Kagome was startled, though not entirely opposed, when Inuyasha crushed her into a hug. When she heard what he said, however, she shoved him away immediately.

"You what!?"

"I said... I think I love you."

"How dare you?" Kagome was instantly furious. Inuyasha's ears flattened to his head when he heard her tone. She would have thought it was cute if she weren't so upset.

"Wh- what do you mean?"

"You love me!?" she exploded. "You don't even know me. Inuyasha, I am acting here. Did you forget? So if you love anything, it's not me. It's the projection of your wife that I'm portraying."

"That's not true at all!"

"Oh yeah?" Kagome countered, her anger level only rising, "I know everything about your parents, Inuyasha, but do you know anything about mine? What are their names?"

"I... I don't know."

"And why did I start acting? Where did I grow up? Did I go to college?"

"...I don't know those things either. But, Kagome..."

"What am I afraid of? What am I passionate about? How do you comfort me when I'm crying? You don't know anything!" Inuyasha stared at the ground silently, clearly wrestling with her words. She sighed in exasperation. "Do you even know if I'm single?"

Inuyasha's head snapped up. "You are, aren't you?"

"It's none of your business." Kagome angrily flipped the last pancake onto a plate, squirted some syrup on it and shoved it at him. "Here's your breakfast." She then ripped off her apron and threw it on the counter before marching off.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"To shower!" she shouted over her shoulder, not even slowing her escape. "And then I'm going grocery shopping. Enjoy your pancakes!" As she finished speaking, Kagome childishly slammed the door to the bathroom and turned around to lean against it. In doing so, she came face to face with her full-body reflection in the wall-length mirror in front of her. She made eye contact with herself, then lowered her eyes quickly, somehow feeling embarrassed.

She shouldn't have slammed the door. He shouldn't have said something so stupid, but she still shouldn't have slammed the door. And yelled. And thrown a tantrum. She absolutely stood by what she told him, but she probably could have said it a little more gently. She sighed as she undressed and turned the shower on.

The hot water coursed over her and took the rest of the edge off of her anger. Instead of feeling better, though, she just felt depleted.

After she got dressed, she headed to the car. She somewhat reluctantly looked around for Inuyasha on the way to see how he was reacting to her outburst, but she couldn't find him anywhere. It was probably for the best. She would apologize and express her stance a little more temperately when she got home.

When she got to the key hook, though, she found it empty. Had she left it in her purse? Or had Inuyasha left them in his pocket? Or... she opened the door to the garage and checked. Yup. There was Inuyasha sitting stubbornly in the driver's seat waiting for her.

She sighed and approached him. "Hey."

"I'm driving you to the grocery store."

"I can see that. Why, though? Do you think I'll make a break for it?"

"Maybe."

"I won't."

"That's exactly what someone who was planning on making a break for it would say."

"I'm telling you, I'm not. And if I were, I wouldn't take this car. I would take the Ferrari."

"Not Tessaiga!"

"Who would you be more upset about losing? Me, or the car?"

"You."

"That was fast."

"It was an easy question."

"I'm sorry I asked..." She hesitated, but eventually sighed, crossed around to the passenger side and slipped in. He started the car.

"Did you even eat the pancakes? I worked hard on those."

"Yes, I did. They were delicious."

"They were not. I put in too much salt."

"It really enhanced the flavor."

"Please."

"How did you know that I was craving salt this morning? You really are amazing."

"Be serious!"

"I am being serious. You made them, so they were delicious."

"Nope. That's enough. Stop it."

"What?"

"Don't talk to me like that when we're alone. I want to keep our relationship professional."

"Well, I don't."

Kagome sighed for the third time in about twenty minutes and looked out the window. They were almost there. The rest of the ride, as well as the walk into the store, was silent and a little uncomfortable. Kagome struggled with what to say. He clearly wasn't going to give up easily and that was frustrating. How could she get him to stop without it ruining their professional relationship or the friendship that they were developing? Because she did want to be his friend when all this was over. He was a great man. He just wasn't one she wanted to get romantically involved with if he thought love happened so quickly. So what to say?

Then she turned a corner and stopped dead in her tracks. All thoughts of what to say to Inuyasha flew out of her head.

Because there he was. There was the reason she had reacted so strongly to Inuyasha's confession. There was the man who made her feel like you should never say "I love you" too quickly. He was standing right in front of her examining a couple radishes.

Kouga.

A/N: Sorry guys! It's not going to be that easy. Kagome's a tough one to crack. You'll start to learn more about her as Inuyasha does. But what did you think of this chapter? Were you surprised? Do you think she's being fair? I would love feedback. Also, I'd like to make a special dedication/shout-out to and avengeme (formerly saveme57) for reading this months ago and coming back to read more now. I appreciate you guys. (I also very much appreciate PinkIcePrincess23, but she already got a dedication.) Until next chapter (Spoilers: I'll probably post it tomorrow)! Love you all!