Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe or any of the popular name brand apps, products, services, etc. The rest is mine.

Chapter 7

"Hey kid," Inuyasha grinned, grabbing Souta around the shoulders and mussing up his hair.

"Aw hell, do you have to do that," Souta groaned, struggling to get free and causing Inuyasha to let out a deep, full-bodied laugh.

"A'course I do," he grinned cheekily, and Souta sighed, figuring there was no point in fighting the much older and stronger man. When Inuyasha let him go, he watched the young man run his fingers through his black locks, trying to fix his hair at least a little.

"You smell like shit," Souta griped, and Inuyasha smacked lightly upside the head.

"Watch your language - you're too young ta start saying that shit."

"Yeah? And what about you?"

"I'm older, wiser, and my Ma ain't in the house over there," he smirked, tilting his head to the side.

"Rub it in," Souta grumbled, leading Inuyasha over to their truck, and he chuckled again as he hopped into the passenger side, letting Souta drive. The truck rumbled to life and Souta rolled down the windows, cranking up the country music in the car so it blared out the windows.

"Not too loud," Inuyasha chided, folding his ears flat as he turned the radio down a little, and Souta grinned sheepishly at him as he put the car in drive.

"Sorry," he apologized as they headed down the Higurashis' long and winding driveway towards the main road.

"It's fine Squirt," Inuyasha smirked, and Souta shot him a withering look.

"When are you gonna stop calling me that?"

"When you're taller."

"That's what you always say."

"That's 'cause I'll do it when you're taller."

"When is that exactly? What's tall enough for you? Kagome already thinks I'm almost as tall as you now."

Inuyasha's smile faded a little as he thought about what Souta had said. He had always been a small, little kid. The baby…but…he really wasn't a baby anymore, was he?

Souta didn't climb up trees and get too scared to come back down from them, needing him to come and get him. He didn't race over to him to show him the lastest trading card he got at school or the newest hot wheel he had received for a good grade.

He was eighteen now. A man by most standards…and he was almost as tall as he was now.

When the hell had that happened? When the hell had Souta grown up?

He shook his head and sighed before admitting, "yeah…I guess you are now, huh? You aren't a kid anymore are ya?"

"Getting sappy?" Souta teased.

"Nah. Just…feelin' old."

"Well…"

"Hey!"

"You started it!" Souta defended, and Inuyasha barked out a laugh, his eyes twinkling.

"Yeah…I did…Hey…listen kid," he began, figuring now was as good a time as any to bring up tomorrow. "Kagome told me that you want me ta come ta graduation tomorrow?"

Souta glanced nervously at him, suddenly apprehensive.

"I would," he confirmed warily, "Is…that ok? Since Kagome is coming too?"

"Yeah," he breathed out in a loud puff. "Kagome and I talked about it a little. We both love you, and want to be there for your big day. We're adults now…we can put the past behind us. So if you want me too—"

"—Of course I want you to!" Souta immediately interrupted. "I was just too nervous to ask you about it. I thought…"

"Yeah. I know. But you thought wrong."

"Do you wanna come with us? We were gonna go down in Kagome's rental."

Inuyasha whistled long and low at that.

"Might need to. Kagome doesn't know how to drive that thing!"

"You shouldn't do that without a spotter," Inuyasha chided as Kikyo stood on the balls of her feet on the top rung of the ladder, trying to hang a banner.

After Souta had dropped Inuyasha off at his family's ranch, he had worked there for a few more hours helping with the livestock before showering and taking the sedan into town. Once there, he only had a few minutes to spare to drop it off at Dave's Auto Service before he needed to be at the high school auditorium to help set up for graduation.

Kikyo had taken the lead this year for preparations, and when they had spoken about it in passing, she had casually mentioned that they were down a few hands. One teacher, Jackson Humphrey, was out with a horrible stomach bug, and Erica Welch was out on maternity leave.

The extra set of hands was greatly appreciated, and his strength and speed would easily make up for the missing help.

"Probably not," she agreed, "but I didn't want to bother anyone."

"Please. Bother," he chuckled, coming to take hold of the ladder as she continued to struggle to mount the banner. "I wouldn't want you ta fall and break your neck."

"And if I did? Would you come visit me in the hospital?"

"I dunno…it's a hell of a drive. If you wanted to get me alone, there are much easier ways of going about it," he flirted, and her airy giggle filled the auditorium.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like buying me a drink at the Rusty Bucket tonight," he grinned back.

"Mmm…that does sound easier," she grinned back, her red lips perfectly framing her white teeth.

He couldn't help but notice how lovely she looked today. Her stick straight, waist length, black hair had been tied up to keep her it from falling into her eyes as she worked. She wore a white t-shirt and a red pair of shorts with a girly bow in the front. He didn't know how, but they showed off her shapely legs in a way he had been ashamed to say he had paused to admire a few too many times today. She was cute, and easy going, and he could tell that she was ready for a break from teaching for a few months.

Inuyasha smiled as she finally attached the banner to the wall and let out a small sound of victory before climbing down a few rungs to get the other corner.

If he were being honest with himself, Kikyo had always been lovely…going back as far as middle school. She had never really dated around however, which is why it was such a surprise when she had asked him if he would like to get coffee a few weeks back, after church.

Honestly, he thought she didn't think that much of him one way or another. She might have been a little flirty back in the day but he was so taken by Kagome that he didn't really notice. He did vaguely remember a time when he thought she had tried to kiss him when they were working on a group project for science…but she had just rolled her eyes and told him that she was getting an eyelash off of his face. He had been embarrassed and had stammered out some sort of apology and that had been the extent of her "interest" in him.

It was cute, really, when she asked him out all these years later. Her cheeks had turned bright red as she pulled him off to the side and asked him if he had any plans after, or if he was going to go back to the ranch. He said he didn't and he'd love to go for coffee. That had been their first "date", their second being a lunch at Ottwell's, which was when she had mentioned needing help.

Though it wasn't really labeled as such…tonight could be seen as their third date.

He was a little nervous and excited for it. He still felt awkward on dates when he thought of them as such. He had spent his youth with Kagome, so dating had been a challenge after they had broken up.

Sure he had…and he had been to the rodeo before at this point…ridden a filly, if you will…but it hadn't been easy and he'd been damn insecure about the whole thing. He hadn't known where to place limbs and heads had smacked into each other as he fumbled, trying to figure out what to do…that first time had been an…experience, to say the least.

It had also been a challenge feeling like he could finally date again without having this twisted voice in the back of his head whispering that he was betraying Kagome.

She had fucking left him damnit! He deserved to move on, and he sure as hell wasn't betraying anyone. If anything, Kagome should feel like she was betraying him!

That was the problem with being a dog demon though.

The unshakable sense of loyalty that was ingrained into him on an instinctual level.

"Two down…two to go," Kikyo cheered as she began climbing down. When her waist was eye level, he wrapped his arms around her, plucking her from the ladder and swinging her around.

She squealed in delight, holding onto his arms as her head tilted back. "Inuyasha!" she weakly protested, his name leaving her lips in a bubble of laughter. "Inuyasha, what do you think you're doing?"

He dropped her after a second and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her back against his chest.

"Nothing," he rumbled, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. "Just making sure ya don't hurt yourself."

"I don't think I'm at risk for that," she giggled, "I do think you're at risk for something, though."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Being kissed," she smiled, turning around in his arms. She nervously bit her lip before hesitantly tilting her head up and standing on the tips of her toes. He leaned his head closer, his heart nervously racing as she placed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips.

Their first kiss.

It was tentative and sweet and exploratory, and he was pretty sure he had her cherry red lipstick smeared on his lips, but he didn't care.

When she pulled slightly away from him, he rest his forehead to hers, a smile spreading across his face.

He moved away from her after a moment and she nervously bit her lip, looking up at him through her lashes as her cheeks heated.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," she admitted nervously.

"I probably don't," he agreed. "Why don't you tell me?"

Her cheeks only somehow got redder before she whispered, "since middle school."

He felt like he had just been sucker punched in the gut.

"W-wai-what?" He stuttered, blinking hard.

"You really didn't know," she asked, blushing even harder. "Inuyasha, I've had a crush on you for years…"

It felt like his brain stopped functioning. How had he never known? How had never suspected?

Wait a second…

"You did try to kiss me in middle school!" He blurted out, the wheels in his head suddenly turning a mile a minute as he began to connect the dots of his past.

She nodded her head, averting her eyes to the side.

"Yeah. You and Kagome were fighting at the time. She wanted to go to the dance and you didn't, and you were complaining about it…"

"So I wasn't crazy!"

"No," she replied, looking away. "It…it wasn't my proudest moment. I never should have…but I just liked you so much but you didn't see me and…"

"Hey…it's ok," he reassured her as she began to spiral. "It's all in the past now. Kagome and I haven't been together for years. Don't worry about it," he soothed, and she nodded her head. It should bother him. He knew it should…and maybe it did bother a small piece of him…but this was in the past. They were no more than fourteen, and kids did stupid shit all the time.

He wasn't about to let the impulsive mistakes of a a girl who couldn't even drive yet affect his view of the woman who stood before him now.

"Listen…why don't you let me get this banner up, and then why don't we get outta here? Sound good?"

"Yeah."

Inuyasha pushed his empty plate to the side, taking a sip of his beer as he waited for Kikyo to return from the bathroom. Their date had been going pretty well so far. The conversation had been flowing smoothly, and Kikyo was very interested in hearing about his life and learning more about him…and he felt the same way about her.

It had been years since he had seen her regularly, outside of church, of course, and it was kinda nice. Like catching up with a friend, almost.

But he knew that the point of a date wasn't to catch up. It was to see if you were compatible and if you wanted to explore a relationship with the other person.

So far, he had to admit that he wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

Kikyo was smart, loved children, and was sweet and understanding…not to mention very attractive.

He was curious to see where this would lead.

Kikyo slid back into their booth across from him, greeting him with sparkling eyes and a cherry red smile.

"So I was thinking," she began, drumming her fingertips excitedly on the table top. "We should play a drinking game."

Inuyasha arched an eyebrow, crossing his arms on the table top as he leaned forward, intrigued.

"Yeah?"

"Why not? It will be fun! Come on Yash!"

His spine stiffened at the name and his expression must have betrayed his feelings.

"I…Oh…Inuyasha, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it…" she apologized, looking down at her hands.

"It's fine," he internally grimaced. "Yeah. Sure. Let's play a game. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, this is a date," she began, pausing nervously to see if he would refute her assumption. When he didn't, she continued. "So…I was thinking we could play that drinking game in Game of Thrones. You know. Tyrion's game."

"Remind me of the rules," he grinned, placing his hands palm up on the table.

"I make a statement I think is true about you. If I'm right, you drink and I get to make another statement. If I'm wrong, I drink and you have to ask me a question," she explained, placing her hands into his.

"Sounds dangerous," he purred, his thumbs rubbing her knuckles. "Who asks first?"

"Is that a yes then?"

"Absolutely," he smirked, and she beamed back at him.

"Alright…how about I start us off? Your favorite color is red."

"That's an easy one," he grinned as he let go of her hand, taking a sip of his beer.

"I had to start off easy," she teased. "I need to get you drunk enough before I can start asking the fun questions."

"You have fun questions in mind?"

"Of course I do," she smirked back. "Alright…let's see…You prefer beer over wine."

He took another sip.

"That doesn't mean I won't drink wine though," he clarified.

"How about you like whisky more than bourbon?"

He drank again.

"Are all of your questions going to be about drinking?"

"I told you - I have to work up to the fun ones," she giggled. "Alright…let's see here…" she thought aloud, tilting her head to the side. "You've never done recreational drugs."

He drank again. And again. And again until he was done with his beer. Kikyo either knew him a lot better than he thought she had, or he was just really easy to read.

"Let me get you another one," she laughed, sliding out of the booth and going up to the bar.

As soon as she left, the door opened and a small group of women walked in briefly gaining his attention. He could easily see them from his vantage point, but his nose told him he should pay a bit more attention to them than he was originally going to.

They were all Kagome's friends…and in the middle of the small group, stood Kagome herself.

His heart started racing and his palms became sweaty. Why the hell was she here? She knew he was going out with Kikyo tonight. Did she have to come here with her friends now? He gripped the table harder, as they made their way to a booth a few over from theirs, and he noticed she smelled nervous even if she didn't look it.

Did she not want to be here?

Did they drag her along?

That…he wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

"I'm back," Kikyo grinned, sitting down across from him. "Now…where were we…Oh right! You picked me those beautiful flowers earlier from your ranch," she said, slowly drawing him back to the here and now, and he drank again.

"Let's see…" she pondered aloud before her cheeks flushed. "Kagome was your first kiss."

"Everyone knew that," he groaned, drinking again.

"Ok…I'll try and make it a bit more challenging now then," she grinned mischievously. "You never had sex with her…but you wanted to."

His eyes widened, his mouth opening in shock. He hesitated, not sure he wanted her to know before he internally swore and drank again.

"I knew it!" she laughed, clapping her hands in delight. "Ok…how about this…You like to be the dominant one in the bedroom?"

"Were these the fun questions you were talking about earlier," he grumbled, taking another sip as his cheeks flushed.

"Oh I'm just getting started!" she cackled. "You haven't had sex in over three months."

God damnit…he didn't want to admit that either!

He drank again, movement out of the corner of his eye catching his attention…and his wandering eyes caught Kikyo's. Kagome had stood up from the booth with her friends and had gone up to the bar, placing an order for who only knows what.

Probably some foo foo drink from California.

He probably drank more than he should have that time, and slammed his glass down a little harder than intended. The noise made Kikyo jump and Kagome turned around, her eyes widening when she saw them before lowering in shame as she turned back to the bar.

He turned his attention back to Kikyo, and saw her looking nervously at him before she tried to hide her feelings.

"Maybe we should stop playing," she whispered, looking down at her hands. "It's getting kinda late, right? And graduation is tomorrow—"

" —Ask me another one."

"Inuyasha…" she sighed. "You aren't over her, are you?"

"Drink." he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What?" she replied, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"I said drink," he repeated. "Those are the rules. You made a false statement about me, so now you gotta drink."

"You're sweet, but we don't have to do this," she whispered, worrying the thin, gold bangle on her wrist, twisting it around and rubbing her fingers over the metal.

He clicked his tongue and stood up from his spot, sliding into the booth next to her.

"Inuyasha…what are you—"

He didn't let her finish, as he cupped her face and turned it towards him, leaning down to kiss her deeply, passionately. His teeth gently nipped kikyo's bottom lip, and he felt her arms wrap around his neck pulling him closer. A growl rumbled out from his chest, pleased with her response and his tongue prodded her lips, asking her for entrance.

Kikyo needed to be convinced he was over Kagome, right? That he didn't want her anymore. That he didn't still think about her. That he didn't still want her. Dream of her. Wonder how Kagome was doing in her new perfect life without him.

That he had moved on.

Was moving on.

Kagome was his past and he needed to focus on the future.

He had to.

He had to focus on a future without Kagome…because she didn't need him. And he didn't need her.

Not anymore.

Not in a long time.

He tried to pour all of those feelings into their kiss, and rejoiced when Kikyo parted her lips, granting him the permission he sought. He let out a low moan as their tongues touched, hers slipping into his mouth to explore his sharp fangs. He pulled her closer, sliding his fingers into her hair at the nape of her neck as their kiss continued for a few more minutes, electrifying him to the point where he needed to push away before he gave Kikyo (and everyone else in the bar for that matter) a show he wasn't prepared for.

He leaned his head to hers, panting, pleased that she was doing this same.

"I said drink."

A/N: To those of you who nominated this piece for best AU AND Best Angst…THANK YOU! I love and appreciate you!