Disclaimer: Checking….nope. Still not mine.

The sound of someone mumbling brought Kagome back to consciousness. Pain pounded through her skull with every heartbeat, causing her to moan slightly when she forced her eyes open. She blinked once, then twice in an attempt to clear the fog from her vision. The mumbling grew louder, and Kagome forced her eyes to focus on the source of the sound.

It was coming from right above her.

Apparently, she had only been out for a few moments. The man was still on top of her, and he was fighting with something. It only took a few moments for Kagome to figure out that he was trying to rip her skirt.

Now wide awake, Kagome began to push at the man. But he was too heavy, too strong, and she could not manage to push him away. "Get off of me!" she screamed.

He ignored her, focusing instead on the strong silk of the skirt. Kagome continued to fight, but it was useless. The tears sprang to her eyes again, bringing with them the darkness that threatened to take her once more. No…I can't pass out now! Unfortunately for Kagome, the pull was too strong and her eyes slipped closed once more.

The man shifted her limp form so that he could reach her back. There he found what he had been searching for; a small zipper on the back of her skirt. With shaking hands he grasped the metal tab at the top, preparing to rid himself of the bothersome skirt.

"Get your damn hands off of her!"

The man turned at the sound of the voice, his dark eyes widening in surprise when he noticed that someone else was in the alley. Before he could speak, a flash of red and silver blindsided him. "What the-?" The man found that he was flying through the air, and then there was nothing when his head connected solidly with the opposite wall.

"Kagome…." InuYasha ran to her side and dropped to his knees beside her. She lay there, motionless, even when he lifted her gently to his chest. "Kagome? Come on, Kagome, wake up!"

Kagome came to for the second time that night, this time to an entirely different scenario. The first thing that she was aware of was that the pain was still there. She fought past it, and found that the only color she could see was red. "No…." the miko managed to mumble into the fabric that surrounded her.

"Shh. Kagome, it's me. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

"Inu…yasha?"

"Yeah, who else is always there to save your ass?"

The hanyou flashed her a rare smile, which disappeared when he caught sight of her face. There was a large bruise developing over her left eye, and another would cover her right cheek by morning. Dried tears streaked her dirty face, mingling with the blood that caked her scraped chin. Without even realizing it, Inuyasha brought his thumb up to gently wipe the blood and tears away. Without even realizing it, Inuyasha brought his thumb up to gently wipe the tears away. "Kagome," he whispered. "It's all right. You're safe now."

His sensitive ears picked up the sound of voices approaching, and the hanyou hastily checked to make sure the cap was secure on his head. He helped Kagome to her feet just as a man in strange clothing rounded the corner. Trailing at a respectable distance were several onlookers, each craning their neck to see what was happening. The newcomer shooed the curious people away, then turned to InuYasha and Kagome.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the girl."

InuYasha began to growl. Like hell he was going to move away from Kagome! He was preparing to protest when Kagome spoke up.

"No, officer, it's okay. He's a friend."

The officer raised a curious eyebrow and glanced toward Kagome's unconscious assailant. "And what about him? Is he a friend too?"

"That bastard tried to hurt her!" the hanyou snarled. "He's lucky I didn't kill him!"

Kagome placed a calming hand onto InuYasha's arm. "It's true. That man attacked me, and InuYasha arrived just in time to save me," she shuddered at the all-to recent memory, unconsciously nuzzling closer to InuYasha. In turn, he wrapped his arm around her trembling shoulders.

After almost half an hour of questioning, the officer decided to let the pair go. But first, he made Kagome promise to come by the station and file a report the next day. From the look of it, she was still pretty shaken up, and he found no harm in letting her go home and recover from the attack.

After the cop had hauled her assailant away the crowd began to disperse. Soon Kagome and InuYasha were alone once more, which suited the miko just fine.

"Come on, Kagome. Let's get you home and get you looked at," InuYasha picked her up gently and prepared to spring to the rooftop.

"Okay."

The hanyou was off in an instant, soaring from one rooftop to another. Kagome tried to relax her body, but found that it was hopeless. She just couldn't calm her nerves; not after what had almost happened to her.

InuYasha seemed to sense her discomfort and slowed to a stop. When Kagome lifted her head from the safety of his arms, her breath caught in her throat. Sprawled out below them was Tokyo in its entire splendor. Thousands of lights twinkled below them, mirroring the stars that studded the sky.

"InuYasha…?"

Without a word he set her down onto her feet and turned to face the view. It was several moments later, after both had taken in the scenery, before he turned to face her. Kagome gasped when a clawed hand rose to trace the sore bruise on her cheek, his touch soft and infinitely gentle. "I found this place while I was looking for you. Kagome…" twin molten eyes glowed as they stared into mahogany brown, their expressive depths revealing a tenderness that Kagome rarely ever saw in the hanyou. "I'm sorry that I couldn't get there sooner. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I guess that I'm still a little shaken up, that's all," she hugged her arms around her torso and shivered slightly. "I can't believe that I let myself get into that mess. I felt so…helpless. I knew what was happening, but I just couldn't stop it. I tried… I really did…"

"Hey, easy now."

Kagome felt something fall across her shoulders. She looked up, noticing that InuYasha was adjusting his fire-rat haori around her slim form. Satisfied, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. At that moment she lost control and let herself go. All of the emotions that hurtled through her crashed through the floodgates, flowing down her cheeks in a river of tears. She sobbed into InuYasha's shoulder, all the while clutching to his haori as though it were a lifeline.

Eventually the tears began to slow, leaving Kagome to hiccup quietly. She became aware of InuYasha's strong hand rubbing her back, and the sound of his voice speaking calmingly into her ear.

"InuYasha?"

"Yeah?"

The miko tilted her head up so that she could look him in the eye. "Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled back, a mischievous look spreading across his face. "No problem. I guess that it all turned out okay in the end, anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he started, "at least you didn't have to go on that 'date' thing with Hoto."

Thoughts of Hojo came crashing back, causing Kagome to gasp. "Oh no! I forgot all about Hojo! What if he shows up?"

InuYasha huffed, earning a glare from the girl. "Relax. He's not going to. He used that weird 'phone' thing and told your mom that he was out of town. That's when I came out to look for you."

"Oh," Kagome found that she was a little disappointed at the news. "So I guess that I didn't have a Valentine after all."

Now it was her turn to earn a look. InuYasha shook his head, his silver mane shaking with the effort. "Okay, you told me what Valentine's Day was, but what's a Valentine?"

"A Valentine is the person that you spend Valentine's Day with. It's special, because you are letting them know that they are the one person you would rather be with than anyone else in the world."

"Keh, stupid girl," InuYasha scoffed. "Why didn't you say that earlier?" He stepped closer to her, and unlike earlier, this approach did not scare her; it exhilarated her. His hand reached into his plain haori, and when he removed it there was something clutched in his rough hand. Almost hesitantly, he handed the object to her. When he spoke again, his voice took on the strange tone that it had when he had comforted her. "I would have done that."

Before Kagome could even absorb the words the hanyou scooped her into his arms. "Come on," he growled, the rough tone almost returning to his voice. "Your family's probably worried about you."

No more words were spoken between them as InuYasha took to the air. Kagome looked down at the gift the hanyou had given her and smiled softly. The wind played with the soft petals of the rose, which looked only slightly worse for the wear after having spent most of the evening inside InuYasha's clothing. Attached to the stem was a small paper heart that simply read, be mine. Kagome found her heart soaring as they leapt over the glowing city. What could have been the worst night of her life had led to something completely unexpected, something that she could have never dreamed of. She had found a new, gentler side of InuYasha on this night. She had found comfort and safety in her truest friend and a hope for possibly something more.

She snuggled further into InuYasha arms and let his familiar scent wash over her. Her body finally relaxed, and she realized how exhausted she really was. Kagome was just about to drift off to sleep when she felt the arms around her constrict slightly.

"Hey, Kagome… where's your house?"

A/N: Thank you all for reading this little piece of pointless fluff! I'm sorry if it's not my best work, as someone so rudely informed me in a review (which, I checked their work...they really have no right to be flaming others). This was only intended to be a self-birthday present, so I hadn't put too much thought into it (V-Day is my birthday, for those who would care to know), though I did try to make it a good story! Anyway, this has been trying to get my attention since I finished Castle, and since Valentine's Day was approaching I finished it up. I actually started it last year around this time.

Oh, and for those who read my little preview at the end of Castle, let's just say that there will be more of that in the (hopefully) near future!