Inu's POV!

Remember being a kid? Snot-nosed little brat who whined when you couldn't get your way. Too old to act 'childish', but too young to be a grown-up. Yeah, you got to be lazy and slack off in school (not that I would classify kindergarten as 'school'.), but that didn't make up for the fact that you weren't one of 'them'. The proud, the tall, the all-knowing 'big kids'. Zits and hormones aside, they seemed to be the Gods of the school bus, and it was the best privilege in the world to be blessed with their almighty presence on the way home. They got to go where they wanted, when they wanted, without using the 'buddy system'. Yeah, it seemed like you could only learn the secrets of the universe if you had a face full of pimples and the freakiest sex drive ever. But, some lessons can't be learned by those horny psychos. Some lessons you have to be a kid to understand…

"Sorry, sweetie!" my mom shouted out the car window.

Late for my first day in a new school, how wonderful. I barely had any time to introduce myself to my new teacher before I hopped on the bus to go home. The teacher wasn't too pleased with my less-than fashionably late appearance, but she said she'd let it slip…just this once. I made a mental note to remind mom that school started at ten, not two. I was nearly run over on my way out by some 'big-boned' kid, who shouted something about being a fatty-head. Honestly, my first thought was 'Take a look at yourself, buddy.' After the crowd had died down, I clamored onto the bus, making sure I was the last one. (Didn't want to get squished, me being under four feet tall.)

The first thing that caught my eye was a girl about my age, mumbling incoherently to herself and wiping at her face. She looked completely miserable, sitting all alone. For reasons unknown, I immediately felt my heart squeeze in my chest. I brushed off the feeling, blaming it on a bad happy meal, and walked over.

"Dummy…I am not a fatty head…" I heard her mutter. Now I had a vague idea of what happened.

"Are you okay?" I squeaked out. Great, I wasn't even a big kid and already my voice was sounding weird.

She just stared at her feet, kicking them against the seat before her. The lights from her shoes reflected in her warm brown eyes, making her seem a bit more cheerful. My heart squeezed again, though it wasn't a bad feeling, I had to admit. I silently sat beside her and joined in the staring…briefly, I wondered how the heck her shoes had been able to flash like that.

"I like your shoes." I commented. Finally, she looked up, and I was greeted with the deepest brown eyes I had ever seen. Without the tears hiding her face, she looked pretty cute…though I would never admit it, seeing as she may have cooties. Lucky for me, I had my cootie shot at my last school.

"Thanks. I like yours too." She said. I was pretty proud of my awesome, state-of-the-art Power Rangers sneakers, and being complimented only made me like her more.

I introduced myself, as any gentleman should. I found out her name was Kagome, and pretty soon we were chatting about anything and everything. How yucky vegetables were, how school was, the mysteries of why Jell-O wiggled… I'd grown rather comfortable talking to her, and casually asked what happened earlier that had upset her so much. Immediately the tears returned to her eyes, and my heart squeezed once again. Stupid organ…

She tearfully retold the tale of how she had unjustly been accused of being a big fat fatty-head. I remembered the big-boned brat, and felt sympathetic toward her. I had gotten plenty of insults due to my odd hair and eyes, and could relate to her situation…though I had no clue what a fatty-head was, I felt compelled to comfort her.

"Don't cry." I said, as I grabbed her hand, remembering what helped mommy when she remembered daddy. I'd had plenty of experience with crying girls (if you could classify a mom as a girl…I was still dumbfounded about that one.), seeing as my dad had died recently. "You're not a fatty-head. He was just a meanie."

She paused for a moment, before smiling and replying.

"Thanks." She said. Simple, yet it made my heart squeeze again. I knew I was going to blush, so I turned my head away and snorted, brushing it off and trying to be cool. She giggled softly, and for some reason, I held her hand tighter, as if trying to protect her from all the big-boned brats in the world. Still, I was glad as heck I had my cootie shot…

TEN YEARS LATER

"See ya later, 'Yasha!" Miroku yelled as he sped off on his bike. And no, not a motorbike, merely a five-speed mountain bike mainly held together by paint and sheer willpower. Yeah, he was lame, as every other sophomore had either his license or at least a learner's permit… but he was still my friend.

I turned the corner to head home after another snooze-filled day at school, when I saw her. Kagome, looking rather dejected, slumped onto a bench and sighed deeply. I hated seeing her so sad, and my heart squeezed again, for the millionth time. Strange, how even after ten years, she still had that effect on me… though lately it had been more often, and I knew what it meant now. I still refused to admit it, though. Cooties were no longer a factor, but I knew she only thought of me as a 'brother'….damn, I hate that word…

Well, sad Kagome plus lots of spare time equaled only one thing….Inuyasha to the rescue!

"Mind if I join ya?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. She grinned and stretched across the bench, taking up as much space as she could with her tiny body.

"I dunno, there's not much room here." She joked. I chuckled and made a move to sit on her legs, but she moved them away before I could.

"Nother one gone, eh?"

I knew she'd been having 'relationship problems' with dweebs her other friends had set her up with. Though she refused to admit it, I knew it hurt her. She'd always been teased for being a geek, though I couldn't see why. We'd both grown noticeably over the past ten years, as could be expected. But she had become more beautiful by the day. 'She's easily the prettiest in the class…' I thought, but stopped myself. I knew what path I was going down, and it wasn't good. You weren't supposed to feel this way about your friend.

"Yep." She sighed. She did that way too much…. "Maybe I'm just better off alone. Didn't like guys much, anyway." she laughed, though nothing was funny.

"Nah, don't say that. You'll find someone as nerdy as you." I joked. She whacked me on the arm and laughed, but I didn't care that she'd hit me. At least she was back to normal. "Abusive, aren't we?"

"You know it." she laughed. I had skillfully grabbed her hand during our joking, and mentally complimented myself on being so cool…right before I realized how dumb I was for complimenting myself.

"But trust me, there's someone there. Maybe closer than you think." Damn, that was hard to say! Hoping she got my drift without me being too obvious, I waited for her response.

"Trying to say somethin' there, Yasha?" she laughed. Yep, she'd gotten it. I blushed and turned away, still nervous as I was in kindergarten. She merely laughed harder.

"No, just sayin…" I mumbled. Man, I suck at this stuff…

"I know, I know. Thanks for cheering me up." She smiled, and my heart felt like it was in a vice. Once again I wondered why we even had the stupid organs, before remembering that it was necessary to live. I blushed and squeezed her hand slightly, a silent reassurance that I'd always protect her from the 'big-boned bastards' (the brats had evolved.) of the world. Yeah, I was just as wussy as ever around her…

Though I can't say I don't like this feeling…