Disclaimer: I won't do it! Nuh-uh! *Everyone glares at her* fine....Inuyasha is not mine........

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CHAPTER 9
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Kagome woke up with a grin on her face and she was full of energy. For she got dressed by herself (choosing a plain cotton dress that sango had hidden all these years!) and went skipping down the hall to find her best friend. She went running down the stairs and and made a sharp turn to the left and into the small door under the staircase. She traveled down a grey cramped hallway to the second to last door on the left. She knocked twice and waited patiently for Sango to answer. A few minutes later she was met with a panting maid trying to frantically tie a bandanna on top of her hair.

"Did I wake you Sango?", asked Kagome with a mischevious grin.

Sango looked down to the ground with a pink tint on her cheeks, clearly showing she was not awake before her charge/friend.

"Would you care to come in Kagome?"

"Sure!" said Kagome as she whisked past sango into the room a quarter the size of her own. She sat down in one of the two small chairs set by a coffee table, then she turned to stare at Sango with a grin on her face. Sango stared beck at her with a mock angry face.

"Well...out with already. Your smiling as if your parents just gave up your betrothment to Hojo."

" Oh, if only! No, it's not that, but something just as good!"

"Well.....what is it?"

"Inuyasha loves me too!"

Kagome jumped out of her seat and ran to hug Sango. Sango squeezed her tight and cried, "Oh I'm so happy for you Kagome!! Your so lucky to have someone!"
Kagome suddenly lessened her grip on sango and pulled back to look at sango in the face with a frown.

"That reminds me Sango, why don't you have anyone? You don't even show any interest in guys..."

"Long story of heartbreak.....we'll talk of it another time. First things first, what are you going to tell your parents....or for that matter, what are you going to do about Hojo?"

" I can't tell my parents right away or else they'll have Inuyasha thrown out before you can say 'wait a sec'. They'll be so mad about Hojo too, I think they really got along since I ran away and they were all left alone. So first I have to get rid of Hojo, I need to scare him away."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to have to be rude, obnoxious, disgusting, and plain old mean." Kagome giggled when she said this.

"What's so funny?"

"If Inuyasha was here, he would have said that I already have all those talents. We love teasing eachother." *giggle*

"Gee Kagome, your so radiant now that you have Inuyasha. You seem even more pretty and graceful than usual!"

"Don't say that Sango! If that's true, how will I ever get rid of Hojo?"

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Inuyasha woke up in the center of the cushiony bed the size of a pool. Yup, he could definetley get used to this. He sighed and got out of bed. He went to the balcony and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He heard a knock on the door behind him and whirled around to face it. *Could it be Kagome?* He ran to the door and swung it open with a huge smile on his face. It faded however when a stout old woman met his gaze.

" I be here to get ye properly clothed, Milord. Me name be Kaede.", the woman said and then bowed her head.

The old woman walked past him and into his room, making her way to the closet. She flung open the large sliding doors with ease and shocked Inuyasha at the strength of a woman so old. She grabbed a few garments and brought them back to inuyasha.

"I will need ye to undress milord."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped and he blushed.

"U-undress? In front of y-you?", he cried.

"But of course. I thought for sure this would seem normal for a lord."

*Uh-oh, I forgot they all think I'm a lord! Better play along* thought Inuyasha and then he cam up with an excuse.

"I'm sorry, I'm used to male maids."

"Male maids? How peculiar. Very well, if you prefer a male I will fetch one."

"No! I mean, I don't mind a female maid, * I don;t want to offend her!* I'll just dress myself. Okay?"

Kaede's eyebrows raised at this. *A lord dress himself? That's definetley not normal*

"Indeed Milord. I will depart for now then."

With that Kaede left and Inuyasha set to the difficult task of dressing in the high-class outfit. After an hour of fiddling with the clothes, Inuyasha finally thought he got them on right and he looked at himself in the bedroom mirror. *Not bad* he thought * but not as comfortable as regular clothes. I wonder what Kagome will think. I think I'll go show her.* Thus, Inuyasha set out to hunt down Kagome

(Authors note: the clothes Inuyasha and Hojo wear are like Hojo's school uniform. Inuyasha wore his fire rat haori from the beginning of the story to now.)

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"Well Sango, I have to go find Inuyasha and explain to him my plans to scare away Hojo, Otherwise I might scare him away aswell!"

"Okay then"

They said their goodbyes and hugged. Then Kagome left the room and went skipping out into the grand staircase room once again.

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*Where is she? I can smell her on everything! She smells just like vanilla, I remember it from when I kissed her last night!* Inuyasha's cheeks tinted at the thought. he shook it off and continued to race down the stairs, only half paying attention when his mind kept trying to slip back to his previous thoughts. The thoughts however were completely knocked from his mind when he himself knocked into something soft and they both fell to the ground. * Hmmm....it smells like vanilla.....Kagome?* He layed there for a while smelling in her scent and then he lifted his head to look into the flushed face of Kagome. *Gods she's beautiful*

"What's wrong Kag?"

She blushed even harder, "Why did you keep your face between my breasts for so long?"

Inuyasha now blushed too, "Feh! You smelt like vanilla"

"You were smelling me?"

Inuyasha just realized what he had said. *Now I must seem really strange!*
He was proven wrong in his thoughts though when she grabbed some of his silvery hair and pulled him onto a brief gentle kiss.

"That's so cute!"

"Cute?"

"Mmmhmm"

They both leaned towards eachother for another brief kiss and then disentangled from one another and stood up. Inuyasha turned to Kagome.

"So what do you want to do today?"

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They had decided on a picnic, the same little glade they had gone to before but this time with food and they would take two horses instead of killing Totosai with the extra weight. So, Inuyasha led Kagome to the stable. (Yes, Inuyasha led Kagome, Kagome didn't know there was a stable!)

" How did you know there was a stable?"

" I had to put Totosai somewhere, didn't I?"

"Sometimes I think you like your horse more than me..."

" Feh! Maybe I do. Watcha gonna do about it?" teased Inuyasha

" Hmmmm........No more kisses for you!" she said as she brushed past him and into the barn.

"Wh-What?!?! No!! C'mon Kagome, I was just kiddin'!", he pleaded as he rushed in after her.

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Inuyasha went to Totosai's stall and pet him on the muzzle. Then he went to get his saddle, bridle, and girth.

" I got dibs on Totosai, so who are you gonna ride?"

" Hmmm...."

Kagome wandered through the barn petting and studying every horse in the barn, until she stopped in front of a stall and turned to Inuyasha. He raised his eyebrow and walked to where she was standing and looked into the stall. What other horse could she have chosen other than a white mare? The complete opposite of Totosai of course. Inuyasha sighed and set about getting the mare ready, who's name was Kanna.

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" Ok...now I'm going to lift you up and put you on the horse...okay?"

Kagome managed a small nod and Inuyasha lifted her and set her atop the horse. She gulped and clung to the reins.

" You know....your heavier than you look."

This got Inuyasha a kick in the face from kagome who's leg could now reach it thanks to her doubled height. Inuyasha fake pouted and rubbed his cheek and then mounted up on totosai.

"Okay...now riding a horse is very simple. You squeeze your legs to make it go, to turn left pull on the left rein, to turn right pull on the right rein, and to stop pull both at the same time. Got it?"

Kagome nodded, " I think so..."

"Don't worry, just relax and enjoy. Besides, I'm sure Kanna will just follow Totosai!"

With that Inuyasha broke into a gallop and sure enough Kanna followed with equal speed, not even being asked to go in the first place. After galloping for a while Kagome relaxed and got the hang of it and she started to relax. She looked to her right at Inuyasha and gave him a bright smile. *Gods, she so beautiful when she smiles* Then the innocent smile turned into a mischevious grin and she called out, "Last one to the glade has to kiss kouga!" *No way am I going to kiss kouga...and neither is kagome!! What am I going to do?!?!* Luckily it was a tie and the gamble was forgotten.

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Kagome got lunch out of the saddle bags and also a blanket she had packed. She laid it all out and then let the horses loose to graze and drink from the small pool of water. They both sat down and enjoyed a quiet lunch, well as quiet as it can get over the loud munching of Inuyasha...

"What is this stuff?", he asked as he threw food in his mouth

"It's my homemade oden, I got up early this morning to cook it for you. The chefs were in shock!" (Question: Can oden be homemade?)

"You made this just for me?"

Kagome nodded.

"It's the best oden I've ever had!"

Kagome giggled and watched as Inuyasha gulped down another bowl. She was very content to just sit there in his presence.

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A/N: Sorry for the boring chapter! I'll get the ball rolling in the next chapter. It all starts of with the conversation between Inuyasha and Kagome after lunch!