Chapter 7: Sink Into Light

Soo, again, I have many ideas of what I could do with this chapter, but ya know, I'm just gonna go with it wherever it goes! And thanks for the support guys! This is honestly the longest fanfic I've written to far concerning chapters and I've been keeping the updating pretty consistent which I'm proud. With all your encouragement, I wanna finish this one in January!

(Inuyasha's POV)

Dammit. What the hell was that? She turned and walked away from me, but she didn't seem upset or happy or sad or anything. I'm an idiot though. I really wanted to show her that I really was gonna be there for her in whatever way she needed me and I fucked up.

I could feel the heat forming in my cheeks as I watched the water flow down the stream. I hadn't moved since Kagome went back to the hut to sleep. She probably wasn't gonna be able to look me in the eyes for a while.

Keh, I'm not gonna let this cause anything it doesn't have to. Maybe if I act like nothing happened, nothing will.

I got up and decided that I should go back to the hut and rest a little, too. It's not like I was up for much thinking tonight anyways.

"Inuyasha, why are you still up?" Kaede's voice called out to me from the other side of the stream, "The sun is going to rise not too long from now. Aren't ye going after Naraku soon?"

"Keh, of course." I snorted, "Not like I need as much rest as humans do. Just a little bit of shut eye will do me just fine."

She nodded and continued down the stream, with a basket full of herbs in her right hand. Keh, why is she up so late. Worrying about me like I need that much sleep, anyways.

Very contradictory to my thoughts, a loud yawn forced itself out through my mouth and my ears twitched a little.

There ain't a good reason to stay out here. Might as well head to Kaede's hut.

I snuck inside and sat down across from Kagome, who was passed out completely. Her light, airy breath sounded so calming, falling asleep wouldn't be too hard, even after my embarrassing rejection. Still, it's not like we haven't kissed before. She kissed me to save the me from permanently turning into a full demon, so if she was fine doing it then, what the hell was the problem, now?

I'm the problem. She kissed me then to save me, but that doesn't mean she feels that way towards me right now. I fucking abandoned her in the middle of the night and now she has to conquer some inner Satan. All because of me. Of course, she wouldn't want me like that.

I sighed, leaning the back of his head against the wall. "Dammit..." I whispered to myself.

Glancing back over at Kagome, I noticed how at peace she looked. She wasn't suffering from any darkness right or fighting any feelings of hatred. She was just resting.

That must be what Kikyo wants, too.

I began thinking about how maybe in the end, Kagome will be the same. Maybe she'll just want to end this battle so she can rest in peace.

Keh, Kagome wouldn't think like that. At least not the Kagome I know. She wouldn't sound so hopeless. She's not Kikyo and she wouldn't want to leave all the people she cares about.

But that wasn't just Kagome curled up in that sleeping bag. If it was just Kagome there, we wouldn't be in this mess. But something inside of her is trying to become one with her, and it ain't nothing good. The least I can do is stop being a jackass. Hell, it's not like I haven't been trying!

Making moves isn't exactly the only non-jackass thing to do for her. Maybe try to actually treat her nicely.

Keh, I don't treat her 'badly', at least not all the time. Yeah, I do things that hurt her, but I'm a pretty reasonable hanyou when it comes to her. Aren't I?

Sitting here and contemplating whether or not I treat her well enough ain't gonna do anything but keep me up all night. Hell, I'll just be nice. There, now that that's covered, I can sleep.

Of course, I still worried. Taking one final glance at the seemingly normal priestess, I forced myself into a deep slumber.

-(Kagome's POV)-

My eyes slowly opened, and I saw the sun's golden light creeping in through the entrance of the hut. Morning.

I stretched and brought myself up into a sitting position, with my legs crossed. Inuyasha sat across the room from me, his ears twitching. He could probably sense movement in the room.

Talking to him should be fun, especially after rejecting his "love" for you. If it is actually love. And not just a stupid confused hanyou.

That's right. Inuyasha tried to kiss me last night. And I ran away. I didn't mean it to come out as me rejecting him, but it's so hard to concentrate on what I want with this voice in my head confusing me. Didn't I already accept my feelings for him? I swore that's what I wanted.

It's every girl's dream to be some man's whore.

Oh yeah. Doesn't he love Kikyo? That's why I ran away. Even if I love him, I don't want to be with him while he's thinking of Kikyo.

He's always thinking of that bitch. She's dead and she's still above you. And even still, Inuyasha tries to seduce you. And you almost let him!

Seduce me? I mean, he still cares about me right? I recall him saying he felt obligation to Kikyo, so even if he puts her above me, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have honest feelings for me.

If he had honest feelings, why would he kiss you, if he knew he would eventually crawl right back to her?

I watched the hanyou sleep. Would he be so inconsiderate as to kiss me just because he wanted to, if he knew it would hurt me? He wouldn't...

His ears twitched again and his eyes slowly opened, and he lowered his gaze to meet mine.

"Keh, you're up early." He said, "What are ya looking at anyways? Is it fun to watch me sleep?" There was a bit of attitude in his voice, but he hid it well enough.

"Your ears twitch." I mumbled quietly.

"Heh, glad that entertains you." He murmured sarcastically.

He's upset isn't he. Ha!

I didn't know what to say. Could I have really made him upset? How upset could he be, it's not like I did something wrong. He has no reason to be upset. Maybe a little embarrassed, but it's not like I really led him on.

"Well, good morning to you, too." I grunted. He looked a little confused.

"What?" He questioned. He focused on my facial expression, which bared my frustration in him.

I sighed, "Nothing, Inuyasha. Just nothing." He has no right to give me attitude. So what if I didn't kiss him? That doesn't make me a bad person. Just makes me not his whore!

You're still a bitch.

Maybe I am being too hard. What's wrong with me? Why can't I grab hold of myself? Why is everything getting so confusing!?

The rest of the gang began to stretch, as if ready to wake up. We must've been a little loud. Miroku sat up first, noting that Inuyasha and I were already wide awake.

"Good morning, Kagome, Inuyasha." He greeted. Sango sat up after, but just yawned out a quiet "hello." She continued to wake up, while Shippo jumped on Inuyasha's shoulder, noticing the irritated look on his face. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?" He asked, innocently.

"Keh, nothing. Just waiting for everyone so that we can head out to look for some jewel shards." He crossed his arms. Shippo jumped off his shoulder, "Wow, Inuyasha. You sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed today..." He received a hit on the head for that one, and he whimpered away from the hanyou and over to me, making himself comfortable on my lap. I was just about ready to scold Inuyasha, when I remembered I have a job to stray away from any situation that would get me in the least bit upset.

Yes let the big scary dog abuse the baby fox. That's the way to go!

No, if I yell now, then I risk letting this darkness get the better of me.

"So, shall we be heading out?" Miroku asked, politely, "We can head west, maybe follow the stream. Or we could check out the area near the mountains far east. If I remember correctly, the mountains are known for homing some demon tribes. It wouldn't be surprising if one of those tribes got their hands on a shard to use against their enemies."

I agreed, "We haven't been to those mountains, or even remotely close to it. It seems like a good way to go!"

Inuyasha and Sango nodded, and we all got up and headed out, saying goodbye to Kaede, who wished us (me in particular) luck.

"Sink into your light, Kagome." She lectured, "Ye has the power, don't underestimate your strength."

Sink into my light? Sounds easy enough. If I let my heart and soul become one with the purity I have left, there will be no way for the poison to attack me, and from there, I can push it out. But how?

"Thanks, Kaede!" I shouted, as I jumped onto Inuyasha's back, and we went east towards the mountains.

Not much in this chapter I guess. But it paves the way for a lot of fun in the next chapter, which I'm really excited for!

Comment, comment, comment! And thanks for all the support guys! I'm having a lot of fun writing this!

And yes, I got the title of the chapter from the Paramore song, Let The Flames Begin! I love that band!