DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Meeting Shippo

"Kagome," Inuyasha whined. "Would you please hurry up? You've spent nearly three hours getting ready."

"Don't exaggerate Inuyasha," Kagome retorted. "I've only taken up half an hour. Besides, it's not as if you are that eager to watch the tournament are you? Or are you just eager to see the other girls?"

"Of course not!" Inuyasha protested violently. "You know you're the only one for me!"

"You know, Inuyasha, that was really lame and corny," Kagome teased him as Inuyasha pulled her into an embrace. They shared a quick kiss and were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Kagome disengaged herself from Inuyasha and headed to the door. She opened it to reveal Miroku with a red handprint on his face. Kagome understood the reason behind the handprint and decided not to comment on it.

"Are the others waiting for us?" Kagome asked Miroku.

"Yeah," Miroku replied casually then looked over at Inuyasha. "We're waiting for you two lovebirds to finish your private moment and grace us with your presence."

Kagome blushed but Inuyasha just growled at his friend. Kagome then headed to the elevator and Inuyasha followed close behind. When he walked past Miroku at the doorway he leaned in to whisper, "You're just jealous Miroku, because Sango isn't giving you any."

Inuyasha smirked at Miroku's embarrassed face. He then grabbed Kagome's hand and Miroku followed them to the lobby.

"Hey you guys!" Amber greeted them. "Are you guys all ready now?"

The group nodded their head and went inside the limo. The ride was unusually quiet. Kagome was resting on Inuyasha's shoulders while Rin was snuggling up to Sesshomaru. Sango was giving Miroku death glares to warn him off and Amber and her friends were chatting about their homes in America.

"Hey," Inuyasha interrupted the girls' conversation. "Isn't Sakura a Japanese name? And well...didn't you say that you were Chinese?"

Sakura looked at Inuyasha and giggled. Inuyasha just grumbled at Sakura's actions. "My grandpa is Japanese. He adopted my father when my father was twelve years old. Both my mom and dad are Chinese, but they allowed my grandpa to name me."

"Oh," Inuyasha muttered then turned his attention back to Kagome. Sakura only smiled at Inuyasha and Kagome. They looked so cute together.

They arrived at the tournament after half an hour. "Ok you guys," Amber announced as she passed around tickets. "These are tickets so that we can go in to get a seat."

"I want to buy that fan over there!" Kagome squealed happily. Both Sango and Rin joined Kagome on a shopping spree. Each guy went to their respective girlfriends while Amber, Arissa, and Sakura went to save their seats.

"You really want that fan Kagome?" Inuyasha asked sweetly. The fan was gold and decorated with a red phoenix. "I'll buy it for you if you give me something in return."

Kagome frowned when Inuyasha decided that he wanted something. "I don't have anything to give you Inuyasha."

"Well, how about a kiss?" Inuyasha suggested slyly.

"Right here in public?" Kagome asked him shocked.

"Ok fine, but when we get back to the hotel room, you owe me a kiss," Inuyasha compromised. Kagome nodded her head and Inuyasha paid for the fan. They then went to join their friends.

Meanwhile, Sango and Rin were looking at some hair clips that were in a different booth. Rin decided that she wanted one that was decorated with three red roses lined up consecutively. Sango wanted one that was carved in the shape of a golden dragon. Miroku and Sesshomaru decided to pay for their girlfriends' purchases and returned to the others.

Inuyasha and Kagome were heading to their seats when a boy about the age of seven and clad in a green ninja outfit ran and bumped into Kagome. Kagome lost her balance and fell, but Inuyasha caught her before she made contact with the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" Inuyasha growled at the kid. "You knocked my girlfriend over!"

The little boy felt guilty and looked down. "I'm sorry, my name is Shippo," he apologized. "I didn't mean to run into you. I was trying to get away..."

He was interrupted by a laugh behind his back. Four boys who looked about thirteen had snuck up behind Shippo. They looked as if they were ready to bully Shippo. Shippo began to shake and made an attempt to hide behind Inuyasha and Kagome.

"Hey Shippo," one of the boys taunted. "Why don't you get your wimpy butt over here?"

Shippo turned pleading eyes to Inuyasha and Kagome. Kagome nodded her head towards the boys and Inuyasha understood the message. He didn't know why he was helping Shippo, but he decided that it was unfair of the boys to pick on Shippo that way.

"Hey, why don't you go pick on somebody your own size?" Inuyasha retorted.

"Mind your own business," the same boy who had taunted Shippo earlier spat out at Inuyasha. "Don't go messing in other people's affairs."

"Oh, and you guys are so great?" Inuyasha snarled back. "You guys are so amazingly powerful, so much, that you need all four of you guys to handle a kid that is half your size?"

"So, does it matter? We can take you on!"

Inuyasha smirked and cracked his knuckles. He was ready to pound some sense into these kids. Before he could move closer, Kagome put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't be too hard on them."

Inuyasha nodded and moved in. His movements were so quick that the boys did not have time to register it. Before they knew it, they were sprawled all over the ground.

Shippo looked at Inuyasha with an amazed look on his face. Kagome ran to Inuyasha and hugged him.

"Hey Shippo," Inuyasha called out to the boy. "Why were they picking on you?"

"They say that I'm too small to be in the tournament," Shippo answered sadly. "My father wants me to be a great fighter, so that I won't be bullied around anymore. He then signed me up for this tournament and I don't really like to fight."

Kagome patted him soothingly on the back. "It's alright Shippo. You can fight really well, I'm sure."

Shippo looked up at Kagome and hugged her. Inuyasha felt a bit jealous at Kagome hugging another male, even though it was a kid.

"Come on," Inuyasha growled. "We'd better get you back into the tournament."

Shippo returned to his position and Inuyasha and Kagome went to join their friends.

"What took you guys so long?" Rin asked them.

"We ran into some kid and beat up the kids that were bullying him," Inuyasha answered simply. They all sat down and proceeded to watch the competition.

Please Read & Review!

I know that this is a short chapter and I'm sorry. Since school is about to start for me, I will only be able to update two to three times a week. I'm really sorry about this but I won't be able to update everyday the way I used to. Sorry.

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