A/N: Here is the next chapter! I hope you like it!

Stewieformayor: I am watching them on hulu. I can't put a link but it's there! Google it if you must!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Takahashi is so damn lucky!!!!

Chapter 13: Rivals and Whisperings

"Sango! Stop spying on me and Inuyasha!" I screamed into the air, knowing full well that Sango was somewhere behind me.

"Alright already! Sheesh," She came out from behind the bush that had been rustling for at least five minutes. You'd think you'd keep still when you're trying to spy on someone. I shook my head.

Since the day Inuyasha and I had told them we were going to start dating, everyone had been hovering over us like hawks. Right now, Inuyasha and I were outside in the school garden. We had the same lunch period so we decided to spend time with each other. We had been cuddling until I heard the bush rustle.

"You too Miroku,"

I heard him groan from behind the big tree near where we were sitting at. When would they learn you just couldn't hide from me?

"How'd you know I was there?"

I rolled my eyes. "Luck. Or maybe it's because I know you don't travel without Sango," I eyed her and saw her blush just a tiny bit. Miroku stood next to her.

Next thing you know, he's on the ground with a huge red mark on his face.

"Miroku! I told you to stop!" Sango screamed. Miroku just rocked on the ground, probably from the pain.

"The pain hurts but it was worth it," He whispered to himself, but not low enough. Sango grew red and she stomped away. Miroku scrambled up, running after her.

I laughed. "When do you think those two will get married?" I asked, nudging Inuyasha. He shrugged, and we watched their figures fade away.

"Whenever we do I guess,"

I blushed, but Inuyasha didn't notice. Since we had started to date, Inuyasha had been implying that he wanted to get married. And to me no less! My heart fluttered with hope each time.

I didn't spend four years after him for nothing.

He snaked an arm around my waist, and I let him pull me closer. The garden was beautiful, like always.

I peeked at a corner and saw someone with gardening supplies.

The gardener!

I sat up immediately, causing Inuyasha to frown. He held me hand.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. It's just that gardener. Who is he?"

I felt Inuyasha squirm a little. "You sure you won't tell?"

I nodded, my head bobbing up and down. "Of course not!"

He glanced around and then pointed to the gardener. "That's my brother, Sesshoumaru, but don't tell him I said it!" He stood up, me with him.

"Why not?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. " 'Cause he has this cold, I-am-better-and-could-kick-your-ass kind of attitude." He glanced at his brother who was now walking toward us. "I could take him, but I really don't want to get into here at school," He pulled me toward the school doors before his brother could come close.

But I saw him watch us as we walked inside.

Once we entered the building the lunch bell rang, signaling class time. I sighed, not really wanting to go to class, but since Inuyasha had it with me, I think I'd survive. Inuyasha held my hand.

"Kagome, watch out." He warned, glancing toward Kikyo, who was rapidly approaching us. I gripped his hand, ready for the slander I knew Kikyo would throw.

To my surprise, she didn't even acknowledge me. I turned around when she passed us.

"That was weird. I'd thought she'd be all over me," I turned back, facing the hallway.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Maybe she finally realized that she had to get over me,"

That kind of made sense.

Only that this was Kikyo we were talking about. She wouldn't get a hint if you shoved it in her face.

"Maybe. . ." I said, though my tone of voice implied that I didn't agree. Inuyasha shrugged. He probably wouldn't understand the rivalry Kikyo and I had.

But he's a guy, what'd you expect?

We walked in our class and sat down, him in front of me. I took out my notes as the teacher called the class to attention. I didn't notice someone slide into the room.

"Students, we have a new student in our class. His name is Takeshi Terra,"

I froze, dropping my pencil.

Oh please god let it not be him . . .

I forced myself to look up, and sure enough, there was that Takeshi guy, staring right at me with his bewitching violet eyes. He smiled right at me.

It sent a shiver down my spine.

I crouched lower in my seat, hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice the empty chair next to me.

"You can sit in the seat near Higurashi,"

Damn.

I tried not to look at him as he sat down. I could see Inuyasha eying him, watching him as he sat down next to me. If only he were telepathic I could tell him to GET ME THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS GUY.

Breathe, Kagome, breathe. You don't want to end up hyperventilating.

"Why Kagome, I see that you are well." He spoke. I kept my gaze to the front of the class room.

"Are you ignoring me now, Kagome?"

Keep looking ahead. KEEP LOOKING AHEAD.

Takeshi reached over to touch my hand.

"Now darling, why would you ignore me like that?"

I opened my mouth to say something but Inuyasha cut me off.

"Get your hands off her," He hissed, throwing a deadly glance toward Takeshi. He only smiled.

"Ah, so you are dating the infamous Inuyasha Takahashi." Inuyasha's hands clenched.

Infamous?

"Shut the hell up before I have to do it for you," His glared daggers at him. I laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Inuyasha, calm down." He glanced at me, grunting.

"Whatever,"

He turned back around and so did Takeshi. What was up with this guy anyway? Why didn't he just leave me alone, in peace with myself?

I sighed. School was about to get much more interesting if he kept doing that. The whole rest of the period was made up by Inuyasha throwing glares at Takeshi, to which he only responded with a smirk.

Thankfully, the bell rang and I stood up so fast that I almost fell. I tripped over my own shoes and fell backwards. I braced myself for the hit.

But it never happened. Instead, I found myself in the arms of Takeshi and I opened my eyes to see a fuming Inuyasha.

"Now, Kagome, you should be more careful with yourself," He murmured into my ear. I tried to get out of his grip, but he held on.

"You could do so much better than him, Kagome." His voice was like velvet as he continued to whisper in my ear. I couldn't move from him. He had me trapped in his iron grip. "Why not me?"

"Get your hands off my girl!" Inuyasha wrenched me from Takeshi's grip, making me fall back against him. He pushed me behind him. "If you touch her one more time I swear I'll kill you." His growl was undeniable.

Takeshi smirked. "Oh yes, you probably would. You have the connections, don't you?"

Inuyasha clenched his fists again, his knuckles turning white from clenching hard. Just then, people started to congregate near us. I pulled Inuyasha's sleeve.

"Let's go, Inuyasha." He looked over and saw the worried look on my face. Thankfully, he listened to me.

"Keh. Let's go then. I don't have time for guys like him." He pulled me away by my hand into the hallway. I glanced back but Takeshi was gone.

"Kagome, I don't want you anywhere near that guy." Inuyasha growled. I gave him a side glance.

"Trust me, I don't want to get involved with him."

Inuyasha pulled me closer and buried his face in my hair. I sighed, content.

"I'm sorry I got so angry back there." He sighed. I glanced at him. "It was just that he was holding you. . . I guess I got carried away." He smiled a small smile. "Forgive me?"

I laughed. "Inuyasha, of course. I know you only got jealous." I hit him playfully, squirming from his arms. I ran ahead a couple of steps.

"What? I wasn't jealous! Who would be jealous of that guy?" Inuyasha yelled, though his blush told me otherwise. I smirked. He had gotten jealous. That's why he defended me so vehemently. I smiled.

"Are you sure, Inuyasha?" I giggled while he stuttered. I walked into class by myself. This was the only period Inuyasha didn't have with me. Inuyasha stood outside, a look of confusion on his face. I was very, very, very tempted to laugh, but I think that might have been pushing it.

I didn't see Takeshi the rest of the day so when I left for work I was in a much happier mood.

That is, until Sango reminded me why I hadn't been in a good mood in the first place.

"Who was that guy that Inuyasha got so mad at after lunch?" Sango asked, sticking the key into the ignition. I groaned.

"Does everybody in this dang school know already?" I blew the hair in my face away. What could a girl to do have a private life in this day and age?

Sango shrugged. "I heard it from across the hallway. Inuyasha has a very loud voice," She looked pointedly at me, as if I was the cause.

"Sango, don't give me that look! I calmed Inuyasha down, didn't I?" I crossed my arms, while Sango laughed.

"Alright, then." She sighed and looked at the clock. "We better get going or we won't get there in time." Sango revved the engine and pulled out.

I sat there watching the scenery and replaying the almost-fight scene in the classroom. What was it that he had said? Something about Inuyasha being infamous?

Nah, he couldn't be. Or could he?

And didn't he say, when Inuyasha threatened him, that he had the connections to do it? I frowned. How would he have connections anyway? Inuyasha wasn't that kind of guy. . .

"Kagome! Come on!" She hissed, throwing me the new uniform that had been in thrown in the back seat. I sighed and got out the car, the new uniform draped over my arm. Once inside, I raced to the bathroom, beating Sango to it.

"Kagome!" She banged on the door. Hopefully, this was tank proof.

"You snooze, you lose Sango!" I laughed. I heard her shuffle and move away. I was safe for now.

I examined the new uniform. The top was now a bright red shirt with short sleeves, and the store's logo on the front. What surprised me was the matching skirt with it. When I put it on, it reached about an inch above my knees.

I shrugged. As long as no one stared too long, I could live with it.

I walked out, hurrying to my register. I bumped into Kurena along the way.

"Kagome! I'm glad I ran into you," She adjusted the papers in her arms. She continued, smiling. "I need a favor to ask you, Kagome. I'm training Miroku on your register so if you don't mind helping Ayame stock the shelves? I know you guys are friends so that's why I asked you."

I nodded my agreement. I mean, nothing could happen stocking shelves right? Even with my luck, I could manage.

"Sure,"

"Great! I'll give you a bonus in your check, okay?" She patted my arm as she walked away. I sighed and turned left, to the storage rooms. I opened the door, but I saw something more than just carts.

"Ayame! What are you doing with Kouga?!" I screeched. Ayame had been making out with Kouga just now, like really making out. It looked like they were eating each other's faces.

"Kagome! I didn't know you here!" She replied a little too enthusiastically, smoothing her hair. Today she had gone with darker colors. Ayame wore a dark purple shirt and a black leather jacket. She had on skinny jeans and her regular written over converse. She had on the new red apron over all of it.

"Kurena sent me to help today. They're using my register to train Miroku," I smiled. Ayame thought it over and smiled. "Okay! We just got some new flowers in so you can sort those, but we do need those cans over there on the shelf before the flowers." She pointed to boxes toward the right.

"I'll do those first, then." I clapped my hands and walked toward the boxes. They were pretty heavy and since I had a skirt on I opened the door and called inside.

"Kouga! I need you help with the boxes!"

Kouga glanced from the stuff he was already loading and shouted, "Coming!"

Soon, all the boxes were moved to the shelves where I could put up all the cans. They were all sorts of sizes so I decided to start with the small ones. A lot of small ones could hold up the fewer big ones right?

As I started to stack them, people passed me by. I could hear them muttering about different things, like how their life was and all that jazz. But one comment came to my ear much more louder than the others.

"You heard about that Higurashi girl?" An older woman whispered to her friend. The other woman shook her head. "Well, I heard from my granddaughter that she is dating Inutaisho's Takahashi's son! Can you believe that?"

I slowed the pace of my stacking as the comment went through my mind. The woman beside her gasped.

"Really? Well, I certainly would watch my back. I heard his son was worse than he is," The old woman narrowed her eyes. "It's even said that he killed his own mother! Can you believe that?"

I watched as the other woman shook her head and tsked. By now, I had stopped stacking. The women walked away, gossiping about other trivial things. I had three conclusions with these comments.

First: How the hell did people know about Inuyasha and I dating?! Did the world have no zipped mouth?

Second: Where did all these rumors come from? Were they true? Inuyasha could never have killed his mother. . .

Third: Why was it bothering me so much? I mean, Inuyasha would have told me about it right?

And then it dawned on me.

How could I have been an idiot? This must have been the reason he didn't want to talk about his father! Well, if Inuyasha thought I couldn't find out for myself then he was mistaken.

I finally finished staking the smaller cans and I only had one big one left. I sighed, knowing I would have to pick it up myself since Kouga had already gone for the night. I bent down and grasped the can with all my might. I was able to lift if up and put it on the top.

"There!" I wiped the imaginary sweat off my brow. I turned around but then I heard something. I glanced back and saw the cans fall. The bigger one fell and rolled to the other stack of cans, effectively knocking those down.

I watched in horror as the cans that had fallen create a domino effect.

I really wanted to die.

"Ah!" I ran to the horror scene before my eyes, the big can kept rolling and everyone stared as I ran toward it. I gasped as I saw it's new course.

"The glass vases!" No not the vases! It would totally deck out my check and then how would I pay the bills? I ran and was able to stop in front of the can. I lifted a foot placed it on it in triumph.

"Ha!"

I was about to put my foot down, when someone pushed me from behind. I fell forward my arms sprawled in front of me. I landed face first on the cold tile floor but I didn't get that hurt. I sighed in relief.

Until I heard a snicker behind me, that is.

I suddenly realized, with sudden horror, that I was wearing a skirt. And could fell the breeze on my backside.

"Let's see you chew on that, Higurashi!" Kikyo yelled from behind. I turned red as I saw guys pass and immediately stood up, smoothing my skirt behind me. I was beyond pissed when I turned to Kikyo. I marched right up to her. Her smirk irked me even more.

"You better watch it, Kikyo. You don't know what you're up against!"

She laughed, flicking her hair with a small movement of her hand. "Oh really?"

I smirked, crossing my arms. "Just you wait."

"What's going on here?"

I froze, slowly turning around to face Kurena. I looked sheepishly at her. She shook her head.

"Can't leave you alone for more than five minutes, can I?"

I hung my head. Man, I was so hopeless I couldn't even stock shelves. Kurena would surely fire me now.

"And what are you doing here, Miss Kikyo?" She said, her voice as hard as steel and as cold as ice., She immediately became serious as she regarded Kikyo.

"You should fire her, Kurena. My father ordered you before, didn't he?" Kikyo crossed her arms again, all traces of her smile wiped form her face. She was serious, as far as I could tell. Kurena raised her head.

"And like I told your father, I won't do it!" Her voice was raising, "You should leave before I call the police on you for assaulting one of my employees," She glared straight at Kikyo and I saw her back down. She adjusted the bag she had with her and threw Kurena a contempt look. Then she glanced at me, her eyes cold and her voice even.

"You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into, Kagome. Soon, you'll see nothing is as it seems." I watched as she left the store, her head held high.

What did she mean by that?

I sighed in frustration. Everything had to happened to me today, didn't it? I practically embarrassed myself in front of half the population. I heard shuffled steps and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Kagome, don't worry. I would never fire you because of her," She moved her head in the direction Kikyo had left it. I felt reassured and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Kurena."

She smiled and retreated her hand. "Then I guess you won't mind cleaning all this up, right?"

I groaned. Trust Kurena to do that. I bent down and started to clean, but one question burned in my head.

What had Kikyo meant with her words? I didn't know exactly but I had a feeling I'd found out soon enough.

A/N: Well here you go guys! I'm sorry it took so long. At the last minute, I decided to add that last scene in there. I got review saying that I should have more humor, so I decided to do it. I'm sorry if any of you guys thought it was getting too serious, so feel free to tell me that! I am trying to please you guys.

Inuyasha the final act: I SAW THE LAST EPISODE! IT WAS EPIC!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it's over but I'm not sad because where Takahashi's dreams end, ours start. So I will firmly continue all my stories! Woot!

And please check out "Defying fate"! I know some of you have already so thank you. It was just updated today and I was the one who wrote the whole chapter (because I couldn't resist) so please read and review it! I check the review and it would mean so much to me!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!

-Daichilover