Hello once again! ^_^ Well thank you to all who reviewed chapter 12! It seems like a lot of you liked it, which I'm happy for. So I hope you guys all enjoy and review this chapter as well. ^_^

Also I'm so sorry this is late! I've been so busy and TIRED lately. =.= I won't blame you if you want to shank me. (Also sorry this chapter is short. DX )

Disclaimer: …Do I have to disclaim every chapter? I mean it's obvious I don't own the series…

~Chapter 13~

Kagome stared, frozen in shock and a slight twinge of fear. Her heart was pounding, making it impossible for her brain to focus. "M-Mom… I thought you weren't going to be home until late…"

"My friend didn't need my help after all; even so, young lady! You're bringing hoodlums into my house and…and… I don't even want to know where you two were headed. Young man, get out of my house!" her mother shouted, her expression showing just how aghast she was.

Inuyasha quickly sprang up off the couch, feeling a slight sting of irritation from being called a hoodlum when Kagome's mother didn't even know him. "Ma'am, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect your house. Please don't blame Kagome; it was my—"

"I don't want to hear any excuses! Get out!" she yelled again.

Kagome had never seen her mother this angry. Her guardian's face had begun to turn red—it wouldn't have surprised the teen if her mother was about to have a conniption.

"Mom, please, calm down!" Kagome pleaded, not wanting to see Inuyasha kicked out of her house.

"I will not calm down!" she berated. She looked at her uninvited guest and pointed towards the door with such fury in her eyes, the teen knew there would be no way of talking his way out of this one.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome apologetically and swiped up his sweatshirt. "Kagome, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you lat—"

He was cut off again by her mother. "Talk? You're not allowed to even see my daughter anymore! I will not have her under your influence! I understand you two are English partners…and if I can help it, that's going to be changing very soon!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. He didn't know Kagome's mother could be like this. He saw his new girlfriend stand up and begin pleading with her mother, trying to get her to calm down and listen to her.

"Enough!" her mother scolded in a tone that stopped Inuyasha and Kagome both in their tracks. "Get out of my house, young man."

She stared Inuyasha down, and he took a quick glance at Kagome, who looked as if she was near tears. She gave him a quick nod, silently telling him to do as her mother said and leave.

He sighed and took off, quietly shutting the door behind him. He didn't want to leave her, especially with her mother being the way she was. He didn't want Kagome taking the blame because he was a burden on society that was poisoning her daughter's mind. The teen felt consumed by guilt and couldn't help but feel it was entirely his fault.

'Why did I have to stop by?' he silently questioned, wanting to slap himself.

He threw his sweatshirt back on and shoved his face in his hands. "Stupid… Stupid… You're so stupid," he continued to repeat to himself as he left Kagome's property, headed for the bus stop down the street. He would have to talk to her the next day at school and find a way to apologize properly.

—xxxxx—

Meanwhile, Kagome was just getting to the worse of it with her mother. She had gone up to her room and slammed the door behind her, only to have her mother barge in right after. "You didn't have to kick him out! He did nothing wrong!" Kagome shouted, wanting to rip her hair out from frustration.

"Young lady! I don't know what's been going on with you lately. You never used to act like this. What happened to my sweet, little girl?" her mom asked, still in shock over what she had just witnessed.

"She's grown up! You can't treat me like an eight year old, mother! I'm going to have boyfriends. I'm going to make out with them! Hell, when it gets there, I'm even going to be having sex with them! Deal with the fact that I'm going to be an adult," she tried to reason, though she knew it wouldn't work since she was shouting it. "It's not me who's changing for the worse. It's you who can't accept that I'm not a mindless drone anymore!" Kagome defiantly yelled back at her mother in her defense.

Kagome's mother placed her hand in the center of her chest, aghast at Kagome's quick words, especially about having sex. "Kagome Higurashi! What would your father say if he heard this coming from you?"

"He can't say anything, Mom—he's dead! And he's been dead since I was seven, so stop pulling that damn card out on me all the time. It's not going to work anymore! You just kicked out my boyfriend simply because we were making out on the couch!"

"I'm not pulling any card! I just want you to think about what you're doing. I kicked him out because you hardly know him! Excuse a mother for being concerned, and don't you dare use that kind of language with me, young lady!"

"I'm eighteen, Mom! I'm already technically an adult! I should be allowed to say damn, especially when I'm this angry! I know him better than you seem to know me, and I think that should be saying something! I know quite a bit about Inuyasha; we talk a lot. He's not like the normal rich snobs that I've been hanging out with since I was five," Kagome argued. She was shaking as her emotions poured out of her. She was angry and, dammit, she had a right to be.

"You're just young, and you're going through the 'I want a bad boy type' phase. You'll get over it soon. You don't know what you like," her mother said back, clearly in denial over her daughter's choices.

"When are you going to realize that not everything that I say or do that you don't like is not a phase? Let me grow up. If you think I'm making a mistake, then let me make my mistake. If you baby me for the rest of my life, I'm never going to learn to walk on my own; you'll only cripple me," the young teen tried to further explain and calm the argument down to get her mother to listen.

It wasn't working, though. Her mom was just too stubborn.

"I'm not babying you! I'm being a caring mother. But I don't want you becoming a part of a gang or some other criminal organization!"

"Oh my— Mom! He's not even a 'bad boy'. Sure, he looks that way sometimes, but guess what? Looks are deceiving! He's smart and he's gifted. He writes poems, he draws extremely well, he's literate, and he gets straight A's and B's. Some of his grades are better than mine."

"Kagome, all that can be a façade," her mother brushed off. "He's probably bullying someone into doing his work."

The younger brunette looked at her mother in disbelief. "You're unbelievable. You just don't like the fact that soon I'll be out on my own and can do whatever I want when I want without you dictating when and what I do. You hate the fact that you won't know every move I'm making. Admit it!" Kagome said, trying to pry the truth out of her mother.

Never in a thousand years did she think she'd ever talk to her parent this way, but she couldn't help it. It seemed that the once perfect glass world she thought she knew had since begun cracking and smashing into small, bite-sized pieces to reveal ugly and worn plastic that had been disguised as something beautiful.

Her ex-posse was fake. Her mother was controlling and no better than the "friends" she left behind. Kagome didn't want to know what else may be deceptive in her life. Nor did she think she could handle finding out anymore truths.

"Kagome, it is not like that. I just don't want to see you throw your life away for a little 'fun'."

"Whoever said I was throwing my life away?" Kagome said loudly, letting out a frustrated sigh afterwards.

"No one did, but keep going down the path you're going, and no one will have to say it," her mother replied, turning and walking out of the room before she had a heart attack from the yelling and anger between her and her daughter.

Kagome slammed her door shut again and, this time, locked it. She slumped against the wood and brought her knees to her chest. She felt as if every single person she knew was against the relationship that she had just started and for no other reason than because Inuyasha wasn't brought up in luxury. She didn't understand why people would hate her and shun her for dating someone who wasn't spic and span perfect. No one was perfect, not even her.

She had to see Inuyasha the next day—she just hoped he wouldn't skip school and that he still wanted to speak to her. 'I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to see me, though…' she quietly thought to herself.

As her thoughts progressed, so did the tears she had once held in. The leftover emotions flowed in the form of small, wet droplets that silently streamed down her cheeks, staining them. Her eyes became irritated and red, and she sniffled softly. Staring blankly ahead. She looked at her floor-length mirror that was across from her. In it, she saw a new self.

Not the stuffy, stick-up-her-ass, old Kagome that went with the crowd. Not the Kagome who decided to turn the other way to avoid conflict and hope the problem would go away on its own. No, what she saw was the Kagome that had a new understanding of people in general and in her life. She knew which ones to beat herself up over and which ones not to. Which ones she wanted around her and which ones she only wanted around her sometimes, others being not at all. It'd be hard, but it'd be better than going on continuing friendships with people who couldn't give a crap less about other people besides themselves if they tried.

She saw the black streams caused by her mascara and eyeliner grow more down her cheeks, and the only thing she could wish for in that moment was to have Inuyasha by her side, holding her. It may have been a relationship that had just gotten started, but somehow, she only wanted him and wanted him close. She felt safe around him, not scared as others told her she should be or should have been. She knew she could talk to him without him judging her for not being pristine and perfect.

But now, he was nowhere in her proximity as he had been driven away by her mother. Kagome closed her eyes and rested her head against her arms, which were draped over the tops of her knees that were still drawn close to her chest.

She felt physically tired, mentally drained, and emotionally spent. Not able to muster up the strength to move, she remained where she was and as she was for a long time. She let time pass by, not knowing or caring how long she had stayed in front of her door.

The young brunette was sure she had fallen asleep while in her current position and decided it was time to move. She stood and stretched, rubbing her tired eyes, which ached from the tears that had lulled her into her sleep. She looked at her clock which read: 7:00PM. It was barely seven, and she was still dead tired.

She didn't want to go downstairs and risk facing her mother for a second time that night, though she wasn't particularly hungry for dinner anyway.

The sleepy teen padded over to her bed and crawled into it. She bundled the fluffed blankets over her pj-clad form and let her eyes close again as she quickly fell back into an uneasy sleep, still holding out hope that Inuyasha wouldn't be too angry about what happened.

And that does it for this chapter. ^_^;;; I know, I'm sorry things can't last very long without someone becoming depressed. But I hope you enjoy the story regardless! Anyway, please let me know what you think ^_^

As always the next update will be up in a week.

NOTE: Quite a Workout will be posted by Wednesday or Thursday so keep an eye out for that! ^_^