Chapter 11

"What do you mean I have to have a make up tutoring session tomorrow?? " Kagome demanded angrily as she stood in the foyer of Inu Yasha's home, hands on her hips and a glare invading her pretty face. "it's my birthday!"

"Well, you weren't really paying much attention because you were upset today, and so I think we should make it up you know? In case you have a test or something before the holidays. You never know." He replied.

She began to tap her foot, a tad bit annoyed at her friend for insisting they have a make up session, on her birthday of all days. Yet, he had a point she figured. She desperately needed to do well in school, her math grade still wasn't satisfactory, and she would do whatever he felt was necessary to do. Even if that meant spending her birthday reviewing trinomials and other various types of math she hated.

"ok." She said finally, after several moments of quiet contemplation. "where are we going to meet?"

"You can come over here, maybe around three, is that ok?" he asked.

She snorted.

"Not like I have anything better to do." She chuckled as she remembered the let downs she had experienced that day. At least she wouldn't be spending the entire day alone. Lately she had come to enjoy being around him, finding a strange comfort in his presence alone.

"Alright then." he said as he retrieved her winter jacket from the coat rack to his left and handed it to her " I suppose I'll see you then."

"'kay" She flashed him a small smile as she wiggled into her jacket, and reached for the door knob, allowing a cold blast of air to invade the toasty warmness of the foyer.

"See you tomorrow" She called over her shoulder as she descended the stairs and began to make her way down the driveway.

After watching her figure fade into the distance, Inu Yasha closed the heavy wooden door, and walked into the large kitchen. It was time to make some phone calls.

~*~*~

Kagome flopped down onto the sofa, a warm cup of hot cocoa in hand, and reached for the remote which had some how managed to get wedged in between the cushions. She fished it out and set the mug down on a coaster as she switched the tv on. Flipping through channel after channel, she found that not much was on tv that night. She groaned as she forced herself up off of the couch, and padded over to the dvd rack. Tapping her foot, she allowed her eyes to scan over the array of titles that lay before her. Her eyes came to settle on A walk to Remember, and she pulled it out from its spot in the rack.

Having placed the dvd in its proper place, she settled herself back onto the couch, sinking into the soft plush cushions. A feeling of sorrow began to form from the depths of her stomach, creeping through her body as the movie played through. Visions of Kouga flashed through her mind as she watched the two main characters interact lovingly on the glowing screen before her. She found herself envying the girl, a girl who didn't even exist. That didn't matter however. Real or not, this girl had the boy she wanted right there with her, he just seemed to drop everything, even his friends, just to be with her. She on the other hand, was left alone, with no one to hold onto, and no one to snuggle with under the stars. Kagome sighed. It was no use blaming Kouga. It wasn't his fault that his band had a gig. She had to stop being so selfish she scolded herself, despite the fact that her eyes had begun to brim over with tears for what seemed the hundredth time that day.

She was just about to stop the movie and get another cup of steaming hot cocoa, when the phone rang, scaring her half to death. Jumping off the couch, she shot into the kitchen and picked the phone up from its cradle, so as to avoid the answering machine from picking up instead.

"HHello?"

"Hello, dear" Came the voice of her mother. Kagome could hear people talking around her mother, Souta's happy squealing could also be heard somewhere in the background.

"Sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun" Kagome replied enviously.

"Oh, it's nice to be with everyone again. However, things are quite hectic around here. To tell you the truth, I'm getting a bit stressed out already." She said.

"Well, that's not good."

"It's allright. Now, enough about me. How are you doing, dear?"

Kagome thought for a moment, recalling how disappointed she had been that day. Disappointed that no one would be there for her tomorrow. She thought of telling her mom, maybe ask her to come home earlier. Kagome dispelled the thought from her mind just as quickly as it had come however, silently scolding herself for being selfish once again. It was best not to mention anything to her mother at all. She didn't need anyone else to worry about at the moment.

"I'm fine, ma. Everything's going well, the house is still in one piece. " She said, attempting to sound cheerful.

"Well, I should hope so!" Her mother replied with a chuckle. " Well, dear" her mother started after she stopped laughing." I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. Your uncle will be needed at the office this weekend, leaving your aunt alone at home. He asked if it were possible for Souta and me to stay until Sunday afternoon when he returns home."

Kagome's heart sank. Her mother wasn't even going to be there on her birthday at all. It was bad enough that she was going to be coming home late on Saturday, but now she was going to be at her aunt's house practically all weekend. Kagome felt a batch of fresh tears invade her eyes, which she quickly tried to sniff back, unwilling to cry on the phone, in fear that it might upset her mother.

"I'm so sorry Kagome." Her mother said upon hearing her daughter's sniffling. " I know how much this upsets you, but unfortunately, no one else is able to stay with her tomorrow, and as much as I'd like to tell them I won't be able to stay...I can't. I'll make it up to you somehow, dear. I promise."

"It's ok, mom. I understand how important this is." Her voice wavered slightly as she replied.

"You're sure you're ok?" Her mother inquired gently.

"I said I was fine." Kagome replied, a slight edge in her voice.

"Alright." Her mother replied, backing off. " I suppose I should let you go now." She didn't feel that she should attempt to comfort her daughter any more at the moment, seeing that she would only end up upsetting her even more.

"Ok. I'll see you later mom."

"Take care of yourself, dear. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Good-bye!"

"Bye."

Kagome dumped the phone back into its cradle carelessly, and headed back into the living room, a livid expression on her face. Everything was ruined now. Somehow, everyone had backed out on her. The only thing she had to look forward to was the tutoring session she was to have the next day with Inu Yasha. She hated math, and didn't want to spend her birthday working out endless functions and equations. Inu yasha's presence comforted her somehow however, and she figured that maybe, just maybe things wouldn't be so bad to spend her birthday with him.

~*~*~

Kagome trudged up the wooden stairs, her fuzzy pink slippers making a gentle thumping noise that resounded throughout the empty hallway. She was so exhausted, and had dozed off several times throughout the rest of the movie. Her head throbbed painfully, and her body seemed to ache all over. She felt miserable, depressed and oh so lonely. There was nothing to look forward to the next day. No cake baking in the oven, the warm scent of the dessert floating around the house. No one waiting for her at the breakfast table, with a birth day hug and kiss.

Kagome sighed as she swung open the door to her room, and walked over to her bed. After such a rough day, Kagome could think of nothing more inviting then the idea of slipping into her bed, and burrowing far under the warmth of her covers.

For some time, Kagome lay awake, her eyes fixated on the ceiling. She watched as shadows from a tree outside her window danced in the soft moon light, swaying to and fro to the beat of an imaginary midnight waltz. Her room had taken on a pale hue, the soft light from outside filtering in onto her walls, making them appear to be a delicate sapphire blue. Her eyes stayed open for a moment more, before her eye lids became far too heavy, and they slowly shut. Within seconds, she was fast asleep.

~*~*~

The next morning, Kagome awoke to the sound of car horns honking somewhere down the street from her house. She groaned angrily as she began to roll out of her bed lazily. She nearly fell the rest of the way out when her eyes came to rest on her alarm clock. It was 2:30 in the afternoon. She was supposed to be at Inu Yasha's at three! What was she going to do?! She still needed to eat and shower before she could even think about getting dressed and walking over to his house.

Dammit. She thought angrily as she got up out of her bed. The floor was freezing cold underneath her feet, and she shivered, quickly turning around to search for her slippers. They had somehow managed to get shoved underneath the bed. She fished around under the box spring for a few moments before she finally managed to retrieve one and then the other, slipping them onto her feet as quickly as she could. She would have to hurry up if she wanted to be there on time, she reminded herself mentally as she scurried around the room looking for something clean to wear.

Twenty minutes later, Kagome rushed down into the kitchen, fully clothed and clean. She had chosen to wear a light gray turtle neck, with a pair of black stretch flares. Nothing fancy, and nothing uncomfortable. Just something simple and tasteful. She glanced at her wrist watch, and decided that she no longer had time enough to sit and eat, so she made her way over to the pantry. Grabbing a nutrigrain bar, her coat and sliding into a pair of shoes, Kagome quickly let herself out of the house, and into the cold that enveloped her upon opening the door.

~*~*~

Kagome's fingers were stiff and numb, the cold having penetrated the once warm depths of her pockets. She had made it to Inu Yasha's house, and was now quickly walking down the drive way up to the front steps, eager to go into the warmth that awaited her. Her teeth chattered loudly as she skipped up the steps, and up to the great wooden door. She reached out a frozen finger, and pushed the glowing door bell. Tucking her hand back into her pocket, she admired the large Christmas wreath that Inu Yasha's family had placed upon the door. Scattered throughout the pine branches she could see many little ornaments, ranging in colour from blue and green, to deep scarlet and gold. She even saw little artificial cardinals tucked into little holes in the wreath. She had just reached out a hand to touch the red velvet ribbon that hung from the middle, when the door swung open, causing her to jump back slightly with surprise. Inu yasha stood before her, his face aglow with a warm smile that seemed to radiate from his rosy cheeks.

Before Kagome could say anything, he reached out for her arm, and pulled her into the house, shutting the door behind them. He took her coat, and hung it on an empty prong, and then turned to look at her. He then reached for her once more, and began to lead her into the living room. Kagome looked down, and saw that he was indeed holding onto her hand. A funny feeling crept through her body as she subconsciously tightened her hold on his hand. Why did it feel so strange to touch him? It was just Inu Yasha. Nothing special about him, right? She asked herself as she followed her friend into the adjoining room. She nearly bumped into him as he stopped short, reluctantly releasing his hold on her hand.

"Are we going to study in here?" Kagome asked looking around the room, her head cocked to one side."

He simply nodded.

"But normally we study in your room. Why are we in here now?" she persisted.

"I dunno, I just wanted to be in here today. Now, if you'd sit down somewhere, I'm going to go get us some drinks. I'll be right back." He walked off before she could protest.

She set her notebook down, and seated herself in one of the luxurious chairs, sinking into the plush cushion. Clasping her hands in her lap, Kagome allowed for her eyes to wander around the room. There were many portraits hung on the walls, obviously relatives of Inu Yasha's. She could even see a little bit of resemblance to a few of them; the bright amber eyes, the pale skin and a shock of unruly white hair. Kagome looked down into her lap, bored with gazing around the room. Where was Inu Yasha? He said he'd be right back. It couldn't take that long to get drinks, could it? Slowing rising up out of her seat, Kagome made her way to the back of the house towards the kitchen. She could see that the doors were pushed together, but not closed. She could hear something moving around in the kitchen.

"Inu Yasha?" She called out as she walked towards the door. Scuffling could be heard behind the door, but there was no answer.

Odd. Kagome thought. I don't think I'm imagining things. I swear I heard him moving around in there. Deciding to have a look for herself, Kagome pulled the doors open, and stepped into the kitchen.

"Hello?" She said called out quietly. She waited for a moment, but heard nothing. She turned to head out of the kitchen.

"SURPRISE!!!!!!!"