Author: Jennifer Rezny Rating: PG-13, for possible later content, IF the story gets continued. Genre: Inuyasha; romance/humor Disclaimer: Here it goes. All characters as of yet belong to the creators, I am not that person. Its a shame, really. Notes: Well... they're pretty IC, I'd say. Rate me please?

Interesting Affairs

Why is she taking so long? Where the hell is she? Why isn't she back? What's keeping her? ....... .... Why do I even care?

Inuyasha's ears flicked irritably, the pointed white dog ears twitching violently as he shook his head. Perched on a fence, balanced on his feet on the thin rail, he watched around her, sniffing for her scent. All he could smell of her was old spores of her having been there recently. But they were still old. No fresh scent. And it was driving him crazy. Red sleeves billowing in the wind, he watched, listened and smelt around for her, letting the breeze take the scents to him from the well. Damnit, if she was planning to come back sometime in the next century, he would be the first to know about it.

He wanted to go nearer to the well... to go peer in and see if she was coming. But, as his ego prevented him to, he contented himself by being perched on the fence where no one would bother him except for a few dozen people. Shippo, Sango, Miroku and Kaede purposely walked by at frequent intervals, just to see if he had gone yet. They knew he wouldn't though.

He could see Sango in the distance. Vaguely, he hadn't paid attention to a single word out of Kagome's mouth except for the first three words: "I'm going home." He hadn't bothered to listen why, and considering they hadn't even fought (until then), he was confused as to why. He didn't care for listening to reasons. He just blew up about her wanting to leave them that bad and about being such a defenseless being that she couldn't stand to stay there with them anymore. But seeing Sango, he figured, he might as well just fight his stubborn personality and ask.

"SANGO!" he called, and he saw Sango's head of shoulder-length black hair lift curiously. "HEY!"

"Yes, Inuyasha?" Sango said calmly, starting up the hill towards him. He could purposely moved as she came over to him so he could still smell the well and her scent not distract him.

"When's Kagome going to be back? I forgot." he said, crouching down on the fence to be at her height, sitting in his usual dog-like way, long silvery hair whipping in the breeze.

Sango's reply was less than pleasing. "In two days." she said casually, and Kirara, the dual-tailed cat demon that was Sango's pet, purred at her shoulder.

Inuyasha was incredibly displeased. Rapidly counting the days since she had gone back home in his head, he growled irritably, "So... she's gone for a total of six days. Greeeaaat. What exactly does she need six days for anyway?"

An amused look flitted across his friend's face. One eyebrow lifted and lips upturned at the corners, Sango replied, "Oh, so you miss her that much you won't even let her go home for a week? Its just a week, Inuyasha, besides, its nice to have some relaxation and rest."

Shaking his head so that his thick bangs flopped over his forehead and his hair rustled against his red robes, he snarled, "No! I don't miss her! Its just that one week of rest for us is one week for Naraku to hunt us down and collect more shards! And we need her to find the shards as well! And... and..."

"... and you miss her." Sango smirked, and one white dog ear twitched angrily. Kirara mewed again, and Inuyasha hopped from the fence and turned his back from Sango, folding his arms across his chest and saying in a firm and matter-of-fact voice, "I don't miss Kagome. I just want the Shikon no Tama so I can become a full demon."

Sango rolled her eyes and replied in a cool and even tone, "If you want to get her back so fast, just go there and get her. See why she went home for a week, hmm?"

Inuyasha just glowered, and glanced over his shoulder at her with one golden-amber eye, then turned completely so both eyes rested completely on her. Then, with a scowl, he turned on his heel and stormed to the well, jumping down without another look back. Sango, however, she just smiled and left, heading back to her path, and once out of sight from Inuyasha, she ducked into the bushes with a grin.

"I win the bet, I got him to go. Cough up."

With a heavy sigh, Miroku and Shippo dug in their pockets to fork over the wads of yen they owed her.

.......

Inuyasha felt himself tumble into the shrine in modern Tokyo that he found himself getting used to. He had been here too many times, to either try and retrieve Kagome and fail, or sometimes, very rarely, actually speak to her while he was there. He didn't like it much in modern Tokyo... too noisy, allot of big things that worked on magic Kagome called 'electricity', big monstrous machines that sped around at lightning paces and everyone in the streets was some sort of freak, dressed in weird clothing or in stupid-looking outfits. It was pretty overwhelming, and he could recall some of the past incidents here; like when he freaked out over some little thing that made lots of noise and told time by itself. He had crushed it. It was Kagome's clock-alarm, or something idiotic like that. He didn't particularly know or even care.

But as he slipped from the shrine, he was slightly disturbed. What, did everyone change their clothes daily? God, back in the present it was impossible to transport or afford multiple pairs of clothing. Luckily, he managed to get his repaired often, because they got battered quite a bit, but his robes were still pretty sorry looking. Geez, was Kagome the only sane person from the future he knew? And even then... she wore creepy outfits, so she wasn't exactly sane.

Yet... though he didn't care to notice it immediately, he eventually realized something was really odd when a few people walked up to him and had the audacity to say, "What a weird costume..." or, "Wow, that such a creative cat costume... what's it supposed to be?"

At first, he told himself, it was merely people being average morons. But then he noticed some weird things... people were moving in big groups, and they all wore the scariest futuristic clothes he had ever seen. One person was wearing a big suit that made him look like the saddest looking lizard-demon he had ever seen. What was going on that evening? Loud noises blared from Kagome's house, and he could see silhouettes of a few people in the shaded windows.

Even the miniscule distance between the shrine and Kagome's house had quite a few lingering creeps. So he slipped around the back, jumping up to her window with ease and shoving against it to push it open. It didn't move. He looked in through the window, staring around, and caught sight of a little slip of paper on the inside of the window, attached to the glass at the side. Crouching lower to read it, he narrowed his eyes, then gave a snarl.

Inuyasha, I'll be back on Saturday, it said, a short little phrase. Raising an eyebrow, he instantly figured she was mad at him and expected him to come after her. But from inside the house was coming a very loud noise, so loud that he could feel the glass vibrating. It hurt his ears considerably.

"There's some sort of demon in there," he decided after a few tense moments of thought, "and its making tons of noise and its about to eat her, and I have to go save her. That's why all the people are dressed weird. They're with the demon." he waited for a second, pausing, but now slightly concerned for Kagome and the current situation.

"I'm coming, Kagome!" he shouted, and smashed through the glass, landing in her bedroom and drawing out the Tetsaiga immediately. The bed was unmade, and her closet doors were wide open. Was there a struggle? There was Kagome's scent everywhere, and a few other people he faintly recognized. But no demon... was it possible it was a scentless demon? More and more confused and worried by the second, he rushed towards the door to follow the deafeningly loud sound. His heart hammered, and his bare feet sank into the carpeted floor.

But suddenly the music stopped, and he waited. Was... was... something happening? He heard nothing for a moment, and then voices. Three separate voices, as far as he could tell. Neither he recognized as Kagome's. All were female. All were whispering.

"You heard a crash?"
"Yeah, it was really loud, even over the music."
"Do you... do you think its a burglar?"
"Oh! What if it is?"
"Why would it be?"
"Its halloween! Lots of pranksters and stuff about!"
"You go first..."
"No... you!"
"Ow, you're hurting my arm, Rita..."
"Sorry, I'm scared... haven't you heard stories about murderers and that coming to parties?"
"But you don't have to dig your nails in..."
"Shut up! It can probably hear us!"
"Ahh... I'm really freaked out!"
"Oh, I'll go first... I bet its just Kagome's lamp or something being knocked over..."

"IS SOMEONE IN THERE?" someone shouted suddenly, as all the other voices hushed.

Inuyasha said nothing out of pure fear. Who was this? What had they done with Kagome? Looking around in fear, he looked for something to block the door with. There was a desk chair... but if he moved to get it, they could come in and get him off guard. He weighed his chances. What the hell was going on?

The door handle started turning, and Inuyasha, panicked, lifted the tetsaiga high over his head. He wouldn't use the windscar or the ultimate attack... just hit them really hard. He readied the swing, and as the door started inching open.

"Hello?" Kagome's voice called, but he had already swung the sword before he saw her head poking in the door. Luckily, however, the sword landed in the wall, landing with a crunch and getting stuck in the drywall and wood frames. Other girls screamed and Kagome gave a terrified yelp, and he saw three sets of hands drag her back out of the room and slam the door.

"Oh my god! You were almost killed!"
"It IS a murderer! KAGOME!?!"
"Kagome, are you all right!?!"
"No, no! Calm down...."
"What!? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!"
"No, listen, I know him..."
"YOU KNOW HIM?!
"WHAT?!"
"Is he that deranged stalker guy?!"
"He IS violent! What did I tell you?"

Inuyasha listened to the hysterical screams on the other side of the door, and stared at the handle. It was being held shut. He heard a few of the yells being directed at him, and he heard footsteps of more people heading up the stairs. What was going on? His ears hurt.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called, sounding terribly confused and rather annoyed, trying to twist the handle. It seemed multiple people were holding it closed. "Open the door."

He waited for a reply, and he could literally imagine all those people on the other side staring at Kagome while she tried to look innocently confused, as he had seen multiple times before. "Kagome?" he said impatiently, and he heard someone move to the door and a few rushed slurs of, "No, Kagome, don't, he tried to kill you!"

"Open the door." he commanded. "Or I'll bash it open."

"GO AWAY, STALKER! Kagome doesn't want anything to do with you!" "Leave now, or we'll call the cops!"
"That's a threat and criminal offense!"
"We could have you charged and put on trial!"
"This is called harassment, you stalker, we're warning you!"

Inuyasha didn't understand a single thing they said, and flexed his fingers and claws with a scowl.

"Move, unless you want to lose your head!" he shouted, and he heard people screaming and shouting and running away. "IRON CLAW!" he said, and plunged his claws through the door easily. The entire thing shattered explosively and a mere stick about two inches in width hung crookedly off the hinges. Part of the frame was torn out and broken. He stood at the top of the stairs, lugging tetsaiga and staring down to the bottom where about two dozen teens about Kagome's age stood. Fifteen and sixteen year olds. A whole lot of them.

"INUYASHA!" Kagome said, her voice angry and exasperated at the same time. She glared up at him, and he was about to retort something when his eyes widened at her outfit.

She was wearing barely anything. A black bathing suit and stockings. A few metal circles on what looked like a collar dangled at her throat, and a headband with pointed dog ears was perched on her head. A long black fuzzy rope, a tail, hung behind her by a black sash. He didn't want to say anything now. He was just disturbed. He took note that the three girls at the front of the group with her were wearing similar outfits, just as a rabbit, a cat and a fox. He didn't want to ask at all. But she was glowering at him furiously, so he said, without taking his eyes off her, "The door was blocked. I had to."

Kagome looked like she had allot to snarl at him, but didn't want to say it to him infront of everyone. She marched abruptly up the stairs, ignoring her friends cries for her to stop and call the Ôcops', whatever the hell those were. Reaching him, she stared him down for a moment, the anger radiating off her, and he cowered a tiny bit.

"Kagome? Erm... what's going on?" he dared ask, and she didn't hesitate to scream the words he hated to hear.

"Sit. Sit. SIT. SIT. SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT!" she screamed, stomping her foot with each word, and furiously stamping her feet with the slurred sit-sit-sits. Her friends looked on in curious wonder.

However, his face did not pelt to the ground as it usually did. The charms did not work here, it seemed, and they just flickered faintly with a dull light. Inuyasha started to chuckle, but caught her glance immediately and stopped and as she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hall leading away from her bedroom. He let her tug him after her, just fearing how much shit he'd be in later once they were back in Japan... if, that is, she joined them again. He was worried of this now.

He could hear all Kagome's costumed friends whispering and talking and wondering what to do. He assumed her family wasn't home - the grandfather would have started pelting him with scrolls if they had been. But now he, the great hanyou Inuyasha, was under the complete mercy of Kagome. Alone. Greaaat.

She opened a door into a room with nothing but a couch and a big box in it, plus some shelves stocked with some odd books. She shut the door behind her and said, fists clenched, trying to keep her voice down, "What do you think you are doing here?!"

"Why are you dressed like that?" he replied, ignoring her question and asking the question that was really bugging him. There were boys at that party... why was she dressed like that, indeed.

"I asked first. Why are you here?"

He sarcastically replied, "Because I want to join your whore party." and she suddenly looked downcast and glanced at the floor for a moment before saying anything more. She looked a bit apologetic now, but there was still some anger in there he didn't want to explode.

"Inuyasha, I know this looks wrong to you. Me and a bunch of other girls dressed in skimpy clothes with a bunch of guys..." she explained exasperatedly and he folded his arms and waited for a real reply. "... but you have to understand this is the present now... I don't suppose Halloween exists in your time..."

"Halloween? What in the hell is that?"

She grimaced at his confused answer. "Yeah... want me to explain?"

He gave her a snarky reply, staring at her in a provoked way, his amber-gold eyes locked on her warm brown eyes. "No, Kagome, I want you to leave me in my confusion."

Her eyes flashed and she replied in a cold voice, "You're hopeless, Inuyasha."

"WHAT DID I DO NOW?!" he said in protest, waving his arms in frustration. "Just explain hell-o-ween and get on with it!"

She sighed, and began explaining, "Its a day of the year where everyone dresses up in costumes and goes door-to-door asking for candy. Its tomorrow. I think for you guys, its just the day of the dead, where spirits roam the earth. Not that they don't already, that is."

"Then why are you dressed up funny today?" he asked icily, and she sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh. He was slightly disturbed. Was she tired of explaining things to him? Whenever they talked about her time, she usually ended up explaining things to him for hours. And now she was explaining again.

"Its my halloween party today. So we're all in costume."

"So... its just for fun?"

"Yes."

He suspiciously stared at her, running his eyes down her outfit once more. She watched him apprehensively. "But..." he started, "why're you in THAT costume?"

She watched him still for a second, as if she hadn't expected the question to come at her. Blinking a few times, she replied slowly, "I don't know... my friends suggested we go as animals, so I did, and I figured I would go as a dog..."

He didn't reply at all. Instead, he chose to change the subject. "Are you planning to come back anytime in the next century?"

"Inuyasha, I TOLD you. I'll go back in a few days. Do you not trust me enough that you're positive I'm not ever going to go back?" she said, a twinge of irritation getting added to her voice. He shrank back a tiny bit, from the look on her face, and said, "I know, but we need you..."

Kagome didn't say anything, and nor did he, after his last words. She glanced at the door and shouted suddenly, "PRIVACY! PLEASE!"

Inuyasha has been so caught up in talking with Kagome he'd let his guard down, and realized that those three annoying girls were outside the door. He stood up from his spot on the couch, and lifted his claws. "Don't make me rip your heads off!"

She gave him a glare of warning, but the three girls outside scampered immediately. With a sort of a sad look suddenly, she glanced at him and solemnly said, "You know Inuyasha, maybe you should go for now. I'll be back soon, okay?"

He shook his head. "I'm not leaving." was his answer, firmly and set. Kagome sighed, and went to the door.

"Fine. You can stay here. Just no more attacking, hmm?"

He shook his head again, and kept his eyes on her. "No. I'm going downstairs with you. It might be dangerous."

She looked a bit stony, as if she wasn't expecting it. Was he really just going to sit in a room while she was downstairs with possibly dangerous noises everywhere and other guys while dressed in a smaller outfit than usual? No. Over his dead body.

Kagome didn't look angry, but she blushed slightly as she said, "I'm perfectly okay, Inuyasha. I don't think anyone's going to attack me."

"Kagome, there was loud noises! And I thought a demon was in here, because there was nothing but loud noise and strange smells." he insisted, and folded his arms across his chest.

She thought for a second as to what he was talking about, and explained in a few words, "It was music on the stereo."

"That crap was music?" he said skeptically, and wandered over to her at the door. "Anyway, lets just go downstairs. You got any of that food stuff? Ramen? I'm hungry."

An amused smile flitted on her lips for a milliseconds, and she seemed to give in and let him follow her out the door.

"Fine," she relented, "but my friends are going to bother you ALL evening."

.......

"So... your name is..." one of Kagome's friends prompted, the one with the fox ears. Inuyasha stared at the kitsune-girl for a few minutes and then replied, in an edgy voice, "Inuyasha."

The girl nodded and continued to stare him down, and he stared back, trying not to laugh. This was pretty stupid. He was being constantly mobbed by all the female friends of Kagome's, and whenever one of the males tried to talk to him, he was clueless as to what the latest bands were or who had won some tournament.

"Nice costume. What are you supposed to be dressed as? Kimono robes and cat ears?" one girl asked him, and he shrugged, but leveled a bit of the irritability from his voice.

"Actually, they're dog ears. And I'm not dressed up or anything." he said, ear flicking. The girl saw it move, and reached up and pinched it rather hard, and said, "Oh, cool, is it electronic?"

The pinch hurt. It really did, but he didn't want to make more of a commotion, so he grimaced and shook her off with an airy, "Erm... yes." as he didn't particularly understand what an electronic ear was supposed to be. He glanced at Kagome, and she giggled slightly at the look on his face.

"Did Kagome invite you?" one girl asked, and he shrugged. When she looked quite scandalized at his supposed coming uninvited, he smirked slightly, and she continued, "Why'd you come then? She told us you dumped her."

He was more confused by this than by any question about sports or Ôcomputers'. Staring at her, he replied, "What do you mean? We never were together."

"Huh?" the girl sounded almost as confused as he did. "She told us all about you... how you're an arrogant jerk and stuff. And how you get jealous whenever this other guy flirts with her and stuff, and tell her its not right and stuff, and then you turn around and see your old girlfriend infront of her. And she's such a sweet girl that she doesn't react so violently when you're with the other girl. She even told us about how you tried to kill a guy just for flirting with her."

Inuyasha listened to this, with a deadpan expression. The hell?! Where was this coming from? Convinced this girl was making stuff up to try and make him hate Kagome, he scoffed, "That's crap. That never happened."

"All of its false?" she said with a skeptical tone, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, I did try and kill the guy, and the other part about me and Kikyo is partly true. But I'm not jealous over Kouga liking Kagome, I just don't like Kouga, and he stole part of the Shikon jewel, so he's got some shards of it in his legs which lets him get away quicker if I try to kill him." he explained, and when the girl started to accuse him of being mental patient on the loose, Kagome overheard part of the conversation and rushed over, clamping her hand over his mouth. He realized his mistake then - oh, right, they didn't understand the Shikon no Tama.

He always kept an eye on Kagome the entire evening. Every once in a while one of the demonic girls would wander over to her and bother her about him being so Ôviolent and mentally disturbed'. By the end of the evening, he had learned quite a few words that supposedly were related to him, like Ôbipolar' and Ôstalker'. He wasn't either - he was just moody and wanted to protect Kagome. Nor was he violent, unless he had to be, and he wasn't THAT overprotective. Just concerned for Kagome's well-being.

Eventually, people started leaving, and after a few hours of dodging confusing questions and trying to answer them, everyone was gone. Just he and Kagome were left.

"So... about that conversation with what's her face." he began, and Kagome sighed for what seemed the millionth time that night. She looked at him apologetically, and said, "Inuyasha, you remember when I went home after our first big fight? The one with the alarm clock? After we met Kouga?"

He nodded, and she continued, "Well, after going home, I kinda offhandedly ignored Houjou, a guy in my class that I liked a while back. So my friends assumed I got a new boyfriend and didn't tell them, so they made me spill the whole story of you and everything. They... they assumed..." she cleared up, blushing furiously, "well, they automatically wrote you off as a violent stalker who was after me, and now their suspicions are kinda confirmed."

"Feh..." he said, and shrugged, a slight smirk drifting onto his face. "Its not my fault they've never been to the present, so they don't understand."

She smiled, and said in an almost teasing voice, "My present or your present?" and he replied "Mine," with a grin. "That's why they don't understand. Because they don't live in the Ôfeudal' era."

Both laughed a bit, both blushing, and Inuyasha asked suddenly, "So... you're not mad about the door, are you?"

She looked a bit strained, but said, "Not anymore... it can be repaired. I was kinda angry at first... I mean, that's my bedroom door. But I'm over it now. You were confused." Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief.

Both were quiet for a moment, and then Kagome asked, "Are you... going to go home tonight, or do you wanna stay here?"

He thought before answering. "I think I'll stay here, if that's okay."

"I'm home alone tonight anyway... I need some company." she smiled, blushing a bit, and he nodded. He'd spend the night. Then they'd go home in the morning.
.......

Riiiiiing. Riiiiing. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Inuyasha's ears went on the revolt at the loud noise echoing through the house. Following the loud source of the noise, he climbed over the couch to stare at the small box on the table. It was ringing loudly every few seconds, and he lifted his claws to hit it. What... what was that?

Kagome came over to it before he could hit it though. Pressing a button on the top, labeled "Speaker", she sat down on the couch, watching the phone, and said cheerily, "Hello?"

"Huh?" Inuyasha turned to her and asked, and jumped when the box responded, "Hey, Kagome!"

"Hey, Rita." Kagome replied, and Inuyasha glanced between the plastic box and Kagome. A talking box. Okay. That made so much sense.

"Oh my god, Kagome, I wanted to talk to you about that Inuyasha guy... he's scary, but he's SUCH a bishounen, isn't he? Talk about HOT... you must have fallen for his looks, right?" the box said, and Inuyasha stared at it. What the hell was this? A talking box that thought he was good-looking?

"Eh..." Kagome trailed, bright red and with a hand clapped over her face.

"Who are you? Some kind of talking box?" Inuyasha asked, eyes following a thin rope connecting it to the wall.

"Huh?" the voice replied, and Inuyasha leaned over it, weirded out. "Kagome?"

"Sorry, Rita... that was Inuyasha." Kagome said, still bright in the face. She leant over and picked up the receiver, shifting it off of speaker mode. Inuyasha looked puzzled, and he couldn't hear the voice any longer, but Kagome continued talking to the box through the thick stick-like thing. In a matter of seconds, Kagome said she'd call Rita back later, and put down the stick thing on its rack.

"What in the hell was that?" he asked, crouching on the floor infront of the phone still, looking up at Kagome in a confused wonder.

"A phone. It lets you talk to people anywhere in the world." she said simply, "I'm gonna go get changed, then we can watch a movie or something... do you want to make a bowl of popcorn or something?"

"Sure... but I don't know what popcorn is, so I dunno." he said, and she directed him to the kitchen.

"Top shelf on the right of the microwave - the box with numbers on the front with a big door. Just follow the direction on the packet, it'll be easy - even for you." she said, but added, "Or you can just wait for me if you're scared to use it or something."

She began climbing the stairs, fuzzy dog-tail bouncing at her heels. Inuyasha stared after her, but then scowled and stalked into the kitchen, and he ransacked the cupboard he was directed to.

"Does she think I'm that clueless or something?" he grumbled, her little Ôeasy- even for you' ringing in his ears. He found the Ôpopcorn' box and opened it up, pulling out packets with little seeds in them, the package wrapped in cellophane paper, like ramen noodles.

"One's not going to make enough for both of us," he decided, taking about five packets. Skimming the directions lazily, he threw them all into the microwave, cellophane and all. Punching the Ôpopcorn' button on the microwave like the box told him to, he watched in curious wonder as the machine started up, the inside glowing with a bright magic light, and a disc in the middle spinning the popcorn packets in slow circles. He watched with great interest, but watched in a sudden worry as the cellophane began sizzling and was starting to melt. Then the bags started expanding, getting larger and rounder, like a ball being inflated. This was not good, he decided, and was about to try and stop it when the entire thing exploded open, the door being blasted off its hinges. He was suddenly drenched in a hot liquid like melted butter, just brighter, and was peppered with fluffy white and yellow puffballs and little unexploded seeds.

What the hell was this? Who would own this stuff? he wondered angrily, seeing the microwave doorless and quite broken, little electric currents jumping around the inside.

Kagome obviously heard the noise, as she was running down the stairs moments later and standing in the kitchen's doorway in a stunned amazement, her mouth forming a little ÔO' of surprise. She was out of her dog costume - now she was wearing a white tank top and baggy pajama pants. The pants were checkered, orange and yellow, like the kimono of that little girl that hung around with Sesshomaru. He stared at her and she stared at him.

Then she started laughing.

He assumed it was really funny to, him standing there, drenched in quite a bit of melted butter down his front, popcorn littering the entire floor. He would have laughed too, if he wasn't feeling incredibly stupid. He constantly accused others of being brainless - well, he just blew up a microwave. What goes around comes around. He glared at her laughing face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Inuyasha!" she giggled, walking over, "I'm sorry, but that's the funny..."

"You don't mind the microwave?" he said gruffly, but apprehensively. The laughter died from her face for a moment, but she then smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. Its really old - we're getting a new one anyway."

"What is popcorn supposed to be? Food, I assume?" Inuyasha asked, and she nodded. He stared at it for a moment, his buttered kimono soaked to the skin and clinging uncomfortably to his chest.

"Hang on a sec, I think we've got some of dad's old clothes upstairs. You can borrow a new outfit. After you get changed I'll show you how to make popcorn, hmm?" she laughed, then disappeared up the stairs. A few moments later, she returned with a pair of men's pajamas, a faded white t-shirt and red pants. She put them in his arms and directed to him to the washroom, where he changed quickly, leaving his robes in a heap on the floor. The shirt fit him, though it was a bit loose, and the pants fit the same. It was a much lighter outfit than his robes.

When he retraced his steps back to the kitchen, she gazed at him somewhat speechlessly for a moment. He looked down at himself, and asked, "Is something on backwards or something?" She shook her head, blushing, and didn't say anything.

He picked up another couple bags of popcorn, and glanced at the microwave. "I don't think it'll work anymore."

She giggled, and said, "Yeah, it won't."

"How do we make it then?" he asked, and she continued giggling like an idiot - or rather, like the schoolgirl she was. "What's so damned funny?"

"That's not the microwave. You blew up the toaster oven."

He stared at her, stupefied. Wow, another stupid point to him. He certainly was having a good experience in the future. Granted, he HAD seen all of this stuff before - he'd just never tried to use it or seen it used. The only thing he'd ever tried to use in Kagome's house was a gas stove, and that went well. THAT was easy to use, unlike everything else.

Kagome was explaining to him how to make it. She took off the cellophane wrapper and unfolded the paper packet, placing the instruction side facing up. Then she hit the popcorn button once. She had put ONE packet in the microwave. He had put five and hit the popcorn button five times.

"Will that make enough?" he asked, and she responded, "The bag expands, as you obviously saw." He nodded apprehensively.

.......

"What do you want to watch?" she asked, gesturing at all the movies on the shelf below the TV. He crouched down beside her, wondering what the hell he was supposed to be picking. She explained, seeing his face, "Its like a theater play... but with real people, and you can watch it over and over again. You watch it on the TV, and you can rewind it and forward it past the parts you don't like."

"So... its a puppet show where you can control time?"

She laughed again, and cheerily replied, "Yup, that's it."

He looked at the cases closely. Reading the titles and backs of the cases, Kagome explained each movie further into depth beyond what the crummy paragraph on the back told him. He asked her which was her favourite. She replied, "Lady and the Tramp".

He shrugged and handed her the case, and she smiled, opening it up and putting a rectangular black box into a bigger rectangular silver box. The big TV box erupted into color at the push of the button.

Crashing down onto the couch, Inuyasha sank back against the pillows, resting his arm across the back of the couch, folding one leg up infront of him, and plopping the big blue bowl of popcorn in his lap. He hadn't tried any yet. Kagome climbed up next to him, snuggling under his arm and stretching out her legs on the couch beside her. She leant against his side, munching on some popcorn as the movie started. He picked up a handful and stared at it doubtfully. On the TV, two humans were opening a box and a wimpy-looking puppy was coming out of it. He was disinterested, but he paid attention anyway. Maybe he would learn something about modern life.

As the movie progressed, he became more interested. Lady, the sissy dog, with floppy ears and a collar, was worried her owners didn't like her anymore because they got a new baby. She meets a handsome, street-savvy tramp cleverly named Tramp. They enjoyed several outings together, including a memorable spaghetti dinner by moonlight at Tony's, but their relationship is strained not only by Lady's loyalty to her human family and their newborn baby, but by Tramp's devil-may-care attitude that at one point gets Lady thrown in the dog pound. Tramp redeems himself by saving the baby from a rat and thereby wins Lady's love. And then there was a whole lot of stuff about them being complete opposites and still fell in love. He thought this whole plot was ironic. But he was interested, and Kagome, though she must have watched it a million times, looked very spellbound. The top of her head was near his cheek, and he could smell her scent strongly. Kagome had eaten most of the popcorn already, as he didn't care for it too much.

"Open my eyes?" the innocent young bitch said on the TV, when Tramp asked her to leave her family.

"To what a dog's life can really be," Tramp replied on the TV, "I'll show ya what I mean. Look down there. Tell me what you see." he said, gesturing down at all the streets of houses below the hill.

"Well... I see nice homes with yards and fencesÉ" Lady replied with a soft voice, looking around the hill with big brown eyes.

The streetwise mutt continued, "Exactly. Life on a leash. Look again Pidge. Look there's a great big hunk of world down there with no fence around it, where two dogs can find adventure and excitement, and beyond those distant hills who knows what wonderful experiences. And it's all ours for the taking, Pidge. It's all ours."

"It sounds wonderful," Lady, nicknamed Pigeon for some reason, lamented sadly, her eyes looking oh-so doe like and bright.

"But?" came the disappointed prompt.

"But who would look after the baby?" was the question, and Inuyasha wanted to pelt the dog with popcorn. Moronic puppy dog. Gee, freedom, or I could live with people who keep me chained in the backyard. Fun life it must be, huh?

"Inuyasha?"

At first he thought it was Lady saying his name, but then he realized it was Kagome talking. He looked over at her, and his amber eyes met hers. They were warm brown and puppy dog-like, just like Lady's.

"You're awfully quiet." she said with a smile, as he watched her. "Normally, you're never this quiet."

"Implying I'm noisy?" he responded with a slight smirk, and she leant her face against his shoulder again with a murmured, "No... its just rare to not hear you, that's all."

She smiled, and lifted her head again to look up again. He took his eyes off the TV once more to look back at her, and she didn't say anything. He was strangely at peace... today had been confusing and messed up, and now it was just him and Kagome. He didn't have anything else to say, and nor did she. He wished silently he could hear her thoughts. Then, he would know if she was feeling what he felt right then.

"Kagome." he said very gently, his silvery bangs tickling her forehead and he leaned his head down to stare into her eyes. His nose was barely two inches from hers, and they slowly neared one another's faces, centimeter by centimeter. He saw what was coming and was impatient for it. Little pink spots appeared on her cheeks, and she whispered his name back at him in an apprehensive voice.

"How was the party, Kago- hey, what're you doing!?"

Both jerked away from one another as Souta, Kagome's little brother, appeared in the doorway. Whatever spellbound feeling that was cast upon them was shattered immediately, and they both whirled their eyes to look at him. Neither spoke, just stared. Bad timing on Souta's part. Incredibly bad timing.

"Get out of here, we're watching Lady and the Tramp!" Kagome said angrily, seizing a pillow from the couch and throwing it at him. Souta scampered out of the room with a sarcastically yelled, "Sor-ry!"

She turned back to Inuyasha as the door was shut, and she gazed at his eyes shyly, blushing still. He regarded her as well, but, unfortunately, as the both knew, the moment was completely ruined. It wouldn't happen tonight.

Edgily shifting his attention to the TV as Kagome sat up straighter so she wasn't leaning so much on him, he watched disinterestedly as one of the dogs was crushed by a horse and carriage. Had he been an actual dog, he would have cared. However, considering the only dog in him was dog-demon, he didn't give a shit about the dog on the TV. Right now, all he cared about was the Kiss that Never Was.