Kagome watched for a moment as Inuyasha started to disappear into the trees. It made sense, why he had seemed so tense and unwilling to come down from the tree. As she grabbed onto the bracelet rosary on her wrist, she realized that it also stood to reason that it was why when she was cursing him earlier the subjugation linked to his youki hadn't worked.

"Inuyasha wait!" she calls out, running after him. Her bare feet snapped twigs under them as she tried to catch up with him.

"Keep your voice down!" He snaps back, his voice a hissing whisper. He stood a few yards away from her, glaring as the blue-eyed woman approached him.

"Why are you trying to run away?" She asks, stopping a few feet away from him, "I already saw you, so there's no point in hiding." He turns away from her and looks up at the sky. The breeze was moving around them and rustled the hair on his shoulders.

"You need to get out of here, Kagome," He says, "Just, go back to the castle and we can talk in the morning."

"Inuyasha," She says, sounding like she was going to try to fight him on it. He turns around and grabs her arm, holding up the human right hand he now had.

"Look, my claws and fangs are gone," He says. "I can't worry about trying to protect the most vulnerable person in all of Japan when I can't even hear the waters of the river in the forest rushing. Just go! Get out of here before you draw attention to yourself." Her dark eyes blinked at him, the blue color only barely visible in the dark.

"What about you?" She asks and Inuyasha scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I've lived like this a long time," He says. "I'll be fine once I find a tree to sleep in." He tries to walk away from her, but she reaches forward, grabbing into his wrist. Her hand was warm compared to the cold of the night air and he glanced back at her.

"I saw Ayame earlier," She says. " Her and Koga are supposed to be running the forest. I doubt you'd very easily be left alone."

"Thanks for the heads up, " He says trying to walk away.

"Inuyasha, I've already seen you so wouldn't it be safer to just trust me, and come to the bed chambers?" She asks and he pries her hand off, throwing it to the side and she looks up, gripping onto a lock of his hair and making him turn back to look at her again.

"Hey!" He exclaims and she just looks at him as he smacked her hand away.

"Look, I'm not leaving until you come with me," She says, "So either you come with me back to the castle, or we stay out here together." He narrowed his eyes at her, and she reaches down and gripped onto his hand.

"Stubborn woman," He grumbles, knowing that the same girl who was willing to rip open her stitches to climb a tree would happily shiver out here all night and get sick to prove a point. She smiles at him and turns, pulling him towards the way they came, thankful they were still close enough that she could see the glow of candles in some of the windows.

Inuyasha begrudgingly follows as the young woman pulled him after her. This was trouble, serious trouble. She had found out the one thing that nobody, not since his mother had passed, had any clue about. 

And he was happy to keep that secret to himself. She had told him that as his father said, the life of a hanyo was dangerous and complicated, but never more so when their power was pushed away. That was his secret, never to be revealed to anyone or his life would be in grave danger.

No one could find out about when his human night came and in 200 years, no one had. Why had he been so foolish as to let her lure him down from the tree he was sitting in? There was no way she ever would have gotten anywhere near where he had climbed up before the sun had set. But something had just told him that she definitely would have seriously hurt herself trying.

She was just way to stubborn to take no for an answer sometimes, even when she really, really should have.

Kagome felt her arm jerk back and she was pulled back into the forest just as she had reached the edge. She looked at her husband as he pulled her behind a tree. He was studying the castle, the strange, yet oddly familiar grey eyes looking for something.

"What's wrong with you now?" She asks and he held a finger to his lips to shush her. Suddenly, she heard voices on the other side of the tree.

"It sure is strange to have a new woman in the castle," One man's voice said and another chuckled.

"Her scent is everywhere. It seems to cover everything else up because it's so unfamiliar, and distracting, " She heard another man's voice respond and as she peaked past Inuyasha she saw two men wearing wolf demon armor just below the bedroom balcony. The one speaking had a white mohawk of hair standing up upon his bald head, and the other had grey, fur like hair that stood in spikes along his brow. "She sure is pretty though, isn't she Ginta? If only such a beauty could have been willed to the wolf demons instead of the Inu no Taisho Clan."

"Shush!" The grey-haired wolf demon, who must have been Ginta says, "Remember where we are Hakkaku! If Inuyasha wakes up and hears you talking about his wife like that, he'll rip you to pieces. with his bare hands. Not to mention that sword of his! Even Koga could barely dodge out of the way of the Wind Scar."

"Great, it's those two morons," She heard Inuyasha grumble above her and she glanced up at him. He turned and leaned against the tree trunk. "They dawdle around so much when they walk the castle we'll be stuck here 'til sunup, and I don't want to explain wondering out of the woods with you to anyone."

Shooting him a look, she looked back at the two wolf demons as they chatted, clearly not interested in moving away from the window of the room they thought the castle's lord could possibly overhear them from. Though they had paid her a compliment, she couldn't help but agree that they weren't the brightest in their actions.

"So what are we gonna do?" She asks and he just looks at her, "It isn't like we can stay here."

"Obviously," He says, and she leans against the tree next to him, sighing and crossing her arms around her belly.

Her scent, though it was faded by his dull senses, was sweet and calming still, mixed with the smell of the cherry blossoms she had bathed in earlier. He looked at her, seeing the faint rise and fall of her chest as she leaned against the tree trunk beside him. He could feel his cheeks growing red, as he realized why he was staring, almost entranced by the slight movement of the jewel as it rolled slightly between the valley of her full chest with each breath she took.

That very full, very inviting-

Shaking his head, he scratched his head, annoyed by the way his blunted human fingers just couldn't get the job done, "We just have to wait for them to get distracted by something else. They always find something to distract them from their job," he says, wanting to get out of here and the closeness to this girl as soon as possible.

Suddenly, Kirara skittered from a nearby bush and darted out into the garden, spooking the two men in the garden. The two human forms watched her, their heads craning around the tree trunk to watch as she slunk through the bushes.

"What is she up to?" Kagome asks, looking up from under Inuyasha's arm as he loomed over her.

"Beats me," He replies watching as the cat creature slips through the underbrush, making her way down wind to the wall of the castle, where she quickly leaped up, climbing onto the balcony just outside the bed chamber. "That little traitor! She must have  thought she didn't have to wait for us since she was small enough to sneak past those two boneheads." Kagome just rolls her eyes.

"I'm not sure that was her motivation," She says and slowly, the small demon's muzzled poked through the railings slats and she let out a low growl, her fur fluffing up.

"Did you hear that?" Ginta asks, looking around. His friend also looked on edge as Kirara continued to make noise above them. Suddenly, she leaped down, hissing and landing in front of the two men, making them jump. She let out another growl, her tails fluffed up in irritation.

"Geeze Ginta. It's just Lady Kagome's cat," Hakkaku says but his friend just stares at the balcony above them.

"But if she's up and making all this noise about us being here," the grey haired yokai says and the other wolf demon starts backing away.

"Then it's only a matter of time before she wakes up Lord Inuyasha and he asks what we're doing hanging around his chambers," He finishes for his friend, already backing away, "We'd better get going before he finds us like last time." Turning, they both turn, jogging out of the garden and heading towards the bath houses. After a few moments, Kagome gripped onto Inuyasha's arm, pulling him along reluctantly again.

"See? She was creating a diversion," She says, "Let's get inside before they come back." He followed as she pulled him into the open of the garden. She let go of his hand as they reached the garden steps and used the railing to pull herself up, struggling a little against her injury. Inuyasha lets out a sigh and pushes her the rest of the way up.

"You really are hopeless," He says, and she turns to look at him as Kirara leaps up beside her.

"Yeah, yeah," She says, "Come on. I know you're stalling because you don't want to answer my questions. Let's just get upstairs and out of the open. This is clearly something you're bothered about by people finding out." She crouched down and picked up the small cat demon, scratching her ear. "We'll be okay without you watching over us tonight. Why don't you go sleep in the barracks with Sango? I'm sure she's missed you."

The cream-colored demon let out a small, happy squeak of agreement and leaped away, disappearing into the tall grasses that edged the castle. She could sense the unease in both her human masters and knew that it was definitely time she makes herself scarce. Glancing at Inuyasha one more time, she slid open the door that led to the stairs and his private rooms.

As she disappeared, he wondered for a brief moment whether he could just turn and go back into the trees, to wait to face her until the sun had rose and he could figure out some lie to tell her. But that wasn't an option anymore and he knew it. It was too dangerous to do anything but take shelter here, where no one but her would dare disturb him.

Sighing, he followed after his wife, climbing the stairs up to the bedroom. He could hear her, even with him human ears as she rustled things around and lit a lamp, seeing the glow as he reached the door. She glanced up at him, her sapphire like eyes blinking as she lowered herself down to the futon and crossed her arms. Her head was tilted slightly as she took him in, as though trying to spot every difference that had come with his human form. He just scowled back, sliding the door to their room shut.

"What the hell are you staring at, Wench?" He asks and she just blinks at him.

"Are you really," She shifts uncomfortably, "mortal?" He huffs and looks out at the dark sky beyond the eastern window.

"Keh! I thought that was pretty obvious," He grumbles, and Kagome follows his eyes towards the dark sky.

"But why?" She asks and he walked over to the window's ledge, leaning on it. He had no choice. He had to tell her this. Remembering how his mother had explained it to him, he stared at the dark, grey, lightless moon that hung high in the sky.

"It's a half demon's curse," Inuyasha says. "According to what Toga told my mother, hanyo cannot sustain the power of their yokai half limitlessly with bodies of mortal flesh. So once a lunar cycle, that power is pulled away and made dormant. For everyone, it's different, depending upon things like when they are born, who and what their demon parent was. I was born the night of a total eclipse and entered the world when the once bright full moon went completely black. So, at the beginning of the lunar cycle, when the moon goes dark, I turn into a weak, pitiful, mortal, human."

Kagome looked at him, staring out at the sky, the shadows that surrounded them. He looked so angry, so utterly pissed that he was forced to explain this to her. Was this really something he thought of himself when he was forced into a powerless, human form? Of all humans as they lived out their mortal lives without the strength and power she had watched him so easily use to fend off opponent after opponent as he spared?

Is that how he looked at her, his foolish, spoiled, mortal wife who hadn't been smart enough to know the jewel she held power over would revive the spirit of long slain demons?

"Why didn't you just tell me?" She asks, "I mean, isn't trust part of this whole marriage thing?" He turns, glaring at her.

"I trust no one, you got that?" He spits. "You wouldn't even know if you'd of minded your own damn business and left me alone like I told you to!" Kagome looks down and pulled her knees to her chest. She sighed, gripping onto her knees as she felt the tears trying to well up.

"I was worried, okay?" She says, "I mean, you barely even glance at me, but since I've been hurt, you at least always tell me where you're going and when you'd be back. Today you didn't even speak to me." She felt a tear run down her cheek and took a deep breath. "I thought I did something to upset you, like getting too close again. I know I roll around a lot when I sleep sometimes."

"That's the understatement of the century," Inuyasha thought but he heard her sniff and looked back to see small steams of water running down her flushed cheeks. "Hey, knock that off! This is my pity party, not yours!" He saw her lift her head a little and stare straight ahead at the wall.

"I have to trust you every day with my life, Inuyasha," She says quietly, making him feel his heart sink a little. "I just thought, I don't know. That maybe you would have some trust in me back."

"I do trust you, Kagome," Inuyasha says, and she looks up at him as he sighs. "You wouldn't be here if I did think I could trust you to not mean any harm."

"Then why hide it?" she says, and he shrugs, looking out the window.

"I guess I was just, I knew I couldn't let anyone know, so it seemed easier to hide it," He admits, feeling his cheeks turn red.

He knew it was a sorry excuse, but he didn't have a real explanation. She was worried that he was mad at her which he was, but he knew he had no real reason to be. Eventually, she was going to probably figure it out anyway, seeing as they shared a bed chamber and disappearing on the same night every lunar cycle was going to get pretty obvious to her.

Either it was his time of weakness or she'd think he had a very specific mistress.

"I know it seems stupid, but I didn't really have a plan, okay? I'm a warrior but planning things out and coming up with strategies on the spot is not my strong suit."

"Yes, I've noticed you're the storm off and figure it out later type in the last week," Kagome giggles and he looks over at her.

"What do you mean by that?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. She just stays silent, and he crouches down, staring at her. "Kagome!"

"Nothing," She says, "It's just the impression you give off." She reaches for her jeweled necklace and ran it between her fingers. "It isn't like you've given me much to work with."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" He asks and she just looks at him.

"I mean I don't know you because you never talk to me about yourself," She says. "Like I told you before, I only know that you are Lord Toga's son with a mortal wife and the younger brother of the western yokai emperor. That's it. So I have to go off what you've shown me. Which is that you are rash and impulsive and possessive and-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it, I'm a jerk and meat head," He says looking down and she giggles, resting her hand over his as he grips the dormant sword on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but you have a good, kind heart," Kagome says and he rolls his eyes.

"Don't patronize me," He huffs, and she shakes her head.

"You do, even if you don't think so," She says. "I mean, you are always so quick to make sure I'm okay, that I know I'm safe here. I was raised to expect nothing from you unless it was to come warm your bed at night until a son was born." Inuyasha quickly looks away from her, his cheeks resembling the fire rat robe he wore.

"I've never thought less of mortals than when I entered this castle," He says simply, and Kagome looks at him. "To train their children that they are no more than horses to be traded and mated for their own selfish ambitions, it's sickening." He moves her hand away from his and looks at it. "It's the main reason I was so disgusted by the thought of you coming here. That I was becoming a stallion to be offered a foolish mortal filly under the directions of our clans and getting tied up in a world I thought to escape half a century ago."

"You've done everything you could to make that clear," She says, pulling her hand back into her own lap. "That I'm a stupid mortal woman that you are forced to care for. A human girl with a disgusting stench that makes you retch and want to keep yourself as far away as possible."

Inuyasha doesn't answer her, just staring straight ahead as he fights with his mortal heart. One that was so very, very weak to this woman's tears and feelings. He wanted to pull her to him and hold her, something he had fought for the days after she had begun recovering from her injuries. To feel the warmth she gave off and have that scent, that faded all to quickly from his clothes, surround and envelope him again.

It was almost painful to keep pushing her further and further away so that she didn't tempt him so much.

"So," Kagome says, dragging out the word, clearly a little offended by the fact that he didn't refute her thoughts, but desperately wanting to change the subject, "how much longer do you get to suffer mortality alongside me, Inuyasha?" Sighing, he flops back on the futon, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Until day breaks and the sun hits the ground I'm on," He says.

"It must be so strange," She whispers. "To have everything that you feel makes you, well you, stripped away. I imagine it'd almost be like being rendered blind and deaf." Inuyasha blinked at the dark ceiling and shrugged.

"It isn't just that," He says, and she looks back at him, "I can't scent danger, can't feel the auras of youki on the wind. If anyone were to find me, Tetsusaiga won't transform, and I get tired so much easier. My strength isn't even half of what it usually is, and I feel my pain a lot faster than it would usually bother me." Kagome leaned back, plopping down beside him, and staring at the ceiling.

"I can't even begin to comprehend what that would be like," She admits. "I mean, if I didn't have my so called 'power' the only difference would be marrying that clumsy samurai three years ago instead of you a week ago."

Inuyasha's eyebrows furrowed. Married to someone else? He'd thought that she was unattached from everything Sesshomaru explained to him when he had rolled out the damn mortal marriage contract.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, looking at her as she lay beside him, her hair sprawled out around her and the Shikon Jewel gripped between two of her fingers. "What samurai?" She looks at him and turns a little red.

"You didn't know?" She asks and he raised an eyebrow.

"Know what?" He asks and she shrugs.

"I was engaged to Hojo Akitoki, heir of the Mt. Fuji samurai, since I was five," She replies. "A few months before I was to be sent to him, Sesshomaru found out about my affinity for creating barriers and purification rites. So, he and the yokai exterminators came to the daimyo and tested me. You already know the rest."

He stared at her and kind of felt a growl rising in his throat. Well, in a human form it was more of a grumble. 

Gods, was it really that easy for mortals to just toss aside their perspective mates? Sure he knew yokai weren't exactly perfect in their customs, but mortals were down right careless and fickle with their supposed caring hearts.

A mate was serious business, a serious commitment. A claim on paper was still a claim and someone had been willing to marry her since she was little only to turn tail as soon as another, stronger suitor came along?

Well, maybe that wasn't too different from what he'd witnessed in Koga's pack over the years, but they still at least had some resistance against their challenger.

"What's wrong with you?" She asks, and he quickly turns away.

"Nothing," He says and Kagome glances at him, feeling her heart flutter a little.

"Don't tell me you're jealous," She says. "I only met the guy a handful of times, and it isn't like I was madly in love with him. I haven't even seen him since my grandfather broke off their contract in favor of Sesshomaru's. He sent me a letter saying he loved me and was hoping I'd be happy with this new arrangement, but I haven't spoken to Hojo in years." Inuyasha scoffs and quickly turns away from her.

"Keh! I ain't jealous of nobody," He says, still thinking this must of been a really weak, undeserving male to give up his claim on a woman so easily that he hoped she 'was happy' with her new life.

It was simple. If you 'loved' someone and wanted her, you didn't give her up without a fight. He certainly wouldn't have.

Kagome rolls her eyes.

"Sure you aren't," she thought, "Well, while we're talking about it, I did want to thank you." He glances her way again, clearly confused.

"For what?" He says. "I didn't have nothing to do with you being brought here you know. I'd of just as rather you stayed the hell away from me and this life with that damn glowing rock on your neck." The words sounded harsh, but she could tell it wasn't malicious. Rather, it almost seemed like he was trying to reaffirm to himself by deterring her away from him.

"Maybe so," She says, carefully rolling the jewel across her fingers, "But Rin told me in the carriage ride here that it was you who insisted I reached true maturity beyond just being able to bare children before we were married. Not that 'barely grown status' mortals go by with their 'short, pathetic lives' I believe she said your words were." He scrunched up his nose and his cheeks were beginning to grow red.

Or, at least redder than it had been for the last hour or so.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't gonna marry a child if I was gonna be forced to marry someone," He says. "Ain't like I'm gonna suddenly turn into some desperate old geezer anytime soon, so what was the rush?"

"True," She says, "I suppose time is fairly unimportant when you're all but immortal. But to me, to have three more years to be with my family and not be forced to raise my own before I was ready, it means a lot to me, Inuyasha." He looked at her and saw the way her hand rested on her chest, as though she were trying desperately to tell him her sincerity.

A family. He'd never had such attachments, had someone who cared about him beyond whether or not he was useful to them. Not since his mother had died. But this woman, she did. Had grown up treasured and loved, even if she had been superficially of more value to them as a bargaining chip between the Mortal clans and the Canid Yokai than that treasured offspring in the end.

However, the thought of having one himself, it hadn't really appealed to him in a long time. And this woman still expected that was why she was here and maybe to Sesshomaru that was the plan. That this girl, whose face he merely 'overlooked' resembling the fallen priestess.

Yeah right. The second-generation Dog General overlooked nothing He intended his words that had been said as the deceased woman's body burned on her pyre were proven true:

"There are countless more mortal women in this world to be pined after. Allow her soul to retreat to the netherworld as she intended. We must find the one to take her place and keep the Shikon, and you Little Brother, pure of the Magatsuhi."

Sesshomaru, he'd found his replacement, a woman who was able to purify the jewel of four souls. And even better, the scheming creep had probably thought, she looked like the one the pitiful half-breed whimpered over for decades. What a perfect solution!

He, who was above all human emotion and greed, was acting the mortal lord and had found a maiden mare he thought suited his stallion and would produce the desired colts.

That very thought made him too sick to even begin wondering what a family with this woman would be like, not that he ever intended to have one.

Though he knew if he ever did, his offspring would not be such livestock to be traded. He would die before his daughter, if he ever had one that was, would be signed away to some far away lord for nothing more than his own benefits.

"Inuyasha?" He heard Kagome ask and he glanced at her, seeing those night blue eyes blinking at him. "Are you alright? You seemed troubled by something after I mentioned my family."

"It's nothing," He says, "I just think It's stupid really. Putting so much weight on someone for a family that might not ever exist."

"Because I'm not pretty enough and I stink like a mortal?" She asks and he rolls his eyes.

He'd never said she wasn't pretty. She was gorgeous really. Like Miroku said, he had a type, and she was pretty damn close to nailing it on the head.

But he couldn't, and wouldn't, let such foolish thoughts of desire to cloud his judgement again. It made him weak. But that didn't mean she needed to feel like he didn't like having her around, because he did, even if it was just as a companion.

Otherwise, there was no way he would have put himself through so much hell over making his blade and senses sharp for the past few days. It wasn't just to get used to the youki blade again, but also so he could ensure she wasn't harmed again in his protection.

He'd realized a lot when she'd gotten hurt like she did, trying to protect the jewel's integrity. He cared what happened to her and wanted to ensure she didn't meet the same fate as another who had entrusted herself to his care.

"You don't stink," He grumbled, not wanting to think any further about such things. "You smell kinda nice actually."

"You're just saying that because I bathed and you don't have your dog senses," She says, sitting up and looking away from him, "You scoffed at me enough for cuddling that cloak of yours and getting my stench all over it."

He huffed, wanting to just get away from her. It had to be because of his human night. It was making him weaker, in more ways than one, when it came to Kagome. He quickly sat up to hide what had been trying to make itself known through his hakama and sighed.

"I was lyin' okay?" He says, "If I thought you stunk, I certainly wouldn't have let you sleep here, and I wouldn't have left you the dang robe off my back while you slept when Sango could have just gotten another blanket."

"But why-" She starts to ask, and he turns away from her.

"It isn't important, okay?" Inuyasha says, "I say a lot of shit I don't mean when I'm pissed off. I guess I was still just mad at myself for you gettin' hurt on my watch and still taking it out on you."

"I told you," Kagome said, "It wasn't your fault. It was mine for wandering around with something every demon in the area would be drawn to. You heard me scream and came and killed her. She didn't hurt me any longer when I was back under your watch. You don't need to be beating yourself up over me being an idiot."

"I know that," He snaps, angry at her for chiding him like a child, "But that don't mean I'm gonna just forget it. Especially when you've still got threads holding the pieces of your gut together." He looks down and sighs, laying his sword across his lap. "And it isn't just because I'd of gotten in deep shit if you'd of died."

"Then why, why were you so upset, Inuyasha?" She asks and he looked back at her, seeing her kind of crouched forward and trying to approach him on her knees.

Her black hair fell over her shoulders, so dark is almost reflected a blueish light and her eyes were curious as she gazed at him, no judgement even flickering about his futile form. Why did she have to look like that, and be so different from what he had been bracing himself for those three years she spent enjoying with the family who in the end, still sent her happily to bed a half demon and bare his spawn?

"Because being a fool doesn't mean you deserve to die," He says, turning back towards the window and willing for the sun to rise and take his pitiful mortal heart away, "On top of that, you're my wife and I am honor bound to keep you safe, even if I don't want a wife and a family and this whole marriage was just Sesshomaru's attempt to 'tame' me as it were. You're worth more than your ability to bare children."

Kagome reached for the jewel and smiled at his words. She had power. She knew that. But to everyone who spoke to her before, it had all been a tool to gain an advantageous marriage where she could be the one to give birth to such important children. She herself, wasn't the important part. It was her anatomy and the possibility that such powers would be passed on through her blood and pain, that her body could be used to meld a child of spiritual and yokai strength.

"Is that, really, what you think?" She asks and he looks back at her, not realizing how close she had gotten, almost nose to nose.

"I mean, yeah," he says, struggling to find a way to say it so she wouldn't misunderstand when she suddenly slips her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "Hey, what's the big idea?"

"Thank you," She whispers, "I know you don't like me, but you have no idea how much I needed to hear something like that." Sighing, he kind of peeled her off. In in his human form, sure, his senses were dulled, but he could still smell her, and it was not helping the situation he was fighting with, and he quickly pulled up one of his knees.

Kagome let him release her hold around him, quite embarrassed. Of course. She had said it herself. He didn't like her. Why would he want to suddenly be wrapped in a hug?

" Keh! I don't not like you," He says, and she notices a slight blush rising to his cheeks. "Think you're a fool, sure, but you ain't the worst person to be around."

"Not knowing your world doesn't make me a fool, Inuyasha," She says.

"I don't know," He says. "Seems, pretty foolish to me to not know how vulnerable that naivety makes you," Rolling her eyes and knowing he wouldn't budge on it at the moment, she rested her chin on his shoulder and he glanced at her. "What are you doing?"

"Just looking," She says. "The sun is rising soon, right? That's why you keep watching the window?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, "You should probably get some rest, or you'll sleep the whole damn day away."

"I'm not tired," Kagome says, lifting her head up and he turned back towards the window, not objecting to her sitting so close. "I might as well just stay up at this point. If I get tired, I can just take a nap later."

"Suit yourself," Inuyasha grumbled, and she looked at him, studying his human face.

It still looked like him. It was just odd, like someone had dunked him in ink and it had drained away the vibrant silver of his soft hair and gold of his fiery eyes. He was still Inuyasha, still the same person from what she could see, the way he talked and all. But he just seemed anxious, uncomfortable in his own skin.

"Is it painful?" She asks, "When you change?" He shrugged and held his sword again, bracing it on his shoulder.

"No," he says. "It's just weird. I can feel the weakness of a human body as my youki is stripped away and the surge of power when it returns. The ears and fangs and claws just feel like an itch I can't quite scratch until it's done. But it ain't like it hurts or anything."

"Do you mind, if I stay here and see it?" She asks. "The transformation. I know you don't like that I know, but I guess I'm just curious about how it actually happens," He glances at her and chuckles, shrugging.

"Yeah, well, it ain't like you're gonna unknow if I make you wait outside or anything," He says, "The secrets already out. You might as well see if ya want." Kagome gave him a small smile and moved more comfortably into a sitting position beside him, her eyes following his as he looked into the dark.

Together, they watched the window as the sky slowly began to lighten behind the trees of Inuyasha's forest and a new day began to break.