It was late afternoon and the early spring heat was made bearable by the fresh zephyr that wended its way through the pale pink sakura trees in a grove, raining down their petals like snow to the three fur-clad figures beneath the canopy of branches. Ginta and Hakkaku, the survivors of the eastern tribe slain okami youkai stood and they observed their leader as he stood pensively in the storm of petals, his azure eyes cast upward and his ebony topknot blowing in the breeze.

Ginta murmured sideways to his companion, "Hakkaku, do you have any idea why we've stopped here?"

"Beats me," Hakkaku whispered back. "Kouga just stopped here suddenly and he doesn't tell me anything."

"There's still no sign of Naraku and we should keep going. Or we'll never get back home again." Ginta sighed as his leader whirled and skewered the two vassals with a withering glare.

"What are you two bellyaching about?" Kouga demanded. "You're always wanting me to stop and now that I have, you both are giving me grief about it. So what's up?"

Both okami youkai exchanged uneasy looks before Hakkaku spoke up hesitantly, "W-we were just wondering why you chose to rest here, under these sakura trees."

Kouga scowled at his faithful followers, ready to unleash a scathing rebuke but turned and folded his arms obstinately. "Keh! You guys are too much. Always crying for me to stop and now that I have, you're still not happy."

He raised his nose to the air as another soft breeze floated the perfume of the blossoms to his nostrils and his thoughts flew away to a certain human girl whose lovely visage was the soft hue of the delicate petals encircling him. He was then filled with rage as he recalled that she had almost died because of that worthless baka Inukoro and his hands balled into fists.

Flashback:

Everybody had been concentrating on where the Shichinin-tai were and where they would go next when a whirlwind entered the copse and Kouga rushed to Kagome's side, frantic with worry as his keen nose had picked up the scent of illness. He grasped her hand in greeting and discovered that it was cold and clammy and her face, usually so full of life, was pallid. Outraged, Kouga demanded of InuYasha the reason why:

"You baka, Kagome's face is usually pink like the sakura and it's sickly and white like the underbelly of a fish; her hand is cold and she carries the stench of death. What did you do to her?"

InuYasha retorted, "I didn't do anything, okami," as guilt filled him at Kouga's accusatory tone.

"You allowed her to almost die, I can smell it!" Kouga roared "You don't have what it takes to protect her, she'd be better off with me!"

End flashback

That mangy Inukoro, he's too puny and stupid to protect my Kagome. I've got to find Naraku and kill him so I can take her away and she can be with me always Kouga determined as he studied the floating petals, his face grim."Let's go," he ordered brusquely as he took off in a tempest of dust and fallen sakura petals.

Ginta and Hakkaku looked at each other again as they knew that Kouga's mind was on his thirst for vengeance once again. . . .

It was nearing dusk in the Sengoku jidai in Japan and the sun had begun its descent below the horizon, painting the sky in the burnished gold and orange rays of the dying day. The night was approaching ready to enshroud the landscape in her indigo wrap as the evening star hung in the eastern clime like a solitary flawless diamond on velvet, twinkling. Outside the elderly village miko Kaede's hut, the irrigation canal that had been dug to supply water to the village reflected the sunset, shimmering as it flowed past the four young people perched on the edge, contemplative as they chatted among themselves. The group consisted of a lean, handsome Buddhist houshi, a comely taijya maid, a tiny kitsune youkai, and a very pretty girl, clad in attire that appeared somewhat revealing and out of place.

Miroku, the young houshi took a deep breath and closed his ultramarine eyes, savoring the cool of the evening and the rare down time. His hand inched closer to the shapely derriere of Sango, within irresistible reach and as it reached its objective, Miroku was rewarded with a hearty slap.

He favored the petite taijya with a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his neck and she glared at him, his lascivious behavior both angering and flattering her simultaneously.

Sango was ready with a sharp retort but her eye fell on the silent preoccupation that seemed to envelop Kagome who was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, a forlorn expression marring her porcelain countenance. She was immediately concerned about her good friend.

"Kagome-chan, are you all right?" Sango asked softly, a caring hand on her shoulder.

Kagome turned and regarded Sango with a sad smile. "I'm okay, Sango. You needn't worry about me. I'm just worried about InuYasha, he's been gone most of the day."

She sighed heavily as she remembered what had summoned him away and the familiar twinge of jealousy surged through her as the vision in her mind's eye of earlier that day replayed. They had been outside in the early afternoon sun and just relaxing when a legion of serpentine spirits of Kikyo's soul gathers were spotted against the cerulean sky, heading to the north of the village. InuYasha immediately took off after them with a perfunctory "sorry" thrown over his shoulder as he sped off to the location of his first love.

Sango sighed as she tried to comfort her friend, "Kagome-chan, I don't know how you've been so patient. I for one want to shake InuYasha until his teeth chatter for the way he treats you."

Kagome sighed again as she replied, "Sango-chan, it's my choice to stand by and support him. Like the promise he made to Kikyo, I too made a promise to him." She continued resignedly, "Besides, I love him even if he is a jerk."

Miroku then joined in the girls' conversation. "But Kagome-sama, we can see how it hurts you each time he goes to her. Surely his inability to be faithful to you is unacceptable."

Sango made an unladylike snort. "Listen to the pot calling the kettle black. How do you expect to be giving advice when you're the biggest lecher around. There isn't a woman in any village who hasn't been asked by you to bear your child."

Miroku responded defensively, "I only want a son to take over the hunt for Naraku for me in the event of my untimely demise." He held up his right hand and the kazaana bound with his prayer beads for emphasis.

"I understand houshi-sama, but that still doesn't make it right. Your chasing after women has given you a disreputable title, whether your motives are honorable or not," Sango pointed out, her head lowered.

Shippou piped up, "Yeah, I hope I don't grow up like you."

Kagome stood up and dusted her miniskirt off. She flashed her friends a cheery smile and said amiably, "Thanks for your concern guys, but don't sweat it, okay? I'm the one that shattered the Shikon No Tama to begin with and I plan on sticking around to help gather the shards and waste that goon Naraku. So chill out, I'm fine." She waved as she called, "I'm gonna go for a walk and I'll be back in little bit. See ya."

"But Kagome-chan, it's nearly night, it's dangerous," Sango protested but Kagome just shouted back.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." And she was off.

Nonetheless, the trio exchanged worried glances. . . .

Over to the north of the village, in the branches of a sakura tree, InuYasha sat as he pondered over the day's events, the soft evening breeze fanning his shock of silvery hair. He had pursued the soul collectors as they slithered through the air, leading him to Kikyo as she traveled her lonely journey, her hatred and desire for vengeance driving her onward. He confronted her as she rested among the copse of sakura trees, the floating petals swirling about her on the wind. He remembered their short conversation and especially her words of parting to him as she turned to continue her sojourn.

Earlier:

Kikyo gazed about at the flurry of falling petals surrounding them and she commented, "It's time for the fall of the sakura once again. I wonder if we will be still in the midst of this quest when they bloom again."

InuYasha snorted, "Not if I have my way. I'll find that bastard Naraku and avenge what happened to us fifty years ago before then."

Kikyo laughed as she said in scorn, "Don't make yet another promise you won't keep."

The hanyou bristled, "I will kill Naraku, Kikyo. Make no mistake." He thought for a moment and then demanded, "And what do you mean, 'another promise'?"

The miko's response was to turn to him and give him a look that was both sad and cold, her umber orbs boring into him. Then she turned away and held her hand out to catch a stray petal, which she then crushed and sprinkled in the spring breeze.

InuYasha was impatient as he snapped, "Well, are you going to answer me?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you. Go back to your friends InuYasha, I'm sure they are worried about you."

"Where are you going now, Kikyo?" InuYasha asked, wanting to know for it seemed Kikyo had an innate instinct of where Naraku might be harbored. Plus, he was still concerned for her safety.

She turned from him with a sniff. "I'll do what I've been doing since I was thrust once more into this unwanted existence. I'll seek after Naraku to destroy him, then go to hell." Kikyo then turned away and began to walk without another glance. But she gave him a parting shot.

"Remember your promise, InuYasha." And Kikyo was gone.

InuYasha stared at the nearly full moon rising in the east as the last red glow of the departed sun was fading, his heart heavy as he felt the weight of his words. His promise to Kikyo was heavy on his mind and although he intended to honor it, he did not feel as driven to see it to completion as he once was. Maybe it was the strain to finish his quest, to seek after and destroy the hanyou Naraku who deceived him and destroyed the promise of a future for him and Kikyo. When he first found out about Naraku's treachery, he vowed to make him pay. He determined that he would make sure that Naraku would feel the sting of his wrath and would die, sent to hell on his Tessuaiga. But maybe his reticence was because there was another reason, that his heart was drawn in another direction, toward the girl from the future, who unbound him from his fifty year sleep and stayed by him through everything, devoted to helping him achieve his goal.

At the thought of Kagome, InuYasha felt a pang of guilt as he realized that once again he had taken off with no explanation but a halfhearted apology. He had left quickly, not wanting to see the pain in those soft sable orbs that he knew would be there and realized that in all things he was brave save his unresolved yet still lingering feelings for Kikyo and growing feelings for her reincarnation.

Reincarnation? InuYasha questioned himself. She had ceased being that the day he first saw her shed tears for him, something Kikyo had never done. Kagome was the first to shed tears for him since his mother and when that happened, she began to melt the icy wall encasing his heart, allowing for the healing of old scars.

"Kagome," InuYasha said softly, his amber orbs closed as he pictured her before him, her lovely face lit up with her smile and her sweet laughter as she brightened his life. He breathed deep of the perfume of the blossoms surrounding him and he thought briefly of his mother as he was perched in the half-empty tree that had lost its flowers in the steady spring wind of the day. She had loved the sakura, and when they were in their short bloom, would stand beneath the trees surrounding their pagoda and savor the sight and fragrance as he watched her. His eyes then looked to the branch directly above him and he saw a perfect sakura flower, unaffected by the breeze and still whole.

The recent words of his bitter rival for Kagome's affections rang in InuYasha's ears as he remembered the blame Kouga lowered on him about her near death at the hand of Renkotsu and his apt description of Kagome's complexion to a sakura. And so the blossom above him beckoned and he reached up and plucked it, then leapt down and sprinted toward the village. . . .

Over at the clearing where the Bone Eater's well stood, Kagome sat on the edge, her head drooping in dejection as she once again did some serious soul searching as to why she was living a double life, one of a typical Japanese schoolgirl in the 21st century and another as a crusader for gathering the Shikon No Tama in the Sengoku-jidai. She was deep in thought examining her situation, weighing the pros and cons in the light of her feelings for a certain hanyou that had managed to claim her heart. But the pain of uncertainty of the existence of the return of her feelings plagued her as tears stung her eyes and gathered on her inky lashes.

Sheesh, why am I crying? Kagome berated herself. I made my decision to stay by InuYasha no matter what and I know he still loves Kikyo. I can just imagine what they were doing together so long and I'm not Miroku. So why am I torturing myself by hanging on to these feelings? He'll never feel for me the way I feel for him, not while Kikyo is still around. Baka!

The tears began to fall from her lashes and evaporated on the slight breeze, whisking their saline scent into the atmosphere and into the nostrils of certain okami youkai who halted, dead in his tracks as his nose was pointed upward. The whirlwind stopped for a split second and then tore off again in the direction of the breeze as Ginta and Hakakku both stopped and panting, watched as Kouga took flight.

At the well, Kagome was into her misery and took no notice as the cyclone stopped before her and Kouga emerged, his azure eyes soft as he knelt before her, capturing her hand in both of his.

"Hello Kagome," he said softly, "I came because I was nearby and could pick up the scent of you crying. Onegai, tell me what is wrong."

Kagome's watery eyes studied the tenderly earnest expression on the handsome face of the head of the once man-eating okami youkai, who waited patiently for her explanation. Kouga reached up with a brawny arm and his hand gently brushed the rivulets away with his fingertips as she sought to compose herself.

She sniffled and flashed a smile that was wavering as she said, "It's nothing, Kouga-kun. I'm just being silly and it's really not important."

"I don't believe that. Nothing that upsets you is not important, not to me. If anything hurts you or upsets you, I absolutely want to know about it. So tell me."

Kagome looked at Kouga uncertainly as she debated telling him about the entire situation. He already looked at InuYasha as his enemy and she was sure that he would relish an opportunity to disparage his competition. But she underestimated Kouga's perceptiveness and he rose to his feet, his features darkening with anger.

"You don't have to tell me, I already know. This has to do with Inukoro, doesn't it? He went to see his miko again."

Kagome was surprised. "How do you know about her?"

He replied, "I heard about the story when we fought the Hyoyoukai when they captured you. Story was the baka was in love with the wench and was sealed to a tree by her."

She nodded, avoiding his gaze as he uttered a curse. His hands balled into fists as he continued hotly, "When will you realize that he's not worth the pain he causes you, that he doesn't deserve you?"

Kagome opened her mouth to speak but Kouga came to her and placed his hands on her shoulders to look right into her sable orbs to plead his case. . . .

In the meantime, InuYasha was sprinting through the forest named for him by Kaede's village, worried about Kagome's well being. He had arrived at the hut and was informed by an irate Sango that Kagome had left at sunset to take a walk and disappeared in the forest. Without a word he raced off, his concern for the dangers of the night befalling her from demons that preferred the cover of darkness driving him. He leapt from tree to tree to cover more ground until he came to the thinning of the trees and saw the well in the distance with a familiar slender figure in a short green skirt. But he picked up the unmistakable stench of the meddling Kouga and saw him crouched by Kagome and a low dangerous growl rumbled in his throat, yet instead of pouncing on his rival, he stayed hidden to listen to the conversation. InuYasha's growl intensified as he heard the last statement and it took all of his meager self restraint to keep hidden and listen to the rest. . . .

"Kagome, you know how I feel, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm in love with you." He saw her start to protest and laid a finger on her lips. "Just hear me out, okay?"

She nodded as Kouga went on. "My den is nearly completely wiped out, everyone I considered my family is dead, thanks to Naraku and that wind witch Kagura. I have nobody beside Ginta and Hakakku that survived and when I finally kill Naraku, there's no guarantee that I'll survive so I know that's not much of future to offer you."

Kagome's eyes grew into wide sable pools as she was transfixed by Kouga's declaration. He continued, "I don't know the bond between you and Inukoro but as much as it pains me to admit it, I know you care deeply for him. It is my heart's wish that you would find it in your heart to have a least a fraction of that feeling for me, for it belongs to nobody else but you."

Kagome was awestruck as at the age of fifteen nobody ever confessed love for her like that. "Oh Kouga-kun," was all she could say, feeling uncomfortable as the okami's azure orbs enveloped her in their warmth.

Kouga's face held a poignant trace of hope as he asked, "You do care for me a little bit, don't you Kagome?"

"Y-yes I do," was her answer, barely a whisper.

Up in the tree in the distance still hidden, InuYasha's keen ears heard Kagome's words and his heart fell as he filled with almost uncontrollable rage toward the okami bastard. How dare he?? It figures that HE shows up to worm his way into Kagome's heart with all his sweet talk. He's such a scum, moving in when he thinks he has a chance. Kuso! He cursed as his claws bared and although sickened by her reply, he continued to listen. . . .

At the well, the conversation continued as Kouga said, "But not like you do for Inukoro, huh? Even though he loves another?"

Kagome gazed at the leader of the okami youkai as she shook her head. "Gomen nasai, Kouga-kun. I care about you as a good friend. But I can't help how I feel."

He lowered his head for a moment as he rose and turned toward another sakura tree in the distance, its blossoms pearlescent in the rising moonlight. Kouga spoke in a wistful tone.

"I noticed today that the sakura are blooming. When I see them, I always think of your face, which is pink like their petals." He reached and ran his fingers across her cheek, then gave her a smirk as he waved, "Ja ne, Kagome," and he was off again like the wind.

Kagome watched as the whirlwind disappeared and sighed as she stared off at the sakura tree, now still in the night air since the wind of the day had diminished. Her mind was filled with the words Kouga spoke to her and her heart yearned Oh, if only InuYasha would say those things to me, I would be so happy but I know there's no room in his heart for me. Tears once again pricked at her eyes as the sound of something leaping through the air startled her as InuYasha appeared before her, an inscrutable expression on his visage.

"So here you are," he said gruffly. "When I got back to the hut, everyone said you had gone out for a walk even though you know how dangerous it can be at night. Baka."

Kagome sighed and lowered her inky head, suddenly tired. "I just wanted some time alone."

InuYasha glared at her. "But you weren't alone, were you. Don't deny it, the reek of that flea bitten Kouga is all over here and all over you." He leaned over to sniff at her but she recoiled.

Kagome became irritated as she snapped, "So what if he was? He was in the area and just came to see me." Besides you were with Kikyo all day, so you should talk.

InuYasha was still raw from the words he heard so he responded sharply, "You're so easily taken in by him, Kagome. When are you gonna wise up?"

That did it. Kagome turned and her cheeks pink with anger she retorted. "That's enough! I refuse to let you make me feel guilty for just talking to Kouga when you spent all day with Kikyo. So case closed." She turned away from him, arms folded and her chin set.

InuYasha was immediately remorseful, Kagome's anger making him fearful of losing her and he sat there silent as he mentally lambasted himself as once again he started on the wrong foot with her. I called her a baka, but I'm the baka, I came here because I missed her and wanted to see her and I just made her pissed at me. He sat beside her, his shoulder touching hers.

After giving each other the silent treatment for several minutes, InuYasha spoke first. "I'm sorry. I was just worried about you, the youkai come out at night and I wasn't around to protect you." He cleared his throat as he continued, "Besides, I have something I want to give you."

Kagome turned to him and watched as he withdrew the sakura blossom from his sleeve, still intact despite the trip. He said slowly, "When my mother was around, she loved sakura and there were trees all around our home. Since I have nothing left of hers to give you, I saw this sakura today and thought about how much she would like it, so I thought I'd pick it and give it to you."

InuYasha handed the flower to Kagome as her eyes took in the lovely bloom and then slowly rose to meet the amber orbs gazing warmly at her. A blush spread on both their cheeks as their eyes spoke what their tongues could not. As her right hand held the slim stem of the blossom, her left hand stole over to grasp his hand, lying between them and his fingers curled around it.

"Arigatou, InuYasha," Kagome said softly, words at a loss." Her eyes sparkled and she smiled, causing his heart to pound. InuYasha shook his head to clear it, released her hand and then knelt down to take her on his back.

"C-c'mon. You look tired, I need to get you back to the hut so you can rest."

Kagome climbed on, looping one arm around the hanyou's sturdy neck as he leapt up and headed toward the village. During the journey, Kagome held the sakura he had given her to her nose to breathe the soft scent while the warm expanse of his back made her feel safe and. . . .

Loved.