Chapter 18: The Reason Behind Solitude

The next morning Kagome wakes up to a high pitched scream. Fearing wolves, she runs to the window and throws it open, only to find a small girl screaming and running away from a boy that was chasing her. Kagome nearly collapses in relief, glancing to the tree to see how Inuyasha was taking the noise, only to find him not there. The thought of him leaving her begins to panic her when she hears a yawn directly behind her along with the sleepy complaint of "Stupid kids. Shouldn't be allowed outside this early."

Kagome yelps and spins around to find the demon standing sleepily behind her, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the pout of someone who was rudely woken up. She lets out a sigh of relief, before a thought creeps into her head that causes her to blush, "Umm, Inuyasha? Did you sleep in my room?"

The imagined response that flashes through her mind, which consists of him taking her in his arms and lazily telling her to come back to bed, comes out of nowhere before she can stop it. She mentally shakes her head of it as he says, "Only since daybreak. Didn't want the villagers to see me, so I snuck in and slept by the wall. Why?"

Kagome continues to blush, "N...No reason...Umm...are you hungry? Grandpa should be up and if he isn't, I can always fix something."

Inuyasha perks up at the mention of food, "Could I have that ramen stuff again? That stuff has got to be like heaven!"

Kagome giggles a bit, "Alright, how about this. If Grandpa isn't up, I'll make you some more ramen, but if he is, then we eat what he's cooked up. If you don't make a big scene about not being able to eat ramen, then we'll find a big hat to cover your eats and hide your eyes and I'll show you around my hometown. If anyone asks about the fur or nails, we can just say you're just really hairy or you like your nails long because it gives you an extra advantage in a fight."

Inuyasha looks hesitant, but finally nods, crossing his arms, "Alright I guess, as long as I'm here I might as well look around." He then cocks an eyebrow; "You've been planning this, haven't you?"

Kagome blushes slightly, "I might have given it a bit of thought last night."

Inuyasha can't help but smirk a bit before letting his arms fall to his side, "Well, let's go see if I can have my ramen." Then he turns and walks out of the room, followed shortly by Kagome.

Even before he gets down the stairs, Inuyasha knows he's going to be dragged around town, the old man easily being heard banging and clanging around the kitchen by him, along with the smell of some variation of eggs and burning bread. Seconds later Kagome rushes past him when she sees smoke billowing from the kitchen, yelling, "Grandpa!" though in more of a scolding tone than a worried one.

When he reaches the doorway he sees Kagome chasing the old man around with a wooden spoon, screaming something about 'never making toast in the oven' that makes him pin his ears back to his head in pain, wincing a little. Shortly afterwards he feels a small hand on his back and quickly turns his head to see Souta watching the chase, still yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He blinkingly stares at the two, sleepily smiling, saying in a hoarse morning voice, "Just like old times."

Inuyasha gawks at the boy, "You mean she used to try to kill the old man every day?"

Souta scratches the back of his head, yawning and clearing his throat before nodding, "Yeah, pretty much. Don't worry, it'll stop pretty soon, Kagome will serve us whatever Grandpa didn't burn to a crisp and everything will go back to normal."

Inuyasha looks back to Kagome, the thought passing through his head, 'So this is the life I stole her away from. I never knew she was so lucky.' Before clearing it and sitting down next to the boy, waiting for what he had said to pass.

Indeed, soon enough everything happens the way Souta had said it would, and they're just finishing up when a knock comes to the door. Kagome goes to answer it and is greeted by Sesshomaru's tall form towering over her, along with Rin's smaller one beside him, Rin smiling, "Hey Kagome! I'm glad to see you're alright. You ready for a day on the town?"

Kagome stutters, "Umm...well...actually Inuyasha and I..."

Sesshomaru cuts in before she can finish; "Inuyasha is needed by this Sesshomaru. We have matters that we must discuss. Now then, if you would be so kind as to show Rin to your room and this Sesshomaru to his brother, that would be quite adequate."

Kagome gulps under the icy gaze and nods, moving aside so that the two may enter, yelling to the dining room, "Inuyasha! Sesshomaru and Rin are..." she doesn't even finish the sentence before he's by her side, growling slightly at his brother.

"What do you want?" he sneers.

Sensing the tension, Kagome takes Rin's hand and slips off towards her bedroom, closing the door behind her. After determining they were safe from the brothers biting remarks and such, she lets out a sigh of relief before going to her closet to find something to wear.

As she does this Rin sits on her bad, still smiling, "Wow, it's been forever since I've sat on this kind of bed. Good memories."

Kagome looks from her closet, head tilted, "You mean you used to be a commoner? I thought you'd always been royalty."

Rin chuckles and shakes her head, "No way. In fact, I used to be an orphan that was lucky to have a village take me in. It was just my lucky day when the former leader of both these lands happened to pass through one day and took a liking to me. He took me in and raised me like his own, and, when his and the good queen's time had come, he left me in the safe, loving hands of Sesshomaru-sama."

Kagome's eyes brighten as she enters her closet to change when an idea crosses her mind. She decides to wait until after she's done dressing, and once she steps out of the closet she comments nonchalantly, "So, you must have known Inuyasha when he was little, right?"

Rin cocks her head a bit, "I knew him when he was younger, yes. But he's a good deal older then me."

Kagome nods, powering on, "So then you must have known what he was like before he was cursed. Am I right?"

Rin just nods, curious to see where the girl was going with this, though she had a good idea. Kagome continues, "What was he like? I mean, I've seen so many sides of him lately, was he any one way when you knew him at first?"

Rin stays silent for a moment, thinking (A.N. It's a miracle! Lol) before saying, "Yes, he was. He was a lot of different ways, but I always sensed a deep current of sadness, and of loneliness beneath it all. He's changed."

This catches Kagome's attention. "He has? How?"

Rin smiles softly, "Simple. He's not lonely anymore. That much is for sure. When I knew him at first, it always struck me as odd that he was always alone. No matter where he'd go, it was like he repelled anyone that got within three or so feet of him. Then, one day, Sesshomaru-sama explained it to me. He didn't repel them, they repelled him, for what he was."

Kagome tilts her head, "You mean because he's a demon?"

Rin looks up at her in a confused gaze, "A demon? You mean, he hasn't told you?"

Kagome's heart seems to tighten a bit, "Told me what?" she asks cautiously.

Rin looks at her, like she was astonished that he apparently had left her in the dark about this tidbit of information, "Kagome, Inuyasha isn't a full demon. He's only a half demon. Sesshomaru-sama is his half-brother. When Sesshomaru-sama was born, his mother died giving birth to him, so the king took a second wife. She was human."

Kagome gasps, eyes widening, "I didn't think there was such a thing!" suddenly she starts to understand Inuyasha quite a bit better. "So that's why he was so nervous about me finding out about him being a demon! He was afraid that I'd find out he was half demon and half human and reject him like so many others had." As she says this, her heart fills with sympathy for the hanyou, before remembering something he'd said to her not to long ago. "I don't need your pity Kagome."

This is enough for her to get herself under control. Inuyasha wouldn't want her crying over him. And as sad as it was, she wasn't going to. Instead, she made a solemn vow to herself to show him that she knew what he was and accepted him for it. She would show him that the reason for his solitude was no longer valid.

A.N. And so ends yet another chapter. Wow, Kagome took that secret well, then again, she just found out the guy that's been after her since, like, ever just got turned into a wolf demon last night. Methinks she would be a bit more open-minded after something like that. Next time, Kagome, Rin and Inuyasha go out for a day on the town. What mischief and hazards await them in the marketplace? You'll have to read the next chapter to find out! Now for the Reviewer Replies!

Neko-Yuff- lol, thank you, I will try to continue updating on as close to a day-to-day basis as possible.

Chibi-Sess- Okay, to save space or whatever I'm gonna combine both your reviews. Thanks for the complement on my fight scene. And yes, Koga is dumb...very. And yes, that was Naraku in the field. Honestly, with a villain as sly and shady as Naraku, do you really expect him to stay by a road killing people? I decided that behind every good Inu plot, there's a Naraku pulling the strings, up until Inu kicks his ass to the present and back that is lol. Thanks for your complements on my chapter as well. I will try to continue to update as quickly as possible.

StaryKegome- Yeah, I like a bit of fluff every now and again too, but usually there's got to be some plot behind it. I'm glad Kagome was open-minded too, then again, she just seems that kind of person, at least that's what I think.

RebelWriter-I'm glad you liked it. I try to write so that I would want to read it, plus, and I know this is a bit cliché, but this story seems to really write itself, and that's just she came out. And as I said before, Kagome seems to have that tendency, to accept people (or demons) and try to be their friend (unless of course, you're talking about Naraku or something lol). Thanks also to your complement on my fight scene, I'm glad to find that I was nervous for nothing.

Starflower-Gem- Thanks, I hope you like chapters to come just as much!

RoseMaiden- Thanks, I thought it was a pretty good question myself. To true, we don't always get what we want, if we did, then about 50 million people would own Inuyasha lol. Sorry I didn't update quite as fast as I have recently, the PSAT's are soon and I've had to study (belch). As soon as they're over I'll do my best to get back to the regular day/every other day update schedule.

priestessmykala- Thanks for telling me, yeah, I found that out a bit late eh heh. One of my other reviewers told me about the inu-kuro mix-up. Thank you again for informing and don't worry, I don't take any offense at all. I'm glad to have any help and rather be corrected and get it right than not be and keep getting it wrong lol.

Well, that's all for now. R&R please!