Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. This is for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I hope you continue to read, but you should know what you're getting into. So, this is going to be a slow-burning, pining kind of fic intially. I had to rate it M since there will be some sexualized content just be warned if you're under 18, continue at your own risk cuz I don't want any legal trouble. (I'll make a sequel if and when it does get MA). It's high school, kids these days might start young, but it is usually when sexual experience begins; This is INUKAG (I always get that Mirsan established as well), so it's gonna start slow as it should. Think that baseball analogy of bases. LOL. So as excited and eager as I am to get to the sexy stuff, I have an idea of how and where I want this fic to go, there's a whole storyline; I want it to be fun, relatable, and give you the feels! To do the characters and relationship development justice. It's not going to take as long as it sounds, but I mean let's enjoy fluff, flirting, teasing, playing, exploring, and curiosity. I imagine Kagome would be the initiator since Inuyasha is so clueless, but also not so self-assure when it comes to the girl he likes. They'll study together, innocent-like and just be comfortable. Not trying to spoil anything for you lol, just felt you need to understand the context; I write plenty of smut and it's out there with so many other wonderful writers as well. So I'd like this to be sweeter and balance that out. It might even seem naughtier than it is ;). Thank you again for taking an interest. Without further ado, let's get this started! Reviews will help me make this fic better and as good as I hope and plan for it to be!

It was hard to peg down a genre: hurt/comfort, friendship, mystery/thriller, humor, erotica. lol

Hit or Miss

Chapter 1: Warm Welcome

"Dammit!" Inuyasha cursed as he carried several boxes up the steps. One of the boxes fell off onto the platform in front of the doorway. A cylinder tin for loose-leaf tea fell out, rolled, and bounced down the steps. He growled in frustration, setting down the boxes and chasing the container.

Normally, he wouldn't even care, but it had been his mother's. He darted to the foot of the steps, glancing around for the runaway item. He crouched down on the floor. Maybe it rolled under something.

He smelled her first. A sweet scent like cloves and jasmine or something familiar he couldn't quite place. He saw her brown flats first, then her bare legs, blue skirt, and tight black top. "You looking for this?" Her voice like a melody. His ears twitched at the pleasant sound. He stood up abruptly and snatched the tin from her hands, grumbling a "thanks," which came out sounding sarcastic.

She giggled, more music to his pointy dog-ears. "I'm Ka-go-me." She introduced. Why'd she emphasize the syllables rhythmically like that? He wondered. At least that's what it sounded like to him. Her smile had shrunken slightly. She didn't seem to notice or care that he was scowling at her cuz she stepped closer to him. He took a step back at the invasion of his personal space. He pulled a baseball cap out of his back pocket and put it on when he noticed her staring.

She'd wanted to touch his ears the moment she saw him at the moving truck. She knew she couldn't do such a thing, but she wanted to. She couldn't tell if he was handsome quite yet, but he looked fit the way he carried those boxes and the way he was dressed. He had long silver hair, golden eyes, and tan skin. He was tall (at least a head taller than her). He was wearing a red and white baseball-tee and black field pants with double white stripes going down the sides. She liked him already. She couldn't imagine what he'd be like up close and personal. Then, the little tin had rolled at her feet like an invitation to meet him. He was new to the neighborhood, which to her was a good opportunity to get to know him. She'd be his first friend in this town. How exciting!

She stared, seemingly waiting for something. Her heart sank a bit when he put on the red and black cap, but knew not all youkai felt comfortable around humans. He was an interesting looking one at that. "What the hell are you lookin' at?!" He finally snapped. She took a sharp intake of breath and stood indignantly; she crossed her arms and replied matter-of-factly, "I'm waiting for your name." Gosh, did he have to be so rude? She was sure gonna have her work cut out for her if he was like this all the time.

He stared her down, meeting her unwavering gaze. If it was just his name then who cared? "Inuyasha." He turned to walk back to his previous task. "Inuyasha, can I help you?" She asked, following close behind him.

He whipped around and wasn't expecting her to be practically in his face. "I got it. Besides, you don't look like you could carry much." He remarked. She resented that, "Hey! Don't judge me. Just watch!" She said with a huff and picked up the box that had fallen over. It wasn't very heavy, so she tried another one. Also not heavy. She tried the third one. That was it. Yup. That's heavy. She grunted and tried to control her breathing as she bent her knees. "Where do you want this?" Her voice was strained.

He took the box out of her hands and tucked it under his arm. "You take those into the kitchen, if you insist." He gestured toward the lighter boxes. "Fine." She conceded.

She set the stack on the counter on the second floor. The layout of this condo was unusual to her. There was a normal sized garage. It had three floors, but the kitchen and dining room were on the second. Must've been a new style home in Tokyo. It seemed affordable. "Who's this clever-looking girl you've brought in?" Kaede, as she'd introduced afterward, teased with a light laugh as she walked downstairs from the bedrooms and spotted Kagome.

The raven-haired girl was confused by the older woman's words. It'd sounded almost sarcastic, the way one would tease a sister. She knew that tone; her brother Souta often sounded like that. "She was just leaving." Inuyasha ground out between his teeth. "Why? She can help. It's good to see you're already making friends." The elder said with a clear smile even in her wrinkles. The tone of her voice was even, like she was pleased, as she walked past them back outside.

There hadn't been much, but she carried in the last box he'd let her carry up to what would be his room. There was a single mattress with a small box frame. The whole time she had helped he said very few words. She just knew that they were in the same grade, would attend the same school and that she could leave whenever she wanted. He didn't seem to mind her company despite his standoffish demeanor. She'd told him that her family lived up the street at the shrine and that he was welcome to visit anytime for a fortune or "Sacred jewel" keychain. That had gotten a chuckle out of him.

"Let me show you around town." She offered as she leaned against the wall with her hands folded behind her back. She looked out his window. She could see the gates of her shrine from here. "Sure. Is there a ramen shop nearby? I'm starved." He accepted. "Oh, I know just the place!" She assured and led the way.

(-)

The first day of school started out rough for Inuyasha. He was running late, so he hopped over buildings to get to school. When he arrived, he had apparently drawn attention to himself cuz he got surrounded by seven guys and defended himself before their fight got broken up by someone who he later learned was named Miroku. The seven guys were human, too, and Miroku had told Inuyasha not to hurt them. A demon authority came and took them all to the Dean's office.

Inuyasha wasn't surprised at how his day began. He sat beside Miroku in the office, who was sporting a scraped up cheek. Inuyasha had to admit, he was impressed by this guy's guts to face so many guys at once. He was agile, too, only taking one hit. "Welcome to high school." The dark-haired male remarked. Inuyasha grunted.

Kaede walked in. Her brows were knitted and she was frowning. Inuyasha slumped in his chair and let his head thunk against the wall. "Mushin!" Miroku called as he got up to meet his guardian. "What trouble have you gotten into?" The elderly man asked. "It's not our fault! These seven guys jumped him and I couldn't just stand there and do nothing!" The human teen defended. Inuyasha sat up upon hearing the explanation. He pulled the cap down around his ears. "It's as this boy says?" Kaede asked her foster son. He nodded in affirmation.

When Kaede met with the principal, she chastised the school for not protecting their students more since bullying is common. She asked where the authorities had been and why a teenager had to come to her ward's defense. The school leaders apologized, but per their policy all parties involved had to be suspended. The elder human was not having that.

Inuyasha sat with his shoulders slouched. "It's only the first day, maybe we didn't miss much." Miroku tried to keep positive, looking at the clock. The school day was almost over. "I don't care. I was just looking forward to baseball tryouts." Inuyasha sighed. Miroku seemed to perk up at his newfound friend's comment, "hey! I'm trying out, too. There's still time for that. We can practice together." Kaede emerged at that point and after briefly thanking Miroku, simply said, "Let's go." "See you tomorrow." Miroku said with a smile as he waited for Mushin next.

Inuyasha was taking out the trash when he spotted Kagome walking home. He mentally cursed as she made eye contact with him. He just wanted to put the day behind him and start over tomorrow. "Hey," she chirped, waltzing over to him. "I didn't see you at school." "I never made it to classes." He admitted gruffly. Her features fell in concern. Why did she even care? She didn't know him.

He sat on the step, leaned his elbow on his knee and rested his cheek on his fist. She shifted her yellow backpack off her shoulder and sat beside him. "These guys jumped me. It was stupid." "That's awful! You don't look like you were in a fight, though." She complimented. His sunset eyes shifted, "This guy named Miroku got me out of trouble, actually." "I know Miroku!" She said with a wide smile and clapped her hands together. "Anyway, do you think I missed anything super important the first day?" He asked. "You have a couple classes with me. They called your name and you weren't there." She shuffled through her bag and pulled out some notes. She relayed what he'd missed and promised to make him copies the next day. "I'm sure you can get notes from someone in your other classes. It was just the first day." She assured.

"Inuyasha!" A little boy called from the porch. Kagome stood up and waved at what she assumed was a little fox demon. He met her halfway up the steps. "Kaede says your friend is invited to dinner!" The silver-haired boy glanced over his shoulder. "I just have to let my family know I'll be here." Kagome accepted.

"Thank you for having me over." The human girl obliged. "I'm Shippo." He introduced as he closed the door behind them.

Dinner was plenty conversational thanks to Shippo. He asked a bunch of questions about Kagome.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"A younger brother."

"What are your hobbies?"

"Archery."

"What's your favorite animal?"

"All of them."

"What pet do you have then?

"A cat named Buyo."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Shippo, let the girl eat her food. Now, get to yours." Kaede chimed in, a smile adorning her lips, and the interrogation was put on hold for now.

"I can just copy your notes since you're here." Inuyasha said as he led her to the living room. Kagome fished out her notebook and handed it to him. He got to work.

"OK. I gotta ask. What's the story with you all?" Kagome asked as she rested her chin on her palms on propped elbows at the coffee table. He pulled the cap down around his head again. "Take this stupid thing off. Why do you hide them?" She asked as she pulled the cap off and put it on herself. He crossed his arms and thrust his chin upward, "What's it to you?"

"I just think since we're becoming friends, you could tell me more about yourself. You learned all about me at dinner." She replied with a giggle. "Wow, I learned that you have a cat and a brother." "That's all?" She teased and playfully nudged him. "Keh! You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?" "Nope." She said with a toothy grin. He didn't know why he tolerated her or indulged her. But, he did.

"I'm sure you guessed by now that I'm a half-demon." He started. She nodded, her brownish-gray eyes going wide, but she acted like she knew already to make him feel more comfortable. He continued, "I don't remember my parents. Kaede's my guardian legally now, but I've been pretty much on my own going foster home to foster home. It's stuff like today where a guardian is useful. I didn't get suspended." She stayed quiet, just listening to him. She silently hoped that he could stay in this place.

He didn't know why he was spilling out his guts to a girl he just met, but he continued. "I'm used to getting bullied." "I'm glad it turned out in your favor. Thanks for telling me all that." He didn't respond as he focused again on the notebook. "And what about Shippo?" She asked, sensing he'd rather talk about something else.

Just then, Shippo came in and sat between the two teens. "Whatchya doin?" He asked, glancing at the notebook and peering into Inuyasha's face. "I'm catching up on notes. Did you do your homework?" He emphasized with a nudge of his elbow. "Kagome's not working on anything." He observed. "That's cuz she's lending me her notes. She already did her work." He explained. "Actually, I have some homework." Kagome said as she pulled a math book out of her bag. "It's my weakest subject and we don't have that class together." She lamented. "It's all jibberish to me. Maybe Miroku is good at it." He considered aloud. "I'll get my homework, too, then! Be right back!" The little demon said as he went to get what he needed. A smile spread across her lips. It sounded like he already made another friend.

-0-0-0-To Be Continued-0-0-0-