Chapter Two: Secrets

Kagome took deep breaths as she walked up the stairs to her house. That meeting had been brutal. Not only the fighting that had gone on, but the actual reason they were there in the first place. The stupid issues on the "war". Why did they even bother, when they were most likely to loose?

"Naraku..." She spit out the name like it was a cursed word. And to her, it was. Naraku had been sueing Kouga and Inuyasha's companies since as long as she could remember. Now Naraku took action. Missing workers, mostly those who worked in the lower sections.

They were companies that exterminated demons. Not the usual companies, huh? Yeah. Naraku had never gone after their companies before. Before all this, he had worked with them, trying to keep the humans from knowing the ultimate truth.

Demons exsisted.

Even Kagome hadn't known, before Sango told her she was a dog demon. That freaked her out, and quite literally passed out on the floor, much like Miroku had. Sango then asked, when she was conscious, if she wanted to join the company and help slay other demons-- the bad kind.

When Kagome agreed was when hell erupted.

Naraku cut ties with the two companies and started backfiring on them, joining the demons they had been killing off for so long, increasing their power. Nobody understood why he would have done this, for he had hated those demons.

Nobody knew what went wrong. Except Kagome. She knew.

And that's what made it all the worse for her.

"O...Onigumo...?" He laughed as he yanked the dagger out of her side and licked it. "I stopped being Onigumo a while back," At her terrified and confused expression, he smirked evilly. "I'm Naraku now, my dear. And as for you..." Naraku paused, his smirk plastered on his face. "you're dead." Kagome was surrounded in darkness.

How she survived, the doctors never knew. Kagome's mother was already in hysterics(sp?) when they annouced that she was going to be fine.

Kagome didn't ever tell anyone what happened, and most didn't want to know anyway.

And she couldn't stay around her friends too long, or she might have started sobbing right then and there. Since the whole company was about destroying Naraku, not one moment went by in there without mentioning his name. When they did, Kagome would shudder and close her eyes, trying to rid her mind of the memories.

She didn't trust anybody. She couldn't trust anybody. She didn't want to trust anybody.

Because she had trusted someone once, given her heart and soul to that same person she loved and cared for...

...And he destroyed it all.

Inuyasha glared at Kagome's house as he waited for her to come out so they could go back to the building. Sango sent him to go get Kagome, for some random reason...

'She could have come by herself, like she always fucking does!' He thought savagely, biting his lip with his fang, drawing blood.

The door swung open and closed after Kagome, who trudged over to Inuyasha and started walking next to him down the stairs.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He muttered as he noticed the sadness radiating from her body. Glancing over at him, she said nothing and walked on. 'Silent as ever...'

"Just had a bad morning," She said, surprising him. "How?" She sighed wearily and ran a hand through her hair.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you...and you'd probably hate me." She whispered so quietly he had to strain to hear it. When her words registered, he looked at her suspiciously.

"Keh. Why would I hate you?"

"You ask too many questions,"

"It's the only way to get answers." He retorted.

Slowly she stopped and turned to him, looking dazed.

"Do you really want to know?" A queasy feeling fluttered up in his stomach, but he ignored it.

"Keh. Duh," Her eyes penetrated his, and he began to lose himself in her deep blue eyes. A slight breeze went past them as they continued to stare at each other.

"I don't like to trust people. Are you happy now?."

Inuyasha binked, and narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't answer my question at all. Why would I hate you?" He repeated, growling low in his throat.

"I trusted someone before and--" She froze in mid-sentence, her eyes wide. He was staring at her now, no longer growling. Inuyasha had a sudden feeling she was about to say something very important before she stopped.

"And...?" He said softly, trying to get it out of her. Kagome looked at him, and he could smell fear lacing her scent. Right when he was about to say that she didn't have to tell him, she turned away from him.

"Let's just go." She said softly, walking away.

Inuyasha stared after her, before shaking his head and following her.

'She is hiding something. And I'm going to find out what.'

"I don't get it." Kagome muttered, staring at the sheet of paper. Sango groaned, closing her eyes and massaging her temples.

"What's not to get? You have the strongest miko abilities than anyone else, so you're the only one who can defeat Naraku!" The girl looked up to meet Sango's eyes.

"It's not that strong...I mean, can't someone else do it?" Sango looked at her unbelievingly, her shoulders drooped. "Kagome, no one but you can." Kagome sighed deeply.

"Okay, so how did you figure out all this?!" Sango started whistling innocently, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sango..." Kagome said, her voice dangerously low, and her teeth gritted together.

"Alright, alright...I sorta did some researching when you...almost purifyed me." Inuyasha's eyes started watering at this, causing everyone to look at him funny.

"Are you...crying?" Miroku asked, his eye twitching with disbelief. As if an answer to his question, Inuyasha fell on the floor laughing. They all sweat-dropped.

"Very, very mature." Sango mumbled, her cheeks turning red.

"The...great demon...Sango...gets purifyed..." Inuyasha rasped out, hooting in laughter. The demon was a deep red at that comment.

"Almost purifyed. Almost." Sango corrected as the hanyou boy got helped up by Miroku.

"But that doesn't make any sense...Sango, you never get purifyed...at all!" Shippo said, confused. A vein popped out of Sango's head.

"I. Know. That's. Why. I. Said. Kagome. Was. A. Very. Powerful. Priestess." Kagome, at the moment, was checking her finger nails, looking very bored with the situation.

"Damn, why the hell was I stuck with you people?" Inuyasha snorted at Sango's outburst. "You know you love us..." Miroku said, wiggling his eyebrows in a very suggestive manner, earning a slap.

He caressed his cheek, eyes closed and a big smile on his face.

"...Anyway, what I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I looked up some stuff online." Kagome looked up from her nails.

"You looked up stuff about me on the internet?!" Sango shrugged in a very Inuyasha-like way. "It's pretty much the only way to find out about people around here."

"True, very true...But couldn't you just have asked me?!" Everyone looked at her in a sort of looking-at-her way. She sweatdropped and glanced in a different direction.

"Guess not."

"Naraku, get over here!" Inuyasha was answered by harsh laughter. Where were they, do you ask? Battling Naraku and other demons, as usual.

...But the amount of demons increased in every battle. Sango and Miroku were right beside Inuyasha, trying to destroy all the demons and still chase Naraku at the same time.

Shippo was stranded on the other side, slashing his claws at every demon in sight.

Kouga and his buddies had joined them, giving them a fairer advantage.

And then there was Kagome. She was farther away in the line, trying to fight off the demons and still keep out of sight from Naraku at the same time.

I am so dead. The miko thought bitterly, glancing around at all the demons and at Naraku, ducking her head when he turned her way. ...And by the look of things, everyone else is too.

She sighed mentally, pulling up in sight of everyone. Guess it's time to even things out a bit. Kagome slung an arrow on her bow, aiming it the demons rushing toward her.

With one movement of her fingers, she released the arrow and it soared to the demons, connecting with a big twang.

What she didn't expect was when a huge light flared, blinding her and everyone who was fighting. When it finally died down, her mouth opened in shock.

Most of the demons were turning into ash and floating away in the wind, including Naraku's arm. He was staring right at Kagome, and time seemed to stop in that moment.

Slowly he made his way toward her, blocking off the other's attacks. Kagome stood there, dumbfounded, just staring up at Naraku as he came closer and closer to her.

"...Move, you stupid girl!"

She blinked as his words rushed to her, and a blur of motion happened right in front of her eyes, and she was yanked up into the air right before Naraku's attack hit.

A arm was wrapped around her waist, and her feet weren't touching ground.

Her eyes met amber, and she could see an unspoken question in them. Kagome gulped as they stared at each other, and something in her stomach fluttered.

What is going on?

A/N: Ha. There. Only two chapters now, but at least it's longer.

See you.