Chapter 17: Confusion

Inuyasha jumps up to Kagome's window, girl in arms, and crawls into her room before depositing her on the floor. They stay that way for a few moments before Inuyasha turns to leave. He is stopped, however, by her hands gripping his haori. He looks down at her to find a confused yet determined look in her eyes as she says, "Inuyasha, I have some questions, and you're not leaving until they're answered." in a voice that leaves no room for argument.

Inuyasha sighs, he'd been afraid of this. He sits on the floor while she makes herself comfortable on her bed. He glances to the window; he could make a break for it. He quickly dismisses the idea though; owing up to the fact that this was going to happen sooner or later.

Kagome takes a deep breath before starting, "Inuyasha, don't think I'm drilling you, but I'm so confused right now. Some things are just not adding up in my head. What were you talking about back there, 'demonic aura'? What really happened to Koga? And on a similar note, the other night when I went to Sesshomaru's camp, how could he smell your coat when he was a good two yards away and I could hardly smell it when I had it on? Please Inuyasha, help me to understand."

For a moment Inuyasha blinks. The one question he'd been anticipating, one having to do with a certain 'half-breed' comment, she hadn't mentioned. He quickly recovers thought and closes his eyes, thinking of the best way to answer the questions she had asked. "Well, do you know what an aura is?"

Kagome nods, "Well yeah, Grandpa is an apothecarian after all. People are always coming around, complaining about troubled auras and other nonsense like that."

Inuyasha looks her straight in the eyes; "It's not nonsense Kagome. Everyone has an aura, I should know, I can smell them. Well, Koga's changed from what it was earlier. Just now it was like that of a demon's."

Kagome gasps, "A demon? You mean he was possessed?"

Inuyasha shakes his head, "No Kagome, I mean he was a demon. A wolf demon to be exact. That's why he could control the wolves. Somehow he found a way to change himself into a demon."

Kagome's eyes go wide, "But...but...he didn't look like what I thought demons looked like! I mean, sure, the tail was weird, but I didn't think he was demonic! What happened to him?" She asks, repeating her earlier question.

Inuyasha shrugs and shakes his head, "That I don't know. Something big, that's all I know right now."

Kagome nods slowly, mind more on thinking then physical reactions, linking two experiences together, 'Koga sniffs and seems to smell something on Inuyasha that I couldn't, and the other night Sesshomaru could smell Inuyasha way better then I could. Could that mean that he...he...'

Inuyasha sees realization dawn behind her eyes and nods sadly, looking at the ground, unable to keep eye contact with her. Things are silent for a long while before Kagome asks quietly, "In...Inuyasha, are you...are you a demon?"

His ears flatten against his head at the slight not of fear in her voice as he nods again. He then turns to leave, "I'll be going now then." He says just as quietly. He almost jumps out the window when Kagome stops him physically and verbally.

She grabs his hand, quickly saying, "Inuyasha...wait..." The silver-furred boy halts, not turning, but not going either. Kagome takes this as an opportunity to speak, and she uses it to ask another question, "What makes you and your brother different?"

This causes Inuyasha to turn, a confused look on his face, "What?"

Kagome has a small smile on her face, "I always heard in the bedtime stories Grandpa used to read that demons were evil creatures. But, your brother's helping the village repair, even though technically he was the one who helped to get it this way in the first place, and you..." her smile becomes ever softer, "you came, even though you can't let yourself be seen. You've also protected me, that's not evil at all. What makes you two different from the others?"

Inuyasha almost drowns himself as he gazes into her big, coffee colored eyes. "Kagome..." he whispers, unable to say anything else. He was amazed, to put it lightly. He had been certain that when she learned what she just had, she would scream and be terrified of him, all memories prior flying out the window in the face of it. Instead...instead she acted like this, curious; not showing the least bit of fear after the question was out. He hadn't known people like her even existed.

Before he is even aware of what he's doing, he has her in his arms, trying to express the gratitude he held for the girl. After a few minutes he lets her go enough so that he can look at her, blushing a bit before quickly saying, "It's late. We should try to get some more sleep while we can." With that he jumps out of the window before Kagome can say anything.

She sits there, dazed and quickly falling asleep as the adrenaline that had kept her going was wearing off. She snuggles down, unconsciously wishing Inuyasha was there to snuggle into, and the last thought she has before falling asleep is a half-conscious realization that he never answered her question.

A.N. Alright, a bit fluffier than usual, but it's all good. The fluff wasn't entirely without purpose lol. Now that Koga's out of the way for a while, I've been thinking about where to go with this story next. I was thinking....nah, I won't spoil the surprise lol, but if you guys have suggestions on what you think should happen next, feel free to say so. I figure now that Kagome knows about demons, there's a possibility that they could have more demons coming their way, but I may wait until later to do that. Anyways, on to Reviewer Replies!

NekoYuff- Thanks for the complements! I'll continue to update as frequently as possible!

StaryKegome- Thanks for saying my fight scene was good! I was SO nervous about it lol. Yeah, I thought the 'courting' bit was pretty cute too.

RoseMaiden- Thanks! That was only the second fight scene that I've ever written as far as I can remember, and my first one sucked, so I was nervous about this one. Lol, I probably would've liked help with my fight scene, but unfortunately it turns out that my friends are worse at writing them then me!

RebelWriter- Thanks! Lol, wow, I seem to be saying that a lot today in reviews. I can't wait to read your next chappie btw. Lol, yep, it was definitely a good way to get Inuyasha ticked off, and I can't blame him either lol.

Starflower-Gem- My favorite part of Inuyasha's personality is probably, as a writer at least, his mouth. Lol, his dialog is just so fun to write! On the show...oh who am I kidding, it's his mouth on the show too lol. Thanks for the complement on my fight scene, I really appreciate it! I'll continue to update as quickly as possible!

Thanks to all the reviewers! Alright, that's all for now, R&R please!