A/N: I was going to leave updating to tomorrow, but then I decided that I wanted to get this chapter done today. So, I fought writer's block to get this in so I wouldn't have to struggle to get it in on a homework day.

Chapter 12: Look to the Future

Inuyasha sneezed. "Damnit!" He cursed under his breath as he recovered from his violent sniffle. They had been walking along the road to once again search for Naraku, Inuyasha and Kagome at the head of the group. It had been silence until his sneeze broke it.

Kagome cocked her head at him. "Inuyasha, have you got a cold?"

"I'm fine!" he muttered, turning away in a proud huff. "I don't get sick, I'm a hanyou, remember?" He turned around and glared at Sango, Miroku, and Shippou, who were walking behind them. "Who's talking about me?" he demanded.

Miroku and Sango glanced at each other, while Shippou cringed and hid behind Hiraikotsu. The monk rolled his eyes. "We were only saying what a cute couple you two make, Inuyasha."

That comment made Kagome smile a little bit, but it made the normally embarrassed hanyou furious. "Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean, monk?"

Kagome tried to calm him. She put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder from behind, making him twitch in surprise. "It's okay, Inuyasha." She said calmly. "Miroku-sama didn't mean it as an insult."

He gave a sigh in thought. Though he hated it when the monk made his comments, as he did often, Inuyasha knew Kagome wouldn't like it if he beat Miroku to a pulp every time he said something. Giving the monk a fierce glare in warning, Inuyasha turned around and back to Kagome, trying desperately to ignore the fact that his three friends were laughing.

Inuyasha and Kagome walked farther away from the rest of the group, to get away from the few who were happy that they were finally together, but couldn't help but laugh at how they were so awkward about being a couple. As Kagome cast a sideways glance at Inuyasha, he was still fuming, his haori adding to it, making him look like a fire that had sprouted across the endless green fields in the afternoon sun.

Kagome tightened her grip on her yellow backpack strap. A mad Inuyasha usually meant trouble. "Inuyasha, don't be angry with them. They're just teasing. It's really no big deal."

"It is a bid deal." He muttered, not looking back at her. His amber eyes narrowed in anger. "They're always making fun of us. I won't let them say that about you."

Kagome's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Inuyasha was worried about…her? She knew he didn't like his private affairs being brought up by Miroku, but he also didn't like being teased because of her? "Inuyasha…" she asked timidly. "That's why you get so mad? Because they're also talking about me?"

The hanyou cast a nervous glance at her. A blush crept up his face, and he looked away in embarrassment. "Well…somewhat…I guess."

Much to his surprise, Kagome turned to him, and smiled. "Inuyasha…that's so sweet of you."

He stared, trying to figure out how she had reacted like that from what he had said. He wanted to say something, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was, "Huh?"

She kept on smiling, outshining the sun in her gentle face. "I never knew you could be so…cute." A giggle escaped her on the last word.

When his friends has called him "cute" earlier, it had just made him mad. He was supposed to be a proud hanyou, who could face youkai and win, supposed to strike fear into hearts of everyone who heard of him. He wasn't supposed to be cute. (Though he knew his ears that he was cursed with would forever render him anything but menacing.)

But when he heard the girl he loved call him cute, instead of becoming enraged, he felt his heart rise a little in his chest. He decided that it if made her happy like this, he'd be "cute" forever.

A chuckle escaped Kagome. "Besides, now that you're like this, I don't have to use "the word" as often. And that's definitely a plus, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever." But secretly, he couldn't agree with her more.

A few hours later, just as the sun was going down, the party stopped, Miroku in front. "We'll stop here tonight." He said, setting up camp near a small river. "The water might be enough to ward off some youkai."

The sun sank deeper in the sky. "Let's just pray that Naraku doesn't find us." Sango replied.

Miroku nodded as Kagome set down her things. "It might be wise to set up a barrier, Sango if you would help—"

The sun disappeared, leaving a world of blackness as Inuyasha came from behind the group. "Keh. We don't need a damn barrier. I'm not that cowardly." A strong gust of wind blew, whipping Inuyasha's silver white hair in front of him, as Kagome watched. As the wind settled, Inuyasha's eyes had turned brown, his dog ears replaced with human ones. His claws were absent, and also his fangs. Finally, as his hair fell back over his shoulders, it turned black.

A new moon? Kagome remembered. I forgot! She silently cursed herself for forgetting the night of Inuyasha's vulnerability. There was a chance she might be gone when he was human, like the last time, and she would leave him all alone on this night. She hated that the most.

Then it feels like I'm abandoning you when you need me… Inuyasha noticed Kagome was staring. "What?" he asked.

She shook her head, as if banishing a foolish thought. "Nothing." As she turned away to look at the crackling fire Miroku and Sango had made, it hit her. Wait…if I missed last time…that means that this'll be the first new moon Inuyasha and I spend together after we— The image of their first kiss in the woods popped into her mind.

But…he's human…and when he's human…he tends to be a bit…more emotional. She remembered the time she found out about his weakness when they were trapped in the temple. When the youkai posing as the priest of the temple poisoned him. And, Kagome remembered, blushing. That time when he told me I smelled nice.

And that was almost a year ago. Now, since they were together, who knew what he would say, Or do…she thought, the blush rising.

But, no matter what situations her brain would make up for her, Kagome couldn't refuse when Inuyasha drew her away from the main camp, and fortunately, a Miroku and Sango too into leaning against one another and looking at the stars to notice their absence.

He held her hand as he drew her away, towards a secluded spot by the riverbed, covered by trees. As he held her hand, Kagome could feel the noticeable absence of his long fingernails. But, despite the fact that he was currently in his human form, she could feel the rough calluses that wouldn't go away despite his fast hanyou healing. Hands rough from many fights and battles…and a year of taking care and protecting her. She had never really noticed before their feel, since whenever he touched her, her heart was always pounding too much for her to ever really notice.

But she couldn't deny that, rough or not, she liked the feel of his hands, it showed that he had used them for one purpose, protecting her. That alone was enough to make her feel happy.

Inuyasha sat down on the river bank, Kagome sitting down beside him. "Inuyasha?" she asked. "What did you bring me out here for?"

His brown eyes glanced back at her. She looked into his eyes, and remembered them from so long ago. When she first met him, his amber eyes were cold, trusting no one. They showed the ice that had formed around his heart. But, with time, they became softer, as he learned to trust and love again, after suffering terrible tragedy. But whenever she saw his human eyes, the look was always the same—one who was lonely, and just wanted someone to be there for him…someone to understand.

And that's why I'm here, she reminded herself. To be there for him.

"Kagome," he began, his voice soft and loving. "What...what do you see when you think of the future?"

That question caught her off guard. "The future?" She took a second to think about it. "I see...myself getting older, I guess...but I don't know about the rest...But I do know, that when I look at the future..." she looked back at him. "I see you."

Inuyasha's heart began to lift at that."We've been…like this, for a few weeks, haven't we?"

She nodded, wondering what he was getting at. "Six weeks at least…soon it will be two months." And oh, how she had loved those past weeks.

It looked as if Inuyasha's heart was urging him on as he continued. Slowly reaching out his hand to cup her cheek, feeling a small gasp as he touched her, both their hearts pounding to the same rhythm of love. "Kagome…you know, I've…" A blush lit up his cheeks, cutting his appearance of suaveness and bringing him back down to 'cute'. "I've felt this way...about you…for a long time."

She could only nod, her eyes begging him to keep going, not wanting his words of love to stop. Her heart beat faster as he came closer, and she silently started wishing that he would take her up in his warm embrace, and speak sweet nothings to her forever.

He continued, though it was obvious that he was unsure of his words, still trying to get over his embarrassment of saying them. "Kagome…before I met you…I didn't…I mean…I didn't really know what…true love—"(His blush grew deeper at the mention of that word.) "is. But now that I know you, Kagome…I just…know that I want…"

Kagome's heart pounded faster at every word. Say it…she mentally begged. Please, just say it…

Inuyasha looked deep into her eyes, brown meeting brown. Their faces were closer, close enough to see each other reflected in their eyes. "Kagome…I…"

Say it…Her eyes begged to him. Those three words I want to hear…

Nothing escaped either of their lips, except for a slight gasp as Inuyasha brought her mouth closer to his, passion fueling him as he poured out all his love into a kiss. Though Kagome didn't hear the sweet words she wished she would hear, she wasn't disappointed. The kiss was enough to make any romance author proud, being passionate and filled with intimacy, it was no one's surprise when it was deepened, making Kagome shiver with the new feeling as they pulled away.

"Inuyasha," she murmured, as they pulled away, still close to feel each other's panting breaths. "I love you."

She waited, but nothing came. Inuyasha just bent down to kiss her again, his dark black hair spilling all over her chest. Kagome wrapped her arms around him, and decided that it was okay that he didn't say it now. She knew how he was with these sort of things.

I'll just enjoy this now, she thought, and wait for the day when he'll say it.

While she was kissing him, though into the kiss, her mind couldn't help but imagine him finally telling her he loved her in those words. It would be perfect, he would take her away, like now, from everyone else, tell her all these things again, and then finally, he would say it. "Kagome, I love y—"

Suddenly, her perfect daydream was ruined, when in her mind, two red eyes opened against the darkness…and a deep growl, like that of a youkai, rang loud in her ears.

She gasped, her eyes snapping open, and pulling away from Inuyasha's embrace, feeling him jerk at the same time as well. As she fell on the ground in suprise, she saw a shocked look on his face as well. "K-Kagome?" he asked, looking slightly frightened.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, worried. "D-did you see—?"

He was silent for a moment, and then replied, "It doesn't matter…it was just, something weird. Nothing to worry about." But through his eyes, she also saw it caught him by surprise.

But the young couple wouldn't let it bother them. As Kagome returned to his embrace, and they acted like nothing had happened, they both couldn't help the nagging feeling that soon, something horrible beyond their imagination might occur.

A/N: Mwa ha ha ha ha ha. Making out + they are DOoOoOmed! I got fluff AND foreshadowing in there! Ha! Beat that, JKR! (Of course, she gets millions for books…)

Anyway, keep reading, because soon you see how Inuyasha and Kagome are DoOoOoOomed!