A/N: Sorry this took so long...although I suppose it has only been a couple of days...lol...field hockey season has begun so I've been busy with practice, summer assignments, etc.: here's to the next semester! -- But as always enjoy and review! Thanks for your patience! This is not the last chapter.

Chapter Ten

Kagome stood at the door of the Inutaishos, wondering, for the hundredth time, why she was doing this. 'After all, he was the idiot who dumped me; for that bitch Kikyo, no less.' She thought fiercely.

Her mind replayed, as it had on the entire trip home, the break-up scene:

"Kagome," Inuyasha began softly, sitting beside Kagome. They were in the park in his neighborhood; a quiet, peaceful area where the wealthy residents in the surrounding area would walk their animals…

…'Or prepare to break up with their girlfriends.' Kagome thought gloomily. She had known exactly what this discussion was going to be about. How could she not? After all, she had seen Inuyasha kiss her…

…in this same spot.

Kagome sniffled. She scooted a little farther away from Inuyasha, to the edge of the elegant stone bench.

"I thought you said you would never feel anything for her again?" Kagome asked, in a broken voice. Her tears, hidden away for the past week, were finally beginning to break free.

"I-I'm sorry. I honestly thought I was over her…" Inuyasha's voice was quiet, sad. Kagome didn't look back to see his face. She couldn't look back.

"So is that why you brought me here? Couldn't you have picked a less ironic location?" she laughed bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I'm sorry." It seemed he couldn't say anything else. An uncomfortable silence passed before she spoke again.

"Then say the words." Kagome's voice was bleak now, resigned.

"The words?" Inuyasha sounded puzzled. 'What an idiot.' Kagome thought to herself. 'He comes here for a break-up speech, and he forgets to say he's dumping me.'

"You came here to break up with me right? Then say it. Just say it and let me go!" Kagome's voice steadily rose with each word.

"I don't want to." Inuyasha muttered. Kagome whirled around to look at him. The boy's head was propped on his hands, and he hid his face.

"You idiot." Kagome smiled through her tears, resting her hands over his. "You can't have us both."

The boy looked up into her eyes, smiling sadly, "I still love her, Kagome. I can't have you both, right? So I can't be with you anymore. It's not fair to you."

'I don't care what's fair anymore.' Kagome thought stubbornly. 'I just want him back.' She rang the doorbell. The sound echoed within the house; she could dimly hear the tone outside. 'I didn't even find out if anyone's home. Wouldn't that be ironic?'

"Kagome?" A familiar voice made her turn around, heart suddenly racing. A red-headed boy stood at the bottom of the wide porch steps, looking curiously up at her.

"Shippo! You scared the living daylights out of me." Kagome touched her chest, taking a deep breath.

"What are you doing here?" Shippo cocked his head to one side. "Didn't you and Inuyasha-?"

"Break up?" Kagome finished for him with an inquiring glance. She couldn't let the past hurt her anymore. Besides, not all of it was bad – for example, Inuyasha's cousin Shippo, who used to draw funny pictures to cheer her up whenever she and Inuyasha had a fight.

"Yeah." Shippo nodded, blushing. "He went out with that mean lady, Kikyo, for a while, then broke up with her too. Ever since then, he's been real sad."

"Is that so?" Kagome crossed her arms. Just hearing her name aloud again made her suddenly furious. "Then maybe he'd like it if Kikyo paid a visit instead of me!"

Kagome stormed down the stairs and down the driveway, embarrassed and angry. 'Why did I let Sesshoumaru convince me this was a good idea?' She shook her head.

"What did I say Kagome? Please, don't leave!" The adolescent ran after her, but she began running, wanting to get away from everything, anything, that reminded her of Inuyasha.

She finally rested somewhere deep inside the residential park, lying in the hollow of a tree, completely hidden from the path by tall hedges. She had lost sight of Shippo, and in her mind felt desperately sorry for him. 'He never meant any harm. I'm sure he was just trying to make conversation.' But she couldn't go back; not ever.

She sniffled and peeked out of the hedges, checking for any passerby. An old lady passed by, holding the leash of a small decorative dog.

The dog paused by the bushes, sniffing intently. 'It probably smells me,' Kagome thought, in a sudden rush of panic. She began to back away when she heard the owner say, in a light irritated tone. "Now Tootsie, I want to return home before gardener comes by to rake those leaves. You never know what kind of work they'll do if they're unattended." She tugged at the leash crossly, and the small dog yipped, and followed its mistress down the path, forgetting the interesting scent among the leaves.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. That had been close. She suddenly felt rather silly lying there in the undergrowth. 'What am I doing anyway?' She thought to herself. 'The way I see it, I have two choices. One is to just go back to school, and two is to confront Inuyasha; so which one is it going to be?'

Her mind was already choosing one, and beginning to make the motions of leaving when she heard another's footsteps, treading closer along the path.

The person was slow, as if contemplating, and took a long time getting to where Kagome hid. She felt as if she was about to die just from the waiting. She couldn't quite make out his face; he was a sight taller than the miniature old lady and her dog. But she could tell he was a male, and a teenager, or at least young, from the clothing he wore; faded blue jeans and what seemed to be a basketball team shirt. She couldn't see his face though.

The boy sat down on a bench right next to her hiding spot. Kagome groaned mentally, 'Just what I need.' She thought to herself. 'Now I'll be stuck here for hours.'

She sat back against the tree, waiting for him to move.

It was early afternoon, just after lunch, or so Kagome could tell. Not much time had passed since the embarrassing incident at the Inutaisho residence. 'More like mansion, if you ask me.' She thought, grumbling. 'Why won't this guy move already?'

As she sat, grumbling to herself, she thought she heard the faintest answer from the boy. 'Or at least I think he said something.' Kagome leaned closer to the barrier hedges, curious.

"She came back. Feh; I think Shippo's losing it." He said quietly, as if talking to himself. Her heart began to beat a little bit faster at the sound of the boy's voice.

Kagome smiled, 'Inuyasha talking to himself? Who would have imagined?' She didn't feel so frightened anymore. 'Maybe this will be easier than I thought.'

"Why would Kagome come back? She probably hates me. I do." Came the miserable voice.

"You do what?" Kagome asked, not stepping quite yet out of her hiding place.

"I hate myself." Inuyasha responded, as if bushes talking were a normal occurrence for him. Kagome had to struggle not to laugh.

"You should feel like an idiot, but you really shouldn't hate yourself." She suggested.

"Why not?" He asked, head in his hands. "I got caught between the girl I love, and the girl I used to think I loved. And guess who I picked?"

"The girl you love?" Kagome asked.

"No, like a true asshole I picked the blast from the past. Man, I'm an idiot."

"Pretty much." Kagome agreed. She leaned back against the tall bush. It was interesting to note he hadn't realized he was talking to a hedge yet.

"So I dumped the girl I should have stayed with, and went out with the old chick."

"Did you regret it?" Kagome asked, now curious.

"Did I? I spent a year with her, thinking to myself, 'I'm in hell'. But I was too proud to go running back to Kagome."

"How did Kagome feel about all this?" She asked.

"I have no idea. We didn't go to the same school in the first place; I'm in a private school up here – she goes to public school on the other side of the city, and we never really ran into each other."

"Never?"

"Well, I saw her once, about ten months or so ago; at the mall. She was shopping with her sister and some friends; laughing. She looked so pretty, and happy – without me. I bet she's going out with someone else now. Someone who won't be stupid enough to throw her away."

"What if she was single?" Kagome's heart was racing now. She remembered that time in the mall. She had been so miserable, but she'd hidden it away so she wouldn't spoil her friend's birthday.

"She doesn't deserve me." Inuyasha said, then heaved a deep sigh.

"Who are you to say who she does or doesn't deserve?" Kagome demanded, outraged.

"Huh?" Inuyasha stood up from the bench, staring at the hedges. 'Oh now the fool finally got it.' She thought sarcastically.

"You don't have any right dictating what people deserve or what's fair to them!" Kagome yelled angrily, pushing through the hedges to the path. In her anger she forgot about the stone bench at the edge of the path, and tripped over it, falling forward.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, and ran towards the falling girl. He caught her before she fell to the ground, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Thanks." Kagome muttered, after an awkward pause. She looked up at Inuyasha, blushing. She couldn't quite meet his eyes, so settled on his chin. 'I can't believe I just did that.' She thought gloomily to herself. Now she was covered in leaves; they occupied much of her hair and stuck onto the clingy fabric of her sweater. 'Oh great, I must look like some tribal girl.' She thought frantically, trying to ignore the sensation of Inuyasha's arms around her, and his chest, so close and warm.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked. He seemed in shock, and busied himself with picking the leaves out of Kagome's hair, one by one, as if it was the most important task in the world. Kagome blushed and looked down some more. The shirt he was wearing, a faded System of a Down t-shirt, decorated with pink mushrooms, didn't seem the most inviting thing to stare at, but it was better than looking up. Anything was at this moment.

"Is that Shippo's shirt?" She asked curiously, trying to stay away from the obvious topic, why she was here.

"Yeah, it is." His voice seemed a bit defensive. "His laundry got mixed up with mine."

"Thought so." Kagome hesitated. 'Oh no! I need to say something else before he brings up the question again!' As she opened her mouth to spout another random topic, Inuyasha interrupted.

"Kagome, you haven't answered my question yet." He reminded her, still picking at her hair.

"What question was that?" Kagome racked her brain for an interruption. Another part of her brain wondered, 'Why haven't I run away yet?' She agreed that would be rather logical, but her feet just wouldn't move. 'Damn legs; never useful when I need them.' She thought furiously.

"You know, the obvious, like why you're here?" He asked, seeming to get a little impatient.

"Oh right. That." She couldn't avoid it anymore. "Your brother paid me a visit at college."

"Did he now? Is Sesshoumaru sweet on you or something?" His voice held an edge of jealousy.

"No, nothing like that. He came to talk to me about you."

"What?" He seemed startled.

"You tried to commit suicide?" she started on the most urgent. Now Inuyasha was the one who seemed uncomfortable.

"Yeah, once. But I was feeling like shit that day, and the gun nearby just seemed so handy. So I picked it up, and I was about to-"

"No more! You crazy stupid idiotic boy; I hate you!" Kagome yelled, pounding at his chest.

"Kagome, Kagome, easy huh? That hurts." Kagome was sure it didn't really hurt him, but paused anyway, changing gears completely. She cried into his t-shirt.

Inuyasha let out a sigh that could only be placed somewhere between exasperation and concern.

"Kagome…" He muttered. "Stop that too. You're wetting my shirt."

"Asshole." Kagome replied between sobs.

"And proud of it. So are you going to stop already?" Inuyasha held her close in an embrace and she clung to him, her tears subsiding little by little.

"I missed you." She finally said in a voice broken by sobs.

"I missed you too. You know," he began as if he just thought of something new, "I even miss the way you boss me around, or at least try to."

Kagome cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. "Know your place puppy."

"Rowf." Inuyasha lowered his head, touching foreheads with her. Finally Kagome looked into his eyes. The warm amber of his eyes made her feel at home, comfortable at last.

"Take me back?" he murmured, his voice inquiring and hopeful.

"I can't just leave you out in the cold can I? I don't want your little nose getting any colder." Kagome replied in an equally inquiring murmur.

Inuyasha hovered over her lips, asking permission. She gave it, leaning upwards the tiniest inch to meet him. After a long moment, they parted lips, but Kagome had moved her hands to clasp around his neck. They stood, close as ever, and completely comfortable.

"I love you, Kagome." He told her. His eyes were as sincere as she'd ever seen them.

So she replied with equal sincerity. "I love you too."