Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of the characters. It's too late to think up of something creative.

A/N: Gosh, I am super sorry for taking so long to update. I'd like to say that I've been busy, but that'd be a lie. I've been lazy. Anyway, it's finally here at least, albeit kind of short.


As Day Turns to Night

Chapter 7-Why?

"I don't like the looks of you," Kagome's grandfather muttered, prodding InuYasha suspiciously with the handle of his broomstick.

"Well what if I don't like the looks of you either?" InuYasha countered, trying to snatch the broom from the old man's hands.

"You should learn to be more respectful of your elders, Sonny!"

"Grandpa!" Kagome called as she ran down the hall towards the front door where the two were fighting. "Leave InuYasha alone!"

"Well the boy was being insolent!" he protested.

"You were attacking me!" InuYasha said angrily.

"I was not. I was merely testing you. And from what I've seen, I have deemed you unsuitable for Kagome." The old man folded his arms indignantly.

"Dad," Kagome's mother chastised gently, "let the poor boy be." She then turned her attention to InuYasha. "Hi, I'm Mrs. Higurashi," she introduced herself pleasantly.

"Takahashi InuYasha," he replied, bowing his head slightly.

"What an interesting name," she commented.

"Strange names run in my family. It's a kind of messed-up tradition, along with a few others," InuYasha smirked slightly.

"Well it's nice to hear of a family with a bit of extra character," Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you, and I trust you and Kagome will have a wonderful time tonight."

"I'm sure we will," InuYasha said. "So, Kagome, are you ready to go?"

"Yep," she replied happily, and bounded off the steps. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Grandpa!"

"Be back by nine!" her mother reminded her.

"And no silly-business!" her grandfather added.

.~*~.

"Well that was...fun," Kagome said.

"I'm sorry," InuYasha apologized. "I don't make very good first-impressions, do I?"

"No, my mom seemed to like you," she mused, "Grandpa's just...Grandpa."

InuYasha grinned at her. "What a great description."

"Oh, shut up," she smiled. They continued to walk across the shrine grounds in silence for a few moments, until InuYasha decided to put his fairly lacking small-talk skills to work.

"Nice tree," he nodded towards the large, ancient-looking one that dominated the right side of the yard.

"Oh, thanks. There's a long and important and amazingly boring story about it that I've already forgotten and have no intention of hearing again." InuYasha looked at her, bemused. "What?" she asked. "I live at a shrine. There are about a million legends of this or tales of that, and my grandfather is set on telling me all of them in excruciating detail. No. Thanks."

"You mean like spooky ghost stories and stuff about people killing each other?" he questioned. "'Cause that sounds pretty interesting to me."

"No, I mean things like: 'There once was a spirit that lived in the jar where I kept this pickle, and that's why it tastes so good'," Kagome said, imitating her grandfather's voice.

"That doesn't sound too bad," InuYasha laughed.

"Except his are twenty times longer and I hear them five times a day, on average."

"Oh, poor you," he teased.

"Poor me indeed," she grumbled.

.~*~.

"Why are you checking your watch?" Kagome inquired as they hopped off the train. "We just got here. Don't tell me you want to ditch me already?"

"Huh?" InuYasha looked up from his wrist, startled. "Oh, no. Sorry. Force of habit," he said sheepishly.

"Okay," she winked back, then paused to look around the park as they entered it. "So? We have an hour to kill. What do you want to do?"

"Eat," InuYasha replied, searching for the nearest food stall.

"You really like to eat, don't you?"

"What, you don't?"

"No, I do; and it's a good thing, too, because I can sympathize with your never-ending appetite," Kagome said. "Though, maybe not to the same extent."

"Good. Now I see a noodle hut over there."

"And?"

"That means ramen time," InuYasha said with an evil grin.

.~*~.

Kagome sat there with a slightly disgusted look on her face as she watched InuYasha scarf down his bowl of noodles. "You eat like a pig, do you realize that?"

"Hmm?" he grunted, noodles still in his mouth.

"Oh, nothing," she said absentmindedly, checking out their surroundings. "We really need to find a good spot to watch the fireworks from before they're all taken." The park was becoming more and more crowded as it became later, and there were already groups of people setting up blankets and portable chairs on the expanse of grass nearby.

"I can use my good-spot-finding radar," InuYasha responded. Kagome turned and glared at him. "What?" he implored. "I was being serious. I have a knack for this kind of stuff."

"Really?" she asked doubtfully, crossing her arms.

"Yes, really. It's like a sixth-sense or something." He stopped eating and scanned the park. "There," he pointed to a spot next to the wall enclosing the cherry tree garden, then turned back to his plastic bowl.

"You're right. That would be good," Kagome agreed.

"Mhm. Just let me finish," InuYasha told her as she started to get up. Kagome stood there, tapping her fingers on the table until he was done and had thrown away the garbage.

"I can't believe you ate three bowls," she commented as they were walking away.

InuYasha shrugged. "It was good ramen."

.~*~.

"Aren't sunsets beautiful?" Kagome sighed as she watched the shifting colours of the sky, her legs stretched before her, her arms extended behind her, and her hands splayed upon the soft blue blanket she had brought with.

"Oh, yeah. Lovely," InuYasha muttered.

"What's your problem?" she asked.

"Noth...Oh, shit!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, language!" Kagome berated him as she sat up.

"It's Hojo."

"Huh?" she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ho-jo," InuYasha stressed each syllable and pointed to the figure in the distance.

"Oh, you're right. It is him. Well, this'll be a bit of a bother."

"He can't see us together!" InuYasha exclaimed.

Kagome's brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"Just...because. I don't want people to know that we're on a date," he admitted slowly.

"Are-are you ashamed of me?" Kagome gaped.

"No, I...damn, he's coming over." InuYasha clambered over the low wall, which proved that it would not do as good a job of hiding him as he'd hoped when his whole head still stuck over it. Desperately searching for a back-up plan, he found one in the means of a ladder propped up against a tree on his right that some maintenance worker had been using earlier to trim it.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Kagome called to InuYasha as he headed up the ladder to the shelter of the branches.

"Kagome, who are you talking to?" Hojo inquired as he came running up.

"Eh?" she asked, blindsided. "Um, the squirrels. They are really...misbehaving," she replied feebly.

"Oh, I know. They can be a terrible nuisance sometimes," Hojo agreed. "So, are you here alone?" he questioned, gesturing to the empty space on the blanket.

"Yeah, I am," she nodded sadly.

"Mind if I join you then?" Hojo grinned cheerily.

"No, go right ahead."

"Fireworks sure are neat, aren't they?"

"Yep. Real neat," Kagome sighed.

.~*~.

Soon the sky had completely drained of the sun's light, and the fireworks started up. There were collective murmurs of amazement from the large crowd that had gathered to watch as the dark was permeated by bursts of vibrant colour. It was at this point that InuYasha chose to sneak down from his hiding place, as he was sure that everyone was sufficiently distracted and unable to hear him over the booms. Dismounting, he took one last glance towards Kagome, whose face was barely visible, even by the light of the fireworks.

"I never even got to tell you how pretty you looked," he whispered beneath his breath, then left.

Though the absence of light had made it easy for him to depart, it had also made it impossible for his violet eyes to see the tears trailing softly down her cheeks.

.~*~.

His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his pants as he wandered along the path leading up to the park exit. He was kicking rocks along the way, and probably scuffing up his good shoes, but he didn't care. Annoying thoughts were swirling around in his head, pestering and taunting him with the reminder that he had most certainly just blown it, when a female voice interrupted him from his depressing reverie.

"InuYasha?"

"...Kikyo?" Everything just had to go wrong tonight.


A/N: ...Does everyone hate me now? :P Maybe. Well, reviewers, just know that I'm thanking you an extra lot. XD

LiveInColor, Lionsheart13771, chakira16, ShahzysAngelette, MissG2020,

1411alexis- Aweh, six times the thanks for reviewing all my chapters. I'm glad you like it. :),

and StevieWonderboyX (not to RedAntsREvil, because I know that's you, Amy, and you are a mean friend. You stole my line and mocked me. -_-).

So, once again, big thanks to everyone for reviewing, and please read and review more so Amy's review can get covered up. She is a terrible person. Oh, and if you're mad about the direction the story took, blame her. I had two options, and she said this one was the best (She did suggest Yash in the tree though, which I thought was brilliant, especially for someone who doesn't even watch the show). So bye-bye for now, and hopefully I'll have an update within the next few days that may clear up this mess. ;)