Disclaimer: Nope, it seems Inu's not up for grabs right now...sniff

Miroku slowly made his way up to the tree Inuyasha was hiding in while the girls talked. He held his staff carefully in one hand and sat down at the base of the tree. He could see Inuyasha's red haori flicking slowly in the wind from here and knew the human half-breed wasn't that far up. Probably because, last month he fell out of the tree when he was human and hurt himself badly. Well, at least he learns. Miroku thought, chuckling at the memory.
"What are you laughing about, priest?" Inuyasha's gruff voice asked from the branch above Miroku.
"Oh nothing, just thinking about the past." Miroku answered. "So...where'd you and Kagome run off to? Kagome told me that you went to her house with her to get clothes...was that all you did?"
He heard Inuyasha scoff and smiled to himself. If there was one way of getting Inuyasha to talk, it was aggravating him.
"We went to get clothes, nothing else you pervert." Without warning, Inuyasha jumped off the branch and landed in front of Miroku.
Miroku studied Inuyasha carefully. Inuyasha looked quite anxious with a hint of anger behind it. He also had a hand in the front of his haori. The hand moved about until it found what it was looking for, then brought the finding out of the shirt and plopped it into Miroku's lap.
"Read it to me," he ordered gruffly, sitting down in front of Miroku and gazing at him intently.
Miroku always knew Inuyasha couldn't read and wasn't about to say anything about it. Even in human form, Inuyasha was a deadly contender. Slowly, he picked up the book and read the cover.
"Where did you get this, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked flatly, all playful and sly tone gone.
"From Kagome's room."
"Did she let you borrow this?"
Inuyasha thought for a moment. "Not really."

He soon became impatiently and cracked his knuckles in front of the priest's face. "Just read it!"
Miroku nodded and pulled open to a page Kagome had placed a book mark at. For a moment, Miroku started to read the page to himself, until Inuyasha cracked his knuckles again. Miroku's eyebrow went up so far it disappeared into his hairline.
"Are you sure you want me to read this?" Miroku asked quietly. "I don't know why Kagome would be reading this though..."
"Read. It." Inuyasha growled, his voice growing deadly.
"Fine, but I don't understand. Maybe you will. It starts off with 'The alpha dog would normally control the pack with stern looks, deep growls, and, if necessary, attacking them. The only exception to that rule would be when the male encounters a female that it wishes to make its mate. It would then control the female by a swift, gentle bite to the muzzle, as if telling her that she had to listen to him. The bite would normally be a controlling one, but it is also used as a form of a kiss between dogs. It is also used during mating..."
Inuyasha didn't hear the rest, he just stared at Miroku with his eyes wide and jaw dropped to the floor. So Kagome was reading up on the bite! And this is what she found?! But why didn't she confide in him? Oh, wait, she did... He thought to himself guiltily. Grrr...but she didn't have to go to a book like I was some...some regular....dog! Anger surged through him and he grabbed the book back from Miroku.
"I have to go talk to Kagome, now!" Inuyasha yelled before racing back towards Kaede's.
Miroku shook his head and stood up. He had the weirdest feeling that this definitely wasn't going to end well....

Inuyasha tramped through the doorway of the hut relentlessly, almost taking the bamboo curtain off in his wake. Kagome and Sango were still talking, but stopped instantly when they saw how angry Inuyasha was. Kagome, however, looked at the book he was holding. How did he get a hold of that? She asked herself exasperadetly, a hand going up to her chin.
"Kagome, we have to talk!" He roared, walking up to her and taking her by the arm.
"Oww! Inuyasha, that hurt!" she cried and felt his anger flicker slightly into concern.
He let go of her arm and walked out of the hut, pausing to make sure she was following. Kagome looked back at Sango for a moment, then followed Inuyasha all the way to the Goshinboku where he whirled around suddenly to face her.
"What is this?" He asked, shoving the book in her face.
"It's-It's a book." She answered.
"A DOG book!" Inuyasha said accusingly and angrily. "What were you trying to do, read up on my behavior with a DOG book?! Like I was some type of regular LAP DOG or maybe a PET?!"
Kagome stared at him, shocked and at a loss for words. He was yelling at her, pretty much screaming at her because of a book he shouldn't have seen in the first place. It wasn't as if she was looking up on his behavior, it was just something she had to do for school.
"I-Inuyasha...it's n-not what you think at all!" Kagome said when her voice decided to come back to her. "You've got it all wrong!"
"I got it all wrong, me? Your the one looking me up like you could find out what I was thinking!" Kagome could now hear that he was sounding hurt as well as angry.
"Inuyasha...it was for a project I got at school...not about you." Kagome said carefully, but she didn't think Inuyasha heard.
"You can try to look me up all you want, but you'll never find anything! I can't believe you tried to look up dogs because I bit you-" He stopped short and looked down at the ground.
"I-Inuyasha..."
"Take your book and leave me alone!" He yelled suddenly, throwing the book at her feet and racing off.
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, wait!"
Kagome watched him until he couldn't be seen anymore, then looked down at the book. It looked innocent, lying at her feet, innocent and dirty. It was just a book, a book for a project she had gotten, and Inuyasha had found it. Kagome dropped to her knees in front of the book, picked it up, and threw it as far as she could into the woods.

Kagome sat in the spot Inuyasha had left her at and stared at where he had ran off. This was all her fault, she shouldn't have left the book on her dresser. If she had just brought it back to the library, Inuyasha wouldn't have become curious and take it. But, why did he take it in the first place?
After a while, Kagome stood and turned around. She was at a loss for what to do, at a loss for anything. If she went back to Kaede's, she'd be bombarded with awkward questions, mostly by Shippo. If she followed Inuyasha, she'd probably get herself lost or maimed by a demon. The latter of the two made her slightly jumpy and she decided on Kaede's as the best choice; besides, she had to speak with Sango.
Slowly, she made her way back to the hut, Inuyasha haunting her mind. This was just the way things went all the time between them, one minute they could be on the verge of telling each other they like each other, then the next minute they're arguing. The hut came into view once more, except this time it looked more foreboding than welcoming. Maybe they'll just let me sleep tonight, Shippo especially.
But when she entered the hut she found Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and even Kirara asleep. Smiling sadly, she pulled out her blanket, forgot her pajamas once again, and laid down near Sango and the dieing fire. She'll talk to Sango tomorrow.

The next morning was normal as ever. Sango was the first to rise, followed by Miroku. Once they woke, they got ready for a day of traveling. Shippo was normally the last to wake, but this time woke before Kagome herself and gently slipped out of Kagome's arms. The movement caused Kagome to wake in turn and also caused her to flip out. She couldn't believe she slept so late!
Grabbing her things, she threw them into her book bag before closing it and tossing it over her shoulder. She tipped wildly for a moment, then hooked her other arm through the loop and regained her balance with a relieved sigh. I wonder if Inuyasha's waiting outside... She thought sadly, making her way out of the hut with a slightly forced goodbye to Kaede.
Kagome glanced around at her friends outside. Inuyasha wasn't among them. Feeling her heart grow heavy, she let out a sigh and forced a smile for them.
"Well, I guess we should try to find Inuyasha before we go anywhere..." Kagome said softly.
Miroku nodded. "Yes, though I doubt he's very far from here. I can still feel his aura."
Sango glanced at Kagome questioningly. She had known that Inuyasha wasn't there in the hut with them that night, but she didn't know the reason. Kagome should tell me later, if she wants to. Sango told herself while hoisting her Hirakotsu onto her back.
Kagome caught the glance and smiled slightly. She knew Sango was as curious as ever, she always was curious with what goes on between her and Inuyasha. Sango just never voiced her curiosity before, and she thanked her friend for that. But where was Inuyasha? Normally he would be right with them, no matter the fight they got into.
"There's no need to go looking for me, I'm not a wimp you know." A gruff, growling voice said from behind them.
Kagome whirled around and faced the now hanyou Inuyasha. He didn't look at her, just stared at Miroku, deliberately averting his eyes from anywhere near her. She felt hurt, but she had to think how Inuyasha must feel. With a hand placed against her chest, she turned back around and nodded to the others.
"Well, another day of searching for the shards."