Author's Notes: Second chapter. I'm a little sad that during my absence, all my favorite fellow authors have abandoned Inuyasha as well. I feel like such an old hag when I say so much has changed.

And for a short synopsis of Mars for those who haven't watched/read it and are interested: Boy is a motorcycle racer with a dream to race in GP. He has a (rather elusive) past that molded him into what he is now. Girl is an artist who was raped by her stepfather when she was younger, so she is distrustful of men and hates body contact. Boy falls for Girl, Girl falls for Boy (typical, duh), but what makes the whole thing interesting is everything else.

But as I said, the rape element of Mars has been dropped in this story because I don't believe I could write it to the best of my abilities without making it crude, and I wouldn't want that because it is a very difficult subject.

Dark Hero

Chapter Two

Fatal Attraction

The hardest thing about having an individual's attention was that the person more often than not concentrated solely on her. She didn't particularly like this individual's focus on her either because he kept attempting to talk to her, no matter how often she ignored him or how she refused to look at him. First, it had seemed to be a simple trivial attraction which she thought would subside in a day or two. But almost two school weeks had passed by and it was Friday of the second week, and yet, he continued to try to talk to her.

She had never replied---not a single word. It made sense that someone like Inuyasha would lose interest in her soon enough if she continued this way. In Toutousai's class, he often inclined over his desk to make some small talk with her, which repeatedly was a rather one-sided conversation. She found it hard not to listen, yet the things he spoke about were not very interesting to say the least---all about motorcycles, girls, and partying.

At lunch, he would sometimes randomly sit down next to her and make a crack about something she never replied to. He would babble on until he would just get up and leave her alone, which she had to confess she preferred rather than to his company. He never seemed to get angry that she never replied to him however…only a little frustrated. She wondered why.

In English class---which was the other class she had with him---instead of sitting in rows of individual seats, they sat in rows of connected chairs. He never sat with her in that class because of the abundance of seats, but he continued to strive and obtain her attention by throwing little pieces of notes at her. She never read them. In fact, she never even picked them up off the ground. She commended herself for her perseverance.

Yet, he never gave up as well. She had to give him credit for that. She had presumed him to throw a tantrum by now.

She knew however that he had no romantic interest in her. Someone like Inuyasha would not naturally have such a fatal attraction to a loner such as herself. She had to admit she had no friends, and many people never even knew her name although she had been in their classes for years. She never minded, of course. She preferred it that way.

She bit her lower lipas she pondered further.

Perhaps he viewed her as a sort of challenge…she was pretty sure she was the first girl who never replied or looked at him willingly. Such a conceited boy with an inflated ego would most likely find her as a test of his manliness. Men were that fickle after all…at least in her opinion.

But she was sure that such a wild person would soon find her quiet lifestyle a bore and leave her once and for all. She didn't like his attention in any case. He just wasn't a person she liked, considering the number of females he had slept with. Looks and no brains---just typical.

Thus on this nice afternoon, she found herself walking the halls of the fourth floor to her English class, feeling a presence behind her. She always felt his presence behind her now. He was always there, watching her, waiting for the moment she would speak. It wasn't a hostile presence, but it made her uncomfortable.

"Hello Kagome," he greeted, suddenly appearing next to her with that standard boyish grin on his face. He was always happy, and she wondered if anything ever got him sad.

She hugged her books closer to her chest, putting her head down just a little bit more as she increased her pace, hoping he would finally leave her alone. However, a little part of her seemed to spurn that idea.

"Did you see me peg Toutousai in the head with my pencil while he wasn't watching?" He was taking another shot at making conversation, but he received silence in return. This didn't seem to dampen his mood however. "Want to eat lunch with me today? It must be lonely sitting on that table by yourself."

She didn't reply.

He continued to attempt to make conversation about random things as they walked to class, although she was staring at the ground and he was smirking as if nothing could bring him down. When they reached the class however, Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders rather tightly, and Kagome completely froze up, an upset expression passing across her face. She tried to shrug his hands off as she felt something attempting to surface again.

"Kagome, why don't you ever talk?" he asked, but she just closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, calming herself. He wasn't going to hurt her.

He let her go, but before she could escape into the room, he brought his hand to her chin and tilted her head towards him. He stared deep into her eyes, and she wondered just what exactly he saw in them. His golden eyes were a beautiful sight to behold on the other hand.

"I can sense your fear. Why are you scared?" he questioned quietly, and she felt slightly mesmerized.

But as always, she never answered, and instead, fled from his touch by slipping into the room with her body posture radiating distrust. She could hear him growl slightly in what she could only imagine as aggravation as she quickly made her way up the steps to her seat, gliding into it easily. She kept her eyes trained onto her English text as she felt his presence pass her to take a seat further up---somewhere to her right---most likely to sit with his friend Miroku.

Honestly, what did he want with her? She was nothing special.

Seeing the teacher enter the room, she found herself reflecting about the man behind her instead of listening to the teacher's lecture.

Inuyasha was an idiot. That was the only word she could think of to describe him with at the moment. It was her and his junior year at Ashikawa, yet he had never recognized her existence prior to the start of the year, although they had almost been in every single class together beforehand. Granted she never attempted to promote any sort of discussion between them, but hisunconsciousness of her complete existence simply demonstrated his ignorance and superficiality.

He was famed throughout Ashikawa for his one night stands after all.

If she ever listened to girls talking about who they were with last night, Inuyasha would occasionally pop up in the conversation. Kagome was disgusted by the fact that she knew just what that boy did to girls at night. Weren't those things supposed to stay private?

He was wild. He was unpredictable. One day, he would be in class, and then another, he would be missing. She had seen him riding to school on that motorcycle at intense speeds on the first day, and had seen him every day from then on.

He was everything she was not. He was her opposite. And yet, he continued to attempt to try and talk to her. He really was unpredictable.

"Higurashi Kagome, can you please read the following paragraph of translation?" the teacher, Anami-sensei, called out, which caused Kagome to bolt slightly in her seat as she got up to read whatever it was she had just been instructed to interpret.

All thoughts concerning Inuyasha was banned from her mind now. Kagome bit her lip as she attempted to look over the shoulder of the student in front of her to distinguish what page they were on.

However, another voice was quicker.

"Page 45, Example 1," a familiar voice whispered, and she gulped as she swiftly opened up to the page and started reading.

In spite of this, she had a really soft voice and students began to fidget in their seats as they attempted to listen to her almost silent speech. It was a girl with red eye shadow who burst out as the advocate of everyone's discontent.

"Read louder. No one can hear you," a girl said in an even voice, shooting Kagome a rather exasperated glance. Kagome was surprised that a girl she didn't know showed such contempt to her simply reading too quietly for the class to hear.

She blinked and went back to the example, attempting to read it in a louder voice. However, that still didn't seem satisfactory to the class.

"Read louder. Are you mute?" the girl jabbed out loud, her magenta eyes shining with apathy.

The girl next to her laughed mockingly, and the teacher shushed the two as he made his way up the stairs to where Kagome was. "Hiraki Sango, that's enough. If your classmate can't speak loud, there is no reason for you to tell her to talk louder."

Anami-sensei put a hand on Kagome's shoulder and squeezed gently, making her sit down. Sango simply shrugged as she turned around in her own seat, gazing at the front of the class smugly. Anami-sensei continued to allow his hand to squeeze Kagome's shoulder for a little while more as he looked around for someone else to call upon.

Kagome didn't seem to react to this, although Inuyasha definitely noticed as he narrowed his eyes at the teacher's hand. He was touching her for an abnormally long time, yet the girl wasn't flinching or anything.

However, Inuyasha could definitely smell the growing displeasure within the girl as she must have become aware of it as well.

The teacher finally let her go, and Inuyasha breathed easier. Watching the teacher descend down the stairs to teach in front of the class once more, Inuyasha knew that he was bad news. He shrugged however and reclined back in his chair, slouching over and starring grimly as the professor continued with the lecture.

Gazing over at the girl in her seat, something manifested in his mind. There was still something he had to do.

Kagome felt something hit her head and bounce off, landing on the ground. Her eyes slid over to the offending object and saw that it was another one of Inuyasha's notes.

Honestly, did that boy ever give up?

"Hey, Kagome! It's for you!" he hissed in a low voice, pointing to the paper on the ground.

She ignored him.

"Come on, pick it up!"

No answer.

"Damn," he whispered after a few more moments of trying to convince her, before he leaned over his chair and picked up the piece of paper. Taking a step towards her, Inuyasha dumped the note into her lap. If Anami-sensei had seen, he ignored it, and Kagome simply looked on with the note on her skirt.

She really did try to just ignore it. She really did. But it was just so tempting now.

She finally caved in and reached down for the note, unfolding it and smoothing it out on the piece of available space in front of her. She gazed at the messy handwriting on the note.

I have the mother and child drawing you drew on the back of the map you gave me.

---

It was lunchtime. She thought she was alone and free from his advances (if she could rightly call them 'advances')…until he abruptly slipped into the chair across from her and grinned. She spared him a small look before concentrating on her lunch again, finding that the vegetables today looked rather interesting. She had never noticed that sickening green tinge to her carrots before.

"So, ready to talk?" he asked, putting his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand, and staring almost innocently at her. She could just feel his gaze burning into the top of her head, but she didn't succumb to the tactic. After a few moments of silence from her, he responded to his own question with a, "I guess not."

"Hey Inuyasha, what do you want for lunch?" Miroku called out from the lunch line.

"Anything you're getting," Inuyasha replied.

With his food taken care of, Inuyasha resumed in gazing at the girl in front of him with some sort of fascination, watching her pick at her rice before putting a small amount in her mouth. To be truthful, the only reason he bothered her was because he found her intriguing in her silence, as if challenging his charm. Not that he possessed any pleasant charm, but the other girls sure threw themselves at him enough to make him believe he contained a small sufficient amount.

"So do you want your drawing back?" he asked.

She looked up at him for a second, obviously signaling that she did, before she went back to studying her food rather intently. He wondered how her voice sounded like. She wasn't mute---that much Miroku had informed him---yet somehow, she just never responded to him. He was sure she must talk a bit with some other students…so why not with him?

"Why don't you talk?" he asked again, feeling quite exasperated knowing that he had dedicated a lot of time to attempt to talk to her. He didn't spend this much time on some other girls.

"Do you need me to open your mouth with my tongue?" he told her as a joke, although by her abrupt rise from her seat, she didn't seem to see it as such.

"Oy, I'm just joking," he continued as he watched her depart, leaving her food behind and giving him a slightly annoyed look. He mentally sighed. She was such a hard girl to understand. Was she just shy, or did she feel disinclined to talk to him for some reason?

"Told you to give it up," Miroku chided, as if speaking to a little boy as he arrived at the table with two plates of food. He put down a plate of some sort of steak in front of Inuyasha and sat in the seat Kagome had just gotten up from. "Kagome's different. Stop playing around with her."

"It's not even considered playing when she doesn't even talk," Inuyasha complained.

"Just leave her alone, Inuyasha. It'll be good for the both of you," Miroku advised as he stuck a piece of meat into his mouth, ignoring the sulking evident on his friend's face.

He's such a spoiled kid, Miroku mentally thought, before smirking.

But I guess I'm just as bad as him sometimes.

---

Time really did fly by today. She noticed that it was already after school on a Friday and so far, it seemed as if Inuyasha wouldn't be bothering her anymore. Making her way slowly down the numerous stairs to the first floor to take another flight of stairs up to the second floor for the art building, Kagome couldn't resist the eerie feeling that someone was following her. It wasn't the same as Inuyasha's presence---she didn't really care about his anymore. This person's was much more foreign, and although she was in an open public school area, she couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

Ever since that incident, she seemed to be able to feel auras around her easier.

Walking down a few more stairs, she noticed that the presence was still behind her and she slowed down, before coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the staircase. Turning around, she gazed up at the path she had just taken down and saw someone make eye contact with her. She noticed it was Inuyasha's friend, Miroku.

However, the moment he saw that she was looking at him, he took his eyes off of her and hurried along his way, not once sparing a glimpse at her again. She couldn't help but feel that he was the person who had been following her, but brushed the feeling off. Perhaps she was just being silly.

Walking slowly, she descended down the few steps which led to the front of the school, where she saw the long stretch of road that would eventually lead everyone out of campus. She stood there and gazed down the street, feeling the sun warming her skin and shining into her eyes. Bringing one spare hand up to shield herself from the rays, she sighed as she watched students laughing and smiling as they made their way home and others gossip as they made their way to their next class.

People enjoyed such carefree days now…where had hers gone?

It wasn't that she was enslaved to loneliness because slavery wouldn't be the correct term if she preferred to be isolated from the rest of the world. She believed it was always better off if she didn't develop any attachment to transient events, such as school and everything that went with it.

It was also easier to cope with if there wasn't any unnecessary affection involved.

The only problem with her plan was that Inuyasha had suddenly developed the strange knack to scout her out and then proceed to engage in a one-sided conversation almost every day in every class. She couldn't quite figure out a way to get rid of him, but she had to admit that she was slowly getting accustomed to it. He wasn't as bad as she had first reckoned.

"Hey Kagome, Kagome!" a voice sounded from behind her and she sighed mentally. "Are you going home?" he asked as he jogged up next to her, shouldering his red backpack casually as he smirked down at the girl.

In addition, no matter how much she denied it, she had failed to notice that there had been slight progress in their relationship---She could look at him now.

She stared at him, her blue eyes scouting for some motive in his actions. She needed to know why he always attempted to talk to her---to try and strike a conversation when she had never said a word to him. Wasn't he tired of never hearing a single word from her mouth?

Before she knew it, her words had left the tip of her tongue and it felt foreign as she heard her own voice.

"No, I'm going to the art studio…" she whispered.

The stunned gape he gave her was almost worth it.

He stopped staring at her like a fish with its mouth open however, and was silent for a while, staring down at the girl before him. Soon, he grinned and his eyes even seemed to soften a little. "Art studio…" he repeated. "Are you a member of the art club?"

She nodded.

"Well, I'm going to the basketball courts. Why don't you---"

"Inuyasha. Hurry up, will you? They're here," Miroku cut in, staring up at his friend from the bottom of the last small flight of stairs, his eyes slightly apathetic and cautioning his friend to not bring it any further.

"Oh yea, sure, whatever," Inuyasha replied offhandedly before turning to the girl next to him and asking, "Hey…do you have some money to lend me right now?"

She gazed up at him again, wondering if he was serious, before seeing the earnestness in his golden eyes. He never did change.

Kagome reached for her purse then and took out some bills, holding it out to him.

He eagerly took the money and said, "I'll definitely pay you back. I'll even double it when I give it back to you."

Inuyasha proceeded to turn and make his way towards Miroku, before he stopped and turned around with a second thought. Reaching towards Kagome, who flinched as she watched the hand grow closer, he avoided her face as she had initially thought, and instead reached behind her head.

She felt something slip and her hair cascaded over her shoulders in wavy locks of ebony. She saw him holding her pink hair tie and her eyes widened slightly. Her hair hadn't been seen down at school in years, and she was sort of shocked that Inuyasha had just so casually taken her hair tie away.

"I'll borrow this for a while too, okay?" he said, smirking as he gazed at the girl in front of him. A moment passed as he was scrutinizing her. Something seemed to be going through his mind.

"Your hair is nice down," he commented unexpectedly before running towards his friend, who by now was tapping his foot impatiently. Inuyasha jokingly slapped his friend on the back, and both of them continued on their way to the courts.

Kagome simply stared at the back of Inuyasha's head as thoughts ran around in her own. She was kind of doubtful that he would ever pay her back, but what somewhat bothered her was that she realized they both just had a small conversation which ended up with him taking her hair tie and allowing her long hair to fall freely. It was such a simple deed, but somehow…

Biting her lower lip, she continued on her way towards the art building. The sun shone lightly against the cheek that was facing it, and she could feel the warmth rush over her again. She had forgotten about the warm air when she was talking to Inuyasha, but now that he was gone, she was aware of it once more. It even seemed a little warmer than before.

Strolling into the art building, she noticed that a few of the other students were already in the humungous room which took up the space of two stories with the entrance being on the second floor. Descending down another flight of stairs which led to the bottom of the room, Kagome wandered over to her easel and placed her backpack next to her stool. Sitting down, she gazed at the subject which she was going to draw today.

She was a tad astonished when she saw that it was a sculpture of the upper body of the god of war. A card underneath the small pillar it had been placed on displayed the name 'Mars' clearly in black writing.

She smiled slightly.

---

Perhaps an hour had passed, but she honestly didn't notice. It felt like she was under a spell every time she drew. She felt as if she departed from the material world and was lost in another dimension where it was only her and a subject. The only time she had realized that life wasn't a continuous series of drawing and that she had a life outside of her and the bust of Mars was when some interesting words penetrated her obliviousness.

"Look at those boys. They're pretty cute."

Kagome stopped her drawing as she blinked and finally realized there were people near her. Bringing her gaze over to the window, she saw two of the art students staring outside at something…or someone.

"Especially that guy over there." The other girl stopped to point at someone. "He looks so adorable. He uses a pink hair tie!" she commented and giggled, gazing at someone Kagome could only imagine was Inuyasha.

In her mind, she could picture him moving gracefully around his opponents, his golden eyes calculating every move and action. And in his hair would be her pink hair tie, such a contradicting factor to his personality…

Stopping her thoughts before they wandered further, Kagome attempted to bring her attention back to the drawing. It was just Inuyasha---the man who attempted to make conversation wtih her every day and she had finally talked to after two weeks. She didn't have time to think about him.

Shading in the lines of her drawing, Kagome noticed the two girls retreating from the window and going over to their easels. Picking up their backpack, one of them saw Kagome staring at her.

"Kagome, aren't you done yet?" she questioned as she and her friend started walking towards the stairs.

Kagome shook her head. "I'm just finishing up."

"Well, when you're done, sign out and lock the door, okay? We're going. Bye."

Kagome nodded and took her eyes off the girls as they began to ascend the stairs towards the door. Bringing her attention back to the drawing, she felt her hand drop from the paper to rest in her lap. For some reason, she just couldn't go back to properly concentrating on Mars.

Staring out the window, Kagome watched the rays of the warm sun bathing everything in a cozy amber glow. It strangely reminded her of Inuyasha's eyes.

Failing to notice the minutes passing, Kagome faintly heard the door slam shut. She assumed it was the girls, and missed the sound of the bolt fastening. When she heard someone taking steps down the stairs however, she looked towards that direction, and saw someone gazing at her.

"Anami-sensei," she acknowledged with a little surprise, blinking her eyes as she saw her English teacher. "Are you looking for me?"

"No," he answered, as he walked towards her. "I was just passing by and I came down to take a look."

Kagome stared at him, feeling slightly uncomfortable, although she wasn't exactly sure why. The look in his eyes was strange, although oddly familiar. Frowning slightly, she took her eyes off of him and gazed back at her drawing.

He went behind her, putting both hands on her shoulders as he scrutinized her artwork. "You're a very talented individual," he commented as he compared Kagome's drawing to the bust of Mars.

Kagome didn't answer as she felt her nervousness soar, the contact of his hand on her shoulders making her extremely tense. She hated it when people made pointless body contact with her, even if it was a teacher.

His next comment however, threw her for a loop and made the beat of her heart escalate.

"Your hair smells nice," he whispered in a low voice, and Kagome could feel him bringing his face to her head as she felt his hand slipping over her shoulders and trailing down her body. She sat rigidly as her eyes widened, fear gripping every nerve inside of her as she was only aware of the offending touch of Anami-sensei.

A sick gut feeling developed in her stomach as she felt his hand trail under her scarf, his fingers slipping into her jacket.

Horror hit her as hard as a brick, and she felt herself stop breathing as fright appeared in the blue of her eyes, her hands fisting into the material of her skirt. She wanted to strike back and tell him to get his hands off of her, but something inside of her kept her rooted to her spot and it felt as if none of her limbs could move. She was terrified as she realized what he wanted to do, and her body shook in quiet tremors as she closed her eyes in terror.

Suddenly, the sound of a slamming door sounded throughout the vast room and Anami-sensei retracted his hands as if it burned. He looked up, stunned that anyone could have gotten in after he had locked the door.

Inuyasha was gazing at the two with one of his eyebrows raised although his eyes were conspicuously darkened. "Anami-sensei," he began in an even voice. "May I inquire on why an English teacher is in the art room?"

The English teacher chose to ignore his question. "What are you doing sneaking around!" he demanded.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows even more. "Sneaking around? Is it a crime to enter this room? I simply came through the back door that I doubt you could lock if you didn't know about it."

Inuyasha smiled pleasantly, as if he had been commenting about the weather.

"You aren't in the art club. Why are you in here!" Anami-sensei continued, his strict voice gaining confidence as it echoed around the room and made him sound firm.

Inuyasha chuckled slightly.

"More importantly, why would a teacher who sexually harasses his students be in the art room?" The smile was wiped off of the white-haired boy's face as he glared grimly at Anami-sensei.

"Don't say things like that to your teacher or I'll have you suspended."

"Suspended?" Inuyasha echoed as his hand slid towards a matte knife near some art utensils close by, picking it up gingerly as he glowered at the teacher from underneath his bangs. His fangs showed as a low growl sounded from his throat. "Don't make yourself sound like such a victim."

Walking across the now silent room, Inuyasha slid the blade in and out of the knife, his gaze intent on the now nervous Anami-sensei. The sound of the retractable blade reverberated throughout the room and Kagome could feel her heart beating faster now as she saw an unrecognizable glint in Inuyasha's eyes. She had never seen him look so dead serious in his life before.

"What are you doing!" the teacher commanded as his uneasy glance slipped periodically from Inuyasha to the knife in his hands.

"Nothing," Inuyasha answered in an ominous tone. "I'm just getting ready to do some artwork."

"What?" Anami-sensei stuttered as he backed away from Kagome and the man in front of him, although he was stopped when he ran into some statues. His eyes widened as he watched the student stalk towards him, a malicious glint shining in his eyes.

When Inuyasha walked closer to Kagome however, she could feel herself staring fearfully at the boy in front of her. Would he really attack the teacher, even if he had touched her? Seeing the look in his eyes, she felt herself stand up abruptly on her own, hitting some of her art utensils to the floor accidentally and causing a crash to resound.

This seemed to stop Inuyasha in his tracks as he glanced down at the utensils, then at Kagome. His gaze slipped over to teacher, who by now was pale with fear.

"Y-you're crazy! I don't need to waste my time with a felonious…hanyou like you!" he stammered before running towards the stairs which led to the main entrance. He never looked back.

Inuyasha watched him almost tripping over his own step in his haste to get out of the art room and scoffed mentally. When he heard the slam of the door, he was content, and looked back at the girl in front of him. She was staring at the ground. They were both silent for a while.

But it was Inuyasha who broke the silence.

"You're stupid."

She gazed up at him, some nervousness still reflecting in her eyes. He frowned even more.

"You're fucking stupid," he repeated, adding the derogative word to emphasize his point. "Why didn't you stop him?"

She opened her mouth to say something---anything---to prove that she wasn't as stupid as she seemed. However, she noticed nothing came out. Perhaps she really did look as stupid as the situation had made it seem…she sure felt stupid now. But she hadn't been able to do anything before---she had been too terrified, paralyzed, and frightened to move.

"If you let him touch you, at least make him pay you a lot of money," he suggested, although he didn't realize how cruel it had sounded. When he saw that she was about to cry, he frowned, not knowing what to do. It made him feel uncomfortable. "Don't be so timid if you don't like it. Nothing attracts those perverts like weakness and naiveté."

Sighing, he turned his attention over to the sculpture near him. It piqued his curiosity and he decided that it would help to lighten the mood. Walking over to the statue, he gazed at the nameplate under it. "Mars." He turned around to look at Kagome, who was now staring at him with a glassy look in her eyes. "The planet Mars?"

She gazed at the bust for a while before she answered quietly, "The God of War, Mars."

"God of war," Inuyasha repeated, as his mind struggled to remember information. "Wasn't he the coward who the Greeks said was bloodthirsty and aggressive, yet was afraid of defeat?"

Kagome smiled slightly.

"Yes…but the Romans depicted him differently."

"Really?"

Kagome nodded, breathing out as she continued to gaze at Mars. She closed her eyes as she explained softly, "The Romans said he wore shining armor, looked dignified, and was unstoppable."

She stopped talking, as if thinking about something. Inuyasha watched her carefully, waiting for her to continue.

"He was a dark hero who helped people overcome tragedy."

"A hero who overcomes tragedy…" Inuyasha echoed, bringing his face down to stare fixedly at the details of the god of war. He brought a finger up to stroke the sharp curves of the statue's face, and took in a breath as he admired the magnificence. The bravery and beauty blended together stunningly on the statue, and without really understanding why he did it, he brought his lips to the statue. It wasn't in any way romantic, but it gave him a feeling of appreciation as he took his lips away.

The Roman description was indeed right.

"Inuyasha, come on, are you done yet?" Miroku asked from the doorway which led to the backroom. He had waited for a while for his friend and had wandered in to find out what was happening. He had found the hanyou staring at a statue.

"Yea," Inuyasha answered and straightened up, taking something from his pocket and throwing it towards Kagome. "You know…you should talk more. Your voice is pretty."

The girl caught it sort of clumsily, but when she looked down, she noticed that it was a roll of bills. It was doubled as promised and tied together with her hair tie. She stared down at it, a small smile growing on her face. He had actually kept his promise.

She looked up to see him walking towards his friend, and before she knew it, two words slipped from her lips. "Thank you."

He looked back casually over his shoulders, waving one hand flippantly. "Whatever."

Her smile stayed as she watched him leave.

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A/N: Now you know why the series was named Mars. I found it extremely intriguing. I found it also fit Inuyasha to a T.

And to answer some questions…

I update sporadically. There is no set timeframe for me to update…so expect some chapters in a few days, and others in weeks. It all depends on my mood.

This story will be more loosely tied to the drama instead of the book because I started with the drama and have only begun reading the book.

Kikyou will appear later. Rejoicing yet?