A/N: Erk. Sorry this took so long to get out. But you know, birthday, new Harry Potter book, laziness. . . they all take their toll. ^_^;;; This probably would have taken even longer if it hadn't been for all you reviewers out there. Only one word for you: Wow. I maybe expected 5 or 10 reviews at most but. . . over 40? And I'm even on 2 people's favorite author's list. . . *sniff* So touched! And I really liked the suggestions I've gotten so far for more IY/K moments to stick in here. . . someone even mentioned one that I was going to put in here anyway ~_^ So thanks again! Hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter, which was completely unplanned and much more forced. Next one should be better, hopefully. . . ~_~;;;

Oh! And to just let you know, I lift things from both the manga and the anime version of Inuyasha. For example, I'm going to use Souta's girlfriend Hitomi (I think? Haven't seen the episode in a while. . .) from the anime, but this story takes place somewhere around where the manga is now. Not to mention that I make Kagome have smoky blue eyes like she has in the manga instead of the brown ones she has in the anime. I'm glad that someone mentioned that or else some people that only watch the anime would be very confused, eh? ^_^

Disclaimer: Don't own it. But I do have $30 sitting right in front of me that I accidentally let go through the wash. Mr. Hamilton and Jackson are now nice and crispy and clean and soon to be used to purchase more anime. . .

Ah! Sorry, sorry. . . last note, I swear. But in this chapter I kind of switch between Kagome's and Inuyasha's points of views randomly to add some humor (well, attempted at least) and let you know what's going through each of their heads. I don't think it worked as well as I would have liked but er. . . hopefully it's readable. And congrats to anyone who read any of this! Reading is good for you, after all ^_^

Sweet Tooth

Chapter 2: Sticky Situations

Kagome swore that she was never going to go through the well on a full stomach again. Traveling through time never became as comfortable as she would like it to be, especially with a tall glass of orange juice and partially digested pieces of toast sloshing around in her belly.

At least, that's what she would be swearing if she had actually had a chance to eat this morning. But no, Souta had to go and whine for her to go into the past, starving and barely conscious, just to drag back a half- demon with an attitude problem. Speaking of which. . .

Kagome glanced to her left and was surprised to see that Inuyasha had yet to release his grip on her hand even though they were already back in her time. She grinned and tugged lightly on his hand, edging toward the direction of the rope ladder hanging against the stone wall of the well.

She thought she had seen a small smile flash across his face but easily recognized the mischievous glint that danced in the amber depths of his eyes. Kagome tried not to let the disappointment show on her face when Inuyasha pulled his clawed hand out of her grasp.

The hanyou folded his arms and gave a jerky nod in the direction of the ladder, his white hair falling lazily across his broad shoulders as he did so.

"Keh. Do you really think we have to use that stupid thing?"

Kagome pouted and mimicked his position, crossing her arms across her chest while giving a slight nod to her right.

"No, of course not. Why would we want to use that stupid thing when we can just as well climb up?"

The smirk on Inuyasha's face dropped slightly, but he pretended to ignore the girl's last comment. The half-demon sauntered closer to Kagome and gave a quick, cocky grin before swooping her up and draping her over his shoulder.

Kagome's surprised squeak died in her throat as the musty air around her whooshed by and caused her raven hair to flutter in front of her nose. The girl would normally have enjoyed watching the sinewy muscles of the boy's back bulge beneath his red haori with her added weight, but she was currently too preoccupied on keeping her skirt from riding too far up her thighs.

Inuyasha landed on the wooden rim of the well and promptly set Kagome down on the dirt floor beneath him. The girl quickly pulled her hair away from her face, dusted herself off, and kept a cautious grip on the edges of her skirt before meeting Inuyasha's gaze.

She was annoyed to find that she had to crane her neck up to look at his face and noted the creaking of the wooden well as he rocked back on the heels of his bare feet. Kagome was tempted to just put her hands against that well toned, muscular, tan chest of his and--

"Oi. Kagome?"

Inuyasha wasn't even on the rim of the portal anymore. He was instead standing directly in front of Kagome and waving a hand in front of her face, his furrowed brow displaying his poorly masked concern.

The schoolgirl felt the blood pooling in her cheeks as she snapped back into reality, giving one quick glance toward his chest before practically running past him and up the wooden stairs.

"Hey!"

Inuyasha matched her furious pace and kept trying to steal a glimpse of Kagome's face as they headed toward the house. He nimbly avoided the rocks and loose clumps of dirt that littered the ground while keeping his gaze locked on the side of the girl's raven head. He was so focused, however, that when she sharply turned her head in his direction, her hair slapped him directly across the face.

Oh well. At least he knew that her hair wasn't as wet anymore.

The determined look on Kagome's face faltered when she saw the red mark gracing the hanyou's cheek, her own cheeks once again tinting pink while she mumbled a few apologies.

"Um. . . sorry about that. . . but could you do me one more favor? Please?"

Inuyasha hadn't really noticed where they were going, too intent on finding why Kagome was in such a sudden hurry, but realized they were standing directly beneath her window. But. . . if she were in such a hurry, then why weren't they at the front door instead?

"You're just full of requests today, aren't you?"

Kagome gave him a leveled glare before sticking out her bottom lip and continuing.

"I don't want Souta to know that I forgot about our promise if I have to. So that's where you come in!"

"Wasn't I already in this to begin with?"

"Shh!" Glare. "Anyway! If I could just go in without anyone noticing, pretending like I've been here the whole time, and then have you come in a few minutes later, everyone will assume that I told you beforehand, and I won't get in trouble!"

"You know, with all that time you spend at this 'school' thing, you would think that you wouldn't be so much of an idiot."

"Pleeeease! It would mean so much to Souta if he didn't know that I had to drag you here the day of his party! He thinks that I told you ages ago, which you know, technically is true since I was in the past when-"

Inuyasha clamped his hand over Kagome's mouth. He instantly regretted it when he felt her teeth bite his palm. Again. Only this time, the hanyou knew that he hadn't blocked off her air and decided to keep his hand firmly where it was, despite the painful gnawing sensation that was growing at the center of his palm.

Frustrated, and slightly tired of chewing on his hard skin, Kagome decided to change her tactic as well. Was Inuyasha going to be able to handle it? Hell, was she going to be able to handle it? Oh well. She might as well get it over with before she lost her nerve. . .

Inuyasha grinned in triumph. So Kagome had finally given up, eh? No more biting meant. . . Wait. What was. . . Oh, God. Oh, fucking God. Was that her. . .? No, it couldn't be. . . but. . . "Shit!"

Kagome stuck her tongue back in her mouth but didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed. She was slightly relieved, though, when Inuyasha quickly darted away from her and gave her plenty of personal space. And by plenty, she meant that the boy had gone and hid behind a nearby bush and looked like he wanted to run even farther.

"Inuyasha, quit acting like a big baby. It's not like I have cooties or something."

She wiped her mouth and swallowed the nasty taste still on her tongue. Licking the hand of a person who lived 500 years in the past who certainly wasn't the best representative for personal hygiene was. . . interesting. And reminded Kagome that she really needed to encourage the idea of soap to her traveling group.

"I know that!" He edged a little further out of the shrubbery. "But uh. . . just to make sure. . ." A few more steps. "Just what are cooties?"

"Look, if you promise to just get me up to my window and stick to the plan, I'll give you a full, scientific session on cooties. Is it a deal?"

Kagome stuck out her hand to Inuyasha, who finally had returned to his original spot. He reluctantly drew forth his hand but quickly yanked it back as a thought struck his mind.

"First, you have to answer one question."

Kagome gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. As long as it makes you happy, go ahead."

"Why did you run out of the well house like that?"

Erk. She hadn't been expecting that one. Ok, come oooon, Kagome. . . think of an excuse. . . can't tell the truth. . . definitely not the truth. . .

"I was thinking of your chest." Crap! Time for a lie! Lie! Lie!

". . .what?"

"I think I missed breakfast."

"Oh. For a second I had thought you said-"

"Nope! Must've heard wrong! Or maybe you're hungry, too? How about we go to the kitchen and get something to eat!" Kagome faked laughter and was turning to go to the front door, but Inuyasha's perplexed voice stopped her.

"But what about the deal?"

"Oh. Right! Silly me!" She turned back around and wondered if her face could actually hold that much blood in her cheeks.

This time it was Inuyasha who stuck out his hand first, grabbing Kagome's and shaking vigorously. His hand was a bit more. . . wet than she remembered it being. . .

". . .That's the hand I licked, isn't it?"

Inuyasha smirked and gripped her hand even tighter.

"Payback."

--------------------------

"Okay. So you know what to do, right? I'm going to go down to the kitchen and then-"

"And then I come in 10 minutes later while you give some cock and bull story about how you told me beforehand. I think I've got it, okay?"

Kagome resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him, but after the recent events, decided she didn't want Inuyasha to focus on her tongue more than necessary. The boy was currently flat on his back on her bed and flipping through an upside down fashion magazine, his ears twitching in her direction the only indication that he acknowledged she was still in the room.

"Look," Kagome continued, keeping her tongue firmly in her mouth, and flipped the magazine the right side up. "Just make sure you come in after 10 minutes. And don't destroy my room, either."

Inuyasha just kept glancing through the magazine and nestled his head further into her downy pillow while she cautiously headed for the door. As the door slammed shut behind her, Kagome became instantly aware that the hanyou had gotten to page 36, the one page in the magazine dedicated solely to men's fashion.

"IS THAT GUY WEARING FUCKING MAKEUP?!?!"

-----------------------------

"Where is that stupid. . ."

Judging by the clock on the wall, it had already been more than 20 minutes since Kagome had left her room, meaning that Inuyasha was severely late and most certainly going to experience a long and painful death.

She had finished her breakfast 10 minutes ago and was trying to nibble on her last piece of buttered toast for as long as possible. The girl wanted more than anything to find out what Inuyasha could possibly be doing in her room for nearly half an hour, but not nearly as much as she wanted to sit him into oblivion.

Kagome swigged down the remnants of her orange juice and nearly spewed it out across the table after hearing a rather masculine and familiar shout issuing from the living room. She managed to swallow the drink and gave a small hiccup before walking with as much feigned calm she could possess into the adjacent room, clenching and unclenching her fingers.

By the time that she had walked into the living room to find Inuyasha and Souta with their backs turned to her, furiously tapping on their own Playstation controllers, she was curling and uncurling her toes in her socks. Two figures were dashing madly across the T.V. screen, one being pummeled severely by the other.

"Hey!! That wasn't fair! I just did a combo and it didn't hurt you at all!!"

"Inuyasha-no-niichan, are you sure you did a combo? It just looked like you were kicking at me a lot. . ."

"I did!! I pressed 'square, square, left' and-"

"No, no! That only works if you're the guy with the braid! You're the guy with the ponytail! You have to press 'circle, circle, down' to do a combo with him!" "What?! That's stupid! It should be. . . oh crap."

Inuyasha had finally turned around, followed by a perplexed Souta, after he picked up on the sound of Kagome grinding her teeth from behind him. He guiltily tried to hide his controller and accidentally made his character set the other player on fire in the process.

"Aw, man! It was 'circle, circle, down'-"

"Inuyasha, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect you to be here so EARLY."

Every word that Kagome spoke was through clenched teeth and indicated that it was not a pleasant surprise at all. Inuyasha winced on how she said the word 'early' and feebly tried to explain.

"Look, Kagome-"

"Kitchen. Now."

Inuyasha sent Souta a pleading look, the boy still looking very confused at his sister's attitude. She dragged the hanyou up by his ear and flashed her brother a fake smile before walking back toward the kitchen.

"Wait! Nee-chan!"

"Not NOW, Souta!"

"But, nee-chan! I was waiting all morning for Inuyasha to come! I saw you run out to the well and go into your room with him so I thought it was OK for him to play video games with me. . ."

Kagome stopped and instantly let go of Inuyasha's ear.

"What. . .? You. . . you saw me go to the well and come back?!"

"Well, yeah. It was kinda hard not to. You were running through the house yelling, and it was impossible not to hear you two outside. Was I uh. . . not supposed to?"

Kagome sunk to the floor with a defeated sigh and covered her face with her hands. Inuyasha stood awkwardly nearby and wasn't really sure what to do, so he decided to try to act like he wasn't interested in the whole conversation at all.

"You must think I'm a horrible sister, Souta. . ." She moaned from the floor and caused Inuyasha to cast an anxious glance in her direction. "I forgot until the day of your party to ask Inuyasha to come even though I helped plan it and everything. . ."

Souta still looked utterly confused but approached his sister and patted her hesitantly on the head.

"I er. . . forgive you?" Kagome peeked at him from the gap between her fingers. "Did you really expect me to be mad, nee-chan? Why do you think I reminded you this morning? I didn't really think you had asked him before today, anyway, so what's the big deal? I'm just glad you got him here."

For one fleeting second Inuyasha thought that Kagome was going to cover her face up with her hands again. Instead, she took a deep breath and practically tackled her little brother and began to tickle his sides. The hanyou stepped out of the way and watched with a look of pure surprise as the girl pinned him and pressed a sloppy kiss to her brother's forehead.

"Soutaaaa~! I can't believe how mature you've gotten while I've been away! What else have you been hiding from me, huh?"

"Ewww, nee-chan! Stop it! Stop - hahaha - tickling - ahahah - me!"

Inuyasha stepped further away and flattened himself against the wall while watching the two siblings roll around the floor, laughing and running into furniture. He tried to picture himself and his brother doing the same thing, but instantly nixed the idea and shuddered.

"Ew. . . There is no fucking way I would let that bastard Sesshoumaru kiss me. . ."

Too preoccupied with his disturbing thoughts, Inuyasha didn't notice that Kagome and Souta had creeped up on him before it was too late, dragging him down to the floor while laughing their heads off.

"I wonder. Does tough, old Inuyasha have a ticklish spot?"

Souta giggled somewhere near his head, while Kagome pinned the hanyou and placed her knees on his thrashing arms. She attacked his sides, Inuyasha spluttering in outrage, and caused the boy near his head to collapse into a laughing fit.

Having enough, Inuyasha flipped over and pinned Kagome beneath him, his hands firmly keeping her wriggling fingers off of him. It took a moment for them to realize how close their faces were, and they instantly turned a deep shade of scarlet, breaths catching in their throats.

After a few minutes, Souta's laughing had subsided, and he realized that neither of the teenagers looked like they were planning on moving anytime soon. Bored, he walked out of the room while throwing a comment over his shoulder.

"You two are so weird."

Souta's words brought the two back to their senses and Inuyasha immediately leapt off Kagome, turning his back to her and following after her brother.

Kagome sat alone on the carpet and dazedly smoothed out her hair and skirt. Of course her brother had ruined the moment. Damn him. . .

One thought kept drifting back over Kagome's mind while she grumpily stood up and walked back into the kitchen as well: If only Souta had been mad at her. . . at least then she would have had more of an excuse to smack him.

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A/N: Was that worth the wait? ^_^;;; Next chapter should be better, I hope. Still preparing for the party, though. And to anyone who cares, I reloaded the first chapter because of some stupid typos I made and the refusal of ff.net to have '. . .' without the spaces.

And keep those suggestions and reviews coming! They make me so happy. . . so very, very happy. . . and I might actually get around to doing a decent oekaki for the next chapter, too. Until next time!