Gosh, it's been so long since I posted anything new to this story, and I am so sorry to all you readers! I had a ton of person stuff that got in the way, but hopefully that will not be a problem again. No matter what happens though, the story must go on! So don't expect many disappearances from me, or at least long ones.

Anyways, here's the new chapter! I hope that you all enjoy it!


Chapter 8

As the morning sun shines through my window, I roll over and look up at my clock. I sit up and open my eyes, remembering last night's events. I glance over at the bed to see that Inuyasha is laying on his side, facing away from me, and I can just barely hear his soft snoring. He looks so peaceful sleeping there that I don't want to wake him up and just as the thought crosses my mind, he rolls over to face me. I'm so entranced by the peaceful look on his face that I almost miss the fact that his hair has gone back to its usual white color and his dog ears have also returned. One of his ears starts to twitch, and I realize that I'm staring so I turn away and look at my desk. Upon looking at my desk, I notice my calendar hanging on the wall. What really catches my eye, though, is the fact that this is Monday, a school day. I look to the clock only to see that Sango and Miroku would be here any minute on their way to school.

"Oh no! Inuyasha!" I start to yell as I push his body hard. "Get up, Inuyasha!" I grab for my school uniform in the closet just as he rolls over to look at me.

"What's the matter with you?" He eyes me as I frantically run in the direction of the bathroom.

"It's a school day!" I shout to him just before closing the bathroom door. I hear a gruff sigh and then quiet footsteps that seem to disappear all too quick. Ignoring his silence, I focus my attention on getting ready. I grab my brush and run it through my hair a few times before pulling it back in a ponytail. Then I change my clothes as quickly as possible and brush my teeth before rushing out of the bathroom. After I put my pajamas in my room, I run downstairs only to find Inuyasha waiting for me. He is fully dressed in his school uniform and stuffing a rice ball into his mouth.

Before I can even begin to question him, my mom pops out of the dining room and shoves a rice ball into one of my hands and my lunch into the other. Almost as soon as she does that, there's a knock at the front door. My mom says her goodbye with a smile as Inuyasha opens the door to greet Sango and Miroku. Both sets of eyes watch wide-eyed as Inuyasha walks outside the house and then they turn back to me in surprise as I approach the door. After I watch after Inuyasha for a second, I turn to shrug at Sango and Miroku, then continue to follow Inuyasha. I walk a short distance behind Inuyasha as I eat my rice ball for now. I know that Sango and Miroku are walking pretty far behind me, talking in hushed voices all the while. At some point during this walk to school, though, I expect Sango to start interrogating me about Inuyasha being at my house. Almost as soon as I take the last bite of my rice ball, Sango is sidling up next to me.

"So, Kagome, what was Inuyasha doing at your house this morning?" I take a breath, already having known this would be her question.

"He spent the night at my place last night." Sango gives me a skeptical look as I go on. "He and his brother got into a fight that was so bad that he couldn't go home yesterday. My mom couldn't just turn him away when she found out that had nowhere to stay. Besides, Sota was begging her to let him sleep over, too." Sango's expression softens as I explain, and I can tell that she at least believes that much. It's a good thing that she believes it because now I don't have to break my promise to Inuyasha by exposing his secret about the new moon.

"But… is there something going on between you two?" Sango hesitates to ask, but her face and tone are suddenly serious. She's caught me off guard with this and I jump a bit at the question. I should have expected that her and Miroku would come up with something that as he reason for Inuyasha to be at my house so early.

"What?" I shoot Sango a shocked look, which she returns. "Sango, you can not be serious! Nothing like that is going on between Inuyasha and I!"

"Well you two seem to be together every minute of the day almost. It seems an awful lot like there's something going on between you two, Kagome. Like, maybe you like him and he likes you as well?" Sango stops walking for a second, as if to watch my reaction. I turn to her with a straight and honest face.

"I don't know what you mean, Sango." I shrug and continue to walk. "Inuyasha and I are just friends, and that's it…"

Truthfully though, Sango has my thinking about the matter. She has a point when she says that Inuyasha and I are together so much. Plus we seem really close, but just how close are we? Every question running through my head seems to lead to one final question that I oddly can't answer for sure. Do I like Inuyasha as more than just a friend?"

The rest of the week passes pretty smoothly after Sango's questioning. Although I have been spending most of it questioning myself about my feelings for Inuyasha. I finally have just come to the conclusion that maybe I do like him, but we're just friends and I'm comfortable with that. I actually like it that we're such close friends and I don't want to mess that so I decide to just forget about the whole thing. Besides, the winter months have started, meaning that a break from school is coming up. I would rather spend the break with all of my friends having fun than worry over all of this! In fact, Inuyasha and I have already made plans for Saturday because of the forecast calling for snow, which is a rare delight. We would have invited Sango and Miroku along, but Sango has to train with her dad and younger brother while Miroku has to help his father. Just because they're going to be busy doesn't mean that Inuyasha and I can't enjoy the snowy day.

It's quite a beautiful Saturday and the snow has drawn almost everyone out to enjoy it. It had started snowing lightly in the early morning, but grows a little heavier, making the snow pile up. Inuyasha and I have plans to go to the park to see the trees while they're covered in snow. My only idea to improve our cold walk through the park is to get something nice and hot to drink along the way. As we leave my house, I zip up my jacket and still I shiver a little. The layers of snow have already covered most everything, especially the stairs which makes them slippery. Inuyasha grabs ahold of me after I almost slip halfway down the staircase. He wraps an arm around me as I find my balance.

"Still as clumsy as always, huh?" He laughs, but holds onto me tightly.

"No, it isn't my fault. The snow is making everything slippery!" I try to defend myself and slap him playfully. It only makes him laugh harder, though.

On our way to the park, we stop at a little shop and get some hot cocoa to warm us up. A short walk later and we're at the park enjoying ourselves. Just about all of the trees have a coating of snow on their branches. The whole park looks truly beautiful and much like a winter wonderland. I spot the water fountain and grab Inuyasha's arm to drag him towards it. He almost loses his hot cocoa and begins to complain, but is soon quieted by the spectacular view in front of us. The whole fountain is frozen over and a few icicles hang around the edges. We admire the sight for a few minutes as we sip on our hot cocoa.

Soon, though, we continue our walk because of a certain dog demon's complaints. As we walk away from the fountain, we pass a familiar looking girl and a tall man with long hair. Their arms are entwined as they smile at each other and walk. They must not be paying attention to where they walk though, because the girl knocks into Inuyasha and his hot cocoa spills all over his hand. He turns around with an angry expression, ready to complain, but when she turns around, he freezes and his face drops.

"Kikyo?" He speaks barely above a whisper but I can hear him fine. Is this the girl he told me I look like all that time ago? No wonder she looks so familiar…

"Inuyasha?" She answers back, sounding quite surprised.

I turn back to look, and find myself staring at a girl that looks looks very much like myself. I can actually see for myself now why Inuyasha told me I looked so much like her. It was almost like looking at a mirror. Something bothers me though. If this is Kikyo, then who is this guy with her? Did she really move on so quickly after she broke up with Inuyasha? The cold silence grows uneasy as Inuyasha and Kikyo stare at each other for a long moment, until the man with Kikyo clears his throat and all eyes turn to him.

"Oh right!" Kikyo exclaims as she smiles up to the man and hugs his arm tightly. "Inuyasha, this is my new boyfriend, Naraku. Naraku, you remember me telling you about my ex-boyfriend, Inuyasha." Inuyasha doesn't move or make a sound, he just kind of stares at Kikyo's arms entwined with Naraku's. When Kikyo looks away from Naraku, she shifts her gaze to Inuyasha, specifically his hand that is still holding mine. "So, Inuyasha, is this little girlfriend? You know, the one you were kissing while we were still dating." She lets out a strange laugh as Inuyasha draws in a sharp breath. I can tell he's been at a loss for words almost this whole time, so I step slightly in front of him, dropping his hand.

"Actually, no. I'm just a friend from school. My name is Kagome, and it's… nice to meet you. He told me about a girl he dated that looked just like me. I can see that he wasn't kidding." When I say that, something about that Naraku guy catches my eye. Something about him changes for just a split second, something creepy, but then he's back to normal in the next second. He's starting to freak me out.

"It is quite true; you two resemble one another very much. I could even see someone mistaking you for each other." The deep, smooth voice that escapes Naraku's lips sends a shiver up my spine. I can hear a low, faint growl coming from Inuyasha all of a sudden. "I hate to rush this surprise meeting to a sudden end, but Kikyo, my dear, we have reservations at your favorite restaurant. It was so nice to meet you both."

Both of them wave goodbye as they walk away. I let out a heavy sigh before turning to Inuyasha. When I do though, he's still watching Kikyo walk away from him. The look in his eyes tells me that he must still love her very much. For some reason. it makes me sad and my heart aches at the thought. Am I getting jealous… of his love for Kikyo? Or am I just in pain seeing such a sad look on a close friend's face? Maybe Sango is right, maybe I do love Inuyasha. Even though all these thoughts are clouding my mind, I speak up.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" I step closer to him, reaching my hand out to him. He looks at me almost as if snapping out of a trance. As he nods, I grab his hand, remembering that he had just burned it. "Are you sure? You spilled piping hot cocoa all over your hand just a few minutes ago. Let me see it!" While holding his hand, heat rises to my cheeks. I have no idea why I'm suddenly embarrassed to be holding his hand. In an attempt to hide it, I look down at his hand, examining it. Oddly enough, his hand looks perfectly fine.

"I'm fine, Kagome!" It hits me after he speaks that if he had a burn before, it's already healed itself by now. Demons, even half demons, heal quickly and I should have remembered that. I can feel his eyes on me now, but I still don't look up at him. "Are you okay, though?" I drop his hand and take a step back.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I suddenly look up at him wearing a fake smile that I hope fools him. "I just remembered that I have something important to do with Sango, that's all. I'll see you later, okay?" With a wave, I rush off, leaving Inuyasha with a confused look on his face.

Once I'm out of sight from Inuyasha, and hopefully out of earshot, I pull out my phone. I dial Sango's number and she picks up just about immediately. After a few minutes of talking, I have her confused so I end up asking if it would be okay to come over right now. She tells me that I better get over there now and explain what's going on or else. I already know what that means coming from her, so doesn't have to worry much. Slowly, I start the walk to Sango's house, allowing my thoughts calm down so that I can sort them out. My feet, knowing their way to Sango's house from almost anywhere, have me standing outside the gates to her house all too soon. I barely have my thoughts organized enough to not confuse Sango this time. Nonetheless, Sango is already waiting just inside the gates and lets me in.

As I enter the courtyard just inside the gates, I can hear something break. I turn and see Sango's little brother, Kohaku, practicing with his weapon. Just beyond him are wooden posts with pots placed atop them. There are a few posts that don't have a pot sitting on them, but instead the pots lay shattered at their base. Kohaku swiftly throws his blade at another pot, striking it just right so that as soon as he pulls back on the blade's chain, the pot cracks into two pieces. Kohaku catches his blade with quite a bit of skill as the pot falls to the ground and finishes breaking. Then he turns to his sister and me to wave with a smile.

"That was great, Kohaku! Keep it up." Sango calls out to him. His face lights up as he nods and then turns back to his targets. "So Kagome, what's up with you today? You seemed pretty frantic on the phone earlier."

"It's hard to say really, so I'll just tell you what happened, I guess." I sigh before going on. "Inuyasha and I bumped into his ex-girlfriend while we were at the park…"

"What?" Sango's eyes grow wide with surprise but I can tell she's trying not to totally freak out. "No wonder you're so frantic! What happened?"

"Well, they stared at each other for a long time before her new boyfriend cleared his throat. She introduced him and Inuyasha kind of… froze up, so when she accused me of being the girl that he kissed while they were still dating, I stood up to her. Her boyfriend got kind of creepy at the end but he was the one who rushed the conversation to an end. When they left, Inuyasha stared after her for a while, and I could tell how much he still loves her…" I hesitate to continue, taking a deep breath while I have the chance. Sango's firm hand on my shoulder comforted me while also urging me to go on.

"It hurt to see that look in his eyes so much, Sango. I feel like I'm jealous of this girl that I don't even know." I pause to look Sango in the eyes. "You were right; I think I'm in love with Inuyasha."

"You might think it, but I know it. And so what if you're jealous of her? She left Inuyasha, and you've been by his side this whole time. He has feelings for you too, he just doesn't realize it yet. He will though, because you're going to win over his heart soon enough." Sango gently hugs before I can say anything to her at all. Just as I had expected, she's given me the comfort that I needed, but at the same time, she's only raised more questions. I lean back to look at her as the questions start to fill my head.

"But, Sango, how am I supposed to do that?" I can feel my eyes widen as more and more questions begin to fill up my already uneasy mind.

"Exactly how you've already been doing it, Kagome." She smiles at me brightly before continuing. "Being the friend he needs right now, being the friend you are already, will eventually show him that you're the one he wants, not some girl that just walked away from him."

Sango and I quietly discuss everything a little more for a while before I decide to head home. I walk out of the gate with a wave and start down the walkway to the shrine. Upon getting closer to home though, I start to have this strange feeling of being watched. I ignore it for now and continue on my way, soon starting to climb the long staircase as quick as possible. Thankfully, with every step closer that I come to the house, the farther the feeling of being watched becomes. As soon as I walk in the front door, I let out a sigh and lean against the closed door. The entire walk home until now has been filled with all my unanswered questions that made me start to worry.

"Kagome, is that you?" I can hear my mom calling from the kitchen, but within seconds she pops her head out from the dining room. "Oh, it is!" She smiles for a second but then her face drops as she takes in my expression and mood. "What's the matter, dear?" As she pulls me into a warm hug, I rest my head on her shoulder and feel a single teardrop make its way down my cheek.

I explain everything to my mom after a few calming breaths. She, much like Sango, saw this coming. She even understands the sudden tears, even after talking with Sango. It just hit me in these few minutes of being home that this could all just be pointless. Inuyasha may never look at me as anything but a friend because he's still in love with Kikyo. Just the the thought causes another wave of tears. As always though, my mom calms me down with her loving words. She then sends me to take a hot bath so that I can relax until dinner is ready. Once I'm upstairs, I can hear Sota in his room playing video games or something. As I walk by his room on the way to the bathroom, he barely pays enough attention to me to wave or say 'hi'. I'm just glad that he isn't questioning me about where Inuyasha is tonight.

Walking into the bathroom actually seems to make my worries disappear and I dont even have a hot bath ready yet. I take a deep breath of relief as I start running the water. The steam rises out of the tub as I peel off my clothes. Soon I'm soaking in the hot water and forgetting everything that was bothering me. Just as mom has told me to, I relax for a while, but still take care to wash up, too. When I smell dinner though, I let the water out of the tub and wrap myself in a towel. Quickly, I make my way to my room and put on some warm pajamas before I head down to the dining room. Mom is still putting everything on the table, so I offer my help gladly.

Dinner goes by in peace, almost as quiet as the night outside. Sota and I clean up the table and the kitchen after every is finished eating, so the job gets done fairly quick because of it. After I say goodnight to everyone, I practically float up the stairs and into my room. I flop onto my bed and drift off to sleep immediately after my head hits my pillow.

*Inuyasha's POV*

Everything from yesterday runs through my head for the millionth time as I stare up at my ceiling. My tired eyes barely notice the light coming in from the window that just proves for another sleepless night. Seeing Kikyo yesterday really opened up some old wounds that I recently started to think were healed. I guess seeing that she's moved on so easily, and with that Naraku guy, was the worst part; it was like a blow to the gut. If it wasn't enough running into Kikyo and her new boyfriend, Kagome started to act really weird after it all. What the hell got into her anyway? Whatever it is, I'm better off giving her some space. Just as the thought crosses my mind, I can sense someone else in the house, but I already know who. It has to be that idiot brother of mine, Sesshomaru. I roll to my feet, making sure that my guard isn't down while he's around. He walks by the door to my room, pausing to glare at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Inuyasha!" His cold voice breaks the silence, causing me to bare my teeth. "You should know better than to let pathetic humans distract you."

"Hah! What makes you care so suddenly?" I fold my arms over my chest and give Sesshomaru a skeptical look. "Besides, I'm not distracted by them."

"Don't mistake a warning for concern." His threatening tone makes a low growl escape from between my teeth in response. I'm ready to jump at any second if I have to, but instead of making a move on his threat, he continues to speak. "It's interesting that you say you aren't distracted when you've let another human girl steal your heart. It's obvious that's what has been on your mind a lot lately. I mean, you barely leave her side, it's almost like you're… a trained puppy."

"Shut the hell up!" His words send me into a frenzy and I jump from my spot. I come down with my fist nearly hitting his face, but he catches it last second. His claws dig into my fist, causing a burning sensation to start as his poison spreads across my hand. We stare at each with hate filled eyes for a long moment moment in silence. I try to take advantage of the moment and use my free hand to swing up at him with my claws out. My claws make contact with his face, but at the same moment, Sesshomaru shoves me backwards and onto the floor. As I lay there trying to think of what I can do, he slowly walks towards me and kneels at my side. Before I can react, his hand is at my throat, pinning me down. I try to pry his hand off but it's useless. The more I struggle, the more I can feel his poison seeping into my neck, slowly sending me into unconsciousness.

"You are foolish, Inuyasha, just like our father." He whispers. "Humans will only bring you suffering, but maybe you deserve just that, half demon."

*Kagome's POV*

Monday morning is here faster than I was expecting. Inuyasha didn't come around at all yesterday, but it seemed to pass by in mere seconds. He hasn't come over to walk to school with me yet, either. Regardless, I can't be late, so I start my walk down the long staircase and finally meet up with Sango and Miroku. When I see that Inuyasha isn't with them, I actually kind of start to worry about him. The walk to school is pretty much quiet besides Sango and Miroku's constant whispering behind me. I guess my long face makes it kind of obvious that I'm worried or upset, so I can't blame them. Either way, my thoughts keep wandering back to Inuyasha and it makes the trip seem longer than possible. Approaching the school actually answers my question about Inuyasha's whereabouts. Up on the roof, he sits on the railing, almost as if he has been waiting for me to get here. Before walking into the school, I just barely see him as he leaves his spot to head inside. He's already standing outside the classroom when Sango, Miroku, and I get there.

"Good morning, Inuyasha!" I smile as I walk up to him and he returns the gesture. "What happened to you yesterday?" He jumps back a little in surprise at my question as he noticeably hesitates to answer.

"I… thought I would give you some space, is all." He says it cautiously, as if he's scared of what might come of his answer. "After you freaked out on me Saturday, I thought that was what you wanted." I sigh as I realize that was what was wrong this whole time. He was only trying to be considerate? Something about the whole thing makes me giggle, though, as I walk into class. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I'm not sure what just made me giggle, but it's my own fault that things went the way they did. I didn't mean to flip out on you or make you think I wanted my space," I reply to his question.

The entire time that I try to explain things to Inuyasha, I don't even notice that there's something unusual about my desk. When I sit down and actually look at it though, I find a single white rose sitting there. I completely freeze up, partly out of shock, but mostly out of confusion. Did Inuyasha leave this here for me? Is that why he was waiting expectantly for me to get here?


I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Must Love Dog Demons! It was certainly interesting to write it. Hopefully, for all you faithful readers and even the new ones that I might be picking up, a new chapter should be up next week. See you all then! :D