Hey guys! Here's another chapter for y'all, and I hope you enjoy! And a quick reminder: I have a Ko-Fi set up and you can find it on my blog, which is in my profile. :3

Kagome let out a sigh as she stepped out of the apartment. Inuyasha was leaning against the banister, arms crossed over his chest. She stared at him and ran a hand over her face. "Don't you give me that look." she snapped. She hated how he was looking at her right now, all judgmental and hurt. He had no right. As he continued to just stare at her accusingly, she rolled her eyes and waved for him to follow her. She then went down the stairs and went towards the bike rack. She knew the inu was right behind her. She unlocked her bike and hopped on, then turned to look at Inuyasha. He stood there, arms still crossed. Kagome quirked an eyebrow at him, then nodded towards the back of the bike where he could sit.

"Hn." He rolled his eyes and hopped onto the back of her bike.

She let out a sigh and then took off. The bike ride to the café was quiet, neither of them really wanting to talk to each other. Not now at least. Inuyasha was still hurt from her slap, not physically of course, but his feelings. Kagome, meanwhile, was trying to sort through her storm of thoughts. There were just… so many, but they were split pretty evenly between Kouga and Inuyasha. She was scared of Inuyasha's reactions, if earlier was anything to go off of. Not to mention, she was still angry with him. And then there's Kouga… She knew he was going to want answers, and she had really been hoping to just… bury her past, but it seems like it was all going to get dredged up now.

Kagome did her best to clear her thoughts. She wanted to have a clear head for when she started discussing things with Inuyasha. She knew he was going to be a baby about this and she needed to prepare herself. He really never changed, did he? The thought made her nostalgic, but she quickly ignored the feeling bubbling up in her chest. Not a good idea.

They soon reached the café and she hopped off her bike, locking it up. Inuyasha got off as well and followed her into the shop. They got seated and placed in their orders, Kagome getting a caramel frapp with 4 espresso shots, extra whipped cream, and extra caramel. She was stressed… Inuyasha ordered a green tea and a sandwich. They sat quietly until their order arrived, and the silence lasted a couple minutes after that. Kagome tapped nervously on the side of the cup of her frapp. She let out a sigh, placing her hands on the tabletop.

"Alright. Let me explain-"

"Yeah, you better." he said, cutting her off with a scoff.

Kagome sucked in a breath, doing her best to calm herself. She released it slowly, tapping her fingertips on the table before flashing Inuyasha a forced smile. His ears flattened against his head. He knew that look… "Okay. Anyway, let's get this over with. As I'm sure you know, Sango and Miroku are getting married. So, I found an apartment that was relatively close to school, but I needed someone to help me pay rent. So… I put out an ad-"

"You put out an ad? Whose terrible idea was that?!" he snarled.

"It was Sango's, and honestly I'm grateful for it. Kouga is a really nice person. We've been living together for a little over three months now and-"

"So what, do you love him or something?" he asked snarkily, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. Kagome grew flustered, her cheeks red and her hands began to flail. She stumbled over her words for a few moments.

"N-No! What the- What would give you that idea?"

"Oh please. If you're living with him, it's a given."

She looked at him in shock. "Y-You're not serious, right?" She started to laugh, shaking her head. "This is.. You're ridiculous, Inuyasha! We're just friends!"

"Sure, keep lying to yourself Kagome." he said, averting his eyes.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I can't believe this.." she muttered under her breath, rubbing her hands over her eyes, then pressing her fingers to her temples and digging into them. After a few moments, she sucked in a breath and looked up at him. "Well, that's all I really need to say about this subject. Let's move on to you. When did you get into town?" she asked, forcing another ear-splitting grin.

Inuyasha was greatly unsettled by the looks she was giving him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a sip of his green tea before he worked up the courage to answer. "What do you think, idiot. I'm here cause I heard that Sango and Miroku were getting married. I wanted to be here for that."

Kagome fought down her snide remark by stirring at her whipped cream, pulling the straw out and licking it off. She wanted to yell at him for not talking to her for the years he was gone, she wanted to berate him for just thinking he could drop into her life at will and everything would be the same. That's not how life worked, and she knew he really needed a reality check, but maybe now wasn't the time. She stuck the straw back into the concoction of sugar and caffeine and looked up at Inuyasha once more.

"So.. how were your travels?" she asked.

He was a bit surprised by this. Kagome had changed since high school, hadn't she? Normally she would yell at him and they'd get into a huge fight over how he said things. He wasn't sure he liked it… He licked his lips and shifted in his seat, leaning forward. He then started to talk about all the places he'd seen while he was studying abroad. She listened intently, happy that things seemed to be calming down between the two of them. Kagome would be lying if she said she hadn't missed the hanyou. While they had fought a lot, they did have their nice moments.. moments like these. It was nice, and they were why she had stuck by his side for so many years.

They chatted for a while, talking to each other casually throughout the afternoon. Once they had caught up pretty decently, they left the café and stopped by her bike. They stood there a bit awkwardly, Inuyasha kicking a pebble that was on the sidewalk. "Well, it was nice seeing you. Next time you wanna hang out, text me first. Don't just.. drop by unannounced again. Please."

"Pft, yeah, sure, whatever." he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Kagome smiled softly up at him. "I mean it, Inuyasha. I'd love for you to come over.. as long as you promise to be civil." she replied, her voice soft at first, but near the end there was a hint of laughter in her voice. She shot him a wink before she unlocked her bike and hopped on. "I'll see you around, Inuyasha."

He looked down at her, arms still crossed over his chest. He was silent for a few moments, but Kagome was patient. She was always patient. Well, not always, but she was for the most part. He eventually softened, giving her a light-hearted smile. "Yeah, I'll see you Kagome."

She beamed at him, kicked off her kickstand, then took off back towards the apartment complex. Inuyasha watched her leave, feeling something tugging in his chest. He scoffed a bit at that and turned to start walking to his house. Well.. it wasn't really his house, it was his brother's. He hated having to stay there, but he didn't really have a choice. He had been hoping to crash at Kagome's…. but seeing how she was with a man, and a wolf no less, he had to fall back on his brother. At least he could rely on being left alone. He could really use some time to himself to sort everything out.

..::YatM::..

Kagome let out a sigh as she reached the complex and locked up her bike. She had enjoyed her time with Inuyasha, despite it being rough. It was always rough, but she knew that's just how he was. He didn't know how to show affection. Was it infuriating at times? Of course, but it's something she had grown accustomed to, from him at least. But Inuyasha was a song and dance she knew all too well, and one she was confident she could do in her sleep. It came naturally to her, almost. There were times where she faltered, but it was due to him stepping on her toes.

The hard part of today would be talking with Kouga. Sure they had grown close over the three months they had been living together and she considered him a friend, but she wasn't sure how he would react. She was still learning about him, still learning to dance to the tune he sang. It was a process, and she hoped she could improv her way through it, so to speak.

She sucked in a calming breath, slowly releasing it before she ascended the stairs and walked down the hall to the door of the apartment. It would probably be better to just… get it over with, wouldn't it? She nipped at her bottom lip nervously as she pulled out her keys, sticking them into the lock. She unlocked the door and stepped in, closing the door behind her and locking it once more. "I'm home." she announced as she took off her shoes. She was greeted with silence and it made the miko nervous. Kagome took a few calming breaths before she walked into the living area.

There, she found Kouga sitting at the table, arms folded over his chest and looking deep in thought. Kagome licked her lips before taking the bottom one in between her teeth and nibbling on it for a few seconds. She set down her bag and the movement seemed to catch Kouga's attention. His head snapped up and he watched as Kagome nervously moved towards him, sitting down across from him at the table. Her scent reeked of the electrical fire that was her anxiety, and there was a lingering scent of dog on her as well. It made his hackles rise, but he knew he had no place to scent mark her. Not yet, at least.

"Where's Shippou?" she asked, voice soft as she folded her hands in her lap.

"I had Sango come pick him up." he replied simply. Kagome thought best not to push further on that topic, though she was curious as to know when exactly he had received her friend's phone number. Her eyes shifted downwards, towards his hands which were resting on the table. His left hand covered the right, curled tight to the point his knuckles were starting to turn white. Kagome twiddled her fingers underneath the table.

"So… I'm sure you have… questions for me."

"Yeah, I do."

His tone made her want to cringe, to cower in fear, but she refused to do as such. Instead, she kept her back straight and averted her eyes whenever necessary. She did her best to keep her eyes on his, but it was difficult at times. His blue eyes seemed to bore into hers, and her rising anxiety made it difficult to discern with what exact emotion was hidden in their depths.

"I'm warning you now.. it's… a pretty long and, somewhat ridiculous, story." she said, a nervous laugh escaping her.

"Take your time."

She took in a deep breath, bringing her hands up to the table and tapping her fingers on the wooden surface as she slowly released it, trying to ease her worries. "So… I've known Inuyasha since high school. I met him in my first year, his second. He was… my first love." Kagome blushed slightly at that, and Kouga felt like a knife was being twisted into his heart. "We dated for a while. Things were… kind of rocky, but that's just who Inuyasha is. He's brash and rude, but deep down he cares deeply about those close to him. He just… doesn't know how to show it." She laughed nervously, twining her fingers together and pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth.

Kagome was silent for a few moments then, and that's when Kouga started to notice a shift in her scent. Burning copper was slowly being overtaken by wet soil and moss. He knew that what she was about to say next was going to be bad. "It wasn't until my second year that I learned about Kikyo." His eyes widened at that and she let out a laugh. "Yeah, crazy, right?" She took a few moments to prepare herself for what she was going to say next.

"Before Inuyasha met me, he had met Kikyo. They had started dating in their third year of middle school and broke up at the end of their first in high school. Kikyo had to move away to her family's shrine. Her grandmother was growing weaker, and so her family pulled her away from Tokyo to bring her here. They wanted her to finish her training there before her grandmother passed, since she showed such promise for being a powerful miko and wanted to make her proud." Kagome's gaze was downcast, studying the grain of the wood. Her elbows were now placed on the table, hands fisted together in front of her face.

"I believe Inuyasha chose me because Kikyo and I look so similar… we could be sisters, you know?" she said, glancing up at Kouga, a forced smile on her face and tears welling in her eyes. Though he couldn't see them, he could smell them. It simultaneously broke his heart and fueled him with rage.

"How did you find out?" he asked softly, almost afraid to know.

Kagome sucked in a breath, bringing her hands down to rest on the table as she straightened her back. "He told me that he was going to meet his ex at a coffee shop, to discuss things and get some closure. After a few weeks, we started hanging out less and less, his grades dropped, and he had to repeat his third year. A part of me was happy. I'd get to spend my final year with him and we could graduate together. We could study for our college entrance exams together, even. Gods I was so stupid." Her accompanying laugh was filled with pain and regret. Kouga's heart broke for her.

"It wasn't long before I realized he was seeing her behind my back. I kind of knew from how he would look at me with guilt in his eyes, but I didn't know for sure until I was showing him something on his phone and he received a text from her. I saw it. Needless to say, we had a huge fight and halfway through our third year, we broke up. Me being me, however, I still stuck around. I don't know why, but I did. We still had good times, I just knew we were never meant to be." she said with a shrug.

Kouga frowned. He wanted desperately to reach out to her, to hold her hands, pull her into him and soothe her, but he wasn't sure if he should. "I.. I'm sorry, Kagome." he whispered, and he meant it.

The miko simply shrugged, a weak smile on her face. "It's in the past. It still sucks to think about, but it's been years. I'm over it.. for the most part." she said with another shrug. Somehow, Kouga didn't believe her. Maybe he had an unfair advantage with being able to smell how she really felt, but she also wasn't that great of a liar. He decided to throw caution to the wind and be bold. With a bit of a chuckle, he moved closer to her and pulled her into an embrace. He heard the faint gasp that escaped her at the sudden contact.

"You're a terrible liar, Kagome." he whispered.

She let out a laugh at that as she buried her face into his chest. He'd be lying if he said it didn't make him feel hopeful, caused his heart to pick up pace. The miko returned the embrace and Kouga was glad he had taken the risk. They stayed like that for a couple moments, Kagome allowing herself to be comforted before she eventually pulled away. Kouga instantly felt empty without her in his arms. "I'm going to get started on some lunch, and then I'm going to clean up around here." she said with a smile.

Kouga laughed, shaking his head. "Take a break, woman."

"Never." She winked at him before she rose from her spot and made her way into the kitchen. Kouga's cheeks flushed and he covered his mouth with his hand, hiding the goofy grin that was appearing. This woman would be the death of him.