Chapter 10

"Oomph!"

I pulled myself over the ledge of the well and swung my legs over it. After brushing off the dirt that got on my jeans, I headed down towards the village.

"Kagome!"

Shippo ran and jumped into my arms to embrace me.

"Hey Shippo!"

"Kagome?"

The little kitsune asked as he leapt back onto the ground.

"Can you please come and play with me?"

"Awe, I'd really like that Shippo. But I'm only here for a few minutes."

"…Oh."

Awe, now I feel bad…

"Can you tell me where InuYasha is Shippo?"

He turned around and scanned the village.

"Uh…I think he's in the field on the other end of the village."

"Thanks Shippo."

I bent down low and kissed the top of his head.

"Sorry I can't play with you today."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"S'ok. Maybe when you come back, next time, we can."

I grinned down at him.

"Okay, then it's a play date."

I began walking towards the field when Shippo called out after me.

"Kagome!"

I stopped in my tracks and looked over my shoulder.

"Watch out, Kikyo's with him."

"…Thanks Shippo."

I began walking again.

Great. Kikyo.

Once I reached the field, the first thing that caught my eye was red in a tree.

"InuYasha?"

I stood underneath the tree and looked up into its branches. A few branches above me sat InuYasha with his eyes closed peacefully. As soon as he heard me call his name, his eyes shot open.

"Kagome?"

His voice sounded surprised as he looked down at me smiling up at him.

"Hey InuYasha."

He jumped down and landed gracefully in front of me.

"Kagome, what are you doing here?"

Slightly taken back from the question, my smile dropped.

"What, you don't want me here or something?"

"No, no, no! That's not it!"

His hands waved in front of him, a desperate look in his eyes.

"Oh…okay then what is it?"

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and stared down at his feet.

"I dunno…I just thought that you didn't want to be here…with me, anymore."

My smile came back.

"InuYasha, you know I love it here. I've just been super…busy back at home."

"Busy with what?"

Aah! I can't just straight out tell him about Kai! Get to the point Kagome, just ask him the question!

"Hey InuYasha?"

"What?"

"Would you like to come with me to a, um, a party tonight?"

"A what?"

Confusion spread all over his face, making me sigh a bit.

"A party is a gathering of a group of people. You dance and talk and eat and it's a lot of fun."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, so would you like to join me?"

He stared at me for a long time, then crossed his arms and sneered.

"Feh, no way."

W-what? Now I'm mad.

"Well why not?"

"Because! I don't wanna dance and talk and eat and have fun with a group of pathetic humans!"

"Pathetic humans?"

I fumed at him, totally forgetting about why I missed him so much.

"Yeah, pathetic. Especially you."

Why that…

"Hmph."

I tossed my hair over my shoulder and crossed my arms at him.

"Well Kai doesn't think I'm the least bit pathetic."

His expression turned into a clueless one.

"Kai? Who's that?"

I hesitated about answering, but then remembered his attitude problem. He deserves to hear this, even if he doesn't like it.

"Kai,"

I started, pausing for dramatic effect.

"Is my boyfriend."

InuYasha's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"WHAT?"

The whole forest practically shook. Uh-oh. He's mad. Maybe I should have never told him what a boyfriend was that one time…

"You have a-a-a boyfriend?"

The word was like venom in his mouth as he spat it out.

"A BOYFRIEND?"

Stay cool, calm, and collected Kagome. Don't scream at him. That's not why you came here.

"Yes InuYasha, I have a boyfriend."

He stopped yelling, but his face was a mighty bright red and he looked ready to kill something.

"How long have you been with him for?"

Good, he's trying not to yell anymore. But his voice was had a tight, forced calm sound to it.

"1 month tomorrow."

His eye twitched slightly.

"And you didn't tell me this?"

"I just told you."

Twitch twitch.

Then InuYasha ducked his head for a moment, his bangs covering his eyes. When he brought up his face again, his eyes were filled with many emotions.

"Do you love him?"

I had to strain to hear him since his voice was suddenly quiet. When I realized what he asked, my face reddened.

"I, um…I don't really…"

"Do you love him?"

Sigh. He's so persistent.

"No InuYasha, I do not love him."

Relief spread across his face. Too bad I wasn't finished.

"I don't love him…yet."

Yeah he was pissed again.

"Yet? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Yet?"

"InuYasha, it means that I could fall in love with him over time. But I don't now so don't worry."

"Yet?"

"InuYasha…"

"InuYasha, is there something the matter over there?"

Kikyo's unwanted voice drifted to our ears. She entered the field, giving me a cold, hard stare. She knew I was here. I know it. She just came so I would stop talking to her little puppy-boy. Urg.

"Nothing's the matter."

I said, then gave InuYasha a small glare.

"We just finished talking."

I began my way out of the field, but looked back and called over my shoulder.

"Oh, and InuYasha? I won't be returning for a pretty long time. Kai needs some…alone time with me."

I faked a sweet smile and winked.

"If you know what I mean."

His face went so incredibly red with anger he looked like a fire hydrant. I walked, like, 10 times faster to the well out of pure fear.

What a jerk.