At this point in time, war had become inevitable for Japan. Kagome held a recruitment acceptance letter in her hand for her best friend. She sat alone in the dreary house that morning at the small dining table. She hadn't moved a muscle ever sense she had opened the letter. She wanted to be proud of him, really she did. Kagome couldn't bare the thought of losing him again. Even the jiggling of the door knob failed to get her out of her trance.

InuYasha came through the door with a bag from the store and slammed the door shut so the pesky wind couldn't tamper with his hair anymore.

"Hey there sunshine. Glad to see you out of bed." He emptied the contents of the bag and threw her a bag of candy. "I thought you might like these."

Kagome averted her attention from the letter and glanced at the candy. "Thank you."

InuYasha pulled off his jacket and threw it into his room. Kagome had become more cold towards him the closer it got to his departure. He did his best at consoling her but some girls were just inconsolable. He wanted to ask her what the letter was for, but based on her facial expression he had a good idea of what it was. For once today Sesshomaru seemed proud of him. He pictured Sesshomaru joining him if Rin wasn't there to pull him back down to Earth.

"Kagome, you're killing me. Are you going to be like this when it's time for me to go too?" He whined.

"Maybe." She shrugged, shifting her body in her chair.

"Suit yourself," He shrugged. He was just about ready to give up trying to make her feel better about the situation. He had already made up his mind. Kagome huffed, feeling the sudden emptiness in the room.

()()()()

As InuYasha absentmindedly counted his one-handed push-ups he thought of what strategy the government might take in order to take down the shape-shifter. There was no way that he was doing this on his own. Or was he?

Kagome knocked gently on his door before welcoming herself in. In her hands were folded towels she had just washed.

InuYasha looked up, never missing a beat in his push-ups. "Don't you know how to knock?"

"I did!" Kagome blushed angrily, seeing her best friend shirtless on the ground watching as his muscles in his arms contract and relax. She strolled into his bathroom and placed the towels up on a shelf. Turning around she smacked right into InuYasha's chest. "ah-" She gazed up into his eyes like a scared little mouse. Standing this close to InuYasha was nearly killing her.

"Why are you so fidgety?" He wondered out loud. At least InuYasha was practically blind to the many faces of Kagome.

"If I were to say I was pregnant, would you stay then?" Kagome blurted. InuYasha's eyes darted across the entire bathroom. He didn't see a pregnancy test anywhere.

"W-what?" He was taken off guard with that one. "When did this happen? Kagome, don't tell me someone has tainted you!" He checked her arms for marks.

"I'm not really pregnant. But I will make it so if that means you staying." She smiled innocently. InuYasha's worry dropped like a bomb.

"Good luck trying to rape this sexy beast for that." He reached over her to grab one of the towels. "Now get out. I have to shower."

"Nope, the rape starts now."

InuYasha bent forward a little and began to pull at his pants and underwear slowly. "I'm gettin' naaakeeed..." He warned.

Kagome squealed and shielded her eyes, squirming past him to get out of the bathroom. He watched as she fled and laughed hysterically.

()()()()

"Kagome, you're stupid." Sango announced over the phone to her friend. "Why on Earth would you say something like that to him?"

"I was only wondering what he would do..." Kagome explained over to her own phone that was on speaker. She was trying to paint her nails but it would probably look better if she just cut off her fingers.

"Now he thinks you're creepy."

"Probably..." She hated to admit it, but she was desperate.

"You'll be fine Kagome, Miroku and I will be over all the time to keep you company while he is away."

"It isn't the loneliness that I'm worried about Sango, it's the fact that he..he might not come back to me." Kagome fumbled with the red and green necklace he had given her many winters ago as children. There were only two more days until his departure according to her calendar.

"He will Kagome; I promise he will."

Kagome kept trying to remind herself of what happened to Rin. There was evil in Japan and someone had to get rid of it before something else happened. Kagome said goodnight to her friend and checked to see if her nails were dry.

"Damn it."

Soiled again.

"No cursing after twelve, Miss Kagome." InuYasha facetiously remarked at her doorway.

"You're one to talk." She teased, crawling under the cold covers.

"As man of the house I can curse two-four-seven."

"Sango invited us to go to the beach tomorrow. I don't know if Miroku mentioned anything to you or not." Kagome shrugged as she looked up at the ceiling. InuYasha used his butt to bounce him off the wall and make himself comfortable on Kagome's frilly bed.

"He sort of mentioned it. I'm down if you are, and yes, you don't even have to ask...I will stay."

Kagome lifted her blanket up to her chin. "W-what?"

"With you tonight. Scoot over punk. I know you want to have a sleepover." InuYasha pushed Kagome over with his bare foot which was easy with the satin sheets. Kagome rolled her eyes and kicked his leg.

"You didn't even turn the light off."

InuYasha slithered down to the ground and crawled over to switch the light off and then crawled up onto the bed. "Let's play a game." He suggested.

"Okay, what?"

"Whoever falls asleep first, wins."

Kagome stared at her best friend's golden eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Was he serious? Why was he even in here in the first place? Unknowingly to her, he had heard her conversation with Sango and wanted to keep her company.

She nodded slowly, closing her eyes in the process simultaneously with him. Her petite hand was right beside his and just a few inches more their noses would have touched. His hand crept up over her own and his pinky found hers.

"I promise I will come back to you, Kagome..." He whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

()()()()

"Sup, my man!" Miroku greeted InuYasha with a rough pat on the back. "Long time no see."

"Really? I feel like I see you every other day." InuYasha admitted awkwardly. The sun was beating down on the sandy beach. It was too hot to be walking around barefoot but it didn't seem to bother InuYasha. The waves would occasionally crawl up the shore and steal the lost treasures collected in the sand.

Kagome set up everyone's towels while Sango, Miroku, and InuYasha raced to the water before the hot sand melted the skin on their feet. She had a memory of InuYasha whispering something sweet to her but she couldn't remember if it was only a dream. She had on a vintage bathing suit on with high-waisted bottoms. She expected InuYasha to compliment her but he hadn't said anything. Although InuYasha really never openly expresses what he feels towards other girls; that was one characteristic she really liked about him. That's where he was different from most guys. She supposed that could also be a bad thing. She punctured the sand with her umbrella and watched her friends from afar as they tag-teamed to throw Miroku into the water. She knew that days like this had reached their end.

"Kagoomee!" InuYasha called, flapping his arms up and down. "Come on in; the water's great!"

"You lying ass," Sango gritted her teeth as she hugged her knees for warmth. Miroku was pushing the waves as if looking for something in the dark waters.

"Sango! Sango, I can't find my ass, it froze off. Help me find it." He said with all seriousness. Sango's chortle made his heart do back flips.

Kagome took it slow and allowed the waves to kiss her toe. "Oh hell no, you guys are nuts!"

"If you don't get in yourself I'm going to drag you in myself!" InuYasha threatened.

"You probably don't even feel how cold it truly is, do you?" Miroku asked.

"Are you kidding, my ass is hanging out with yours at the bottom of the sea too." With that being said he began pushing his way back to shore to fetch Kagome since she refused to move. Again Sango lost it.

Spotting the approaching dog demon, Kagome turned on her heel and made a dash for land. Who was she kidding though, there was nowhere to hide from him. Instead she just closed her eyes and waited for the predator to capture its prey. As inane as it was for her to not even pretend to try she secretly wanted InuYasha to sweep her up into his arms and spin her around in the sunset. However, fantasies seem to almost never turn out how we want them to. She felt a handful of sand run down her chest and into her bosom. InuYasha stepped back and waited for her reaction.

Maintaining her composure, she tried to shuffle her top enough to get the majority of sand out. She then scooped up a mountain of sand and dumped it into the front of InuYasha's swim trunks. He looked down at his feet and then back at Kagome.

"Oh it's on."

Kagome started skipping backwards toward the ocean again to reach the safe zone (i.e. Sango.)

It was difficult to chase after her with scratchy bits of sands rubbing all up on him.

"I should have saw that coming."

Sango and Miroku awkwardly watched what had just happened from afar. Their eyes seemed to twitch.

"Those two are way too close."

"For real."

()()()()

The four friends spent the entire day at the beach in the chilly waters. Sango and Kagome had a chicken fight upon InuYasha and Miroku's shoulder. The whole time Miroku wiggled his eyebrows at InuYasha. InuYasha used Kagome's foot to kick Miroku in the face which lead to their disqualification. They turned down Sango's offer to hang back at her place. InuYasha had to use the entire Sunday as a day to prepare for departure. He wasn't allowed to bring much but he wanted time to give proper goodbyes to all of those he cared about.

The ride home was silent. Their bathing suits had soaked through their seats and sand had settled into the car floor. InuYasha and Kagome's hair had dried in waves. Kagome could remember back when she wasn't comfortable showing him her 'swim hair.' She was jealous that his actually looked styled when it dried and hers was a frizzy mess. InuYasha took his time driving home; the weather was nice and the roads were actually breathable for once. The purple skies had not gone unnoticed by him at the beach. There was still a mission at hand.

Pulling into the driveway, he glanced over at his sleeping friend. The beach wasn't that far away from their house yet she had managed to pass out cold. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and the innocent look on her face. Saying goodbye to Kagome was going to be the hardest for him. He had ignored the aching pain that he felt in his heart when he thought about leaving her alone up until this point. His feelings had reached a level that was difficult for him to hide anymore. He didn't know when it happened, but it had.

He got out of the car and made his way to the other side of the car to get Kagome out as if she was his pretend daughter once again. She had stirred awake as he reached over to undo her seat belt. He swung his hand back in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I was just- I'll get your beach bag."

Kagome undid her own seat belt and sighed. She should have just pretended to be asleep. She always woke up at the wrong times. She shuffled out of her seat uncomfortably. There was sand in every crevice of her body.

Everything in the house was exactly where they had left it. Kagome called the shower first and ran to her bathroom, leaving InuYasha to put away the beach supplies for her. Instead, he just placed it in front of her bedroom door and then went to go work on extracting every grain of sand from his own body. Going to the beach always made him feel a little out of it when he left. He swayed more to his room than walked. He checked his phone that he had left on the charger all day. He had four missed calls and six messages making his heart sink. Wasn't he mister popular today. Three of the four calls were from his mother and the last was from Sesshomaru probably to bark at him from ignoring their mother. One of the text messages were from Miroku saying that he is going another night without getting lucky. The others were from his mother letting him know that they were all stopping by in the morning to see him off.

InuYasha scratched at his head and shuddered. He hated the aftermath of going to the beach; why did he even go? Why does anyone ever go? Instead of seeing if Kagome was finished with her shower, he decided to hop into his own. Sometimes stealing the hot water was fun; hopefully she's quick.

It was unreal how much sand slid down the drain; it was actually pretty gross to watch. He heard Kagome pounding on his locked door angrily. He got the message although her yelling was muffled. Looks like he was sleeping alone tonight. InuYasha hoped that a steamy shower would be able to subdue the anxiety that was rising within in. It wasn't the silly butterflies you would get when you had a crush or the nausea you would feel on the first day of school. He was going to try his best to get some sleep tonight but he knew that that was unlikely.

()()()()

The long day at the beach seemed to knock InuYasha out as soon as he sat on his bed. It felt like one blink later and it was morning. He woke up to the sound of simmering bacon and the smell of hash browns. That was enough to get him out of bed and into the bathroom to freshen up. When he looked in the mirror he ran his claws through his silvery hair. It seemed to have already grown back to its normal length. He would have to add a visit to Jakotsu to his already long list of things to do today.

"InuYasha!" A familiar voice called, coming into his room. "Are you up yet?! It's almost eleven o' clock."

InuYasha raised his brow and averted his attention towards the voice.

"Rin?" He guessed. He shot a glance down at his attire. Lucky for her he was decent aside from the morning breath. Rin waddled over to the bathroom and smiled.

"Morning! We're starving, come and join us for breakfast." She grabbed his arm before he had time to brush his teeth. She looked like she was due any day now. She had to be the cutest pregnant lady in Japan.

"Us?" He whined. It was way too early for company. In the cozy living room sat practically his entire family. They had decorated the place with balloons and even had ribbon on his bedroom door. Kagome was in the kitchen watching Izayoi show her how to make fried eggs on toast. Kagome's family was there, his family, and Miroku and Sango. His family was embarrassing; this wasn't a birthday or anything.

"Oh, hey Yash." Sota greeted. "Wow you look like crap."

"I just woke up!" He barked.

InuYasha made his way to the kitchen to say hi to his mother and to have her explain herself.

"Consider it a good luck party." She shrugged as she flipped the bacon. "We wanted to see you off. I did warn you after all, have you forgotten? "

Kagome and InuYasha didn't have the biggest dinning table in the land so some people sat on the couch and others stood. Sesshomaru refused to eat like he was far more superior than eggs and bacon but Rin pinched his nose and stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth. Izayoi made enough food to feed a small village but with a family full of demons, it didn't last long enough for the food to even cool down.

After breakfast, Kohaku and Sota got the Wii set up in the living room. Occasionally throughout the day a new person would go and talk to InuYasha one on one. Sesshomaru's speech meant the most to him and he even patted him on the back two times, nothing more. It made him sad seeing everyone gathered like this. He would have felt better just slipping away; it would have been less painful.

The women of the family smothered InuYasha in kisses and hugs when it was time to leave. Sesshomaru had to pry Rin off of InuYasha and almost threw her over his shoulder; sometimes he forgot not to smother the pups. It seemed that his family had come to terms that there was no way of talking InuYasha out of it at this point. They had decided to be proud of him instead and cheer him on.

Although the party may have left, the mess of the party refused to show itself out. Kagome washed most of the dishes as much as she despised washing the dishes. There was a simple rule in the house: InuYasha does the dishes and Kagome does the laundry. The other couldn't stand to do the other chore. However, this time around Kagome needed something to distract her mind. She allowed InuYasha to get out of the cleaning so that he could pack a few things. Kagome thought about the other families in Japan who had to say goodbye to a member of their family getting drafted for the war. They were experiencing the same pain that she was feeling. Not all of them were going to make it out alive, a war like that was nonexistent.

InuYasha had gone to get his hair cut again and bid farewell to Jakotsu in the process who saluted to him back. Upon his return, Kagome had finished rearranging their house back to the way it was. As he shut the door his eyes met with hers. Her hands were clasped in each others grasp. He dropped his things and walked over to her to pull her into a well-needed embrace. She couldn't hold it in any longer and allowed the eager tears to stream down her face. It was almost relieving. InuYasha stroked her hair and took in her scent.

There was a billion things running through his mind that he could have said to her but none of them projected. Instead the two of them stood together in each others arms.

"My tears may be expressing one thing but I really am proud of you, InuYasha."

"Thank you, Kagome. That means a lot to me." He had her look up at him and carefully brushed away the tears. The close proximity still gave them both butterflies. They both knew what they wanted but feared the other did not. They searched for an answer in their glossy eyes. InuYasha mustered up the courage to push her hair back and angle her face. Kagome met him half way and at last a fiery kiss was shared. There was a plethora of emotions swirling in the air at that moment. Kagome was the first to pull away and slap him. The slap itself hadn't hurt physically but InuYasha was taken back.

"Asshole. You wait till you're leaving me to do THAT." Kagome fumed. InuYasha relaxed and smiled, pulling her into his arms once again.

"I love you too, Kagome."

()()()()

"You guys WHAT!?" Sango screamed over the phone. Kagome heard Sango drop the phone on the other line and swear like a sailor. "Miroku!"

Kagome laughed; she was currently huddled up beside her bed. She rushed at the opportunity to call Sango after she sent InuYasha to bed. "Miroku? Ooh, Sango..." She teased.

"Shut the hell up. Ohmygosh Kagome I just wanna skin Miroku and hang him up as a flag I am just that happy."

"Then why am I so sad?" Kagome's smile remained as tears had swelled up again. She had cried so much this month she was surprised their house hadn't flooded.

"Aw..honey, it's okay..."

()()()()

A car from the government was sent to pick up the draftees in the morning. They waited patiently outside of the car for InuYasha to say his final goodbyes.

Just inside of the house InuYasha savored one last kiss with Kagome. He was already dressed in his attire with his hair pulled back into a bun. Kagome thought he looked very heroic and handsome. He grasped both of her hands into his and held them up to his mouth.

"I will come back to you. But promise me one thing."

"Of course InuYasha, what is it?"

"That you'll marry me upon my return."

InuYasha left Kagome dumbstruck as he let himself out and locked the door. What time period did he think they lived in, the feudal era? What happened to courting?

"Wait-what?"

I've been writing this chapter all day. Hopefully it payed off. Believe it or not, I had always intended for InuYasha to be drafted into the military. Hope you liked the nice long chapter!