Good morning/ evening/ night my lovelies! I hope you've had an amazing day today because the sun is shining and the summer breeze is blowing through my room, it feels so good to be writing right now so I'm going to try and beat my word count record today! Last time I ended off at around 1, 800 words so today I'm aiming for 2, 000 :3.

Alright, sit back, grab some snacks, and enjoy the show!

As always, all characters in this fic belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 7: Chilly Autumn Rain

The vibe for this chapter is: 'We're Not Just Friends' by, Parks Squares and Alleys :3

"Please read chapters 13-17 tonight class, you are dismissed." The professor's voice echoed around the humongous lecture hall, knocking Kagome out of her thought train yet again. She looked around in a daze, then started to place her items in her bag.

Today had been a slow and torturous one, filled with lectures that had the same effects as a bear tranquilizer on Kagome's brain. But at least this class had been the last, so now she could go collapse on her bed and forget the world around her exists; Fully enclosed into the much more serene world her earbuds projected unto her eardrums. The weight of her bag on her back reminded Kagome that she wasn't in her room just yet, commencing the long trek back to her shared apartment.

The universe had different plans however, just as Kagome passed through the exit of her lecture hall a distant crack of lightning lit up the dingy sky, followed by the deep rumbling of thunder. 'Oh great. Just what I need right now, Freaking rain. What a cherry on top to this AMAZING day.' Kagome thought ruefully. Now she was stuck in her lecture hall when all she wanted to do was go home and cease to exist for a few hours, was that too much to ask for? Apparently, because now it was raining so hard that when the rain hit the ground, it splattered. The cement of the abandoned courtyard was starting to look like a tiny ocean.

-S I G H- 'I might as well get started on my homework while I wait for the rain to lighten up.' She pulled out her *expensive* textbooks and graph rule notebook, indulging in her chaotically formed note taking process. After a while, though, she grew bored with copying important information from her textbooks and looked out into the rain. 'I bet the rain feels good today… maybe I can go out for just a minute...' Kagome's brain started to look for any excuse to go stand in the rain so she gave in to her odd desire, shedding any electronics or pieces of paper in her pockets, shoving them into the safety of her canvas backpack and then covering it with her sweater; Her boots and socks sat neatly next to the bag. Leaving her in just her Khakis and sleeveless green turtleneck. Kagome took a deep breath and walked out from underneath the awning she'd been hiding under for the past half hour.

The rain immediately drenched Kagome in an instantaneous happiness; The feeling of her feet splashing around in the small lake that used to be a sidewalk and the constant thumping of the heavy water droplets on her face made Kagome feel as if the was small once again, playing in the thicket behind her childhood home and trying to catch a glimpse of some faeries after setting out some offerings of honey and freshly baked pastries. Her eyes closed and she took a seat in the middle of the vacant courtyard, her pants were already soaked so it didn't matter as much. In the grand scheme of life, her pants were completely forgotten due to the overwhelming satisfaction and joy that simply feeling the rain on her pale skin brought.

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Inuyasha's last class finished up early, so he'd decided that it was the perfect day to go for a stroll around campus; Unfortunately, this means poor, poor Inuyasha got caught in the violent thunderstorm, running with his nearly empty bag held over his head whilst he searched desperately for some sort of shelter. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he stumbled upon an awning. A blessing from the gods above! When he finally made it over to the awning however, Inuyasha found a backpack that was covered with a grey sweater and had a pair of combat boots sat next to it. 'That's odd… People around here don't usually leave their bags unattended.' Inuyasha raised an eyebrow before taking a look around.

To be honest, Inuyasha was genuinely surprised he'd missed the girl sitting right smack dab in the middle of the courtyard, soaking in the rain; But then again, the rain almost completely washed away any scents that had been there to begin with, let alone the subtle smell of this human in particular. He'd thought nothing of this peculiar girl until he decided to venture closer to her soaked figure; Instead of finding some absolutely bat-shit crazy woman having a psychotic break in the middle of campus, the person he came across was, in fact, Kagome. 'Wait… Kagome?!' Inuyasha's brain went haywire, 'What on earth is she doing sitting in the rain? Kagome!'

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"Oi! What the hell are you doing sitting in the rain? You could get sick, idiot!" A voice cut through the static noise of the heavy rain, making one very drenched girl jump in panic. Not-so-surprisingly, it had come from Inuyasha who'd somehow managed to sneak up to Kagome's side, completely unnoticed. Choosing to ignore Inuyasha's rude sentences, Kagome quipped back, "Oh, hey there. What're you up to puppy?" (She definitely snickered a bit at the terrible nickname). Obviously, Inuyasha's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and anger at the sarcastic remark, 'Puppy…? PUPPY?! Does this woman have a death wish or something? I'll teach her for calling me something as small and demeaning as "puppy~~~ :3"! Tch, if anything I'm more like a great dane.' He thought with a frown.

"Puppy?" Inuyasha cocked his head to the side and smiled a dangerous grin, sharp teeth on display for anyone who cared to look.

At this moment, Kagome knew, she fucked up. The moment that grin hit his beautiful face and his eyes filled with devious promises, it was game over. But being the oh so mighty Kagome, she decided that it would be a good time to bolt for her belongings in a poor attempt at survival. However, she'd forgot to add one key factor into her escape plan, Inuyasha was much faster, taller (Which enables the talent of going farther at normal speeds cause y'know #tallqurikytings), and stronger than she. So when she went to make her 'great' escape, Kagome had been caught in mere seconds.

Honestly, Inuyasha thought it was cute how she'd made an attempt to run even though her chances of making it within ten metres of her bag was slim to none, let alone making it all the way back to her dorm. Now Kagome was pinned beneath him, his hands holding her wrists to the cool cement of the long-deserted courtyard. This moment was the most exhilarating thing that's happened for Kagome in a while. All of the air seemed to leak out of her lungs and her heart started to pound so hard she thought it would burst. Inuyasha wasn't usually this forward or cocky when he was with her but she kind of enjoyed this side of him, it was exciting and she couldn't deny how beautiful he looked hovering above her whilst his broad back shielded her from the pelting rain; Not that it mattered much considering both were already dripping wet. To Kagome, Inuyasha looked like an angel with his white locks cascading down the sides of his head from the loose bun he'd haphazardly tied up this morning as well as the rosiness that graced his cheeks and nose, derived from the chill that came with early autumn showers. Good golly, he looked like a trap, something so gorgeous and wonderful that any ordinary human would be drawn in like moths to a flame, only to realize that doing so would result in the end of their timelines.

Any writer would love to say that Kagome was different from other people, stronger in her soul, able to resist such foolish tricks that so many others had fallen victim to; However, Kagome is only human, she's a human with a strong will and drive for accomplishment, but a human no less. With such a person staring deep into the depths of her soul with their own piercing golden eyes, how could she resist the pull of the hand that'd somehow managed to grip her heart between its greedy fingers, squeezing mercilessly; Much to Kagome's dismay, she made the connection that the incessant tightness in her chest was the beginning sparks of a fire that would grow to destroy everything she'd ever known. The sparks were the beginning of a love so strong that if she knew what it would grow to be, Kagome would run in the opposite direction; Fore the last time she felt like this, the fire in the cavity of her chest had managed to burn up all of her organs before she was able to put it out, leaving her empty.

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On the other side of this interaction, Inuyasha was having a hard time containing his blush. He'd put Kagome in an incredibly vulnerable position, one that would mean certain death on the battlefield and complete submission to any romantic partners. He'd felt bad for a moment after he pinned poor Kagome to the ground but after he didn't feel any struggle from her end, Inuyasha looked down to find her beautiful eyes locked on him. It looked as if she was deep in thought so he decided to take the moment of silence to appreciate her disheveled form; Kagome's usually well-kempt wavy hair had been weighed down by the weight of rainwater, rendering it nearly straight with a few pieces of her bangs plastered to her forehead. Her cheeks were turning a deep red from the dampness of the rain and her mouth was slightly agape as she breathed heavily. Inuyasha had to take in a breath when he finally looked back into the depths of her gorgeous gaze, Kagome was staring at him with such warmth and fondness that it was almost too much to return her half-lidded stare. He hadn't felt this way in a while, so Inuyasha almost mistook his symptoms for a heart attack; Heart pounding, sweating despite sitting in the cold rain, shortness of breath, butterflies in his stomach…? Was he mad? He couldn't have fallen this quickly, could he? A past thought came back to him, right before Kagome had kissed him on the cheek, he was thinking about how what he was feeling had only ever been seen in mates; 'But, that's not possible, right?' Inuyasha denied internally, but his demonic side didn't seem to like it that much. 'Mine.' It growled lowly 'No, that can't be right, I've never heard of hanyous having mates before…' 'My mate…' the demon spoke yet again, confirming what he'd been trying to deny. Kagome was… his mate. The one specifically crafted to be his equal, the one he'd been made for. This revelation was quite shocking indeed, how would he ever tell Kagome? What would he tell Kagome? Does she feel the same? Would she accept him as a mate?

So many questions popped into Inuyasha's head, he was getting ahead of himself again. 'Ugh whatever, just think about it later, right now I've got a very important person to attend to.' He pulled himself back to reality, instead paying attention to the lovely young woman beneath his soaking form. Inuyasha let out a puff of breath, visible in the chill of the rain, and spoke "Kagome, we should get out of the rain before you catch a cold…. We can go watch Kung Fu Panda 2 back at my place while we warm up?". This effectively broke Kagome's train of thought as she slightly jolted before shivering from the chilly autumn air. "I'd love nothing more." She replied with the biggest smile Inuyasha had ever seen grace her face, this in-turn made him smile just as big, warmth flooding into the deepest crevasses of his heart despite the quickly dropping temperature of the evening.

Inuyasha stood hastily before offering a big hand to Kagome, accepting gratefully, she'd attempted to stand but her legs seemed to turn into gelatin and as quickly as she stood, she managed to make it back to the floor in a kneeling position. "I think my legs have fallen asleep…" Kagome voiced absently before flushing a shade or two darker than before. "Not to worry." Inuyasha smiled down at her before she felt her whole world turn sideways, literally. Inuyasha had decided that the best course of action was to sweep Kagome off of her feet in order to reach her things (cunning imbecile :)). Obviously flustered, Kagome bargained that once they reached their long-forgotten belongings, Inuyasha would carry Kagome on his back whilst she wore both of their backpacks (she put on her boots and sweater don't worry), And so they began on the journey home, a ten-minute walk filled with witty banter and thoughts that should've stayed in the shower.

A/N

Hello darlings! This is your crazy author checking back in to let you know that I've beaten my word count record! At the time I'm typing out this note (11:25pm, July 22, 2021) The word count for this chapter is 2293 words, it may not seem like much but for me, a procrastinator, it's some pretty big progress. Anyways, I really do hope all of you reading this are enjoying the MPHB series so far! I wish all of you a good morning/evening/night.

Lots and lots of love from your fifth-favourite author,

Scribblefrog 3