A/N: Oh, thank you nekoblue, udontnome, kachan, and Roku8Cookie. You've been pretty patient with my updating, so less talk, more chapter!

…OK, just to answer udontnome's question: I read that Kagome dates Inuyasha as a model named Kikyo at the beginning of the story.

Nah. Kagome could never be a model because she was too busy trying to out-do Inuyasha at baseball. :D At the beginning of the story, she was in a café and saw Inuyasha on TV.


Chapter 20: Second Base

Nghi


Out of the many things she was good at, running away was not one of them. The first time Kagome had left her house was a few days ago, and she had run to the baseball field then. That should have been an indication of how well being a vagabond would work out for her, if the furthest she could run away to was a dilapidated field occupied by Inuyasha.

So with that in mind, Kagome was currently out of the house with nowhere else to go. There was always the field, but since when did she find comfort in seeing her neighbor's face? She hadn't talked to him in a while, either, ever since she had thanked him. It was surprising, seeing that side of him—Kagome always had the suspicious notion that he would burst out laughing if he ever saw her crying and equally as broken as her family.

But he didn't. Strange, though, how he was the first person in a while to ever see her in such a hysterical frenzy. Kagome didn't like to be weak; she liked to stand up for herself, take things on in an affirmative manner, and solve problems by applying, not denying. She liked to look optimistic—whether she felt it or not was a different matter altogether, and it didn't matter, as long as the people around her were positive about the outlook on their lives. She wasn't an angry child, and she didn't hate anyone; Kagome's life was economically sound.

Having a house didn't mean her family life was doing well, though. Ayumi was trying too fast and too early, as characteristic of her impatient nature. She needed to learn to let things take their natural course; hopefully, Kagome would begin to accept Yamaguchi, but it wouldn't—no, couldn't happen in two weeks, in three months, or in two years. And it certainly couldn't happen if Ayumi continued to fix play dates for everyone, like some form of deranged Cupid.

Which was why Kagome was crouched in front of the kitchen window, watching the dinner progress. Sure, the poor excuse for a rosebush was scratching her legs, and maybe she had to scuttle a few feet away every time that enormous spider in the corner so much as moved one of its legs, but anything was better than confronting the dinner table. It was definitely better to look in the window and watch them eating uncomfortably rather than partake in the permeating awkwardness. At least Yamaguchi wouldn't ask her any more questions about her school. At least Ayumi wouldn't rejoin for her. At least Souta wouldn't be off in his own, little world—well, actually, he still was, but at least she wouldn't feel like she was suffocating from too much ineffectual attention.

She was always terrible at running away, and this was just the icing on top. I need to get lessons from someone one of these days, she thought wryly, and Kagome squelched the spike of panic when the arachnid raised one of its legs lazily. The thing was more horrible than-than—

"What the hell are you doing?"

Surprised, Kagome got up so fast she tripped backwards into the rosebush, but she managed to catch herself from completely falling into the damn thing. "Shoot," she muttered, wincing as the thorns scraped her leg. So much for light scratching. She shot him a glare, gingerly touching her shin. "Why did you sneak up on me like that?"

"To see what you were doing," Inuyasha replied simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And what the hell are you doing? Planning on robbing your own house?"

"Oh, you have such brilliant remarks," Kagome retorted, and she gave a small cry when she realized a few thorns had embedded themselves into her calf muscle. This shit was going to sting for a while. (But it wasn't going to affect her. She refused to let it affect her.) "It's a wonder you even manage to tie your own shoes."

"Back to being a hissy cow, I see. But you still didn't answer my question: what the hell are you doing?"

Didn't he know how to phrase that question in any other way? Maybe it was his technique of cracking people open for information that didn't have anything to do with him. "Nothing that concerns yo—hey!" Inuyasha pushed her out of the way, and Kagome stumbled to the side, helpless as he stuck his face into the window. The kid was perfectly visible now, that idiot. "What the heck? My mom's going to see you!" She reached over and, grabbing his forearm, yanked him sideways with such strength that Inuyasha couldn't help but to comply, unless he wanted to end up on the ground with a concussion and a broken shoulder socket. (It also helped that he was balancing his duffel bag with the same arm she pulled.)

"The fuck? I was looking at what you were looking at!" Inuyasha hissed, glaring at her like she had done something terribly stupid, which was definitely the opposite because she had just saved his sorry ass from being caught by Ayumi!

"Yeah, and there was a reason why I wasn't standing up and smearing my face against the pane!" Kagome whispered back, her eyes just daring him to argue with the logic. The reasons for her actions were so simple; so why the hell didn't Inuyasha pick any of these up immediately?

Because he's stupid, her initial thought piped up, and Kagome wanted to agree. Except she couldn't. (And why not?)

"Whatever, bitch." Inuyasha took his arm out of her grasp—had she been holding it the entire time?—and straightened his duffel bag with a small huff. "Why don't you try saying that before shoving people around?" And with a self-righteous pat, he swiveled around and started for his house.

But not before attempting to mash his face against the window again. Inuyasha laughed triumphantly when he zipped out of her grab, and he gave her a provoking smirk. "How's that for being seen?" he asked cheekily before really turning around and leaving.

Kagome wanted to throttle him. How completely infuriating! She told him Ayumi would notice the two if he kept doing that, and he still did it! (But she wasn't too mad.) Didn't he think for one second that if she wanted to go inside, she would have done it? Why would she elaborately set everything up like this? At times like this, he was absolutely-absolutely— (Endearing? Strangely funny?)

What is wrong with me? Since when did her thoughts soften around Inuyasha? (Since the baseball field.) Since when did she hold him in a slightly raised pedestal? (Since he saw her crying.) And by God since when did he have nice shoulders, for that matter? (Since she watched him walking back to his house.) Suddenly, Ayumi's dinner didn't matter, Yamaguchi's existence didn't matter, and her bleeding legs didn't matter, because all Kagome could think was, What. The. Hell? And then there was an impulse, this urge to call out and try to make him stay. But stay for what exactly? Why would she even want that? He drove her up the walls and over the cliff and sometimes out of her mind, so why would she want to be around those sort of people? In a way, Inuyasha was like a little brother to her… except older. (Did that make sense? I don't think so, darling.) Souta was never the annoying type, because he was too busy trying to live his own—and Inuyasha gladly filled that spot for him, constantly bothering her and irritating her.

He was like that little boy who continually grated her nerves every time she came over to baby-sit. No, not like—Inuyasha probably visited the kid for lessons on how to annoy her. Because that was all he was, right? Maybe he had some good qualities, but it couldn't override any of his bad ones, right? Because even if, even if he had changed those past two, three years without her knowing, nothing would change between them, right? Because there wasn't anything to begin with… right? (Yes, no, maybe so.)

"Can I stay over tonight?"

Inuyasha froze, and Kagome could feel her insides freezing up along with him, too. Was that involuntarily? And out loud? Then her organs weren't quite cold feet anymore; they had burst out of that ice cover and were now beginning to churn uncomfortably, all of them. Her hands clenched the edges of her school skirt tightly; her feet shifted back and forth; her stomach flip-flopped up and down gleefully; her heart tried to break her rib cage, which, by the way, was too small and too rigid to accommodate any of the commotion; the blood all rushed to her head, roaring loudly, and her cheeks flushed a royal red, although she was so thankful that he was the one standing in the moonlight and not her.

Because we all know how much more embarrassing this could get.

He didn't say anything yet, and she was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Why wasn't he turning around and laughing at her? Or sneering at her? Why didn't he say anything? Why was he just standing there? Maybe he was waiting for an explanation, waiting for her to clarify by what she had meant when she had randomly blurted out a very personal favor.

"If I had a choice, I'd definitely stay in my house," Kagome started suddenly. Anything to fill the awkward air. (Why was it awkward? He practically scaled the side of her house once a week!) "But it's just—my mom's hosting a dinner, and I don't want to be in the way of the guests." Most of it was true, anyways; it's not like he needed to know who was there. It wasn't any of Inuyasha's business to begin with, so she had the right to skimp on that detail there.

Inuyasha still didn't say anything, and she rushed on. "If you're worried about me making a mess, don't worry. I don't need a bedroom or anything. Just a pillow and a blanket would do. You could even send me to the basement, and I wouldn't care." Actually, she did, but that was beside the point, wasn't it? "And it's just for one night. I wouldn't ask you again. It's a one-time thing." It couldn't hurt, right? Just this one time. Kagome didn't know what to do if he said no; staying inside the house was out of the question because she always relapsed into questionable bouts of insanity and claustrophobia. She couldn't breathe knowing that Ayumi and Souta were downstairs, associating themselves with someone who could easily enter their broken lives and fix it up. She couldn't breathe knowing that Yamaguchi was going to glue them back together with hardly an effort, like some destroyed puzzle set, while she did nothing but ruin it every, single time. She couldn't—

"Are you coming?" Inuyasha's voice interrupted her train of angst and woe, and Kagome started. He was on his own driveway now, looking at her expectantly. When had he walked away from her, during the few minutes she was thinking to herself? "If you'd rather sit there like a dumbass, then tell me now, because as much as I enjoy watching you go through sixteen different kinds of emotions in a span of five minutes, I'm a bit behind in math."

Something heavy lifted from her stomach, and Kagome exhaled in relief. "Fine, sit there," Inuyasha muttered with a shrug, and he started slinking up the porch steps.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. It's not like you're going anywhere else," she replied promptly, and she almost laughed when he cast her a scathing look. Inuyasha was a rude idiot, there was no denying that.

But sometimes… he could be nice. (It's not like she liked him any more than before. It was just a fact. A logical, unbiased fact. That was all it was.)

-

The first thing she heard when she stepped into his house was Kaoru ending her diatribe, which went something along the lines of: "—fucking bastard!" And then followed by plates smashing.

"Goddamn," Inuyasha swore underneath his breath, and he reached behind to grab her wrist. Kagome blinked, taken aback by such a forward display. What the—? (Just ignore it! Ignore it ignore it for God's sakes ignore it!)

She didn't have time to say anything, because he suddenly pulled her in front of him and, with slightly less tenderness, shoved her onto the first couple of steps. Only then, when Kagome almost tripped and smashed her cranium into the wooden steps, did she suddenly grasp control of the situation. "Hey, wait a minute," she began, gripping the railing for support. "Don't push me like—"

"Go!" Inuyasha hissed, and he was too busy looking at the living room entrance, keeping watch in case if his mother came. Or that was what she supposed, anyways. Either way, Kagome snapped when she tripped on her foot and nearly took an eye out in the process. Climbing upstairs should never be this hazardous for anyone, especially for an athletic girl like her. "Jeez, can you do anything right?" He rolled his eyes and pulled her to her feet rather unceremoniously. How was it possible for someone to turn a supposedly kind gesture into such a rude one? (She underestimated his ability. Apparently baseball was doing wonders for his arms if he could lift her up like that.)

"OK, I understand that your mom is a little angry at God-knows-who right now, but let's try not to put a dent in my face, all right?" Kagome bit out, and Inuyasha was suddenly in her face, his eyes narrowed and not quite as nice as before.

"You know jackshit about what's going on, and if you want to stay here, then move," he hissed, and Kagome had no problem glaring back. Her mouth pursed in defiance, and she wanted to reach out and slap him for being such a general asshole. And I thought you were kind of agreeable today! Well, look what benefit of the doubt did to him.

Before she could reply cheekily about the situation, a voice floated downstairs, less shrill but equally livid. "Yes, because it's so painful for you to put food on the table," the man mimicked, and Kagome recognized him as Inuyasha's seldom-seen father. I can't believe he still comes home. "You make out my life as if it terribly easy."

"Because you do! I don't see you making an effort to reach out to Inuyasha. When was the last time you called Sesshoumaru? Do you know what our boys are getting in school? For God's sake, do you know what last Saturday was?"

Mr. Furiko's lack of reply was more than enough. "I thought so," Kaoru said scornfully. "I can't believe I even entertained the idea of you taking a break from work just for two hours. Two hours. Two goddamn hours. I left three messages on your 'cell phone', which isn't even one because you hardly pick up—"

"I don't see how that even pertains here. Isn't this enough? I'm financing the re-stocking of your—our house." It was a bad slip-up, a very, very bad one.

"My house? You think all of this—" There was a loud waterfall of breaking and crashing and shattering, drowning out Mr. Furiko's own roars. When there was nothing left to destroy, and he was still yelling, Kaoru screamed right back him. And she was louder, more passionate, angrier. "—How dare you think these-these inane things could mean anything. How dare you suggest that I put trivial possessions above my children! I should have guessed when you didn't show up to a simple anniversary dinner. I should have guessed then, that you didn't give a rat's ass about your family anymore—"

"That is not true, and don't you fucking dare put words and thoughts into my mouth, Kaoru!"

"Oh, I don't need to put anything into anywhere, because you do a goddamn wonderful job with the way you're acting, thinking-thinking that gold and silver and imported china vases would shut me up about you missing your own son's birthday."

His birthday had passed?

And before she could mull any of this over, the party was suddenly shifting. It was moving, clamoring and yelling and hissing and shrieking, and it was coming closer, nearer to them, and it was then Kagome realized, a little too late, that Inuyasha's parents were migrating into the living room.

Fortunately, Inuyasha comprehended this a lot earlier, and he hastily pushed her up the rest of the stairs, not even waiting for her feet to move properly. It was just a shove shove shove, and if you weren't walking, then you were shit out of luck because you were moving along whether you liked it or not. It was equivalent to getting your zipper stuck on the escalator, and there was nothing you could do about it.

He pushed her into his room and closed the door, just in time, because the noise was directly beneath them now. It was like living in a bubble, sealing off all noises. It was so different from her home, because she could hear everything.

Kagome wished her house was like that sometimes.

There was no awkward moment between the two, simply because there wasn't time. Inuyasha had work to do, and she was just here for a rest. Did she have homework? Probably. Had she finished? Most likely not. But at this point, Kagome was too shaken, too agitated by the events. It looks like I didn't need Eri or Yuka to stir some excitement in the air, she thought grimly. The thought of going out and having fun was now a dim possibility, and it didn't produce that excited buzz underneath her skin anymore. Today had just zapped all the good out of everything.

Afterwards, everything moved in a blur for the two of them. She remembered sitting on his bed and watching as he ducked into the bathroom (Because they were wealthy like that.) and emerged with nothing more than a white shirt and knee-length boxers. She remembered being slightly embarrassed when he caught her and rolled his eyes before asking, "Do you want me to change or something?" She remembered shaking her head and him nodding his head satisfactorily.

"Good, because I wasn't going to," was the snarky reply, and Kagome almost wanted to reply to that. But the mood still hung heavy in the air. She believed he was trying to get some semblance of normalcy going, and she knew he was failing horribly. But why say it out loud? It would cement things, and Kagome didn't want that. She didn't want to cement Yamaguchi's surprised visit and Kaoru and Mr. Furiko's abusive spar.

She remembered him sitting by his desk and pulling out a couple of books, and she remembered settling back against the wooden headboard, just watching him work away. He was unsurprisingly dedicated, if baseball was any indication. Maybe he just wants grades that will barely let him slide by. Like a steal to second base. She remembered almost laughing at her own pun.

The last thing she remembered as she drifted off to sleep was how sad the atmosphere really was, and maybe he really wasn't any different from her at all, and maybe he really knew what she was dealing with, all the topsy-turvy emotions and anger spurts.

Because it just wasn't normal to have such a self-destructive family like either one of them.

When Kagome woke up much, much later, it was five o'clock in the morning, two hours before she usually woke up in her own room. The next thing she realized was that she was still lying on Inuyasha's bed. Which only meant that she had slept there the entire night. He was supposed to wake me so I could sleep on the floor. Kagome looked at the spot beside her and frowned; no one had slept there. She peeked over on the edge of the mattress and discovered him curled on the rug, a pillow stolen from somewhere and nothing to cover him.

Her heart thumped deafeningly, and all she could think was, He took my spot?

When Inuyasha woke up at seven, the window was open, and a chilly breeze was whispering in the room.

-