True to Your Heart
A/N: Hehe, another update. I did say I was going to update a lot this week, didn't I?
Thank you for your reviews, everyone! :D
Chapter 5: The Truth Unveiled
:&:o:&:o:&: Saturday, December 10 :&:o:&:o:&:
All day, Kagome played with Inuyasha's dog form. She took him to the park-with a leash attached to him of course-and played with him at Higurashi Shrine. Even Souta started playing with the both of them.
That night as Kagome lay curled up against him, Inuyasha thought about what to do in the morning.
'Once Kagome heads for the park, I'll dart out of here to change my clothes and then I'll head to the park myself,' he concluded in his mind. He closed his eyes. 'Yes…that's what I'll do…'
:&:o:&:o:&: Sunday, December 11 :&:o:&:o:&:
Inuyasha woke up to the sound of humming and rustling. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Kagome had changed out of her pajamas and into jeans and a pale yellow long-sleeved shirt.
"Well, Inuyasha-chan, I'm off," Kagome smiled, looking down at him. "I'll come back in a few hours. I'm going to leave you in my room, so take care of yourself, okay?"
Inuyasha barked.
"I left some steak that Mom cooked on a plate by the door, just in case you're hungry," Kagome laughed and ruffled his fur. "See you later."
He tiredly watched as Kagome headed out and closed the door behind her. He jumped out of the bed and to the window. When he saw Kagome heading down the shrine steps and turning the street corner, he slid the window open with his paws and stuck his nose outside. It was a bit chilly outside…perfect. His nose twitched.
ACHOO!
"Yes!" Inuyasha said brightly when he was back in his hanyou form. He climbed onto the rooftop below, closed Kagome's window and jumped into the air, heading home.
"Hm…I thought he'd be here first," Kagome frowned when she reached the park entrance. She looked at her watch.
"Kagome!" a voice called out. She looked and caught sight of Inuyasha running towards her.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Inuyasha apologized.
"It's fine," Kagome smiled. She blinked when he stuck a single rose in front of her.
"For you," he stated.
"Thank you," she said shyly as she took the rose from him.
Inuyasha took a moment to catch his breath before asking, "So, should we get going?"
Kagome looped her arm around his and smiled up at him, "Yup."
"I do not know why I agreed to this!" Sango snapped as she gave Miroku a slap in the face.
"Because you love me?" Miroku said innocently, which earned him another slap.
Kagome and Inuyasha laughed nervously at the violent teenage girl that stood before them. Sango had long black hair and a unique magenta eye color. Miroku had been after her ever since they met and she hadn't agreed to a date with him until now.
Yet, everyone knew that Sango and Miroku liked each other.
"Well, Sango wants to head to the Hall of Mirrors," Miroku said to Inuyasha as he rubbed his sore cheek. "So I'm heading there."
"Kagome wants to head to the ferris wheel first," Inuyasha replied. "Guess we all won't be together during this 'double' date then."
"We can meet up at lunch," Miroku waved goodbye to Inuyasha and Kagome as Sango dragged him away.
"Come on, let's go," Kagome tugged at Inuyasha's arm. "Before there's a long line."
The two of them proceeded to the popular ride. Once they got on, Kagome looked out the window with a look of awe.
Inuyasha felt himself smile.
'I smile so much when I'm around her,' his eyes softened. 'Could I be…am I really in-'
"Isn't the scenery beautiful, Inuyasha?" Kagome turned to him suddenly, breaking his train of thought. "I'm so glad we came here."
"Yeah," Inuyasha spoke uncomfortably. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
Kagome tore her eyes from the scenery again, "Sure. What is it?"
"What did you think of the past few days?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes avoiding hers.
Kagome looked at him for some time before answering, "They were…fun."
"If you were to choose whether to continue going on dates with me…would you still go?"
Kagome redirected her attention to the window, "I guess…but remember, I'm only going on these dates to pay you back for that coffee that day."
Or is that the only reason? Kagome's hands tightened at her side, her heart pounding. Lately, she'd strangely felt more happy than usual. She smiled more, she laughed more…her mother even remarked that she could hear Kagome humming in the shower all the way from the kitchen downstairs. Could it be because of these dates with Inuyasha?
'Is my old crush…renewing itself?' Kagome questioned herself. 'Is this possible? I can't fall in love with someone who I've hated since kindergarten and up to now…can I? I mean, what's with Inuyasha's change of heart anyway? Why has he been acting nice towards me lately?'
"And how do you know I'm not using you to go to all of these places for free?" Kagome joked out loud, trying to calm her heart down. "Do you have a motive behind all these dates?"
Inuyasha didn't answer her. Kagome watched his blank eyes with curiosity.
"You want to copy my homework, don't you?" Kagome rolled her eyes.
"Why do you keep bringing that up?" Inuyasha asked, aggravated.
"Because you ask to copy my homework during winter break every year."
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do! Why else would you be taking me on dates like this?" Kagome yelled, her eyes flaring. "Is it because you like me?"
"No!" Inuyasha shouted back. He seized her wrists, shoved her roughly against her seat, and kept her there with his hands. Kagome squeezed her eyes tightly and squirmed.
"Let me go!" she objected. When Inuyasha didn't, Kagome opened her eyes again, preparing to give him a deathly glare. However, she found herself dumbstruck when she felt his mouth press softly against hers.
Inuyasha felt her relax and then, to his surprise, he felt Kagome begin to kiss him back. How long they kissed, he had no idea, but by the time they drew apart from each other, the ride was almost over.
"I'm taking you on these dates…because I'm in love with you, Kagome," Inuyasha said. "I have no idea when this happened. Probably during the dates we've had…probably during the start of this month…probably since I met you in kindergarten…I don't know. All I know is that I love you."
"I…" Kagome began and closed her mouth. She turned her head away and didn't answer him.
"Maybe she's scared of commitment," Miroku said thoughtfully. "I mean, you've only been dating for a few days."
"But we've known each other forever."
"Good point."
The two best friends were standing in line to get food for themselves and Sango and Kagome, who were both reserving a table.
"To think," Miroku laughed. "If she'd said 'I love you' back to you with true felt love and you two kissed again, the curse could've been broken today…and then you wouldn't have to go on these dates anymore."
"My motive has changed, Miroku," Inuyasha said in a low voice. "I'm not trying to get her to fall in love with me only to break the curse…I'm doing it so she can break the curse and so that we can be together."
"Seems that way. You must be really broken-hearted right now."
"I am."
"Cheer up, buddy," Miroku encouraged. "I'm sure she loves you too. Just give her some time to fully realize it."
The day went by fast. Soon, it was time for Inuyasha to take Kagome home. During the walk back to Higurashi Shrine, Kagome acted as if he hadn't confessed his love to her at all.
'Maybe…we were meant to be enemies,' Inuyasha thought, his heart hurting all of a sudden-and he was sure it wasn't heartburn.
He nodded whenever Kagome asked him something, not really hearing the question. The pain inside him was overwhelming him.
Inuyasha halted to a stop when they reached the front door to Kagome's house, "Kagome?"
She stopped talking and looked at him in the face, "Yes?"
"You hate me, don't you?"
Kagome looked away, "No…not anymore."
"Then how do you feel towards me?"
"Right now, I just know that I really like you, Inuyasha," Kagome said, slipping one of her hands into his. "So cheer up. Don't think that I haven't noticed that gloomy look of yours all day."
Inuyasha nodded, "By the way, I just wanted to tell you that…you're the first girl at school to ever like me for who and what I am."
Kagome blinked, "Really?"
"No one really had interest in me because I'm a hanyou."
"Who could not like a guy like you? And I like your hanyou features. You of all people should know."
He smiled at that and began recalling the times when she yanked his ears and braided his hair in kindergarten. He began cheering up. It was impossible for him to remain depressed while he was around Kagome.
"Hey, I want to show you a dog I found a few days ago," Kagome said all of a sudden. She opened the door and began dragging him inside. "I named him Inuyasha-chan since he looked a lot like you."
Crap. "Inuyasha-chan" would definitely not be there.
Inuyasha bit his lip as he was led up the stairs toward Kagome's room.
"Inuyasha-chan?" Kagome called out as she opened the door. "Inuyasha-chan, are you here?"
She surveyed around her room.
"He left again," Kagome whispered. "How did he escape? Did Souta, Mom, or Grandpa let him out?"
She looked under the bed, "Inuyasha-chan?"
She looked under her desk, "Inuyasha-chan?"
Inuyasha stood at the doorway and watched guiltily as Kagome thoroughly searched her room.
"He's gone," Kagome cried. She wiped her tears away and spotted her closet. "Wait, my closet. I haven't check there yet."
She walked to her big closet and searched inside. Inuyasha followed after her. He stepped in behind her and right when Kagome turned around to leave, Inuyasha shut the door behind them, filling the closet with blackness.
"I'm sure he's okay," Inuyasha murmured, his arms wrapping around her waist. "He's probably with someone who he loves right now."
"Do you think so?" Kagome said back, tears still streaming from her eyes.
"No, I know so," he answered against her mouth. They shared a brief kiss.
When Inuyasha opened the closet door again, Kagome noticed that the steak she'd left near the door was untouched.
"I'd better take the plate of steak to the kitchen," she said grimly, heading over to it. Inuyasha made a move to follow her, but then, he felt his nose twitch.
'Damn, not now!'
"Kagome, I have to go home," Inuyasha said quickly, going toward the window. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Before Kagome could say anything, Inuyasha jumped out the window and into the air.
"Wait! Wouldn't it be better to leave through the front door?" Kagome called out as she ran to the open window. She blinked in astonishment when she didn't see Inuyasha anywhere in sight. "He is half-demon after all…"
She looked down toward the sidewalk in front of the shrine and spotted a white dog turning the street corner before it disappeared.
"Was that…Inuyasha-chan I just saw?"
:&:o:&:o:&: Saturday, December 17 :&:o:&:o:&:
Almost a week passed by since the trip to the amusement park. Inuyasha continued taking Kagome on dates. Today, he and Kagome had decided to go to the park.
Both of them walked hand-in-hand, neither of them saying a word, just enjoying the other's presence.
And then, when they rounded a corner, Inuyasha saw her.
Kikyo.
"Well, well, if it isn't Inuyasha," Kikyo smiled nefariously. "How are you doing today?"
"Fine, until I saw you," he replied sourly.
"Rude as ever, I see," she glared. Kikyo noticed Kagome. "I see you've found your 'true love', Inuyasha."
Kagome blushed, oblivious to the true meaning behind those words.
"Yeah," Inuyasha said grumpily to Kikyo. "Now if you don't mind, Kagome and I are on a date and you're spoiling it, wench."
Kikyo whipped her head toward Inuyasha's direction. Wench?
She was about to explode when she thought of an idea. She cackled and faced Kagome, "Kagome, was it? Do you like dogs?"
"I love them," Kagome responded brightly. "I even found one that looked like Inuyasha a few days ago. I named him 'Inuyasha-chan' too."
"Really?" Kikyo smiled mysteriously. She glimpsed at Inuyasha, who suddenly looked uneasy.
"Yeah," Kagome said sadly. "But he ran away."
Kikyo grinned at Inuyasha before she turned back to Kagome and said, "Do you want to see Inuyasha-chan again?"
"I'd love to," Kagome blinked, surprised. "But where is he?"
"Right next to you!" Kikyo said, laughing hard. She swiftly reached over and tickled Inuyasha on the nose before he could turn away from her.
ACHOO!
Kagome stared open-mouthed at the familiar white-furred dog that now stood beside her.
"Inu…yasha?" she whispered.
"Hahaha! He didn't tell you about the curse?" Kikyo bellowed. "He didn't tell you that every time he sneezed, he changed into a dog? That in order to break the curse, he'd have to have his 'true love' kiss him and say 'I love you'? That he had to break the curse before Christmas otherwise he'd remain a dog forever?"
Kagome stared at Kikyo and then her eyes filled with tears as she turned her gaze down at Inuyasha's dog form, "You…were using me, weren't you? So you could break the curse."
She held back a sob and screamed, "I hate you, Inuyasha!"
Then, Kagome spun around and ran off.
'Kagome! Wait!' Inuyasha thought desperately. He took in a deep breath of the cold air though his nose.
ACHOO!
"Damn you, wench!" Inuyasha yelled at Kikyo before running after Kagome. "Thanks a lot!"
"You're very welcome!" Kikyo cooed, waving goodbye.
Surprisingly, Kagome had beaten him to Higurashi Shrine-then again, he was too caught up in what was happening to even think about using his demonic speed.
By the time he reached there, she was already at the front door, fumbling inside her pockets for the door key.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaimed, catching her wrist. "Wait!"
"You're dead to me, Inuyasha," she said coldly, yanking her arm away from him. "So why don't you do me a favor and actually drop dead?"
"I wasn't using you!"
"And to think. I let you stay in my room, I let you sleep next to me, and you almost saw me naked that one day!"
"You dragged me to your house that day!"
"Oh, so it's my fault now?" Kagome whirled on him. Inuyasha stiffened when he saw that her gray-blue eyes were stone cold. "I can't believe that I actually thought you changed! I can't believe I trusted you when you said you loved me! If you did love me, you would've told me about this stupid and unbelievable curse!"
"I do love you!" Inuyasha argued as Kagome finally found the key. "I want to be with you-"
"Stay away from me! And don't you dare come near me again!" Kagome said coldly as she yanked the door open. And then, before Inuyasha could say another word, she slammed the door shut in his face.
A/N: The drama! :P Things are getting pretty interesting, if I don't say so myself.
Please review!