Hellllo everyone! Thanks for all the awesome reviews, it really makes me feel like I'm doing well with this story :) this chapter is a little more emotional than the rest so I hope you like it. I usually write my chapters in my head at work (sounds a little funny lol) and I wrote this one a couple days ago and liked it so here it is! Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Popcorn Fights

January seemed to fly by and the student council was concerned about two things for February: fundraisers and Valentines Day. They had discussed it at their last meeting of January and wanted to raise enough money for the masqurade ball at the end of March.

Kagome had woken up a little late and grabbed her bag to meet InuYasha out front. When she hurried outside she saw the silver-haired boy leaning against his motocycle looking distraught. He hadn't talked about Kikyo since that night and Kagome hadn't questioned him again. But today he seemed annoyed for no particular reason.

As Kagome took her helmet from him and climed onto the motorcycle, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Feh," InuYasha muttered, strapping on his own helmet. "It's February 1st."

"Yeah...?" Kagome replied, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. "What's so bad about that?"

"You don't get it." InuYasha swung his leg over the motorcycle and turned it on. "It's February now. The month that girls go crazy."

Kagome thought for a moment and said, "You mean like with Valentines Day?"

"Don't say that word," InuYasha groaned, kicking back the brake stand and taking off down the road. He yelled something else over the rush of wind but Kagome didn't catch it.

When they got to school, she hopped down from the bike and removed her helmet. On her way towards the front doors as she tried to fix her frizzy hair, she heard Hojo calling her name.

"Hey Kagome!" he said for the third time, finally coming up beside her. He had a cheerful smile on his face. "How was your weekend?"

"Oh, it was good," Kagome answered. "I just went to Sango's house for most of it. How was yours?"

"It was good too." Hojo held open the front door for her and they walked inside together. "So it's finally February. This is one of my favorite months. How bout you?"

Kagome couldn't help but picture all the crazy, chocolate-weilding girls InuYasha had been so annoyed about. Somehow, she also saw Hojo in the middle of them all.

"Yeah, it's not my favorite, but I'm excited about all our fundraisers," she replied, swerving away from a potential Valentines Day conversation. "What kinds do we have?"

"You'll have to find out at the meeting today," Hojo smiled, but it wasn't as cheerful as before. "I'll see you in class."

And it didn't feel like much later when Kagome was walking into the student council room to a frenzy of conversation. She took a seat next to Rin and whispered, "What's going on?"

"Oh Kagome!" Rin's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together. "It's finally February!"

"I've been hearing alot of that today," Kagome grumbled.

"Well now we can do the Sweetheart Booth!"

"The what?" Kagome repeated, confused.

"Haven't you heard about it yet?" Rin asked, pointing to the whiteboard. Kagome looked up and saw Sweetheart Booth written in red marker with hearts around it on the board. When she shook her head, Rin grinned.

"The student council does a Sweetheart Booth every year to raise money for the spring dance. It's a booth where students can pay a certain price to send candy or a card to their sweetheart. They can either sign it, or it can be annonymous, like a secret admirer, you know? It sounds so much fun! This is my first year doing it."

"You're going to send something to Kohaku, aren't you?" Kagome gave a coy grin and laughed as Rin punched her in the shoulder.

"Listen up everyone!" Hojo called, trying to quiet the room and get everyone's attention. "We have alot to discuss today. Starting with one of our favorite events, the Sweetheart Booth."

Everyone gave little squeals of joy (all the girls anyway) because they had already done it before, but Kagome just sat there listening.

"Now, who would like to volunteer to be in charge of it this year?"

Rin's hand shot up and Hojo looked taken back by her enthusiasm. "Alright Rin." He wrote her name on the board. "Any other takers?"

Rin elbowed Kagome in the side, and the girl shrugged and raised her hand. Hojo looked delighted. "And Kagome!" He wrote her name next to Rin's. "Perfect. Well, since neither of you two have had much experience with the booth, I will gladly help you out with it."

Of course you will, Kagome thought to herself.

"How about we meet on Saturday?" Hojo said, looking directly at her. "In the gym. We can design and construct it. It needs to draw people in, and we only have a week because we set it up a few days before Valentines Day."

Kagome felt everyone's eyes on her, and she suddenly was very annoyed with Hojo for putting her on the spot. "Oh, um, sure. That's fine. But what about Rin?"

Hojo seemed to have forgotten Rin. "Oh...yes, of course. You too Rin."

"Gee, thanks," Rin mumbled.

xXxXx

When Kagome finally returned home from the meeting, she heard the TV in the living room and went to go see why it was on. She was surprised to find InuYasha sitting on the couch in front of it, bowl of popcorn on his lap, munching away. She had lived here for almost a month and it hadn't been on once.

"What are you watching?" she asked, sitting beside him on the couch.

"This show where a bunch of teams race around the world for a million dollars," he told her through a mouth full of popcorn. "It's actually kinda cool."

"Oh, I think I've heard of it." Kagome took a handful of popcorn and ate each one slowly. She glanced at her backpack on the floor beside her and let out a soft groan when she saw the Sweetheart Booth instructions poking out.

"What?" InuYasha asked, looking over at her.

"Nothing...it's just, I volunteered to do the Sweetheart Booth with Rin and Hojo wants us to meet him on Saturday. I don't know how long it's going to take."

InuYasha snorted. "Have fun with that."

"Gee, thanks!" Kagome laughed, throwing the rest of her popcorn at him. "I'll try to!"

"Hey!" InuYasha exclaimed, picking popcorn out of his long hair. "You asked for it!"

He grabbed another handful and threw it at Kagome, who squealed and hopped up from the couch. Before he could get more, she stuck both her hands in the bowl and flung them up, causing popcorn to cascade down on him. InuYasha growled and went to dump the entire bowl on her head, but Kagome dived behind the couch before he could. She was trying to steady her laughter as he came around the couch and pulled her out.

"Stop! Stop!" she said through fits of giggles, while he picked kernals off the floor and threw them at her. She tried to grab the closest kernals she could find and shove them in his face, but it didn't seem to be working. Finally, they were both collapsed on the floor, laughing and trying to catch their breath.

"Aw man," Kagome managed to say, wiping a tear from her eye. "Now I have to clean all this up."

"You started it," InuYasha laughed, setting the bowl on the table.

Kagome went to the kitchen and grabbed the vacuum cleaner and broom, and came back to see InuYasha already picking some of the popcorn off the sofa.

"You're actually going to help me?" she teased, plugging in the vacuum. "Now that's a surprise."

"Hey, I'm a decent guy y'know," he muttered, flinging one last piece at her as she laughed. "I'll vacuum if you get it off everything else."

"Okay."

As he vacuumed, Kagome finished getting the popcorn off the sofa, table, and tv stand. When she was picking it off the mantle, she noticed a dusty picture off to one side she hadn't seen before. She rubbed the dust off with her sleeve and was taken aback to discover it was a portrait of a beautiful woman. Her long, raven hair flowed down her back and over her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. She had soft, blue eyes that seemed to be boaring into Kagome, reading her soul. She was dressed in a lovely pink and white kimono, and her smile was so sincere it almost hurt Kagome to look at it.

InuYasha's mother.

She hadn't thought about the woman in years, and there seemed to be no other pictures of her in the household. Maybe it was too painful for InuYasha or his father to see her. It had been ten years after all.

Kagome remembered her as being very gentle and caring, but she was sick often and stayed in bed most of the time. Still, she loved InuYasha with all her heart and was always there to greet Kagome or her parents whenever they came over. She baked them cookies all the time (InuYasha's favorite, snickerdoodle), and took them to the park or carnival.

The day she went to the hospital - up until the day she passed away - was one Kagome was surprised to find she still remember so well.

xXxXx

"Look at that one InuYasha!" Kagome squealed, pointing to the little brown squirrel that was running along the sidewalk below them.

"Maybe that's his brother!" InuYasha exclaimed back.

They were sitting on the long flight of steps that led to the Takahashi temple. Their parents were having lunch and chatting about a new business loan InuYasha's father was interested in. Kagome's father worked for him and so he usually came over to discuss such matters, bringing his wife to socialize with Mrs. Takahashi while the men talked. The children often played outside, or, like today, sat on the steps taking turns pointing out funny things they saw go by below them. Today they had been spotting different animals and giving them names.

"Let's name him Nao," Kagome smiled, her short black hair bouncing as she jumped up and down.

"No, Clifford!" InuYasha retorted. "I like that name. If I had a dog I would name him that!"

"Eww, that's a weird name!"

Suddenly, Kagome's mother was calling her name frantically. "Kagome! Kagome, honey, where are you?"

"I'm down here mama!" Kagome hurried up the steps and saw her mother running towards her, looking panicked.

"Oh dear, come with me now. We're going home. Where's InuYasha?" Mrs. Higurashi asked worriedly, looking around her.

"He's down there too." Kagome turned just as InuYasha came into view from the steps.

"InuYasha, sweetheart, come here," Kagome's mother said gently, as the small boy approached her nervously. They could both sense something was wrong.

"Mama, what is it?" Kagome asked softly, confused.

"InuYasha, your mother is very sick right now and needs to go to the hospital for awhile. So you will be staying with us for a few days," Mrs. Higurashi tried to manage a comforting smile but Kagome could see the pain behind her eyes.

For the next few days, InuYasha stayed with the Higrashi's, and neither one of them would mention anything about his mother. But Kagome often found them whispering in the kitchen or talking quietly on the phone.

Then, after almost a week, InuYasha's father came and took him to the hospital to see his mother. Kagome never knew what happened, because after that, her father was telling her that Mrs. Takahashi had passed away. Their family went to the funeral, and Kagome saw InuYasha and his father standing side by side, staring blankly at the casket that was being lowered into the ground. Neither said a word or shed a single tear. Maybe they were out of tears, out of words.

Kagome wanted so badly to reach out to InuYasha, to comfort him, take his hand and tell him she was here, that she would always be here. But he wouldn't look at her, and they never played together again. Her father transferred firms and she never saw InuYasha Takahashi again. But sometimes he came up in her thoughts, and she always wondered what had become of him and his father.

xXxXx

"Are you done with the mantle yet?" InuYasha's voice came over the roar of the vacuum cleaner. He shut it off and unplugged it, wrapping the cord around the handle. Kagome shook her head to clear it, but when she sensed him come up behind her she quickly pretended to be picking up the rest of the popcorn. But he had seen the picture.

"Oh," his expression clouded over and he turned to take the cleaning items back to the kitchen.

Kagome dropped the kernals into the bowl and stared after him. How often did he think about her? Miss her? Wish she was still here? Her pain was still so fresh that she still cried at night, but his was almost a decade old. Did it ever really stop hurting?

When he came back and sat on the couch, blankly looking at the tv, Kagome took her seat next to him and gulped.

"InuYasha...do you miss her?"

He didn't reply at first, but then answered her question with another question. "How can you miss something you hardly remember?"

"I remember her," Kagome said softly, glancing at the picture. "She was always so kind to me. And caring. Like a second mother."

InuYasha was quiet. She wondered what he was thinking about and hoped she hadn't upset him. It must be difficult to remember, because remembering brought memories. Memories of hospitals, his mother's frail figure, his father distancing himself.

"I knew she was sick alot, but I never thought she would actually leave me," InuYasha began slowly, causing Kagome to look up at him. "Now it really is like I can't remember her. And it's hard."

Kagome nodded, fighting the tears threatening to spill over. "I'm so sorry InuYasha. I know how much she meant to you."

For awhile neither of them said anything more, just stared at the muted television and thought about their mothers. The clock ticked away the minutes, and Kagome soon became aware of the massive amount of homework she had. She stood up.

"I'm just going to go sho-"

"Wait," InuYasha said, grasping her hand and looking up at her. "Don't leave yet...please."

Maybe it was the pleading look in his eye, or the achingly adorable way he had reached out to her, or the feel of his hand in hers, but Kagome slowly lowered herself back down on the couch and nodded, scooting a little bit closer and not saying a word.

And they stayed like that until Kagome realized InuYasha had dozed off. She smiled and rose to her feet, carefully slipping her hand out of his. He hadn't let go the whole time. She reached for the worn woven blanket on the opposite couch and laid it over him, making sure to tuck it in around him so he would be comfortable. She turned off the TV and then stood there for a moment, watching his even breathing, and the way his chest rose and fell.

She didn't know what came over her, but she slowly leaned down and kissed his lightly on the forehead, pushing the silver strands of hair out of his eyes.

"Goodnight InuYasha," she whispered, and quietly left the room, turning off the lamp as well.

When the door to her room was shut, a slow smile spread across InuYasha's face.

"Goodnight Kagome."

xXxXx

Well? Did you like it? Review and let me know! :) I'm thinking I will update once I've reached 50 reviews. Sound reasonable? I know, I'm greedy but I can't help it! Lol. I tried to make this chapter a lil longer too cuz I feel like they've been short lately.

Now time to thank my lovely reviewers!

InuYashaLuverDuver - Wow can't believe I made you faint! ;)
Dead-Phsyco - Here's your update! :)
Lady Elisabeth - Awww your review made my day! :) thank you so much!
PermanentlyFrozen - I like how you worded that, thank you! I'm trying to develop his character the right way so that feedback was great :)
PolarBlue - Thank you ^-^
nasiamarie88 - Thanks so much! :D
ChannelForsk - I know right :( I don't like Kikyo either!
Oh Jiru - Well thank you very much! I try my best :) and we are very excited about getting married so thank you!
Black and White Kirara - You will def be seeing more & I'm glad I have your interest!