Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.

Nearly the Same

Chapter 2

Thankfully, the rest of their walk was uneventful, but Yusuke was positive that his face was still red from the 'pretty girl' comment. Kagome, however, either didn't notice or just didn't mention it.

The duo walked into the arcade, which was bustling with activity. Different tones of rings were being emitted all at once along with cheers of excitement or the groans that signaled someone's loss.

Despite all the noise in the building, there was one scream that stood out among the rest.

"YES! I AM THE KING OF ALL THINGS ARCADE! WHOO-HOO!" a deep voice yelled. Yusuke rolled his eyes, immediately recognizing the voice and he set off to find the guy.

Kagome stayed close to him, avoiding eye contact with the several pairs of creepy eyes that were gazing in her direction. 'Perhaps they're just not used to being in the same room with a female?' she wondered, smiling a little in spite of herself.

Yusuke stopped behind a tall, red haired teenager that was clad in a blue school uniform. His back was facing them, but as soon as he turned around, Kagome wished a million times over that he hadn't.

"What the hell are you doin' here, Urameshi?" he asked, not noticing Kagome yet.

Kagome was thankful. She was deathly afraid that one look into his eyes would turn her into stone. She didn't stay lucky for long, though, for his gaze drifted to her almost immediately after he first spoke.

Despite his… unnatural looking appearance, there was a certain kindness in his eyes that Kagome couldn't deny.

"Wow… who's she?" he said quietly, speaking of Kagome as if she wasn't even present. Yusuke smacked the guy swiftly in the back of the head without even looking, making it clear to her that it was a common occurrence.

"I'm Kagome Higurashi… and you are?" she said extending her hand for a friendly shake, merely out of common courtesy. She realized this was the wrong move as soon as she saw those hearts appear in his eyes.

He clasped his larger hands over her own and began sappily: "I'm the great Kazuma Kuwabara! Will you be my girlfriend?"

Yusuke sweatdropped, while Kagome was reminded of a certain perverted monk. She tugged her hand from his grasp and gave him a small, sympathetic smile, planning to let the oaf down easy.

"I'm taken, I'm afraid," she replied. It was a little white lie, but she would rather not hurt the poor guy's feelings. Little did she know, that this statement was far more bothersome to Yusuke than it was to this new redhead.

"And out of your league anyway, Kuwabara," Yusuke snapped, folding his toned arms over his chest. "Besides, what about Yukina?"

"Oh. I momentarily forgot about her," he grunted, scratching the back of his head.

Yusuke raised his eyebrow at the lengthy word but then shook his head. "Whatever. Kagome here is gonna start walking with us to school."

Kuwabara looked completely dumbfounded. "Does that mean you'll be coming to school now?"

"I COME TO SCHOOL, DAMMIT!"

"Though, not on a daily basis. Am I correct, Yusuke?" a soft voice asked.

The sudden presence of the new person caused everyone to jump in surprise, and the newest addition to the party chuckled, his lovely smile reaching far beyond his lovely eyes. Kagome swooned.

"Forgive me. I didn't mean to frighten anyone."

And there before Kagome, stood a tall boy about their age with flowing red hair. Unlike Kuwabara, who didn't notice Kagome for a moment or so, the new boy's attention was entirely focused on her. He gave her the impression that he was a gentleman, which was an amazing quality in her eyes, and one she certainly wasn't used to.

And his next action definitely proved her previous suspicions.

He knelt down on the ground in front of her, took one of her delicate hands and placed his lips on it in a charming gesture. Kagome blushed from her head to her toes, her brown eyes wide in shock.

"I'm Shuichi Minamino, but my friends call me Kurama."

It took Kagome a moment to get over the initial shock of his actions. Though she did reply, her answer was anything but complete. She always thought that when the movies and books portrayed a male or female character as a bumbling idiot when in contact with the opposite sex, that it was a rare occurrence, as she had never, ever experienced such a think herself. But, this man… This man was certainly proving otherwise.

"I… I'm…um," she stuttered, her face becoming even redder by the moment.

"Ka-go-me," Yusuke supplied slowly, rolling his eyes at the scene before him. The girl had said not two minutes ago that she was 'taken', yet she was here gushing and making a fool of herself over Kurama, the dick, the ex-friend who was responsible for his girlfriend leaving him.

Kagome nodded furiously. "Y-yes. Kagome H-Higurashi."

"Hey! You're hittin' on a taken chick! Where's the pride?" Kuwabara yelled loudly. A few people stared, but since Kuwabara was a regular at that particular arcade, their stares ceased rather quickly.

It was Kurama's turn to blush. He stood up. "I'm terribly sorry if I gave you that impression, I was merely trying to be polite. No wonder you were so distraught." He gave her a sympathetic smile, and Kagome couldn't help but smile back. But, realizing what she was doing she turned away, and began staring in the opposite direction.

Kagome clasped her hands together and avoided eye contact, still blushing.

"Yeah, and how's Keiko, Kurama?" Yusuke asked haughtily. The death glare that Kurama sent Yusuke was undeniable, and rather unflattering for his gorgeous features. It was entirely unnatural looking for someone that good-looking to seem so angry.

"I was merely being polite, Yusuke," he repeated, his lips drawn into a distinct frown.

Kagome felt guilty about all of this. She was convinced that it was all directly or indirectly her fault. She didn't know who Keiko was, but it was obviously a sore subject.

"I'm really not meaning to start a fight between you guys. I'll just leave," she said, a small, fake smile on her face. As she turned to go, Yusuke's gently grabbed her arm.

"You didn't do anything, but if you wanna go, we'll go," he told her.

"You should stay here with Kazuma and Kurama. It's a short walk back home; I can take care of myself."

"No fucking way."

Kagome looked a little taken aback at his language but was cut off.

"Come on, you just saw what happened on the way here," he reminded her. Kuwabara and Kurama started in their direction, both of their expressions ones of curiousity, and at the same time, worry.

"What happened?" Kurama inquired. He knew that Yusuke was perfectly capable of taking care of the girl, but just the mere thought of someone giving Kagome problems, or any female for that matter, just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Don't worry, I took care of it. Just a run-in with that douche Mikamoto and a few of his goons," Yusuke replied casually. "Which should have been reason enough for Kagome to be eager to have a badass acquaintance through these dangerous city streets, but noooooo. She likes being difficult."

Kagome rolled her eyes and tugged on his arm. "Whatever. Let's go, Mister 'Badass'," she mocked. She waved goodbye to her two new friends as Kagome was led out of the arcade.

"I, uh, kinda lied back there," she began softly as they began their walk. Yusuke remained silent, so Kagome continued. "I just figured I should tell you that I'm not 'taken'," she explained, using hand-quotes. "I just didn't want to hurt Kazuma's feelings."

Inwardly, Yusuke was hugely relieved, but felt he needed to keep up appearances.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Can I ask who… Keiko is? And Yukina?" she asked sheepishly. She saw Yusuke wince at Keiko's name, but it only took a few more seconds for him to regain his composure. "If you don't want to tell me-"

"Ex-girlfriend. Back-stabbing bitch of an ex-girlfriend is what Keiko is. Recently she got together with Kurama and I've kinda been giving him a hard time about it," he admitted, scuffing the sidewalk with his shoe. "And Yukina… is Hiei's sister and Kuwabara's girlfriend."

"Okay. You lost me."

Yusuke chuckled slightly and laced his fingers together behind his head as they walked on.

"Hiei is a shrimpy guy. He's got funky black hair and he has no social skills whatsoever. It's kinda hard to believe he's Yukina's brother actually because she's pretty cute, but you know. Every family has their freaks."

"What about your family? I'm kinda the freak of mine so I don't need to explain myself," she explained with a smile. Once again, Yusuke laughed at her statement.

"I knew that right-off," he replied, which earned him a punch in the shoulder. "God-dammit! What is it with you chicks and your damn punches!" he yelled loudly as he held his already-forming bruise. Kagome stifled a giggle behind a hand as he continued to utter a string of curses under his breath. "Can I talk or are you gonna hit me again?"

"Go ahead."

"Well, my mom and I are about all that is left of my family. I guess she used to be the freak though."

"No! She was extremely polite and nice!"

Yusuke shrugged. "That's her now. She's changed a lot, for the better, really. After my dad died she used to be drunk off her ass twenty-four seven but I think she finally realized what she had turned into and changed."

"Good for her. But, I'm really sorry about your dad."

Yusuke shrugged. "Long time ago. No use crying over it now. He looked at her. "What about your dad?"

Kagome hummed a little, and put her finger to her chin, and he could only assume this was her 'thinking face'. "Left us when I was… eight, I believe. He left for a much younger woman and didn't want anything else to do with us," she said, frighteningly casual about such a horrible subject. "As you said. 'Long time ago. No use crying over it now.'," she winked.

Yusuke scoffed a little, but admired her strength about such a subject. It was uncommon.

"We're here," Yusuke stated. They stalked up the apartment complex's stairs in silence, with only their footsteps breaking the quiet until they got to the door. She reached for the doorknob, and just as she was about to dart inside, Yusuke pulled lightly on her elbow. "Wait. You mind if I ask you something?"

She smiled and nodded.

"I'm clearly not a very nice guy. And yet you're hanging around anyway, and from how it seems from here, you're enjoying it. I'm not sure how unusual you realize this is, but I've gotta ask. What the hell gives?"

Now that, had definitely caught her off guard. But, she giggled nonetheless. He quirked an eyebrow, as she started giving him her answer. It wasn't entirely well thought out, but she figured it would satisfy him enough. Or perhaps confuse the hell out of him.

"Believe it or not, Mister Urameshi," she began, poking him in the chest, "You're not exactly the first guy I've known that's a little rough around the edges. In fact, I've encountered many, many people that make –you- pale horribly in comparison. You give yourself waaaay too much credit. Thinking you're a tough guy and whatnot. But, when in reality, you're really just a teddy bear. A tough-looking teddy bear. With sailor hat and a cute little blue tie around your neck!"

She giggled, obviously not aware that she had trailed on about nothing for a while, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't care. She had gotten the point across, which was her original goal.

Yusuke on the otherhand, looked a little dumbfounded. 'Teddy bear? What the fuck?'

"Good night!" she exclaimed cheerfully. She gave a small wave, and disappeared into her apartment, her door shutting loudly behind her.

'Shit, what a way to end the day,' Yusuke thought to himself. He stopped gawking at Kagome's closed apartment door and decided to let himself into his own.

He plopped down on his couch and grabbed for the remote control when he felt a strange energy nearby. Very close, actually, and probably very close to Kagome's location.

He hopped up from his couch and walked through his apartment, trying to get as close to the energy as he could. When he finally couldn't get any further without actually being in Kagome's apartment, he realized that the energy was unmistakable. It was a demon. Or, at least, part of a demon.

--------------------------------

Kagome dropped directly backwards onto her bed with a deep sigh. She was extremely grateful for Yusuke's company but she missed her friends from the Feudal Era greatly. Just when she thought she could very possibly burst into tears, there was a bang on her window.

She sat up quickly, afraid of what or who it could be when she saw a familiar red-clad, white haired, teenage-looking boy.

She ran to the window and forced it open and the hanyou practically fell in. He stood up and brushed himself off, but he looked kind of pissed off. His disheveled appearance definitely took away from the effect of this, though. Some kind of stain on the front of his garb, his messy hair. Apparently, her absence was turning him into a bit of a slob.

"Oy, wench! Why couldn't you have moved somewhere close to the well?" he asked gruffly, but immediately his facial expression changed when he saw her relieved one. He offered her one, very small smile, before Kagome squealed and tackled him to the ground in a hug.

"Off!" he yelled, trying to pry the girl from him. When she finally did, she had gained enough of her voice back to ask a thousand and one questions.

"Is life boring without me? How's Shippou? And Miroku? And Sango? Have they gotten together yet? It's a shame I'm not there-"

"Kagome, geez! Would you stop for a second? Everyone's fine! I just came to see that you were still alive."

Kagome nodded slightly in understanding and stood up.

"I really can't stay long, Kagome, you know that, but the second you get the chance, come and visit. Everyone misses you like hell," he said, standing up for the second time since his entrance. "Before I forget, Shippou asked me to deliver these."

The hanyou pulled a stack of papers from his shirt, they all looked brilliantly colored. Shippou never ceased to amaze her. She accepted them gratefully and decided not to look at them yet. She didn't want to break down in front of Inuyasha.

"Thank you. It means a lot that you came."

Inuyasha blushed. "Well, it wasn't all me, ya know. Everyone practically forced me down the well to see you."

She chuckled and looked away, tears forming in her eyes. Even the normally clueless Inuyasha saw it.

"Kagome. he said softly. And without any hesitation whatsoever, he took a single step forward, which was enough to put him close enough to her, to wrap his arms around her tiny frame. It took only seconds for the girl to break down, and sob into his chest.

"I miss you guys so much," she said through her tears.

"I hate to say it, but your place is here now. The jewel's done. You'll find some guy… and he'll make you really happy… and if anyone tries anything I swear-"

Kagome laughed and pulled away, wiping her tears away quickly.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

And with a small nod and grin on his part, he exited the same way he came.

Just like that, he was gone. Little did he know, that he had taken a part of Kagome with him.

Revised 03/04/07