Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi is the creator and owner of Inuyasha. NOT me, no matter how much I wish I came up with such a great manga/anime! ^_^
Author's Note: OMG, thank you all so much for reading my story and giving me such good reviews! Receiving good reviews (even threatening ones ^_^) makes me sooo happy! Does anyone think that they've figured out who the mystery youkai [demon] is yet? Hey, what are you waiting for?! Stop reading these stupid author's notes and find out!!
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"In the Crossfire" by: Jesia-chan
Chapter 2: Old Friends
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"Long time no see, Sakura-san."
Sakura's eyes widened with sudden recognition of this familiar voice and whirled around. "Kouga-kun!" she screeched in delight and ran to his open arms. The embrace was brief but sweet.
"I've missed you Sakura-san," Kouga said as she pulled away to look at him.
"Kouga-kun, it's only been a couple of weeks! We've gone for months without seeing each other before," she smiled at him warmly.
Kouga smiled back and took her hands in his. "Days feel like weeks, weeks feel like months, months feel like years," he said softly.
Sakura stared at him in shock, not sure what exactly one of her best friends was saying. She opened her mouth to say something, but found herself speechless. What could she say? 'He's been acting kind of weird for the past several months. Almost . . . romantic?' Sakura quickly dismissed the idea. 'Nah . . . not Kouga-kun; he's my best friend! And a full-blooded demon. Dad told me that no full-blooded demon would be interested in a half-breed, much less a quarter-demon.'
Kouga could see that Sakura was baffled by his behavior. 'I'd better cut the romantic crap. She's seeing right through it!' he mentally scolded himself. 'I mean this is Sakura, she's smart enough to know when I'm not being myself.'
Both of them finally snapped back to reality and out of their deep thoughts. "Umm . . . Kouga-kun?" Sakura asked, looking back and forth between his aqua-blue eyes and their cupped hands.
"Oh, sorry," he replied sheepishly, letting go of her hands. "I just haven't been myself lately."
"It's okay. I've noticed that you've been acting strangely," Sakura eyed him suspiciously for a moment.
"Nani? [What?]" Kouga wore a confused expression, wondering what she was thinking.
Sakura gasped, "Kouga-kun! You've fallen in love!"
Kouga began to blush fiercely and looked away. 'She knows?!' he thought worriedly. 'Should I go ahead and tell her? No, I already promised myself I wouldn't claim her until she's at least fifteen.'
"It's true, isn't it? It's written all over your face!" Sakura giggled. "I'm happy for you Kouga-kun." She placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Really?" Kouga asked, puzzled.
"Hai, and if you ever want someone to talk to about it, I'm your girl."
Poor Kouga-kun was still confused, 'She doesn't think that it's her? How could it be anybody else but her?' Realization suddenly slapped him in the face, 'Did she just say "I'm your girl"?'
Sakura had already dropped her hand from his shoulder. "Kouga-kun? Hello – anybody home?" Sakura-chan waved her hand back and forth in front of his pensive eyes. He once again snapped back to reality. "You've been really quiet," she observed. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh, no of course not! How can anything be wrong when I'm with you, Sakura-san?"
Sakura dismissed the romantic talk again, as if it weren't really for her. "Well, anyway . . . I'm very happy for you, that you've found someone to love."
She hugged him again and he hugged back, closing his eyes in pure ecstasy. 'Gods she smells good! I wish I could just hold her like this forever,' Kouga thought possessively. 'Maybe I could take her now. So what's a week?'
"Uhh, Kouga-kun?" Sakura said, "You can let go now."
Kouga gave one last tight squeeze, opened his eyes, and . . .
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Author's Note: Sorry about having to leave another cliffhanger. I just can't help myself, it's fun watching the readers squirm! But really I'm not this evil, trust me. I'm also sorry about making the chapter kinda short; I wanted to get more out to you guys before you all sicced Sessy (or any other powerful, evil character) on me. Did anyone guess that it could be Kouga? Heh, must have fooled you guys pretty good, huh? Sorry if he's OOC (out of character); I've only seen episodes 35 and 36 with him in it and heard somewhere that he's a sweet talker (?). Let me know if I'm wrong. Anyways, in this fic, I'm gonna make up a youkai age rule: any character with any amount of demon blood will age normally until they are seventeen; after that they will age one year every ten years. Is that okay with you guys? That makes Kouga and Inuyasha still pretty young. I'm not promising anything, but I might be able to update about once a week or so. It just depends on extracurricular things and homework. Don't forget to review!! Ja ne! [See ya later!]