Love and Responsibility

Thank you sincerely for your wonderful reviews. They really got me excited. I added a little dose of romance in this chapter for you guys. Please don't fret. Kagome's memories will be returning shortly.

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: "Miroku?" Sango found herself overly exhausted. She rested her head on the monks shoulder, allowing him to wrap his arm around her.

"Hmm?"

"You don't think Naraku will try and find a way to use this child against us?" The worry in her words was evident.

"I wont let anything happen to harm out child. I promise you that." End Recap

Chapter 11: A Barely Simplistic Kiss

"So…" Embracing an old, stuffed animal, Kagome found it a little difficult to start up a normal conversation with the half demon sitting at her desk. He sat with his hands over his ears and his chin rested on her desktop. It seemed as though something was bothering him. "Where have you been for the past two days?"

"That damn banging won't stop!" Inuyasha griped, growling. Kagome gave him a look of bemusement.

"Banging? Inuyasha we can barely hear the neighbor's construction…"

"You can barely hear the neighbors construction. I happen to have good hearing."

"How good?"

"Good enough."

"Good enough for what?"

"Just enough."

Sighing, Kagome repeated her earlier question, "Where have you been for the past two days?"

"Oh…" Inuyasha removed his clawed hands from his ears, thankful that the construction had halted for the moment. He proceeded to lean back in the chair he was seated it. He sniffled, the slight smell of paint still floating in the air. "I was visiting friends." He couldn't very well blurt out that he had been staying in the feudal era to get away from the insanely powerful scent of paint. Although he did want to tell Kagome about Sango's and the monk's infant. He knew she would be excited for them. She'd always seemed to be dead set on getting them together.

"I see." Placing her stuffed animal beside her pillow, Kagome almost blabbed about remembering them in bed together. She blushed. 'Why do I keep thinking about that!?' She realized that was a idiotic question. Who wouldn't think about that if it was one of the only things they recalled about their past? "Inuyasha?" The miko decided that even though she wouldn't tell him about remembering anything, she would quiz him about their relationship. "Were we a thing?"

"A thing?" Inuyasha didn't understand. He fiddled with a piece of torn construction paper that, for some reason, was just resting on Kagome desk.

"I mean, were we a couple?" Not only did Kagome notice Inuyasha's immediate flinch, she also was careful to observe his stuttering.

"W… what made you ask something like that!?"

"It's just…" Kagome tried to seem as if she'd had no indication that such a thing could be true.
"You're about my age, right? You live under the same roof as me, don't you?"

"Most of the time." Inuyasha mumbled, tossing aside the construction paper and crossing his arms. Kagome didn't hear. "I'm not going to talk to you about that stuff."

"Ugg…" Pushing herself off the bed, Kagome approached the half demon. She stood before him, gathering her courage. "I know this is going to sound strange, but… can I kiss you? I don't mean it in any romantic way. It's just that things that I do seem to trigger memories. Maybe if I kiss you, I'll remember something."

As much as Inuyasha wished that Kagome would remember about who he is and what their relationship is, he couldn't just say yes to such a thing. That would be completely out of character. Instead he leaned back in his chair, blushing amply. He began to stammer out a "No", but before he could, Kagome's lips had already collided with his own.

The hanyou didn't know it, but he was shaking. How he'd longed for this. If Inuyasha tried to explain the wondrous feeling that this moment caused him, he'd take more than a millennium. It was something so utterly perfect and unfathomable. Oh, how he desired to deepen the kiss. Inuyasha felt a strong sense of despair when the priestess pulled back.

In the far depths of her eyes he could see amazement, as well as bewilderment, but he could also see disappointment.

"I didn't remember anything…" Although Kagome was giving the half demon a look of dismay, she felt far from dismayed. The feeling of his lips on hers had indeed been familiar, but it had not caused any of her memories to come out of hiding. Even so, it had been an amazing kiss. 'Forget fireworks, that was the whole fourth of July parade and then some.'

"Come on, Inuyasha. Smile some."

"Feh." The half demon grunted, from his spot on the roof. The pair watched as the fireworks shoot up into the night sky and then explode into multiple beautiful, bright colors. Kagome stared, astonished. She found it difficult to understand how Inuyasha couldn't adore the scenery before him.

"They're so pretty…"

"Isn't this the same thing that happened last year? What's so special about something that happens all the time?"

"Once a year isn't all the time, Inuyasha." Kagome corrected.

"We're just wasting time! Right now we could be hunting jewel shards. We could be killing Naraku!" The half demon's grumpy attitude didn't seem as if it would cease, but that didn't stop Kagome from savoring the moment.

"If you want to go back so bad, be my guest."

"I'm not leaving without you. If I do you'll stay here and relax for as long as you want."

"You say that as if there is something wrong with relaxing." Kagome fell back, resting on the roof, but never failing to watch the fireworks bursting against the dimmed, night clouds.

"Something is wrong with it." Inuyasha snapped. "Especially when you're doing it constantly!"

"Are you saying I'm lazy?"

"Do I really need to say it at all?"

"SIT!"

Kagome stumbled back, tripping over her shoe. She fell safely onto her golden blanket. 'The memories seem to be coming back more often now. I wonder how much more time it will take before I'm back to my old self.' Something about that recollection caused it to be a bit out of wack compared to the others. The cause of that was the mention of someone named 'Naraku', and something called 'jewel shards'.

"You okay?" Inuyasha stood up, looking as if he'd been preparing to save her fall. The miko nodded, smiling.

"Sorry, I just lost my balance for a second there." While Kagome intensely wanted to ask about who this Naraku was, and just what hunting jewel shards was, she was very aware of the fact that it was not something her family or friends would be willing to discuss with her. She was aware of this because she'd heard nothing of it since she'd lost her memories. That meant it wasn't what her mother called 'basic knowledge'.

"Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi beckoned her daughter from the kitchen below. "Would you like to come help prepare dessert? It's going to be sundaes tonight."

"Sounds good!" Kagome called back in response. Without another word she left the room, heading for the kitchen.

Inuyasha merely sat back down on the wooden chair that matched Kagome's desk. His own soul became wrapped in the warm feeling Kagome's perfect kiss had bestowed upon him. Now, more than ever, he wished that her memories would return. He wanted to be able to hold her and kiss her more. He would not be able to do such a thing until Kagome could at least remembered their night together, and everything that had transpired between them, up to that point.

Clutching his forehead with both hands, Inuyasha placed his elbows on his knees. His position was fairly similar to the position Kagome had been in when he'd discovered her crying on the couch only a short time ago. At the moment, his mind seemed to be in just as much pain and confusion as hers had been in.

The half demon sat there for so long, that'd he'd nearly forgotten where he was. His mind was warped in a vortex of blindness. He could not see at all past the darkness that was currently engulfing his anxious mind. When Kagome called out for him to come down with the others, he didn't hear her, nor did he pay her any attention when she entered the room with his bowl of dessert, as well as hers.

When Kagome noticed the mind state Inuyasha was in, she considered releasing him from it, but in the end she chose not to. She came to the decision that he needed to zone back in all on his own. So the miko merely placed his sundae beside him and began to eat hers on the bed.

Wiping a few, small drops of sweat from his forehead, a handsome, yet somewhat perverted monk, tossed a long, wooden post a few feet in front of him. He sighed, feeling a sense of strong relief. He'd only just began his homemaking project, but already he seemed to be so worn down. The monk knew it was time to rest for the day.

"With only the moon to light my way, I suppose I can't get much farther even if I continue." Miroku dropped to the ground, feeling an enormous amount of alleviation on his tuckered out legs. He pondered just how thrilled his fiancé would be once she discovered what he'd been up to all afternoon. He would not tell her the news just yet, he would wait till he was nearer to the finish of his hut.

Feeling a smidge drowsy, Miroku allowed himself to rest his head upon the dirt ground underneath him. His eyes looked over the fantastically captivating stars overhead. 'It's been a while since I've been able to look at them like this.' A childish smile steadily danced across his lips. He hadn't felt so at peace since before his father had passed on. It was a wondrous feeling and it seemed as if it would only grow stronger over time. 'As long as I have Sango with me…'

Little did Miroku know, his alluring state of mind would not last for more than a few more moments.

It was rapid, the feeling of approaching malevolence. It hit the monk like finely crafted arrows hit their target. Miroku's first instinct was to get up and tell the others, but logic told him otherwise. Kagome and Inuyasha would not be able to assist him, because of their current predicament. He couldn't even risk telling Sango, for he knew she'd want to fight, even when she was much better off keeping safe.

"Whatever it is, I've got to steer it away from the village. I can't let Sango get a chance to sense it." The monk shot up, grabbing a hold of his staff, which was resting against one of nearest trees. He could only aspire to believe that he could handle this evil on his own.

Kagome peered at Inuyasha's half melted ice cream. His state of mind didn't seem as though it would change anytime soon. He looked just as he had ten minutes earlier, when she'd entered her bedroom. 'Maybe I should give him a little shake?'

The priestess was very hesitant, so in the end she chose to simply make a few light sounds. She pretended to both cough and sneeze. The hanyou acknowledged her actions, but only to a point. Apparently the point was not big enough for him to come back to reality. The miko let lose a frustrated groan.

"Fine, just sit there than!"

"Eh!" There was a large 'thump' sound as Inuyasha's face smashed into the fairly soft rug that carpeted Kagome's bedroom. The priestess sat, stunned. 'Is he that clumsy?' She wondered to herself. She observed as Inuyasha pulled himself up, growling irritably. "What the hell was that for!?" The half demon's honey eyes clashed with the miko's nutmeg ones. While his orbs held rage, hers held befuddlement.

"What do you mean?" She stood, advancing on him, planning to offer her hand as assistance. When she did, he grouchily smacked it away.

"Nothing." He had to keep in mind that Kagome did not perceive just what the word 'sit' did to him. The hanyou prayed that she would not use it to often. He truly disliked his face clashing with the ground. 'Well it hurts less now than it used to.'

Miroku was hasty to reach the demon's whereabouts. When he did arrive at the scene, a sense of surprise engulfed him. He had surely not expected to see two demon's battling! After gawking for more than just a few moments, Miroku apprehended the fact that both demons were not corrupt. 'One of the demon's isn't evil?' This was more shocking than their battle.

"Miroku!" Hearing a woman calling out to him, the monk felt a sense of fear. He'd truly hoped she wouldn't of sensed this evil being. He'd underestimated his fiancé. The demon slayer rushed up to Miroku, her bone boomerang in hand. She wore her casual clothes, apparently feeling she didn't have time to change.

"Sango…" The monk didn't know what should be said. He couldn't very well tell her that she didn't belong here and that she needed to return to Kaede's for both her protection and the protection of their child. She'd become much to frustrated with him. Instead, Miroku allowed her to take in the site. She, too, held a look of a surprise.

"What's going on here?" She watched as the purer of the two demons smashed the other into the largest tree in the area. Neither of the battling demon's seemed to take notice of the two onlookers.

"I'm not sure. I just arrived as well."

"You're dessert is melting away." Pulling the covers from the neatly made bed, Kagome chose not to face the half demon as she spoke to him. She could only wonder what it was that had been running through his mind only moments ago. 'There's not much I can do…' She realized. 'Considering I hardly remember the guy.'

"Feh, I'm not hungry." The hanyou grabbed the partially liquefied sundae, planning to bring it back down to the kitchen, but Kagome was snatched it away from him. He gave her a look of bewilderment.

"I'll take it." She smiled. "I've got to bring mine down anyway." By the time she'd finished her sentence, she was already halfway out the door. Inuyasha merely nodded in her wake. He acknowledged the change in the girl's mood this evening. She seemed more uplifted than she had the day before. He didn't bother to question why. It wasn't odd for the miko to have small mood swings.

When Kagome returned from down stairs she was already dressed and prepared for bed.

I apologize for all of the jumping around this chapter. I also must apologize for taking an extended amount of time to update this chapter. I wrote a piece of it everyday. I've been taking the last couple of days to "meditate" with Inuyasha. I've gotten a hold of some of my favorite episodes and re-watched them to get a better grasp on the characters.