Sorry it's really late. :( I haven't been in the happiest moods in high school and once I got on Microsoft Word I wasn't sure what I wanted to include in this chapter. But, it all worked out and ended up being longer than expected. I hope you enjoy. Don't forget to review ^_^

'He gazed deeply at his lover's eyes and masculine figure. He loved everything about this man. One day he would be his…'

Kagome's eyes wouldn't stop twitching as she read the text on the family computer. Her body was leaned slightly over Gramps shoulder as he quickly continued typing, unaware of her presence. "Gramps, you write yaoi fanfiction?"

"GAH!" Gramps shifted in his seat and hurriedly turned off the computer monitor. "Kagome! What are you doing here?" he placed his hand over his chest to steady his heavily beating heart.e hehe

"Uh..Gramps, this is the living room. I wanted to use the computer to look up some apartments."

"You're kicking me out? Well, what an ungrateful granddaughter I have."

"No…I eventually want to grow up and live on my own."

"What!" Sota cried from upstairs in his room. "B-but Sis! Who's going to help me with homework when I get to high school?"

"I don't know what got you thinking I was any good at school. I would probably earn you a worse grade than if you did it."

It was true; ever since Kagome was in third grade she stopped caring about school. InuYasha willingly helped her get through school though. He couldn't let his best friend walk up on stage without a diploma being handed to her.

Akira walked down the stairs in her silk pink robe and proceeded to the kitchen to make her daily cup of coffee. She had overheard Kagome speak about looking for apartments. She couldn't understand why she would want to leave. Kagome was only seventeen; soon to be eighteen. Akira gulped; her first child was almost eighteen years old. She poured her steaming black coffee into a mug and added three sugars as well as a slip of milk. She grew sad at the thought of Kagome packing all her things and moving away as she stirred her coffee. Where did she plan on going; another country? She hoped not.

"Kagome…What's this about apartments?" Akira softly asked, leaning against the back of the sofa with her coffee mug pressed against her lips.

Kagome spun around in the computer chair and took a large gulp. If there was going to be a problem with moving out, it had to of involved her mother. Akira wasn't a parent who allowed anyone to leave her sight. She was one to burst in tears if someone was to leave her and latch onto their leg so they couldn't.

"Me and InuYasha were talking about…growing up and…living on our own together. We thought it would be fun and I don't want to stay at the Higurashi shrine until I'm thirty; no offense."

"Kagome, you just barely got out of high school a couple of weeks ago." Gramps pointed out clearly noticing Akira didn't have anything to say at the moment. "Most children stay with their parents until they are at least twenty-one."

"But that's only because they want to continue their schooling, and the money they make right now isn't enough to live on their own yet so they stay at home!" Kagome argued. "I don't have college planned in my future! It was never a goal I wanted to accomplish! What's the point of going to college right now when I still don't know what I want to be doing for the rest of my life? I've decided I'll just dip into the work life; yeah my family will think lowly of me; my cousin especially…but becoming an adult and getting a family has always been my true goal."

Kagome looked over at her mother, begging for her to say something. It was similar to the board game, Life. After about ten or so moves you are able to choose the road to college or go straight to work life. The work life was the quicker route, but you made less money. Why'd it seem that everyone had to go to college after high school? Kagome never said she wasn't going to go in her life. She would decide that after she figured out what she wanted to do, thanks…

"Aww!" Akira squealed with a big smile on her face. "Izayoi will be so happy to hear this!"

"W-what?" Kagome asked confused.

"Well it's okay if InuYasha's with you in this." She giggled. "Izayoi and I always dreamed of the day you two lived together…with your white fence, your dog, and ten babies crawling about…"

Kagome face began to redden as her mouth fell open. "M-mama! We just want to move in with each other! We aren't getting married and having babies…"

"-Doesn't mean you two don't want to." Sota laughed.

()()()()

"You were serious about being a gynecologist?" InuYasha asked into the phone after Miroku had told him what college he applied for. He lied on his comfortable bed, listening to the sounds of maids scurrying about to clean this and that. Both of his parents were away at work. He never was able to feel the freedom of 'actually' being home alone with all the maids. It saddened him that he never would be able to scream as loud as he could, or sing as loud as possible, or even walk around in only his boxers, when his parents were away; like other kids could. There was always more than one person at the mansion!

"Yep. So if Sango refuses my proposal in the future…everything will be okay."

"Such a pervert…So what's Sango up to?"

'Her mother is training her with law enforcement stuffles. So once she goes to train with professional peoples they'll be like, 'o-m-g, and welcome to the team.' Her mom kinda hates me so I'm not aloud ten miles within distance from their house. It seems so long since I felt the feel of Sango's lips! Man! I'm having withdrawal symptoms. The hentai, magazines, and websites aren't working Yash! What's wrong with me?"

InuYasha wasn't actually listening to his crying friend over the phone. If Miroku needed someone to cry to it was Izayoi, she was the therapist of the Taisho's, not him.

"Yo? You there?" Not waiting to get an answer, Miroku continued with his talking. If the line hadn't been cut off, InuYasha was still there. "Kay so anyways, when I did get a chance to talk to Sango over the phone she said something about wanting to throw Kagome a surprise birthday party Saturday. You knew about that already right? I wasn't sure so-"

That got InuYasha's attention quick enough. He hoisted himself up from his laying position and juggled the phone in his two hands in a panic trying to get it back to his face.

"-K-kagome's birthday is this Saturday?" InuYasha gasped looking frantically around the room for his calendar where hopefully he had written it down. How could he have forgotten! "W-when did she start being born in the summer!"

"…Her birthday has always been in the summer, idiot." Miroku paused before huffing into the phone. "Yash, you okay? Are you able to tell me when your birthday is? If not, take deep breaths and I'll call your mother."

"Shut up Miroku. I know when my own birthday is!"

"….How can I be sure?"

"December; and I…I guess things have just been kind of busy with the whole graduating thing and trying to move out that I…forgot. I feel horrible!"

"Calm down…You sound like a married man that forgot his and his wife's anniversary. You still have time to pretend you didn't forget and go get her a gift…"

InuYasha drummed his claws lightly on the cellphone as he scrolled down the web page he was on. "Hey I got to-"

"The party is in two days, at Sango's house. Could you…uh…stall Kagome for us? She just thinks that she is going to dinner with her family and have a cake Sango "prepared" for her beforehand."

"I suppose. Okay I got to go. I have to get her an amazing birthday gift."

"I got her a thong." Miroku sighed into the phone only hearing an annoying beeping noise on the other line instead of a verbal response. "I-InuYasha? Hello? Hm…guess we got cut off." He shrugged. "Well, might as well wrap up Kagome's gift."

()()()()

InuYasha quickly dialed the numbers on the phone and waited patiently for someone to answer.

"Hiroshima hospital." A receptionist answered softly on the other line.

"Izayoi, please."

"Izayoi? Just a moment."

InuYasha was put on hold. Dropping the phone he put it on speaker and rushed into his walk-in closet searching for something.

"Hello, this is Izayoi." His mother sang softly into the phone.

InuYasha sighed and ran over to his phone, taking it off of speaker. "Hey mom."

"InuYasha…You never call me from work. What's the matter?"

"-Did you know Kagome's birthday was in two days?"

"Yes dear."

InuYasha gawked at the phone and tugged on his forelocks. How could her best friend be the only one who forgot! They've been celebrating each other's birthdays for years. They were the first ones to tell each other 'Happy Birthday,' the first one to hand out their gifts, and Kagome even called him a whole day earlier in 8th grade just to sing him the birthday song.

"Inu…It's okay to forget, you know. It occasionally happens. I was going to remind you the day before; I'm the mom. It's my job to be the reminder. Now that we're calm…Did you have another question for me?"

InuYasha knew he made the right choice of calling his mother instead of his father. His father would probably be laughing hysterically at him. His mother, on the other hand, had a way of making people more comfortable with their situations. That's why she was a therapist. She did an excellent job in her career.

"Well, Kagome's finally turning eighteen. An adult and-"

"See, InuYasha…at least you remembered how old she was turning."

"It was an educated guess. I knew I was a year older than her." InuYasha shrugged.

Izayoi giggled lightly on the phone. InuYasha was half human; things would be forgotten from time to time. She just prayed he wouldn't forget his anniversary when he had one, or his ten children's birthdays…

"Okay so, eighteen is kinda a huge deal and I want to get her something amazing…"

"Like?"

"Like an apartment she's always wanted…" InuYasha dragged on.

"Ah…I see. Either you want my help due to the tiny problem of not being able to access your bank account yet since…I don't know, you aren't married yet or twenty-one…Or you just straight out want me to pay for it. But either way, in the past that was my money….I guess our only option is holding a wedding ceremony."

"What! Okay, yes I need your help, and no… that's not all your money, I've been saving up all that I made at the salon. Did you know that amount adds up of you don't use it?"

"Mhm…Cool huh?"

"Yeah, I was fascinated. I know you have to work so I'll hurry this up. Could you please go to the bank with me later and open my account for me. I really want to get her that for her birthday. I'd get her something else too…she might be disappointed if that's all I get her."

"She'd be far from disappointed Inu." Izayoi took a dramatic pause to let out a breath of air. "Alright; We will go when I get home. Why not take her shopping and see which ones she likes best?"

"But then she'll know." InuYasha frowned.

"Not if you're sly."

"Thanks mom."

"No problem."

"Now get back to work."

"Sure thing. Bye-bye InuYasha."

"Bye."

()()()()

It took two hours for Kagome to finish up her search on the internet. Nothing seemed to impress her; and when it did, it was too much or her mother said it wasn't in the best part of Tokyo… She was beginning to think that maybe just staying at the shrine until she could afford to move out on her own was best. She didn't feel like putting more than half the burden on InuYasha. He didn't deserve it.

Kagome shut off the desktop and trudged up to her room to go back to sleep. You would think that she would be in a better mood since her birthday was in a couple of days but it wasn't like in the past. Everyone's birthdays begin to get boring once they reach a certain age. Within each year the mountain of presents began disappearing and you were getting handed cards with money.

Kagome prayed InuYasha would spend the day with her and make it absolutely amazing like he always did when he was with her. This year she was turning eighteen. She couldn't explain just how powerful that meant to her. School engulfed her life for thirteen years; and now she was free. Free to roam where ever she wanted- okay maybe not…she never did finish learning how to drive. Having InuYasha as her teacher wasn't the smartest move she'd made. All he wanted to do was mess around every time she wanted to get serious.

Kagome picked up her phone from under her bed and dialed Eri's number. The ringing buzzed in her ear as she waited to hear a hello.

"Yo! Its Eri! I can't get to the phone right now! Me, Yuka and Ayumi are probably out! Don't bother leaving a message! I don't know the voice mail number haha! See ya!"

Kagome sent Sango a text message next, but five minutes went by and she had a feeling Sango was busy too. Kagome's ringtone sang proudly in her room loudly before Kagome snatched it up to her ear and pressed, 'accept.'

"Hello?"

"You awake?" InuYasha asked over the phone.

"Hey! Yeah, I'm awake. I was going to try to go back to bed but I'm bored."

"Too-bored-to-go-to-sleep syndrome?"

"Yep."

"I hate when that happens." InuYasha laughed. "Are you too tired to go apartment shopping?"

"Nope; that actually sounds pretty fun."

"I'll be at your house in an hour then?"

"I'll be ready."

"-And if you're not and fell back asleep I'm kicking your ass."

()()()()

InuYasha drove up to the Higurashi Shrine on his motorcycle and removed his helmet. He double checked he had brought along one for Kagome to wear and made his way up the trillion stone steps before he even reached the door. It was a good thing he was in shape, he couldn't imagine someone unhealthy coming to visit the Higurashi's without taking breaks as they made it up the stairs.

He was praying Kagome would find an apartment she liked so he could quickly get it all set up. When there were problems in the way, it usually took months to move in. After he took care of that, hewanted to run out and get her a separate gift. Kagome deserved it all one-hundred percent. What to get her…he still had some thinking to do.

Finally his right foot found the top of the last step and he sighed in relief. It was a good thing they had a shrine, otherwise they would have to be traveling up and down those steps every day. No wonder Kagome's grandfather didn't go anywhere.

His clawed finger tapped lightly on the door, hoping someone would hear without him having to ring the doorbell.

Akira opened up the door and welcomed him in with a warm smile. She hadn't seen InuYasha since the graduation two weeks ago. She was already beginning to notice him becoming an adult.

"Well hello InuYasha…Haven't seen you stop by a couple of weeks. For you; that's abnormal." Akira joked.

InuYasha gave a lopsided smile of embarrassment. "I'm sorry…"

"Oh calm down! I was kidding!" She laughed. "Want something to drink?" She asked, swaying into the kitchen. InuYasha took a seat at the dining table and shook his head.

"Is Kagome ready?"

"I…don't know." Akira shrugged. "She never mentioned you were coming over. She's just been up in her room all day. Probably catching up on years of sleep she missed out on in high school. I hope by the time Sota goes into high school the people running the schools will grow a brain and have school start in the afternoon."

"He'll get used to it after a while. If he's tired in the morning, it just means he needs to go to sleep earlier."

"Good idea. You can go to Kagome's room if you want. Sorry for chatting up a storm."

"It's alright." He smiled and walked up the stairs to Kagome's bedroom. His smile immediately dropped as he reached for the doorknob. That girl, better not have been asleep. He was serious about kicking her ass.

He walked in the room and immediately stared at the lump under the covers on Kagome's bed. He grumbled deeply in his throat. She did it on purpose to make him mad, didn't she?

"Kagome! Get up!" He demanded, making his way to the side of her bed.

"Nuh-uh…" Kagome mumbled into her pillow.

InuYasha sat on Kagome's back making her groan out in pain.

"Ow! InuYasha get off!"

InuYasha got up and shed the blankets off of Kagome's body. His mouth hung open at the sight of her being fully dressed, shoes on and everything.

"I hate you."

"Feeling the love." Kagome giggled and got out of bed. "So where are we going?"

"Where the flags are."

InuYasha was referring to the flags found at places filled with models of different houses and apartments. Every place had its own weird flag color.

"Ah! I'm so excited!" Kagome squealed.

InuYasha followed Kagome out of her room and shut her door. Saying goodbye to Akira and Gramps who was suspiciously typing away on his laptop in a corner, Kagome and InuYasha were on their way to a new chapter in life.

Kagome jumped around happily in her mind when she saw his motorcycle. Read that again. 'in her mind…' She loved being able to freely hold InuYasha around the torso for safety while he sped down the road. He looked hot with his jet black helmet on his head with his long silvery hair flung on the side of his shoulder so it wouldn't be slapping her continuously in the face.

Kagome put on her fuchsia helmet and hopped on the back. The only reason InuYasha owned an extra, 'fuchsia,' helmet was because of Sesshomaru. He gave it to InuYasha as a gift when he first got the motorcycle. Sesshomaru laughed in his face because he knew Izayoi wasn't going to let InuYasha ride the motorcycle without a helmet. However, InuYasha went right out and got a new more…'cooler' one and laughed in Sesshomaru's face saying it would be for all the girl's riding behind him.

Kagome instinctually wrapped her arms around InuYasha's perfect torso and gave out a silent sigh of enjoyment.

()()()()

"Tis perfect for young married couple." The foreign realtor persuaded as he continued showing one of the many apartment models Kagome and InuYasha had looked at. Kagome stayed close by InuYasha's side. Something just seemed really creepy about the real estate agent. The way he stared at Kagome with his big bugged eyes made her shudder.

"For the hundredth time we aren't married, nor a couple!" InuYasha whined to the realtor getting tired of him making a comment about him and Kagome every time they walked into a different apartment wing.

"Yeah; we're just friends…" Kagome added.

"Ha! Ha! You so funny. This way, this way." He urged walking into the bedroom. Kagome and InuYasha exchanged a glance but followed him anyways. "Nice big room for desk or vanity. Even come with a nice big circular baff tub!"

"This one actually looks pretty decent." Kagome commented. "-and the other bedroom?" Kagome asked the man before he could show them to the magnificent toilet that didn't work and probably had a dead cockroach in it.

"Oh there no other," He laughed. "Not needed."

InuYasha pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to push away the oncoming headache.

"Can you just show us to the next apartment please…" InuYasha begged in an irritated voice.

"Shure shure. Ha! Ha!"

InuYasha bent his body sideways and whispered into Kagome's ear. "He giving you the creeps as much as he is to me?"

"I feel like I'm going to get raped at some point with him going, 'HA! HA!' "She whispered back with a nod.

"Um you know what," InuYasha said to their realtor, clapping his hands together once. "We had fun, but we really have to get going." InuYasha picked up Kagome and flung her over his shoulder and dashed out of there as quickly as possible.

"Eep!" She squealed out in embarrassment and placed her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my! Baby's coming! It's coming!" the realtor called out.

"Hey I'm not pregnant!" Kagome yelled, pounding her fist on InuYasha's back.

"Why else be in hurry? Young married couple have baby. You need two rooms now. Ha! Ha!"

"InuYasha run faster." She begged, going limp down his back. She actually thought that when a man put you over their shoulders it was a romantic gesture. But in their case they were running from the insane.

'You make one dirty comment about Kagome's ass being in your view I'm never doing anything you say again.' InuYasha growled to his inner demon knowing full well that it wanted to make a comment so bad. His inner demon HAD to be Miroku in disguise. Somehow that boy must have chipped his brain in his sleep so he could whisper in his head through a microphone. Logically, that made no sense but it isn't illegal to have your theories.

'…My thoughts are yours. There really isn't a good enough reason to say them out loud.'

…..Great. Now it sounded like Sesshomaru had chipped him too.

'Though…I will say this. Perfect hips for bearing a heir.'

InuYasha stopped in his tracks and put Kagome on her feet. His facial expression couldn't quite be described. Was it anger? Embarrassment? Annoyed? A little of all?

()()()()

Kagome stared at the small house in the corner of the street for rent and continued to listen to their female, much nicer, less creepy realtor.

"The rent ranges from nine-hundreds to eight-hundreds here. In my opinion it's in a nice neighborhood, the shopping districts are within walking distances, pets are allowed, and-"

Kagome laughed and rubbed InuYasha's dog ear. "That's good, huh InuYasha?"

"That's not funny." He grumbled. "-And let's get one thing straight I'm not your pet."

"But I do have full privilege to mess with your ears whenever I want to now. Remember?"

"Sadly."

"You're a Neko-Youkai?" The realtor asked innocently.

"Inu-hanyou." Kagome corrected.

"Oh I'm sorry. Please don't be offended. It's just that your ears looked…"

"Like cat ears? Yeah I know. That's what I thought when I first met him too." Kagome laughed.

"I can talk you know." InuYasha told Kagome.

"Anyways," Alyssa, the realtor cut in. "It's a nice apartment complex. And the land-lord is a very understanding person if there is ever a problem with getting a bill paid."

"It all sounds like a good deal." InuYasha shrugged. "Next thing to look at is the rooms."

"Right this way." Alyssa invited, walking into the door. Kagome was slightly disappointed in what she saw. No wonder they had so many nice offers. The apartments looked really small and cramped.

"This is just the hallway to the living room, bathrooms and bedrooms. So choose door number one, two or three."

Kagome walked into the third door and stared at the spacious room. There was enough room to put a full-sized dresser, a vanity, a Tv stand, a computer desk, and a king-sized bed.

"It's like a princess room." Kagome awed.

"This would be my room." InuYasha said sticking out his tongue.

"Yeah we'll see." Kagome smirked.

Alyssa led them to the master bathroom. It had a simple shower, counter top and sink, and toilet. Nothing about it was really 'master.'

She then squeezed her way out of the bathroom and led them to the living room. It was a cozy living room for only a loveseat, coffee table and Tv stand. Next to the living room was the open kitchen. Again, tiny but it was enough room to cook.

"And the door next to that is the other bedroom. Slightly smaller but not by much."

"Your room." InuYasha teased her.

"So…like it? Comments? Anything in particular you were looking for?"

"It's really nice…just a little cramped." Kagome sighed. "I suppose I'm looking for something with a lot of breathing room. But a room close to InuYasha's so if that creeper realtor was ever to break into our house I can quickly go hide under his sheets. And maybe…a bigger kitchen and bathroom. Goodness I feel like I'm sounding super greedy. InuYasha, how about we call it a day?"

"It's up to you." He shrugged. The part of her coming to hide under his sheets kept bothering him for some reason. Just the way she said it sounded a bit…well, odd. "We could always try another day. I had a feeling you weren't going to instantly fall in love with an apartment. "

"If only everything could be that simple…"

()()()()

InuYasha's motorcycle came to a halt back at the Higurashi shrine. Kagome hopped off and hooked her helmet to the back of the bike.

"So…Miss Kagome…Someone's birthday is in a couple of days and I'm not too sure what she wants as a gift." InuYasha smirked. "Would you happen to know?"

Kagome smiled and shook her head. "Nothing extravagant; Just a Disney movie night with you would make her happy."

"But we could do that all the time." He frowned.

"But I'm not doing anything special for my birthday. My mom and Gramps are treating me to dinner…that's it."

"Okay. I'll bring a movie. Plus a gift."

"I don't need one."

"Sure you do." He said ruffling her hair. "I have to go now. My mom's going to be home soon and we have somewhere to be."

"Alright." Kagome hugged InuYasha tightly. "See you in two days then."

"-Or on Breeze Assassin Online."

"You should be finding a job instead of playing videogames Mr. eighteen year old." Kagome teased.

"Once you choose an apartment." He rolled his eyes. "You know what's going to happen when I get a serious job? I'm going to get stress crinkles before I even reach twenty-five. And get really fat."

"….Gym after work?"

"Wouldn't live without it."

()()()()

InuYasha sat in his father's office with his mother as they looked at different places for him and Kagome to live.

"I know exactly the type of house she wants."

"InuYasha…don't go too drastic until you have full access to that bank account…" Izayoi warned with her reading glasses tilted.

"It's a one story, calm down. This is definitely going to be her best birthday present." He looked over at the box in his closet he was looking through hours ago and smiled. "-along with another thing."

"You sure she'll agree with what you pick?"

"I'm testing how well I know Kagome. I'm positive I'll get this right."

"Hopefully your father can call a few people and make the purchase faster."

"Am I really that much of a bother that you want me to get out quicker?"

"No! I'm just trying to help you two."

'Because the more you bond together in your own place the better chance I have of getting a grandchild.'

Ah…gotta love being able to speak in your mind…

()()()()

"Ah! Sango! He flung me over his shoulders and it was just so cute!" Kagome squealed over the phone.

"What was cute? His butt in your view?"

"Okay he has a cute butt too but no, the whole-"

"Hey Miroku!" Sango laughed. "Kagome thinks InuYasha has a cute ass." Sango joked. Kagome could hear Miroku on the other end laughing his head off, and blushed.

"Sango!" Kagome whined. "You didn't tell me Miroku was with you!" Kagome smashed her face into her pillow. She definitely was going to get teased once she went over to Sango's house. She didn't mean it like that. She was talking about the act!

'Partially.'

Kagome jerked her body back up and looked around the room.

"Who said that?"

I was going to include Kagome's birthday party but that just would have been too long. That requires a whole chapter itself. I promise fluff the next chapter. And I'm going to try my hardest to get the next chapter out on Friday. –or Saturday.

Check out my profile for my page. :D

And I forgot to mention this a while ago…congratulations to my 400th reviewer: AnimeFanCrazy197 xD