Chapter 7: Midnight Caller

After school Inuyame met up with her friends as usual. As she slowly walked toward their little gang, she grew worried at the excited looks on Sanoku and Shirara's faces.

"Uh, hey guys. What's up?" Inuyame asked slowly and carefully.

"Oh nothing. So, how was lunch?" Shirara asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Oh, that. Erm, lunch went okay. How was your guys' lunch?" Inuyame retorted, looking down at her feet as a blush crept over her face.

"Haha I don't think so missy. We want details, now." Sanoku demanded, fully aware that Inuyame was dodging their questions.

"Oh c'mon guys, it's not all that great." Inuyame lied horribly.

"Yeah right! It's written all over your face!" Shirara accused.

"Alright fine! Koga told me I'm the first girl he's liked. And that he was really happy today because of me." Inuyame blurted out quickly while her face became the color of a ripe tomato.

"Aww!" Sanoku and Shirara squealed while Mirokusan shook his head slowly. "Women." He muttered quietly under his breath.

"And what's so wrong with women?!" Shirara quickly turned on him and asked in a loud voice.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing." He replied while putting his hands up in surrender.

"That's what I thought." Shirara said and turned back to Inuyame, hitting Mirokusan with her tail as she did.

"Oof." Mirokusan groaned as Shirara's tail was just the right height to hit him in his, well, you know.

"Anyways, that's it? Did you say anything to him?" Sanoku asked now that Shirara was paying attention again.

"Well, I told him I felt the same way. But right after he said I was the first girl he liked his phone rang and after he spoke to whoever was on the other end he had to go." Inuyame confessed.

"Did you even give him your ph—" Shirara was in the middle of asking when she was interrupted.

"Inuyame!" Kovu yelled as he came running towards the group.

"Y-yes?" Inuyame stammered.

"Whew. I, ahem, I forgot to ask you for your phone number." Kovu said as his face flushed red. He glanced at the rest of the gang then quickly looked at his feet. 'What is wrong with me? Why can't I look at her friends? I'm not shy, so what the hell.' he thought to himself as he studied his shoes.

Inuyame wasn't sure if Kovu was blushing or if he was turning red from running but either way she found it very cute. "Oh, umm, here you go." Inuyame said as she took out a pen and paper from her pack and wrote her number down. "You can, umm, you can call me any time." She said as she handed the paper to Kovu.

"Thanks. I'll uh, I'll see you later." Kovu said as he ran off, waving at everyone before he left.

"Eek!" Shirara, Sanoku, and Inuyame all exclaimed while jumping up and down.

"Okay, alright you guys enough. Can we please all go home now? It's getting pretty late and our parents are probably wondering where we are." Mirokusan said, ever the practical one.

"Alright fine. I'll see you guys later." Sanoku said as she gave Inuyame and Shirara a hug. She waved at them as she started walking home with Mirokusan.

Shirara sighed as she watched the two of them walk away.

"What was that all about?" Inuyame asked and smiled slyly.

"Huh? What was what about?" Shirara asked innocently.

"You just sighed while looking in their direction." Inuyame said, tilting her head towards the retreating backs of Sanoku and Mirokusan.

"Oh, that. Umm, that was nothing. I just wish me you can Sanoku could've talked longer, that's all." Shirara said and shifted her feet.

"I don't think so, I know a look of longing when I see one. You have a crush on Mirokusan!" Inuyame exclaimed.

Shirara quickly placed her hands over Inuyame's mouth. "Shh! He could hear you!"

Inuyame's eyes sparkled with laughter. "I knew it!" She whispered after removing Shirara's hands from her mouth.

"Okay fine, I like Mirokusan. But please don't tell him! He's just always acting so sophisticated; it makes me feel like a little kid. And he wouldn't want to date a little kid like me." Shirara said quietly as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Oh don't give me that excuse. Mirokusan would be lucky to date a girl like you, and if he doesn't know it then that's his loss." Inuyame said as she patted Shirara's shoulder and started walking towards both of their homes.

Shirara followed suit and began walking. "Oh and Inuyame, please don't tell Sanoku either. I don't know what she would think or say, and she can be kind of…headstrong…sometimes." Shirara said and shivered at the thought of Sanoku confronting her.

"Alright Shirara, if you don't want me to say anything, I won't. But I think you should." Inuyame said then gave Shirara a hug. "I have to get going too or my dad will pitch a fit."

"Alright, yeah my mom's probably worried too. See you later." Shirara said and hugged Inuyame back. They waved at each other and parted ways.

As Inuyame walked back to her house alone, she found her thoughts consisting of Kovu. She didn't understand him at all. At times he seemed really confident and cocky, but at other times he seemed almost timid. It was all very confusing. She pondered this some more as she walked into her house and closed the door behind her.

"Hey mom, hey dad." She greeted as she took of her shoes and hung her bag on a hook by the door.

"Hey sweetie, how was school?" Kagome called from the living room.

Inuyame blushed anew at the mention of school. "It was good." She said nonchalantly.

"Oh? Just good? Then why is your face all red?" Kagome asked as Inuyame walked into the room.

"What? My face isn't red." Inuyame denied as her face got even darker.

"Oh yes it is. Does it have anything to do with…a boy?" Inuyame's mom asked sneakily even though she already knew the answer. She had felt the same way whenever someone would ask her about Inuyasha.

"N-no! Wh-why would I be thinking about a boy." Inuyame said and hid her face in her hair.

"Oh sweetheart it's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone goes through having their first crush you know. And sometimes, that first crush turns out to be your only crush." Kagome said and looked towards the kitchen where Inuyasha was working on something.

"Really? You mean dad was the only guy you ever liked?" Inuyame asked, intrigued.

"Not quite. He is the only man I have ever loved." Kagome said as a wistful look came across her face.

"Hah, well, I don't think I love this guy quite yet." Inuyame said, knowing full well she was lying not only to her mother, but also to herself.

"Whatever you say, dear. Just be sure you don't give everything away up front, you have to make them work for it. And I don't want to see you hurt." Kagome said gently and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"I know, mom. Well, I'm really tired, long day at school and all. I think I'm going to skip supper and go to bed." Inuyame said and stood up.

"Okay sweetheart. Goodnight, I love you." Kagome said and got up to hug Inuyame.

"Love you too mom." Inuyame said and hugged her mom back. She glanced into the kitchen at her dad before walking up to her room to sleep. She changed into her pj's and hopped onto her bed, setting her alarm as she did so. Even though it was the weekend, she still had to get up early to do her chores. She set her cellphone on her nightstand and pulled the covers up to her chin, closing her eyes as she did so. She lie awake in her bed for a long time. Right before she fell asleep around midnight she heard her phone go off. Inuyame groaned and reached over to grab her phone. She opened it up and saw she had a text message. To her surprise, the name on the text ID read: Kovu.