Author's Note: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy this fanfic, please let me know what you think, thanks! And no, of course I don't own Inuyasha. Enjoy!

Side note: "Normal parenthesis" means that someone is talking; "parentheses italicized" means that it's a message- email and "parentheses italicized and underlined" is Kagome's thoughts during that moment or her reflecting back on that scene. As always, enjoy!

Part 11: The Start of Something Beautiful

Over the next few weeks, we would carry on our conversations as if nothing had happened. As if he never said anything at all, I would ask how his day went or what he was currently doing. He seemed to always be skating or playing Madden if he wasn't working. And on my end, I was getting my checklist of things that I'd need for my senior year, the busiest time for students. Making sure all my books were ordered and shipped, and that I had all my supplies ready preoccupied me from thinking about his confession. Perhaps he had dropped the conversation due to me.

Then one day, when asking him if he had any special events coming up, he said, "There's gonna be a school prom for seniors soon. I don't know if I'll go."

Remembering my own experience of not going to prom because no one had asked me, I didn't want him to experience the same thing. "You should go! Why not go?"

"If I don't go, I could stay and text you."

Understanding his hint, I brushed it aside by saying, "Well, I think you should go. I missed my chance to go because I didn't have anyone ask me. You shouldn't have to experience that. Did anyone ask you?"

There was a long pause. Finally, he replied, "Yes, a girl has asked me and I have declined her invitation."

A girl.. Although he had told me about his previous girlfriends, I still had brushed aside how he seemed to always be attracting girls. Well, isn't it good for him to have someone to go to prom with?.. Even… Even if it's not me? Shaking my head, I scolded myself for the thought. It's impossible. Don't forget that.

"Why not go? Ask her this time?"

"Are you sure? You want me to go?"

If he goes… He wouldn't miss out on his prom like I did… "Yes. And have fun! Remember to treat her right."

"I'll think about it."

And think about it was what he did, finally reaching the conclusion to go. I read his texts as he told me when he asked her, her excited reply, and finally his reply the day of prom. As I lay in bed waiting for his reply, I looked at the clock. 2 AM.. What is taking him so long? Are they planning to dance until morning? Is his arm.. Around her waist? Are they taking many pictures, wanting to forever re-live these memories? Shaking my head, I tossed and turned in bed. I'm not his girlfriend. It's worthless to have these thoughts, isn't it? That's right, he's not mine. He's just a friend after all. Just a friend. Closing my eyes, I was about to drift off when my phone vibrated somewhere above me. Reaching up, I read the new text.

"Hey."

Sitting up, I typed back, "Hey! How'd it go?"

"*Grabs your hands* thank you, thank you so much."

He's so happy.. What happened? "Why? What happened?"

"Well, we were dancing, and while dancing, she reached up to pull me to her and she kissed me. Turns out she likes me and has for awhile. She finally got the courage to ask me out and I accepted. Thank you so much."

She likes him? And they're going out? And they kissed? Putting my phone down, I looked back at the clock again. 3 AM. Why did it take them this long? They kissed? They kissed. And they're going out. He has someone in person to make him happy.. And yet.. Why? Confused why I was feeling so mad, I got up to grab a glass of water, tossing my phone on my bed.

Gulping the cold water down, I processed my thoughts. This is what you wanted, isn't it? The outcome has come to this now. Now what? I should congratulate them.. Shouldn't I?

"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you." I typed back. He's happy. That's what matters.. Who am I to come in between?

"Thank you, truly."

"Why are you guys out so late though?"

"She wanted to continue dancing till now and I'm just sending her home."

"Ah, I see. How nice of you."

"Yeah, It's late over there as well, right? I should probably say goodnight to you."

"Yeah, I was just about to go to sleep lol. So then, goodnight. Have a nice night."

"Thanks, you too. Goodnight."

Sighing, I lay back down. He had a good time.. And he accepted her kiss.. If he didn't also like her, why let her kiss him? What matters is that he has a physical girl by his side, someone who can comfort him, be happy with him, and talk with him whenever he needs someone.. I made the right choice. And tomorrow.. I'll tell him. Turning around to lay on my side, I closed my eyes for the sleep that never came.

That morning, as I was still thinking of what to say, my phone vibrated again.

"Hey, you up?"

I need to say it right? I mean… If I don't, it's not fair to her.. But to lose a friend like that.. Clenching my teeth, I gripped my phone and finally typed back.

"Yes. How are you?"

"Good."

"Hey, If you need to come in contact with me, can you email me from now on?" I put down the phone. There. I had said it. Well, half of it.

"Why?"

"I just have this rule: where if a girl has a boyfriend, I'm not going to text him. Kinda unfair to the girl, you know? But you can still email me if you need to get in contact." Pausing, I looked up. Was this the right thing to do? After all, he hadn't done anything wrong yet here I was pushing him away.. But if I had continued to text him, his girlfriend might get the wrong impression of us.. She and I don't have a relationship like I do with Sango and Miroku.. It might cause a misunderstanding between him and his new girlfriend.. And there was the other half. I had told him. Now how would he react?

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"c'mon. This is ridiculous. We're just friends. Why can't we still text?"

Knowing that I had been very naive to not notice his feelings before, I couldn't make that same mistake now. What if we had continued to text, and his feelings didn't go away? No. It wouldn't be fair to her. I couldn't continue to be naive and keep a guy that wasn't mine, knowing he had feelings for me, by my side.. It wasn't fair to her. And it wasn't fair to me.

"I'm sorry. It's my policy."

"But I don't have that email anymore. Can't we text like normal?"

I knew I wasn't considering his feelings again.. But I was afraid of his answer if I did. And I was afraid of what would happen in the future when we were still "friends". What if his girlfriend somehow got his phone and misunderstood about the other girl texting her boyfriend? Couldn't he see the issue here? Couldn't he see what I was trying to do? Why was he making this so hard?... Could it be because he still liked me? Priestess? The unknown girl, the unnamed girl, who he now had been chatting with over 3 years? He couldn't forget her? Shaking my head, I doubted it. He's moved on. Clearly. I should too, this was the outcome I wanted anyway..

"I'm afraid not, sorry."

"Then I guess this is where we part, huh?"

Perhaps there was sarcasm in his tone.. Perhaps it was anger.. I couldn't tell from his text.

"... I'm sorry. I guess so."

"Then, goodbye."

Looking up from my phone, I had to think of what I wanted to say. What I wanted as my last words to him. When I pieced it together, I was ready and wrote,

"Goodbye. We won't meet again. But.. I have to say, I am very thankful of the time that we have spent together. These three years.. I haven't felt lonely because of you, it was nice to be needed, nice to have a friend.. Thank you also for the love that you've shown me, however short it was. I didn't think or intend for things to be cut like this.. I'm sorry. I wish you both a long and happy life."

There. I said it. My final goodbye. Whether or not he replied, no longer mattered. And in thinking so, I left my phone in my room, the first time I had done since I had started texting him. I went about my normal routine, from checking for packages of my college school books to biking outside. Riding outside, I lost the time as I continued to pedal. Pedaling fast. As if I was trying to run away from my problems. When was it that I started to be so attached to my phone? So attached that I was constantly checking it for messages? So attached that the moment my phone vibrated, I automatically assumed it was him and was disappointed when it wasn't? What was wrong with me? I should just forget him.. Forget him.

My mother would gradually notice something was wrong with me in the week that passed.

"Kagome. You don't seem to want to eat. Is there something wrong with the food?" I looked up, realizing that Mom had been watching me for quite some time.

"Aha, nothing! Your food is so delicious like always!" I said, beaming at my mom.

"Yeah, it must be if you intend to continue using that knife to pick up your rice." Sota murmured.

Looking down, I realized he was right and switched over to my chopsticks.

"Young girls like you. What else could it be if not boys?" Gramps said, winking at me over his newspaper.

"No! It's not that! Yuka has boy problems, I was just distracted trying to think of a solution.. Sorry everyone." Eating quickly, I placed my bowl in the sink. "Thank you for the meal, mom!" Kissing her on the cheek, I walked back into my room and lightly closed the door behind me. I didn't even know if Yuka had a boyfriend.. Sliding to the floor, I rested my back against the door, pulling my phone out to check for messages.

A week. It had been a week. And no messages. It was the longest time we had ever not spoken to one another. Is it really over? Is our 3 year friendship gone just like that? Is he gone just like that? Is he happy? Eating alright? Sleeping ok? Kissing.. Shaking my head, I scolded myself again. There you go again, worrying unnecessarily. It's not like I like him that way.. I don't. Then, forget him. Forget him.. It seemed my 4 year curse was coming back with a vengeance. To me, the 4 year curse usually affected my friends, breaking up my friendships after 4 years. Eri, Yuka and Ayumi seemed to be my only exceptions. But it hasn't even been 4 years..

Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate in my hand. Without thinking, I flipped it down to face the ground. What? But.. Could it be? Too scared to check, I sat very still for a few minutes. Then finally, I turned the phone over.

"Hey."

"...Hey." I was, as you can imagine, quite confused.

"How are you?"

"...Good.. I thought we had said..? Did something happen?"

"She broke up with me."

"Why?"

"Because I told her that I have someone on my mind. I still love another girl."

Was he talking about… Me? Priestess? But he didn't even know who I was.. Why give up a real girl in front of him..?

"Why did you tell her that?"

"Because it's the truth. I have and still do love the girl I met 3 years ago."

"Oh…" I know that this reply was probably one of the worst ones anyone could ever give in this situation, but I honestly couldn't come up with anything to say. What could I say in this situation? What SHOULD I say? If only an expert in love, Venus, Cupid, SOMEONE, could come down right now and advise me on love.. What to say, what to do in this situation..?

"But it's ok. I didn't expect you to immediately accept me. I can wait. I've waited 3 years, you know?"

Regaining my composure, I was really glad he couldn't see me. Boy, what a mess I must have looked like.. I typed back, "I'm really sorry you guys broke up.."

"Don't be. Not your fault. I wanted to be truthful with her and after she listened to my story, she understood."

Placing a hand on my beating heart, I was really happy that he was back. So we continued to talk as friends, as if nothing had happened.

And a few days later, I was staying up late waiting for his reply. After continually checking my messages and the time on my phone, I was getting increasingly more irritated. 3 AM? Where is he? I know he graduates today and all, and probably had a graduation party.. But this is so late.. Could something have happened? What if he and that girl got back together and are… Shaking my head, I frowned. That's not possible. Even if I was that girl, I wouldn't get back with him, knowing he has someone else he likes.. So then, where is he? Nervous and confused, I got up to pace around my room. Could something have happened to him? What if I used up all his batteries texting him and now he's in trouble but has a dead phone? Scenario after scenario popped up in my mind. And another hour passed.

Hearing my phone buzz, I dove for it, landing on my stomach in bed and reading the new text.

"Hey. I'm back."

"Where were you?"

"Skating. What's wrong?"

"Don't you know the time? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"Why were you worried? What did you think I was doing? What did you think was happening?"

I! Wait.. What was I so worked up for? Pausing, I scratched my head. Why had I overreacted? Because I wanted him by my side? Because he had disappeared for so long? Because I was worried?

Knowing that all these answers were my reasoning, I typed it back to him. "Because you disappeared for so long, so I was worried.. I just wanted you to stay by my side.. Sorry, I didn't think you were skating for so long.."

"Do you know what that means?"

Did it have a meaning? Shaking my head, I realized he couldn't see it so I typed back, "no, what does it mean?"

"It means that you're in love with me."

Shocked, I nearly dropped my phone. Me? Really? I did? I liked him? I was in love with him? Did love have different types of feelings? The feelings I felt toward Inugami were different than the ones for Naraku. Toward Naraku, I had a crush on him.. On what I perceived to be him. I liked his mysterious side, but Kagura bought out a different side when she started dating him. She brought out a goofy, anime loving side. Inugami was different. Towards him, I loved his.. Personality. Then it clicked. The reason why I want Inugami to stay by my side is because I do like him. I love the years we've spent together getting to know each other.. I wait for him because I want to know more about him. I could care less about what he looked like, I just liked him for being him. Inwardly smacking myself, I wondered how long it would have taken me to realize something so simple.. So love actually has many forms..

"So.. That's what it is, I see," I replied, still in shock.

"*Hugs you* Please.. Please be mine."

"Your…?" Anticipating his answer (although I already knew it), I pulled my legs up to my chest, resting my phone on my knees. I wanted to hear him say it. For some reason, I needed that confirmation.

"*Kisses your forehead* My girlfriend."

Touching my forehead, I finally heard those confirmation words from him. Without a doubt, I knew my answer.

"Yes. I will be."

"Finally. You're finally mine. *kisses you*"

"*Covers your mouth* This.. may take some getting used to.." Knowing that he was bound to do that, I had already prepared for it. I didn't want to be taken off guard again.

"haha cute. I don't mind. We'll get used to it together."

Looking across my room to my full-length mirror, I touched my lips. Yes, this would definitely take some time to get used to..

Author's Note: Hey everyone, thank you very much for reading! As always, please leave your reviews on what you think about what you've read so far. Would you want to see more? Please favorite the story or feel free to hit the "follow" button for me, so you'll be notified first of any new chapters/stories. Thank you guys again!