Disclaimers: I don't own Devil Does Exist or Devil Beside You - the manga and drama that this story is based on.


The Joke's On You

Chapter Two: A Moment's Consolation

Sw33t-Sorrows

She gripped the strap of her bookbag tightly as she waited before the student council office. She knocked a few seconds ago, hesitantly. She could hear people taking inside the room and she began to panic. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest and her breaths came out ragged. She sucked in a breath when the door swung open.

"Oh, hey Kagome." Kouji said as he stood in the doorway.

"H-hi."

"So, what are you doing here? School's out."

"Actually, I came to talk to you." Not once did she look at him. Kouji kneeled so he could see her face, and smiled.

"What about?"

"About...well, you see Kouji, I..."

What if I don't get the answer I want? I can't do this. I can't. Kouji will probably think I'm weird or something. She turned away from him as her thoughts ran through her head. But what if I do get the answer I want? No, I have to do this. Sango is rooting for me! I can't lose to Inuyasha!

"I've liked you for a really long time!" Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and practically screamed her confession.

"Kagome, actually..." Kouji scratched the back of his head. Great, he's going to reject me. "I like you too." Kagome spun around and faced him for the first time. She gave him a beaming smile while he laughed nervously. "So...what now?"

"Um, I don't-"

"How about you go to the Gackt concert with me this weekend?"

Kagome couldn't believe her ears.

Kouji checked his watch, Kagome was ten minutes late. To be honest, he got impatient pretty fast. But he was happy that Kagome told him her feelings. If not, he didn't think this would ever be happening. He didn't have the guts himself to tell her that he has had a crush on her for quite a long time now. Kouji looked to his left to see Kagome running towards him. "Sorry I'm late!" He smiled as he realized she was all dressed up for the occasion.

"That's okay, you-"

"Lookin' good." Kagome and Kouji turned to see Inuyasha walking in their direction.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome screamed.

"Well, I was talking a walk around. I saw Kagome here in a hurry. And she looks awfully nice, so I just wanted to see where she was going." Inuyasha smirked at the horrified look on the girl's face. Inuyasha sighed, "Kagome got dressed up all for you today, Kouji. I have to admit," Inuyasha stopped in his tracks as he approached Kouji's side. "I'm a little jealous." With another smirk, Inuyasha disappeared into the park.

Hours later, while Kouji was walking Kagome home, the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. "Uh, thanks for taking me to the concert. I had a really great time."

"Me too." Another few minutes of silence. "I have something to say, but I think Inuyasha beat me to it earlier ... you look really nice today." Kagome smiled.

"Thank you." When Kagome closed her front door, her smile turned into a frown. "Inuyasha, I'm going to get you!" Revenge has been sworn, she was going to get him back for ruining her date with Kouji. She was going to make him regret it, maybe he might even get on his knees and apologize? Kagome almost laughed out loud at the thought.

"So, how was your date honey?" Her mother's voice came from the kitchen.

"Awful,"

"Oh, so my daughter's at that age where she actually has a bad date?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When I was your age, I didn't care what we did, as long as I had a date."

"Yeah, but that was like a thousand years ago." Kagome laughed as she let the comment slip, receiving a gentle glare from her mother. "Alright, I'm sorry. More like two thousand years ago." Hearing her mother's own laughter, Kagome relaxed. Her mother rarely ever got mad at her. Maybe since her father died, they became closer than they ever were. They had promised each other that there would be no secrets between them. Although she was in college, Kagome didn't think of herself as a Mama's Girl just because she lived with her mom. She enjoyed being with her mother. The great thing about their relationship was that they were best friends first, before they were mother and daughter.

"Hey, go and take a shower - you smell awful. I'm not eating dinner with a skunk." Kagome paled.

"What?"

"Don't worry - I just exaggerated on purpose because you called me old." The younger woman sighed in relief as her mother gave her an almost sickening sweet smile. "Alright now, go to bed. You won't be able to wake up tomorrow morning." The night went by real fast, actually. After dinner, Kagome watched an episode of Death Note, before running off to bed.

The next morning, as she walked down the halls, Kagome rushed into the direction of her first class, although she was an hour early. "I knew you'd be in here." Inuyasha and his gang stopped in mid-conversation.

"Oh, hey Kagome!"

"Not now, Ayame. First, I have to kill your boyfriend's best friend." Inuyasha smirked from his seat, but not once did he lift his head to look at her. "Just who do you think you are, buddy? How dare you just follow me around like that! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Well you see, that's the thing. I was so bad, even she couldn't stand it." Kagome was shocked at how calm he was. "What? You here because I ruined your date with the president? You probably would've ruined it yourself, with your clumsiness or your lack of femininity."

"Why you!" Kagome stomped her left foot as she took a step closer to him. "Take that back!"

"Fine," Inuyasha reached out and took hold of her arm, pulling her even closer. "I think you're very feminine." Kagome tore her arm out of his grip, and walked away. But before that, the sound of her hand connecting with his cheek could be heard. She didn't fail to notice the shocked looks on the others' faces. Kagome could feel Inuyasha's glare as she walked out of the classroom.

Now wasn't this a great story to tell at lunchtime?

"You what?"

"Notice how we always start our conversations like this nowadays?"

"Kagome, would you act a little more serious? You slapped Inuyasha? He's seriously going to get you back this time." Sango had her hands on the table, while Miroku was listening intently and rubbing his chin. "Miroku, stop trying to look smart." Miroku put his hand down. "There's no way he's going to let you get away with this."

"Psht. What is he gonna do? Kill me?" Kagome laughed before taking a sip of her capuccino.

"Why are you so ... calm? Usually, you freak out about this kind of stuff."

"Because it's Inuyasha! Why should I care about him?"

"How about the fact that he has a crazy ex-girlfriend and he himself is crazy?"

"Crazy ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah, remember he was dating that Kikyo girl last year? I heard they broke up over the summer."

"Psht. Good. A guy like him doesn't deserve to have a companion."

"He dumped her." Sango corrected.

"Oh. Ouch. That's gotta hurt."

"Don't you remember? Inuyasha doesn't take relationships seriously. He always plays around, I wonder what his father thinks about this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, despite the fact that Inuyasha is an inconsiderate creep, his dad's a great guy."

"You've met him before?"

"Well, no. But I've seen him before. Inuyasha and his father may look a lot alike, but there's one thing that's completely different about them."

"What is it?"

"Their smiles."

"Smiles?"

"Yeah. When his dad smiles, it seems more genuine. When Inuyasha smiles, it looks like hell's taking over." Kagome laughed at Sango's remark, however, her smile faded when she recognized a familiar-looking girl. "That's Kikyo, isn't it?" Sango said, but Kagome wasn't really paying attention.

"Stop it." The girl stopped at the table and that was the only thing she said.

"Excuse me?"

"Stay away from him," When the confused look on Kagome's face stayed there, Kikyo sighed and rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha! Stay away from him."

"Psht. Tell him to stay away from me."

"Don't you get it? You're just his toy! He doesn't have any interest in you whatsoever."

"Hey! Fine by me!" But before Kikyo could go any further, their conversation was cut short when Kouji interrupted. "Kouji! Hi, what are you doing here?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

"Look, if you wanted to talk about our date yesterday...I'm so sorry Inu-" Kouji laughed and took hold of her hand.

"Not about that. Besides, being with you made me feel happy. So, I want to go out with you again tomorrow night. How's that?" Kagome could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as Kouji spoke those simple yet charming words. She found that her voice had failed her, so she nodded her head vigorously. Kouji smiled and squeezed her hand, "Alright, I'll see you then." Kagome almost whimpered when he let go of her hand and walked in the other direction. But as soon as she realized she was going on a second date with him tomorrow, she let out a victorious laugh.

"Yes!" Kagome threw her hands up into the air and jumped for joy. However, she soon found herself sitting back down on the table, next to Sango. "Hey, where's Kikyo?"

"Oh nevermind that. So are you and Kouji official now?"

"...I guess so."

It was a long day, and Kagome was relieved when the final bell of the day went off. She let out a sigh of relief as she packed up her books and made her way to her locker. "Miroku?" The said boy was leaning against the lockers when Kagome showed up. "Don't you have practice tonight? What are you doing here?"

"Uh..."

"Are you alright?" Miroku looked up to see Kagome looking at him when a look of genuine concern. Crap, how do I say this? Will this be weird? Will she accept me? Sango told me she was going out with Kouji... "Miroku?" Her gentle voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Are you sick? I could go and tell the others for you."

"No, that's not it." The girl held her books tighter against her chest as she waited for an answer from him. However, she was shocked when he suddenly shot forward and wrapped his strong arms around her. "Kagome, I know we've been friends a long time now. But I can't help it." He released her from his hold and looked her in the eyes. "Last year, when I first saw you, I knew that you were different from the other girls. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I really like you, Kagome."

"..." Kagome was speechless. She couldn't find the right words to say. Oh my God, what will Sango do to me when she finds out? "Miroku, I-"

"I know you and Kouji are..." Miroku didn't know how to finish the sentence. "But I'll be really good to you."

"But I like Kouji." She hadn't expected Miroku to look so hurt. She was silently praying and hoping that he would start laughing and tell her he was just kidding. "I'm sorry Miroku. I care about you a lot, I really do. Just...not that way, you know?"

"That's okay, I understand."

Kagome didn't know what to do. Miroku was one of her closest friends, she never knew he actually had feelings for her! Sango was going to murder her. She knew that much.

Author's Notes: Yes, Miroku just confessed to KAGOME. Weird huh? Don't worry. I have all the pairings sorted out. This will work just the way I want it to. I was actually going to write more for this chapter. But I think that this way is much better. Leaves you hanging, doesn't it? Thanks to all my readers who have been so very patient with me. I know I've been making new stories and then not updating them. And I know I always promise that I will continue them. But I really do have all of this planned out. This story is going to be one of my best achievements aside from Unfaithful, I just know it!

Anyway, please review!

Sincerely,

Sw33t-Sorrows.