Disclaimer: sadly, I don't own the Inuyasha characters; Rumiko has that honor.

Hey readers, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, please be gentle. - Please read & review; constructive criticism greatly appreciated!


Unspoken Words

by: lady-rouge


Chapter 3

"Kagome Higurashi. Nice to meet you," she said, avoiding his eyes. She held out her hand out to him; her features not betraying her shock one bit though her cheeks flushed pink. Shaking himself out of the daze that he had fallen into, his eyes stiffened and he shook her hand politely; ignoring the tingle that shot up his arm.

"Nice to meet you," he said stiffly and snatched his hand away, turning abruptly to go sit down.

"I'll leave you two to get acquainted," Sesshoumaru said to them. And with curiosity burning in his eyes, he left them alone. Silence followed his departure.

"Inuya-"

"Don't call me that!" Inuyasha snarled. "You have no permission to call me that!" he finished, giving her an angry glare. This is strictly a business relationship, nothing else."

Kagome's eyes watered and she lowered her head. "I-I'm sorry. Gomen Inuyasha-san," her voice turned polite. "I did not mean to sound rude, I will not do it again," she apologized, looking crestfallen, not seeing the tender look that flashed in his eyes for a second before disappearing behind his shutters.

"You can go set up in the room connected to mine and I'll bring in your work later," he said

"Hai. Arigato, Inuyasha - Inuyasha-san," she corrected quickly and went into her new office and closed it gently behind her. Once she was sure that he had left to go get her work, she leaned against the door and sighed. She felt like she had run a marathon without stopping. Her heart was racing and she felt drained emotionally and physically. She had never felt like this before.

Dear God, he was here, less than 24 feet away from her and she didn't know what to do. He had grown taller since she last saw him and it was not helping her heart rate that he was exceptionally handsome.

She walked slowly to her desk to sit down and began to unpack. She quickly became immersed in setting up her office and did not hear him approach until he spoke to her.

"Here." Inuyasha's indifferent voice interrupted the quiet silence that had settled in the office. He handed her a set of thick manila folders filled with bulging paperwork. "I want you to make the changes I indicated on them and file them."

She looked up at him to see his eyes trained on a spot near her shoulder. She willed him to meet her gaze, but he did not.

"Hai," she replied and Inuyasha turned to go. "Matte," she called desperately after him. He stopped, but made no indication that he had heard her. "Can't you even look at me any more?" She asked brokenly. "I know you hate me and I know that I repulse you, but can't you at least look at me?" Her eyes pleaded at his back before turning towards the floor.

A movement jerked her eyes back up and she looked at him. He was gone. Tears sprang into her eyes and she blinked rapidly to keep them from coming down. Pondering on how she was going to make it through the day, she turned towards the pile of papers and started to work. It was better if she got her mind off of past subjects that were best left untouched.

Quickly inserting the last manila folder into its slot, she let out a relieved sigh. She thought that she would never finish, but now she was and a quick glance at her watch told her it was now 5:32. Time to go home, she thought happily. Getting up from her spot for the past couple hours, she stretched her cramped legs and sore arms.

She willingly cleaned up her desk, grabbed her bag and flicked off the lights before entering Inuyasha's empty room. He had come earlier into her room and had coldly informed her that he was leaving. She had nodded her understanding and he had left. After hearing him leave the room, she had looked out her window in hopes of seeing him. It had been a long time since she had last seen him and her eyes craved to see more of him. She did not have to wait long. He came out a couple of minutes later and headed to a sleek silver car across the street. Her eyes followed his figure as he walked to his car...where a woman was waiting for him.

The woman stopped leaning against the car and went up to him where she grabbed his arms possessively.

At that moment when the nameless woman had grabbed his arms, she had felt a stab of hot anger and jealousy directed at her. Kagome almost laughed in irony to the whole situation. She had no right to feel this way...especially after what she did to him...no right at all. Feeling herself falling back into the past, she pushed her thoughts away and walked out of the room.

As she walked down the hallway, the good mood that had died that morning suddenly came back to her and she smiled. Kagome returned Sango's cheerful goodbye as she passed the front desk.

"So how did your first day go?" Sango asked slyly. "Inuyasha wasn't too bad was he?" Sango laughed. "He seemed like he was in a bad mood when he passed me to go to a meeting this morning. Did you guys get off on the wrong feet?"

Kagome could only nod weakly. Sango didn't need to know the whole truth.

Sango waved her hand, smiling. "He's not a bad person once you get to know him better. He may be rough on the outside, but he's soft on the inside," she told Kagome before turning to answer a phone.

Kagome returned the wave half-heartedly and continued on her way, her cheerful mood once again gone.

The sun was starting to set when Kagome arrived at her apartment. She rubbed her temples wearily; feeling a headache coming on and went straight to the kitchen where she popped two pills into her mouth to relieve it. Swallowing them down with water, she grabbed the pizza she had ordered from down the street and went to settle on the sofa. She sat quietly for awhile; staring at the calm scenery until she could not stand to be alone with her troubled thoughts anymore and turned on the television.

After quickly eating her supper, she got up and decided to go to sleep. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. As she passed her phone, she noticed the red light blinking to indicate a message. She went over to it and pressed play. A feminine voice filtered through the room:

"Kagome darling, it's your mother. I was just calling to check up on you and see if your job went well. If you have time, call and tell me all about it. Goodbye dear and we all love you."

Kagome smiled and reached down to call her mom. The phone rung 3 times before it was picked up.

"Higurashi-san speaking," a voice came on.

"Mama, it's me, Kagome. I just got your message."

"Oh hello Kagome. How are you doing? Work isn't too stressful, is it?"

Kagome was quick to assure her. "Oh course not mama. It's pretty easy and it's not that far away."

"Good." Her mother sounded relieved. "Are you still getting headaches?"

"Yeah, but they're not that painful if I eat medicine to sooth it. How are Souta and granpa doing? Souta's heart isn't overreacting, is it?"

"No, everything's all right over here though the doctors are saying that Souta will very likely receive his heart soon."

"That's great mama. I just sent you some money from my last check and with this new job, we will soon have the full amount."

"I know Kagome, and we're all very grateful for all your help. It's just that we all feel like you're working too hard..."

"Don't say such a thing mama," she scolded her mother gently, "I owe you guys more than I can repay."

Her mother laughed, but it soon turned sad. "No, if it weren't for your father and me, you and Inuyasha would still be with each other today. If you would only let me find him and contact him in America and explain it all to him, he will not hate you anymore-"

"I said it's okay mother, really," Kagome interrupted her, becoming a little upset. "I've told you that we probably would have broken up by the end of high school anyways. Anyways, I don't regret letting him go, I don't even love him anymore."

Her mother sighed sadly, "Alright dear, whatever you say. Goodnight sweetheart and sweet dreams."

"'Night mama and tell Souta and granpa that I said hi."

"Okay, take care and call me if you need anything."

The phone clicked and Kagome stared at it for a while before setting it down. She missed them very much even though they were only 5 hours away. She would have to go visit them soon.

She walked into her bedroom and grabbed the picture of her family from her nightstand and sat down with it. It was of her mom and dad, granpa, her and baby Souta. She gazed at their happy carefree expressions and sighed. She remembered that time clearly. They had just gone to the park and everyone had been in such a good mood that day. She only wished it had stayed that way. But it hadn't. It had changed when the doctors had found out that Souta's heart was too weak. Her dad had gotten so worried and stressed out with the financial problems and trying to make ends meet.

Her eyes misted as she remembered how all the pain in her life had started from that. But she would not blame anyone for her sadness. If she had to blame anyone, it would be herself.

After all, it was her who had made the decision to dump Inuyasha for Naraku.

----

----

----

----

TO BE CONTINUED

Readers, tell me what you think! - Read and Review.