I'm Baaaaack!! Okay, okay so I know that I haven't updated in a while and I'm totally sorry. But my internet wasn't working properly so I couldn't update on New Years Day :(.Then I had some hw, and then I just felt totally lazy and depressed lol... but anyway everything's alright with the world now because I'm updating :). What's happened lately in my life? Um... alot that I can't go into now lol but now everyone's all getting hyped up and prepared for Junkanoo today!! (It's a Bahamian festival for those of you who don't know). The schools are competing against each other and its gonna be so colorful and musicful (not a word but who cares) and loud and fun! :P I can't wait! I hope its not too cold though. We had some monstrous weather lately, lots of cold fronts, although I guess we should still be thankful that its not as cold as Canada and that it doesn't snow here... But anyway, I hope the weather is nice because then I'll be happy! Also, soccer resumes today... And yesterday made 4 months that... lol well I won't get too personal. Anyways, on with the story! :3

-Chapter 16- Grudge Match

DISCLAIMER: I don't own him, but my New Year's resolution was to get him... I WILL get him!!!

The sun shone down on Rin, Kagome and Sango's faces, letting them know that yet another day had sprung upon them. They all got up out of bed groggy and tired from last night. Kagome jumped out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom where she splashed her face with water multiple times. Then she took a good look at herself and smiled. Today was the day of her match with Inuyasha. Day Three had officially begun.

"Morning Inuyasha! Morning Miroku!" Kagome chirped as she, Sango and Rin joined the boys at a table in the mess hall. Kagome slammed her tray of food down and then took a seat next to Inuyasha. Sango and Rin sat next to her and Miroku.

"Morning…" Inuyasha said eyeing her warily while chewing his cereal. "Why are you all perky?"

"Oh nothing. Just thinking of our match today and how funny it'll be when you lose," she said, staring at him intimidating. He lowered his spoon from his mouth and placed it back in his bowl.

"You mean when you lose and I win?" he said narrowing his eyes at her.

"Nope. Face it Inuyasha. You're going down. Better eat your breakfast to build up your strength so that when you lose you'll lose fairly," she said smirking. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"You seem pretty confident," he commented.

"When you're good then you should be confident," she replied cockily.

"Alrighty then, I'm done eating. Let's go!" Inuyasha said pushing his bowl aside and standing up.

"Now?"

"Yeah. I wanna get my victory done and over with so I can have more time to rub it in your face and laugh at you!" Inuyasha smirked. Kagome frowned.

"You got it, but when you lose I won't have any mercy!"

"Fine!"

They both got up to leave when they heard someone clear they're throat. Whirling around to face their friends, they both exclaimed, "What?!"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Sango asked.

"What?" Kagome asked confused. "Oh yeah, my water! Thanks!" she said grabbing her bottle off of the table.

"No, not your stupid water! Us!" Sango exclaimed. "We missed all of that just now."

"Oh, sorry guys. Well, me and Inuyasha made a bet playing volleyball. To make a long story short, if he wins I gotta dress up in a banana costume, but if I win he's gotta wear a dog collar and act like the dog he is!" Kagome said smiling. Inuyasha growled.

"Which isn't gonna happen!" he sneered.

"No, you're right. It won't. Not with us standing here. Let's go!" Kagome said, walking away from the table. Inuyasha and the others quickly ran to catch up with he and they all headed to the volleyball court to begin their grudge match.

"Take that!"

"Ha! You call that a shot?! You suck!"

"Hey, I'm not the one missing all of the balls!"

"I only missed them 'cause you can't serve!"

Inuyasha and Kagome were playing volleyball on the volleyball court, one-on-one. They were both pretty good; every time one of them hit the ball the other one hit it back and they rarely missed. They were both playing hard and they both had determined looks on their faces, and even though they tried to pass off a score as no big deal you could see that they were each really trying hard to win.

"Whoo! Another score!" Kagome cried.

"No way! That was out of bounds!" Inuyasha said.

"No it wasn't! It didn't pass the white line!"

"Alright then. Let's see how you like this!"

"No fair! Now that was out of bounds!"

"No it wasn't!"

The two were neck and neck at each other, hitting the ball over the net. Kagome hit the ball really hard over the net and it hit the floor before Inuyasha could hit it back.

"Your serve," he said throwing the ball to Kagome. She hit it hard again, but this time Inuyasha hit it back and it hit the floor on her side of the net.

"Your serve," she said, throwing the ball to him.

The game was pretty much like this for the whole time, except for a few instances when they were really fired up and kept the ball in the air for a whole five minutes! (The first time Inuyasha failed to catch it, the second time it was Kagome). Now the score was 18-19 and Kagome was in the lead. They were both growing tired though and you could see it in their playing, because neither was making any points (most of the balls were flying into the net instead of over it).

"You ready to give up yet?" Kagome panted.

"No way! I'm winning this thing!" Inuyasha said breathlessly.

"One more point and I win!" Kagome said. They had agreed to stop at 20 and whoever got there first won.

"Let's make a deal then."

"What?"

"The game ends at the next point scored."

"Why?"

"Because we're both exhausted and we're not making any scores and I don't want any of us to drop before the game is over," Inuyasha said matter-of-factly.

"Hmm… seems fair enough. It'll be me anyway."

"Whatever. How about a time out?" Inuyasha suggested.

"Sure. I could use some time to rest."

Kagome rested the ball down and took a swig from her water bottle that was sitting beside the volleyball net. Inuyasha walked up to her and grabbed the water bottle from her hand just as she had begun to put the cap back on it and took a large gulp himself.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shrieked.

"What?" Inuyasha asked wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ew! That's disgusting!"

"What?!"

"In case you didn't notice, that was my water bottle! You didn't even wipe it off!"

"So?" Inuyasha shrugged.

"So that's disgusting!"

"Fine. You want it back? Here," he said handing her the water bottle. She jumped backwards away from it like it had a disease.

"Ew! I don't want that any more. It has your spit on it. Besides, you may backwash!"

"Whatever. We're all friends here."

Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Did you fail biology?"

"No! I passed it with a C!" Inuyasha said defensively. Kagome couldn't help but smile.

"You're so stupid," she giggled.

"Why? 'Cause I got a C?"

"No. 'Cause you're a boy," she said.

"So now all boys are stupid?"

"Nope. Most of them, you included."

"Well that's not very fair. What if I said all girls were ugly."

"I wouldn't care because I know you'd be lying."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because I'm beautiful!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"And conceited."

"Call it what you want Inuyasha, but you're still stupid."

"Whatever. You're just jealous.

"Of?"

"Of the fact that I'm so super sexy and you can't have any of this," Inuyasha said, pulling off his shirt and pointing to his bare, muscled chest. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. Put your shirt back on 'cause I don't want any of that," Kagome snorted. Inuyasha walked up to Kagome and stood almost chest-to-chest with her. He bent his head down toward her.

"Oh? Is that so?" he asked. Kagome gulped.

"Yeah. Move," she said pushing him, but she forgot that he didn't have a shirt in and she ended up touching his bare chest instead. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at her.

"You tell me to move yet you're still trying to feel me up," he said. Kagome's face turned red.

"You perv! I was not feeling you up!" she said. Inuyasha chuckled.

"Chillax. I'm kidding," he said.

"Jerk."

Suddenly Inuyasha moved closer to Kagome and moved his face towards hers. Immediately she started to panic.

"W-what are you doing?!" she demanded.

"Ssh. Stand still," he said. Kagome obeyed, but not because she wanted to. It was because she couldn't move her body anymore. It was something about being so close to Inuyasha that made her unable to think.

Slowly and carefully Inuyasha reached over to Kagome and her muscles tensed. His hand gently and briefly brushed her cheek as it went to her hair. She closed her eyes as she felt his hand gently stroke her hair. Then, it stopped stroking her hair but lingered there. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and saw him standing there staring at her.

"Wha-" she started to say but Inuyasha cut her off.

"There was a bug in your hair," he answered. A disgusted look came over her face.

"Eww! Is it gone?! Please tell me it's gone!"

Inuyasha chuckled.

"Yeah, it's gone," he said softly. Kagome noticed that his hand was still in her hair, softly tangled up with her curls. Surprisingly she didn't make any attempt to remove it. They stood there staring at each other for what seemed like eternity.

"Is…is something on my face?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"No."

"Then…why're you staring at me like that?"

"I dunno," Inuyasha shrugged. "The same reason you're staring at me like that."

"Am… am not!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Okay then."

After a few more seconds Inuyasha untangled his hand from her hair and gently stroked her cheek which made her blush. Then, he moved away from her leaving her standing there in a daze. Before she could even think straight (yet alone breathe) Inuyasha swiped the ball from beside her feet and walked back to his side of the court.

"Time in," he said. Then, he served the ball high over the net and as it was about to hit Kagome he yelled "Heads up!" This seemed to break Kagome out of her thoughts and she quickly scrambled out of the way before the ball hit her. It bounced on the ground three times and Kagome just stared at it dumbly. Inuyasha walked over to her grinning and said, "Game!" Kagome glared at him.

"That didn't count. I wasn't ready," she said. Inuyasha shrugged.

"Well, I shouted 'Time In'. You should have been ready. It's your fault, not mine."

"No! You cheated!"

Inuyasha walked up to her.

"And just how did I cheat?" he breathed.

"You distracted me with a stupid bug in my hair then kept staring at me, then you purposely caught me off-guard!" she said.

"I did no such thing! Besides, there really was a bug in your hair. It was a poisonous one too. If it had bitten you you would have died. You should be thanking me."

"Thank you very much," Kagome said dryly. "Cheater."

"Oh, come on now. I think the real reason you're upset is because I made you all flustered," he said. Kagome's face turned red.

"W-what?! Oh no you didn't!" she spluttered angrily. Inuyasha smirked.

"Denial."

"There is no freakin' way that you made me flustered!"

"I'm doing it again," he said. Kagome looked confused. Inuyasha handed her her compact mirror in her bag that was lying next to her water bottle and she hastily looked at it. He was right; she was flustered! Her whole face was red! Embarrassed, she shut it quickly.

"You idiot! I'm not blushing because of you! My face just turns red when I'm angry!" she yelled.

"Say what you want Kagome, but all I know is that it takes a serious level of attraction to someone for them to be able to make you blush like that," he said cockily. Kagome growled.

"You're so obnoxious!" she sneered. Inuyasha shrugged.

"Whatever. That still doesn't change the fact that we're tied."

"What?! We are not tied! That shot didn't count because I wasn't ready!"

"But that's not my fault though. I yelled "Game In" and in any real game once you yell "game In" the game resumes whether you're ready or not."

Inuyasha folded his arms smugly, knowing that he had gotten her. Kagome just stood there seething in her anger knowing full well that he was right.

"You know Kags, Inuyasha's right," came a feminine voice. Kagome whirled around and was surprised to see Sango, Miroku and Rin standing a few feet away from them.

"Sango?! You're taking his side?!" Kagome demanded. Sango shrugged.

"I wanna be a police officer. I have to take the right side of the law Kagome," she said. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"He totally cheated!"

"Well… not exactly. Sure, he manipulated you by flirting with you and using your own feelings to distract you, but he did call 'Game In'," Sango said.

"He was knocking off a bug!" Kagome said defensively.

Rin and Sango exchanged a look.

"No one said he wasn't…" Rin said. Kagome's face turned even redder.

"Nice going Inuyasha!" Miroku said, slapping the hanyou a high-five. She whirled around to face them.

"Why is everyone congratulating him?! He cheated!" she exclaimed.

"Whatever. Kagome-chan and Inuyasha are tied. Now that that's settled, let's go get some lunch!" Rin said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement as they started to walk away. Kagome just stood there in disbelief and anger at her friends. Inuyasha noticed that she wasn't walking with them so he stopped and turned around.

"You coming?" he asked, offering her a hand. She swatted it away.

"Yes," she said stiffly. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Hey Kagome, chill okay? It's just a game."

"Whatever. I want a rematch."

"I'll think about it."

The gang entered the lunch room and noticed that it wasn't as full as it had been earlier. They got their lunch and easily found a table. After they were all settled down comfortably they began to eat and talk.

"Wow Rin! I can't believe you still have an appetite after eating that huge breakfast," Sango said eyeing Rin's plate. Once again it was piled high with various food items, some of them Sango wasn't even sure if they were edible!

"Yeah Rin. Seriously, where do you pack all of that? I mean, you don't even get fat!" Kagome commented.

"I have a high metabolism I guess," she said shrugging.

"Lucky," Sango sighed, wistfully looking down at her stomach.

"So since you guys tied, are you gonna have a rematch?" Sango asked.

"No," Inuyasha answered the same time Kagome said, "Yes." They both glared at each other.

"Why not?" Kagome demanded.

"Because it's a tie."

"What, are you scared that I'm actually gonna beat you this time?"

"Nope. I'm just not up to it."

"Loser."

"Oh no," Rin suddenly said.

"What? I called him a loser, not you ," Kagome said confused. Inuyasha frowned and Rin shook her head.

"No, not that. That!" she said, pointing. Everyone turned their heads in the direction she was pointing, and all the girls groaned in unison.

"What's wrong? I don't see anybody but Kikyo coming this way," Miroku said.

"Exactly!" the girls shrieked simultaneously.

"Why the hell is she walking our way? I don't want her walking our way!" Kagome said angrily.

"I swear; if she does anything I'm gonna…" Sango said darkly.

"Maybe she'll just pass the table…" Kagome said.

"I sure hope so," Rin said worriedly. Miroku and Inuyasha exchanged a look.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Kikyo asked, approaching them. She pulled out a chair next to Inuyasha and took a seat even though no one invited her to sit down. Kagome, Sango and Rin all glared at her, making their dislike of her perfectly clear.

"Why are you talking to us?" Sango demanded.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you guys were someone important! My bad!" Kikyo said. Kagome growled.

"Then you can leave," she said.

"So, Inuyasha," Kikyo said, turning to face the hanyou and completely ignoring Kagome, "I didn't really get to talk to you much after a certain group of barbarians took up your time," she said shooting the girls looks. They all rolled their eyes.

"Who Miroku? Sorry about that; he's like my shadow," Inuyasha said completely oblivious to what was going on. The girls giggled and Miroku frowned.

"Hey!" he cried defensively. Kikyo looked at him, and then back to Inuyasha, shaking her head.

"Well anyway, I was just hoping that we could hang out some time. You know alone?"

"Why alone?" he asked confused.

"Oh, you know," Kikyo said getting really close to him. She stroked one finger down his cheek and it turned red. "Just so we can get to know each other better."

"Um…"

Moving closer, Kikyo whispered in his ear, "I have a feeling that we could be great friends. Maybe even… more." Her hand gently rubbed his chin and now his whole face turned red. He cleared his throat.

"Uh… yeah… maybe…" he mumbled, looking away from her. She smiled.

"You're cute, you know that?" she said. Now Inuyasha was completely red, and as Kagome watched him turn redder and Kikyo's smile get bigger she felt an anger stirring in her soul, and something else. A pang of… jealousy?

"Oh thank you Kikyo! You're compliments are always so true!" Kagome said, cutting into their conversation before Inuyasha could answer. Kikyo turned and glared at her.

"I wasn't talking to the old hag," she said meanly. "I was talking to the cute dog demon."

Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Kagome's lowered in anger. Before she could answer however, Kikyo turned her back to Kagome and said to Inuyasha,

"Well, I'll see you around Inuyasha. We'll plan our date later."

Then, she stroked his hair and gave him a flirtatious smile and wink before getting up and walking off. Inuyasha just sat there as if she had placed a love spell on him and Kagome sat there seething in anger. Sango and Rin glowered after her departing figure and Miroku frowned at the obvious upset in the balance that had been there before.

"Yeah, you'd better walk away if you know what's good for you!" Sango called after her. Kikyo didn't stop or turn back. She just stuck up her middle finger at her and continued walking. Sango and Rin's mouth dropped open.

"Oh no she didn't! I'm going to…" Sango said as she started to get up. Rin and Miroku grabbed her arms and pulled her back down to her seat.

"Sango, chill!" Miroku commanded. "You can't beat someone up!"

"Oh yes I can! Just watch me!" Sango said attempting to get up again. Their grip on her grew tighter until finally she was forced to sit down. She sighed.

"Well she deserves it! Did you see the way she acted just now? No one walks up to me and disrespects me and my friends and gets away with it!" she exclaimed.

"Don't you think you're running out a bit?" Miroku asked.

"Oh no she's not!" Kagome suddenly said. "She had no right coming up here and calling me an old hag and dissing Sango and Rin like that! Someone needs to teach her a lesson! Argh, she pisses me off so much!"

Miroku raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Are you sure you're not just upset because she flirted with Inuyasha and made a date with him?"

"What?! Me?! Why the hell would I be upset because of that?!" Kagome spluttered. "I mean, I am upset, but not because it was Inuyasha. If she had flirted with you I would have been mad too!"

"But not as mad as you are now," Miroku pointed out.

"Oh shut up Miroku before I give you a taste of some of this anger that I'm feeling!" Kagome said, balling up her fist to make her point. Miroku backed away.

"No need for that Kagome! Point made!" he said. Kagome smiled.

"Good."

"Ugh, just look at Inuyasha!" Rin said disgusted. "She touches him a few times and now he's in a daze like she proposed to him or something!"

All heads turned to look at the hanyou who was just staring into space with a goofy smile on his face. Kagome growled.

"Oh, I'll knock him out of his daze!" she said. Then, before anyone could stop her, she raised her hand and smacked him on his cheek. Well, she was true to her word. Inuyasha snapped out his daze so fast, and he looked around wildly. His eyes stopped on the fuming raven-haired girl.

"What the hell was that for Kagome?!" he demanded.

"For gawking over the enemy!" she said before getting up and storming off. Inuyasha stared after her retreating figure confused.

"What'd I do?" he asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"You idiot!" Sango said.

"Well don't just sit there looking stupid! I mean, I guess you can't help it, but if you're gonna look stupid then at least do it with Kagome!" Miroku said. Inuyasha growled at him.

"I think what Miroku is trying to say is, go after her!" Rin said. Inuyasha stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. Then, he got up and stalked after his angry friend. Miroku, Sango and Rin all exchanged looks before getting up too and following him. They wanted to see this!

"Kagome, wait up!" Inuyasha called. He was following the angry raven-haired girl, and they were now heading for the cabins. She finally stopped outside of his cabin, and he ran to catch up with her.

"Finally! Damn, I've been calling you for the past five minutes! What's wrong with you girl?!" Inuyasha asked. Kagome frowned.

"Nothing. I'm fine, so why don't you just run along on your little date with Kikyo and leave me alone!"

Now it was Inuyasha's turn to frown. He moved closer to Kagome and stared her straight in the eyes.

"We don't have a date, and furthermore, why should it bother you?"

Kagome looked away.

"Because I can't stand her and I don't like her flirting with my friends!"

"But you have no rights to me. I'm not your boyfriend, so I can flirt with whoever I like," he said in a low voice. Kagome's heart fluttered and she looked up at him.

"Yeah, you're right," she said slowly. "But as your friend I do have the right to tell you whether I approve of someone for you, and I definitely don't approve of her."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that?"

"Because, Kikyo isn't the type to date anyone seriously. She just tries to steal other girl's boyfriends from them to make them miserable. Then, when she's stolen them and she's had her fun, she dumps them and moves on to the next one. It's like some sick little game and I don't want you to be a part of it. Trust me... it's happened to me before and it hurts..." Kagome said, a sad look coming into her eyes. she winced slightly as if in pain. Inuyasha noticed this but didn't say anything.

"But you and I aren't dating, so then why would she try to steal me?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's really attracted to you and the fact that I'm your friend makes it all worse. Maybe she thinks it will get me mad, which it did. Maybe she wants to steal you from me completely just to hurt me. Or maybe… maybe she thinks I like you."

"Do you… like me?" Inuyasha asked softly. Kagome looked at him surprised. Then, she smiled.

"Maybe I do…and maybe I don't…" she teased. "You're pretty cute, you know that?" she said in voice like Kikyo, mimicking her. Inuyasha grinned.

"So I've been told."

They both laughed.

"Well… I'll take your warning then," Inuyasha said. Kagome looked at him surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean… if it really makes you that upset."

"Thanks Inuyasha. That's so sweet," she said, touched by his thoughtfulness. "So are you going to cancel your date with her?"

"Um… I don't think so," he said. Kagome scowled.

"But you just said-"

Inuyasha put a finger to her lips, cutting her off.

"That I'd take your warning. That means I'll be extremely careful around her. I didn't say I'd cut her off cold-turkey. That wouldn't be nice, and I'd like to get to know her better, to see if she really is like you say. Besides, she hasn't done me anything."

"Yet," Kagome said dryly. Inuyasha laughed.

"Don't be upset Kagome. It's not a date. We're just going to talk. You're still the first and only girl I've been on a date with at this camp."

Then he winked at her. Her mouth dropped open.

"But I-"

"Sssh," Inuyasha said, silencing her again. "We have spectators."

Both heads turned only to see Miroku, Rin and Sango standing there watching. When they saw them looking at them, they all looked away guiltily. Kagome raised an eyebrow and Inuyasha folded his arms.

"Guys?" Kagome said, waiting for an explanation.

"Well did you expect us to stay there by ourselves? We wanted to make sure you two made up!" Sango said.

"Yeah. Besides, you are both so kawaii!" Rin exclaimed. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"You little spies!" he said. They all shrugged.

"Well hey, the point is that you two made up and we're all friends again. Now, let's go play some checkers!" Miroku said, heading into the boys' cabin. Sango and Rin grinned and rushed inside after him. Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged a look.

"Should we?" Kagome asked.

"Miroku doesn't have any checkers," Inuyasha said shaking his head.

"Really?"

"Nope. and even if he did, he doesn't know how to play. He's probably gonna play with his leggo or something."

Kagome giggled.

"He still plays with leggo?" she snickered. Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah, but it's a secret so don't tell anyone okay?"

"Okay, sure, I won't," Kagome said still laughing. "So you wanna go play?" she asked when she was done. Inuyasha looked at her like she was mentally unstable.

"Kagome, we're both 15. do you really think i want to play with leggo? so you really think any 15 year old wants to play with leggo (besides Miroku of course)? I don't think Rin would even play with leggo!"

"I see your point but... well we don't really have anything better to do, so…"

"Fine," Inuyasha finally said, sighing. "I guess we could go and watch... unless you wanted to go on another date…"

Kagome laughed.

"Nice try. Come on tiger, let's go," she said grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. Inuyasha grinned and they both entered the cabin.

Yups, so there it is! Hope you guys liked it! This was one of my fav chappies cause its so funny and cute! ^_^ Anyway, I gave you our present, so now give me mine! Read and Review please :) And I'll try to get the next chappie out earlier if you do. Anyway, it's 4 in the morning and I gotta get some sleep cause I gotta go to anchor club, soccer and Junkanoo today... yup I'm a busy girl! But anyway, I'll see you all later. No flames please, send me a message if you want anything and peace out! Until next time:

~Mata Ne!~ 3