Broken Glass
Chapter Six

-

Saturday dawned cloudy and grey— though the rain had stopped for the time being. Lying in bed, trying not to get the light to enter through closed eyes, a pillow was pulled over a mop of messy hair and a small groan left the sleeper's lips. Turning left and right in an attempt to get comfortable once again it soon became aware that it was hard to breathe when your head was stuffed under a pillow.

Finally, with the need of oxygen and the inability to fall back into dreamland, the sleepy teenager sat up with the pillow still perched on the crown of his head. Golden eyes blinked and blurry vision focused. Molten orbs focused on a girl sitting patiently on a chair near his bed.

Faster than lightning he was sitting upright, pillow flying form his head and blankets tangling around his legs. The boy stared at the girl in utter shock before his head whipped to the clock at his bedside table. Reading the digital numbers and determining it was nine thirty, he whipped his head back towards Kagome, who had her head bowed and a smile on her face.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, albeit fearful of what he would say about her being in his room while he slept.

His hand darted to a cluster of plastic bracelets on his bedside table before he slipped them onto his wrist. Once satisfied that they were in the proper place, he turned his head and smiled sheepishly. "I didn't know you were coming so early," he apologized.

Kagome shuffled her feet against his hardwood floor. Her hands tenderly stroked the ears of one of his cats as they sat daintily in her lap. He recognized it as Midnight. The cat was dozing happily in the girl's small lap and purring softly. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind," he said quickly, a smile still present on his lips. Kagome seemed delighted by his answer because she turned around in her chair, causing a slightly disappointed black and white cat to dart away, before picking up a tray.

"I made you breakfast," she explained as she plopped the wooden tray on his lap. He straightened himself instantly and rested his back against the headboard of his bed, staring down at the adorable breakfast Kagome had made. It wasn't anything particularly special; just sunny side up eggs, a bagel, and a glass of orange juice with a bowl of mixed fruit on the side that adorned the tray.

"When did you make this?" he asked.

"While you were sleeping," she said, fidgeting under his intense gaze. Even with sleep hazing the beautiful golden depths, he still managed to look right through her. Kagome frowned slightly when he continued to stare. "I'm sorry there isn't any meat. I couldn't remember what type of food isn't kosher and what is…"

"Well, we're not allowed to eat pig," Inuyasha explained and smiled. Kagome nodded. "And we can't eat dairy with meat. So you did well, Kagome."

She seemed extremely delighted by his praise and blushed proudly. "I even got you a bagel, since Jewish people like bagels…" She knew that saying 'Jews' was not some racial slur or rude, but it still sounded rude to her so she tried to avoid it.

He laughed. "That's just a stereotype, Kagome," he explained and Kagome tensed. He laughed again. "But I do love bagels." To prove his point he picked one of the slices up and bit into it.

Silence fell between the two as Inuyasha ate his food and offered some of his fruit to Kagome. She shyly took out a piece of a Clementine orange before popping it into her mouth. When the food was all gone and eaten, Inuyasha helped Kagome down the stairs and did the small amount of dishes.

"You know, it's funny," Inuyasha said absently as he washed out the bowl that the fruit had been held in. Kagome glanced at the back of his head from her position at the kitchen table. "My bubbie used to be the greatest cook in the world. We used to joke about how if she asked you if you were hungry at three in the morning she'd still make whatever you want. But after she got in a pretty bad accident…" His scrubbing became almost furious as he tried to get invisible gunk off the bowl. Though Kagome couldn't see, his knuckles turned white and his golden eyes clenched shut with his suppressed anger. After the moment passed he was back to normal, however. "She lost her eye and now has a limp. After that… I don't know, she just stopped cooking all together and whenever she tried she was horrible at it."

"I'm sorry," Kagome whispered.

"It's not your fault," he said, a thin trace of hurt laced in his voice. That, too, was quickly gone and went unnoticed by the girl in the kitchen.

An uncomfortable silence fell again. A few minutes later, Inuyasha was done with the mundane task of washing dishes and turned towards her with a brilliant smile. Wiping cold, wet hands on the fabric of his pajama bottoms he turned to her with a sheepish smile. "Let me go get changed and we can go do something, okay? You can wait in the family room." He pointed out the doorway of the kitchen and down a small branch of the hallway. "It's down there. First door on the right."

Kagome nodded and followed him out of the kitchen. Going their separate ways, Kagome glanced over her shoulder, watching the tall, sleep-deprived boy as he toddled upstairs. She smiled and tucked some black locks behind her ear just to have them fall over her forehead again. Turning on her heel, she moved leisurely towards where he'd indicated.

Opening the door, she was slightly surprised to see Inuyasha's grandmother reading a book in a corner. Kagome blinked her eyes and bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she said in a rush when she felt Inuyasha's grandmother's eyes on the top of her head—which was the only thing the old woman could see of the girl's head.

"I don't mind," the woman's accent slurred in the large room. Kagome cracked a hesitant smile at the woman's truly Jewish and New Yorker accent. She found it comical that Inuyasha's grandmother had an accent whereas Inuyasha had no accent that she could detect. "I was just reading," the old woman pointed out unnecessarily.

Kagome hesitantly moved towards the couch that sat diagonal to the old Jewish lady and made herself comfortable. She glanced around uneasily at the room. It was humbly furnished, yet didn't suit the large house the old woman and grandson lived in. Kagome wanted to ask why she lived in such a large house but decided that would come off too rude for the old lady. Instead, she occupied herself by taking in all the sights of the rather large family room.

The sound of a clicking clock and the turning of the grandmother's pages offered a slow, steady rhythm in the otherwise silent room. Kagome twiddled her fingers, wishing that she could just leave the room— but she would get lost if she left, no doubt. The house was too large to even fathom living in. Plus, it was so cold, all Kagome wanted to do was huddle up into a little ball. But the couch she sat on really didn't provide her with much warmth…

After what seemed like an eternity, Inuyasha appeared with his same messy hair, though it now had a hat thrown over its tresses, and shining golden eyes. Gripping the doorframe, he swung in and smiled a greeting. "Bubbie," he declared when he saw the elderly woman in the corner. "What are you doing up?"

"Reading," the woman said unnecessarily as she flipped another page in her book.

"Well I can see that," Inuyasha said dryly and smiled tenderly at his grandmother. Kagome marveled at the boy. She'd never really seen anyone be so sweet to their grandmother before—even she wasn't this nice to her grandfather (for good reason, though).

He walked into the room and stood before Kagome, offering her a hand. She smiled sweetly, blushed, and grasped the offered appendage that he held out to her. Pulling her up, Kagome felt her cheeks flame when he didn't make a sudden move to remove the hand. "Kagome and I are going out today." Kagome's cheeks felt like they were to explode. She knew he hadn't meant to make it sound like it, but Inuyasha had just phrased it the sentence like he was actually taking her out. As in taking her out on a date. She couldn't seem to wipe the goofy smile off her face and she didn't know why.

"Do you need anything before we go?" Inuyasha asked, his golden eyes blinking. Bubbie looked up from her paperback and sighed. Placing in a bookmark she put the book on the chair side table before wearily standing up.

Grasping her cane, she waddled over to Inuyasha and stared up at him. The hunched over woman barely reached his chest. "I need you to do some chores before you go," she finally said, her husky New York voice slicing the air.

Inuyasha frowned out of annoyance and sighed. "Bubbie—" he began to protest.

"No," the grandmother declared before he could argue his point. "You know I can't do it myself."

"Can't I do it later?" He asked, his brow furrowing. "I have a guest over, in case you couldn't tell."

The woman frowned. "I'm old, Inuyasha, not blind. Now then, I'm lacking a proper back to carry around a vacuum cleaner. I'm also too short to dust off the mantle pieces and to clean windows."

Inuyasha sighed. He couldn't argue with his grandmother… not after her accident. Golden eyes looked at the cane and eye patch. Under other circumstances his grandmother's appearance would have been comical—but these weren't other circumstances. Every time he saw his grandmother he was overcome with guilt— no matter how unnecessary the old woman said the guilt was.

"I'm sorry, Kagome," Inuyasha said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"It's fine," Kagome said as she fiddled with the pleats of her skirt. "Do you want me to help?"

"No, that's fine," Inuyasha smiled tenderly. "I can do it on my own."

He nodded towards his grandma and retreated from the room, once again leaving the poor girl alone with the weird grandmother. Kagome hesitantly turned towards Inuyasha's grandmother, only to see her staring at her. Kagome let out a small 'eep' before ducking her head and staring at her feet.

"You, girl," the woman wobbled towards her and tapped her shoulder with her cane. "What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome stammered out, feeling as if her cheeks were going to explode.

"You're all fidgety," she declared with a frown. Kagome stammered over her words, trying to answer the old woman. "Never mind, girl."

"Sorry," Kagome grumbled out.

The woman snorted and shook her head. The woman pursed her lips and looked at Kagome. "Did Inuyasha…?"

"Did Inuyasha what?" Kagome asked when the woman trailed off, not finishing her sentence.

"Nothing." The woman looked flustered and inhaled deeply before letting it out in a rush. "It's nothing," she frowned. 'He hasn't told her…' she thought to herself. 'Well of course he won't— he doesn't even know this girl.'

"Why is he hanging out with you?" the woman demanded.

Kagome seemed shocked. "Didn't… didn't Inuyasha tell you?"

The woman scrunched up her face— unsure how to respond. "He told me he was watching after a girl. Not why."

"Oh…" Kagome ducked her head and blushed. "He broke my glasses."

The woman was up in arms at once. "What? Has he been bullying you?"

Kagome whipped her head up, shocked. How could his own grandmother think Inuyasha would do something like that? This only worsened her suspicions about the part of Inuyasha she didn't know. If his own grandmother was demanding whether he'd been pushing her around… but if that was the case, why was he still so kind to her? He never lashed out at her, even when she continuously tripped, ran into things, couldn't see the board, avoided his gaze or was her regular, awkward self.

"No," Kagome said, her eyes wide. "Inuyasha's never even raised his voice at me. It was an accident. We ran into each other a few nights ago and he… he wants to…" She blushed shyly again, though a small smile graced her lips at the boy's kindness. "He wants to make it up to me and help me out until I get my glasses back…"

Inuyasha's grandmother nodded her head slowly. "Yes, that sounds like Inuyasha." She smoothed the ruffles of her skirt, the fabric reaching below her feet and covering them. "He's a good boy," she sighed.

Kagome smiled and nodded her head. There was no sense in denying it— Inuyasha was a nice guy. The sweetest, kindest guy she'd ever met. She shrugged away the fact she hadn't met very many guys… and the one's she had met were over-the-top jerks.

"You're a nice girl, too," the woman declared, seemingly remembering that it was good to stroke the ego of a grandson's girlfriend.

Kagome looked skeptical, but she was too polite to ask what the old woman was going to tell her. "Um… I'm going to go find Inuyasha," she said and absently pointed over her shoulder. Turning on her heel, she quickly retreated from the room. The old woman made her feel uneasy and she gulped down the lump in her throat.

Trailing down absent-mindedly along the hallways of Inuyasha's house, she almost missed the said boy high above her, scrubbing away at the window above his front door. There was a little windowsill that protruded from the pane and that was where Inuyasha was perched. He swung his hips in a mock dance as he listened to music, the earphones around his neck due to his inability to actually get them over his ears, and he swung a damp cloth over the giant window. He was mouthing soundlessly to the music that she could only barely make out.

He must have sensed her in his giant front hall because he tilted his head back and smiled down at her. "Hi!" he chirped out happily, waving the dishrag in his hand. "I'm really sorry about this, Kagome," he said apologetically. "You can go home if you'd like."

Kagome frowned. The normal, reasonable thing to do would be to go home. But she found herself not wanting to. She certainly feared Inuyasha's reputation and the potential act he was putting up, but she also found herself liking the attention he gave her. No guy had ever given her such attention. She liked to blame her lack of boyfriends on her awkwardness, her shyness and, the ultimate shortcoming that had plagued her since elementary school: her glasses. It bugged her how so many assumed her to be a geek just because she wore glasses. Granted, she was a geek, but that didn't mean people should judge her as such.

"No, it's fine. Are you sure you don't need help?" Kagome called from below, her head tilted back as she glanced up at him.

"I can't let you do that, Kagome," Inuyasha declared as he sat down on the ledge and then daintily slid off. Kagome would have screeched but Inuyasha landed on the floor in a perfect crouch before straightening. He noticed Kagome's bewildered expression and laughed gently. "I did martial arts when I was little."

"Martial arts taught you how to jump from high places and land on your feet?" Kagome asked in bewilderment. He laughed even though Kagome hadn't' meant to be funny.

"I guess your right. Uh… this may take a while." He jabbed a finger towards the windows in the front hall. "I'm really sorry about this, Kagome."

Kagome smiled reassuringly, though didn't meet Inuyasha's gaze. "No, it's fine. Let me help." She held out her hand and Inuyasha hesitantly looked at it. For a brief moment, Kagome felt bold and yanked the rag from his hands. He stared at her in shock and Kagome bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I—"

His hand on her shoulder broke her from her rambles of apologies. Hesitantly she looked up and stared at Inuyasha as he tried to capture her glance with his own. She didn't meet his gaze but Inuyasha didn't force her. "Don't be sorry, Kagome," he said gently. "You can help if it means that much to you." He smiled and pointed at a small window. "Start over there. I'm going to find another rag so I can help you."

Kagome nodded meekly and he straightened, removed his hand and moved towards the kitchen. She watched his back, his arms swinging from side to side and his feet moving him silently across the front hall. He moved like a liquid, she decided as she watched him retreat into the kitchen. He was like walking liquid. Thinking of that brought an odd image to her head and she giggled as she moved towards the window.

Once she got there, she realized she had no means of cleaning the window. Glancing around, she spotted the container of Windex up on the windowsill Inuyasha had been dancing on shortly before. She frowned and placed her rag down on the ground. Looking around, she spotted a chair and grasped it, dragging it towards the door. She didn't bother to wonder how Inuyasha had gotten up there in the first place as she climbed on the cushion of the chair, grasped the windowsill and hauled herself up.

Kagome was never a very athletic girl, and she certainly had no upper body strength to her name, but she did manage to pull herself upright and sit down on the windowsill. She looked down and felt the color leave her face— she became reminded of the fact she was an acrophobic. "Terrific," she muttered, feeling fear grip her. Even if she wasn't that far off, she was too fearful to step back down onto the chair.

Gripping the bottle of Windex like a lifeline, Kagome slowly rotated herself around so her front was facing the window, and moved to step down. It was probably one of the stupidest things she could have done, she discovered, as she felt her footing on the door slip and begin to fall.

Before she could even begin to think about freaking out or screaming, she found herself being held tenderly in the arms of the boy who'd been watching over her for five days. She yipped in surprise as she found the back of her knees and back cradled against stronger-than-they-appeared arms. Her face ignited and imitated a giant tomato instead of a head. She ducked her head and he laughed softly before gently twirling her and holding her longer than necessary.

"What were you doing up there?" he asked, laughter in his voice. Kagome blushed and mumbled something. "What?"

"You left the Windex up there," she sheepishly admitted. "I didn't want to bother you."

"You could have waited until I came back," he chastised gently, though laughter was still in his voice and he still held her. Kagome didn't mind as much as she should have. "Are you okay?"

"Yes…" she said awkwardly, hiding her face by ducking her head against his shoulder. When he laughed again she could feel it rumbling within him before leaving his lips.

He silently put her down and gripped her arms for a lingering moment before releasing her. And as they worked silently on the unexciting task of cleaning, Kagome could still feel the tingling his hands had caused— and she liked it.

-

By the time they'd reached the upstairs' windows, Kagome's stress had disappeared for the most part. Though she still felt slightly uncomfortable and afraid she was wearing upon Inuyasha's nerves, she was able to talk to him without stuttering her words like a stupid girl.

"So, what's your favorite color?" Inuyasha asked absently as he scrubbed away at a particularly hard spot on the window, stained from the watermarks.

"Huh?" Kagome asked, surprised at the sudden question. He'd been talking absently about school and the sudden inquiry shocked Kagome from her reverie.

"Your favorite color. What is it?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Kagome cracked a hesitant smile as she sheepishly replied, "Green and Blue."

He thought this over for a moment as he continued to scrub the outside of the window; having opened it while Kagome answered him. He nodded his head after a pregnant pause and smiled. "Sounds good. You wear a lot of green and blue—it's a good color for you."

"What about you?" Kagome asked, blushing and trying to ignore his compliment.

"Why, Kagome," Inuyasha declared and gave her a mock appalled look. "I believe that all colors should be loved equally. I'm hoping people will one day cast aside their prejudices and favorites and happily accept all colors as the great colors they are."

Kagome blinked her eyes and it took her a second to realize he was joking. She laughed brightly and her laughter sounded like ringing bells in the otherwise silent hallway. She liked talking to Inuyasha. He had all these quirks and she found him extremely interesting.

Silence passed between them but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They basked in the warmth the small flickers of sun sent through the windows and Kagome felt warm inside— and not from the sun…

"Actually, my favorites are red and hyacinth."

"Hyacinth?" Kagome asked, unfamiliar with the word.

"It's a purplish blue color. Very pretty," he explained as he moved onto the next window. "But red still beats its cool-named ass."

Kagome laughed again. Inuyasha was entertaining… if she listened long enough. She'd been so concerned with his reputation before that she'd blindly turned away and not listened to what he had to say. And he had a lot to say.

"You're turn to ask a question," Inuyasha declared as he sprayed Windex all over the blurry window.

"Oh- uh!" Kagome faltered in her words, stammering uncomfortably as she thought of something to say.

He waited patiently, moving on to the next window. He didn't open his mouth to rush her along— he didn't even seem to be lacking any patience. He just silently worked on his task as Kagome stuttered behind him, trying to prove her competence and scrub a window with him.

"If you could be deaf or blind, which would you choose?" she asked, deciding that was the best she could come up with.

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. Both would kind of suck." He seemed to be thinking.

"I would want to be deaf," Kagome said as she wiped away some Windex with a giant squeak. "I don't think I could live without the beauty of the world. It's so gorgeous and I'd miss all the colors, the trees, the sky at night…" she sighed dreamily as she looked out Inuyasha's window and out towards the backyard.

Inuyasha worked thoughtfully, nodding his head in agreement. "I guess that's true." His golden eyes seemed to haze over for a second as memories assaulted him; a flash of long silver hair, smirking lips and dark, cold amber eyes. "No," he finally said after a long hiatus of words. "I wouldn't want to be deaf; I'd want to be blind."

Kagome stared at him in shock, wondering why. For a brief moment she entertained the thought that he wanted to be blind so that he couldn't look at her. But she quickly brushed that aside— if given the choice, Inuyasha would not willingly go blind in order to not look upon her face. That was giving her too much credit in her unattractiveness. For that's what she believed herself to be…

"Why?" Kagome managed to squeak out.

"Because people can so easily be judged by appearance alone," Inuyasha said softly. "If you could only see them, you'd always judge them. They could be a terrible person but look wonderful. Or they could… look… and act horrible but really just be… someone completely different." His hand stilled and Kagome watched him. He turned towards her a smiled. "If you were blind, you could always hear their voice— sense their sincerity, their kindness. Or you could sense their cruelty in the way they spoke. You wouldn't judge them by their appearance, you'd judge them by the way they spoke and acted through their words."

"Wow," Kagome said, her ability to speak coherently failing her. Inuyasha had said something so extremely deep that it had stunned her. She hadn't known Inuyasha thought of such things.

He smiled. "So," he went on as if he hadn't said anything so deep and thoughtful. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?"

How had they gone to such a game? Where they swapped back questions and answered them? She didn't mind, but she really did wonder when she'd found herself feeling so carefree around Inuyasha. He seemed to have that kind of effect. He really was sweet.

"France," she said hesitantly after a long pause of thinking it over. "Because it has such beautiful cities and geography…"

"Ah, the language of love," he declared as they moved further down the hallway, wiping windows.

"Do you speak French, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Nop; not in the least. I can barely speak Spanish." Inuyasha smiled brightly, his lips quirked upwards.

About fifteen minutes later they finished washing windows, much to the two teenagers' relief. As they toddled downstairs, Inuyasha's bubbie was there with two bowls of ramen on the table. "I can't cook," she said, her raspy voice filling the silent kitchen. "But I can make stupid stuff like ramen for you two. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine," Kagome said pleasantly and sat down at the table, across from Inuyasha.

The woman waddled from the room, leaving the two teenagers alone. Inuyasha dug into his food as if it was going to be his last. He gulped it down and was finished before Kagome had even taken a bite out of her fifth spoonful. Her eyes widened at the way he inhaled his food and he smiled apologetically.

"Sorry— I have bad eating habits," he admitted and removed his hat. Another bad eating habit. Silver hair fell over his eyes as he gulped down the broth still in his bowl. Kagome's silvery blue eyes were captivated by the twitching dog-ears on top of the boy's head. They were large, slightly floppy and looked extremely soft. And they kept twitching around— how was she not supposed to fall in love with the appendages? She wanted to touch them and her fingers twitched at the thought. But she knew better and resisted the temptation to touch the adorable triangular ears. The story of their origin still amazed her.

When Kagome's bowl of ramen was nearing its end, Inuyasha's grandmother waddled into the room and handed Inuyasha a sheet of paper. "I need you to go do some grocery shopping," she explained gruffly.

Inuyasha sighed. "Okay, Bubbie."

He stood up and smiled at Kagome before motioning her to follow. Kagome sheepishly followed after him and they slipped on their shoes. "Are you sure you want to come? I can drop you off at your house if you'd like." Kagome quickly shook her head. "Okay…"

They walked in silence as Inuyasha's house and neighborhood melted away, and they approached the shopping center nestled near the center of their suburban town. The cloudy sky above blocked out the sun's rays, though patches of blue sky could be seen.

"Looks like the weather's finally clearing up," Kagome commented with a small smile. Inuyasha followed her gaze and tilted his head back, staring at the patches of blue in the otherwise grey sky.

"Just in time for Valentine's Day," he agreed and Kagome blushed. She knew he wasn't suggesting anything like that but it still sent delightful shivers down her spine. Valentine's Day wasn't too far off, actually. She'd completely forgotten about it simply because she was always single during the holiday and it didn't really offer her much comfort.

As they approached the local QFC shopping center, music filled the air. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at the odd occurrence and looked towards where the music was coming from. Beside the grocery store there were many other different stores, and majority of them had some kind of sign advertising a V-day special.

The soft, romantic music caused Inuyasha to burst out laughing and Kagome to give him an odd glance. "Sorry," he laughed some more. "But I think Valentine's Day is lame."

"You do?" Kagome questioned as they continued to walk by the pink and red store decorations as they made their way towards the supermarket.

"Yeah." He stopped laughing but delighted smile still appeared on his face. "It's just some stupid commercialized holiday that gives everyone an excuse to buy something— like a really small-scaled Christmas." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and snorted. "If you love somebody you shouldn't have to wait until stupid Valentine's Day to get them a card that says 'I love you' or do something romantic like a dinner or something. You should be spontaneous and unpredictable." He rolled his eyes. "That and I've never had a date for Valentine's Day so that probably makes me kind of pessimistic about the holiday in the first place."

Kagome nodded her head in understanding. She secretly agreed with Inuyasha's opinion on the holiday and smiled gently. "I've never had a date either," she mumbled but knew Inuyasha heard her due to his adorable dog-ears hidden beneath his beanie.

They entered the store and Inuyasha grabbed a shopping cart. They trailed down the aisles lazily where Inuyasha would periodically pick out something from the shelves, examine the list his Bubbie had given him, and either put it back or in the cart.

While they were halfway down the list, Inuyasha suddenly turned to Kagome with a smile. "Hey, want to ride in the cart?"

Kagome stared at the cart in shock. "What?" she squeaked out. "But that's for children."

"Nah, come on; it will be fun," he pressed further and motioned for her to climb into the cart. "I promise." He gave her a look that could only be described as a puppy dog pout. Kagome stared at his pouting lips and his soulful eyes (before she averted her gaze; she couldn't keep eye contact if her life depended on it) and felt a small giggle escape her throat. "Come on, you know you want to…"

There was no point in arguing with him, Kagome decided silently, as she daintily climbed into the large basket the cart had. She sat there with her legs crossed, her hands firmly placed in her lap, and her back leaning against the part of the cart that would hold a child.

"See?" Inuyasha said brightly and Kagome faintly nodded. Though it wasn't particularly comfortable, she felt like a child again, riding in a cart while someone pushed her down the aisle.

She didn't realize he was moving faster and faster until she failed to hear his footsteps. She glanced behind her to see he was riding on the cart and it was sailing down the aisle. She squeaked in surprise and turned back to the front, convinced that she was going to meet certain doom or someone was going to kick them out of the store.

As they approached the end of the aisle, Inuyasha jumped off and began walking again, causally turning the corner and into the next aisle as if nothing had happened.

Kagome's cheeks were red as they passed other shoppers, feeling slightly foolish. Some looked at her, but majority of them ignored her and she was extremely thankful. "What do you think, Kagome? Cheerios or Corn Flakes?" Inuyasha asked above her as he examined the cereal. He said it so casually…

"Corn Flakes," Kagome decided with a nod of her head and she watched as the white box with the rooster was placed next to her knee.

-

They left the grocery store silently, listening to the music as it filled the air. Inuyasha held two bags and Kagome held the third one— not wanting him to strain his back. After all, she had an extra pair of hands.

Inuyasha seemed to be thinking and as they stopped in front of a Starbucks, he placed down his two bags on one of the outside café tables and turned to Kagome. Kagome blinked in surprise as he walked towards her, plucked the bag from her hands and placed it next to his bags. The girl stared at the three bags in confusion and only broke her gaze when she saw two hands in front of her, palm up and seemingly awaiting her hands. "Huh?"

"Dance with me, Kagome!" Inuyasha chirped brightly, tilting his head towards the music that filtered the area.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome's face ignited into flames just thinking about it. She hated dancing, especially in front of people. And this wasn't even the place to dance so she'd be even more out of place and awkward. She ducked her head. "People are watching!" And they were. She could feel their gazes from within the Starbucks and their cars.

Inuyasha began swaying and dancing with himself, which only drew more attention. She felt as if her heart had stopped beating as she glanced fearfully around her.

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "Who cares? Come on…" His hands beckoned her.

"But—" she was about to protest.

"Just act like they aren't there. That it's only you and me, Kagome." His eyes were so soft and his hands continued to wait for hers. Kagome took a hesitant step towards him and he stopped dancing with himself, smiling slightly and reassuringly at her.

Her small, pale hands placed themselves in his much larger and rougher hands which closed around hers instantly. She felt her heart race and she turned her gaze towards Inuyasha, who smiled at her sweetly and began to sway with her, his hands holding hers tenderly. She felt as if her cheeks would never stop being red again, but she allowed him to go.

"It's only you and me…" he reminded when her attention strayed to the people in Starbucks, who were watching them with smiles on their lips. She turned her attention back to her chest, not feeling brave enough to look up at his face. "Only you and me," he repeated like a mantra and Kagome found herself slowly slipping away into oblivion.

It was only her and Inuyasha…

She let Inuyasha guide her and didn't mind when his hand strayed to her waist— nowhere perverted, just her waist— and moved her in what she assumed was a very sloppy and awkward waltz. But she found herself enjoying him leading her. She blushed.

As they continued she glanced up at him quickly to see a smile on his lips and his golden eyes swirling with laughter and amusement. She couldn't help it— she laughed, too. She was glad she'd let him convince her to dance. She no longer cared about who was watching her as she leaned her head against his chest.

She'd never do this again, since she was still slightly mindful of the people watching her.

Soon Inuyasha came to a stop, grinned and waved at the people in Starbucks, grabbed his two bags and began walking with Kagome close behind him.

Kagome blushed hotly as Inuyasha made other stops into other stores. He went into the hair salon to schedule an appointment for his grandmother, the post office to mail some letters and get letters from the P.O. box that his grandma had, the video store to pick up a movie he wanted to see, and finally a department store to pick up the clothes she'd ordered a couple days ago.

Kagome stood awkwardly near the front of the store, holding the grocery bag and looking around. The store was quaint, but it was also rather cute with nice warmth to it. Her eyes fell on a scarf on a row of many scarves and other such accessories. It was a gorgeous blue, crisscrossing with other hues of blue. Her own silvery blue eyes looked at the scarf and she reached out a hand to run her fingers over the soft material.

"Do you like it?" Inuyasha's voice questioned and Kagome jumped in surprise. She turned around and looked at him sheepishly, her cheeks stained pink and a delicate smile on her face.

"It's okay," she decided, turning back and running her fingers over the material again. "But I don't really need a scarf…"

Inuyasha observed her and sighed. "Okay, whatever you say," he decided, turned on his heel and walked to the counter, asking for the clothes his bubbie had ordered. Kagome watched him go before sighing and leaving the scarf.

"I don't need it," she muttered to herself as she and Inuyasha left the store.

They headed back towards Inuyasha's house, relishing in the silence they'd created. But as they approached his house, Inuyasha fidgeted and stopped. Kagome paused as well and looked back at him questionably.

"Kagome, I know that you're afraid of my reputation." He said it so suddenly that Kagome wasn't sure if she'd imagined it or if he really had said it. He just said it so bluntly— but then again, that was his nature.

"But how—"

"Rin told me," Inuyasha said evenly, looking down at her. Kagome blushed and ducked her head. She made a mental note to kill Rin on Monday.

"Oh…"

"I want you to know, Kagome." He motioned to a bench that sat on the side of the road, where people waited for the transit bus to come. He sat and patted the spot next to her and Kagome hesitantly sat down. "That's not me. That's not who I am."

"…You don't do drugs?" she whispered out, gripping the grocery bag like her life depended on it.

"No."

"Or beat people up?"

He cracked a smile. "No."

"Then… why do you hang out with Naraku and those others?" She'd seen him talking to them during lunch and in between classes sometimes. She glanced at him wearily.

"They just think I'm their friend…"

"Why…?"

"We… have a history together," Inuyasha said gently, his eyes hard as he stared at his feet. "One I'm not proud of."

"They're mean; I don't like them," Kagome admitted and fidgeted.

"Me neither."

"Why are they so mean?" she asked with a small frown.

"Because they aren't gentlemen," he said quietly and glanced at her. He smiled sadly. "They don't know how to treat a lady."

Kagome blushed hotly under his gaze but a small smile graced her lips.

Even though the majority of the day had been spent working on Inuyasha's house, Kagome was glad she came. She knew more about him now and she knew he at least cared about her a little— otherwise he wouldn't strive to be so kind and patient with her.

She smiled as he led her to his house, glad that she'd spent her Saturday with the boy.

-

Author's notes: For the record, if the idea for Inuyasha's ears has already been used, I didn't mean to do that, I just came up with it one day because I didn't want to make Inuyasha a hanyou but I'd already given him dog-ears. So, ta da! I'm ingenious. Furthermore, I know that the idea of an animal-human hybrid seems completely impossible but I've looked around the Internet and there is a possibility that it can be done. Besides, for the sake of this story we'll just say that the government is too secretive and kept all the information away from the public.

Anyways, Inuyasha is human. He just has heightened senses and abnormal features because of what happened to his Zadie during the war.

Moving on from that, I'd like to take this time to say that flames are not tolerated here. They're insulting and rude; if you don't like my story then don't read it. I've received a flame for chapter one and it lacked reason. The reasons they addressed were 'this is gay' and 'Kagome's a geek'. There is so much I can say about the flame, but I am above that and will not give them the satisfaction. Besides, my beta already bitched them out in a review.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter; love you all tons. Until next time!