A/N: Woo! Onto another chapter. I made sure to do some final revising, so hopefully there aren't going to be too many mistakes. Thanks for the reads so far!

Starshima: IKR! There's not enough Inu/Kouga around, so I'm excited to work with this. ;; Thanks for the review! ^^

Chapter 2

Invitations

In the beginning, everything began with that party. It was the party that started it all, the legendary party to end all parties—but not in a good way like all parties are intended.

As soon as the last week of the semester neared, gatherings began popping up everywhere, and more often than usual because of the end of the year festivities. Sure, nobody was graduating, but they made it through another semester which meant it was a time to congratulate themselves. The college track and field team was having a night at the bar, but Kouga wasn't much of a drinker nor considered himself to be that comfortable with his teammates, so he declined. It wasn't that big of a deal, he was known to be aloof, and besides, not everyone from the team was attending either.

For awhile, that was it for any party invitations...until one fateful day when Kouga was dismissed from a class and nearly collided into a passerby. He bowed just slightly to the person while mumbling his swift apologies, then soon realizing the guy was actually trying to get his attention, amiably staring at him and waving way too enthusiastically in his direction. Kouga had no idea who the hell the guy was, and not to mention his appearance completely threw him in for a loop. They guy's long hair was tied up and adorned with a butterfly patterned hairpin. His dainty blue scarf was draped over an obnoxious pastel pink blouse, and as Kouga's eyes traced lower down, he observed colorful leggings underneath a frilly pink skirt. This kind of quirky street fashion was all the rage with kids around campus, but if Kouga ever chatted with a guy like this he'd remember who he was for sure. He glanced around to see if there was a friend of his waving nearby, just to check so he wouldn't look like an idiot trying to respond to a complete stranger.

"Hiya! You must be Kouga, right? The speediest track star on campus?"

"Uh, yeah...who are you?" Kouga still felt completely awestruck that he was being sought out by this guy. He fidgeted in his stance while crossing his arms over multiple times. It was strange, but for a guy with a lighthearted looking getup, Kouga felt slightly intimidated.

"How silly of me, I'm Jakotsu! You see, this weekend at my apartment I'm hosting this really fun party..." The guy paused for a brief moment before rummaging in his pockets, looking for something to complete his sales pitch—which Kouga assumed was probably some paper or maybe a cellphone. Whatever it was, Kouga immediately pegged him as the scatterbrained type, because his expression grew distraught as he continued digging in his small pocket. He could tell that wasn't a part of the plan. He switched over to the other side, and then back to the original pocket, only to find the same result. He wanted to stop him before he could even edge of more conversation in, so Kouga waved his hands away at him and prepared to take his leave.

"Sorry dude, I don't really do parties..."

He noticed Jakotsu's eyes widen in horror before Kouga ended up turning away on him. However, Jakotsu instantly sped up in attempt to follow him and match his pace. Great, he was the persistent type...and he sure as hell wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Aw really? What a shame! But Kagome told me to invite you, so I was hoping you'd come for sure..."

As he trailed off, Kouga's footsteps slowed and his head was filled with memories of his last conversation with Kagome, which honestly wasn't anything special. Due to their different paths, there weren't many opportunities to talk to each other, either. She was going to the party? Hosted by this guy? Kouga turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. For someone who looked like a total loser at first, he was smirking with pride and looking Kouga up and down, seeming satisfied by his reaction. He knew what he was doing, and Kouga inwardly cursed him for that.

"Fine..." Even though he had practically had his response mouthed, Jakotsu immediately lit up excitedly and squealed.

"Awesome! Okay, so the information..." This time around Jakotsu reached into an undershirt and looked relieved to feel something there. Kouga's eyes bulged with surprise to this; what was even the point of having pockets? Eventually, he pulled out a small memo pad, and it looked like the same words were pre-written with on every page. "Here's everything you need to know about the party! And if you have any questions, just call or email me. We'll have a lot of food and drinks too, but don't hesitate if you wanna bring something."

As he read over the small slip of paper, he glanced up to see Jakotsu was already waving his goodbye and chuckling.

"Catch you later hotstuff! And I better be seeing you at the party~"

Kouga was, more or less, left in the dust staring dumbly while watching Jakotsu's back fade into the sea of students. His knotted eyebrows convulsed into wrinkles he could actually feel on his face.

"Hot...stuff...?"

Kouga tried to shake away that thought of being romantically pursued by the guy sometime in the future, and instead turned his attention to reading over the memo for a second time. He wasn't really a party person, but since Kagome was going, possibly along with her friends who were also cool, If the hosts were weird, he figured he could always kick it with Kagome's pals.

"Kagome..."

Kouga saying "I like Kagome", was an understatement. In the exact words of Ginta and Hakkaku, he was hopelessly and pathetically in love with her. Well, Kouga didn't think the whole thing was hopeless or pathetic, but surely he felt in love.

They had originally met their freshman year in a way that wasn't exactly conventional. While getting off of the train one morning, Kouga watched a man brutally push Kagome to the ground and run off with her purse. While two old men helped her to her feet, practically instinctively, Kouga pinpointed the robber and took off, going as fast as his legs could take him. The robber almost disappeared in the vast crowd, but there was no way in hell Kouga was letting him get away. He loosened his shoes, got a running start, and frantically kicked the both of his shoes off; first boking the purse snatcher on the head, and the other shoe on his back, both attacks compelling the robber to trip over himself and slip. It was a perfect defeat! The guy couldn't have ever hoped to stand a chance against Kouga and his "mad skills", as Kouga usually said whenever he'd end up retelling the event.

With the police officers on their way and the situation saved, Kouga picked the purse from off the ground and returned to the beautiful girl who was watching the scene unfold. Of course Kouga was expecting the girl to be grateful, but he wasn't expecting Kagome to be so genuine in her gratitude. Her face was bright, her smile was warm, and the way she said thank you—boy, that's when Kouga knew he was in for trouble! And oddly, Kouga likened her reaction to people when they were reunited with their dogs from the shelter, which was, in his opinion, a love truer than anything else; but he was probably over thinking it. Either way, their initial meeting was mutually well received, because Kagome asked him where he was going and what direction. After laughing about how funny it was that they were both going to the same college, the pair instantly clicked after both remarking, "Small world, am I right?" at the same time. It was just like one of those romance dramas that Ginta watched religiously throughout the week.

"What gives! A pretty girl like you definitely needs a boyfriend to accompany her on the train, like a bodyguard or something." To this Kagome laughed sweetly, and at a first glance it might have seemed like Kouga was just innocently complimenting her, but he had to admit he was really trying to see if she was with anyone.

"Well, I am dating a guy...he lives in a dorm, so he can't be with me at the train station. I'll be okay though!"

Kagome's adorable smile could reassure him any day, though deep in his heart he didn't want to brush her safety off like that. After that day, anytime he was on the train he'd search for Kagome and sit next to her. They'd talk every now and then, but mostly study for classes during the train ride. When it was time to get on the platform they'd spend the whole walk to the school chatting, and Kouga's feelings for her only grew, hoping they'd be returned...

But unfortunately, Kagome was really into her boyfriend, and even more unfortunate for him, it was so obvious that even Kouga could tell. Someway or another all their conversations lead back to her boyfriend; her boyfriend got her this, he helped her do that, she didn't know what television program Kouga was talking about because she was doing something with her boyfriend. He didn't even know the guy's name, but whoever he was, he was driving him crazy!

Throughout the semester Kouga was lucky enough to never get the chance to meet her boyfriend personally; it wasn't like he was thrilled about having to face the one person keeping him from getting closer to Kagome, but hey, he liked her a lot. The two of them hanging out became so regular that he even met some of Kagome's friends, who were actually pretty awesome. He mostly spoke with Kagome's best friend named Sango, a year higher than the two of them, and also pursuing a degree in art. Sango and her younger brother lived in an apartment near the college, and also not so far from a prestigious high school that her brother attended. Occasionally Kouga would also chat with an older guy named Miroku, who didn't actually go to the college, but was pretty close with the bunch. Kouga really didn't know how to describe the guy besides that he was a Buddhist monk, (to which Kouga actually thought was a joke at first) something of a scholar, a freespirit, and the type of guy that eyeballed any girl on sight.

Due to Miroku's duties to his temple, he was generally not around the gang too much, but when he was, he could always be found on campus. Kouga found this odd and once asked him what his year was, and Sango laughed. "Oh yeah, he's a senior...ten years ago."

"It was not ten years ago, Sango!" Miroku pouted and shifted nervously in response. "It was nearly four years and six months ago. And I remember it just like it was yesterday, which is why I'm so attached to the campus here."

"But you didn't even go to Tokyo for college. Just admit you're attached to checking out the behinds of college chicks."

Miroku didn't admit it, but he sure as hell didn't deny it.

Miroku really broke the mold of what Kouga expected in monks. He'd always imagined them as soft spoken, silent, and pious guys who didn't want very much to do with the world, and when they were seen, they'd give off an unapproachable air. At least, that's what Kouga saw in movies. Unlike the movies, Kouga never saw Miroku wear robes, instead, he chose to wear simple dress shirts and black dress pants. He explained to Kouga that he never made a vow to wear traditional clothes all his life, so it explained why his appearance didn't scream monk—well, aside from his shaved head, of course.

Spending time with Kagome's friends was always lively, especially when Sango and Miroku were around. Whenever they'd all walk and talk throughout campus, Kouga felt like they were old pals. Even if it was brief, it was fun.

Of course Kouga didn't want to come off as clingy, but if Kagome and her friends were going to this party, Kouga didn't mind going. Even if her boyfriend was there, he could deal with that. He was a grown ass man, and he could control himself around the boyfriend of the girl of his dreams. Plain and simply, he'd already accepted that Kagome was taken, and there was nothing he could do about it.