"Don’t you think I already know this story? You wanted to become a full demon, met Kikyo in the process, changed your mind, Naraku pitted you against each other, she pinned you to a tree for fifty years, I fall through the well, free you, then we go on many adventures, make many new friends, and end up in our current situation. None of that however explains your current behavior." She smirked at him as if she had just summed up his entire story slightly faster than he had intended.

"Fine, if you think you already know everything, then I’m not going to tell you." The hurt tone in his voice came out loud and clear as he crossed his arms and turned his back to her. The smirk on her face dropped and she suddenly felt very bad.

"I’m sorry, was there something that you really wanted to say?" He pouted for a minute, then spoke.

"Yes, there is, but if you interrupt me one more time, I’m not telling you a damn thing." He glared and waited for her response.

"Ok, I promise, I will not interrupt you until you are finished." She held up her hand as if she were reciting an oath.

"Well, you might as well get comfortable, otherwise, I’m going to have to stop, and I won’t start over if it comes to that." He waited as she adjusted herself on the bed. She sat directly opposite from him, making sure that her eyes met his. As he began his story, they seemed to glaze over just slightly, and she got the feeling that he was no longer seeing her there in front of him, but more like he was reliving a memory.

"It all began when I first heard of the Shikon No Tama. I had always felt incomplete, but I wasn’t quite sure why. I thought that it was maybe losing my mother early in life, but that didn’t seem quite right, there had to be more to it. The first time I heard of the jewel, two demons had been talking, saying that it was powerful enough to do anything, then they saw me, pointed, laughed, and one stated ‘Even turn that lousy half breed into a full demon.’ That comment, though insulting, had sent me into thinking about it. I already needed to become strong enough to enact revenge upon my brother, and something seemed very important and familiar about the jewel itself. I then decided that using the jewel to become a full demon had been the solution to my problem all along. Then I met Kikyo." He shaded his eyes slightly at the last comment and continued with his thoughts. "After meeting her, I had become convinced that becoming human would be the better answer. I could just hide from Sesshoumaru all together, and be with her. Sadly, that was not the solution either. That feeling of betrayal brought about by Naraku caused me to revert to my original theory.

I managed to break into the shrine that housed the jewel, and take it for myself. As I was running through trees and jumping in the air, I began to feel a force come from within myself. Almost as of my body were trying to pull the Shikon No Tama into itself. It was around that point that the sealing arrow had pierced my chest. It was then that I was put into my fifty year prison. Everyone thinks, and says that I spent those fifty years asleep, but what do they know. I had no sense of time, but I was far from sleeping. I could hear nothing, say nothing, and move nothing, but I saw things. Images of ancient battles with demons as if I had been the one fighting in them, unfolded in front of my eyes. Still, I could never hear or see any clues as to the body I was in. I was forced to live these images over and over again until the day that my sense of smell restored itself. The smell of blood and the shikon automatically triggered me to think that Kikyo had been injured and the jewel taken. Now that I have new insight, the blood probably belonged to the centipede, and the other smell was you." He paused, and emotion began to enter his eyes, he reached out for Kagome’s left hand, and held it between both of his. She gasped slightly, utterly surprised by this gentle action. "You know about me finding that you were not Kikyo, and how you set me free, but I still smelled the jewel on you, and that is what triggered my aggressive behavior. I had at first thought you and the villagers to be a band of thieves, but once the prayer beads were applied, I knew better. Still, I believed that you had obtained the jewel through ill gotten means, so I thought I would keep my eye on you. When I learned of Kikyo’s death, my judgement became erratic and clouded. I even considered just taking the jewel and killing you in hopes that it would set everything right." She gasped and pulled her hand away in slight terror. He just turned his head towards the window. "But, when we first found evidence that the jewel had been shattered my foolishness became completely clear to me. I had just seen my entire future dashed into a countless number of pieces, but now my life seemed to have a higher purpose. Complete the jewel, and complete myself." He shut his eyes and took in a slow breath.

"Then there was you." He reached out to her, and she reluctantly took his hand. He pulled her close and sniffed her hair. "I realized early on that you were not Kikyo. Though I was not around at the time, I felt an odd sensation of pain when Yura had knocked you into the well, it is one of the reasons that I came back for you, outside of the obvious ones. It’s also the reason that I fight you so hard when you attempt to leave, it hurts me when you’re away." He released her after a slight squeeze, and placed her back on front of him. "At the time none of that made sense. The reasons why things occurred were a complete blur to me, that is until the events on Midoriko’s cave. When Myoga dropped the shard inside of the cave, I felt as though something dormant had awoken inside of me and taken over. All I could do was watch as my body went into the cave and battled some sort of phantom demon. When I had regained myself Myoga was rattling off about Midoriko, but I knew that some how I was the one doing the saving, and I told him so. I also told him I knew that bringing the jewel into the cave would have such an effect as it did, but to tell the truth I could not have said that even one minute before. At that point, I knew a lot more than that." He looked deep into Kagome’s eyes. "I have reasons to believe that you are not only Kikyo’s reincarnation, but to a certain level, a reincarnation of the jewel. That is why you where able to call your soul back after Uresue’s (I think that’s right) ritual. The jewel was never a part of Kikyo, but it was, at one point, a part of you. It is most likely where your miko powers originated.

I had also developed a strange bond with Kirara. It’s why I invited Sango to join us. That and she would be, and has been, a very valuable asset in battle. Since then, I have had an intensified urge to protect the group, and most of all, you." He sighed as if he had finished.

"Is that all you needed to say?" She hoped that she had not interrupted.

"That’s about all that I can say." He fell back onto the mattress and starred at her ceiling.

"Well, it does explain some things, but there is still one detail that bothers me. It’s your comment about what happened at the well." He continued to look upon the structure above him.

"You mean with Yura?" She moved on to all fours and began stalking across the bed.

"No, you weren’t there when I fell." She had crawled until her face hovered above his. They both blushed at the closeness. He swallowed a lump that had appeared in his throat.

"So, um, which time do you mean?" She leaned in closer so that she could stare into his eyes. She placed a finger on his forehead and trailed it down to his nose as their breath intertwined.