Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Author's Note: Thanks for those of you who reviewed! You guys are the reason I keep updating.

crazyfroggster8

MirrorFlower and DarkWind

moonlightshadow123

Ms.Sucker for romance

Everyone else . . . PLEASE REVIEW!!

Angel

Inuyasha was exhausted. He had spent the whole day swimming and playing volleyball. Most of the time, he was in the water with Sango, laughing at how she squealed whenever her bare feet made contact with the slimy seaweed littering the ocean floor. They raced each other, played Marco Polo, swam around without touching the ground, and held their breath as long as they could underwater.

He, Shippo, Miroku, and Sango have all arrived at the beach house at around seven o'clock. They bathed one at a time in the bathrooms, which took about an hour, mostly thanks to Shippo's long bubble bath. Then, Inuyasha ordered pizza for everyone to eat for dinner. The rest of the night consisted of playing video games with his housemates.

Sango had retired to bed around ten minutes until midnight, bidding Inuyasha a good night. She was only human, so it was normal for her limbs to be sore and feel weak.

So, now it was midnight. Stars strewn across the velvet black sky, twinkling brightly. Inuyasha lugged himself up two flights of stairs to get to his little bedroom, the attic. It was peaceful and roomy, just the way he liked his room.

He pushed open the door, shut the door quietly, and flipped the light switch on. What he saw made his breath caught in his throat. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. What was she doing here?

There she was. Sprawled across the burgundy couch, one hand splayed over her stomach and the other hanging loosely off of the couch. She was clothed in a cherry red and pearly white cheerleading uniform, which brought out her pale snow white skin. Two matching pompoms were thrown on the wooden floor, not too far from her hand. Her loose raven hair framed her ashen, colorless face. Ginger irises slowly opened to meet his amber eyes.

She unhurriedly sat up, never removing her deep russet eyes from the hanyou staring at her. She stood and clasped her hands in front of her. Her head lowered, her uneven bangs shadowing the attractive brown color of her large eyes. It looked as if she felt defeated, caught like a fugitive that committed a serious crime.

"You . . ." he stuttered. "Y--You're . . ."

She smiled softly. "I see you're surprised," she whispered, her angelic voice smooth like velvet.

"You're . . . Kagome?" he stammered, still in the state of shock.

She nodded.

"But . . . How . . . Where . . . What . . . ?"

"Are you going to be finishing any of your sentences?" she joked, the little smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I thought you were dead," he clarified, embarrassed for sounding like a fool around her. He swallowed the huge lump in his throat.

She inhaled deeply. "I am dead," she stated.

What?

Inuyasha had no clue what was going on. This girl, who looked like an exact replica of Kagome Higurashi in the yearbook, is standing right in front of him, claiming that she is dead? God, he was going to need some aspirin after this . . .

Kagome smiled weakly. "You're confused. I can tell."

"Who wouldn't be?" he countered.

"I know. I was, too. But then, I found out what exactly happened to me." She sat back down on the sofa. She caught a glimpse of his confused expression. "You may ask questions if you'd like."

"O--Okay." He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat again. "How do you still look sixteen if you died ten years ago?"

She sighed sadly. "Well, it's a long story. Have you heard of the legend of the sacred Shikon Jewel?"

He nodded. Every school year, the school staff held an assembly to tell the legend of the Shikon Jewel. "It was created by a miko named Midoriko and is said to hold great spiritual power."

She nodded in agreement. "Correct." She looked up at him. "So, do you want to hear my story?"

"I'm sure a lot of people would like to," he replied. "Like maybe your family . . ."

Her hazel eyes widened with fear. "No! You can't tell anyone about me!" She rose and was in front of him in a flash. He backed up a bit, startled by her speed. "If anybody finds out about me, they'll report me to the police. Then, they'll interrogate me with questions about where I went and how I still look like this!" She grasped his warm hands in her frigid pale hands, staring into his molten gold eyes. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. Promise?"

Inuyasha couldn't believe all of this was happening to him. This zombie chick who's been missing for ten years is . . . Holding his hand? But those eyes. They were pleading, begging. She looked as if she was about to cry any second now.

He squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Alright. I promise."

She smiled brightly and released his hand. "Okay, I'll tell you what happened." She seated herself on the armrest of the sofa before narrating. "On October 2, 1998, there was the Homecoming football game, and I had to go since I was a cheerleader. Before I left, my mother gave me the family heirloom, the Shikon Jewel. I tied it around my neck and tucked it under my shirt. Then, I went to the game. We won, and threw a big party. I decided to leave early because I was tired. I stopped at the park to rest a bit and look at the Tree of Ages. I looked at my watch, and it was exactly midnight.

"All of a sudden, I was attacked. A demon struck me in the back with its claws and he caused me serious injury. It must've been after the Sacred Shikon Jewel. Then, everything went black. Luckily, my hand was touching the Tree of Ages. Somehow, I was brought back to life just as the demon was reaching for the jewel. I was able to purify it, and kill it.

"I knew that I couldn't come home with such an injury. No ordinary human could survive a wound so great. And the police was already coming. So . . . I ran away. I didn't want all the attention or the questions. I knew that everyone will be upset about my disappearing, but I didn't really have a choice.

"So I ran and ran, not stopping for anything until I came here. I had a feeling someone owned this house, but I stayed here. It was the only safe place I could find. I didn't need food or water, but I was lonely. Imagine being locked up in a house for ten years without a friend." She sighed miserably, concluding her depressing tale.

Inuyasha had listened attentively to the story from start to finish. Wow, this girl had it tough, he thought, feeling pity for the girl. If the police had found her when she was resurrected, then they would know it was the Tree of Ages that revived her, and many selfish people would want eternal life. The half demon thought that she had made the right choice, but she suffered a lonely life afterwards.

She stood up and headed to the door. "But I guess you don't want me here," she added quietly. "I'll just leave. I don't belong here anyway."

Before she could take another step to grasp the brass doorknob, Inuyasha grabbed her arm. "You're not going anywhere," he growled.

She tried to pry his hand off her cold arm, but to no avail. "I don't belong in this place. I'm a horrible intruder who just decided to call this place her own. You should be angry at me for that."

Was this girl stupid? She was just going to blurt out her secret, then run away like a coward?

"Okay, let me tell you something," he said flatly in a low voice. "You just told me your secret. You also told me that you were lonely for the past ten years. Do you want to be alone again?"

She gave him a confused look. "Where are you going with this?"

Just like that; He lost his courage. He shyly stared the wooden floorboards. "I'll be your friend," he murmured.

Kagome held her breath, then smiled. "You'll be my friend?" she repeated.

"If you want."

Her smile widened. "Yes!" she happily whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Inuyasha, taken aback by surprise, hugged her back.

Wow, he thought. I wanted a normal girlfriend, but I guess a hot zombie will do, too.

She broke the hug and skipped back to the couch, plopping on the soft cushions. "So," she said. "I'm guessing you're kind of tired."

"You guessed right," he said. He strode to the corner of the room, where his bed was located.

She giggled cutely. "How many friends did you bring?" she curiously questioned.

"Three are downstairs and three more are in another beach house half a mile away." He pulled the blanket back and crawled under it. He lay on the mattress, hands under his head.

"So, I guess I should stay up here, huh?"

He opened his eyes and stared at her. She was sitting casually on the armrest of the couch, smiling at him.

"It'd be a good idea," he answered. "One of the guys down there is a pervert."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked.

The hanyou nodded. "He even said, 'Too bad she's dead. I so would've dated her'."

Kagome giggled again. "Okay then. What about the others?"

"The girl, Sango, she thinks you're so beautiful. Every time I see her, she's staring at your picture in the yearbook."

She frowned. "My picture's in the yearbook?"

He nodded. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head. "No. Never knew."

He reached for the book on his nightstand and held it out. "Look for yourself."

She hopped off the couch and strolled to his bed. She sat by his feet and carefully paged through the book. She saw her photo on the second page and stared. She read the inscription and observed the snapshot. Her lips were pressed together in a thoughtful manner and her eyes blinked every couple of seconds as she stared intently.

The hanyou watched her. "You can say that you were famous in the schools. Even the kindergartners know who you are and what you did," he supplied, filling her in.

She looked up at him. "What I . . . did?" she slowly asked with uncertainty.

"The way you made friends with everyone you met."

"Oh." She nodded. She gazed at the picture once more before closing the book gently and handing it back to the half demon. "I didn't know I was so famous," she whispered, staring down at her hands. She was on the verge of tears, salty moisture brimming her chocolate eyes.

"Kagome . . ." he murmured.

She gave him a watery smile. "Well, you should get some sleep now. I'll be fine." She stood and flipped the light switch off before he could retort. "Good night," she spoke softly.

"Good night."

Inuyasha tucked himself in and gazed off into the darkness. He could see Kagome's silhouette gracefully move over to the couch, then disappear as she lay down.

Now he knew for sure that this was the summer he'd never forget.