Disclaimer-Come on do I really have to say it? Well, for legal reasons I guess I do, so, I do not own Inuyasha. Why does it hurt so much to say that….

AN- Thanks to reviews and readers new and old. Your devotion to my story inspires me:-)

Butting Heads

Kagome was just about to demand Inuyasha tell her what he meant with that remark when she heard the front door open and her mother call out to her.

"Kagome! Souta! I'm home! What do you guys want for dinner?"

Temporarily forgetting her see-through companion, Kagome jumped up from the bed and ran over to the door. Flinging it open she stuck her head out and bellowed downstairs, "Gyoza mom! You promised to make gyoza tonight!"

A slightly muffled "Oh, that's right" floated up to her. "Okay Kagome dear, come down and set the table in about half an hour will you?"

"Sure Mom!"

She popped her head back in the room and closed the door. As soon as it clicked shut she remembered she had an audience and turned around to say somewhat sheepishly, "My mom makes the best dumplings…"

"Uh huh," was the short reply.

Blushing slightly she walked over to her desk and plopped down in her chair. She glanced down at her sad attempt at a book report and decided that maybe she could manage at least a few paragraphs before dinner. But instead of picking up her pen, she found herself thinking more about the situation she had found herself in. 'I wonder how long it will be like this; feeling awkward because I know someone is constantly watching me and wondering what he's thinking about me...' Leaning back in her chair once more, she tilted her head up to stare at the ceiling while again mulling over exactly how long Inuyasha had been trailing her around. 'It really can't have been that long can it? He doesn't seem like the type to keep quiet for very long. So maybe only a week or two at most.' Kagome felt somewhat relieved as she reasoned this out. So he hadn't been watching her all that long really. It was weird for him to be spying on her at all, but at least now she knew he was there and could keep from embarrassing herself too much. She hoped.

"Oi, wench. You giving me the silent treatment again?"

Eyebrow twitching in irritation, but not removing her sight from the ceiling she replied, "No, I'm just thinking. And my name is Kagome, not wench. So learn it and use it will ya?"

A small snort and then, "Whatever wench."

Feeling as though she had only succeeded in giving him something else to annoy her with, Kagome sat up in her chair and swiveled around to look in the direction of Inuyasha's voice. "Are you always this polite, or am I just lucky?"

"I think you're just lucky. No one else ever complained."

"That's because no one else could hear you!" she said in exasperation.

"Oh yeah."

Kagome just shook her head at that, wondering if he had actually forgotten, or if he was just teasing her again. 'Probably wouldn't tell me either way, oh well.' Instead of pursuing the argument, she changed the subject to something else that had been on her mind.

"So, Inuyasha, how many other people have you protected from skinned knees and bumped heads besides me?"

"I dunno…a few I guess."

"What do you mean you guess? Don't you know?"

"Of course I know! I just don't care, okay!"

"How can you not care about someone you're protecting?" Kagome asked with a frown.

"Probably because I never wanted to be there in the first place. It's just something I do, like a job or something. Only I don't get paid."

Kagome tilted her head to one side as she thought about that. "But that doesn't make sense Inuyasha. Why take a job to keep someone safe if you don't care about them and don't want to be there? Especially if you're not getting paid…"

"Are you completely brainless or something? How many times do I have to tell you I don't have a choice in the matter? I don't actually mean it's a job, it was just a damn example!" came the heated retort from the opposite wall from where she first started looking.

"Well excuse me," she hissed angrily, turning. "Maybe if you actually spoke more than three words without biting my head off, I would understand you better. You know, actually have a polite and civilized conversation. In case you didn't know, that's where you answer someone's questions without sarcasm and speak to them without insulting them or calling them rude names. But I suppose that's beyond your grasp, now isn't it?" Somewhere in the back of her head she knew he had in fact told her something to that effect, but by now Kagome was in a rare temper and was standing up with her hands in balled into fists. "Maybe the reason no one ever talked to you wasn't because they couldn't hear you, but because you're such an irritating jerk all the time!" With that final bust of angry words, she turned and walked to her door, yanking it open. "And you can just stay up here for dinner. I don't need to here your stupid voice while I'm eating." Having said that, she promptly walked out of the room and closed the door with only a tiny bang, mentally congratulating herself for not slamming it as hard as she could. Her mom would surely wonder what was wrong if she did.

'I can't believe I ever felt sorry for him. He deserves to be alone ' Kagome stopped halfway down the stairs and briefly wondered if she should tell her family about her unwilling (and unusual) guest. But in the end she decided that they would probably just think she was overstressed from school or was maybe a little crazy. 'Nah, no need for them to worry over my mental health, I'm doing that enough right now for all of us.'

Resuming her trek to the dining room, Kagome was unaware of an incredibly pissed off Inuyasha following her down the steps. 'Try bossing me around little girl? I'll teach you to yell at me like some naughty child. Let's see how you like your own medicine wench.'

When Kagome reached the dining room door she stopped once more and took a deep breath. Letting it out, Kagome tried to let her frustration and annoyance flow out with the air in her lungs. When she felt as though she were calm enough to face her mother without her seeing that something was wrong, Kagome walked into the room to set the table for dinner. The last of her anger melted away when she smelled her mother's delicious fried dumplings in the air.

"Mmm yummy," she said appreciatively, almost drooling in anticipation. "Hey mom, those smell great!"

"Thank you dear. Souta sweetie, go get your grandfather, will you? Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

"Okay mom," was the reply from the living room, where Kagome assumed he was still playing his video game at. Then the sound of footsteps towards the front door and the open and shut of the door itself.

Kagome began to put out the plates and bowls for everyone in her family, letting her thoughts roam once more. 'Maybe I was a little harsh on him? It can't be easy to be alone for so long, heck, I'd go crazy after a week. He said he'd been doing this for years. I guess anyone would be grumpy after that long. And if he really is being forced to be here, I suppose I can't really blame him for being so testy and not wanting to talk to me about why he's here. Maybe if I try being nice he'll open up some more. I just have to not let him get to me. Jeez he can be so difficult though!'

She was just finishing her mental ramble when her mother walked in with a large platter of the much anticipated gyoza. Immediately her stomach started to rumble and her mother laughed at the noise.

"Okay Kagome, I hear you. We'll eat just as soon as your brother and grandfather come back. Go and bring the rice in here for me would you."

"K." Trying to send her brother and grandpa a telepathic message to hurry up, she grabbed the steaming bowl off the counter and turned to go back in the dining room when she heard an increasingly familiar voice speak up from behind her.

"Hope you don't mind me coming down to join you."

Kagome froze mid-step and looked to see if her mother was in hearing range before whispering, "I asked you to stay upstairs!"

"No, actually you told me to stay upstairs and I don't appreciate you trying to order me around. I'll go where I want and I really don't see how you could stop me anyways, wench."

Still whispering in case her mother overheard she said, "Okay fine, but try and behave yourself would you?"

"Of course," Inuyasha said in a seemingly innocent voice

Kagome wasn't sure what he was up to, but figured he was right in saying there was nothing she could do about it. Resigning herself to that fact, she sighed softly and continued on into the dining room with the rice.

Inuyasha watched with a slight smile as the young girl in front of him put down the bowl in the middle of a table and sat down to join her family. It was a good thing she couldn't see the mischief in his eyes as she chatted away obliviously or she might have been apprehensive of what was to come. 'I think it's time for a little fun.' With that thought, his smile grew just a little bit evil.

AN- Ta da!

Bye for now.