Hello everyone!

There are probably a few persons out there that want to kill me, right now... for all of you, who want to kill me and to those (I hope they exist!) that are happy to see I'm alive, I'm truly sorry! :)

Anyways, I'm back. I hope everyone is doing fine; my classes have already begun (unfortunately...) but I still have some time to update here!

I'm really sorry for the delay, but I just couldn't find time to continue this story. My life has become quite a chaotic mess, but I'm still able to live with it. ;)

I want to thank every single one of you that bothered to take time to comment. I've been reading all them and I am noting down every suggestion you guys gave me. 135reviews make me a very happy writer! ;D

Since I've been asked to do so, my character's speeches won't start by - anymore; I've been told that it's against the site's policy or something so I won't do it anymore. If it happens, please let me know,ok? :)

Anyway I don't want to keep you guys from waiting any longer so, here it is. My newest chapter

I'm sorry for any mistakes that might appear.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA'S CHARACTERS!

Enjoy!

Chapter 12 - Lunch with Miroku

Inuyasha sat at his desk. He had finished his shift two hours ago and still wasn't planning on leaving the hospital so soon. He knew what was expecting him once he had arrived home, and he was in no mood to face it yet. He had checked on his patients twice, and had spent some time talking, especially with one in particular that possessed a pair of dog ears and brilliant golden eyes. He knew what Kagome had told him about staying away from her son, but there was something that attracted him to the kid. The same thing, he thought with a smile, which attracted him to the kid's mother.

Thinking about his meeting with Kagome, once more, he still couldn't explain his emotions and had tried half the shift to decipher their meanings. There was joy and happiness in reviewing her, sadness for her cold distance… he hadn't felt so happy with himself since… since… since when he had met her for the first time. He sighed.

There was something about Hiroyuki too, something that told him that he knew the kid. His heart told him that Hiroyuki was special. He liked being around him, he was a smart kid. Well, he thought, Kagome had always been the smarter of the two in their friendship. How he regretted not having heard her back then…

There was a knock on his door and he sighed once more.

"Come in."

"I thought you'd already left…" - said Miroku, entering the room.

"Hey, Miroku. What are you doing here?"

"Just finished and passed to see how Hiroyuki was doing. He was asleep, though…"

"Ah, you went to see him…" - Inuyasha said with a tender smile that his old friend didn't miss.

"Kagome told Sango you were his doctor."

"I am. It was a medium case of appendicitis; he'll be fine in a couple of days…"

"I see… well, do you want to grab a cup of coffee?" – asked Miroku. Inuyasha seemed surprised.

"I was under the impression you didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore, after what happened…"

Miroku smirked.

"This doesn't mean I have totally forgiven you! But, I have to start somewhere…"

"… A coffee would be nice. Do you have any place in mind?" – he asked, a honest and open smile on his face.

"The best place on earth for a cup of out of this world coffee and wonderful croissants…"

"Lead the way then." – Inuyasha said, while lifting himself up to pick his jacket.

Only after they were seated at "Paris" was when Miroku asked:

"Don't you have to warn Kikyo, or something?"

"No, why?"

"Well, she is your fiancée…"

"She's NOT my fiancée." – Inuyasha stated, seemed exhausted. – "Why in the world does everyone think that way? I have never said I was engaged!"

"Well, she does say it quite often… or should I say, wherever there's a person around her…"- stated Miroku, an inquisitive look on his face. – "Are you sure…?"

"Positive. If I could send her away, I would…"

"What stops you?"

"… Honestly, I don't even know myself. I think… I don't know…"

"Anyway, even if she's not your fiancée, she's still your girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose… So what?"

"Well, in the past let's just say that you notified her even when you had to take a dump…"

"Don't exaggerate…"

Miroku shot him a glance that told him he wasn't doing it. Inuyasha gulped hard.

"Was I that detailed?"

"To the point of utter despair."

"Oh, God!" – he exclaimed, leaning himself back on the chair. – "As if I couldn't fall any lower…"

Miroku smirked a little. Inuyasha was different, he could tell, but until now it seemed like a positive change. Almost like his old friend was back a little…

"It's been a while since we've done this…" - Inuyasha said, sitting up straight.

"Yeah. Almost like 5 years…" - Miroku ironically said.

"Gosh… time flies…"

"You have no idea…" - said Miroku, glancing at his wedding ring. Inuyasha followed his gaze and smirked.

"How does it feel, to be married with someone you love and being an expectant father?"

"Weird… in a good way. There are some concessions you have to make, but in the end it's worth it. Honestly. The only decision I never regretted, and I know I will never regret in my life, was to marry Sango. I mean, I think I knew, from college days, that she was going to be an important person in my life, and now she's my lover, my wife, my support… and the future mother of my children…"

"Aren't you scared?"

"Of becoming a father?" – he asked, answering to Inuyasha's silent question. The other merely nodded. - "Of course. I'm terrified inside, but I know I can't show it… Sango's already unstable as she is, full of doubts and fears! Looking back, Kagome's pregnancy was much calmer than Sango's…"

"Perhaps because you weren't the father." – said Inuyasha, seeing as Miroku was lost in thoughts, and drinking a sip of his coffee. – "I bet that Hiroyuki's father was in the same situation as you are…"

Miroku looked at Inuyasha, suddenly frozen by his friend's speech. Inuyasha didn't knew, he had to recall himself of that. Miroku didn't know when Kagome pretended to tell him, but… that didn't mean that Inuyasha couldn't know what Kagome had been through, right?

He looked serious to Inuyasha and said, in the calmer tune he could:

"You're mistaken. Hiroyuki's father doesn't even know that he exists…"

Caught in surprise, Inuyasha gulped hard on his croissant and almost choke.

"Wha… wha…what? What are you telling me?"

"What you heard. Kagome has been all alone since she found out she was pregnant. Hiroyuki's father left her before she even find out…"

"But… why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did he leave her? Did he force her and fled?" – Inuyasha asked, worried and furious too. – "Kagome told me it was nothing like that…"

"And it wasn't. He left her… for another girl…"

"What?"

"Yeah. It was a one night stand, if you can put it that way. Kagome and he never talked anymore."

"But… but Kagome wasn't the kind of person to have one night stands!"

"And she isn't!"

"You're confusing me. Then how…"

"She loved him." - Miroku said, eying Inuyasha's expression carefully. He was surprised to find sadness and something that seemed too much as regret.

"Oh… she… she did, huh?"

"Yeah. She was determined to leave everything for him… to forget he even had a girlfriend…"

"Wait. She knew?" – asked Inuyasha surprised.

"From the beginning, she knew he loved another person. Still, she forgot everything for one night with him…"

"… When was this?"

"When? Well, 5years ago…"

"After I left?"

"Well…" - asked Miroku, suddenly afraid of what Inuyasha might find out in that impersonal conversation. He couldn't be too much specific or he might find out sooner than Kagome intended him to. – "I can't… I can't precise exactly when it was… I only know it was after you guys ended up your friendship…"

"Oh…" - Inuyasha said, disappointed. He could still recall that day as clearly as ever, when she had told him she loved him and that she would forget him. What better way to forget an older love was there than to find a new one, right?

"Still, we never left her alone. Her pregnancy was like shared by all of us but we could only support her to an extent. We couldn't do anything more for some other things…"

"Like what?" – Inuyasha asked, interested.

"Well, we couldn't substitute Hiroyuki's father. She cried a lot for him for a few days, wanting him near her and showing how frightened she actually was; yet, one day she appeared again calm and composed as usual and we knew she was going to be okay. We were with her all the time, from the first kicks until knowing it was a boy, even when she almost lost the baby…"

Something felt weird in Inuyasha's heart; like a pound had been dropped upon it and he grasped the cup a little more tightly.

"Almost lost it? Why? What happened?"

"Well, you know Kagome. Pregnant or not, she claimed she wasn't sick and could do everything as before. Then, one day, she was already three and a half months pregnant, she was cleaning one of the top shelves in the closet and fell backwards. It was still a high fall, but luckily she fell upon her bed and that supported her a little. When she called saying that Sesshomaru was with her at the ER, Sango almost had a heart attack."

"Sesshomaru?"

"Yeah, he and Kagome became great friends after you left… he was the one who found her, senseless upon her bed and over a small pool of blood. He smelled blood through the door and broke in. He brought her to the hospital and that's what saved Hiroyuki. Any minute later, the doctor said would have been fatal. Kagome ended up on absolute rest for the next 5 weeks and then she returned to work normally…"

"So, she and Sesshomaru…" - started Inuyasha, his gaze on the table.

"Don't even think about that!" – said Miroku, noticing what his friend might mean with that expression and his silence. At the same time, Miroku couldn't believe how dumb his friend was. – "Kagome has been helping Sesshomaru and vice versa. He merely took upon your place when you left, Inuyasha and you can't blame him for it. Besides, Sesshomaru has always been in love with Rin, since our college days."

"Are you serious? Since then? But they barely talked!"

"Yeah. Looks like Sesshomaru believed he was too old for Rin…"

"That idiot…"

"Anyway, Kagome has been helping him into being with Rin, so don't even think about it in that way!"

"I know… still… I couldn't help but think that, perhaps if I had never left for America…"

"Oh, that my friend! You can be sure that many things wouldn't be like this if you had stayed, but how much of it would end up the way it is?" – sighed Miroku. Then he lifted his eyes upon Inuyasha. – "You've hurt her deeply…"

"I know. She told me that no one has ever hurt her as much as I did… but I know, I think I'm the only one who hurt her the most, except perhaps her child's father…"

"I see…" - said Miroku, trying to sound more confident and less afraid of the conversation and where it might lead.

"She told me we're not friends…"

"She did?"

"Yeah. And you know what?" – asked Inuyasha a cold laugh on his lips. – "It hurts, what she said…"

"… I don't know what to say, my friend…"

"Me neither."

"Inuyasha," - Miroku breathed deeply before saying – "you don't have to answer me if you don't wish to but… what happened between you and Kikyo? Don't you love her anymore?"

Inuyasha sighed deeply.

"That's a long story… are you sure you have time?"

"I'll always have time for you. Anyway, if Sango calls, I'm gonna ask you to talk to her so that she became less doubtless, ok?"

"Still looking around, are you?" – Inuyasha commented with a smirk.

"You know me. I love Sango and I know I'm married. Still… I'm not dead…"

Inuyasha's laughter echoed in the coffee shop, honest and clear as Miroku hadn't heard in a long time.

"Well, then… where do I start? Okay, so… I left for America 5years ago to pursue a specialization in pediatrics and, as you know, Kikyo went with me. We parted in not very friendly terms, my friend and I have to ask you to forgive me for that…"

"It's in the past, buddy. But, depending on your explanation, you might get back my friendship."

"Well then, when we arrived in the USA I assumed that we were going to be together always, so I proposed Kikyo that we went to live together. I was… charmed, enchanted by her and believed that living with her was the best thing for both of us, for our relationship. And she surprised me immensely when she said she didn't want that."

"What? Why? She was desperate to get you from here…" - said Miroku, incredulous.

"She never quite explained to me why. Something about wanting to be independent and that if we lived together, our love would turn into something monotonous. And so it was. But I believe it was the best decision I took in my life, when I decided to agree with that."

"Why?"

"Well, I started seeing Kikyo in a different light and at the same time I started noticing things I hadn't till then. With the time, I ended up concluding I was mistaken in many things…"

"For example…?"

"Kikyo and I spent less and lesser time together. Our discussions became stronger but, since we always ended up making up, I never actually valorized them much. And then she was always away from home, whenever she wasn't at college and she would never tell me where she had been. We never saw each other more than 2times a week and we practically barely talked. Every time it happened, when I confronted her with her unavailability she always said that I was the one who worked too much and that every time she had free time I didn't… that our schedules where incompatible… I felt guilty so every time we were together, I always had something to give her…"

"You mean like presents?"

"Yeah. She was always more interested in that than being with me. She seemed to be comforted by that, even though I proposed her many times that she came and live with me. She always refused and with the time, other signs appeared. She started protesting if the restaurant wasn't 5stars, or if there was no limo to pick us up, or if I preferred to stay home, watching a DVD with her…"

"Jesus…"

"And there's more, something where Kagome had always been right and I hadn't seen because I was a fool. When it was the new moon, Kikyo was never with me. She always had something to do, some place to go... As a matter of fact, I started to realize with time that I was the one who didn't want her near me, in those nights. The only nights we spent together were in the beginning of our relationship and she kept saying that if there was some way that I could turn and remain forever human, then we could avoid those nights…"

"What?"

"Yeah. She has been saying that for a long time, since we started dating, actually…"

"You'll have to excuse me, but I don't believe that love is what exists between you two, Inuyasha."

"Why do you say that?" – Inuyasha said with a sad grin.

"Well, we are your friends and we never asked you any of that! Even if that was possible, we would never make you take that kind of choice. Kagome said she loved you and she never mentioned you had to change!"

"I know. Kagome was… I mean, I was a fool, not to see her beside me all those times. Whenever there was a moonless night these past years, the only person I kept on thinking about was Kagome and how much I wanted her there with me. Kikyo, and I found that out gradually, was more interested in my money than in myself. Still, she keeps saying she loves me…"

"So you believe her? Can you get any more stupid, Inuyasha?" – said Miroku, shocked and shocking him. – "Loving isn't getting expensive gifts or asking a person to change on something. Love is to accept the other person as she or he is, with its faults and its good points. Take me, for example: Sango knows I'm a womanizer, but she still accepts me as I am. And I changed because of that. She said she loved me as I am, not that I had to change. She didn't force me to anything; I was the one who believed it was wrong to keep on flirting while being married. And I still believe I'm right about that."

"… I suppose you're right. Perhaps, whatever existed has…has gone…"

"Remember when she told you that Kagome had said she hated half demons?"

"How could I forget? I never felt so lost and betrayed as that day."

"Why did you believe her? I mean, even Sesshomaru could see it was a lie…"

"I was blind. Kagome was my best friend and she didn't trust my girlfriend; when Kikyo told me I didn't even think about it twice... After founding Kagome yesterday and knowing she is a single mother of one like me… I guess I trusted too much in Kikyo, at the time. She had said she was in love with me. With me! A half breed… can't you see?"

"Honestly, I still believe that you were a fool. We trusted you, Inuyasha and we were your friends. Half breed or not."

"I know that. Still, when Kikyo said she liked me, and when she agreed to go out with me… I was so happy! I mean friends are different from lovers."

"Of course they are. I only regret that she could take you away from us so easily… I mean, in a moment, all you did was being with her. And giving her presents, everyday… wherever you were, she knew and she appeared there…"

"Looks like it's still the same today…"

"You're kidding!"

"Seriously. Sometimes, it creeps me out… when she calls she already knows where I am. I mean most of the time…"

"Gosh… that woman is crazy, I'm telling you!"

"She spends most of the weekends in the shopping, buying things! I mean, she has already too much but it's never enough…"

"And…" - Miroku said, being careful in the question. – "… what about Kagome?"

Inuyasha sighed deeply and said:

"You know what they say about the worth of things?"

"About knowing only what something is worth once you've lost it?"

"Exactly. That's what I feel about her. It's like, since I've gone away, I miss her like I never missed anything before! It's like breathing with no air… I need her presence, her voice… I need to be near her. And I don't know why I feel this way!"

Miroku smirked a little and said:

"You stupid half breed!" – Inuyasha turned to shout at him, but never said anything. Instead he stood up, looking over Miroku's shoulder, seeming completely shocked and taken aback. His friend, surprised, turned around to see what had happened.

Kagome had entered the coffee shop, followed close by Kouga. Kouga had his arm around her waist and she was smiling at something he said. Inuyasha was speechless. She wasn't wearing anything special, a leather brown jacket over a sleeved blue shirt and jeans, and long boots; it was the way she smiled that caught his attention. That was the kind of smile she used to present him with, when they were still friends. Suddenly he felt like tearing the other man's arm from around her waist and send him flying over the window. Miroku, noticing how hard he was griping the table, pushed him down and told him:

"What's the matter with you?"

"Who is the guy?" – he asked, almost roaring.

"He's a friend of Kagome…"

"Friends don't look that cozy with each other…"

"What do you expect? That she was going to remain single forever?"

"…"

"Look, Kouga likes her as more than a friend, but Kagome was the one who asked him to give her time. And he accepted. He isn't the first guy to ask her out but he's the first one whose invitation she accepted, in years…"

Kouga was the one who found them. Tugging Kagome behind him, he came into their direction:

"Hey, Miroku!" – he said, at the same time that Kagome saw who was with Miroku. She froze, in the middle of the shop.

"Hey." – Inuyasha said, looking at her and trying to calm himself. Instead he started feeling lost inside her eyes, as it tended to happen before.

"Hi…" - she said, visibly embarrassed and having the same sort of feeling. There wasn't the need of words to both understand each other. Kagome could see how altered he seemed, how he kept looking in her direction and how his nose seemed to flinch. He seemed… hurt?

"You two know each other?" – asked Kouga who, as Miroku, hadn't missed the glances between Kagome and Inuyasha. Instinctively he drifted closer to Kagome, grasping her hand in his. Kagome was startled by his question and his actions but didn't try to run. Instead she gulped hard, as she saw Inuyasha glance at their hands. He growled deeply.

"Yes… yes, we know each other…" - Kagome said, her eyes averting his gaze. That seemed to annoy him even more. Kagome glanced at Kouga, who looked at her curious.

"Kouga, this is Inuyasha Taisho." – said Miroku, calmly.

Kouga's eyes seemed to grow larger and his grip on Kagome's hand became stronger. Inuyasha growled once more. Kouga paid him no mind as his eyes searched for confirmation in Kagome's, who merely nodded.

"Oh, so you're Inuyasha." – he said, now looking at him. Inuyasha hold his gaze, feeling his blood boil.

"Yes. Any problem with that?" – the other said, his voice filled with danger.

"You're the one who seems to have a problem with something… see something you don't like?"

"Kouga!" – said Kagome, pulling on his hand. Then she turned around, looking barely at Inuyasha before saying. – "Inuyasha, this is Kouga Nomura. A friend of mine…"

"Friend? Kheh! You seem too much closer to be simply friends…"

"Inuyasha!" – Miroku said. He had seen the look on Kagome's face and he knew that, if he didn't interfere soon enough something was bound to happen.

"Kouga is merely a friend... and I don't know why I'm even explaining it or talking to you! You have nothing to do with me. Let's go, Kouga… I want to have coffee in another place…"

"Don't worry, Kagome." – Miroku said, lifting himself up and grabbing Inuyasha by one arm and leaving the table.

"Oy!"

"We were already leaving…"

"We're not!"

"Yes, we are." – Miroku said, dangerously. Then he turned and said, politely to Kouga and Kagome. – "You can have our table if you want…"

"Thank you, Miroku…" - Kouga said, while pulling a chair to Kagome. She sat with her back turned against Inuyasha.

"Well, then… see you later, Kagome. You're on the night shift today?"

"Yes. I'll see you later, Miroku." – she said, turning to bid him farewell. She didn't glance in Inuyasha's direction.

"Inuyasha…" - Miroku called, trying to make him leave. His friend seemed to have been pinned to the ground. Then he took a step near her chair:

"You'll come by and see Hiroyuki later, won't you?"

Kagome didn't answer, at first. Then she said, without turning around to face him:

"Of course. I'm going to see my son after all…"

Inuyasha couldn't help but feel guilty. She still sounded distant…

"Kagome…"

"I already told you not to call me by my name." – she said. Inuyasha took a step back, gulping hard the sadness that seemed to come over his heart.

"Ok… I'm sorry… I'll see you later then, Mrs. Higurashi…" - he said, bitterness. – "Have a nice coffee…"

"Nice to meet you, mutt face!" – Kouga said, grinning victoriously. – "See you around…"

"…" - Inuyasha stared at him with hate before saying. – "Yeah, see you, flea bag…"

She tried, she truly tried to keep quiet. But in the end, she couldn't. Kagome let out a sonorous laugh, one as Miroku hadn't seen her done in quite some time. It was so sudden that Kouga and Inuyasha both looked between themselves before glancing at Kagome:

"Kagome…" - Kouga started.

"Are you okay?" – Inuyasha asked.

"Ahahaha! Mutt face! Ahahahaha! Flea bag! Ahaha!" – she said, laughing as she leaned herself back on the chair.

What she wasn't expecting was that, when she leaned herself back, the chair drifted a little and she would have fallen in the floor if Inuyasha wasn't fast enough to grab her, crossing both his arms around her waist to catch her. The chair slipped in between them, making a loud noise on the ground. Kouga flinched and closed his eyes at the sound, as Miroku and a few people around them did the same.

Still, the noise didn't affect the couple, as they stood immobilized in the same position. Kagome's back were pressed against Inuyasha's torso, and his nose was lost in her hair. Her breath caught in her throat and she could feel her heart, and his too, pacing quicker. An image passed through Kagome's mind, more clearly than by Inuyasha's, who once more had a feeling of "déjà vu": the image of the prom night, when after making love, Inuyasha hold her like that, sniffing her hair while calming his breath and whispering her name…

So, what did you guys think? Was it too much? Was it good?

Please tell me, I'd love to hear your opinions!

See you guys next chapter! ;D