Disclaimer: Don't own it. Yadda yadda..

[Author's Note] Whoopee! Here we go again!

mvdiva- hehe, well, I'm thinking that it might just be easier for Kagome to love him in dog form... hehehe...
reynamangga- I will try to do my best with Hojou.. let's see what I can do.
Anime-05- thanks for reading! I'll try my best to integrate your suggestion!
Well, please enjoy!

Chapter 4: Breakthrough

******************************
…at Kagome's house…

"Hey, Kagome! There's a dog outside!"

"Good, Souta." Kagome sat on the couch, not really paying much attention to the world around her.

"You've gotta come look! Its really cool! It almost looks like a wolf!" Souta headed toward the front door.

"Don't go out there, Souta. It might be wild," Kagome told her little brother in monotone. She was a little preoccupied with her own thoughts. When she returned from the mall with her friends, she decided to sit down and think about why she was feeling the way she was. Like something wasn't quite right. She wasn't sure just when she dreamt it, but she recalled, in amazing detail, traveling with a small group, and… a certain dog demon. 'Inu Yasha,' she thought. 'It wasn't real, but… I… I feel like I really loved you. How can I love someone from my dreams?' Kagome was ripped out of her thoughts when she heard the door slam. "SOUTA!" She jumped off the couch and ran outside to follow her brother. "I told you, don't…" she trailed off when she saw it.

It was the most beautiful dog she had ever seen. It looked like it was just leaving its puppy stage, young, but full grown. Its legs were still thin, which made its paws look larger, giving it the wolf-like appearance that Souta remarked on. You could tell that although young, this pup was a fighter. You could see the curves of lean muscle underneath its beautiful silvery-white fur. Souta was approaching it, but Kagome was too taken in with its beauty to do anything to stop him. In fact, she began to approach it herself. When she was about three meters away, she knelt down on the ground. Souta was also about three meters away from the dog.

"Hi, boy," she said softly, holding out her hand. The dog let out a small whimper, and approached Kagome slowly, head down.

'Kagome, you're alright.' Inu Yasha sighed. He approached her slowly, so as not to frighten her. He felt her hand graze the top of his head, and scratch behind his ears. He leaned his head into her hand, almost needily.

"What's your name?" she asked.

'Inu Yasha,' he purred between scratches. 'Please, call me Inu Yasha.' It then occurred to him that Kagome had to say the exact words, "I love you, Inu Yasha," in order for the spell to be broken. 'Crap!' He began to panic inwardly, knowing that the least bit of viciousness in this case would cost him everything. 'How can I tell you, how can I tell you??? Ah!' He looked up at her with his golden amber eyes, as if trying to tell her something.

"Wha-?" Kagome was taken aback. It seemed like this dog was actually trying to tell her his name! "Hm. You know, I have the perfect name for you!" She exclaimed.

'Please don't be a stupid name…pleeeaaase don't be a stupid name,'

"Inu Yasha." Kagome giggled, as she watched the dog's reaction. His eyebrows raised, and he took a few steps backward, to be far enough from her not to scare her with what he did next.

'YES!!!' He ran around in a few circles, jumping and yipping in order to tell her that she was right.

"Well, then, 'Inu Yasha' it is." Inu Yasha approached her again, more happily. She laughed. "You know why I'm naming you Inu Yasha?" The dog let out a gentle woof, as if to signal her to go on. "I remember an Inu Yasha from my dreams." Inu Yasha looked into her chocolate brown eyes, and watched as they sparkled with remembrance. "He had the most beautiful amber eyes I've ever seen, just like yours," she smiled, and stroked his fur. "And he had beautiful silver hair, and,"

*tweak, tweak*

"Such cute ears!!" she giggled helplessly as she gently massaged Inu Yasha's ears. If she looked at him a little more closely, she would have seen his eyes well up with tears.

~~FLASHBACK~~
*tweak, tweak*

*giggle*

*cough* *HACK*

"Thanks. I know you hate it."
~~end FLASHBACK~~

'Kagome. If only you remembered.' He was quickly knocked out of his somber reverie by a hand slapping him on the head.

"He's sooo cool!!" Souta roughly petted Inu Yasha.

'Ugh! Get off of me, kid!' Inu Yasha growled under his breath, and stepped away from the menace. Souta didn't take the hint, and followed Inu Yasha, putting a hand on his soft, silvery back.

"Do you think we can keep him?" he asked hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up, Souta. Besides, what about Buyo? Mom and Grandpa would never let us have a dog."

"I'm still asking."

"Do whatever you want," she sighed. "Goodbye, Inu Yasha," she said softly to the white canine, and slipped inside.

"I'm gonna try, okay, boy?" Rather than being excited, the pup simply turned away from the young boy.

'Oh, brother,' Inu Yasha rolled his eyes, and walked away toward the well-house. It was time to go home. A little disappointed from his retreat, but not discouraged, Souta entered the house behind Kagome.

*****

"So, how did it go, boy?" Miroku asked Inu Yasha at dinner. His question was returned with a glare that could kill armies.

"Shut. Up." He swallowed down the rest of the stew Kaede had boiled up, and stood just as laughter was beginning to take over the room. "I'm glad you guys think this is so funny…" The laughter subsided.

"Look, Inu Yasha, Kagome is safe, and alive, and happy. We want you to be happy too, and we miss Kagome, but… she's alive, and that's all that matters." Sango said genuinely. Inu Yasha looked her straight in the eye to see if she was going to laugh or not. But she was serious. He nodded at her in thanks for her heartfelt words, and left the hut. He was going to think of a plan.

***

Not a day passed since then that Inu Yasha was not in his canine form and by Kagome's side. He waited for her after school, and he sat outside her doorstep, keeping watch over her. Day by day, Kagome looked forward more and more to seeing her newfound friend. Of course, Inu Yasha steered clear of Souta. Kagome's mom even noticed the beautiful silver dog and its attachment to Kagome. One day at dinner, she decided to address her daughter about the "wild" visitor. Inu Yasha sat outside the house by the window, listening to every word that was spoken during dinner. He was grateful for retaining his demon powers, even though he was in canine form.

"Kagome, about that dog that's been following you around…"

"I know, it's weird, isn't it, mom? He just showed up out of nowhere." Her mother nodded in agreement, and continued.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that dog really loves you." Inu Yasha's ears perked up to hear Kagome's response.

"Yeah, it's almost like he feels like he needs to always be around me, to protect me or something."

"Is he… tame? He seems like a wild one to me," her mother commented, still concerned.

"He seems pretty tame to me," she replied. "I like him. He… makes me feel safer." Kagome blushed, feeling stupid. 'What's wrong with me?' she asked herself.

"Like a guard-dog, huh, Kagome?" Souta asked his big sister.

"Yeah," she answered. She stared down at her plate. She had been having dreams. Dreams of Feudal Japan. But how did she even know what Feudal Japan looked like? That was one heck of an imagination she had. The characters always remained the same… Sango, who was supposed to be her best friend, Miroku the lecherous monk, Shippou the fox orphan, Kaede the healer and mentor, and… Inu Yasha. Inu Yasha, the hero. The one who was always there to protect her. 'Inu Yasha. If only you were real. I know my feelings are.'

After dinner, Kagome retreated to her room to think some more. School was hectic, as it always was, and then there was Hojou. He really liked her, and they were going to the dance in a week. But this "Inu Yasha" of her dreams… and this dog… the dog reminded her every day of the Inu Yasha of her dreams. She knew she loved Inu Yasha, but if he wasn't real, maybe.. She let out a sigh.

"Maybe I should just…move on." Just then, she heard a bark outside her window.

'Move on!? Move ON?? Kagome!' Inu Yasha barked at her window, not knowing what else he could do. Kagome appeared at her window, and opened it, leaning outside. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, her hair swirling around her face gently in the evening wind. A small smile appeared on her flawless face.

"Inu Yasha? What are you doing here?" Kagome whispered loudly. She sounded as though she was in a fairy tale, about to be whisked away by her prince. In fact, she was still in such a daze, she actually was half- pretending that it was the Inu Yasha of her dreams. A little weird, but hey. She looked away from the dog on the ground, and up at the moon in the sky. Inu Yasha followed her gaze to the moon. It was almost the "New Moon," as Kagome liked to call it. Just a week longer.

A week longer?? Inu Yasha remembered hearing about the school dance, and that his Kagome was going with that Hobo character. He tried to scare him off a couple times, growling when he got near, but Kagome just hushed him up. 'What can I do?' he asked himself as he let his eyes fall back to the beautiful figure leaning on the window sill. She sighed.

"I'm going to bed now, Inu Yasha. Goodnight. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." She waved at him, and retreated into her bedroom. Inu Yasha was tempted to jump into her room from where he was, but he thought better of it, and instead returned back to the well-house, and Feudal Japan. Once back, he sat on his favorite branch of the Goshinboku tree to think.

~~FLASHBACK~~
"Your canine blood is what will trigger this disguise. When you set foot on the ground outside of the well, you will be transformed into what will appear as a canine to Kagome and the rest of the world of her time."
~~end FLASHBACK~~

'My canine blood, huh? Well, what'll happen when the moon is dark? My canine blood will leave me.. Does that mean I will be able to actually talk to her? I will hope. That's all I have left.' He sat back against the trunk of the tree, thinking more about Kagome, and how he could make her fall in love with him. He fell asleep that way, and woke up the next morning with the rest of the forest Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he sat up rigidly in his place.

"THE DANCE!" and with that, Inu Yasha quickly jumped off of the tree and headed into the village.

***

"I-- I need something to wear for Kagome's school dance."

"How about…. One of these!" Miroku said goofily, holding up Kirara and pointing at the pretty pink rhinestone-studded collar that Kagome got her for Christmas last year. Before he could even voice his laughter, he was lying on the ground due to an insanely hard blow to the head. Inu Yasha turned to Sango.

"Please, I need some help here." Sango nodded, trying not to laugh at Miroku's unconscious body. "You'd think he'd learn by now," she said to herself.

"Hmm… what is the 'theme' of the dance?" Kagome had talked to Sango about school dances before, and remembered Kagome talk about dressing up in costumes or certain colors. Inu Yasha shrugged.

"I dunno,"

"Well, you have to go find out, before it's too late! Then we'll find something for you to wear." Inu Yasha nodded, and ran for the well. Sango looked at Kaede.

"Do you think he's right about the spell deactivating when the moon is dark? That he'll really be able to be human on the other side?"

"Perhaps, child. We will find out soon enough. I pray for Inu Yasha that he is right." Sango and Miroku nodded.

"Yes. I can understand his desperation. He is able to watch his true love, but not speak to her. I know that if that were my case, I would try everything in my power to find a way to reach her." He unconsciously glanced Sango's way. She saw this out of the corner of her eye and turned her back to him, blushing.

"I hope he succeeds," she said, voicing everyone's hopes.

====================================================

[Author's Note] Eh? What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? All is welcome!