A/N: This was written for KogKag Week on Tumblr. 7 prompts 7 days. The story will be longer than 7 chapters but the week kicked off, so here were prompts for the 2nd day: Demons/Humans. I went with both.

College Life

2.

One more.

Kagome yawned as she stretched her tensed body, hoping to relieve some of the tension that had build up. The first week had just ended friday finally coming to and end, and she already felt like she was crumbling beneath the weight of it all. She did not like to get behind, and so she decided to get ahead on her school work. It was the perfect time, on this great friday night, Sango was out celebrating like most of the other students. In her case, Kagome was now avoiding two very different type of men. Although, on the plus side, it did feel like the mystery stranger had vanished away from her life. She had not seen him again in the hallways and she was… somewhat relieved. Maybe he had found another girl to run after and had forgotten all about their little deal, which was good news; she did not need him to be getting any ideas about them.

As she allowed herself a long blink, a ding broke the silence of her room. She opened her eyes and searched her computer screen for the origin of the noise. It was not long until her eyes detected the email alert in the corner of the screen.

One thing.

She did not recognize the sender.

She clicked the semi-transparent yellow rectangle and it opened the email on her screen, the subject line staring at her: tutor. It could not be. He did not know her name, she had not even given him any kind of information about herself. Her heart hammered in her chest as she allowed her eyes to roam across the rest of the email. You're not an easy girl to find Kagome Higurashi. Let me know when you're free :). This was a joke, it had to be. Also, he had to be a stalker. It was the only logical explanation as to why he was even able to find her. It was not like she had a herd of friends on facebook or that she was in a social club.

But, despite how startled she was, she could also feel guilt nestling inside of her chest. He had held his end of the bargain that time and now she was trying to weasel her way out of her side of the deal. This was not the type of person she was. So he was a little weird. She would simply make sure that they met up in a public place and it should not be an issue. Plus, it was not like she ever intended on inviting him in her room or anything like that. The library would do just fine. Her fingers were trembling as she began typing up a reply: Tomorrow. Library. 6pm. The table by the window - don't be late. There. If he did not show up, it would be on him and then she would be free of any obligation.

Ding.

I'll be there.

That was quicker than anticipated.

A loud groan escaped heras she let her head hit the keyboard. Did she had just set up an appointment with the stranger she randomly kiss?

Oh god.

-C-

The sun was casting a bright light upon the dark wooden table as Kagome sat close to the window, her shoulder resting upon the glass. Her fingers were fidgeting with the edge of her yellow book, nervousness spreading through her body. She allowed her eyes to glance at the screen of her cellphone: 5:59. He was not here yet and part of her was hoping that he would not show up - especially since she was starving. Her class had run late and she had not been given a chance to grab food before heading to the library and now she was suffering the consequences of that lateness. Her stomach was growling loudly, cramps stabbing at her from the inside. She lifted her eyes from the table, looking ahead to see if she could catch a glimpse of a long ponytail but nothing.

"Looking for me?"

A gasp echoed through the quiet room while she nearly jumped out of her skin, her heart beating in her throat. Her mouth felt like cotton while a weak hand palmed at the silky fabric of her shirt. She barely dared to turn her head, not wanting him to see in what state he had put her in.

He sat down beside her, a grin on his face. He had meant to arrive sooner than this but life had not been on his side. He had thought that making a good impression was valuable and had opted to pick up some food for the two of them. Of course, he had never considered the fact that there might be a line… At least, he had managed to make it for six o'clock; he had a feeling she would not have waited around for him. But, he did get something for his troubles which he did show to her by dropping a paper bag on the table.

"Hungry?"

"No." Yes.

"I'm famished." Although he was no longer doing the same type of training as before, his body still demanded the same type of intake as before.

"How did you find me?"

"What?"

"How did you find out my name?"

Her smirked; he figured that question would come up. Although it was hardly his fault; if she had been more helpful and had forwarded more information from the start, he would not have been forced to resort to digging around. "Classroom list. You were the only name I didn't know." Alright, there was more than onename he did not recognize, but an easy elimination process led him to her.

Oh - she had not thought of that. Fine, maybe he was not thatcreepy.

"Do you have your book?"

"My book?"

"Yes - to study."

"I haven't bought my books yet." As a matter of fact, he never bought any books at all. Why would he? If he did not need to study then he did not need the book: simple logic.

She sighed; he was not going to make this easy on her, was he?

"We'll share." She moved her book to the middle so that the both of them would be able to see. "Is there anything in particular that you struggle with?"

"All of it." It was not that he was an idiot. It was simply that given the speed o his legs, he had focused his attention elsewhere in the past. If he actually took the time to study, from the beginning, he would be fine after a few weeks. But because there was so much to do, he felt like he was drowning and he did not know where to begin.

"Okay, look." She softly shook her head. "I have a big class load. I don't have time to waste helping some big youkai jock who doesn't wanna help himself." Deal or no deal, she would not haven him waste her time.

There were two types of sport teams across campus: a human one and a youkai one. Everyone knew the human teams had to work twice as hard to keep their scores ad physical shape. Youkai were naturally athletics and did not have to put in as much effort into it. Despite that, he was telling her that he never found a moment to pick up a book? She did not have time for this.

"Who says I'm a jock?"

"Who else wouldn't have their books?"

He could not help but chuckle; he had not met a girl with such fire in a long time. She did not care for his charms or about the fact that he was a youkai: nothing stopped her speaking her mind. He liked that about a woman.

"Well, I ain't a jock. At least not anymore. Can't be a jock if you can't run."

Her eyebrow quirked: could not run? He made it sound like it was permanent. They both knew that youkais were not vulnerable like humans and that a permanent injury was - a rare occurrence unlike with humans. Yes, they often did stupidities with the intention of showing up, but these injuries were always temporary. Yet, he had the face of a dead man walking. Why?

It did not take long for his nose to detect a shift in the air. "Guess youkais aren't as easy to peg down as you humans think heh?"

Although there was a peaceful cohabitation and most people did not have a problem mingling it did nothing to lessen the stereotypes that plagued both of the species. He himself was guilty of it, as he had thought that he was invincible but life had decided to prove him wrong. It was the influence of those around him. His fraternity was made up of youkais and humans, and - well some of them liked to show off. Humans could not do as much as youkais, and usually, they could be easily impressed. It meant that youkais got a big head and did stupid shit they should not be doing. And that was exactly what he did. Everything told him that he would be back to his old self in no time - but something inside of him felt different ever since. He could not explain it with words but it was there.

"Sorry."

She had nothing against jocks - or youkais - or him as a matter of fact. Inuyasha had complained a lot about full youkais, stating that they took advantage of the system and of how easy it was for them. He hated how little they had to work compared to everyone else. Of course, he also often compared himself to his half brother who was a full youkai. However, she did know that not all youkais were as egoful as Inuyasha painted them out to be. He did have a lot of resentment and pain when it came down to his hanyou nature, and he constantly felt stuck between two words.

"Sorry," he said as he messed up his own bangs. "It's just one of these things." He cleared his throat, trying to forget about his legs. "How 'bout we get started?"

She forced herself to put a smile on her face; maybe she had judged him a little too harsh. "Sure."

-C-

"You're back late."

Sango had been quite surprised when she returned to the room well past ten at night, on a friday night, and found it empty. At first, she thought that perhaps Kagome had gone home to the shrine, but a quick glance in the room had disproven that theory: all her bags were still there. Part of her had hoped that Kagome was slowly coming out of her shell, but she knew better. Kagome was not that type. Still, time ticked away and her friend did not return - until comment had slipped her - she had not meant for her to think she could not be out and about. It was not as though she was trying to shame her, as a matter of fact, she was hoping to hear the tale of a great, eventful evening.

"Yeah, sorry." She tilted her head to the side, hoping to hide the faint blush on her cheeks. "Lost track of time." By which she meant that she had embarrassed herself. Once he stopped talking, he let her talk and he never stopped her which meant she went on and on without a pause - and he never stopped her.

"Doing what?" she asked with a smirk.

"Studying." If she was more explicit than that about what she did, she would never hear the end of it and Sango would never let it go. It was best to keep it as it was.

"Where?" Kagome had always studied in their room.

"Library."

"Uh."

"Yup." She could feel sweat beads rolling down the back of her neck. She did not enjoy lying and she was not very skilled at it… but this was not a lie. Maybe an omission? After all, Sango did not ask her if she was with someone or anything like that.

"All by yourself?"

Crap.

"Study group." Two people could be a group right? "I'm trying to be more social."

"Good."

Kagome felt relief as she hoped this was the conclusion of that conversation. Honestly, she did not need any more questions about Kouga. Although she had to admit that his situation had now caught her attention. He had been vague but something had happened, she was sure of it. Also why was it that someone who never cared about their studies was now completely fascinated by them. Something did not add up and though it did not concern her, she found herself pulling her laptop out its protective sleeve as she laid down on her light blue comforter. She did not have his full name, but if he were an athlete, she shold be able to find him though the school's newspaper website - and voila. Kouga Takashi. Although the latest headline had her frowning; promising athete injured. It was rare that one would see a youkai make an injury headline, and yet there he was. It could only mean one thing: it was bad.

She hovered her clicker on it and then pressed. Her eyes skimmed the screen while she tightly pinched her lips together. Oh. It did not say much about how it occurred but it did say that it was bad enough that he would be benched for the session from the track team. No wonder his focus had suddenly shifted. Someone like him was probably here on a sport scholarship. Great, now she felt bad for him… She knew what it was like to have your life and your plans shattered in front of you with no back up plan in store. He had lost everything. Although - he was not human. A human would have no hopes of ever returning to the field, but he was a youkai. Surely he would eventually be able to heal and get his life back together right?

Maybe she could be a little nicer. She opened up an email and quickly typed up his name - no object line. Next week, same time, same place. And sent.

She shut the lid and let out a sigh.

-C-

The sound of shoes hitting the ground: that was his favorite sound. Although now it was associated with heartache, but he still chose to torture himself by listening to it day after day. It was not like his schedule could be like before: no practice, no team meetings. Sure, he hung out with the guys at the fraternity and he was present at parties - but it was simply was not the same as before. Now the night had fallen and the track was almost empty, quietness surrounding the sound of the steps. As he stared ahead, the sound of someone quickly walking made his ears twitch. He could not help but turn his head to the side, causing him to spot a familiar sight: it was her. Kagome. She was walking so close to the fence that he was surprised that she had not walking through it. He did not know she had an interest for the track team - then again, he had not asked. She was staring into the distance, as though she was looking for someone. Was it a friend or was it her ex?

He was not a hundred percent convinced as to what attracted him to her, but it was there. He had hooked up with a few humans in the past, but he could not say they fell within his preferences. He was known to be intense at times, and humans did have a reputation for being a little breakable. Although - she did not seem like that. Even when she was trying to hide and fade into the decor, she had a bright fire burning inside of her and it was captivating. There was more than she was showing - and he found himself enchanted by her - despite how little she seemed to return his interest.

Kouga tried to follow her line of sight and it led him to a group of three people. They felt familiar but he was not friends with them or anything - perhaps acquaintances. He watched as two of them walked away, leaving their silver haired friend behind. Immediately, his eyes traveled back to Kagome, but he saw that her glance had yet to waver. It was the hanyou boy she was looking at with such sorrows in her blue eyes. Kagome did not strike him as the type of girl who grabbed random guys and made out with them. That hanyou had to have wrecked her. Suddenly, he saw her expression shift and he was forced to look at her ex. He had a beaming smile on his face as a dark haired girl walked in his direction. She rushed to him and then planted a smooch on the hanyou's lips.

Oh crap. And she was just watching it happen?

No.

"Hey party girl." Although the nickname was unbefitting of her, she turned her head.

He saw shame color her cheeks as though she had been caught in the midst of an embarrassing act. Still, she detached herself from the fence and despite the fact that he thought she would ignore him, she headed in his direction. Her long hair was wrapped up in a ponytail which was swinging to the left due to the powerful winds. He scooted to the right, offering her a spot on the wooden bench.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're stalking me." He did not want her to know that he knew why she was there.

She chuckled. "Making sure you're studying."

Kagome did not have it in her to rebutt - she needed a simple conversation. If it were not for her shame, she would have ran away. She should not even be here. But she had seen him and somehow she had found herself heading in his direction. She had never seen Inuyasha practice his different sports; he had broken her heart before she had a chance to cheer him on. For once, he had been without his new girlfriend, and she had found herself longing. She missed their relationship, but she also missed him as a person. He had been her best friend, her confident - her everything. Her entire life had shattered in one small moment.

"Then you got me." He had tried, he really did. However, there was something about sitting down in front of a book, that he simply could not do. After a while, he always seemed to lose his focus.

She did her best to smile at his comment but her heart was not in it. She simply could not pour her heart out to a stranger.

"Getting ready for a party?"

She frowned. "It's thursday."

The way she stated it as though he had said the most horrific thing in the world hand hum chuckling: she was an innocent one. "You know there's parties every night right?"

"Don't people have school? Classes?" She barely managed to get enough sleep as it was. How did these people manage a social life, a party life and a school life? She would never be able to make it. Already her schedule had shifted from fitting in tutoring sessions.

"I don't think people mind. Sleep is overrated."

"For a youkai maybe."

He chortled. "Hey - now we like our sleep too."

"But you don't need it." Which was unfair - it gave them an advantage. If she pulled out an all nighter, she would be a mess the next day.

"We might not need it, but we sure got used to it."

Despite being different than humans, youkais had learned to adapt to a lifestyle that was not their own. They followed the same routine as humans, converting their schedule and way of life. Through the centuries, most had given up the real youkai life. It was simpler to blend in then to go against the flow. Humans had begun to overpopulate the world, and it seemed like the best decision to ensure their survival. Now, they did quite a few things out of an automatism, more than out of necessity and it had become widely accepted by all youkais.

"I'm sure I look a lot worse than you after an all nighter."

"Doubt it - I'm sure you still look cute."

The unexpected compliment forced him to furiously blush, her pale cheeks rapidly filling with a bright red color. Her lips cracked as she pinched them together, turning her head away from his sight.

"So you can kiss me, but I can't compliment you?" Teasing her was too easy, and he was unable to let any opportunity pass by.

Well, that did not help. "I wasn't - It wasn't…." Gah, why did he force her to explain this embarrassing situation over and over again? Just as she had begun to forget about him…

"You're a great kisser."

Argh! How was he even expecting her to put two words together when he kept talking to her like that? This was why she was not meant for the party life, drinking and hooking up with random strangers.

"Although a second try might confirm it better." He knew he was not getting another kiss but he did like the way she got all flustered. As long as he was not getting another slap… then again… he did not dislike it.

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't think so."

"Ouch? That bad huh?" he inquired with a smirk plastered on his face.

Gah… well it was - not it had not been horrible… but it was not about that. "I'm not that kind of girl," she finally said as she dared to meet his gaze.

"Didn't think so," he answered without skipping a beat.

A silence installed itself between them, and Kagome was left wondering about the mystery youkai sitting beside her. She could say without a doubt that other girls had kissed him in the past, so what was his deal? Was he a player? Did he like a challenge? Whatever his intentions were, she remained suspicious.

"Why me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you ask me to tutor you? Why do you talk to me?" Sure, he was a little -erm- intense at times, but he did not seem like he was a bad guy.

"Why not?"

"You don't know me."

"I have to know the people I talk to? Now how did I ever even make friends in the first place?"

"Ah. Ah. You know what I mean."

"Maybe I think you're interesting."

"Because I'm human."

He arched an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're a youkai."

"So I have to find humans interesting?" He did not have an opinion about them, they were neither fascinating or boring. "Why do you find youkais interesting?"

What did he want her to answer? She did not have a fascination with them. She had dated one hanyou and had tried to date a human but in the end, neither attempts had led to a happy ending. But she did find youkai history and mythology much more interesting than her own. "I think there's a lot to discover."

Most people did not see youkais as discovery or source of knowledge. Actually most humans feared all the things a youkai could know, and yet she appeared intrigued. That was girl was unusual. Most human female who had an interest in youkai had it for a physical reason. Their stamina particularly.

"I should head back," she said, breaking the silence.

"I'll walk ya."

"Oh no, please - it's fine."

"It's late," he rebutted. "And I was leaving anyways."

What was the point in arguing. "Thanks."

As they began walking, he noticed that the silver haired hanyou remained present on the field. Although he was dying to find out why that idiot had dropped a girl like Kagome, he refrained from asking questions. However, he could still do something. He let out a quiet whistle, far too quiet for Kagome's human ears, but it was very audible to the ears of an hanyou. As expected, the hanyou turned his head in direction of the sound and for a brief second, they made eye contact. Kouga never let his smirk falter, not even as he broke the glance to stare at Kagome instead. Granted it was part of the deal but it sort of was. She just did not know that she needed him to suffer for what he did.

Maybe that would teach him a lesson.

-C-

"Sango?"

"Yes?"

"Please stop staring at me."

"I'm not staring." Oh she was staring alright and she would stare until Kagome would crack.

She should have known it was a mistake. When Kouga said he would walk her home, she thought he meant he would walk her to the building. But no, he had something else entirely in mind: her front door. So not only had she kissed him, but she had led him to her dorm. And because that was not enough, Sango had been coming home at the exact same time as them. Obviously, her friend had not said anything but it had been written all over her face ever since. Kagome was not getting out of this one, hence why she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Just ask."

"Ask about what?" She would be lying if she said that she did not enjoy torturing her friend. Sango was also using it to gage her friend's feelings towards the mystery boy. Kagome was not one to bring boys back to the dorm and Sango was dying to find out more.

"Sango."

"Fine, fine," she said as she set her books down in front of her. "Who is he? Where did you meet him? Also, your room on the first night?"

"He's a guy from one of my classes…" Could she use this answer to pretend that this was also where she met him? If she talked about the party… Sango would never let her live it down. "I met him at the party," she mumbled with resignation. What was the point of lying? Sango would pry it out of her as well.

"You met him where?" For sure her ears were playing tricks on her.

"The party."

"You didn't tell me!"

"Because there was nothing to tell," she defended.

"You met a guy at a party! I call that a pretty big story. How did you talk to him?" Kagome had not gone to the party with the intention to mingle: how did she end up befriending a fratboy?"

Oh boy. This was the story she truly did not want to tell, the one thing that would make this conversation unravel. Could she dare to say it? "I sorta…" and then she mumbled the rest, rendering it inaudible to Sango's ears.

"You what?"

"I kissed him."

Sango was forced to slowly blink as she tried to let the information slowly sink in. Kagome - her Kagome - had kissed a stranger at the party? She could not even find words to speak or ask questions. Her bafflement was too great for her to string words together.

"It wasn't like that," Kagome began, pulling her out of her misery. "I - I saw Inuyasha…. I panicked and he was about to see me…"

"So you grabbed the very first guy and kissed him?"

"Basically," she replied, trying not to wince.

"And now you're friends?"

"We're not friends - I tutor him."

Tutored him? Why did these words sound familiar to her? Oh - wait. Sango's face stretched into a grin. "That's what you were up to on friday night!" Study group - please. Kagome had actually been keeping this from her for a while now.

"It wasn't like that!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to get any ideas! I know you're worried about me. I know you think I don't go out enough. I know you think I should date - and I didn't want you to think I was out there trying to meet people." There was nothing wrong with socializing but Kagome wanted to get there on her own - she did not want to be coerced into it.

Now Sango felt guilty nestling inside of her chest; she never meant to pressure Kagome to the point where she felt forced, she was only trying to help her friend. "Kag, I'm not just trying to ship you off to a new guy. I just don't want you to miss out on anything. I don't want him to take that from you. If you tell me this guy is just a friend - or nobody… I believe you."

"Thank you."

"Although - you do have to dish out a little… is he a good kisser?" It had been weird to ask personal questions about Inuyasha since all o them had been friends but this guy was a completely stranger.

Once more, Kagome found herself blushing. "It wasn't bad."

"I hear youkais have some extra skills compared to humans," she said with a grin. Although she had nothing against youkais, she had never dated outside of the human race.

"I don't really know." Hojo and her had barely gone on two dates and there had not been anything physical between them. Inuyasha had been her only serious boyfriend and has an hanyou he was stuck between two worlds.

"Better than Inuyasha?" It was not the name that either of them loved bringing up the most, but Sango was intrigued by what Kagome would have to say. They needed to be able to say his name, speak about him. Until Kagome could do that, she would never be over him.

"Sango, we kissed once." She could not compare kissing the love of her life with kissing a stranger. Yet, it had been nice. Yes, for a moment, she had forgotten all about her panic, about Inuyasha - but she could not possibly begin to compare the two of them.

"Hey, maybe he's truly amazing and one kiss is enough."

"It was fine."

"Just fine?"

"Sango!"

"Come on, it's the first time we can gossip about this."

"'I'd rather we didn't. I'd prefer not to hear all the things Miroku does when the two of you are alone…" She already knew what they did in front of people… there was no need to add to that collection of memory.

"Fine, keep your mystery youkai a secret." Kagome was a peculiar human with an attraction for the opposite. For a human, she had a temper that would rival some youkais' tempers. No wonder her attention always seemed to divert towards them. It was actually why it had worked so well between Inuyasha and Kagome. She was the only one who could go head to head with him, and she was certain that was why Inuyasha fell for Kagome in the first place.

"He's not my youkai." They were not friends. At best, there were study buddies.

Kagome sighed as she leaned backwards; youkai or human, it did not matter. She was not ready to be involved with anyone - regardless of their species.

Alone was good.

-C-