Two weeks later

Kagome was rushing to work from school. While everyone from her job was enjoying their vacation, she still had a couple of weeks to go.

She got there ten minutes late and squeezed her way through the crowd. She hated the fact that she was late on a busy day. She went to the back, changed into her work uniform and went straight to the register.

As the crowd got smaller, she started to feel relieved. She had quite a few hectic days at the store and they were always brutal. Kagome did not like when people shouted and cursed at her. Not even her mother would shout at her. The days were always exhausting and overwhelming.

Kagome peeked over at Sango who looked ready to pass out on the counter until she was brought out of her sleepiness by a familiar face.

A stunning, long black haired and brown eyed woman wearing a blue dress approached the counter with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Sango." Her voice was calm and sweet when she spoke.

"Hi, Kikyo! What a surprise."

"Well I have a little more time on my hands since the semester ended. I decided to pay Inuyasha a surprise visit since I've been so neglectful."

Kagome had no idea what was going on so she just stood at the register awkwardly.

"He was in the stock room handling some inventory but he should be up soon. This is Kagome by the way. She's a good friend of mine and Inuyasha's." She mentioned, pointing to Kagome.

Their eyes locked and they recognized each other instantly. They had seen each other before. Not once, not twice but many times. They just hadn't known each other's names.

Kagome pretended she didn't know who she was or what she was really about and put on her fake smile. "Nice to meet you, Kikyo!"

Kikyo was nervous about her. She knew Kagome and the place she had seen her was a place that could not only ruin her reputation, but her relationship as well.

However, Kikyo felt relief when Kagome smiled at her. She hoped it meant Kagome didn't remember her since it had been some time since they last saw one another. "Same here." She agreed with a fake smile on her face as well.

Inuyasha came back upstairs from the stock room and rushed up to his girlfriend.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked, a big, giddy smile on his face.

"I just wanted to drop by and say hello, maybe get some lunch?"

"We can do that." Inuyasha said as he grabbed her hand and lead her out the door.

Sango looked over at Kagome who seemed to be extremely bothered by something. "Is something wrong, Kagome?"

Kagome hadn't even realized her face had blatant displeasure all over, nor did she realize her brows were furrowed in frustration. She was thinking too hard about the immeasurable amount of guilt she felt knowing something so upsetting about Kikyo.

"No, no I'm fine. I'm just a bit surprised is all. I didn't even know Inuyasha had a girlfriend."

As Sango tried to put two and two together, she assumed Kagome was upset that Inuyasha hadn't told her he had a girlfriend because she might have liked him. Maybe she felt like he was leading her on? Either way it went, it seemed to be Inuyasha's fault and she felt sorry for Kagome.

Sango definitely had the wrong idea. The only thing bothering Kagome was the fact that Kikyo was a fake.

The two were both distracted from their thoughts and assumptions by another rush of customers.

After each one was gone, Kagome excused herself to the locker room and began to eat the lunch her mother packed for her.

As she was eating, Inuyasha returned. He sat across from Kagome at the table and she couldn't even meet his eyes.

"You okay?" He asked. Inuyasha didn't like the look on her face. He wanted to take care of whoever—or whatever was bothering her.

Kagome wasn't doing a good job of hiding her feelings on this particular day and everyone could see that she wasn't in the best mood.

This became her only opportunity out. "No, as a matter of fact. Is there any chance I can go home early? I feel like I'm coming down with something." She lied. The only thing she was coming down with was a severe case of guilt.

"Sure. But why don't you just stick around in here? Your shift ends in a half hour and I can drive you home."

Kagome wanted to get away from Inuyasha until she could sort things out. She couldn't sit in his face knowing the type of person Kikyo was and not tell him about it. "No, I think I should leave now. Thank you for the offer."

Kagome grabbed her bag, clocked out and walked out the door. She didn't even say goodbye to Sango.

Sango watched Kagome walk out as Inuyasha came behind the counter to take over the register. Sango turned to him and punched him in his stomach.

"The hell was that for?" He asked, slowly inching away from her.

"Why did Kagome leave? What did you say to her?"

Inuyasha gave her an annoyed look. "She said she was feeling sick and wanted to go home! What are you blaming me for?"

"Because you can be a real jerk, that's why. Why didn't you ever tell Kagome about Kikyo? You brag about her constantly to everyone else except Kagome."

Inuyasha was completely lost. "I don't know why I never told her. Kikyo just never came up in our conversations. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ugh! She probably feels slighted. I think she likes you and feels like you lead her on."

"What? That's ridiculous! I never did anything to lead her on!" He defended himself. Sango sounded crazy to him.

"You didn't see her face when she saw you and Kikyo together. She looked so hurt and angry!"

Inuyasha refused to accept what Sango was saying. She absolutely had to be wrong. But…he couldn't help but worry about possibly hurting Kagome, even if it was unintentional. He promised himself he would look after her. He wanted to protect her, not break her heart.

"Well I'm gonna find out what's going on."

Inuyasha headed home as soon as his shift was over and dialed Kagome.

Kagome was at home lying in bed when her phone rang. 'Inuyasha…' As much as she wanted to avoid him, she couldn't resist the urge to pick up and talk to him. This was the first time he ever called her. "Hi."

"Hey. You feeling alright?"

"I'm fine now. Thanks."

"You sure you were just feeling sick? Is there something you wanna talk to me about?"

Kagome really wanted to get off the phone with Inuyasha. She wanted to avoid him as much as she could until she got things sorted out. Was it really the same girl? Would Inuyasha believe her if she told him?

"Inuyasha. You and I are friends, right?"

"Course we are!"

"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend? I guess I feel out of the loop since you've never mentioned her before and we talk all the time."

Inuyasha knew Sango was wrong. Still, he felt bad for holding back information from Kagome. "I didn't mean anything by it. To be honest, Kikyo and I haven't seen each other very much lately."

'I bet.' Kagome thought to herself.

"So talking about her is kind of depressing." He continued. "I wasn't keeping it a secret from you."

"I believe you, Inuyasha. How long have you two been together?"

"About a year and a half."

Kagome shook her head. She met Kikyo almost two years ago. 'This isn't good at all. How can I break this to him?'

"Do you...love her?"

Now Inuyasha understood the real reason he didn't mention Kikyo. Talking about her to Kagome was awkward.

"…Yeah." He started to think Kagome made him feel like loving Kikyo was wrong. Like he was on the wrong path. It didn't make any sense. 'Maybe I'm just psyching myself out.'

'He doesn't sound too certain. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.' The moment Kagome opened her mouth to tell him, she couldn't. She didn't know what to do. She felt so bad for Inuyasha that she started to cry. 'He won't believe me. Love is so blinding.'

"I want you to be happy, Inuyasha."

'Why does it sound like she's crying?' "Kagome, are you crying?"

"No." She replied through her tears and obvious cries. "I'm just tired."

'Sure. Just tired she says.' "What's really going on, Kagome? Are you that mad at me for not telling you?"

Kagome needed a serious way out of this. Maybe pretending to be mad at him would be a good opportunity to avoid him for a while. "Yes, I am mad."

So maybe Sango was right. He felt like an idiot. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think—"

"No, don't apologize. It's no big deal. I'll see you on Monday."

Kagome hung up and sighed.

'Wait a minute. Why am I crying? Is it really just because I feel sorry for him? Or maybe…it's because…

I know I would never treat him that way.'