Thanks belong to: Starry, nyc-pwyncess, vampyrgrl (haven't you reviewed some of my other stories?), giggleplex, Michikaru (lol...love ya, girl), Mia, Crystal Mizuka, miroku's-my-man (lol! as long as I can have Inuyasha), and Meggie-sama

(Disclaimer: none of this belongs to me. Inuyasha's my pimp, but I can share, I guess. Other than that, the fic idea belongs to me.)

One Week With Inuyasha
Chapter Two: Sunday Morning


She felt warm and safe, dreading to float out of the cushioned embrace of slumber. However, the sun peered through her curtains, showering her face with rays of sunlight. With a small groan, Kagome opened her eyes and gazed up at the ceiling with something akin to reluctance. She turned and swung one foot over her mattress, coming into contact with something soft.

"Ow!"

Kagome blinked groggily. "Huh?"

"Way to go, Kagome!" Inuyasha cried irritably, rubbing his head and glaring at her.

Kagome realized then that Inuyasha's red armor was wrapped around her. A few moments later, she remembered that he had tucked her into bed. Apparently, he had snuck into her room afterwards.

"Why are you in my room, Inuyasha?" she asked.

"Wanted to keep an eye on the Shikon shards," he lied.

"I thought you said you didn't care," she countered suspiciously.

"Changed my mind," he grunted.

Inuyasha...you...moron, Kagome mused.

She decided to let it go. "Ah well. Today's shopping day!"

Shit. That's right. I promised Kagome we would go shopping today, Inuyasha cursed mentally. I promised, so...feh.

"I hope we don't run into any of my friends today. At least, not until you have normal pants and a normal shirt," said Kagome. "Also, you need a bath."

Inuyasha snorted.

"You have to live by modern rules," she explained as she got out of bed. "I'll take a bath first and then you can. I don't know how we'll wash your hair..."

"We?" he repeated. "No. Me. I. One person."

"Whatever, Inuyasha," she replied. "Now get out of my room."

"No," he said obstinately.

Sighing, she grabbed clothes out of her closet and headed into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Mrs. Higurashi came into Kagome's room, carrying some male clothes. "Inuyasha, I heard you're going shopping with Kagome today. Yesterday after dinner, I bought you some clothes, so here." She handed him two shirts, a pair of jeans, and a belt, and a pair of sandals. "I hope they fit. If they don't, you'll get some clothes that fit with Kagome anyway."

"...Thanks," said Inuyasha, somewhat stunned and bewildered. He knew where Kagome got her kindness from at least. The woman left and Inuyasha changed. The jeans fit loosely around his waist so he tied the belt around him. He pulled on the shirt, finding that it clung to his chest like a second skin. A closer glance at the second shirt Mrs. Higurashi had brought showed it was a loose-fitting jacket.

Kagome entered her room and gave a startled yelp at the sight of the hanyou. He jammed his hands into the pockets of the jacket and pouted at her. "What?" he asked defensively.

He's...hot... she thought. God, is it illegal to look that good?

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably under her appraising gaze and slipped on the sandals. "Your mom got it for me."

It was a white shirt with dark blue jeans and a black jacket.

"It looks good," Kagome told him. "It looks great, even."

Kagome herself wore a pale pink dress with white shoes. "You look...don't you ever get tired of wearing dresses all the time?"

Twitching, Kagome refrained from a sitting and took him by the ear to the bathroom. She locked the door behind them and ran the water. "You may want to take that off. Don't want to get it wet," she explained, motioning to his jacket and shirt.

Inuyasha obliged, griping the whole time.

When she got the hot water where she wanted it, she told him to tilt his head back into it. Gently, she washed his hair, careful of his ears. Inuyasha, having a momentary lapse into the world of hormonal malehood, looked down the top of Kagome's dress while she did. Kagome, luckily for him, failed to notice. However, she did notice when he stopped grumbling due to all of the fun he was having spying on her chest.

"What, no more complaints?" she inquired, rinsing his long hair of the suds.

"Are you done yet?" he retorted.

"Just about."

She rinsed his hair one last time and grabbed a towel, drying her arms off and handing it to him. Gracefully, he accepted the proferred towel and gently dried off his hair. "I don't stink, do I?"

Kagome sniffed him. "No."

He nodded. "Good. Then let's hurry and get this shopping day over with."

Still a little drowsy, Kagome led him to her room. She ordered him to sit between her legs as she sat down on her desk chair and pointed to the floor between her feet. The hanyou obliged with little complaining, much to Kagome's shock and relief, and she began to brush his hair.

This passed in silence, much to Kagome's further relief, and he pulled on his shirt and jacket. Shifting uncomfortably, he tugged at the shirt, unused to such clothes. "How do wear these constricting clothes?" he demanded.

"I don't," she replied innocently, smiling. Inuyasha thought dirty thoughts and blushed. Kagome saw this. "Pervert! SIT!"

He tumbled to the floor. "Oi! KAGOME!"

Downstairs, Sota looked up and said, "Inuyasha and Kagome are awake."

Mrs. Higurashi laughed. "Yes they are."

Inuyasha and Kagome came downstairs and went out into the crisp spring morning, storming into the well and trying to jump the wall. Kagome caught the hanyou's hair though.

"Ow!" he shouted. "Let go!"

"No! We just washed your hair!" she barked. Her feet were slipping on the floor as she argued with him. "Just...get...out!"

She tumbled over the edge of the well.

"Kagome!" he cried. He grabbed her out of the air and propelled himself off of one of the edge's before jumping out. "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

She hit him. "You're heavy!"

"I'm not heavy--you're weak!" he snapped.

"I'm not weak!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Kikyo is strong!"

Gasping, Kagome felt like he had punched her physically. "I'm going to go eat breakfast now, you stupid hanyou."

Belatedly, he realized what had just come out of his mouth. Stupid. Why did you bring up Kikyo? With a groan, he climbed into the well, which didn't open. He hadn't expected it to, he found as he once more climbed out and trudged sullenly into the house. He joined Kagome, Sota, Mrs. Higurashi, and Kagome's grandfather at the table, muttered a thank you, and refused to look Kagome in the eyes. If she couldn't handle him comparing her to her former self--which he was in love with, he added mentally--that was her problem.

Then, for no apparent reason, Kagome said:

"Sit."

Swiftly, his face slammed into the table. "You bitch!"

"Sit."

"What the hell was that for?!"

"Sit."

"Damn you!"

"Sit."

"Kagome, please," Mrs. Higurashi said pleadingly. "Stop doing that."

"Okay, Mama," Kagome agreed.

"Inuyasha, please don't curse at the table and please apologize for whatever you did to Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi requested politely.

"Feh. No way," he snorted. "I didn't do anything!"

"Si--" she started but Sota tugged on her sleeve.

"Sis, Mama said not to," Sota reminded her.

Feeling a little peeved, she nodded, spared an irritated glare at Inuyasha, and decided to get her purse from the other room. "Mama?" she called. "Can I borrow some money for Inuyasha?"

"I'm not going!" he informed her.

"Yes you are."

She still wants to go shopping with me even though I won't apologize. She's so strange...

"I know you said what you said to make me want to leave you here instead of going shopping."

Maybe not so strange, then.

"Okay, okay," he gave up. "You can do what you want with me. Take me where you wish." Inuyasha finished his meal, thanked Mrs. Higurashi, and joined Kagome. A few moments later, Mrs. Higurashi came in and handed Kagome a credit card.

"Spend it wisely," she warned.

"Thank you, Mama," she replied. Quickly, she took Inuyasha by the hand and stopped abruptly before the gate. "Wait here!" she told him. Confused, Inuyasha watched her run to the well and reappear a few moments later with a pen, the cap from earlier, and a pair of scissors. It was a trial to get the hat on Inuyasha's head, but when Kagome finally slid it on, she located his ears and drew a space large enough for them to poke through. She snipped it out and sat it back on his head. "There!" grinned she. "Now you don't look abnormal."

"This feels weird," he complained. "But I can hear which is the point, I guess."

Kagome nodded. "You'll get used to it."

"This world is noisy."

"I know, I'm sorry," she told him helplessly.

They arrived at the bus stop and as Kagome took a seat, Inuyasha watched around them, feeling watched himself.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. She patted the seat next to her. "Come here."

"Kagome," he hissed, "someone's watching me!"

"Eh? Where?" she wanted to know, peering around him and the bus stop.

"Over there." He jerked his head and sat down.

Discreetly, Kagome looked "over there." Two of her friends were watching Inuyasha. "Ah...Eri and Yuka..."

"You know them? I'm going to tell them to get lost!" he raged.

"No," Kagome ordered him. Sighing, he grabbed Inuyasha's arm and led him over to Eri and Yuka. "Eri! Yuka!"

"Hi, Kagome..." they trailed off, eyes on the forbidding Inuyasha. Yuka turned back to Kagome.

"Is this the boyfriend you've forsaken Hojo for?"

Before Kagome had the opportunity to answer, Inuyasha did. "Boyfriend? Is Hojo Kagome's boyfriend?"

"Yep," nodded Eri.

Inuyasha whirled to face Kagome. "I didn't know this. Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because...it's...private," she forced out.

"So is this him?" Yuka pressed.

"Out with it, Kagome!" Eri agreed.

"Well--" Kagome tried to say.

Inuyasha landed an arm around Kagome's shoulders and narrowed his eyes at Eri and Yuka. "I'm her boyfriend. Got a problem with it?"

Yuka and Eri gasped. "Kagome!" they cried. Eri pointed an accusing finger at her. "But this is the selfish, violent, obnoxious guy you ditched for Hojo!"

Kagome sweatdropped. "You guys, he's just playing. He's not really my boyfriend."

"Then why did he say it?" Yuka asked suspiciously.

"Beca--" she started again.

"Kagome's so shy about us," Inuyasha cut in again. He grinned, showing his fangs and hugged her around the shoulders. Kagome flushed. "She just didn't want word to get out that she's dating an older guy." He winked at Eri and Yuka. "You won't let this get out, will you?"

Inuyasha, I am sitting you until I'm blue in the face when we go back home, Kagome thought vehemently. "We really aren't going out, you guys!"

Eri and Yuka narrowed their eyes and exchanged glances. Then Yuka asked, "Then why would he say it?"

Irritated, Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder-length bangs and pulled him closer to Yuka and Eri. "Do you trust this face?"

Eri blinked at Inuyasha. "He's...cuuuuuute!"

Yuka peered closer. "He is! Kagome, why didn't you say he was so cute?"

Twitching, Kagome released Inuyasha, who promptly fell to the ground. "OW! Kagome!"

"You think he's cute?" Kagome asked incredulously.

Eri and Yuka nodded vigorously.

"Feh!" scoffed Inuyasha. "I'm not cute."

Peering closer, Eri allowed, "No, you're right. You're all...manly and...handsome."

Blushing, Inuyasha looked away. Kagome fought down a spurt of jealousy, grabbing Inuyasha by the hair, bidding farewell to her friends, and rushing to the bus stop. The bus rolled in a few moments later, the popping doors scaring Inuyasha at first. "Stop being such a scaredy-cat."

"Cat?" Inuyasha repeated. "Feh. I don't think so."

"And stop sucking up to my friends," she told him. "It's bad enough they think you're 'cute,' but now Eri thinks that you're 'manly' and 'handsome.' Really!"

Inuyasha came nose to nose with her. "You don't think I'm cute or manly or handsome?"

It only took a moment before Kagome delivered her verdict in monotone. "No."

Inuyasha twitched. "Feh! I don't care what you think anyway. You think I'm arrogant, selfish, petty, greedy, delusional, uncaring, bloody-thirsty, ignorant, and a moron, right?"

Kagome blinked. "I thought you didn't care what I thought of you."

Shrugging, he looked out the window. "I don't," he muttered. Inuyasha, what's up with you? Why are you acting so weird around Kagome? She's Kagome for the love of all things youkai! She's your Shikon shard locator and your friend. So what if she has a boyfriend? And don't you spend most of your time trying to convince people that you two aren't in love?! If that's so, then why did you painstakingly convince her friends that you two are? He rubbed his forehead. Shut up, Brain, his heart mumbled. I can care less what you think! I did it 'cause I wanted to!

Meanwhile, Kagome had tried to reason out why Inuyasha had done such a thing. She had started by trying to use a form that would prove her wrong that Inuyasha had done it because he loved her. Okay. Let's suppose that Inuyasha did love me. Then Inuyasha would be nice to me because people who are in love are nice to each other. But, this contradicts the fact that Inuyasha is rude and ignorant and crude and perverted and just generally isn't nice to me. So he didn't do it because he loved me. So...let's say he did it because he wanted to embarass me. Then he would have acted the way he did. Also if he had wanted to be mean...bah! I don't care!

A couple seats up, a man that looked about a couple years older than Kagome had taken to staring at her with open want. Inuyasha saw this and wrapped a protective arm around her waist, making her blush. "I-Inuyasha..."

"Oi!" he called to the man ahead. "If you like her so much, take a picture! It'll last longer!"

The man scoffed. "This freak your boyfriend?"

Kagome stiffened and looked up at Inuyasha before answering, "Yes."

"He's got silver hair and wears a hat with dog ears. You sure you want to date this loser?" the man pressed.

Inuyasha tried to climb over the bus seats but Kagome held him back. "Of course I want to date this loser. He's my boyfriend, duh."

"You sure? I can show you some real good times...just give me your phone number and--"

"You bastard! You heard her, leave her alone!" Inuyasha erupted, golden eyes like molten lava.

"Oh-ho-ho," the man chuckled. "Getting jealous?"

"Not jealous, just pissed off that you're trying to use moronic tactics to make her date you!" Inuyasha tried to climb over Kagome's lap but she held him back.

"This guy needs some anger management," the man muttered. He looked at Kagome. "Last chance to ditch him."

"No thanks," Kagome said congenially. "I'll keep him, anger and all. He'd never hurt me, right?"

"Of course not," he snarled, eyes on the irritating man.

"So you see, there's really nothing you can do to make me date you, considering I don't even know you." She yawned and waved to him. "Bye!"

The man turned around, grumbling, while Inuyasha smirked. "Not bad, Kagome."

"Really, Inuyasha! Why did you convince my friends that we're dating?" Kagome asked suddenly.

"...Hojo won't bother you anymore," shrugged he.

"But I like it when Hojo bothers me, moron!"

"Oh. Oh well."

"'Oh well'? 'Oh well'?! 'Oh well' doesn't fix how you convinced my friends that I'm two-timing Hojo! Which I'm really not!"

"You have bigger things to worry about anyway. Bigger fish in the sea."

"Like what?"

Inuyasha fingered the chain around her neck. "These."

"My life can't revolve around these, Inuyasha," she told him softly. "I have a normal life. I almost have a boyfriend and I'm happy, all right? I love Shippou, Sango, Miroku, and Myouga like family and I love to go there with you guys but..."

"You broke it, Kagome. You fix it. You'd die without me."

"I probably would," she agreed. "But you have to understand, Inuyasha. You and the others are only half of my life. I like my modern half too."

The bus stopped at its next stop, putting Inyuasha into an unusually pensive reverie. Then he spoke, "Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

"Eh? What kind of question is that?"

"Well...you said you love Shippou, Sango, Miroku, and the old geezer Myouga...but you didn't say a thing about me."

"Oh."

Kagome paused for a moment, thinking the question over. Well, maybe I love him, but as a friend or a brother...

"Inuyasha, you may be rude, insensitive, and obnoxious, but you're one of my best friends. So yes, I do love you."

"So I'm not good enough to be family?"

"Best friends are closer than family."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Shut up, Inuyasha."

"What?" he whined. "I was just wondering..."

"Wonder about other things."

"Like what?"

"Whatever. How to open the well. Or something."

"But we decided it wouldn't open, didn't we?"

"Do the others know you're here?"

"They better damn well know since I've been gone for a day!"

"Okay, okay. So wonder if they know."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and looked back out the window. "There's so many...four-wheeled moving things out there."

"Cars," Kagome told him. "They're called 'cars.'"

"There's a lot," he commented. "A lot of 'cars.'"

"Yep. That's all the noise you hear."

"Oh."

"And people."

***


Sango paced in front of the well worriedly. Shippou and Miroku had gone to get Kaede, but already too much time had passed. Well, maybe she was just impatient, she allowed as she perched on the edge of the well with Kirara. "Kirara, get me a rock, please," she requested, having gotten an idea.

Kirara made an obliging noise and grabbed a rock from nearby, dropping it next to Sango.

"Thank you, Kirara," smiled Sango. Carefully, she dropped the rock into the well and ducked as it spit the rock back up.

"Ow!"

Sango looked over her shoulder and saw Miroku rubbing his head. He pouted and asked her, "What was that for?"

"It was the well," Sango explained. "I dropped a rock down to see if it would let it land on the bottom."

Shippou hopped up onto the edge. "Kaede! It's here. The seals are right here."

Slowly, Kaede ambled over to the well, peering down at the seals with her one good eye. "Hmmm. Miroku, have you tried to do anything?"

"I tried to pull them into my air void but they're stuck."

"Have you tried any spells?"

"Last night. I failed."

"And the seals repelled Shippou and that rock just now. Kagome and Inuyasha can't pass through either. What a predicament..."

"Can you do anything, Kaede?" Sango asked anxiously.

"I can try. Please stand back."

Kirara, Sango, and Shippou moved away from the well while Miroku stood next to Kaede. They spoke for a brief moment then both nodded and began to utter a spell. A blue light bubbled up from the bottom of the well, it's dome-shaped head threatening to burst. Already Kaede had begun to sweat and sway, but Miroku, without breaking his concentration, offered his arm for her to lean on. The blue light grew larger and finally burst, causing a small explosion that blew off the top pieces of wood from the well. It knocked Kaede and Miroku backwards, causing Shippou to try and catch Kaede while Sango dove for Miroku.

"Owww..." Shippou groaned from underneath the priestess.

"Miroku?" Sango asked, shaking him. "Miroku, are you--" she stopped. Miroku's hand had wandered. "Pervert!" she smacked him on the head.

He grinned obnoxiously. "Hello, Sango. How nice of you to catch me."

"You...!"

Shippou sighed heavily. "Kaede, are you okay?"

"Yes," Kaede answered. "Miroku, Sango, quit fooling around. We have a serious situation here. Do any of you know where the mononoke went?"

All three shook their heads simultaneously.

Kaede sweatdropped. "Okay, then. We need to find the mononoke."

"We can't without Kagome," Shippou piped up. "None of us can sense Shikon shards..."

"...I suggest you get started then."

All three face-faulted.

***


"Kikyo..." Inuyasha murmured. He tucked her hair behind her ear, allowing his fingers to rest on her face a little longer than necessary. She smiled softly at him. "Are you sure you want this?"

Kikyo nodded confidently. "I'm sure." For a moment she paused, then let his name roll off of her tongue like sweet honey. "Inuyasha..."

He allowed his lips to capture hers for a few moments before he pulled away and smiled down at her.

"Inuyasha..."

"Kikyo..."

"Inuyasha..."

He kissed her again and found her lips cold. Surprised, he pulled away and stumbled a step backwards.

"Inuyasha? What's wrong?" Kikyo asked.

"Inuyasha?"

He whirled and saw Kagome. "Kagome?"

"Inuyasha, you love me, don't you? Why did you stop kissing me?" Kikyo pressed insistently.

"I--" he started.

"Inuyasha! Come to your senses! She's the enemy! She gave Naraku our Shikon shards!" Kagome cried.

"But she--" he tried to say again.

"Inuyasha, don't listen to her. Or does that girl mean more to you than me?" Kikyo demanded.

"I--"

"Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha!"

"You--I--"

"Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha! You are mine!"

He clamped his hands over his ears. He couldn't decipher which voice was Kagome and which voice belonged to Kikyo. They both wanted him to protect them, but Kikyo wanted to kill him. His concious mind knew this. Heedless of his hands on his ears, he could still hear them, yelling his name. Finally, one of them kneeled behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling his hands away gently with the other.

"Inuyasha?" she asked softly.

He woke up.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome repeated. "We're almost to the shopping center."

"Kagome?" he sounded bewildered.

"It's me," she confirmed. "Are you okay? You look kind of pale..."

He nodded. "I'm fine." He sniffed. "I smell food...and way too many people."

Kagome reached across him and pointed out the window. "There's the shopping center."

"I smell ramen."

Kagome laughed, the sound spilling over him like a thousand beautiful bells. He realized then that Kagome had a sweeter laugh than Kikyo, with no hint of despair or darkness, just purity and happiness. When she took his hand, it startled him out of his reverie and he realized that she wanted him to get up. He obliged and followed her off of the bus and into the incredibly noisy shopping center.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. He nodded rapidly. "Okay. Let's get something to eat then."

Kagome led him to the ramen stand nearby and ordered two bowls of ramen, a rice cake, and Oolong tea. They received the orders in moments and found sanctuary at a table under an umbrella.

Willingly, Kagome forfeited her bowl of ramen to the hungry hanyou and nibbled at the rice cake in exchange. "I think we'll go to the popular store first," she mused. "The place where the boys at my school shop anyway." Yawning, she finished her Oolong tea and looked to him. He had noodles dangling from his mouth. "Is that okay?"

"Whatever," he grumbled and slurped up the rest of the noodles. "All right, let's get going then."

Kagome just nodded and threw away the trash. "Ready?"

"As I'll get," he grumbled. "I want Tetsusaiga..."

"Sorry," she apologized. Lazily, Kagome and Inuyasha strolled down the sidewalk. Suddenly, Inuyasha stopped and looked at a display in one of the windows, awed. Kagome failed to notice and continued onward, talking to him though he wasn't there. "And so I wanted to know your opinion on what I should wear on Saturday with Hojo," she finished. She waited for a moment and heard no reply. "Inuyasha?" she looked around. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha?!"

"Kagome!" he called from down the sidewalk.

She rushed towards his waving arm. "Inuyasha! Over here!"

He met her halfway. "Oi, what the hell's a matter with you, Kagome?"

"Me? You wandered off!" she snapped.

Snorting, he replied, "Feh! Whatever."

Rolling her eyes, Kagome started off again. Inuyasha, irritated, grabbed the back of her dress, only to receive a slap. "Ow!" he cried, rubbing his face. "What the hell, Kagome?!"

"You grabbed my dress, moron!"

"Only so you wouldn't get lost again! You're worse than a kid!"

"Argh! Inuyasha!" Kagome halted and faced the hanyou. "Normal people do this." Carefully, she took his hand in hers. "Now, that's better. You looked like a two-year-old holding onto my dress like that, not to mention it was perverted."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes but held her hand anyway. A few moments later, the arrived at the door to the clothing store and moseyed in. "Ah...what a cute skirt!" Kagome commented as they passed the juniors section.

"Kagome..." he whined. "Let's just get the stuff and go..."

"All right, all right," she conceded. However, she made a mental note to nab the skirt while she sent him to the mens' dressing room later. "Do you like what you have on?"

"I don't care. I want my other outfit back," he grumbled. "And Tetsusaiga. I want Tetsusaiga."

"You can't carry weapons in public," Kagome sighed. "How about those?" she asked, pointing to a rack of black jeans.

"Whatever."

"Inuyasha, at least make an effort to cooperate!" Kagome pouted.

"Why?" he whined some more. "You can't s-word me here."

A smile that scared Inuyasha senseless spread across the miko's face. She took him over to the jeans and picked one off of the rack. "Do you think you can sit in these?"

Inuyasha tumbled down before her feet. "Ow! Kagome!"

"What? It's not my fault you're clumsy," she replied innocently. A girl nearby giggled.

"He's trying to make you stop shopping, isn't he? My ex-boyfriend used to do the same thing," she commented to Kagome.

"Yeah...he hates shopping," Kagome agreed awkwardly. Seething, Inuyasha got to his feet and contemplated smacking Kagome over the head. "What size pants do you have on right now?" she asked of her hanyou companion as soon as the intruding stranger left.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Um...ah! I'll call Mama and ask her what size she got you."

"This paper thing is bothering me..." he grumbled, trying to rip the tag off of the jeans he wore.

Sweatdropping, Kagome pulled the tag off and read the size. "Are these comfortable?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know."

"How can you not know if something is comfortable or not?" Kagome questioned him.

"I just don't," he pouted.

Exasperatedly, Kagome pulled two pairs of jeans from the rack, one in the size he wore and one in a smaller size. "Go try these on."

"...okay," he answered and began to unbuckle his belt.

Instantly, Kagome turned bright red. "Not here!" she hissed. "Over in the dressing room!" she pointed and took him over there. "Two," she told the man at the counter. He handed her a tag to hang on the outside of Inuyasha's door, and Kagome pointed to an empty dressing room. "Go try it on."

"You're pushy," he informed her and huffed off into the room, carefully hanging the tag on the door and shutting it.

Sighing, Kagome hurried over to the juniors section and grabbed the skirt. She came back to the mens' section and began riffling through the shirts.

"Higurashi!"

She looked up. "Eh?"

Hojo appeared beside her. "Hey, Higurashi. Funny running into you here."

Smiling, Kagome nodded. "Yeah."

"Who are you shopping for?" he asked.

"My friend from out of town," Kagome explained. "He lost all of his clothes on the bus and they didn't have a tag or identification on them. All he had was his costume."

"Costume?" Hojo questioned.

"Yeah, he's an actor," nodded Kagome.

"Wow," Hojo breathed. "How long have you known him?"

"A while," she replied evasively.

Curiously, Hojo tilted his head to the side. She looks kinda of...flushed. "Are you feeling well? You did just get over the bubonic plague..."

"I'm fine!" Kagome insisted.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called from the dressing room.

"That's him," she told Hojo. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, all right?"

Hojo smiled. "All right. Stay well, Higurashi!" They must know each other very well, Kagome and this Inuyasogiri or Inuyasha or whatever. I may have competition...they don't even use familiar suffixes, they just call each other by their proper names.

"Thanks!" she took off to the dressing room, pausing outside of Inuyasha's as Hojo walked off. "What it is, Inuyasha?"

"These pants are too tight," he complained.

"Which ones?" she asked.

"The black ones."

"They're both black."

"The tight black ones."

"Which pair is it?"

"The ones I have on."

"What size are they?"

"I don't know, but it's too small."

Twitching, she told him, "Then take them off, look at the tag, and tell me what size they are."

Instead, he tossed them over the the dressing room door, where they landed on Kagome's head. "Get me bigger pants."

"Inuyasha..." Kagome said, voice dangerously low. "Just sit down."

Inuyasha tumbled to the ground as Kagome took the pants off of her head and read the tag. "Bitch!" he told her.

"Don't blame me for your clumsiness." She determined that the pants were the bigger of the two and walked out to the rack, getting the next size up. "Give me the hanger, Inuyasha."

"Hanger?" he repeated.

"Yes. What the pants were hanging on before you tried them on," she explained.

"Oh." He threw it over the door and it smacked Kagome on the head. "Pants."

"Owww..." she muttered and tossed the pants over the dressing room door. Quickly, she hung the pants back up and went back to browsing the shirts. She selected a few shirts--one black one, another white one, a grey one, and a couple of red ones. Then she headed over to the blue jeans and looked through those, finding a misplaced pair of sparkly red pants in Inuyasha's size. Giggling, she put them over her arm between the red shirts.

"Kagome!" he called again from the dressing rooms.

Sighing, she walked back over. "Yes, Inuyasha?"

"These pants are too small!" he complained.

"Let me see," she said suspiciously.

He shuffled out of the dressing room, the pants nearly falling off of his waist.

"Inuyasha...those pants are too big."

"No. They're too small. The legs aren't big enough."

"Oh." Kagome shoved him back in the dressing room. "Stay right there. I'll go get you some pants with bigger legs." Quickly, she dashed off and got him some cargo pants in the smaller of the two original sizes she had gotten him. "Try these."

He did. "Oh. These are okay."

Grinning, Kagome nodded. "Good. Let me see."

He walked out and showed her.

I liked the tighter pants... Kagome thought distractedly. Erg... "Okay. Let's get you some more."

Sighing, he walked back into the dressing room and changed then joined Kagome. She hung up the black pants again as Inuyasha handed the tag back to the man at the counter for the dressing rooms. They selected a few more pairs of cargo pants in different colors and took all of the clothes up to the cashier.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Kagome asked him.

"Feh! Are you kidding me, woman? It was horrible," he growled.

"...Same old Inuyasha," she sighed quietly.