wk: Okay, so I finally finished this chapter. (Grins) I like this chapter pretty much, and I hope y'all like it too.

Chapter Five
Will You Be Mine?

After Inuyasha showed up, Sango made up an excuse about a forgotten dentist's appointment (As if Kagome didn't know what she was doing; it was the oldest excuse in the book), and left as quickly as Kouga had. Inuyasha clucked over Kagome like a mother hen, poking at her shoulders. Thankfully, Kouga's claws hadn't broken the skin, but left it bruised.

Kagome sighed when Inuyasha finally deemed her whole and healthy. "I guess you can come over to my place," Kagome bit out. "It was supposed to be Sango, I hope you know." Inuyasha grinned.

"Are you going to feed me?" Inuyasha asked, carefully looping his arm around her shoulders. Kagome rolled her eyes, although she was inwardly touched by his concern for her.

"I don't know. Should I?" Kagome asked scathingly.

"Hey! I don't know why you're being so bitchy. I saved you."

"I could have handled it by myself," Kagome grumbled. Inuyasha snorted.

"Yeah, maybe in between his shoving his claws into your shoulders and trying to force you to come with him, you could have tickled him enough so that he could let you go," Inuyasha said sarcastically. Kagome understood his lack of faith in her abilities against a demon, but she still resented it.

She faced him completely, and poked him in the chest. "You don't need just physical strength to take care of someone," Kagome bit out. Inuyasha shrugged.

"Well, someone stupid like you probably couldn't handle the mental capacity it would take to do that."

"Shut up! I'm not stupid, you—" She stopped, taking in a deep breath. Giving a false smile, she began to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going? You still need to feed me!"

"Kagome, who is your friend?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, setting a few dishes on the table and glancing at the silver-haired boy in the living room murdering a glowering Souta on the video games.

"Um… I'll tell you later, Mom." Unfortunately for Kagome, Mrs. Higurashi got the clue.

"Oh my gosh! My little girl has a boyfriend!" Kagome saw Inuyasha look over from his spot on the sofa, a smug smirk on his face. Her face probably resembled a strawberry.

"Moooooommmm!" Kagome whined, pushing her mother out of sight from the doorway. "Would you quit! He's right there!" she hissed. Mrs. Higurashi chuckled, giving Kagome an infuriating pat on the head.

"All right, dear. Is that where you got your cell phone from?" Mrs. Higurashi moved subtly to once again look at the young boy in the living room. "He must care about you a lot—"

"The dumb oaf probably doesn't have that word in his vocabulary," Kagome growled.

"Well, remember, you're the one that's dating him, too." Kagome never had any bad feelings towards her mother, but she was starting to feel irritated at her mother's insight, as any normal, teenage girl would. She jumped a little when she felt an arm go around her waist, pulling her into Inuyasha's side. To her utter humiliation, he gave a peck on the cheek. Kagome's mother of course smiled knowingly and turned away to get some more dishes. Kagome hissed and thumped her palm onto his arm awkwardly. Inuyasha gave a noncommittal grunt, and pulled Kagome towards the table.

Souta came in then, still scowling at Inuyasha. "I still can't believe you beat me on Street Fighter. That's supposed to be my game!"

"Not anymore, kid. You can't defeat the champ," Inuyasha said grinning.

"Such children," Kagome muttered. She was shoved into her chair haphazardly by Inuyasha for her witty remark. "You bas—"

"You wouldn't want to cuss in front of your mother, would you?" Inuyasha asked, a smug look on his face. Kagome seethed in her chair and her mother turned to her.

"Kagome, I hope you don't curse in school or anywhere else for that matter," Mrs. Higurashi said sternly. Kagome sighed.

"No, Mama." Mrs. Higurashi set the food on the table, sat down herself, and said a quick blessing before declaring that they "dig in."

Silence settled before Mrs. Higurashi decided to break it. "So, Inuyasha… How did you two meet?"

Inuyasha grinned. "Oh, it was a real battle once our eyes locked. Kagome ended up falling hard for me."

"Yeah, on the floor," Kagome muttered scathingly. Inuyasha decided to ignore this.

"Your daughter seems to have a penchant for attracting trouble," he continued, to which Kagome nearly choked on her food.

"Excuse me? Are you talking about me?" she asked incredulously. Inuyasha nodded in a grave manner.

"She even flirted with another guy, making him believe he had a chance for her," Inuyasha said mournfully, his ears drooping for effect. And, of course, Mrs. Higurashi fell for it. She turned to Kagome.

"Kagome, I can't believe you did that! I never knew my daughter was a… a…" Mrs. Higurashi's lips tightened into a firm, thin line. "I did not raise my daughter like that."

Kagome threw a silently chuckling Inuyasha a glare. "I know Mama. I didn't do that, he's just blowing it out of proportion because he's a jealous dork."

"You're the one with two other men on the side," Inuyasha said, almost lazily. Mrs. Higurashi seemed to regain parental wrath when she heard this.

"What? Kagome!"

"Ah! No! He's making it sound all bad! They like me, but I don't like them!" Kagome said. Mrs. Higurashi's nostrils seemed to flare. Kagome cringed. Her mother was rarely angry like this.

"That's even worse! Just how many boys are you leading on by the nose?" Kagome gulped.

"I swear it's not like that Mama! You know me!" At that, her mother seemed to deflate and blink, coming to herself. Inuyasha was nearly beside himself with amusement. Kagome sent him a deathly look and kicked him under the table. Or she thought she did, but heard Souta let out a sharp exclamation.

Rubbing his shin, he glared at Kagome. "What'd you do that for? I'm not even saying anything stupid about you today!"

"Kagome, stop harassing your brother."

"Aargh!" The world seemed to be against her today, and she only continued to eat in silence, refusing to look at Inuyasha. When they were alone, she would say the "sit" word again… and again… and again…

"Hey! Hey! HEY!" Inuyasha said next to her. Kagome pointedly ignored him, saying hi to frightened neighbors instead. Inuyasha continued at it, until Kagome thought she would burst from anger.

"WHAT!" She snarled. Inuyasha, seemingly satisfied, threw his arm back around her shoulder. She shrugged it off. He frowned, but didn't try it again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Inuyasha asked.

"You!" Kagome burst out, stopping and turning to him. Kagome's mother, noticing the one-sided tension between them, had declared that they needed to walk around the neighborhood to work off lunch. Kagome personally thought her mother was secretly sadistic and wanted to see someone get killed , because there was no way that he was going to get out of this alive. "Sit!"

His face went down, and it was a good thing he had been walking on the edge of a lawn, otherwise he might have had a broken nose.

"What the fuck was that for?" he snarled, lifting his head.

"You made me seem like some kind of two-timing bitch to my mother!" Kagome bit out. Then, to Inuyasha's utter horror, tears formed in her eyes. She quickly turned and walked away. Inuyasha struggled against the rosary, rising to his feet and quickly running after her.

"Oy! Hey! OY!" Inuyasha ran up beside her and caught her arm. She kept her face turned away from him. "Hey, why are you crying about that? It was just a joke, I promise!" he said desperately. Kagome gave a wet laugh when she heard the panic in his voice.

"Sorry. I'm overreacting," Kagome said, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"I won't joke like that again," Inuyasha promised, and when Kagome looked up at him, laughed at the fierce determination on his face. "But… Why did you overreact like that?"

Kagome sighed. "I suppose everyone has their stories." She continued to walk, and he followed, his hand coming down her arm to hold her hand. As surprised as she was by this, she was glad for the silent support.

"When I was little, my parents had a huge fight one time. Only later did I realize it was because my father had cheated on my mother." Kagome sucked in a breath. "It actually wasn't that big. He just kissed another woman. But my mother is loyal to the core, and this was nearly unforgivable. Thank goodness my mother forgave him. He never went astray again, but she never, never forgot that for even a moment, his mind went to another woman." Kagome shrugged. "They still loved each other very much to the very end… But my mother never fully trusted him again, not really, although she said she did."

Inuyasha was silent. He didn't know what to say. He was sorry, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. Instead, he gave her hand a squeeze, and she seemed to accept the silent apology, squeezing his hand back.

"Hey, let's go get some ice cream," Inuyasha said suddenly. "It'll make you feel better, and it'll give me something to do."

"Okay!" Kagome exclaimed brightly, smiling at the idea of ice cream.

"We can go to this one ice cream store on the corner… It has outdoor chairs, so we can sit and eat."

"Sounds great! Let me just tell Mama, and I'll be right back!" Happy and nearly bouncing with joy again, she pulled away from him to run back to the shrine. Inuyasha let go of her hand only reluctantly, and watched as she began to run up those endless stairs.

Oh, this was bad. This was extremely bad if he was willing to bend over backwards to keep a girl happy. He would have to distance himself. He wondered if he could as he saw her trip on one of the stairs and cry out as she fell and skinned her left knee. Sighing and smiling ruefully to himself, he started up the stairs to help her.

The next day at school, Kagome was frowning. She had her hair braided again, and was carrying all of her books by herself. She had yet to see Inuyasha that day. Since she had not seen Inuyasha at the bottom of the stairs, she had waited until the last possible moment before reluctantly going to the subway station to get to school on time. She shifted the heavy books in her arms, her frown nearly cementing on her face when she saw a girl rudely point at her, gaping before excitedly turning to an occupied friend to tell her she had just seen "The Girl" that Inuyasha was dating.

Dating my ass, Kagome thought viciously. The boy hadn't even called her to tell her he wouldn't be picking her up today. Not that she was disappointed… She could have gotten to school earlier to study some more for her quiz today if he had picked her up, that was all! And she refused to call him.

Somebody bumped into her, and sent one book flying. She juggled with her other books for a while before they were stable. When she bent to pick it up, a foot that slammed on top of it prevented her from doing so. She looked up to see a sneering girl.

"You need to get away from my man." She was the girl that had been occupied with her locker while her friend had openly gaped and pointed at Kagome. Kagome's brow rose. She was still crouched.

"Excuse me?" Kagome asked. "The last time I checked, he was going out with me."

The girl's sneer grew wider with disdain. "Well, you're obviously outdated, because I was with him first."

"Uh-huh. He must not have liked you as much as me then, seeing as he dropped you for me," Kagome snapped. The girl flushed with anger.

"Do you know who I am?" she hissed. Kagome rose to her full height to face the girl full on. She was glad to see she was several inches taller than the other girl, making her look up to her.

"No, and nor do I care. Get. Off. My. Book."

The girl's eyes narrowed. "No."

Kagome's own eyes narrowed. "Fine." She was in an already bad mood, thanks to Inuyasha, and this was his fault, too! The girl was fighting with her because of him, and he wasn't even around to defend her! Damn him!

Kagome shoved the smaller, petite girl off of her book. She normally wasn't so aggressive, but dammit, she was pissed. The girl shrieked as she took several step backs to regain her footing. At this sound, everyone in the hall within hearing seemed to gather closer. The girl's hands balled into fists before opening to reveal claws. Manicurists apparently were also trained to make weapons.

"Bitch!" she shrieked before leaping with her hands outstretched towards Kagome. Suddenly, however, it seemed as if she was snatched out of midair.

"What the hell's going on here? Why are you attacking my girlfriend?" Inuyasha asked of the tiny girl he held up by the blouse.

"Inuyasha-senpai, she attacked me first!" she simpered. Inuyasha raised his eyebrow at this.

"I would, too, if you were standing on my book and challenging me like that," he said. The girl's eyes widened.

"I… Inuyasha-senpai…"

"I told you Lilly. There's nothing here for you. Go and get a life." He dropped her unceremoniously on the ground. He picked up Kagome's book and went to her. Kagome felt warmed by his defense of her, but she was still slightly irritated by that morning. She snatched her book out of his hand.

"You didn't pick me up today." She was pouting. She hated pouting! Now she was going to seem like that Lilly girl; a simpering, bumbling, complete moron. Inuyasha seemed to blanch at that. Kagome instantly got rid of her pout, chastising herself for even letting that slip. However, Inuyasha thought he had seen nothing hotter in his life. She had been standing there, in her short school skirt and her long braid, she seemed like a fantasy come to life once her full bottom lip had poked out.

Dammit, he was trying to distance himself from her, not get turned on by her!

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Well, damn. It looked like he was actually going to try to stick this relationship out. Still, she didn't have to know that. "I thought you might need the exercise."

"You thought… What!" Kagome was instantly incensed, throwing a book at him. He caught it easily. "Do you want me to say 'it'?" Kagome hissed. Inuyasha's amused smile instantly turned into a look of such utter horror that Kagome decided she wouldn't do it anyway… Not in front of people, at least.

"Ah… Kagome, we need to talk about that…" Inuyasha instantly latched onto her arm, dragging her down the corridor. People moved out of their way, excited whispering surrounding them.

"Maybe they're having a fight!" Kagome heard two girls whisper excitedly. She scowled, and panicked when Inuyasha tried to pull her into the boy's bathroom.

"Um… Excuse me, but I think this is the boy's bathroom! And class is going to start soon!" Kagome shrieked. Inuyasha only shrugged, threw her over his shoulder, and strode inside the bathroom. The boys using the urinals stared in amazement for a moment, before quickly zipping up and leaving. Inuyasha waited until all the stalls were empty before turning to her.

"I don't want you using that word in front of other people," Inuyasha snarled.

"I wasn't going to!" Kagome defended herself testily.

"Yeah right! You probably enjoy having that power over me!"

"If I wanted to say it in front of other people, I would have already! So shut up!" Kagome hissed. The warning bell rang, and they immediately heard moving laughter and the shuffling of feet in the hallway. Miraculously, no one entered the bathroom. When Kagome turned to leave, Inuyasha grabbed her by the arm.

"Look, bitch. I just want you to take these beads off. They won't come off no matter how hard I try!"

"I don't want to." Kagome stubbornly crossed her arms and made another effort to leave the bathroom. He again held her back. She was starting to get even more pissed. "Look! I have Mrs. Fujikawa right now, and if you don't let go of me, I'm not going to make it to class, and she'll humiliate me in front of class again… Let go of me!" She wrenched her arm free and ran from the bathroom. "Ass!" she yelled back at him.

"Bitch!" she heard echo after her. She made it to class scant seconds before the bell rang again. Mrs. Fujikawa gave her a dark look, and she felt a little happier, knowing she had triumphed over her math teacher at least once.

She sat down in the seat in front of Hojo, and sadly noticed that he still refused to look up at her. Had he really liked her?

What was with all the sudden male attention anyway? She had Onigumo, Kouga, Hojo, and Inuyasha to contend with. Of course, she only really liked one of them, but this was exhausting. She didn't have problems like this back where she had come from.

"Did everyone bring their calculators for the quiz?" Kagome reached one hand into her book bag without looking down, and her hand rooted around. Anxiety grew in her when her hand didn't find the familiar curve of her calculator. She lifted her book bag onto her lap, thoroughly checking. The anxiety turned to dread when she realized she had left the calculator at home.

She gave a tiny moan of despair. Something sharp poked in the back, and she jumped a little before turning around, half-expecting to get stabbed.

"Here's an extra calculator, Higurashi. Use it, and you can return it to me tomorrow," Hojo whispered out of the side of his mouth, pushing it towards the elbow that the teacher couldn't see. Kagome crossed her left arm over to reach underneath her right shoulder. The calculator slid into the hand and she watched Mrs. Fujikawa carefully. She whipped it onto her own desk just as Mrs. Fujikawa turned around with the quizzes. She would have to thank Hojo profusely, later.

"Thank you so much," she whispered, turning her head a little to the side as if the pencil sharpener was riveting. She received no answer, but she didn't expect one as Mrs. Fujikawa's glare passed over the entire classroom. She passed out the quizzes.

"Okay, you have twenty minutes. Start now."

Kagome realized she would have died without Hojo's calculator. Thank goodness he had an extra one. Too bad Inuyasha wasn't as considerate, that ass.

When she was finished, she went to the front of the class to turn it in on the steadily growing pile of quizzes that were finished. Hojo's was already there. She went back to her seat, smiling at him as she sat down. He gave a tentative smile back. She tucked the calculator into her book bag, seeing as Mrs. Fujikawa's fierce gaze was on the classroom the entire time.

When class was over, she waited until they were down the hall before giving him his calculator back. "Thank you so much. I wouldn't have known what to do if you hadn't had an extra calculator." Hojo blushed.

"It was no problem, Higurashi." Hojo gave her a shy smile. "Maybe we can—"

"Oy! I had to sniff you out!" Inuyasha growled, running up to them. Kagome sniffed.

"I didn't want to wait for you, jerk."

"I don't know why you're angry at me when you're the one that is keeping… that… over my head!" Inuyasha snarled. Kagome only gave him a cool look. She turned back to Hojo, effectively cutting Inuyasha off with a delicate cold shoulder.

"As I was saying, I thank you very much, and I'll see you in math tomorrow." She sidled up to him and gave him a quick hug before Inuyasha or Hojo could react.

"What… the… fuck?" Inuyasha hissed, watching Kagome bounce away. He turned to Hojo, who was starting to sweat. "Keep the fuck away from my girlfriend. If I so much as see one finger on her--!" Inuyasha didn't finish. He just abruptly turned away and ran after Kagome. Hojo couldn't help but feel as if he had escaped with his life. So was Inuyasha serious about this one? If that was true, he really had no chance whatsoever with Kagome. Still, maybe…

Hojo slapped himself on the forehead. Did he have a death wish? Inuyasha was never serious about a girl before. That only meant he would be even fiercer over Kagome. He whined and complained in his own head, walking to his next class.

"Sorry about running out on you yesterday. I just figured you and Inuyasha could spend some time alone."

"Traitor." Kagome would have been okay with it normally, but her bad mood with Inuyasha was starting to permeate to others.

"Did you two have a disagreement?"

"Only every other second," Kagome growled.

"What happened?"

Kagome sighed. She really couldn't fault Inuyasha being angry with the beads. It limited him, and she was sure a person of his arrogance and ego couldn't bear to have anything controlling him.

"Nothing… I suppose I have to apologize to him." Kagome sulked, putting on her tennis shoes with a pout.

Sango, being the good friend she was, changed the subject. By the time they had reached the track and begun to stretch, Kagome's mood was better again.

"Yeah! Can you believe him? So I said—"

"Miss Higurashi! Come here please!" The teacher barked. Kagome started, but slowly walked to her formidable looking teacher. The teacher looked disgruntled, but was looking at a piece of paper avidly. "I have a note for your check-out. Apparently, your grandfather called, saying he needs you back at the shrine." Kagome's hand unconsciously flew to her throat.

"Did something bad happen?" Kagome asked, instantly concerned. The teacher scanned the sheet of paper.

"I don't think so, otherwise they would have told me. Now go!" Kagome took the small slip of paper and returned to the locker room, giving Sango an apologetic glance.

After she changed back into her normal clothes, she quickly entered the school to go to her locker. When she shut her locker, she nearly jumped three feet in the air. She still had yet to figure out how Inuyasha moved so silently without her noticing. Especially in an empty hallway. He was leaning against the lockers, waiting for her.

"Are you done?" Inuyasha asked, his tone clipped and impatient.

"I don't have time for you right now. My grandfather—"

"Mysteriously called the school and requested to check you out," Inuyasha drawled.

"How did you—" Understanding dawned on her. She thumped the heel of her hand on his shoulder. "You checked me out. Dammit Inuyasha!"

He rubbed the spot she had hit, but grinned cheekily at her. "I think we should finish our discussion, don't you think?"

"Inuyasha! I have homework due in classes, and—"

"You can always turn that in tomorrow. Besides, you have an excused check out."

Kagome, momentarily stymied, fought to come up with another excuse. Finding none that would work, she sighed in defeat before turning to Inuyasha.

"What did you have in mind? And can I hear how you imitated my grandfather?" Kagome asked, amusement seeping into her voice.

"No."

"Oh, come on. I didn't know you were one for making such an effort to get people out of class. Inuyasha, I want to know how you did it."

"Simple. I called in as your grandfather."

"Right, so imitate him."

"No."

Kagome couldn't quite hold in a chuckle. "However did they believe you?"

"You just gotta know how to lie."

"Hm. How reassuring. I'm dating a liar."

Inuyasha arm came around her waist. "Baby, you're dating someone that got you out of classes so he could walk all day in the park with you."

"Yeah, and argue with me, and eventually, get me so angry that I storm off into the distance."

"Yeah, but you'd only get so far before I picked you up kicking and screaming, and take you to the nearest hot dog vender."

Kagome sighed with a smile. "Wow. So romantic."

"You bet your cute little ass. Now let's go before any of the teachers come out."

Kagome chewed her lip nervously, thinking through the consequences. "What if we get caught?"

"We will if you insist on standing there like a ninny. Now come on, wench!" Inuyasha grabbed her wrist, pulling her after him.

Kagome followed willingly, until she remembered that morning. "Hey! Wait a second!"

"What?" Inuyasha snarled, turning to her.

"Why didn't you pick me up today? I don't want that 'Because you need to lose weight' crap either."

Inuyasha remained silent for a moment. "Personal reasons, Kagome. Maybe I'll tell you about it another time," he murmured. Kagome blinked. He sounded serious. Maybe something had happened with his family that morning. "Now come on! I'm serious! If I get caught, it's on you!"

"Why on me?" she demanded, automatically miffed. He took her book bag and slung it over his own shoulder. Ah, the perks to having a boyfriend.

"Because you're the one standing around. Now come on!" Inuyasha began to pull her again. He hauled her outside, and practically dumped her on his motorcycle.

As he drove to the park, Kagome wrapped her arms around him tightly, staring at the back of his head.

When they arrived, Kagome hopped off, smoothing out her skirt. She took off the helmet, not caring that her hair probably looked like a bird's nest at that moment. The second Inuyasha had his helmet off, she careened into him, her mouth meeting with his, chaste, inexperienced, but inexplicably sweet. Inuyasha blinked at her.

"What was that for?"

"For getting me out of classes. I don't want you to do it again, but I didn't realize until now how thoughtful it was."

"Keh." Inuyasha felt the blood rush to his cheeks, and became mortified that he was blushing. Inuyasha did not blush. What a girly thing to do. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk into the park. Kagome cheerfully kept up, walking next to him.

"Inuyasha, can I ask you a question?" Kagome asked, and to his surprise, she drew his hand out of his pocket to hold it.

"Hm?" He couldn't resist running his fingers against hers in a subtle caress. He didn't miss her quick shivers.

Kagome hesitated to ask, a little afraid of the answer. "Have you… ever had girlfriends before?"

Inuyasha merely looked at her in question, incredulity written all over his face.

"Of course I have had—"

"No, I mean real girlfriends. One that you actually liked to date."

"Oh. Hm… Well, other than you," he tossed her what he thought was a reassuring wink and grin, "there's only been one other."

"What happened?" Kagome asked, curious.

Inuyasha sighed, not liking to tell this particular story. He took out a cigarette, but immediately put it back in his pocket at the look on Kagome's face. Wait a second. Since when did he care what other people thought? Frowning, he took it back out, and pointedly put it in his mouth and lit it. Kagome glowered at him, and he stared right back at her. In the midst of their silent staring contest, she snatched the cigarette. He groaned.

"Hey! That's cheating, and that's my money!"

"Find better things to spend your money on, Inuyasha." Kagome stomped on it… repeatedly. "I don't like cancer sticks around me, and you shouldn't either."

"You want me to stop smoking?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome gave him a "duh" look.

"Of course I want you to quit."

"Well, too bad," he murmured, taking out another cigarette. Kagome growled, and snatched that one away, too. Boy, she could be fast when she wanted to be.

"Kagome," he growled.

"Inuyasha," she mocked. She threw that one on the ground as well, stepped on it, and ground it viciously. She looked up and saw a mischievous look in his eye. She immediately became wary. "What?"

"I'll make a deal with you. An absolute fool-proof plan to make me quit."

"I buy you nicotine patches?" Kagome asked, still wary. Inuyasha's grin grew wider which only made her more cautious. "Inuyasha, stop smiling like that. You're scaring me."

Inuyasha laughed. "Every time I want to smoke and I can't, you have to give me a kiss."

Kagome looked at him incredulously. "That's what you have in mind?" she exploded, pacing away from him. "First, you avoid my question about your one serious girlfriend, and now you—"

"I wasn't avoiding bitch, we just got sidetracked by my cigarette—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. And then you demand I give you a kiss every time you have a craving? Inuyasha! That's like once every thirty seconds for a chain smoker!"

"Then you're going to have to glue your mouth to mine," Inuyasha said seriously, nearly snorting when she turned fuming eyes to him. He caught her hand, drew her struggling form to him.

"Don't you want to help me stop smoking?" he asked, his nose an inch from hers. Her lips quivered as her eyes shot down to his lips and quickly back up to his eyes. She licked her lips, and Inuyasha refused to look away from her eyes. That alone made her decide.

She gave a sigh of defeat, and Inuyasha nearly whooped, before composing himself and leaning down to kiss her. She jammed a hand against his chest, however, and he stopped, frowning.

"So you would rather I die?" he asked, incredulous. He never thought Kagome would—

"No, I would merely like to outline rules. Number one: No tongue, unless I say it's okay." Inuyasha made a noise of disbelief. "Number two: No inappropriate touching. Number three: Since this is just regular pecks on the lips, I don't want any other funny business. Okay, and I also have a question."

"Shoot," Inuyasha said in a strangled voice. Dammit. He was going to have to settle.

"What about when I'm not around?"

Inuyasha shrugged. I'll tell my boys about it. They'll tell you if I step out of line. If I smoke a cigarette… Then… I'll owe you…" He thought long and hard about it. "A kiss?"

"Not on your life, buster. I want… I want you to buy me…" Kagome smiled. "I want you to buy me a different kind of flower each time. I'm not picky. It could be a daffodil one day, a sunflower the next, a pink rose the next day, and a purple rose the next."

"Do purple roses even exist?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

"I dunno, but I'm sure purple spray cans exist," Kagome said, semi-seriously. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"I can't think of anything better. Besides, I kind of like the idea of having my room filled with flowers from the one and only Inuyasha," she teased. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"I think you're underestimating my ability to stop smoking. I doubt you'll have more than five flowers in your room at the end of this week."

"Another bet, Inuyasha?" she asked, grinning. Inuyasha blanched.

"Uh… No. One is enough," he said. Kagome laughed delightedly.

"Who's underestimating what?" Kagome asked, poking him in the side. Squirming, he grabbed her hand and pulled her close again. Before he could make a move however, Kagome said, "So what exactly happened to your girlfriend?"

Scowling, he pulled away from her. "Why are you so curious to know?" Inuyasha asked, frowning. Kagome shrugged.

"Because you're my boyfriend, and I want to know your past." Inuyasha's fang poked out as he contemplated her answer. She thought it was a very endearing look, and felt an unexpected wave of girl-hormones that urged her to forget the conversation and let him kiss her. Maybe let his fang scrape over her lip, as she knew he had done before…

Kagome quickly shook her head, as if to clear that feeling away. Unfortunately, it nagged in her memories, and at the back of her mind.

"Her name's Kikyou. She looks almost exactly like you… And before you even think it, no, I was not attracted to you because of that. In some ways, I'm still in love with her, although I know that…" he paused. "She's in America now, actually. She left around two years ago, and I never heard a good-bye or a word from her since. All I got was a letter, telling me to wait for her." He scowled darkly. "As if that's going to happen. No explanation, no word of why or when… Just a speedy departure."

Kagome was silent, then said, "What a bitch." Inuyasha whirled on her, and she saw the evidence of his past love. Or was it really in the past?

"She had a good reason. I don't know what it is… was… but she had to have a good reason for that."

"Good reason or not, you don't leave the ones you care about waiting in the dark. That's the wrong thing to do," Kagome said firmly.

"Look, just because she didn't tell me the exact reason why, it doesn't make her a bad person! She's a perfectly kind, gentle-hearted girl with the biggest capacity to love someone like me!" he spat out. And then Kagome knew. Whatever he said, he was still in love with her. Or, at least, he couldn't let go of her. Not until Kikyou herself came back and resolved everything.

It made her unbearably depressed. She should never have asked about his past girlfriends. In a quiet, subdued voice, she murmured, "You shouldn't have gone out with me, if you're still in love with her."

"I'm not!" Inuyasha growled, and felt Kagome's hand slip out of his deadened grasp. He felt the urge to grab on, and to hold on, but killed the yearning almost as soon as it appeared.

Kagome turned away from him. "Inuyasha, I'm not going to be second to anyone."

"You're not—"

"But," Kagome interrupted, "I'll be your friend until she comes back. I'll stay by your side."

Inuyasha felt the anger rise in him. He was inexplicably touched by her words. No one had ever said that to him before, aside from mindless drones. Not even Kikyou… He felt the anger because he was angry at himself. He didn't know if he was still in love with Kikyou, especially since his heart was so unresolved with Kikyou's disappearing act. Feeling uneasy and bad that he was Kagome's first boyfriend, he went up beside her and gently linked his fingers with hers, feeling the anger subside at the first touch.

"No. I want you to be my girlfriend. I don't know if I'm still in love with Kikyou or not, but no one can tell until she comes back and I see her for myself. People change, and I want to know if we changed together, or if we changed so much that we won't be able to distinguish our past selves and who we are today. Until that day comes, yes, stay by my side. But I want you as my girlfriend," Inuyasha said firmly. Kagome turned to him with wide eyes.

"Inuyasha, I told you. I don't want to be—"

"And you won't be. Kikyou's not even here. So, let's pretend you never asked about my exes, and let's also pretend that Kikyou doesn't exist, at least until she does. Okay?" Inuyasha urged. Kagome bit her lip.

So, she was going to be in a relationship with a guy that loves another girl. Could she do that? She sighed. She was going to be used and abused. Being his girlfriend until Kikyou came and he tossed her aside. She didn't think she was up for that. She looked up at his face. A big mistake, she realized, as their eyes locked.

"All right, on one condition," she said. "Don't make it a big deal when you break up with me to go with Kikyou. There's going to be enough gossiping as it is, what with us breaking up and all," Kagome said airily, as if the matter wasn't of any importance to her. Inuyasha grinned.

"That's not going to happen," he promised, and his arms went around her waist as he swung her around. As her head spun and her thoughts became increasingly distracted, one piercing thought shot through her head like a nail through wood; He's going to break that promise.

She was going to have to look after her heart carefully. After all, he was just her first boyfriend. Plenty of other fish in the ocean… Right?

wk: Hee hee... I made the ending somewhat close to the show, when Kagome said she would stay by Inuyasha's side. In mine, however, Inuyasha's different. I don't think it's that OOC, since he's never had to grow up with so much discrimination against him. He's still gruff as hell, but that's because he's the leader of a high school gang. (Winks) Ahhh, this fic is so much fun. Time to update the others as well!

Hope you liked it!