I Don't Own Inuyasha Or any of the Characters…

Enjoy!!

Chapter 2

Soon, Kagome was fully equipped, changed into a borrowed pair of linen pants and a green blouse, and was facing Inuyasha. After seeing how tightly he held his katana, she lost all interest and began looking at her whip. In a moment, she heard heavy footsteps running towards her. Kagome simply jumped into the air and did a back flip, landing on her feet. She never took her eyes off her whip. A small smirk came to her lips when she heard Inuyasha fall flat on his face. Kagome looked up when she heard him coming again. When he lunged at her, she calmly stepped out of the way and wrapped her whip around his neck. Then, she pulled back, and Inuyasha fell on his back, face up. Kagome leaned over him and commanded, "Sit boy." Inuyasha stared up at her, trying to realize what exactly had happened.

"Let me go!" snapped Inuyasha as he pulled at the whip around his neck. Kagome watched him and thought for a moment.

"No," she responded with a large smirk. Then, she began walking. Her whip pulled Inuyasha to his feet. All of a sudden, a growling arose from her pet and Inuyasha turned into a large dog, just like his father, but smaller. Inuyasha came to eye level with Kagome instead of towering over her. The dog lunged at Kagome and managed to pin her to the ground. The girl, however, did not seem fazed. Instead, she shrugged and said, "Fine." Then, she slowly untangled the whip from his neck. When Inuyasha didn't get up, she followed his line of vision to where he was looking. Kagome's shirt had been pulled back to show more cleavage than before, and it was causing drool to drip from the dogs jowls. The girl, outraged, cuffed the dog on the muzzle. He yelped and jumped off of her. Kagome got up and dusted herself off, fixing the neck line of her blouse. "Let's go for a ride. Aisa hasn't gotten any exercise," she suggested.

"I'll stay in this form. I need the exercise too," said Inuyasha. Kagome shrugged and swung herself onto Aisa.

Then she took off shouting, "Keep up if you can!" Inuyasha barked playfully and followed. Sango giggled softly to herself as she saw the bond between Kagome and Inuyasha. Kagome narrowed her eyes as she drew farther and farther away from the dog. She was drawing closer to the bushes lining the property of the castle, to her freedom. If she could just jump over them, then she would be free. Sure she liked being here, but it wasn't here she couldn't let anyone find out who she was. Kagome was only about twenty feet from the bushes when a blur jumped over them, coming towards her. She pulled Aisa up to a halt just in time to keep him from smashing into the creature in front of her. Kagome's eyes narrowed when she saw a dark brown wolf in front of her. Its large size and blue eyes, told her that it was a youkai. Kagome turned around when she heard Inuyasha growl.

"Go away Kouga," he barked.

The wolf stalked around Aisa and said, "Who is this?"

"None of your…" Inuyasha began.

"Kagome," she said, interrupting Inuyasha in order to introduce herself to Kouga.

Kouga's head moved closer to Kagome's and he growled appreciatively, "Well, aren't you a pretty little thing. Let me change into my other form." He breathed in deeply, commit her scent to memory. The wolf stepped away and shifted into a human. He had a high, dark brown ponytail and blue eyes. His body was strong but lean and he was just a bit taller than Inuyasha. His tan skin was covered with just a baggy pair of linen pants and no shirt. He looked up to Kagome and bowed lightly. "I am Kouga, prince of the wolf youkai."

"Pleased to meet you," giggled Kagome shyly as Kouga took her hand and kissed it.

"Buzz off, Kouga," snapped Inuyasha, now in his human form. He was a good couple of inches shorter than Kouga, but with his heavier build, he was still very intimidating.

Kouga blinked at him and asked, "Is she your mate?"

"No!" yelled both Inuyasha and Kagome together.

"Well then," Kouga began, pulling Kagome into his arms, ignoring her yelp of protest, "you won't mind if I take her." Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, but before a single word could pass through those lips, a slap resounded in the field.

"Let go of me!" shrieked Kagome, wiggling herself free of Kouga's grip. She hit the ground with a grunt and immediately her eyes widening with fear. "I'm sorry." Kagome began to back away from Kouga. The youkai raised a hand to the darkening hand mark on his cheek. His eyes were hidden behind his bangs. Kagome was shocked when a smile spread across Kouga's face, and he started laughing.

"You are some woman!" he laughed reaching out a hand to her. Kagome stared stupidly at it for a minute before grabbing onto it and allowing herself to be lifted to her feet. "I would like to invite you to my ball tomorrow night."

"Well, I… I… don't have a… a… date!" Kagome stuttered, relieved as she finally found her excuse.

"I'll take you," offered Inuyasha as he took her hand, pulling her towards him. Kagome blushed and opened her mouth.

Just as she began to speak, Kouga spoke up, "Don't worry about it, Inuyasha. I will be happy to have her as my mate… I mean date."

"No, no, she's my guest here. I will take her," stated Inuyasha, losing his patience. "It is my responsibility to make sure she is safe and if anything happens to her it would be my fault." Although it was the truth, Kagome couldn't help but feel upset by the fact that Inuyasha was only asking her out of duty. It wasn't that she liked him… she doesn't like anyone… she just wanted to be wanted.

"I'll fight you for her," smirked Kouga and he stepped back into a fighting position. Inuyasha smirked and moved into a defensive position. As Kouga leaped at Inuyasha, Kagome snapped her whip as his nose. The wolf stopped and began rubbing his nose.

"What did you do that for?" growled Inuyasha.

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed as she told them, "I can choose who I want to go with by myself." She strolled up to Kouga and rubbed him behind his ear. After he was calm, she told him, "I think I'll go with Inuyasha." A puzzled woof was heard out of Inuyasha when he heard this. However, Kagome ignored him as she said goodbye to Kouga.

"If you ever need a place to come, my lands are open to you," he offered as he jumped over the bushes and left.

"Why didn't you go with him?" Inuyasha snorted at Kagome.

"Because, sir, I am your guest. I am your burden," she said smoothly before hopping back onto Aisa and leaving.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered knowing Kagome couldn't hear him, "You aren't a burden. I would love to spend the night with you." Although the words had come out of his mouth, Inuyasha was still slightly shocked by them. He decided to walk back to the castle, so he could think.

Unfortunately, Kikyo heard his statement. A scowl overcame her pale complexion as devious plan hatched within her head. "He will be mine," she growled before making her way back to the castle.

After a few minutes, Kagome was back at the stables. She was relieved to find that only Sango was in there. She looked up from brushing a red dun horse to watch Kagome come in. Then she asked, "Back so soon?" Kagome just nodded. "What'd you guys do?" There was a small giggle in Sango's voice.

"I met Kouga," stated Kagome bluntly. Sango smiled, knowing from years in the castle that when Kouga showed up, Inuyasha was bound to get into a fight.

"Did he invite you to his party?"

"Yeah, but I decided to go with Inuyasha," stated Kagome nonchalantly as she let Aisa into his stall.

"Mhm," nodded Sango, "Wait, what!" Her head snapped to look at Kagome. Could she really have convinced Inuyasha to take a date to a dance, much less Kouga's?

"Well, they started to fight…" Kagome began.

"We need to go shopping!" squealed Sango.

"I don't have any money," reasoned Kagome.

"Undyne will be happy to pay for it. Come-on lets go!" Sango grabbed Kagome's hand and dragged her towards the gardens near the stables. "Undyne! Undyne!" Sango called, still holding Kagome by her forearm.

"Over here Sango!" called a woman in a soft but stern voice. The fair woman was wearing a light yellow and pink conservative dress. It had a modest neckline and a large, full skirt. She had long, straight black hair and vivid gold eyes. "What is it you girls want?" asked Undyne, not lifting her eyes from her painting.

"Well, Kagome agreed to go with Inuyasha to Kouga's party and she needs a new dress," giggled Sango.

"No, really ma'am, it's okay. I can…" began Kagome sheepishly. However, her words were halted when Undyne stood.

"I will buy you a dress," stated Undyne. She looked at the sky and nodded affirmatively. "Well, it's still early. I think we should all clean up before going. A bath should be ready for you, Kagome." A smile slowly spread across her face as Kagome dashed off towards the guest house. Kagome smashed open the door and broke into an array of giggles at the sight of steam rolling from behind a screen in the back of the room. It had been several years since she had had a warm bath. Without thinking about the broken, open door, she immediately moved behind the screen and sunk down into her bath. A small sigh escaped her lips as the warm water lifted her hair off of her shoulders and fanned it around her. Finally deciding she was safe, Kagome dipped her head under the water. The soothing of the water caused her to ignore the person at her door.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called. His voice was filled with worry after seeing her door shattered. When he didn't get a response, he walked inside. Inuyasha looked around the room before his eyes landed on a screen in front of him. Behind the screen, he could barely make out a dense lump. "Kagome," he whispered urgently. He ran around the screen and stopped dead. His eyes bulged in his head as they made contact with her body. Kagome, at that point, lifted her head out of the water. The first thing she saw was Inuyasha staring at her.

"Get out!" she hollered as she threw a nearby ceramic plate at him. Inuyasha didn't even move to defend himself as it hit him square in the middle of his forehead and shattered. However, it did knock him out of his stupor and he scurried out the door. Kagome couldn't get the blush off of her face as she finished cleaning herself up. Before leaving the bath, she took a deep breath and silently prayed that no one would see her. Then, she finally lifted herself out of the water and got dressed. Kagome passed off the dresses for her now clean leather pants and white blouse. She felt more secure as she tied her boots and pulled her pants down over them. Then, she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. Her eyebrows furrowed as two small pieces of hair fell from her pony to frame her face. Kagome took one last deep breath before stepping out from behind the screen. She jumped when she saw several servants repairing her door.

"Sorry if we startled you my lady," apologized one small man.

"It's ok," said Kagome, "Thank you for fixing my door." They just nodded and continued working.

"Kagome, dear, are you ready?" asked Undyne from outside the door. Kagome just nodded. "Well then, come along." The girl was ushered out of the door and towards the stables. Aisa whinnied happily at Kagome as she approached his stall.

"Are we riding?" asked Kagome hopefully.

"Yup!" giggled Sango from the back of her dun horse. Kagome smiled and slipped a bridle onto Aisa. "You might want to put on a saddle too. You may need to carry your own dresses home."

"Dresses?" questioned Kagome, "But I only need one."

"I believe Naraku is also having a party soon. You will be expected to come, especially since he's the one that spoke up about your social standing as a lady," reasoned Undyne. She didn't notice the look of distress that passed over Kagome's features. The girl shook her head before throwing a saddle over Aisa. Soon, they were one their way to the dress maker, a large woman called Kaede.