Author's notes: I'm so sorry about how short my chapters have been lately, I really haven't been meaning too. I've just lost the inspiration for this fic. However, there's actually some fluff in this chapter. Shocking, I know.

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Bye Bye, Baby!
Chapter Eleven

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"Sometimes the best way to communicate is through music" (unknown)

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Inu yasha sat in his room, his guitar in hand. It had been a while since he'd played it. The last time had been when Kagome had come to yell at him about his indecency of playing when her daughter was trying to sleep. His hands traced the polished wood of the body. His fingers strummed the strings. The frets produced a soft hum, the music sounding familiar and calming in the man's ears. His hand traveled up the neck of the guitar and adjusted the tuning pegs, fixing the miss his expert ears detected with the gentle strumming.

His hands began to play a song that used to be a favorite of his mother's. He'd never been a good singer, and had never tried to sing along with his music, but he enjoyed feeling the music wash over him and he let out a small sigh.

As his fingers plucked and strummed at the frets, Inu yasha felt his violet eyes fall shut and was absorbed by the music. His thoughts had been clouded recently. Mostly of a particular woman who was both infuriating and entertaining. He'd never had the best of luck with girls; the gender seemed to have a grudge against him. They found him boorish and rude, which wasn't too hard to believe due to his egotistical attitude.

But Kagome wasn't like most of the woman. Though he was painfully aware of her distaste for his attitude and lifestyles, she was also very friendly whenever she felt like it. Through the majority of the time he'd spent with her, she'd been almost as sarcastic and rude as he was. And it was driving him insane.

Though he hated to admit it, the horoscope from earlier still haunted his brain, the uncanny message that had meant to be for fun had plagued his mind with questions and uncertainties.

After the encounter that ended with Inu yasha on top of Kagome, he couldn't help but realize that she really was a beautiful woman. Nor could he deny that he found her attractive. But what did that matter? Any man with a brain could appreciate Kagome's beauty…

A knock on the door drew him from his thoughts and his amethyst eyes opened slowly, the dark irises landing on the door. He knew who it was.

Standing with his guitar in his hand, he padded his way towards the door. Attentively he gripped the doorknob and twisted as he pulled the door open. Kagome stood with a small smile on her face, one that he'd only seen rarely, her hands clasped behind her back and her feet rocking back and forth.

"Yeah?" he asked when Kagome just stood there and smiled. She had a beautiful smile and all, but it was kind of creepy.

"You're still not naked," she joked and giggled. Inu yasha raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior. She wasn't annoyed and bitchy like she normally was. Maybe the time he'd spent with her had been her time of the month…?

"Don't sound too disappointed," Inu yasha smirked, picking up on her joking tone, "I can always fix that if you'd like…" His hands gripped the hem of his shirtsleeve as he very slowly began to take it off.

Kagome's face did an excellent impression of a tomato as her hands gripped Inu yasha's and pushed them back through the shirtsleeve. "No, that's ok…I'll take a rain check," she said playfully, though she looked a little uncomfortable.

"Is there a reason you're standing outside my door or do you really want to see me naked?" He asked with a teasing smirk. Kagome rolled her eyes and hit his arm.

"No…it's just that…" Kagome cautiously stepped into his room, looking around. It wasn't much different then before. Clothes lay on the ground, the walls were bare, and there were sheets on the bed now. Though Kagome noticed that it all looked rather messy and dreary. She looked back at Inu yasha's lilac eyes and couldn't help but smile again, though he tried to hide it, she could tell he was hanging onto her every word. "…I never got a chance to thank you for babysitting the girls…"

To say that Inu yasha was shocked was an understatement, but he forced a smile and tried to calm his racing heart. He didn't understand why he was having such an intense reaction when Kagome was simply speaking to him. "Oh…um…it was nothing…"

"Maybe to you, but it meant a lot to me that I had some time with Sango," Kagome blushed and looked away, though deep down she was yelling at herself for having such a reaction from him. "And…thanks for taking care of me when I was…drunk…" She hated to admit that she had been intoxicated, and without Inu yasha, she probably would have passed out in the living room and scared Moriko when she'd wake up in the morning.

"Its no problem, really, I don't mind," he said gently, his eyes softening as he gazed down at Kagome. 'What the hell's wrong with me?' he thought as he found himself trapped in Kagome's gaze. She returned it, the blue eyes swirling with an indecipherable emotion that he'd never seen before. 'And why's she looking at me like that? Maybe she's sick…' Before he could protest he touched her forehead with his hand.

"Are you feeling ok, Kagome," he heard himself asking. He felt like he was having an out of body experience; like he was watching from the sidelines as they spoke to one another. His mind was haunted with the look in Kagome's eyes just moments ago…and he felt his heart speeding up. He didn't understand…what was this that he was feeling?

"I'm fine," Kagome said quickly and looked at the floor, trying to hide the blush that had painted her cheeks when his hand had touched her.

The emotions that were battling within her was making her go insane, making her feel giddy and scared at the same time…

"Ok," the stood awkwardly in his room.

Kagome's eyes traveled to his guitar and she smiled softly, "Did I interrupt?"

Inu yasha blinked and looked at what she was looking at. He smirked and shifted the guitar to his other hand as he plucked the cords delicately, "Nah, I wasn't doing anything remotely song like." That was a lie…he'd been playing his mother's favorite song…the song she always used to sing to him…

"Oh…are you any good?" Kagome asked, trying to start a conversation, "I noticed how you haven't really played much…"

"I thought you didn't want me to play," Inu yasha smiled.

"I don't want you to play at night. Normal people usually sleep when the sun goes down," Kagome said lightly and gave him a mock glare.

He chuckled quietly and went to his bed, sitting down on the small, thin blanket he'd found in the linen closet. His fingers traced along the cherry wood body of his guitar. It had been his mother's and had sentimental value…

"Are you any good?" Kagome repeated the question as she stood awkwardly in his room, not sure whether to come sit next to him or not.

"Yeah, I never really took the time to compare myself to others…but I can assure you I'm no Santana," he smiled and looked out his window, not wanting to meet her gaze. His hands gripped the guitar. "My mom taught me…"

"Was she good?" Kagome finally moved and sat down next to him. He knew this by the gentle lowering of the mattress as she sat on the bed. He could feel her eyes on the back of his head as he stared at the world outside.

"She was great…" he said wistfully. Memories of his mother flooded his mind and he couldn't help but feel a small amount of sadness sink into the pit of his stomach. "She could have been a rock star…"

Kagome didn't miss the sadness in his voice and felt the awkwardness begin to return. "What happened to her?" she dared to ask. By the man's reaction, she knew that something was amiss about his family.

Inu yasha turned his pained mauve eyes towards her and she resisted the urge to gasp. "It's not important," he whispered out sadly and leaned back, his body flopping onto the bed and his eyes focused on the ceiling. Kagome looked at him as he played with the hem of his shirt. "She's gone now, and how she went doesn't matter," he whispered painfully. Kagome immediately felt bad about bringing up obviously distressing memories.

"Oh…" she said weakly. 'Oh? Is that all you can say, Kagome? You obviously struck a pretty unnerving memory and all you can say is 'oh'?'

Inu yasha said nothing and it became painfully aware to Kagome that he wasn't going to say anything more. She hesitantly scooted towards him and poked his belly. He squirmed and gasped in shock. "What the fuck was that?" he asked, once he realized that it was her and not his imagination.

She cocked her head to the side and watched him. Then she giggled and tried to poke him again, but he was too quick and grabbed her wrist, not as amused as the female was. "Stop acting like a schoolgirl," he growled out and Kagome only started laughing harder.

"I'm sorry, you just looked funny," she laughed and before he could stop her, poked him in the side with her free hand. He squirmed and yelped in surprise, causing her to nearly roll on the floor laughing.

He gave her a glare and gripped his guitar threateningly. Though he knew he would never put his guitar…or her…in that kind of situation. She smiled happily up at him and he looked at her for a long moment before a shadow of a smile graced his lips.

He couldn't control the feeling of his stomach doing flip turns inside him and he wondered idly why he was feeling this way for someone he supposedly hated and seemed to annoy him immensely. But…staring at her now made his heart speed up and his breathing raspier, like he was on some kind of drug they taught you about in high school.

"Will you play a song?" she asked, a comfortable silence overflowing in the empty bedroom.

"You…want me to play a song?" He didn't know why, but he was silently touched by the woman's suggestion.

"Yeah, unless you aren't any good, then I don't want my eardrums to start bleeding," she said, a challenge hidden in her voice.

He smirked and positioned his guitar in his lap, his hand gripping the neck of the guitar, his fingers strumming the strings, checking to see if it was off key, a habit he'd adapted when he first learned to play. His other hand strummed the strings softly, the familiar and beautiful sound of his guitar filling the room. He smiled when he saw Kagome's eyes widen in an almost childlike curiosity.

"If you want," he said and began to play.

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"It was absolutely beautiful, Sango!" Kagome gushed the next day as she and her friend collected around the water dispenser. "I swear, he could be a musician if he wanted to!"

Sango smiled sweetly and sipped water from the paper cup she'd acquired from the top of the giant jug that held their water. "I think you're overreacting," Sango said calmly.

"I'm not!" Kagome huffed and crushed her paper cup before throwing it into the garbage can. Sango and Kagome both worked at the Toyota car dealership, though it wasn't Kagome's choice of car, it was the only job she had at the moment, until something better turned up. After all, the economy wasn't doing its best right now and the fact she'd never gone to college wasn't really helping her in this situation. "He was really good," Kagome really couldn't find the word to describe what Inu yasha's guitar playing was like, it was indescribable, it was too beautiful for words, she supposed.

Sango raised an amused brow and refilled her cup, sending a mock glare at the men who walked by and sent leers at her turned backside. "Kagome, a few days ago you were ranting about how he was the worst person you'd ever met and now you're worshipping his guitar playing, of all things," Sango shook her head and gulped down the whole contents of her paper cup before slamming it down on top of the water jug and crushing the container. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were bipolar."

Kagome snorted and leaned against the wall. She grumbled softly to herself.

"What was that?" Sango leaned in closer, smirking.

"I said that he isn't as bad as I thought," Kagome muttered and she couldn't stop the light blush that painted her normally paled cheeks. "He's pretty nice once you get to know him…and he isn't busy being a jerk…"

"Oh, does my little Kagome have a crush?" Sango gushed and dodged a punch from her best friend. "Relax, Kagome! I'm just kidding! How could you possibly have a crush on someone who annoys you so much?" She laughed.

Kagome remained silent and Sango stopped her laughing to give her friend a concerned look. "You don't like him, do you?"

"Um…"

"Kagome, please tell me you aren't serious?" Sango looked horrified.  From the stories Kagome had told her, she could only deduct that her friend was living with a spawn of Satan.

"I don't know, Sango, I keep getting mixed feelings about him," Kagome appeared to be deep in thought, her eyes misted over and her cheeks a bright pink. She bowed her head and covered her eyes with her bangs.

"Hey, ladies, are you here to work or talk?" came an irritated voice behind Sango. The two women looked up to see their boss, Kathy, and they immediately straightened.

"Sorry ma'am," Sango and Kagome said at once and rushed off to do their job.

But Kagome's thoughts didn't stray away from a certain freeloader occupying her home.

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Moriko and Inu yasha sat on the couch, watching TV silently.  Kagome had asked him to watch the girl until Alex Johnson came to pick her up. Apparently Moriko was going to a slumber party and Alex Johnson was the mother in charge. He silently sent out a sympathy prayer for the poor woman.

Moriko giggled as Tom tried to capture Jerry in a giant glass jar, only to have Jerry knock his face in with a hammer. Inu yasha stared at the television cartoon that he'd watched when he was a kid and couldn't help but crack a smile when Tom fell out of a window.

He found it remarkable that anyone could find this show entertaining, but couldn't help but smile gently at the little girl who gripped her feet in anxiousness. She seemed so innocent and adorable, hard to believe she was the daughter of a fire-breathing dragon…

A commercial came on just as a knocking came from the front door, Moriko squealed happily and raced to her mother's room, searching for her overnight bag that her mother had packed for her. Inu yasha smiled at the adorable little girl and walked to the front door. He opened it to reveal a middle-aged woman with long blond hair, tied back in a ponytail, left off to the side. She stared at him with warm brown eyes and Inu yasha smiled.

"Hello, I'm Alex Johnson, here to pick up Moriko," she introduced herself and stuck out a hand.

"Inu yasha Takahashi," Inu yasha shook her hand and the woman smiled.

"This is my daughter, Rin," Alex leaned down and pulled a small girl from behind her legs. She had big brown eyes, like her mother, and brown hair pulled in a ponytail to the side like her mother. They looked almost exactly alike, minus the mother's blond hair.

"Hello Rin," Inu yasha squatted down to see the girl at eye level, "How are you?"

"Good," Rin said in a quiet voice, her brown eyes uncertain as to why the big man was talking to her.

Moriko appeared and hopped on top of Inu yasha's back, causing a small grunt of surprise to escape the male. "I'll miss you, Inu yasha!" she declared happily, and he could tell that she'd be too busy having fun to really miss him.

"I'm sure you will, Moriko," Inu yasha said and dropped the little girl in front of Rin and Alex. "Have a good time and behave!"

"We'll drop her off around noon tomorrow," Alex reassured and turned to leave. Inu yasha leaned against the door jam and waved goodbye to Moriko when she turned around to flail her small hand through the air.

Once he was sure the visitors and Moriko were gone, Inu yasha retreated to the apartment and clicked off the TV. He rubbed the remote control in his hair, scratching an itch, "Too watch a movie, or not to watch a movie, that certainly is the question…"

He shrugged and threw the remote onto the couch, watching it bounce and sit lifelessly on the cushion. "To not!" he declared to himself and walked to his room and pulled out his guitar.

Boredom ensued and he sat strumming his guitar lifelessly as he stared out the window of the living room.

Before he realized it, he was playing a song by his Mother's favorite band, the Goo Goo Dolls, and hummed along to the lyrics that resounded in his head.

Gods, how he missed his mother…

She had looked nothing like him, her eyes a dark green and her hair a bright red color.  No, he was a carbon copy of the father he'd never known. His mother had been an outgoing, overwhelming liberal. Over the weekends she'd slap on various buttons proclaiming some kind of slogan and gone off to protest in the hot California sun. He hadn't always lived in Denver, he'd moved around a lot. He'd eventually gone to college in Colorado and gotten a bachelor's in the arts. His mother had never gone to college, and he didn't have any clue about what his father was like.

Eventually, the protesting and peace concerts had become too overwhelming for his mother, and she overdosed on ecstasy when he was thirteen years old, forcing him to go from foster home to foster home, the only reminder of his mother was the guitar she'd given him. That and the ability to identify the smell of pot…but that was irrelevant.

He hadn't even known she had died until a few days after the incident. Her mother, once again, had dumped him with a babysitter, and had gone off to another rave, her love for the strobe lights and the pounding techno calling to her like a sailor away from the ocean. Evidently, ecstasy had been present at many of her raves, and she'd taken the 'hug drug' in order to become friendlier, happier, to enjoy the rave. Unfortunately, she suffered from hyperthermia and eventually overdosed.

The next thing he knew, he was whisked away from his California home and taken to various states such as North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon and finally Colorado.

As for his father, Hisaki, he'd never known him. The only thing he knew about him was his name, and his looks…he was reminded every time he looked in the mirror. Sometimes, when he was growing up with various foster parents, he would imagine going out and searching for his father…but never carried it out. It was a stupid fantasy only fit for a movie plot.

Inu yasha silenced his guitar as the last cords of the song rang out, and he felt like he was little again, sitting with his mom and talking to her about all that he feared and loved. He lowered his eyes and his hands traveled over his guitar's frets, feeling his heart clench. In his arms…he held the memory of his mother.

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Kagome turned the key in the lock and gently pushed the door open. What she heard assaulted her senses and nearly made her cry. Soft music drifted through her home and she could practically feel the emotion in the music. It was beautiful.

She shifted around the corner and saw Inu yasha on the couch with his guitar, playing quietly, and she recognized the song at once. It took her a moment before she heard a quiet voice; it was a mixture between humming and whispered words. She cautiously walked towards the man, who seemed to be lost in his own world.

The strumming of the guitar grew louder as she approached him. He continued playing his music, unaware of Kagome's presence and not hearing her coming closer to him.

"Comin' down the years turn over
And angels fall without you there
And I'll go on to bring you home and
All because I'm
All because I'm
And I'll become
What you became to me…"

She had obviously come at the conclusion of the song, and his voice was rasp and unprepared for the softly whispered words. He hadn't sung it, he'd simply murmured it like he was reciting a poem, but the emotion and the feeling was still there. She finally sat down next to him and he stiffened, turning to face her with wide eyes.

"Pretty," is all she said and he couldn't help but agree, nodding his accord.

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Gamma notes: Panda, that was a great chapter!  I looooooved it.

And I have two things to say:

1. Poking fight!  Hmm, why does that sound so familiar…?  pokes your cheek and runs off giggling

2. comes back I sincerely hope that I don't end up like Inu yasha's mom. TT  no hug drug for me…

Author's notes: Yes, I am aware that those aren't Inu's parents names nor is his mom a red head with green eyes…or whatever her features are (I forgot already!) Also, since my beta seemed very unmotivated, we both agreed that my darling little gamma, Jordy, will fill in the role until Fry is otherwise ready to rejoin our organization. My hit man shall be waiting (said hit man crack knuckles) just kidding!