A Second Chance At Love by Duchesscarml

An Ugly Truth/ A Hanyou's Heart.

Author's Note: I was going to make this as a one shot but, now I'm not so sure I'm starting to like it more as I write Ch. 2, which was going to be the last chapter. What do you think? I welcome any thoughts on this... and yes, this is a Sess/Kag fic.

Summary: After the final battle with Naraku events cause Kagome to decide to let go of her long-time love after 2 years. Now shes falling for someone else; his brother. On a journey to get the jewel back an enchanted castle, ghosts, a 100 year old mystery dealing with a Family Feud, and a new villian? causes more problems then they can handle.

Chapter 1: An Ugly Truth/A Hanyou's Heart

"BAKA!"

She knew he could be an idiot, but this was an all, new, low. To accuse her of making goo goo eyes at Sesshoumaru. 'Goo-goo', he'd actually used that term. After everything she had to put up with over Kikyo, he had the nerve to get upset because she showed some interest in someone else! All she did was ask a question, a simple, harmless question and he had the audacity to accuse of her of that.

"WHO YOU CALLIN BAKA! I'm not the one mooning all over that...sister of mine!"

Inuyasha watched as Kagomes face went from angry to furious, which amazed him... and worried him a little, though he wasn't about to admit none of that out loud. Not with that houshi and the taijiya standing behind him... laughing, no less. Not to mention that damn kitsune, besides he wasn't afraid of her. He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a precautionary step back from the raging girl, who was looking at him with murder in her eyes. His murder... and at this moment he believed she could do it, but he was not scared.

"Who... am I calling Baka? Who else? No one else fits the discription so aptly as you." Kagome narrowed her eyes menacingly as she responded to his yell in a soft, but deadly voice. She took two steps closer to the hanyou that she was imagining wrapping her hands around the neck of and squeezing for dear life.

"All I asked you is, why does Sesshoumaru take care of the little girl, Rin, if he hates humans so much." She took another step closer as she threw her right fist on her hip and thrust her left pointer finger in Inuyasha's face as she continued, " and from that you assume I have a romantic interest in him?"

"Ah... I... Well... What's, it to you anyway?" Inuyasha croaked out. His voice was loosing its force as his argument was. He knew he really didn't have no grounds for asking, or accusing Kagome of a romantic interest, but he still couldn't get the scene from last night out of his head. It should have been him protecting Kagome, not Sesshoumaru. But, no he was with Kikyo at the time. All he could see in his minds eye was Sesshoumaru holding her in his arms and her not moving to get out of them. So, he'd panicked.

Then when she'd asked him that question a few minutes ago, while his mind was still revolving around the image of her in his brothers arms, well... he'd quite literally lost it. He couldn't explain it to her either though, he didn't know how.

"SIT, SIT SITT!"

Kagome screamed the command at Inuyasha and in the blink of an eye they were all coughing and waving the dust out of the air and their eyes. When the dust cleared they all looked down at the grown. Their in the middle of where they stood in the forest was a huge crater and in the middle of the crater was a, face down in the dust, Inuyasha.

"Well, we all knew that was coming. I don't know why you provoke her Inuyasha," said Sango with a sigh of acceptance.

"Yes. We did... and it was three very hard ones this time," added Mirouku reverently. "Inuyasha, why do you not learn from past transgressions?"

"Yea, dog brain." Shippou piped in as he hopped up on to the Monk's shoulder.

Kagome's anger started to dissipate as she watched the hanyou lying face down in the crater. She sighed as she knelt down at the edge of the crater. She watched Inuyasha begin to move, as she knew he would, since her anger was warring off. When anger calmed so did the command that she had control of.

"What's wrong Inuyasha? Usually I don't have to deal with this until Kouga-kun, comes around."

Inuyasha grimaced at the wolf youkai's name as he climbed out of the crater he made with the force of his body's impact on the ground. God that hurt, he thought to himself. He didn't care too much for that wolf youkai, but if the truth was known he didn't really believe Kagome had any romantic feelings for the wolf prince. He just liked to pick on her with that one, though the youkai did piss him off alot, calling Kagome 'his woman', he thought in disgust.

"Nothing." He said in answer to her question, not looking her in the eyes as he lied.

"You're lying to me. You can't even look me in the eyes." Kagome said softly.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha as he looked somewhere off to the left. She could tell he was hiding something, because whenever he was he never could look her in the face. She should know, she'd seen it a million times before. Even now, with Naraku being defeated and the Shikon no Tama disappearing, he was still lying to her. She'd been stuck in his world for almost a month now, because without the jewel she couldn't go home, well she could...but she couldn't come back. Her miko powers had grown tremendously, so she was able to leave on her own, but she couldn't return without the jewel's help. Her miko powers were strong, very strong. Her archery skill had grown, too. They'd been through so much together, all of them, and yet he was still lying to her... and he only did that for one reason. Kikyo.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him again, but didn't get angry this time. No, she knew the answer to her questions and this time she was going to make him answer. Now.

"This is about last night, isn't it? When Sesshoumaru saved my life against Kagura and Kanna." She watched him flinch slightly. If she was staring at him so hard she would have missed it. "So, what are you angry about more? The fact that he saved me or that you didn't?"

Inuyasha flinched harder that time as he sat down, arms and legs folded in true Inuyasha style. He hung his head low, chin resting against his shoulders. The others watched in silence waiting for one of them to continue. Waiting to understand, but Inuyasha didn't have the... to admit to what she was asking.

Kagome sat down beside him and folded her hands in her lap atop her skirt of her school uniform, which was red since she had moved into the highschool back in her time.

"Where were you Inuyasha?" she asked quietly. She paused and sighed before continuing, "You were with her weren't you? Don't bother denying it. Whenever your not with me, your with her."

Kagome took his silence as affirmation. She looked up when she heard Sango gasp as understanding lit both hers and the houshi's eyes. Who stood silently beside the taijiya.

Kagome got silently to her feet as the tears started to run silently down her cheek unchecked. Why did he always make her cry? Why did she always let him?

"Kami-sama... I don't believe this! You stand there and yell at me for something you have been doing for as long as I can remember, and still are, and think you have the right to question me! All I've ever done is stay beside you and love you, but that was never enough for you, was it? I'm not enough for you."

Wiping the tears from her cheek, Kagome turned and walked away.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" asked Shippou. Voicing everyone's thought.

"No," replied Inuyasha. "I'll just hurt her more."

"She must really love you, to go through this kind of pain for so long," said Sango in a quiet voice. She thought about the pain her friend, the closest she'd ever had to an oneesan, and her voice hardened with the anger she felt on Kagome's behalf as she continued, "But, don't look for her to keep loving you now. A person can get sick of loving someone who constantly hurts them. You don't hurt the ones you love." Sango walked away, following after her friend. She didn't hear the hanyou's whisper to the Monk, as it was swept away on the wind in the opposite direction.

"I just don't know what to do... Kami- sama I hurt her again."

Somewhere in the middle of the forest not far away

Kagome kept walking with her head down, eyes on the ground, no destination in mind. She wanted to so badly to go to her mom, but she couldn't do that. She was stuck on this side of the well, as far away from her mom as she could possibly get. Tears welled up in her eyes again. She hurt so much and it was because of the same dead miko. Always because of her... and Inuyasha.

He'd been with Kikyo when she was in danger, even though he had sworn to protect her. He was with Kikyo. Just like all the other times before, she sniffed to her self as she tried to wipe the tears that were falling faster then her hands could wipe. Why did he feel he owed her so much? Naraku had tricked them both, but no one seemed to think that mattered. He was still willing to give his life to Kikyo, instead of staying alive with her. She wouldn't ask him to change his mind. She wouldn't lower herself to beg for his love. Oh, Kagome knew she had it, that's what scared Kikyo so much, because she knew it too, but not enough.

When Kagome's life was in danger, it wasn't Inuyasha who showed up to help her. Mirouku no longer had the wind tunnel on his hand, so he had enough to deal with, with Kanna and her mirror that took souls. Kagome shuddered as she thought back on the events of the night before...

FLASHBACK

She'd been, cornered, by Kagura, when no one was looking or able to help her, and she was too weak to do anything. She would have been able to fight if her miko powers weren't so drained after using so much the night before to help Sango's brother. Kohaku. Sesshoumaru had used the Tensaiga to bring the boy back to life afte Naraku had taken the jewel shard from the boy's back for his final battle.

Kagura had laughed in her face as her red eyes glowed with her anger. She'd screamed at Kagome.

"Ha! Ha! Now, I'm finally going to kill you! You and those damn miko powers! You won't be stopping anymore of my winds."

Then she'd lashed out at Kagome. Kagome had felt a searing pain in her right arm and almost passed out from it. Then she saw this white and silver flash fly over her head and knock Kagura back.

"You will not hurt the young miko Kagura." Kagome had heard a familiar icy voice say. Then she'd looked up to see The Lord of the Western Lands fighting off Kagura. He'd have killed her if Kagura hadn't flown off on her feather, as usual.

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had joined forces to defeat Naraku. They hadn't dealt with there own differences... no, they just put them to the side to fight as one. It was magnificent to see. Since then Sesshoumaru had always been somewhere near by, even though he did not travel with them. Which is why, when they were attacked, and the rest of them were too busy fighting, Sesshoumaru was the one who saved her. Inuyasha, was nowhere to be found until it was over.

Kagome had gotten slashed down her right arm, from shoulder to elbow, and her miko powers were to weak to repair it. Sesshoumaru cleaned and dressed her wound and held her in his arms to keep her warm. And boy, was she warm! He'd done it all in complete silence.

"Arigatou, Sesshoumaru-sama," she'd whispered to him as she blushed at his stare. Then thinking he'd want to know why Inuyasha wasn't there protecting her she'd added, "I don't know where Inuyasha has gone."

Though his facial expression hadn't changed she'd remembered having the distinct feelling that he knew exactly where Inuyasha was.

Inuyasha showed back up hours later. They were all settled in for the night... and she was still wrapped in Sesshoumaru's arms, nestled against his chest. He'd taken one look at them and blown up. She'd had to sit him to get him to be still long enough for Mirouku to tell him what had happened. He'd stared at his brother for a long minute then he'd huffed and jumped to the top of the tree, to do God knows what.

She'd thought she should go after him and spoke her thoughts aloud.

"Maybe I should go after him and explain," she'd said.

Sesshoumaru had starred down at her for a moment then said quietly, "Can you climb to the top of that tree Kagome?"

"No."

"Then I figure you're staying right here and keeping warm." Then he'd tightened his arm and wrapped his tail around her and spoke no more.

She'd fallen asleep in the Taiyoukai's arm. When she awoke the next morning he was gone and she was in her sleeping bag.

Kagome admitted to herself, that she did enjoy being in the youkai's arm. For once, she'd felt important to someone, special. She'd felt that there was someone there who was all abou t her. It was odd to think, that Sesshoumaru was the one to make her feel that way, but she couldn't deny liking it. She'd wondered if that was how he mad Rin feel in some way, which had prompt her question to Inuyasha.

And was it such a surprise that she would be attracted to the Taiyoukai. He was beautiful, strong, as well as smart she was sure, and something told her he wasn't as cold as he made people believe. Just look at how he'd treated her last night... and if that wasn't enough, just look at Rin.

Mirouku and Sango had each other. She wasn't blind, she saw how they were getting closer. She saw all the times they went off together and didn't come back for long times. What was wrong with wanting that for herself as well. She wasn't saying she wanted it with Sesshoumaru... she was just saying it.

Kagome sighed. She had to talk to Inuyasha. She had a few things She had to say to him. At this decision, Kagome turned around to go back the way she came... and ran smack into Sango. She must have really been in thought, not to hear her if she was that close.

Sango," she exhaled at running into the older girl.

Daijoubou desu ka, Kagome?"

Haii," replied Kagome with a tremulous smile. "Or at least, I will be."

"You've made a decision," stated Sango.

Kagome didn't reply to that, but Sango didn't mind, it wasn't a question.

"Is Inuyasha still at the campsite?"

Sango sighed. This was not going to be good... not for Inuyasha. He should have confessed his heart, she thought ruefully of her hanyou friend. "Hai"

Kagome nodded and headed off toward the campsite.