Yo! I'm here once again, so you can stop crying! Lol, jk. But seriously, I know I've given you the homework excuse already so I won't bother with it again. Sigh... grade ten... Anyway, it wasn't that long a wait was it? Well, to make it up to you, here's chapter 8:

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-Chapter 8- A date... or not...

DISCLAIMER: Sigh, don't own him.

Kagome glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was 6:30. She and San had finished packing about two hours ago. Then she, Sango and Rin had just sat and talked about nothing in particular. Sango and Kagome had entertained Rin of stories of their childhood together and Rin had entertained them of stories of her life. Yea... good stuff... Now, the girls were bored and they wondered what they should do.

"Hey Kags, what time are you meeting Inuyasha?" Sango asked as she noticed Kagome glancing at the clock every five seconds.

"I don't know. I told him I'd stop by, but I don't know whether I should go now or wait some time," Kagome replied.

"Does it matter?"

"Well... kind of... I guess... yea..."

"Why?" Rin asked confused. Kagome looked down.

"Well... if I go there too early he might think that I'm clingy or that I planned the exact time to go. But if I go too late he may think that I wasn't interested or that I forgot about it," Kagome replied sheepishly. Rin and Sango burst out laughing.

"Is that all?" Sango asked. Kagome looked up surprised.

"What do you mean 'is that all'? Isn't that enough?"

"Not really. I mean, Inuyasha doesn't seem like the type of guy to really care so... but... I mean, if it's that important to you..."

Kagome flushed.

"It's not that important!"

"Well then just go. You never gave him a time, so he shouldn't really be expecting you at any specific hour. So just go when you're dressed."

"Okay. Thanks San. Now, what am I gonna wear?"

Sango watched as Kagome flitted around the room looking for the perfect outfit to wear. She sweat-dropped as Kagome flung various clothes out of her closet and drawer, and she shook her head as Kagome held up various outfits in front of herself in the mirror. Kagome groaned and threw all of her clothes on the floor.

"Argh! I give up!" she exclaimed. Sango sighed.

"Kags, calm down! You're acting as if this is a date!"

Kagome's cheeks turned pink.

"It's not a date!"

"Well then relax! I don't see why it's such a big deal. I mean, it's not like you like him or anything..." Sango said, smiling evilly. Kagome remained silent. Sango just smiled to herself.

"Anyway. As for what to wear... put this on," Sango said as she handed Kagome and outfit. Kagome's face lit up with happiness.

"That's perfect San! Thanks!" she exclaimed. Sango just rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Well, better get ready tiger," she said, playfully punching Kagome in the shoulder.

"Yea, you're right."

With that Kagome rushed into the bathroom to take a shower. Sango and Rin just stood there sweat-dropping. They exchanged a look and shook their heads.

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Ten minutes later, Kagome emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. Her hair hung stringy and wet down her back. Kagome dried off and then proceeded to put on the clothes that Sango had picked out for her. It consisted of a short, cute, navy blue denim mini and a white, frilly tank top with a blue shrug. Okay, now time to tackle her hair. Kagome dried her hair with the towel and then grabbed the straightening iron out of her bag. She held it out to Sango with an apologetic smile. Sango groaned.

"Kags, why do you do this to me?!" she moaned.

"I'm sorry San, but you know that I can't straighten my hair by myself."

"I know. So then don't."

"Oh, come on San! Please? If I don't my hair will look jacked up!"

"Okay, okay fine! Why do I always get roped into doing this?" Sango grumbled to herself.

"Because you love me?" Kagome offered hopefully. Sango stared at her hard before bursting out laughing. Kagome joined her.

"Yea, you're right," Sango replied smiling.

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About an hour later Kagome was ready to go (yes, Kagome's hair took a hell lotta time to straighten). Kagome grabbed her bag, slipped on her blue sandals and rushed out the door yelling a bye to Sango and Rin. After the door closed behind Kagome, the room had an eerie silence. Sango and Rin looked at each other. The question that was running through both of their minds was visible on their face: what should they do now?

"How about we explore the camp some more?" Rin suggested. Sango glanced at her watch. It was 7:15.

"Sure. Curfew isn't in a couple of hours anyway."

The girls got dressed and left the cabin.

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Kagome's heart pounded in her chest as she neared Inuyasha's cabin. She had a strange sinking feeling in her stomach but she didn't know why.

'Why do I feel so nervous?" she asked herself. 'It's just Inuyasha after all. Nothing special. And it's not like it's a date or anything'. Still, she felt a heck of a lot of nervous right now. As she neared the cabin she could feel her heart racing faster.

'Calm down Kagome!' she scolded herself. 'It's not like you're going to marry the guy or anything!' Strangely, that made her feel even worse. Now she was a few feet away from the cabin, and she could hear voices inside. Normally she would have continued walking, but hearing her name pricked her attention. She stopped to listen.

"Butt out of my damn business ya mangy wolf!" she heard a rough voice say, most likely Inuyasha.

"I just wanna know where the hell you're going!" Kouga replied angrily.

"And I'm tellin' you that's it's none of your damn business!"

"You're going to meet Kagome aren't you?" Kouga accused.

"And so what if I am?"

Kouga growled.

"I saw her first! She's mine!"

"Uh, technically I saw her first. And secondly, she's not nor will she ever be yours. She doesn't like you! I doubt she even knows you!"

"Oh, and you think she likes you?"

"I ain't sayin' that. I'm just saying that she doesn't like you."

"Well, do you like her?"

Kagome heard a short moment of silence.

"Why do you need to know?!"

"Just answer the damn question!"

More silence.

"I think she's cute okay?"

"So you like her?"

"I never said that!"

"Okay, so if I were to make a move on her you wouldn't mind then."

"What is this, 20 questions or something?! Look, all I know is that if you lay a finger on her or even get too close, I will hurt you!"

"So you do like her. Well, this is very interesting. Looks like we're in a competition then."

"What, to see who's the ugliest? Too late, you already won it hands down!"

When Inuyasha said that Kagome heard something like a chair smashing against wood or something... She sweat-dropped.

"Anyway, Kagome will be mine," Kouga's voice continued. Inuyasha growled.

"You know what? I don't need this! I'm outta here!"

With that, Inuyasha stormed out of the cabin and slammed the door shut behind him. He angrily marched away from the cabin, not looking where he was going. Suddenly, he felt himself collide with someone in the dark. He heard a yelp followed by a loud thud on the ground. Inuyasha looked down annoyed only to see Kagome sitting there rubbing her head. His expression immediately softened. He held a hand out to her and swiftly pulled her up.

"Sorry about that," he said seriously as she brushed off her skirt. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Inuyasha?" she asked.

"Who else?" he said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.

"I was just coming to get you," she said. He looked a little embarrassed.

"Uh... yea. Well... I couldn't take Kouga and his scent anymore so... well... I was just going for a walk you know..." he stopped when he saw the way she was staring at him. As if she was pondering something. Or hiding something.

"Say... you didn't hear any of that just now did you?" Inuyasha asked.

"Huh? Oh... no... not at all..." Kagome replied. She bit her bottom lip as she looked down at her feet. Inuyasha studied her expression for a bit. He could so tell she was lying, but he didn't say anything more on the matter.

"Well, what are we just standing here for? Let's go," he said as he started walking. Kagome jogged to keep up with him.

"Okay... Say Inuyasha? Where are we going?" she asked. Inuyasha stopped walking and so did she. Inuyasha shrugged.

"I dunno. This was your idea. What do you want to do?"

"Well... I know this may sound cheesy and all but... I wanted to get to know you a little better. So..."

"Wanna go somewhere private then?" Inuyasha suggested.

"Sure..."

Inuyasha didn't say anything more. He just led the way and Kagome silently followed. No one said anything and Kagome was starting to wonder where he was taking her. They were moving pretty far away from the cabins and she was getting a little edgy. She was about to ask him where they were going when he suddenly stopped. Kagome wasn't paying attention to where she was going and she almost bumped into him. Luckily he stopped her before that happened.

"Where are we?" Kagome asked confused. Inuyasha didn't say a word. He just grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around. What she saw took her breath away. There was a small bench sitting in a patch of beautiful green grass. Up above twinkled millions (or it seemed like millions) of bright stars. Around the bench was a bunch of flowers of all sorts. Fireflies buzzed around the air making the place sparkle. And the flowers gave off a heavenly aroma that just added to the overall perfection of the place. It was like something Kagome had once seen in a dream. She spun around and stared at Inuyasha, unable to speak. Her eyes seemed to say it all though. Inuyasha just smirked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bench. They both sat down next to each other.

"So, what do you think?" Inuyasha asked.

"I...it...you... its beautiful!" she gasped. Inuyasha's smirk grew bigger.

"Thanks."

"How'd you find such a beautiful place?!"

"Well, earlier today I was bored as shit so I decided to just look around the camp. I strayed a little too far and found this place."

"Wow! How amazing!"

"Who, me or the place?" Inuyasha joked. Kagome smiled at him.

"Both."

Inuyasha turned his head so that Kagome wouldn't see the blush on his face, but she still noticed it. A tiny blush appeared on her cheeks as well.

"Okay, well I didn't ask you out here to make you blush," Kagome said smiling. Inuyasha blushed a little bit more.

"Well, what did you ask me out here for?"

"I dunno. Just... wanted to talk you know?"

"Okay then. Start talking."

"Hmm... Okay. Well, hows about I just ask you a bunch of random questions?"

Inuyasha shrugged.

"Fine with me."

"Okay. Got any other siblings besides Sesshomaru?"

"Nope. Thank God too! I couldn't handle another Sesshomaru. I'd probably kill myself from the insanity!"

"Why?"

"Do you know what it's like living with him?!" Kagome just stared dumbly at him. "Guess not. Well, lemme tell you. It's torture."

"Wow. And to think Rin actually likes him."

Inuyasha almost did a double-take.

"Whoa! What?! Seriously?!" he exclaimed. Kagome nodded her head.

"Yea. At least... I think she does. With Rin you can never tell. She likes everyone."

"Doe she like me?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yea, probably."

Inuyasha hesitated a bit.

"Do you like me?" he asked shyly. Kagome seemed genuinely surprised at this question.

"Uh... well, yea. I do. I mean, why wouldn't I?"

"Why wouldn't you...?" Inuyasha repeated

"Well, you seem pretty cool. So why wouldn't I like you?"

"I can think of many reasons," Inuyasha said almost sadly. For some reason Kagome felt sympathy for Inuyasha. She almost wanted to hold him and comfort him. But she fought back the urge.

"Besides, we made a truce, remember? Friends."

"Yea... friends."

More silence consumed the emptiness between them.

"So... read any good books lately?" Kagome asked randomly. She just wanted to break the silence that hung heavily in the air. Inuyasha stared at her as if she were incredibly stupid, or worse, as if she had just confessed that she was a Martian with two heads.

"Pssh! Do I look like I read?" he snorted. Kagome flushed.

"Well, looks are deceiving you know!" she cried defensively. Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow.

"So what are you trying to say then? That I don't look smart?" he asked. Kagome's face became redder.

"No! Just that... you don't look like the type who reads books!"

"Then why'd you ask if I did?"

"I don't know!"

"Oh come on now. You had to know otherwise you wouldn't have asked it," Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly.

"I asked to break the silence between us okay?!"

"Why, you don't like silence?" Inuyasha queried.

"Yes I do."

"Then why'd you want to break it?"

"Because it made me feel uncomfortable!"

"Really now? 'Cause I felt fine."

"Well... something's just wrong with you then!"

"Are you sure? Or is it just because being around me makes you feel awkward?" Inuyasha teased. Kagome's whole face felt like it was burning up, literally.

"No! That's not it!" she said in a shrill, high-pitched voice.

"Then what is it?"

"I... I don't know! Stop asking me questions!"

"But I thought the whole point of us coming out here was to ask each other questions," Inuyasha said with his eyebrows raised. Kagome's eye twitched.

"Arggh!" she let out a cry of frustration.

Inuyasha couldn't help himself. He just burst out laughing. Her expression was just too funny to hold it in anymore. Kagome on the other hand didn't seem to catch the joke. She just sat there glaring at him feverishly.

"What's so funny?" she asked vehemently. Inuyasha chuckled.

"You," he responded.

"Oh, so I'm funny now am I?"

"Yes you are," he snickered. "This is the third time I got you today. You should know by now that I'm only messing with you. But you just play along. It's so damn funny! Seeing you get worked up like that..." he snickered again. Kagome on the other hand felt embarrassed. She buried her face in her hands.

"I can't believe I let you do that to me again! I'm so stupid!" she moaned. Inuyasha stopped laughing and he just stared at Kagome. Wow, she looked like she was taking this really hard. He reached over and gently pulled her hands from her face. She looked at him in surprise.

"You're not stupid okay? Just... pretty gullible."

Kagome glared at him.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" she said sarcastically. Her mouth was still fixated in a pout. Inuyasha sighed.

"Look, you're not stupid. I... probably shouldn't have done that to you again. But you're not stupid. It's... one of the reasons why I like you..." he said, blushing a little. Kagome's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"One of them?"

"Yea..."

"So... what are the others?" Kagome prodded. Inuyasha looked as if he regretted ever saying anything, but Kagome wasn't about to let him stop now.

"Well... you're smart and nice and pretty friendly and you seem like a generally cool person," Inuyasha said as he flushed. He avoided eye contact with Kagome as he said that. Kagome's lips twitched threatening to smile but she forced herself to hold it back.

"Anything else?"

Inuyasha looked at her face for a moment and then quickly looked away. He ducked his head as he said (a little sheepishly might I add)

"You're kind of pretty I guess..."

Okay, so Kagome couldn't hold it in any more. A big, no, HUGE grin broke out across her face and she didn't even try to wipe it off. Inuyasha glanced up at his silent partner, only to see her there smiling a big, goofy smile as if he'd just crowned her Miss Japan (lol). He opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped himself when Kagome suddenly threw her arms around his neck in a big hug. If his face was pink before, now it was red. He didn't push her off, but he didn't' exactly hug her back. He wrapped his arms around her halfway in an awkward manner, not exactly sure what to do. He felt engulfed in the awkwardness of this moment right now, but Kagome seemed completely oblivious to it all. And yet, for some strange reason, he didn't want her to let go.

"Oh Inuyasha, that's so nice and sweet! And to think you hardly know me!" Kagome cried happily. Inuyasha just cleared his throat embarrassed. He wasn't used to all this mushy gushy stuff.

"Feh, no biggie," he tried to play it off, but inside he felt his stomach bubbling. Kagome finally let go of him and fell back against the seat happily.

"I'm sorry. I probably went a little overboard there huh?" she asked. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes.

"Yea, people say I get very emotional when something good happens. Really and truly... you have no idea what that meant to me..." Kagome said softly. Inuyasha watched the expression on her face change. Now it was wistful, as if she was thinking about something that happened a long time ago. But... it had a twinge of sadness hidden deep below. Why? Once again the atmosphere changed from vibrant and excited to solemn and the silence was beginning to bug Inuyasha. He had to say something.

"So..." he said lamely. Kagome didn't even move, as if she hadn't heard him. That annoyed Inuyasha a little. He sat there thinking of what he could say to cheer her up when Kagome's voice broke into his thoughts.

"You know, that was the first time I hugged a boy in over a year..." she said softly. In Inuyasha's mind he was thinking 'Okay... and why is she telling me this?', and yet he felt compelled to know more.

"Why?" he asked in a tone to match hers.

"I didn't trust guys at all after... well..." her voice just trailed off. Inuyasha felt a burning desire to know why she hadn't trusted guys. What could have happened to make her feel so alone and distant in the world? Was it similar to him?

"I never got over that night you know..." Kagome suddenly said. She was looking down at her hands in her lap and Inuyasha wasn't sure if Kagome was talking to him or herself.

"Why?" he asked again. What else was there to say?

"I just... can't get over the pain he caused. It really hurt you know," she whispered. Inuyasha thought this over in his mind. What could this "person" have done to cause Kagome so much pain? He was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that Kagome was crying. It was only when he smelled a weird scent of salt mixed with water that he realized that something was wrong. He looked over at Kagome. Her head was bent low so that her bangs covered her eyes. In her lap lay three single teardrops.

"Kagome!" he cried alarmed. Kagome looked up at him and tried to smile.

"I'm sorry. I promised myself I wouldn't cry over him while I was at this camp." When Kagome said "him", she clutched her chest and winced in pain.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha said again, this time concerned. She forced a smile on her face.

"It's okay. This always happens when I start thinking about him." She winced again. "It's just hard to let go, you know? I feel so vulnerable, so weak. And I keep promising myself that I wouldn't think about him or cry over him anymore, but it's just so hard. And now, it looks like I owe Sango a free soda 'cause I promised her too. Drat," she said as she tried to make her tone as light and joking as possible, but Inuyasha could see right through her false pretense. He didn't say anything; though there were a million things that he wanted to say to comfort this girl.

"Anyway, I'm so sorry about this," Kagome said after a moment of silence. "I brought you out here to talk about you and ended up giving you my problems and crying. I'm horrible, aren't I?"

"No you're not. And... it's okay. I mean, it's good to get things out sometimes, right?"

She didn't answer.

"Anyway, I'm...glad you told me. I... got to learn a little something about you."

Still no response.

"I mean... that's how friendships grow right?" Inuyasha continued to babble, trying to keep the conversation going, but not sure of what he should say. The word 'friendships' seemed to prick Kagome's attention and she looked up.

"Yea... friendships..." she repeated slowly. She looked up at Inuyasha and smiled a tiny smile.

"You know Inuyasha, you're right."

"Huh? I am?"

"Yea. And I really hope that we will be great friends."

"Huh? Oh... me too..." he couldn't help but smile at her. And, like they say, smiles are contagious. Kagome grinned back at him and he was glad to see her happy again.

"So... sorry about all of that..." she said sheepishly. Inuyasha shook his head.

"No biggie," he said once more. Truth was, if that had been any other person he probably would have walked away. He hated crying. And talking about problems and feelings. Which was why he hated funerals. But with Kagome, he felt different. Instead of running away, he felt like drawing closer to her. Why?

Kagome glanced at her watch. It read 8:15. Wow. They'd been talking for almost an hour. Felt more like 20 minutes. Time sure flies.

"What should we do now?" Kagome questioned. Suddenly, they heard a short buzz followed by Nikky's voice as she made an announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Attention all campers! Please report to the mess hall now. It is very urgent! I repeat, all campers must report to the mess hall NOW! Thank you."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and smirked.

"Guess that answers your question huh?"

"Guess so," Kagome replied smiling. Inuyasha got up and helped Kagome off of the bench. Then the two walked towards the mess hall in silence, but this time it wasn't awkward, it was comfortable.

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Dun dun duuunnn!!! Well, there you have it! Chappie 8! Okay, so sorry there's no Fluffy T_T. But there will be in the next chappie... hopefully... guess you'll just have to read to find out! :P Anyway, please review and suscribe and all that good stuf and I'll put up the next chappie. Anyways, I'm sleepy, so till next time:

~Mata Ne!~

^_^