For him, she undressed down to the sheaths of her nerves. She removed her jewelry and sat it on the nightstand. She unhooked her ribs, spread her lungs flat on a chair. She dissolved like a remedy in water, in wine. And when it was over and her world shattered and she felt the blissfulness of sleep slowly pulling her in to it's arms, she spilled over without staining, and she left reality without stirring the air. She did this for love. For love, she disappeared.

Oh, she worked so hard to keep a quiet heart, and oh, she worked so hard to fix what he'd left behind in pieces. She loved it when he kissed, but gods, she hated it more than ever when he bit. She loved him most when he was in desperate need of her body, and she gave into his heated touches so quickly. But then, there were the other kind of heated touches. The heated hits, she should say. She couldn't stand how he hit her when he was mad for no reason. Loving him was the most horrible experience she'd ever had, ever felt. But still, she loved him so much.

An idiot for it, she was. She let him take the pain of his past out on her body, her lips, her heart.

He growled, the half demon bearing his fangs as he bit into her neck. "I can smell him on you, you know," he said softly, yet so sinisterly. She shook, her bare body slowly giving into his. She had learned to ignore his words, but suddenly, she was feeling fearful and broken, and these words, she couldn't ignore even if she tried her hardest. He laughed, the scent of her fear and her sadness making itself known to his sensitive nose. "And I just want you to know that I will find out who he is," he said softly, his sharp claws digging into her flesh. "And I'll kill him."

She had never meant to cause this much trouble. She just wanted to feel loved by someone since she knew her husband, a man who should've been devoted to his wife and loved her until death do part, didn't love her. She knew it for sure, and she wasn't so sure why she loved him so much when he only loved to see her fall, loved to see her hurt. She remained quiet. "I can smell your fear. It's almost stronger than his stench," he laughed into her ear, his lips beginning to suckle the sensitive, so ready to give in skin on her neck. "Do you love me, Kikyo?"

She knew that he would only be angered more if she didn't respond, so she did, quickly. "O-of course. I-I've never recalled…f-feeling this way before." She stuttered stupidly, refusing to moan as he continued to suckle her neck.

He laughed. He laughed in her face, pulling his lips away from her neck like he'd done so many times before. "Of course you love me. I'll make his life hell. Now tell me," he said as he slipped a finger down between her thighs. She gasped loudly, her back arching. There went those heated touches again. She was surprised that he hadn't taken out all of the aggression and anger that she had caused out on her body, adding to the many bruises that already rested upon her body. She called them battle scars and bruises. "Who's most precious to him?" he asked viciously, the ugly anger that he showed so well definitely here now, floating heavily around them. Fear went through her body again, but her back arched again as he continued to stroke her. "I'll kill her, too."

"Naraku," she moaned out, pleasure taking over her whole body against her will.

"Tell me," he growled. "Tell me before I hurt you, badly." He was already hurting her. With every touch he gave her, every time she saw the evil glint in his eyes that proved he wasn't right at all, every time he hit her, and now, even more as his claws dug into her flesh.

"I-I don't know," she spoke the truth, her voice shaking. "He said that he has a girlfriend."

"What does he look like?" he demanded. "What does his whore look like? Tell me, Kikyo."

"I don't know!" she spoke louder, taking a risk. She thrust her hips harder into his hand, her climax so near.

"You do know!" he growled at her, his other hand still digging into her flesh, only harder.

"H-he has silver hair. Golden eyes. His g-girlfriend…I haven't a clue what she looks like."

"Inuyasha," he smirked, pulling away from her and causing her to whimper out in fear and from the empty feeling. He'd left her hot, aroused, and angry as he always did. "I know well of him."

"Don't," she protested, sitting up immediately. "He means nothing to me, and you mean everything," she never cried in front of him, but those were real tears staining her pink cheeks. "I love you. I love you so much. He didn't know I was with you," she lied, even though she'd told him last time they met. It wasn't technically a lie, though. They hadn't seen each other since, and before, she had never told him, only told him that he needed to go back and soon. "He's innocent. If he knew, he never would have…" she trailed off, her eyes looking up at him, pleading with him. "His girlfriend is nice, too. They're happy together," she didn't lie. Even though she'd never met the girl he seemed to be so crazy about, she could always see it in his eyes whenever he was with her, desperately trying to rid himself of the pain that one of their fights must have caused. "Naraku, they're happy. Please, leave them be. This will never happen again."

She wasn't sure about that. Even though the other half-demon barely knew her or cared for her, still, she slept with him whenever he needed it to soothe his pain. And he soothed her pain, also, making her feel at least a little loved. He didn't use both hands to hit her, and even though she didn't know him, either, she knew that he wasn't a bad guy. She felt safe when she was with him.

"Whore," he spat out, jerking his hand away from her as he towered over her. He brought a hand up to her face like he'd did so many times, and this time, instead of holding the tears back, more trailed down her already wet cheeks as she raised a hand to where he had hit her. Why, why did she love him when all he did was hurt her. Was she masochistic, insane for taking all of this pain. There was something to this and she wasn't sure why. And how could she have fallen in love.

'It was because he used to love me, too. He hasn't always been this monster that he's turned into.' She thought to herself as she looked up at him, her eyes wide and mouth parted in surprise.

He went into another room to dress, and then, without a sound, he left.

Still, she was surprised and sad and angry. Those were the way his hits left her feeling, even if it was all of her fault…

XXXxxxXXX

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks and he hadn't called or texted her, and of course that hurt, but that was the way things were supposed to be. It made her sick to her stomach for both of them to be avoiding each other, but nothing lasted forever, and both of them had tried to carry on whatever they had for so long, but they both tried, and she should've known long ago that nothing lasted forever. She didn't love him, and he didn't love her, it was as simple as that.

She glared at the words on the textbook and brought the end of her pencil to her lips, deep in concentration, trying to ignore the feeling of her roommate's eyes on her figure. She growled to herself a little, her eyes flicking to the side to see Rin sprawled out again her bed looking at her, a knowing smirk on her face. She rolled her eyes and focused on the words again, only to growl once more, louder, before throwing her pencil to the side and allowing her head to fall down on the textbook in utter frustration and confusion. She had been forcing herself to study a lot lately since she was falling behind on a few classes, but it was so difficult.

"Thinking about him again, huh?" Rin asked knowingly. Kagome spun around, her eyes narrowed on Rin's figure. "Hey, hey, I was just taking a guess…" she told her, moving up to sit beside of her. "What all did you two do over the weekend? You can tell me, you know. I can tell that you've got a lot on your mind. That's why your falling behind in some classes. You just need to take a break, Kagome."

Kagome folded her arms angrily, a heavy blush on her face as she huffed and looked away. "I'm not telling you anything, because there's nothing at all to say. And if there was, I don't think that it would be much of your concern, Rin. After all, you don't even tell me about your relationships."

Rin looked at her, surprise making her eyes wide. "What do you mean, my relationships?"

"What I mean is," Kagome took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "You never told me that you were screwing Inuyasha's brother."

Rin laughed, shaking her head. "I wish, Kagome."

Kagome snapped her head to Rin, her eyes alert and open now. "Don't lie to me. Inu-" she paused, having some difficulty speaking his name. She let out a light sigh before she started speaking once more, "H-he told me that you were always busy with him."

A smile graced her lips, and her child-like eyes brightened. "I like him, sure. He's a nice guy, but he has way better, more mature girls. We're just…friends. He's a sweet guy, really, and a lot of people judge him. I wouldn't dare. I wish we could be more, but for now, we're just talking. Besides, he's always telling me about this girl, her name is Kagura. I've never seen her before, but the way he talks about her, she must be really beautiful, and I think that he really does love her. So really, it's pretty stupid to have a crush on him, but I do. One of those big crushes that takes months to get over, but I'm sure that I'll forget about him pretty soon." Kagome watched as Rin's eyes dimmed slightly.

This surprised her once more. "I've never met him. Never even caught a single glimpse of him," she chuckled lightly. "But if you really like him, don't give up on him. You never know, him and this Kagura girl could just be friends, nothing more."

Rin snorted, shaking her head lightly as a smile graced her features once more. "You know, Kagome?" she paused, looking at her intensely, making her shift uncomfortably. "Sometimes, you should really take your own advice…"

Kagome looked at her, her eyes narrowing in slight surprise and anger. "You really think that that advice will work for me?" she cried unbelievably, standing to her feet immediately. "I'm doing fine. He is, too."

Rin stood, too. "I was just trying to help."

"I don't need any help," she snapped. "I don't need any at all because I don't love him!"

"I never said you did," Rin said calmly, her eyes sparkling as they always did. "But I remember when you said that you think you do. All I'm saying is that I think he feels for you, too. I've heard the things you two say to each other, I've heard the arguments that go to hell, then end up going to heaven in just minutes. I know you love him, and if you don't, you really like him. It's that or nothing," she took a deep breath, surprised that her friend hadn't interrupted her yet. "I think that you at least need to try before you let him go so easily. I can see how hurt he is when you two are arguing, and I can see how happy he gets when he sees you, Kagome. I'm not an idiot, even though you must think I am. You're scared."

She was tired of people thinking they knew what she went through, knew what she felt every second. No one knew, they didn't care to, and they didn't care to understand. Rin, she didn't know half of the things that he'd told her, and she didn't know that they were all lies and they meant nothing and they only slipped past his lips to intentionally hurt her. She didn't know that he thought he had control over her. But he did. And her heart scared her, the way it constantly ached for him every single second, and it scared her, the way it started and stopped for him, only for him. She was so done, so sick and so tired. "Tell me, how do you know if I love him."

Rin shook her head as if she was amused, a chuckle slipping past her pink lips unintentionally. "Your eyes, Kagome. It's your eyes. You can see everything through them, and if he hasn't yet, then he's an idiot, no doubt about it."

Cheeks already hot and eyes already swelling with tears, she slipped out of the door, leaving Rin confused.

XXXxxxXXX

It was stupid. It was all so stupid. She was stupid, he was stupid, and everyone who even dared trying to understand how she was feeling was stupid, also.

'Thank gods my classes are over,' She thought to herself as she sat down on the bench, taking deep, calming breaths. Her tears had dried, but still, it didn't make the feeling go away. She thought that she was tougher than this, stronger than this. But still, she cried over him. She had cried until she was sure that all the tears were in her body were void. She cried until she couldn't dry all of them, all she could do was bury her face into her hands and cry some more. She looked on at the sky, her eyes vague and glassy from the crying that she'd did.

Why she was so emotional lately, she wasn't exactly sure. Maybe because things were officially over, but she shouldn't have been this upset. He had told her millions of times that there could never be anything more than sex between them, and she had dealt with that fact, letting him have her body each time anyway, and always being there to comfort him when he was upset. But then again, he was always there for her, too, and she missed that.

Maybe she needed to be alone, in complete peace. Maybe she needed to contemplate on her feelings. She wondered if Inuyasha really could see that she loved him through her eyes. Even though she denied that she loved him to everyone else, she didn't know how she felt. Often, she found herself wondering how it was possible to fall in love with him after he had told her over and over that all that mattered was the sex. She winced to herself, realizing that back then, it had even hurt. It still hurt, badly. And that's why she had to put an end to it all. She couldn't go on loving-she winced once more…liking someone who had no intentions of being with her in any form other than intimacy.

She gasped, not even realizing the tears in her eyes until she felt the salty taste of the liquid that she had been sure was completely gone from her body for the moment. She reached up, her hands quickly wiping them away and rubbing her eyes, making sure they were all gone. She had been so involved in whatever she was thinking about that she didn't notice that someone had sat down beside of her on the old, battered, wooden bench.

"Are you okay?" the stranger asked her, and she refused to look up until she composed herself. She took a deep breath, her hands wiping away the rest of her tears. She tried to get a hold of herself, try to focus on something other than him, perhaps maybe the stranger whose eyes she refused to meet at the moment, but she couldn't. And she cursed herself, but mostly her heart when she let out an audible gasp, another tear slipping down her cheek. And then, she was broken all over again and she knew that no matter how hard she tried to rid her heart of the empty feeling it currently held, it wouldn't leave. What exactly had she done? Why couldn't she have just gone along, winged the whole thing out and dealt with the pain he brought on, because the pain she felt now, she was sure it was worse than the pain she felt before.

"Hey, look at me," the stranger said as she continued to cry. She gasped once more when he leaned over and put the pads of his fingertips underneath her trembling chin, raising her head. She shook her head and closed her eyes. "You know, I won't hurt you. I just want to know what's wrong with you," figuring that she probably looked absolutely inane, crying out here in front of a stranger, she finally opened her eyes and gasped when her chocolate met his blue. His eyes widened in surprise like hers did, and he smirked at her expression. "You know," he pulled away from her, his smirk replaced with a cheeky grin. "You look very familiar. Wasn't I the one who messed up your incredible dancing that night?"

Her mouth parted slightly, and she scooted away from him, a blush staining her cheeks. "And you're the one who gave me an invitation to your apartment," she looked at the young man warily. "I was drunk that night, I'm sorry."

He simply smirked once more. "Well, who exactly were you getting drunk for?"

She looked at him, her eyes slanting in confusion. She scooted herself farther away from him, even more embarrassed and uncomfortable. "Excuse me?"

"You had to be getting drunk for someone. It's the only reasonable explanation. You're beautiful, if I must say so," she blushed again at the unexpected compliment. "But your eyes are sad. I watched you the whole time you sat here, crying. I thought you looked familiar. You're gorgeous, to be honest, but you have that look in your eyes. That one where it's as if you have nothing to live for."

"How do you know this?" she snapped, her temper getting the best of her. "You don't know shit about me, buddy."

He looked at her, his eyes going wide as he raised his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you at all," he paused, observing her, and she squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. "How do I know it, you asked," he smiled a little, his eyes looking into hers. She blushed, noticing how pretty they were. "Well, your eyes are really puffy, but it doesn't make you look any less beautiful. You have your hair up," he nodded his head to her hair, his eyes going up to her messy bun. "Still, that doesn't make you any less beautiful, either, but it screams to me that you're most likely not trying to impress any boys that walk by," he paused, and she looked at him incredulously. "I'd think that you're nursing a hell of a broken heart. It's not the school girl crush kind, either. I think you're dealing with the real thing."

She rolled her eyes, but somehow, he managed to make a small smile appear on her lips. And this made a smile appear on his lips, too. "And I'd think that you're pretty good at reading women."

He smiled. "Nah," he told her, resting his hands behind his head as he leant back onto the bench. "Actually, not once in my life have I ever been good at reading women."

"Even though you haven't a clue about my life, you made me smile."

He nodded lightly. "You looked upset. What I said about you being beautiful, I said it because without a doubt it's true, and there's nothing that a girl loves more than being called beautiful," Kagome nodded, closing her eyes as a soft gust of wind blew through her hair. Little did she know, those pretty eyes watched her. "So, who's the lucky guy that lost all of his luck when he lost you?"

Kagome chuckled lightly, turning her head to meet his eyes. He was extremely handsome with his jet-black hair that was hoisted up into a pony-tail, and those blue eyes and tanned skin of his was extremely gorgeous, but he wasn't what she wanted, and if he thought he was, he was wrong. "It's complicated."

He snorted. "Tell me about it."

He reminded her of someone.

Was that what love did? In every boy that she met, would she find herself looking for a little piece of Inuyasha's personality in each and every one of them. She smiled at him. It was sad, just like her eyes as the young man watched them dim. "You have girl problems?"

"All I can say is that it's hard to let go of someone once you really get hold of them."

His words, they struck her deeper than she expected them too. She nodded slowly in understanding and almost laughed at herself when she felt tears well up in her eyes again. She had been stupid to think that the emptiness had left. Thank gods he couldn't see.

"Don't cry," he told her, his voice soft.

What? "But I'm not."

"I can smell your tears. I'm a wolf demon, couldn't you tell?" he asked her.

She observed him to come to realization with the fact that he indeed was. A tear fell down her cheek. A single, lone one. There went something else, someone else to remind her of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

"You reek of it, you know?" he told her. "You reek of sadness, and you reek of his scent. I don't know him, sure, but I can definitely smell him all over you," she looked surprised, and kind of angered. His scent should have been long gone by now. It had been two weeks. "It kills me to see such a beautiful girl sad over a guy that was too stupid to realize what he had until it was gone," this guy, he was definitely being a jerk now. Another tear rolled down her cheek, and she wiped it away angrily, disgusted with herself. She was so weak to even think she could find comfort in someone she barely knew, someone who she had danced with when she was drunk and when all of her senses had flown out the window. "How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"That's none of your business."

"How long has it been?" he demanded but not harshly.

She sighed. "Two weeks almost."

"Surely you've bathed. His scent still clings to your skin. It's just…there," he told her honestly, but he didn't look at her in disgust. "I take it that he's a mutt, huh? An immature puppy."

She stood to her feet, swiftly walking away from him. It angered her to hear someone talk so lowly about Inuyasha, even if they were done. He had been a best friend to her. She almost thought she was free until she felt the wolf boy latch on to her arm. All she wanted was peace. She didn't want to talk about any of these things anymore. Most of all, she wanted to cry some more so it could be over and done with and she could go back to being angry, because she wanted to be mad and stay mad as long as she could because once she wasn't, she was sad and it fucking hurt like hell.

"You know nothing about him!" she turned around, her eyes angry, fuming. "I'm fucking sick of everyone saying that I love him when I don't! I'm sick, so fucking sick of fucking questions! Gods, just let go of me and leave me alone!"

"I'm not leaving you out here alone to walk back by yourself wherever the hell you came from. You're weak right now. People could take advantage of you, and even though I don't know you, I can tell that you don't deserve that. I'm sorry."

"You don't even know my fucking name, so why do you care?" she lashed out, tearing hand away from his hold and latching her hands onto her hips impatiently, waiting for some kind of answer.

"I don't know," he answered, his eyes sincere. "Just…just let me take you home, alright? I know you're going through a lot right now, and I wasn't raised to just leave a lady behind whenever she's in this kind of state. Maybe you don't like me and we don't know each other, but I'm not going to leave you and let anything and everything happen to you. So I'm sorry for all the things that I said. Obviously, it's none of my business. I was just curious to why his scent clung to you like that. And I don't like seeing any girl cry. So, just let me give you a ride to wherever you stay, okay?"

She said nothing else to him. She let him take her hand, which was warm in hers, and followed behind closely as he led her to his car. She watched as he opened the door for her, wondering why she couldn't find a nice guy like him.

"I'm sorry," she admitted to him, mumbling it.

"It's okay, I understand that you're upset. So I'm sorry, too. Where do you live?"

"Just take me back to the campus. You know where that is, right?"

He sent a smile her way. "Of course I do. You look younger than a college student, though."

She didn't reply. His car was warm and she allowed herself to lean her head back against the leathery seats, looking out the window in deep thought. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she over-thought things way too much. She glanced over to him really quick, then looked back out. Had her and Inuyasha really spent so much time together that his scent refused to fade from her skin?

As soon as she was about to leave the car when he stopped outside of the campus, he grabbed her hand. Her eyes shot over to his expectantly. "I never really got a name. Either that, or I've forgot it."

She looked into his eyes and she saw a good guy. Even if he had angered her, it was sweet of him to at least try making her feel better. "It's Kagome. Kagome Higurashi."

"Let's start over," he said, bringing her hand to his mouth to lay a kiss upon it. She felt the heat shoot to her cheeks and she froze, not being able to pull away. But he looked up to smile at her, and she broke into a goofy smile against her will. "I'm Kouga. Kouga Tanaka," he still hadn't pulled away, and his eyes still held a gaze on hers. "Can I get a number to go with that name, Kagome?"

She pulled her hand away slowly. "I'm not so sure-"

"I'm not forcing you in to anything. I just want to get to know you better," he told her, his eyes sincere.

"If you have time tomorrow night, I can take you out to dinner," he told her, a big grin on his lips, making him flash his white fangs. He was handsome, yes, she had to admit that. So she smiled and nodded her head.

So he ended up with her number and multiple smiles and blushes, and as she walked into the dorm, ignoring the questioning from Rin, she went to bed with a smile on her face and hope in her heart, even if he wasn't Inuyasha, even if it was just the beginning of friendship. She had someone who seemed to care. And that, it gave her hope that maybe things would get at least a bit better.

XXXxxxXXX

The next day, she trudged around to make it to her classes, having no enthusiasm at all. There was something extremely funny about the whole ordeal, though. Really funny, actually. Whenever she thought of the soul-called date tonight, she got a huge smile on her face, and her heart lifted with something that was hope or related immensely to it. And that gave her inspiration. Since she felt like there was practically nothing to live for anymore, she thought about getting the day being over and her date finally arriving and completing college successfully and then taking a long break before she went job searching.

Finally the day was over. She couldn't stand classes. She couldn't stand listening to people debate on senseless things and she couldn't stand how they tried to word their ideas and thoughts in the vaguest way possible so they wouldn't seem stupid. She hated how it was all tricks and games of getting the professor to reward them with his words that wouldn't and couldn't mean shit to her. She hated all of the stupid ranting and the way that their eyes shone with so much confidence when they thought they were fucking geniuses. She didn't like college. She didn't live for partying and drinking and all her ambitions and dreams and goals and sense going out the window. That made her boring. And, she didn't live to study. She hated studying. She hated how the words got all muddled and confused in her head as she felt like it was exploding, wondering how it would ever be able to process so many things all at once. She hated remembering things. She hated that she couldn't just skip out on everything every once in a while. She hated her professors, and she hated taking notes. She fucking hated college.

But gramps was getting old and her mother was, too. God couldn't count the many times when she'd caught her mother crying, wondering how in the world she was suppose to come up with the money to pay all those bills. So back then when she was sixteen, she had started working, vowing to herself that she wouldn't let her mother or her little brother who so badly wanted to go to college and be successful, too. Family was family, and they were first over everything. Her mother needed her help. She hadn't given up on Souta or her when their father died, so it was only fair that she returned everything, returned the love that their mother had given them.

They meant the most to her. Souta, even if he did pull too many pranks and even if he could be incredibly annoying, that was her little brother and he was everything to her, and she couldn't lose him. She couldn't lose her mother, either. Even that time her eyes had been so dead and she'd been so hurt because she'd lost her soul mate, the one and only man that she would ever love, she hadn't given up on her either. Even when she saw her pick up a bottle of wine, pouring it down her throat steadily and drowning herself in alcohol as if to drown herself in misery, too. She remembered telling her mother that she couldn't do that, that she meant too much to Souta and herself. Life had always been hard for her, and even when her father was alive, it had been a struggle to pay all of those bills that they couldn't possibly afford. She remembered the arguing and how she had held her own hands over Souta's innocent ears, blocking out all the ugly things they spat to each other because of how stressed they were. There were times when Souta had nightmares and had to sleep in her bed, his eyes watering as he asked her to hold him and not let him go, as he asked her what was going on, if they were going to be one of those messed up families because he assumed that her mother and father may be getting a divorce. But she was there for him to dry his tears, and she'd been there for her mother to pull her up, hoisting her thin frame against hers and laying her on the couch so she could sleep on something softer than the floor she had passed out on and placing a blanket over her shivering body. She remembered everything and sometimes, she wished that she couldn't.

She erased those thoughts out of her head and decided to indulge herself into more studying that she knew would surely kill her. But the bad things were getting to her again and she couldn't let that happen. She opened her textbook and notebook and looked at her notes and she died. She just wanted a good job so she could pay for Souta's success and help her mother with the expensive bills that living in the shrine had caused. It was so hard, even though every fiber in her body, ever little intuition she had knew that life wasn't and would never be easy.

She hated the library, too. Too many people.

"Maybe you should just put the book down. You look as if you're about to cry from frustration, and believe me, every boy hates seeing such a pretty girl cry," a familiar voice whispered teasingly.

She gasped, her eyes immediately glancing up to the tall figure that towered above her. His eyes seemed to be even prettier especially since she could see them better since the dark had not yet come. "What're you doing here?" she asked him, her smile widening.

He smirked, taking a seat beside of her. "You sort of looked like the girl who studies way too much. You know, I could see right through you even though you were drunk that night. They say that when a human gets drunk, their real self is revealed. But the sober you is the real you. I'm sure of it." He smiled, his eyes on hers.

She smirked sneakily. "Sure."

"Are we still on for tonight?"

She hesitated, and she regretted herself for it. 'Kouga is a nice guy. An extremely good-looking nice guy, too. Plus, he doesn't have his own fan club like Inuyasha does, and I think he knows how to love a girl the right way. Inuyasha had to know that I felt something for him, even if it wasn't love…I bet that if I ever fell in love with Kouga, he wouldn't go fuck other girls every single time we got into one simple argument.'

Her thoughts, they controlled her. And before she knew it, she was sad again. She didn't want Kouga. But maybe if she pretended too, her dreams would finally become reality and she could be happy. "Of course we are," she said slowly. "Even though I do find it creepy that I now have a stalker."

"Maybe you do," he smirked. "Well, are you ready?"

She gasped unintentionally. "I've been in classes all day. I haven't even had the peace to take a shower or put on some nice clothes, or makeup."

"I didn't think you were the type of girl to wear makeup. Besides, you're already beautiful without it," he told her truthfully. His eyes scanned her body for a second, and she blushed heavily and shifted in her seat before clearing her throat loudly. "Your clothes are fine. And I don't see the need to wash with all those chemicals. Your natural scent, vanilla with a hint of lavender suits you amazingly. But then again, you kind of stink. You still smell of that half demon, and you reek of depression. So tell me, what exactly is going on in your head?"

She growled. "I don't think you have the right to know those kind of things yet and-"

"Yet?"

She growled again. "And anyway, it's none of your business. My thoughts belong to me and not you, in case you haven't noticed."

He frowned for a second, and then he smiled although it wasn't as bright as before. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't know why," he started. "but I can't stand to smell him clinging to your skin like that. You two must have spent a lot of time together. Tell me, what's his name?"

She slammed her textbook down, causing some alerting glances that she ignored. He looked at her, surprise written all over his face. "Like I said, this is my life, my thoughts, and it's all so personal and not interesting anyway, so could you please leave this alone? If you're going to take me to dinner, take me. I refuse for you to pay for everything, though," she narrowed her eyes. "I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. And by the way, I don't look fine. I look like a mess, but you refuse to notice this," she said and instantly wished she could take it back. She didn't need his approval and honestly, she could care less what he thought.

He shook his head in amusement. "You're a very peculiar girl, Higurashi. You don't trust me, don't believe the things I say to you. But I assure you that they're true," he stood quietly, holding out a hand so that she could take it. She growled at it and stood by herself without his help. He licked his lips, his eyes holding hers and some kind of gaze made her heart race, but not the way it did for him. "All I'm saying is that you're a queen, you deserve the title. You deserve someone who is going to treat you better than that guy ever did."

"You don't know anything."

"And you don't know how to give people chances," he said warmly, a smile gracing his lips. "Just give me one chance to make things okay for you again."

"I don't even know you," she muttered softly, but he easily picked up on what she'd said.

"But we can get to know each other, and I don't mean in the wrong way that's intense and could be passionate but never innocent. I want you to know me and trust me and I want you to realize that I'm not like that boy who broke your heart. I'm a man, and simply, all I want is a chance."

Without waiting for a response, he took his warm hand into her cold one and lead her out of the library. She could do nothing but comply.

A/N: No Inuyasha in this, I'm sorry. I really don't know what's coming next. Some of you have already picked up on the little surprise I had planned for Kagome, and I guess it's pretty obvious by now, lol. But the plan will go on.

Tell me what you want to see next.

Please, don't forget to leave a comment whether it's constructive criticism or something that's really nice. Thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far! You guys make me soooo happy! I guess I'll see ya'll soon!