Author's Note: Hey guys, glad to be back. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I wrote my first Inuyasha fanfiction thirteen years ago. And still, I own none of the Inuyasha series or its characters. So sad.

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Chapter 11: Kagome's Dilemma

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Kagome

"Sango. Sango, get up." Kagome pushed at her friend's shoulder, harder than she would have under normal circumstances. However, things at the moment were far from normal. Things had become so abnormal, in fact, that if Sango weren't here, she would think she'd gone crazy. "Get! Up!" Kagome yelled, shaking as hard as she could.

"What? What?!" Sango finally said, smacking her hands away and sitting up, brows knotted together. "What the hell, Kagome? It's six in the morning, I have another thirty minutes to sleep!"

"Sango, he's gone."

Her eyes widened then, and she looked around the room. "What do you mean, gone? He ran away?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, gone as in just gone. He was here one second, and then he wasn't. He just disappeared."

"People don't just disappear."

"He's youkai."

Sango tilted her head. "Do youkai disappear?"

"How would I know, I've only met the one!" Kagome could feel the first signs of hysteria clawing its way up through her chest.

"Calm down. Where was he?"

"On the roof!"

"What was he doing up there?"

Kagome couldn't help the immediate flush that spread across her cheeks. No way could she tell Sango what happened up on the roof. She couldn't believe she'd gone so far with him. The need had been intense and consuming. She hadn't felt like herself at all. Like she was a completely different person.

"Um… stargazing."

Sango narrowed her eyes accusingly. "Stargazing? Kagome…"

"What?" She asked, more defensively then she intended.

"It's written all over your face, don't lie to me."

The two girls stared each other down before Kagome finally gave in and moved to sit on Sango's bed, her head falling into her hands. "Sango, I just… I don't know what's come over me."

"What were you guys doing up there?"

"He just…" She bit her lip, wondering just how much she should let Sango know. "He kissed me again. We kissed and stuff."

Sango shook her head. "What is going on with you? You have a boyfriend, Kagome. A boyfriend that you've been cheating on." She whispered the word, as if Hojou were right in the room with them. When Kagome didn't reply, she continued. "You know, I didn't say anything before because you needed to kiss Inuyasha to let him out of the mirror, but you weren't letting him out of the mirror this time."

"I know, I know!" Kagome said miserably. She looked up at Sango, ashamed. "The truth is, and I know this sounds awful, but I can't control myself. It's almost like… like I become someone completely different when he kisses me. I have never in my whole life felt like this before. I can't stop myself. I feel addicted."

Sango listened quietly, much to Kagome's relief, her head nodding along as she took everything in.

"That sounds… pretty intense. I can't say I've felt that way before. Is it different than Hojou?"

"Oh Sango, it's so different. Before all this happened, I really liked Hojou, and it was nice when he kissed me. But now… now it's like kissing a brother. I've lost the feelings I had, and I don't understand why." She could feel her eyes filling up with tears, and she blinked rapidly to hold them back. "I don't want to be this person. I want to go back to how I felt about Hojou before."

Sango reached out and placed her hand on Kagome's back rubbing in soothing circled. "Do you want to stay together with Hojou?"

Setting her jaw with determination, Kagome nodded. She did want to stay together with Hojou. She wasn't ready to give up what they had yet. She hated that the hanyou from the mirror made her mind go squishy and her body melt. She hated that she lost control around him.

"Okay then, if that's your decision, you have to stick with it. No more kissing Inuyasha. Although, we should probably figure out where he went. The most obvious place to look would be the mirror."

"You think he's back in the mirror?" Kagome asked, not having thought of that conclusion herself.

Sango shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. But do you have any better ideas on where to look?"

"If he hasn't just disappeared, and he is still in the mirror, I can't just leave him in there, trapped." It went against Kagome's very nature, leaving someone to rot, even if that someone made her feel uncomfortable about herself. Even if that someone was fundamentally dangerous.

"It's okay, we'll figure it out, I promise," She said, her comforting hand still in place.

Kagome shook her head. He could be anywhere, if he was still alive. But her friend was right, the mirror was the best place to look. "Okay, we'll have to go back to the museum again."

"But first – dealing with all this and Hojou. There are a few things you need to decide before you see him again. If you're set on staying with him, you cannot tell him about Inuyasha."

She opened her mouth to argue, hating the idea of lying to him, feeling even dirtier about the idea of covering it up. But Sango cut her off. "Kagome, it's not like Hojou would believe you anyway. Telling him that you've been getting hot and heavy with a magical youkai who's cursed to live in a mirror by an evil priestess will not go over well. He'll think you're crazy. I half believe you're crazy, and I've seen him with my own eyes."

Kagome cast her eyes down, her arguments deflating as soon as her mind conjured them up. Of course Hojou would never believe her.

"So if you're sure this is the route you're going to take, when you see him you have to act like nothing happened. We'll figure this whole thing out with getting Inuyasha out of the mirror again, if that's where he is, and that's a big if. But then he's going to have to be on his own. And we'll just go back to school and be done with it."

Kagome straightened up in her seat then, Sango's strength seeping into her. "Okay. Okay, you're right, Sango. Thank you for being here for me. For listening to me."

"Oh, please Kagome," Sango said, standing from her bed and walking to her closet. "You've been my strength a million times since we first met. I'm just glad I can return the favor. You're very strong yourself."

"I don't feel very strong," Kagome said, frowning.

"You are. This whole ordeal just proves it, I think. Can you imagine what anyone else would do in your situation? What Eri or Yuka would do?"

Bringing up the other two girls that made up their in-school clique made Kagome giggle, she couldn't help it. "Eri and Yuka would have screamed, running for the hills the moment they saw Inuyasha step out from the mirror."

Sango joined in on her laughter. "It's true!"

"Ah, I'm so glad that you're my best friend, Sango." She watched as her friend blushed from the compliment.

"Me too." She said shyly. They gazed at each other, and Kagome was so, so thankful that Sango had been the one to help her open the stuck locker door she'd been assigned freshman year.

Finally, breaking the unspoken words of friendship between them, Sango thrust a shirt at her, and it smacked her in the face before landing in a crumpled heap at her lap. "Here, get dressed, we'll be late for school if we keep spewing our feelings all over the place.

Kagome groaned. Oh yeah. School.

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"I can't look him in the eyes. I just can't." Kagome's heart pounded in her chest as she watched Hojou make his inevitable way towards her from the other side of the long hallway. He was a bit taller than everyone else, which is one of the things that had attracted her to him in the first place, other than his sweet smile and friendly disposition.

"Kagome, you're being ridiculous. We just talked about this." Sango sighed, exasperated.

"He's going to know. He's going to take one look at me and know."

"Jesus, get in here."

Kagome yelped as Sango pulled her into the girls' bathroom, effectively cutting them off from the chaos that was the high school hallway. She turned on her then, forcing her eyes to lock onto hers.

"Kagome. Breathe. He doesn't know. You told me that you want to stay together with Hojou, and I'm going to help you do that. But if you fall apart it's not going to work."

She inhaled deeply, calming her nerves. "I hate this. I hate myself right now."

"Inuyasha is a youkai, Kagome. I don't know if you're super attracted to him because he's one or not, but whatever the case, it's not your fault."

"But you're not attracted to him."

"Oh, the man is freaking gorgeous all right." Sango grinned. "He's super hot. But I haven't been kissing him."

"You think that's what did it? The kissing?"

Sango shrugged. "Maybe. He can spell people, you saw him do it the other night."

"You think he's spelling me?" Kagome squeaked out, her cheeks flushing.

"I can't know for sure, but that's not the issue right now. Right now you need to calm down and act like everything is normal. Breathe, Kagome. Breathe."

Following Sango's instructions, Kagome breathed. Her friend was right, at this very moment salvaging her relationship with Hojou was the most important thing. She grit her teeth and set her jaw, determination settling over her. She would not let some stupid magic hanyou spell her into ruining her normal, comfortable relationship. She had worked hard at getting Hojou's attention, and becoming friends with him over the years. She vividly remembered a time when she felt that she loved him so much her heart would explode. And although her attraction had waned due to Inuyasha showing up and making her… feel things, her attraction to Hojou had still been true. It had been solid. A fact. And more than anything right now she wanted it again.

"I'm ready," she said, her eyes locking firm onto Sango's. Nodding, Sango released her and followed behind as Kagome turned and pushed open the bathroom door.

Hojou was waiting at her locker, a few feet to the right. She turned on her heel and headed straight for him. She watched his face light up as he caught sight of her, watched as his expression slipped into shock as he noticed the resolve of her own features. He opened his mouth to mutter a 'hey', but she didn't let him get it out. Reaching out, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. She refused to let herself think as she kissed him, her mouth working on autopilot as she drove her tongue between his lips, demanding that he follow her lead.

Hojou didn't disappoint, wrapping his arm around her waist and dragging her to him after his initial shock at her boldness.

Kagome was aware of the stares of the shocked students surrounding them, but she ignored the whispers and continued her assault, refusing to give up until she was sure she was back to normal. After a few moments, the students moved on, busy with their own lives, and her kisses turned softer, less needy. Hojou pulled away slightly, beaming down at her.

"What was that for?" He asked, not able to contain the giddy edge in his voice.

Kagome was suddenly hit with a brick of bashfulness, embarrassed at putting on such a show. She was glad the other students were somewhat ignoring them now, but she knew the kiss would be the gossip of school for the next few weeks.

"Umm, nothing," she said, breathless from exerting so much energy into the claiming of his lips. "Sorry, I just… wanted to kiss you."

"Don't apologize. In fact, do it more often, please." He said, winking down at her.

Kagome finally felt the beginnings of butterflies in the pit of her stomach, and she smiled shyly up at him. Thank God she was reacting even a little to his boyish charms. While the kiss hadn't been mind-blowing like with the hanyou, she'd stuck with her plan and she was sure it would pay off.

"Okay," she agreed, returning a smile of her own. Hojou swooped in and kissed her one more time before moving to the side so she could easily access her locker. Feeling lighter than she had since first stumbling upon all the trouble that was Inuyasha and his cursed mirror, Kagome relaxed into herself again, thankful for Hojou's easy-going attitude. She switched out her books and shut her locker, taking the hand he held out for her.

"Ready for lunch?" He asked, leading her down the hallway while whistling a nonsensical tune.

"Yeah, I skipped breakfast, I'm pretty hungry."

"Why'd you skip?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"I spent the night at Sango's, she was helping me with my extra credit report." Which she hadn't done a damn thing about, now that she thought about it. Oh God, she had a day to write it all up and turn it in. She was going to be up all night again, on top of checking the museum for the hanyou.

"Well eat up, okay? You don't want to get sick." He bumped into her side, letting her know his words had no heavy meaning.

"Who's sick?" Sango asked, falling into place next to Kagome.

"No one yet," Hojou said. "I heard you and Kagome skipped breakfast this morning."

Kagome hoped Sango understood from her body language that she and Hojou were all good and well at this point. Luckily, her friends' intuition was usually right on target, and Sango blended in effortlessly with the easygoing atmosphere.

"Yeah, it will be good to get something solid in." She said as they made their way to their usual table in the cafeteria and set their belongings down. "Hojou, why don't you go first? I have to go over an assignment with Kagome real quick."

"Sure thing," Hojou complied, and made his way to the lunch line where he met up with some of his friends.

"So?" Sango asked when he was out of earshot. "How did it go?"

Kagome let out a rush of air she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Good. It went good. I feel a lot easier around him now."

"That was some kiss you gave him."

"Yeah, well…" She trailed off, embarrassed.

"Did you feel anything?"

"There weren't any sparks, if that's what you're asking. But I wasn't disgusted or anything. It was just a normal kiss. Although, I did feel something like I used to. You know, that butterfly feeling? He winked at me and I felt it."

"That's a good sign."

"Yeah, I hope it gets better though. I just want this to be over and done with."

"Well," Sango signed, "let's head to the museum right after school and check to see if Inuyasha's in the mirror. He should be able to signal you without anyone noticing, right?"

Kagome nodded, remembering the flash of his hand when he'd given her back her memories.

"Okay good. There's no reason to get stuck in the museum after-hours if he's not even there, right?"

"Right." The plan set, Kagome stood and made her way over to Hojou in the lunch line, trying to swallow the flood of nerves that suddenly sprang up. Maybe food would put her in a better mood.

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For an Inuyasha/Kagome story, this fic sure has a lot of Kagome and Hojou making out. Haha.

Please remember to review, I'm serious about my writing and my stories, and if you have anything to comment about or anything to mention or anything to say, I would love to hear it.

~SugarRos