Hello
Chapter Three

"And out of all the penguins, Tacky was the happiest of them all," Inuyasha finished as Moriko observed the illustration of a penguin wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a giant bow tie on his head stand there proudly with several normal looking penguins in the background. She smiled and sat back, resting her head against her pillow as she stared at Inuyasha brightly. Even now, the little girl preferred Inuyasha to tell her a story instead of Kagome. And certainly not Kouga.

For the time being, Kouga was staying in the apartment. Since Inuyasha technically owned the apartment, thanks to Kouga, the man refused to leave. And due to their living arrangements and such, Kagome refused to leave as well. Kouga, due to sheer inconvenience had to stay until he could find a home for himself, much to Inuyasha's dismay.

"Daddy?" Moriko said quietly as she stared at Inuyasha. The man stood and moved towards Moriko's bookcase where he inserted 'Tacky the Penguin' into its rightful spot. With a gentle smile he made his way back over to Moriko's bed and sat down next to her.

He held out a hand and brushed away her bangs. Bright blue eyes stared up at him curiously and he smiled reassuringly. "What is it, sweetie?"

"Why… is my old daddy still here?" Moriko asked softly, her blue eyes dark with her confusion and curiosity. Inuyasha bit his lip and lowered his head.

"I don't know, sweetie," he admitted, wishing that he could have that question answered as well. He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead, pulling the covers up to her chin. The little girl smiled brightly and giggled shyly. "Don't worry about it; just get some sleep, okay?"

"Yes Daddy," Moriko said sweetly and closed her large eyes, snuggling into the warmth of her bed. Inuyasha sat for a few moments before standing and walking towards the door.

His hand strayed to the light switch and turned it off. He glanced at Moriko before kneeling down and flipping on her nightlight. "Sleep well, baby."

"Night," Moriko's soft voice came to his ears as he began to close the door. "I love you, Daddy."

Inuyasha felt his heart leap and quietly shut the door, pretending he hadn't heard Moriko's simple confession. His heart seemed lodged in his throat and he felt a feeling of longing wash over him. Moriko loved him. The sweet little girl had accepted him as her father and, even when her real dad came back, she still wanted Inuyasha. He lowered his violet eyes and a small smile drifted on his face.

"Good morning," Kagome mumbled as she entered the kitchen. Inuyasha looked up with a raised eyebrow and smiled softly. He turned around and grabbed a cup of coffee before handing it to her. Kagome blinked in surprise before returning his smile. "Thanks."

"Sure, and I've already made Moriko her breakfast," Inuyasha said with a small smile. "She should be up soon, right? She's such an early bird."

"Uh huh." Kagome nodded her head and took a large sip of her coffee. She let out a small sigh and eyed the man leaning casually against the counter. "What are you plotting?"

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha blinked in surprise, genuinely confused by Kagome's questioning look.

"You've never made me coffee before or made Moriko's breakfast," Kagome said darkly. "What do you want?"

Inuyasha frowned. "Am I not allowed to be nice to you?"

Kagome frowned as well. "Inuyasha, that's not what I meant."

"I know." Inuyasha averted his gaze and stared out the window, his lips pursed. It was sickeningly obvious that he was upset with her jabs and accusations but was too prideful to say anything about it. For an actor, he was very bad at pretending nothing was wrong.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to come off rude or anything," Kagome said honestly and looked at him, smiling apologetically. "You know how I am in the morning…"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said softly and continued to look away.

"Halloween's today," Kagome commented, deciding that a change of subject was in order.

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed and took a sip of his own coffee.

"You still want to come trick-or-treating with Moriko and me? I know you wanted to when she asked you," Kagome asked, her blue eyes observing Inuyasha.

"Wouldn't you rather have Kouga take her?" Kagome cringed at the jab and lowered her eyes. She couldn't help feeling badly about it all and at the same time feel justified. Kouga was Moriko's father. They had been engaged when he'd left. He'd come back…

"No; Kouga's busy tonight," Kagome said lightly, averting her gaze. "He's volunteering at a haunted house one of his friends is running for little kids. I'd take Moriko, but she didn't want to go."

"What's he being for Halloween?"

"He's a beast…"

Inuyasha smirked and took a sip of his coffee. "I asked what he was being for Halloween, Kagome, not what he is every day." He chuckled to himself and ignored Kagome's pointed glare. He set down his empty cup of java and let out a small sigh.

"I'll go check on Moriko." Inuyasha excused himself and left Kagome alone in the kitchen. Kagome frowned at the man's back. He'd been acting so different since Kouga came back. Not that she blamed him or anything. But then again, she wished Inuyasha would be more empathetic to her situation…

'Don't be ridiculous, Kagome. If Inuyasha's old girlfriend suddenly came back and started living under the same roof as you, I highly doubt you'd be all calm and rational about it. I'm such a hypocrite.' She took a sip of her coffee. 'But still… it would be nice…'

She shrugged and finished off her coffee, washed out the mug and set it down in the sink. Noticing Inuyasha's abandoned, empty cup, Kagome cleaned it as well. A few minutes later, a rather perky Moriko trotted into the room followed by a smiling Inuyasha. Kagome smiled lightly as her daughter heaved herself up onto one of the large chairs and began eating her breakfast.

"Today's the day!" Moriko said excitedly as she gobbled down the breakfast Inuyasha had prepared for her.

"What's today?" Kagome asked with a gentle smile as she sat down next to her daughter. Of course she knew what day it was; only a fool wouldn't be weary of the little girl's exclamations of happiness and barely contained joy.

"It's Halloween!" Moriko said and looked at her mother, horrified that she'd actually forgotten one of the most important times of the year (minus Christmas, her birthday and summer vacation).

"Oh, how could I forget?" Kagome said with a gentle slap to her forehead. Her daughter giggled happily, small chunks of scrambled eggs falling from her open mouth. "Sweetie, chew with your mouth closed. It's impolite to chew with your mouth open. You'll give poor Inuyasha a heart attack."

Inuyasha perked up when he heard his name, but soon realized she had not been speaking to him. He strolled over to the refrigerator (which was still bare from Kagome's attempts to hide their relationship, he noted sadly) and pulled out a grapefruit.

"How manly," Kagome said dryly.

"Keeps me healthy and strong," Inuyasha mocked with a smirk as he playfully flexed one of his arms. "You'd be surprised how healthy these little buggers keep you."

"Oh, really now?"

"Yes," Inuyasha said with a nod and tilted his head over his shoulder to cast her one of his charming smiles. "I happen to be sixty five and a half years old, and look at me! I don't look a day over twenty five."

Kagome giggled despite herself and shook her head, silently agreeing with Inuyasha. "I'm praying you're joking about the sixty five and a half thing."

"Of course," Inuyasha said as he sat down in a chair across from her with a flourish. "If I was, I wouldn't be this damn sexy."

"And the confidence returns full force," Kagome said dryly. "You know it's too early to listen to yourself gloat."

"It's not gloating if I'm stating a simple fact," Inuyasha said proudly and ruffled Moriko's unruly bangs. "Isn't that right sweetie?"

"Yup!" Moriko chirped happily as she finished off the rest of her food and began licking her plate. "Look Mommy, I'm a dog!"

"Moriko," Kagome scolded and snatched the plate from her daughter's tablemat. "Don't be so disgusting; act your age!"

Moriko pouted softly and gave her mother the puppy dog eyes. "That's not fair though, Mommy. I want to be a dog!"

"Too bad." Kagome rolled her eyes and smiled gently. "Just because you're being a dog for Halloween doesn't mean you get to act like one."

When shopping at the party store the other day, Kagome and Moriko had discovered the bare minimum they were forced to deal with. And while Kagome ignored Inuyasha's display of pretending to swoon over a Legolas stand-up, she and Moriko had taken the task of finding a Halloween costume that would fit Moriko and one the girl would actually wear.

"How about a princess, Moriko?"

"Oh God, Legolas, marry me!" Inuyasha's voice had carried from down the isle where the man was throwing his arms around the cardboard shoulders of the 2-D Legolas. Kagome had ignored him, though a small red tint had brushed across her cheeks.

"No," Moriko had said. "I've already been a princess."

"How about a Skeleton?"

"What? Thirty dollars? What a rip!" Inuyasha had continued to rant about Legolas. Kagome had continued to ignore him as best she could, however.

"No…" Moriko had said again.

"Oh Legolas—"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome had finally snapped and turned her gaze back towards the long haired man who had been drawing an unwanted audience. "Get away from that elf and get your butt—" She made sure not to swear in front of her child. "—Over here!"

Inuyasha, pouting and muttering, had obeyed her command and shuffled over to her. "You're not fun," he'd mock-whimpered.

Kagome continued to ignore him as she knelt down to Moriko's level and looked her daughter in the eye. "Sweetie, please, we need to get a costume for you."

"How about this one?" Inuyasha had asked as he pointed upwards.

After Inuyasha's simple and hesitant recommendation, Moriko had chosen the husky dog outfit and Kagome was forced to buy an overpriced costume that her daughter would only wear once. While they were there, Kagome had purchased a Medieval Princess outfit and her Legolas-crazy companion had purchased the official 'Captain Jack Sparrow' costume.

And now, Halloween was here and Kagome was feeling the oncoming dread of keeping her daughter safe and away from the candy her dentist office was going to be thrilled about.

"More candy!" Moriko declared hours later as she trotted down the resident's driveway and back towards Kagome and Inuyasha, who waited patiently. Kagome, like many years prior, had driven Moriko out to the suburbs because of her insecurity when it came to the city. She hoped she could one day leave New York City and instead find a safe, quiet home outside the busy street lights and honking horns. The city was no place for her child. Inuyasha shifted beside her and she glanced at him. His violet eyes were on her before quickly darting away back towards Moriko, who finally reached them.

"Look at all the candy I've gotten so far!" Moriko said proudly as she held out her plastic orange pumpkin for the adults to feast their eyes upon. She grinned proudly and jumped up and down, making her felt husky ears flop on top of her hooded head. Her costume was simple enough. A full body suit of white and grey fur covered her arms and feet, efficiently keeping the little girl warm. The hood tied securely underneath her chin and kept her 'dog head' in place. The mask she wore was pushed up her head so that her sparkling blue eyes could look up at the two adults expectantly.

"Why aren't you getting any candy, Mommy?" Moriko asked.

"Moriko, I told you last year," her mother comforted warmly, "Inuyasha and I are too old to get candy. It will make us sick. Besides, if we got candy, too, you wouldn't get as much."

Moriko nodded enthusiastically with this new information and darted out her furred hand, gasping Inuyasha's bare hand. "Daddy," she said happily as she began to drag him, "Don't you want candy?"

"Nah," Inuyasha said warmly, unfazed by Moriko's name for him and unfazed by Kagome's shocked look. The woman had obviously forgotten that Moriko addressed him as such. "I'm fine just watching you get all the candy. When I eat candy I get all sick and mean. Do you want me to be mean?"

Moriko shook her head overdramatically and continued to drag him to the next house, Kagome following close behind.

The couple watched the little girl dart up the driveway towards the already formed group of children at the door. Moriko was obviously the smallest one there and stood on the tips of her toes to see the man at the door handing out candy to children (and teenagers in some cases).

Inuyasha watched the little girl for a long moment before smiling. "She's so adorable."

Kagome titled her head to look at him and smiled softly. "Yes, she certainly is."

"She's going to be a very beautiful woman," Inuyasha commented with a small chuckle. "She'll be a guy magnet for sure."

"Hm." Kagome nodded in agreement. "She's going to be a cutie, all right."

"Like her mother," Inuyasha muttered and Kagome snapped her head up.

"What?" she asked, shocked.

"Nothing, l'amour," Inuyasha said absently. Kagome rolled her eyes. She was used to Inuyasha's random French phrases. He found it particularly enjoyable when he said such things and she tried to guess what they were. Majority of the time he'd just call her random things. Once he'd called her a piece of paper, a high school and even a cow. She'd hurt him for that, assuming he'd been insulting her figure and level of physique.

Ignoring his random exclamation Kagome watched their daughter skip back over to them and they continued along their way.

"Une feuille de papier," Inuyasha's silky voice traced past her ear. She smiled. Ah, he'd called her a piece of paper again. She giggled and turned to look at him.

"Well, be glad I don't know any foreign language," Kagome said before perking. "Oh wait, I know one. Baka."

Inuyasha blinked and raised his eyebrows. "You think I'm an idiot?"

"Damn, you do know Japanese; I was hoping you wouldn't," Kagome said with a frown.

"Well, I don't know much, but I am half Japanese," Inuyasha said casually. "I take it upon myself to know my native languages."

"Is French your native language?" Kagome asked sardonically, not expecting him to answer.

"My mother, I believe," Inuyasha said with a scratch of his head and began ticking off the numerous origins with his fingers, "Was French, English, Scottish, Irish and maybe a little German? I'm not sure. She was a lot of stuff, but mostly Irish… she had the brightest red hair you've ever seen."

He smiled wistfully and shook his head. "But, sadly, the only thing I inherited from her was her nose and cheekbones."

"Can't really imagine you with red hair. You're sexy enough with your black hair," Kagome said sarcastically before flushing and turning her attention back to Moriko. "Sweetie pie, we're only going to stay out for another half an hour and then we're going to head back, okay?"

"Yes, Mommy." Moriko pouted and let out a sigh. Her bright blue eyes scanned the contents of her bag with a weary gaze before finding it satisfactory and skipping on ahead towards the next house.

"I'm glad you came tonight, Inuyasha," Kagome said with a light smile as she turned to look at him. The pirate Inuyasha tilted his head, the small lock of hair he'd braided with beads clacking against the gold loop he'd put on instead of his normal small, silver loop.

"That's fine," Inuyasha said with a shrug. "I mean, Kouga wasn't around."

Kagome cringed, really wishing he hadn't brought up the reason for all their problems. He had come at the worst possible time, and Kagome felt torn. Kouga, the man she thought she was over, though she'd moved on from had just shown up when she was beginning to make grips with Inuyasha and her budding relationship. It was a pain, really. A really big, annoying pain that wouldn't stop aggravating her.

"Inuyasha…"

"Do you love him?"

His question startled her. She stopped abruptly and almost fell over the thick, long fabric her princess costume provided. She felt her heart leap into her throat as she turned to Inuyasha. He stared at her, his eyes unblinking and unwavering. The twin spheres of amethyst observed her silently, quietly begging for her answer. Silently begging for the answer he wanted to hear.

She felt her mouth turn dry, as if thousands of cotton balls had been stuffed into her mouth and left there for hours. Her heart raced in her chest like a race horse and she swallowed several times, willing the lump that had formed there to disappear.

Did she?

She bit her lip hesitantly and averted her gaze towards Moriko, who was at the back of a very long line of eagerly awaiting children.

"I…" she said softly, licking her lips and staring up at him. Her blue eyes stared at him, wishing that she could send messages with her mind so that maybe he would hear her sorrow and regret for what she was about to say.

"I don't know."

Inuyasha slammed his fist into the pillow he'd been trying to sleep on. Dark violet eyes stared unblinking towards the opposite wall. He hated sleeping on the couch. Obviously he couldn't sleep in the same bed as Kagome, not after what was going on. And Moriko's bed was out. Thus, the man was forced to sleep on the fold-out couch.

'At least it's a fold-out,' he reminded himself with a deep frown.

He rolled over back onto his stomach and stuffed his head under the pillow.

'Yeah, a fold-out with lumps the size of my head. Damn it, would it kill Kagome to air out the mattress every once in the while…? And why do these sheets smell like old cottage cheese?'

Perhaps her grandmother had died in this bed and Kagome had forgotten to take the corpse out from underneath the mattress where she'd hidden it?

Deciding he didn't have enough sleep, Inuyasha quickly dismissed the idea and, once again, rolled back onto his back and stared up at the ceiling where the city lights allowed shadows to dance across the surface like warm breath on a winter's day.

Instead his thoughts drifted back to a more depressing and slightly less appealing thought.

'How can she not know?' he demanded mentally. It wasn't the first time he'd asked that question. It had only crossed his mind about fifty times an hour…

He let out a sigh, ruffling the hair that had fallen in front of his face. His eyes itched from the eyeliner he'd used in order to better fit the part of Jack Sparrow. Minus a few minor details, he felt he'd fit the role quite well. Kagome sure seemed to think so… she'd kept staring at him.

So why the hell wasn't she sure?

It wasn't that hard to figure out. Either you did or you didn't.

'Well… that's not entirely fair. I did just suddenly spring it on her… and love is one hell of a complicated thing to grasp… maybe… she'd just try… to… oh damn, I have no idea what I'm talking about…'

"Even in my thoughts I confuse the hell out of myself," Inuyasha muttered and ran a hand over his face. He blew out another stream of air and closed his eyes. "I mean… she could have just given me a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. Now I'm in this suspenseful state of mind while she works out her damn mind! Oy vay…"

He paused for a second.

"And now I'm talking to myself! Terrific!" He snorted and knocked the backside of his head with his fisted hand and flopped back down on the uncomfortable sleeping arrangement. "At least she didn't say yes…" he muttered before drifting off into not-so-peaceful sleep.

Author's notes: Frequently asked questions about this story are answered in biopage. Go check them out, please so as not to get repeated amounts of rants.

And for the record, I am aware of how much of a bitch Kagome is. That shall be addressed next chapter.

And thank you, Allin656 for my typo (gah!)

Fanart:
(Note to any visitors: Be sure to read the journal entry before doing stuff…located on our biopage)

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