They started walking back to the village, but InuYasha needed answers before they got to the monk and demon slayer.

"What was that back there?"

"I'm sure you heard most of it."

Growling, he grabbed her arm and faced her with cold golden orbs, "where did you come from?!"

"The well!"

"That doesn't make any sense! What well?!"

"On my family's shrine, now let me go!"

She tried to pull her arm away and accidentally got herself on his claws, slicing into her flesh.

"Ow!"

Holding her hurt arm, she turned to him with angry tears flowing down her face, "how can such wonderful people be friends with such a horrible mean, and cruel person like you?!"

His expression faltered as he watched the trail of blood run down her arm. Closing his eyes in guilt, he cut his finger open with his fang, "come here."

"No! You'll just hurt me again!"

Growling in annoyance, he grabbed her arm and squeezed his blood into the wounds.

"What are you doing!?"

"Just quit squawking and let me fix it, will ya?"

Before her eyes, the four long gashes disappeared, "wow, that's not something you see every day."

"It's not something I do for just anyone."

Glancing up, she saw a slight bit of red on his cheeks. In that moment, he looked so adorable…and hot. She shook her head to try and get rid of those thoughts about him.

"So, what did you want to know about me?"

Finding a big tree with shade, he sat down and she did the same, "what did you mean when you said you came here through a well?"

She explained everything that happened that day, shocked to find herself telling him about her and Yash's intimate moment in the closet as well. Finished with the story, she locked eyes with him, trying to gauge his reaction, "so, do you believe me?"

Shaking his head, he smirked, "I knew you were trouble."

"Hey! That's not nice to say! Besides, I just want to find the well and go home, so I can have my first date with Yash."

"What's a date?"

Blushing, Kagome turned her face away, "I'm pretty sure we're basically boyfriend and girlfriend, so I think it's the equivalent to courting in this time."

"And this guy your courting looks like me?"

"Well, a human looking you, but same silver hair and golden eyes that I could get lost in… oh no, did I just say that out loud?"

"Yep."

Mortified, she buried her face in her hands, "that's so humiliating."

"It explains a few things."

"Like what?"

"The way you look at me and the way you smell when you're around me."

"Ewww! Is every demon a creeper with extreme smellers?"

Catching her off guard, he laughed, "you could say that. Your scent has a natural sweetness to it, but when you look at me it changes to a scent like something delicious."

"Oh great, so when I'm turned on I smell like a cupcake. Good to know."

"Turned on? Oh, you mean aroused."

"Can we please not have this conversation?"

He moved closer to her and grinned, "so me and this Yash guy cause the same reaction…that's interesting."

"Interesting, more like strange."

Chuckling, he looked her up and down. He couldn't deny how incredibly attractive she was, and her clothing left little to the imagination.

"So, when you described the way it felt to kiss him, do you think it would feel the same with me?"

Jumping up, she turned away, "what are you saying!? You think I'm into you? I don't even know you and I'm not a slut that goes kissing strangers!"

He came up behind her and nuzzled her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist and enjoying the spike in her scent.

"Deny all you want, but I can sense your attraction to me. You aren't even looking at me and yet, you're hot and shaking."

Trailing kisses down her neck, he grazed his fangs against her sensitive flesh and heard the audible and sudden intake of breath.

"Face it, Kagome, you want me and it's not because I look like that other guy."

Mouth opening, she tried to speak through the haze of pleasure, but he was so intense in his determination to prove she desired him, that only a moan escaped through her parted lips, anxious for…anxious for what? Did she really want him to kiss her?

"You want me, admit it."

"I…I don't."

He turned her head and claimed her lips, growling at the intoxicating taste of her. She didn't shy away from his touch or try to pull away from the kiss. It was just as incredible, maybe even more so, than the one her and Yash shared. There was something so primal, viral, and undeniably erotic in the way he possessed not just her lips, but her entire being in that one earth-shattering moment. Breaking it before things went too far, he smirked and nibbled her neck.

Finding one tiny shred of sanity, Kagome pulled away and faced him on wobbly legs, weak from wanting him.

"Whoa! What's with the 180!? One minute you act like you hate me, and the next your trying to have sex with me under a tree!? Does this have to do with Yash, or is it something else?"

He walked towards her, impressed to find her standing her ground instead of backing away, "you may be from a different place and time, but I was born into this world full of hatred and cruelty towards half-demons. Demons and humans are disgusted by my kind, and I've never wanted to be with someone. Now, I find a beautiful girl that has a strong physical attraction to me and I finally get a chance to experience what I've been denied my whole life; you are everything I ever dreamed of in a mate, even when I knew it was foolish to think on it."

Her eyes softened and she uncrossed her arms, "but doesn't it bother you that it's because you look like someone else?"

Grinning, he brushed her hair off her shoulder, "I think you're wrong about that."

She wanted Yash, that's who she wanted to be with, but the way InuYasha was looking at her, and the feeling when they kissed, caused doubt to form in her mind.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter, let's just get to your friends' place, okay? This is a little too much to deal with right now."

Backing away, he bowed in the direction of the village, "after you."

They walked for a good ten minutes, making their way to Sango and Miroku's home, but all InuYasha wanted to do was take her in his arms once more. Somewhere deep inside himself, he knew that even without her attraction to him, this was a girl he could easily fall for. She looked at others with open and vulnerable eyes, allowing her heart and soul to be seen, and it would be so easy to get lost in those starry midnight depths.

Glancing to the side, he saw the other trail, a little off the beaten path, and smirked.

"Hey, Kagome, I want to show you something."

"What?"

He reached for her hand, happy when she didn't snatch it away, "it's a special place not many know about."

Biting her bottom lip, she looked at the path to the village and then the one InuYasha was at.

"I suppose it's alright, but let's make it quick."

His hand seemed to start a fire on her skin, slowly climbing up and causing her heart to hammer in her chest. A big part of her was thrilled at the prospect of being with him, but the other part of her felt like Alice in Wonderland, and Alice went back to her world leaving all her friends behind. Would it be the same way for Kagome?

InuYasha moved away a curtain of flowing tree branches and revealed a most surprising site. Smirking, he led Kagome into the secret enchanted place and its beautiful roaring waterfall. She gasped in shock and awe as the sun sparkled onto the glistening droplets crashing into the rippling water. There was greenery all around them, hiding away the whimsical beauty of the scenery, this place was like a well-kept secret only meant for their eyes to see.

"InuYasha, this is incredible! I've never seen anything like this in person, just pictures of places like Hawaii."

She turned around and grinned at him, "how did you come across it?"

Taking a seat on a rock near the water, he stared out into the waterfall, recalling a painful memory.

"When I was a kid, my brother and I got into a big fight. He was saying that I would always be hated for what I am, and that I was a waste of space. If he had his way, he would have killed me at birth and I would never be considered a prince in the Western Lands and my royal blood has been tainted by the human in me."

Grabbing a little pebble, he threw it in the water, "I ran away that night and learned how far the hatred for me went, as demons came out to kill me. The bastard was right, and that fact sickened me. I ran and ran, until I was sure my life would just give out, but then I ran here and hid myself behind the waterfall. Fortunately, the water disguised my scent and they passed by me. This is my sanctuary, the one place I feel safe."

Moving to stand behind him, Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck, shocked to find how… right it felt to be near him.

He was also surprised to feel her warm body pressed against his back. This girl, it was more than the way she reacted to him, it's the way he reacted to her. She buried her face into his neck, "I'm sorry that you had to go through something so horrible."

Turning around, he wiped away the tears brimming in her eyes.

"It's okay, because now I have friends that are more like family, and I got to meet you."

Gazing into his golden orbs, there was something smoldering in them, something that scared and excited her.

"InuYasha."

Blinking, he hung his head, "it's so hard to be this close to you and not want you. This was a bad idea; I should have never thought that you would be with me. I'll take you back to the others."

A war was waging in her as he stood up and walked to the entrance, but she didn't belong in their time so it was foolish to think for one second about things that could never happen between them.

She followed him out and stayed silent, unaware of the inner monologue going on inside his mind.

'I was a fool to think someone like her would be with me if she got to know me. Heck, all my story did was bring back the feelings of never belonging and never being wanted, but why do I feel such a strong connection to her? It doesn't really matter. She'll go home, go on date with that Yash guy, and forget about me; then maybe I can be rid of these confusing emotions…I just have to endure her presence and pray I don't do anything stupid, like tell her how bad I would love to have a family of my own one day. That's something I've never told anyone…just worthless dreams of impossibilities for a half-demon.'

Kagome wanted to keep his stride and wrap her arm around his, comforting him with her gentle touch, but those feelings would only get her, and InuYasha, more messed up than they already were. Being around him was like being around Yash, but then it was also completely different. For one, Yash never looked at her with the kind of intensity InuYasha's gaze had. Afterall, Yash and her were just high school students that wanted to have fun and let their 'like' turn to love slowly, but the hanyou wanted much more; he wanted to possess her very being, that she could strongly sense, and he wanted a relationship with her that went much further than two people with a crush would think about, and God help her, it was hard to resist wanting it as well.