Catse: Well, here's the next chapter. Sorry it took me so long. But in any case, hope you enjoy!


Disclaimer: See chappie one...
The next day he cleaned as he usually did, taking care of the gym and everything else. About lunch time, he again sat in the same tree in the yard area, this time with his cap over his eyes so he could try to snooze.

He was calmed in listening to the voices around him, and especially in hearing Kagome's from where she sat a good distance away. Someone was talking to her, he knew, but he didn't really care. He was sleepy and as long as her voice was coming to his ears, he was fine.

Everything was calm…peaceful…wonderful…

"Hey Smith! Could you come down here please! I need some help with something!" Inu lifted his hat and glanced down, only to find a familiar dark haired blue eyed girl beneath the tree.

"Go away. I'm busy." He snarled back, replacing the hat.

Riku frowned slightly, glaring at him with a childish expression, and, knowing he would hear her, she whispered a low threat.

"If you don't come down here, I'll knock that cap off your head."

Inu lifted the hat again, glared at her with the meanest yellow eye he could, and then crept down to the ground with a thud when his feet landed.

"Okay then…What do you want?" He growled, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed.

"I knew that would get your attention. Come with me!"

Inu followed grumbling, and only just noticed that Kagome was missing from her spot under the tree as they entered the school.

Riku led him down a hallway and towards a classroom, where Inu noticed Kagome sitting at a desk, Hojo sitting in front of her, looking at her. He growled in jealousy. Inu remembered Jaki saying something about this being a history class, basing it's information much on the Feudal Era of Japan.

But what were Kagome and Hojo doing inside.

"Kagome said she was having trouble with History, so Hojo brought her here to get her textbook so he could help her out. This is your chance Inu! You could show him down!"

Inu growled, hands on hips. He was not about to go walking in there on a girl that didn't understand the situation! Hell no!

"I'll see you another time, when you have something important for me to do." Inu growled, marching away, only to have a thin white hand latch onto his braid and pull him back with a force that was unbelievably strong for such a small girl.

He began to snarl at the pain she was inflicting, but stopped when she pointed inside.

Kagome was blushing and looking away, Hojo smiling with a pretty golden bracelet in his hands, her name on it.

Inu felt jealousy once again, feeling Hojo had beaten him to his girl, but when he looked at Riku, he found the jealousy in his eyes was nothing compared to hers. She was practically leaking tears at the site, and Inu was beginning to understand something.

"Fine. I'll go in." He murmured snappishly, with a whine dragging at his syllables.

He stepped inside, wandering what the hell he was going to do now that he had accepted this job, and began picking up papers and such off of the floor as he wondered what he would do.

"Hojo…it's very pretty." Kagome agreed, looking at the pretty golden bracelet. "But…I'm sorry. I just can't accept it."

'Yes! Deny him Kagome! Come on! Throw the bracelet in his face!' Inu thought, a smile lighting his face as he thought about accidentally throwing a book at the back of Hojo's head.

"But why Kagome! I got it just for you! Why do you keep denying me!" Hojo inquired, his feelings hurt. Inuyasha could smell it in the air. Hojo was very depressed right now.

"I just can't. Hojo…I…like someone else. I can't accept this bracelet when my feelings aren't for you. Please understand…I'm grateful for your friendship, but let's not let it go too far…okay?"

Inu could now smell the salt of tears in Hojo's eyes, and felt it was now his time to step in.

"This guy bothering you." He murmured, trying to keep his eyes covered with his hat. He knew, no matter that he had blue contacts, that if she looked him directly in the eye, she would most likely recognize him. He also tried deepening his voice so it didn't sound like him.

"Oh…No…He's not…Thank you…um…Mr. Smith."

Hojo turned his eyes to Inuyasha, and suddenly, Inu caught a flash of anger in them, as if Hojo blamed him for everything. He stood up, slamming a book on the desk, and marched up to Inu, his eyes meeting the janitors.

"It's your fault isn't it? The guys have been saying that you're good looks have been stealing all the girls affections. You stole Kagome's too! Didn't you!"

"Hojo! Stop it! He hasn't done anything!" Kagome shouted, and when she stood up, Hojo pressed her back into the seat.

"No Kagome. I'm going to show you what kind of a guy he is, so that you'll know he isn't the right kind for you!" He shouted back, his voice breaking in his momentous rage.

He attempted to punch Inu, but found that his weak hit did not even move the janitor. Inu glared down at him, his blue eyes looking brighter for some reason, and he lifted Hojo up by the collar, dog instincts taking over at the thought of this guy trying to take Kagome.

Suddenly, Riku ran in and started punching Inu's arm, screaming at him to put Hojo down.

Inu, awakened by his own feeling of anger, set Hojo down on the ground with gentle ease, and turned away when he and Riku left the room.

Kagome's hand was covering her mouth, tears beginning to well in her eyes as well.

Inu wanted to comfort her…but it seemed as if nothing he could do at the moment would help. She needed Inuyasha…Not Mr. Smith, and Inuyasha couldn't come at the moment.

He left the room, the salt of his own tears threatening his nose and making him feel even more angry than ever at what he had just done.

He didn't think he would ever forgive himself.

At the end of the day, he showered and replaced his hoari, leaving the school as he usually did. On his way home, he was greeted by an unexpected visitor, a little dark haired girl with faded tears in her eyes. She frowned at him as he walked by, and soon, Riku was following him home. Inu could smell her anger at him, and knew what he did earlier was wrong. But as a proud dog demon, if anyone threatened him, he preferred to fight than to stand still and be a punching bag.

Finally, about a block or so away from home, he turned and glared at Riku. "What do you want anyways?"

"I want you to apologize to Hojo." Riku snapped, fists drawn up in a fold across her chest. Inu growled and shook his head. "I don't need to apologize. He does."

"You're the one that grabbed him by the collar!" She returned, lips quivering in rage.

"He's the one that started it!"

"You're the one that loves Kagome so damn much that you would rather knock a human boy senseless!"

Inu went quiet for a moment, a little unusual for him. He would rather shout his brains out until he had the last word, but for some reason, that tact lost its appeal with her.

"I see. It all makes sense. You trying to get me closer to Kagome and get Hojo farther away."

Riku's eyes widened in shock as he spoke. Apparently she thought she had hidden her feelings perfectly.

"You like Hojo, don't you?"

"So what if I do!" She snapped back after a moment. "So what if I like Hojo! You're the mean jerk that wouldn't get your Kagome away from him!"

"My Kagome! Kagome does not belong to me! If she wants to get close to me she can! But I'm not about to force her! Unlike you and Hojo!"
Riku quieted down, her eyes almost stunned with Inu's words.

Inu suddenly realized that he'd done it again. He'd gotten the last word, and it had cost him.

He sighed. "Look…I didn't mean it that way—"

"Don't worry about it." She interrupted. "It was my fault. You're right. This entire time I've been trying to get Hojo to pay attention to me and he hasn't, so I tried to use you to do it. But I was wrong. I'm sorry Inuyasha. Please forgive me."

Inuyasha stared at her in disbelief as she began to walk away, but just before she disappeared down the street, she turned and smiled. "I'm going to do as you're doing now. I'm going to try to get Hojo's affections on my own, without force. I'll make him see me as what I am, instead of hurting him to do so. Thanks Inuyasha!" Then she ran away, and was gone.

Inuyasha sighed, his current thoughts so far on how the hell that had happened, and how different girls in this time were from his time.

He got home to find that Mrs. Higurashi had come up with an excuse for him on why he was late.

Since he was so bored during the day, he always left to explore the city or to go to his time, and always lost track of time considering he didn't have a watch.

Kagome took it as truth, knowing Inuyasha's habit of investigating new things when bored, and smiled. She didn't tell her mother about her fight with Hojo, knowing it would make her worry. Instead, she talked about a man with golden yellow hair, that for some reason reminded her of Inuyasha, who at that time was looking a little bit uneasy at her explanation.


Catse: Who knew Hojo had such a demanding side, eh? Yeah well, I probably put him a little too out of character, but I figured it was somewhat appropriate. Afterall, I'm not leaving Hojo out in the cold, but I've got him a girl that has a huge crush on him, right? Ja Ne.