Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but I do own this song.

A/N: This is my first song fic…but since I hate stealing other people's songs, it's ALL MINE. *cocky grin* It's rated "T" for Language and Kissing (because Kissing is too intense for kindergarteners ;D), but that's about it—oh, and everyone's human. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and tell me what you think, because I think it's total crap, but having your opinion would reassure me of that. :)

Lyrics to Our Heartbeat

One-Shot

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha panted and yelled as he raced after the black-haired beauty scurrying around the school, undoubtedly trying to escape his grasp. Growling somewhat, the violet-eyed teen shouted, "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" she called back, her legs burning even more calories as she sped up the pace, officially making the stronger-than-you sportsman collapse of exhaustion.

Dammit, he thought angrily, bawling his hand into a fist before banging it against the school parking lot's gravel. Then, aloud— "DAMMIT! Kagome—!"

"Idiot," a passerby muttered before she stepped into her car to go home. "Two-timer," came another mumble as another girl walked past with her friends. "Is it Friday already?" a teacher wondered to himself, checking the date before shaking his head at his worn-out student. Then a sigh echoed to the tired boy's ears, and before him was his old friend, who was undoubtedly about to criticize him. "Inuyasha—"

"She's got it all wrong, Sango!" he insisted, cutting her off with a glare, not caring that they were currently the cause of a few irritated teen drivers, whom couldn't back out of their spaces. Sango raised an eyebrow at him, and he sputtered before verifying, "Kagome thinks I—"

"Was hanging out with Kikyou again," the magenta-eyed girl finished, "which you were. I mean, seriously, Inuyasha—Kik is your ex. Kags is your now. Why can't you get it through your thick skull that exes do not hang out and hug and kiss each other's cheeks when one has a now girlfriend?"

Inuyasha still didn't really hear her—she gave the same spiel every Friday. Because every Friday, Inuyasha would go meet his ex-girlfriend since last year, Kikyou, and they'd catch up on things; even after breaking up, it was obvious they both still cared for each other and wanted to be friends. And every Friday, Kagome would see them together, get pissed for some reason, run off, and Inuyasha would chase her until his legs gave out. Then he'd ignore everyone around him as Sango came up to try to talk some sense into him.

Of course, Inuyasha didn't really listen. After all, Kagome was reacting over nothing. Pretty fucking pointless, if you asked him, that he even ran after her. But, alas, when you truly like someone, you must run after them.

No, wait, he didn't think that; Sango's dumbass boyfriend Miroku just said it. Inuyasha glared at the school pervert, who simply stood indifferently to his hostility. "Sango, dear, I think we should just leave Inuyasha alone and head on to the movies."

Sango sighed, shaking her head. "One last thing," she told Miroku, who nodded reluctantly before walking off to his car and starting the engine. Sango turned back to her best guy friend and stated plainly, "Kagome understands Kikyou means a lot to you, you numbskull, but Kagome doesn't like how you treat Kikyou with just as much affection as you do her."

Well—that was something new. Inuyasha blinked before snapping in a low tone, "What?"

"Your current girlfriend is the one you have a better chance of a future with, idiot," Sango told him sternly, and the fire in her eyes immediately told him she was pissed off beyond compare. "Unless you want to lose Kagome for-fucking-ever, I suggest you get your gods-damned act together and make it up to her, because she's put up with this shit more than she ever should have. Tell me, Inuyasha—" At this, she stood up, giving him an icy glare. "—do you really want to break my best friend's heart with your stupidity? Because if yes, pray the gods will help you, because I'll tear out your spleen before shoving it down your esophagus and ripping out your stomach to shove it up your ass. We clear?"

Inuyasha hadn't been more scared in his life as he nodded hesitantly, only staring blankly at the ground as Sango stormed off, a dark aura making every bystander scatter away. Knowing it had been different this time, he pondered over what'd just occurred.

Well, at least, he was lost in his thoughts until he was almost hit with a Suzuki; then he walked home, deciding the chances of being hit with a car were much lower there.

He breathed in, breathed out, thinking over today. It'd been…different, he supposed. Like usual, him and Kikyou were at her locker, talking about school and that horrifying song-writing assignment they'd been given in music class and discussing her crush Naraku and his girlfriend Kagome. Then, before he left to go meet Kagome out in front of the school, Kikyou had said, "Do I mean a lot to you, Inuyasha?" He nodded slowly, wondering what she was getting at. "Do I mean as much as Kagome?" Confused, he nodded again. Then she pecked him on the lips and smiled when she withdrew to see his red face. "Good."

It wasn't until she'd walked off that he heard—no, felt—someone's deep breathing, obviously trying to calm themselves down. He'd gulped, turned to her, and upon seeing her refusal to make eye contact with him and keep her head facing the ground, asked, "Kagome?"

And it was then that she speedily made her escape, leaving him in the dust and to trace her footsteps.

Inuyasha sighed. It was different this time, he thought angrily, wondering why she didn't understand that Kikyou had kissed him when he least expected it, that she'd done it without his consent. Why couldn't Kagome see that? She was always understanding and open, never drawing to conclusions, so why…?

"She's put up with this shit more than she ever should have."

Ah. That made sense.

Tossing over on his bed, Inuyasha closed his eyes tightly, thinking, Is that really it? Have I been hurting Kagome all this time, and never saw it because she didn't confront or break up with me? Heart clenching at the thought of losing her, it felt like a knife being jumbled around in his chest, and his soul suffocated at the consideration.

Kagome had always been there for him; there was no exception to this fact. The moment they met when he'd lost his grandmother, Kaede, and her shrine hosted the funeral had been the moment he saw her azure orbs and her brightening grin that cheered him up and made the weight on his shoulders lift. When said family shrine had been holding an important festival she was not permitted to leave, his mother had passed of cancer, and Kagome had snuck out to go comfort him; her holding his hand, even as friends, had been enough to drive the demons of grief away. She also remained his friend through all the fights and arguments they had over stupid and important things, despite their urges to kill each other, because honestly, she probably couldn't live without him as much as he couldn't live without her.

But did he screw everything up by not stopping Kikyou from kissing him?

Sighing tiredly again, he buried his face in the pillow and let out a groan. Kikyou's lip-kiss, much like her hugs, touches, and cheek-kisses, hadn't stirred any arousal in him, hadn't filled his inner void, hadn't—

Well, hadn't given him those damn butterflies Kagome seemed to have a bagful of.

To be curtly truthful, Inuyasha hated Kagome. She was stubborn, sticking with her side of things, but at the same time, empathetic and sought others' needs first—but she had a really shitty sense of humor, making jokes related to things they hadn't even heard of like she was from another time. And then she didn't really let him go as far as Kikyou did; he was only allowed semi-kisses, but gods, did he love them. She was scared of intimacy, which was fine, but she stirred a flame inside him that begged for her, its oxygen, but if given too much oxygen, it'd blow out. He needed her near him, but at the same time, needed his distance—they both did.

Scratching at his head now, Inuyasha thought furiously why. Why did it all have to be so gods-damned baffling? He swore, the smallest things about her drove him insane, over the edge, and yet he'd jump off that cliff for her—

Eyes snapping open, he blinked in realization.

Holy shit.

Jumping off his bed and practically stumbling over his two left feet as he made his way to his desk, he grabbed the pencil and exhaled with resignation. Better get to songwriting…

Kagome sniffled, wiping away at her damp, red eyes with multiple tissues as she refused to acknowledge the void that expanded within her today. Damn him, she thought sourly, blowing her nose. Damn her, too! Feeling a sob choke up her throat again, she shoved it down, wondering brokenly why. Why did she put up with the Kikyou and Inuyasha drama when she could've cut all ties with him long ago? Why couldn't she break up with Inuyasha and see if she could love someone who'd never be interested in any other woman but her?

She smiled sadly, almost bitterly to herself, for she knew the reason why.

He'd stolen her heart the moment his worn, heartbroken amethyst eyes met hers when they were kids at his grandmother's funeral. His hand around hers as he confessed to her at the hospital how much his mother meant to him sent warmth through her veins. His presence, whether he be a live wire ready to snap or a tame tide lapping against sand, made her forget her own worries and past—about her own bad experiences with men, mostly physical, but still scarring. But when that pain disappeared, the new pains of loving him were born as he went out with her after breaking up with his longtime girlfriend Kikyou. It was almost their one-year anniversary, and yet, Kagome felt as if she was merely a weed when compared to the absolute rose known by the name of Kikyou.

Sighing dejectedly, she wondered why no matter how he hurt her in every conversation they shared, no matter how he didn't find her insanely hilarious jokes sanely unfunny, no matter how odd their physical relationship was—she stayed firmly by his side, loving and hating him at once. Hate's a special form of love, though, she thought, because if I love and hate him at the same time, then I love him more than everything else, don't I?

Inuyasha ignored Kikyou when she entered their music class, taking a seat at her usual spot—right beside his desk. And though he usually didn't mind that, ever since Sango broke it into his mind that he could truly lose Kagome and he realized for himself that he couldn't let that happen, he would sit somewhere else today. As he leaned against the wall, being the first in-line to perform his song, his eyes flickered to Kagome, the flute player whose eyes found the ground much more interesting ever since Friday. He was full of guilt, afraid she'd never understand, but the pings in his gut told him to just take action, and let things play out from there.

"Takahashi-san?" He looked up to see Sara-sensei gesturing to the front of the classroom, obviously telling him to get a move on and play.

Blushing a little at spacing out—and from the fact that the teacher in love with his brother was even acknowledging him—he walked up in front of the chalkboard, opened his mouth, and snapped it shut. Shit. What to say, what to say…? After doing a great impersonation of a fish and clearing his throat multiple times along with shuffling his feet and resisting the nervous urge to vomit his entire set of organ systems, he announced, "I wrote this song— Shit—" After receiving a glare from the teacher, he quickly corrected, "Err, crap, I mean, uh— DAMMIT, it's called 'Soul Mate' and I wrote it for my fucking girlfriend!" Ignoring the way Kikyou and Kagome's eyes widened while Sara's rolled, he finally popped out his guitar and strung it up, beginning with a small keh. He was never one for singing, but—

Hells, like he'd let this go to waste.

Soul mate, my lover
We met in the strangest of places
And not to mention
That the circumstances weren't so small
And even though we didn't know each other
One stinking bit at all
On that day when we first met
I feel that somehow, truly
I begun falling quite hard for you

To say that we breathe oxygen
Is like saying that
We didn't like each other at all
And we wanna break each other's necks
But in the long run, with each other,
We both feel so insecurely small
But somehow, after meeting you,
Somewhere along the way
I've seen you as you are
And now I can only say
I'm loving every step of the way so far

Every time we converse
Someone ends up getting hurt
Without you by my side
I feel so very bare
Whenever we don't share air
The distance only hurts
But if we get too close
The closeness kills us both
So one day, I'll reach you
And take you by the side
And tell you exactly
How I really feel inside

Every time we're together
I feel a range of emotions a-turn
Our skin is like fire
And the other's our air
Without you and your touch
I could not survive
With your odd sense of humor
One would surely die

And even though I hate you
Even though you're scared
And even though you're stubborn
I still believe I care
And even though we don't get along
Or even give a bear
I know somehow, quite surely
Someway, positively
By some means, totally
I've fallen in love with you

And that's when he felt like a total dick when he realized every chick in class was crying, Kagome practically bawling her eyes out, whereas the boys started murmuring about how he had turned into a chick overnight. Before he could punch any of their faces in, Sara-sensei announced through infinite sobs (minus the sputtering), "That was beautiful, Takahashi-san. You pass." Then she left the room not-so-quietly, crying with all the teenage girls around them. Only one word could explain the situation:

Hormones.

Crazy wenches.

"Inuyasha…" He instantly turned his attention to Kagome, who now stood in front of him, though her eyes didn't meet his. "Was that…all for me, or was it for—"

"You," he interrupted, wondering if Sara-sensei was telling the truth when she said it was good. Kagome's acting a little weird, he observed, heart falling at the thought of her not liking his song. "I wrote it for you and only you, Kagome, and I know you think I kissed Kikyou, but I didn't—"

"C'mon, let's talk," she murmured, grabbing a hold of his hand. He was confused for a moment until he realized everyone was leaving school because Sara had already left (though she'd probably come back, who wouldn't give to skip school?). Just when he was about to ask what she wanted to talk about, she seemed to have read his mind, and answered softly, "We'll talk about anything. I just— Your and my voice mingled as one is all I want to hear most right now." With a bright smile towards him and snuggling up into his side, Kagome had reassured him, and he relaxed at the thought.

With most insecurities left behind and their feelings as clear as today's sunny sky, they stepped out of the school building rebelliously, and their grasps tightened on each other unconciously. And as they actually talked for the first time in a long time, he was forgiven and she finally knew he'd fallen in love with her. But after walking around and talking that entire day, when they shared their first heat-filled kiss at the bottom of the shrine steps, their conjoined hearts had turned into one, thudding in unison.

A/N: This song, "Soul Mate", was supposed to make its debut in my fanfic of the same name, but I wanted to post something, so not only it will appear in there, but here as well (though it may not appear in there; I wouldn't know unless you told me). Anyways, this is one of the best songs I've written and I've stayed way past my bedtime to write this for you, so if you could tell me what you think, I'd be eternally grateful. :) Thank you for reading my first song-one-shot, and I hope you enjoyed it and it didn't suck too much! ^.^