Chapter One: What are Best Friends For?

"Kagome!"

Kagome Higurashi got up immediately. Her mother was in the doorway, smiling at her daughter, who was looking completely whacked out. Hitomi Higurashi wrapped her knuckles on Kagome's doorway before saying, "Kagome, dear, you better hurry if you want to get to school on time. It's your first day of junior year and you don't want to be late."

Kagome nodded, half asleep. She drunkenly walked to her bathroom and began to brush her teeth sluggishly. Kagome was very disoriented early in the morning and it was only once Inuyasha honked his horn some ten times that Kagome woke up. As soon as Inuyasha honked, Kagome snapped into action, screaming, "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" before running to put her uniform on.

Kagome ran past her mother downstairs, not even hearing her mother say, "Have a nice day, Kagome!"

Inuyasha was behind the wheel of his second-hand Mercedes convertible and waiting for his best friend to come out of her house. He was getting very annoyed; Kagome was never on time! Inuyasha glanced at his watch irritably. Couldn't she hurry up? Inuyasha folded his hands behind his head, only to jerk up when he heard the door of the Higurashi residence bang open.

Kagome was hopping on one foot to the car while trying to put her other shoe on. Inuyasha groaned as he saw Kagome with a piece of toast in her mouth as well, and he got out of the car, only to grab her arm and shove her forcefully into the car.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome whined, her mouth full of toast. To this, Inuyasha replied simply by pushing the toast even more into her mouth so that she couldn't make a sound.

Smiling evilly, he started the car and they made their way to school.

Kagome smiled as she saw Sango waiting for her outside school. Sango Hiraikotsu was her best friend, one of the few people who was as close to her as Inuyasha. Kagome had been friends with Inuyasha since birth because their mothers had been friends, but Kagome had only been friends with Sango since elementary school. Still, their friendship had developed quickly over time. And Kagome was only a little upset when Sango got a boyfriend before her in the form of Inuyasha's other best friend, Miroku Kazaana. But Kagome soon grew out of her jealousy for Sango when, after meeting and getting to know Miroku, she found out he was the biggest pervert in the whole of Japan! Now, she really did not regret Sango hooking up with him.

"So," Inuyasha said as the three of them made their way to their lockers, "Where's Miro, Sango? I am surprised he isn't here as usual…hanging all over you."

Sango stuck her tongue out at Inuyasha as she opened her locker. Turning away form him, she said, "Well, Miroku has caught some weird virus. He's staying home today. His mom said that she doesn't think he is going to be coming to school this whole week."

Inuyasha groaned as he banged his head against his locker. "A week with only the both of you to talk to…God, I am going to go insane."

Kagome's eyes narrowed and she banged her notebook on top of Inuyasha's head screaming, "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"

Inuyasha rubbed his head and looked at Kagome with a mixture of perplexity and anger. "Chotto!" he yelled, "What's your problem!"

Kagome jutted her lower lip out and said snootily, "Well, you were being mean. Stop being mean, Inuyasha! Sango and I are good fun, you're just a meanie."

Inuyasha grumbled as they made their way to homeroom. As always, Sango, Miroku, Kagome and him had the same schedule. At the beginning, Inuyasha had found it quite scary. It was like the teachers spied on them after school to see who were friends and who weren't.

As they got into their seats, Kagome smiled at Inuyasha. As usual, her temper had cooled down right after she lost it, and now she felt bad for whacking his head. Tugging on a lock of his silver hair, she caught his attention.

"What!" Inuyasha muttered irritably.

"You're not going to be stuck with only me and Sango next week, you know." She said matter-of-factly.

Inuyasha turned to look at her and cocked an eyebrow up, "Oh really? Then who am I going to be hanging out with pray tell? Someone like Koga? Don't make be barf."

Kagome rolled her eyes. She didn't know what Inuyasha had against her ex-boyfriend, Koga. He just didn't get the fact that you could be good friends with an ex.

"No! Do you actually think I would be stupid enough to pit you two together?"

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow again and said, "Kagome, do you really want me to answer that question?"

Kagome scrunched her eyes up irritably. Relax, Kags, Relax, she told herself, Just be cool and patient.

"Either way," she continued as if she hadn't heard him, "My favourite cousin, Kikyo is coming from America in two days. She's going to be here for two weeks! I am so excited! Kikyo is like…one of the nicest people on earth. You'll really like her…and she's looking so forward to meeting you! Probably because I've been blabbering about you since…like…the third grade."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes before smiling. Just when he was going to say something, their teacher, Miss Tsubaki came in. Her long, white hair contrasted with her pale, youthful beauty so that she looked the ripe, old age of…forty.

"Good Morning Class, I am going to take roll now. Koga? Sango? Hojo? Yuka?"

Inuyasha groaned and placed his head on his table. This was going to be a loooong day.

Koga sat in the cafeteria next to his best friend, Ayame. He sighed as he played with the chicken he had on his plate. He didn't feel like eating.

"Koga?" Ayame asked concernedly. Her green eyes peered into his blue ones, filled with concern, "What's wrong?"

Koga looked away and said dully, "Can you guess?"

Ayame sighed exasperatedly before pushing her plate away. Looking at Koga's back, she said, "Koga, you have to get over her. Its been, what, a month? Kagome is so over you. Besides, weren't you the one who broke up with her?"

Koga grimaced before saying, a little defeatedly, "Yes, but it was for a reason, Ayame."

"And that is-?"

Koga swallowed nervously and looked at the plastic table before murmuring something incoherently.

"What was that."

"I…I was jealous. Of…Inuyasha."

Ayame looked skeptical as she stared at Koga. Then, ever so tenderly, and ever so…sarcastically, she said, "And that makes sense…how?"

Koga swivelled around to stare at Ayame hard, "It was because he was spending so much time with her! I thought that if I broke up with her, she would spend more time with me and beg me not to let her go! And…and…she would actually…respond to my feelings."

Ayame arched her eyebrow, puzzled.

"Huh?"

Koga looked away once more before saying, "I told her I loved her, Ayame. She just said, 'cool.'"

Ayame snorted before saying, "Um, Koga…weren't you guys going out for like, three months? And you barely knew eachother before that! Can you expect Kagome to tell you she loves you when she hardly knows you! God! Men are so egotistical."

Koga ignored Ayame and continued to stare at Kagome as she sat in a corner table with Sano and Inuyasha. She was laughing and looking so happy and Koga couldn't help but sigh…

Can't you be happy by my side, my Kagome?

Rin Murakami snuggled into her fiancé, Sesshoumaru's arms. Sess had taken her out for lunch to a restaurant near his office at Taisho Corporation. Sess had only this time to hang out with her, because the rest of his time was spent either at Taisho Corporation or baby-sitting Inuyasha, his little brother.

Rin sighed. She had been seeing Sess since middle school. Since then, she had known his feisty little brother, Inuyasha and though Rin had grown to love the boy as a brother, she couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. Inuyasha had lost both his parents when he was born, and his half-brother, aka his legal guardian was always at work. Luckily, he had Kagome who kept him grounded. However, one of these days, she would find a guy she would fall head over heels in love for and Inuyasha will find himseld alone again. Rin didn't want to see the poor guy like that. She felt too much for him.

"What is it, Rin? You're quiet." Sesshoumaru said, nuzzling her neck.

Rin smiled before saying, "Nothing, Fluffy. Just thinking of…your brother. Isn't it time he got a girlfriend?"

Sesshoumaru snorted as he said, "Hahaha! Funny joke, Rin! Inuyasha and responsibilty like having a girlfriend!"

"Sesshoumaru! I am serious!"

Sess gulped nervously. He could always tell Rin was serious when she called him by his full first name.

"Rin! What do you want me to do? The guy is so blind! Can't he just ask Kagome out? I mean…they've been friends longer than you and I have known eachother. The guy is still too much of a wimp to make a move! And everyone knows Kagome has a thing for him!"

Rin smiled sweetly. To sweet for Sesshoumaru's taste and he felt apprehensive as she leaned close to his ear and whispered,

"That's why I want us to give the both of them a little…nudge."