It had been hours. They hadn't done anything in all that time that they'd been in the camp, and Inu-Yasha was barely holding himself back from barking out a complaint every ten minutes at Kagome.

When they'd walked back earlier, and she'd said…

What are we doing? I thought…something…feh!

He shook his thoughts out of his head before they could go in the direction that he was positive that they were going. That was NOT a productive way to think. He looked over at Kagome, who was staring at a large black volume, which read in kanji ' Enu-gulishu'. He snorted.

Whatever that Enu-gulishu is, I hope she finishes it. I don't know what the heck we're doing here ANYWAY.

His eyes were pulled to her hair. The way it fell off her head, surrounding her face with the softness that he ached to reach out and just stroke his hands through…

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Kagome stared at her English book in concentration. She had no idea what to say.

I said to leave us alone…I said that we were going to have a talk. And now, I'm silent. What do I say? How do I tell him 'Inu-Yasha, I think that I have feelings for you'?

She frowned at the book, as if it in and of itself was the one causing her mental incapacity. Silently she let her eyes drift towards Inu-Yasha's face and had to hold back a smile. She'd caught him looking at her hair before, but this was one of the cutest 'puppy' faces she'd ever seen. He was staring, out and out, at her hair. His eyes were begging to touch it and she could see his hands twitching in his lap.

Heaven only knows that he wouldn't let me see him this way on purpose. If he knew that I've seen the way he aches to touch my hair, or the fascination he secretly has with my shoes…

She put the book down and turned to face him.

" Inu-Yasha…" she started, hesitantly, then firming her features and continuing. " Inu-Yasha, we've got to talk!"

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He jumped, a bit startled. She'd certainly changed HER tone fast. Studying that all-important stuff that she was always complaining about, to practically accusing him with her tone of being the reason they weren't talking! He barely was able to hold back the 'So what's been stopping you stupid?' retort that came out of his mouth.

Watching her face contort as she obviously looked for words, he was happy that he'd held back the ones in his head. Even though he'd rather eat hot coals then admit it to anyone, he really didn't want to fight with Kagome. It was just…how else could he express himself to her?

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Now that she'd firmly entrenched herself in the conversation, and that she had no idea how to continue from there, she searched frantically for words. How, what, when should she say? Her feelings, the fighting, the jewel? There were so many issues to face. She decided to start out with the fighting.

Cause heaven knows we should take the one thing he truly enjoys out of his reach.

" Inu-Yasha…why?"

He blinked at her, almost too cute with his confused expression.

" Why…do you like yelling at me? Do you enjoy fighting with me about our quest?" She stared at him. These first answers could very well determine the rest of the conversation. His eyes blinked again, far more slowly. She could see him thinking, contemplating, seemingly taking forever before he opened his mouth, answering slowly,

" No…I, um, I don't. I enjoy talking to you though."

She almost laughed.

" So," she said, with a little bit of a smile, " you like to talk to me. Why do you yell at me then?"

Inu-Yasha was alert. This conversation would change things, he knew. Things were going to come out here that would cause something to change for the rest of their journey together.

" What are you getting at?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her. " Where are you going with all this?"

It was her turn to blink.

Uh-oh, he's heading straight for the core…deflect, or just out and out?

" Why don't you ever smile at me Inu-Yasha?"

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Hey, more tomorrow, I'm busy organizing a war against another author/rival of mine, Cher, the almighty dork. Check out her stories and compare them to my greatness, you will see that there is truly no REAL threat to my brilliance. :D. Eh, have a good night everybody!