Disclaimer: I dont own Inuyasha or any of its characters

Chapter One

The usual "first day of school after summer" bustle was underway: friends reuniting with friends to discuss what awesome/horrible summers they had. Boyfriends and girlfriends that had been separated over the vacation were hugging and kissing, quickly rekindling the flame. Even the teachers were caught up in the commotion, talking amongst each other about whatever teachers talked about. However, Kagome Higurashi chose to lag behind, and not jump right into the center of things. If possible, she wanted avoid all contact with people, until the whole "How was your summer?" feeling blew off. Her summer was something she preferred to keep to herself. Especially at this school: once some minutely interesting story got leaked, the entire population picked it up and gossiped about it for weeks. The summer stories were the ones that lasted the longest. And Kagome wasn't interested in hers becoming part of the school's entertainment.

But even with her less than colourful, not quite that exciting ensemble, hoping that it would make her blend into the background a little better and make her a little bit easier to ignore, she was still spotted by a familiar face. And the one she didn't want to see most – the one she wasn't ready to see just yet – was the one that was approaching her right now.

Koga Wolfe – her boyfriend.

"Sweetheart." He said with a grin as his arms encircled her waist. "I missed you."

The embrace was familiar, but she could only return the gesture half-heartedly. "I missed you." She said quietly.

He pulled back from her slightly, looking down at her with those intense blue eyes, his smile wide. She couldn't help but return a small smile. She did still love this boy. She just hoped he wouldn't ask her...

"How was your summer?"

Kagome flinched at the question. Koga must have felt the jolt because his eyes lowered in concern: "Are you okay?"

"Fine." She lied, plastering on the previous smile again. "How was your summer?" she asked him quickly, hoping he had a nice long story to drone on and on about so that hers could be pushed to the wayside.

"Too long." He said, lowering his eyes affectionately at her. "I missed you so much."

His hand cupped the side of her face gently, just before he pressed his lips on her forehead. She smiled at the contact, realizing she had missed him just as much as he missed her. But...

"Have you seen Sango yet?" Kagome asked. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her during the summer."

"You didn't get a chance to talk to me either." Koga said quietly, a flicker of worry in his eyes. "You must have had a really good time in Cali."

His voice sounded hopeful: wanting her to say just the opposite of his last sentence. "It..." Kagome stopped. That was all it took. Just trying to start a sentence about her summer brought everything back. Everything that she wasn't ready to share yet. At least not with her boyfriend. "It was interesting."

The look in Koga's eyes showed that his doubt hadn't been completely satisfied with that answer, but he didn't press: "Well I saw Sango with Miroku in the library. You know, there's this rumor going around that they hooked up over summer."

Kagome smiled slightly. That was exactly what she didn't want of her summer – to become a story passed on from some unreliable source to every corner of the school. Although, Kagome didn't quite doubt this rumor at all: she knew all about her best friend's crush on Miroku, despite them being polar opposites. But opposites attracted, didn't they? And Miroku loved Sango since freshmen year. All of this was just a matter of time.

"I guess I'll find out when I see her then." She said with a shrug.

Just as Koga had said, Sango was in the library with Miroku in tow. The two had pushed their chairs right next to each other, their heads leaned towards each other, secretive smiles on their face. Kagome felt a wave of happiness for her best friend. She could see the small tinge of blush on Sango's cheeks even with the distance. And the two of them were so cute together, it looked like they had been seeing each other for years. They were so oblivious to the world around them that Koga had to clear his throat as loudly as possibly, just to get one of them to look up.

Sango did, and smiled brightly when her eyes landed on Kagome: "Jelly!" she squealed.

Kagome's expression became just as bright when she heard Sango used her special nice name. The two of them had been best friends since prep school, and were always told that they complimented each other like everyone's favorite sandwich. So, one day for fun, Sango requested to be peanut butter while Kagome settled for jelly. They called each other that on-and-off since then.

"Peanut butter!" Kagome cheered. "I missed you!"

"I missed you!" Sango said as she jumped out of the chair to embrace her best friend: an embrace Kagome could genuinely return. "We have so much to talk about." She said in a lower tone, her eyes darting towards Miroku.

"I can only imagine." Kagome said with a wink, and Sango blushed slightly.

At that moment, Miroku stood up and walked towards the two girls. "It's nice to see you Kagome."

Kagome stepped back from her friend long enough to give Miroku a hug as well. "Nice to see you too Miroku. Had a nice summer?"

She said that last part with a suggestiveness not lost on him or Sango. Her friend's face got redder while Miroku just replied smugly: "It was wonderful. And how was yours?"

Ick. That question again, but Kagome had a quick cover: "I'm sure it wasn't as wonderful as yours."

That was enough teasing for now for Sango. "Come on guys, let's get to class. Don't wanna be late on our first day back." she said quickly.

And in an adorable move, Sango took Miroku's hand, their fingers lacing immediately before she proceeded to pull him out of the library with her. Kagome reached for Koga's hand as well, the two of them following behind more slowly.

"Aren't they cute together?" Koga said with an observatory tone. "It's pretty obvious that they hooked up over the holiday huh?"

"Something might have happened." Kagome said with a smirk.

"You know, you still haven't told me about your summer." Koga said quietly.

"You haven't either." She replied. "'Too long' doesn't count as a response."

Koga chuckled. "You're right." He took a breath, and Kagome smiled inside, knowing she was about to get a lengthy tale. "I was a camp counselor for the first month for a bunch of ten-year-olds. But it was okay, because I was the athletics counselor and made a lot of dough. Saw a couple future track stars too. Then the following month I basically lagged around the house, waiting for your postcards and going out when something interesting came about."

"You got my postcards?"

"All nine of them." He said. "They were pretty cryptic though. I couldn't quite tell if you were really having a 'good summer' like you wrote."

Kagome could only imagine. If Koga had looked really closely, he would have noticed too that all the postcards had the same exact words, but written in different order – "It's warm in Cali, but I'm having a good summer. I miss you – Kags," was one, and then another would be "I miss you. I'm having a good summer. It's so warm in Cali – Kags."

"Did you hang out with Sango and Miroku at all over summer?" Kagome asked next.

"Not really. I saw them around at a couple of parties. But like I said...I kinda just kept to myself in the house, waiting for word from you."

Great: now he was going to make her feel bad about not writing/calling/contacting more. She didn't look at him, knowing his face had to be in full solemn mode. "Well I wrote, right?"

"I guess." Koga said with a shrug. There was a short pause. "So..." he said in an urging tone, basically hinting to Kagome that she would not be able to avoid this question much longer. "Did you have a good summer?"

Kagome looked up at her boyfriend, into those usually comforting deep blue eyes, and against her will, found herself wishing they were another color: a color she had become very familiar with over the summer. She didn't think this was possible at all, for so much to change in one summer. But things had changed...and the change was irreversible.

"Well–"

"Hold that thought." Koga said as his eyes floated up at the hall clock, "We're about to be so late for homeroom." He planted a quick kiss on her lips before rushing in the opposite direction. "We'll talk at lunch!" he called to her over his shoulder.

Kagome sighed: as if lunch would cover her whole summer. She turned to head towards her respective homeroom. She made it just before the bell, and slipped into her usual seat next to Sango.

"You and Koga were catching up then?" Sango whispered once the homeroom teacher started taking roll. Her name was at the top – Sango Avalone – and had been called already.

Kagome waited for her own name before replying: "Something like that."

"So, how do you feel about coming over to my place after school so we can catch up?" Sango offered. "I'm sure you have loads to tell me about your fabulous summer in Cali. It must have rocked with the way I didn't hear from you at all."

Kagome smiled guiltily. "I didn't mean to be so out of touch the way I was. It was a stress just to send Koga a couple postcards here and there. But you know how insecure he was when I was leaving, so I couldn't ignore him–"

"The way you ignored me?"

More guilt. "I didn't mean it like that Sango."

"Relax Jelly, I'm just picking on you." Sango said with a smile. "I doubt I would have had any time to sit on the phone and talk to you with the way I was busy over the summer."

That blush came back to her cheeks after that statement, and Kagome couldn't resist a giggle. "Yeah, I'm definitely interested in getting together after school. We clearly do have a lot to catch up on."

The two girls exchanged knowing smiles just before their homeroom teacher called the class to attention.

"Everyone, everyone, we have a new student joining us here at Shikon High, and specifically joining this homeroom. So I hope you treat him with the respect and hospitality we show our current peers now."

"Ooo, its a him?" Kikyo Hitomi gushed. "Well then, I'll treat him with respect, hospitality and maybe a little something else."

Her gaggle of female followers giggled at her smart remark, but it only made Kagome groan. If there was one person she couldn't stand, it was Kikyo Hitomi. The girl was stunning with a porcelain complexion and long hair the color of midnight and could have any guy of her choice, but had always seemed to have a hankering for other people's boyfriends: Kagome's in particular. Ever since freshmen year, Kagome had to protect boyfriend after boyfriend from Kikyo's clutches. Some of them she stayed with, and some she just dumped out of sheer frustration. The worst part was, once they were dumped, Kikyo wasn't interested in them anymore. It literally had to be someone's boyfriend, or she wasn't going for it. It was one of many things that kept Kikyo and Kagome on each other's bad sides. That and a couple of other things she would rather not remember.

"Yes Ms. Hitomi, it's a him. And he's quite handsome if I do say so myself."

"Ms. Starr!" Kikyo said in an overly-shocked voice, making her little group start giggling again while Ms. Starr blushed a little.

Kagome felt another groan about to leave her throat, when a different sound beat her to it. It was the sound of someone clearing their throat. The sound came from behind her, and she – along with everyone else in the class – turned around to see who it was.

Kagome's jaw dropped at the sight.

It was a guy – a hanyou – and presumably the new student. He was also unbelievably attractive. He was tall, and had to be a few inches over six feet. His body frame was slender, but defined: evident from the muscular arms in plain view from his t-shirt. A tribal tattoo was wrapped around his toned left bicep. A pair of pointed dog ears was perched atop his head, colored in the same stunning silver that was his long mane of hair. But it was eyes that made that made the girls sigh collectively: his irises were painted a shimmering gold.

As he made his way to the front the classroom, every single female flipped their hair or batted their eyelashes. All except Kagome, who just kept staring in muted shock. Even Ms. Starr was flustered at first, fumbling over her roll sheet and smiling uncontrollably.

"Well class...hehe...this is Inuyasha Takashi, our new student." She finally managed to say.

"He's gorgeous." Kikyo gushed loudly to her friends, so that Inuyasha would hear.

He glanced in her direction and gave her a smile to show that he had heard her. Kikyo smiled in turn, unable to resist.

"I don't believe this." Kagome said breathlessly, finally looking away from Inuyasha. "I really don't believe this."

"Me neither." Sango said, her voice mystified. "The guy is gorgeous. I certainly wasn't expecting him."

"Yeah, me neither." Kagome muttered to herself.

"Well then Mr. Takashi. Take a seat wherever you like."

There was a loud shuffle in the room after that statement, and magically, the only available seat moved from the back of the room to next to Kikyo. Kagome could have gagged – it wasn't the first time she had seen that seat shuffle trick go down. But she was too busy trying to figure out what to do with herself. The next thing that happened didn't help her much at all either, for Inuyasha took the empty seat and dragged it away from next to Kikyo and plopped it right next to Kagome.

"Will this be okay?" he asked Ms. Starr, but his eyes were on Kagome.

"Um...sure I guess." Ms. Starr said uncertainly, while Kikyo gaped jealously.

"Ms. Starr!" Kikyo said in an outraged tone. "He's not seated in a proper column!"

"Oh but Ms. Starr," Inuyasha said, his voice so warm and smooth it would have melted butter. "Kagome and I go way back, and I want to sit next to someone I'm familiar with."

Kagome heard her best friend gasp, before whispering excitedly in her ear: "You know this guy?"

Kagome whimpered: "Sort of?"

Ms. Starr was instantly charmed, a ridiculously bright smile on her face: "Yes, well, that makes perfect sense. You can stay there Mr. Takashi."

"Inuyasha, please." He said smoothly.

Ms. Starr giggled: "Inuyasha then."

Kikyo scoffed loudly while Kagome tried to focus on becoming invisible. But she couldn't ignore the feeling of those amber eyes boring into her skin anymore. She finally looked up to meet his intense gaze. A slow smile started growing on his face: "Hey Kagome," he said in a low voice.

She couldn't respond: still too caught up in the fact that Inuyasha was actually here in front of her. Almost as if he had finally managed to pull himself from her dreams and manifest into a solid form made of flesh and bone. She wasn't sure how she was feeling about him being here yet, but she couldn't deny the slow growth of warmth in her blood.

"Aren't you going to say 'hi'?" he said teasingly.

She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a sharp and unattractive croaking noise, that made him chuckle. She shut her mouth immediately, an embarrassed blush quickly spreading across her face.

Inuyasha still kept his easy smile on as he reached out to tuck strands of her dark hair behind her ear. "I'm still leaving you speechless, huh." He teased again.

"Inuyasha, I–"

But she lost the rest of her sentence when she realized his hand was now tucked under her chin, gently pulling her face closer to his. Her face flamed as she pulled herself out of his grasp, only seconds before they could have kissed.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Another throaty chuckle before: "Not in class, then? Alright, I'll behave."

Embarrassment. Sheer embarrassment was all Kagome could feel. That and lust: total and utter lust. How is this happening to me, she asked herself as she moved dangerously close to Sango's chair and further way from Inuyasha's.

Sango, who had all this time been watching her best friend incredulously, now whispered harshly: "Mind telling me what the fuck that was all about?"

Kagome closed her eyes for a second, tried to convince herself she was dreaming, but found Inuyasha still sitting in the seat next to hers when she opened them. She groaned at her fortune and misfortune before putting her head on her desk, buried in her folded arms.

Glancing between Inuyasha's smug expression and Kagome's distressed demeanour, Sango murmured to herself: "We clearly do have a lot to catch up on."

Author's Note: theres the first chapter. i feel like this story will be a good one. but i wont know until i hear from you the readers. so leave me a review, please and thanks :)

(PS - constructive criticism only, please)

see you in the next chapter,

Brin.