Disclaimer- He ain't my property, though I wish he was…

Chapter 8- Kikyo and Kagome Clash

Kagome tucked Hitomi and Shippo into bed. She told them the regular bedtime story, which the kids feel asleep to. Silently she placed the book down and walked out of the room, peeking into Karan' room. When she saw her still up, she could only sigh and place her hands on her hips.

"What are you still doing up? I thought I sent you to bed?" She asked, watching her shrug and keep playing with her fire tricks. She slowly sat down next to her, watching her continue to play. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"I don't know." She replied.

"Well will you go to bed now then?" She asked. She saw her fidget slightly before she muttered something. "What did you say?"

"I can't sleep." She said, finally looking over at her babysitter. Kagome smiled slightly, lowering her voice softly.

"You know, I have nights where I can't sleep either." Her brown eyes widened in a childish amazement.

"You do?" She asked, almost skeptical.

"Yup, and you know what I do when I can't sleep?" Karan shook her head as Kagome stood up. Bending down, Kagome slowly picked the light girl up and walked over to her bed. She laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. "I read a book to make me tired, and then I end up falling asleep."

"But I can't do that; I still can't read full books well." Karan replied. Karan walked over to the child's bookshelf, pulling out a small book and walking back over. She let Karan grab the book and stare at it with a slight disgust. "This is a kid book."

"But you can read it right?" She asked.

"Well yea, I'm not little." Karan replied.

"Then read it and maybe you will fall asleep." She bent over and whispered softly. "Sometimes being young has its benefits." With a small goodnight, Kagome left the room. She stood outside the door, listening for any noise. At first her heart sunk when she didn't hear anything, but it was filled with pride when Karan' small voice rung in her ears, signaling Karan was taking her advice and reading the book.

Slightly giddy with her small step with the young girl, she managed to get down the stairs without making much noise. As she reached the bottom, she looked into the living room to see Inuyasha, though she was surprised at first. To confirm her beliefs, she managed to walk over to the couch and kneel in front of it. She smiled warmly when she recognized the peaceful look upon the sleeping boy's face.

"Come Inuyasha, you need to get up." Kagome said pushing him until his amber eyes emerged from his eyelids.

"What happened? Did I fall asleep?" Inuyasha asked. She started to laugh.

"Yea, you kind of did. I put the kids to bed while you went to bed on your own." She replied.

"Feh." Inuyasha crossed his arms, containing a yawn as he continued. "How do you do this every time all alone?"

"It isn't easy, but you get used to it after a while. Those three are quite easy compared to some other kids I have babysat. I didn't think that we would be this late. It's almost 10:00."

"What, its 10:00 already?" Inuyasha quickly got to his feet. Kagome's confusion was evident in her features. What is his problem? I told him that we were going to be later before we even started walking. Didn't he tell his mom?

"You look surprised?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah well I…um…said I might see someone later…"

"Who did you tell that?"

"…No one for you to worry about." Kagome noticed the hesitation in his sentence but ignored it.

"Well I told you we would be late." She replied.

"I didn't know you were going to make me stay with you all night." He sat back down on the couch next to her.

"One of us didn't stay up the whole night…" She smiled as he scowled.

"Do you expect me to apologize!"

"No I don't mind, it's just kind of funny to me. I have never fallen asleep on the job. Seeing you do it makes me feel like I'm doing my job right. Thanks!"

"Whatever." He mumbled, though Kagome only smiled. Silence only stole the conversation for a moment before Kagome spoke

"Hey."

"What now?"

"What exactly happened in that closet between us?" She bit her lip as she looked up at him.

"I-uh-what are you talking about? Nothing happened." Inuyasha looked away, trying to hide a faint blush. "It's not like I wanted to be stuck in there with you."

"I don't do it for fun either you know!"
"Well I wouldn't know! You're a confusing wench!"

"And you're a jerk!" He only glared at her, not responding to the insult. Kagome sighed and tried to keep her temper as she looked at him. "At least it's done and over with."

"I guess…but now I have a question for you." She eyed him curiously.

"What?"

"All of those things you said in there, did you mean them?"

"Well yeah…I didn't mean to say that all at once, but it just…came out." Kagome replied softly, trying to catch his glance. Inuyasha looked down, hoping Kagome wouldn't see him blushing. Fate was against him."Inuyasha, your blushing."

"I'm not blushing Kagome oka!"

"If your not blushing, then let me see your face."

"What you don't believe me?"

"To be honest , no. Let me see your face!"

"No, why do I have to?"

"Because you're blushing!"

"I am not."

"You are too!"

"I thought that I heard yelling, but I didn't expect it from the two babysitters." A wicked voice said from the door.

"Who the hell's there?" Inuyasha asked.

"Hey I know that voice." Kagome replied. "It's Kikyo isn't it?"

"Oh you let my secret out. Too bad. I just came to see how well you were doing."

"Well we're fine so you can leave." Kagome said bitterly. Inuyasha could feel the anger pouring out of Kagome's body, though Kikyo didn't seem fazed.

"Oh Kagome; is this how you treat your close friend? I'm ashamed of you!"

"Close friend? You're nothing like a friend, since a friend wouldn't try and ruin the other's life!" Kikyo faked being hurt, though Kagome didn't buy it.

"How could you say that after all we have been through? I thought we were friends?"

"We weren't friends to start with you liar." The two girls looked like they were about to crash when Inuyasha stepped in.

"Will you two shut up?"

"She started it!" The childish voice coming from Kikyo almost threw Inuyasha off.

"I'm not the one whose lying!" Kagome replied, crossing her arms.

"Just ask Kikyo what else she needs, then she can leave?" I hate having to stick up for Kikyo, but mom would kill me if I didn't. Not like I'd agree with the other one either! Kagome looked over at Inuyasha, who only looked back. He serious face he held made her sigh.

"What else do you want?" Kagome asked.

"Oh well I actually had something else in mind when I came over here. Luckily, Inuyasha made me remember what I was coming over for." Kikyo said cheerfully.

"I thought you came over to check up on us?" Kagome shot out at Kikyo, watching her struggle with an explanation.

"Well I did come over to check up on you two."

"But you just said you mainly came over for something else." Kagome replied casually, causing Kikyo to roll her eyes.

"Whatever. I came to check up on my plans with Inuyasha. You see, about a week or so ago I went over to introduce myself to Inuyasha and we made plans to hang out this week. But because of you and your babysitting anxieties, he couldn't hang out with me. So I came to see when he wanted to come hang out."

"When did you meet him!"

"That day that you refused to introduce us." Kikyo smirked as Inuyasha turned to Kagome, who now shamefully looked down.

"Why didn't you want to introduce us?" He asked.

"I...I don't know." Kagome lied, already knowing Inuyasha would catch her. She mentally scolded herself and kept her gaze on the floor. Why didn't I just tell him the truth? Why didn't I let him know about everything she's ever done that would make him never want to be her friend? Maybe because I know it's not right to do that to her, even if she hates me.

"Well I guess it's a bad time to discus this so I will see you tomorrow." Kikyo smiled wickedly as she walked towards the door. "Bye Inuyasha, see you tomorrow!"

"Bye." Inuyasha slightly nudged Kagome.

"Bye." Kagome managed out through her closed teeth. Kikyo's look at Kagome was anything but pleasant before she left the scene. Kagome's eyes were still stuck to the floor. Though she hated to do it, Kagome had to know if Inuyasha was still upset with her. Slowly, as if afraid that she would be hurt, her let her curious eyes travel up to meet his slightly annoyed face. She dropped her gaze once again, silently cursing for her decision.

"Were you jealous of her?" Inuyasha asked after a second of silence passed by. Kagome looked up at him. The features that were once tense in his face softened slightly, hardly enough to notice.

"What? Why would I be jealous of her? She's just a snob who thinks she get anything she wants!" Her anger rose at the end of her statement.

"The why wouldn't you introduce us?"

"I already told you, I don't know."

"Oka, now what's the real reason?" Kagome sighed when remembering how easy it was to read her lies.

"Because she would see you, 'fall in love' as she always says to boys, and then flirt them till they go out, loses interest in him, or they move away." At least my idea of moving away would have worked. Inuyasha smirked at his own thought, and Kagome couldn't help but laugh.

"So you would care if she 'fell in love' with me?"

"Of course I wou-" Kagome stopped herself before she continued.

"What were you going to say?" He asked.

"Ah…I was going to say…" Kagome was racing throughout her mind trying to think of a reasonable answer. Ah I'm screwed! There isn't anything I can say to that without admitting I do! Damnit!

"You would care, wouldn't you?"

"When did I say that!" Kagome asked, defending her pride.

"Just now. Or rather, that is what you were going to say before you caught yourself, admit it." The cocky grin spreading across Inuyasha's face caused her to shake her head.

"No! Why would I say that?"

"Because you care if she did." Kagome angrily looked away from him, though she was upset with herself rather than with him. She tried to find another excuse, when suddenly her eyes lit up. She smiled as she looked back up at him.

"Would you have liked it if I cared?" She asked. I'll just use some reverse psychology.

"Wh-what …I wouldn't! I mean…it's just…wait, hold on…"

"Well what DO you mean?"

"I can't stop you if you care." Her eyes widened slightly, but before she could answer him, Ayame walked through the door.

"Hey you two, how were the kids?"

"The…kids" Kagome asked, still staring at Inuyasha. She shook her head for a moment before smiling at Ayame. "Oh the kids, they were really good."

"Well thank you for watching then for me, here's your money." Ayame dropped the money into Kagome's hand, watching the two quickly leave the house. She sighed as she dropped her bag onto the floor, walking passed the open door of the food closet. She stopped before looking back at it. Now why is the closet door open?

And that is chapter 8! Sorry it took so long, I did have this done like three days ago. It's just I had to do all the review replies and that takes me a long time, so it's semi harder when I don't have any time. So anyways, hope you liked it!

ChineseKagome- Well sorry for taking so long on this chapter, but I needed to fix a couple of things too. Oh, and glad that you think the story is romantic, I mean that's what the main purpose is. I'm warning you now though, when there's romance, there's tragedy.

Lunar Heart Crystal- Well it wasn't just Shippo who did this. And besides, we don't give Shippo credit on some of the sneaky things that he does. Remember, Kagome loves Shippo and so she plays right into the scheme of things. And Inuyasha is just too dense to realize what is going on!

Ginger the Lioness demon- Believe me, Rin's intro to the story is something that everyone will meet her in, so it's going to be pretty cool. Plus, there are going to be a lot of cute moments between those two as well and Inu Kag and San Miro, so don't worry about that.

Inashosetai- It's oka if you don't review every single chapter, I really don't mind. As long as you do it on chapters you really like or something funny happen that you enjoy. It doesn't have to be every single chapter, especially the boring ones. As long as I know you're still there reading, I'm going to continue writing.

Raven657- Wow, someone has some very strong feeling about Kikyo. And I'm pretty sure that it ain't me. Doesn't it bug you how she gets Kagome into that situation and then leaves during this chapter? Oh well, we all can't be nice or else we wouldn't have good stories!

Angel-Assain- Sorry to say, but this story is going to take a little longer than you probably want. Remember, even though there have been eight chapters; they have only known each other for about a week or so. I don't give and exact date that they go babysitting, but I'd estimate about a week or so. So they can't rush things that much!

SweetInuLover- I'm glad that you like the story, that's always a good thing. Even though love is such a strong word, I seem to see it in everyone reviews! Gosh, I thought that it was between two people, not a person and a fanfic. This calls for an investigation!...tomorrow!

Kagomemikogoddess- Yea, I thought that it was pretty cute when I was writing it. I know that the kiss was a big step and all, but they are what, 15, 16? They can kiss someone; it's not a crime anymore! Besides, they are going to need all the romance that they can get when the next couple of chapters come out.

Ryokochan- Well I don't speak that language that you were talking in that beginning with, but I can decipher it pretty well. Glad that the story caught your interest, and I'm happy you love it. And here is that next chapter that you wanted to read so badly. Hope you liked it!

Inuyashangel- The word hurry does not seem to be in my vocabulary for some odd reason. I try to get the chapter done as much as I can, but I just get so distracted with people. I thought the summer was going to make it easier to update, but I thought totally wrong!

Inu-dog-dem- It's just that Kikyo seemed to fit this person that I needed. I know that in the real series she is nothing like this girl, but I mean at least this Kikyo doesn't try to kill them! I mean she is mean, but she ain't stabbing people with arrows or anything!

Inu/Kag 3 4eva- Aww well I'm flattered that you like the story. Oh and I really like your name! Thank you for the compliment makes me smile. I know that this chapter didn't come out as fast (or as good) as I had wanted it to be, but I tried my best. Hope that's good enough for you!

Mishel- Yea, I didn't know if I wanted them to kiss so soon because in my other story, they don't kiss for a while. But I just decided that since the other story was taking so long, that this story could just be a quick kiss. Besides, it was just the right moment and they were with the right people, it can happen as soon as they like.

Lanerz- Ah you sent me seven reviews! Not that I mind, it's just going to be a slightly longer reply. Yea I know the name of that chapter was kinda overdoing it, but it just sounded right. Miroku IS the humor in most of this, but it's more of his and Shessy's personalities bouncing off each other. Kikyo is not going to give in easily, she is going to try VERY evil tricks to get what she wants. And I guess that's it!

badgirl2.0- Yea well I didn't feel like making Kouga a bad person in this because I already have him being really annoying in the other story. So he gets off the hook this time. And Shessy and Inu aren't going to be at each others' throats all the time like in the real one, they are actually going to be civil…

Lonely Youkai- Well if he didn't, then his mother would have his head on a silver platter. From what I have collected, I know for a fact that Inuyasha's mother was very kind, and she would not want him to judge. That's why he's giving Kikyo a chance…

Kira177- The Oka is kind of how I show that it is my writing. I really don't know how I got into it, I think I explained it to one of my other reviewers before and now I just forget. I think it has to do with my first book and I just wrote it that way…oh well.

Fire Alchemist- Well that's great. I'm happy you find my story good, and it's nice to have a calm reviewer for once. I mean all my other ones scream how much they love it, and even though I enjoy the attention, it's nice to have change every now and then.

Kokari- Well it's just that in the real story, I don't think that Inuyasha would ever make the first move. When the opportunity is given to him by Kagome he takes it willingly, but other than that he really doesn't like to make moves. It's just something that I wanted to keep the same between the Inuyasha in the show/manga and in this story.

Tairoru-Chan- I know that the kiss is very unlike me, because I know how long it takes for a relationship with the personalities of Kagome and Inuyasha to bloom, but I just wanted to put it in. It seemed like the right moment, and sometimes time doesn't matter. I know that they probably wouldn't have done it if they hadn't had such a emotional conversation before it, but with that adding to the moment, I thought that the kiss was good. But yea I do agree with you. In almost any other situation I wouldn't have done that so rushed.

HelikaAkileh- Don't you think that it's cute that I have all the young kids plotting against the older ones? I mean, Shippo and Hitomi pull a fast one on the two babysitters, and I just think it's funny. I'm sure that Inuyasha gave Shippo a few good beatings after that experience. As long as Kagome ain't look that is…

Chapter 9- I'm going to kill Miroku!