AN: Hey guys! Love the way the stats are looking right now! Thanks so much to all who read the story, and special thanks to my three reviewers, kitsune-snuggler12, emeraldd30, and KiraraKitty08!

Inuyasha woke up in the morning, Sesshomaru shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and waved his brother off. Sesshomaru ruffled his hair and tickled behind the ears, just the way Inuyasha liked. Inuyasha squirmed in pleasure as the scratches intensified. Sesshomaru finished the scratching and walked out of the door, signing as he left. 'Mom has breakfast ready downstairs, but she has to leave soon. Say goodbye before she goes, you know how much it means to her.

Inuyasha nodded back. He stood and stretched his arms high above his head. Sesshomaru closed the door tightly as he left. Inuyasha huffed and went to his dresser. He sifted through all the trinkets he had collected to the bottom of the drawer and pulled out his other shirt. He yanked it over his head, watching out for his ears (they were very sensitive), and rushed out the door, not bothering to change into his second pair of pants. He launched down the steps and swung around, suddenly stopping as he neared his other, who was holding a pan of hot eggs.

Her eyes brightened, and she hurried to set the eggs down so she could sign. 'Are you all ready for school today? I thought it would take you longer to get ready!' Inuyasha nodded his head. 'Sessho said that you were almost ready to leave for work! I wanted to say good morning before you were out the door!'

Izayoi laughed lightly, though her son couldn't hear it. He frowned for a moment, then grinned back at her. 'Well, thank you for the thought, hon. Good morning, Yasha. I have eggs all made up for breakfast now, so dig in honey. School starts in half an hour, so you'll need to leave here in about twenty.' Inuyasha knocked the air near his right ear twice in agreement. His face was already filled with food and he didn't want to anger his mother by not minding his manners.

Izayoi approached him and kissed the top of his head, scratching his ears gently. She grabbed her coat from the back of a chair and walked out of the door. Inuyasha finished his eggs in no time flat and washed the plate. He grabbed his jacket from the small closet next to the door and turned to the stairs, where he had felt the vibrations of Sesshomaru on the stairs. Sessho also had his jacket and bag on, ready for the day.

They walked out the door together and down the sidewalk. In five minutes, they were standing at the school. The menacing, rusted gates didn't faze them any more, as they strode by a girl waiting just outside. They walked calmly to the courtyard, splitting up. Sesshomaru walked over to a black-haired girl and a short, squat demon with a beak. Inuyasha nearly ran to his friends.

There was Miroku, a lecherous monk-in-training, Sango, from the demon slayers' village, and Shippou, a small fox demon. Miroku was once again trying to reach the forbidden 'no-no zones' of Sango, the girl's eye twitching. Shippou stood back as Sango spun on her heel and slapped him across the face.

Inuyasha waved as he neared them. Sango lost the homicidal look and smiled enthusiastically at the hanyou. His silver hair had turned back by the morning, leaving him slightly drained. They were all glad to see him okay, especially after his 'certain night'. They had worried that something might happen to him when he couldn't defend himself.

Sango wrapped her arm around his shoulder and walked with Inuyasha to their little group, keeping him between Miroku and her. Miroku frowned at the subtle rejection, but only for a moment. They exchanged words to finish their earlier conversation and

Shippou jumped on Inuyasha's back, scampering away from the swipes as Inuyasha furiously tried to brush him off. He launched off of Inuyasha's shoulder, knocking the boy forward. He stumbled, and Sango watched as he fell, hard, on his head.

Inuyasha groaned silently, holding his head as he got to his knees. It wasn't bad, but he thought he might have felt blood on his hand. He felt a tap on the shoulder, and lifted his eyes to meet angry brown ones. They seemed slightly concerned, but he ignored it. He turned away, but was shocked when he felt a hand spin him around to face the angry girl again, her mouth moving at a fast pace.

Kagome arrived at the school a few minutes before the bell rang. She paused at the gates, the rusted spikes somewhat (very) intimidating. She followed two other students as they fearlessly walked through them, avoiding the scary metal. She stood off to the side to wait for the bell to ring. She was new today, and didn't know anyone. "Ah, well. I can meet people in classes today. I can wait till then."

There was something about the younger boy that she had followed in. She couldn't stop watching him interact with his friends. He didn't seem to say anything, but they acted like he was an active part of the conversation. She stifled a giggle as the little one scrambled all over him. Then she was stifling a gasp as she watched him pitch forward, hearing the crack of his head meeting the pavement of the courtyard.

Kagome rushed forward to his side. "Hey, are you alright? Come on, what's wrong?" She was slightly worried when he didn't answer, but sighed as he sat up. "Hey, you had me- are you even listening to me? Hey, buddy!" She tapped his shoulder indignantly. He snapped his head up, looking at her questioningly. He looked for a moment longer, then stood and turned back to his friends.

Kagome froze at the sight of those eyes. They were a glowing, deep yellow, like liquid gold. She felt she could see her own soul reflected in his eyes. It frightened her greatly.

When he stood and turned, ignoring her, she lost her temper. She grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around despite the recent knock to the head. He looked surprised as she met his eyes furiously. "Hey, you! I'm talking to you! Don't just turn around and ignore a person when they are just making sure you are okay! That's very rude!" She continued on for a minute, not noticing the bewildered look on his face.

The boy's friends gathered around him, the other boy's hand on his shoulder. The girl grabbed his hand tightly, squeezing it when Kagome got particularly loud. The fox demon jumped at his chest and snuggled closer as the boy's free arm came up to support him. Kagome did not realize that the entire courtyard had gone silent during her rampage, and that everyone was staring at her, anger evident in their eyes.

As the entirety of the student body gathered around them in a circle, she finally slowed her rant and quieted down.

"Uh… what?" She said, ever so eloquently. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the silver-haired boy that the kid with the ears walked in with burst out of the crowd, fury in his eyes. He pushed her to the ground, crouching in her face.

"Were you just yelling at my brother?" He said with eerie calmness. Kagome could only nod, finding her voice had abandoned her. "And why, pray tell, were you doing that?"

Kagome stuttered for a second. "W-well, I was trying to make sure he was alright, 'cause he fell and all, and he just turned and ignored me! I wanted to tell him how rude it was to do that."

The boy stood and pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He sighed and said, "I hope you know how to speak sign language, because that is the only way you are going to be able to tell my deaf brother how 'rude' that was.

Kagome's eyes widened considerably, realizing why he didn't react. She turned to face the deaf boy and started to tell him she was sorry, but stopped midsentence. She put up her hand and started to slowly fingerspell. A little finger in the air, pause, fist-with-thumb-on-the-side and thumb-between-ring-and-little-finger, pause, fist-with-thumb-in-front, thumb-meets-all-four-fingers (in a circle), crossed fingers, crossed fingers (again), thumb-and-pinky-fingers-extended.

'I am sorry.' The boy tilted his head at her, then grinned. He signed too quickly for her to follow, and Sesshomaru had to translate.

'Why? For getting all red-faced? It was pretty funny, actually.' Kagome felt heat rush to her cheeks once more and opened her mouth to say something.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Inuyasha is one of the most known students here, even if he is not the most popular. One wrong move, and you are all alone until you graduate. You don't want that now, do you?"

The speaker was a slightly-taller-than-Kagome girl, and she made Kagome feel as if she were looking into a mirror. They were wearing different clothes, but they looked almost exactly the same. But this girl's eyes were cold and calculating, not at all like Kagome's warm brown ones.

"Inuyasha? Who's that?" Kagome stared dumbly at the girl.

"The deaf one is Inuyasha, genius. His brother is Sesshomaru, and I am Kikyou. The perverted monk is Miroku, the little demon is Shippou, and the girl with them is Sango. Now that we've all been introduced, why don't you tell us your name, newbie?" The girl, Kikyou, smirked as Kagome stumbled over names.

"Inuyasha, Kikyou, Sessh- What is his name? Sesshomaru? Okay, Miroku, Shippou, and Sango. Easy enough, other than Sesshomaru. Okay, My name is Kagome Higurashi. I just moved here from Tokyo, where my mom and grandfather ran the Higurashi Shrine. I'm really sorry for the mix-up, I didn't know that he was disabled." She bowed slightly.

Shippou jumped up in her face at those words, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Inuyasha is NOT disabled! He's deaf, not stupid! He is just as smart as any other kid here!" Sango came from where she was behind Inuyasha and snatched Shippou's collar, dangling him from her grasp.

"Now, now, don't be rude, Shippou. We don't want her to yell at you, too." She glared at Kagome, the insinuation stinging like a slap to the face.

Surprisingly, Inuyasha came forward and offered her his hand to shake. She took it shyly, still hesitant about the boy. He was strange, with the long silver hair, glowing golden eyes, and cute little puppy ears on top of his head. Though they didn't perceive sound, they twitched with his emotions. The crowd started to disperse, the drama over for now.

After he let go of her hand, Kagome felt another presence behind her. Her hair rose, and she nearly squeaked in fright as she spun on her heel.

"So, has someone been beating up on our resident hanyou?" A voice rumbled menacingly.

Miroku stepped in front of Inuyasha possessively. "And what do you want, Kouga?"

AN: A slight attempt at a cliffie, poor, but whatever. Keep pressing that nice little button down there, guys! Nearly screamed when I saw the reviews last time! Goodnight!