Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha . . .

ROCK ON!!!

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Inuyasha cracked open a bleary eye, wincing as his sensitive vision came in contact with bright sunlight. Groaning, the hanyou flipped onto his back and sat up.

Yawning, he glanced at the clock, surprised at the time. It's almost noon and I'm still in bed, he thought sleeply, stretching his arms out. Standing, he stumbled towards his dresser, grabbing a loose black shirt to cover his upper body as he made his way out the door.

He stumbled down the stairs, wondering what Kagome was doing. She had quite a day yesterday, he mused, remembering her encounter with Naraku and the night club incident. "Oof!"

As he was recalling yesterday's past events, Inuyasha didn't see the figure that sat at the bottom of the stairs, tying his shoelaces. The hanyou had tripped over him, falling flat on his face at the bottom of the landing.

Growling at his ignorant behavior, Inuyasha pulled himself up, coming face to face with a young kid that looked strikingly similar to Kagome and her mother. "Gomen," he apologized, holding out his hand as he helped the body guard to his feet. "I should've moved when I heard you coming down the stairs."

Inuyasha stared at the boy, his black hair falling messily around his face, his cinnamon-colored eyes holding emotion reminiscent to those of his charge's. "You must be Inuyasha," he smiled, running a hand through hair. "I'm Souta, Kagome's brother."

"Yeah," the hanyou responded, suddenly embarrassed at his attire. Souta was dressed in jeans and a collared shirt, while the hanyou stood there clad in nothing but a shirt and red boxers.

"Sugoi! You're a hanyou, huh?" The kid asked excitedly. Inuyasha was beginning to wonder what it was about this family and their strange acceptance of hanyous.

"Mom told me that you were half demon," he continued, "but I didn't know that you were half DOG demon! That's so cool!" The dog demon nodded, amazed at how much this boy could talk.

"Those are dog ears, huh? I have youkai friends, but none of them have your cool style!"

Inuyasha nearly blushed to his triangular ears at Souta's comment. He calls boxers a cool style? This family really is wacko . . .

"Anyways, you're probably looking for Kagome," he went on, "She's out back behind the Shrine looking at some scrolls. Sis told me that if you woke up to give you breakfast first, well, lunch considering the time . . ." he rambled on, his voice becoming faint as he entered the kitchen. Inuyasha scratched his head, doing math mentally. If Kagome's 18, and this kid's six years younger than her . . . then this brat must be at least 12 . . .

"Kagome said that she might be too busy to entertain you . . . so she said you can hang out with me!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened as a low growl began to grow from his throat. I'm NOT babysitting . . .

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After a half-an hour of mindless chatter with Souta, Inuyasha decided to take a shower for two reasons: one, he reeked of smoke from the club last night, and two, he had to get away from this brat.

The hanyou enjoyed a long, hot shower, letting the water from the showerhead massage his sore back. He grudgingly got out of the shower, and headed to his room where he dragged on a pair of baggy khaki pants and a black muscle shirt. Running his claws through his hair, he pondered for a moment what he could do instead of bothering the studying miko.

Remembering the shooting last night, he pulled out the bullet-proof vest that he doned during his human nights and pulled out the bullet with his claws. After releasing a long sigh, he pulled out a small basket from his luggage and making sure that his door was securely locked, began the tedious job of sewing the hole back together.

About a forty-five minutes later, he accomplished his task and pushed the sewing basket out of sight, glancing at the clock which flashed 2:15. Thinking that Kagome had enough time to herself, he decided to pay her a little visit. I am, afterall, her bodyguard, he thought.

He crept down the stairs, his ears, nose, and eyes attentive for any sounds of his charge's younger brother. Luckily, his scent was no where to be found, the freshest trail leading outside. Good, he's gone.

Walking into the kitchen, he found Mrs. Higuarshi marinating a rather large chicken in a bowl. "Why good afternoon!" she greeted, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a streak of flour. "How are you today?"

"Alright," he replied, walking towards the fridge. "You don't mind?" he asked, pointing to the cold box.

"No, no, go right ahead," the woman urged, turning back to the chicken. "Feel free to anything in the house, Inuyasha." The hanyou opened the fridge, taking out a cold water bottle, spinning off the cap, and taking a swig of cold liquid.

"I see you're in your normal form," Mrs. Higurashi spoke, her hands kneading the chicken into the flour mixture.

Inuyasha froze, remembering that she had never seen him in his demonic form. "Uh, yeah . . ." he said slowly, wondering whether to leave or stay.

"Don't worry, dear," she said, turning to face him and offering him a smile, "your present form is very becoming of you. Your ears give you, personality," she giggled, turning back to the bowl.

The dog demon stared at her for a moment. Personality? Well that's a first! "Kagome's out studying scrolls. If you go outside and walk around the storage house, there's a stone bench and table. You'll find her there."

"Thanks," he murmured, making his way out the door.

"Oh, Inuyasha?"

The body guard turned, only to be handed a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. "Would you give these to Kagome? You're free to help yourself . . . today's one of my off days from the clinic, and I do as much baking and cooking as I can."

Inuyasha inhaled the sweet smell of chocolate, bringing a smile on his face. "Will do, ma'am." He bowed his head, and headed out the house.

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Kagome's rubbed her temple for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. She had woken up at 7:30 a.m. to get a headstart on her duties before the hanyou woke up. She had started by taking a quick hot shower, then grabbing two granola bars and a pint of milk, she headed outside where she searched the endless scrolls for the right era.

By the time she had found the Warring States Era, it was well past 10:00. She had groaned at the thirty plus scrolls that were connected with the time period, and grudingly pulled them out to the stone table and began her notes.

It was now 2:30, and she had found more than 4 pages of notes. Although her work had been productive, she had been hoping for an interruption by a certain body guard to relieve her of her stress.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Kagome threw her pencil down in frustration. The scrolls had ended all in the same place: right before the abandonment of the village of the Bone Eater's Well. She had gone through probably 15 rolls of ancient paper and not ONE had described the events that had befallen the village.

Groaning, the heiress leaned back, her lavender long sleeved blouse rolled up to her elbows. The first two buttons were undone, and her form fitting black jeans clung to her, shaping her body in all the right places. Her hair was done in up in a messy bun held up by a pair of chopsticks, a pair of small glasses askew on the bridge of her nose.

Sighing, Kagome stretched before laying her head down on the table. This is exhausting . . .

"Working hard, I see," a sarcastic voice called from behind the storage room.

Kagome flitted her eyes lazily towards her body guard's direction. "Well well, sleeping beauty finally woke up," she answered, the same amount of sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Inuyasha chuckled, walking closer and setting the plate of cookies on the table. "Tou'che," he grinned. "I come in peace, and with cookies," he added.

The young woman rolled her eyes, prying her head off the table. Inuyasha was back in his hanyou form, his black shirt fitting tight against his rippling muscles. As he lifted an arm to drink his water, she saw the defined lines of muscle on his biceps.

Talk about a nice distraction . . . she shook her head, trying to control the blush that threatened to creep onto her face. She reached over the empty granola bar wrappers and picked up a fresh cookie, taking a generous bite out of it.

Inuyasha wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, before glancing over the heiress' notes. "You've found alot of stuff," he observed, flipping through the pages.

"Yeah, but none of the scrolls say anything about the abandonment of the village," she sighed in exhaustion.

The hanyou glanced at his charge momentarily, before sticking his hand in his pockets and digging out his keys. "C'mon," he grunted, dangling the keys in front of her face. "Looks like you need a break."

Kagome blinked at his kindness. "Should I take that as a compliment or insult?"

Inuyasha shook his head, his eyes taking in her messy but glowing state. "Neither; I'm just craving ice cream, and your kid brother's been bugging me all during breakfast to play with his play station."

Smiling wearily, Kagome stood up, brushing off the crumbs off her shirt. "Nice way of asking a girl on a date," mumbled teasingly, enjoying the sudden blush that encircled the bottom of his eyes.

"Feh," he grunted, turning. "You coming?"

Kagome snorted. "Like I'd ever turn down free ice cream." She tided up her work area slightly, before picking up her purse that lay beside her. "Let's go."

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Mrs. Higurashi listened as her son came clammering into the house. "I'm back, Mom!" he called, bringing in the plastic bag of eggs his mother had sent him to go get. "Has Inuyasha come down yet?"

The older woman was about to tell Souta where to find the hanyou when she caught a glimpse of her daughter and the body guard walking across the courtyard. They were talking casually, Inuyasha dangling keys from a clawed finger as Kagome walked closeby. Mrs. Higurashi's eyes filled with tears as she watched Kagome flash Inuyasha a genuine smile, one that she hadn't seen in a long time.

That young man . . . there's something about him . . . "Mom?"

The woman's reverie was broken by her impatient younger offspring. Glancing once more at the happy couple that disappeared down the steep stairs, she simply replied, "I haven't seen him."

She watched as her son ran towards the stairs, hoping to find the hanyou in the room. Shaking her head, she turned back to the window, smiling.

Kagome . . . I finally believe you have found someone to mend the wounds of your heart . . .

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AU: alright, here's another chapter . . . sorry it's taken so long to send this out; I've been really sick . . . I've gotten out of bed just to write this story! see how much I love you guys? hahaha . . .

well, stay tuned. . . I'll try to update as soon as I can!

thanks for the reviews