This pairing was requested by UrusaiBaka, but it's also a tribute to The Amazing Sakumachan and her awesome Shaman King / Inuyasha fic. She's the person who got me interested in this pairing, actually.

For disclaimer, see first chapter.

NOTE: To clear things up, "kawaii" is Japanese for "cute." There's your lesson for the day. :D

Oneshot #2 – Kawaii

Pairing: YohxKagome

Genre: Romance

It was a bright and sunny day. A very hot day, as well. The cicadas were chirping noisily in response to the hot temperature outside. Any sane person would spend the day out of the heat with a cool beverage in his or her hand.

Try convincing one Kyoyama Anna that. Yoh certainly tried.

All he got out of it was extra weights and a red handprint on the side of his face. At least he tried.

After three straight hours of running in that god-awful heat, Yoh couldn't take it anymore. Finding a conveniently-placed bench on the side of the road he was running on, he stumbled to it and collapsed on the surprisingly (but not unwelcomingly) cool wood.

Taking enormous gulps of much-needed oxygen, Yoh spoke aloud, "... I ca... can't run... anymore... Need rest!!" Moving slightly so he was sitting instead of lying down, the heir to the Asakura family continued to breathe heavily while attempting to feel any non-existing breezes in the air.

"Man," he sighed, "what I'd give for some water right now."

"Excuse me?" a feminine voice suddenly spoke.

Yoh opened his chocolate eyes and was met with blue ones. They belonged to a pretty girl who was around his age, give or take a year. Her black hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, but looked like it could reach her lower back if she let it loose. She had a fair complexion, lightly tanned in a way that showed she got outside, but not for long periods of time. Her attire consisted of a sky blue, spaghetti-strapped top and short, blue jean shorts.

'Kawaii,'Yoh thought as a small blush covered his cheeks.

The girl, however, seemed to mistake the red in his face as a flush from the heat, as she hastily held out a medium-sized bottle of water to him. "Here, you seem to need some water more than I do," she offered.

Eying the bottle as though it was something sacred, Yoh immediately took the offering and chugged half of its contents in one breath. The girl sweat dropped at the sight, but giggled at the boy's antics.

Handing the bottle back to the girl, Yoh smiled with tears streaming down his face, "Arigatou. You're a saint."

"It was nothing," the ebony-haired girl said off-handily. "You looked like you were practically dying so I decided to help." Her face gained a curious look as she asked, "Why are you running in this heat anyway? It's too hot for that kind of activity, and with weights, too," she added the last bit when she took notice to the weights strapped to Yoh's wrists and ankles.

'You've never met someone like Anna,' Yoh whined in his head. Outwardly, he replied, "It's a long story, but I can say that it's for my own well being."

One dark eyebrow arched upward. "Okay...," the girl said slowly. A smile formed on her lips as she said, "By the way, I'm Higurashi Kagome."

Yoh returned her smile. "I'm Asakura Yoh," he said. He realized something a second later, "Wait, do you live at Higurashi Shrine a couple of kilometres from here?" He received a nod in reply. "What are you doing this far away in this heat?"

Kagome's face gained an irritated look. "I'm looking for a pain in the posterior that ran off because he suddenly had a craving for ramen," she ground out through gritted teeth.

The brown-haired youth tilted his head slightly in confusion, "You have a brother, Kagome-chan?" he asked.

Kagome sighed, "Yeah, but he's not even near the level of trouble as the guy I'm talking about. He's about a foot taller than you, has long silver hair and he's wearing a baseball cap and an outfit that looks like it's from a past era."

"You mean like him?" Yoh asked, looking off to Kagome's left and pointed in that general direction. Kagome whipped around, causing her ponytail to smack into Yoh's head and making him fall off the bench. As the dazed boy recovered from the unexpected assault (could he even call it that?), he heard the girl call out 'Inuyasha' and footsteps running away from the bench. Shaking his head, Yoh refocused his eyes on the interesting sight of Kagome and the man (was his name Inuyasha?) in a very heated match of verbal tennis. Both the males began to tremble at the dark and dangerous look Kagome's face suddenly gained. 'She... She's as scary as Anna when she's mad!'Yoh thought in fear. With a quick cry of 'Osuwari!', Inuyasha's face had a painful meeting with the gravel. Yoh blinked in surprise at what just happened. 'Shaman powers?' he wondered.

With a few last poisonous words Kagome huffed and turned to walk back to Yoh. Smiling with a rather sheepish look on her face, she said, "Sorry about that, Yoh-kun. Inuyasha can be a real nuisance at times."

"That's okay," the boy said while putting his usual smile back on. "Hey Kagome-chan, are you a shaman?"

The ebony-haired girl looked startled for a moment before replying, "N-No, I'm actually a miko. Are you a shaman?"

"Yep," Yoh said, still smiling.

"Well, I should be going. I have to get Inuyasha back home before he causes a bigger ruckus," Kagome said half apologetically while she threw another glare at the silver-haired man in question. Inuyasha blew her a raspberry in response.

"That's okay," Yoh said. "Maybe we'll run into each other again. Just remember to bring a water bottle, just in case." He was only half-joking on that last sentence.

Nodding, Kagome held the bottle out to Yoh. "Keep this. If you're going to continue running, you'll definitely need it more than I will."

The boy took the bottle from the girl, blushing lightly at the offer and when his hand brushed slightly over her own. "Arigatou, Kagome-chan."

"You're welcome. See ya, Yoh-kun!" Kagome smiled as she waved and ran off, Inuyasha following reluctantly behind her.

Yoh watched as the two of them disappeared around the bend. He held a little closer to his body.

'Definitely kawaii,' he thought.

Weeks passed, and Yoh was once again at that particular bench, this time in the middle of the night. This was it. He had to tell her tonight.

He was having a hell of a time sneaking past Anna just to hang out with Kagome. If anything, these meetings with Kagome were making him stealthier. The risk was worth it, though. She was a lot of fun to be around.

He managed to introduce her to Manta and Amidamaru to her without trouble. They became fast friends, despite the fact that Manta only reached her knees and that Amidamaru was a spirit. She was such a kind person.

That was probably one of the many reasons why he fell in love with her.

"Yoh-kun!" a familiar voice called out to him. Turning slightly from where he was currently sitting, Yoh watched as Kagome made her way towards their meeting place. It was a rather cool night, so she was wearing a light green jacket. Her hair was let down in contrast to the first time he was her.

Taking a deep breath, Yoh stood up and waited for Kagome to reach the bench. It was now or never.

"Kagome-chan," he hesitated slightly after her name, but decided to venture on, "there's something I need to tell you."

Kagome tilted her head to the side, looking confused. However, she said nothing.

Yoh took it as a sign to continue, though he wondered if he was going to pass out from stress before he could get it out. "Well... you see I... We've only known each other for a few weeks, but... uh..." 'Crap,' he thought, thoroughly tongue-tied.

Now Kagome looked concerned. "Yoh-kun, are you alright? You don't look so good. You're face is really red," she said as she lifted her hand to feel his forehead.

Yoh quickly waved his hands in front of his face, saying, "No, no! I'm fine! It's just... well..." He was never really good with these situations.

... Wait, had he ever been in a situation like this before?

Sighing, the brown-haired youth shook his head. 'Time for Plan B,' he inwardly decided.

Reaching down, Yoh picked up the plastic bottle Kagome had given him the first day they had met. However, instead of water, there was a rolled-up piece of paper in it.

A message in a bottle. Corny, but it did the trick.

Handing it to Kagome, Yoh waited anxiously as she unscrewed the top and poured the paper out of the bottle.

Unrolling the paper, Kagome read the simple message. She was silent for what seemed like forever. Yoh's heart was pounding so hard that he thought it'd explode. Millions of thoughts were running through his mind. What was she thinking? Would she reject him? Would they still remain friends if she did? What was she thinking? Didn't he already ask himself that?

"Yoh-kun...," Kagome said softly, sounding like she was about to cry, "is this... do you really mean it?"

Resolving himself, Yoh put on his trademark smile and responded, "Yep. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't mean it."

Kagome dropped the note, though neither one paid any attention to it as it fluttered to the ground, exposing the words 'I love you' to the world. The ebony-haired girl clasped her hands together tightly as tears of happiness fell from her eyes. "Yoh-kun, I also... I love you, too. You've always been so kind to me. You're... You're so special."

Yoh pulled the girl into his arms and hugged her affectionately. He gave her a quick, innocent kiss on the lips before pulling away and smiling at her. He suddenly had a scary thought. "Oh God, what are we gonna tell Anna?!" he cried, terrified.

Kagome lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at Yoh, saying, "Don't worry, Yoh-kun, just let me handle it." Was it just him, or was a dark aura surrounding her?

Yoh became more terrified at the thought of the two girls meeting each other face-to-face. 'Kowaii!' he thought.

Hiding behind a tree, Amidamaru and was also growing afraid of the event that was about to come. 'Yoh-dono, you seem to have a tendency for attracting dangerous women,' he mentally mourned for his friend.

Inuyasha, who was right beside the ghost (though he had no idea, given his lack of spiritual awareness), shook his head sadly. 'Good luck, kid,' he thought.

Who would have thought that one could find true love just from having water offered to you by a kawaii girl?

Owari

I think YohxKagome is such a cute pairing! I really hope more stories about these two come out in the future. By the way, "kowaii" means "scary."

SOF: RRAUUURR?

Hey, I think HaoxKagome is great, too! I did my first oneshot in this series on them, remember?

SOF: GRRRRRRR!

Hey! None of that language in this room, mister! Anyway, keep sending in your requests. I want to get a few more different pairings out before I do any repeats. And don't forget I want some pairings that have to do with friendship and familial love, okay? Not just romance. So please send in some of those ideas, too. And specify what genre the pairing is so I don't misunderstand.