A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I was supposed to be back sooner, but after the shower (the baby was SOOOOOOO cute! But I freaked out when it was my turn to hold her, since those things are so darn fragile!) since we were in Amish country, my mom wanted to stay a day and go shopping for furniture and antiques that we don't need. And on the way there, I got the worst carsickness of my life trying to read some of the Ceres (my temporary manga fix) books in the car.

All in all, it was nice to see a lot of my family, but I was the youngest person there, since everyone else (with the execption of one of my cousins who is four years older than me) was at least twenty years older than me. Well...if you don't count the baby, that is.

It was okay, I guess, but I had hoped a break would help me get rid of the writer's block I had on ending the chapter. I ended it a different way than I had originally planned, but I think this way is better. I dunno, tell me what you think about it.


Chapter 31: A Secret Discovered

The last of our summer was spent in bliss, but Inuyasha and I didn't see past the beautiful season to the trouble brewing around us. It's like my mother told me, long ago, when you're young and in love, you hardly think of anything else. And though Naraku and our quest was in the back of our minds, we didn't want to acknowledge it, because then we'd have to give up or time together to face something horrible.

And even though I was happy, every day when I was with Inuyasha, both of us alone, I still felt the guilt about lying to everyone. Inuyasha didn't feel it, or if he did he never showed it, but every time we snuck off to be together, I remember always looking back, and wondering if this was really the right thing to do.

I especially felt guilty when I began noticing a distance between Sango-chan and Miroku-sama. It was odd; she wasn't avoiding him, but all conversation between her and Miroku-sama was strictly professional. When we weren't in a situation that involved our mission to beat Naraku, Sango hardly spoke to him at all, and none of us could remember the last time Miroku-sama tried to grope her.

Since Inuyasha was usually so clueless about relationships in general, I think I was the only one that really noticed this…I also noticed that whenever Inuyasha and I seemed, even the smallest bit, coulple-like, Sango would turn away, and either look sad or sometimes blush. I wondered about this constantly…did something happen to her and Miroku-sama? She never told me about it, but I know, that there was a story there they had never spoken of. Even to this day, neither Sango nor Miroku will speak of it, yet I know something had happened.

It seems we were both keeping secrets from each other, though I paid dearly for the ones I kept…and I will continue to pay for them for the rest of my life and beyond. There will always be that dark hole in my heart, when a part of me died when someone very dear to me was taken away…

Isn't it ironic? Love, what human beings live for, what I used to believe was the saving grace and only way to keep my sanity when things began to turn for the worse, turned out to be the worst sin I could have possibly committed.

And now, through my mistakes, I do not lament for myself, I know I got what I deserved. I lament only for the one taken from me…so alone…though I promised I would never leave them alone…

At this time, it was my last chance, my very last chance, to turn back, and save a life that deserved to live…I was such a fool…If I had only known…had only forseen…had done what I knew was right instead of following my selfish desires…

I'm so sorry…


Sunlight poured through the window of Kagome's bedroom as Inuyasha began to stir, opening his eyes to gaze upon his wonderful mate in his arms. His nose was buried in her hair as she was pulled against his chest, her wonderful scent making him feel so safe…so secure…so loved…

It was perfect…though the only thing that could have made it better was if they weren't still clothed, Kagome insisting that they would never do anything while her family was around, but, you couldn't have everything.

Even if they were allowed to "be mates" in her own time, Inuyasha was content with sleeping next to her like this, something that seemed so simple, yet meant so much to them both. All night he could hold her, feel her heartbeat in her chest, smell her scent all night long…to hold her, and never let go.

Though he liked doing this, it had been a week since they had last been in the Sengoku Jidai, and for some reason, lately Miroku had been really jumpy to pick up their journey again and defeat Naraku. The monk had been acting that way ever since he and the exterminator had returned from Midoriko's cave.

On that subject, Inuyasha was torn. On one hand, he wanted to defeat Naraku, like he had wanted for years, but on another, he wanted to spend more time with Kagome, not having to limit their seeing each other because of him. There was the idea of defeating Naraku so that he and Kagome could be together freely, but how long would that take? How long would it be until he and Kagome would be free of this lingering obligation?

However long it takes, he thought, leaning down to kiss her forehead gently.

Kagome began to wake soon after, opening her eyes to see her lover smiling back at her. "Good morning," she murmured, her hand tracing his cheek.

"Morning," he replied, kissing her again, pulling her tighter into his arms, the rustle of her sheets the only sound in the room. Kagome's hands fisted themselves in his haori, holding on as if for dear life.

When they pulled away, Inuyasha hugged her again, but continued his assault by kissing her shoulder, her neck, anywhere he could reach without moving too much. Kagome seemed to enjoy it for a little while before she asked, "Inuyasha, can you tell me what time my clock says?"

The hanyou pulled away just enough to grunt, "Look at it yourself. I'm kinda busy here." and then he went back to his gentle pecking of her chin, trying to make up for what they hadn't done the night before.

Sighing, Kagome replied, "As much as I would love to, Inuyasha, I can't see the clock with you in the way. You're going to have to look at it."

That caused him to give a small growl of annoyance before pulling away to roll over and glace at the digital clock sitting on her nightstand. He never really understood the importance of a "clock" and what time it was to Kagome, all he knew was when the sun was up it was day, and when the sun was down, it was night. There were a few other specifications such as morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and so forth, but it seemed like everyone in this era was drawn to this "clock" and its time as if it ruled their lives.

Several times it had been this very same object that had taken Kagome away from him for something or another. Which is why at times like these, he longed to destroy it. He probably would have, if Kagome wouldn't sit him a hundred or so times for it.

"Ten…Four Five," Inuyasha read the neon green numbers to her out loud before rolling over, preparing to go back to their gentle embrace, but he was to be disappointed when Kagome pushed him away, jerking up and glancing at the clock.

"Ten Forty Five!" she screeched, jumping from the bed and running towards her dresser. "I promised Sango-chan we'd be back this morning!"

Rolling his eyes, a very frustrated hanyou muttered, "It is morning, stupid."

"But Inuyasha," Kagome continued, "I've still got to pack, and get everything ready, and Mama probably made us a nice breakfast and we didn't get up in time to eat that…" It was annoying to Inuyasha that she was beginning to ramble on about things he could care less about, but he didn't bother to say anything as she began hastily throwing off her pajamas to grab some clean clothes. And she was either too distracted or didn't seem to care that he was right there watching her get dressed.

Luckily, she noticed before Inuyasha got a full peep show. She was still rambling on when she grabbed her bra, and with that, she felt the hanyou's eyes burning into her back. Whirling around sharply and turning bright red, she roared, "And what are you staring at? Turn around, you pervert!"

Grumbling, the hanyou did what he was told, but he still argued about it. "Kagome, what difference does it make? I've seen you naked before. It's not like you had any problem with it then."

"It's different when I'm trying to get dressed for the day!" she shouted back, pulling on her usual middle-school uniform. "It's kind of hard when you're just staring at me! At least when we both get dressed, you're more focused on yourself instead of me."

For some reason, Inuyasha snorted at that. "Right. But that's your job, isn't it?"

It was such an odd statement, that Kagome had to turn around, now fully dressed save her socks and shoes. "What?"

He didn't turn around all the way, just so she could see his face. "When we both do that, it's your job to be the one looking at me. I've seen the way you've tried to hide the fact that you've stared at me, over and over…" By now, the hanyou was grinning, and fully enjoying the red sprouting on Kagome's face. "The way you are restraining yourself to just jump me and repeat what we've done nights before…the way you know you can't resist me when I'm not wearing anything on and you think I have a…what was it? Oh yeah, 'sexy' body and all…"

Inuyasha had expected to be sat the minute he started it, worth it to see the bright red blush on her face, but instead, she merely sighed, and sat down next to him on the bed, placing her hands on his shoulders, her hair falling in front of her face as if in shame. "Kagome…?"

And then, she pushed him. "Sit, boy!"

Whump! He landed hard on his back the minute the command drew him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. The hanyou made a mental note to remember that being sat on his back hurt a hell of a lot more than when he was on his front. As his eyes popped open, to add insult to injury, Kagome promptly sat on his chest, straddling him and knocking the air out of his lungs once again.

Grabbing his hair and pulling his face upward, Inuyasha feeling pain again, she roared right in his dog ears, "You…Are…Such…A…Pervert!" She let go of his silver hair, his head flopping back down again as she continued to scream, "I thought Miroku-sama was bad, but no! You're ten times worse!"

Feeling the need to retaliate, Inuyasha yelled back, "Yeah, well, I didn't say anything that wasn't true, woman! I know you're always looking at me like that…It could give any other guy a heart attack with the way you're looking at me, like you're ready to jump me and have your way with me or something—"

"Sit!" And there went the air out of his lungs again. Another thing to remember, he added, Don't get her mad when you're already in this position…

"I do not do that!" Kagome yelled pointing at him in accusation, "If anything, you do that to me! What is it with guys being these big perverted, sex-crazed maniacs anyway! You're all disgusting!"

"It's how we're made, baka!" the hanyou bellowed back, "Besides, it's kinda hard not to around you, with you flaunting around in your short skirts and stuff that hardly leave anything to the imagination—"

"Sit, you perverted dog, sit!" Momentary pain, again. Why was it that whenever she said something, he had to open his mouth and yell something back? At this rate, he wouldn't be able to breathe and die, anyway.

Inuyasha awaited the next new wave of insults, but it never came. Instead Kagome sighed, with a small smile on her face, and then turned towards the mirror. "What are we fighting about, anyway?"

"Dunno…" he replied, hoping not to get sat again, the feeling of having the wind knocked out of his lungs several times in a row was not pleasant.

Standing up and gratefully off his chest, Kagome looked at herself in the mirror. Her green and white middle school shirt was now a few inches above her navel, exposing her belly button, the sleeves shorter than she remembered. Her hair had now grown, falling gracefully down her back in long curls. Instead of the girlish, innocent look, her face was now older, that of a woman. Inuyasha had even said on a few occasions that her voice had changed slightly, now deeper, no longer a naive girl's. She had certainly changed over the last two years.

Raising her arms above her head, she was amazed at how high the shirt rose on her body…did it do this all the time? She never noticed. Smiling slightly, Kagome said, "I guess it is kind of short. Maybe I should start wearing something else…"

"Yeah…" the hanyou muttered. He hadn't gotten up from the floor yet, but had raised his head and was resting on his elbows, looking at her. Maybe it was kind of short, but that didn't mean it was a bad thing…He really, really didn't mind at all…as long as the monk wasn't taking a peek at her…

Walking back over to Inuyasha, Kagome stood above him, her hands on her hips. "Well, what do you think? Should I finally ditch this and start wearing something else back there?"

The instant she walked over, his face went bright red. "Er…" She was right, it was a bit shorter. But not just the shirt. And with the way she was standing, the short green skirt revealed…other things to him. Other things that he couldn't help but stare at…he was a man, after all.

Kagome noticed he didn't reply. "Hey, Inuyasha, are you listening?" He didn't answer again, and she followed the trail of his sight…right to its source. Her face went red as a cherry as well.

"Sit!" Whump! Back on his back again…he really wondered who was against him today.

"Sit! Sit! Sit!" Each was followed by another sound of him being forced back to the ground, and a small pause, for the pain to take in, before she sat him again. He would have apologized, or said something, but since he currently couldn't breathe, he decided such things would have to be put for later.

"Sit! Sit! Sit!" And by the way it was going, it would be much later.


Downstairs, Kagome's family heard the constant thumps overhead by Inuyasha being constantly sat over and over for his stupidity. Mrs. Higurashi continued to make tea as if nothing was wrong, but Souta glanced at the ceiling to the source of the sound. "What are they doing up there?" he asked, curious.

"I think its best that we just leave them alone for now," Mrs. Higurashi replied, passing a tea cup to the tearing up Grandpa.

"My poor granddaughter…" he whined, burying his head in his hands.


A week later, the incident was forgotten, (By Kagome, at least. Inuyasha didn't think he'd be able to forget the feeling of having no air in his lungs for several minutes for a long while) and Kagome and Inuyasha were back in the Sengoku Jidai.

When they got back, they decided to head out to try to find Naraku again, Inuyasha agreeing. Though he wanted to spend time with Kagome, he didn't deny that Naraku needed to be destroyed before he put his plan into action. And whenever he thought about him, or the curse, he got a bad feeling…like the ones Kagome described getting whenever she thought about it as well. Something was up, and he had to find out what it was and destroy it before it happened.

They had gone west of the village this time, though with no leads, they didn't think they'd get very far until they came upon something. They were traveling through a rocky valley when all of a sudden, there was the loud, roaring boom of thunder.

Everyone in their party jumped. And they looked up at the dark, cloudy sky. "Don't worry, just thunder," Inuyasha assured them, all happy that it wasn't a surprise youkai attack.

The air thundered again, and this time there was a flash of lightning above, flaring against the sky. "We should find some shelter," Kagome, now wearing a longer blue skirt and black sweater, told Inuyasha. "Before it starts to—" A raindrop fell against her cheek. Too late.

As more drops began to pour down, the hanyou glanced around, and saw a cave on a cliff nearby. "Come on!" he told them, directing them to the cave. All held their hands in front of their faces as the rain poured down, trying to follow him through the downpour.

Thunder rolled and lightning flashed again, making all the humans anxious to get out of the soaking rain. "Come on, Kagome!" Inuyasha picked Kagome up and jumped up to the cave, landing on the large ledge on the outside.

Suddenly, lightning flashed towards him, hitting the cliff. He jumped away into the cave just in time as Kagome screamed. Their friends down below yelled for them as the rock of the ledge fell away after the lightning hit it, leaving only a small ledge and a few rocks behind.

"Kagome-chan! Are you all right?" Sango asked, shouting up at the two.

Inuyasha poked his head out from inside the cave. "We're fine, but you guys should probably stay on the ground. Lightning might strike again."

Shippou pointed in the opposite direction. "There's a place we can take shelter over there, under that ledge."

Miroku and Sango followed the kitsune to their shelter thankfully dry from the protection it offered. "Now what do we do?" Sango asked, sitting down and pulling her knees up against her chest, shivering.

"We wait out the storm," The monk replied calmly, glancing back up at the cave that Kagome and Inuyasha were in.

And so they waited, and waited. It seemed like the rain and thunder had no intent of stopping for a while. The hours ticked by, with the pitter patter of rain never relenting and soon, the three under the ledge began to feel hungry. "Do we have anything to eat?" Shippou asked, patting his rumbling stomach.

"We might," Sango answered, unrolling the pack on her back. Sure enough, there was a bit of dried meat left over from the last time they had eaten. "I guess this is dinner," she said, picking up a bit and biting into it.

Shippou promptly dug in, but Miroku asked, "Shouldn't we give some to Kagome-sama and Inuyasha? I remember her saying this morning that she doesn't have anything left in that pack of hers to eat."

"That's right," the exterminator realized, feeling horrible for forgetting them. Gathering up a bit of the meat in her hands, she stood up. "I should probably go give them some…knowing Inuyasha, he's probably starving by now."

Miroku stood up in alarm. "Are you sure you will be all right, Sango?"

"I'll be fine, Houshi-sama," she replied, turning back towards the cave where Kagome and Inuyasha were. "It's just a little rain…and I think the lightning stopped a while ago. I'll be back in a minute."

"Good luck, then." Miroku waved her off as Sango set off in the storm, each cold raindrop feeling like ice after she had gotten semi-dry from their shelter. When she stood under the broken ledge, she wondered how she was supposed to get up there. Should I call for Inuyasha and let him come down and get his food?

Her question was answered as she heard a mewing at her feet. She looked down to see a familiar face staring up at her. "Kirara?" The exterminator glanced back up at the ledge and down at the nekomata once more. "All right then."

Kirara transformed in a flash of fire, and Sango jumped on her, to be flown to the cave above her. The neko youkai dropped her off on the thin bit of ledge that remained. "Thank you, Kirara," she whispered to her pet before turning back to the cave. She prepared to go in, but for some reason decided to stop and listen when she heard them speaking in the cave.

"Do you think the rain is going to stop soon, Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice asked over the plinking of the rain outside.

"Keh. Doubt it," Inuyasha replied. "It's been going on for a while, and it'll probably stay that way."

"So, you don't mind that we're stuck here, cut off from our friends, for some time?" Sango could have sworn she heard Kagome giggle.

Her giggling stopped when Kagome gave a small gasp. "Not a bit," Inuyasha replied, making Kagome give another, more nervous giggle.

This made Sango's curiosity rise. What is going on in there? Deciding to Hell with it, and not caring that she was getting soaking wet, she glanced inside—

To see Kagome and Inuyasha's arms wrapped around each other, lost in a fierce, hungry kiss. Sango immediately turned bright red. She had known that Kagome and Inuyasha were together, but…this was her first time seeing something like this up close. Though she knew it was a bad idea, she wanted to watch just a little longer, to see what would happen.

When they pulled away, both Kagome and Inuyasha both too lost in each other to notice that there was another watching. Inuyasha came to her again, kissing her forehead, her cheek, her chin, her neck, and continuing to move downward. Sango grew redder and redder, wondering if it was okay to watch this, before Kagome began to protest. "Inuyasha, Inuyasha, wait!"

"What?" he growled, lifting his head to look her in the eye.

The miko turned bright red and glanced away. "Not right now."

The very impatient hanyou whined, "Why not?"

"Look, I know it's been a while, but that doesn't mean that we can…" she began, before Inuyasha's fingers hooked her chin, bringing her back to look at him.

His ears were drooping. "You always say that." He gripped her left hand with his right. "Do you…do you not want this?"

Kagome gasped and shook her head. "No! No, I didn't mean that, Inuyasha. I'd never regret this." She squeezed his hand back and held it to her chest. "It's just…most of the time you get this crazy idea into your head, it's always at the worst possible moment. Like, right now, if the rain stops, we'd have to get going, we can't just stay here and—"

She was cut off as Inuyasha suddenly pulled her into his arms and kissed her, Kagome not seeing to care as she was cut off. The exterminator watching the scene suddenly felt herself growing hot again, never realizing how long these scenes lasted as they pulled away once more, Kagome now sitting in Inuyasha's lap.

Inuyasha nuzzled his nose into her hair. "I understand. But it's hard for me, Kagome…I've got human and youkai instinct both running through me…sometimes it's hard to just shut up and remember the circumstances."

Kagome murmured against his chest, "I know. Maybe we can get away soon, but not now. Besides, I think the rain's clearing up anyway."

Fingers gently running through her raven hair, Inuyasha told her sweetly, "Besides, it's kind of hard not to desire the one you love."

Kagome smirked, before looking back up at him. "Same to you, dog-boy." She had barely reached up to stroke his ears before he kissed her once more, entwining their hands again, the only way to assure he'd keep his hands off her…for now.

Feeling bad for having spied on such a private moment, Sango decided enough was enough. It was time to leave, as they seemed to busy right now to be hungry. But as she turned, she heard Inuyasha murmur softly, "My mate…"

That caused the exterminator to stiffen. What? She glanced back in the cave and saw it now, though it had been hard to see before. From Kagome and Inuyasha's entwined hands came light…golden light. Gold…an eternal bond…between souls…And with what they had been hinting at earlier…proved it.

Turning away sharply, to slump back on the rock wall on the outside of the cave, Sango covered her mouth in surprise, while her eyes were wider in shock. Kagome and Inuyasha…are mates?