He was slumped on the wall, pouting and hidden from her. Anyone who passed by and noticed him felt pity for the poor hanyou. His face screamed disappointment and perhaps, heartbreak? A small frown and lowered, sad eyes were painted on his handsome face. Inuyasha's ears had flattened and his heart suddenly felt so sensitive. He didn't even have his usual boisterous attitude. Crouching down, he remembered the conversation that Sango and Kouga shared and how his jealousy has been overpowering.
She probably didn't mean to…but she seduced the guy! His heart was sinking. Try as he might to make excuses, it was obvious that pretty soon he'd have another rival.
Keh! I just don't want anyone messin' with my friends… His thoughts trailed on from there. He was so preoccupied in his own world that he hadn't noticed a pair of slim legs standing in front of him. He blinked once, then a few times, and rapidly did a few more in attempts to clear his mind and his vision. A look of inquiry shaped his eyebrow into a questioning arch, enlarged his eyes and molded his mouth into its usual small scowl. He looked the pair up and down and noticed the familiar black flats and white socks notched up to the knees.
"Inuyasha?" came the worrisome voice. His ears perked up and his eyes rocketed upwards to notice the heavy concern plastered on Kagome's gentle face. Her raven locks looked so soft and loving as they rested on her shoulders and around her face. A few strands had lost their holding on her shoulder and fallen off, swinging as if vines. From where he was positioned, Inuyasha noticed how the mall's light's that she'd been partly blocking were shining out around her and seemed to accentuate those large, dark brown eyes. A light pink blush spread across his face as he looked at the worried angel in front of him. It made him forget his worries and wonder at the being in front of him. His gaze trailed down and his blush quickly darkened to a burning pink from the unintentional view of what lay yonder her short skirt.
Inuyasha practically hopped back up on his feet and scratched at his head, simultaneously trying to rid of his blush as he stammered, "H-hey Kagome. What'd a ya doin here?" Kagome smiled back at him and happily said, "I got off of work early! They say I can't work overtime anymore or they'll run out of money", she concluded laughing a little at the thought of such a thing happening. Inuyasha let out a small laugh as well to try and keep up with her mood and make her forget his. But as he'd come to learn, there were just some things you couldn't get her mind off of.
Kagome looked up at his amber eyes and asked, "What's wrong?" Inuyasha had already begun trying to make an excuse but he also noticed the firm 'tell me' stare that she was giving him. Oh man…
He cast a sideways look and said, "I was thinking about my mother…" Immediately, a full serving of concern and panic filled Kagome's eyes.
Yes! She bought it. Of course he'd lied, but he wasn't ready to tell her the truth…and it didn't seem like he realized the truth either. Kagome hugged him hard trying to comfort him. But Inuyasha hated all this sad crap, so he patted her back and quickly tried to change the topic, but she beat him to it.
"How about we head on over to my place and make happy memories to help with those bad ones?" Inuyasha blushed profusely; he was taken aback and almost jumped out of her embrace. What the hell? Where did that come from! She doesn't mean…nah it can't be…
"Um, K-k-kagome what are you t-talking about? I don't have no bad memories of her! Dammit woman, don't mess with me!"
Kagome chuckled a little at what the typical thoughts of a teenage boy must've been right about now but she also laughed at how flustered he was. However, it didn't take her too long to dislike the tone he'd used with her. "Would you relax, Inuyasha?" She huffed as she crossed her arms and looked away. "No need to get all worked up…" though she was a little disappointed at the thought that maybe he didn't like the idea of getting romantic back at her place.
Kagome went on rambling about something, but Inuyasha paid no attention. He'd suddenly felt bad for his lie. It wasn't like thoughts of the only person who'd ever loved him as a child didn't make him sad, but it was a bigger lie than necessary. His sad thoughts directed him to thinking about Sango. His best friend and his…his…
Inuyasha unconsciously crossed his arms and a small frown pushed down at the corners of his lips. His eyes were glazed and his mind bouncing from thought to thought and what the heck else the woman was to him.
Feh, was the hanyou's conclusive thought. He was plucked from his protected world and back into the world of the living at the feeling of daggers being invisibly plunged into him. Kagome- er, his 'girlfriend' was glaring viciously at him. Inuyasha spazzed, his face twisting into forms of fear and frustration.
Dammit…She's probably mad I wasn't listening…
"Inuyasha," she said venomously, "were you listening to a THING I SAID!"
The silver-haired teen shrunk into himself a bit. Damn! I'm gonna be hearin' that echo in my ears for a while…
He looked at the seething woman who was slowly beginning to calm down, seeing his scared reactions, and he suddenly wondered why he was still with her. A certain cat loving teen flashed into his mind and Inuyasha regained his composure, suddenly scanning the mall for said teen.
Man! By now, Sango's probably half way across the freakin' mall!
Grabbing the curious looking school girl by the shoulders, his words and face were frantic.
"Hey, I'll catch up with you later." He continued looking around and began running to the other side of the mall. "There's something I needa do!" he yelled back at her, as her face formed a murderous posture.
Inuyasha had no idea where he was going, but he felt like he was going in the right direction. He jumped over a few benches and was now looking through the clear windows of the passing stores. The hanyou ignored the occasional "Hey!" shouts that came from strangers he pushed or ran into.
Where the hell is this woman? She's my ride home! He thought. He was going at a steady jog, looking back and forth between one side of the mall and the other, trying to get a good peek into the stores for someone wearing black jacket and denim shorts. His senses told him that he was about to crash head on with someone coming his way and, because he wasn't prepared to slow down and come to a steady stop, he ended up halting his feet immediately while his upper half almost fell onto the poor stranger.
Those golden eyes flashed from panicked to shocked. Standing before him with blinking, staring eyes was troublesome woman he'd been looking for. Inuyasha blinked a little himself, mouth slightly open in an 'o' to go along with his absent state of mind. His body relaxed itself and his arms that had been in mid air were guided back down to his sides. Sango blinked again, crossed her arms gently before placing a hand in front of her laughing mouth. She closed her eyes delightfully and shook with laughter as small little chuckles escaped her lips. Inuyasha could only stare in confusion and worry at the possibility that she was losing her mind.
"…Uh…um…hey Sango?" he said nervously, reaching one clawed hand out towards his shaking friend. She looked cute with her eyelids lightly pressed together, a warm fuchsia color painted across them, with small lines protruding from the corners of her eyes in her enjoyment. Her elegant hand trying to veil her pink-brushed lips and white teeth from view in her fit of laughs. And the way her softly-textured bangs shifted with each small chuckle. Inuyasha just stood staring at her and began to wonder when she had grown into such a lovely-
"Yoo-hoo! Inuyasha?" came the brown-haired beauty's voice. He refocused and saw her smiling figure looking at him in playful curiosity, as if to suggest that maybe he was the one going mad.
"Keh. Finally, you snapped out of it! I thought you were going to turn into a snorting pig by the way you were laughing!" Inuyasha spat out. He made a small huff, crossed his arms and pivoted a little away from her with his head cocked up to the side. Sango's features radiated irritation and she had a fist in the air ready to knock him upside the head, but with one deep calming breathe, she loosened her hand and slid it down her face.
"Look. I didn't come here to fight with you again, so stop being a baby and apologize already!" she said, a little more forcefully than she meant.
Bafflement and an expression that seemed to say "are you stupid?" laced the half-breed's face. He faced her full on, and started yelling "what the hell are you talking about woman? What the hell would I be apologizin' for?"
"You started this fight and the last fight with me for no reason!"
"Who said we had a fight! It was just some yellin' was all. Ain't no way I'm apologizing for something stupid like that! Keh!"
Sango's veins pulsed in irritation and rising anger and, stomping her foot on the ground, she began to yell back as well.
"Ugh! You're ridiculous! Just like a stupid boy to not own up to his faults and try to ignore the whole problem!" she exclaimed, jabbing her index finger at his chest.
"And ain't it just like a girl to go and nag, nag, NAG about stupid little things that don't need to be bothered with!" he yelled, poking her harshly in the center of her forehead.
At this point, their faces were practically smashed together, cheek to cheek, as they then took it to challenging the other through growls. And just like their first argument, another crowd of people stared on at the two, some shaking their heads and others whispering concerns of whether calling the police would be appropriate or not.
Inuyasha would've continued to growl at her, seeing as how he would most likely win being a dog and all, but a sudden putrid odor obscured his senses. He moved back swiftly and, pinching his nose, he gave a disgusted look in Sango's direction. "Ew! And you smell like that disgusting flea bag!"
Sango reddened as she recalled spending a bit of time with Kouga at the food court. How did his scent get on me…? Her memory flashed to when she used her finger tip to lift the wolf demon's chin and was bewildered that one little touch could have such a powerful scent.
"Go wash your damn hands off. Ain't no way I'm going near you with that stench!" Inuyasha whined.
Sango blushed deeper and turned around to walk in the other direction, huffing with each stomp. The hanyou pivoted around, folded his arms together and let out a small "keh". Just then, his eyes opened wide and he smacked his forehead.
Dammit! I came here to make up with her and I just pissed her off again! He went on to say more colorful words at his stupidity. He spun around and barely saw her retreating form.
"Hey! Wait up! SANGO!" He screamed as he quickly made his way through the coming and going crowds of the mall. He saw her make a right into some hallway and struggled to get past the humans. Sure, he could've pushed past them all, or jumped on their heads to make it to her quicker, but he chose the more civil approach…though it was somewhat rude.
He finally got to the hallway and disbelief and irritation punched him in the eyes. There was yet another long hallway, with some vending machines here and there. He took small, slow steps down the hall and thought, she's actually going to wash her hands, huh?
He was somewhat relieved yet felt a tang of guilt. He knew how woman thought about and lingered on every single word said to them and made it into something bigger than intended to be. Inuyasha rolled his eyes in annoyance at the female emotions he'd probably have to deal with later down the road. But he was certain that she most likely wouldn't put him through that. They were best friends, not freakin sappy couples who talked about their feeeelings. He shuddered at this last idea because he hated all the times that Kagome tried to get him to have a heart-to-heart conversation with him about everything.
He snapped out of his thoughts and saw a figure down the hall lingering for a moment by what he assumed to be another hallway area for the bathroom. Inuyasha got closer to the area and saw what he thought was the most revolting and despicable sight in this world. His half-brother, Sesshomaru. He inwardly cringed and his nerves were worked up as his brother crossed Inuyasha's path.
"Feh. I didn't think you had any social skills, but would ya look here? You of all people are at the mall." Inuyasha said angrily.
Sesshomaru kept a calm face, as always and replied, "I'm just as surprised that anyone would socialize with someone who offends those he claims to be his friends." A corner of Inuyasha's mouth twitched as he stared at this brother. He knew who he was talking about, but he was more quizzical on the manner that he had delivered the message. As Sesshomaru walked past Inuyasha, he heard him say "you really are stupid", and continue to press his way down the hall out towards the mall.
It seemed as if the hanyou's gold eyes had burst into flames at that last comment, invisible flames igniting the background. But he quickly calmed down and continued on with his annoyed persona. "Yea, yea. I'll apologize."
Weird. He usually dishes out worse insults, but… "Keh. Whatever." Inuyasha spotted the two restroom signs across from one another with a small lounge in between. He decided to take his seat in a chair and wait for the girl to come out.
Inside the restroom with Sango, she was washing her hands with a little more soap than the restroom staff would've liked. Some of those that came out of the stalls gave her strange looks at the over flooding sink of bubbles, her hands and wrists somewhere down below. She seemed so intently focused and…a little relieved too. She couldn't quite figure it out, but Sango was rather sensitive to Inuyasha's comments as of lately. She recalled her short encounter with Sesshomaru on the way into the girl's restroom and smiled at his words.
He hadn't asked for an explanation, but the poor girl was so flustered that, after she bumped into him, told him everything that happened between her and his half-brother. Though his stoic expression was unwavering as always, Sango thought she had seen him roll his eyes in annoyance. Not at her, but at the mention of his brother's actions.
"This Sesshomaru will assist in his…" Sesshomaru had trailed off to think of some words and, raising his arms, he made the signature 'quotation marks' with his first and middle finger of each hand and continued,"beat down if necessary." And with that, he gave her a small nod and turned to walk away.
Sango wanted to laugh at his use of the phrase 'beat down', being that it was something she used often say in her younger days. Playfully, of course. But she knew that he had been trying to cheer her up and apologize for Inuyasha's behavior. Or at least so it seemed. In his own way.
The brown-eyed beauty was brought back to reality when a cleaning woman tapped her on the shoulder and told her, "I think that's enough, dear. Your hands are clean." Sango went into a small shock of embarrassment and looked between her hands in the sink and the woman and back again a few more times. She laughed nervously and apologized, taking her hands out of the sink, giving them a final rinse and drying them off with a paper towel. Before she even got to the door, Sango felt as if Inuyasha was waiting outside for her. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and she relaxed them, opening the door to find that, indeed, Inuyasha was waiting there.
When the door opened, the two stared at one another for a bit. Sango's was more of a dull 'whatever' stare and Inuyasha's was more of a nervous 'what now?' stare. If anything, Sango knew that her friend had his stupid moments and this was one of them. With a small sigh, she made a 'come on' gesture with her hands and walked down the hallway. Inuyasha bolted up and grabbed a hold of her upper arm.
"Sango, wait."
"…"
"Oh, come on. Don't go givin' me that cold shoulder business. I'm sorry, ok?"
Sango kept her back to him, knowing that this would anger him a bit. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and grabbed her shoulder to turn her towards him. Her body was facing him…but she had her head facing another direction. Inuyasha dropped his head in annoyance. Why the hell do woman have to be so difficult!
He sighed and released his grip, though he had kept his eyes cast towards the floor. He ran a clawed hand through his bangs to the back of his head and began scratching lightly. Sango could see from the corner of her eye how his silvery-white bangs sprung back forward onto his forehead and how he was so deep in thought. She knew he hated apologies and never quite knew what to say. A small smile appeared but she quickly vanquished it to give off the appearance that she was still giving him the silent treatment.
She noticed how his grey colored shirt seemed smaller on him now. How is arms had become more toned and muscular in place of his once boyish muscles. How he still didn't care if the hems of his dark blue jeans were a little torn or not and whether his white shoes weren't so white anymore. But she also noticed how his face had become more...defined.
She was having memories of when she used to constantly bother him about his eyebrows and now they were neatly shaped. That was the only major difference she saw, other than that his face had just matured. He's quite handsome... Sango mused, unknowing of the faded pink blush leaking up to the surface of her face.
Inuyasha was squirming in slight discomfort. "Uh…l-look." This wasn't going to be easy. He kept sighing and pausing and just downright hated apologies. They always became so mushy.
"I-I'm…Sango, I'm sorry…about, uh, earlier t-today and, uh…yea, so…" he managed to spit out as he visibly shuffled on his feet. But Sango couldn't resist. She had to torture him just a little. So she reaffirmed her 'anger' by tightening her crossed her arms and swinging her head farther to the side, her ponytail doing a dramatic whip.
"Ugh!" Inuyasha confessed, smacking his face and rubbing his temples. "Sango, look. I said I was sorry and I really meant-" he didn't get to finish because someone had rudely interrupted him with an outburst of laughter.
The hanyou's veins pulsed in irritation and his face colored in embarrassment at the laughing girl in front of him. She was even gripping her sides! As if to say that his apology was the most hilarious thing she'd ever heard! The bones in his fingers began cracking as he slowly and firmly curled them into a fisting hand, his body shaking from the anger he couldn't seem to contain.
"And WHAT the HEEELL is so funny!" The being before him only seemed to laugh harder and almost double over in laughter. Inuyasha's face was a scarlet red as his anger and embarrassment fueled the coloring.
"I WAS TRYING TO APOLOGIZE DAMMIT AND YOU'RE LAUGHING!" He felt like smoke was coming out of him. Sango looked up and laughed harder. The poor dear. He was truly upset. She was having such a good laugh that she failed to notice the hot-headed teen grab her roughly by her upper arms and shove her against the wall. Though it did hurt, she continued to laugh.
Inuyasha was at a complete loss. He couldn't believe this person! How could she still laugh! And he had been courteous enough to watch where his claws went as to not put holes in her jacket. He squeezed her upper arms and she seemed to loosen up on the laughing hysteria. But she was still laughing…
"Calm down, Inuyasha", she managed to say between her small fits, "I was just kidding!" she lightly said, as her laughter ceased, leaving a large smile on her face as she looked up at the embarrassed hanyou.
"Saaay, when'd you get this tall?" she asked, suddenly noticing that he had what she estimated to be 3 or 4-inches taller than her.
Too bad the teen was still seething from a moment that was replaying in his mind. He applied a bit more force than he meant to and pressed her body harder against the wall.
"I was trying to say sorry, dammit!" he yelled. Sango's smile slowly faded and guilt overrode her. Embarrassment seemed contagious, because she began to feel that way as she finally noticed how close their faces were. How close their lips were.
"I know Inuyasha", she started gently, "and I forgive you." She added happily, closing her eyes with a small tilt of the head and another large smile plastered on her face. Inuyasha seemed to be pouting at it all, but he didn't feel as embarrassed.
Sango opened her eyes and added, "think of it as payback for what you did." And with a wink she said, "so next time, think before you mess with this little lady."
Time seemed to slow for the two of them. Inuyasha thinking of how little she wasn't anymore and…how she was…
The blush seemed to be restored on both of their faces as their eyelids became heavy and something possessed Inuyasha's face to slowly inch forward. Sango felt like she was in a daze as she stared at those brilliant, gold eyes coming closer. Her heart began to pound and she knew Inuyasha could feel it too. He released his grip on her upper arms and moved one to the wall behind her and the other to rest just underneath her left breast.
The hanyou also felt as if he were in a daze. A dream even. He also, somehow, became aware of their positioning. Sango's hands had found his way up to rest on his chest and he could feel pulsations coming from her body. The hand that rested underneath her breast was calling to him, almost begging to the hanyou to let it slide up and take hold of it. But he knew he'd get the slap of a lifetime if Inuyasha ever tried that. He could also smell both of their arousals, but something was mixed in with Sango's. What is this?
Their lower lips had made the smallest bit of contact but it sent high volts to both of them. Inuyasha took two big steps backwards and Sango seemed to try and grip the wall for safety. They were both red in the face and found something interesting to stare at on the tiled floor.
Milliseconds passed, but it felt like minutes. Inuyasha scooted his hands into his pockets and was about to say something, but her voice had beat him to it.
"Hey, uh, let's get to the car." She said the best she could, even though both of them could tell how flustered she was. She detached from off the wall and took a half step forward, stretching her arms high over her head.
"It's been a long day and I'm pooped. Besides", she paused, "we can do this another day." With that, she began walking down the hallway that lead into the mall.
The hanyou had caught two implications there: one, that they would go and see whether Kagome and Miroku were really cheating on them with one another of not, and two, that…maybe they would…get farther into the…Inuyasha blushed at the possibility.
Feh! Complete nonsense. Damn that wolf smell, throwing me off… but he knew that wasn't exactly the best excuse, seeing as how Sango had scrubbed herself clean of any trace of Kouga. He'd caught up to Sango now, but they were a good two feet apart. They had a little ways to go until they would reach the exit of the mall when Sango spoke.
"Was it really that embarrassing?" she asked, giggling slightly.
Inuyasha instantly fumed and simply 'keh'ed, while grunting a, "whatever. Just don't bring it up again. Ever."
He had looked over to the girl through the corner of his eyes and saw she was about to laugh again as she looked over to him. Inuyasha began imitating Sango's attempt to suppress her laughs and purposefully made it look awful. He heard a small gasp and then felt a playful punch connect with his shoulder as he pushed open the exit doors and let it shut in Sango's face.
The brown-haired youth stood there behind the glass doors with an evil, yet playful grin of disbelief at what he'd just done. Inuyasha saw the evil intent and felt a royal revenge coming on, and he started running for the parking lot with his best friend bursting through the doors behind him.