MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

This is my gift to you all; a new, not-so-terribly-late chapter! xD; Sorry it isn't that long... I just wanted to get this in on Christmas Eve. I missed my deadline by 1 hour and 9 minutes! D:

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

On Sunday Kagome had to leave the Takahashi house early for work… albeit reluctantly. She said goodbye to Izayoi, Inutashio, Rin and lastly Inuyasha before getting into Sesshomaru's car and driving off.

The drive with Sesshomaru passed without a single word being said. For Kagome it felt more than a little awkward, but in the short time she had known the youkai she had come to understand that he was no big talker—much unlike his wife—and preferred the quiet. Nonetheless, it was with relief that they arrived at her house and she left him with her thanks for the lift.

Work seemed to pass more quickly than usual. In between waitressing and cleaning dirty dishes her thoughts always seemed to pass over Inuyasha and, whenever they did, she couldn't help the goofy smile that somehow managed to work its way onto her face. Her happy mood didn't go unnoticed, either—Karan spent the entire afternoon questioning her about it, but to no avail. Kagome wouldn't speak a word about it to anyone.

Of course, the mystery was solved when Inuyasha arrived to walk her home.

"Hey… isn't he the hot guy from before?" Karan asked, realisation dawning on her face.

"Um, yeah, it is… well, see you on Tuesday!" and with that Kagome ran off after the hanyou before Karan could ask any more questions.

Of course, Karan didn't need to ask any more questions. She could put two and two together quite easily and what she had discovered left a sly smirk on her face for the remainder of the day, along with a promise to quiz the teen the next time she saw her.

-

-

The rest of the day went by without anything out of the ordinary occurring. Before she knew it she and Inuyasha were awake and preparing for school—Inuyasha had gone home while she was showering but returned before she had finished applying her makeup.

Abi smartly chose not to comment on the couple walking to school together. Instead she went about ignoring the girl, holding whispered conversations with Yura that had them both giggling and smirking all day. Kagome didn't have to be a genius to know they were talking about her.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that her reputation was slowly falling through her fingers. It was so much harder to take charge as she had before when her heart was full with emotions; loving emotions that left no space for the spite and nastiness required to take on her usual role as the queen of mean.

By the time they entered their afternoon Drama lesson Kagome wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up under a pile of blankets. Abi still wasn't talking to her, Kouga refused to leave her alone and even Bankotsu had seen it as necessary to comment on her choice of eye shadow.

And to top it all off, while she endured all this over the course of recess, Inuyasha didn't show up.

It was the first dress rehearsal for the play and Mr. Toshu was practically pulling out what little hair he had in frustration. One of the dresses had ripped, the moon had fallen from the rope it was secured to and Amari—aka Mercutio—hadn't shown up. When Ayumi, ever the horrible actress, stumbled through her lines and actually had the gull to ask what one of her words meant he finally snapped and stormed out of the classroom, leaving his students to their own devices.

Kagome was talking to Kagura about the dress Kagura had bought over the weekend. It wasn't exactly the deepest and most riveting conversations Kagome had ever had, but at least they weren't gossiping about their classmates.

Then, just as Kagura was wallowing over what shoes she was going to wear with the dress, Kagome felt an arm snake around her shoulder. She looked up, straight into the face of none other than Houjo.

"Houjo." She greeted coolly, keeping her face impassive. Fixing that cold mask had seemed so difficult before, but now that she was faced with him… with the one who broke her heart… it seemed so much easier.

"Kagome." he replied.

Kagura, sensing the tension, hastily excused herself and went over to talk with Suikotsu. That left Kagome and Houjo alone—or alone as you could be in a crowded classroom.

"Did you want something?" Kagome asked, casually shaking off his hand. If Houjo noticed the gesture he didn't say so. Instead he sank into the chair Kagura had earlier occupied.

He sighed and ran a hand through his tousled brown hair. The action stirred several unwanted memories of a time Kagome would rather forget; back when she had found it attractive.

"You really hate me don't you?"

"Don't play around, you jerk," Kagome hissed, "Tell me what you want and then get out of my face."

Houjo seemed unfazed by her harsh words. "I'm here to give you a warning."

Kagome snorted. "Because you've always been so concerned about my wellbeing."

"I'm serious, Kagome."

Kagome looked at Houjo sceptically for a moment. "Well then? What's this 'warning' of yours?"

"Dump Inuyasha."

At this Kagome could do little but stare at Houjo speechlessly for a moment. Then her lips curled into a snarl and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"That's your big warning? To dump Inuyasha? Well then here's a warning for you—don't you dare even try to mess with my love life, you got that?"

"This has nothing to do with you, Kagome."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It's your cousin that I'm more concerned about."

"If you expect to still have the ability to bear children after this discussion then I would suggest that you would refrain from speaking of that witch around me."

"At least think about it!" Houjo looked angry now—or perhaps he was just earnest, Kagome couldn't really tell. "She weaves herself into everyone's lives and breaks their hearts just for her own satisfaction. How long do you think Inuyasha will last after she starts advancing on him?"

Kagome could feel her face growing hot. "Inuyasha isn't like that. He isn't you, Houjo—he loves me."

"Is that what he told you? I told you that too, remember, and just look at what happened to me."

"That's enough!" her words turned out louder than expected and some of the students turned to look at them. Kagome waited until they turned away before she continued in a lower voice, "Get out of my face. And don't ever, not even for a second, so much as consider talking to me again."

"Kikyo hates you—more so, I believe, than you hate her. She'll do anything to hurt you and right now she knows that Inuyasha is the sure way to fulfil her evil heart's desire."

"Leave!"

"I really meant it, you know. Back then, when I told you I loved you. I'm sure Inuyasha does, too. But Kikyo has ways of twisting every emotion into total agony."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Your words, your opinion on the way I run my life? They mean nothing; absolutely nothing. You would do well to remember that. Now get lost."

Houjo sighed and pushed himself up and out of his chair. Running a hand through his hair, he shot one more parting comment before leaving.

"He was with her at recess, you know. I saw them together. You should ask him about it when you get the chance."

He walked away without so much as a backward glance and Kagome was left struggling to rein in the torrent of emotions wrenching at her heart, his words echoing through her mind.

-

-

Kagome wasn't the only one having a bad day. Inuyasha was suffering just as much as she was—if not, then more so. All he wanted to do was to curl up in bed and fall asleep… preferably with Kagome by his side…

Kikyo had been a massive thorn in his side all day. His phone had been vibrating non-stop in his pocket since he arrived in school that morning and when he bothered to actually read a couple all he saw were text messages from Kikyo reading "We need to talk" varying with pleading and threatening tones.

Then at recess when he was walking to the cafeteria she stopped him in the corridor, pulling him into an empty classroom.

"What do you want?" he asked, beyond irritated.

"To ask you what you're playing at!" was Kikyo's hissed reply. She poked him in the chest to emphasise her point.

"I'm not playing at anything. That's right—I'm not playing your little game any more."

Kikyo's face creased into a deadly sneer. "So what? You've been drawn in by her charm and mystique? Ha, you're no better than the rest of them! They always get caught in that evil witch's web, but to think that my own boyfriend—"

"Kagome is no evil witch." Inuyasha snarled. "And the correct term is ex-boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend?!" Kikyo cried, enraged. "Since when?"

"Since you decided to cheat on me."

"I've never cheated on you! How could you even accuse me of that?"

Inuyasha looked straight into Kikyo's eyes. He saw past the lies and deceit; past the denials and pretences she had gathered around her. He stared straight into the core of her very being.

It was as though he was seeing her for the first time, through a different pair of eyes. All he could see was an endless black pit of emptiness.

Because that was all Kikyo was—lies. Beyond that she was nothing.

"You know what?" he asked slowly, turning his back to her. "You can lie and cheat as much as you want. I don't care. I have Kagome now."

Kikyo's fake tears dried instantly and her eyes flared with anger. "You'll regret this, you know! Go! Go to my witch of a cousin, if that's what you really want! Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Inuyasha's only response was walking out the door, leaving a fuming Kikyo inside. He turned to go to the cafeteria, but the ringing of the school bell made him turn and walk in the direction of his next class.

As he walked something occurred to him. It was a memory of the first time he had ever seen Kagome cry; back when he had found her in the Music room.

"Who did this to you?"

"Him. Houjo. Him and her… my cousin. I hate her!"

At the time he had been more concerned with comforting Kagome and being angry at Houjo to ponder her mysterious cousin. Now, however, the pieces of the puzzle were sliding into place.

"Go to my witch of a cousin, if that's what you really want!"

Kikyo hated Kagome. She would do anything to hurt her—she had proven that when she concocted the plan involving Inuyasha.

Strangely enough, this new realisation didn't make him feel angry. If anything he was relieved to finally understand. It all made perfect sense.

All that was left for Inuyasha was to wonder how he had ever fallen for someone so evil and heartless, which lasted until he was joined by Miroku in the Science lab and he forced himself to listen to his friend's endless chatter about Sango.

-

-

Lunch came and Kagome's head was still full of everything Houjo had told her. As she lined up at the cafeteria she couldn't bear to look him in the eye and only spoke when she had to, mostly answering questions and almost always monosyllabically. It must have showed—although she tried her best to avoid looking up at his face, whenever she stole a glance at him she could see the concern etched onto his brow and the his lips were pursed, the way they always were when he was worried.

After making their purchases—Kagome had chosen a salad roll, for they actually tasted quite good as she had discovered the previous Friday—Kagome made to walk over to the usual table with her usual 'friends' when Inuyasha stopped her.

"Why don't we go and sit over there?" he asked, nodding toward the table currently occupied by Miroku and Sango.

"Why?"

Kagome had no intention of sitting with Miroku or Sango. It wasn't that they were bad people—in the short time she had known them they had been nothing but nice to her—but she simply couldn't bring herself to make such a big change to her usual routine.

"Don't you want to sit with friends for a change?" Inuyasha persisted.

"Friends? I've barely known them for a day!"

"And yet I daresay that they know you better than all the people you've hung out with rolled into one."

Kagome couldn't argue with that one.

"Don't you want to change your life? If you don't want to live a fake life, then you have to stop hanging out with fake people."

Kagome sighed, slumping her shoulders. "Fine. I guess it couldn't hurt."

Inuyasha smiled and embraced her as best he could while still balancing his food tray in one hand. "Thank you."

-

-

SMACK!!

"Geez Sango," Miroku said, wincing as he rubbed his slapped cheek. "You're slapping harder and harder, I swear."

"And you're getting more and more confident." Sango muttered, crossing her arms.

Miroku draped an arm over her shoulders. "You know you love me."

Sango huffed, but didn't venture to shrug off his arm. It was then that she noticed the two people heading in their direction. "Hey, isn't that Inuyasha and Kagome?"

Miroku turned to see what she was talking about, his eyes widening in surprise. "What are they doing?"

"How should I know?"

They were still more than a little shocked when the couple sat down opposite them at the table.

"Hey." Inuyasha greeted simply.

"Hey." Miroku replied. Sango was too shocked to address either of them.

They ate mostly in silence with the entire cafeteria staring at them, completely dumbfounded. Perhaps the most surprised were Kagome's 'friends', whose shock soon gave way to anger and hatred that they wasted no time in whispering about.

The awkwardness lasted until Miroku, sick of being quiet, decided the time to start conversation was well overdue.

"So I heard you're in Drama, Kagome." he commented.

"Yeah."

"Are you in the play?"

"Is she in the play?" Inuyasha snorted, "She's got the leading role, nitwit!"

"Ah, so you're Juliet? O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Miroku recited in a high-pitched imitation of a woman. Sango groaned loudly.

"Please, don't do that ever again."

"I'm sorry, Sango dearest."

"Of course you are."

"I am! And to prove it, I'm going to take you on a date tonight."

"Pfft… you'll probably just try and take advantage of me, lecher."

"Sango, I'm hurt! That you could think so little of your own boyfriend!" Miroku cried melodramatically with a hand over his heart.

"Actually, that's not such a bad idea…" Inuyasha mused aloud.

Sango looked at him, clearly confused. "What, him taking advantage of me?"

"No, no! Not that! Geez… I was talking about the date Miroku mentioned. Why don't we double?"

"Hey, that's actually not a bad idea!" Miroku exclaimed, him expression bright.

Inuyasha frowned. "You sound surprised by that…"

"What about you, Kagome?" Sango asked, directing her attention toward the quiet girl sitting across from her. She was so different compared to the terrifyingly mean girl everyone loved to hate—at that moment she looked so out of place and… well… shy.

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

The rest of lunch was spent planning the date and joking around. Kagome soon overcame her uneasiness around them and came to ignore the relentless stares of everyone else in the cafeteria. She had never been one to show true happiness in public, yet there she was; tossing her head back and laughing for the whole world to see.

Well the whole cafeteria, anyway.

-

-

"Seriously, urgh…" Yura wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Who does she think she is?"

"Just ditching us like that. So full of herself, isn't she?" Abi added, throwing a sharp glare in the girl's direction.

"Her thighs look huge in those jeans!" Yuka piped up. Everyone ignored her.

"She's going to get it one of these days, I swear." Bankotsu muttered.

"I think I might be able to help you with that."

All heads turned to Kikyo, who was wearing a smug smirk on her face like she had a secret none of them knew—which, of course, she did.

"What do you want?" Kagura spat.

"Nothing… I just wanted to come by and say hello."

"Yeah right, and I'm Father Christmas." (A/N: Get it? Because it's Christmas day? Ahahaha sorry I just had to throw that in)

"Well I had a proposition to give you, too."

"We don't want to hear anything you have to say, Kikyo."

Kikyo's grin widened. "Oh, but I think you do. You see, it concerns a certain cousin of mine; a certain cousin that I don't like very much. It concerns her boyfriend, too. I think you'll find what I have to say much to your liking."

"No." was Abi's short reply.

"We should listen to her." Kanna said softly. Everyone stared at the small demon disbelievingly. Kanna very rarely spoke and always on the most important topics. That she was intending to listen to Kikyo and urging them to do the same meant that what they were about to hear was important.

"Fine," Kagura relented, "What's this 'proposition' then?"

Kikyo explained quickly, her voice low and quiet so no one else could hear. When she had finished there were a couple of shocked faces and Hiten's had remained in its usual state of indifference, but most were shaped in expressions of evil delight.

"Do we have a deal?" Kikyo asked suavely.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Good. I'm going to go before someone notices me talking to you. Remember, Kagome can't hear of any of this. It has to be a secret… at least until that day."

When she had received all their sincere oaths of silence she walked off, still smirking with the satisfaction only revenge can bring.

Just wait, Inuyasha. You too, Kagome. You'll both regret messing with me.

Lol I realised halfway through this chapter that I'd messed up Inuyasha and Kagome's school timetables and their Drama and Science lessons were supposed to be after lunch. Ah well. Hope you guys don't mind :)

...Reviews...

Daeth101 Fox version: Thanks :)

iluvSokka46: Aww I'm glad you're liking it :D

TiffanyM: Wow... do you want to be my official music consultant??? I LOVE Imogen Heap/Frou Frou!! Let Go is such a pretty song by them, I love it to pieces... and Dark Blue is one of my favourite songs, too! :DD Far out this is weird lol I think I've just found my musical side's other half...

MeiunTenshi: :)

Kattana: Yeah, MirSan was my favourite couple in the anime, but there wasn't actually heaps of chemistry between them in the manga... it was weird :(

phoebe4448: Hope the update was quick enough this time!

Black Betty: Thanks :)

InuyashaxKagome1994: Thanks for your pretty review. It made me feel soft and squishy inside :)

Say0mi Saki: Lol I know I'm not really that inspiring, am I?

Otaku-Rehab: Hehe the 'Kikyo is made of Fail' and 'InuKag is made of succeed' made me laugh.

midnightangel16: Thanks! :)

CharlieWinter: Lol you wanted more? Here you go then!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!