Chapter Twenty-six: Dark Kisses

*Kagome's POV*

The mall was as packed and noisy as it ever was as Kagome and her friends all wandered around, looking at all the stores and admiring the Christmas decorations. As the other girls all looked around at ties and other clothes for their fathers, Kagome on the other hand was looking through the window of a flower shop.

A large bouquet of blue roses… a perfectly blue rose is still elusive like the perfectly black rose. She smiled as she looked at their wonderful color… blue roses cannot be achieved naturally so they represent the unattainable or the mysterious. Blue roses therefore embody the desire for the unattainable. They say "I can't have you but I can't stop thinking about you".

'Can't stop thinking about you…' Kagome thought sadly as she daydreamed of a pair of golden eyes shining at her through an eerie moonlight. Her cheeks burned at the thought of all the times her lips had been pressed against his… that wonderful warm feeling of coming home and the electricity that seems to flow throughout her whole body…

"Kagome?" Eri said and Kagome jumped. She looked up to see her friends were standing there looking at her—each of them carrying large bags.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "I just thought that they're beautiful."

"We're here to do some Christmas shopping," Yuka reminded her. "Not look at flowers. And you barely bought anything."

"Well," Kagome answered smiling. "I already got almost all my shopping done."

"What?" Ayumi gasped and looked put out. "And you came here because you wanted to watch us all struggle with heavy bags?"

"You said almost…" Eri asked quickly.

"I still want to get a few more thing for… some other friends," she told them. She was thinking about getting Christmas presents for her new vampire friends… but she didn't have a clue to what they would like… other than blood that is.

As she thought it over, she and the other girls headed outside. The sky was clouded over, and Kagome knew that it was going to start raining again.

"We should get back," Ayumi said, with a side-ways glance at Kagome. "I know that you hate storms, Kagome."

"I'm alright," Kagome smiled at them. "I got over it."

"You're not afraid of storms anymore?" she asked in surprise as they headed towards the car. "When and how…?" she stopped dead, her head staring over Kagome's shoulder.

"What is it?" Kagome asked as the other two suddenly stopped dead and were looking over her head as if mesmerized. Feeling that she was missing something, she turned around to see someone standing there, leaning up against the wall.

Her cheeks turned red again—it was Inuyasha.

*Inuyasha's POV*

Inuyasha had been in his room all day—lying on his bed staring at the ceiling—lost in thoughts. He wanted to see Kagome. To see how she was doing but she had been busy all day… but…

Inuyasha stood up and began to throw things around in frustration.

'Why do I keep thinking of her?' He thought furiously. 'Nothing makes sense anymore… she's a human and I'm a vampire. So why…?'

Inuyasha thought that he learned his lesson the first time. He gave his heart to someone had only got burned. Unable to think straight, he grabbed his usual blue hat before he ran out of his room, making his way out of the house, through the forest and made his way through the town to get his mind off her. He leapt across the rooftops, past the Christmas decorations as he listened to the sound of the wind rushing passed him. He didn't know what to think anymore.

He knew that he and Kagome couldn't be together—what if they failed? What if they couldn't finish Naraku off before the eclipse came? They would all have to wait another 500 years… not a problem for them he supposed… but Kagome…

The only way they could be together was if he bite her and turned her into a vampire… he shook his head.

No, he couldn't do that to her. She would be forced to face the world as a monster…

He landed in an alleyway before he came out. He looked up at the threatening sky. He wouldn't have to worry… the sky was blocking out the sun completely, and knew that another storm was coming. He sighed as he leaned up against the wall, trying to figure out what to do.

To be honest with himself, he didn't think he could stay near her for much longer… but at that second his nose caught a whiff of Kagome's blood. Eyes widening, he looked up to see her…

Kagome was walking across the parking lot, with several other girls. Her back was to him—he briefly wondered if he could make a break for it until she suddenly turned and saw him. As soon as he saw those warm eyes, his indecision faded and he smiled.

Kagome looked startled for a moment before she blushed and smiled back. She turned back to her friends and said something. Underneath the blue hat, Inuyasha heard her voice.

"I'll be back in a minute," she told them.

"Kagome, you can't honestly think of walking up to some random guy and talk to him!" one of the girls said. "Even if he is totally hot!"

"It's ok, I know him."

"You KNOW him?"

"When?"

"How?"

"Why didn't you tell us that you were seeing someone?"

"Does he have a hot brother and if he does can I have him?"

Inuyasha smirked at the idea of one of those giggling girls would end up with Sesshomaru. Rin had planned on marrying him once she was human and grew up a little more.

Deciding to recue Kagome from those girls, he walked forward as they talked. "Kagome?" he asked once he was near.

Kagome turned back to him, a great smile on her face as the girl's jaws dropped. "Inuyasha! What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"I was trying to clear my head… I didn't imagine running into you here," he answered. His eyes flickered to the girls who continued to stare at him bleakly. He smirked—always finding it hilarious when girls stared at him. But his full attention was on Kagome.

"Do you want to go for a walk? I'll take you back to your house for you," he asked as he looked back up at the girls. "If you don't mind?"

"N-no," the girl with the headband said, and shot Kagome a jealous look.

"We don't mind," said another one with thick, curly hair.

"In that case," he said as he put his arm around Kagome's waist and pulled her away from them. Once their backs were turned, Kagome whispered, "You did that on purpose didn't you? Now they're going to bug me constantly until I tell them everything about you."

"As long as you don't tell them about my diet," he said with a grin. "I don't mind."

Once they were out of their sights, Inuyasha suddenly swept her up onto his shoulders and they began running again. Kagome let out a light cry of surprise, but recovered quickly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his hair. They kept at it for some time, even after the rain started to fall though she didn't mind one bit. She only hung on tighter and enjoyed the feeling of the water falling onto her skin.

Inuyasha jumped across the city—even after it got dark and the storm was here. Kagome held Inuyasha tightly and so they carried on, jumping from one roof to another. Over the buildings and the few streetlamps, the wind blowing so hard that it was whistling in Kagome's ears, but soft enough that it was like it was singing her a lullaby.

As they jumped, it could almost be called flying, everything swirled around them in a colorful… well… blob at the edge of her vision. She held onto the long hair, feeling safer than she ever had in her life and allowed him take her as far away as possible from her normal live.

At first, everything seemed to be so fuzzy and pixelly, like a computer screen when you look too close. Still, no point in denying it, it was gorgeous. The many colors zoomed and whirled in shapes that range from spirals to jelly beans, circles to arcs. The glimmering shapes looked like little presents, covered with that shiny paper.

It was almost like a dream…

Kagome wrapped her arms around the Inuyasha's neck, pleading him to go higher and faster, letting out a cry of laughter of pure happiness.

*Later*

Eventfully, they stopped on the side of an empty dirt road—not unlike the one that led to Inuyasha's home. Kagome slid down so that she was standing next to him and the two of them began to walk through the rain towards a cluster of trees only a few feet away. Once they were under the cover of the foliage, Kagome finally turned back to him.

"Kagome. Are you oka—" But he was cut off when Kagome hugged him. He didn't know how to react or respond to Kagome's swift move.

Soon enough she pulled away from him. "I'm glad that you're alright. And thanks for taking me out here." The two of them were soaking wet as they stared out at the bright city that was shining. It must be late… and they had to have been in the farmland… miles from her house. Not that she minded at the moment.

Inuyasha chuckled sarcastically. "Keh, girls…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome crossed her arms over the chest, though she knew that she didn't look scary seeing how she was soaked to the bone. "Are you always so cocky?"

"Me? Cocky?" Inuyasha asked. He tried not to pay too much attention to how her wet clothes clung to her body perfectly—revealing every curve… he shook his head hard and answered. "You still have a lot to learn about me before you can start calling me cocky."

"Doesn't mean that I can't do it anyway," replied Kagome softly. Kagome then began to walk a little further down the road. "I just wish…" she finally said. "I wish I knew what to do…"

Judging from her tone, Inuyasha had a guess to what she was talking about. He quickly walked to her and turned her around so that she was looking at him.

Looking at her arm's, left to right to left, he smiled widely, and stepped forward and wrapped his own arms around her waist. They fit together perfectly. Her arms around his neck, causing him to lose breathe for a slight moment, but he didn't care. All he cared about was holding her. Life was good at this precise time. That was until…

Tssshhhh!

Just perfect timing, some bus had just appeared—the two of them were so intent on each other, and with the sound of the thick rain, they didn't notice it. Inuyasha let go of Kagome, shoved his hands into his pockets and awaited to see what happened. They watched as the bus slowed in front of them, and the doors opened. Kagome jumped back, as the bus driver stuck his head out.

"You two getting on the bus or what?" he bellowed, yellow teeth smiling devilishly at Inuyasha.

Rolling his eyes, he snapped back, "You know what? I think we'll walk back, thanks."

"Suit yourself," he shouted back with that, the door shut, and the bus was gone in a flash, leaving the soaked Kagome and Inuyasha staring after it.

"I was only joking!" Inuyasha screamed, throwing his arms in the air above him. Kagome hid a giggle behind her hand, as she looked at him smiling. She stood firmly, with her hands behind her back, swinging side to side, not worrying that the rain was going in her eyes. "Not that we need a bus huh?" she asked as she leaned up against one of the thicker trees that hid her face from his view.

"I know," Inuyasha smiled, "But everyone needs someone to yell at." But it was at that moment he realized that something was wrong. He heard a sharp intake of breath and smelt salt in the air… salt from tears.

Inuyasha walked forward to see that Kagome was crying. Of course this was almost impossible to tell with all the rain, but he could see her body shaking with sobs and she was rubbing at her eyes furiously. His eyes looked sad as if he was feeling distress for her. "Kagome…"

Kagome suddenly let out a harsh laugh. "Look at me crying this… I'm so pathetic. I don't know what to do and I'm suddenly crying like a baby…"

She turned around so that he could see her, not that it stopped him. Inuyasha walked up behind Kagome and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her. "You're not pathetic Kagome. It's not your fault. None of it was."

"But it hurts so much to feel like this…" She told him. She looked into his face as the rain continued to pour around them and cried. He removed his arms and instead he slid his hands down her arms slowly, his face leaning in towards her neck.

Kagome could feel his breath on her neck, sending shivers down her spine. But she did not pull away from him. For some reason Kagome enjoyed his company, him being so close to her like he was now.

Kagome tensed, closed her eyes. "Inuyasha…what are you…?"

Inuyasha slowly, began to open his mouth, closing his eyes and once again their lips met. Once again, the feeling of being loved—of coming home… almost overwhelmed her. Why do these kisses have to end? If she could, she would've stopped time so that the two of them would be like this forever.

"You know…?" she said after an eternity of kissing and he finally pulled away. "My family is going to be worried about where I am."

He nodded as he picked her up and carried her back to the house. The ride back was quiet and soon enough, they were jumping from the rooftops of the familiar neighborhood. She sighed as her house came into view and they landed on her windowsill. He easily slipped the window open and the two of them slipped back into her room quietly. Kagome glanced at the clock in surprise as she landed onto her floor. It was 7:32… she had been gone for almost four hours. Not that she minded the trip, but she knew that her mother would've been worried.

Luckily, mom took Sota with her so that they could shop for some new clothes for him. And since she noticed that the car was still gone, they mustn't have gotten back yet. Lucky break for her. But she would have to deal with these wet clothes before they got back. When she looked back at Inuyasha, she could see that he was starting to climb out the window.

"Inuyasha?" she asked softly. He turned back to her. "When will I see you again?" she asked.

He smiled softly at her. "Soon," he promised.

And he sealed that promise with another kiss. This one was different from the one they shared in the road only an hour ago. This was full of passion… full of life…

"Mmm…" Kagome moaned as his lips teased hers, his hot breath steamed with undeniable love as if mixing with her own. Inuyasha placed one hand on the back of her head, and the other on her waist as Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. Neither of them had ever felt like this. Inuyasha pulled away, not because he wanted to but because they both needed the air. Kagome reached up and traced his face gently with her finger; she wanted to memorize his beautiful face and it looked as if he was doing the same with hers.

She had no idea what she was doing, and her brain seemed to have frozen stiff, but she didn't feel awkward in the slightest. Her arms came up to grasp his head, tangling in his hair as she pulled him closer, pressed their mouths tighter. Not to be outdone, Inuyasha's hands took hold of her waist, lifting her and depositing her on his lap as he settled comfortably on the windowsill—the rain hitting his back. His head spun, senses completely filled with her.

Perfection…

Nearly a minute later, the pair sprung apart, foreheads resting together as they panted hard. Unfortunately, breathing was essential, but as they began to breathe easier, the kissing continued. Not a passionate lip-lock like seconds before, but small kisses everywhere. Forehead, the nose, the cheeks, the neck… and of course the lips. Just small, gentle kisses that seemed to fill her soul with energy…

Not a word was spoken. Not a word needed to be said. All that was needed was lips…

But like all good things it came to an end. Kagome heard the sounds of two car doors slamming and she had to pull away. She hadn't realized what she was doing until that moment, she got up from his lap, and had realized that her floor was now starting to flood with all the water around them. Knowing that she had to hurry, she looked at Inuyasha who nodded dully.

"I know," he answered. He stood up and jumped. Worried, Kagome stuck her head out and looked down, only to see him hanging onto the ledge with a grin on his face. With his strength, he pulled himself up and was able to plant one more kiss on her lips. Surprised, she closed her eyes and deepened the kiss for about 3 seconds before he pulled away from her. And when she opened her eyes… he was gone…

(Wow, things are heating up!)