Chapter 1—Knight in Shining Armor

"So remind me again, Sango… why am I here?" Kagome Higurashi asked her best friend.

Sango Oshira stopped drinking from her plastic purple cup long enough to respond. "Uhmm, 'cause you love me?"

"Yeah, right." Kagome responded with sarcasm. "So are you ever gonna tell me why you drink from a purple cup? I mean, they provide FREE red cups at every party we go to."

"Kagome, Kagome… you just don't get it, do you? If I used a red cup, someone might think I'm drinking out of theirs, get pissed off, beat me up, kill me, or even worse, steal my drink!" Sango replied as if the answer was obvious to anyone with half a brain.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Wow Sango, I'm so stupid! I can't believe I didn't think of that!"

"It's okay, bud. I forgive you!" Sango took another sip of her drink and looked around the room full of her classmates from her school, Windward High. When she looked toward the front door of the house, she noticed two additions to the party. She pointed towards the door. "Oh my God! Kags, look who's here!"

Kagome looked in the direction of Sango's finger. Then she spotted them: InuYasha Takahashi and Miroku Kimura, Windward High's two biggest players. "Yeah, what about them, Sango?"

"Oh come on, Kags! They NEVER come to these parties, and there they are, like, 10 feet away from us! Let's go say hi!" Sango grabbed Kagome's arm to drag her along.

Kagome pulled her arm back from Sango's grasp. "Sango, what the hell? I'm not gonna go and talk to them… I mean, I only see InuYasha in history… I've never ever really met them!"

Sango's mouth dropped open. "You've never met InuYasha Takahashi or Miroku Kimura?? Are you sure you're a girl? I mean, those guys lunge at anything with boobs and a vagina!"

"Wow, Sango… way to make me feel like a complete loser."

"Oh Kags, that's not what I meant, and you know it. But seriously, come on, I'm gonna introduce you to them right now. Once you get past their playboy ways, they're actually really cool guys."

"Really Sango, I think I'll pass." When she saw that Sango was about to object, she added, "Besides, I'm parched. I'm gonna go in the kitchen and get a drink. Go on, I know you wanna go talk to them. I'll catch up with you later." She turned around and walked away, not waiting for Sango's response.

Simply walking to the kitchen turned out to be not-so-simple. There were so many people jam-packed in the living room that Kagome couldn't even see two feet in front of her. 10 minutes later, she was finally able to push her way through the kitchen door.

The keg, surprisingly, was abandoned. As she filled up her cup, she felt a hand on her lower back, dangerously close to her ass. She turned around only to find herself face-to-face with her ex-boyfriend, Hojo Saito. "Hello, Kagome. You look very nice as always."

"Oh, hey Hojo! You kinda creeped me out a little bit." She smiled and he laughed. They had only dated for about 2 months and their breakup had been messy. He claimed that he was in love with Kagome and followed her home almost everyday for a month after she broke up with him. She finally confronted him about how freaky this was, and he apologized, claiming that he just missed her a lot. But now, she had no problem talking to him every now and then.

"Yeah, that's me. Hojo, the creeper!" He laughed unnecessarily loud, and when he did, Kagome smelled the alcohol on his breath and knew in that instant that he was drunk. "So, are you having a good time?"

Kagome shrugged. "I mean, it's always fun hanging out with everyone… but Sango kinda ditched me." She started chuckling. She stopped when she saw the serious look on Hojo's face. "Hojo, what's wrong?"

Hojo grabbed her hands. "So, you're all alone?"

"Uhmm, technically, I'm with you right now." She joked half-heartedly. Truth be told, she was a little scared of what Hojo was scheming in his head.

"Well, since we're alone now, what difference does it make where we're alone at? I think there's a bedroom down the hall. Come on…" He started to pull her along with him.

Kagome tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. 'God, what is it with people grabbing my wrist tonight?' she thought. "Hojo, ouch, let me go! You're hurting me!"

Hojo just laughed. "Oh calm down, Kaggy-poo. You're gonna have a great time."

"Hojo, stop it! I don't want to go with you! I said let me go!!!" Her eyes started watering from the anxiety she was experiencing.

A voice she vaguely recognized rang out from behind them. "Sweetie, I'm sorry I'm late!"

She turned her head to see who was talking and who they were talking to. What she wasn't expecting was InuYasha staring right at her with a breathtaking smile. "Huh?" she asked dumbly.

"Look, I know I said I'd be here at 11, but my car stalled… and then Miroku… well, you know how he is!" He then looked at Hojo's hand gripped firmly around my wrist. "And who the hell are you?"

"I'm Hojo… I'd ask who you are but everyone and their mom know who you are. You're with Higurashi?" He looked puzzled.

"Of course I am. She's my little pumpkin pie! And even if I wasn't with her, I think she made it clear that she doesn't want to be anywhere with you. So why don't you just let her go…"

Hojo grumbled something under his breath and let go of Kagome's arm. She stared at her wrist where she was sure a bruise was going to form in a matter of hours. Then, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and looked up to see InuYasha glaring at Hojo. When Hojo finally left the kitchen, Kagome opened her mouth to say something to InuYasha.

"What the he--" she cut herself off when InuYasha turned his head to look down at her. She was instantly captivated by his beautiful golden brown eyes. When she realized that she was staring, she quickly shook her head and continued her question. "What are you doing? We're not dating… you don't even know me…"

InuYasha took his arm off of her shoulders. "Well jeez, that's the last time I save something from being raped at some lame ass party." He started to walk away.

"Wait a minute… you did all of that to… save… me? Why would you do that?"

InuYasha turned around to face her. He ran his hand through his gorgeous silver hair. "I don't know… I just saw that asshole grab you and try to pull you down the hall, and I knew I had to stop it. I mean, maybe you're some kind of damsel in distress and I'm your knight in shining armor." He burst out laughing.

Kagome giggled too. "Yeah, my hero. Well… thank you, really. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." She looked around, realizing that she hadn't heard from Sango in about a half hour. "Uhmm, hey. You know my friend, Sango, right?"

InuYasha nodded. "Yeah, she just left with Miroku come to think of it."

"Are you serious? Oh my God. She was my ride home! What am I gonna do now?" She pulled out her cell phone to search her contacts for an emergency ride.

InuYasha scratched his head. "Well, I'm probably heading out soon. Want me to take you home?"

Kagome looked up from her phone. "Wow, first you rescue me from an evil bastard, and now you're offering to take me home? This must be great for your karma."

InuYasha chuckled. "Yeah, I'm normally a jerk. You should probably feel special and take advantage of my good mood."

"Yeah I think I will. Let's get the hell out of here."

When they got into his car, InuYasha automatically turned on the heat. "Holy shit, I hate when it gets cold in September. I mean, can't the weathermen just predict one more month of summer for us?"

Kagome smiled. "I don't think that's how it works, InuYasha."

"So, you know my name too?"

"Like Hojo said… 'everyone and their mom know who you are.'"

He smiled. "Well, since you know who I am, it's only fair that you tell me your name."

She looked at him, confused. "I'm Kagome Higurashi… I sit across the room from you in history."

"Oh, really? I must not have noticed you before. I hate that class so fucking much. I pretty much sleep through it everyday."

"Oh yeah, me too," she lied. Kagome was a straight-A student and would never be so careless.

"So where do you live?" he asked her.

She yawned. "Right across from the gas station downtown."

"Whoa, that's like… two blocks away from me. I wonder why I've never seen you before."

"Yeah, that is really weird. I mean, I see you everyday." She mentally slapped herself. 'Way to sound like a little stalker, Kags,' she mentally scolded herself.

He smiled. "Well, I guess I should start paying more attention." He winked at her.

Kagome felt her face flush. 'Thank God it's dark in here.'

InuYasha reached to turn his CD player on. "It's time for some tune-age."

Kagome heard the beginning of Tiger Lily by Matchbook Romance float through the car. What she didn't expect to hear next, though, was InuYasha singing along.

We drive tonight, and you are by my side.

He looked over at Kagome and smiled.

We're talking about our lives like we've known each other forever
And time flies by with the sound of your voice
It's close to paradise, with the end surely near
And if I could only stop the car and hold onto you
And never let go, never let go

As we round the corner to your house you turned to me and said,
"I'll be going through withdrawal of you for this one night we have spent."

Kagome stared at InuYasha, hypnotized by everything about him. His eyes were warm enough to melt the polar ice caps… his hair looked so smooth that she just wanted to reach out and stroke it. He was super gorgeous, obviously. And his voice… oh that voice. 'This guy is way too perfect to be real,' she thought.

As she listened to the lyrics of the song, she realized how well they fit with the current situation. She started to sing along with him.

Why does tonight have to end?
Why don't we hit restart
And pause it at our favorite parts
We'll skip the goodbyes
If I had it my way, I'd turn the car around
And run away, just you and I

When he pulled in front of her house, Kagome was extremely disappointed. She didn't want to leave… she was having such a perfect night.

"This is your place right?" InuYasha asked.

Kagome looked up at him. "No, yeah… I mean… yes. This is my house."

InuYasha looked at her expectantly. "…So…"

"Oh yeah, well… thank you so much… for everything." She smiled.

He didn't smile back. "Sure, no problem…" When she made no move to get out of the car, he said, "So, is something wrong with your arm, or is there some other reason that you can't pull the handle to get out?"

Kagome was thrown off. Two minutes ago, they were singing together, and now he was being a jerk. "I'm sorry… I just thought that maybe we could talk some more."

InuYasha rolled his eyes impatiently. "Well, I have other places to be. Can't we talk some other time? I mean, you said you're in my history class right?"

"Yes, I am." Kagome said, pissed off. "Look, I just won't even bother. I can see that this 'friendship' was a one night thing. And that's just fine with me. I don't need you, I really don't. I mean, what makes you so great?" She opened the door to get out of the car. "Goodnight, InuYasha Takahashi." And with that, she slammed the door and trudged across her lawn.

The second slam of a door was drowned out by her intense anger, so she wasn't expecting the hand on her wrist for the third time that night. She also wasn't expecting to be turned around at a rate that could have given her whiplash. But most importantly, she definitely wasn't expecting InuYasha's lips crashing against hers.

If she was still angry, she might have pushed him away. She might have slapped him across the face. She might have demanded an apology. But as InuYasha wrapped his arms around her, all of her anger was forgotten. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer. When she felt his tongue begging for entrance into her mouth, she pulled away.

"Hold on a second," she gasped, breathless. "So like two minutes ago, you're pretty much shoving me out of your car, and now you're trying to make out with me?"

InuYasha wiped Kagome's lip gloss off of the corners of his mouth and smiled. "Oh come on, you know you wanted it."

Kagome's mouth dropped open. "Okay, you're gonna leave. Right now." She didn't think it was possible to be any madder than she was at that moment.

InuYasha laughed. "You girls are all the same. You can't resist the charm of a Takahashi."

Okay, so she was wrong. Her anger tripled as she slapped him across the face.

"Oh baby, I like it rough."

"Fuck you. Leave. Get the hell off of my lawn and out of my face." She turned away, prepared to kick him in the balls if he came any closer.

"Seeya in history, Karen!" he exclaimed as he got into his car.

"OH MY GOD. IT'S KA-GO-ME!" she screamed as he drove off.

She stared at his car in the distance as she wiped tears of frustration away from her eyes.

"Ohhhh, the NERVE of that guy. He thinks that he can just snap his fingers and any girl will fall for him and I just… UGH."

Kagome continued to verbally bash InuYasha, but the one thing she never said out loud was the one thing that was nagging her internally.

'Oh my God, I actually like this guy.'

Author's note: This is my first InuYasha fanfic, so I hope it's good! I'll continue if I get some good feedback :]

Disclaimer: InuYasha = Not mine. Plot of this story = Mine. 'Tiger Lily' by Matchbook Romance = Not mine.