that it was in vain. Inuyasha wasn't thick, and besides, he was bound to know sooner or later.

As she stood though, she felt a familiar, highly unwelcome sticky moisture in her lower regions. "Oh, kuso! I almost forgot!" she swore as she realized what it was.

-----/---@

Inuyasha once again awoke to the smell of something delicious cooking over a fire. 'Kagome,' he thought as he got up and looked around. Sure enough, there she was, sitting on the floor, cooking breakfast and humming a merry tune.

'She is so predictable. I feel like I've known her so long,' he thought fondly, and with that thought, he found himself mentally counting off his remaining days in Crystallia.

'Day 13,' he thought. 'This is day 13, leaving me with, what, 36 days?'

He suddenly felt glum as he looked over at Kagome once again. Just a bit more than five weeks. He would be out of Crystallia by then. He knew that he should be glad somehow, but the thought bothered him to no end.

'Once I leave, I would never see her again,' he thought in disdain after finally realizing why he didn't welcome the idea of going back home as he should. He glanced down on his lap, where his fists were clenching tightly into his hakama.

"Ohayou, Inuyasha!" He looked up as he heard Kagome greet him. She was looking at him with a small innocent smile, holding the ladle in her upraised hand.

Something suddenly occurred to him. He always thought Kagome was pretty, but that smile made him realize that Kagome also looked incredibly familiar.

'Now where have I seen that smile before?' he thought in confusion as she turned back to their breakfast. As he pondered though, he suddenly smelled something that sent red lights around his paranoid head. The scent was weak, but it was there.

"Blood!" he suddenly burst out. Kagome turned to him with an inquiring look.

"Nani?" she asked confusedly. "What about blood?"

"I can smell YOUR blood! I didn't smell it earlier... You're injured!" Inuyasha stated in panic as he rose to walk over to her, intending to inspect her. Instead of starting to panic and yell about herself bleeding though, Kagome just blushed a hundred shades of red and looked down. She looked embarrassed and it was evident in her scent.

"Nani? What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked when he sensed her embarrassment. He started to panic even more, when he realized that his sense of smell was quite weaker than it usually was.

Kagome just smiled shyly up at him in response. "Daijobu, Inuyasha. I'm not wounded. I'm just... well..."

"Nani? I can smell your blood Kagome. I know I'm not mistaken. You're bleeding!"

"Genki desu, Inuyasha. The blood you smell... is not from an injury..." Kagome stated, looking down as she continued to blush wilder.

"Keh! So you are bleeding!" Inuyasha nearly shouted as he sat beside her. "If you're fine, why are you bleeding?!" (A/N: Not very sharp, are you Inu?)

"I... well..." Kagome stuttered in clear embarrassment. "I'm just having my monthly... woman's day." She said uneasily.

Inuyasha blushed as he finally understood what she was trying to say. "Oh," he said. "G-gomen nasai. I panicked."

"It's ok, Inuyasha. Hey, I didn't know you could... well, smell THAT!" Kagome remarked as she turned back to the food.

"Yeah, well, now you do."

"Gomen to you too, Inuyasha. I should have told you so that you wouldn't panic, but I didn't realize that you could sense it. Just so you wouldn't panic again, I... I have my period every month, on the day in which the new moon first rises in the night sky," Kagome explained with a blush. She looked up, however, when she heard Inuyasha suck in a surprised breath.

'Oh shit. I hope I heard wrong,' he thought as Kagome turned back to him, a puzzled look on her face. "New moon, you say? You mean, today... TONIGHT... is the first night of the new moon?" he asked slowly.

"Ee," she said. "Yes it is. Doushite?"

"Keh," he stated nervously as he turned around, leaving her staring at his back.

-----/---@

"Houshi-sama? Omei wa doko? Houshi-sama!"

Miroku turned as he heard Sango's sweet but seemingly panicked voice drift across the main palace halls. He had been silently meditating in the throne room, still desperately trying to reach the princess with his powers. It didn't work.

He sighed dejectedly as Sango's footsteps padded nearer. "I'm here, Sango- sama!"

Sango's footsteps sounded heavy and urgent. Something was wrong.

"Sango-sama, is something wrong?" Miroku asked as soon as Sango's form appeared through the doorway.

"Ee. Houshi-sama, it's about Inuyasha-sama." Sango said hurriedly. "He... I just found out something about his world."

"Nanda?"

"When he left his world, we made a glitch in the dimensional portal." Sango's eyes were wide with fear, and at her words, Miroku stood straight up.

"Nani? Are you sure?! Dou ka? How did you know? Sango, what would happen now?"

Sango's face was ashen. "Miroku-sama," she started. Sango abruptly stopped, while Miroku stirred at this.

'She said my name,' he thought in astonishment. 'She said it with a title, but she said my name, for the first time!'

Sango was surprised at herself. 'Gods,' she thought. 'I was so worried, I let his name slip!' She thought of him so many times, that during this panicked time, she accidentally said it out loud. She decided to pretend not to have noticed it.

"The law is for him to stay here only seven weeks. If not followed, it may mean the destruction of Inuyasha-sama's world." Sango said weakly.

Miroku had been so surprised by her saying his name, he barely heard her, but he woke from his self-made trance when he heard the word 'destruction'.

"Demo, that's not right!" he shouted as he panicked. It was so uncharacteristic for him to shout, but his panic blew fire for the first time. "The law says that if he does not get back to his world in time, time would simply resume without him, time key or not. It never said that his world would be destroyed!"

"I know, but the glitch that appeared twisted that unspoken law. I know that you feared that Inuyasha-sama would exceed the time. Then, it was fine if he exceeded. His time would simply cease from its temporary pause. But ... if Inuyasha so much as stays here a second over seven weeks, his world would be destroyed completely!"

Miroku was speechless at Sango's ouburst. "Sango-sama, are you certain?"

"Do you doubt me, houshi? OF COURSE I'M POSITIVE!!! Do you think that I would just barge in here and worry you with bullshit?!" Sango screeched at him, raising her arms in frustrated fury.

Miroku had never heard her swear before, and it surprised him. "Sango-sama, I'm sorry. I know you are responsible enough to tell me straight facts. Gomen."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have freaked out on you that way. Houshi-sama, should we tell Inuyasha-sama?" Sango asked timidly.

"Aa. He deserves to know. He would no doubt be furious, but... it is his world. He should know immediately. I would break it to him once he calls."

-----/---@

"Inuyasha?" Kagome worriedly called out to Inuyasha when she saw him fall suddenly. They had been walking on a narrow, wooden suspension bridge with Inuyasha in front of Kagome, when he suddenly groaned loudly and fell to his knees. He clutched his head in his hands, snarling to himself, as she approached him.

She ran to him as quickly as she could while balancing on the wooden bridge. In her haste, she nearly fell off the deep ravine. Luckily though, she managed to hold on, but her quiver's strap chose to snap right then, sending all her arrows down the cliff.

She knelt next to him, holding on to the ropes holding the creaking bridge. She glanced up at the now darkening sky as she tried to help him up.

Inuyasha was dizzy. It was strange for a hanyou, but considering the fact that it was the new moon, it was to be expected. 'Damn, I hate the new moon!' he thought as he snarled angrily.

He was exhausted, and that was probably why his head was spinning. He could usually handle a little exertion, but since it was his weak day, his present stamina couldn't handle what his normal hanyou body usually could. The fatigue he felt from the previous sleepless night, from running around Crystallia as he looked for that damn ookami the other day and everything else seemed to have up right then.

He could feel his powers draining swiftly as the familiar transformation started. Kagome was holding his shoulders, struggling to pull him up. His mind was in a haze, but he felt his panic rise. It was almost dark, and he knew what would happen if he and Kagome stayed outside much longer. The youkai in the area would undoubtedly smell his transformation, and he doubted that youkai in Crystallia were any different from those in his own world.

"Inuyasha, are you alright?" Kagome asked him waves of fright washing over her mind. Inuyasha had collapsed! If she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes, she didn't think she would believe it.

"Hai, genki desu. I was just... tired, I think. The fatigue is getting to me." Inuyasha answered weakly as Kagome helped him up. Truth be told, Kagome herself was tired and the sudden weather changes was making her dizzy as well, but Inuyasha?

"Inuyasha, this has never happened to you before," she commented with plain worry as she helped him walk to the other side of the bridge. "You have been having bouts of exhaustion quite frequently! Are you sure you're ok?"

"I told you, I'm fine wench! Now let's get out of here and into a cave or something! And I mean NOW!" Inuyasha snarled.

Kagome just let it pass because he was sick, but as she glanced back at the hanyou braced on her own shoulders, she noticed something peculiar.

'That's strange,' she thought. 'Is it just me, or have his claws gone... shorter? And not just that,' she thought as she looked up at his face. 'His eyes are a bit darker. His eyes as usually amber but now they're almost golden brown.'

She wanted to ask him but thought better. He was edgy tonight. Better not risk it.

As they reached the edge of the bridge though, Kagome tripped and fell to the ground, pulling Inuyasha with her.

"Inuyasha, gomen! I... it's just that, you're heavy! Help me along here!" Kagome said pleadingly. Much to her surprise though, when she looked at his face, she realized that Inuyasha had somehow fallen asleep.

"Inuyasha?" she called softly. She tried to pick him up off the ground without disturbing him or tripping again. As soon as she managed to stand upright again, she pulled him along, desperately trying to find a place for them to stay in for the night. She remembered the last thing he said, and knowing Inuyasha, he probably meant that there was danger.

'A cave, a cave... dammit, where did all those caves go?' Kagome thought frantically. They were just beside the ravine and she looked up just to see that the sun had all but disappeared in the night sky.

'Chikuso!' she swore in panic. 'It's dark! Night time seems to come for me wherever I go!' She hated to admit it, but Inuyasha's taunts the other day hit a nerve. She WAS afraid of the dark, and right now, with her only companion and sorta-bodyguard down for the count, she felt even more scared.

"Kagome," a dry voice suddenly called. She turned to regard Inuyasha, whose face was completely hidden in shadows, the dark of the night making his hair look darker. Too dark. His hair actually appeared to be black.

"Inuyasha, we'll be fine. I promise to find a cave real soon!" Kagome said, trying to sound cheerful. "Oh, look! There's one now!" she exclaimed as she made out a dark shape amongst the already dark horizon.

"That's great," Inuyasha rasped, his arm around her shoulder.

"Hai! Just hold on, Inu!"

"Inu... you called me Inu..." Inuyasha said before he fell asleep again.

His lat remark made her stiffen. 'I hadn't meant to do that!' Kagome thought in surprise, before returning her full attention to the path towards the cave.

"Ato sukoshi... just a little more!" she told herself when she was just a few meters away from the cave. Her rejoicing was cut short, however, when a low pitched snicker assaulted her ears.

"Dare ka?! Who's there? Show yourself!" she shouted, dread filling her as she saw a large shape materialize out of the darkness. 'Why did I have to lose my arrows?'

"Why hello there," the reptilian youkai who now stood before her grinned, showing her a mouthful of sharp fangs. The youkai took a deep breath, then his grin widened to the point that Kagome thought his face would split.

"I can smell a hanyou's escaping youki," he said with a low snarl. He pointed to Inuyasha. "Ano otoko... hand him over."

Kagome stood rooted to the spot. The youkai had just commanded her to hand Inuyasha over! 'No way in hell!' she thought bravely.

"No way in hell, asshole," Inuyasha echoed her thoughts out loud, surprising her. She had thought he was unconscious!

Inuyasha pushed her away from him, drawing his sword. Kagome could barely see him as he stood beside her in the pitch-black evening, but she did see something that alarmed her. She saw that as he drew his sword, the fang had still remained untransformed. His seemingly black hair covered his angry eyes as he stood bravely before the youkai, swaying slightly, his blade blunter than a wooden pole.

Kagome was almost sure that if Inuyasha tried to fight under these strange circumstances, he would lose. Something was different about Inuyasha right then, and she would stop the impending fight as best as she could.

Inuyasha was never one to back out of a fight, and Kagome knew it, so she did the only thing she could think of right then - she grabbed his arm, and RAN.

Inuyasha was shocked, to say the least, but he ran along with Kagome anyway. She was sprinting at breakneck speed towards the cave that she had spotted, and Inuyasha sheathed his sword as they neared the cave.

As they ran, Kagome noticed several youkai rushing toward them, swooping from the skies or rising from the ground. She was terrified, and shrieked in sheer terror when one of them grabbed her ankle and tried pulling her down.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he unsheathed Tetsusaiga again and tried to stab the offending youkai. The blade didn't transform, but the sword's unique barrier burned the youkai's skin away, forcing it away from Kagome.

Inuyasha's head spun as he ran, but Kagome's face was so filled with desperation that he did his best to fight his discomfort. He ran quickly, nearly tripping over his own feet. He kept Tetsusaiga unsheathed, using it to bat away any youkai that came within range.

Kagome was still holding tightly unto his arm, pulling him along as he furiously tried to hit the youkai. He had been right - once the damn youkai in the area felt his waning power, they came to try to absorb the escaping youki.

"Inuyasha, it wasn't a cave! It's an empty cottage!" Kagome yelled, seeing as the house had no lights and activity, in a slightly squeaky voice. She was terrified, and Inuyasha hated the fact that he could do nothing about it. He just ran faster and felt relief wash over him as Kagome practically dragged him into the house. He dropped down onto the floor as Kagome ran in with him, panting like crazy.

"The Tetsusaiga!" Kagome exclaimed, grabbing his sword and shoving it forcefully into the wood of the cottage door. The sword's barrier activated at once, making Kagome sigh in breathless relief.

"We made it!" she yelled in triumph. "Thank the gods! Inuyasha, are you ok? Dang, where did those flintstones go?!"

Inuyasha's face was against the hard floor. He slowly rose to his shaky knees as he heard the soft scratching sound of the flint.

"Almost got it... there!" Kagome said happily when the fire she had been working on finally came to life. Kagome grinned widely before turning to Inuyasha.

What she didn't expect though, was to see a long curtain of thick black hair shielding his face instead of silver. She only knew it was him because of his distinct clothes.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" Inuyasha asked, lifting his head and staring at her through deep gray eyes.

"Inuyasha, you're..."

"Human," he finished for her, his dizziness still not waning. "I'm sorry if I'm about as useful as a glob of blueberry paste right now. It happens once every month for al hanyous. My time is on the first night of the new moon."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't notice you transforming because it was so dark, I can barely see you! So, this is why you haven't been yourself today!"

"Yeah. My powers wane. Unfortunately, were not gonna be left alone. Everytime a hanyou's power wanes, youkai could easily come up and suck his escaping power."

"That explains all the youkai chasing us!"

"Yeah. I-" Inuyasha was cut off as they heard the sound of wood splitting. Kagome looked at him with horrified eyes and exclaimed.

"The door! They're breaking down the door! We're trapped!"

-----/---@

A/N: Again, I am soooo sorry for the damn delay. I was so upset about it, actually! It is NOT easy to squeeze this fic along with my studies, and I managed it in order to post early, and ff.net had the nerve to delay me! I had this fic typed down for ages, don't kill me for the late update, onegai!!!

Here are the responses. Hey I just realized something: This site doesn't register some of my reviews on the page! I get them all on my email though, so no problem. But I'm upset because it makes it seem as if I have no reviews! DAMN!

Reponses: (These are responses to my ff.net readers, not including the email reviews, etc.)

LILMISSY^^: Hello there! Nice to see you again! Thanks sa 'good luck'. Fortunately ay wala pa naman akong ibinabagsak. LOL! You're a high school sophomore? Cool! If you don't mind my asking, what school do you go to? Sorry, I just get overly excited when a 'kababayan' reviews for me! Heehee. Oh, and I'm glad you liked my last chap. I was feeling kinda romantic at the time. ^_^ And I don't mind if your review wasn't that long - Besides, you reviewed TWICE! That's a whole lot better! And, I know how tough high school could be. All those wicked teachers giving you a ton of homework ng sabay-sabay! GODS! Thanks, and I hope you liked this chap as well!

KERI-SAMA: I am extra glad that you like my fic! It really lifted my spirits from the descent it made when I was banned. But honestly, I didn't mean for this to be an MKR remake when I started writing. I didn't know the story of MKR, and only realized it when a certain reviewer (Laura-chan, I think) told me they were similar. I had to buy some MKR manga and read the plot on the net to find out how similar they were. But anyway, thanks for the compliments, and I hope you keep reading!

KIYA1821: Oh hey, wow! Nice to 'see' you again! I got to read your other review and I'm very happy that you still review my work! Sadly though, 'Feverish' was deleted. Don't worry, it's up on mediaminer and adultfanfiction. It's not easy to get rid of me, lol! I hope you liked this chap as well. Thanks again, and please keep reading!

AURORY: Thanks so much for the review! Anyway, I went to school a bit earlier than usual and I got accelerated a bit, so I'm here in college. Gaah! It's so hard to keep up with all the tall, gorgeous people around here, since I'm younger and I'm ONLY 5'3". Kagome's secret isn't really horrific, but it's something that could really hurt Inu, that's why she's upset. Anyway, please keep reading (and reviewing, lol!)!

NO_ONE_IN_PARTICULAR: Hey, I like your name! Anyway, yeah, the Nissan is SUPPOSED to be mine, but it's like it's not, because I can't drive that well and so my dad won't let me. Darn. Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chap!

WANNABE: I'm puzzled... who would you wanna be? I actually wanna be Shannon Sossamon or someone. Becoming Cristina Aguillera would be cool too... I'd rather be her than be Avril Lavigne. Anyway, yeah I live with my parents. Pathetic, ne? I still don't have enough money for my own house. Grrr. Thanks for the review!

COOL!!!: Ne? Anyway, Kagome is feeling really guilty about keeping her true identity from Inuyasha in the first place, and when she found that he trusted her, she started feeling even worse. Kagura knows her from her old life and identity. It would hurt Inu because he trusts her and yet, she had been lying to him all this time. Gomen, I can't tell you, coz if I do, that would ruin the whole story for you! No more surprises. Would you like that? Thanks for the review!

CHEANIE: Hello! How's the pregnancy? I hope Canada is treating you well. I heard that it could get really cold in there! About as cold as it is hot here in Southeast Asia. Anyway, no, I don't think so, but arigatou for the cookies anyway! *Does famous Shampoo impersonation* Hayaaaw! ScarletRaven is so happy for Cheanie-chan!

VECTRA: A computer? Lol! Anyway, I had this big choir presentation. That's what I was talking about. It was last Sunday, and I was nucking fervous because I had a solo. I still haven't gotten over the nerve racks. ^_^ Anyway, yeah, this will be a lemon, but I'll post the lemon part on mm.org and aff.net so that those who don't wanna read it wouldn't stumble across it by accident. Thanks for the review!

So there. Is that everybody? Did I miss anyone? Notify me if I did, please, coz if I did, it means that FF.net is fucking with me worse than I thought. To my email reviewers, check your inboxes and I'm positive you'll see me there!

Thanks again, and please, REVIEW!

ScarletRaven1001