When I see you, I fall apart ...Like a zombie

I got too nervous to ask you out ...To the prom-bie

I wish I could make you mine

When I open my mouth I sound like Frankenstein

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I Love You So Much

It's Scary

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Isao rocked to and fro with his head between his hands. It wasn't just the room being too loud, and a sudden headache. No. For him, it was the feeling of air suddenly leaving his lungs as he took frantic breaths in a failed attempt to calm himself. It was being able to hear. Every. Single. Sound. From the hushed voices in conversation, the phones ringing off the hook, the sirens of the police cars and ambulances making their way up the mountain, the ticking of the clock on the wall, the slamming of a door down the hall, the wasp buzzing in the room, all amplified tenfold. It was being near-blinded by the florescent lights that burned his already violated irises, forcing him to clench his eyes tightly shut, just as protection from the light. It was the world pressing in on him, a sudden tightness and crawling under his skin, making him want to claw the flesh off of his bones, just so he could sit and not want to scream.

"Isao, come into my office at once," the far too young director's voice boomed across the office. There was no sympathy in his tone. No empathy for the dead. No. His voice was cold and harsh and spoke nothing except for displeasure at being inconvenienced by something as trivial as the mass slaughter that occurred within his limited dominion. Mustering up the strength to get to his feet, the elderly man shuffled into his superiors office and shut the door gingerly behind him.

"You called the authorities," the director began with thinly veiled ire as he motioned for the old man to sit before adding pointedly, "Before you asked me for approval to do so."

"I didn't realize I needed permission to report dead bodies in the park," Isao clipped back incredulously as he wrinkled his nose in disgust, "The result is the same whether I asked for permission or not. The authorities needed to be called."

"Men and women die in nature every day," the director hissed coldly as he narrowed his eyes and leaned back on his cushy office chair, "Because you notified the authorities the media is now poking around. I've received at least a dozen calls today from various news agencies wanting details. We could've just wrote them up as missing and cleared the evidence of the animal attack."

"I beg your pardon?!" Isao scoffed as he openly gaped at the man at least twenty years younger than he, "That's completely….how could you….I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"Further," the director continued coldly as though Isao had never spoken, "In your contract is a non-disclosure provision prohibiting you from informing outside parties about goings on in the park. You have violate the terms of your employment and therefore I must ask you to clear out your desk and turn in your badge."

"You're firing me?! I've been here longer than you've been alive and people died on that mountain!" Isao hissed angrily as he set his jaw and glared, "By god man! This is…"

"No longer your concern," the director finished coldly as he narrowed his eyes, "Clear your things and know that if you speak of these events, our office will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."

"Empty threats will get you nowhere," Isao scoffed as he got to his feet and moved stiffly towards the door. Pausing he glanced over his shoulder, "You're a fool. A god damn fool."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha lay face down in the dirt far longer than the spell required trying to formulate a plan that would make his intentions clear while also leaving no room for her to reject him. Time moved at an agonizingly slow pace as his mind raced for a proper course of action. Throw him into a pit with dozens of angry, murderous demons he was in his element. Put him up against one girl with the power to crush him and he was a goner.

He stay in his prone position even as he heard her marching up the ridge towards him. He should sit up. He knew he should. At least, he needed to look into her eyes whenever he figured out what the hell he was going to say. It should be sweet but not overly so. She never responded well to overly sweet – merely blushing and stammering which is the last thing he wanted. Too much had gone unsaid. Too much was at stake to waste a moment here. She didn't seem to like men being too forward either. No rough grabbing or proclamations of love. That wasn't his way and she'd probably assume he was possessed or something. Maybe he should….

"Why were you spying on us?" Kagome asked heatedly s she came into shouting distance – officially cutting off his train of thought.

"I wasn't spying!" he blurted out angrily as he propped himself up on one elbow – mentally screaming at himself for completely fucking this up before he'd even really begun. Swallowing thickly, he cleared his throat and added quickly, "Wasn't meaning to anyway. Was catching dinner upstream and was…was on my way back when…"

"How much did you hear?" Kagome cut him off as she gave him a guarded glance, "You said 'you would'. You would what exactly?"

"Um, take you to…to that thing as…as your date," he stuttered awkwardly – making sure to use the modern vernacular - as he pulled himself into a seated position and his cheeks blossomed into a impressive shade of red, "I would do that."

"Do you know what a date entails?" Kagome asked quietly as she anxiously chewed on the inside of her cheek, "I mean, you might not want to go if…"

Plucking up his courage, Inuyasha's mind tried to formulate a truly romantic thought to set her straight. Something sweet but not creepy. Something she'd like. But instead….

"I'm not stupid, Kagome!" he huffed in exasperation as he threw one hand up to gesture aggravatedly at nothing in particular, "I know what a date is and I wanna be your date dammit! What's so hard to understand about this?!"

"I'm…I'm not talking about as a friend," Kagome began timidly as her own cheeks turned a rosy shade, "I mean….you do understand what a date means, right? It's…"

"It means I'm courting you. Me. You. Courting," Inuyasha replied a little more harshly than he intended as he mentally smacked himself when his mouth impulsively added, "Shit woman, I've been courting you for years! I don't understand how the hell you never realized this! Are you really that stupid?"

"I beg your pardon! You have done no such thing!" Kagome clipped tersely – ignoring the barb at her intelligence in favor of arguing the important parts, "You go to Kikyo all the time! You treat me like dirt! You call me names!"

Okay, maybe she wanted to make a point about the name-calling. Squaring her shoulders, she watched as Inuyasha got to his feet – his hurt amber orbs never leaving her sapphire ones.

"I just…" Inuyasha began in a much gentler tone before clearing his throat and staring into the distance forest canopy like he found it very interesting, "I don't mean treat you like dirt. I'm…I'm sorry if…if I've hurt your feelings. But…but Kikyo? I…"

Here he paused as he tried to decide whether to tell her of the terribly awkward no good conversation he'd had with the undead miko a few months back. On the one hand, he would make his choice clear. On the other, he didn't want to seem like a bigger idiot than he already felt. If she rejected his proposal….

"I've already informed Kikyo of my choice and nothing is gunna change my mind," he finished lamely as he shifted his weight and let out a shaky sigh – trying to ignore the utterly bereft look on her face as he pushed onwards to set the record straight, "Since there seems to be a lot of miscommunication going around, I'm…I'm just gunna lay it out for ya. 'Bout two months back when Kikyo called me I told her I…I planned to build you a house and she gave me her blessing. I then asked your mom if I could build you a house and she said no you had to graduate first. It seems like…like I told everyone except you that I was gunna build you a house but…but… before you say no…."

He paused and cast a furtive glance at Kagome who looked neither thrilled or angry but rather utterly confused. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he plowed ahead, "For the past year….since…since Kaguya's castle, I've assumed we've been engaged. You…you said you loved me and…and we kissed and…and…you'd been treating me like a husband. You touch me when…when its not necessary and proper to do it. You…. and….I…I don't know how things worked in your time. Or in general to be honest. I just assumed that…."

Blood running cold when he heard her giggle, he flinched involuntarily at what he assumed was her laughing at him. Which was partially truly.

"All this time you've loved me?" Kagome continued to laugh softly as she gave him a sheepish grin as though what he was saying finally clicked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't know I needed to," he admitted honestly as he gave her a hopeful smile, "So…so you'd be okay with me building you a house?"

"Will that mean we're married?" Kagome asked bluntly with a happy giggle thrown in for good measure. Nodding once, Inuyasha waited with baited breath as he tried to gauge her reaction before literally sagging in relief when she crossed the short distance between them to throw herself into his arms. As their lips met, Inuyasha moaned happily in his throat and pulled her tighter against him. Nothing could ruin this moment. Absolutely….

"Pay up," a snarky male voice whispered jovially from a short distance away followed by a familiar female groan "Told you he was gunna make the first move."

"Fine, fine," Sango hissed under her breath – the jingling sounds ringing in the unusually quiet forest from a few coins from her secret compartment louder than she had hoped, "I never…"

"WHAT I WANNA KNOW IS HOW LONG YOU TWO HAVE BEEN THERE!" came Inuyasha's flustered shout which had both the slayer and monk cringing and attempting to hightail it out of there.