Kagome's school day blew past her rapidly; which was unusually, as the days often dragged along slowly for her. She walked through the halls, sat through class, read her books, but all this was nothing but routine. But this time her mind was continuously distracted.

The object of her musings? Kouga.

She constantly felt her hands touch her neck or her ear where he had blown his breath across her skin. Kagome's hands wrapped themselves around her waist where Kouga had wrapped his. She couldn't push the questions away from her conscious thought so she let them bombard her freely. Why did he embrace her so suddenly? Did he have some sort of attraction to her? No, that couldn't be right, no one could love someone so abruptly. Yet again, she herself admired Yasha-kun almost to the extent of liking him.

Almost, she assured herself. At least, not really...

She sighed, her mind tired from the constant mention of troubling thoughts. She let her mind clear as she walked absentmindedly to the bus parking lot, tracing her way through the cloud of bustling students. She stared blankly at the many cliques of girls, laughing and chatting, their faces free of worry. Kagome sighed again, her longing to belong in such a group of friends pulling her into a temporary state of depression. She righted herself mentally, No. I will not waste my time wallowing in sorrow, and tried desperately to think of anything cheerful she could dig up from her memory.

She spotted a particularly noticeable boy striding across the school campus. His prominence came solely from the side birth he was given by the students around him. Kagome cocked her head at the black haired, yellow-eyed boy. Why did the students avoid him so? With her only being freshman and without many friends, her information was limited. She shook away the small query and tapped him on the shoulder.

His hair whipped around his cheeks gracefully as he turned to face her, a handsome look of surprise upon his features. She felt her chest lighten, wondering when she's begun to think of him as graceful or handsome.

"Kagome," he said, "Hi."

"Hi," Kagome replied, wishing she had more to say.

Inu Yasha cocked his eyebrows questioningly. "Is there something you need?"

"Ah, no, I..." She looked away, flustered and searching for the words at the tip of her tongue. "I just saw you walking and decided to say hi."

"Oh," he said simply. Kagome cursed him and his monosyllabic answers.

She felt uncomfortable under his silent stare and began, "Well, uh, guess what?"

"What," he replied in a bored tone. He could at least act like he's interested..., she grumbled.

"Kouga, he..." she stopped herself. Why did the thoughts of that incident find their way to her tongue? She immediately regretted mentioning it, certain that Inu Yasha would be angry if he knew. She halted herself again: why would he be angry? It's not like he cared what Kouga did to her, right? Somehow she couldn't convince herself of that.

At the mention of Kouga, Inu Yasha's eyes narrowed and his attention focused attentively to the bumbling girl. He mentally prayed that Kouga hadn't done anything stupid. Ugh, why am I so uptight anyway? He cursed.

She teetered backward slightly, stunned by his sudden immersion in her words. She quickly tried to distinguish the problem before it enflamed and replied quickly, "It's nothing, never mind, I didn't mean to say—"

"What did he do? Tell me," he demanded. Kagome found his determination rather intimidating.

            "Please, it's nothing!" she begged.

            "If he did anything stupid, I'll make sure he regrets it," he promised himself, his hand tightening into a fist. Kagome gazed at him in surprise. Did he mean that for her sake? No, it was too farfetched to believe. She glanced away unable to hide the hurt from her expression.

            Inu Yasha glanced in confusion, trying to interpret her reaction.  Does she not want me to hurt Kouga? He stared at her in confusion. Then a thought hit him and he mentally stumbled; Does she host feelings for that country freak? (He added the insult in his stirred emotions of dislike)

            Kagome looked up at Inu Yasha's face, surprised that he suddenly fell silent. His face was grave and he seemed to be gazing at her with an expression of...sorrow? His eyes were bright with disbelief and his eyebrows arched in stupefaction.

            Kagome looked into his amber orbs with concern. "Is-is there something wrong?" She asked, echoing Inu Yasha's earlier question. The black-haired boy turned away. An idea struck Kagome.

            "If you're angry that I'm not telling you what Kouga did to me, I'll tell, ok? You don't have to get all sulky on me!" she pouted in frustration. Inu Yasha glanced back at her in astonishment, unable to tell her that wasn't the cause of his avoiding her eyes, but also unwilling to stop her.

            "Well, today at lunch, Kouga..." she hesitated. "Kouga sat next to me and we were talking and I stole his fries cause my lunch was absolutely disgusting. You should have seen it! Homemade sandwich totally turned into dripping soggy slop and—"

            "Back to the topic," the boy ordered curtly.

            "Eh, yeah..." Kagome obliged, a little shaken by his brusqueness.

            "Well, as I said, I stole his fries and he was reaching around me trying to get them back and...and he..." She gulped and stared at Inu Yasha's eager need to the truth. He laid an intense stare back on her as he waited impatiently for her to finish her sentence.

            "Are you sure you want to know what happened? It's not really that important really..." She stumbled in vain, attempting to spare herself.

            "Tell me. I promise I won't do anything rash," he sighed, silently crossing his fingers.

            The young misty-eyed girl bit her lip and inhaled. "Hereachedaroundmeandhuggedme."

            Inu Yasha stared. "What?"

            Kagome pouted angrily. "I already told you!"

            "In English please!" Inu Yasha said, his patience evaporating.

            Eek! Kagome quickly restated her sentence. "He reached behind me and hugged me," then added when she saw Inu Yasha digest the information, "but I pushed him away!"

            It did nothing to prevent Inu Yasha's anger from flaring. "He did what?!" Inu Yasha hissed, not knowing his voice had been increased a level or two. Kagome backed away from his seething rage. Ack, I knew this was a bad idea!, she cried.

            The furious boy glared around him, searching for his blue-eyed rival. So angered was he that he was sure he wouldn't stop until Kouga was lying dead in front of him. How dare he do something so stupid! He cursed. To touch her in such a way...

            Delicate fingers enclosed his arm lightly. He turned his eyes to look at her and was shocked to see an expression of sorrow upon her features. The edges of her irises hinted a slight shine. Her gaze fell in shame, her voice pleading for forgiveness.

            "I'm sorry, Inu Yasha. I'm sorry, so please don't get mad..." she whispered.

            The boy stilled for a moment, too shocked to respond. He reached out a hand to touch her shoulder gently as she held her breath and looked up at him. She faced a warm smile from his lips that made her lose the strength in her legs. Luckily she remained upright; collapsing in front of him now would not be good.

            "I'm not mad at you, so what are you so distressed about?" he said, giving her a gentle squeeze in her shoulder. If Inu Yasha kept smiling at her, she swore she'd have to get CPR afterwards.

            "So, are you taking the bus home?" he asked, trying to change the subject. Kagome nodded, then wondered hopefully whether Inu Yasha would accompany her home. That's silly, he'd never do that. He probably lives on the other side of the neighborhood anyway...

            "How about walking home with me? Just for today," he offered sheepishly, avoiding her gaze as he said this. Kagome's eyes widened and her heart leapt to her throat. That works too!! She mentally squealed in happiness.

            "Okay!" she piped rather loudly. She clapped her fingers to her mouth as a flush of crimson washed across her face. Inu Yasha smiled, but unlike that morning, he smiled with true mirth. He felt his soul opening with that smile and he felt almost like he was naked; it was a smile that exposed him and it was a smile he rarely gave. But in the presence of the raven-haired girl he felt warmed, and his smile freely given.

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            Kikyou stormed out of school, striding angrily into the parking lot where her gleaming red Honda waited. Her feelings still enflamed by Hojo's previous comment: "You want an excuse to hurt her, don't you?" She gritted her teeth and tensed her fist into a ball.

            "I don't need an excuse to do anything," she growled under her breath. She grasped the door handle and was about to fling it open when a horrific sight crossed her vision. With parted lips, she watched as a familiar yellow-eyed boy cross the street escorting a raven-haired girl. Her eyebrows narrowed dangerously as she watched them talk idly, entirely unaware of their spectator. Kikyou's face morphed into a grimace and her fist shuddered from muscle tension. She suddenly relaxed and pondered, rolling an idea over in her head, testing and questioning it for any flaws. Her lips suddenly curved into a smile. Not her infamous fake smile, but a smile with far worse intentions. She stepped into her car, stealing a grin at the black-haired girl.

            Let the war ensue, Kagome-san, she smiled. We will see who the victor is soon enough.

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AN: Oh my, it's been a while. Sorry for the wait, but it seems I've once again bumped into the notorious writer's block. Dammit. __

Sorry for all you disappointed reviewers, but the Inu-Kag fluff has to be saved until next chappie. And don't worry, I already started the next chappie so hopefully, it'll come out soon enough. ^__^;;;;;

Ugh, I have to go really fast so no time for replies to reviews this time. *boo hoo*

Ja ne!

~meow-chan~