Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. The characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi!

Author Note: Umm, please read and review and I'm sure all the romantics out there will be happy. It's summer so the next update shouldn't take as long as this one did. For those who demand an explanation as to why I took so long to update: Prom, boys, and life in general pretty much sums it up. Thanks for all your support! Love ya bunches!

Demon Exterminator Barbie:Let me just take this opportunity to say that S.A.Ts suck. lol. Getting a score of 1230 as a seventh grader is impressive. Good Job. Oh yeah, the essay wasn't so bad...they just don't give you enough time to write a decent composition.

Chapter 10
Wakeup Call: Date with Inuyasha!

Soccer practice wouldn't start up again until next week…

Inuyasha relished in this fact as he lay face up on his bed, his arms pillowing his head. After stepping into his spacious apartment, the first thing the teen had done was strip down to the bare minimum: a pair of flame red, ramen printed boxers. He had tossed his dirty clothes into the overflowing hamper.

It was rare to find a high school student living all alone, but Inuyasha was a junior. He had wealthy parents that were constantly on the go—traveling all over the world to secure the prosperity of their business. After turning 16, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted and nothing pleased him more than moving out.

Living and battling the so called "real world" didn't seem quite so bad when your only other option was to live in an enormous mansion quip with obsequious servants and an unpleasant older brother; the latter being the worse of the two.

As he drifted off to sleep, Inuyasha felt his stomach rumble and his amber eyes snapped open on reflex.

Deciding not to deny his stomach nutrition, since past efforts proved fruitless, Inuyasha coaxed his tired body out of bed and into the kitchen. Cleaning all the cupboards, he was struck with the shocking realization that…there was no ramen.

"Damn it…" Inuyasha shuffled through his storage once more, unwilling to own up to the fact that he'd forgotten to restock on the prepackaged meals when he'd had the chance.

With a low primitive growl, Inuyasha banged his head against the surface of the refrigerator (no ramen in there either). His stomach might be able to hold until tomorrow morning.

After moping for a couple minutes and snagging a bag of chips off the counter, Inuyasha promptly made his way to the living room where he plopped down on the marshmallow soft sofa. It seemed to swallow his body as he sunk in. One arm reached out for the remote control lying on the nightstand and switched on the T.V.

"-rabbit goes round and round!" A goofy looking man dressed in a rabbit suit pranced around a giant, blindingly green rug. Inuyasha hastily changed the channel, given that his eyes threatened to spontaneously combust.

What greeted him next was no better than the lunatic on the previous channel. It was a late night drama/soap opera titled, "He Loves Me Not" with lots of crying, kissing, and sappy lines. The hanyo made a face and pressed the little black overused button.

"-Noodles, beef, vegetables…savory spices and seasoning!" Drool welled up at the corners of his mouth as Inuyasha watched a commercial on ramen being served at "Tai's Ramen House." The speaker advertised a buy one get one free offer and Inuyasha felt his hand inadvertently dig into his pockets for cash. What he discovered was that his boxers had no pockets.

"Ah, Fuck!"

Kagome snuggled deeper into her bed and sighed contently. The stuffed dog lay by her side, pressed firmly to her chest. Coming home late the night before, Kagome had promised herself a couple extra hours worth of sleep. It was Saturday after all, and she didn't need to worry about homework, projects, or the incessant ringing of the phone.

Wait a minute…phone?

Grabbing her pink alarm clock, Kagome peered lazily at the time. What kind of idiot calls a girl at 5 in the morning on a Saturday? She immediately jumped to conclusions and wondered if it was Sango being robbed. At that thought, Kagome's hand lunged out to pick up the phone only to stop milliseconds later.

What if it was a prank call? There was no denying the fact that some kids were unusually cruel. However, being the optimist that she was, Kagome doubted that anyone would call at 5 a.m. without sensible means.

Finally, after the fourth or fifth ring, it was decided that if she didn't answer, it would wake the entire family. Case closed; Kagome picked up.

"Hello?"

"Took you long enough!" A gruff voice on the other end startled her awake and it sounded vaguely familiar. Kagome tried to pin the voice on a face, which was a near impossible task at such an early time of day. When it dawned upon her whom the speaker on the other end was Kagome interrupted his tirade.

"Inuyasha!"

"What?" he protested with equal volume. "You didn't have to scream girl!"

Kagome lowered her voice but stubbornly rebuffed, "I am not screaming, you baka!"

"Keh, whatever," he waved the insult aside. "I'm hungry so meet me at Tai's Ramen House at five thirty."

"NANI!" She clutched the phone to her ears to check if she'd heard him right. Was it just her or did Inuyasha just growl on the other end? Forget that! Did he just ask her to meet him somewhere in half an hour?

"I haven't had ramen in over 6 hours," he made it sound like capital punishment. "I'm hungry and flat broke after paying rent so..." Kagome felt her jaw drop. Why call her if he was broke and needed a free meal? Why not his other friends? Kagome felt overwhelmed with confusion.

Up until his reminder, "You owe me ramen after that bet and it's time to pay up."

And with that, Inuyasha hung up. She heard a click but was too shocked to put down her phone. Instead, it was positioned on her jaw, underneath her parted mouth. She had scored a date with Inuyasha Takashi at 5:30 A.M. in the morning at Tai's Ramen House. It was a girl's dream come true.

Kagome collapsed back onto her bed and laughed hysterically.

Inuyasha dug through his wardrobe and arbitrarily selected a pair of pants and shirt. What he ended up with was a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Throwing on a jacket to complete the ensemble, he frantically searched for his car keys and shot out the door like a bullet.

Kagome refused to be rushed. She brushed her teeth accordingly, washed her face, and brushed her hair. Rummaging through her neat closet, she pulled out a faded orange sundress. It was garnished around the waist by a pretty white ribbon. Tying a matching orange and white ribbon to her hair, Kagome studied herself once more in the mirror before grabbing a scarf and throwing it over her shoulders. She picked up her purse and padded downstairs.

The brunette scratched a terse note on a piece of paper which she left on the dining table, then, slipping into a pair of opened toed sandals, she silently made her way outdoors.

As Kagome ran down the steps of the shrine, and as Inuyasha got into his car, they both stopped and mentally slapped themselves on the head. Kagome realized that she had the least idea where Tai's Ramen House was, not to mention she couldn't drive. Inuyasha had made this same observation as he got ready to pull out of the driveway and knowing Kagome, he was pretty sure she would wait for him to come pick her up.

:-:Fifteen Minutes Later:-:

Inuyasha spotted a girl seated on the very last step of a stone staircase. He had remembered someone once mentioning that Kagome Higurashi lived in a shrine and this happened to be the only shrine within the school district. Thank goodness! As he drew nearer, Kagome stood up and the wind played all sorts of tricks to embellish her appearance. Her hair danced, dress fluttered, and she clutched her purse which threatened to blow away.

Inuyasha parked and waited as Kagome approached. She took slow strides on her high heeled sandals and let herself in.

"Took you long enough," Inuyasha remarked teasingly. Kagome blushed and buckled in. The hanyo grinned and drove off towards the restaurant that had conquered his dreams. It wasn't long before Kagome's curiosity got the upper hand.

"How did you…" she left the last part unsaid.

"I remember someone mentioning that you lived in a shrine," Inuyasha answered. His eyes failed to stray from the road and a soft 'ah' escaped her lips unnoticed.

Doesn't this feel familiar? Kagome thought, bitterly referring to the hushed silence that had befallen. At the way things were going between her and Inuyasha, the normally exuberant girl found herself once again questioning the chances of the hanyo falling in love with her, let alone, liking her.

"Ano, Inuyasha?" big brown eyes met gold for a split second. The brown eyes remained fixed what was now the side of Inuyasha's face. His long silver locks streamed downwards like tiny rivers diverging and Kagome followed their path, overcome by apprehension.

"So. So you really want me to treat you to ten bowls of ramen?"

Inuyasha snorted softly, "Hell yeah." "And you owe me fifteen, not ten" he added.

"Mm," Kagome squeezed her heavy purse for what could possibly be the last time. It was yet another failed attempt—this time, at saving money.

Tai's Ramen House was a respectable restaurant surrounded by others like it. Tai's was more appealing to Inuyasha because it sold ramen and ramen only. Whether it was creamy chicken, spicy shrimp, beef, or pork, Tai's had it all! The reasonably sized building had several curtained windows lining the outside for passerbyers to take a peak inside. Since it was a little past five thirty, the shop had already opened for customers.

"Come on, Kagome," Inuyasha coaxed her gently as he made his way into the restaurant. Kagome followed and was so surprised that he opened the doors for her that she looked around to see if anyone else had seen.

"Keh, I have manners ya know," dog boy countered once meeting her gaze. She merely grinned, and he returned the smile with a friendly smirk.

Toying with the idea in his head, Inuyasha settled to prove that he indeed had manners. It was simply a product of boredom, or so he convinced himself. For this reason, he led her to a table for two and pulled out a chair for her. His ears picked up an almost inaudible gasp, but before she could respond with a thank you, the waiter appeared.

"What can I get you?" he asked politely. Inuyasha chuckled almost evilly as he scanned the menu. His companion couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Hope you brought alotta of money," Inuyasha said with a smirk. Kagome faked a hefty groan, earning a smile from the dog demon. She felt herself relax and smile too. This early breakfast gave her the opportunity to woo the silver haired boy…and gosh, did that sound strangely worded!

Kagome busied herself with staring at Inuyasha as he ordered. She couldn't blame all the girls at school for talking about him all the time because the guy was a god. Everything about him screamed HOT. His clothes always matched, but she doubted Inuyasha cared a rat's ass what he wore. His hair was messy but that only helped to emphasize his highly appealing 'bad boy' demeanor. His eyes, kami his eyes…they were staring right back at her. Kagome 'eeped'.

Inuyasha watched her curiously. "Aren't you gonna order anything?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Kagome picked up her menu and fumbled to turn it right side up. Inuyasha tried to muffle a laugh and was thrown a dirty glare. Once Kagome had ordered, she settled back into the padded seat. It was with fierce determination that the brunette resolved to starting a conversation.

"How's soccer practice?" Kagome pushed back a lock of dark hair that had escaped from the ribbon. Inuyasha watched the negligible action with interest, finding it oddly cute how she flushed pink under his gaze.

"'Sokay I guess," Inuyasha rubbed at the back of his neck. "It's tiring and sure as hell bothersome…but all pays off when we kick some ass at the Championship tournament."

Encouraged by her earnest expression, Inuyasha added as an afterthought, "You should come to practice sometime." Kagome's eyes widened considerably and she fought down an oncoming blush.

"That would be great, I-" of course, all good moments come to an end, and Kagome was once again interrupted by the waiter that returned carting their food. Inuyasha brightened and dug in the instant a bowl was set before him. Kagome enjoyed her meal, and the date which she had believed she would come to dread.

Three bowls of oden and nine bowls of ramen later, Kagome felt as if her stomach would bust. Inuyasha was still stuffing his face silly, which made the schoolgirl absentmindedly wonder if he was starved as a child.

"Inuyasha, don't you ever get full?" Kagome asked, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. Inuyasha practically had his face in the bowl and answered her with a 'hah!' noise.

Kagome laughed, "You live off ramen, ne?" She hadn't expected him to respond in the positive, but he had, so she probed further.

"That's all your family eats? Ramen?" she asked incredulously.

"I live alone," he slurped the noodles up and looked at her reassuringly. "It's not as bad as it sounds."

Somehow, that didn't comfort her.

"Moved out when I was sixteen," he continued. "I couldn't stand my older brother."

"What about your parents?" Kagome edged closer to the table and rested her chin on the palms of her hands.

"I see them once or twice a year since they're always so busy," Inuyasha willed himself to take another bite but couldn't. "Elevens my limit" he burped and slumped back onto the chair. Kagome glanced at the remaining four bowls and giggled.

"Looks like the great Inuyasha Takashi couldn't finish all his ramen," Kagome taunted jokingly.

"Keh! I could if I were hungry enough!" Inuyasha contradicted. His stomach thought otherwise.

"Well I would help you out, but I'm too full," Kagome said thoughtfully.

"Full? After eating a measly three bowls?" Inuyasha patted his stomach. "Pathetic!" he grunted arrogantly. Kagome stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled lightly. She felt herself beam inwardly at successfully getting the hanyo to laugh.

"Here's your bill miss," the young waiter had returned and handed her a piece of paper. Kagome gawked at the numbers printed next to total. Their meals combined had rung up a heavy sum of 3,350 yen plus tax. Inner Kagome wept miserably.

:-:Walking the streets of Japan:-:

"We need to fix your diet buster," Kagome had her eyes narrowed dangerously. Inuyasha laughed nervously. "My diet? Why?"

The way the two of them walked side by side, could've mistaken them as a couple. Kagome stopped and tugged at his jacket so that he was facing her.

"You said that you lived on ramen!" Kagome remonstrated. "I'm picturing an apartment filled with ramen!"

Inuyasha didn't pull back but instead leaned in closer, "Then you're picturing wrong." Kagome let out a sigh of relief. But it was short lived once she realized how close they'd become.

"I'm fresh out," Inuyasha grumbled. "I'll have to go…shopping." He said the last word like it was some sort of repulsive mold and this time pulled away. Kagome released his jacket as an idea formed in her head. Astoundingly, she still had some money leftover…

:-:Hatake's Shopping Center:-:

"This…and this…oh, and this," Kagome bulldozed down the isle and dropped various items into an overloaded shopping basket. Inuyasha felt weighted down considerably but each time he tried to protest, she would move farther and farther away.

"Man Kagome!" Inuyasha panted. "Wait up!" She had bought fruits, vegetables, grains—the whole food pyramid along with a myriad of other products. They had had to return to the front of the store to pick up another basket, which she filled up just as quickly as the first. Thank kami this was a high quality, low price store or she would have been screwed; Kagome had offered to pay since the hanyo had no money on hand.

"Mm, I think we're done!" she paused to wipe the sweat from her brow.

"I don't think so girl," Inuyasha inspected the items on either basket. "You forgot ramen."

"Packaged ramen isn't healthy for you," Kagome pointed out sternly. "And besides, I'm the one buying, remember?" Inuyasha griped quietly and followed the cheerful girl to the checkout counter.

Once the monetary aspects were dealt with, Inuyasha grudgingly followed Kagome to his car. He looked longingly at "Tai's Ramen House" and vaguely wondered if his four bowls of ramen were set aside and whether or not he could finish them now.

Sensing his desire, Kagome quickened her pace and he in turn sped up too.

When they reached his car, Inuyasha placed the brown paper bags into the trunk and unlocked the doors. "You want me to take you home now?"

Something inside told her to just say no, to see how he would react. Kagome shook her head to clear herself of those foolish thoughts and by doing so gave off the impression that she didn't want to be taken home.

"Ok then," Inuyasha shrugged. "You can come help me put all this shit away."

"Huh?" She blinked in befuddlement.

Inuyasha conked her on the head jestingly. "I said you can come to my apartment and help me sort all this stuff out." "If you want…" he slammed the trunk close and stuffed his hands into his pockets, waiting for a reply.

"What will it be?"

Kagome cursed silently for taking so long to make such an easy decision. "O-of course!"

:-:Inuyasha's Humble Abode:-:

Kagome never dreamed that she would ever enter the home of Inuyasha Takashi and find it neater than her own. Paintings adorned the walls and rugs covered a portion of the sparkling marble floor. She followed him to the island kitchen where the real mess awaited.

"Doncha think it's about time to wash the dishes?" Kagome instinctively rushed to the sink and began cleaning. As a big sister, it was a responsibility that she'd become accustomed to. Inuyasha shrugged and began loading food into the fridge.

When she was done with the dishes, Kagome joined Inuyasha and stacked cans into their designated shelves. They finished in record time and neither objected to calling it a day and loafing around on the couch.

"My arms never felt so sore," Inuyasha mumbled, taking up the whole sofa with his body. Kagome sat on an armchair and caught his attention by pushing her hair behind her ears. He seemed intrigued each time she performed that simple action.

"Give me a minute and I'll take ya home," Inuyasha closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. Kagome nodded and picked up her purse from the coffee table. Pushing himself up, Inuyasha trudged to the door and opened it for her on impulse. Kagome muttered a soft thank you and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She became conscious of the fact that she was running on a little less than six hours of sleep and yawned.

:-:Back at the Shrine:-:

Kagome stepped out on wobbly legs and turned to face Inuyasha. He looked equally tired but forced a small grin. Kagome sheepishly returned his smile and tried to think of something relevant to say. Lucky for her, Inuyasha spoke first.

"I never…got a chance to thank you," Inuyasha rubbed the back of his head pensively. "I had alotta fun."

"Yeah, me too," Kagome agreed, twisting the straps of her purse nervously. Come on you baka She reprimanded herself. Think of something else to say!

"Well, uh, I'm gonna go now," Inuyasha looked at the steering wheel intently and then back at Kagome.

"O-oh okay," Kagome stepped back from the vehicle and watched Inuyasha. He grasped the steering wheel, as if contemplating whether or not he should say whatever was on his mind.

"If I haven't mentioned it yet," amber eyes met brown. "You look really nice today."

A/N: I complied with the request to make Inuyasha not seem so annoyed by Kagome! Go me!