Broken Glass
Chapter Three

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The next morning Kagome's alarm clock buzzed loudly and the girl grumbled as she slapped it off and sat up. Rubbing her cloudy blue eyes, she peered around her dark room, hardly believing she was getting up this early. She didn't want to keep Inuyasha waiting today. That had been too embarrassing.

As much as she found Inuyasha's attempts to help her admirable, the schoolgirl soon discovered that she got a lot of unwanted attention with Inuyasha. It seemed that no matter where he walked, heads would turn in his direction. Perhaps it was because of his abnormal hair color, or eye color, his odd style of clothes, the way he carried himself or maybe the green converse he was wearing that day… but no matter what the reason, Kagome found that Inuyasha was a magnet for attention.

To say she was uncomfortable was like saying that the Pacific Ocean was a puddle of water. No matter what she did, she always found her cheeks a vibrant shade of red, her head bowed and her feet shuffling to keep up with Inuyasha, who successfully cleared the way to "protect her from obstructions during passing time."

After he'd rescued her from Naraku and his infamous taunting, Inuyasha had accompanied her to the library, where he'd turned more heads, and tried to be silent as she worked on her homework. He'd sat silently for the most part, but about ten minutes in he began fiddling with his pencil, flipping it between his fingers and waving it around like a baton. Kagome had watched him out of meek fascination before timidly returning to her work, not having the heart to ask him to stop. His pencil flipping came to an abrupt halt as it flew from his hands and hit a kid at a nearby table. Flashing his legendary smile, (as she secretly named it, for it certainly was one that stuck in your mind) he plucked his pencil from the student's hair.

The librarian, sending a death glare in Inuyasha's direction, didn't move towards him because a student asked her how to make copies on the photocopier and was ushered away before she could deal out her punishment. But it didn't stop there.

Inuyasha began fidgeting and it became obvious that he hated the silence that the library provided. His fidgeting became almost too much to handle and it began to distract those sitting around the tables.

Finally, the librarian had asked Inuyasha to leave, hissing softly that he was disrupting the learning environment. Kagome, feeling that it was her responsibility to go with him, stood up to follow him out only to discover that everyone in the library was staring at her. Every pair of eyes, individually staring at her and Inuyasha as they made their silent trek towards the exit of the library, caused Kagome to start shaking uncontrollably and she almost dropped her books she was carrying.

Once they'd left the library, Inuyasha, who'd had no ill effects when everyone stared at him, turned around and took her books from her before she could protest. "We have block next," he'd said happily and they began their journey to the downstairs of the school again. All of Kagome's classes, except for her math class (which was in a portable) were downstairs. Kagome found it easier that way, meaning she only had to go upstairs (where a majority of the hubbub was) once a day and that was only to go to the library.

A knock on her door roused Kagome from her thoughts and she sat up a little straighter, her hand once again straying for where her glasses once sat. Discovering that this was not all some cruel, horrible dream, Kagome swung her legs from under her covers and lazily opened the door. Blinking her eyes as the light of the hallway streamed into her room, Kagome peered at her mother.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled warmly. "Kagome, stand up straight," Kagome's back straightened a slight bit only to fall back down to its original placed. Mrs. Higurashi clucked like a mother hen but didn't press the issue. "I thought I heard your alarm, what are you doing up so early?"

Kagome yawned softly and rubbed her eyes, blinking them so that she could get used to the bright lamps outside the realm of her dark slumber. "I… just wanted to be ready today."

"Don't want to keep Inuyasha waiting." Mrs. Higurashi smiled knowingly and Kagome frowned slightly.

"That's not what I said," Kagome grumbled out but didn't protest further about the subject.

"I'll make you breakfast," Mrs. Higurashi said kindly and moved towards the kitchen; sighing softly as she went and humming a groovy little tune, as she would call it.

Kagome closed her door and prepared herself for the day after nearly blinding herself when she turned on her bedroom light. She chose one of her typical skirts, this one green with an orange stripe, and a simple white blouse. She retreated from her room and slipped into the bathroom she shared with her younger brother, Souta, and slipped a brush through her mass of black hair. For a brief moment she entertained the idea of doing something different with her hair and allowed a weak smile.

Pulling her hair away from her face she slapped her hair into a pony holder and left the bathroom. Walking down the short hallway, she greeted her mother with a warm smile as she hopped up onto the kitchen stool and pulled herself to the table, where she began eating the scrambled eggs her mother had made for her.

"Any plans after school today?" Mrs. Higurashi asked curiously as she cleaned the cast iron frying pan she'd used to cook the eggs.

"I work at the library after school," Kagome said softly as she poked at the rubbery yellow things on her plate. Her fork jabbed a particularly large one and she stuffed it daintily into her mouth. Mrs. Higurashi hummed in acknowledgement.

"Need a ride home?" her mother asked as she wiped down the counter. Kagome shook her head.

"I'll be able to walk, mama," she said softly.

Mrs. Higurashi nodded her head and went back to her morning chores. Kagome silently ate until Souta emerged from his room, his hair wet and his eyes droopy. She waved at her little brother, who grunted his response and slugged his way up onto the stool next to her.

"Good morning, Souta," Kagome said with a small smile as she bit into her egg. Souta eyed her.

He grunted his hello. Souta wasn't a morning person.

"Kagome, dear," Mrs. Higurashi appeared in the doorway of her room, where she'd been making her bed. "Could you move the laundry in the washer into the dryer, please?"

Kagome nodded her head silently and dropped off the stool, retreating to the closet that concealed her washer and dryer.

She made quick work of moving her family's clothing into the designated area and even started another load of whites, noticing the laundry bin was getting filled with Souta's dirty socks and smeared, stained white tee shirts. She blinked her eyes and rubbed them as a yawn pierced her mouth and she felt the familiar feeling of sleepiness trying to win its battle against her. So tired, Kagome nearly poured the bleach into the laundry basket but was able to catch herself before she caused unwanted damage to her clothing and possibly herself. Pouring the bleach in the appropriate spot, Kagome yawned again and dashed away before she could do bodily harm to herself.

As she approached the kitchen yet again, Souta's laughs accompanied by another's laugh made her pause. Poking her head around the doorframe, she was rather surprised to see that Inuyasha was there already, sitting in the stool next to hers, leaning causally against the counter and laughing at something Souta had said. Souta looked delighted and continued to speak, though the words were lost on her due to the pounding of her blood in her ears or the sound of her screaming heart deep within her chest cavity. Inuyasha laughed again and it sounded rich and heavenly. Not for the first time Kagome wondered why such a handsome boy would bother wasting time with her. Her hand drifted up and pulled the pony holder out of her hair and her hair fell limp around her shoulders. She suddenly felt self-conscious with Inuyasha there.

Inuyasha must have noticed her presence because he looked up, his golden eyes bright and a beautiful molten color, like lava; he flashed her a bright smile. He was always smiling, and though his smile was rather cute, it was also rather annoying how he could always be so happy when she always felt like crap twenty four hours of the day.

"Good morning," Kagome greeted as she sat herself down next to Inuyasha and poked at her cold eggs, debating whether heating them up was really worth it.

Inuyasha spoke, his voice laced with his amusement and laughter, "Kagome, you didn't tell me you had a brother."

'You didn't ask…' Kagome said nothing, just continued to poke at her eggs, feeling naked under his intense gaze. Over the past two days she'd grown used to that intense look always settling on her. All his emotions were pretty intense, Kagome had discovered from the time she'd spent with him, but that couldn't stop the feel of liberation she felt when his eyes averted away from her.

"Sorry…" Kagome whispered out instead.

"It's fine." Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like it's any of my business." She wasn't sure if he was affected by it all, because his voice was masked brilliantly behind a shrug and a wave of his hand, as if the information wasn't as important as he'd just made it seem.

"Your brother's hilarious though." Inuyasha jabbed a finger at Souta as if he was discussing a television show and the object of his amusement was not in the room hanging on every word he said. "He does an impression of my grandmother better than she does herself!"

Kagome felt her interest perk and she glanced at Souta curiously. He was grinning brightly and was flushed with pride at being praised by someone he obviously thought was cool. Kagome had a feeling that Inuyasha was going to be loved by her brother.

"Really, Souta?" Kagome asked, trying to talk to her brother through the bulk that was Inuyasha. He was a rather tall and skinny boy, but that didn't change the fact that he was a better door than window.

"Yup!" Souta said, his eagerness evident in his voice as he puffed out his chest subconsciously. He hunched over his plate and cleared his throat. Moments later, Souta's voice was raspy and parched as he spoke. His tone was thick with a deep New York accent as well as the traditional, stereotypical Jewish voice. "Oy vay," he said in what sounded suspiciously like an old Jewish grandmother.

"Absolutely flawless," Inuyasha grinned brightly and Souta flushed with pride.

After all that foolishness was done and over with, Inuyasha turned his attention back towards Kagome, who sat awkwardly in her chair. "Ready to go, Kagome?" He asked with his award-winning smile. Kagome meekly nodded her head and when he jumped off his chair she followed after him.

"Have a good day at school, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi called from the bowels of her room. Kagome nodded, though she knew perfectly well that her mother would not see this gesture and followed after Inuyasha silently.

The boy stuffed his hands into his pockets as he easily slipped into his shoes and stood awaiting Kagome's readiness for their departure. He was dressed like he always was, though today she noticed that he still worse his converse and refused to wear the heavy combat boots he'd been wearing when he'd stomped her glasses into oblivion.

"Ready?" he asked unnecessarily when she stood up and shouldered her knapsack. At her nod he stepped to the door and held it open to her. She hesitantly walked through the doorway and heard him click it shut behind him and, following her down the stairs, hovered close by lest she fell down the stair case of her apartment complex that led to the first story.

The trip to school was silent save for the few moments where Inuyasha would pick up his pace, stop suddenly and twirl on the thin layer of ice collecting on the sidewalk. Kagome watched him with a bemused expression as he tried to moonwalk over the crosswalk at the intersection and felt her cheeks brighten. People in their cars were staring at him while he was doing a poor Michael Jackson impression and he didn't seem to mind that people were making judgments about him. How could he do that? How could he carry on as if he hadn't a care in the world and not be affected at all by the stares so many people sent his way? Was he insane?

Probably.

Kagome followed him, her head bowed and her cheeks as red as a fire engine. She felt him still his attempts to humiliate himself and fall in step beside her. "Okay?" he asked, brushing a hand over her shoulder. Kagome nodded quickly and he was off again, skipping ahead only to stop and wait for her. She would have said he was so carefree he didn't notice the looks he was receiving by other pedestrians and people traveling in cars… but she knew that wasn't the case. Inuyasha was not a carefree kind of person. She could tell. He acted like it, but she felt that perhaps there was a shadow within him. Something that he was hiding. She wondered briefly if the rumors circulating school about him had any truth to it, but quickly brushed it aside.

Once they reached the courtyard to their school, Sango rushed towards her, dragging along a boy she recognized as Miroku. The boy had bright violet eyes and short black hair, similar to Inuyasha's length. "Good morning, Kagome," Sango greeted as she released Miroku and ushered Kagome to her side, away from Inuyasha. Kagome understood her friend's concern and paranoia when it came to Inuyasha, but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the obvious show of separating Kagome away from the boy. Inuyasha didn't seem to mind since he just shoved his fists into the pockets of his semi-tight jeans.

"Right then," Sango announced as she crossed her arms. She tilted her head to the side and gestured towards Miroku. "Inuyasha, this is Miroku. Miroku, this is Inuyasha."

Inuyasha smiled and nodded his head towards the boy and Miroku copied the motion.

Sango shoved an elbow into Miroku's stomach and he squirmed slightly, his nose scrunching up and a small chuckle escaping his lips despite himself. He straightened and waved a hand dismissively towards Sango before walking forward and jabbing a thumb behind him. "Inuyasha, can I talk to you?" Inuyasha nodded his head and followed Miroku, leaving the two girls alone for the time being.

"Miroku in one of your classes?" Kagome asked turning her blue eyes towards Sango's maroon orbs.

"Yeah, we're in PE together." Sango shivered. "And he's thrilled about chasing me around when I'm wearing shorts and a tank top." Kagome giggled softly despite the disturbing fact Sango had just shared with her and Sango smiled.

---

The following few minutes before the bell rang were spent making it downstairs to their Spanish class. Once they'd entered the room and done the necessary malarkey that came with a foreign language class they were off to their math class.

Inuyasha moved at a steady pace, Kagome having to walk faster than she was used to in order to keep up with him. They moved silently through the halls before he pushed open a door for her and held it open to her. She blushed hotly and walked through the doorway, followed closely by him. They walked outside towards the portable that their math class took place in, moving cautiously over the iced over walkways. Inuyasha seemed to have more issues than she, however.

"Converse do not have traction," Inuyasha whined as he nearly fell for the fourth time in the last minute. He screwed up his face and placed his feet down cautiously as he tried to help Kagome across the ice at the same time. The girl moved without much trouble, though she too took extra care when crossing the threshold. "Damn shoes," she heard Inuyasha mutter more than once.

Kagome gave him a worried look as they continued across the walkway towards their portable when suddenly a loud curse echoed against the walls of their high school. Kagome was able to turn around in time to see Inuyasha's feet fly up and his arms to fall out behind him as another curse ripped from his lips. Kagome stared in horrified silence as Inuyasha fell flat on his back and stared blankly up at the clear sky. She stood silently for a moment before laughter around them signaled that people had seen his wipe out.

"Ow," Inuyasha said with a frown. "Well fuck, that hurt like a bitch."

Kagome heard the laughter grow as people walked by as quickly as they could before they could take a spill like Inuyasha had. They were all laughing and looking rather amused, casting looks towards Kagome and the boy. Kagome's face turned red and she looked away quickly, feeling embarrassed for Inuyasha's sake.

However, the boy surprised her as he simply sat up and wiggled his but into the ice. Kagome stared at him in horror. "What?" he questioned as he finally stood up, revealing his whole backside and butt were nice and soaking wet. "This way I'll have an excuse to sit by the heater in the portable."

Kagome gave him a blank look, though her cheeks were still a bright red, feeling all the embarrassment Inuyasha seemed incapable of feeling.

He stood up, stretched and placed a hand on the small of her back, ushering her towards their portable. Kagome sheepishly allowed him to guide her along the pathway until they climbed the metal ramp up the portable door and he opened it for her.

The classroom was chilly due to its poor installation and students were huddling together, still wearing their jackets as they talked amongst themselves. A silence fell over them briefly when Inuyasha and Kagome entered; a stray giggle sounded and then the students returned to their earlier conversations.

The teacher hadn't arrived yet, but the T.A., Jenny, sat in her corner, correcting papers and only pausing to whip some golden blonde hair out of the way of her hazel eyes. Inuyasha smiled at her, as he smiled at everyone, and led Kagome near the heater, located on the other side of the room. Math class didn't have assigned seats this week because of Ms. Shim's absence. They had a sub for the rest of the week, which really didn't care much about assigned seats. Plus, with Ms. Shim gone, Jenny had a chance to teach if she so chose. Today, however, she seemed content staying in her corner doodling in Ms. Shim's grade book.

"Well damn," Inuyasha muttered to himself when he realized the heater wasn't on and he'd made his pants wet for no reason at all.

Kagome observed his turmoil and smiled sympathetically. "It will dry eventually…"

"I feel bad for the poor sap who's gonna have to sit here next period," Inuyasha chuckled dryly to himself, propped up his feet and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes and still smiling.

Kagome observed him for a moment before starting on the math homework written up on the board.

---

Her third period and lunch breezed by pretty quickly for the most part. As always, Kagome and Inuyasha spent the lunch in the library where Kagome finished all her first three period's homework. When questioned as to why she did this practice, Kagome clarified that she did it in order to have less homework when she got home.

Inuyasha hadn't seemed to have learned from yesterday, however, because his fidgeting and loud voice returned full force, earning glares from the librarians and several students working on projects at the computers. Kagome sighed and shook her head, fiddling with her mechanical pencil as she finished the last of her math problems.

"Inuyasha…?" Kagome questioned quietly, her voice coming out as a whisper.

"What?" Inuyasha asked, rather loudly. Kagome cringed and glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was sending death glares. They were.

Turning back to Inuyasha, she bit her lower lip worriedly and let out a small sigh. "Could you… uh…"

She trailed off and stared at the table with a frown on her face. Inuyasha, his attention and interest captured by the girl, gave her a questioning glance before frowning as well. "What?" he asked curiously.

"Could you…" Kagome repeated and trailed off. Inuyasha realized her dilemma.

"Kagome, if you want to tell someone what you're thinking, you shouldn't be afraid of it," he said, realizing that girl was afraid to tell him what she was thinking. "I'll always listen, and it's not like what you have to say is going to kill me."

Kagome bowed her head shamefully and blushed. "I mean… I…" She didn't know how to say it. His ostentatious display left her feeling embarrassed and stupid. He had a flamboyant way of presenting himself and he didn't seem to care that people were glaring daggers in his general direction. He seemed oblivious to it all. How could she explain that he was making her uncomfortable?

Inuyasha sat silently, offering no comprehension as to what she was asking him to do.

Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and smiled delightfully. "I have an idea!"

Kagome observed him. Last time he had an idea, he'd decided he was going to follow around for two weeks. Not necessarily a bad thing, now that she was semi-used to it… but still.

Before she could protest, the boy had captured her graphing notebook and ripped out a clean sheet from the back. Kagome stared in surprise as he grabbed her pen and placed the two things in front of her. When Kagome didn't make a move he shrugged.

"Write what you want to say," he explained. "And if you'd like, I'll read it when you're not around, that way you won't be around to be embarrassed." The way he could identify her inner turmoil was amazing sometimes. Kagome took the paper and pen and cautiously began to scribble out a sentence, her words loopy and clean. She was often told that she had beautiful handwriting.

Inuyasha waited patiently as Kagome folded up the sheet of paper and handed it to him. He grasped it and smiled. "See, wasn't that easier?" he asked kindly and Kagome nodded meekly. "When would you like me to read it?" he asked holding up the paper.

Kagome thought for a moment and then grabbed her book, opening it and stuffing her nose into the pages, hiding her face and sufficiently hiding the sheepish smile on her face. "You can now, if you want," she mumbled out.

Inuyasha nodded his head and opened the paper, reading silently.

His lips pursed and he cast golden orbs in her direction, causing Kagome to look away awkwardly.

Finally, he set down the paper and continued to look at her. "You want me to tone it down?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, though a small smile graced his lips. That smile alone comforted Kagome and convinced her that he was not mad, just intrigued. She wondered idly if Inuyasha was capable of anger.

Kagome nodded slowly.

"What do you mean?" he finally asked, rather confused.

Kagome gulped down a nervous lump that had formed in her throat and fiddled with the corner of her graph paper. "I mean… you're just so… um… loud," she guessed that was one way to put it. "It's… making me…"

"Uncomfortable?" Inuyasha asked, finally understanding. He smiled gently and touched the crown of her head briefly with his finger tips before pulling away and leaning back in his chair. "I can try," he finally said after a long pause of pondering.

Kagome nodded her head, feeling like she was a burden to him.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall and offered Kagome a tentative smile. "Well, block's going to start in a few minutes. Shall we go?" He asked. With Kagome's nod, he helped pack up her stuff into her backpack and ushered her out of the library, the distance between the librarians growing with each step. Kagome shouldered her backpack and drew it closer to her backside. The one thing she hated about her school would have to be the fact that they did not have lockers for every student. They had mini-lockers upon request.

They made it to their class just as the end-of-lunch bell rang, signaling that there was a five minute passing time. Kagome let out a dejected sigh and trailed to her seat, slugging down her backpack and plopping down into her chair. Inuyasha walked on towards his desk on the other side of the classroom. Because it was a block class, it was taught by two teachers and consisted of two classrooms joined together. Luckily for the two teenagers case, they were on the same side of the room which enabled partnerships should the need ever arise. Kagome pulled out her book and began reading until the bell rang.

Inuyasha returned to Kagome a short moment after getting situated at his work space. With a sweep of his hand through the silver locks peeking out of the beanie cap he wore, Inuyasha sat down on the desk in front of Kagome. Kagome glanced up at him briefly but either that had nothing to say to him. There wasn't really much she could say, she told herself silently, after making a fool of herself in the library. Maybe it hadn't seemed like a big deal to Inuyasha, but she felt like an idiot. But then again, she always felt like an idiot.

Clearing his throat in order to draw Kagome's attention, Inuyasha leaned down and plucked The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Kagome's hands, marked her page, and tossed it into her open backpack. Kagome was about to let out a timid protest before Inuyasha spoke first,

"Are you working after school, today?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kagome blinked in surprise, idly wondering what he wanted to know that for before nodding her head. "Yeah, until seven."

"Good, I'll come with you," he said with a giant grin and a clap of his hands. He looked rather comical—like a cartoon character— when he did that. She marveled for the umpteenth time at Inuyasha's stellar ability to appear carefree and light hearted. His composure about aspects of his teenaged life was astounding and Kagome wondered (and not for the last time) how he managed to look so happy.

"But won't your parents be worried?" Kagome murmured out, missing the sad look that passed over Inuyasha's eyes as she instead began glancing at her backpack, where her book stared up at her with its opaque cover and its bent pages. Her eyes stared blankly at the American classic until she heard the beginning-of-class bell and the teacher's try to call attention to the class.

Their lesson began with American Literature. Their teacher Ms. Bacon began rattling on about the great literature of the eighteenth century. Kagome sighed idly and ran her finger along the surface of her desk tiredly, already wishing the two hours she'd have to endure of this to be over. Her blue eyes chanced a glance at Inuyasha before averting. The boy was leaning back in his chair and lazily trying to throw a pencil into the ceiling so that it would stick. People were staring and giggling, but Ms. Bacon continued to rattle on.

"Ms. Higurashi!" The calling of her name snapped her from her captured gaze and she snapped her attention back to Ms. Bacon, who looked at her with narrowed eyes. The look soon passed however as she smiled sweetly and fanned a book over her face, causing a light breeze to ruffle her hair. "Will you please read the poem on page five-hundred and sixty-two for us?"

Kagome panicked. She'd forgotten to grab a literature book from the back of the room. She felt the familiar waves of embarrassment ebb over her like a giant tsunami and a chill to run down her spine. "I-I uh…"

"Please ma'am!" Inuyasha stood from his chair, his hands on his desk and his golden eyes sparkling mischievously. The sixty students in the classroom turned their attention towards the silver haired scalawag. "I have a protest against the reading material!" he declared.

Ms. Bacon gave him one of her patented withered glances and let out a sigh. "Do tell, Mr. Cohen." Ms. Bacon had a bad habit of addressing all her students by their last name. It was rather aggravating, especially for those who particularly despised their last names. Many children in the class hated their last names, Inuyasha included. He mentally cringed from the onslaught of proper family names in his general direction and let out a sigh.

Standing up straighter he pointed a finger accusingly at the material Ms. Bacon held in her hands. "This is against our American rights! You do not give us the choice of reading this material! What if we don't want to read poems written by some dead old guy who's probably kicking himself for writing such bullshit?" He ended his speech with a great flourish of his hand, causing a large gasp to ripple through his classmates, as well as some whoops of laughter and murmurs of agreement. Ms. Bacon stared openly at Inuyasha, her mouth agape.

"Mr. Cohen," interrupted Ms. Duncan from her end of the classroom, where she'd been currently grading essays students had written a few months ago. She too had a habit of addressing people from their last names. "That is enough out of you."

Ms. Bacon, breaking from her stupor, nodded in agreement. "You're way out of line, young man. Report to principles office this minute!"

Inuyasha grinned cheekily and rolled his eyes. "Oh god, no! Not the principles office; how will I ever survive?"

Ms. Bacon and Ms. Duncan both scowled and pointed towards the doors, where Inuyasha let out a mock sigh of disappointment and grudgingly stalked towards the door, a slight sway in his hips and his grin never leaving his face. He winked at Kagome as he passed and Kagome felt her face heat up.

Obviously Inuyasha was incapable of 'toning it down.'

But then again, Kagome acknowledged the fact that he'd done it in order to buy her time in order to borrow a book from her neighbor and turn to the appropriate page. For that, she was incredibly thankful. She glanced at the door as it clicked shut and meekly raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Higurashi?" Ms. Bacon sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Would you like me to read now, Ms. Bacon?" Kagome asked softly, as if afraid if she spoke louder she would break something.

"Yes, thank you, Ms. Higurashi," Ms. Bacon sighed and leaned against the wall, following along Kagome's spoken words with her eyes. She strained to hear the girl as she inaudibly read the words in the book. "So the kids in the back of the room can hear you, Ms. Higurashi!"

Kagome's cheeks flamed with embarrassment.

Inuyasha's sacrifice had been for naught—she was still embarrassed.

---

"Hello," Inuyasha chirped after school as he met Kagome outside of her science class. How he knew the location of her class was beyond her, seeing as how he hadn't had the chance to walk her there yet. Despite the oddity of his presence outside of her IB biology class, Kagome had smiled in acknowledgment to his greeting.

Once they'd made it to the outside of the school, Kagome was greeted by Sango and Rin. Rin, who was in Inuyasha and Kagome's block class and Inuyasha's art class, had already filled in information to Sango about Inuyasha's trip to the principle's office.

"So, how was ol' baldy?" Rin addressed Inuyasha; calling their big, bald principle 'ol' baldy' was an unwritten tradition at the school. "You didn't come to art class."

"That's because I was wooing, uh, ol' baldy," Inuyasha said with another of his flourishes. He gave Rin a toothy smile, who giggled and batted her eyelashes. Kagome stared in horror. Rin was flirting with Inuyasha… and he was going along with it.

Though Kagome hated to admit it, she felt sick to her stomach watching the two of them.

"So, Inuyasha, was your punishment extravagant?" Rin asked with a cheeky smile.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Nah, not really. I just have to clean lunch tables for two days. And I also get a warning. Whatever." He shrugged, successfully demonstrating that he really didn't care much for the task of making all the tables at lunch sanitary for his fellow classmates.

"Now, if you'll excuse me ladies," he addressed Sango and Rin. Placing a large, rough hand on Kagome's shoulder, he turned her towards the pathway for pedestrians that led off campus. "I must accompany Kagome to her work so that she does not come to harm." His chivalry was flattering, even if Kagome felt that perhaps Inuyasha was a little too old fashioned. But then again, a chivalrous Inuyasha was better than an Inuyasha who was a bastard.

Kagome allowed him to lead her away silently.

'Still… why would be bother helping me?' she thought pathetically to herself. 'He could be hanging out with Rin or Sango or some other pretty girl… but he just wastes his time on me.'

Kagome shuffled her feet in her attempts to keep up with Inuyasha's steady pace. His long legs taking one step caused her to jog two steps to go the same pace. He was so much taller than her it was shocking. Noticing her distress, he slowed down.

Kagome didn't notice, however, due to her own angsty thoughts involving the situation she and Inuyasha had put themselves into. 'Does he think I'm easy or something?' That thought angered her as she peeked at him with a sidelong glance. He was looking ahead, a smile on his lips, his golden eyes shining brightly and the wind gently brushing his silver locks away from his forehead. 'No, he wouldn't be so nice… he can't be acting, can he? But then again… I've never met anyone who's as nice as him…'

Deciding not to stress over it for the time being, Kagome allowed him to lead her towards the library.

---

Author's notes: Whew! Finally. Sorry that this is coming out later than usual everyone. I had so much homework I barely had time to write this chapter. But I figured a few days late wasn't too bad, considering some author's don't update for weeks. I try to update weekly. So anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll see you all next time!

GAAH! (falls over and dies) I just the stupidest thing in the world! I accidently posted a faulty URL thing under Kagome's artwork. Oy fucking vay! Uh…for the record to anyone who went that link before it got edited, I'm so very sorry about that…

Fanart:
-By me-

Inuyasha, Kagome and Jenny:
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)14073755

Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippou:
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)14151795

Inuyasha:
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)14363284

Kagome (I'm so proud of this one):
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)14363373

I'm so very pleased to announce that two people have drawn fanart for this story. And It's not me or my beta! Kyebu and Ijiness have been the greatest people in the world and have drawn Inuyasha and Kagome for us!

By Kyebu (the most adorable fanart ever!):
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)14013264

And by the oh-so-talented Ijiness. Gorgeous work:
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)14301571

So, anyways, lots of fanart this time. Please check out Kyebu's and Ijiness's, they're so beautiful and adorable. I love them both so very much and they have gorgeous galleries!