A/N: Alright. I wanted to keep things moving, so I wrote the next chapter right away. Things are starting to move along, gang, so stick with me! And I KNOW some of you are reading! (shifty-eyes) So if you're liking this, review! If you think this is utter crap and I should do bad things to myself to atone, review! JUST REVIEW IT. (Please.)

This was the one thing she did not miss about taking the bus.

"MOVE! YOUR! ASSES!"

Inu Yasha's head was fully out the car window as he berated the half million parked cars in front of him on the highway. Luckily, Kagome had her clipboard to hide what little of her face was showing.

Taking him on the highway during lunch hour may have been a bit of a mistake…

Kagome winced at her own understatement. Well, at least I learned something new from this—yes, you can break a car's horn by pressing it too much. Oh god, Sango is going to murder me in my sleep!

Braving a glance at the hostility surrounding her, she was suddenly struck by a idea which seemed tremendously funny.

She began giggling quietly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. Another glance around her and a snicker broke through her defenses. Inu Yasha's head snapped to look at her.

"OI! What the hell is so damn funny, wench? I'm trying to concentrate, here!" The look of indignation combined with his sullen and now pouting lower lip was the final straw. Kagome broke out into full fledged laughter.

A blush crept up his cheeks as he tried not to look offended. "You don't have to laugh at me, do you?"

Mutely, Kagome managed to nod. Her face had turned red and tears were beginning to stream down her face. After a moment of supreme effort she managed to calm herself and even looked slightly ashamed.

"I (hee) wasn't laughing at you."

He didn't look convinced. "Oh. Really."

"(snicker) Really! I promise! …okay well maybe a little at the end there but that wasn't why I started! I swear it!"

"Keh!" He turned his head away with his chin tucked in towards his chest, crossing his arms and muttering darkly to himself. Immediately Kagome retracted to her work mode: "HANDS ON THE WHEEL AT ALL TIMES!"

Covering his ears and cringing away, Inu Yasha looked at Kagome. He then lead her eyes to the parking lot ahead of them and returned with a meaningful look.

"I'm the one with the Sharpie, so watch it mister."

Muttering once again but with hands on the wheel, Inu Yasha changed the subject.

"So what was so damn funny anyway?"

"What?"

Rolling his eyes he spoke slowly as though to a child. "What were you laughing at?"

"Oh! Forget it. It's weird."

"No. I wanna know."

"Naw… you'd laugh at me!"

Giving her a withering look, Inu Yasha just replied, "So I guess we'd be even."

Damn. He has a good point.

"Alright but you probably won't think it's so funny." He gave her a look that clearly said "try me".

"Okay. Well, looking out at all these people in front of us, I guess I kind of found myself thinking of them like… hm, I don't know what…"

Inu Yasha, expecting her to continue, looked over when she didn't say anything else. "Oi. Keep going."

"Right. So looking out at all of those angry and noisy people I suddenly had the most unbelievable urge to lean out my window and yell, 'SHOO!'. You know, maybe throw in some illustrative hand gestures so the slow ones get the point… I don't know…" she finished with a sheepish smile. "I warned you! It was funny in my head."

Inu Yasha stared for a moment and broke into a wicked grin. "Oh you're definitely funny in the head alright."

"Hey! Uncalled for!" Though Kagome tried her best to be irritated, she couldn't help but smile along with him. After a moment of pleasant silence, a thought emerged. "Hey, do you have a watch or something?"

"What's wrong with the clock?"

"Nothing. Other than the fact that it was stolen with the radio about two months ago, it's just peachy," she said without a trace of sarcasim.

"Ha ha. How the hell was I supposed to know that?"

"I'm surprised you aren't more aware of your surroundings." She said mockingly.

"Shaddup."

"…So do you know what time it is?"

A smirk covered his face as he took a breath to answer her. Sensing what was coming, she cut him to the chase. "And no, it is not time for me to buy a watch."

His face fell in obvious disappointment. "You don't play fair."

"I know," she trilled happily.

"Well no I don't know what time it is Miss Smarty Pants."

"I happen to be wearing a skirt today, thank you." Primly she crossed her ankles and turned her nose up with a haughty sniffle.

"No, thank you."

Kagome near choked on the thinly concealed pick-up line.

"I said… thank you…" Inu Yasha leaned over the middle of the front seat, resting his weight on his right wrist while keeping his left on the steering wheel. Kagome felt the heat rising all the way from her toes and lingering far to long. She pressed her back as far against the car door as she could, trying to keep distance between them.

If this is just some cruel joke I swear to all that is good and holy in the world—he-will-suffer.

When she chanced a glance in his direction, though, he was looking straight through her, it seemed.

The tension of the moment was shattered and she began to turn and see what he was looking at instead of her.

"DON'T."

She felt herself jump at the command and froze in place. Afraid to move her lips she whispered, "What is it?"

He didn't respond. His gold eyes were so focused Kagome tried not to envision laser beams shooting out of them. Laughing right now would be a very bad idea. Especially since any lasers would have to pass through her.

In a chilling voice, he quietly told Kagome, "We're being followed."

…

…

Sango was pacing. It was a bad habit of hers, ever since she was little. She looked at the clock again and turned back to her pacing. Stupid time. When is she coming home? Surely she would come home and freshen up or something before picking up her fiancé?

That thought brought her out of her revere and lead her back to Kagome's letter from Hojo. She read it again. He just sounded so damn nice! So respectable! …I want one…

On cue, the door chose that moment to be knocked upon. It startled Sango and she gently cursed the door for doing such a silly thing as to let itself be knocked upon.

When she opened the door to see nothing she was really annoyed. Hanging onto the door with one hand and the door way with the other she leaned onto one leg to peer out into the hallway. But no one was there. What the—her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar hand gently cupping her unprotected rear.

Instincts took over and her elbow came down hard at an angle, pinning the offending appendage against the door. Her lips curled in satisfaction at the yelp following her lightening quick motion. In one swift move she brought down her fist while keeping her elbow in place, attempting to just snap the damn hand off and save women everywhere a lot of grief.

Luckily for him, her boyfriend knew his lady love's temper and was prepared. In a move to block the blow, he thrust he free hand out and found the back of her neck. Before she could react he pulled her in, throwing her off balance and into his kiss.

Of course she struggled out of principle but they both knew perfectly well she did not really want to escape. Without breaking contact, Miroku broke into a smile and readied himself to attack again.

Sango sensed the weakness and broke the kiss, throwing herself against the opposite side of the door way. Both panting, red, and smiling, they stood for a moment, not sure who would make the first move.

"Missed me that much, huh?" Miroku arched an eyebrow at Sango and sauntered past her, inviting himself into the apartment.

"Oh baby. You know it." Sango droned while rolling her eyes and bringing the door to a close behind her. "Why didn't you call me back? I've been trying to reach you for hours, you know. I figured you get the hint after the first two messages."

"My darling, the truth is that after hearing your divine voice mangled by modern technology I wanted—nay—needed to hear from your own sweet lips this news…" With a flourish he bowed and kissed her hand.

I shouldn't have called. Why did I call him? Why???

…

…

"What do you mean, 'followed'? Inu Yasha, in case you haven't noticed… we're not moving!" Kagome whispered fervently. He ignored her and continued with his soliloquy.

"Not good. Think. Think!" Inu Yasha slammed his fist against the back of the car seat, stirring dust from two decades prior. "Alright. We've got no choice. He knows where I am and now he's seen you, too."

"Whoa, there, Skippy, you lost me." He ignored her and rambled on, never looking away from the spot just above and behind Kagome's head.

"Right. You're right. We've got to loose him somehow. But we can't move with all these cars… Dammit!" Again he thumped the seat, releasing a new blanket of dust.

"Hold it! I didn't say anything about running! I actually asked for some information." She gave him a flat stare but it had no effect.

He began to mumble quickly and quietly. Kagome didn't know if he was having a one-sided conversation or chanting some ancient incantation. She did know one thing. Her hanyou companion didn't notice that cars were now beginning to move.

"Inu Yasha! Focus!" He shook his head at her command, like he was swatting an insect and spat back, "I am focused!"

"The-cars-are-moving. Foot on gas pedal! Now!"

That got his attention. Looking sharply to the front he saw the widening gap between his parked vehicle and the moving ones in front of him.

Turning the ignition and throwing the car into gear, Inu Yasha slammed his foot against the gas. …Unfortunately for both of them, in his eagerness to play catch-up, Inu Yasha's hanyou strength decided it wanted to play, too.

Kagome had braced herself against the dashboard; already prepared for the worst. As they shot forward they left a screen of smoke and a trail of rubber behind them. Kagome was having difficultly holding her head up at this velocity. I had no idea this car had that much pep to it!

With great effort she craned her neck to look at the speedometer. 66 miles per hour. Oh my.

While that thought sunk in she turned again to look to the front. …Just in time to see the cars in front of them barely miss colliding.

Inu Yasha slammed on the brakes with even more force than before, skidding to a halt about half a centimeter from making contact with the truck in front of them. For a moment, the two were frozen into mirror images, both braced for the impact that didn't come.

Carefully peeling one eye open, Kagome's curiosity got the better of her. Are we dead?

Looking at the scene ahead, she felt a groan escape from her lips.

The car in front of them was a beat-up white pick-up truck complete with mud flaps and red neck bumper stickers like, "Keep honking: I'm reloading". The driver of the truck was now out of his vehicle and marching over to the car in front of his— a compact foreign car—Kagome couldn't tell which specific kind.

The owner of the green car, however, was not exiting his vehicle, but rather attempting to hide in any way possible from this big, icky and obviously pissy man. The big man began to swear at the top of his lungs, calling for the little man to get out of his car.

"Lookit what you did! You bett'r not touch ma truck!" The red neck was pacing in front of the other man's door. "Cumm'on! Let's go!"

The little man just shrank further into his seat, so that now Kagome could only see a nose.

Inu Yasha cursed. "Dammit, this could take hours! We've got a chance to loose him, but it's got to be now!"

The big man began kicking the little man's car door, taunting him and trying to make him come out.

"Keh. Oh yeah, that'll work. 'Come out here so I can beat the crap out of yew!' Not likely." Impressed with his comment, he turned to see Kagome's reaction but saw only her slender legs dangling inside the car as she positioned herself on the edge of the car's empty window. "What are you—" He knew exactly was she was doing.

Sitting on the car door, Kagome leaned towards the large and belligerent man. With an imperious expression pasted across her face and a disdainful wave of her hands, she yelled, "SHOO! I'VE GOT A CELL PHONE! SHOO! I'LL CALL THE POLICE! SHOO, SHOO!"

Inu Yasha lunged to pull her back into the car, but was restrained by his seat belt. Stupid life-saving seat belt! , he thought to himself as he tore at the release mechanism.

The previously belligerent man had stopped kicking the little man's car door and was staring at this small, crazy Asian lady who was threatening to call the cops. And she was telling him to … "shoo".

Kagome took his hesitation to be a sign of her progress. "GO ON, SHOO! CELL PHONE! SHOO! I'LL CALL THE POLICE!"

The big man seemed shaken by the whole situation but reluctant to pass on the chance to bully someone smaller than him. Returning his attention to the little man while still sneaking nervous peeks back at this weird woman, he half-heartedly threw out a few more insults and made a few rather pathetic lunges towards the green car, but quickly made his way back to his own truck.

Satisfied with a job well done, Kagome nodded smartly and crawled back into the car to face a stunned half-breed. His jaw slack –and was that awe she saw in his eyes?—she noticed he was frozen holding his unbuckled seat belt.

She just smiled at him pleasantly, rolled up her window and strapped in her seat belt again. When Inu Yasha made no move, she leaned over, took each end of his belt and snapped them together for him. Patting his cheek condescendingly, she said, "Safety first!"

…

…

Things had been quiet at the DMV for the last two hours. After the fuss with the car on fire and the part-timer making friendly with her appointment, the Marys were glad to have a little peace and quiet, though.

"Dey chure 'ave been gan a w'ile." Mary 2 sighed, looking up from her crossword puzzle to check on the clock.

"Aye." Mary 1 didn't look up from her knitting. After a comfortable moment of silence she continued. "Well. It seems te' meh that 'eh meh beh needin' sa mar yarn soon…" She looked over meaningfully at Mary 2 who was already digging in her garters for a five dollar bill.

Smacking it down on the table, Mary 2 frowned. "Choo don' pley fair. I tot che was smar'd enough to not take de 'ayeway."

"Aye. Tis a good woman ya are, Mary." And with a benevolent smile she smoothly palmed the fiver and hid it in her dress. Setting her needles aside for a moment, Mary 1 cocked her head to one side, suddenly lost in thought. "Now, das that maek et t'ree to noon? Or is et foor?"

Mary 2 didn't dignify that with a response.

After settling back into their previous tasks, a few moments passed with barely more notice than the occasional tick-tock.

The serenity was broken abruptly when the door suddenly fell to the ground. Standing on what used to be the other side with a hand poised as though in mid-knock was the handsome stranger from the day before.

Mary 1 was the first to pipe up. "Aye, laddie com'on en! Ef ets da wee bonnie lass ya be here fer, shea's oot."

The stranger looked even more confused as he tried to decipher what exactly came out of the small woman's mouth. Shaking it off, he stepped in and politely addressed the Marys.

"Excuse me. My name is Koga… I'm here to take my test? I didn't get a chance to take it yesterday, so I thought that perhaps today would be better."

Cocking her ancient Irish head towards Kagome's desk, Mary 1 supplied the stranger with the bad news. "She's da one ta gib tests. Sarrey, boyo. Eh'd sey ya'r oot o' luck!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm a little confused. If she's on her lunch break, perhaps I should wait—or maybe one of you lovely ladies would be willing to help me out?" He bowed with a suave smile. He always was good with the ladies, especially the older ones.

When he looked up, though, the bitties were not impressed, but rather trying not to laugh at him, it seemed. The darker of the women spoke next. "Choo wern't lisening, were choo? Che's not 'ere!"

"I'm sorry?" Koga looked to the other woman for clarification.

"Aye. 'Tis true. Kog'may es stell oot wit da boyo frum yestardey. Eh taut' dey'd stey close, boot es' been wha, far 'ours, fibe?" Mary 1 turned to her compatriot for affirmation. The little Hispanic woman nodded sadly.

"What do you mean? The hanyou? That jerk? She's going out with him?" The memory of yesterday's humiliation coupled with the thought of a half-breed taking off with his woman, Koga felt his predatory instincts begin to kick in. His blood began pumping faster as his gut told him it was time for a little jog around the block.

With a perfunctorily bow of good bye the handsome stranger was gone again.

Mary 2 met her partner in crime's glance. "So. Da usual?"

"Aye. Ye lost last time. Y'kin call et." Mary 2 scrunched her wrinkled face tightly, as if hoping to squeeze out her bet. A smile broke across her rosy cheeks and she lightly pushed Mary 1 on the shoulder.

"I say 'e don get 'er. But, da silver whon. 'E's gonna get 'er." Mary 1 looked up sharply and studied her friend. Shaking her head, she muttered "A mey 've lost dis one."

…

…

They were free from the constraints of heavy traffic now, and Inu Yasha maneuvered the car fluidly down the highway. If Kagome wasn't scared out of her wits that he was going to crash the car, she would have been very impressed.

With one hand on the "oh-shit" handle on the roof and one bracing against the car seat, Kagome felt herself rolling from side to side from his frequent and fast lane changes. "Slow down! You're gonna get us killed!"

He paused to consider this. "Well, that's certainly possible now… but most likely it will not happen with me behind the wheel." He threw a cocky smile at her. Kagome was more than a little startled at how reassuring she found that smile to be.

He's trying to protect me… Now if only he would tell me what the hell he's trying to protect me from…

…

…

Hojo could barely sit still. This was really torture. He had less than an hour before he landed and would get to see her again. Kagome really was a mystery to him—she always had been. It was one of the things he loved about her the most, actually.

When they were in school together she was out sick often. But when Higurashi-san was as school, class just seemed easier to get through. Everyone seemed to magically be in a better mood. She was… she was like sunshine. People have always been drawn to her and she radiated an innate love for those around her. …Just don't piss her off.

She was beautiful and lovely and delicate but had a fire within her that perpetually drove her to be better. Brighter. Stronger.

These thoughts rekindled again his desire to see her again. In college they'd taken similar courses –all the basics—and had even had a few classes together. Even if they never officially dated, being near her had been enough to make Hojo happy.

But the last year had been terrible. She transferred to their school's American sister-campus and had all but ignored him. He knew it wasn't fair to think of it that way, but… That's why he was on this plane. He studied hard, worked until exhaustion forced him to rest. He had gotten ahead by two semesters in the time she'd been gone. Now he was using that head start to catch up to what really mattered.

He was coming for her.

…

…

A/N: So? Tell me what you thought! Now!

Seriously. You guys are killing me. Even if you don't like it--I don't care. Please just let me know if y'all like where I'm going, have any suggestions or want to gouge your eyes out. I can see when you look at the chapters! (Shifty eyes) Just review it!