Disclaimer- …Nope….No….Nah…um…damn, still don't own them!

Chapter 9-Bus Rides Suck

"Oh my god!" Inuyasha quickly jumped onto the steps of the bus, running up them in fear that Kagome was hurt.

"What's wrong?" he stopped when he saw the look on Kagome's face, which was painted with shock.

"What are you doing here!" She asked, Inuyasha glancing over to see Naraku. He contained an inhumanly growl as he slowly walked up behind Kagome, who had her hand spread. Without talking he understood and grabbed her hand softly, rubbing the side of her hand with his thumb. He felt her relaxed, making the unknown tense muscles unwind.

"Can I kill him now?" Inuyasha whispered into her ear, making her shake her head. Kagome would have smiled at the comment if not for the pure anger that fled through her veins.

"I asked why you're here. This isn't your bus, this is my group's bus, and you're not in it." She said, making Naraku chuckle as he took a step towards her. She had to struggle to keep from moving back.

"I got sent to this bus for being rude to one of the counselor or something. I guess I'll have to ride on the bus with you." He replied, though Kagome shook her head.

"Oh no, there is no way that I'm going to get stuck on this bus with you. I'd rather get stuck in this town than be with you." She quickly turned her back to the disappointed boy, trying to make her way to find Rin and explain why she couldn't go on the bus. She knew it was a foolish shot, but she had no other option. She was stopped by Inuyasha, who was in her way of getting off the bus. She gave a frustrated cry before trying to move him. "Will you move!"

"No." When Kagome glared at him, Inuyasha only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Sit down."

"Why should I listen to you?" She asked, though he just sent her a threatening look.

"Sit down, now." The way he formed the last word had Kagome immediately sitting in the closest seat. She was completely surprised when Inuyasha dropped into the same seat she was in, though there were many empty seats that he could have sat in.

"Inuyasha, why are you sitting with me?" She asked.

"Would you rather have me move and let Naraku come sit with you? I'm sure that he wouldn't mind that, though I bet you would." Inuyasha snapped, making Kagome pull away from him slightly.

"I was just asking a question, you don't have to bit my head off Oka?" She said her voice soft yet firm. He only adverted his eyes away from him, crossing his arms and pulling his legs up to lean against the seat in front of them. Kagome looked at him for a moment, reading the confusing face he now held. She could tell he was pissed, but she could tell that he was slightly sad. Now the real question was why was he so sad?

Inuyasha only glared at the seat in front of him; trying his best to keep his face from explaining anything other than he was ticked off. Deep inside, he felt like Kagome had jabbed his heart with a small pin and watched it bleed. He knew that they had known each other for only a little while, but something as simple as sitting with her made her feel awkward. I should have known she was just like every other girl. Just leading me into a painful situation, even if the first one didn't mean to. He glanced over at her to see her staring at him, making his eyes widen slightly and hers close before looking away from him.

"Sorry, I didn't know I was staring." She whispered, making him shrug.

"It's not like I can tell you what to look at." He said calmly, though she assumed he was masking his anger. A short silence fell about them before he saw her look behind them before quickly looking forward again. "What's wrong?"

"It's just I knew Naraku was looking at us." She said, looking over at Inuyasha.

"So what?" He asked, making her shake her head.

"It's nothing. Hey, about what I said earlier, I didn't mean to get you upset, I just thought that you wouldn't want to sit with me is all. I'm sorry if I upset you." She watched him look at her skeptically before she continued. "Did you sit with me for any other reason?"

"Um..."

"The fact that he didn't want Naraku to sit with you is one of the many reasons he would want to sit with you." Inuyasha glared up at Miroku, who now sat down in front of them.

"Who asked you?" Miroku shrugged at Inuyasha's question.

"It's not my fault I'm nosy!" Miroku held his hands up to prove his innocence. Sango laughed at Kagome tried to hold Inuyasha back.

"Calm down Inuyasha, let it go." Kagome said, tugging on Inuyasha's arm. "So what did you two do before the talent show?"

"We just walked around and watched a couple kids play with fireworks. Oh, and these two people wanted to take our picture for the scrapbook we get at the end of camp." Sango replied, though both girl's attention were drawn to the front of the bus when they heard Kikyo storm up the stairs.

"I can't believe you are so stupid! You can't even order a salad right." She glared at Kouga, who shrugged.

"It's not my fault you can't be a normal American and just get a hamburger." Kouga's concentration was adverted to the group watching them, mainly the boy that now sat with Kagome. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sitting and watching you bicker with Kikyo like an old couple, is that a crime?" He replied.

"Why are you sitting with her?"

"Because it's a free country and I'm an American, so that gives me that right to sit with her. If you want, you can write a complaint to the president and maybe then you can get it vetoed that I can't sit with other people. Other than that, you're out of luck." Inuyasha's sarcastic remark was not making Kouga feel better.

"Well move, I want to sit with Kagome."

"And if I don't want to move? I mean I just spent all this time trying to get the seat all warm and I don't think that I want to lose that warmth."

"Then I'll have to kick your ass." Inuyasha only rolled his eyes at Kouga's threat.

"If that's supposed to scare me, then I guess I'm breaking the rules because I'm not." Kagome sighed and looked back behind her, finding a pair of Purple eyes staring at her.

"What do you want now?" She asked Naraku, who smiled.

"Why don't you come sit with me?" He asked.

"How about your little playmate sits with you instead?" With that snappy comment, she saw Naraku's eyes look past her shoulder to Kikyo and smiled before looking back at her. She almost screamed her head off at him for being stupid enough to look at Kikyo and smile, but stopped when his eyes turned sharp. Taking a glance, Kagome looked behind her to see Kikyo with an unreadable look on her face, though it didn't hold the smug smirk Kagome had expected.

"Watch your tongue Kagome, don't think I'm done with you yet."

"You were done with me the moment you kissed Kikyo. If you weren't than you wouldn't have done it." Kagome inwardly winced when she saw anger flicker through his eyes like an uncontrollable flame.

"I said I wasn't done with you and I meant it." He growled out, though Kagome wasn't the person to answer.

"Hey knock it off Naraku, stop being an ass." Sango said, watching Naraku glare at her.

"Shut up Sango, nobody asked for your opinion."

"Nobody asked you to be a jerk either, yet you seem to pull that off quite well." Kagome suppressed her laughter at Sango's smart reply. "Face it Naraku, she's done with you. I don't know why she was with you to begin with, but I'm glade she broke up with you. Kikyo was probably the best thing that happened to you, since she was why you two split."

"Shut up!" He said, catching everyone's attention.

"Why should I, because I'm right and you know it?" She asked slowly, watching Naraku clench his hand before he stood up, walking forwards till he stopped in front of Sango's seat.

"He's near me; I have every right to break our promise." Inuyasha whispered to Kagome, making her shake her head.

"I'm warning you now, stay out of me and Kagome's business." Naraku warned, Sango shivering slightly at the chill that now slithered down her spine.

"Naraku cut it out! Please." Sango glanced at Kagome who was now standing up. Slowly, she moved around Inuyasha and into the aisle, grabbing Naraku's arm. "Sango's not involved with it, and though I'm not to defiant, I won't let you touch her. She hasn't done anything wrong, let's just go back to your seat." She pulled on his arm slightly, pulling him back to the seat he was once in. Inuyasha watched Kagome pull Naraku into the seat, noticing the look that passed over Naraku's features when she did. He didn't seem pleased. Inuyasha now turned back around to his friends, anger seeping into his eyes.

"Why would she go back there with him, she doesn't even like him!" Kouga said as both he and Kikyo sat down in separate seats.

"You wouldn't understand, she doesn't want to." Sango replied, making Kikyo sigh. Great, now I have to act like a witch again. Sometimes I even wonder why I would do this for her, it's not like she's going to like me.

"Well obviously she wants to or else she wouldn't have sat with him." Kikyo said plainly, catching Sango's attention. She took a long look at the girl that had caused so much trouble, slightly seeing a sadness shine in her features. Sango's eyebrows scrunched slightly when she thought of all the things Kikyo had done.

Everyone knows about the thing with Naraku, but what else has she done that was so bad? Sure she called Kagome names now and again, but I can't think of anything else that was too bad. Now that I think of it, whenever she calls Kagome a name, Kagome just defends herself and it kind of raises her self-esteem.

When Kikyo cheated with Naraku, didn't she do Kagome good? I understand that Kagome liked Naraku, but we all knew it wasn't going to be a good ending if she kept hiding his attacks. Once Kikyo cheated on him, Kagome got mad because it was Kikyo and dumped him. It makes me wonder if she would have done the same if it was anyone else. Plus, I don't remember Kikyo ever talking to Naraku again after that.

I can't believe I'm thinking this, but what if Kikyo never meant to make Kagome's life miserable, but tried to help her without showing it. Kikyo's not one of those people that does things for others unless it helps her, so it would make sense that she would hide it with her name calling. Maybe Kikyo isn't as horrible as I think. I'll have to talk to her later about it, though I doubt she's going to tell me anything.

"You Oka Sango?" Miroku asked, waving a hand in front of her face. She shook her head clear of her thoughts as she focused on the conversation again.

"From what I've heard, Kagome doesn't want to be near him." Inuyasha said, slightly calmer than before.

"She hates him ever since the incident with Kikyo. Look, Naraku had a tendency of being…hands on when it came to Kagome. I wasn't 100 sure about this, but I had a feeling that Naraku used to hurt her when he got pissed." Sango's eyes were downcast as if she was afraid to let her conclusion slip.

"What the hell, he hit her!" Inuyasha asked, punching the seat hard when Sango nodded. "Why would he ever think he had the right to do that?"

"Most people who are hit have low self-esteem, which makes them vulnerable. If Kagome wasn't as hard on herself as she was, maybe he wouldn't of." Kikyo said, confirming Sango's hypothesis that Kikyo knew about Kagome's low self-esteem.

"She's not weak, don't you even think that." Kouga replied.

"But why would she let him hit her then?" Miroku looked at the group, though nobody seemed to have the answer to his question. As soon as the silence fell over the front of the bus, the two in the back started to heighten their voices.

"You need to stop grabbing my arm!" Kagome said, pulling her slightly soar arm away from Naraku.

"You need to forget what happened with me and Kikyo." He said, though his voice was strained as if holding something back.

"Why should I, it's not going to change how I feel for you now. It's over, you messed up." She went to stand, though Naraku grabbed her arm again. She looked down at him, seeing pure anger melt the disguise that he was wearing. She tried to tug her arm away, though he tugged her down harshly. "Naraku, I said let go of my arm."

"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you think I'm just going to let you go without me? I don't think so!"

"Naraku you're making a scene, please calm down." She knew she had taken it too far, though she felt much calmer than usual. He's not my boss anymore; I have my own life without him in it! I don't want to deal with him anymore; I actually have a backbone now. But he's still too strong for me, he could easily overpower me and I couldn't stop him.

"You are such a tramp! What are you going to do, go sit with that boy?"

"You mean Inuyasha?" She asked, struggling to get her arm out of his steel grasp.

"Yea, that loser. I'm not going to let you walk away from me just so you can go gallivanting after him."

"I'm not going to do that, and even if I was, you couldn't tell me I couldn't. It's my choice now, you can't just tell me what to do anymore! I'm not your property, and I'm not your girlfriend anymore."

"Yes you are!"

"Hey Kagome, I need to talk to you, can you come up here for a second?" Kagome nodded at Inuyasha, looking back at Naraku for a second before she pulled her arm away from him as hard as she could. She managed to get his hand off her, though the fingers that he had pressed against her skin left long marks, one bleeding from the pressure.

"Look, I don't like you anymore and you're just going to have to deal with that." As she stood up, she gave one last look down at Naraku before she went back to where she was before Naraku came over. She sighed in relief when Inuyasha stood up and let her on the inside, feeling more secure with Inuyasha on the outside. She looked at her friends, who were all staring at her. She felt slightly nervous as she looked back down at her lap. "What?"

"Nothing." Sango replied before any boys could open their mouths. Kikyo on the other hand noticed the scratches on Kagome's arm. She paused before she decided to speak.

"So what happened with you and Naraku?" She asked, making Kagome look over at her.

"What do you mean?" Kagome questioned.

"Cut it out Kikyo." Miroku said, though Kikyo wasn't paying attention to him.

"What did he do to you this time? I see some marks on your arm." She asked Kagome's eyes widening as she covered her arm with her hand.

"I said knock it off! Can't you leave her alone; you've done enough to her?" Miroku said seriously, though Sango felt a lump of confusion fill her throat, stopping her from talking. She's doing it again; it's her way of making us see Kagome was hurt. I was so pissed at her before that I never realized that she helps Kagome without causing anyone to notice.

"Is it my fault I'm saying what everyone else is thinking?" She turned back to Kagome, who had unconsciously pulled her legs up to her chest. "What's the matter, did he hit you? Did he make you cry?" Kagome didn't respond as she felt the bus move forward. Miroku looked at the front of the bus to see Rin and Shessomaru once again sharing a seat. When he looked back at the group, he saw Kagome's face buried into her knees.

"Will you just leave her alone!" Kouga finally said, trying to shut her up.

"What, are you pissed that she wouldn't come to you for comfort and went to Inuyasha instead? Face it, she likes him better, stop chasing after her." Kikyo was blunt, but only Sango could see the pain that was so apparent when looked for.

"You're being a bitch and you need to cut it out." He said, glaring at her. She only rolled her eyes.

"Hey, knock it out back there!" Shessomaru called back to the teens that now fell quiet. Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome. She still had her knees propped against her abdomen, but now her eyes were staring out the window towards the night sky that was now lit up with bright stars. It was hard to see anything clearly, but Inuyasha's eyesight was stronger than most humans.

"You Oka?" He asked her softly, making her glance over at him. She smiled weakly as she tried to speak, though she shook her head and stayed silent. "I know this isn't my business or anything, but why didn't you just tell Kikyo off?"

"I just couldn't."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"She was right, wasn't she?" Kagome kept her gaze on him for a second more before she turned back to the window.

"It's not a big deal. I'm over it."

"So he hit you?" She hesitated before answering.

"I…he didn't call it that. He just did it when I upset him."

"I don't care what the hell he called it!" She winced slightly when he raised his voice, forgetting it was Inuyasha in the seat with her.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you mad at me." She said, pushing closer to the side of the bus. He let his two purple eyes drift towards her, softening when he saw her push away. He sighed as she moved over to her, lightly putting his hand on her arm to calm her. She flinched slightly when he touched her arm, it being the same spot where Naraku had scratched her.

"Sorry." He said quietly, which snapped Kagome's mind back into gear. "I didn't mean to hurt…you?" He stopped when he felt Kagome's body come in contact with his. She wrapped her arms around his neck securely, burying her face into his shirt. He was shocked but managed to wrap his arms around her comfortingly. By now he could feel his shirt wet from the droplets that now fell from Kagome's face.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She whispered, chocking back a sob. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he looked towards the back of the bus, glaring at the boy who had caused the problems. His focus came back to Kagome, who now seemed to remember what she was doing. "I didn't mean to hug you like that, I'm sorry."

"Stop saying sorry, that's all I hear from your mouth!" He said, watching her look up at him. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. Whatever the hell Naraku told you, he was wrong. Don't apologize for other people making mistakes." Kagome's eyes were not watering as she remember all the times she had apologized for Naraku's attacks.

"Then what am I supposed to say?" She asked, feeling Inuyasha's arms move slightly when he shrugged.

"Anything but sorry." Kagome sighed as she rubbed her arm absent-mindedly. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!"

"You're rubbing your arm, let me see it."

"No, I'm fine." Her defenses were up again, making Inuyasha sigh in frustration. Before she could protest, Inuyasha grabbed her arm and shoved her sleeve up, revealing the marks that Naraku had left.

"What did he do this for?" He asked softly, controlling his anger as best he could. When she shook her head and kept her mouth still, Inuyasha lightly tilted her head up, catching her gaze with his. "Why did he do that?"

"He didn't want me to come see you or be near you." She said quietly, throwing Inuyasha off guard. He remain silent and she continued. "He wants me to go back out with him and I don't want to."

"Then just don't."

"You just don't get it, I can't ignore him or he'll get mad a-"

"And what, he's going hurt you again?" She didn't respond. He now dropped his hand back around her, holding her closer to him. Once he felt her relax, he continued. "I promise you now, no matter what happened with him before, I won't let him touch you again."

"No, I don't want you to get involved in this. He'll hurt you, I won't let that happen." She said, though it was muffled because she placed her head on his shoulder.

"I'd rather get hurt then let him come near you. I can handle being hit by him, and I'll just hit him back." She shook her head against his shoulder, though she didn't reply. Inuyasha grew curious when he heard nothing, but he didn't ask. The two were quiet until Inuyasha felt her move slightly. He glanced down at her to see her staring up at him, her eyes holding the same emotion as when they were getting on the bus.

"I can't let anyone get hurt by Naraku, I already know how that feels. Please don't do anything, I don't want you hurt." Inuyasha only tightened his grip on Kagome, never answering her plead. The rest of the ride was silent, Kagome slowly falling asleep against Inuyasha. He shifted slightly and looked down at her tear stained face. Fresh tears still rolled down her face, making his heart heavy at the thought she had cried herself to sleep. Inuyasha let his hand travel up to her face, slowly sliding his thumb over her cheek and wiping away the remaining tears, something he wouldn't do when others were watching. She shifted slightly in his soft hold, causing Inuyasha to pull away.

"Don't." she mumbled, moving closer to Inuyasha. He knew she wasn't awake, but he still felt uneasy about crossing her.

"Come on Kag." He tried to move again, but her grip only tightened and she squirmed slightly, curling into his lap.

"Don't leave me." He tried to control his blush as she snuggled deeper. He sighed slightly and relaxed, giving up an attempt to avoid questions from their friends. He glanced out the window, watching the black sky light up with sparkling stars.

How he had gotten himself into this position he was now in wasn't quite clear to him. When the bus finally stopped at the camp, Inuyasha picked Kagome up and carried Kagome off the bus, ignoring the glances from the others on the bus.

"I'm bringing her to her cabin." He informed Shessomaru, who only nodded carelessly. Inuyasha kept walking, somehow managing to open the door. He walked over to the bed that he assumed was Kagome's. Slowly he set her down on the bed and attempted to stand. Sadly for Inuyasha, Kagome's arms locked tighter around his neck, causing him to fall forward onto her. When the air left Inuyasha's lungs from the fall, Kagome slowly opened her eyes, which seemed to beg to submerged back into her eyelids.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" She asked, pulling one of her arms from his neck to rub her eyes.

"I was trying to bring you back to your cabin without waking you up, but that obviously didn't work." He replied. She blinked before she looked around the room, and then back at Inuyasha.

"We're home?"

"Yea, now will you let me go!" She quickly drew her other arm away from him. He snorted slightly before he pushed himself off of her, avoiding her eyes. "Get some sleep, you need it." When he moved to leave, she quickly grabbed the bottom of his shirt, stopping him from getting to the door.

"Wait!" She said.

"What now?" He asked and she pulled on his shirt, making him tumbled back onto the bed. "What was that for!"

"I just want to know…"

"Know what?"

"Just if you meant what you said from before!" She bit her lip when she caught his gaze but kept her eyes on him.

"From the bus you mean?"

"That."

"Yes, I'm not going to let him hurt you, no matter what."

"But you could get hurt."

"Haven't we had this conversation before?" she ignored his question.

"I won't let him hurt you."

"So what do you want me to do, just ignore him when he does something like that cut on your arm!"

"He won't do it in front of anyone."

"Then let's just tell the manager at the camp!"

"It's his father's best friend; he won't kick Naraku out of the camp." She replied. He growled in anger as punched the bed, trying to imagine it as Naraku. "That's another reason you can't get on Naraku's bad side, he'll get you kicked out."

"Right now I don't give a damn about me."

"Yea well maybe I do!" Inuyasha watched her eyes open larger before her hand came up to her mouth, covering it. Before he could let one word from his smirking mouth, Sango came running into the room, followed by Rin and Kikyo.

"Oka, boys must leave right now!" Sango cried out, pushing Inuyasha out of the room and slamming the door. As soon as the door was shut, Rin and Sango turned to Kagome, their evil smiles making her move away from them.

"What are the looks for?" Kagome asked.

"Girl talk!" Both screamed, making Kagome fall backwards onto her bed.

"God save me." Kagome muttered, though he only seemed to laugh at her.

Well that's the end of Chapter 9! I'm sorry to say this, but I won't be able to add another chapter for a little while…actually I can give you the date that the next one will come out! The next chapter will be out…April 25th! I know, 15 days…but hey, it's either that or May 2nd. So no complaining, though I would like a lot of reviews! If I don't, maybe I'll wait till the 2nd….how bout this (Since I'm so evilly sweet) If I don't get up to 60 by the time the 25th comes, then you will all have to wait till the 2nd! Mwhahaha! Aren't I so mean? P.S- Go check out my other short stories while your waiting for this one and review, maybe It'll help me write faster! It's called 'Love Gets me Every Time'

AnimeWillRuleTheWorld- Thanks for the review, I'm glad that you like my story and think its cool. And the story is going to get better, I promise you that! I hope you liked this chapter, review plz!

Inuyasha is my hottie hero- How on earth did you guess that? It must have taken a whole…10 seconds! LoL, well I'm glad that you like it if you did (That's usually the reason why someone reviews) and I hope that this chapter wasn't too predictable for you.

The Myth Keeper- I'm glad that someone sympathizes with me. It just makes me feel like I'm not doing a good job and that people don't want to read it anymore. But thanks for the review, and I'll try to write as much as I possibly can to get that chapter in sooner.

SamSam-aka-Sam- I yelled at you? Oh yea….sorry, my bad. Well I take that back, you are one of the only people that I can count on to review! So I made a mistake, evil people aren't perfect either! Well keep up the reviewing, and hope you like this chapter.

Yellowstarbutterfly- What is up with all the short messages? I can't write a real reply unless you give me stuffs to work with…ah owell, at least you reviewed. Thanks for that, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Leo Of the stars- Oh I like the idea with the pink bunnies and butterflies. Can you imagine Naraku being chased by a bunch of pink bunnies? Sadly I can…but anyways, thanks for the review and I hope that you like this chapter enough to review!

Lonely Youkai- I'm happy that you feel like a hero, and I'm happy that you like this story so much. I can always count on you to review, and it's always so long too! This chapter was sort of weird, but I hope that you enjoy all the sarcastic marks from Inuyasha and stuffz…yea…well I hope you liked it and I hope you review!

Chapter 10- You can tell a Person by their Horse