Disclaimer: I do not own YYH or Inuyasha.

Nearly the Same

Chapter 4: Rain

Kagome woke up around noon the next day, the back of her head and her bruises aching like there was no tomorrow. She sat up and was really confused when she found that she had no idea where she was.

She stood up, a little too quickly she found out, and very disgracefully tripped over something that had been laying right beside the couch. She'd been tripping a lot lately, actually.

"You know… it's really a shame that I don't wake up with this view every morning," someone said beneath her. Kagome stood up quickly, her face red with embarrassment and anger.

"Pervert."

Yusuke was lying on his back, a small smirk on his face and his hands laced together behind his head.

As Yusuke got up, Kagome continued to look around the room, not moving an inch.

"We're at Kuwabara's," Yusuke supplied, as if he had known exactly what she was thinking. "His sister lent a hand last night when you were hurt. Speaking of which… do you fucking believe me now when I say that you shouldn't walk alone around here!" He wasn't shouting, but he was pretty damn close. His volume level was just a little higher than normal.

Kagome rolled her eyes at his words before sitting back down on the couch.

"In any case. You alright?" he asked. His only response was a quick, curt nod, but she supplied him with a small smile.

"Breakfast is almost ready!" a cheerful voice screamed. In walked Kuwabara, clad in a bright pink apron and matching oven mitts.

Kagome giggled at his appearance and the redhead's attention turned to her.

"Hey, Kagome! How ya feelin'?" he asked. She hadn't known him for very long, an even shorter length of time that she had known Yusuke, but she already got the impression that he was a nice guy. A little strange, but a nice guy nonetheless.

"I'm fine. Perhaps you can get Yusuke off my back here, though," she asked, shooting a glare at the Spirit Detective.

"Excuse me for worrying!" Yusuke yelled, but immediately regretted it. He saw the surprised looks on both Kagome and Kuwabara's faces and avoided all possible eye contact.

"You were worried?" Kagome asked timidly. Yusuke could feel all the blood in his body rushing to his face.

"Nope. Not really," he replied casually. For the second time already, Kagome rolled her eyes at him.

"Where's your restroom, Kazuma?" she asked. Kuwabara pointed to the hallway.

"Down the hallway, second door on your right."

Kagome nodded in thanks before standing up and disappearing into the hallway.

"She looks bad," Kuwabara stated obviously.

"No shit, there Sherlock. What do ya want me to do about it?"

"Be nicer?" he suggested, but received only a glare in return.

"No. It's not my fault the dumbass went out and nearly got herself killed last night," Yusuke grumbled. He ran his hand through his unusually messy black hair and sighed.

"Why care? I thought you said you weren't worried about her, Urameshi," Kuwabara reminded him. Yusuke cursed mentally, knowing that his usually dumb friend was finally making some sense.

Kagome flinched when she gently touched her black eye. Well, technically, it wasn't black, but it was a pretty sick looking bruise. She was thankful that her cheek didn't look as bad as it felt, and inwardly thanked Kuwabara's sister for bandaging her wound so well, though she never had a chance to meet her properly.

She tried in vain to make her hair look a little better, but the matted blood in the back was making things a little difficult. She was in desperate need of a shower.

"Open the door! I gotta take a piss," Yusuke demanded from the other side, as he knocked on the bathroom door.

Kagome opened it and exited the bathroom without a word, or even so much as a glance to Yusuke.

As she headed down the hallway and she passed by a room that had the most extraordinary and appealing scent to it. She had no choice to stop. She peered into the room and nearly burst into laughter at the sight.

Kuwabara was in front of the stove dancing as he continued to flip the pancakes on the pan, all the while using the turner as a microphone, singing Liz Phair's "Why Can't I".

"WHY CAN'T I BREATHE WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT YOU! WHY CAN'T I SPEAK WHENEVER I TALK ABOUT YOU! IT'S INEVITABLE! IT'S A FACT THAT WE'RE GONNA GET DOWN TO IT!-"

Kagome knocked softly on the door-frame in an attempt to get the poor guy's attention and perhaps get him to keep at least a shred of his almost nonexistent dignity. But, in fact, when he turned around, he didn't seem embarrassed at all that she had caught him singing to one of the sappiest songs ever created, but smiled and gave a small wave instead. He was more comfortable in his own skin and happy to be himself that anyone she had ever met.

"Hiya! Bacon's on the table, I'm almost done with the pancakes now!" he said excitedly. He turned back to the stove, all the while humming the same song under his breath.

"Do you need help with anything?" she asked. Kuwabara immediately, but kindly refused her offer so Kagome sat down at the table. She wanted to go see Inuyasha, but feared that he would be more aggravating than Yusuke at the sight of her injuries and decided otherwise. She did realize, however, that she still needed to go to her new school and pick up her uniforms. She was due to start at Sarayaski High the next day.

"Kazuma? I don't suppose you would mind coming with me to Saryaski High to pick up some uniforms, do you? I have a feeling that Yusuke wouldn't be too excited about going with me," Kagome explained, twiddling her thumbs.

"Well, I'm not excited, but I definitely don't have anything else better to do," Yusuke's voice suddenly rang. He sat down in a chair next to Kagome, who avoided his eyes.

Kuwabara gave Yusuke a disappointing glance as he set a plate of pancakes on the middle of the dining room table.

"Look, Kagome. I'm… sorry for… yelling."

Kagome looked up, a smile immediately gracing her face.

"Was that really so hard?" she asked cheerfully, poking his cheek playfully.

"Honestly? Yeah, it kinda was," he replied, as he put much more food than was needed for one person on his plate, while Kagome grabbed what was probably considered less than enough.

Kuwabara sat down near them, the pink apron and oven mitts now finally absent from his hands.

"You know anyone else that goes to Saryaski?" Kuwabara asked Kagome, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Nope, not really. Doesn't that make you feel special?" she asked in return, grinning.

Yusuke smiled ever so slightly at her antics, and mentally wondered how she was able to remain so happy, even after what nearly happened the night before. He wouldn't dare bring it up, though. He refused to be the one that brought despair crashing down on her again.

Only about five minutes after they started, they were all finished eating, Kagome thought about something.

"Oh! Before we go pick up my uniforms, I need to stop by my place quickly. I'll only be about ten minutes or so," she informed them. Yusuke grumbled under his breath but nodded and they prepared to leave.

"I wanna come too! Can I come? She asked me first, Urameshi!" Kuwabara said quickly. Kagome nodded, and quickly informed him that he was able to come.

"The more, the merrier," she added with a smile.

"Kagome, Inu- . . why hello there!" Shiori greeted, her face turning red. She had started to tell her that Inuyasha was waiting for her in her room, until two guys had walked in directly behind her.

"In me? What's in me?" Kuwabara asked worriedly. Shiori and Kagome ignored his comment.

"Kagome, dear! What on Earth happened to you?"

Kagome waved her off, looking sheepish.

"I'll… be right back! Stay here! Don't follow me… " Kagome said suspiciously, and a little goofily as she ran in another room.

"Inuyasha!" she whispered loudly after she had shut her bedroom door. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Shit, Kagome! What the fuck happened to you! Who did this!" he yelled, much louder than the high pitched whispering that Kagome had used seconds before.

"Shhh!" She put a finger to her lips, her eyebrows drawing together. "There's other people here!" she said, still whispering. Inuyasha muttered a small apology under his breath before examining her injuries.

"Who did this? One of those guys out there?" he asked angrily. Kagome shook her head.

"No, so don't go and attack them or anything. Just calm down! It was all taken care of," she explained, as she began to rummage through her drawers for a new outfit.

"Is the dumbass that did this dead?" Inuyasha asked, folding his arms over his chest. Kagome shook her head.

"No, he's not dead, but he got the crap kicked out of him," she informed her half-demon friend.

"Then it's not taken care of," Inuyasha retorted. As she passed by him, he was able to catch a scent; most likely of her attacker. "I'll get back to you later, Kagome."

And just like that, he was gone.

The scumbag that had attacked Kagome was easy enough to find, and better yet, he was alone. No one to claim that a freak with 'kitty' ears, as they had been called so many times, had killed this guy. It was a playground, but no children were found here today; the air was sticky and humid, and the sky was filled with angry looking clouds.

The guy was very punk-ish looking, in Inuyasha's opinion. He didn't even look that tough; granted, Kagome wasn't exactly muscular herself, so it wouldn't be hard for a guy like this to take advantage of her.

"Hi there, friend," Inuyasha said coldly. The man froze in his steps, not bothering to turn around.

"What do you want?" he asked monotonously.

"Your life sound reasonable?" the half-demon asked casually. At this, the guy turned around and saw Inuyasha. His eyes widened as he eyed Inuyasha claws attatched to his flexing fingers, and the evil, sadistic smirk on his face.

Inuyasha smirk only grew as he put his claws mercilessly around Mikamoto's neck, causing him to grunt in pain. His feet were dangling from the ground, and his arms flailed desperately in any attempt to get Inuyasha to loosen his grip on him.

"Did Kagome scream for help? Did she try to run away when you were beating the living hell out of her?" he growled. It was if he had known everything that had taken place and now, it gave him great satisfaction knowing that the roles were reversed. Now, this guy was the one that was getting hurt out of someone else's satisfaction.

"P-please-"

"You hurt someone that I deeply care about. It was the biggest fucking mistake of your miserable life," Inuyasha said, noting that Mikamoto was getting less and less lively by the second. "Luckily, it's ending now. Your life, that is," he finished. Finally, the last breath of the gang leader exited his lips and his eyelids drifted shut.

Inuyasha's grip on his neck released and watched with satisfaction as his body fell to the ground roughly.

And then, at that moment, it began to rain.