Her pulse races and her breathing bursts out of her in small, sharp pants. Wind whips through her long, black hair, tangling her seductive curls into knots.  Darting a glance behind her, she doesn't see the man she's being chased by, but that doesn't mean he isn't there. He has...skills that allow him to disappear into the forest as though he'd never existed, and she knows he holds no qualms about using them.

Turning her head back, she speeds up as much as she can, dodging around trees and jumping over bushes in a desperate attempt to get away, to flee his beastly nature. She hears the crackling of snapped twigs and is unsure if it is her making the noise...or him. She cranes her neck around, searching futilely for a flash of white, or red - anything to hint at his location, but goes unrewarded.

That is, until she finds herself unceremoniously propelled towards the ground and a weight settles onto her back. She struggles to relieve herself of the pressure, but the only thing she accomplishes with her twisting is to come face-to-face with her captor.

"Got you," he growls, pinning her wrists to the ground.

"Go to hell!" She writhes underneath him.

"Careful. Never know how I might respond to the temptation of sweet, squirming flesh..." Leaning down close, he takes a deep breath in through his nose, wanting her scent, marking her with his.

"InuYasha! That's so vulgar!" She pretends to be disgusted, turning her face away from him, but he can hear the giigle hidden in her voice.

"But I thought that was what you liked about me, hmm? Or was I mislead, Kagome? Have you been," he pauses and chuckles slightly evilly,"misleading me?"

Laughing in response, she tugs her wrists from his loosened grasp and places her hands on either side of his face in a loving caress, pulling him down close to her. "I don't know, InuYasha, have I been?" She kisses him, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position.

He deepens the kiss, wrapping his arms around her and tangling his fingers into her already tangled hair. "Mmmm," he moans before leaning away slightly, trying to gain control of his rampant desire to strip her down and lick her untils she begs him to stop,"No, I think not...But don't try and weasel your way out of our bet with your body: I won fair and square! You have to give me one day without these damn beads!"

She chuckles. "Part of the wager was that you had to hold onto me, aaaand,"she says as she slips out from under him,"you haven't managed that yet."

Grabbing hold of her wrist, he smirks cockily. "Oh, really? Then what do you call this?" He gestures to his hold on her.

Smirking right back, she stands and fondles his ear. "Temporary." Leaning down for one last long kiss, she says,"SIT, boy!" and he's forced to release her as he hits the ground with a loud THUD.

"Damn you, Kagome!!This ain't over!" He shouts at her retreating back, teeth bared in anger.

He snarls, unable to believe he was duped by her again. He should already know that she'll never take them off, no matter what she promises. And yet, he still can't bring himself to be angry at her, loving her all the more for her demon-like cunning, She truly is his soul-mate, and even a worthless half-breed like him feels lucky she's his.

As Kagome reaches the edge of the forest, she pauses and looks over her shoulder, feeling extremely guilty about tricking InuYasha like that. He's done nothing to deserve such mistreatment, but...well, how can she be sure he would return to her? He says he loves her, but he is known for his callousness, and she's not sure she could handle him not coming back. She loves him too much. However, she knows the saying that if you love something, you have to let it go.

And so, she turns and walks slowly back to where she came from, struggling with every step to convince herself to release him. By the time she gets back to the clearing, she has finally decided.

InuYasha is still crouched on the ground where she left him, and looks up through his white bangs in pleasant surprise at her return. Then, his eyes harden and his mouth tightens into a thin line.

Sighing and unsure, Kagome leans over, reaching through his beautiful snowy hair to remove the beads. One hand pets his twitching dog-ears before she steps away.

"There," she murmurs, tone hushed and resigned, "you're free to go." She places the necklace in his lap and turns away, walking into the darkened trees with her head high but her heart low.

Meanwhile, InuYasha still sits on the forest floor, astonishment gluing him there. By the time he finally stands, she has long since disappeared, and he only has a day to retrieve her present, so he can't afford to lose time to find her. He takes to the trees, wrapping the necklace around his hand like Miroku does with his. Dashing elatedly, he quickly vanishes into the sunset.

He won't come back...It's the only thought skittering around Kagome's mind on "Repeat" as she trudges through the brambles and underbrush of the now treacherous-seeming woods. He won't come back, so she'll leave before the fact that he's brushed her off sinks in. 

"I guess now's as good a time as any to go home. Maybe I should find Shippo and tell him I'm going first. He deserves to know - I don't want him to worry..." She's muttering aloud, trying to distract herself from thoughts of InuYasha, but failing miserably. What a perfect word to describe how she feels: miserable.

On second thought, she won't stop to see anyone. She doesn't want to have to explain her decision, especially to Shippo and his big, bubbly eyes. He's just to young to understand the pain of heartbreak; and Kaede would surely give her the look that would convince her to stay, despite her own unhappiness.

She finds her bike sitting right where she left it - next to the well - earlier today, before she destroyed her own little world. She lifts it over the edge and drops it down ahead of her. As she's about to jump in, she hears a voice.

"Kagome!" It's Shippo, of course. "What're you doing?" She turns around to look at the adorable little fox demon staring at her with those terribly innocent eyes of his.

"Oh! Well, I was just...going for a supply run, Shippo. Nothing special, so I'll be back soon."A guilty twinge prickles the back of her neck.

"Ooh," he squeals,"will you bring back that Ramen stuff ?? Preeeeeeeeeetty please?!?" He jumps up and down, ears pricked in anticipation.

Laughter not reaching her eyes, Kagome responds without looking directly at his bouncing form. "Of course I will. Don't I always? Anyway," she quickly shifts the subject away from her imminent departure, "why are you here?"

"Oh." He stops jumping. "Miroku's in the village, being a pig, of course, so I decided to come here and wait for you and InuYasha. Hey, where is he, anyway? Did you two have another fight? Do I need to rough him up for you?"