Chapter Seventeen: A Vampire's Love and a Girl's Heart

The next morning Kagome woke up smiling.

The dream had been so beautiful, as perfect as the raindrops falling in the air. How she could ever have been afraid of storms was beyond her.

The sun shone brightly into her room, accompanied by the sound of water dripping from the trees onto the roof. Kagome lay in bed, luxuriating in a feeling of relief.

Kagome's dreams weren't usually very profound. When she was nervous about a test, she had test-hell nightmares. But Kagome knew that this dream had a deeper meaning. The world could start again, once she let it.

And to top it all off—it was Friday.

She sighed as she rolled over and sat up… to discover that her clothes were still wet. She blinked in surprise before she twisted around so fast that she almost fell off the bed. She saw that the window was still wide open and a light wind was blowing her curtains. Inuyasha had been here… and he had taken her out during the storm… it wasn't a dream after all.

And she let him drink some of her blood. She got up, swaying lightly as she walked to her mirror, to get a better look at her neck. There wasn't a single mark on her neck… nothing.

Like Inuyasha had never bitten her. But she did notice that she was pale as a sheet. Of course, she lost some blood last night.

"Kagome!" her mom called from downstairs. "Are you up yet?"

"Yeah!" she yelled back. "I'm getting ready!"

With some difficultly, she was able to pull off her wet clothes and hung them in the bathroom to dry before she pulled on her favorite jeans and blouse. A part of her was hoping that Inuyasha was hiding in her closet again… but when she peered in… there wasn't anything but her clothes.

Trying not be too disappointed, she got dressed, grabbed her backpack, and went down for breakfast. She had told her mother that she took a quick shower when she was asked about her still damp hair. She left for school as she always did and arrived on time like she always tried to do… and she talked with her friends about unimportant things just like every day.

School was the same as ever. Math was still her worst subject, and her teachers still gave out to much homework. If not for the fact that she woke up soaking wet, she would've sworn that her being out in the rain with Inuyasha was just a dream. She attended all of her classes, and waved goodbye to her friends… nothing seemed out of place… but for some reason, everything seemed so surreal to her…

"See you on Monday, Kagome," Yuka told her.

Kagome smiled as she waved goodbye, "And you too."

She started to walk home like she did every day. She was glad that it was the weekend—she was tired of trying to avoid Hojo…

"HEY KAGOME!"

Crap, she spoke to soon. She stopped walking, and turned around to see Hojo running to catch up to her. "Hojo!" she muttered, trying hard not to sound annoyed. He slowed down and gave her that big goofy grin that Kagome wanted to sigh at. (In a annoyed way, not in a fan-girl way.)

"Hey, I was wondering if you would maybe… like to… oh, I don't know… go and see a movie tonight?" Hojo asked hopefully. "I mean… if you don't have anything else to do that is," he finished hastily.

Kagome was trying to think of a polite excuse to why she couldn't go instead of explaining why she didn't want to go—but somebody beat her to it. That somebody snuck up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"There you are Kagome," said a familiar voice that she would know anywhere.

"Inu-Inuyasha?" she whispered. She turned to look and there and behold… it was her favorite vampire.

He was dressed in a bright red t-shirt and torn jeans… along with a blue and red cap to hide his cute dog ears. He looked like he belonged to a biker gang… but other than that, he looked just like any other human with white hair and gold eyes. He looked down at her and grinned.

Startled to see him in broad daylight, she looked up at the sky, to realize for the first time that the clouds were blocking out the sun. Perfect weather for Inuyasha to be out and about. "I've been waiting for you," he said as he began to lead her away from Hojo.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I came because I needed you promised to come with me somewhere tonight Kagome, remember?" he said. Once their faces were turned away from Hojo he winked and mouthed, 'Play along.'

Seeing that he was here to get her out of this mess she turned back to Hojo and said, in what she hoped was a sorry tone, though, to her, it sounded like it came out more cheerful, "Sorry Hojo."

"Kagome?" Hojo asked as he looked at Inuyasha in both surprise, and what appeared to be a little resentment.

"I was going to help Inuyasha with something tonight," Kagome said. And as an afterthought, she added, "And all weekend too I'm afraid. So I don't think that I can go to the movies with you tonight. But I do know a freshmen—Jane—I think her name is, would be more than happy to go with you."

"But Kagome," Hojo began, clearly not understanding. "Who is this guy?"

"Kagome we should go," Inuyasha said quickly.

"Yeah," Kagome agreed as she took his arm and they both walked away. "See you on Monday Hojo!" she called over her shoulder. "Thanks for that," she muttered to Inuyasha once they were out of ear-shot. "I was thinking that I would have had to go out with him after all. I mean, after all the times that I told him that I just want to be friends, he still thinks that we're dating!"

"So… you two aren't going out?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously.

"Of course not," Kagome said rolling her eyes. "It's just wishful thinking on his part."

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed. "He's just fooling himself."

"But more importantly," Kagome said, "Why are you here? Not that I'm not glad to see you. I mean…" she grinned as she thought about last night. "I'm glad that you took me out last night."

"Over your fear of storms?" he asked slyly.

"Completely," Kagome said. "But that doesn't answer my question."

They were both quiet for awhile as they walked home together. Kagome felt it to be a little odd to be walking home with a vampire in the daytime. But then again, maybe she was just reading too many fairytales. Finally, once they were in sight of Kagome's house, Inuyasha said, "I came here because… because there are some people that I think you need to meet."

"Need to meet?" Kagome asked confused. "Who would that be? And why? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no," Inuyasha said. "Nothing like that. It's just that the rest of my coven want to meet you that's all."

"Your coven?" Kagome repeated before her eyes widened. "You mean the other vampires?"

"Yep," Inuyasha answered simply. "They want to know this snack that I've taken a liking to."

"So, in other words you want to bring me over to your place as a bottle of champagne for your friends?" Kagome asked sharply.

"No," Inuyasha replied quickly. "It's just that… they really want to meet you."

"Why though?" Kagome asked.

"Well…" Inuyasha said a little more slowly. "It's just that… we don't usually let humans… know what we are."

"You mean vampires?" Kagome stated.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "No, I mean fashion models. Yes, of course that we're blood-suckers."

"Sorry," Kagome said. "It's just that… I'm having trouble thinking about going to go and see other vampires. What's going to happen?"

Inuyasha hesitated. "They think that you might be able to help us."

"Help you with what?" Kagome demanded.

"I can't tell you now," Inuyasha said roughly. "But if you really want to know everything about us vampires then you'll come tonight. I'll pick you up at midnight… so how about it?"

Kagome thought it over for a minute. She wanted to go with Inuyasha and learn everything he has to tell her, and she was curious about meeting his vampire friends… but would that be safe for her?

"Is that safe?" she asked.

"They won't hurt you," Inuyasha said confidently. "They're far too well-behaved to attack guests."

"You sure?" Kagome asked. Not that she didn't trust him, but she was making sure that he knew what he was getting her into.

"I'm sure," Inuyasha said. "In fact, between you and me, I'm considered the 'untamed' vampire in the coven."

Kagome's jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me that you're the weirdo in a gang of weirdoes?"

"Interesting way to put it," Inuyasha said, "But—yeah."

"OK," she said slowly. "In that case… I guess it'd be safe. What did you guys need help with?"

"You'll find out tonight," he answered. But before Kagome could ask anything else, the front door of her house opened up, and her mother was standing there, staring at them like she couldn't believe her eyes.

Inuyasha leaned in towards Kagome suddenly, and put his lips near her neck again. He breathed her scent in. Kagome froze for a moment, but then Inuyasha whispered, "I'll see you tonight." He then stood straight up, turned around, and walked quickly down the block and out of sight.

Kagome blinked—and stood where she was before she remembered her mother. She turned to see her mother still standing on the front porch, looking happier than she had seen her in a long time. Wondering what she was smiling about, Kagome went up to her.

"Mom?" she asked cautiously. "What?"

Her mom was looking at her with a satisfied grin and asked, "Kagome… why didn't you tell me that you have a boyfriend?"

Kagome felt her face burn as her jaw dropped again. "What?" she asked. "Inuyasha's not my…"

"Inuyasha?" her mother cut in exactly. "That's his name? Not the kind of name that I expected from my future son-in-law but it's definitely unique."

"Son-in-law?" Kagome screamed. "Mom! You don't understand… there's nothing going on… he's just my…"

'Her what?' she thought. 'Just what were she and Inuyasha? Friends? Or just a snack?'

Unfortunately, her mom brought her back down to earth by saying, "I'm sure that you two will make beautiful grandbabies for me."

Kagome could've sworn that people 50 miles away heard her screaming in embarrassment. Why did her life have to be so complicated?