Well, this is a pretty short chapter, but only because this is the second attempt at writing this. The first attempt sounded waaaay too sappy... but I hope this sounds better! And I personally think it's better to have a good short chapter than a terrible long one...

Anyway, enough blabbering! On with the story!

Disclaimer: derr

Inuyasha cursed inwardly as he led Kagome down the many corridors to their destination. He had known Naraku would try something on her; had even taken precautions to make sure it didn't happen. He had told Sango and Rin to keep her safe, but they had failed. He was angry at them for letting their guard down. How could they? They knew what Naraku was like, yet they let him slip right past them to Kagome!

Yet as enraged as he was toward the two girls, he was by far angrier with himself. Naraku had slipped past his defences, the ones he had placed so much special care into building. If he hadn't been there when he was, Naraku would have…

No, he refused to dwell on it. Instead he thought about the matter that confused him the most: why he cared. So far he had fooled himself into believing that it was because she looked like her, but after a day and a half of observation he had realized how different Kagome really was. No; the girl walking beside him intrigued him and it wasn't just the fact she looked like his former girlfriend. Every small thing she did seemed to be done with the utmost care, from nibbling timidly on her lunch to the slight tremor in her voice when she spoke.

In a way, she seemed like a horse that someone had broken; spooked by the slightest things and afraid of everyone. Instead of pushing him away, it seemed to pull him even closer and he found himself wanting to push past the shy, timid mask she had created and find the real her.

They came to a door and he pushed it, holding it open for her. Kagome shuffled past with a timid nod and a mumbled thank you. He frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you." He said, cupping his white dog ear with his clawed hand to emphasise his point.

"Thank you." Kagome said a little louder, but in Inuyasha's opinion, not loud enough.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Thank you." Her voice was as loud as his, yet still it didn't satisfy him.

"Care to repeat that?" he could barely hold back the grin threatening to burst on his lips.

"Thank you!" Kagome said loudly. Her voice echoed against the corridor walls and she cringed at the sound, but Inuyasha simply smirked.

"You're welcome." He replied with a grin.

Kagome frowned but said nothing as she continued to follow him. What was all that about…? She wondered.

Outside, they strolled across the green lawn with their muffled footsteps and the lone cry of a bird overhead the only sound on the warm summer day.

"Where are we going?" Kagome finally gained the courage to ask. Inuyasha smirked.

"You'll see." Was his only reply.

They dodged past a couple of buildings, ducking under windows and hiding when Inuyasha heard teachers approaching until they came to the large building of the gym. Kagome looked up at it confusedly before sending a questioning look at Inuyasha. He was still smirking.

"Um… is this what you wanted to show me?" she asked. She was more than a little disappointed; she didn't know what she was expecting, but this certainly wasn't it.

Maybe it's a joke, she considered and the very thought nearly made her cry.

Inuyasha laughed. "No, wench. Here, hold on." To Kagome's surprise he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Hesitantly she reached out and embraced him back.

She felt Inuyasha brace beside her and all of a sudden they were both jumping at a height Kagome had once thought was impossible. Kagome's eyes bulged and the whoosh of air passed her face and sent her hair flying in an inky mass around her.

Their feet connected with the roof of the building beside the gym and Inuyasha launched off again, this time flying even higher until they landed on the gym's roof. Kagome's legs were shaking from shock and when she let go of her classmate she flopped onto the tiled surface. Inuyasha shook his head.

"I'm guessing you don't do any stuff like that in America." He said. Kagome shook her head wordlessly.

"This is my secret place; no one comes up here." Inuyasha explained. "Well; technically it's my brother's because he found it before me, but he left school a while ago so now it's mine. It's the best thing he's ever given me, really."

Kagome stared at the school grounds, now seeming miniscule from their position on the building's rooftop. "It's… amazing…" she admitted softly.

"I guess there's no buildings built for demons in America. Your school would probably seem puny compared to this one, hey?"

Kagome nodded.

There was a moment of silence where the only sound was the cawing of a bird in the distance and the wind blowing through their hair.

"So what's your excuse?"

Kagome blinked. "What do you mean?"

Inuyasha scowled. "You know what I mean. Why are you all quiet? It's almost as though you're afraid to talk to us; as though we're going to eat you if you speak your mind or something."

Kagome gave a faint smile at the statement. "It's… a long story…"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "It's not like we're in a hurry to go anywhere." He pointed out.

The girl sighed and fiddled with her shirt for a moment while she thought. "I guess… I was always… different."

Inuyasha nodded to show he was listening.

"I was quite… chubby and a lot of the kids paid me out about it when I was little. It didn't help that I was so clumsy. I was always tripping over my own feet or breaking things. I truly tried my best to fit in, but it seemed that no matter what I did I just… I just couldn't…"

She stopped for a moment to take a deep, shuddering breath. Beside her Inuyasha was still listening intently, his golden eyes piercing hers with an intensity that made her have to turn away. Why was she pouring her heart out to him; a person she had only met the day before? Why did she trust him so much? Still, she had nothing to lose so she kept going.

"Then I lost a lot of weight. I put myself on a diet. It was hard and a lot of the time I just felt like going back to junk food, but then I always thought about how much more my classmates would respect me if I was skinnier. When the holidays ended and it was time to go back to school I was so excited about the prospect of actually making some friends. But… I soon learned that that wasn't the case. Sure, some of them tried to talk to me but whenever I was asked a question I would splutter and get all nervous until they just walked away. Soon I was just as unpopular as before. Whenever I tried to talk to anyone they would all just ignore me or tell me to get lost. Then I got acne all over my face and I gave up on making friends all together. I guess I gave up on talking to anyone, too. I just wanted to dig a hole and hide there for the rest of my life. I wanted to disappear. They were all so… so… so much better than me…"

Inuyasha sat in silence the whole time, stunned. He couldn't picture it; the girl before him had once been fat and pimply? Impossible! She looked so different from what she had described. How could her classmates have been so cruel? He could smell the salt in her eyes, but could see that she was doing her best not to cry. Gently he rested his clawed hand on top of hers. She looked at it in surprise.

"As far as I can tell, the entire American population can just go and get (insert not-very-nice-word here starting with F and ending in D lol), because as far as I can see they're wrong." He said in a low growl.

Kagome gave a weak smile. "Thank you." She whispered. So this is what it feels like to have a friend…

Before either of them could say anything the bell rang and students both human and demon streamed out of the classrooms for the end of the day. Inuyasha stood and held out his hand to help his classmate to her feet. As soon as she was standing he gripped her tightly around the waist and soon they were both sailing through the air, landing lightly on the ground below.

"I guess we should get your stuff." He commented. Kagome nodded and they both walked off to the locker room.

-

-

"Hello, Kagome." Korari said with her kind smile.

"Hi, sorry I'm late." Kagome replied as they both slid into the car. Korari simply shook her head.

"It's fine. We weren't waiting for that long, were we Souta?"

Souta looked up from his video game and blinked. "Huh?"

Korari chuckled. "You should really start paying more attention, Souta." She scolded lightly.

"Okay." Souta turned back to his computer game.

Kagome stared out the window, thinking about how strange the past two days had been and how different Japan was compared to America…

-

-

Inuyasha sat in his room in front of his computer, his eyes unfocused. He absentmindedly tapped a letter on the keyboard while his brain focused on the conversation he had had earlier that day with Kagome. She had been so upset, and he felt that he was finally beginning to understand the quiet teen.

"Inuyasha."

The half demon in question looked across the room at the silver haired, golden eyed demon standing in the doorway. "What do you want, Sesshomaru?" he snapped.

Sesshomaru smirked. "Oh, I just wanted to remind you that it's Shippo's birthday tomorrow."

Inuyasha scowled. "Yeah yeah, I- what?!!"

His brother's smirk widened. "That's right. I thought you'd forget. You promised to help, didn't you?"

Inuyasha cussed loudly.

"Well, that is all." Sesshomaru slid back out the way he had come, leaving nothing but a swearing dog hanyou behind him.

Well, there ya go. Sorry if I've offended any Americans during this school... I'm not one of them so I just enjoy paying Americans out lol. Nah it's just Kagz's school that was mean... or schools...

Look! I added Sesshie and will probably be adding Shippo in the next chapter! Go me!