Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the great reviews! Please keep reviewing and tell me what you think of the story so far. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, sadly, or any of the characters that the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi has concocted, but the character Rhiodoru is my own personal creation ;-)

( " " talking, italics thinking )

Chocolate

Inuyasha trudged along behind the others, trying to keep a little distance between them and himself. Indeed, it had been a tremendously long and exhausting day. Or at least mentally exhausting. It was now late afternoon, and he was fervently hoping that they would stop to make camp soon. It didn't look likely though; the others seemed intent on making up for the ground they'd lost the day before.

Inuyasha was rapidly becoming overtired. He'd spent the entire day so far trying not to blurt out anything he might later regret. It had been difficult and tiring for his already fatigued mind. And as his mind became more and more tired, he was beginning to lose control of himself anyways. In fact, he was beginning to not even care what he said. That was not good. If his mind was overtired, then his body was the exact opposite. All the resting he'd done, plus the lack of activity (walking was not in the least bit strenuous for him) had left his body in a state of high energy. Combined, his over-energized body and under-energized mind had resulted in a very strange side effect. As is typical for one who is very tired but has lots of energy, Inuyasha had become hyper.

Inuyasha tried to scowl, but was unsuccessful. He hadn't felt hyper since he was a small child. He didn't want to get hyper now! Demons did not get hyper. Men did not get hyper! He realized that he was feeling the very strange, very idiotic urge to start jumping up and down. He tried to scowl again, but once more failed miserably. There seemed to be this stupid, goofy smile plastered permanently on his face. He was glad that the others' backs were to him. They had never seen Inuyasha do anything that could even be classified as playful, let alone unbelievably hyper. He felt the overpowering urge to giggle, but managed not to.

Maybe I should make the best of a bad situation, he thought, his goofy grin morphing into a mischievously wicked smile.

When he had been little, he had driven his mother to distraction with his pranks and games. Maybe it was time to cause a little havoc among the others. A little revenge for all the teasing they'd done to him. Even if the others were poor sports about it, Shippo would be fun to play with. Inuyasha sauntered forwards towards Kagome, completely forgetting that he didn't want them to see him in his current state, let alone being playful with them.

His smile grew. This is going to be fun.

Kagome was worried. Inuyasha had been acting very strangely all day. He had been quiet ever since they had all talked that morning. And even that talk had been strange. Inuyasha was notoriously reticent when it came to discussing his past, but this time he had almost completely opened up to them. Not that she minded; she was glad he had been open about it, but it still worried her.

Earlier in the day, she'd gone to Sango and Miroku and told them of her worries.

"You're right, Kagome. Inuyasha has been acting a little out of character. What do you think, Miroku?" Sango had asked.

Miroku had given them a superior look and said, "I would say that Inuyasha hasn't quite recovered his strength since yesterday. His mind is tired, so he keeps slipping up and revealing things he normally wouldn't, because he's far too tired to think about it. His normal façade of tough, gruff demon is slipping because he's too exhausted to maintain it." He winked at them. "Watch him closely. You might discover a new side of him you would have never imagined possible. This is a once in a life time opportunity to see the real, deep-down Inuyasha."

Kagome had taken Miroku's advice and had watched Inuyasha closely. He had seemed merely quiet, and that wasn't at all unusual for the half-demon. She started to wonder if the monk was wrong, and consequently started to worry all over again.

As she stared absently around at the hilly field they were walking through, Shippo must have realized how preoccupied she was, for he chose that moment to start pestering her for candy.

"Come on, Kagome! You promised to bring me chocolate this time. I want some now!"

Sighing, Kagome pulled a large box of chocolate pieces out of her backpack. She started asking Shippo to turn into different things in return for a chocolate.

"OK, now a donkey." As Shippo transformed into a small donkey with a bushy tail, Kagome pulled out another chocolate. But before she had a chance to toss it to Shippo, a clawed hand plucked the candy right out of her fingers. Whipping around, she saw Inuyasha casually sniff the chocolate before popping it into his mouth. She stared. He had never shown any interest in the treats she brought for Shippo before. Why now?

Swallowing, Inuyasha gave her a little smile and reached for the box. Kagome, out of reflex, held the box away from him. Sango, Miroku, and Kilala stopped and turned around to see what was happening.

"No, Inuyasha. These are for Shippo." She said firmly.

"Come on," he pouted, "be nice and share." He reached around behind her to try and grab the box.

"No!"

Inuyasha suddenly wrapped both his arms around her, holding her tight. She was so surprised she forgot about the chocolates. Big mistake. Before she'd even realized what'd happened, Inuyasha was gone, along with the candy. With a start, she watched him trot away. Realizing he'd tricked her to get the box from her, Kagome felt a stirring of anger. Shippo had started to cry. Kagome opened her mouth to yell a particular word to stop the troublesome half-demon when Inuyasha stopped and turned to face her. She stopped in mid-shout.

Inuyasha's eyes were dancing with laughter as he popped another chocolate in his mouth. His mouth quirked in a playful smile as he slowly chewed the candy, taunting her to come after him.

Playful? Inuyasha, playful? Kagome's mouth hung open in shock. Since when was Inuyasha playful? Then she remembered Miroku's words. Well, this was a side of the half-demon she had definitely not expected. She decided to make the best of the situation.

Summoning her most terrible glare, she hollered at the top of her lungs, "Give me back my chocolates, you mangy mutt!"

Inuyasha stuck his tongue out at her and started to trot away again. With a growl, she tore off after him at full speed, quickly recalling all her memories of roughhousing with Sota. The dog demon wasn't going very fast, probably planning to tease her by leaping away at the last second. She had other plans. To the surprise and shock of everyone present, she did the last thing they all expected; she tackled him. With a howl of triumph, she jumped right into him, throwing the astonished half-demon off balance. He crashed to the ground, landing flat on his back with Kagome sitting on his chest.

"Give them back!" She yelled, trying to pry the box out of his grip.

"Never, you weak, useless human! Just try and take them from me!" His eyes sparkled and his smile broadened as she tried to do just that and failed completely. Then, with an evil grin, Inuyasha swung one of his legs up, hooked his ankle on her shoulder and toppled her off him.

The half-demon leapt to his feet and started to run off again. He only got about four steps, however, before Shippo came to the rescue. With his own yell, Shippo threw himself at Inuyasha, grabbing handfuls of the half-demon's long hair. Inuyasha began to try and grab the little kitsune, but couldn't reach.

Jumping to her feet, Kagome took a moment to marvel at Inuyasha's remarkable flexibility, as well as Shippo's good grip. Just as Inuyasha managed to tear Shippo out of his hair, Kagome made her move. She ran forward and jumped on the half-demon's back, piggyback style.

Inuyasha almost fell again, barely managing to stay upright. Kagome made a grab for the chocolate box but missed, throwing them both off balance for a second time. Then Shippo leapt into the mix again, grabbing Inuyasha's arm - the one holding the box. Inuyasha, feigning a ferocious snarl, spun around and waved his arm, trying to dislodge both human and kitsune.

Kagome barely managed to hang on, mostly because she was laughing so hard. Inuyasha whirled again, flailing his arm wildly. She laughed all the harder, imagining how stupid they must look. With another yell, Inuyasha gave his arm a hard jerk, sending Shippo flying. Kagome, quick as a cat, snatched the box out of his unsuspecting fingers. Letting go of the demon, she began running full speed away from him. He would have caught her immediately if not for Shippo, who, laughing wildly, jumped in Inuyasha's face, distracting him long enough for Kagome to get a head start.

After once again sending Shippo flying, Inuyasha was right on her tail. Because she had been looking back at the rapidly gaining half-demon, she didn't realize that she had come to the steep slope of a very high hill. Frantically trying to stop, she flailed her arms and screamed. She might have actually managed to stop herself if not for Inuyasha who, running much faster than her, couldn't stop at all. He crashed into her, sending them both tumbling down the hill, rolling over top of one another as they fell.

They finally came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, Inuyasha landing on top of her. Pushing himself up dizzily, he sat down on her thighs, pinning her to the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, still clutching the box of now crushed chocolates to her chest. "What are you doing?"

Inuyasha assumed a severe expression.

"Surrender the box or die, woman!" He growled, lightly poking her stomach with one claw.

Laughing, she gasped, "I'll never surrender to the likes of you, you dog!"

"Then so be it." With that, he raised his claws, and, to Kagome's surprise and consternation, he started to tickle her sides.

Shrieking with laughter and gasping for air, she realized with dismay that claws were very good for tickling people.

"No! Inuyasha!" She gasped, tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard, "Stop! Please!"

"Surrender!" He choked, having trouble talking because he, too, was laughing so hard he could hardly sit up.

"Never!" She yelled triumphantly as Shippo entered the fray again, this time jumping on Inuyasha's head. As the kitsune started yanking on the half-demon's ears, Kagome gave Inuyasha a hard push in the chest, knocking him on his back. Extracting her legs out from underneath him, she jumped on his chest again.

She decided it was time to find out if Inuyasha was ticklish too; she wanted revenge. In a short period of time, she and Shippo had the poor demon howling with laughter as they discovered that Inuyasha was indeed very ticklish.

With mock growl, Inuyasha tossed Shippo away and sat up, dumping Kagome on the ground. Grabbing the forgotten box of candy, he leapt up and took off. He only got about ten steps this time.

"Sit!"

The thump of Inuyasha slamming into the ground was followed by some very foul cursing. Running to the fallen demon, Kagome jumped on his back. As the air whooshed out of his lungs from her sudden weight, she pulled the box out of his hands.

"Bad dog!" She admonished. Her words were met by another string of curses.

Getting off Inuyasha's back, Kagome sat down in the grass beside him, trying to catch her breath. The half-demon rolled over but didn't get up. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and proceeded to try and take a nap. She handed the box of candy to Shippo, who was still panting heavily from the fight. Kagome noticed with a scowl that Inuyasha wasn't even slightly out of breath. She reached over and poked him hard in the ribs. With a small yelp, he opened one eye and peered at her questioningly.

"Inuyasha, you are an annoying, bratty, self-centered dog. Why did you steal my chocolates?"

He smirked at her. "I'm glad to hear that you think so highly of me Kagome. And I think it's obvious why I wanted to steal the chocolates." He started eyeing the box again.

"Do you really like them that much?" Kagome asked him, wondering why he'd never asked for any candy before.

"Of course not," the half-demon replied, his smirk changing into that extremely annoying, but entirely lovable, playful smile. "In fact, I don't really like them at all. I just thought it would be fun to steal them. It seems that I make a rather poor thief though, don't you think?"

Kagome stared at him in disbelief for a moment. He didn't even like them?

With a growl of rage, Kagome jumped to her feet and grabbed Inuyasha by the hair. Hauling him upright while he swore, she stepped back and gave him her most frightening glare. He stood there, silently watching her, looking very worried.

"Inuyasha," she said sweetly. His look of apprehension increased.

"Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! SIT!"