Kagome blinked. Where was Inuyasha? He had told her to meet him in half an hour, hadn't he? A hand came out of nowhere and landed on her shoulder. Kagome panicked and whirled around, her eyes screwed shut, her fists flailing madly.

"Ow! Hey! Watch it!" Inuyasha snapped.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome opened her eyes. Inuyasha indeed. A very red-faced Inuyasha. "Oops!" she exclaimed brightly, laughing sheepishly.

He scowled and crossed his arms. "So where do you want to go, Kagome?"

Kagome shrugged. "Let's just take a look around. It is a pretty big mall, after all."

Another voice cut in before Inuyasha could reply.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Then for a second time, a hand was placed on Kagome's shoulder. She let out a startled yelp and scrambled over to Inuyasha, on impulse jumping into his arms.

"What the-? Hey!" Inuyasha shouted, struggling to maintain his balance. Geez, what did this girl eat? "Stop moving, will ya'!" he remarked towards Kagome. "Just in case you haven't noticed, you're not exactly the lightest person in the world!"

Someone snorted. Inuyasha glanced up from Kagome to realize that it had been Kouga who had spoken and snorted. The other boy stared at him with intense dislike.

"If you can't handle carrying her, then I'll do it," Kouga remarked coolly.

"I can handle carrying her just fine, you bastard!" Inuyasha snarled.

"Doesn't look like it, from the way you're sweating," Kouga replied.

Inuyasha growled, narrowing his eyes in disdain. "Is that a challenge?"

"I doubt it. I pity the weak, after all," the other boy replied.

"Is that so?"

"Quite."

"Then you should be pitying yourself!" Inuyasha snarled. Stupid bastard! Who the hell did he think he was, anyway? He could handle holding Kagome just fine. Inuyasha blushed slightly, fully realizing the position that the two were in. Wait a minute. What the-

"What the hell are you doing here anyhow? Stalking her?" Inuyasha demanded angrily.

Kouga arched a brow. "Obviously. Like I'd be stalking you." He rolled his eyes.

Inuyasha clutched Kagome possessively. "Listen, buddy! She's hanging out with me, not you! So go get your own date!" Coincidentally, he didn't see Kagome blushing. Stalking Kagome. The nerve of that guy! Well, it wasn't as if he and Kagome were officially going out or anything. And though he wasn't exactly too sure of how she felt towards him, he still felt protective of her. But still! Couldn't that idiot see that he and Kagome were hanging at the mall?

Together.

Together alone.

Hello? Didn't that set off any bells in Kouga's stupid head? After all, who actually went to the mall together just as friends? What did Inuyasha need to do to get it through Kouga's thick head that Kagome was his?

Well, she was going to be his, anyway.

He was sure of it.

Hopefully.

Maybe.

Anyways! That jerk!

Kagome blinked. Inuyasha kept grumbling to himself, and he still hadn't put her down. She blushed. One, because Inuyasha was holding her really tightly against his body. And two, Kouga was still watching her. How had he known that she and Inuyasha were going to be at the mall? Oh, right. He said he was stalking her. That really made her blush.

"You know, you're really cute when you're blushing," Kouga remarked thoughtfully, ignoring the murderous look Inuyasha shot him.

"Oh- thanks," she blushed even further, causing a wolfish grin to cross Kouga's lips.

"Hey, buddy. How about you stop hitting on my date?" Inuyasha snarled.

"How about I not?" Kouga shot back in reply. "And besides, Kagome wouldn't be pathetic enough to go out with you."

"Oh yeah? What, do you think she'd go out with you instead?"

"Considering her options, I'd say yes," Kouga answered.

Inuyasha was trembling with anger. Without a further word, he turned away from Kouga, Kagome still in his arms- though she looked quite confused, and stormed off.

"Ooh. Things are getting juicy!" Miroku whispered to Sango as he looked through his binoculars. The two were standing next to a soda machine. While Miroku was spying on Kagome, Kouga, and Inuyasha, Sango was trying to tell him that the camouflage clothes he was wearing did not make him invisible.

"Miroku, you do realize that your clothes make you stand out even more, don't you?" Sango sighed wearily.

He waved his hand lazily behind him, not even bothering to turn around. "Don't be silly, Sango! I saw this on T.V."

Sango blinked. "Saw what?"

"Two men wearing exactly what I'm wearing now. They were totally blended into their environment. These clothes make me practically invisible!" he remarked.

She sighed. "Miroku, did these men happen to be surrounded by trees, by any chance?"

He turned around. "Yes, why?"

Silence.

"Oh, nothing, Miroku," Sango shook her head. He shrugged and turned back around, his eyes feasting on the heated battle between Inuyasha and Kouga. But, to his surprise, Inuyasha had disappeared.

"That's strange," he remarked. "Inuyasha's no longer standing there."

Sango tapped him on the shoulder.

"Miroku-"

"I wonder where he went," Miroku mused to himself, not paying attention to Sango's insistent shoulder tapping.

"Miroku!" she whispered fiercely.

"Yes, yes, in a minute, Sango. I'm trying to figure out where Inuyasha went!" he muttered. He loved Sango with all of his heart, but sometimes she acted a bit strange.

"Miroku!" she hissed.

He stuck his hand in his pocket while peering around the mall through his binoculars, fished out a twenty-dollar bill, and held it out to her without glancing at her. "You can go spend it on whatever you want, okay?"

There was an angry growl behind him. "Okay," someone replied, snatching the money from his outstretched hand. But it definitely wasn't Sango. Miroku blinked and turned around, finding himself staring Inuyasha in the face.

"Inuyasha! What a coincidence meeting you here!" Miroku triggered the false laughter he always used whenever he was in too deep. Usually, it was reserved for the ladies- since he, for some reason, always seemed to get into trouble with them, but he hoped he could escape from this. Inuyasha didn't exactly look too happy. Kagome was standing next to him, blushing. Sango, who was also standing next to Inuyasha, had her arms crossed. Oh boy. Things were sort of looking down.

Mommy.

"Were you spying on us?" Inuyasha hissed.

"Of course not!" Miroku gushed, waving his hand about lazily in the air as if to dismiss the thought. "I was just-just looking for a nice place to take Sango out for dinner!"

"Then why were you using binoculars?" Inuyasha asked, not amused.

"So I wouldn't have to walk there, of course! You know me, always the lazy one!" Miroku smiled nervously.

Inuyasha shook his head. Miroku was unbelievable. Well, at least, Miroku was an unbelievable idiot. As if he couldn't tell Miroku had been spying on him. What did that guy take him for? He rolled his eyes, and turned to Kagome. "All right. Now that we got rid of-"

"Looking for me?" Kouga glared, approaching the group.

Inuyasha twitched. Kouga was standing a few feet away from Kagome. Which was far too close.

"Don't you have a life?" he snapped at the other.

Kouga shrugged. "Of course." He scooped Kagome up into his arms unexpectedly. "And here's the girl it revolves around."

Kouga. Was. Touching. His. Girl.

He. Would. Die.

Now.

Inuyasha snarled and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Kagome's shoulders. "Get away from her!"

Kouga locked his arms around Kagome's waist. "She's not yours to possess!"

"Says who?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Me!" Kouga growled in retort. "Get your filthy hands off of her!"

"Filthy? Look who's talking!"

Kagome sighed, being tugged back and forth between the two. She was sure that they'd let her go. Soon.

Yes.

Any minute now.

Now!

No...

Now!

Okay...

Now!

She was starting to feel a little sick, and her mental will to make them stop pulling her apart in separate directions wasn't working. Kagome finally turned back to the argument between the two boys, which was still brewing.

"You don't know anything about her!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I bet it's more than you know!" Kouga snarled.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Enough!" Kagome hissed, pushing both boys away, annoyed. Stupid boys. Why did they always have to fight about the stupidest little things? Geez. "I've had enough of your fighting!"

Inuyasha and Kouga blinked, startled by her outburst. Then Inuyasha turned to Kouga.

"See? Now you've gone and ticked her off! Stop fighting with me, you bastard!" he remarked angrily.

"Me? You're the one who started it!"

"And I'll sure as hell end it!" Inuyasha yelled.

Kagome shook her head. Maybe when they stopped fighting, they'd realize that she was gone. She waved to Miroku, who was glued to his binoculars. He was standing only about an inch away from the two bickering boys, but was watching through his binoculars. When he didn't respond, Sango smacked him. He turned and waved back to Kagome, wincing in pain. Sango smiled and waved to Kagome.

And Inuyasha and Kouga still hadn't noticed she was leaving.

What a fun afternoon.

Then, suddenly:

"Kagome, where are you going?" Inuyasha asked in bewilderment.

"Let me accompany you!" Kouga exclaimed, hurriedly rushing over to her side.

"I'm going with her!" Inuyasha growled.

"No way!" Kouga narrowed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Kagome possessively.

Inuyasha tried to wrestle Kagome away.

"Stop touching me!" she yelled, storming off angrily, the two boys trailing after her closely. Of course, they were still arguing, but at least they were watching her.

Sango chuckled. This was certainly going to be a memorable weekend.

(A.N. I changed the format of this story from huge paragraphs to actually spacing it every time someone says something. Now you don't have to read those long paragraphs. As you may or may not have noticed, I've started posting a few other of my stories online. So I've been trying to work on everything all at once and manage to get my work done for school on time. Junior year is quite stressful. Sorry for the slow updates for this story! Finals are coming up soon, and all of my teachers are trying to cram in last minute tests. So, unfortunately, it might take a few weeks for the next update. The key word here is "might". Hopefully I'll be able to catch up to my studies, first of all, and be able to update another chapter. There's much more in store for Inuyasha, Kagome, Kouga, Miroku and Sango, so keep your eyes open! Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers- I truly appreciate your support. Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter!)