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Chapter Eight

It's All In the Eyes

Miroku lay on his futon in a slightly uncomfortable position. Kouga had dropped him haphazardly there and no one had bothered to move their still unconscious 'friend'.

Inuyasha was on the balcony, standing on the far right, while Kagome leant against the wooden railing to the left. Both were looking out into the distance or more accurately, anywhere but at each other…

Kagome watched a group of young children running by the river, smiling and laughing. We agreed to be friends, but we still fight. Though, I don't know what I expected. Relationships don't change overnight. At least we're on better terms I suppose. He can be pretty kind sometimes; I shouldn't have called him crazy…

Damn. Not even her friend for ten minutes and this happens. Miroku is a idiot, no question about it. Now look where it got us. Keh, I probably should stop calling her wench though…

Inuyasha sighed and glanced over at Kagome at the same moment she glanced at him.

Their eyes met.


Ayame sat on Kouga's futon with her legs comfortably crossed, Sango sat next to her and then talked in whispered conspiracy-like tones, giggling every now and then.

"You realize that if this keep happening then we'll never leave the resort right?" Kouga said as Miroku regained consciousness.

"Uhuh," agreed Ayame, "We only left fifteen minutes ago and look where we are now, back already!"

Miroku groaned quite pathetically and Sango shot him a fleeting look, "You brought this on yourself Houshi," she said edging closer, he gave her a pained look, "Are you going to be okay?" she asked with genuine concern. She knew for a fact that Kagome's blows were tough and Inuyasha…well he was Inuyasha wasn't he?

"I think…I think I'll be alright, arigato for asking Sango…" his eyes softened as did hers and at that moment there was a connection…

Oh yes the moment was ruined as Miroku's hand 'connected' with its favourite companion.

"Houshi!" Sango cried as she prepared to slap him.

"Sango no!" Kouga and Ayame yelled in unison. Sango stopped and faced them in confusion, a cringing Miroku looking slightly astonished.

"You two are defending me?" Miroku asked dumbfounded.

"Of course not, you idiot, I just don't want to sit here for another half hour waiting for you to regain consciousness again." Kouga said, arms folded.

"Besides! If Sango really wanted to hit you then she wouldn't have stopped!" Ayame stated cheerfully.

"Would you like to take his place Ayame?" Sango threatened, she paused for a moment to let Ayame flee before chasing her...

The wind whistled around the two as they stood, as if frozen, searching. Finding more than what they initially intended.

Inuyasha's eyes… I always thought they were unique, how many people have golden eyes? How many have such a murky past stored in them? Inuyasha seems so guarded all the time… a little untrusting, I suppose it's fair enough considering the world we live in but why does he seem so closed off sometimes? Whenever we reach a point where I've gotten a little closer to him he has an outburst… I want to help him open up. I want to know what he's guarding…

There's something about her. She seems innocent yet capable to protect herself. But I would never want to leave her on her own to test that theory… When she told us that she was a miko, I swear there was something more to the story, like she was protecting something and in her eyes… She holds a secret; I want to know what she's hiding. I want to help her protect it…

"Ano… Inuyasha," Kagome said gently, unsure of what to say. Inuyasha stopped focusing on her eyes and turned to face the scenery once again.

There was silence for a moment. Kagome made a small sigh as she looked away from Inuyasha and towards the river.

"Yeah?" he prompted her.

"We're friends now right?"

"Huh? Yeah, we already talked about this didn't we?" Inuyasha replied. Wait a second… does this mean she doesn't want to be friends anymore or something? Did she seriously take my insults to heart! Damn, it's not like I mean what I say! he thought franticly.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something else but Inuyasha beat her to it.

"Uh Kagome. Listen, you shouldn't really listen to what I say most of the time. Oh damn, that doesn't work. I mean. Okay listen to what I'm saying now but don't listen to what I say when I'm arguing or when I'm annoyed. I tend to let words spew out of my mouth and I say a lot of things I don't mean…" he insisted, still not looking at her.

Kagome still had her mouth open as she tried to take in what Inuyasha had just said. Where did that come from? Heh. I guess that explanation is his form of apology, sweet of him to say that.

She smiled at him softly, "Yeah, I get it Inuyasha. Arigato for making it clear to me. And as long as we're friends then we probably won't insult each other as much. If you do, it'll probably roll off my back now. No worries."

Suddenly Ayame burst in between them and grabbed the closest thing to her which just happened to be Kagome. "Don't hurt me SANGO!" she exclaimed using Kagome as a shield.

"Nani?" Kagome looked back and forth between her two best friends, Ayame who was clutching Kagome shoulders and Sango who had a sinister smile on her face. Kagome immediately understood the situation.

"Ayame, you said something stupid again didn't you? Something involving Miroku?" From the looks on their faces she knew she was right. Inuyasha just stood to the side watching the scene unfold.

Ayame spoke in her own defence "I wouldn't say it was that stupid, it kind of made sen-" Sango swiped at her despite Kagome's current position.

"I take it that you implied something very stupid so please don't antagonize her Ayame, especially when I'm your shield!" Kagome said.

"Okay, I think I'll just shut-up now…" Ayame closed her lips tight, leaving the still fuming Sango to Kagome.

"Uh, Sango whatever Ayame said would you mind not taking it out on her at the moment? I mean, she's the reason we get to be at this really cool villa on Golden Week with free food, free accommodation and uh… free… well that's enough isn't it? Just don't kill her please! It couldn't have been that bad!" Kagome pleaded.

A deep sigh was heard as Sango listened to Kagome's logic. This place wasn't too bad, aside from Miroku's constant ability to ruin moments and Ayame's blabber mouthing, it was practically paradise.

Finally, she relented, and then shot a somewhat cheeky glance between Kagome and Inuyasha, "Did we interrupt something?"

"This is paradise!" Inuyasha said drooling at the dishes laid out in front of them.

The group had eventually managed to leave the resort and explore the area. When they got back the girls had decided to make an itinerary of things to do while they were there, based on the places around the valley. This was what they had been doing up to now. Now being dinner time.

They were seated on cushions at a traditional low rectangular table in a fair sized room. There were three doors, one led to the hallway where they had come from. Another led to the kitchens and the last was open revealing the darkening sky that was evening.

The boys sat along one side of the table while the girls sat on the other.

"Almost every room in this place has a view!" Kagome said in awe.

"Keh, who cares about the view? Check out the food!" Inuyasha said staring at the food longingly.

Miroku scolded him. "Patience Inuyasha, we can't forget our manners."

As if on cue everyone clapped their hands together and chorused, "Itadakimasu!"

The group dug into the bowls of soba, onigiri, nanban, fried fish with steaming bowls of rice and Inuyasha's all time favourite, ramen. They had decided to skip lunch because they had gone too far out into the valley to be bothered to turn back and the result was that they ate twice as much for dinner.

"Ahhh…I'm so full!" Miroku said wiping his mouth with a napkin. Everyone only mumbled something in agreement as they were too stuffed to say anything completely coherent.

"I can't believe I just ate so much…" Ayame groaned, "But it was all just too delicious to resist."

"Heh. This is how it's going to be for the week everyone. So eat to your heart's content! There is going to be a new dish every day for dinner." He stated a little proudly.

"As long as there's ramen everyday then I'll be happy." Inuyasha said, still snacking on a rice ball.

"But of course…" Kouga muttered.

Kagome sighed contentedly and stretched her arms, "What do you all want to do now?"

"I'm a little too full at the moment to consider anything involving a lot of movement, I think I'll just go back to our room…" Miroku said standing up to leave.

"I might go take a shower now," Kouga said following suit.

"I'll go back to our room as well, there are a few more thing I'd like to plan for our stay, do you want to help me Ayame?" Sango asked.

"Okay!" Ayame agreed merrily.

Before they knew what had happened Kagome and Inuyasha were left alone in the room with only the sounds of the cicadas for company.

Chapter eight already! Sorry I'm a day late, my sister somewhat sabotaged it all! Hehe… but there you have it! Inuyasha and Kagome all alone together – which doesn't make much sense when you think about it. Erk. I hope you enjoyed this chap!

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Ja ne

Cat