Hey there!^_^

When I mentioned the health book, it reminded me of this fic where Inu got his hands on Kagome's text book, and some pretty funny stuff happened.^_^ I'd tell you the name and author of the fic, but I can't find it, so maybe I'll tell you if they update again or contact me.^_^ We'll see.^_~ And yeah, I know; my story's an AU and that one wasn't, but there's no point in not having a little fun with it right.^_~*

As far as the story goes, yeah, they're fighting now, but a change will come about soon enough, so no worries..^_^

Oh, oh, my boyfriend is flying in todaaaayyy!!!! Woohoo!!! Now, if only I didn't have a massive amount of homework to go with that.^_^;;;

Gohanzgirl – Hi there!^_^ *giggles* Thanks for the review! About your question, the sit command works in this fic because of a bet they had. Whenever I was talking about a bet, that was it; I only mentioned what the bet actually was in the ying yang chapter though.^_^ Basically, Kag let him win a bunch of bets so he'd think that he couldn't lose, and then stuck him with the "If I win, you have to sit and bark like the dog you are whenever I say so until I let you off of the hook" bet. Muahahaha!!! I love the sit command!^-^

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol

Oh, and as always,

_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech

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Recap:

And with that, Kagome once again fell into a light slumber. She slept well for the rest of that night, dreaming of Oden, and saving her strength for a new task tomorrow. Whether she realized it or not, she was going to need it.

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Do the Math

Chapter 7: A Close Encounter of the Annoying Kind

Birds chirping, children playing, and... sidewalk wrestling? Well, it was the day, the day Kagome had to go pick up a few necessities. That's right, books! What were you thinking?^_~*

Finally out of school for the day, two friends trudged across town and down the city sidewalks, both completely exhausted and practically falling asleep on their feet. Sango and Kagome had picked a bad day to go shopping, not just at the bookstore, but everywhere. For some reason, that particular day seemed to be brimmed with people rushing, pushing, and screaming, all to make their way through everyone else and get what they needed. It was the end of a bad day for both of them, and, after searching all day, they had to go home and do homework, definitely not something to look forward to. Unfortunately, to do their homework they had to get books, and to get books they had to find a store they could get into. Upon reaching the last bookstore in town, they finally gave up and went inside.

Walking inside, both felt a slight breeze blow by them, signaling not only a working air conditioner, but also a nice rejuvenated feeling from them both. A small bell tinkled as he heavy door gave way in front of them, allowing them passage into the building beyond. The little shop wasn't as small as it had first appeared. When the girls had first arrived, they had almost turned back with one look at the place. Not only was it small, its dark pea-green walls and blue-lined window edgings hadn't exactly created the perfect buying atmosphere Both girls smiled, half in awe and half in relief. It was true that the outside's bland façade had tricked them at first, but now that they saw the place, neither truly believed that they'd ever go anywhere else. The store itself was actually about three times larger that it had appeared, and had two levels, not one. Its white walls clashed with the dark blue, almost black ceiling and carpet, but that made you want to look straight ahead, down each row. Looking around the sea of isles that inhabited the place, the girls soon realized that this shop contained genres they had never even heard of, much less thought of before. Where was a boat when you needed one? Noticing a set of stairs on the far side of the room, the girls decided to check upstairs first and make their way down. It seemed logical enough. Of course, that was because they hadn't thought that the bookstore would have a set of cashiers on the top floor as well.

The selection there was as amazing as below, if a tad bit smaller. As Sango ran off to one half of the store, Kagome took to the other. Every isle Kagome passed looked like a rainbow, leading her to her first stop of the day, the pot of gold, the manga section. How sweet it was. Honestly, Kagome felt as if she had walked into a cheesy after school special. There were so many colors and, really, the manga section always made her day. She felt great! Now, all she needed was the horribly cheesy music and some really lame, badly dressed eighties back up singers with no acting skills, and she could thoroughly enjoy forgetting that she had a life to live and, more importantly, homework to do. Unfortunately, her freedom was short-lived; she had the privacy and, hopefully, silence of her room at home for that. As of now, she still had a few more things to pick up before she had to find Sango and go home.

Sango waved as the girls passed each other in one of the later isles. There, she pointed Kagome towards her next stop, the textbooks. Now that Kagome thought about it, heading past a few rows of books, she realized that she didn't have school the next day. Sure, had known that earlier, but tomorrow she had her *shudder* tutoring session with Mr. I'm too sexy for the world. Ugh, did that guy have an ego! She could still imagine him from earlier, coming out of gym, walking around looking like a drowned rat, no mice there. He was a big, stinking, rat. And of course, he HAD to soak her homework, causing the ink to run and her teacher to call home. Kagome sighed and strolled down the next isle, observing the people as each picked out a novel particular to them. One man, in his mid forties or so, was looking over a shelf of shiny black and blue books with golden lining. Looking more closely, she realized that it was filled with quantum physics textbooks. Kagome shuddered, more math. Alongside the man was a woman who, by their interlocked hands, was supposedly his wife, or at least his girlfriend. Feeling another shudder roll down her spine, Kagome saw that the woman was looking through a health textbook. Now, normally this was not a cause for uneasiness, but it was when she happened to remember a time when Inu Yasha got his hands on her health book. That hadn't been pretty. As she passed the couple, she saw the woman point at one of the pictures and giggle. Poking the man so that he'd look, she smiled and they exchanged knowing glances. Kagome felt her ears tinge red as her gaze dropped to the dark blue plush carpet, and she walked away. Sweet as it was, it hadn't been something that she had exactly wanted to see.

Going a little further down the isle, Kagome spotted a rack of math books and added one to the pile slowly growing beneath her arm. Next came a history book, Buyo had done who knows what with hers, and finally, she walked by two isles, entering the last to pick up something for a book report she had to do. You know, maybe it wasn't his fault that her homework got wet, but he could've at least looked where he was swinging his hair. Sure, it's long, and she could never imagine him with short hair, but he could still be more responsible. Wait, why was she taking time to think of the jerk in the first place? As Kagome reached for the book, she felt a tap on her right shoulder. Turning to look, she barely noticed a pair of hands shoot out from the left and claim her book before she could even touch it. Kagome, surprised, jumped back, hitting something warm, solid, and definitely not soft. Turning around, she found the cause of her agitation, and in his hand laid the book she was now lacking.

"Inu Yasha! That was mine!" The silver-haired boy merely smirked and dangled the book over his head, taunting Kagome like a cat reaching for string.

"Really, well, it's in *my* hand isn't it? I don't see your naaaame on it anywhere." He briefly skimmed through the pages, flipping them quickly before he snapped the book shut and smirked down at her. "Nope, no name."

"That was mine and you know it!" Stomping angrily, Kagome drew her arms to her sides, realizing what he was doing. She refused to play his game, even as he wagged the above her head, and tightened her hands into fists. Meanwhile, Sango watched from the background, noticing, even through the crowds of people, what was taking place. Quickly, she raced up and hit the spine of the book from behind, knocking it from his hand, and catching it in her own. Kagome, taking the hint, went long and darted towards the cash register. It was almost as if fate had intended it to be that way; the line there was completely non-existent for the first time that day. Inu Yasha realized, albeit too late, what was happening and, as the book flew through the air, spinning and wobbling ever so slightly, dashed to intercept it before Kagome could get a hold of it. But, as I said, he was too late and barely missed it, allowing Kagome to jump up, catching the book while Inu Yasha fell flat on his face. As sweetly as possible, Kagome turned to the astounded lady at the register and produced her books. After blinking a time or two, the lady, actually about her age, rang her up and she happily paid for them.

Inu Yasha snarled and jumped up, "That was mine BITCH!" Kagome glared daggers at him, but before she could say anything, the lady at the register spoke for her.

"Excuse me, SIR," Kagome smirked and Sango tried to hold back a laugh, "but I do believe that she's already paid for these." The girl smiled and winked at Kagome, causing Sango to bust up laughing in the background. As soon as Inu opened his mouth, the girl started again; "And if I EVER hear you calling any girl a 'bitch' again, you'll regret the day you were born. You men never learn, you know that? Now get out of my store before I call the manager and tell him the trouble you've been causing!" Kagome never thought that she could laugh so hard. Looking around, she realized that they had made such a scene that the manager was there anyway, and most of the people in the store were watching them intently, most with wide smirks on their faces. Inu Yasha turned to Kagome, the amount of rage and embarrassment he felt indescribable, much less able to be physically shown. Oh boy, something told Kagome that their war had only begun. She was really in for it now, but hey, it served him right. Inu Yasha turned and stormed out, causing the crowd to cheer and clap. A lot of hooting was also heard, but by that time Sango had paid for her things and both girls had bolted from the store, laughing so hard that their sides hurt. Kagome 1, Inu Yasha, zippo. (Yeah, that's a lighter, but zero+zip=zippo.^_^)

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For the rest of that week it was a constant battle for the two; actually, it wasn't that tame, more like an all out war, and, as much as Kagome hated to admit it, they were pretty evenly matched. At the end of that week, things had only gotten worse. Sure, they never really liked each other, but it was amazing how much humiliation one could take in a day, and in a week, that must've been a record of some sort. Being Kagome's day off, she had left early in the morning to meet Sango and set out on a day of relaxation. Though confident that she'd win, Kagome didn't really want to drag Sango into their little war, and just wanted at least one day alone, shopping and hanging out with her best friend. That's why, for fear of Inu Yasha sabotaging something, Kagome met Sango in town instead of having her pick her up. They met in front of the library, as Kagome need to pick up a book that Inu Yasha had so thoughtfully taken from her in the school library the day before. I guess that was his idea of a justified punishment, and eye for an eye sort of thing. She bet that he was still all proud of *that* little achievement. Scoffing sarcastically towards her own train of thought, Kagome rolled her eyes, causing Sango to sigh heavily. She was getting tired of this little war, and it had only been a week.

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Inu Yasha lay on his bed, still extremely proud of himself. He was in such a good mood that he was reading the book that he had stolen from Kagome only the day before. He had had no idea of what it was at the time, and he still didn't, but he wanted to engulf himself completely in his satisfaction. Even though basking in his "glory", he had no intentions of bickering today. He wanted a day off, a nice, peaceful day of silent gloating and lying around. Later, maybe he'd go out with Miroku and get some burgers before he'd have to head off to work, but besides that, a nice, quiet day.

The telephone rang around about eleven thirty, waking Inu out of an odd dream. It was something about flying bacon, pencils, and walking hamburgers that wanted to be famous. They were tap dancing, singing, and swinging canes and top hats around. Nodding decisively to himself, Inu Yasha decided that he must be hungry and agreed to go with Miroku and get the aforementioned burger. He stood, yawning widely and pulling a few fingers through his tangled mane of hair. Truth be told, he was too lazy to brush it right about then, and let it be a bit tangled. It's not like anyone important was going to see him anyway right? Setting his book down, Inu set about his morning activities, starting with the regularly scheduled wake up bathroom run.

Coming downstairs, Inu Yasha told his dad where he was going, and stepped out of the front door, taking a minute to simply enjoy the day. He took a deep breath and smiled contentedly. Though it wasn't sunny, it was warmly overcast, not too hot and not too cold, creating a wonderfully natural atmosphere. He knew that rain would soon be coming, and, though he loved sitting inside and watching the rain, was just glad that it hadn't been drizzling on a day when he wanted to get out of the house. Feeling a light breeze blow through the sleeve of his brand new red over shirt, he shivered slightly and buttoned the few bottom buttons over his white undershirt and black jeans. Strolling towards his car, he happily drove off, keeping the windows slightly open to let the airflow trickle across his form.

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Hmmm... what did he want; what did he want? Inu Yasha tapped his foot impatiently as Miroku stared at the menu in front of them. While Inu busied himself wondering about how hard it was to pick something to eat, Miroku decided to look over his options carefully, but none more so than that cute girl behind the counter. He loved uniforms.

"Miroku, would you hurry it up?!" Turning away from the women working in the back of the restaurant, Miroku shook his head and smacked Inu Yasha over the head.

"Inu Yasha, how can you expect me to decide so hastily? There are so many good options." With that, he gestured to a few workers manning the fries. At first he had only been briefly glancing at them, but as his eyes roamed, he took longer and longer to pull away from each one, groping and touching each woman in view with his eyes alone. If he touched them with any more he'd be slapped, well, actually, if they caught him ogling them he'd be slapped too, but that's beside the point. Muttering something about stupid friends, Inu Yasha decided to take his chances deserting his front position and getting in the back of another line. Both ordering and receiving his food before Miroku, Inu Yasha set out to find a table, which, at that time of the morning, wasn't very hard to do.

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So... Kagome wanted the... with a Coke... a number... myself and maybe an... Sango stepped towards the drink dispensers while she waited for their order to come. Taking both medium sized cups, she set them before the ice lever and filled hers halfway, while filling Kagome's all of the way. After pushing the button and securely putting a lid atop her drink, Sango started on Kagome's only to be bumped from behind. Turning, she had forgotten all about the drink in her hand and ended up fumbling with it, trying her hardest not to let I fall. Fortunately, as soon as it slipped form her hands, it was caught by another. Sango looked up to see a blushing Miroku, rubbing the back of his head nervously while holding both drinks in one hand.

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He had seen her walk in with Kagome. Thankfully Inu Yasha had already been wandering around, trying to pick the best seat, i.e. the one furthest from any people. Because most of the customers were pretty evenly spread out, it seemed as if Inu was having a slightly harder time than usual, and that it was taking a slight toll on his mind, occupying it for the time being and keeping it off of other, less comfortable things. Oh yes, Miroku knew of the war going on between Kagome and him, and frankly, he didn't want to be involved. Truth be told, he just wanted to get out of the house and take it easy today, and it seemed like the fates were on his side, directing them to the very place his beloved Sango was destined to go. A quirky grin rose to the surface of Miroku's expression as he inched his way closer to Sango. Oh, she was so beautiful. Those jeans complimented her white tank top well, but then again, blue jeans complemented just about anything. Maybe he should bring up how the white brought out her beautiful eyes and silky raven hair instead. Hovering ever closer, Miroku shifted two drinks from his right to his left hand, and reached out towards Sango with his right. He may look at every beautiful girl, but groping was reserved for Sango alone... usually. He reached out, slowly at first, and then a little more, a little... oops, there went his balance.

Sango teetered, fumbling with the drink that once lay in her left hand. After a few seconds, she finally regained her balance, but lost the drink in the process, leaving it to tumble easily into Miroku's awaiting hand. Realizing that she'd dropped her drink, Sango spun around and stared in wonder at a Miroku who just seemed to appear behind her. Seeing the fire in her beautiful, cinnamon eyes, Miroku immediately began a hasty apology, but was cut off when Sango demanded to know what he was doing there. Before he could even get out a "this is a public place" type of smart remark, her gaze narrowed, zooming in and locking on his ever-widening violet eyes, daring him, just *daring* him to say anything of the sort. Instead, Miroku decided to clamp his mouth shut and, rubbing the back of his head nervously, was desperately trying to think of a response when the sound of yelling broke their thoughts. Never had Miroku been so happy to hear Inu Yasha yelling at someone.

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"What did you do, *follow* me?!"

"Me? All I wanted was a day off!"

"Yeah sure! You ordered the same thing I did just to piss me off!"

"What?! You weren't anywhere *NEAR* me when I ordered! I didn't even know that you were here!" Inu Yasha and Kagome were at the counter, one gathering what they had ordered, while he other coming to wake up a friend. If it hadn't been for Sango's little mishap, she would've noticed that their order was ready and, more importantly, could've averted the disaster that was coming. Unfortunately, by the time she and Miroku noticed what was going on, so had everyone else in the restaurant, making it far too late to do anything about it.

"Well..." Inu stumbled for a comeback, "you knew I would order that!" Kagome raised a delicate hand to hold her forehead lightly and sighed.

"Uh huh, sure Inu Yasha. I telepathically read your mind to find out what you were going to order so that I could order something that I didn't want just to piss you off. The world revolves around you doesn't it?"

"See, I told you!" Everyone in the vicinity fell over with their legs twitching in the air, and even the building itself groaned with the weight of that idiotic comment. "I bet you can't even eat the whole thing." As Inu raised his head proudly, both Sango and Miroku groaned; they knew what was coming.

"You want to bet? I bet I can eat mine faster than you can eat yours," Kagome countered, raising her head to meet his.

"You're on." Both teens began to savagely devour their food right at the pick-up counter. Every head, going, coming, and staying was turned to them, some in disgust, and some in fascination, as the food was either scarfed down, or flying onto the walls and the surrounding audience. After three minutes, they had both completely devoured their meal, and, as insane as it sounds, Kagome had won.

Miroku stared in awe, his jaw seemingly loose at its hinges. "Wow, I now have a newfound respect for women everywhere." (let's see how long that lasts) Inu merely scowled.

"Keh" Smiling brilliantly, Sango asked an employee if she could have her food put in a bag after all, and the girls walked out of the establishment, drinks in hand. After a few moments of silence, besides the sound of Kagome rubbing her stomach, Sango turned to her and smiled nervously.

"Kagome-chan, don't you think these little competitions are a little... well, childish?" Kagome turned, thinking carefully, and hung her head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right Sango, but he is such an arrogant..." From across the parking lot, a loud yell was heard.

"BITCH!" Wow, he was sure calling her that a lot lately huh? Inu was standing at the other end of the lot, being proud while Miroku shook his head in sympathy, whether for Kagome or Inu Yasha, she didn't know.

Pointing, Kagome practically jumped up and down out of anger and accusation. "Arrrggg, SEE?!"

"Maybe so Kagome, but you know what I think?" Was that a bit of sunlight hitting her, or was that a gleam in Sango's eye? Kagome backed up slightly, taking a different route through the parked cars, and sipping her soda warily.

"I'm not sure if I want to know." Sango smiled and shrugged, acting as if the next thing she said would be the most obvious thing in the world.

"I think you like him." Kagome stopped dead, spitting out her drink in pure shock, and watched the colors flow through the liquid as it hit the sun, then the pavement below. Her face became beet-red as she turned, making sure that Inu Yasha hadn't heard what had just been said before turning to her so-called best friend and shouting.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh come on, it's soooo obvious!"

"Yeah right," Kagome turned to Sango, a bright, mischievous gleam dancing about in her chocolate eyes, "and what about you and Miroku hmmm?" It was Sango's turn to blush.

"You're just trying to get off the subject of Inu Yasha, and it's not going to work." Kagome smiled and laughed tauntingly.

"Ohhh, do I see you... *blushing*?" Sango gained at least ten more shades of red as her eyes widened. "Why don't I just call him and..." The older girl bolted to Kagome's side, trying to stop what she knew was coming.

"No, no Kagome, don't..."

"Oh MIRrr... Sango!" With a sigh of relief, Sango thrust her hands over Kagome's mouth, successfully cutting off her call. After a thousand promises not to call him and a bit of laughing, Kagome was let free. "Fine, don't worry, but you know you like him." The two girls got in Sango's car and sped off. The city flew past them in a blur of bland colors and familiarity. In the car however, both were in their own world. Through the music, nothing could be heard, and so Sango, her steering wheel, and maybe her window were the only ones to notice a slight sound escape her lips as she drove, and the smile that decided to grace her presence.

"Maybe."