[Author's Note] Hey! Thanks so much for reviewing this story! Sorry I'm a little late in updating, I am on Spring Break and went home to visit.. I saved my story on a disk, but when I tried to find it, I couldn't! Well, as luck would have it, I opened it one more time, and saw the file. So here you go for chapter three! Enjoy!
oh.. um, I had one of Kagome's friends named as "erika," but I just watched a fansub, and she calls her Erri.. so I've changed this chapter accordingly. If that's wrong, um, please let me know.. Thanks!

*** = "later"

***** = scene change

Chapter 3: Hojou and the Hanyou-canine

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…at Kagome's house…

"Mom!" Kagome yelled down the stairs. "Have you seen my necklace?" Kagome had just received a phone call from Yuka, inviting her to the mall to chill with herself, Erri, and Ayumi.

"Which one, dear?"

"The…. Beaded one…" Kagome realized how stupid that sounded, and gave up trying to find it altogether. "Whatever," she said to herself. She quickly called down the stairs to her mom. "Nevermind!"

A spray of some body splash, and she was downstairs and out the door.

"Later!" she said over her shoulder, closing the door before anyone could respond.

"That's my Kagome," her mother said, and returned to fixing up the house.

*****

At the mall, Kagome just couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something. Like she was forgetting to do something.

"Are you okay, Kagome?" Erri asked.

"Huh? Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with me today. I feel kinda… funny." Her friends shrugged it off, and they continued down the walkway, stopping at occasional stores, and gossiping about the boys at school.

"So, I hear Hojou has the hots for you, Kagome," Yuka told her best friend. Kagome blushed.

"No, no way…"

"Yeah, I heard that he wants to ask you to the school dance coming up next month." Ayumi teased her friend, poking her arm. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"I dunno…"

"COME ON!" all the girls cried in unison.

"Shhh!! They're staring!" Kagome motioned to the other people in the clothing store. Giggling, the four girls quickly exited the store, so as not to make a bigger scene than there was already. But as soon as they stepped outside, they saw Hojou coming up fast with some of his friends.

"Look, its him," one of her friends whispered.

"Let's see if he'll talk to you," another said. Hojou, now within speaking range, waved a friendly hello.

"Hi, ladies."

"Hi, Hojou," Erri, Yuka, and Ayumi answered in unison. Kagome sighed.

"Kagome," Hojou turned specifically toward her.

"Hn?" Kagome wasn't pretending to be uninterested.. She really WAS uninterested.

"I wanted to know, are you going to the dance with anyone yet?"

"The dance? No, not yet."

"Great! Well, would you like to go with me, then?"

"Umm," For some reason, Kagome felt like there was someone else in her life that she wanted to be going to things like the school dance with. But who? She snapped back to reality with a shocking jolt to her right arm. Her friends were pulling her aside.

"What's wrong with you? Its HOJOU…" Yuka whispered.

"Yeah, go out with him!" Ayumi chimed in.

"Fine, fine," Kagome agreed.

"Okay," she said, turning toward the most popular boy in school, "I'll go to the dance with you."

"Great! I'll swing by and pick you up your place at say… eight?"

"Yeah, sure." Hojou was smiling a little too big, if you asked Kagome. "Well, look Hojou, we have to be going. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," he said. Another happy little wave, and he was off with his friends down the way Kagome and her friends just came.

*****

"What's WRONG with me?" she asked herself aloud when she got home. "Kagome!!" She may have looked a little weird sitting on her bed, yelling at herself, but she didn't care. Something wasn't right.

*****

…at Kaede's hut…

"You did WHAT?" Sango was furious. "And without even telling us?!?! How dare you!" Inu Yasha just shrugged.

"There's just one condition."

***

"AHAAhhh *GASP* Eeeheheee, oohhhheheee," Sango's ferocity turned into sadistic glee when she discovered the conditions under which Kagome was resurrected. "Oh, heheehe, to see.. Hahhaha… to see you as a dog… pr- pfffthehe, priceless!! Hehee…" Her stomach was beginning to hurt by now. This was actually the first coherent sentence she could make after hearing about Inu Yasha's task, and it had actually been about ten minutes since he had told the group. Shippou had been laughing just about as much as Sango. Even Kaede turned her back to Inu Yasha in order to conceal her smile. Miroku was the only one able to actually still look Inu Yasha in the eyes without totally losing control.

"So," Miroku smirked, but held in the laughter. "What are you going to do, Inu Yasha?"

"What do you think, monk? I'm going to go get her, and bring her back here."

"As a dog? I don't think she would let you in the well-house. In fact, she'd probably be scared you'd break your legs, falling down the well like that." Sango let out another burst of laughs, and slapped Miroku on the knee, rewarding him for his comical visual of Inu Yasha the dog toppling down the well. His shoulders began to move up and down from the force of his suppressed laughter.

"Tch. Whatever. I don't have to deal with this. I'm going to see if I can find Kagome." And with that, he left the hut as the sound of rising laughter came from within. Inu Yasha just shook his head when he heard Kaede finally join in.

He reached the well in no time at all. "Here goes nothin,'" he said, and quickly jumped down the well. It was about four o'clock by the time he had talked to the group and gotten to the well. He reached Kagome's time without incident. "Well, so far, so good." Inu Yasha looked down at his hands and feet. He was still in his hanyou form. "So much for canine troubles," he seemed to smirk at the bottom of the well at Sango and the others. With a single leap, he was at the top of the well. But as he stepped onto the ground outside of the well, he began to feel funny. The transformation was beginning to take place.

'Ugh.' Inu Yasha cringed as he watched his hands become furry white paws. He craned his neck to look at the rest of his body. It was covered in soft, silvery white hair. 'Well, at least I still have my hair,' he told himself, and began on all fours to head outside. He nudged the door to the well-house. Locked. 'What the-? You've got to be kidding!' Out of frustration, the hanyou- err, hanyou canine- raised himself on his hind legs and pushed at the door with all his might. Surprisingly, the door flew open, just as if Inu Yasha had knocked it open in his half-demon form. 'Not a total loss. I guess I still have some of my demon traits,' he said, and trotted outside into the sunlight. 'First things first.' He trotted toward Kagome's house.

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[Author's Note] How did you all like it? Comments? Suggestions? Please review!! Thanks!!