Disclaimer- Rumiko Takahashi owns Inuyasha. Thymebug owns Inuyasha merchandise. See the difference?

AN- My apologies if this chapter turns out craptastical, I'm somewhat (very) sick at the moment. One would wonder why I don't drag my butt away from the computer and go to sleep. Ah, the mysteries of life…

Oh, and don't lean in too close, I'm contagious…

Dubious Explanations

Kagome's mind raced a mile a minute. What was she going to say? Had her mother only caught Inuyasha's name or everything she said just now? Should she lie? Tell the truth? Would her mom believe her if she did tell the truth?

'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?'

"Um…"

She couldn't think! Say something! Anything! Don't just sand there looking guilty, she's going to think the worst. Oh, why wasn't her brain working fast enough? Stupid Inuyasha getting her up so early. She blamed him for this; he could have at least warned her that her mother was coming.

"I uh…"

Was that laughter she heard? Why, that little…! He was laughing at her! Again! 'He would find this funny…'

Her mother, meanwhile, was waiting patiently for Kagome to continue.

"Sorry mom. I, uh, gotta go!" And with that hurried exclamation, she darted past her mom and hurtled down the stairs at breakneck speed before she could get a response.

"Wait! Kagome!" The only reply though, was the bang of the front door. 'What was that all about?' Shrugging her shoulders, Mrs. Higurashi went back to what she was doing, trusting her daughter enough to tell her when she was ready. 'I wonder why she was talking to herself. And what could be so important that she'd be up before ten on a Saturday?' At first she had thought Kagome had someone in her room she was speaking to, but as she put away her daughter's clothes and straightened the bed (Now why was the pillow all the way across the room?), she saw no signs that anyone else had been there. 'Oh well, at least it wasn't a boy…' And with that final thought, Kagome's mother closed the door to the bedroom and went back downstairs to start breakfast.

Slam!

Giving a little cringe at having slid the door shut so loudly, Kagome stopped to wipe her forehead. "Phew."

"That had to be the most cowardly thing I have ever seen."

"I know…"

"I mean you could have at least made something up."

"I know."

"But to just run away without saying a thing was just-"

"I know! Just be quiet would you?"

"Feh, whatever." Pause. "Coward."

She pushed away from the door she had been leaning on and started off through the yard towards the main shrine. As she walked she let her hand trail along the fence that surrounded the property, taking in the early morning light and trying not to lose her temper again. It wasn't too hard considering what a beautiful day it was turning out to be. Somehow her mood almost always seemed to reflect the weather. If it was sunny and warm out like today, she just couldn't seem to hold onto any bad feelings. Well most of the time anyways. Of course, if she was going to be hanging around Inuyasha much longer, her mood would probably be more reflective of any remarks he might make, rather than the climate. He just had this uncanny ability to rub her exactly the wrong way. Must be all the practice he got over the years, insulting people who couldn't hear him. Sure didn't take him long to figure out what buttons to push on her…

Kagome let out a small sigh. If what he said was true, then he really would be hanging around for a while. A very long while. Might as well try to get along with him sooner rather than later. She paused in her walk, and noticed she had reached the God Tree. Taking a seat on the bench nearby, she gazed fondly up into the branches of the old tree.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you glad you met me?"

A snort. "What kind of dumb question is that?"

She smiled slightly, "An incredibly dumb one. But humor me would you?"

"…I dunno, maybe. Better than talking to myself I guess."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, those couldn't have been the most intelligent of conversations."

"Yeah, it- hey, wait a minute! Just what are you trying to say wench!"

Kagome laughed at his outraged question. 'That's for getting me up so darn early and letting my mom catch me by surprise.'

"Oh, nothing Inuyasha. You know, this is my favorite tree in the world."

Completely thrown by her sudden change of subject, all Inuyasha could manage was a clever, "Huh?"

"I don't know why, but whenever I come by here I feel so peaceful and calm. When I was little, I used to sit underneath its shade and play or eat my lunch or some other little kid thing. It always made me feel so safe. Like it was watching over me." She turned to where she last heard Inuyasha's voice. "Kind of like what you're doing now I guess."

Inuyasha didn't really know what to say to that, so for once, he said nothing.

"Even now, if I feel sad or upset, I'll come out here and just sit and eventually I'll feel a little better."

"You're…upset?" Had he really made her that mad?

Kagome let out another bright laugh when he asked this.

Guess not.

"Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you. No, I'm not upset. I don't just come here when I feel bad Inuyasha, I come here when I'm happy to. It's almost like a friend… Granted a very quiet one, but still a friend."

"I…see." She was even nuttier than he thought. Friends with a tree? Strange! But even as he thought this, he felt that same familiarity as he had at the well. As if he knew it from somewhere, but couldn't remember where. Or maybe that would be when… Shaking his head to dispel the feeling, Inuyasha figured her craziness was just starting to rub off on him.

Kagome blushed and stood abruptly. "I never said it wasn't stupid. It's just…how I feel. Okay?"

"I don't care. Don't expect me to spill my guts to you though."

"Of course not," she said with a tiny quirk of her lips. "But it's going to be hard to talk to you if I don't know the first thing about you."

"Hmph. Maybe you should stop talking then."

"Maybe I should…" With one last look to the God Tree, Kagome started walking again.

"Hey, wait up!"

Continuing her circle around the shrines courtyard, she soon found herself by the well house. Knowing she wasn't really supposed to hang around this place, but wanting to see Inuyasha (and his cute ears!) one more time, she push open the door and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her, shutting out most of the light. Letting her eyes adjust to the light before stepping down the stairs, Kagome took a walk around the small platform that surrounded the well. When she could see once more and was confident she wouldn't trip over her own feet, she went down the steps to sit on the boarded up well. There she sat patently and waited for Inuyasha to join her. She didn't have to wait that long.

As he suddenly appeared next to her, arms crossed, with a bored expression on his face, she flashed him a smile.

"I assume this is what you wanted."

Still grinning, she just gave a little shrug, not saying anything.

"Cat got your tongue?"

She shook her head, looking like she was waiting for him to say something else. 'What does she want? Why doesn't she say something? Oh yeah, I told her to stop talking, that's why. Too bad that doesn't work all the time…'

"Would you say something already, you're starting to creep me out."

And damned if she didn't just smile wider at that.

"What do you want from me!"

Kagome's smile melted into a look that said 'I think you know' as she raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Stop looking at me like that. I can't read your mind wench. Speak already."

The eyebrow went a little higher.

"Oh fine! What do you want to know?"

She flashed him another brilliant smile. "Thank you, Inuyasha. I just want to know what kind of person you are. You know, what you like and don't like, stuff like that. Although…you could tell me about your ears first…"

'How did I know she was going to ask me about that?'

"I'm a hanyou," he stated expressionlessly, as if that would explain everything.

Blink. "A hanyou?"

He took in her blank expression. Okay so maybe it didn't explain everything. "Yeah, you know. A half-demon."

Blink. "You…you're a demon?"

"No, I'm a half-demon, there's a big difference."

"Ah, I see." He was a demon? No, a half-demon, a hanyou. 'What does that mean though?' She always thought of demons as the scary monsters in the stories her grandpa told her and Souta when they were little. Buy here was Inuyasha, telling her that he, himself, was one of the scary monsters. Only he didn't seem so scary. At least when he wasn't yelling at her he didn't. Well that explained a few things. Like the fangs, claws and ears.

"Okay then. Tell me more about yourself."

Here Inuyasha scowled and turned to face her, crossing his legs under him. "You're awfully nosey, do you realize that?"

"Uh-huh," she agreed, nodding her head. "Now spill."

The scowl disappeared as he rolled his eyes at her. "You're not going to leave this alone are you?"

"Nope."

"I thought as much. Alright, well…" He paused as if thinking hard. "I like making fun of other people, especially when they can't hear me, and I enjoy torturing young women and humiliating them in front of their families. I don't like people who talk a lot and ask nosey questions that are none of their business. And I also don't like it when my ears are touched by complete strangers. I've been stuck as a Guardian to clumsy, ignorant people for the last five hundred years, though at my count I've only actually been awake for about fifty of them. I hate the fact I have to follow someone around for the rest of my unnaturally long life and that I have no freedom of my own. I have no family, no friends, and no life. That's about all I can think of right now." The whole time he had been speaking he had been staring at the ceiling. Now he looked down to see what her reaction to his words would be. He wasn't disappointed.

Kagome was on her feet now, hands balled into fists at her side. Her expression was livid. "That's not what I asked for and you know it!"

He just shrugged. "I told you exactly what you asked for, I can't help it that it isn't what you wanted to hear."

"You are the most insensitive jerk I have ever met! I try to be nice to you and how do I get repaid? You throw it in my face!"

Now Inuyasha was getting mad. He straightened up, setting his feet on the ground once more, though he remained sitting on the well. "I never asked you to be nice to me in the first place. So don't try to use that, cause it won't work. I don't care if you like me or not, so stop trying so hard to get to know me!"

"Well excuse me! Maybe I just felt sorry because you were on your own, okay?"

"I already told you I don't need your pity!"

"Then you don't have it! This nosey, clumsy, ignorant stranger is leaving!" And with that she stomped up the steps and opened the door to the outside, momentarily getting blinded before slamming it as hard as she could.

"Stupid busybody. Needs to mind her own business. She had no right to ask me anything in the first place," he said loudly with conviction. Why did his stomach twist in such a tight knot then, as he remembered the angry tears in her eyes before she turned around? And why had he felt so guilty when she repeated back all the hurtful things he had said about her. He began to feel the familiar tugging in his chest as Kagome got too far away from him. 'Better catch up.' Just as he stood up to follow her he heard a sound that sent his heart into his throat.

Kagome screaming.

Forgetting his anger in a wave of terror at the sound, he dashed outside as fast as he could, praying he wasn't too late. When he saw her, he stopped dead at the sight before him.

There was Kagome, standing with her hands half raised as if to ward it away, screaming her head off at the animal before her.

A very fat calico cat.

Huh?

"Buyo! Take it away! Take it away!" she cried, backing away from the tabby as if it were a rabid dog. Looking down at the cat again, he could see it was carrying something in its mouth. Is that what she was so scared of? What was that? Was it…a worm? Yes, it was. A rather big and slimy night crawler to be sure, but a worm all the same. Was she for real?

Sure enough, as the chubby cat started after her, she gave another screech of fear, sending his ears flat against his head at the sound. "Would you stop that already!"

To his utter amazement, relief flooded her face at his voice. "Inuyasha! Please help! Take it away before it touches me. Aaah! Buyo, no!" The cat, Buyo, had reached Kagome's feet and was stretching up his paws to her. She backed up even more until her back whacked against the side of the well house. "Inuyasha!"

Unsure of whether to laugh or help her out, Inuyasha stood frozen to the ground, taking in the utter craziness of the scene before him. Finally deciding to take pity on her (and blaming it on the guilt he felt earlier), he stepped in front of the cat, squatted down, and stuck his face right up to the tiny whiskered nose.

"Oi." As he predicted, the cat stopped his advance on the helpless girl and sniffed the air. Seeing him suddenly with whatever sixth sense it was that animals had, Buyo hissed and took off in the opposite direction at an astonishing speed for such a fat kitty. Unfortunately, he left the worm behind.

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"It's just a worm…"

"Kill it!"

"It's not like it can hurt you."

"Kill it!"

"You know, it's not even moving very much. Half dead really..."

"Kill it!"

Heaving a sigh, Inuyasha kicked the unfortunate worm into the trees behind the fence. "Better?"

Looking around as if the worm were going to pounce back out at her and slime her to death, she eventually said, "Yes, thank you."

"I swear you are so weird sometimes."

Kagome blushed at that and then, remembering she was mad at him, turned around and continued her walk back to her house.

"Hey!"

No response. Kagome kept walking as if she hadn't heard him. Figuring he was better off just keeping quiet until her temper had cooled down a little more, he trailed after her. When they reached the front door, Kagome paused. She still hadn't thought of what she was going to say to her mother. Maybe she should just tell the truth after all? She thought over that for a minute. Deciding the worst that could happen was them sending her to a mental institution (not likely, they were probably expensive), she finally opened the door. Making her way into the kitchen where she could here the rest of her family already, she squared her shoulders and prepared what she was going to say in her head. 'Hey mom, gramps, Souta. I just wanted you all to know I'm not talking to myself all the time. I'm really speaking to my invisible half-demon Guardian named Inuyasha. What was that? What is he guarding me from? Well I don't really know, seeing as every time I try to ask him anything he either bites my head off or gives me a sarcastic reply.' Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to go about it, but that was the basic gist of it.

She reached the kitchen entrance and took a deep breath. 'Here goes.' She stepped inside.

"Kagome! You're just in time for breakfast sweetie. Sit down."

"Er, okay." She let out the breath with a silent whoosh, glad for the distraction breakfast offered. 'I'll tell them in a minute…'

Her brother looked over to her from across the table. Chopsticks half way to his mouth he said, "You're up awfully early today sis."

"Yeah…"

Her grandfather waved her attention over to him. "Souta is going to help me unpack my new shipment after breakfast, would you like to help?" Her brother put his hands together in a 'please help me' sign, silently begging her to say yes so he wouldn't be stuck by himself listening to the history of every single thing they put away.

"Er, sorry grandpa. I have a paper to write for school."

Her mom turned around at that. "I thought you were going to finish that last night?"

"Oh, well I did, but it still needs a lot of work. It's just a first draft."

Her grandfather gave a little shrug. "Oh well, Souta and I can handle it by ourselves anyways can't we?"

"Sure…" he said somewhat sullenly, then under his breath, "Could even do it with one less person…"

"What was that?" grandpa said turning his head.

"Nothing gramps!"

"Oh, alright then. Finish up; we need to get an early start if we want to finish it all today."

Souta gave a small sigh and continued to eat his breakfast, occasionally sending his sister a glare. Kagome just stuck her tongue out at him when no one was looking.

"Mom!"

"Kagome."

"Grandpa!"

"Come on Souta, let's get going." And her grandfather stood up to start gathering his dishes together.

"Don't worry about that grandpa, I'll do the dishes today," Kagome said waving his hands away. She was eager to have the guys leave, deciding it would be easier to tell her mother when they were alone.

"Oh, well thank you Kagome. Hurry up Souta, those boxes won't unpack themselves. Wait till I show you this new mask I bough, it has the most amazing story behind…" and her grandfather's voice trailed off into the distance as they walked out to go to the shrine.

"Okay honey, what's up?"

Kagome turned back to her mom with an innocent look on her face. "Um, what do you mean?"

Her mother tilted her head to one side and gave her a little smile. "Don't give me that. It was sweet of you to offer to do the dishes, but I know you better than that. Now what do you want to talk about?"

Smiling sheepishly at being seen through so well, Kagome fiddled with the food on her plate. "Well, it's about this morning…"

"Ah, go on then."

"Well…" Where should she start? She paused and tried to begin again, but couldn't think of what to say.

Her mom felt her hesitation and gave her a little push in the right direction. "So who is Inuyasha? That's a very unusual name…"

"Yeah, well he's a very unusual person…" At this remark she heard a small 'hmph' from near the stovetop. Hoping her would keep quiet, she hurried on. "He's sort of a friend of mine." No comments at this, she was pleased to hear.

"A friend? I didn't see anyone else upstairs though." Her mom looked a little confused at her admission to having another person in her bedroom with her.

"Yes, well, you wouldn't have…"

Her mother looked even more confused at this. "Kagome…?"

Plowing on before her mom could say anything else; Kagome let the words flow from her rapidly. "I'm not crazy mom, but I have this person following me around. Not like that though! He's friendly, well sometimes anyways, and he says he's here to protect me and keep me safe, even though he won't tell me from what. Maybe he doesn't even know himself, but even if he did he probably still wouldn't tell me just to be petty. I can't see him, at least not unless he's touching the old well, and I'm the only one who can hear him, except for Buyo, but he doesn't really count cause he's a cat. And he says he's a hanyou, a half-demon, which I believe because he has claws and fangs and fuzzy dog ears on tops of his head. And he was the one making me act so weird last night because we had a fight and he was mad and decided to play tricks on me to get back at me for calling him an irritating jerk, even though he deserved it because he called me brainless. And um, that's about it." 'Whew!' She waited anxiously for her mother to say something or for her expression to change from the slightly shocked/disbelieving look she was wearing.

"Um, ah, Kagome dear…are you feeling alright?"

Kagome nodded her head emphatically. "I'm fine mom! I know it sounds strange, but it's true. You have to believe me!"

Mrs. Higurashi watched her daughters face quietly for a minute. All she could see in her features, though, was earnest hope with a slightly desperate edge in her eyes. But no sign that she was playing a joke on her or any deception whatsoever. She looked deep Kagome's eyes in search of any traces of mischief, a telling sign she was trying to pull a fast one, but saw nothing to indicate she wasn't being truthful. A little disturbing considering what she had just been told. "I don't know Kagome." She saw her daughter's face crumble. She thought quickly, trying to keep her from tears. "You say his name is Inuyasha?"

The thankful look she received erased any doubt she had lingering. Kagome was far too relieved at her words for her to just be making this up.

"That's right. Thanks mom."

"For what?"

Kagome stood up and reached over to her mother, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. "For lots of things, but mostly just believing me and not sending me to the funny farm."

"Oh sweetie, don't be silly!" her mother replied, squeezing her back. "Those places are way too expensive."

Kagome laughed at the light comment and pulled back to sit in her chair again. "That's what I figured."

"So, tell me more about this hanyou that's watching over you. He sounds quite fearsome looking. Claws and fangs!" She gave a little shuddered, envisioning some sort of giant guard dog following her little girl around.

"Oh, no mom. I made him sound worse than he is. He looks like a normal person other than that; about my age, maybe a little older. He dresses funny and has really long silver hair, but is really quite handsome overall." 'Oops! I forgot he was listening. I hope he doesn't get mad I said that. Or get a swelled head...'

"Handsome eh… when do I get to see this young man?" her mom asked with a sly smile.

"Moooom! It's not like that! He doesn't even really like me… He's always yelling at me, and we're constantly bickering. And I've only known he's been here for the last day and a half! Besides, I'm pretty sure you can't see him. I'm the only one to do it in a very long time he said."

"Really…hmm, sounds as though he might be afraid to get too close to you. Probably because he's not used to talking to someone. I can't see any other reason, unless he's just terribly unsociable."

"My money's on anti-social."

"Just be your charming self, Kagome, I'm sure he'll come around."

"Not likely. But I'll try mom."

"There's a girl. Now if you're done eating, I believe you promised to do the dishes?" With a small half hearted groan, Kagome got up and began clearing the breakfast plates.

As her mother got up to leave the room, she turned around with a hesitant look on her face. "Kagome, this is all…well, a little strange, to pit it mildly. I would be careful about who you tell. Maybe you should keep this from your grandfather for now. You know how he gets when anything… different, comes up." Kagome certainly knew what her mother was talking about. Just last year, she had complained of a cold draft in her room and had had to sleep with warding charms all over her bed, walls and windows for a week, her grandfather convinced it was an evil spirit. Turns out it was just faulty air ducts, but her grandfather still insisted it could have been a spirit.

"I think you're right."

Walking over to Kagome, she planted a light kiss on her forehead before turning to address the room. "And you. Please try to get along while you are here. Kagome really is a good girl and quite a nice person once you get to know her."

"Mo-om!"

And with one last smile, Mrs. Higurashi walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Once the door had shut, Kagome continued stacking up the dishes to bring to the sink. She worked in silence, filling up the sink with soapy water and scrubbing at the plates with a sponge. After rinsing and setting everything out to dry, she turned to the table and proceeded to wipe that down, still without talking. She knew he would have to say something sooner or later, and she was content to wait for him, still basking in her mother's acceptance of the insanely weird.

"Your mom…"

Straightening, Kagome tossed the sponge back in the sink and turned around, giving him her attention.

"She's…something else."

Kagome smiled. "I know."

"I'm surprised she believed you."

She shook her head. "I'm not."

"Really? Why? Anyone else would think you were nutso."

She raised one shoulder and let it drop in a half shrug. "She's just like that. I can talk to her about anything and she won't criticize or judge. I'm…I'm really lucky to have her," Kagome admitted with a fond smile on her lips.

"Hmm," came the thoughtful reply. Then, "So you think I'm handsome huh?"

Cheeks burning, Kagome turned around and lied. "No!"

"Uh huh."

"Don't be stupid, I just forget what you looked like for a minute and said the first thing that popped into my head."

"Really." His voice sounded very amused now. "It seemed like an accurate description to me."

"Oh, just drop it already!"

And for once, he did.

AN- Hopefully the length will make up for the lapse in update and any idiocy that may have popped up in the course of my ramblings.

Thank to all my reviewers. I really enjoy your input, especially repeated input. :-)

Special thanks to biawutnow for the heads up on anonymous reviews. I apologize to anyone who couldn't review because of my oversight. I sowwy . I did not know. It's fixed now though, so feel free to leave an unsigned review if you like.

Thanks for reading, bye for now!