Chapter 3

"I... I don't understand. How could you... fall in love with me?" The young girl said, face flushed with a hand to her face.

"Because, don't you see?" He said, pushing her hair from her eyes. "You're beautiful, and have always been everything in a woman that I've wanted." His silver hair shone in the light, and the small dog ears on his head lowered. "Is... is there something wrong with that?"

"N-No! Not at all! I- I'm in love with you too." She said, grabbing onto his right hand.

"The only issue is..." He looked away. "Why would you want to be with a demon, like me?" He asked. "I'm just askin' for trouble."

She smirked. "Maybe I like trouble."

"Barf." Kagome said. "Absolute barf." Eri chuckled as Kagome made a sour face at her paper. "But It's supposed to be a short story with two genres we were given. I just happened to get fantasy and romance."

"Well that's a cheesy cheesy romantic story." Her friend made fun of her, causing to Kagome to flush red. "But anything for a good grade, right? So where'd this character come from. He sounds like a freak."

"I dunno', just thought him up." She shrugged. "Can we talk about something other than this now?" Kagome laughed off her friend and got to putting her apron away for the day.

"Yeah yeah..." Eri giggled, throwing out her nasty paper towel, putting away the disinfectant. "How about we go to the mall this weekend?" she asked, taking her apron off as well as she grabbed the bakery keys.

"I could do that. Sounds good." Kagome said, walking towards the door. "I'll be seeing you!" She called, exiting the building, heading towards home.

As she followed along the road leading back to the apartment she shared with her friends, thankful that the rain had not decided to drench her. Her ears perked up when she heard loud yells.

"You damn ingrates!" It came from the nearby cemetery?

And was that...?

"I said GET OUT OF HERE!" He yelled again, and as Kagome peered around the corner of a tree, a couple of boys were running away in fear. Away from the source of the blood coming from their noses.

"He's scary!" One boy said.

"You've got that right!" And then the two were gone, headed for the quickest way out of there. Kagome looked away from the boys, and towards the cemetery, catching a glimpse of Inuyasha. He was standing in front of a gravestone, looking down with a look of sadness that she could see.

"It's okay." He said finally after what seemed like a lifetime of silence. "Everything is fine. This'll wash off easily." It seemed he was talking to the gravestone. "I'm sorry... I wish I'd come sooner, mother." Inuyasha heaved a sigh, putting the flowers he had the ground next to the gravestone as he tried his best to wipe it off with his hands. The profane graffiti began to rub away since it was still wet, but he would have to come back for it tomorrow.

Kagome walked out from behind the tree, still far but in seeing distance. She felt her lip quiver and almost teared up at how sad the sight was. Walking forward, she kneeled next to him, causing him to look over, startled. She reached into her bag and pulled out her water bottle, looking at him and giving a small smile as she began to pour water over the stone, watching the wet paint wash away with it. "Some people..." She began, grabbing her hankerchief to wipe the rest away. It came off easily and Inuyasha just watched. Kagome looked back at him. "Some people don't get it."

Inuyasha stared at her for another second, confused by this odd kindness he was given, unsure of how to take it. He wiped the very last bit of paint of the 'Z' in Izayoi before giving a small 'keh' as he stood up. "What the hell do you know? And were you watching that whole time?" He looked away, crossing his arms.

"Losing someone is hard." She avoided his last question, and stayed kneeled in front of the grave, giving a small bow towards it. "Losing a parent is really... it's something." She said, and then looked up at him. "It's nice that you came to visit her, though."

He sighed. Of course she heard if she knew it was his mom. "Whatever." He said. "It's nothin'."

"Okay." She responded quietly. She could tell he wasn't much the type to show emotion. "I'm sorry for your loss." The raven-haired girl said, standing and placing the flowers he'd set aside back onto the grave site, beginning to walk away. "Have a good night." She parted ways from his still figure, beginning to exit the cemetery.

"Thanks, Kagome." She heard him mumble as she left, giving a smile. And then she was gone.

"You're back late, again." Miroku observed as Kagome walked through the front door. It was only nine o' clock, but she had gotten off work awhile earlier.

"Oh I was just doing some studying at the library." The younger girl smiled, waving it off. "What's that?" She asked, pointing to his face which had a faint hand print on it.

Miroku smiled sheepishly, putting a hand on it and laughing. "Well I was on the way home from work and-"

"And I caught the pig flirting with some woman." Sango emerged from the bathroom in her robe with her hair put up under a towel. She was obviously annoyed.

Kagome put her hands on her hips and scowled at Miroku. "Miroku, you have GOT to stop doing that. You're gonna lose a good woman like Sango." Sango only giggled and shook her head at the bickering.

"It wasn't my fault!" He stood and walked towards Sango and her. "It's just a habit."

Sango scoffed and Miroku feigned an upset pout, but still smiled when he pulled up Sango's chin to to kiss her. Sango blushed a bright red and Kagome only giggled. She really didn't like public displays of attention. "Miroku!" She pushed him off.

"Oh, right. I'll save it for later." He joked, rubbing the back of his head as Sango retreated to their room in an embarrassed huff. Miroku waved a quick goodnight and followed after her. "Come on, Sango!" He called after, soon behind the closed door of their room.

Kagome walked to the fridge and pulled out the leftovers that were there from the night before and ate a little bit before going back to her room. A lot of thoughts were racing through her head. About how different and out of place she felt in this town. She didn't know why, and she just assumed it was because college is all about finding yourself, and meeting new people. But so far, she wasn't doing too well in the friend department. But she had Eri, and that was good.

She couldn't sleep. It was way too late, and all she did to fight it was to squirm and toss and turn in her bed. Every time she closed her eyes and began to doze, she could feel nightmares coming and had to jerk herself awake. Finally, it was too hard to stay awake.

Kagome rushed home. She couldn't stop running and just ran and ran down the road. Her teacher had tried to stop her, but she couldn't. She knew the phone call was urgent and when her 3rd grade teacher looked at Kagome with sad eyes, about to send her to the counselor's office to wait to get picked up. But Kagome knew.

"Mom!" She yelled as she bounded up the steps of the shrine, making her way past a couple of cops that were trying to secure the place, and when she passed, not paying attention to their yells, she saw her mom, running alongside the men that were carrying her father on a gurney.

"Please!" Her mother sobbed and yelled, trying to stop the men. "Answer me, Hitomi! Please!"

"What happened?" a vocie behind young Kagome asked, within the crowd of whispering people.

"There was a car crash. Mr. Higurashi climbed up the steps and Mrs. Higurashi saw him and called an ambulance." The other voice said. "They weren't able to save him."

Kagome froze and saw her Grandpa holding baby Souta, with tears running down his face as he spotted Kagome. He walked over and grabbed her hand. "Kagome, we must go inside."

"Daddy!" She screamed, trying to pry herself free, as her grandfather bit back more tears, trying to get her to leave the site.

"Kagome please, we must leave. Please!" Kagome wasn't listening, and Souta was screaming at all the noises, crying and whining to her Grandpa.

"Why did this happen?!" Kagome cried. "Why Daddy!?"

Another man was sitting on one of the steps, next to a paramedic. He had a couple scratches on his face. "I... I wasn't even... I didn't even see the man until it was over. I'll never forgive myself. I can't..." He sobbed into his hands, and looked back across the shrine grounds. Kagome ripped her hand free from her grandpa and saw the man. She knew he was the one who did it.

Tears flew down her face as she walked towards the man, who couldn't even look at the girl.

"Kagome!" Her grandpa yelled, but knew it was no use.

The young child finally stopped next to the man and continued to cry, not able to surpress the tears no matter how strong of a face she tried to keep. Sobs kept coming from her. She saw him crying too and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, handing it to the man.

The man stared in shock at her, and then Kagome before grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, I'm so sorry!"

Her grandpa came over shortly after the man had let Kagome go, and he held out his hand for Kagome, who hesitantly grabbed it before she walked away with him, looking once more at the man sobbing into her favorite handkerchief.

She woke in a cold sweat, shivering and jerking in fear as she studied her surroundings, realizing she was in a bed. Her bed. In her and Miroku and Sango's apartment. She wasn't in the third grade, and she wasn't at the scene of the accident. Yet even still, she cried as though she was right there. Just quietly so the others didn't hear.

These dreams came a few times a month, and every time, they made her have the same reaction. After about twenty minutes, Kagome had calmed down, and laid back down, watching the ceiling until she was able to fall back to sleep for the next couple hours before she had to get up.

She hadn't had any more bad dreams that night.

xxx

She trudged through the college grounds, tired from her long, long night. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed, but she couldn't exactly do that now that she was here. Kagome decided to come in a little bit early to get a head start on her day, and didn't realize she was almost a half hour early to class.

The school's cafe that smelled on fresh morning pastries and coffee beckoned her to come over, as well as a certain boy she saw sitting at one of the tables alone.

"Inuyasha..." The girl observed, spotting him from across the way. This reminded her. She owed him something.

Inuyasha sat, staring at his lap as he yawned heavily. He'd had a long night as well. Insomnia wasn't a kind friend. He closed his textbook. These words weren't gonna' get through to him at this point of exhaustion.

He thought last night of the time he'd had at the graveyard. He wasn't one to show it, but he was very thankful of Kagome being there. She seemed to be a very caring girl, and definitely didn't have to help him. But she did, and he accepted the help to his dismay, but could do nothing as he watched her. Her eyes were glazed over as she cleaned the gravestone as if she was deep in thought of something.

"Losing a parent is really... it's something..."

She'd probably lost someone too, but he wasn't one to ask about it. Hell he wasn't even friends with the girl. Inuyasha had little interest in making friends.

A cup being placed in front of him drew him out of his daze, and he looked up at the owner of the delicate hand that placed the coffee in front of him. "Oh, it's you." He said as if he was irritated.

"Good mornin'." She said cheerfully, sitting across from him at the small table. "How's it goin'?"

He scoffed, grabbing the coffee. "What's this for?"

"I still owe you, remember?" She asked, smiling as she pointed to his shoes. "After that spill?"

"Yeah, yeah, now I remember." He said. "You didn't actually have to get me a coffee. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Well you've got coffee in your hand, so you might as well drink up." As she said this, she began to drink some of her own. "So as I was asking earlier, how's it goin'?" She repeated, giggling as he scowled.

"You don't gotta' be so nice to me. It's weird." Inuyasha mumbled into his coffee, embarrassed at the attention she gave him.

"Will you knock it off?" She asked pointedly. "Just lemme' be nice."

"Fine." He responded, causing Kagome to smirk. "Thanks for the drink." Inuyasha wasn't a big coffee person, but he didn't dare tell her.

"You're welcome!" She grinned, leaning her head on her elbows. "How are you after last night? I hope those boys didn't upset you too much. I mean, at least we got it cleaned up before it dried completely."

Inuyasha laughed. "Those guys didn't 'upset' me because I'm not some little wimp!" He fought back defiantly.

"I wasn't calling you a wimp!" She retorted, earning another laugh from Inuyasha.

"Anyone upset by a couple of graffiti-painting scrawny assholes is a wimp." He said back, causing her to smile again.

"I appreciate your confidence." She joked sarcastically. "Just don't let it get to your head."

"Are you sayin' I have a big ego?" He asked with a look of offense.

"I'm saying it could happen." She joked back, crossing her legs as she drank a little more coffee. After about ten minutes, she was able to talk to him about other things, and found him responding back a tiny little bit. She spoke of random things, like a story about how some drunk guy came into the bakery and bought all of the available pastries. That earned a small chuckle and some kind of insult about the guy.

They talked until class was about to start, and he even unconsciously walked her to her first class.

Inuyasha scolded himself mentally as he left her to go inside. When he got carried in conversation, he tended to forget about other things. But Kagome didn't mind the walking buddy.

She started to hope that maybe he just held up some hard shell, and she had the urge to break into it and get to know him. He seemed like he'd be a good friend.

xxx

AN: Hey guys, updates won't be as often as they have been so far just cause I side tracked sometimes, but I'll try my best :) Leave me some ideas and favorite and review!

Have a good day, you guys!