Disclaimer : Inuyasha is not mine. But not for long ! Why ? Because I'm free ! Free from the evil grasp of the Government ! Now excuse me once again, while I find room 302, where I will be residing. I don't understand why Insane Asylums must have so many floors !

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" Kagome, what's wrong ? You look like you just swallowed a sock or somethin', "

The 67-year-old woman slowly drifted out of her dark thoughts and turned to see who had interrupted her. She didn't know if she was thankful or not.

Why, she thought angrily, at herself. Why didn't I see it coming ? It was right there in my face and I missed it ! It's like fift ..

" Kagome ? " The voice was getting more persistent, and more worried.

" Inuyasha ? I'm okay, I was just .. wrapped up in my thoughts. That's all. "

" Uh huh .. " The half demon said in an uninterested voice as he plopped next to her on the bed. Stretching he asked, " So, what're we having for lunch ?! " He was always thinking about food. To him, the modern era was like living the life of the rich and famous.

" We JUST had breakfast Inuyasha. " Kagome pointed out, a smile forming.

" I know. I'm hungry, 'cos you didn't gimme that extra piece of bay-qen. " Inuyasha drawled, looking at Kagome purposefully.

" You stole her bacon in the first place, " Kagome laughed and slapped the young demon lightly on the arm.

" So ? She was being a spoiled brat, " Shrugging, the hanyou crawled to the middle of the bed and started bouncing on it.

" Don't bounce, it'll make the springs go bad. And don't call her a spoiled brat, I have never bought her a thing in my entire life, except some treats when she's a good girl. But that was only when she was little. "

" When is she ever a good girl ? " Inuyasha gave a yelp when Kagome had swung an arm at him, causing him to fall off the bed. " You make it sound like a evil boot camp woman. Okay, maybe you are .. "

Inuyasha had to dodge a slipper being thrown at his face, as Kagome began to smooth out the wrinkles Inuyasha had made on the bed. " She's a very good girl, you just don't care to notice. Do you see her insulting a elderly woman like me ? " She gave Inuyasha a look.

" Uh huh, wench. "

" Alright, go downstairs and I'll make you something, only if you promise not to jump on my bed anymore. Takes me forever to straighten out the .. "

Kagome sighed. The door was wide open and Inuyasha was already down at the kitchen, waiting for the ' something ' Kagome had promised.

As Kagome walked down, she could see Inuyasha examining the spatula hanging off the wall. Chuckling, she opened the drawer and pulled out a wrapped roll of cookie dough, the instant make ones. " What're you thinking ? "

" What're you making for me and what does this do ? " Inuyasha asked as he sniffed the metal stick.

" I'm making cookies for you, and that's a spatula, remember ? I use it to fry things. Food, you know, eggs, bacon and things. Hm ? Inuyasha, what's wrong ? Now it looks like YOU swallowed a sock. " Kagome arched an eyebrow at him and ripped open the wrapper, taking chunks of the dough out and putting it on a dish.

" UGH ! " Inuyasha spat out as he started to gag. Then he ran over to the sink, turned on the faucet, and started to rinse his mouth.

" Hey ! Do that in the bathroom ! And what got you so uptight ? " Kagome quickly put the plate inside the oven, closed it and went to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha surfaced long enough to glare at her, before diving into the sink again. " D'you know you could've been feeding me scraps of paint, sticker bits and dust ?! BLAH ! "

" Huh ? What do you mean ? Are you okay, Inuyasha ? " Kagome cocked an eyebrow and placed her hand over Inuyasha's forehead, who swatted her away.

" You mean you don't know ?! Kumiko's been using your spatula to scrape off all those stickers in her room ! UGH ! " His head popped up and gave her another glare, which disappeared when his head went back to the faucet.

Kagome frowned. " How did you know ? "

Kagome's frown deepened when she saw Inuyasha freeze. Even though his silver hair was in the way, she knew he was blushing. Typical Inuyasha.

" Uh .. shetoldme. " he said all in a rush while purposely holding water in his mouth.

" Spit it out when you talk to me. And why are you acting so strange ? I was just asking how you knew, " Kagome's tone dropped, she could feel her anger rising. " Unless there's more to this then .. "

" THERE'S NOTHING ! " Inuyasha cut off rudely as he turned off the faucet, to Kagome's surprise.

" Well then, " Kagome cleared her throat, cutting into the silence that had fallen between them. " Why don't you clean the spatula for me ? " Kagome strained a smile, hoping it would make the situation lighter.

And it did. Inuyasha's eyes widened and he pointed a claw at himself, causing Kagome to giggle. " ME ?! I DON'T CLEAN ! You're the woman around this house ! "

" Well, if you want to stay you better start doing some things around here ! Oh come on, don't look at me like that. It's just a small spatula; it's not a sink full of dishes I'm asking you to do. Unless, " Kagome smirked motherly, " You're afraid. " She loved teasing him, just like old times.

" ME ? Afraid of washing dishes ? Lemme at it ! " Kagome let out a laugh as Inuyasha yanked the cooking utensil off the hook and furiously rubbed the sponge on it in his attempt to clean it.

" ERGH ! " he complained as he tried to get hold of the bar of soap. " This thing is so damn slippery ! "

" Can't even take a little challenge ? " Kagome shook her head with a smile and pointed at a bottle of detergent. " That's for washing our hands, THIS for washing dishes. "

" Hmph. Dunno why it hasta be so complicated. They both clean things anyway. GAH ! " Inuyasha winced as he gripped into nothing. The bar of soap had escaped from him !

What's worse .. it landed in Kagome's hair ! Ooh .. he's dead ..

There was a moment of silence, before the elderly woman burst out laughing. She plucked the bar off her hair and smoothed out her bun, " Ooh you're in .. "

" I DID NOTHING ! " Inuyasha shouted and dropped the spatula onto the floor and held up his hands, as if surrendering. It was like in one of those western movies. Except more in the modern time – oh for pete's sake, they were in a kitchen.

Kagome laughed harder there and carelessly threw the bar of soap at Inuyasha, which was a big mistake, cause it went straight for his forehead.

Kagome gasped between her now uncontrollable giggles as the bar of soap knocked the almighty hanyou down crashing to the ground with a, " ARGGHHH ! "

" This isn't doing good for my skin, " Kagome sighed and rubbed her lined face after she had stopped her fits of laughter. Inuyasha was still on the ground, grumbling and trying to get up, which took a while cause he kept slipping on the bar of soap that was on the ground too.

Kagome smiled warmly at the hanyou and held out an arm to help him up, as she tried to laugh. Inuyasha saw through it and glared at her, but accepted her help with a smirk Kagome should've noticed. Because with a sharp and unexpected tug, she was down on the ground with him.

Kagome gave a squeal as she landed into the hanyou's lap, who let her slide off and made a run for it before Kagome could say the ' SIT ' command.

" Drat .. " the woman muttered under her breath, her smile still on her face. Inuyasha doesn't realize that she was as agile as fifty years ago .. " INUYASHAAAAA ! "

Dammit, I'm dead ! Inuyasha thought as he bolted into the living room, looking desperately around for a place to hide. He wasn't the type to run and hide, but he knew he couldn't face Kagome. She was the scariest enemy he ever countered. With that god blasted ' Sit ' command and ..

" SIT ! "

" Ka .. " Inuyasha's protest was immediately cut off when he dove into the ground behind the sofa, inches away from the soft cushions and actual sofa. Damn !

When Kagome came in, she looked around, confused. " Hm, now where did that .. AH ! "

Before she could grab onto something to steady herself, a hand had shot out of nowhere and had grabbed her ankle, pulling her down to the ground. Again.

" Inuyasha ! Ssssss .. "

" NO ! " The half demon on the ground shouted and clasped his hand immediately over the woman's mouth, to her surprise. He winced. Damn, why didn't I think of this earlier ? Oh stupid, stupid ..

While Inuyasha was mentally kicking himself about not thinking of shutting Kagome up when she said the ' S ' word sooner, she had pushed his hand out of the way and in a teasing smile, whispered, " Sit. "

" Wha .. ? " Inuyasha's eyes widened when the feeling of an all-too-familiar tug at his neck. But before he slammed into the ground, he had turned his body to Kagome, and unfortunately, fell right on top of her.

" HMPH ! " Kagome cried, her voice muffled under the mortified hanyou.

When the spell wore off, Inuyasha was about to jump off of the petite woman when a hand grabbed a fistful of his kimono, pulling him back down. He had to prop his hand onto the ground next to Kagome to keep him from flattening her. Again.

To his surprise, Kagome was mad or embarrassed. She was just laughing while she held his haori. " I-I'm sorry, I deserved that. Help me up. "

Inuyasha grunted and looked behind him to see if there was anything blocking him when he backed up, while Kagome looked at her feet, careful not to kick Inuyasha.

When the both looked back at each other, their faces were millimeters apart. It was close. So close ..

Inuyasha had opened his mouth to say something and pull away, but he just couldn't. It was like Kagome was hypnotizing him with her still bright chestnut orbs. They looked exactly the same the last time he had gazed into them ..

" Inu .. " Kagome squeaked helplessly. She couldn't help it but gaze into his intense amber eyes. She was lost in them again.

Suddenly, she felt like she was fifteen again, and she couldn't help but bring up her trembling hand up to his chiseled face and stroke his soft skin. He didn't move, and automatically, she began to close her eyes and lean closer to him when ..

" Um .. here, " Inuyasha suddenly said, causing Kagome's eyes to fly open.

Quickly, the two looked away from each other and Inuyasha pulled Kagome up, still not meeting her gaze.

" Uh, I think you should .. we should check on the cookies .. " Inuyasha mumbled to the ground, as Kagome closed her eyes and tried to block out the rushed emotions she was feeling.

" Um, yeah, we should. " Smiling weakly at the hanyou, who still wasn't looking at her, and got up. She hesitated, but decided to put her hand out, for Inuyasha to hold. " Come on. They're probably ready. "

He looked surprised at Kagome's warm gesture, but a quick glance at her smiling face just unknotted the strange knots his stomach was giving him, and he held out his hand to hold hers ..

" Hey guys ! You would NOT believe it ! School's closed today and I totally for .. got. " A voice floated in the hallway, and a messy-haired Kumiko appeared in the living room, freezing when she saw Kagome and Inuyasha.

Nobody said a word, and Inuyasha watched as Kumiko's eyes started to trail a little lower, to his hand, which was almost touching Kagome's outstretched one. Quickly, the half demon drew back, and looked at the ground, flushing.

" Kumiko, " Kagome quickly said, her voice a little shaky. " Glad you're home so early, um, why don't we go to the kitchen ? I made some cookies for .. "

" No thanks mom, maybe later. " Kumiko smiled, and Inuyasha breathed a silent breath of relief. Maybe she hadn't seen .. but why did he feel so guilty about it ?

Kumiko smiled a little more before continuing, " 'Yasha promised to help me pick off those stickers in my room that I've been trying to get out for so long. " Inuyasha froze. He dare not to look at Kagome, who he sensed was staring at him intensely. "

Kumiko, who was still talking, seemed oblivious. " Since the spaaaa .. err .. thing I used before to scrape the stickers didn't work. "

Unfazed at the awkward silence that had followed, Kumiko grabbed a surprise Inuyasha by the hand and smiled brightly at him. " Come on ! I still want some of those cookies ! "

" Oooook .. " Inuyasha found himself saying before getting pulled upstairs by the 15-year-old. He didn't even look back.

Kagome watched silently as the two disappeared at the top of the stairs, and looked sadly at the ground. She closed her eyes to block out the happy laughter sounding from upstairs and sat down on the couch, her fingers wringing her dress.

A sinking feeling settled into her stomach as dread took over her suddenly tired eyes. And just when everything seemed so clear.

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A/N : Look, two chapters in one day ! Hehe, hope this makes up for the lateness. Credits to Red-Rain69, my editor.