Love and Responsibility

I'm very happy about all of your reviews. Thank you very much for taking the time to write them. They're all very inspiring.

I have a small announcement. I have decided to write a lemon. I'm not really sure when it will be. It could be while Kagome's still has some amnesia, but I don't really have plan for it.

Warning: Sexual Content; Offensive Language; Violence

Rating: M for Mature

Couple: Inuyasha and Kagome (Based)

Sango and Miroku

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with the series.

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Recap: "F… fuzzy ears…" Eyes wide, Kagome looked up towards Inuyasha's hat. "It couldn't be…" Before Inuyasha could stop her, Kagome swiped the hat from his head.

Mouth gaping, Kagome jumped off the couch. She was speechless. Inuyasha was too.

"Why… why!? Cat ears!" End Recap

Chapter 8: Explanations

'There has to be some sort of explanation!' Kagome, whom had staggered to the floor due to this bombshell that had befallen her, was utterly dumbfounded. 'They… they've gotta be fake!…' She came to that notion instantly, but soon began to doubt it. 'Why someone would be hiding fake ears beneath a hat is beyond me, very beyond, but men don't just have fuzzy, gray, cat ears bulging from their skulls!' For her own sanity, she had to confirm her suspicion that the ears were truly fictitious.

"I can explain." Inuyasha feared that this sort of shock could harm Kagome in her frail state. He also feared the wrath of the Higurashi's after they found out about his irresponsibility in such a situation. He pressed sharp fangs to his warm bottom lip. What kind of explanation could have give the woman?

In a flash Kagome was leaping up from the floor and reaching out for his "cat" ears. Inuyasha's reflexes worked quite well. He was able to catch both of her wrist.

"I just need to see if they're real." Kagome explained, hoping he would allow her to get a feel in. Rather than gently explain that he did not feel comfortable with her touching them, he shoved her back. "Are they real cat ears!?" Why else would he be so defensive?

"They're not cat ears! They're dog ears!"

"So they… they are real?" Moments of silence passed. Kagome's eyes did not leave the hanyou's ears, at least not until the doorbell rang throughout the home. No one moved at first.

"You need to answer that…" Leaning down, Inuyasha grabbed his hat. He pressed it onto his head and proceeded to climb up the steps to the second floor.

After watching the departing man, Kagome decided that she really did have to answer that door. Inuyasha could wait till afterwords.

Kagome only had a chance to crack open the door. As soon as she'd had the knob turned, she was being slammed back with a strong force. She tumbled to the ground, three girls atop her.

"Kagome!"

"We've heard!"

"How are you feeling?"

It took a few seconds for Kagome to regain her composure after the girls pulled off of her to surround her in questions. Who were these people? Why were the sobbing?

"Poor Kagome, I can't believe you've lost your memories."

"Do you remember who we are?"

"I'm… sorry…" The three females did seem familiar, but their profiles would not register in Kagome's perplexed mind. Upon giving her answers, the teens stepped back in sighs.

"We'd hoped you remember us, but I guess that just wouldn't be fair to the rest of your family." The short-haired girl patted the priestess on her back gently. "Let us introduce ourselves. I'm Eri, this is Yuki, and this is Ayumi."

"We're your best friends." The one known as Yuki informed. "We've known each other since we were this big." She held out her left hand and positioned her left thumb and left index finger about an inch apart.

"Have you recalled anything about your past yet?" Ayumi asked. Kagome coughed. This was a bit to take in so suddenly.

"Nothing…" Replying, Kagome decided she was better off not telling these people about her few short recollections about her hanyou companion.

"You have to try this!" Yuki seemed overly excited pouring Kagome a cup of tea she'd just made. "This is a special remedy my mother taught me. It lefts anybody's spirit. Trust me!" Kagome seemed reluctant to taste the orange liquid in the mug before her. "I'm being honest. If you won't trust me, trust yourself. You've always loved this tea! You have my mom make if for you every time you come over."

"It is really good." Eri complimented, taking a sip. She regretted it immediately, feeling a sting on her tongue. "Wah! Hot!" She jolted towards the sink, shoving her face into the cold faucet water. The girls around her giggled at the clumsy display.

"Guys, I have a question." The miko had been sitting and catching up with her friends for forty-or-so minutes now and she felt as though she could trust them. She knew they would reply truthfully to whatever she had to ask.

"Shoot." Yuki took her seat beside the her friend.

"Well, I know this sounds weird… but what would the old me do if I saw someone with real cat… I mean dog ears?"

"Dog ears?" Everyone faced one another in bewilderment. "What makes you ask that?"

"You'd be intrigued." Ayumi giggled.

"Intrigued?" Kagome gave a gaze of confusion.

"Yes." Ayumi's chuckles commenced. "You've always been really interested in strange things like that."

"That's true." Yuki added. "I'm sure you'd probably want to play with dog ears if they were on a person, no matter how scary it would be." Eri and Ayumi nodded in a agreement.

"I would…?"

"Definitely." The girl said simultaneously and then broke out into a fit of giggles.

Kagome sighed, wondering if what they said was really true. Would the old her really do such a thing? 'I mean… the real me.' For a moment she allowed herself to imagine her first reaction on the couch to be grabbing Inuyasha's ears. This sudden thought thrust her into another recollection.

"Hey there… watcha doing?" Pulling herself onto the sturdy, old branch of the Goshinboku, Kagome steadily approached the strange man hanging on the tree, only by an arrow. It was at this moment that she noticed the strange ears atop his head. 'Oh wow… like dog ears…' Reaching out, a sudden notion came to her. 'I think I wanna… touch'em.' And so she did just that. She grasped a hold of each ear, rubbing them between her fingers.

"Kagome, what do you think?" Eri leaned forward, awaiting Kagome's reply. For a second Kagome could only stare. "Hmm?"

"W… what do I think about what?" The miko blushed, as the three girls let out sighs and moans. For a short time they moaned about having to reexplain everything all over, but eventually they got over it.

"Bye!" The girl went their separate ways, leaving Kagome alone in the living room. The space surrounding the girl felt so forlorn. It caused an aching pain within Kagome's chest. She pleaded to understand just what was going on. 'Who is Inuyasha? Who am I?' These mysteries were driving the priestess crazy.

Kagome conflicted with her inner self. Should she walk the steps to her room, where she was assuming Inuyasha would be, or should she leave things be for now and just wait until her memories return.

"This curiosity is killing me…" She didn't want to feel this empty and confused any longer. She wanted answers. She wanted them fast. What else could she do? Would waiting around really assist her in recalling the past in which seemed to be so very distant from her mind. 'No… I shouldn't say think it as distant, more like hidden.'

After a few more minutes, the female came to the decision that she would confront Inuyasha. 'Can I really just leave things as they are now after what I've seen.' She thought about his ears as she climbed the stairs.

Upon entering her room, Kagome was taken aback to find that Inuyasha was no longer in site.

"Wah! You're kidding!?" She stomped down, frustrated. "I'd finally gathered the courage and you go and leave before I get a question in! Baka-Yasha!!!" Her anger dissipated and the girl fell to her knees.

"Baka-Yasha!!!" Gray ears twitched. Amber orbs widened. Silver hair swung as a half demon turned his head in haste towards the shrine. With a pounding heart, Inuyasha wondered if a miracle had just taken place.

"B… Ba… Baka-Yasha…" Turning back towards the well house, Inuyasha swallowed his hope. 'I am a moron. Just like she says. I'm a moron for believing that she'd be better off remembering me and the feudal era.'

With that, the hanyou disappeared into the well. He would have a well needed visit to the warring states era. When he returned… if her returned, he would give Kagome the explanation she was wishing for. For now, he just needed to get away. 'Good bye, my… Kagome.'

"Y… you're joking, Kaede!" The heat that had arisen to Sango's face turned her skin so red, that it seemed as thought it would be permanent. Crawling backwards, like a crab, in haste, the demon slayer accidentally hit a nail. The sting was fleeting. Her mind was much to encircled in the matter at hand.

"My analysis is without a doubt correct…" Kaede gave the girl a look of compassion and then went on to wash her hands in a pale of warmed water. "I must say, congratulations… I suppose."

"N… no! There absolutely, positively must be some sort of mistake!" With widened eyes, the slayer jolted to her feet. "I… impossible!" She ran from the room, eyes closes, fists bunched.

Just as Kaede was prepared to take a small rest for the day, Inuyasha came charging in, interrupting her, as he tended to do. She sighed quietly to herself, fatigued. 'What a burden.'

"Old hag, I need some advice."

"Welcome back to you too, Inuyasha." At this moment she realized that the fire was dying down. Bending over, she grasped a few thin pieces of wood and tossed them into the center of the room, where the fire danced. Sparks were thrown from the fire, as if they were rejected from the beauty that was the flame. Kaede couldn't help, but be momentarily entranced.

"This is important." The way he spoke, caused a pang of concern in the elderly woman's chest. She faced him, ears open. "Something has happened. Kagome's… she's lost her memories."

"Her memories!?" Kaede's eyes, as expected, widened considerably. She bent forward, substantially more attentive than just a moment ago.

"It's not much of a story." Inuyasha sighed, anxiety churning his insides. He took a seat down beside the growing embers, centered in the room. "I left Kagome in her home alone to come to here and tell Miroku I'd be gone a couple of days. When I returned she wasn't in her house, so I sniffed her out and found her passed out in an alleyway."

"What's an alleyway?" Kaede pried.

"Oh…" Inuyasha's words seemed so distant, so lonely… "It's something in Kagome's time. Like a space between two huts, only they're called buildings and they're a hell of a lot bigger."

"I see. Continue, if you will."

"Yeah, so, I brought her to her house. Oh, and Kagome's family had left to leave the country, but they were like two weeks earlier than they were supposed to and ended up coming back after spending a night away, because they realized that they couldn't swap the tickets, for sooner ones."

"Tickets for what?"

"Oh, nevermind that part. It's just the point that they came back and were there when I brought Kagome back. They took her to a medicine place in Kagome's time and she slept for a day or so. When she woke up, she asked me who I was. It turns out she has something called amnesia and won't be remembering anything for a while."

Kaede took a minute to take everything in. It was a lot to swallow in just one sitting. She inhaled, thinking over everything the half demon had just explained to her.

"And…" Kaede questioned. "What was it you needed advice on?"

"I… want to know what I have to do to get her to remember me." Just as Kaede prepared an insulting joke, she had to stop herself from speaking when she saw the absolutely helpless look in Inuyasha's golden eyes.

"Through my years I've dealt with very few cased of memory loss, but for all of them it was the same. They simply had to wait for the memories to come back gradually, either that or something triggered it."

"So you expect me to just wait around? She's suffering, Kaede!" To say the least, the elderly woman was surprised to see how Inuyasha was reacting. He seemed deeply concerned.

"I apology, Inuyasha, but ye must. Ye can do nothing else."

"This is just-! I expected you to give some better advice. Feh." He stood. "What a waste of time."

"Inuyasha, Kagome is still healthy, am I right? Her mind is confused. Give it time. This is not the worst that could have happened. Be grateful."

Kaede couldn't understand how he was feeling. No one could. To have the one person who truly cared about him completely forget about his existence was just a horrible feeling. He missed the old Kagome. This one was nothing like her. He felt rage towards this girl as she stared at him with empty and perplexed eyes. His Kagome would never look at him in such a way. Her eyes would at least hold some damn emotion.

"By the way, Inuyasha, Sango has some news. Perhaps she'd like to say something about it to ye. Ye are friends after all."

"It's gonna have to wait. I'm going back to Kagome's time."

"Up to ye."

"Tell the others what happened,"

"Sure.

"So when are we going to America, Mom?" Sota said joyously as he wiped down the kitchen table, preparing it for dinner. He'd been wanting to know for so long now.

"Well…" Suteki bit down on a knuckle of her left hand. "I'd been wanting to go in a week, after your school ends, like we'd originally planned, but with Kagome in this condition… I'm not sure. We'll have to wait and see…"

"We can just bring her along. She won't mind. She was only staying back because of the other era, right?" Sota continued. "She doesn't even remember it now."

"I suppose. If she indeed still has amnesia in a week, we'll have to bring her. I wish I could postpone the tickets, but they just won't allow it, and to waste all that yen would be unthinkable."

"True."

"Is the table ready?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, stirring beef stew, that boiled in an oversized metal pot. The aroma of the meat in sauce, filled the room, as well as the living room. It was a wonderful smell. Mrs. Higurashi knew just what seasonings to add and how much was to be added. The scent was causing the mouth's of the people residing in the home to water immensely.

Seated at Kagome's desk, Inuyasha eyes repeatedly wondered from Kagome to the chair he was sitting in. Upon the bed, sat Kagome. She didn't make a sound. She didn't make a move. She just sat, staring, watching him. This made the hanyou nervous.

Moments ago he had entered the home through her window and she had just been sitting there, looking very confused. Now she looked frustrated, as though she was debating with her inner self. Inuyasha wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He wasn't even bothering to wear his hat now. There was no point if Kagome had already discovered what was beneath it.

"I…" Kagome straightened herself, farther preparing for the interrogation. "How come you have ears? Are they real?" This was the first thing, the miko felt she needed to know.

"It's not something I'm gonna explain to you, but they are real."

"Wah! What kind of answer is that? That doesn't tell me anything!"

"It tells you they're real."

"Don't get sarcastic with me. Be honest! These are things I should know, right!? These are things you've obviously told me before, haven't you?"

"That was when you were Kagome, not that… that empty shell!" His harsh words were enough to hit Kagome hard. The pain in her chest took a moment to subside. She felt like she could see where he was coming from. "Sorry…" He hadn't meant to speak so cruelly.

"It's fine…" She looked away from him, for the first time since he'd come in.

"I just meant… you wouldn't believe it the way you are now."

"And did I believe it?"

"It wasn't something you really paid much attention to. It was like me having ears was natural…"

"I see…" She sighed. "So it would probably make you feel better if I acted that way now?" Inuyasha nodded. "I… I'll try than." There was so much more she wanted to ask, but she realized that he would not be so fast to reply to her questions, and she couldn't guarantee he would even be truthful in his answers. "I want you to tell me more about who I am."

"You should ask your family. They know you better."

"Do they?" Kagome faced him once again. "Maybe, but I don't think they'd say anything more than "Just wait, Kagome, Dear, it will come to you soon enough". I wanted more than that. This is terrible. I just want to know who I am…"

This chapter took a couple days to be posted. I apologize. I hope you're not to frustrated with me. I will post the next chapter as soon as it comes to me.