Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor am I making profit from this story.

"You two are so much alike, it almost hurts."

Souta's offhand comment may have appeared to be innocent, but Kagome knew better. Souta never said anything unless there was a meaning behind it. He was a cunning preteen after all.

"Oh yeah?" she turned around in her chair, silently thankful for the break from her algebra homework. "What makes you say that, you little twerp?"

"Oh, I don't know," Souta entered her room, drawling out the vowels while speaking to his older sister. Settling himself down onto her bed, he leaned back onto his hands and tossed her a reproachful look. "Maybe your attitudes?"

Kagome scoffed and crossed her arms, fully facing her brother. "What attitude? The only one with an attitude here is you."

Souta kicked his feet and carefully considered his next move. The verbal sparring between siblings required careful consideration. He took in her seated position: feet firmly on the ground, arms crossed and hands holding opposite elbows. She meant business, so he had to get her off her guard. "You know, you look almost exactly like him sitting like that. He does the same thing when you scold him."

Kagome blinked, taken aback by this new information. This was not where she thought this was going to go. Souta had bested her expectations and preparations for this conversation, and there was not a whole lot of time to retort. Mentally conceding to the defeat, she unfolded her arms and tucked them into her lap. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the eleven-year-old across from her. He may have bested her, but that didn't mean she didn't want information out of him. "When did you get so observant?" She asked, hoping to stare him down.

Points could still be won.

"I see you less and less these days. I noticed changes easier."

Or not. Kagome felt fully defeated in that moment and realized that Souta had a point.

Kagome sighed and kicked her feet awkwardly. She didn't know how to respond to his statement. It was true. She was around less and less these days, barely keeping up with homework and killing her social life in the modern era.

But she was needed in the feudal era. There was not a whole lot else she could do.

Kagome wondered what brought on Souta's inquiry and invasion of her room. Normally, he was very respectful of her study time, although he had no problem wandering in and out of his sister's room when he pleased. Maybe he missed her.

Kagome stood, stretching by raising her hands above her head and swinging her arms in circles, much like how Inuyasha stretched just before going into battle. She motioned for Souta to follow her and walked towards the door. "I could use a break. Wanna watch a movie?"

Souta leapt off her bed in excitement, beating her to the open doorway and rushing down stairs.

"Only if I get to pick it!" He called after her, bounding down the stairs, two at a time.

Kagome walked slowly after him, snorting out a comment about not wanting to watch a children's movie.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Inuyasha walked through the front door and into the living room. Grandpa had been reading the morning paper, enjoying the quiet of the morning and peace of the empty household, but he knew with the arrival of his honorary grandson, the peace was gone. He continued to hold the paper up to his face, but stopped reading it, watching the other person in the room very carefully.

Inuyasha tossed Grandpa a half-interested look, rather unconcerned with him. A quick assessment of the situation told Inuyasha, however, that no one else was home.

Inuyasha plopped down and stared out the window. Mama Higurashi had put a bird house just outside the living room giving him something to look at. He stuck his legs under the table and leaned back on his hands, getting comfortable for a long wait.

Grandpa watched the teenager with careful eyes.

Normally he would have fussed about Kagome not being home or being hungry when he first walked through the door.

But here he was, sitting quietly and watching the birds come and go from the birdhouse.

Grandpa was suspicious.

He knew he should have taken this time to finish reading the newspaper and be grateful for the quiet, but he couldn't overlook Inuyasha's sudden stillness.

Grandpa lowered the paper and rested his hands on the table.

Inuyasha, finally noticing Grandpa's stare, flicked an ear over in his direction, but did nothing else.

"What's gotten into you, boy?" Grandpa's voice broke the silence.

Inuyasha turned his head and rested his cheek on his shoulder. Squinting his eyes at the older man before him, Inuyasha responded, "What do you mean, old man?"

"You aren't making any kind of fuss about leaving or eating. Are you feeling okay?" Grandpa leaned forward to put a hand on Inuyasha's forehead. "You don't have a fever."

Inuyasha stared hard at Grandpa. "Kagome told me I had to be more patient. That's what I'm doing," Inuyasha shook his head to remove Grandpa's hand. "I'm being patient."

Grandpa glowered at the boy before him. "Since when do you have any idea of how to be patient?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and looked back out the window. "I can be if I want to be."

"Oh, so you want to be patient."

Inuyasha didn't respond at first. He watched a little swallow duke it out with a slightly bigger one for access to the bird house. Inuyasha had never really been a patient person, a fact he was well aware of. But since Kagome had come into his life, he found himself wanting to be.

It was strange, the affect she had on him.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, "I guess I do."

Grandpa was seemingly pleased by this response and folded his paper up and started to read the weather forecast for the week. "You remind me of Kagome, sitting like that."

Inuyasha looked away once again from the birds outside. "What?"

Grandpa didn't look at Inuyasha, but repeated, "You remind me of Kagome. She sits like that when she's relaxed."

Inuyasha thought about how he was sitting, legs in front and arms behind. How many times had he seen Kagome doing the exact same thing on a grassy hillside on a quiet day?

Maybe the old man had a point, Inuyasha considered.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Kaede watched Kagome pick off her peppers from the stew and put them in Inuyasha's bowl. Inuyasha for his part, only slightly paused in his scarfing to accept the offering of extra food.

Kaede thought back to when the two of them first met. They couldn't have been more opposite. She was kind in her approach to things; he was brash and unwavering. He was reluctant to trust anyone and faster to pick a fight; she was an open book and trusted to willingly. She was open to new experiences and quick to forgive others; he was jaded by a world that had rejected him and offered no one a second chance. He relied on himself only, self-sufficient in every sense; she relied on her community and those around her.

But here they were, what felt like a lifetime later, talking and sharing food.

Kaede could tell that Inuyasha's strength and resilience was rubbing off on Kagome. She had become a strong young miko, one that stood on her own two feet and stood up for what she believed in. She was steadily becoming more and more of a force to be reckoned with.

Inuyasha had taken in some of Kagome's softness. While he still picked on Shippo and started fights where ever he could, Inuyasha had become kinder. He was watching his mouth more, and he was offering help around the village when he was around.

The changes in both of them were so miniscule that someone who was meeting them for the first time would have no idea about them.

But Kaede did.

Watching the two youth interact, Kagome sharing her food (although unwanted portions) with Inuyasha and Inuyasha trusting Kagome enough to eat that close to her told Kaede much more than the other occupants in the room could ever know.

Opposites attract for a reason.