Disclaimer: Inuyasha, Inuyasha, what does your garden grow!!!! Demon claws, furry wolf paws, and dragon scales all in a row!!!! :-D *doo dee dee doo dee da!!!* oh yes, what was I saying again?

The new and much improved chap of Blooming Love!!!!! *ta-daa!!*

My writing kinda died towards the end though. Ran out of metaphoric and symbolic words to use. Oh yeah, and I couldn't think of any impressive big words. That sucks. Ah well, I think it's a overall better chapter than the last. ^____^ though that's not saying much.......-__-

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            Inu Yasha sauntered slowly across the hazy sidewalk. The morning sun had just begun to glow, ridding the sky of the soft gray of dawn. He walked, in a zombie-like state as most students walk in the early morning. His legs moved him automatically, remembering the route he took every morning to school. His eyes contented themselves with the road ahead of him, and his nose with the fresh smell of a new day. Though his eyes saw, his mind didn't. His thoughts were elsewhere.

            Kouga was in love with Kagome, he was certain. Yet an unclear feeling still lingered inside him. He couldn't describe it. In his head swam questions unanswered: how could someone just fall in love with a person just by meeting them first hand? Although Kouga was an erratic character, was he true to what he claimed or was there something more to it? Inu Yasha had a strong premonition there was something missing.

            The yellow-eyed boy halted and blinked. He'd already reached the front of his school building without realizing. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged, continuing his path to the maze of hallways, starting with a flight of stairs that lead to the second story, where the library lay. His destination.

He didn't know why, but he liked to be in the library. It wasn't as if he spent his time buried in books; in fact he rather disliked reading. But the calm ambience of the facility settled his nerves. Actually, the library was perhaps anything but calm, especially a high school library. Either way, it was his preferred place to sit and listen to music (a past time he enjoyed).

He was early, so the library was still quiet as only about ten students occupied the vacant building. He settled himself in a table next to the ceiling high windows. He donned his headphones and stared out the window dully as the music moved him into a trance-like state. He could see five students making their way across the parking lot to the school entrance. They chatted animatedly, as all teenage girls love to do, their eyes coated with make-up and their hair flipping this way and that. Inu Yasha disliked girls like that. They were often frivolous, conceded persons, making hobbies out of sleeping around. He grimaced.

A tentative finger poked his shoulder. He whipped around, surprised anyone would confront him. Usually people tended to keep their distance.

Kagome jumped back a little, startled from Yasha's swift movement. She had arrived early as well, with no idea why. The clock in her house had clearly read 8:00 but when she arrived she discovered it had only been 7:30. Disgruntled, she'd marched up to the library to occupy herself when she found her amber-eyed friend.

It would've been a lie to say that she didn't falter though. His words still punctured her heart painfully. Don't come near me again. Why had he said that? What drove him to be so cruel? Maybe she'd been mistaken, it had to have been a different person. Yasha-kun had black hair, the boy she'd seen had white. There was no way they could be the same person. Pondering so deeply only confused her. She decided to do the only thing she could think of at the moment: confront him about it.

"Kagome?" Inu Yasha questioned in surprise. "Sorry if I scared you."

"No, that's alright," she replied, regaining her composure and seating herself next to him. An awkward silence followed, as Inu Yasha glanced out the window, his mind on his music rather than anything else.

"So, do you always come to school this early?" she asked, trying desperately to develop a successful conversation. Why did these weird pauses happen whenever she talked to him anyway? She made a mental note to herself to practice her people-skills.

Inu Yasha took his eyes off the window and looked at her. He still seemed a bit tired. "Yeah..." he answered absent-mindedly.

Kagome wasn't satisfied with his response. She continued to try. "I'm tired too," she commented casually. "Mornings are so annoying huh?"

"Mm," he replied.

Kagome's fur ruffled slightly. She was getting tired of his monosyllabic answers. She poked his elbow, annoyed.

"Hey, you need me to wake you up or something? I'd gladly do so."

He blinked

"Girl's are annoying," he commented.

"What?!" she said rather shrilly from indignity. What was with that I-don't-care attitude?

He cracked a soft smile. "I'm just kidding." Caught off guard, Kagome felt her cheeks develop a warm tinge. Embarrassed, she shifted her gaze to the side. He smiled again, and I felt my breath stop for an instant.

When she felt sure she could face him again, she found his eyes had been intently staring at her the entire time. "Ah," she blushed a shade of crimson. "W-what are you doing?"

He looked at her with a confused expression. "What do you mean?" Had he really been staring? Inu Yasha really didn't notice. He was just musing how Kagome seemed to calm him in a way; more calming than the library. It seemed almost pleasant to have her by his side.

 "Um, n-never mind." She turned her flushed face away only to find herself surveying the students outside from the window. What was wrong with her? She was the one trying to gain the upper hand in the conversation but his unexpected responses kept shooting her down. He probably didn't even realize it. She stared annoyed out the clear glass onto the sidewalk. The students entering school had grown and at least fifteen were making their way through the street as she gazed. A particular student caught her eye, a black-haired, blue-eyed student.

"Hey, isn't that Kouga?" Kagome said, her eyebrows raised in surprise. Inu Yasha's ears perked up. Leaned over so that he could get a better view. "Whatever," he grunted returning to his CD player.

"What do you mean 'whatever'? Aren't you going to say hi to him or something?" the raven-haired girl asked, curiosity etched in her features.

"Why would I? It's not like I consider him a friend."

"What don't you like about him anyway? He seems nice to me."

Well, duh, Inu Yasha grumbled. "He's an annoying, hyper brat. Reminds me of elementary school all over again whenever I see him."

A hand clutched the yellow-eyed boy's shoulder. He looked up, not surprised to see a peeved Kouga.

"What were you saying?" Kouga asked His eyebrows arched dangerously.

"You didn't hear clearly enough? We were talking about how stupid you are," Inu Yasha replied, a small smirk tugging on the side of his mouth.

"Listen, bastard-"

"Gentlemen!" A wrinkled old woman stood behind Yasha, her hands on her hips and her tacky glasses slid down to the crook of her nose. Her voice was crisp but annoyingly old, giving it a croaky sound. Kouga stared blankly.

"No profanity, no verbal abuse, and no fighting on school grounds. If you don't understand, I suggest to speak with the principle," she threatened. Her eyes fell on Inu Yasha, causing her glasses to slide precariously on the tip of her face.

"Yasha is it? Haven't you been caught fighting already? A wise man learns from his mistakes," she advised, straightening herself. She left at a slow pace, the weight upon her feet battling her heeled shoes.

Kagome grimaced. Kouga growled under his breath. "The old hag..." he muttered, fist clenched. Inu Yasha seemed to be the only who seemed rather indifferent about it as he searched nonchalantly for his CD case.

"I get used after a while," Inu Yasha said in reply to his comrade's unbelieving stares.

"I don' see how anyone gets used t' her," Kouga said, his accent flourishing his speech. Kagome giggled involuntarily.

"What?" Kouga asked, finding himself caught off guard.

"You sound so funny with that accent! I mean, not in a bad way, I think it sounds cute," she added hastily.

Kouga blushed and his shoes suddenly seemed very interesting. "Yeah, well, I was born in a rough town so I kinda got it there," he mumbled. Inu Yasha sniffed disdainfully at Kouga's ability to get thrown off so easily but such a strange comment.

"Really? Where?" Kagome asked, propping her chin on her palm.

"Down in the south. You know..." Kouga replied, his eyes still shyly averting hers.

Kagome grinned. Kouga was such a nice person to talk to, why couldn't Yasha-kun be the same? Constantly being the silent one and driving her mad trying to fire up a casual conversation with him. Oh well, if she couldn't talk to Yasha properly, might as well talk to Kouga instead.

"That's so neat, Kouga! I lived here all my life," she smiled. "I wish I could travel! It's boring living in one place."

"I wouldn't say that!" Kouga said hastily, not caring to avoid her gaze now. "Moving can sometimes be a pain. You know, you have to transfer schools, make new friends..."

"Yeah, but still, I think a change is nice once in while." This conversation is flowing so nicely! Kagome thought to herself, giving her a mental pat in the back. Maybe my people-skills aren't the ones that need work, it's Yasha-kun's.

Kouga congratulated himself as well. I've finally managed to talk to her on a friend-to-friend basis! He grinned, proud of himself. Just talking to her makes me feel great. She just has that talent with people like me I guess.

Meanwhile, Inu Yasha watched as he was being unconsciously excluded out of their conversation. He watched Kagome's face intently. She seemed to be happy talking to Kouga. Happier than when she was talking to him? The grin she was wearing right now said so. He gritted his teeth and sifted though his CD collection.

Why did he feel so uncomfortable anyway? Wasn't it better this way if she just left him alone and stayed with Kouga be her side? Wouldn't it all just become a happy ending that way? Somehow he disliked that idea. Even if his secrets would be protected that way, he didn't wish to sacrifice her companionship for it. He shook his head. What was he thinking? He couldn't have grown fond of her company, had he?

The school bell gave a loud resounding ring, pushing students out of their seat and out the library door. Inu Yasha gathered his things, his mind still troubled.

"It's okay Kouga. I wait here for Yasha-kun, you go ahead," Kagome said, waving a friendly hand. Kouga looked rather unsure as he glanced suspiciously at Yasha-kun.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine! Don't be late, ok?" Kouga left reluctantly.

"Why are you waiting for me?" the boy asked, his amber eyes intent on hers. She glanced at him and stumbled for an answer to the pressing question.

"Well, uh," she thought back quickly. "I-I need to talk to you about something! And I don't want Kouga to know." Her mind traced back to the searing words he had uttered to her that one day. Her eyes fell for a moment.

"Something you need to tell me?" Inu Yasha repeated, heaving his bag onto his shoulder. "You should've told me before? Now we're gonna be pressed for time."

Kagome pursed her lips. "I know, but..."

"It's okay, just tell me really quick." Easier said than done, thought Kagome

"Um, well, you know that day..." she tried to begin. She gripped her hands together and thought miserably about how to word her story.

"I saw a guy on the basketball courts and he was fighting with Jake and his friends. It was three against one and I didn't' think he had a chance at all, but he took them all down in only a few minutes. Then I accidentally stepped on a rock and he found me and," she gulped debating whether or not it was foolish to continue, "he looked exactly like you except he had white hair." Inu Yasha gazed at her with an expressionless face.

"I mean!" she sputtered. "I know it sounds ridiculous, you have black hair and all, and...and who ever heard of white hair on a high school guy?" She laughed pathetically, "I'm just being stupid I guess..." she said softly, her voice draining. She wondered how she was going to tell him what he'd said to her. Maybe he'd spare her the trouble but even so, what would he do? She peeked at his face nervously.

His eyes were neutral, his expression unreadable. He paused for a while, his face unflinching. "Did he," he began slowly, almost tentatively. "Did he hurt you in anyway?" He gave her a sincere look of seriousness. She was speechless.

"Well, no, he didn't hurt me, not like injure me or anything..." she couldn't really bring herself to continue. Did Inu Yasha really now know? Maybe he had been mistaken. The whole idea sounded absolutely insane anyway.

"Good." A bright cheery smile was painted on his face again. "Well, see you after school." With that he parted her without even a farewell wave. Kagome stood still watching his figure walk briskly away from her disappearing within the mass of students. She had a feeling that smile he flashed her was only a façade, trying in vain to hide something buried deep within his mind.

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AN: GAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! I'm DONE!!!!!!!! *pant pant* TvT

Kouga: you make me sound gay.

Me: what? o.O

Kouga: you make me sound gay! :-(

Inuyasha: maybe cuz you are gay!! :-Dv

*Kouga finds random knife and chases Inuyasha with it*

Me: well, NEways, my fellow ff-net readers. I hope you enjoyed this chappie much more than the other one. I worked reasonably harder on this one. The last one was really bad cuz I was just writing with no inspiration at all. Someone asked me to write fluff so I'm gonna write some more fluff. This story needs fluff anyways. :-D

Thank you so much to the reviewers who have stuck by me through the long and horrible months of procrastination. I truly honor you guys. If I were you, I'd shoot me, well, I mean the author, er, uh, you know what I mean!!!! -__-;;;;

Please read my HP fic too. I got a nice little idea for that one. The story in short is Hermione gets a makeover to kick off her last year of Hogwarts. Let's see if it gets those male hormones goin', if ya know what I mean. ^_____________________^ I plan to have some fun with this ficcy.

Well, anyways, I rambled too much. Too much text on a page always makes me dizzy. @_@

Ja ne!

~meow-chan~