"Inuyasha, I better get going back. Its getting late. Mom wanted me home for dinner."

Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting on a hill watching the sunset. They had just finished eating. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo had not yet finished, so Kagome and Inuyasha ventured off together. It was the end of summer. It was beginning to get chilly out. Kagome had began to think she might start wearing jeans to the feudal era from now on.

"Do you have to?"

"Yes. School is going to start soon. And mom wants me on a normal sleep schedule by then. That way I'm not so pissy when I get home from school."

"Oh."

"I'm going to be gone a lot more now. School holds me back a lot."

"I know. I remember last year. Or…before your summer vacation thing started."

"Yeah."

If it had been any other two friends sitting there watching the sunset, they would have considered it an awkward silence. But Kagome and Inuyasha were different. They both knew the other was thinking about the wonderful times they had shared over the summer. Things had really changed between them over the summer. Since Kikyo was gone, Kagome noticed Inuyasha had been paying a lot more attention to her. She didn't know what he meant by it, but it wasn't like she didn't want him to do it.

Inuyasha had also noticed this. He found himself realizing that Kagome and him weren't getting into fights anymore. She rarely used the 'sit' command on him. She hasn't been mad enough to leave his era and go home through the well once over the summer. He was proud of himself for that. He was glad that they were really friends now. Maybe even more…

He realized another thing though….he had never spent the night in her era. [please exclude any times this happened in the series. Ty. He had always wondered if her era would feel different to him.

"You know Kagome, I've never spent the night in your home. You've stayed here a thousand nights and I don't remember once sleeping at your house."

"Oh. Is that your hint that you would like to?" she asked with a smile. He blushed and looked away from her, into the sun.

"No…I was just saying…"

"Would you like to?"

"Really?" he said, his eyes lighting up. He tried hard not to show it.

"Really. Dunno why you'd want to though. My house isn't anything special."

"Now, I wouldn't know that considering I haven't spent much time there."

"I guess you wouldn't. C'mon. If we're going to go home, we'd better go now, before Mom gets mad at me for being late and won't let you stay."

"I'm glad I have no mother to tell her not to stay. I'd probably be in trouble every day, knowing me. She'd never be allowed near me." Inuyasha mumbled just low enough so Kagome couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"Oh—nothing. Just…nothing." He said, smiling innocently. She gave him a skeptical look.

"You know Inuyasha, you've been acting a lot differently around me." She said. Inuyasha sighed, knowing it was true.

"I know. And I don't know why. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's just strange. It's like…you're actually showing emotion towards me. I feel like you could have been my best friend since grade 2."

"What's grade 2?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Kagome giggled at his lack of the 21st century knowledge.

"It means I could have known you forever. Like we were always best friends. We never get into silly fights any more. Its just really new to me, and yet I feel like its been this way forever."

"I was thinking the exact same thing."

"You know, maybe its not just you who's different. Maybe I'm just not annoying you as much. Or…I don't know. Can't really put my finger on it."

"Me either. But lets go. We can go say goodbye to the others."

"Yeah." She agreed. Inuyasha stood up, and held his hands out to Kagome, ready to pull her up. She grabbed his hands, and he pulled. It surprised him how light she was, apparently he had become stronger, or she had become lighter, causing him to pull her up, slamming her into him, earning a loud grunt from them both. Inuyasha instinctively wrapped his arms around her, to keep her steady. Her face was buried in his chest, and she noticed that she smelled so good. She pulled her face upwards, looking at him with an embarrassed look.

"S-Sorry." She stuttered.

"No it's my fault. I must've gotten stronger since the last time I did that, is all."

"Or I lost weight." She said. They were both nervous, as their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"Yeah, I guess eating river fish and drinking water for a whole summer will do that to you, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess you're stronger now that you've defeated Naraku as well." Kagome said.

"Y-Yeah." Inuyasha said. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment or two, before Kagome spoke.

"Inuyasha? You can let go of me now." She said, as Inuyasha suddenly realized he was holding her waist close to his.

"Right, sorry." He said, and released her. She stepped back. This was an awkward silence neither of them had experienced before. Inuyasha knew why. He liked her. He knew why he had changed over the summer. Kagome had stayed with him almost every day of the summer, telling her friends that she went to summer camp.

Inuyasha realized that his affection for her caused him to be nicer, more courteous, even when he didn't want to be. It was just the effect she had on him. Without even realizing it, he did them.

But Inuyasha knew she wouldn't return these feelings. For one simple reason. And that simple reason was her boyfriend named Hojo.