Hi, Creature here! So this is sort of a pilot. I'm not sure if people will like this story…so I'll just post this chapter and find out! And I know I shouldn't be posting a new story when I literally haven't updated Sengoku Gakuen for years… but I'm just stuck, I promise I will update it as soon as I break free of that HUGE writer's block…

Anyway, enjoy!

Across the Hall

Chapter 1

My Lovely Neighbors.

It was pouring outside; that should have been a good sign, especially with that fog out there, setting a melancholic, almost romantic mood. It was completely fascinating.

The heavy rain, plus the sound of pencil scratching on paper always had a soothing effect on her; especially if she was in her office-turned-drawing-room, with only her desk lamp on and good music. For Kagome Higurashi, most of the time that meant she had an idea running through her head, and with much dedication and perseverance she could track that sneaky idea down and sketch it.

"Shit!"

This, however, wasn't the case.

"I can't even get his face right." Her nose was nearly touching the paper as she engaged in the action of erasing and redrawing once more…

Kagome frowned pensively, unconsciously straightening her spine to see the whole picture. Her eyes contemplated the young man's expression for a second longer before she sighed heavily, scratching her head in frustration. "Maybe if I…" she muttered quietly to herself, her eyes drifting around the dimly illuminated room only to stop on her sketch again. She let the idea take life for a few second to see where it would go if she decided to keep that expression on the boy, and then shook her head. "No, no, no… definitely not that expression. People would just assume he's fine with it when he's actually devastated to see her leave again! I need to find an angle that will show those emotions he's trying to hide" she scratched her head in frustration and growled –a very unlady like growl, at that.

Time to erase once again.

"This is absolutely ridiculous" she chuckled humorlessly. Kagome eyed the paper resentfully, her fingers unconsciously played with her pencil. Why was it so hard to draw lately? It was so much more fun when her manga was not this popular. And to think she was only halfway done with the first draft of the chapter. "My dead line is in a couple of days and I don't even have half the chapter ready-

Her monologue was interrupted by a silly melody coming from the corner where she had last dropped her bag.

Kagome furrowed here eyebrows… she didn't recognize that ringtone. "What the-"

She quickly stood up, rushing to pick up her cell phone. "This better not be…" A simple look at the screen confirmed her suspicions.

With a heavy groan she pressed the green button. "God, Miroku, do you have to change my ringtone EVERY TIME we meet?"

He chuckled lightly, waving off her unpleasant greeting. "Why, hello Kagome! I'm doing great, thanks for asking, how about you?"

That idiot, never taking anything seriously. "… Shut up. If you want something, make it quick, I'm in the middle of a drawing session."

"For real? Twelve years of knowing each other and this is how you greet me? I'm seriously wounded, Kagome"

A small laugh escaped her mouth. That melodramatic fool, sometimes she wondered how she'd put up with him for so long "Stop being so dramatic! Fine, let's start over. How's your day so far?"

Miroku sighed blissfully. "Can't complain, met a couple of wild chicks last night and-"

Ewww. Not this again… "I really don't wanna hear about it Miroku."

"NO, wait! It's not what you think. The thing is, they gave me 2 tickets to this, uhh, very, very exclusive event-

"What kind of event?"

"A very very exclusive one?" he offered weakly.

"Miroku…"

"Uh… I'll tell you later."

"I don't like where this is going…" she muttered to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Listen," he started meekly, and Kagome narrowed her eyes. Years of knowing him help her recognize this certain tone, the one that meant: 'I really want to do something and you might not like it'. "I was wondering if-"

Oh, no. Not gonna happen this time.

"Oh no, those words are never a good sign. Whatever it is, count me out."

"Come on Kagome, it's gonna be fun, I swear! I certainly can't go by myself. Please, you're my best friend!"

"Miroku! How can I agree if you won't tell me what, when or where we're going?" she argued, feeling slightly guilty.

"Just think about it, ok? I'll call you later."

"Fine, fine… I'll talk to you later, then."

"I'll see you soon. Thanks Kagome, you're the bestest! Bye!" he said quickly before hanging up, not even waiting for a reply.

Kagome sighed heavily, closing her eyes in defeat. "Why does he always assume I'll agree?"

'Maybe because you always agree at the end…? Stop it with the stupid questions and just focus on finishing that chapter Kagome…' she thought as she grabbed her pencil with halfhearted resolution.

Not even two minutes later she heard the distant sound of someone pounding on a door.

"Oh, good! Just what I needed… more distractions." Who was she kidding? Lately, she couldn't draw for shit when the sun was up. So, at this point, any distraction wasn't really all that unwelcomed.

"To hell with it. You know what?" she said, speaking to herself, as she often did. "I'll just leave this scene for next chapter and focus on other characters on this one… a filler chapter; I haven't had one of those in ages. Perfect!" she grinned and clapped her hands once. "Ok. Now that I have one less problem, let's see what's all that commotion outside." She said with renewed enthusiasm, standing up and nearly skipping all the way to her front door.

"Open up!" she faintly heard over the heavy pounding.

Well… someone was getting a bit desperate. Wait… was it her door? It was loud enough, but somehow her door wasn't trembling as it would with that kind of knocking.

She peeked through her peephole and raised her eyebrows slowly when she noticed it was just her neighbor kicking his door somewhat resentfully. She chuckled lightly at his predicament but haltered when one his dog ears turned in her direction. Ah crap, she was busted… might as well offer him help.

Funny, to think she had been living in that apartment complex for at least 4 years, and never had she said more than a polite quick greeting on the elevator. That applied to all of her neighbors, sadly. Sure she had interacted once or twice with her neighbors but she had never made eye contact for longer than three seconds. Needless to say, it would take a miracle for her to recognize any of them on the street.

Grudgingly, she opened her door. Her neighbor turned his head in her direction and furrowed his eyebrows warily "… Hey" Kagome said waving awkwardly, lowering her hand when he only stared at her blankly. "Need any help?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine…" he muttered, lowering his eyes to stare at his shoes "thanks" he added politely. Kagome nearly laugh, the boy looked absolutely adorable with his wet hair stuck to his head, making his ears appear bigger than they were. The look on his face didn't help either, that scowl was not as intimidating as he probably thought it was.

"Uh, well… would you like to wait in my apartment until your dad comes home?"

The boy shook his head immediately "My dad taught me not to accept invitations or gifts from strangers." He did have a point but… 'Strangers? Oh come on, we've been neighbors for a few years now –just not on speaking terms.'

"Fine, your dad is right anyway. Do you mind if I stay here then?" The boy merely shrugged, moving to sit next to his door. Kagome took that as a yes and sat next to hers; bring her knees to her chest and resting her forearms on top of her knees. After long minutes of sitting in awkward silence, simply listening to the pouring rain in the background, she decided to start a conversation. "So, how old are you?"

The boy hesitated, staring at her with cautious curiosity. "Oh, for the love of- I've been your neighbor for three years, and it's not like I'm gonna kidnap you or anything, so please stop looking at me like that!"

He blinked, taken aback by her outburst, the corners of his mouth twitching "I'm… seven" he said slowly, still a little shocked. They stared at each other for a few second "You're a bit crazy, lady." He said, a grin slowly curving on his face. Kagome smiled too, he sure looked cute when he smiled.-

"Yeah… I've been told." She said waving her hand dismissively. "Now, I think some introductions are in order- I'll go first" she added before he could complain. "My name's Higurashi Kagome and I'm 23. I have a part-time job downstairs in the café… and, uh, I don't really know what else to say… I, uh, draw¸ on my free time, and…" She stared at the ceiling, trying to think of anything else to add. Nothing. Was her life really that boring? "…Yup, that's it."

The boy blinked, feeling Kagome's –somewhat deflated- gaze on him. Ah, so it was his turn now. "Um, I'm Yamaguchi Mitsuo. I, uh, moved here with my dad three years ago… and that's about it." Well, wasn't going to complain, at least now she knew his name. Nodding contentedly Kagome moved to shake his hand only to realize that his hand, along with his entire body, was wet.

Way to be observant, Kagome. "You're soaking wet, I'll get you a towel."

"I'm fine, really-"

"Nonsense, I'll be right back!" she said over her shoulder as she dashed into her apartment, only to reappear a minute later with said object. "Here you go, Yamaguchi-kun." She said cheerfully as she offered him the towel.

Mitsuo wrinkled his nose in distaste, but thank her nevertheless. He grabbed the fluffy green towel and proceeded to hastily dry his hair. He was in the middle of shrugging off his coat when he heard a very loud, very distinctive growl. Raising slowly his wide eyes, Mitsuo came across a blushing Kagome. He made a strangling sound trying not to laugh out loud. Perhaps he could pass it off as a cough. He convinced himself it was not funny at all, hearing someone else´s stomach growl was not funny at all.

Oh yeah, he too could be mature.

"Uh, I'm… kinda hungry, you want something?" Ha, no kidding. She was hungry alright.

He hesitated for a moment, but gave up as soon as their eyes met. She sure was persistent "Well… what do you have?"

That was a good question, when was the last time she had eaten anyway? "Hold on a second" she said, quickly standing up and rushing into her apartment, not bothering to close the door behind her. Once she was in the kitchen she yelled "how 'bout some Oreo's? Oh wait, I have pudding in the fridge, want some dirt and worms?" she asked enthusiastically. How the hell had she forgotten such a heavenly dessert?

"…Wh-what?" the silver-haired boy choked, blinking repeatedly.

Seeing his shocked expression, she realized she might have chosen the wrong words "Oh sorry" Kagome laughed, apologetically. "That came out wrong." Rather than explaining the name she decided to simply show him. "Look" She grabbed the two cups of vanilla pudding and crushed the cookies on top. Now where had she left those worms? She noticed Mitsuo watching curiously form the door "Sure you don't wanna come in?" she asked offhandedly as she kept searching the kitchen cabinets. Right! How stupid, she had left the bag in the living room. After hearing his expected "No, really…" she grabbed the two cups, along with spoons and dashed for the bag of gummy worms as she exited her apartment once more.

"Here" Kagome said proudly, opening the bag of gummy worms and adding a few on top of each cup.

Mitsuo grabbed the cup tentatively, sniffing it a couple of times. Kagome rolled her eyes 'He's really distrustful… wonder why.'

"Would you cut it out, I swear it's not poisoned." Kagome muttered, blinking slowly. She grabbed her own spoon and started devouring her delicious sweet treat.

He took a wary bite and his eyes widened in surprise and awe "Wow, this is actually really good! You're a great cooker, Higurashi-san." Hey, his first compliment… too bad she didn't exactly deserve it.

Kagome sweat dropped, shrugging meekly "Ha… I just crushed Oreo's on vanilla pudding and threw some gummy worms on it, I highly doubt that's considered as 'cooking', but thanks."

Mitsuo, however, shook his head vehemently, giving her a timid smile. "It's good anyway, especially if you only eat ramen all the time."

'Really? No wonder he is so small'

"You said you were seven, right? That means you're in… first grade."

"Yeah" Mitsuo muttered, not looking up from his cup.

"Huh, you're a bit short for your age, aren't you?"

Well that killed his appetite. "I know" Mitsuo replied dryly.

Kagome quickly took the hint and change the topic to a less touchy one "there's more pudding in my fridge if you want", she suggested innocently. That phrase was enough lift his spirit once more, if only a little bit. He nodded, taking advantage of the situation; after all, it was not every day he got the chance to eat something this tasty. What with eating ramen every single day because of his dad's ficti- fixasti- fictetion- … thing. His dad's thing.

They spent the next hour eating junk food and chatting about this and that. Nothing too personal, but at the end Kagome was able to lower his defenses if only a bit. He turned out to be a quiet but likable kid with a passion for sweets, videogames, and manga. It turned out his favorite manga was her least popular one: The (Mis)Adventures of Count Dracula and Frankenstein. Also called "Dorafuran" for short. He claimed his favorite character was Dracula "cuz it reminds me of my dad", he said. Well, now they had something they could relate, Kagome knew everything there was to know about Dorafuran and Mitsuo was more than interested in anything she had to say now. Anything but spoilers, that is.

Sometime later, they weren't sure how long they had spent talking, one of his eyes twitched, turning to the stairway. "Oh, he's finally here" he glanced down at his watch and frowned. "This time he's an hour and a half late."

She supposed he was speaking about his dad, but decided to ask to be sure. "Who-"

"Mitsuo Yamaguchi!" she heard someone yell from below. The boy rolled his eyes and scoffed.

'Now that's a conversation killer…'

Uh oh… this was starting to smell like trouble. Maybe she should just go back into her apartment. Too late. Before Kagome even had time to turn around, a mop of silver hair, along with a pair of fluffy –or at least she assumed they were fluffy- triangles was visible on the stairs.

Well, he looked just like his son… only taller, and leaner, and… his face –however good looking it might have been- didn't exactly scream "friendly neighbor" at all. Funny, now that she thought about it, she had only seen him a few times, and his face had never exactly screamed "friendly neighbor".

He made a face, one that she found particularly amusing. Hah, he looked very much like his son. She had said that before, huh? Anyway, his breathing was erratic, that much she could tell. Had he run all the way up here? They were on the sixth floor!

"Mitsuo! You're in a big trouble mister." He said dangerously.

Mitsuo sighed heavily "Hello father." The little boy said coldly.

"What the hell, Mitsuo! You were supposed to wait for me AT school, mind explaining me what you are doing here?"

Mitsuo sneered, looking up at his father with reproachful eyes. "What did you expect? It's already the second time this week –and it's only Tuesday! And don't tell me it's because of your job this time, I know you work until two on Tuesdays! You know what time it is? It's 4:30, dad. Where were you?"

Kagome winced at the cold treatment adult Yamaguchi was getting.

"That none of your b-" His eyes shifted to the side for a second and that was all it took for his son to realize the answer.

Mitsuo narrowed his eyes even more. "You were with her, weren't you!" It was more of an accusation than a question. That much she could tell from Mitsuo's tone, his slightly watery eyes and that accusing glare. The poor boy was about to cry.

Yamaguchi rolled his eyes, getting fed up with his son's insolence "Listen," he started, moving toward his door and unlocking it. The action got her attention, as she also noticed the label beside the door. It read: Yamaguchi Inuyasha. 'So that's his name…' "I don't know why you hate her so much, but you need to stop that childish act. I won't stop seeing her just because you don't like her."

Mitsuo glared at his feet, barely restraining the tears.

"I don't want you walking home alone, Mitsuo. It's dangerous, you got that? You have to wait for me, even if I take a bit longer." The boy simply nodded, his head still low, but Kagome saw a single tear hit the floor.

Ok, this was getting out of hand.

"Perhaps I cou-" the statement wasn't even all the way out when she realized her careless mistake. 'Nice Kagome, butting into other people's business gets you yell at. Mark my words.'

"You stay out of this!" adult Yamaguchi snapped, staring at her for the first time. His eyes widened comically as a tiny blush crept into his cheeks –maybe he had remembered she was still there and felt ashamed, well he should be!- but he regained his stare full force immediately.

And now it was directed to her.

'See? No good butting in.'

"Fine" she said meekly. No more butting in then.

"Get in" Inuyasha said firmly, holding the door open for his son. Mitsuo grunted but grabbed his wet coat and backpack from the floor, pausing just to say a quick "thanks" and "see you later, Higurashi-san". Kagome nodded amiably, watching as Mitsuo slowly strolled into his place. He looked back once before closing the door to his room. There were a few seconds of silence in which they simply stared at anything but each other awkwardly –déjà vu?-, but the sudden peace was broke by his phone ringing loudly.

Inuyasha was the first to recover; he scowled, remembering the issue at hand. He raised his index finger and pointed at her "Just- just stay away from my son, will ya?" he snapped menacingly, slamming the door behind him.

Kagome blinked, slowly raising an eyebrow.

She could try, but seriously… How could she? They lived right across from each other.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-END.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I had this in my head and I… well, I think you know what happens to those ideas that just won't leave you alone. I know I'm not the best when it comes to grammar and using words correctly (also, this has been on my laptop for over 2 years, soo...), but I'm here to improve. So… if you have any comments, I would greatly appreciate it. And, yeah, if you like the story let me know, please. :)