Oh my god! I'm SO sorry! It's been WAY too long since I last updated! I've been crushed with homework lately. I had a writer's cramp for a while too... Anyway, I really hope you'll forgive my lateness! I didn't mean to do it, I swear! I'll really try to not do it again! Okay, I think I should probably clear something upbefore I keep going. All my characters are humans. Inu-yasha, Sesshomaru, and Inutaisho don't have any demonic powers. Their hair is still silver but none of them have supernatural powers. Oh, and Inu-yasha's ears are human, not the cute puppy dog ears we all love. Sorry! I love them as much as the next fan but I had to do it for my story. Now that I got that straight, I guess I should let you read now huh? Well, here's chapter eight! Enjoy!

Previously on "The Project":

Inu-yasha balled his fists up tight. "I hate you," he said. It wasn't harsh but it definitely wasn't nice either.

Souta smiled and then sweetly said, "I love you too big brother!"

Chapter Eight

Aftermath

"Alright, boy," Inu-yasha said with a sigh, "you'd better get inside. Kagome's probably worried by now."

Souta scoffed and said, "She's asleep by now."

"Even so," Inu-yasha said while standing up, "if you catch a cold, she'll know how long you've been out here talking to me." It had been a good forty-five minutes.

Souta frowned. He wanted to keep talking, but he stood up too.

Inu-yasha walked Souta out of the lilac garden and to the front door before taking his jacket back. After waving bye, he went down the stairs toward his car. As he walked down, he remembered the fun he and Kagome had that day, on these stairs. Before he got back into his car, he looked back at Kagome's house and a smile crept across his face.

As Inu-yasha drove he thought of what pranks he was going to pull the next day. But his thoughts kept wondering back to Kagome. It had only been two days and he felt he was already winning her over. He had a feeling that she at least liked him by now, even if she wasn't going to admit it. But it seemed that her past was still nagging at her, preventing him from getting as close to her as he would like.

But it was possible to break through her defensive wall. Her friend, Sango, had done it. It had taken a whole year but she did it. Maybe he should get some background information on Sango first. That would be a good start. Maybe it could tell him something. But he'd have to get close to her first, which could be hard, especially since, according to Miroku, she was being just as cold as Kagome was. He knew that he wouldn't find out anything about Kagome from Sango. They were pretty close and Sango didn't seem like the kind to just tell everyone her best friend's personal shit. So he'd only try to learn something about Sango. Besides, if Sango expected that he was only using her to get to Kagome, she'd just become even more distant and impossible. Besides, like Kagome said, you had to be nice to the girl's friends.

And what about Souta? That kid was something else. Inu-yasha wondered why Souta told him all his techniques though. If Souta ever needed to chase him off then he couldn't use those strategies. Well he could, but Inu-yasha would've found out a way to counter then by the time Souta decided to use them. That kid really baffled him. But there was no way some cute innocent looking boy who turned out to be no-so-innocent would stop him from getting Kagome.

As he thought of a way to gain Sango's trust and how he was going to outsmart Souta, he arrived at his house. Correction: he arrived close enough to his house to see that all of the lights were still on. It was about eleven o'clock and his father was still waiting for him.

He had two choices: either get yelled at tonight or go over to Miroku's house to sleep and get it tomorrow. Thinking it was a no-brainer, Inu-yasha put the car into drive and took off down the street.

xXx

Inu-yasha got to Miroku's house in record time and walked in. His parents still weren't home. Inu-yasha made a mental note to ask his friend what was taking them so long. He probably didn't know though since the family hardly ever even spoke to each other. Miroku always wished he had Inu-yasha's parents.

"Miroku?" Inu-yasha's voice rang through the small home. He wearily tossed his keys onto an end table near the front door.

"Inu-yasha?" Miroku poked his head into the hallway. He wasn't wearing a shirt; just some casual jeans that showed just a bit too much of his boxers. "What are you doing here?"

Inu-yasha sighed. "I need a place to sleep."

Miroku smirked. "Trying to delay your beating?"

Inu-yasha nodded tiredly. He dragged his feet to the cluttered couch and threw himself onto it.

"Are you that tired?" Miroku asked with the smirk still present.

Inu-yasha flung his arm over his eyes in an attempt to block some of the light that was coming from the overhead light. Miroku could only tell that he nodded because his hand moved slightly.

"Are you too tired to tell me what the hell happened tonight?" Another barely noticeable nod. "Then at least tell me why you hung up on me." There wasn't a response. A few moments later when Miroku was going to repeat his question, he heard a soft snore.

Miroku sighed and shook his head. Might as well let him sleep, he thought.

xXx

"…yasha? Inu…" Noise faded in and out of Inu-yasha's ears. "Inu-yash…" Inu-yasha groaned a little. He knew what was happening. "God dammit Inu-yasha, get your lazy ass off my fucking couch!" Inu-yasha's eyes peeked open. Miroku's annoyed face filled his line of vision.

Inu-yasha groaned again and rolled over… except there was only air to roll over onto. He yelped and clawed desperately at the edge of the couch and the coffee table he hadn't noticed the night before out of instinct. A loud thud signaled his connection with the floor.

"Ow!" he complained.

Miroku's face split into a grin. "Serves you right," he said triumphantly.

Inu-yasha stood up, rubbing his behind painfully and putting a hand on his head. He had a tremendous headache.

Miroku mumbled 'finally' before heading off toward the bathroom. Inu-yasha stood there for a moment or two trying to figure out where he was. When he remembered, he wondered why he was there. Then it all came rushing back, giving him an even worse headache. He held his head, trying to stop the dizziness. He plopped back onto the couch and ran his hand through his silver hair. It didn't go far before it discovered a knot the size of Connecticut. He growled and lay back on the couch; the dizziness was winning.

He closed his eyes and the next thing he knew, Miroku was standing in front of him in a towel and water dripping down his muscular body. His hair held tiny water droplets. "Inu-yasha, get up!"

Inu-yasha shot up from the couch and exclaimed, "I wasn't sleeping!"

"I didn't say you were!" Miroku shouted and went back to his room to get clothes on.

Another wave of dizziness washed over Inu-yasha from getting up too fast. He fell back onto the couch involuntarily. His head was pounding. He glanced at his watch and didn't care that it said '7:30', which meant that he should've been leaving the house ten minutes.

He must've dozed again because the next thing he knew, the now fully clothed Miroku was there right next to him. He dimly registered Miroku's hand reaching out. But as soon as his freezing hand came into contact with his forehead, he yelped and jumped in surprise. He must've jumped higher than he thought because he his foot caught the back of the couch and sent him flying head first into the floor. Just one more thing to make his headache worse.

After he jumped up, he shouted, "What the fuck were you doing!"

"Inu-yasha, it's 7:50. We should be at the school by now. And you still haven't even changed… Hey, are those my clothes…?"

"Why the hell did you touch me!" he yelled, ignoring Miroku's question.

Miroku, after further inspecting Inu-yasha's wrinkled black button up shirt and wife beater and confirming to himself that they were his clothes, said, "I thought you looked a little sick so I checked and I was right; your head is burning up."

"It is not! Your hand is just freezing!"

"No, it's not. My hand his normal temperature. You're just so hot that it seems freezing to you."

Inu-yasha furrowed his brow and put his own hand up to his forehead. "Wow," was all he said.

"Told you." Miroku disappeared into the bathroom down the hall toward his room and came back with something in his hand. He tossed a thermometer at him as he went to the kitchen. Inu-yasha stubbornly put it under his tongue. He sat back onto the couch (stubbornly), crossed his arms across his chest (stubbornly), and glared at everything (stubbornly). He watched Miroku open and close cupboards and pulling out hot tea boxes. Inu-yasha wrinkled his nose in disgust. He hated tea.

Miroku walked back over to Inu-yasha. The thermometer just started to beep when he sat down on the coffee table. Inu-yasha just glared at nothing in particular as Miroku pulled the thermometer out of his mouth. He looked at it and furrowed his brow.

"You'll make a good mom when you grow up and have kids," Inu-yasha mocked.

Miroku stood up before saying, "You have a 102.8 fever." Inu-yasha's jaw dropped. Miroku walked back to the bathroom to put the thermometer back. When he came back he said, "I have to go but I took out some tea for you. Have at least one cup today and try to sleep as much as you can."

Inu-yasha rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, Mother." Miroku glared but didn't say anything. He grabbed his backpack and was just about to go out the door when Inu-yasha remembered something. "What about your parents?"

"Anniversary," he answered shortly. "They won't be back until the weekend." And he was out the door.

Inu-yasha sat there. He couldn't believe it. It was only the third day of school and he was already out sick. And what about his project? He only had six weeks now. He wanted to work on Kagome more than ever now. There was also the matter of his pranks that he had to catch up on. When Souta asked what the last prank he'd done was, he realized that he was behind. He felt the beginnings of that feeling he always got in the pit of his stomach. He should've known his fever wouldn't stop it from coming.

With an evil look, he got an idea to solve that issue. He'd save it for later though. He grudgingly went to the kitchen to make his tea. Stupid tea.

After he boiled some water and made his tea, he settled down on the table in the living room. As he sipped it, he thought of what he was going to do. There was no way in hell that he was staying inside this house all day. He'd have to go home to shower and change. He couldn't steal more of Miroku's clothes. If he remembered correctly, he still had three other outfits that Miroku owned. He got them all the same way: going here after a major prank and accidentally sleeping in.

He hoped his father hadn't decided to stay home from work. He really doubted it since everyone knew Inutaisho always had too much work to do. No way his father was that mad at him… right?

Thinking too far ahead about what he was going to do with his day hurt his head, so Inu-yasha just kept sipping his still-hot tea.

Kagome crossed his head multiple times but he tried hard to ignore it. Then he remembered that Kagome walked home after school. Something they'd talked about the night before came to mind and he smiled. He knew what he was going to do but that was after school. Until then, he had other things in mind. Deciding that his shower was more important at the moment, he grabbed his keys and went out the door. (He hadn't even taken his shoes off the night before.)

He arrived at his home. It was impossible to tell if someone was still home since no light would be on in the daytime. He parked a block away and sneaked up to the garage. After punching in the code he waited apprehensively looking at the spot where his father's car usually is.

Gone. So was Sesshomaru's car. Inu-yasha sighed in pure relief. He let himself in through the front door and peered cautiously inside. It was completely deserted. Another sigh escaped Inu-yasha's lips. So far so good.

Inu-yasha didn't wonder why he was so paranoid. His father had surprised him once before. It was about a month ago…

xXx Flashback xXx

Inu-yasha had just pulled a prank on the nearby church. The church's theme had to do with the pureness of their God, so the church's outer and inner walls were the purest white. He splashed pitch black paint onto every outer wall. (He couldn't get a hold of the key to the church key before that night so he couldn't do the inner walls.) He had to get Miroku's help to finish it in time. But even with the help, they weren't done until one in the morning.

He was just getting home. The all the lights were off so he didn't really try to be quiet. Just when he was about to head up the stairs, the lights flicked. His father was leaning on the wall next to the light switch.

"Where were you?" his father asked bluntly. Inu-yasha was frozen on the spot and he couldn't utter a word. His father took a step toward him. "I asked you a question Inu-yasha."

"Miroku's house." It was the only thing he could come up with on the spot.

"Do you often wear black pants, black hats, and black sweaters when you go to Miroku's house?"

Busted. He'd forgotten about his clothes.

"We were… playing hide-n-seek outside?" he said nervously. It was more like a question the way he said it. It was like he was asking if that was a good enough excuse to keep going on his merry way.

"Inu-yasha…" Inutaisho warned.

Inu-yasha bit lightly on his lower lip. He knew his father wanted him to come right out and say what they were doing. But he also knew that his father already had a good idea of what he had done.

"What were you doing?" Inutaisho asked. His voice was regal and calm. It scared Inu-yasha when he spoke softly like that. It meant he was trying to refrain from shouting.

Inu-yasha finally just rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Why do you ask me if you already know?" he said in a smart-aleck tone.

"Don't get smart with me, Inu-yasha," he said in that same soft-calm voice although there was a hint of anger. "Just tell me what you were doing."

Inu-yasha twitched nervously. He sighed and said, "Miroku and I went out and pulled a prank on St. Mary's church." He studied his father's face.

Inutaisho narrowed his eyes at him.

xXx End of Flashback xXx

Needless to say, that night was spent listening to his father's enraged voice until three in the morning. That was one thing Inu-yasha didn't want to repeat.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, he tip-toed to the stairs leading to his room. It seemed like no one was there but he didn't want to take any chances. The first step he put his foot on creaked noisily.

"Shhh!" he whispered, even though the stairs couldn't hear him. He took a deep breath and then tried the next step.

Creak!

Inu-yasha tensed up and waited a moment. He rolled his eyes in frustration and prepared himself to run up the stairs. Might as well get it over with.

"Inu-yasha?" a familiar voice sounded from across the room. Inu-yasha's eyes widened and he froze.

Not again! he thought.

Another cliffie! Muhaha! It's so fun writing those. I didn't have one last chapter so I have to catch up. So, Inu-yasha's in trouble again. Poor little puppy! I feel so sorry for him! Anyway, sorry this one isn't as long as my other chapters. I wanted to end it at a really good part and this was just the place. I also just wanted to get this chapter up on the site before I see a mob or something. Lol! Well, I hope you liked it. Thank you so much to all my reviewers. You guys have no idea how much you affect my writing. Anyway, see you next time! bye!

Hikoboshi18