Innocent Kisses in the Rain

After School, outside of school, Tokyo, Japan, July 15, 2004

Kagome stared at the ground, her hand still firmly surrounding Inuyasha's upper arm.

She licked her lips unsurely, and gave herself a summarized version of the two-hour lecture about how she had to do this or the world was inevitably doomed on her behalf. Or something like that.

'If I don't ask him about Kikyou, then what if it's true? I don't want to be used… But I want him to be happy. Both of these goals will hopefully be reached after this talk… It's your life and responsibility, Kagome! Hurry now, before he gets impatient…'

"Inuyasha… Who is Kikyou?" That was not the opening she was hoping for, but it begged the immediate reaction she had been shooting for anyway.

He did a double take and almost withdrew from her hold - in shock or protectiveness?

"Sh - She's… How do you know about Kikyou anyway? How should I know who she is?" He seemed flustered and his wild eyes searched for either an excuse or an escape, whichever met the fleeting orbs first.

"Don't lie, Inuyasha! How else would she know what my day-to-day schedule was if she didn't… seduce it out of you?" Her temper flared at his obvious attempt at deceit, and her hand unconsciously tightened. He winced.

"H-how would your… mother feel if she knew you knew that word?" Inuyasha choked, even as he tried to change the subject.

"My mother's not stupid. Everybody knows these things nowadays. How would your father feel if he knew you knew how to cheat on women?!" Kagome raised her chin slightly, threateningly.

"Women!" He snorted, half heartedly. He tried to yank himself free from her vice-grip of a hold.

"Well, you're right. Usually only women experience cheating guys. It should be easier when you're only thirteen!" She retorted, her grasp steadfast and strong.

He hissed but tried to relax, hesitantly meeting her eyes.

"Kikyou is only a friend." He insisted, giving an "inconspicuous" tug at his arm. Her lips tautened.

"Liar again! She said you guys have known each other forever and that you only care for her!" Kagome cried, shaking him thoughtlessly in barely suppressed rage.

When she had originally planned this, she had imagined a more dramatic, sorrowful, teary, romantic scene… Like, him explaining his never-dying love for Kikyou while she cried in earnest before the setting sun… And they were each four years older-looking and Inuyasha was more mature… And she wasn't yanking on his arm to keep him there. And she was pretty…

Nothing so cliché and fairy-tale-ish would ever happen to this Higurashi Kagome! No sir-ree!

He struggled once more against her clutch, wining about cut-off blood circulation… She came back to reality.

"So, Inuyasha. What did she mean??" She shook his arm for effect after falling back into her part. Her eyes burned, like crackling wood, through her anger.

"Where did you talk to her anyway?" He cried out indignantly, and her eyes hardened another degree.

"Where else? Why did you tell her where I swam??" She asked, trying once again to narrow her eyes to match Kikyou's.

It dawned on him.

He laughed uncertainly.

"She just said she had to leave… early…" He stumbled.

"After you told her I took swimming lessons?" Kagome hissed.

"She was interested in all my friends…" He said, looking away.

"You can't give personal information away when anybody just asks you about me! How stupid is that?" She fumed, shaking her head violently.

"I didn't know she would go and… confront you! What did you talk about anyway?" He asked, his anger rising as well.

"She said you guys were… going out." She said, and for a moment it seemed like she had lost all momentum (as well as a couple of inches), while she let out a "resigned" breath and just looked defeated and… lost. Then she regained her composure. He knew he would have a bruise on that arm in the morning.

They stood silently for a moment, him staring down at her, her staring up at him, her eyes questioning and accusing at the same time. He licked his lip and began nibbling on it.

"Well, Inuyasha… You only have to say… Yes… or no…" She said, her tone, this time, soft and meaningful.

Inuyasha pulled free of her now slackened grip and looked away for a moment before he met her eyes again.

"Ne ne, I've known Kikyou forever, Kagome. She was with me when I was six-years-old. She knew me when I was… in pain…"

"I've heard the history, Inuyasha." She responded dryly.

He licked his lip again.

"When we were younger, we considered ourselves… soul mates." He tried again.

"Your brother told me the -- harshest pain in your life was 'breaking up' with your small girlfriend." Kagome was not cruel enough to deliver the unedited quote.

Inuyasha nodded solemnly.

"It was like that… Kagome… It… always… has… been like that…" He looked away.

'What's he going to say?'

"Kagome… Sorry…" His voice was of longing…

"If you had to choose, would you pick her?" Her voice almost matched hers, than she realized… "It's not like you have to feel bad, you know… We're only thirteen. There really shouldn't be love affairs and romance dramas or anything like that! It's just a 'yes' or 'no' question, and then we both have an entire love life in front of ourselves! It's not like I'm going to be mad…" She put on a face of false cheer, encouraging him to be honest…

But if he chose Kikyou, would that mean that she was a bad person? Or that she didn't have the ability to make people happy?

He looked away and within his soul a battle was being fought. When he turned them up again, the resolve was flimsy.

"Kagome --- yes." Inuyasha sighed in defeat and steeled himself for the worst. If he had learned anything, Kagome was sensitive and friendly, but above all, she was a hopeless spitfire when it came to dealing anger.

Her small smile did not, by any means, reach her eyes.

"Okay." She chirped, her voice loaded with saccharine - falsely so.

She turned on her heel and began walking away.

"W-Wait, Kagome!" He always screwed these things up…

She stopped and he began contemplating what he was going to say to make her feel better when she relieved him of his job by speaking herself.

She did not face him when she spoke, but he was struck by the same lightening as if she had been staring him in the eyes.

"Say, what is the relationship between Kikyou and Sesshoumaru?" He did another double take.

"W…hat?" His eyebrows furrowed and he took a step forward.

She, in turn, took a step forward as well.

"Inuyasha? I'm just wondering." She said, but still did not face him.

His eyes became guarded once more.

"Well, then." He spoke harshly, taking his step back again. She did not copy.

"He doesn't have any relationship with Kikyou. He despises her, if that could be called a relationship. He doesn't even ignore her; he hates her, so I guess you could say he has those extracurricular feelings towards her. It's always been like that. Good luck with whatever you will accomplish with that information." He hissed coldly. She didn't respond, just began walking again.

"Kagome!" He called once more. This was an awkward and friendship-breaking predicament that they were in right now.

She half turned her head back toward him then seemed to change her mind, bursting instead into a capricious run. About ten steps away, she slowed to a jog, then burst back into a run, disappearing around the corner.

He stared solemnly after her, then tossed his head and turned to start home by himself.

---------------

"Inuyasha?" A girls voice sounded from the other side of the phone.

"Yes?" He asked back, recognizing the voice as he sat down at the table.

"It's Kikyou." She said boldly.

"I know." He responded.

"How was your day?"

"… It was fine."

"That's good. How are your friends?"

"They're fine."

"How is Kagome?"

"She's fine."

"That's good."