Hey, y'all. Thanks so much for the love and support for this story. Frfr action next chapter, but enjoy more fluff and deep thoughts.

! Y'all have no idea how bad I wanna write dirty things (like kissies and touchies heheh) but I want this fanfic to seem like It actually happened so if it seems like it's moving too fast at times with the romance please forgive me! I can't help it but I will tryyy to hold off for now hehe.

Also: Listening to the Inuyasha soundtrack really sets the mood for the chapters. I think I wanna do that! So whenever you see an asterisk, change songs hehe.

Tracklist for this chapter:

*1: Inuyasha OST 1: Longing

*2: Inuyasha OST 1: Destiny and Love

*3 Inuyasha OST 1: Evil Spirits (first half)

Kagome's P.O.V.

I walked by Koga's side, a bit confused as he lead me outside of the den. Why did he want to take me on a walk? A few minutes, we were sitting up against a tree, the nearby waterfall providing a relaxing white noise of sorts. We sat in silence for a minute or two, just enjoying each other's company. I began to stare off into the nearby stream until Koga gently offered his injured arm to me. I smiled, knowing what he wanted me to do. He was finally letting me bandage his injured arm. I took from ointment from inside my kimono, gently applying it on the deep wound. Although the bird of paradise had really did a number on his arm, it was starting to scab up in less scraped places already. I then took bandages and began to wrap his arm. He was silent the whole time, until about halfway through where I tightened the bandages to make sure that they would not fall. The Wolf prince stifled a grunt and I noticed his slight grimace.

"I'm sorry, did I wind it too tight?" I looked at him with concern.

Koga shook his head bit, "No, I'm already feeling better thanks to you, Kagome." He smiled at me charmingly, a bit of a smirk lying underneath.

I giggled a little at his flirtatious comment. Even though his arrogance could be a little annoying when I was trying to help him, I found it cute when he tried to act tough in front of me and his tribe because deep down, I knew he had a mushy heart and a serious soft spot. I knew that I could probably get Koga to do anything, but I don't think I could find it in my heart to abuse the love he had for me.

Once I finished wrapping up his arm, we sat together in silence. You know… I don't know much about Koga and his past… The first time I met him, he and his wolves were hunting down a jewel shard before devouring a village of humans. I shivered a bit at the thought. But why had Koga been looking for the shards of the secret jewel? Why was he seeking power? Did he have an enemy (other than Inuyasha, of course)? Had Naraku also done him wrong, like he'd done Inuyasha?

*… I sure knew a lot about Inuyasha's past, and it was filled with Kikyo… and my past had been filled with him. We only met a month ago, but so much has happened since then. If I knew he would end up dropping me like a rock, then I would have never fallen down that well… But things always happen for a reason… I guess.

I sighed softly, feeling Koga look at me with a bit of concern. I was too deep in my own thoughts to reassure him. No matter how much I try to forget about Inuyasha and what we had, I end up thinking about him anyways. I tried to replace him with Koga, but now I found myself thinking about two different people, in the same romantic way. It had been a week and a half since me and Inuyasha split for good this time, and I haven't seen him or our friends since. I knew that I missed my friends deeply, and both my heart and mind yearned for them. I missed Shippo's cute snarky comments, Kirara's sass, Miroku's lechery, and Sango's strong heart…

But did I miss Inuyasha, too? Does my heart still yearn for him? Why, when he hurt me so much?

Who am I kidding? I and Inuyasha never had anything. He had never claimed he was in love with me, or that he wanted me to be his companion. He won't even admit to our friends that he has feelings for me. Maybe he just let me believe he did as a ploy to keep me coming back to help him search for the shards of the Shikon jewel. Or maybe he wanted to have feelings for me to forget about Kikyo? He probably didn't need me anymore when she came back to life… I bit my lip as it trembled a little. I wasn't going to cry, not here. As much as I thought I was done with feeling like this, the wound was still fresh in my heart. He played with me.

Why did I miss him when I was just a jewel detector in his eyes? Maybe Inuyasha was thinking straight for once. Maybe he and Kikyo were truly meant to be.

I shook my head a little. What am I doing, thinking thoughts like this? Could I still be in love with Inuyasha?

Whatever he and I had was over for good. He made that decision for both of us…. But I still couldn't stop thinking about him.

Koga continued to look at me. I glanced into his eyes, which made me snap out of it. No more thinking about Inuyasha! Next to me, I had a handsome, strong headed man who was madly in love with me because of who I am, but here I was, thinking about someone who used me as a replacement for his ex-lover, and then threw me away when he was done. Koga actually cares for me, too much to lead me on like that idiot Inuyasha dd. In fact, I lead him on instead because I was dumb enough to think that Inuyasha wanted me because he made me fall head over heels for him.

… You know what? I should give Koga a chance. My heart began to leap in my chest at that thought. Through my actions, I was already starting to care for him, but I was announcing it officially…. But not out loud, of course. I opened my mouth to reassure him that I was okay. We had only been together for a short time, but he already knew when I was thinking hard about something. I saw his expression soften.

*"You know, Kagome… I know you were thinking about that Inutrasha just now…" He averted his gaze, and so did I, albeit guiltily. "I really don't know what's so special about him, but I still know that I can't ever expect ya' to forget about him. I also don't know what happened between you and him, but it must have been bad to make you want to help me out instead." He gently stroked the bandages on his arm. "But just know that if you ever decide to go back to him, I won't be upset with you. I could never be upset with you, Kagome." I looked at him, blushing a bit. What did I do to deserve him? He was willing to be my second choice… In fact, he was.

"Koga… I don't know what to say," I looked down a little before scooting a bit closer to him. "I… I trust you, Koga. My heart still hurts from what Inuyasha did to me, but I'll tell you when I'm ready, okay?" I smiled sweetly.

He growled softly. "That mutt… he's going to pay for hurting you." His face twisted a bit in disgust. "Whatever he did, he's despicable for it. How dare he?"

I calmly leaned my head against Koga's shoulder, hoping it'd calm him down, and I felt him relax instantly. "Thank you for protecting me, Koga…" I leaned a little more into him. "I really want to know more about you."

*The combined wolf demon tribe finally broke down the door to the castle's wall, storming with weapons at the ready.

"There are no guards… It can't be this easy, could it?" One with a scar across his eye exclaimed. Then, they saw a jewel shard glowing from within the castle. "There's the shard!" As soon as he said that, he saw the outline of a woman.

"A sorceress! Kill her!" One with a crescent shaped spear yelled. They all began to rush the woman, adrenaline flooding their veins as their thirst for power turned into a thirst for blood. Kagura delicately used her fan to open the curtain, stepping out and revealing herself.

"Do you really underestimate me this much, Naraku? That hurts." She opened her fan.

"A tiny fan won't stop us, witch!"

Kagura smirked. "Fools. Get ready to meet your demise." With a quick horizontal swipe of her fan, she whispered, "dance of blades." At that moment, dozens of blades made of wind slashed and hacked at the wolf demons, their cries and screams of agony filling the air, as well as the scent of their blood. After a few moments, the field before the castle was covered with wolf demon corpses, their blood, and their broken, splintered weapons.

She chuckled, the "jewel shard" appearing in her free hand. She then held her fan horizontally, moving her hand a mere inch. A wave of wind passed over the leader of the northern wolf demon tribe. His severed limbs glued back together, and Kagura put the "jewel shard" in his hand. "Go, now." He disappeared with a gust of wind.

She then sat on the steps to the entrance, closing her fan and a smirk playing on her lips.

"Who do you think will get here first, Naraku? The half-breed, or wolf boy?"

! Feedback is greatly appreciated! Please let me know how you think the story is going!