Disclaimer: Blah… not feeling creative. I don't own Inuyasha.

A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update you guys! I hope I didn't make you wait too long. Anyway this chapter's kinda short. I hope you guys review!

Summary: Kagome Higurashi lives in an impoverished sector of the human-demon segregated country of Northern Japan. When she gets the chance to escape to peaceful and bountiful Southern Japan, she must seize the opportunity to help out her family. But she never counted on meeting Inuyasha Taisho.

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Into the Darkness

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Chapter VI: Time Will Tell…

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*Sango's PoV*

My eyes narrowed as I watched those two sitting across from each other at the lunch table. Kagome was munching on her sandwich and Inuyasha was slurping his instant noodles, and to the casual observer, it wouldn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. But I'm no casual observer, no sirie. Some thing was up, I was sure of it. It looked like they were trying to avoid each other, not looking once at one another.

But why?
Did something happen yesterday after school or something this morning? It was certainly possible, and I wanted to know what. I continued to watch them like hawks; they didn't notice a thing.

Finally, something happened. At the same time, the two of them reached for the pile of napkins I had deposited earlier in the middle of the table. Their hands brushed together for a whisper of a second and suddenly, their faces flamed and they snatched back their hands, averting their eyes from one another.

AhHA!

I knew something was up!

I stood up and grabbed Miroku's sleeve, "I need to talk to you," I told him.

He grinned, "Whatever you say, my beautiful butterfly."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and dragged him out of hearing range. "Okay, listen up…"

"Are you ready to finally admit your undying love to me, my lovely buttercup?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Angrily, I cuffed him over the head. "Get your stupid mind out of the gutter. And quit with those dumb nicknames! This is about Inuyasha and Kagome not us."

I would have sworn he looked a bit put out for a moment, but when I blinked, it was like the look was never there. I continued.

"Something's up with those two. They're acting strange, if you haven't noticed. They're blushing a lot more and they're avoiding each other."

Miroku smirked, "It's obvious then, isn't it? They like each other."

I thought it over, "But so quickly? It's only been one day! And that's so unlike Inuyasha."

"True, but something could have happened. Maybe they had a little too much to drink last night and… you know…" He wiggled his eyes suggestively.

"Ugh, Miroku, you complete pervert!" I moaned and slapped him. "Are you insinuating that two fifteen-year-olds got drunk and slept together after knowing each other for less than twenty-four hours?"

He grinned sheepishly, "Hey, it could happen."

I gave an exasperated sigh. "So are we going to hook them up or not?"

Miroku gave me a blank look, "Uh… we were going to hook them up?"

"No, we ARE going to hook them up."

"Um… why?"

I quelled the urge to bang his thick, little head against the nearest hard surface. "Because I said so. Haven't you noticed yet?"

"Noticed what?"

Maybe it would have been best if he just sealed that mouth of his. He's was sounding stupider and stupider every second. "What kind of friend are you?" I berated, attempting to keep my anger in check—but failing. "He's been really quiet lately. I mean, he still acts like himself at times, but he's been pretty withdrawn. He isn't as hot tempered as he used to be, and usually, that's not a good sign. He's lonely, Miroku. He needs to get himself a girlfriend. I think Kagome will be great for him."

"What about me?" Miroku asked, pulling a long face, "Don't you think I need a girlfriend too?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed his face away. Strangely, I felt a small surge of jealousy go through me, but I didn't ponder the feeling. Doing so would be going into dangerous territory. "Are you going to help me?"

"All right, I will. But if I do so, will you promise me something?" He asked, his face turning serious.

"What is it?"

"If I help will you give me a chance?"

The strange intense look in his violet eyes sent a small shiver down my spine. I kept my face impassive. "What do you mean?"

He gave a small sigh and looked back at where Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting. I saw him give a small smile as he noted that they were looking at each other and blushing lightly. I couldn't help but give my own small smile. "Every time you think of me, you probably associate my name with 'pervert' don't you?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I just want to show you that I'm more than that. I want you to give me a chance to prove that I can be a good friend to you… and maybe even…" he turned back to look at me, "… a lover."

My breath caught in my throat. He couldn't possibly mean…?

Suddenly he shook his head and chuckled. "Just ignore what I just said. I didn't mean to say all that. If you don't want to be friends anymore I can understand…"

I cut him off, surprising him and myself, "No… wait, Miroku. You do deserve a chance from me. I'll give you that chance." Mentally, I slapped myself. What was I saying?! This was Miroku the pervert we were talking about! Why would *I* want him as a lover?

He smiled, "I'll make sure not to let you down."

"But that means that you can't touch other women – or any woman at all! You have to stop all your pervert ways and…" I rambled.

"I promise."

We stood there awkwardly for several moments.

"Well…" I spoke, "should we start getting them together now?"

"We shall."

We smiled at each other and without another word we made our way back to the table. Operation Get-Together was underway.

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*Author's PoV*

Kagome looked up as Sango and Miroku walked away. "Where do you think they're going?" She asked Inuyasha.

He shrugged. She noticed he was still not looking at her.

They ate in silence. Kagome shifted uncomfortably. It was too quiet. Why couldn't they just talk to each other? Would it be that hard? She looked up at him to see him looking at her and they both quickly looked away. Yes, she mentally answered herself. She felt her face warm and she knew that she was blushing just then.

But why was she feeling this way? It had only been one day and already she was feeling these strange sensations whenever she looked at him. Was it possible that she liked him? Quickly, she shook that thought out of her head. It couldn't be! She'd only known him for such a short time and… and he was a demon!

Already, her mind had a counter to that thought.

So what? The voice in the back of her head whispered. Does it matter? You've only known him a little more than twenty-four hours, true, but in those hours he's already saved your life.

She had to admit, her inner voice made a good point. And who was she to condemn him for being a demon? Back at home it was the demons that were treating the humans poorly. If she did the same to Inuyasha, she'd be no better than those Yu-Hellions that tortured and killed her fellow brothers and sisters.

"Hey… are you okay?" Inuyasha asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts. For the past several minutes, he had watched her fight with herself, displaying her emotions freely on her face.

Her cheeks reddened. "Yeah." She looked up and him… and fought to stifle her laughter.

Inuyasha frowned at her, his sensitive ears picking up her muffed giggled. "What? What are you laughing at?"

She shook her head and leaned forward to remove the bit of fish cake that had glued itself to the corner of his mouth. He seemed unaware of its presence. Tenderly, she plucked it off and wiped his cheek with a napkin from the pile.

Inuyasha froze as she cleaned his mouth. Her face was close to his and her movements were gentle. Suddenly, Kagome became aware of what she was doing and she sat back down at her seat, lowering her gaze. Her embarrassment was obvious.

"Uh… thanks," Inuyasha said, clearing his throat.

"You're welcome," she replied quietly.

Without warning, Kagome felt a hand curl gently under her chin, forcing her to look up.

"Don… don't look away," Inuyasha smiled tentatively. "I like… looking at your eyes."

Kagome didn't think she'd ever blushed as hard as she was doing at that moment. They looked at each other and didn't look away.

As she felt herself being swallowed up by those intricate tawny eyes, she had to wonder, was it so wrong to like this boy? She supposed that only time would tell.

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A/N: Ridiculously short, I know, and I also know that I took longer this time to update than usual. I'm so sorry! But I hope the fluff made up for it ^_^ Gotta love the fluff! But if you guys think it's going too fast, I'll slow it down. They're still not going to hook up for a while though.

Anyway, the updates might take longer now, life's getting really hectic since the end of school is only a marking period away (::cheers::). We were taking state testing last week and the week before so I wasn't able to get out any updates at all. Sorry! I'll try to do the best I can. Don't forget to review y'all! They're what keep me going ^_^

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Review Responses

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AnimeBrat: No problem! Just make sure you review for this chapter =P I'm sorry, there's still no DDY but life's really busy right now and I can barely manage three stories at a time much less four. I'm so sorry!! But once finals are over, all will be well, and I'll get right on it. And if I finish NLA before finals then I can get started on it too! Thanks for the review! Dawnrider31: Thanks!! Yeah, things are going to be hard on Kagome for awhile and it's going to be even worse later on, but don't worry! There will be a happy ending! LOL. And she'll be opening up to her friends ::coughandInuyashacough:: soon enough! Thank you for reviewing! Corisu Li: Thankies!! Your review made me feel warm and fuzzy inside ^_^ Of course Naraku is plotting! What else do you expect of him? LOL. I don't think I'll ever do a fic where Naraku isn't a bad guy ^_^ I'm sorry I took longer to update this time and with such a short chapter!! But I hope you liked the fluff =P Dragon Man 180: The guy in the car is just some drunk idiot so don't think much of it ^^ And Kagome wasn't afraid of Ayame because she seemed nice, that's all. There's no hidden meaning or anything, I should have made that clearer. Thanks for the review! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask! Pirate-rover: Wheee! Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Azn_fella: Wow, a long review! I'm so happy! ^_^ Thankies so much! And just letting you know, when it's not in feudal Japan and in modern time or a different time and/or plot, it's called an alternate universe (au). It sounds like you're new to ff.net if you think my story's so great!! Check out Rozefire's fics and I'll guarantee that you'll be blown off your socks!! LOL. Thank you so much for the compliments! I hope you liked this chapter. Kaylin: Heehee, thanks! How's this chapter? Let me know! Starangel4899: LOL. So true… but now this fic is giving Miroku a less perverted side. Don't you hate it when fics make out Miroku to be this pervert who doesn't know how to do anything but grope women? It bugs me to say the least. Anyway, wow a 9.9???? Thank you!! Whee!!! LOL. Thanks for the review! Blade Redwind: Thank you and thanks also for the e-mail! Made me feel special ^_^ And it did inspire me to write more! Anyway, I *was* going to make Kikyou Inuyasha's old girlfriend, but then I decided I could do without that little detail. So I changed it. Anyway, thanks for the review! I hope I didn't make you wait too long =P