A/N: Daichi: OMIS, It's the chapter you have all been waiting for!

Ninja Daichi: Shut up and get this over with.

Daichi: *sigh* Oh, alright.

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah yeah. You get the drill. I don't own Inuyasha!

Chapter 7: Gardening and Ramen noodles

Inuyasha didn't know what to do. Right now, looking at Kagome, he didn't know whether to follow his instinct or go back toward the rules. His mind was a jumbled mess and he couldn't think straight. They were so close now.

He could sense the confusion from Kagome and he was in sync with her. He didn't what to make of his feelings. But even like that, his head tread lower and lower until his lips barely hovered over hers..

Suddenly, Kaede burst in with the tea, whistling a tune.

Inuyasha and Kagome jumped apart twenty feet away, each one on either side of the couch. Kaede acted as if she didn't notice and set the tea pot down on a small table. She poured Kagome the hot liquid into a brown mug.

Kagome was blushing and looking away from Inuyasha. She didn't know what had happened. They had been so close to kissing and then. . .

What am I thinking? Kagome thought. It's ridiculous!

"Kagome, here ye go." Kaede gave her the mug and Kagome hesitantly drank it. Almost instantly, she felt the pain go away. And the drink wasn't half bad either. She downed the mug and set it back down. She smiled as she felt the warmness spread through her.

"That was great, Kaede. What is it?"

Kaede thought for a minute. "Birch bark, some herbal plants I keep and honey. It always does the trick." She smiled at Kagome.

Inuyasha, despite being red from the very close encounter of kissing Kagome, remembered the other important reasons they had even come here in the first place.

"Kaede, could I use your phone?"

She nodded and got up to retrieve her cordless phone. Once she did, she gave it to Inuyasha. He got up and shut himself in the spare room across the hallway.. He marked the number he knew would pick up. It only rang once.

"Hello?"

He smiled. "Hey Sango. It's me, Inuyasha."

There was a small pause in which Sango burst out. "Inuyasha, is that really you? Are you okay? More importantly, is Kagome okay? You're not fighting right? What happened—"

"Whoa! Slow down Sango. We're okay, don't worry. No we're not fighting right now. We're at a house of a old woman I know."

He heard Sango sigh in relief. "Good. I'm just glad you were able to contact us." She spoke in plural, and Inuyasha had no doubt that Miroku was with her. "Anyway, what do you have to report?"

Inuyasha glanced back at the door, where he could picture Kagome and Kaede sitting. "Well, we do have one lead. We haven't been able to act on it yet. We were in a lot of danger and Kagome was hurt. We postponed looking for our lead until she felt better."

Sango gasped. "She got hurt and you didn't tell me when I asked you? Who did it and what happened?" Inuyasha ignored the instinct to roll his eyes, because he knew that she cared for Kagome, something he hadn't been able to accomplish until a couple of days ago.

He retold the tale of Kagome's undercover work and how it ended badly. Sango listened and quietly gave a "hmm" at certain points of the story. Inuyasha was a little unsettled by the strange calmness that the usually fiery Sango never possessed.

"It's settled," She spoke up. "I'm going to kill Naraku."

Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, but not before we figure out if he has the chip or not."

"Fine."

"And another thing. Can you send us a car and some equipment for us? The car you guys gave me was totaled and all the gadgets were in there. I have a feeling we're going to need them.

"'course."

Through the phone, Inuyasha could faintly hear the clicking of typing from the keyboard. "There," Sango said, obviously satisfied with her work. "I pinpointed your location by that phone. It'll be there by the end of the day."

"Good. I don't want to trouble the old woman here too much. At least she's enjoying the female company."

Sango laughed. "Well, you make sure you send my regards to Kagome. Tell her that she needs to work on her acting skills too. By the sound of what she attempted to do, she's gonna need practice."

Inuyasha didn't bother to mention he had almost believed her acting. "Sure, I'll pass it on."

"Great." There was a pause and then Sango continued. "Miroku says that when you get the new car, to call him with the blue tooth set he's gonna put in."

"Will do."

"Bye then." The phone went silent as Sango hung up. Inuyasha lowered the phone and sighed. He really needed to relieve some of the stress he had. Maybe doing something that didn't involve his job would work. He quickly walked out the room had been in and back into the living room where Kaede and Kagome were laughing.

"After that, the child pulled down his pants and yelled—"

Kaede caught Inuyasha's shocked expression. "Oh, Inuyasha. I was just talking to Kagome. She's very good at making conversation."

Kagome giggled. "And Kaede, she tells the funniest stories about you!" Another fit of giggles assaulted her.

Inuyasha paled and was embarrassed. What had Kaede already spilled about his most embarrassing moments? "What did she tell you?

Kagome stifled her laughter without success. "Are you still having problems using your wee-wee?" Kagome couldn't contain herself and started to laugh harder. Her stomach didn't hurt anymore and laughing was refreshing.

Inuyasha went red. "S-she told you that?"

Kaede nodded. "Ye were so cute back then."

He groaned and fell down onto a chair that was near.

Kagome eventually stopped laughing and turned to Inuyasha. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, it was just so funny seeing your face. I didn't really mean to be mean."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and grumbled a little bit to himself. But since, he had to tell her what their plans were, he had to talk to her.

"I called Sango and we're getting a car later today."

Kagome perked up. "Really? That's great! Then we can get started on our lead." Inuyasha smiled as she smiled. "And Sango also left a message for you."

"What did she say?"

Inuyasha sat up straighter. "She said, and I quote, 'Tell her that she needs to work on her acting skills.'"

Kagome looked at him in confusion. "Why would she say that?"

"I told her about the Kouga thing."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "You didn't."

Inuyasha smirked. Teasing Kagome was more than he thought. "I sure did."

Kagome groaned and pouted. "And what else did you tell her?"

Inuyasha shrugged, pretending to be innocent of all charges. "That was it."

Kagome eyed him as if she didn't believe him but she still nodded. "Okay, if you say so."

There was a sudden silence that seemed to have crept in slowly. The only sound was the clinking of cups. The clock ticked away the seconds.

Suddenly, a flash of orange came blurring through the room. It passed Kaede's seat and right into Kagome's lap.

Shippo laughed at the startled expression Kagome wore. "Hi!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the little tyke. "You're too fast for your own good." He bent over and ruffled the kid's hair. "You scared the snot out of poor Kagome."

Kagome's cheeks reddened and her voice took on a defensive tone. "I did not!" She moved Shippo almost instinctively in her lap, so that he sat better.

. Kaede laughed. "Oh, ye two are very funny." She stood up and then paused as she took up the teapot again. "If ye two aren't busy, I do need some help in my garden. I use a lot of herbs and I grow them myself. Some are ready to pick."

Inuyasha stood up, placing his cup on the table. "Well, I've been itching to get a break from all the crap that's been happening, so I'll be glad to help.

Kagome stood up as well. "The least I can do for your cure is to help with some or your chores. Where do I start?"

Kaede smiled and then sighed. "Thank ye both for the help. I must admit, this old body can't do much anymore and since Shippo's so young, it's hard to keep him in check and clean the house."

Kagome waved her off. "No need to thank us, Kaede. We're just doing our duty." She gave her a big smile and walked over and wrapped her arms around Kaede. At first, Kaede was still with surprise, but then a warm smile spread on her face as she embraced Kagome.

"But that is exactly why I thank ye."

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"Finally done!" Kagome wiped her brow clean of the sweat that was trickling down. She stretched and she swore she heard her spine crack while she did. "Who knew Kaede had so much work to do?"

"Yeah, well," Inuyasha sighed, plopping down on the floor next to Kagome. "I don't blame her. If I had to do all this, I wouldn't even lift a finger." He indicated to the three baskets full of herbs and another basket full of weeds. Kagome and Inuyasha had decided to tackle the garden before doing any of the housework, but it had taken them until an hour after noon to finish it completely.

"I thought maybe we'd had to pull a couple of weeds and pull out, hmm, I don't know, half a basket of plants?" he laughed in spite of himself. "Who knew she hadn't touched this garden for years!"

Kagome swatted his arm. "Don't be silly, Inuyasha. Kaede doesn't get a lot of help around here, you know."

Inuyasha laid down on the perfectly green grass. "I can sure tell as much."

Kagome glanced at him as he smiled at her, but turned away quickly when she felt the heat rising in her face. This is ridiculous! No amount of questionable looks or smiles means they'll amount to anything. GET A GRIP, KAGOME! Kagome shook her head and stood up.

"Uh...I'll go ask if Kaede needs any more help."

Without waiting for a response, Kagome skipped away back inside the house. Once inside she smacked her forehead for good measure. The words stupid, stupid, stupid! kept resonating in her head. Why couldn't she get Inuyasha out of her head for good?

"Kagome, are ye alright?"

Kagome jumped about half a mile when Kaede suddenly appeared, another cup of tea in her hand. Embarrassed, she tried to wave her away. "Oh, the heat's finally getting to me! I just came in to…fan myself!" Kagome grabbed a piece of paper lying around and started to fan herself weakly with it, but she knew Kaede wouldn't buy it.

Kaede laughed, a certain gleam in her eye. "Oh, it's the heat is it? Well, I must say ye take it very well." With light laughter, she walked away.

Kagome sighed and sat down on a chair that had been calling to her since she had decided to come back. She was currently in the kitchen, looking at the old-fashioned stove and suddenly realizing she was hungry.

But just as she had decided to get up, someone else with a huge appetite waltzed in.

"Man, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. Yo Kaede! Where's the ramen you usually have?" Inuyasha called out. Kagome noticed he seemed much more at home now than before. Kagome chalked it with the fact that he probably spent a lot of his childhood here. A faint smile graced Kagome's lips as she thought of a smaller Inuyasha, running around with his hair flying lazily in the wind. . .

"Hey, Kagome, are you okay?"

Kagome jumped when she realized Inuyasha was standing right in front of her. She was caught off guard by his eyes but she quickly blinked and stood up.

"I'm great!" She laughed nervously, squeezing herself out of the little space she had. "I'll just go clean the bathroom."

Inuyasha looked as if he wanted to ask her more, but she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Inuyasha turned away and shrugged. "Alright then. We'll talk later."

Kagome nodded and ran out the kitchen into the living room and then took the stairs to the bathroom upstairs. She ignored the cleaning supplies at the foot of the door and ran inside, locking the door behind her.

She slumped to the floor. Her hear t was beating a hundred miles per hour. Her cheeks were flushed as she stood up to look at herself in the mirror. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She was being crazy.

'We'll talk later.'

Why did that phrase make her heart soar?

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Inuyasha watched from the corner of his eye as Kagome ran put the kitchen. He sat down in the same chair she had been sitting in. He sighed and leaned back onto the chair. He had seen Kagome with a soft smile, something that he never knew could make her any more beautiful. There was a soft twinkle in her eye, as if she was thinking about something tender.

She was pretty flustered when I tried to talk to her… I guess it was something private. He shrugged to himself and pulled himself up, walking to the kitchen cabinet and taking some of the instant noodles. His hands were busy, but his mind was not.

He couldn't get Kagome's smile out of his head. He hadn't seen such a pretty smile on her. Yeah, maybe I didn't see it because we fought so much . . . but I can't believe I've lived my life without seeing that kind of smile on her face.

He watched as the water boiled and then put the instant noodles in it. Then, he suddenly thought of something and acted on it.

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About fifteen minutes later, Kagome came down, planning on getting something to eat before she finished the bathroom. She had already cleaned the floor and the mirror, so the toilet and bathtub were next. She needed something to keep her going.

When she finally came down, there was a plate of still-warm ramen noodles and a little note beside it. Kagome picked it up, thinking it was a list of more things to do.

Dear Kagome.

Well, that's was lame. I'm sorry. I left you some ramen, just in case you wanted some. I'm not really a great cook—but whatever. I… thought of you when I made it.

Kagome smiled as she folded the note and stuck it in her pocket. She pulled out a chair, sat down and grabbed the fork that had been placed by the bowl. She gingerly curled some noodles around the fork and placed them in her mouth.

She had never tasted ramen this good.

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A/N: Wow! I finally got this chapter out! I know, I suck for not posting it sooner, but I have not had any time at all! I get home from school, sit down and start my homework and my projects, which take me from three-thirty to nine thirty or later. I am NOT exaggerating. These teachers act as if it's only their class you're taking and they give boatloads of work. It's the cycle of doom. My doom.

But on the good note, I said to myself, "I will finish this chapter!" so I took some time out of my math HW time and wrote.

Well, back to the story line. I wrote something in here that I want you guys to get the significance of. You guys probably will, because I believe you guys are smart. (You'd have to be to understand my weird ramblings, lol)

PLEASE REVIEW!

-Daichi