A/N: Eh heh…sorry about that week long break. But finals are over now, so you don't have to worry anymore! Anyway, thanks to these reviewers, who wished me luck on my exams;

Pwalefriend, RamblingPhilosopher, Sylis, NoOneButYou, orangepencils, Fluff Freak, ChocolateCheesecake, DropofCrimson, kairiyna15, Inuyashasonly1

I've got a special surprise for you! Come on up to the kissing booth!

Kuro and Akuto: Why are we doing this?

:shrugs: I couldn't help it! I miss writing for them! (And, they're all MINE, mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

Chapter 24: Impossible to Hate

Shippou the kitsune sighed, looking up at the roof of Kaede's hut. "When's Kagome going to come back?" he asked.

Sango looked up at him from petting Kirara in her lap. "We don't know, Shippou-chan. We'll have to wait."

"But why did she have to home?" Shippou wondered. "She just came back, and then she had to leave again?"

"I suppose Kagome-sama wanted to go home to forget." Miroku piped in. "After all, she's been through so much, we can't really blame her if she needs to go back to her family."

Sighing, Sango glanced at Miroku. "But, doesn't it seem…a bit odd to you? She usually tells us when she goes home, she doesn't want us to worry. Don't you think she would have told us if she was going back?"

There was a silence in the hut as everyone considered this. "Maybe not." Kaede commented, cutting up herbs for medicine. "Kagome is an extraordinary child, but when racked by grief, who knows what one might do?"

Shippou pointed out, "She left her stuff here."

"That's true." Miroku replied. "But she did that last time, as well."

"I don't know, Houshi-sama." Sango said. "There are too many circumstances that make this seem to make sense."

Miroku replied, "While Kagome-sama did leave her things here, Inuyasha's haori is gone. And we all know of the attachment she has had to it lately. I'm sure she's safe in her world, and will come back soon. Don't worry, my dear Sango. I'm sure everything is all right."

The youkai exterminatorlooked back at Kirara as she accepteddefeat, "I guess you're right. Kagome-chan is probably safe in her home now, thinking of coming back."

Kagome watched the orange sunset over the forest from the cave, sighing. Inuyasha had left the cave, after ordering her to stay put. She, of course, did as she was told, not wanting to anger him now. He had been gone for a couple hours, but she wasn't worried. She knew quite well that he could take care of himself.

Her eyes found the mating scar on her left hand. Inuyasha's words from the morning came back to her. "You are my mate…" He had admitted to himself that she was his mate, but she didn't know what that would mean. She had barely entered into that kind of relationship with hanyou Inuyasha, and she didn't know what mating meant to youkai as opposed to hanyou.

Thinking of that only brought out the memory of the night before, when Inuyasha had turned back into a hanyou. He's still in there…Kagome thought. But, what can I do to bring Inuyasha back permanently?

Her heart longed for her hanyou. She wanted to see his amber eyes twinkle in love, once more. To feel his lips against hers, the warmth of being in his arms, hearing him whisper her name in his ear and then tell her how much he loved her…

Inuyasha, when will I see you again?

Almost on cue, she saw the youkai form of Inuyasha walking back towards the cave, a dead deer flung over his shoulder. When he looked up and saw her, he turned sharply away, not being able to bear her beautiful figure even now.

As he walked into the cave, Kagome stood up, her dark eyes curious. "Inuyasha?" she asked, as he walked passed her and tossed the deer on the stone floor, a sickening thump coming from the carcass as it hit. Kagome felt her stomach turn slightly. She had been in the Sengoku Jidai for a while, and had seen many dead animals, but the deer's dark eyes were staring glassily at her in an expression that begged mercy. She could see the jagged, bleeding wound from Inuyasha's claws that had killed it.

Several villagers met that same fate…she couldn't help but think, her heart sinking in her chest as she thought about it.

Inuyasha turned to her, his red eyes glaring, but not angry like they were so often. "Inu-Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, trying not to look at the dead deer. "What's this for?"

With another harsh glare, Inuyasha sat before the slain animal, and suddenly ripped the leg off the deer, causing a nauseating squelching, ripping, and cracking as it came free, drizzling blood everywhere. Kagome jumped, at that, cringing as she looked upon the sight. "Food." Inuyasha replied, ripping the meat off the bone with his teeth and chewing it before her.

Kagome glanced around until she found a sharp rock on the floor of the cave. She picked it up, and then sat before the pathetic deer. She was used to preparing food from the animal, but she wasn't about to eat it raw. Inuyasha watched puzzled as she cut the meat away from the bones, setting it over the fire with sticks. "What are you doing?" he asked, clearly thinking it was a stupid idea.

"I'm cooking, baka!" Kagome snapped, keeping her eyes on her cooking. "I'm not going to eat anything raw! Besides, you can get sick from that! It's disgusting!"

Without meaning to, Inuyasha watched her as she prepared the food, his crimson eyes taking in everything she was doing. A sense of déjà vu came to him as he remembered a scene like this before…watching her cook like this. But it was hazy, and he knew that memory didn't come from his eyes. But relating the memory and that moment…was peaceful.

When he looked at her like this, the hanyou inside him would start stirring. Kagome…he heard in his mind, not knowing where it was coming from. Can't you see that I'm right here with you?

Youkai Inuyasha gave a small, inaudible growl. Silencing those foreign thoughts with, That damn hanyou!

He didn't know how to get rid of him. Whenever he looked at her like this, or whenever she begged him to come back, the hanyou would suddenly come forth. He was stronger, and so he kept the hanyou trapped, but he hated the feelings that the hanyou brought along with him. He couldn't kill her, and he longed to touch her again…like he had done before.

But it was the hanyou that loved her, he didn't. He hated her for what she could do to him. She could draw out the hanyou inside him, she made him weak. She made him suffer through human emotions, she made him desire her. She was at fault for the conflict he suffered, the unending torment of memories of that hanyou flooding his brain.

Her presence made him dream of her, dreams of lovely memories. Kagome put him in constant confusion, half hating her, half loving her. He tried to keep a straight mind, and keep on hating her, but whenever she tried to talk to him, he had to fight a smile coming on his face. He had to fight the fierce urge to take her in his arms, and kiss her once more.

Kagome was driving him insane. And it was all because she loved him. She had declared so many times that she still loved him, and that very thought caused his heart to rise in his chest, knowing that she still loved him despite what he looked like. If only she could hate him, and stop her advances, then he knew he would finally live without torment…and could finally seal the hanyou away forever.

Kagome turned to him, with a smile on her face, offering him some of the newly cooked meat. "Inuyasha?" she asked. "Want some?"

Her smile is what did it. That wonderful, horrible smile. Happy memories of that smile flooded through his brain in an instant, and once again came the content thought Kagome…Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. Before he knew what he was doing he had grabbed her and slammed her down against the grass bed.

She looked up at his face, the red eyes pulsing in fury, snarling at her while his nails dug into her arms. "Inuyasha?" she whispered, looking at him in fear.

"I could make you mine right now." He declared, in a low, threatening voice. His sharp nail tracing her quivering face. "That would take that smile off your face." His hand went lower over her shirt, and latched on to her breast, squeezing and drawing pricks of blood from his claws as Kagome gasped in pain.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes as a malicious smile came upon his purple striped face. What's happening? She thought frantically. Why is he doing this? Why is he purposely trying to hurt me this way?

Then it dawned on her. She instantly blinked the tears away, resolving not to cry out. Inuyasha stared at her newfound bravery. "Aren't you afraid?" he asked, removing his hand from her breast. "I could take you without your lover interfering." His voice went deeper as he threatened. "I could make you feel more pain then you've ever imagined."

"Go ahead then." Kagome said, her voice calm. "Go on, take me. I don't care."

Her calmness was enough to make his eyes flare in anger. "You're lying!"

Kagome shook her head, her dark brown eyes shining in all truth. "No I'm not. Have me, Inuyasha. I won't scream, I won't try to stop you. You can do whatever you want."

"I'm not the hanyou, wench!" he yelled at her stoic face.

She replied in all honesty, "I know that, Inuyasha. I know you're not. But I can't help it. I can't help but love you. No matter what you do to me, nothing will change the fact that I do."

Inuyasha's temper got the better of him again, and he ran two claws across her stomach, feeling a jump from her, but nothing more; she had promised not to scream. Two thin red lines appeared across her white shirt, and all she did was bite her lip in the pain. He sat up and shoved her away, growling as he punched the rock wall of the cave. "What do I have to do?" he roared. "What do I have to do to make you hate me?"

Kagome, whose hand was over her stomach to stop the bleeding, replied, "I told you, you can't make me hate you."

He turned back to her, his red eyes flashing. "I could kill them. Your friends. I'd slit their throats while you watched, before you got a chance to even warn them."

Shaking her head, she said, "I'd be angry, upset, sad, but…I still couldn't hate you."

"Never?" he growled, his fury rising.

"Never." She answered. There was a silence as they looked at each other, their eyes meeting in a mutual understanding.

Suddenly, Kagome flew to the ground, intense pain in her cheek. She looked up, holding her hand to the injured place. Inuyasha had hit her. There was a snarl of rage as he turned away from her, red eyes flashing in warning.

She sat up, one hand clutching her stomach while the other held her cheek as she watched Inuyasha storm out of the cave, into the night.

A/N: Well…it's an interesting chapter after a week break, I'll say! However, I do like the next chapter better…too bad…