Author's Note: Inspired by Lenbarboza's art of Koga and Ayame surfing, I wrote this MONTHS ago on Tumblr, but now decided to add it here. Here's a break from angst and action: pure, silly teen romance ahead!

Originally posted on Tumblr: July 25, 2018

Posted here: Mar. 1, 2019

Setting: modern AU

Characters/Pairings: KogAya, and some InuKag

Words: 1,930

Rated: T

Genre: Romance and Humor


Catching Waves

The sharp call of the seagull, the briny air that permeates the skin, clothes, and hair, the roar of the waves rising and crashing down…. Ayame drank it all in.

She was laying down on her towel on the beach, catching her breath after her last ride on the waves. It was the last week of summer before school started again. Ayame would be going into her last year of high school. The idea of graduating and leaving high school behind her forever was a relief, to say the least. But there was one detriment, one thing that prevented her from fully celebrating.

And that thing was currently riding on a particularly large wave.

Sitting up and stretching her arms, Ayame watched with shining eyes as her childhood friend, Koga, expertly surfed along the waves, never once falling over. He had been surfing since middle school, and even taught Ayame the ropes. He also graduated high school just before summer vacation. Which meant...

My last year in school will be without him. But why does that bother me so much?

A group of squealing fangirls not a yard away jolted Ayame from her reverie. Koga was slowly making his way into the professional league of surfers, and thus already garnered quite a gathering of ogling female groupies. Ayame frowned. Yes, Koga was good-looking, but there was no reason for those girls to act like he was some sort of god!

He's just Koga.

Koga, who was excellent at sneaking cookies from the cookie jar.

Koga, who patched up her skinned knees when she was younger, wiped away her tears, and grinned cheekily, saying she was a tough warrior.

Koga, who she totally didn't stare at during the majority of his senior year, when they shared their last class together (algebra, a subject she despised), and totally didn't notice the way his ponytail revealed his rather attractive neck and shoulders (she didn't stare, okay?!).

Just Koga.

Who those stupid, stranger girls had NO right to giggle and fangirl over!

"OMG! Look at that! He has such good balance!" one of those aforementioned idiots squealed to her friends.

"He's soooo hot!" another sighed.

"I'm willing to share him if you guys are," another said slyly, resulting in loud shrieks and laughter.

Ayame growled and bit the inside of her cheek.

"Careful, Ayame. You might turn green." Kagome, Ayame's long-time classmate and friend, smiled down at the jealous (wait, no, NOT jealous) girl watching the idiot fangirls watching Koga.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ayame said haughtily (but her heart skipped a beat when Koga made a particularly impressive move on the wave he was riding).

"Come on, Ayame. You've been making heart eyes at Koga all year. It's only now that you also always look a little sad. And jealous," Kagome said with a wink.

"I haven't been making 'heart eyes' at anyone!"

"Uh huh."

"Kagome, just because you FINALLY got together with Inuyasha doesn't mean everyone else has some sort of secret crush or something."

She tried not to sound so bitter, but it was proving difficult. Inuyasha and Kagome were their high school's Number One favorite potential couple that drove the school population crazy (and raised the bar of several gambling pools). When they finally got together at the end of junior year, people lost their minds (and several lost quite a bit of money, while many more gained), and though Ayame was happy for them, she felt irrationally irritated.

After all, Koga will never notice me that way. Not that I care. Cuz I don't! Oh, who am I kidding?

Kagome blushed. "W-well, when you put it that way... but I swear, Ayame, it's not just because of me and ... well, him," she hurriedly went on. "I've been noticing you and Koga for some time now. You'd make an adorable couple."

Ayame sighed and hugged her knees. Koga was reaching the shore, and his horde of fangirls were rushing to his side. "Yeah... too bad he can't see it."

"Oh, I've seen the way he looks at you," Kagome said, grinning slyly. "You're definitely someone... special to him."

"Kagome, we're childhood friends."

"Perfect material for a budding romance!"

"You read too many fanfictions."

"... Maybe. But that's not the point!"

"Hey, Ayame! Hey, Kagome!" Koga's voice rang out. To Ayame's pleasant surprise, he completely brushed off his fangirls and headed straight toward his friends. A cocky grin plastered over his face, he looked directly at Ayame and asked, "So? Did I look great or what?"

She couldn't resist grinning back. "Think again, bud. Your form was sloppy, and I totally saw that near fall you barely managed to avoid."

"I did not!"

"Did so!"

"Ayame, how dare you try to lecture me on surfing techniques, when I taught you the basics?"

"Well, you know what they say about the pupil surpassing the teacher..."

"Oh, bring it on!"

"Okay, lovebirds, that's enough flirting," a gruff voice rang out. Inuyasha was coming up with his own surfboard under his arm. After blushingly accepting a hug and kiss from Kagome (Koga pretended to vomit; Ayame slapped his leg), Inuyasha narrowed his eyes on the pair. "If you're gonna keep flirting like that, you might as well make it official, otherwise you'll leave a string of broken hearts behind you, Koga." He gestured with his head at the gang of fangirls, all of whom were glaring openly at Ayame.

(Ayame couldn't help but feel nervously triumphant when Koga pulled her up to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.)

"Are you kidding me, Inuyasha? Ayame is like my little sister, and I'm sorry, but I ain't into that."

(And just like that, her pounding heart sank to her stomach. Kagome gave her a sympathetic look before rounding on Koga.)

"You liar! My eyes don't deceive me, and you, sir, have been making eyes with Ayame all year long! Face it, Koga, you're in love!"

(Can we please move this conversation elsewhere? Ayame thought miserably, her face burning red that had nothing to do with the hot sun.)

"Ah, come on, Ayame knows we grew up together and have been best buds. Right?" Koga said earnestly, grinning down at her. But the smile wiped off his face when he saw tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "H-hey, hey, hey, there! Ayame? Did I-?"

"You did nothing. You are nothing! Go ahead and get laid with ALL of those girls for all I care!" Ayame shoved Koga away and marched off, furiously wiping away at her treacherous eyes.

Several minutes later, she found herself perched atop a pile of rocks that cut the beach in half (one side where families and regular people visited, the other where surfers and rough water swimmers go). Watching the waves loudly crash against the rocks just beneath her feet was strangely therapeutic. In spite of wanting to hate the beach, the ocean, and everything to do with stupid surfing and stupid Koga, Ayame couldn't deny that it all still called to her. There was something so hypnotizing about watching the water move in perfect rhythm, back and forth, with such frightening power. No amount of training and swimming skills can help a person outmaneuver a particularly dangerous current. The ocean was a force to be reckoned with.

Maybe that's why she was so drawn to Koga. He was a daredevil and loved showing off, teasing nature to kill him while always dancing away before it had the chance. Like the waves, he moved back and forth, between danger and calm.

"Stupid Koga," Ayame muttered to her knees, hugging them tightly to her chest.

"Um. Hey."

She turned around abruptly. Koga was standing right behind her, the sound of him climbing over the rocks to her deafened by the roar of the ocean. Ayame frowned, cursing the ocean and him and everything else. "Go away, you jerk," she spat, turning her back on him.

"Not until I catch a wave with you. Wanna go? There's a really good current now."

Ayame stood up, ready to tell him exactly where the current can take him, when suddenly, she slipped-

And then his arm was around her waist-

And then she was in his arms, breathless from the brief taste of near death-

And then he was looking into her eyes-

And then they were kissing.

Wait. WHAT?!

"Ugh!" Ayame pushed him away, just careful enough to not trip him and to stay (unwillingly) within his grasp. "How dare you kiss me when you think of me as your sister?!"

"Ayame-"

"And even if you were into that, do you think I'd like that, you pervert?!"

"Ayame, wait-"

"Why would you do that to me, Koga?! Why?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU DAMN IDIOT."

Silence. Nothing but the ebb and flow of the crashing waves. Ayame blinked, and her heart slowly made its way back to her chest, hopeful and anticipating. "Y-you're lying."

"I'm not."

"Then what about-"

"Dammit, I said you were like my sister, because I thought you only ever saw me as your brother, all right?!" Koga glared into Ayame's eyes, his cheeks a dull red. "I was wrong, and I didn't realize it until I saw you crying, okay?! Sheesh. Damn emotional girl... Oh, don't cry again! Please?" His voice wasn't mocking or condescending. It was tender and concerned and Ayame could feel more tears welling up at the wonderful tone that took away all her fears.

"D-do you mean it?"

"Of course, I do. Who do you think I am?" Koga grinned that cocky grin that always drove Ayame crazy (in more ways than one).

She hiccupped-laughed. "Then, let's catch a wave."

Shortly after, Ayame and Koga were sharing a board, loudly shouting instructions and bickering at one another until they ended falling together in the water. They surfaced, splashed each other, and laughed, coming together for one passionate, wet and salty kiss.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kagome were watching the whole situation from the beach. "See, I told you all they needed was a shove in the right direction," Kagome said triumphantly.

Inuyasha grunted and kissed her cheek. "Doesn't look like they'll get over it anytime soon," he muttered, nodding once again to the fangirls (who were all looking rather put out and puffy-eyed).

Kagome smiled and shook her head. "Who cares? You had fangirls yourself, and they got it over it pretty quickly once you and I started dating."

"I had fangirls?!" Inuyasha asked, looking utterly mortified.

"Shhh, let's keep watching them," Kagome said, gesturing to the pair heading back to shore.

Koga and Ayame were openly holding hands now. Ayame looked up at her best friend, her boyfriend, and asked the one question that had been bugging her since summer vacation started: "Will you going to college change anything?"

"Pfft, 'course not. Besides," Koga said with a wink, "I'm pretty sure you and Kagome will murder my ass if I suddenly decide some hot college babe was better than you."

"Oh, you! Hey!" Ayame squeaked in alarm when Koga suddenly drew her close and kissed her, rather provocatively. Ayame blushed bright red, feeling rather weak-kneed with the man she'd known and loved all her life. When he slowly let go of her lips, she mumbled, "Your fangirls are gonna hate me."

"To hell with them. You're my woman now," Koga said in a low growl.

And somehow, as she wrapped her arms about his neck and was scooped up in his strong arms, Ayame couldn't care less who else could be watching.


AN: Sappy? Perhaps, but consider it a break from the first three intense chapters lol ^^"