True to Your Heart

A/N: Thank you for your reviews everyone!

Chapter 2: The Wooing Begins

"Why are you staring at me?" Kagome asked in annoyance.

Inuyasha twitched.

Heck. No. Kagome Higurashi could not be his true love. That lurch his heart gave when he saw her gray-blue eyes didn't mean anything. Absolutely nothing at all.

Yet…he knew Kagome was the one who would break the curse. Trust the wench, Kikyo to make his life miserable.

"Okay, you know what? Forget you," Kagome said coldly and brushed past him to class. "I don't even know why I'm wasting my time here talking to you."

Then, he said something that he would never have said to Kagome Higurashi if the curse hadn't been placed on him.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he gritted through his teeth. "I'm sorry for bumping into you. I'm sorry for making you late to class. I'm just sorry."

Kagome halted and turned around slowly.

"Did you…just apologize to me?" she stared at him. He stubbornly stared back.

"What of it?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"That's the first time you've ever said sorry to me ever since we met in elementary school," Kagome shook her head, walking towards class again. "The world must be ending..."

Oh, yes, the world was ending all right…for him at least.

All throughout the day, Inuyasha found himself constantly staring at Kagome during class-as fate would have it, they had the same classes together ever since kindergarten- whether he liked it or not. She sat in the front seat in the row to the right of him. Only one word was in his head ever since the incident in the hall.

'Damn.'

Inuyasha sank back in his chair and closed his eyes.

'Why'd it have to be her?' he thought angrily. 'Why? We've been enemies since elementary school!'

The bell rang, signaling that class was over and that the lunch period had begun. Inuyasha stood up, slung his backpack over a shoulder and stalked out of the room.

"Hey! Inuyasha!" a familiar voice called out. Inuyasha looked behind him and saw a purple-eyed male with black hair tied into a tiny ponytail…it was his best friend, Miroku.

"What's up?" Miroku asked cheerfully, giving Inuyasha a hard slap on the back. "You seem sort of down today."

"Sort of?" Inuyasha replied thickly. He looked to his left and then his right before whispering, "I have to talk to you about something really important."

Miroku blinked, "Uh, alright. You want to talk about it now or in the cafeteria?"

"Cafeteria."

"Is it a bad or good thing?"

"Bad."

Miroku followed Inuyasha to the cafeteria, stayed quiet as they both got their lunches, and then patiently waited for Inuyasha to talk when they settled down at a table.

"Well," Miroku said after a long period of silence. "What is it?"

Inuyasha hesitated and then said quietly, "I'm…cursed."

"You say that all the time," Miroku said, confused. "You always tell me that you're cursed because you're a hanyou…that you wish you were either a full-demon or a full-human."

"No, you don't understand," Inuyasha said impatiently. "I'm really cursed."

Then, in a lower voice, he added, "I change into a dog every time I sneeze."

Miroku's eyes widened, "Seriously?"

When Inuyasha nodded, Miroku excitedly asked, "Can I see you change into a dog right now?"

Miroku yelped when Inuyasha brought a fist down onto his head.

"What are you?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Nuts! You want all these people in this cafeteria to see!"

Miroku frowned, "Good point…so, is there any way to break this curse?"

"My 'true love' has to say 'I love you' and then kiss me," Inuyasha grumbled.

"And do you know who your 'true love' is?"

Inuyasha pointed to the table diagonally from them. Miroku followed his finger and spotted Kagome and her best friend, Sango.

"Sango?" he gasped. "My Sango is your true love!"

Miroku yelped again when Inuyasha brought his fist down onto his head a second time.

"No, Kagome is," Inuyasha snarled. Miroku rubbed his head painfully and then started laughing.

"I was kidding. Anyways, this is so ironic," he shook his head. "You two hate each other…and yet, you're each other's 'true love'? You know, this curse might not be bad after all…"

Inuyasha glared at him, "What are you implying?"

"I'm just saying that something good might come out of this," Miroku said thoughtfully. "You know, the curse didn't say anything about you having to love Kagome…all it's basically saying is that Kagome has to love you. So, just…date her to make her fall in love with you, have her break the curse and then break it off with her."

Inuyasha's eyes brightened, "Good idea."

"But that's not the 'good thing that might come out of this'," Miroku pointed out. "The good thing is that you might fall in love with Kagome and then you could both start a serious relationship. Did anyone tell you that you and Kagome make a good couple?"

The brightness in Inuyasha's eyes vanished. He narrowed his eyes, "Say that again and you'll find yourself lying on the ground with bruises before you can say 'help me'."

"I'm just trying to make some positive comments to brighten up the gloominess of the situation!" Miroku protested. "Besides, Kagome is a great person once you get to know her."

Inuyasha coughed, "A great person? Are we talking about the same person here? The Kagome Higurashi I'm talking about is the one that has been bothering me ever since kindergarten. She always yanked at my dog ears and attempted to braid my hair!"

"What kind of little girl wouldn't love playing with your dog ears? And braiding is a girl thing-it's a typical thing a little girl would love to do. Anyways, the Kagome Higurashi I'm talking about is the one that's been a great friend to me ever since I met her. She always helps me as much as she can."

"Oh, yeah?" Inuyasha snorted. "If she helps you as much as she can, how come she hasn't been able to help you with your lechery?"

"I did say 'as much as she can', didn't I? Apparently, my lechery is incurable," Miroku sighed.

"So you say."

"Back to the point. Winter break starts tomorrow and ends on January 1. You're in luck. You have all of that time to get Kagome to fall in love with you. Judging by how you two care for one another, you're going to have to ask her out on a lot of dates."

"And as fate would have it, I live five blocks away from her," Inuyasha added and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever choice you make will change your relationship with Kagome no matter what. But each choice has its own consequences. If you decide to play 'nice guy' and then dump her after the curse is broken, there's a pretty good chance that there'll never be a chance for the both of you to become at least friends ever again…on the other hand, if you decide to actually be a nice guy, you might fall in love with her and the both of you could stay together even after the curse ends. As your friend, I advise you to take the second choice."

"What gave you the idea that I would fall in love with her?"

"All I'm saying is that I'm not the one who can determine if you'll fall in love with Kagome or not. It's up to you and your heart. Give her a chance…then she'll give you a chance too."

:&:o:&:o:&: Saturday, December 3 :&:o:&:o:&:

He didn't want to do it. No, scratch that. He really didn't want to do it. Yet, in the early morning, Inuyasha found himself heading to Higurashi Shrine.

He'd only been to Higurashi Shrine once in his lifetime, and that time had been against his will. He remembered that time like it had been yesterday. It was when Shippou and Rin were first adopted a few years ago, and he was taking Shippou around the neighborhood. Just when Inuyasha was about to take him home, Shippou spotted Higurashi Shrine and insisted on going there. Before he knew it, Inuyasha was chasing Shippou up the stairs. And that was when Kagome Higurashi had opened the front door, spotted him punching Shippou at the head of the stairs, walked over to the both of them, snatched Shippou away from him, and kicked him-literally kicked him…not to mention an enormous one-down the shrine stairs while yelling about how mean he was to kids. His grudge on Kagome Higurashi grew ten times bigger that day.

"Kami, I'm begging you," he muttered under his breath as he stood before the front door of Higurashi Shrine. "Do NOT let Kagome Higurashi kick me down the stairs again."

With that being said, he rang the doorbell. Using his dog ears, he heard talking and footsteps a short distance beyond the door. The door slid open.

"Welcome to Higurashi Shrine. How may I help…" Kagome trailed off before she was completely silent. She stared directly into Inuyasha's eyes. He stared back.

And before he could say anything, Kagome slid the door shut again in his face.

Inuyasha scowled and rang the doorbell over and over again until Kagome yanked the door back open.

"What do you want?" Kagome asked with an annoyed tone.

"You say I'm mean to kids," Inuyasha grunted. "Yet, do you know how mean you are to guests?"

"I'm only mean to you," she replied sourly. "And is this all you came here to do? To tell me this?"

"No," Inuyasha said, suddenly looking down at the ground. "I wanted to ask you something."

"If you could copy the answers to all the homework our teachers gave us for winter break?"

"Would you just let me talk!" Inuyasha exploded. "And no, that's not what I wanted to ask!"

Kagome leaned back against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Then what is it?" she narrowed her eyes. When Inuyasha didn't say anything for a long period of time, she snapped, "Is this a joke or something? I have stuff to do, you know. Kami, you've been pulling pranks on me since grade school!"

"Only because you kept yanking my ears and braiding my hair!" Inuyasha countered, finally speaking up.

"I only did that because you kept calling me 'ugly girl'!"

"Well, I only called you that because you are one!"

That shut Kagome up.

"Oh, am I?" she said in a sweet voice. Inuyasha gulped.

"Uh, yeah," he said, trying to stand his ground. He watched her smile. He watched her angry eyes. And he watched her hand as it lashed out and slapped him hard against the cheek.

"Have a nice day, Inuyasha," Kagome turned her back on him and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She then closed the door in his face...again.

Inuyasha brought a hand to his sore cheek, "Well, on the bright side, at least she didn't kick me down the stairs."

That afternoon when he called Miroku and told him about what happened, Inuyasha was answered with a long laugh. Inuyasha drummed his fingers on the table he sat next to and impatiently waited Miroku to finish his laughing fit.

"What's so funny?" he asked curtly.

He heard Miroku quiet down and sigh on the other end, "Inuyasha, you should take classes on how to ask a girl out on a date."

"I didn't do anything wrong! It was the damn wench!"

"You called her ugly. Never call a girl fat or ugly, Inuyasha," Miroku said with a serious and almost scolding tone. "I mean, come on. Even a little boy would know that."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious. Anyways, just leave her alone today and come back tomorrow."

"I'll bother her to death before she can fall in love with me."

"Persistence is one of the keys to dating success, Inuyasha."

"Yet, persistence never got you a date with Sango, did it?"

"I'm a special case."

"Yes, you definitely are special. In more ways than one."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or insult."

"Take it as an insult," Inuyasha said. He heard a voice yell his name from downstairs. "Hey, Miroku? I have to go eat lunch. I'll call you some other time, okay?"

"All right. Good luck with Kagome. Keep me updated on any progress."

"Okay."

They both said their goodbyes. Inuyasha turned off his phone and lay down on his bed, letting out a loud sigh. It was probably Rin who had called him to eat lunch. Either she or it was Shippou. Sesshoumaru worked on Saturdays and didn't get home until the evening…and even if he had been home, Inuyasha was pretty sure that his brother would never call him down to eat lunch…it'd be a "waste of his time".

"Inuyasha?" a small voice broke out from the door. Inuyasha turned his view towards the door and spotted Shippou.

"Hey, Shippou," he yawned. Shippou scurried over to Inuyasha and jumped onto the bed, settling beside the hanyou.

"Lunch is ready," Shippou piped. "You might want to get it while it's hot."

"What is it?"

"Cheese sandwiches."

Inuyasha laughed, "Rin's favorite. If Sesshoumaru were here, I'm sure he'd make us eat something else."

"What's wrong with cheese sandwiches?"

"Nothing," Inuyasha smiled and ruffled Shippou's hair. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Shippou nodded.

"Have you ever called a girl fat or ugly?"

Shippou's mouth dropped open, "Are you kidding me? Don't you know that you're never supposed to call a girl fat or ugly? Even a little boy like me knows that!"

"Kami, this is like déjà vu…" Inuyasha groaned.

It was evening. Inuyasha tightened the red scarf around his neck as he slowly strolled through the park where his curse had been inflicted.

"I hate this place now," he muttered under his breath. He rounded the same corner he had turned the last time, half-expecting to see Kikyo. To his relief, Kikyo was no where to be seen.

Inuyasha stood there for a few seconds before he turned around and headed down another path-the path headed toward the pond. Once there, he squatted down beside the large pond and surveyed the water. It was still liquid, but there were traces of ice in it.

"Hm," he murmured. "With luck, the pond will be frozen by Christmas so everyone can go ice skating."

Inuyasha stood up and brushed himself off. That's when he felt a sneeze come over him.

ACHOO!

'Shoot!' Inuyasha cursed mentally as he felt himself transforming into his new dog form. He quickly looked around the area to see if anyone was there who might have seen his transformation. He let out a deep breath when no one was in sight.

It was getting late. Inuyasha mentally sighed and started trotting towards home.

'Might as well head home even though I'm in this form,' he thought grouchily. 'I'll just have to wait until I sneeze again in order to make it home faster.'

He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice the person walking in front of him until he bumped hard into their leg. He immediately fell onto his bottom, so he looked like a dog in a sitting position. Despite himself, he let out a dog whine.

The person he'd bumped into was bending down toward him. Inuyasha looked up…and nearly jumped out of his fur when he saw that it was Kagome Higurashi.

A/N: Hehehe. Kagome found him! What will happen next? :P

Anyways, Kikyo and Kagome do not know each other (yet) and don't have any relation to each other in this story! The reason why Kikyo knew Kagome was Inuyasha's "true love" is because…well, it's because she just did. x.x Or maybe she had a premonition. :D Hehe.

Please review!