I had a goal today and it was to finish this damn chapter. Well, I reached it and I'm glad I did!Anyway, I'll let you get on with the story. Enjoy!

Previously on "The Project":

There in front of him was a house alright but it was virtually completely covered in toilet paper. Toothpaste went up and down the long case of stairs that lead to the house. All the trees looked more like preserved mummies. The small shrine house off to the side had its door and windows lined in tooth paste and streamers made of toilet paper all over it. The large tree next to that had a smiley face on it made of toothpaste. The grass was a blanket of tiny quilts. The empty rolls of the toilet paper were stuck onto various branches of various trees around the house.

Inu-yasha couldn't believe it. This was the house he and Miroku had tepee-d the night before!

Chapter Five

Clean Up Fun

Inu-yasha's jaw had dropped when he first saw it. But it was anchored to the floor when the realization hit him: This was her house and he destroyed it! What the hell was he supposed to say! This had never happened to him. He knew the house belonged to the

Higurashi family, but he didn't know that that was Kagome's last name. He always made it a point to know who he was pranking so that he could watch out for them, even if they didn't know he'd done it. Now, he cursed himself for not knowing it was Kagome's house.

Either way, Kagome couldn't know he'd done it. She'd kill him, and then revive him just to kill him again. Maybe if/when they got married he'd tell her, that way she'd love him too much to throw him out in the cold with nothing but the clothes on his back. Inu-yasha desperately thought of what to say.

"Um…" he stuttered. "Wow. That doesn't happen often," he laughed nervously.

"Nope," Kagome growled, "it doesn't. But I must have to worst luck ever."

Inu-yasha thought, I know for a fact that you're wrong. Out loud, he said, "Let me help you clean up." (Sorry to make it so predictable, but what the hell is he supposed to do?)

"No, you don't have to."

You have no idea, he thought. "I want to help. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra pair of hands around," he tempted.

Kagome hesitated but then sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Alright, come on." She started up the stairs, careful to avoid all the toothpaste. Inu-yasha remembered that the toothpaste on the stairs was his idea but Miroku had done it. They picked their way up the stairs and gradually made it to the front door. The welcome mat was covered in toothpaste (and had footprints in it (Inu-yasha had to refrain from laughing)). (That was his idea and he'd done it last minute.)

Careful to avoid the paste-covered mat, Kagome unlocked the door and stepped in, motioning for Inu-yasha to follow. Inu-yasha was just thrilled that he got to get into her house when they weren't even going out… yet.

"Souta!" she yelled as she put her keys on a small hook by the door and put her hoody in the closet. She had on a loose plain navy blue shirt. Inu-yasha hung his jacket up too but kept his keys in his pocket. They were in a large hard-wood foyer. It went all the way to the back of the house where the back door was. On the left was an open brightly lit area Inu-yasha guessed was the kitchen. A room further off suggested a living room from the tip of a couch Inu-yasha could see. On the right was a hallway that had several doors along it. He guessed that was where the bedrooms where since he couldn't see any stairs.

She kicked off her shoes and told him to do so too. Inu-yasha was wondering who Souta was when a little boy about eight years old came into the room. He had tousled hair that was the same color as Kagome's and pale skin.

"What?" he whined. Then he saw Inu-yasha. He got a very smug look on his face. "Who's this, your boyfriend?" he asked with a mocking tone.

"Watch it twerp," Kagome warned and she started toward the kitchen. Souta ran into the next room before she could consider his comment worthy of a pounding. Inu-yasha just grinned knowingly and followed her. "Do you want something to eat?" Inu-yasha saw her glance over her shoulder at him.

"No thanks," Inu-yasha said, although he did feel a small tug at his stomach at the mention of food.

Kagome shrugged and kept walking. She reached a large kitchen where she went to a cupboard and pulled out two packs of ramen noodles. Inu-yasha stared at it hungrily… It was his favorite food in the world. It figures he declined before he saw what she had. There his bad luck goes again.

Inu-yasha noticed that Kagome got a third pack with a soft smile on her face. Inu-yasha blushed a little. He must've been drooling. He mumbled a 'thanks.'

The kitchen was much like a bar. The counter top extended further into the living room. Fluffy red stools were placed under it.

"Feel free to roam a little," she said. Inu-yasha smiled and took her up on the offer. He wondered into the living room. Her house was smaller than his but it was pretty big. And decorative. There were all manner of colors in the living room. It had comfortable white leather furniture and a big screen t.v. in it. A large rug with exotic colors on it was in the middle of the room. The carpet was a light red, matching the stools. The lights were dimmed because the large window which overlooked the front yard let in plenty of light.

Inu-yasha wondered into the next room which looked like a study. A desk with a computer on it sat in one corner and a large bookshelf took up most of the opposite wall. Two comfortable-looking black leather chairs were up against another wall.

Walking back to the living room, he sat down on the couch for a moment or two to test how comfortable it was. The cold leather warmed up after only a few moments. Inu-yasha started to doze off, not intentionally, but was aroused by the delightful aroma of ramen. He went back into the kitchen where Kagome was stirring the ramen.

"Almost done," she said cheerfully. Inu-yasha sat at an end stool and watched her finish stirring, probably drooling the whole time. She poured the noodles into three bowls and handed one to Inu-yasha, giving him his flavor packet too.

"Souta!"

A muffled 'what?' was heard.

"Come eat!" Inu-yasha didn't know that she could yell that loud. She was always so quiet at school. She grabbed her own bowl and sat down a stool away from Inu-yasha. "Afternoon snack," she explained even though he hadn't asked. He nodded anyway. Souta soon came and got his food. Inu-yasha guessed he came from the doors he hadn't had a chance to check. Souta looked at Inu-yasha curiously. (Inu-yasha, having the worst luck, had a long noodle hanging off his face when Souta stared.)

"Who are you?" he finally asked.

Before Inu-yasha could finish the bite he had to answer, Kagome said, "He's going to help me clean up the house."

"A friend from school?" he asked innocently.

Kagome hesitated, not really wanting to call Inu-yasha a friend. "You could say that," she said uncertainly.

Inu-yasha looked disappointed but only for a second. Souta still looked wary but sat down in the stool Kagome had skipped.

To fill the silence, Inu-yasha asked, "Who else lives here?"

Souta answered. "Us, Grandpa, and Mom." Inu-yasha wondered what happened to their dad. "Grandpa owns the shrine," Souta continued. "We do most of the cleaning in the shrine though because he's getting to old to do it himself." Inu-yasha nodded, genuinely interested. He wanted to memorize every detail about Kagome's life. Souta looked at Inu-yasha again, still a little unsure. "So, what's your name?"

"Inu-yasha," he said, feeling that the little boy had the right to know who was in his house. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm only here to help." He didn't want to get on the bad side of her brother too.

Souta smiled at him. "I'm not worried."

"So," Inu-yasha started, "when do your mom and grandpa get home?"

Kagome was about to answer when Souta jumped in and said, "Neither of them will be home until late tonight." He saw the questioning look in Kagome's eyes. "They left a note. I forgot to leave it for you to see." His comment was directed at Kagome. Then he pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and said, "She said to order pizza."

Kagome took the bill and said "What's keeping them this time?" as she tucked the twenty in her back pocket.

"They're checking out another shrine that's about an hour and a half away. I think Mom's thinking of buying it…" Inu-yasha felt his heart plummet. No more Kagome?

"She's always thinking of buying," Kagome said. "She never does though. Grandpa likes this shrine too much." Inu-yasha's hopes soared again.

Inu-yasha stood up. He'd finished his ramen and went around to the kitchen. He gave Kagome an uncertain look and she said, "Just put it in the sink," referring to the bowl. After doing so, Inu-yasha stood at the entrance of the kitchen, looking out into the living room. It really was a cozy room. He wondered if he and Kagome would ever be together in that room cuddling on the warm leather…

Kagome got up then and brushed past Inu-yasha to put her bowl in the sink. She took a deep breathe and then said, "So, are you ready?"

Inu-yasha snapped out of his daydream and answered, "Hai." The two went outside with rags and water (for the toothpaste) and the clean up began.

It was pretty boring at first. They scooped the toothpaste off of the welcome mat first and then started on the stairs. But Inu-yasha (they were about one-fourths of the way down the stairs) started a toothpaste fight. Inu-yasha had a paste-covered rag and casually went to Kagome. The water bucket was next to her so nothing was out of the ordinary.

But when he reached her, he "accidentally" dropped the rag onto her vulnerable back. She screamed while Inu-yasha laughed. He stopped instantly when a rag came in contact with his face though. The rag slide slowly off his face and revealed a narrowed eyed face with white toothpaste streaked across it. She laughed and pointed. He picked up the dirty water bucket. She shut up and said, "Don't you dare!"

Inu-yasha got a villainous look. He tossed the water at her and she screamed as it hit. It only splashed the top half of her body since Inu-yasha was trying to avoid loosing his grip on the bucket and throwing all the water on her. Inu-yasha burst into laughter anyway.

Kagome clenched her fists, picked up both rags, and charged at him. He dropped the bucket and tried to twirl out of the way but she was too quick. She slapped him with both rags numerously as he tried to escape into the grass (well, toilet paper) beside the stairs. Noticing that he was getting no where, Inu-yasha surprised her and stopped dead in his tracks and faced her. She slammed right into him and they fell onto the toilet paper-covered grass, rolling a few times, getting the toilet paper wrapped around the both of them. They were laughing the whole time. When they stopped rolling they were in an embarrassing yet familiar position. They'd been in that same predicament before, when they first came face to face…

But neither of them noticed. They were too busy laughing. Inu-yasha broke them free of the toilet paper, grabbed a rag from Kagome, and rolled away to get some distance. They both threw their rags at the same time and they each hit each other square in each other's faces. This caused a whole new series of laughter. They sat there, covered in toilet paper, toothpaste, dirty water, and grass, holding their stomachs from the ache laughter caused and looking absolutely ridiculous.

Just then, Souta burst out of the house and yelled for his sister. "Kagome, are you okay? I heard a lot of…" He saw them there. He just stared. They were rolling with laughter. He sighed and shook his head. And I thought I was immature, he thought sarcastically as he went back into the house.

Neither Kagome nor Inu-yasha heard or saw Souta.

After their little war, Kagome and Inu-yasha were both embarrassed at their lack of maturity. Inu-yasha didn't know it would go that far. He just wanted something to liven the mood, especially since Kagome hadn't said a word to him. They decided not to clean up themselves up since they'd just get dirtied up again, but Inu-yasha did offer her his jacket to keep her warm. (She was freezing from the water, even though it was warm.) It was a kind gesture, but Kagome said she'd use her hoody since it was just as big as Inu-yasha's jacket. Inu-yasha went into the house and, being his usual stubborn self, got his jacket instead of hers. If it was for her, he didn't care if it got dirty.

"Just use it," he said with frustration when she looked at it funny. He shoved the jacket at her. She reluctantly took it. Inu-yasha wasn't the only stubborn one.

They continued to clean without further major incidents although they did playfully flick toothpaste at each other's faces when the other wasn't paying attention. (Inu-yasha made sure he didn't go too far this time though since his jacket was at her mercy.) Inu-yasha worked on the tall pine trees while Kagome picked up the ground. (She had to refill the bucket since half of it was on her.) The whole clean up took a little less than four hours and by then, the sun had already set and it was getting dark. Inu-yasha tiredly sat on the porch and Kagome plopped right next to him. They heaved a sigh at the same time.

"Finally," Inu-yasha said as he observed their work. It was more or less clean. Some of the toothpaste they left for the rain to wash away, but other than that, it looked as if it had never been tepeed.

Kagome looked gratefully at him. "Thank you, I mean for helping. I know Souta wouldn't have been much help. He'd have been complaining more than cleaning."

Inu-yasha grinned. "No problem." Their eyes locked for a second. Inu-yasha made a decision as he lost himself in her perfect brown orbs. He smiled wider and then said, "Let me take you to dinner."

She smiled and it looked like she was going to say yes when she seemed to snap out of some sort of trance. "No," she said quickly. "I'm sorry, I can't." She stood up abruptly. Inu-yasha instinctively stood too.

Inu-yasha's jaw dropped but he tried to compromise. "Please? Souta will come too so it wouldn't even be considered a date." Kagome hesitated but didn't seem convinced. "It won't mean anything. You can go back to ignoring me at school if you want." He seemed to be winning her over. "It's just late and I feel like I'd be rude if I didn't ask, especially since I got you all dirty."

She was still wearing his jacket. Inu-yasha thought she looked amazing in it. It went past her knees and the sleeves hung past her hands. (She had had to roll the sleeves up more than a few times so it wouldn't get messed up and it made her frustrated. Inu-yasha couldn't help but think she was even more gorgeous when she was mad.) It was red and white and zipped up with two large pockets on either side of the zipper. He hadn't really had the chance to view her since they were working. But now, in the dim light of the porch light, she looked so angelic…

"Please?" Inu-yasha pleaded.

Kagome was quiet but then sighed. "Alright, you win," she said. Inu-yasha grinned widely. "But like you said, it doesn't mean anything," she warned. Inu-yasha was happy she'd finally given in but it had taken more pleading than he thought he'd have to use. He thought they'd had some real fun today, even if it was juvenile,. He'd thought that maybe he'd finally gotten somewhere with her… and he did. Her smiles and laughter were genuine, he could tell. But her previous relationship was obviously much worse than he'd thought for her to reject him like that… again.

"Alright," he said, trying to keep the excitement and triumph out of his voice. "I'm going to get my car and clean up. I'll be back in about an hour. Is that okay?" He felt the need to run things by her first.

"That's fine," she said. Why does he always seem to win, she asked herself. I let myself lose but I hate it. Why? Why would I let myself lose to him when I don't even like him...? Or rather… don't want to like him.

Inu-yasha watched her go into the house. She said, "See you in an hour." Was that a smile he saw before she disappeared into the house or were his eyes failing him?

Inu-yasha walked down the stairs and started in the direction of his car but as soon as he rounded the corner, he broke out into a run.

After Inu-yasha'd run all the way to his car, he'd practically sped all the way to his house. As he drove, he remembered something. He was grounded! How the hell was he supposed to get past his father… and Sesshomaru! His father would probably get home soon after him, if he was lucky. On a busy day, Inutaisho got home around 8:00 and that was about thirty minutes away. But he usually got home around six. Inu-yasha prayed to God that it was a busy day. He could deal with Sesshomaru and his mom but not his dad. No, his dad would have his door bolted and his window boarded before he could even explain himself.

Inu-yasha made it home in record time but his heart sank when he saw that his car was the only one missing from the garage. Inu-yasha quickly closed the garage again once he saw this to try and reduce the sound.

He couldn't go into that house. He'd be caught for sure.

Miroku, he thought suddenly. Yes, he's my only way out. Inu-yasha drove to the next neighborhood over and parked in front of Miroku's house. Miroku's parents weren't home, as usual, so he just walked in.

"Miroku!" he called. No answer. Must be sleeping, he thought. Inu-yasha checked his room and saw that he was right. He must've still been really tired from the night before. Inu-yasha shrugged and let his friend sleep. He'd just leave a note.

After thirty minutes, Inu-yasha had taken a shower and put some of Miroku's casual clothes on, a black button up shirt with a wife beater underneath and blue jeans. He had to borrow some of his New Bound shoes since Inu-yasha's were crusty from dried up toothpaste. His shower had taken longer than he thought but then he hadn't known the toothpaste had burrowed that deeply. Inu-yasha wrote a quick note explaining his situation to Miroku and left it on his desk. He was just about to leave when he heard the phone ring. It wasn't his place to answer it, especially since he shouldn't be there so he let it go to voicemail.

"Hello, this is Inutaisho, Inu-yasha's father." Inu-yasha froze at the first word. "I'm looking for my son so if you know where he might be then please call me back. My cell is 555-1918. Thank you, I'll talk to you later." It was all in his business voice but Inu-yasha could practically see the anger. Yeah, he was in for a shit-load when he got home. He'd be lucky if he could keep his bed after his dad was done with him. But he couldn't miss his "date" with Kagome and her brother. He couldn't ask her and then be the one who couldn't make it. I suppose I'll risk it… for her, he thought as he went out the door.

Kagome closed the door and watched the boy walk down the steps. When he was gone she sighed contently. Dazed, she walked down the hallway to the second to last door and opened it. Souta was jumping around with a controller in his hands, arguing with the referee in his football video game.

"Souta, Inu-yasha's going to take us to dinner."

Souta forgot about his game momentarily. "Really?" he asked excitedly. "You know, it's too bad he isn't your boyfriend, he seems really nice."

Kagome looked scared, sad, happy, and guilty all at the same time. If Inu-yasha had seen that he'd have said that only she could pull something like that off.

"What's wrong?" Souta asked worriedly. Had he said something wrong?

Kagome sighed shakily. "It isn't going to happen, no matter how nice he is."

Souta stared at her. "What's wrong with him?"

Kagome sighed again. "That boy. He said his name was Inu-yasha remember?" Souta nodded. "His last name is Taisho, as in Taisho Cybernetics. He's the son of the owner/founder… and one of the most popular kids at school."

Souta widened his eyes in disbelief. "What?" He blinked as Kagome nodded. He took on a sad face. "Why did he have to be so nice?" he pouted. Kagome nodded in agreement.

They both knew now that Inu-yasha was off-limits. Kagome's past wouldn't allow her to get too close to him. She was already too close to him as it was. She'd had a lot of fun today. If only… She trailed off, not wanting to finish her thought.

"Alright, get ready, he'll be here in an hour," Kagome said driving the agonizing memories and foul atmosphere away with a shake of her head. Souta nodded. "Oh, and Souta…" Souta looked up at her. "Don't try to drive him off tonight..." When someone like Inu-yasha got too close to his sister, Souta usually helped her get rid of him. "He seemed really happy when I told him yes so… I don't want to ruin this day for him," she said softly. She's still nice, even after what happened, Souta thought. She probably already likes him. If it wasn't for him…

Souta nodded with a smile. Kagome closed the door softly behind her. She sighed before she went to her room, the door right next to his. She grabbed her bathrobe from her closet and a towel from the closet and went to take a shower.

She had a lot on her mind as she let the warm water glide gently down her body. The steam rose up and around her, the cloud caressing her body like the water did. As she shampooed her hair she thought about only Inu-yasha.

I've only known him for two days but I already like him. His aura… it's like he's just waiting to find something to get him into trouble. Why do I like that? Isn't that what ruined my life before? Her last thought was full of bitterness and her dreadful memories swallowed her up again. Her salty tears were disguised by the water sprouting from the shower head. She tried to shake her head and rid herself of them as she had done before, but her thoughts always returned to Inu-yasha which made her think of them again

Finally, she decided that getting ready might take her mind off things. She hurriedly finished washing but made sure she was clean. She put her bathrobe on and walked down the hall to her room.

Inu-yasha's jacket was lain out on her bed. She walked over to it and held it close to her face. His scent… it smelled so nice. She loved it. She held his jacket closer, wanting to soak in his smell.

Then she remembered he was off-limits. She hated this feeling she got whenever she thought of him. He was so wonderful but he brought back too many memories… too many tormenting memories. She hated that she still thought of them, even after that long time. It's all his fault, she thought, referring to her ex-boyfriend. If it weren't for him… I could be with Inu-yasha and not feel the sorrow I feel now.

She tossed his jacket back onto the bed, trying to make it seem like she didn't care about it or the owner. She was trying to lie to herself, tell herself that she didn't like him that much and could easily get over him.

After she'd gotten dressed, she slipped Inu-yasha's jacket on.

True to his word, Inu-yasha showed up exactly one hour after he'd left. He rang the doorbell, his father's voice still ringing through his head. Souta answered the door and smiled kindly. "We're almost ready. Come on in." Souta back away to let Inu-yasha in and went down the right hall toward the bedrooms. Inu-yasha stood on the foyer and got a better look of the area. It was brightly lit now that the sun was down. Colorful paintings hung on the walls, some close to the ceiling, which was well over fifteen feet high, and some close enough to the floor to touch. They were mostly of flowers and angels. The angel pictures were closer to the ceiling.

Just then, Souta and Kagome came out of the hallway. Kagome looked much better without toothpaste in her hair, Inu-yasha noted. She had her ebony hair up in half a ponytail, held by a pink bow, and the rest cascading down her back and shoulders. She had on his jacket (this earned a smug smile) and black jeans. Her jeans were mostly enshrouded by his long jacket but they didn't seem to be like the baggy jeans she usually wore. She was twirling the hood string of the red and white jacket with her finger, as if it had become a nervous habit. The sleeves seemed to hang to her knees.

She was absolutely stunning in every way.

Souta, having no reason to change, was dressed in the sweater and jeans he had on before.

"Are you two ready?" Inu-yasha said trying in vain to hide his astonishment.

"Yeah," Souta spoke for them. They piled into Inu-yasha's car and he drove to a place unknown to Kagome and Souta.

"You'll love where we're going," Inu-yasha declared.

"Where?" Souta and Kagome said in unison.

"You'll see," Inu-yasha replied with a mysterious grin.

Yeah, I know, crappy ending. And not much suspense either. I onlyended it herebecause I didn't want to make this chapter longer than the last one. I was going to include their "date" in this one but I changed my mind.

Anyway, I just thought that I should tell you that I know that the relationships between the different characters in my storyis different from the actual show. I did it on purpose. For example, Kagome's and Souta's relationship. She's really nice to him in the real thing but that's only because she's gone most of the time, in the other era. In my story, that doesn't really apply. Anyone with siblings knows that they start to get on you're nerves after a while. And Inu-yasha's and Miroku's relationship. They laugh and joke together in my story but we all know that Inu-yasha would never do that with Miroku in the show. But in my story, they've been friends since elementary school so it's different. Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense but... Nevermind. I'm confusing myself (it happens often).

Anyway, how did you like this chapter? There's a lot I didn't tell about Kagome, I know. But you find out when Inu-yasha does. Muwhahahaha! Ahem... Anyway, I added a little bit in Kagome's POV. I hope that isn't too confusing. I also tried to add better vocabulary. (I'm horrible atvocab so sorry if my words are too basic.) Anyway, I hope you liked it!

Hiko