Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Yowamushi Pedal and make no money from these writings.

Pedal Hearts

Chapter One: Jin Tadokoro
Rating: K

Tadokoro leaned against the counter of his family's bakery, tapping the fingers of one large hand on the smooth wood. His parents had needed his help lately, and he didn't really mind covering the front of the shop, even if it was a little boring. But today was one of the days that he actually looked forward to. Over the past few weeks, Tuesdays had become his favorite day of the week. That was when Kagome stopped by to pick up her mother's weekly order.

The first time she'd come in, he'd recognized her as a girl he'd seen around school sometimes. She was cute, but he really didn't know her that well. It wasn't until she came into the bakery one afternoon when Teshima and Aoyagi had stopped by that he started to get to know her. It turned out that she was in the same class as the second years and the three seemed to be on pretty friendly terms. Teshima had actually introduced him to her and explained that Kagome liked riding bikes too, though not competitively.

Getting to know Kagome, Tadokoro realized that he really liked the girl. She was friendly and didn't let his size or personality intimidate her. She laughed at his jokes and didn't hesitate to joke with him in return. She told him about how she would actually like to look into getting a road racer after hearing the team of two in her class talk about them, and he tentatively offered to go to a bike shop with her one day. But nothing had been planned out or anything. Sometimes he wondered if she still remembered that offer.

As soon as he heard the gentle ring of the bell above the door, Tadokoro straightened up and tugged on his store apron to smooth it down. "Hey there, Kagome," he smiled in greeting with wave. "Here for your order?"

"Hi, Jin," Kagome smiled as she walked up to the counter. "Yeah, same as usual."

"I've got it ready for you over here," he said as he moved to pick up a bag from the back counter. "Everything's here, fresh today, I checked it myself."

"Thanks," Kagome said as she accepted the large paper bag that was slid across to her. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her wallet and handed over the same amount of money that she gave him every week. Picking up the bag and adjusting the weight in her arms, she smiled apologetically before telling him, "I'd stay longer to talk, but Mama said she needs some of this for dinner tonight. But I'll see you next week, right?"

"Same as always," Tadokoro waved her off, throwing out the customary thanks for shopping with them. As he watched her exit the front of the little shop and walk down the sidewalk the trains station, he felt his stomach sink heavily. Oh gods, what had he done?

He'd wanted to tell her how he felt for a couple of weeks but had never been able to find the right time or right way. At school, she was always with her friends and it never seemed right to tell her in the bakery while he was working. So what had his brilliant idea been? To put an extra small bag in with her usual order. The smaller bag contained one of the cupcakes he'd seen her admire a few times and a confession letter of all things. What was he? Back in middle school?

There had been doubts about his plan from the get-go, but it was only after the bag was actually in her arms that he really wished he could take it back. What if she didn't feel the same way? What if she rejected him? Or worse, what if she laughed? Deep down, he knew that Kagome wasn't that type of person. If she didn't feel the same way, she'd probably try to let him down as gently as possible. Not that it would suck any less.

Groaning to himself, he looked back out the window where she'd disappeared and wondered what the odds were that she wouldn't ever see the bag or that letter?

The following day, Tadokoro had been a little paranoid around school. He was on the lookout for Kagome with every intention of avoiding her for a couple of days, just in case. Come lunchtime, he felt safe enough in the knowledge that she ate in her classroom with friends to go to his usual spot in the courtyard with Makishima.

"You really gave her that letter?" His green-haired best friend asked.

"Yes," he grumbled, poking around his lunch. This conversation appeared to be one of the few things that could ruin his appetite.

"And you've been avoiding her ever since?" Makishima continued to question.

"Mmhm," Tadokoro hummed before finally setting his lunch aside as a lost cause for the time being. Watching as Makishima also packed up his barely eaten lunch before standing to leave. "Where are you going?"

"That way," Makishima answered pointing and facing the opposite direction from which they'd come. Glancing pointedly over his shoulder, he prompted Tadokoro to actually look in front of where they were sitting, and sure enough, Kagome Higurashi was headed their way. Patting his friend on the shoulder before he left, Makishima quietly said, "Good luck, Tadokorocchi."

Kagome made her way towards the boy she'd gotten to know over the past weeks and smiled. "Hey," she greeted simply. "Mind if I sit down?"

Tadokoro shook his head, speechless, and waited for Kagome to sit beside him, smoothing out her skirt in the process. When she glanced to his other side and saw his uneaten lunch, she asked, "Not hungry?"

"Ah, well," he hesitated before finally sighing and rubbing the back of his head. "Not really."

"That's too bad," Kagome said with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Reaching into the bag she'd brought with her, she told him, "I brought an extra bento today, and I thought you might want it."

When he saw the second box of food, he immediately went back to amend his previous statement. "I mean, I'm not hungry for what I brought today." Kagome smiled up at him and when she held out the offered lunch, he accepted with a "Thank you," and opened it to start eating.

Things were quiet between the two for a few minutes as they ate, but about halfway through her lunch, Kagome set her lunch aside and reached back into her bag to pull out a small paper bag. Tadokoro almost choked when she set it between them without a word. She watched him carefully, taking in the blush he was trying to hid as he looked anywhere but that little bag, and she couldn't help but find it a very cute reaction from the large boy. "There was something extra in yesterday's order," she told him as casually as she could.

"Was there?" He asked, playing dumb. Maybe she thought it was a mistake and didn't open it.

"Yeah, it was a cupcake."

Crap. "I can explain," Tadokoro began only to be cut off.

"You don't need to explain, Jin," Kagome laughed lightly as she finally opened the little bag and pulled out the cupcake which had already been cut cleanly in two. "But it's kind of a big cupcake. I thought you might like to share it with me?"

Not knowing what else to say to that, Tadokoro nodded and accepted one half as Kagome bit into the other.

"Oh, and here," she added as she reached back into the little bag and pulled out a very familiar letter. As she extended it towards him and he took it, he could feel his hopes falling. Was she returning it because she couldn't accept it? But it seemed that Kagome could read the feelings running across his face because she immediately told him, "Open it."

Doing as he was told, he carefully opened the folded letter and saw that it was indeed his. The only difference was that at the bottom, in a feminine handwriting much neater than his own, were the words I like you, too.

Still slightly shocked at what he was reading again and again, he almost didn't hear Kagome as she asked, "I was wondering if you were free to go to a bike shop with me today? You offered to help show me the different types, right? Maybe after that we could get something to eat?"

"That," Tadokoro began to speak only to be interrupted by a small bubble of his own laughter. "That sounds great."

"Good," Kagome smiled brightly at his affirmative answer. That sat in a happy silence together as each finished their half of the cupcake, and after taking the last bite, Kagome added a little teasingly, "My mom was really surprised to find a confession in our groceries." Biting back a giggle when Tadokoro started coughing around the last of his cupcake, she soothed, "Don't worry. She wanted me to ask if "that nice boy from the bakery" wanted to come to dinner sometime next week."