Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with Inuyasha. I am respectfully borrowing them from their creator, Rumiko Takahashi, for use in my otherwise original stories.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kouga had always been rather cocky. He had worked hard to earn his place as leader of the wolf tribe and he knew he deserved the respect that he had received because of it. So why was he constantly making such a fool out of himself because of one human woman? Okay, so she wasn't just any human woman. She was Kagome and she was stronger, braver, more loyal, and definitely more beautiful then any other woman he had ever met, human or demon. So why was she so smitten with that idiot dog boy? Why didn't she seem the least bit interested in him, despite his obvious strength and status? He knew he could take better care of her and appreciate her more then that half-demon ever could. So, why didn't she see it?
Kouga was off and running the second, the idea hit him. He knew what he had to do. All that matter was getting Kagome to see it.
Kagome breathed a sigh of relief as her feet touched the ground at the bottom of the well. It was good to be back in feudal Japan again. Even though Naraku was defeated and the jewel was restored, Kagome still found plenty of reasons to keep up her time traveling ways. Not the least of which, was spending time with the friends who had become closer to her then her own family. Besides, even without Naraku, people still needed to someone to protect them from the many demons plaguing the land.
Kagome reached up and pulled herself out of the well. Despite the years of practice, the climb never had gotten easy on her and her overloaded yellow pack didn't help any. She sighed remembering the days when Inuyasha would be there waiting for her arrival. That almost never happened anymore. She still didn't really understand it, but he had somehow managed to become even more distant and moody since the destruction of Naraku. Kagome had really thought that they would be able to explore the potential of their budding romance, but something continued to hold Inuyasha back. Kagome was hurt by this at first, but had since come to terms with the fact that maybe they were just meant to be friends. She was certainly not willing to risk the trust that they had by trying to pursue something he wasn't able to handle.
"Oh well," Kagome mumbled to herself as she started walking towards the village, "no sense daydreaming about things that are never going to change".
Sango looked up and smiled as she saw her friend approaching. "Kagome! It took you long enough this time. I was beginning to wondering if you had finally decided to stay."
Kagome shook her head, laughing at her friend's teasing. "You should know by now, that isn't going to happen. We had finals this week so I had a lot of catching up to do. It was worth it though, now I can relax for the rest of the summer."
Kouga smiled from his perch in a nearby tree. "So, she has all summer does she? That should be just about perfect." He sniffed the air. "Still no sign of dog boy yet, guess it is now or never."
A strong wind approaching caught the girls' attention. When they turned towards it to investigate, they saw the wolf prince approaching.
"Yo!" He said as he sauntered towards them.
"Hey, Kouga," Kagome replied hesitantly, as she looked around to make sure Inuyasha wasn't anywhere around to start a fight.
Well, not exactly, the overjoyed reception I was hoping for, but what did I really expect? Kouga thought to himself. Undeterred he proceeded up to Kagome and grabbed both of her hands in his, never losing his cocky grin. "I've missed you." He said looking her straight in the eyes.
Kagome stuttered for a reply as she felt a blush start to color her cheeks. You'd think I would be used to this by now. She scolded herself internally. It has been three years and he has never changed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sango trying to sneak off and abandon her. "Hey, where are you going?" Kagome said sounding slightly more desperate then she meant to. She kicked herself when she noticed the slight cringe on Kouga's face.
"Oh," said Sango, "um, I just remembered that Kaede had asked me to help her fix some of the huts in the village." She winked mischievously at her friend as she made a hasty exit towards the village.
"So, um, how have you been?" Kagome asked Kouga fighting slightly, her hands still grasped firmly in Kouga's.
"Kagome, I have wanted to talk to you about something." Kagome was surprised by his suddenly serious tone. Was it her imagination or did he look nervous?
"Sure, what's up?"
Kouga released one of her hands so they could walk side by side. "Well, I know that you don't really take my interest in you very seriously." He saw Kagome open her mouth to say something, but he held up his hand to stop her. "It is okay, I have given it a lot of thought, and I think I understand why. The fact is that we have never really spent much time together and aside from declaring my interest in you, I haven't really done that much to prove to you that I mean it. I want to change that if you will let me."
He stopped then and finally looked her in the eyes. Kagome tried again to open her mouth to speak, but nothing seemed to come out. What am I supposed to say to that, she thought to herself. I know he has always talked about making me "his woman", but it always seemed more like a game or just something to tick off Inuyasha then a serious proposal. Is he serious? It really doesn't matter anyways; I mean I am not interested in him, right? Still what do I say? Kouga watched patiently as he saw an internal struggle going on in Kagome's eyes.
"Kouga, you know I have always thought of you as friend, but…" Kouga knew where this was heading.
"Kagome, I know that you don't care for me as more then a friend now, but I really do care for you. I think that you could feel the same for me if you gave me a chance and that is all I am asking for. How can you know if you could feel anything for me or not, when the only time we have ever been together for more then a few hours was the first time we met and I kidnapped you? You don't know me and I don't blame you for that, I just want a chance to change it. If we spend time together and you still aren't interested in me as more then a friend, I will accept it, but I don't think that will happen."
Kagome couldn't help but laugh as he ended his speech with typical Kouga arrogance. Her first impulse was to shoot him down, but she realized that was mostly just out of habit. Was there really any harm in giving him a chance? She couldn't deny that she had always found him attractive. The more she thought about, she realized that the main reason she had never considered him was that she considered herself taken with Inuyasha. Now, she just wasn't sure she still felt that way.
"Inuyasha really isn't going to like this", Kagome blushed when she realized by Kouga smiling from ear to ear that she had accidentally said that aloud. "Okay, fine, what do you suggest, Kouga?"
Kouga could barely contain himself. Did she really just agree!?! It was all he could do not to jump up and down. Instead, he picked Kagome up and spun her around a few times in a bear hug, grinning so big it almost hurt.
"What the HELL do you think you are doing WOLF!?!" Kouga set Kagome down and turned to see a very pissed off looking hanyou.
"This is between me and my woman, dog breath, so stay out of it!" Kouga shouted back.
"Will both of you stop it already!" Kagome screamed over top of them both. "I am so tired of this!" She turned to Inuyasha, "What I do and who I talk to is none of your concern. I have spent the past two years chasing after you and now when things are finally calm you still show no interest in me unless someone else does. Well, I am sorry, but I am not going to be single forever just because you are too stubborn to make a move!" Next, she turned to Kouga, "For the last time, I am not ANYONE'S woman! I am Kagome and this type of thing is exactly why I never take you seriously!" With that, she stormed off towards the village, leaving the two men speechless behind her.
