I do not own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. So go bow down to her instead. I also don't own Mortal Kombat. This will become especially obvious when you read the parts of the story where I mention the game. But hey, I haven't played it in years so don't be surprised if all my facts aren't straight.

Just a few notes, in case you didn't know:
Kami means God
Baka means Stupid

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It was just another lazy afternoon in Tokyo. The sun was shining brightly and birds chirped as they flew from tree branch to tree branch, reveling in the beautiful day. It was a relaxing, rare sight that most anyone would enjoy. That is, they would enjoy it if they were outside to see it. But one teenage girl had no such luck.

Through her open window, Kagome Higurashi could be seen not soaking in the sunshine, but furiously trying to cram every last algebraic formula in her head before her humongous test tomorrow. Sadly, she was making slow progress, which only served to heighten her stress. Piles of books made a half moon shape on her desk where only her head could be seeing staring at the pages she was turning so frantically. She seemed completely unaware of the world around her. In this moment, only her books mattered and nothing else existed. This was probably the reason she nearly had a heart-attack when a certain hanyou popped through her bedroom window.

"Hey, Kagome," greeted Inuyasha as all four of his limbs made contact with her floor.

Kagome screamed and, turning towards the voice, chucked her notebook at the intruder. With considerable force for a human, it hit Inuyasha squarely in the face.

"Kagome!" the hanyou shouted, "What the heck is your problem?!"

"Huh? Oh, Inuyasha! It's only you! I thought you were a burglar or something!" she said, relief washing over her.

"Baka!" Inuyasha yelled as he stood up, shaking his fist at her. "One, how would a burglar be able to fly through a window? And two, how would he know your name?!?"

"Hmmm," thought the miko, placing a finger on her lips, "you're right! I guess I was so engulfed in my studying I didn't even bother to think straight!" She smiled a bit. And then remembering her test, turned back to her books.

"Damn right you didn't think! Kami, you can be so stupid sometimes" chided Inuyasha as he plopped back down to the floor.

"Inuyasha," said Kagome in a calm, collected tone, not even bothering to look up from her books, "Sit boy."

A thud resounded through the entire house followed by a long, loud groan. Kagome simply cleared her throat and continued reading. After a few seconds, an angry hanyou stood up, fully prepared to take his revenge. But remembering Kagome's easily provoked temper and the enchanted beads still hanging around his neck, he thought better of it. So he simply plopped himself down by her desk and grunted.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Kagome asked, seemingly talking more to her book than Inuyasha.

"Keh," the hanyou grunted, "I just came to make sure you were studying like you said you were gonna. That's the only reason I let you come. I still don't see what's so important about this test. But the more you study, the better grade you get, and the more time you can spend in the Feudal Era. If you fail then you'll whine about staying here longer for more studying and we'll never have time to find the jewel shards. So, make the most of your time. We're leaving as soon as school ends tomorrow."

Kagome shot a glare at the demon boy. That's all he talked about: going to the Feudal Era to find Shikon shards. He could care less about what mattered to her in her world. Then again, it was her fault the jewel broke. But she at least wished he could ask her to come to his time rather than demand it. After all, she had her own life to lead and she was never going to fit in if she spent all her time constantly battling demons.

Inuyasha felt a pain of guilt at Kagome's expression of obvious dislike for his "request." He knew she probably had better things to do than constantly be with him. The truth was that he hadn't really come to make sure she was doing sufficient studying. She knew she had a good work ethic and that she was already squeezing every last minute out of her day to keep up with her assignments as it was. He just hated it when he left her.

It wasn't that he didn't mind spending extra time with Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, but it wasn't the same. After only a few hours of Kagome's absence he found himself becoming incredibly bored and almost sad. He needed Kagome to be with him. Without her, he lost all motivation to do anything good and to be anything good. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her all this. But he didn't mind a little white lie as long as he got to keep his pride and his proximity to the young miko.

The hanyou shifted his weighted around a little, shoved his hands in his sleeves, and proceeded to pretend to take interest in Kagome's room. He would have much rather stared at Kagome. But he knew that annoyed her and that she would mostly likely sit him again if she felt he was distracting her. His eyes were carelessly meandering around the room: desk, bed, wall, door-BAM!

All of the sudden the door which Inuyasha had been "examining" flew open and a little dark-haired boy darted inside calling "Kagome!" Inuyasha was rather stunned for a second and then was immediately annoyed that someone had interrupted his time with his miko. It didn't help that the intruder was one of the most annoying elementary schoolers ever to walk the earth.

"What is it, Sota?" groaned Kagome, none too happy to see her little brother.

"Kagome, I'm bored! There's absolutely nothing to do!" he whined, completely oblivious to Inuyasha who was curled over to his left, desperately hoping the kid wouldn't see him.

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?!" she retorted, "I'm studying for a big test Monday. I don't have time to play with you. Go play one of your video games or something." With that she turned back to her books.

"But," protested Sota, "but Kagome!" The girl refused to acknowledge him, however, so he just stood there in defeat. He was about to turn and leave, but all of the sudden Inuyasha released a sneeze that he had been desperately trying to contain.

"Whoa!" Sota jumped at the sound, not realizing that anyone else was in the room. Once he discovered who was there, however, his surprise quickly dissipated. "Inuyasha! Oh boy! I haven't seen you in forever! Hey, wanna come play Mortal Kombat with me?!? None of the kids at school can beat me! But you fight all the time so I'd bet you'd be great at it! C'mon, whaddya say? Please? Please, please, please, please??" Sota used the biggest eyes he could muster and grabbed his idol's wrist. Not that he really could've forced the half-demon downstairs.

"Sorry, kid," Inuyasha started, "But I oughta stay here and-"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome interrupted, "Please go with him! If you don't he'll be up here all afternoon and I'll never get anything done!" The look in her face showed him she was obviously desperate for some peace and quiet. And as much as he didn't want to, he knew it would be best for her to study in silence. (Besides, he couldn't resist her beautiful eyes.) She gave up enough for him, so he figured he might as well do this for her. The hanyou gave a look at the bug-eyed boy and tried very hard not to grimace. It would be hard, but he could do it.

"Fine," he grunted.

"Yeah!" Sota cried as he tugged on Inuyasha's hand. Begrudingly, the hanyou stood up and followed the excited boy out of the room.

"Only for a few minutes though, runt, you got that?" said Inuyasha, though his captor wasn't really listening.

"Thank you!" Kagome exclaimed just before the door shut. Finally, it looked as though she was going to be able to get something done. At least, she thought so.

Purple, red, and orange interlaced through the sky, staining the powder blue that had been suspended in the same spot only five hours earlier. In only a few short minutes the sun would be completely gone. Though not as striking as before, light still streamed through Kagome's open window, giving a faint shadow to everything it touched.

Suddenly, the door to Kagome's room burst open, disrupting the tranquil scene. The intruder was a disgruntled hanyou, mumbling to himself about wanting to strangle a certain little boy.

"You know," he grumbled, not talking to anyone in particular, "it was fun at first, but that kid made me be Sonya every single time! Why couldn't my character have been a guy for goodness' sake! And then of course he had to take the competition up to level 10 and add more CPU players! Who does he think I am? I may not know how to do a high kick on a controller, but if I coulda used my Tetsusaiga they all woulda been dead in a second! Completely unfair. I swear, if you ever make me do that again, Kagome, I'll…Kagome?"

Inuyasha was so focused on his frustration that he hadn't even bothered to see if Kagome was listening to his rant. Fortunately for her, she hadn't had to listen to a word he said. The girl was on her bed, sleeping. She was lying on her back, one arm across her stomach and the other on top of her open math book down near her hip. The sunset gave her face a warm glow, softening the look of tightness apparently caused by stress near her mouth and eyes.

A twinge of sympathy squeezed Inuyasha's heart. 'She must be so exhausted,' he mused, 'She's been studying all day, cramming weeks of information into a span of a few hours. Not only that, but she's been dealing with the uncertainty and fright of the Feudal Era too. I don't think she ever gets a break.' He slowly approached her bed, his eyes narrowing as he carefully examined her. Even while she slept she didn't look very peaceful. It scared him to think that even in sleep she couldn't escape the chaos of her world.

He wanted to know what she was feeling, what was passing through her body at that moment. Was she truly asleep? Or was she just resting? Was her brain still processing all of her math equations and formulas? Or had she managed to turn them off, just for a little while? Was she dreaming? And if so, what was she dreaming about? That thought intrigued him most of all. While she's by herself, cut off from everyone and everything, what thoughts do her subconscious conjure up to cheer her up? Was she dreaming of a life without the well? Was she dreaming that she was at school, being a normal ninth grader with her friends? With Hojo?

Was she dreaming she'd never been to the Feudal Era? That she'd never met a demon slayer, a hentai monk, a mischievous fox demon, a two-tail, or him; an inu-hanyou? He wanted to know; he had to know. He scrunched his face up further in a vain attempt to let his eyes pierce through her mysterious soul. Instinctively, he brought his face closer to hers and placed his hands on either side of her head. His long, silver hair spilled over his shoulders and all over her chest and her neck, but he didn't even realize it. With all his heart, he wanted to see Kagome. Not the cheerful, occasionally raging mad schoolgirl who always had an answer for everything, but the real Kagome. What thoughts and feelings did she hide from him? What things did she wish she could change about her world, her friends, and him? By this time, he was nose to nose with her, wishing his face would fall through hers and everything swimming in her brain could be transferred to his own mind. 'A little closer,' he mused, inhaling the scent that was taking over him, 'just a little closer…'

In the middle of a deep inhale, the miko's eyes flew open. Immediately, she let out of cry of surprise, though it was muffled. Her body jerked back a few inches, but she made no effort to push the hanyou away. Inuyasha, who under different circumstances surely would have jumped back and thought up a clever excuse for the situation, didn't move at all. His questions and thoughts were still at the forefront of his mind and he wasn't ready to throw them away. He kept staring at her face with the same intensity he had used only seconds before, if not more.

Kagome was in utter surprise. Inuyasha never got this close to her, unless she was severely sad or hurt. His eyes seemed to be even more gold than usual and they were looking at her with such intensity that she could feel a pink glow rising to her cheeks. Part of her wanted to scream and push him off. After all, if this didn't qualify as an intrusion of personal space, she didn't know what would. But part of her liked having him so close. He never did this and it made her feel safe and… loved. So she simply stared at him, lips slightly parted, her eyes searching his for some clue as to his intentions.

After a few seconds of silence, a mental lightning bolt seemed to strike Inuyasha. All at once he realized where he was, what he was doing, and to whom he was doing it. A shower of embarrassment engulfed him and he quickly sprung backwards, his cheeks matching the color of Kagome's. He backed up against the wall near her desk and kept his head turned the side. He was unable and unwillingly to look her in the eye.

Kagome's former boldness instantly vanished at Inuyasha's reaction and she too wouldn't look in his direction. Her heart was beating faster than a car in the Indy 500 and her breaths became thin and sporadic.

'What was that all about?!?" she thought, incredulous as to what had just taken place. Her eyes were locked on a pillow next to her left side as she feared looking to her right would tempt her to look at Inuyasha. 'He…he was right on top of me. And his eyes…' she mused, trying to calm her hitched breathing, 'It's almost as if…he wanted to kiss me.'

"Well, whaddya have to go and do that for?" said Inuyasha, eyes still focused on his lap. He was trying to sound annoyed but his shaking voice just made him sound nervous.

"What do you mean?" replied Kagome timidly, willing her face to meet his.

"You know what I mean," Inuyasha said, his confidence slowly coming back, "how dare you fall asleep when you're supposed to be studying?!? If you fail the test I'm still taking you back to the Feudal Era you know. 'Specially because now when you fail it'll be all your fault!"

Kagome glared at him but inside her heart wrenched. 'I should have known he wouldn't talk about what just happened. He uses his temper to get out of everything.'

"I have a right to sleep, you know!" she retorted, "Don't think you can tell me what to do! And I'm still going to pass that test, you wait and see!"

"Yeah right!" yelled Inuyasha, his arms crossed over his chest, "You're too lazy to do anything but sleep and whine! It's a wonder they haven't expelled you already!"

Tears started to glisten in Kagome's eyes, but she refused to prove his point by crying. "Inuyasha," she growled, "shut up and sit!"

With that, the dog demon's face connected with the wooden floor with a loud smack. The upset miko roughly wiped at her eyes, retrieved the math book by her feet, and continued her studying.

A few painfully silent seconds passed and finally Inuyasha managed to pull himself up again. 'Damn,' he mentally cursed, 'that went well. Why do I always have to go and open my big mouth?' He meekly glanced up at the girl who was completely ignoring him. 'Now she hates me. I only made things worse.'

Despite the fact that he had just invaded Kagome's personal bubble, picked a fight over something stupid (again), blamed her for everything, and destroyed their already weak line of communication, his question still hadn't been answered. And even though at this point he didn't deserve an answer, he had to ask anyway.

"Kagome," started the hanyou quietly and softly, remembering her dissatisfied, disconcerted sleeping face from a few minutes ago, "if you could wish for anything, what would it be?"

Suddenly, all Kagome's interest in the contents of her math book was lost. Normally she wouldn't have wanted to talk to Inuyasha so soon after a fight. But this was different. His voice was so genuine and sincere. Plus, it was a question he'd never asked her and, frankly, one she'd never thought about.

She looked over the top of her math book to gaze at Inuyasha's down-turned face. His eyes, the ones which had been searching hers with such intensity, were so beautiful, his jaw was strong and shapely, and his silver bangs lay so carefully across his forehead. Not to mention his body was well-built and attractive. But despite his obvious physically attractive features was his inner beauty. Granted, he was over-protective and had a red-hot temper, but he could also be sweet, sensitive, and understanding. It was his personality that she loved and she wouldn't want to ever lose him because of it.

Inuyasha was only feeling more embarrassed as the silence continued. 'How hard can it be?' he thought, 'just answer the damn question! You wish you could graduate high school and get into college, make your family proud, see your friends more often, marry Hojo, leave the Feudal Era for good, leave me for good or…'At those last few possibilities, his thoughts trailed off. Maybe this was a question he didn't want to know the answer to.

"So," he began again, "if you could wish for anything, what would it be? I don't have all day." Now he just wanted to get it over with. 'Kami,' he prayed, 'just don't let her break my heart.'

Kagome took a deep breath. "If I could wish for anything," she started quietly, eyes downcast, "I'd wish that you would look at me again like you did earlier."

Inuyasha was shocked. 'Did she just say what I thought she said? Does she really want me to do…that…again?' His gaze immediately went to her but she was too embarrassed to look at him. The hanyou took in a shaky breath. 'Well, here's hoping I don't get sat to the lowest level of hell.'

'Did I really just say that?' thought a beyond embarrassed Kagome, quickly turning several shades of pink. She had never asked such a question to anyone, much less to a boy, much less to Inuyasha! His silence was killing her and she was beginning to think that he was going to dismiss the whole thing by starting another fight.

All of the sudden, Kagome heard the sound of her bed sheets ruffling and she hesitantly looked up. Inuyasha, with the movements of a feline, was crawling towards her at a speed that even a tortoise would have mocked. Blushes were covering the cheeks of both the hanyou and the miko but their eyes were still locked.

After a long silence, Inuyasha finally reached the young girl. He gingerly crawled on top of her, placing one knee on either side of her waist. Then, he placed his hands on either side of her head, right where they had been only moments earlier. His hair once again covered Kagome's chest and shoulders and his eyes were looking directly into her chocolate ones. Kagome prayed that he couldn't hear her beating heart or her sporadic breathing. She was both embarrassed and elated beyond words.

"Like this, Kagome?" he said, his voice low and smooth. His golden eyes looked like they were smoldering.

Kagome smiled shyly. "I think you were a little closer."

At that, Inuyasha carefully lowered his face until it was mere inches from hers. Her scent was intoxicating and he feared he would lose his composure if he got much closer. Still, he continued his steady eye contact and repeated his question once again.

"Like this?" he almost growled, pressing his hands farther into the pillow Kagome's head was rested on.

Kagome's eyelids fluttered. Kami, she wanted to kiss him so badly. His proximity was beginning to overwhelm her. But she liked it.

"Closer," she whispered. She had to stifle a gasp as she felt his lips a mere centimeter from her own, his eyes maintaining their same fiery intensity.

"Like this?" he repeated. Kagome moaned slightly at his words, feeling his hot, labored breathing on her face. She opened her mouth slightly to answer, but the words wouldn't come.

"No," Inuyasha responded for her, "closer."

With that, his lips descended upon hers. Kagome, though stunned at first, slowly gave into his hot, massaging caresses. Doused with pleasure, she let her hands slowly move up through his long hair, occasionally brushing against his soft ears.

His tender kisses continued and when she felt his tongue move through her lips she moaned appreciatively. Inuyasha smirked against her mouth and shoved his body harder against hers. Kagome's hands tightened around his head and pulled him closer to her.

Inuyasha, his pelvis firmly pressed against her own, let one of his hands slide slowly down to her stomach. While continuing with his barrage of kisses, he slipped his clawed hand underneath her shirt, gradually moving it up towards her chest. At this Kagome moaned loudly. "Inuyasha," she whimpered.

"Hmmm?" responded Inuyasha, unwilling to take his lips off Kagome's.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" shouted a familiar voice that was rapidly approaching the door. Instantly the two separated. Inuyasha started frantically flattening his hair as Kagome straightened her wrinkled uniform.

The door swung open to reveal the world's most annoying little brother. Kagome groaned inwardly. Sota just HAD to choose this moment to come bug her! Fortunately, it looked like she and Inuyasha had separated just before he barged in. Still, she was going to kill him as soon as this was all over. But one thing that was definitely already over was the moment she and Inuyasha had just shared. She knew he'd be too embarrassed to continue after Sota had interrupted. Why in the world did Kami invent little brothers?

"Inuyasha, guess what?" shouted the spastic boy as he grabbed the hanyou's hand, "I got to level 20 on Mortal Kombat! C'mon, you have to come help me! You can be whatever character you want this time, I promise! C'mon!" He tugged with what little strength he had at the clawed hand. Kagome sighed and collapsed back into the pillows.

"Sorry, kid," Inuyasha replied, slipping out of Sota's grasp, "but I can't right now."

'What?' thought Kagome, her eyes going wide.

"Why???" whined Sota.

"Because," he said, once again straddling Kagome and giving her a smirk, "I have a game of my own to finish. Now," he said, lowering his voice, "where were we?" Kagome blushed but didn't complain as a deluge of kisses engulfed her again.

Sota turned a visible shade of green. "EWWWWWW!!!!" he screamed as he darted out of his sister's room.

"So Kagome," Inuyasha said, his voice husky, "why didn't you tell me that's how you get rid of your brother? Looks like we're going to have to do this more often when I'm here then."

"Fine by me," managed Kagome, letting his caresses overwhelm her.

Sometime during their make-out session a math book fell from the bed to the floor. Not surprisingly, neither of them noticed.