A/N: I will put this here at the start so as not to destroy the mood later. After this chapter is a transition with Naraku's perspective, so don't be surprised at the sudden shift. Its only gonna be a good one or two chapters. Have a nice weekend. :)

Stowed Memories

They say it takes an awful lot for a Daiyoukai to lose control of his beast...

She leaned her head on the table and stared at the sleeping Sesshomaru in front of her. He was not waiting for her by her classroom doorway as usual for recess, so she decided to go up to him instead. And indeed, she found him in his classroom, alone, and asleep.

They would have to go through unthinkable duress before they truly snap.

Kagome slowly reached out and tucked aside a strand of hair that fell across his face. Her hand lingered, as she stared at his exhausted features.

Yesterday, you snapped.

She recalled his desperate scream, his unforgiving touch, and how his eyes burned red the whole time during the attack.

Your will was already fraying, and something happened that overwhelmed you to the point that you finally broke.

Last night, when she was packing her stuff, she noticed there had been a rose slipped into her school bag. She knew who it was from, but she realized the only time he could have done this was when she was away for Physical Education class.

You found out yesterday, didn't you?

The ticket was not where it was supposed to be. Kagome had tucked it in between her small notebook, she remembered it sticking out and folded at the edges. When she bumped into that student yesterday, it couldn't have just spilled out loose like that.

You found out I was leaving you...

and Kouga-sensei was just your last trigger before you finally lost yourself.

Her hands ran through the length of his long, platinum-white hair, and she absently repeated the motion, stroking it softly like she would a little child. She did not notice long lashes fluttering open, and golden eyes softly rousing.

You are breaking me, Sesshomaru... slowly breaking me...

And it seems,

That I have been slowly breaking you too.

Kagome pushed his bangs away with the palm of her hand. She leaned over and gently pressed her lips to his forehead. It was her apology, the only thing she can do for having caused him pain. She did not see, but golden eyes were quietly watching her the whole time.

Both of us are hurting each other immensely... I can't let this go on. I have to leave. If I don't, we will end up destroying each other to the point that we become

unfixable.

When she pulled away, a familiar grip caught her wrist, and her eyes darted to him. He was awake, for how long she did not know. There was no dead mask, no desperation. His pupils were dilated and focused on her, like a lost child who had just found his way home, and his gaze never left. She could see her own reflection looking back through his eyes.

"Did you wait long?" he said quietly, and she shook her head.

"Kagome," he finally said, and he slowly leaned forward, pushed her hair aside and planted his lips softly on her head, mirroring what she did earlier.

She closed her eyes. She did not want to see the hope that burned in him.

What if I did not meet your desperation with the same level of anger?

What would have happened? Both of us...

were always caught up in the moment,

screaming at each other, and never really listening.

He sat up and embraced her. As she leaned unresisting in his warmth she could feel his heartbeat, it was drumming loud fast, as she pressed her ears on his warm chest. "Kagome," he repeated, as if her name held all the answers, as if it could heal all that had been done. He leaned his forehead against hers. He dipped down and gently caught her lips.

She felt his heart race even faster when she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him close, and the girl felt him smile when she finally kissed back.

Today, I will try to treat you with the same tenderness,

Today will be my apology.

She knew, from underneath her school jacket, the bruises and red lacerations on her arms.

I'm sorry, Sesshomaru,

But I have to leave... to save both of us.

Kagome waited at the corner as the students poured out of his classroom for dismissal with a heavy blush tainted on her cheeks. She recalled what happened earlier during lunch, as they kissed in the empty classroom.

-She opened her mouth to invite his tongue in, and he paused for a while before she heard him take a sharp intake of breath and whispered her name. His tongue snaked in, and she sighed, surprised by the pleasant feeling as this time, it was not mixed with blood and tears. His hand raked through her hair, and the free one traveled down her spine. He cupped her bottom and with one swift move he lifted her up towards him.

She found herself straddled on his lap, and the hand that sifted through her hair traveled her body, squeezing her curves, and he sneaked into the gap of her uniform. Her hold to him tightened as his hands stroke the bare skin of her back.

They pulled each other closer, her breasts pressed on his chest, her back arching as his hands stroked her heating skin. His kisses were growing more demanding, and he gasped as she involuntarily moaned, when he pushed her down his hips, letting her feel his hard arousal.

Someone suddenly cleared his throat, and the two turned towards the doorway. Their old, conservative professor was glaring at them by the entrance.

"Kagome," he said, and she looked up. The blush was still heavy on her cheeks. "Have you been waiting for me?"

She nodded quietly, and she tiptoed from her position to greet him with a soft kiss on his cheek. She pulled away, and they stood across each other for long moments.

Sesshomaru immediately canceled his Taekwondo meet just to walk her home. They were silent, and the whole time, the Inuyoukai held her hand, and he never really let go.

"Where are your friends?" She asked, busying herself with the roses on her free hand, absently plucking the petals just to have an excuse from looking at him. They sat under a sheltering tree, beneath the raincloud-riddled sky, and she released the blood-red petals into the wind.

She shifted, as Sesshomaru rested his chin gently on top of her head. They were seated on the grass, she was positioned between his lap, and he pulled her closer, nuzzling his nose to the crook of her neck, burying his face in her hair. The people that passed by blushed at the inuyoukai's blatant display of affection.

"Somewhere," he said, "They didn't tell me. But it doesn't matter...

You're here."

"Hmm," she replied, and thunder rumbled from the sky. Kagome shuddered from the chill, and he quickly took off his jacket to wrap her with it when a strong gust pulled it off from his grasp.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as she unwittingly bolted up and chased after it. The Inuyoukai closely followed, dragging their bags with him, and a heavy rain finally started to pour. It soaked their uniform-clad selves in an instant, and they finally stopped under an abandoned store.

His jacket was tangled in one of the posts, and when Kagome had finally recovered it, she realized there was a significant rip by the arm. "Oh," she murmured, "Gomen... I'll try to sew this up tonight-" she stopped and paled. She realized she had just made a promise to him, one that she could not fulfill.

Today was her last day with him.

She did not know how to take her words back. Sesshomaru pulled her wet form against him, his face hidden at the soft of her waist. "You'll do that for me?" he said, and Kagome kept silent.

She bit her lip.

The thought that she was leaving him to face his desperation alone left her feeling conflicted and torn. She saw him smile, his eyes full of hope, and it crushed her heart.

"Thank you," he murmured, and he pulled her closer, burying his face in her wet shirt.

I'm sorry, Sesshomaru...

His wet form soaked her shirt even more, and Kagome absently took his jacket and wiped his hair. He remained still as she continued her quiet ministrations. Suddenly he shifted, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I wish this day would never end," he suddenly said, his head still cast down. "I love you, Kagome," he whispered, and she felt little drops of water soak her shirt.

Just like on the train, when she felt those little drops fall on her back, she kept very still, a soft look conflicting in her eyes.

She knew it was not from his hair, because just like the last time, it had already dried.

The rain was thrumming heavily outside, and she stared at the little screen in front of her. Another barrage of unanswered text messages, all from the Inuyoukai.

-Did you have dinner?-

-Keep yourself warm.-

-Tomorrow is a big day, my little Shrine Girl.-

Kagome held his torn jacket tight, as a new message from him appeared.

-Can I call you?-

Slowly, the girl pressed reply, and she typed in her answer: -Yes.-

Not a minute he let pass by as her phone rang, and she picked up. "Kagome," he said from the other line, his voice warm and reassuring in the cold, rainy night. "Were you busy?"

She laid on the bed, her eyes on the raindrops that were hitting her window. "No."

"I'm glad. Then were you preparing to get to sleep?"

A long silence followed until she finally answered. "Not really,"

"Oh," he merely answered, and he fell silent on the other line himself. She listened to the steady hum on his side of the line.

"Is it..." she started, as she heard him take a sharp intake of breath when she spoke, "Is it raining heavily there?"

"Yes," he said, "It's raining here too. It gives me a little bit of comfort," he continued, "to be thinking that we are underneath one sky."

Kagome then turned, towards the dark corner of her room. Her luggage was packed and ready for tomorrow.

"Me too," she quietly answered, and she could hear, from the other line, a soft sniffling. She tried to control her tears, she knew what was happening at the other end.

"Tomorrow," he reminded her. "Kagome, I can't wait for tomorrow."

There it was, that crushing guilt that gnawed at her conscience. What was she to say?

"Goodnight, Sesshomaru," she finally settled, and he let out an exhausted sigh.

"I love you, Kagome. Please listen,

because I want you to know this,

because I need you to always remember. I love you."

Kagome hung up the phone because she could not control her tears. In a mere five days, with all that was said and done, the girl finally admitted to herself: It was hard to leave. But she tried to steel her resolve, as she stared at the ticket to Chicago that lay on her desk.

Her phone suddenly rang- and she stared at the screen for the caller-

It was an unknown number, and she hesitatingly answered.

"Kagome," the female from the other line said, and Kagome's eyes widened subtly. She recognized that voice. "I'm headed to your Shrine in Bunkyo."

It was Kikyo. "Please, meet me there soon as possible. I have something important to tell you."

Kagome bolted up from her bed, not even bothering to change her Yukata. She grabbed some pocket money with her and ran outside, leaving everything else behind.

She arrived at the unfamiliar Shrine, out of breath from the thousand steps and soaked to the bone. New flashbacks began haunting her mind, every little thing creating little triggers for her gaps in memory. She stood under the rain, the shade of the Goshinboku not enough to shield her from the downpour. She leaned on the hidden side of the tree to catch her breath when something met her touch.

In the dim of the rainy night, she realized there was something carved on the trunk, and she blindly ran her fingers through it: S & K, inside a small heart.

The carve was etched so deep it looked as if it had been redone over and over through the years.

Suddenly, she was sucked into a small flashback of her in pitch-black darkness, and she felt the familiar feeling of a hand holding hers as it guided her through the outline of the carved initials. Kagome withdrew, reeling from the sudden memory.

She turned around and saw Kikyo. She was holding a large, heavy box, and her cousin's eyes were all red and puffy from crying.

"I'm sorry... for keeping this from you. I was too scared of your father to tell you, but your mate's friends, they came to the house last night... they told me everything,

Kagome, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I didn't know,"

Kagome barged into the empty house, dashing into her room, the heavy box in tow. When she reached her door, the box that Kikyo gave her spilled open, and the contents scattered on the floor: an avalanche of pictures, of her and Sesshomaru, some very old and some very new. The older ones were in black and white, when technology was undeveloped. They were little children, standing beside each other, smiling under happier times. And time was chronicled, preserved carefully through the pictures, up to a more modern colored film, of her and him, all grown up, still standing closely beside each other, never really separated throughout the years.

Kagome closed her eyes. She remembered snippets, little blows of intense memories, and she pushed the large chest she used in the middle of her room. She was still trying to fight the tears off when she found what she was looking for:

Images of her in a full Miko garb flashed in her mind, as she was scratching a desperate message for him on the wooden floor with her bloodied hands.

Her tears finally fell as she read her writing.

Everything was still foggy and mixed up, but she was starting to remember.

"This was my last message to Sesshomaru," Kagome said, "Before father tried to repress all my memories and replace it with yours."

Kikyo was quietly watching her, when she bent down to pick up a DVD on the scattered pile. It was labeled Yuinou, and Kikyo loaded the disk into the player.

When the images appeared, a whimper escaped Kagome's lips as she to stifle her moans.

"That one is called Kin," Kagome said brightly. She was garbed in a formal kimono, her unfocused blue eyes to the camera. Someone giggled from behind the recording, and Kagome frowned. "What?"

"You're pointing to the wrong thing," Kikyo teased,

"Well, sorry. I'm still as blind as a bat." Kagome frowned, and another hand reached out to her. The camera zoomed out, Sesshomaru was sitting beside her, smiling. His free hand guided her towards the package in the middle.

"This one is Kin," he explained, until Kagome swatted at him playfully.

"Hey, I'm the narrator here." She turned to the camera. "The groom is supposed to give the bride a ton of money," Kagome said, "Hopefully Sesshomaru-sama brought a boatload of it, so we won't have a problem with that." Kikyo giggled from behind.

"How about that one?"

The camera's view then shifted to another package, blurring as the focus was brought back to Kagome. "This one's called Tomo... tomo... shiraya?" Kagome answered, and Sesshomaru's voice drifted into the video.

"Shiraga," he corrected, and Kagome nodded.

"Tomoshiraga," she continued, "Tomo means together, Shiraga means White Hair." She tightened her hold on Sesshomaru's hand, and she smiled softly. "so that Sesshomaru-sama and I can live together until we grow old..."

Kagome stared at the video of herself, and she felt Kikyo's supportive hand rest on her shoulder.

The camera cut into a different scene. They still had formal Kimonos donned, but Kagome's hair was undone. It was apparent that the Yuinou was over, and Sesshomaru was slumped on a table, exhausted and asleep. The video blurred for a while as Kagome put a finger to her lips in a quiet "Ssshh,"

"You mean he has never said those three words to you ever? You've known him since you were born! And that was what, a hundred and fifty years ago?" Kikyo whispered, and Kagome looked at his sleeping form fondly.

"A hundred and forty-eight," She corrected. "No, he's quite the shy one. As you've noticed he never puts up any verbal or physical display when other people are around. But he doesn't need to... I know he loves me, and I trust him." Kagome ran her hand tenderly through his hair, careful not to wake him.

"Ehhh, but still, wouldn't it be nice for him to display a little bit of affection?"

"Yes, I admit, it would be nice for him to do so..." Kagome said,

"And I will be waiting, Kikyo, until the time comes when he won't be embarrassed to hold my hand, won't be too shy to say those three words to me out loud.

But for now, as long as I have the speech, I will be the one to tell him.

And I'll never be ashamed to tell this to him again and again,

because I want him to know this,

because he needs to always remember."

She leaned down and brushed his bangs away from his forehead, and she planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I love you, Sesshomaru." she whispered, "I love you." And the video finally faded into black.