AN ok so I led this chapter doesn't have Lemons but the next one definitely BUT to make it up to you I have posted both chapters tonight. It's now 7:30 am but I hope you like it! Please review! :)

The morning had come, and Inuyasha was cooking breakfast and packing a few things he thought they would need on the trip. He was happy to have Kagomes yellow bag from the shard hunt still. He had to admit; it did make traveling with stuff easier. 'I should put a change of clothes in here for Kagome' he thought while another thought hit him, 'wait, have I even showed her the wardrobe yet? Idiot! You've been so caught up in this mating thing you forgot to tell her!' He chastised himself. Inuyasha walked into the bedroom and gently woke up Kagome.

"Kagome, it's morning. The food is just about ready." He called gently as he walked over to the wardrobe and opened up the doors. Inside were various kimonos and yukatas that he had been collecting over the years. He grabbed the red kimono with the black flower pattern running up the hem and around the bottom, complete with a black obi, it was his favorite and wanted to see her in it. He also grabbed a sleeping yukata and took them into the sitting room to pack them away for the trip.

Kagome slowly sat up rubbing her eyes, trying to adjust to the daylight. When she got her eyes to focus, she noticed the open wardrobe and gasped in amazement tinged with excitement as she flew off the bed and over to what had caught her eye. "Inuyasha you can be so sweet sometimes," she whispered, lightly running her fingers along all the different fabrics. She also noticed a few sets of hair sticks and swooned over the detail of them. She pulled out a midnight blue kimono, detailed with stars running down the sleeves and a few more along the bottom hem, finished off with a yellow obi. She changed into her new garment and grabbed the hair sticks that were detailed with crescent moons on the tip with a couple of stars hanging down; pinning her hair up with them. She was touched. He had been gathering things for her so she wouldn't be without if she came back. 'He really has grown up' she thought to her self with a final twirl and the biggest of smiles planted on her face.

Inuyasha was bent over the yellow bag when Kagome existed the room. She walked up to Inuyasha and hugged him from behind. "You're the best! Thank you! Everything is so beautiful!"

Inuyasha chuckled before standing up to take a look at what she had chosen. His jaw damb near hit the floor when he took in the beautiful sight in front of him,

"Beautiful," he breathed out in a whisper.

Kagome flushed before doing a spin, "You like it?"

All Inuyasha could do was reply with a nod, lost to his lewd thoughts; thinking how much better it would look on the floor or even sprawled out underneath her... However, his thought process was interrupted when Kagome squealed.

"My bag! you still have it?! Where did you put the things that were inside? " She asked excitedly.

Inuyasha smiled before he pointed at a small trunk in the sitting area. Kagome raced over to the chest finding the old contents of her bag, A brush, a compact mirror, some textbooks, a couple of notepads, pencils and a few pens, flashlight, her old kettle, some hair ties, and a few other little things. Kagome grabbed a hair tie and the compact mirror to put it in the yellow bag to bring with her. She would go through the rest of the stuff when she got back. She noticed her old sleeping bag tied to the bottom of the backpack and was quite pleased that he had kept everything.

"You ready?" Inuyasha called out heading towards the door with the yellow bag on his back, and a couple of fish skewered in his hand. He figured they could eat on the go he wanted to get to where they were going before dark if they were to walk. Alone it would only take him roughly under an hour or so to get there, which he had done twice last night to bring a few things over there in advance.

"Yeah!" Kagome smiled so lovingly towards him it made his heart beat funny. Stepping outside, he offered out his hand to Kagome. Intertwining his fingers with hers when she offered her hand in return. They walked hand in hand eating their breakfast as they walked in comfortable silence.

It had been a few hours since they left the village, Kagome and Inuyasha had been chatting about things they did in the years they had been separated. Inuyasha told Kagome about some of the jobs he and Miroku had been on and how the baka monk was always getting them in more trouble than necessary. Kagome had told Inuyasha about some of the things she did in High school. She went on about how she joined the archery club and had won a few metals during competitions. She had even tried to keep up on her Miko training, though the practice was limited due to what her era offered with the subject.

Inuyasha was a little taken back learning she had kept up her training in both archery and Miko training. Inuyasha gave her a sweet smile,

"We'll have to get you a new bow so you can show me what you can do then," Inuyasha said with pride in his voice.

Kagome flushed a little at the compliment. Sure she had been told she was good at archery, many times in fact during high school. But it felt more special coming from Inuyasha.

"What about Miko training? Will you be continuing that with Kaede?" Inuyasha asked, the expression he saw on her face was not something he expected, she looked almost... pained?

Kagome fell quiet with Inuyasha question as she was starting picking at her nails; a nervous twitch she had picked up in the past three years. Inuyasha noticed the new twitch and grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly,

"Hey, you alright?" he asked softly

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek, another new twitch, before sighing. She pulled Inuyasha by the hand off the side of the road to sit down for a minute. Inuyasha was seriously confused by her reaction to the question but would let Kagome take her time in responding thinking, 'this must seriously be eating her up inside if she's like this.'

Kagome sat on the grass with her back against a tree, Inuyasha sat beside her, searching for the answer in her eyes but stayed silent and waited patiently for Kagome to collect her thoughts. With another long sigh, she finally spoke,

"I don't think I want to continue being a Miko anymore; I was thinking maybe a healer or something, I want to continue working with my rekki but... I don't think I want to be a full-time Miko."

Inuyasha's ears drooped before he asked, "Is that because you're going to turn into a half-demon like me?"

Kagome quickly grabbed his hand and almost barked out, "Don't you even think that for one more second Inuyasha! This has nothing to do with me becoming your mate!" Kagome lowered her tone so only Inuyasha could hear her, "I don't want to be compared to her anymore, even after all this time. I know it's a stupid reason but, I just-" she tried to hold back the lump growing in her throat. Shaking her head, she put on that fake smile she had perfected in high school and looked at Inuyasha. She was surprised to see the hurt and sorrow and what looked like disgust on his face as he looked towards the ground. She immediately dropped her smile and looked away whispering, "Sorry I didn't mean to bring it up like this, I'm sorry if I upset you."

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around Kagome's shrunken frame, "Don't be stupid, you didn't upset me. I don't think it's stupid you want to stop being a Miko, and honestly, I'm glad you don't want to be one either. We learned a few nasty details about Kikyo while you were gone... She was a horrible, petty and manipulative human. I learned that even if I had turned human, she planned to kill me the same night. She just wanted to be rid of the jewel, so she didn't have to live with the responsibilities of being the Shikon Miko."

Kagome was shocked at the new information but felt sorry that Inuyasha had to learn of Kikyo's true nature like that. "Honestly she always gave me a weird vibe, she terrified me, in fact, she still haunts my dreams sometimes. I didn't want to tell you how I truly felt back then. I knew how you felt at the time, and I couldn't be that person."

Inuyasha had known she felt that way; Kagome didn't know that he could always smell her fear or anxiety when Kikyo was brought up in conversation, or when they had seen her or her soul collectors. Inuyasha tightened his hold and whispered into her hair, "Thank you, for still loving after everything I put you through during the shard hunt, I don't deserve your love, but now that I have it, I'm never letting go Kagome, not ever. I hope you're ready to deal with that for the rest of our lives," he said, letting out a slight laugh at the end.

Kagome let out a small laugh as she wiped the tears away and smiled a bright, genuine smile, "Of course!."

"We should get going, I want to get there before dark," He said standing up and offering his hand. Kagome accepted it and stood following her almost mate back on to the path.