Here we are, folks! Another Sunday, another chapter! I'm so glad to see all the hits/reviews and people who added me to their favorites! If you keep it up, I'll post on wednesdays as well if the chapter is done by then! Enjoy!!

Visitors and Star Gazing

"I wonder who could be at the door at this hour," Kagome wonders as she walks to the front door. She looks out the peephole to see Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri standing there. She turns back to Inuyasha, "Quick, go hide in my room!" Inuyasha is about to protest but Kagome mouths 'now' and points upstairs, so he complies. Kagome opens the door. "Hi, guys! What's up?"

Yuka speaks first. "So we heard that you turned Hojo down again and wanted to stop by and see why."

"Well, I was going to be going somewhere this weekend, but I'm not now," Kagome replies nervously..

"So why didn't you call Hojo and tell him you could go?" Eri asks, with Yuka and Ayumi nodding beside her.

"Because I'm kinda busy…" Kagome tries to think of an excuse but Eri catches on.

"It's Mr. Attitude, isn't it? Is he coming over? He must already be here then!" She pushes past Kagome and starts looking around the downstairs. Yuka and Ayumi follow her in.

Kagome sighs. "Well, I guess I won't get you to leave without seeing him again. He's upstairs, come on." Kagome trudges up the stairs, dreading what will ensue between her friends and Inuyasha. They'll probably say something about him being my boyfriend, and then I'll have to explain it or he'll never stop asking. Oh boy. I shouldn't have answered the door. They reach Kagome's room and her friends all run past her at once, bursting into her room.

Inuyasha, who is playing with Buyo, looks up at them. "Uh, hi, guys."

"Inuyasha, you remember Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, right?" Kagome asks him, her nervousness only obvious to Inuyasha.

"Um, yeah, what's up? I thought you told me to hide."

"So how are you and Kagome doing, are you treating her well?" Ayumi asks him, concerned for her friend.

"Of course, why wouldn't I treat her well?" Inuyasha asks, clearly confused.

Kagome's friends all start whispering to each other. "It seems he doesn't think he's done anything wrong." "Yeah, for a boyfriend he seems pretty clueless." "Maybe things have been better lately." "From what we've heard, that doesn't seem likely." "Yeah, Kagome used to be so upset all the time." "I wonder if he's still two-timing her."

Inuyasha, hearing all this, becomes even more confused. "What's going on? What are they talking about, Kagome?"

Kagome becomes even more nervous. "Oh nothing! Well, you guys have seen him, you should probably leave soon, and it's getting late." She feigns a yawn. "I'm so tired, I should get to bed. Well, he'll be leaving soon too anyway, goodnight!" She pushes her friends out the door, down the steps, and out the front door. She waves to them and closes the door, locking it.

Inuyasha had followed her downstairs to ask her about what her friends had said. "What were they talking about? What did they mean by boyfriend and you being upset?"

Kagome sighs. "I guess I have to explain it, then… I've told them about fights we've had, and they assume we're in a relationship, no matter how much I tell them that you're with someone else, so then they just think you're cheating. They jump to conclusions a lot. I mean, I once told them about how Kouga said he's in love with me and Miroku asked me to have his child, and they thought I was involved with them too. Don't read into it…"

Inuyasha takes in everything Kagome has told him. "So… you've told them about Kouga?"

Kagome rolls her eyes. "I've mentioned him. They asked about your jealousy and I told them about it."

"I'm not jealous of him! He's just a low-class wolf; I have nothing to be jealous about!"

"Okay, Inuyasha." Kagome heads to the kitchen and out the back door into the yard. Inuyasha follows her.

"What do you mean 'okay'? You think I'm jealous of him?!"

"Not him, just that he keeps saying he loves me and holding my hands." She sits on the grass and leans back on her hands, looking into the sky. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it, its okay to get upset about it."

Inuyasha sits down next to her with his arms crossed. "I'm not embarrassed about anything, because I'm not jealous!" He lies down with his hands behind his head. He notices how there aren't many stars in the sky. "Kagome, where are all the stars?"

"Oh, they're still there, you just can't see them. Its from pollution and stuff."

"What's pollution?"

"Smoke from factories and cars, things like that. It clouds up the sky and makes it hard to see the stars at night. That's why I like to look at them so much back in your time." She lies down as well, one hand behind her head, the other at her side. "Humans didn't know it would happen, and now it's too late to reverse it all, though we're getting better."

They lie in the grass in silence, both thinking. Inuyasha is the first to speak. "So… You really don't have feelings for Kouga?"

"I already told you I don't. He's actually kind of starting to get on my nerves, always picking fights with you. And he only wants me because I can sense the jewel shards; he doesn't know me well enough to be in love with me."

"He's a fool. You're more than just someone who can see the shards."

Kagome looks at him out of the corner of her eye. He seems to be blushing. She props herself up on her elbows and turns towards him. "Thanks." She smiles at him.

"For what?"

"Oh, nothing. Let's get some sleep, it's getting late." She gets up and starts back to the house, followed by Inuyasha. She turns off the lights in the downstairs and heads up to her room.

There it is, folks, chapter 3! What will happen next? Where will Inuyasha sleep?