Author's Notes: Hyah. This idea just popped into my head one night while I was about to go to sleep. Heh… I guess I felt compelled to try to finish writing it. It's short... oh so short... but it kinda has some meaning to it.
Change of Heart
His responses were… well… getting more unclear everyday, and Kagome wondered if he was finally beginning to come around.
Inuyasha used to jump at any chance to see the face of his old lover even though she was made out of clay and earth, but that was not the case anymore. Casually, Kagome would constantly ask him if he still loved the dead miko every time the two of them would go to free her from Naraku's clutches.
At one point, he would respond enthusiastically with a "Yes! Of course, you fool!" but recently, his replies were not nearly as concrete as that. The last time she pressed for an answer, he hadn't spoken for a good thirty seconds, which, Kagome thought, was very odd. She had lent over his shoulder so she could see his face. He had furrowed his brow, pursed his lips, and responded with a shrug when she tapped him on the shoulder to make sure he had heard her.
She remembered all the times he had met up with Kikyo behind her back... She would never forget the gentle need that was in his eyes every time he looked at her. A soft sort of sadness and love that he saved just for the priestess... a love that he could never possibly display to the schoolgirl. She realized that he wasn't just a hanyou, he was also a teenager that had experienced heartbreak for the first time.
Since then he had always been a little rough around the edges when dealing with the opposite gender... that much was obvious. But he was learning to get better.
In a way, she was glad Inuyasha seemed to be getting over Kikyo, but she couldn't help feeling like a selfish twit. She came to terms with her emotions, realizing that she had fallen in love and all that jazz... but she was competing with Kikyo, who was everything she wasn't.
That's when Kagome Higurashi stopped daydreaming and felt a finger prod her right above her left elbow.
"Kagome! Why the hell do they call this game 'Go Fish'! I don't see anything that has to do with a fish here!"
Snapping back to attention, Kagome heard the crackling of the fire behind her as Kaede began boiling water for stew, and she realized what the hanyou across from her was talking about. She shrugged stupidly. "It just is! Don't question it! Pick up another one already!" She gestured to the two piles of Bicycle cards that had been arranged in front of them; one the discard pile, the other the 'Go Fish' pile.
Inuyasha blinked his amber eyes and picked up a two of spades from the 'Go Fish' pile. "Then what do I do after I pick this up?" He held out his hand under her nose so that every card was turned face-up in front of her eyes.
She shoved his clawed hand away and shook her head so that her bangs waggled back and forth across her eyes. "Moron, don't show it to me!"
In outrage, Inuyasha slammed his hand face down on the wooden floor of Kaede's hut. He stood up from his kneeling position across from the schoolgirl and looked down at her face with his fist held up in front of his face. "This game is stupid! Who invented it anyway!"
Kagome rolled her eyes at his childish antics. "You're the one who wanted me to teach you how to play in the first place!" She smoothed out her skirt and followed suite, standing up with her hands on her hips and her eyes locked on his.
Obviously not thinking of a witty comeback, Inuyasha stuck up his nose with his eyes closed and replied with a classic: "Feh!"
"So that's all you can say now?" Kagome retorted, annoyed. She squatted back down on the ground to pick up the scattered piles of cards, but also to avoid Inuyasha's glare. She kept her eyes diverted to the ground.
Instead of angrily shouting as he usually did, Inuyasha bent down to help her gather up the cards that had been scattered half way across the floor. "Sorry," he said, and Kagome was sure that had his white bangs not been hiding his face, she would've seen a brilliant shade of pink that could shame the sunset.
She smiled, almost sadly. Yeah... he was getting better.
At that moment, Sango entered the hut, brown hair tied back into an elegant ponytail and clad in armor. "Inuyasha!" she cried upon spotting him down on the floor.
Both he and Kagome looked up at her with innocent expressions from their places on the wooden planks. Chocolate and ocher eyes blinked simultaneously. "What?"
"There's a rumor of a shikon shard just over by the bone eater's well!" Sango turned and pointed out the open door. "I just saw Naraku and Kikyo headed in that direction. No doubt he's plotting something..."
Kagome's smile faltered momentarily, but it was back in place before anyone noticed it had been missing. "Well... Inuyasha, we should go see. C'mon." She jerked her head in Sango's direction.
The hanyou groaned. "Do we have to?" he asked, scratching his head.
"Inuyasha! It's a shikon shard at stake here!"
Without warning, Inuyasha threw the stack of cards he had previously gathered so that the paper rectangles were floating all about the hut. "Wait! I was learning a game! It's called... uh... Kagome, what's the game where you pick up the cards, and they're on the ground... and stuff like that?"
The schoolgirl sweat dropped. "You mean fifty-two pick up?"
He snapped his fingers and pointed to her. "That's it!" Then he turned to face the demon exterminator. "So... you can leave now. We'll go shard hunting tomorrow or... somethin'..."
Both Kagome and Sago swapped very confused glances, and Inuyasha began sorting the cards back into piles.
"Um... Inuyasha?" Kagome prodded. "I mean... Kikyo's there and everything... I think we should at least go see..."
The half-demon rolled his eyes and stood up. "Fine. Let's go already."
He waited patiently by the door as Kagome slipped on her leather loafers and grabbed her bow and arrow. She held out her hand with a smile, and Inuyasha took it without hesitation.
Sango still watched helplessly by the door, and was accompanied by Kaede who was drying her hands on an apron.
"Lass, what's all the commotion?"
The demon hunter pointed dumbly in front of her to where Inuyasha and Kagome were holding hands and laughing good-naturedly in the direction of the well.
Kaede smiled despite herself, for she noticed a change. Rather than being dragged behind the hanyou by her wrist, Kagome and Inuyasha were walking side by side with their fingers laced.
Author's Note: That was... er... not too bad. Sorry... Inuyasha was a bit OOC... Anyway! Reviews are appreciated!