Note: Thanks to my coauthor cousin, myruby0414, for being the beta for this chapter!

I was probably subconsciously inspired by the roleplay thread between akaimiko 's Kikyō and thathanyouinuyasha on tumblr where Kikyō tells Inuyasha that the jewel could taint his mind if he used it to become a demon and I myself almost forgot about the monkeypaw effect the jewel has so this is why Inuyasha isn't screwed for Jolie wishing him to be freed hahaha.

Jolie tried to yank her hand back, but Inuyasha kept a firm grip on it.

She gave him a fierce look with her crimson eyes. "Enough Inuyasha, remember I am the one who pushed your woman, revived from the dead with ashes and graveyard down towards the cliff. You should hate me with every fiber of your being. …I have given you the shard of the Jewel of the Four Souls. We have no relation to one another aside from being traveling companions so let me go!"

Her words painfully reminded him that Kikyō had died 50 years ago and the one they had encountered was the undead. Someone he should not be encountering again like how Kikyō said that they were never to meet again and yet ironically did. But her revival brought with it questions as to why their accounts of that fateful day differed and why was Jolie sure that he and Kikyō were both telling the truth? What realization had she come to before Kikyō's desire to end him intervened?

Inuyasha pulled her close to him firmly but not roughly. "Dammit Jolie! You and I know you did it to protect me, and I don't blame you! I don't hate you!"

He looked down.

"I… Kikyō, Kikyō and I have a history together."

His golden gaze met those of crimson. "I know this doesn't make you happy. But I'm not going to forget about her that easily. I want to know why she thinks I killed her. But… I don't wanna let you go Jolie."

Jolie averted her gaze, taken aback by the softness and sincerity in his tone.

"…Earlier, before Kikyō interrupted you, you said that Kikyō and I were both telling the truth. What did you mean by that?"

Jolie inhaled before she looked at him. "You said that you did not see Kikyō the night at the temple before you were supposed to meet her to become human using the jewel, but she recalls that event. She encountered a being who was supposedly you during the morning who struck her down and you met someone who was supposedly her during the afternoon. She is a beautiful woman who has a jewel that can grant the wishes of others and empower demons. It wouldn't be implausible that someone out there desired her and the jewel, 50 years ago. …What if, whoever she and you encountered was a doppelganger of you both?" Her head turned to the side.

She looked back at him. "Or rather, a shapeshifter? That shapeshifter causing the confusion between the meeting times would have given Kikyō ample time to make it back to her village to stop you from making off with the jewel."

She breathed in again before resuming speaking. "But unfortunately, the resurrected Kikyō wasn't calm enough to hear me out, so we don't have any suspects."

Inuyasha gave her a nod. Jolie's theory wasn't improbable. He looked back at her. "But earlier, you thought I killed her, why did you end up believing me?"

Jolie exhaled. "Even though I only met you yesterday, the man Kikyō described who killed her…"

She had a sincere look in her crimson eyes. "I get the feeling that's not the man you are."

His heart skipped a beat. This woman seemed to be able to penetrate towards the truth. Not only that, but she was also painfully frank for the most part.

He looked down at the ground, stunned by the fact she had faith in him, then Jolie tried to yank her wrist back. "Unhand me Inuyasha, like I said, we have no—"

Right at that moment, her stomach started to grumble, much to her embarrassment as she covered her face with her free hand.

Inuyasha softly chuckled. "Guess someone's getting hungry huh?"

He gently pulled her along as he said, "Let's get off this damn bridge and get you something to eat."

Jolie protested with a surprised expression. "But…"

He angrily whipped around to face her since his patience was now running low. "Look, if I prove to you that I've got some smarts up my sleeve and… We agree to be engaged, will you stop trying to leave, dammit?!"

He couldn't believe what the hell he was saying. He had been trying to persuade her that marriage was out of the question, but this woman was so damn stubborn and desperate to get away from him because of her own jealousy that he had no choice but to finally offer what she asked for in order to solidify some sort of relationship for the sake of her propriety and so he could keep her by his side and ensure that she stayed safe. Being engaged wasn't the same thing as being married after all and Jolie said she would rather travel with a man who was her fiancé or husband. Dammit, he wasn't exactly in love with her, but this was the only way he could stop her from fighting about staying with him.

"What?"

Inuyasha harshly replied. "I said last night we can discuss the matter of being engaged. Dammit, Jolie, I don't like the idea of you being alone and potentially dying and if being engaged to you is the only way I can keep you with me then I accept, dammit!"

Jolie was taken aback by his angered tone before fixing him a stern look. "…Alright, if you prove to me that you have intellect in that brain of yours then I will agree to becoming your fiancée."

Inuyasha testily scoffed. "Just you wait woman, I'm going to prove it to you."

Jolie glared at him. "We'll see about that."

Inuyasha kept a somewhat firm grip on her wrist as they got off the bridge. They continued down the mountain in silence and while the large earthen figures with wavy indentations on them remained in the bushes, their presence made the environment still somewhat ominous that the atmosphere broke through Jolie's irritation for her to slightly close the gap between them so his presence could shield her from the fear she felt from looking at the clay figures.

His dog ears twitched when he heard her close the gap and he looked behind him, when she saw her giving nervous looks at their surroundings, his hand slid down from her wrist to give her hand a gentle squeeze. As he squeezed her hand, he marveled at how soft and small it was. He was internally astonished at how her hand was able to support his body to lift it up.

Jolie blushed at the gesture. His hand was rough, yet it was very warm. Her father's hand had always been extremely cold since he was the living dead. Because of the warmth from Inuyasha's hand, she found a sort of comfort in the gesture as she and Belle would often hold each other's hands, and she found she couldn't bring herself to wrench her hand away from his. They kept walking in silence down the mountain. She could see the cave they camped in at the base of the mountain and as they continued walking on the dirt path with greenery, she could hear birdsong interrupt the ongoing silence at times aside from the sound of their footsteps.

Inuyasha perked up at the sight of an apricot tree. Jolie noticed her male companion tilting up his head then looked to see what he saw. She could see the clumps of rounded yellow orange fruit with red tints at the top.

Inuyasha gave her a fanged smile. "Looks like we're in luck. We found an apricot tree."

Jolie looked a bit stunned upon seeing him with a genuine smile for once with his fangs on display. His expression seemed rather endearing.

"Yes."

She looked at the tree before looking back at him and smirked.

Inuyasha gave her an annoyed look as he raised an eyebrow. "Why are you giving me that look?"

"I just got an idea about how we can test your intellect."

Inuyasha smirked. "Oh, sounds interesting. Let's hear it."

"But before we get into that, the moment we get engaged, I will take it seriously as should you. You are the only man I will be tied to and although your heart still thinks about Kikyō, I will be the only woman you are tied to. Can you accept that?" Jolie asked him with a firm tone.

Inuyasha looked down. He didn't love Jolie, but he didn't want her out there, all alone in the world, potentially facing threats and dying. It was so ironic, 50 years ago, he swore to become human using the Jewel of the Four Souls so that he could live, grow old, and die together with Kikyō as regular humans, living peaceful lives. He and Jolie possessed human blood, but they weren't ordinary humans let alone have quiet lives together.

He thought back to last night, how she seemed at ease with the thought of being married to him because of the qualities in him that she valued. She wasn't scared of him, but it probably helped that she was a Lunar Bat Immortal, but she saw him as an individual, not a monster. She was extremely pretty with those red eyes with her long, black hair pulled in a high ponytail, rosy lips, and pale skin and had a nice scent. She enjoyed fairy tales and utilized a fairy tale method to wake him up albeit for selfish reasons. She was petite but surprisingly strong. She talked in a fancy way and when she got angry, she had an undeniable presence. In a way, they both related to being outsiders and having noble lineages but with nothing to show for it. She was incredibly honest, smart, self-aware, endearing, fierce, vulnerable yet tried to act tough, and prideful. She loved her younger sister unconditionally and tried to protect him. He supposed he could trust her, even if it was just a bit. She intrigued him and as he thought about her, he found himself wanting to know more about him. Something within him strongly screamed that he couldn't let go of Jolie no matter what and that gut feeling overtook all his doubts even if it meant that he would be bound to her, perhaps become her husband one day.

Inuyasha solemnly replied. "I'll accept it. I won't go back on my word I promise but first, I have to tell you something Jolie."

"What is it?" She looked up at him.

"At first, I wanted to be a demon using the jewel, then to be human with the jewel so I could live with Kikyō, but if you're right and some bastard wanted both Kikyō and the jewel then this complicates everything. Kikyō told me that the jewel won't exactly grant my wish the way I hoped when I wanted to be a demon, she said it might make me a mindless demon instead. I wasn't thinking when I asked you to free me using the jewel but luckily, I'm alright."

Jolie smiled as she tilted her head. "Well, words have power and as the saying goes, "be careful what you wish for" so I tried to word my wish carefully."

"The jewel attracts those with selfish desires, but you used your wish on me, maybe that's why nothing bad happened because it wasn't a wish for yourself."

Jolie gave a nod.

"There's no point in wishing on the jewel anymore." Inuyasha held up the black cord necklace with the jewel fragment tied to it.

"Even if I wished to be a demon, I might become a mindless demon and if I wished to be a human, the jewel might not disappear, and I'd lose my demon blood and be weak instead."

"…I, I'm aware you don't belong anywhere because you are neither demon nor human but, I do not wish for you to change."