InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cheating Fate ❯ Tempus Fugit ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kouga laughed contentedly as he held Kagome’s hand. They had just spent a wonderful evening dining at Shojin Ryori, and then they had decided on going for a stroll in Shinjuku park. It had been an expensive meal, but Kouga thought it was worth every cent, and the stroll was going great as well.

“Kagome, this has been a magnificent night. In fact, we could have skipped the meal and went straight here, and it still would have been perfect.” Kouga commented as they passed a luxurious looking apple tree.

Kagome smiled lazily. “Yes, we could have skipped dinner. It was way too expensive. I don’t like you spending so much money on me. It makes me feel petty.” Kouga squeezed her hand, and his smile grew when she laid her head on his shoulder. Kagome continued speaking, but it was in almost a whisper now. “Can you believe that we’ve been together for twelve weeks? It doesn’t seem like time as flown that quickly.”

Kouga nodded slightly. “I also can’t believe summer’s ending. It seems like it just started.” He scanned the park for any sign that the season was coming to a close, and was saddened to see hints of fall tinting the leaves.

Kagome let out a giggle, and Kouga looked at her with a lifted eyebrow. She just smiled as she said, “I just can’t believe all that’s happened. You and I being together. Ami getting to know her father. . .”

Kouga tensed up. “Is that where she’s at tonight? With Dog-breath?”

Kagome sighed. “No, she’s with Mom. InuYasha would have been more than happy to have taken her, but since his classes started back up . . . I just don’t want him to worry about anything but his studies for awhile. And Mom agrees.”

“. . .Well, that’s very considerate of you and your mother.” Kouga paused, before continuing. “Speaking of you mom, I don’t think she’s very fond of me.”

Kagome lifted up her head from his shoulder and looked at him with a startled expression. “What are you talking about? Of course she likes you. You treat her, Ami, and me with respect, and she’s very fond of that. So why would you think she doesn’t like you?”

Kouga pursed his lips before saying, “Alright maybe I worded that wrong. . . .What I meant was, even after all he’s put you through, she still would prefer Mutt-face with you over me.”

Kagome blinked in shock, but her expression soon became appalled. “What would give you that idea?”

Kouga shot her a sarcastic look. “Come on, have you not been listening? Every time I’m over at your mother’s house she talks about two things. How well you are doing with your responsibilities and how well Ami and Mutt-face are getting along.”

“That’s not true at all!” Kagome cried, as she clutched onto his arm. She pulled up the memory of the last time Kouga was over at her mother’s house. She ran through the conversations she’d had with her mother and the one’s her mother had had with Kouga. Sure InuYasha’s name had been brought up, but . . . Now that she really ran through the conversations it was quite obvious that her mother had only brought up InuYasha when she was talking to Kouga. Kagome sighed. So it looked like she and her mother were going to have a talk. She bit on her lip and then mustered up the sincerest apologetic face she could. “I’m sorry Kouga. I didn’t really catch on to what she was doing. She has no right to make you feel anything but welcome in her presence. I’ll talk to her about this, don’t you worry.”

Kouga smiled slightly without feeling. “You don’t have to do that.” He stopped walking, so Kagome stopped as well. He unwound her arm around his and then grasped her hand. “It doesn’t bother me what your mom thinks. It what’s you think that worries me. I try so hard to make sure you and Ami are happy with me, but sometimes I fear that you’ll start listening to your mother, and then what I’m doing won’t be enough to keep you.”

Kagome stared into his eyes and felt her heart clench. Is that what he really thought? That she would just . . . throw him to the side? She closed her eyes as she tried to sort out the emotions that were running through her. She slowly worked her hand free of his grasp and then, with her eyes opened once again, place both her hands on either side of his face. “Kouga Henge, exactly how little do you think of me?”

Kouga was calm expression quickly turned to shock. “What? I never--”

Kagome moved one of her hands to cover his mouth. “Shh. You’re going to listen, and I’m going to talk.” She took a deep breath, and then continued. “I don’t know how you could think that I would just toss you to the side. It’s not like you’re an old pair of socks, Kouga. You mean more to me than that. But I think that’s the thing. You don’t know how much you mean to me.” She stopped before she proceeded. She wasn’t exactly sure on what to say. She knew he meant a lot to her. She wasn’t quite in love with him, but what they shared had to be close. So how do you express that kind of feeling? What was the word that described the feeling in between like and love? “Kouga I care about you, and no matter what my mother says she can’t get rid of these feelings I have for you.”

So maybe there was no word for that kind of feeling, but Kagome knew she could show him. She pulled Kouga’s face down to meet hers, and when their lips met she put all of her feelings for him into it. He responded eagerly. Kagome pulled him closer, as close as she could get him. His arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She giggled a little, and then was sucked back into the kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist to help him support her. His hands traveled the length of her back and then nestled themselves in her hair. As he massaged her scalp, Kagome moaned his name against his lips. Kouga pulled back to plant a string of kisses down her cheek and neck. He nuzzled against her shirt collar and, once it was out of the way, he kissed her collarbone softly before sucking on it gently.

They continued on expressing their feelings until a passerby yelled, “Get a room!” Kouga was the first to pull back, and when he did Kagome unwound her legs. She steadied herself, and then, panting hard, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Kouga kissed the top of her head, then her cheek, and then the shell of her ear. “I love you.” he whispered, and then nuzzled the side of her face. He held her tighter when she didn’t answer back.

Kagome was staring out over his shoulder, trying not to tense up. She wasn’t ready to tell him she loved him. Because she wasn’t in love with him, . . . and the last time she had told someone she loved them it had backfired. She hated to hurt his feelings and not reply, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She wrapped her arms around his waist and just held on to him. Hoping that it would be enough.

Kouga dropped Kagome off at her mother’s to pick up Ami, and he had been willing to wait to drive the both of them home, but Kagome told him that her mother could do it. She knew that he probably thought that she was trying to avoid him because of what he had said, but that wasn’t the case. She was still a little uneasy about him telling her he loved her, that was for sure, but the real reason she wanted her mother to take her home was because she wanted to have that talk with her.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Kouga” she said as she shut the door. He rolled down the passenger side window and she leaned against the sill. She gave him a slow seductive smile, and said, “I had a wonderful time tonight. I can’t wait until we can be alone again.”

Kouga let out a quick laugh before he leaned over until his nose was a half an inch away from hers. Then he said huskily, “I’ll be counting down the hours.” Then he leaned in to close the extra space between them, and kissed her long and slow.

Kagome pulled away, and gently stroked the side of his face. “Good night, my handsome beau.”

Kouga smiled, and then grabbed her hand as she started to pull it away. He planted a kiss on the back, and then replied, “Sleep well, my beautiful belle.” He let go of her hand, and, when she stepped away from the truck, he drove away.

Kagome waved after him until he was out of site, and smiled to herself before making her way into her mother’s house. “Welcome back, Kagome. How was your evening?” her mother welcomed her.

“It was lovely, Mother.” she said uneasily. Her mother looked at her with concern, but before she could say anything about it, Ami scampered into the room.

“Mommy!” she yelled as she threw herself into her mother. She proceeded to wrap her little arms nearly around the circumference of her mother’s legs. “I miss Mommy!”

Kagome smiled widely as she leaned over, and scooped her daughter up off the ground. “Well, Mommy missed you too, Sweetheart.” Ami hugged Kagome around the neck and squeezed tightly. Kagome gave a strangled laugh, and kissed her on the cheek. Kagome peered over Ami’s shoulder at her mother, and then said, “Ami, why don’t you go and play with your toys for a little bit? Mommy wants to talk to Grandma, and then we’ll head home, okay?”

Ami shimmied down her mother, and then with a cheerful, “Okay!” rushed off into the next room to play with her dolls.

Dr. Higurashi studied her daughter carefully. She couldn’t guess at why she looked so put off, and why she wanted to have a talk for that matter. “Kagome, is something bothering you, Dear?”

Kagome sighed as she tried to figure out how to start. “Yeah, something is bothering me, Mom.” Dr. Higurashi stayed silent, waiting for her daughter so say what she needed to. “I talked to Kouga tonight, and he’s under the impression that . . . you don’t want him to be with me.”

Dr. Higurashi blinked in utter shock. “Why Kagome, that’s preposterous! I never said that I didn’t want the two of you together.”

“Mom, you didn’t have to.” Kagome explained, feeling drained. “Kouga’s not stupid. He’s one of those guys who actually listen, and he’s been listening to you. And do you know who you talk about every time he’s over here?”

“I’m sure I have know idea what you’re talking about, Kagome.” Dr. Higurashi replied. She could tell if she had answered any other way she would have walked right into a trap.

Kagome rolled her eyes. “You talk way too much about InuYasha in front of him. Don’t you think that makes him feel insignificant? He’s trying so hard to be a good role model for Ami, but it’s like you don’t see it. I guess to you InuYasha out shines him.”

“Kago--”

“Do I have to remind you that InuYasha broke my heart? That he left me without a backward glance?” Kagome was so caught up in her little rant that Dr. Higurashi decided to just let her run her course. “Kouga respects me, Mom, and all I ask from you is to accept him as my boyfriend. And even if you don’t, he’s still my boyfriend. So if you don’t start acknowledging his feelings, then I don’t think I’ll be coming over here quite as often.”

Dr. Higurashi took a deep breath. She could tell that her daughter wasn’t bluffing, and the thought of not seeing her as much as she currently did made her heart shudder. She decided an explanation was in order. “Kagome, Sweetie, I never meant to make him feel insignificant. I merely wanted him to know that InuYasha was and is a part of Ami’s life. He’s her father after all.” Dr. Higurashi watched as her daughter crossed her arms over her chest, and knew she was on dangerous ground, but she had to say what she was about to say. “I know how men are. They get territorial. So, I just thought that I’d start laying the ground rules that you’ve neglected to set.”

Something in Kagome snapped. “Ground rules? What ground rules? Is Kouga not supposed to spend any time with Ami just because he’s not her father? Because that’s stupid Mom. Ami’s known InuYasha just as long as she’s known Kouga, and yes, InuYasha is her father, but Kouga could be just as good a father figure for Ami as InuYasha is.”

“Honey, I don’t understand. I thought you and InuYasha were getting along.” Dr. Higurashi had noticed as InuYasha’s internship progressed that the two of them had been sharing their lunch breaks together, and had been getting along really well.

Kagome knew where her mother was going with this. “Yes Mom, we’re friends, and we share a daughter together. But that’s it.” Kagome knew her mother well enough to know what she had been planning. Her mother had probably wanted Kagome to end up with InuYasha. For the sake of Ami, if nothing else. But that just wasn’t possible. “I’m with Kouga, Mom, and I care about him so much. So, when you make him feel unworthy, it hurts me because I hate to see him feel that way.”

Dr. Higurashi could see the tears welling up in Kagome’s eyes, and wanted to go over and put her arms around her. “Oh Kagome,” she started, as she took a step forward.

Kagome took a step back. “It’s getting late, and I have to get Ami home.” Kagome carelessly wiped the unshed tears from her eyes before calling her daughter into the room. Ami peeked her head around the corner to where it was obvious that she had been listening. Kagome felt bad for having her daughter exposed to such an unfriendly conversation. Especially between her own mother and grandmother. “Come on Ami, let’s go home.” She’d have to comfort her daughter later. Right now she had to get out. Kagome looked back over at her mother. “I told Kouga that you’d take us home, but--”

“Nonsense, I’ll take you home.” Dr. Higurashi could see how upset her daughter was, and no matter how upset she herself was, she was a mother first. She wouldn’t act selfishly and brood about the matter just yet. She walked over and grabbed her purse off the end table. “Well, let’s go.”

The car ride over to Kagome’s house was silent except Ami, who was playing pretend with her dolls. Kagome and Dr. Higurashi didn’t look nor talk to one another, and Kagome couldn’t help but feel grateful for it. When Dr. Higurashi pulled into the driveway, Kagome jumped out of the car, and then quickly got Ami out as well. “Night, Mom.” Although Kagome was mad at her mother, she could force herself to be rude.

“You too, Honey.” was Dr. Higurashi’s curt reply.

Kagome didn’t even stay outside long enough to watch her mother leave. When she closed the front door behind her, she set Ami on the ground. “Let’s go call Daddy, and then we’ll get you ready for bed, okay?”

“Yea, Daddy!” Ami yelled as she ran in the direction of the phone. It had become a nightly ritual for Ami to call InuYasha before she went to bed. Kagome knew that InuYasha appreciated it, but since the fight with her mother had been about him she wasn’t that into tonight. Although deep down she knew she shouldn’t feel that way. It was her mother’s fault. Not his.

Kagome walked over to where Ami held the phone eagerly in her little hands. She smiled down at her. “Do you want to push the buttons, Sweetheart?”

InuYasha plopped down onto the couch feeling exhausted. He had spent the better part of the day studying the finer points of sociology. And he had to say, biological determinism wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world.

Miroku looked over from the arm chair, and then went back to flipping through the TV channels. “Tired?”

InuYasha looked over at him with an ’are you serious?’ expression. “I’ve had to read every detail about biological determinism. Did you know, that it is in essence the exact opposite of the Standard Social Model?”

Miroku was too engrossed in the TV program he had settled on to put any real effort into the conversation. “Hmmm, fascinating.”

Feeling a little snubbed, InuYasha asked, “Well, what did you do today?” Miroku shrugged his shoulders, and then went back to watching the TV show. InuYasha rolled his eyes. He was about to reach over and grab the remote control, when the telephone interrupted him.

He looked over at the clock, and knew immediately that it would be his daughter calling. A smiled came to his face as he keenly got up off the couch. He briskly walked over to where the phone hung on the wall, and answered, “Hello.” real slowly.

“Daddy!”

“Hi, Sunshine.”

Miroku looked over at his friend, who was conversing with his daughter. He couldn’t help but feel a little envious. He could see how much he loved that little girl just by how eager he was to get to the phone. Maybe one day he would have a child, but, from where he was at in his life, he couldn’t see it.

“She smells like Kouga?” InuYasha repeated, feeling something inside him churn. Although it was quickly replaced with a smile, when he heard Kagome yell in denial from somewhere in the background. “Well you tell your mother I said to take an extra bath to get the smell off her.” He laughed when he heard his daughter stammer out his request. His laughter grew when he made out Kagome’s voice. He could just imagine her mumbling under her breath.

“When I see Daddy?” Ami asked innocuously.

InuYasha didn’t answer right away. Tomorrow was Saturday, so that meant Kagome was going to bring her over to see him. “Daddy’ll see you tomorrow, Sunshine.” Ami giggled into the phone. InuYasha glanced over at the clock. It was five till eight and if he knew Kagome like he thought he did she’d be wanting her to get ready for bed. Even though he hated to do it, he said, “Well Sunshine, it’s your bed time, and I’m sure Mommy wants you to go to sleep.”

InuYasha could practically hear her bottom lip stick out. “I don’t wanna! I talk to Daddy all night!”

He smiled as he replied, “Daddy could talk to you all night too, but Daddy’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Promise?” she sniffled.

“Daddy promises. Now sleep tight, Sunshine.” he said, smiling. Ami said good night, and, before she let the phone drop, he heard her say, “I see Daddy morrow.”

“InuYasha?” Kagome said, as she picked up the phone.

“Hey, she sounds pretty tired. Did your mother wear her out?” he asked. He was happy that he was able to distinguish when Ami was tired. He was certain other people would have thought she was wide awake. Although, he had been expecting Kagome to say something to defend her mother, but was surprised when she didn’t say anything. “. . . Kagome, I was kidding.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Not knowing what to say, he ventured, “So, . . . how did your date go?”

Kagome didn’t answer the question, instead she said, “Look InuYasha, I’m kinda wiped out. I’ll see you tomorrow when I bring Ami over.” She said goodbye and then hung up the phone without him getting a word in edgewise.

InuYasha stared at the phone until the dial tone obnoxiously came on, then he placed the phone back where it belonged. As he walked back over to the couch, he let his mind wander onto what Kagome had said. She had sounded off. So, that was his first clue that something was bugging her. His curiosity was driving him insane, but he made himself promise himself not too long ago not to butt into her personal life. Unless she herself brought it up. He could only hope that she would want to talk about it tomorrow.

“So, I take it that was Ami.” Miroku asked, after silence had followed his friend’s return.

InuYasha looked up as if from a trance, blinked to focus himself, and then nodded. “Yeah. She was saying goodnight. Like she does every night.” InuYasha took a calming breath, and then, seeing that his roommate was now in the mood to talk, asked, “So really, what did you do all day?”

“Well, I had a class this morning at eight.” Miroku confirmed. “It was an interesting geology lesson, but anything that has to do with hydraulics is cool to me.”

InuYasha smiled at his friend. Miroku wanted to become a hydrologist, and had been taking any class that had anything to do with it for the last ten years. “What class was it?”

“Geology 445, surface water hydrogeology. The class is awesome. It emphasizes on open-channel hydraulics, which work under atmospheric pressure--” Miroku seemed only too eager to tell everything he had learned that day, but InuYasha, knowing only too well that he would go into a minute-by-minute description, cut him off.

“Wow, Miroku.” InuYasha said, with a smile. “As much as I would love to hear about open-channel hyd-whatever, I don’t understand anything about it. I’m inspiring to become a doctor. Remember?”

Miroku laughed at himself for getting carried away. “Sorry, man. I guess I couldn’t help myself.” He sighed, and then gave InuYasha a devilish grin. “May I add one more thing though?” He went ahead without permission. “My professor is down right sexy.”

InuYasha laughed, welcoming his friend’s perverted attitude. “Now this is something I can understand. What’s she look like? Wait, wait, wait, let me guess, . . . Wide hips, relatively large breasts, long black hair . . . Does any of this fit her description?”

Miroku let out a laugh himself. “You forgot a tiny waist, but you were right about everything else.” He continued to smile until his mind brought up a different picture. He then let out a sigh. “Except . . . she’s no where near as appealing to me as Sango.”

InuYasha studied Miroku’s serious look, and then lifted his eyebrow in surprise. “You really did like her, didn’t you?”

“I still do. Whenever there’s a free moment, she’s who pops up in my mind.” Miroku let out another sigh. “But I haven’t seen her since I got my cast off, and I’ve had that thing off for a week and a half. I’ve been expecting her to call to see how I was doing, but I haven’t heard a word from anybody at the hospital.”

“I wish you would have told me sooner; I would have helped you out, but I don’t go there much since term started and my internship ended.” InuYasha said with a sad smile.

“Yeah, I know, but I thought she’d be calling to check on me any day.” Miroku sighed, “Guess I was wrong.” InuYasha looked at his distressing friend, and as he continued to feel sympathy for him, an idea jumped into his head. Determination entered his eyes followed by a slight smile. When Miroku looked over at him, InuYasha had expertly hid any trace of his inner emotions. “I guess she’ll forever be the woman that got away, huh?”

InuYasha nodded in agreement, though he was far from being in agreement. He knew his plan had holes in it, and it was for that reason that he didn’t want to say anything to Miroku. He wanted to play everything by ear. “I’m sure you’ll get over her eventually.” He secretly smiled to himself. He could feel his ego growing by the second.

Instead of knocking on the front door, InuYasha just walked on inside the Higurashi shrine. He’d been dating Kagome for six months so he was as much a regular at the house as Kagome herself was. He walked into the kitchen to find Dr. Higurashi cleaning dishes. “Hello InuYasha,” she greeted when she spotted him. “How are you doing this fine evening?”

“Alright I guess.” he answered, and just for the sake of being polite, he replied, “How about you?”

She smiled, so he guessed she must know how much effort he was putting into being nice. “Oh I can’t complain.” Her smile widened. “Kagome’s upstairs working on some homework.”

Not needing anymore excuses to stay, InuYasha made his way upstairs. At first he thought she’d be in her room, but when he poked his head inside, she wasn’t there. As he scratched his head in wonderment, he realized that Dr. Higurashi wouldn’t have sent him up here if she had been in her room. He kicked himself mentally for not knowing that before hand. He was about to call out her name, when Kagome called, “I’m in the den, InuYasha!”

He started to make his way to the den when he was intercepted by Kagome’s little brother. “Hey InuYasha, what’s up?” Souta greeted, as he lifted his hand in a short wave. InuYasha nodded in acknowledgement, and was about to make his way around him, but was cut short when Souta asked, “Uh, InuYasha, . . . do you mind if we, uh, could talk real fast?”

InuYasha blinked in blank surprise. For the whole six months that him and Kagome had been dating, he and Souta had only talked at the dinner table on the nights that InuYasha stayed for dinner. He didn’t really know anything about the kid, except for the fact that he played soccer. “Uh, I guess.” was all he could say.

Souta nodded nervously, then turned around without a word, and started walking in the opposite direction. Once again, InuYasha was left in bewilderment. He assumed that the kid wanted him to follow him, so, after rolling his eyes, he made off after him. Souta had walked into his bedroom, and was know sitting on his bed. “Thanks for doing this.”

InuYasha crossed his arm in front of him. “Feh, I don’t even know what this is.”

Souta looked down at the floor, and, if InuYasha wasn’t mistaken, blushed. “Yeah well, I kinda have a problem. I don’t really know who to go to with this, and seeing as you’re the only guy I know with this kind of experience, I thought I’d ask you.”

Confused more than ever, InuYasha asked, “What are you talking about?”

“I want to ask this girl in my class to be my girlfriend.” Souta said in a rush. He snuck a peek up at InuYasha to find him staring at him with a raised eyebrow. “You’re dating my sister. How did you ask her?”

InuYasha let out a low breath. How did he get himself into these things? He didn’t really like talking about his personal life. It wasn’t any of the kid’s business how he had asked his sister out, . . . but, as he studied the kid, he could tell that it had taken a lot for him to summon up the courage to ask him. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. “. . . It’s not that hard to do. You just gotta find the guts to ask ‘em.”

Souta sighed. “That’s the problem. I don’t have the guts. I’m too afraid she’ll say no.” He looked up at InuYasha with sad eyes. “What if I’m not good enough?”

InuYasha inwardly sighed. He wasn’t good at the whole pep talk thing. “Kid, it doesn’t matter if you’re not good enough. If you ask her out, the worse she can do is say no, and if she does so what. It’s her lose then. You’re only as good as you let yourself be. Besides,” InuYasha said as he looked away with a slight blush. “when I first asked your sister out . . . she told me no. It took a bit of persuading on my part.”

This bit of information made Souta’s eyes light up. “Are you serious? She told you no?” InuYasha nodded to confirm what he said. “Wow! That’s hard to believe cause she’s like in love with you!” The statement made InuYasha feel uncomfortable. He couldn’t exactly say why, but the word love made him feel uneasy. “This is awesome. Thanks InuYasha, you’ve been a big help.” With that said, Souta hugged InuYasha around the middle, and then took off out of his room to do who-knows-what.

InuYasha rolled his eyes, and then continued on his way to the den. “Hey InuYasha, where’ve you been?” Kagome greeted as she looked up from her pile of homework.

Shaking the last conversation out of his mind, InuYasha smirked as he walked over to her. He leaned down, and kissed her heatedly. In the mist of their kissing, InuYasha had physically influenced Kagome to stand out his level. He let his hands run the length of her stomach before letting them push the shirt up. “InuYasha.” Kagome warned in a stern yet somewhat tolerant voice. InuYasha knew this was his cue to stop, but he let his hands linger just a bit longer before pulling away. “How are you?” he asked, cockily.

“Other than being out of breath?” she asked with a smile. The comment only inflated InuYasha’s already overblown ego. “I’m actually working on some chemistry homework.” InuYasha saw her brow furrow as she sat back down. “It’s giving me a headache. I’m at a total loss at what to do.”

InuYasha had never taken chemistry. He had never thought he’d be smart enough to take the class, but he didn’t want to see Kagome push herself harder than necessary. So, purely wanting to see what was making her distressed, he leaned forward, and peered at her paper. At first all he saw was a bunch of letters and numbers, but after looking at her last problems it sort of made a little sense. “Are you sure the first one’s are right?”

Kagome peered up at him, and then replied, “Yeah, Mr. Hiro worked with me on them.”

InuYasha nodded. “It says to calculate the pH of a 0.01 M solution of HCl. . . . What’s HCl?”

Kagome smiled fondly up at him. “Hydrochloric acid.” InuYasha sneaked a peek over at her. He knew she knew that he had no idea what he was doing, but he was trying not to look at it as chemistry but more as math. He looked back down at her homework.

He took a deep breath, and then picked up her pencil. He knew basic conversions, so that part was easy, but it was the letters that threw him off. He had know idea what any of them stood for, but between the two of them they were able to hedge through. After it was completed, Kagome stared wide eyed at the paper. “Wow.” she said as she looked over at him. “I didn’t know you were that good at chemistry. Why didn’t you ever take the class? I bet with the proper teaching, you’d kick butt at this.”

InuYasha shrugged at her praise. “I never thought I’d be good at it.” He was silent for awhile before saying. “It actually wasn’t that bad. It all seemed to go together.”

Kagome stared at him in thoughtful amazement. She placed her elbow on the table, and then leaned her head against her propped up hand. “What do you want to do when you get out of school?”

He shrugged again. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“I think you’d be a really good doctor.” Kagome said with a smile. “They need to know chemistry, and you’re a natural.”

InuYasha blushed for the second time that night. “I guess we’ll see, huh?”

The next afternoon, Kagome unfastened Ami’s car seat, and then lifted her out of her car. She had just pulled up in front of InuYasha’s apartment building, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to answer some of the questions she knew he wanted to ask. She had made an agreement with herself earlier in the day to talk about the things that had happened if he didn’t push her to talk about them. The problem was she didn’t know if she wanted him to push the subject just so she didn’t have to.

InuYasha answered the door before she even had the chance to knock. “I saw you pull up.” he said, in answer to her surprised expression. She rolled her eyes, and then proceeded to walk inside. The first thing she noticed was that the place was ice cold.

“Geez, InuYasha, it’s an icebox in here.” she said as she placed Ami on the ground. InuYasha noticed that she was carrying a thin rectangular box, but didn’t comment on it just yet. “Give me a minute. I want to run back out to the car, and grab her jacket.” And with that said, Kagome walked back out the door.

Worrying that Kagome herself would be cold, he briskly picked Ami up, and placed her on the couch. Then he turned the TV on to entertain her while he went back to his room to grab a spare blanket. As he came back into the living room, Kagome walked back in through the door. He greeted her by handing her the blanket. “Sorry about the cold. Miroku likes the air conditioner on during the summer. You kinda get use to it after awhile.”

Kagome took the blanket graciously. “Thanks.” She then walked over to Ami, who was fidgeting, and maneuvered the coat onto her.

Ami looked over at her father with a bright smile. “Daddy, I brought a game.” She lifted up the box that, with further examination, turned out to be Candy Land. “Play it.”

InuYasha smiled, and then looked over at Kagome, who had draped the blanket around her shoulders. “Is Mommy going to play too?”

Kagome rolled her eyes. Candy Land was the only thing she had done all day, but she assumed that because InuYasha was now present she’d be forced to play it again. “Yes Mommy play.” Ami said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. With some help from InuYasha, Ami managed set up the game board. Kagome smiled whenever she placed a gingerbread-looking piece at the beginning of the rainbow trail. Kagome gather all the playing cards together, and started shuffling them. After everything was set up, Ami exclaimed, “Me first, Daddy!”

Ami proceeded to draw a card. She held up the card, which happened to have a green square on it, and said, “What color, Mommy?”

“I don’t know. What color do you think it is?” she asked, playing dumb.

Ami stared at the card for a moment, and then smiled. “Green!” Kagome smiled as nodded, and InuYasha clapped quietly.

“Alright, so where’s the first green square, Ami?” Kagome asked, as she watched her daughter search the board for the right square. Ami pointed at the correct place, and Kagome nodded once again. Ami giggled with joy. “Okay, who’s goes next? Mommy or Daddy?”

“Daddy!” InuYasha quickly smiled over at Kagome, and went to pick up a card. Before he was able to he was stopped by Ami. “Let me get Daddy card.” She abruptly grabbed a card, and yelled, “Yellow! Daddy move here.” She pointed to a yellow square.

The rest of the game went on in the same manner. Ami would pick up the card for whoever’s turn it was, and then proceed to tell them where to move. After two games of this, Kagome told Ami that Sesame Street would be coming on, and Ami through down her gingerbread piece. Then rushed over to the TV. “Turn on Mommy!”

“Okay, give Mommy a minute.” She climbed up off the floor, and then went over to the end table were she had seen the remote. She quickly turned to the right channel, and that left Ami as close to being in a trace as possible.

Kagome smiled as she grabbed the blanket off the floor, and draped it over her shoulders once again. Then she sat down on the couch. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve had enough Candy Land for one day.”

“Nah, the game’s boring anyway. Even when I do get to play for myself.” he said, as he sat down next to her.

Kagome laughed. “Sorry. I should have warned you. She’s not yet grasped the concept of taking turns.”

He nodded with a smiled. Then, as he looked over at the chair, noticed his laptop sitting there, and let out a sigh. “I hope you don’t mind, but I do have some things to type up. Do you mind while she watching this if I work on it?”

Kagome blinked in surprise. “Not at all. Go ahead.” He pushed himself off the couch, grabbed his laptop, and then came back and sat down. “. . . So what exactly are you working on?”

As he powered on his PC, he answered, “Uh, I have to write an analysis on body fluids.”

Trying to keep the smile off her face, she replied, “Sounds fun.” The smile slipped onto her face when she saw him roll his eyes.

“Oh yeah, tons of fun. I’m practically peeing my pants in excitement to write it.” he said, as he brought up a blank word document. A loud laugh escaped Kagome’s lips as she smiled over him. He rolled his eyes again, and then got to work.

She snuggled deeper into the couch, and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. InuYasha must have noticed the action because he looked up from his laptop and over at her. “Are you still cold? Do you need another blanket?”

Kagome smiled. “No, I’m fine. Just getting comfy.” He returned the smile, then went back to typing. Kagome moved her gaze over to Ami, who rolling around on the floor, but somehow still watching the television intently. Kagome absently smiled, then let her mind wander. She found it odd that InuYasha hadn’t brought up her mood from last night yet. She had banked on him bringing it up so she wouldn’t have to talk about it, but it looked like she was going to have to now. She let out a sigh before saying, “So, last night Mom and I got into a argument.”

InuYasha’s fingers momentarily paused on the keypad. For as long as he’d known Kagome, he couldn’t recall her ever fighting with her mother. “Really? About what?”

Kagome hesitated. There was no way she was going to tell him they had been fighting about him. Although she would hate saying it was about Kouga, it would still be better than having to tell him her mother preferred him over Kouga. “Kouga.”

InuYasha slightly paused in his work again. “. . . What about him?” His voice seemed almost eager.

Opting not to tell him the truth, Kagome changed, without InuYasha’s knowledge, the subject. “He told me he loved me.”

This time instead of just pausing, he looked away from his laptop, and at her with incredulous eyes. “What?” Kagome nodded to confirm the information. He took a moment to process the news. He wrongly deduced this was the reason for the feud. “So . . . your mom thinks . . . he’s going too fast?”

Kagome sighed. She knew she wasn’t having the same conversation, but she went with it anyway. “No, I’m sure she things the relationship’s progressing well, but . . . I think it’s going a little too fast.”

InuYasha was quiet for a moment before saying. “Did you tell him you loved him back?” This was the question that made him hold his breath.

Blush colored Kagome’s cheeks. From embarrassment or shame she wasn’t sure. “. . . I-I didn’t actually say anything back.”

InuYasha let out the air his lungs had been holding. He felt unreasonably happy and relieved. He knew he had no right to fell either, and yet he couldn’t lie. The feelings were there. “That’s good.”

At his comment, Kagome felt her temper raise. Where did he get off saying that? “How is me not saying anything good?”

InuYasha’s ears, sensing Kagome’s anger, flattened against his head. He knew, from previous encounters with her rage, that if he didn’t watch what he said he’d only worsen his situation. “I-I didn’t mean good for him. I just m-meant good for you.” Sometimes it was easier thought than done.

After glaring at him for a moment, she rolled her eyes, and then looked away from him. Too anger to concentrate on what was in front of her, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You are an inconsiderate jerk.”

InuYasha let out a sigh. Setting his laptop aside, he maneuvered himself until he was facing Kagome on the couch. “Come on, Kagome. If you think about it, you really don’t love him.”

Her glare was back on him with full force. “Who are you to say how I feel?”

InuYasha rolled his eyes at her inquiry. “No really. If you really did love him, you would have said something back.”

By this time, Kagome wanted to nothing but strangle him. Instead, she substituted violence for her words. “Well, you would be the expert on not saying anything, now wouldn’t ya!”

InuYasha inwardly winced. Okay, maybe he hadn’t said anything to her when she first told him she loved him, but that had been different. He had been young and stupid, and he had been afraid of love. The last time he checked, Kagome was anything but afraid of love, and he told her as much.

Her anger seemed to slowly disappear. She let her shoulders drop in defeat, and sadness washed over her. “No, I’m not afraid of love, and you’re right. I don’t love Kouga. I mean, I do love him because I do care about him, but I’m not in love with him.” She slouched forward, and let her face fall into her hands. “I just didn’t want to say it, and not mean it. At least not in the way he would want it said.”

Seeing her looking so dejected, InuYasha decided to do something that he would probably regret later, and that would be talking about the fleabag in a good way. “Well, . . . why aren’t you in love with the mangy wolf?” Kagome quickly looked up at him in amazement. “I mean I hate to admit it, but he’s not that bad with Ami, and you spend every minute you can spare with him. You would think you’d be at least in the final stages of falling in love with him.”

Kagome was speechless. It took her a moment to even find the words she wanted. “. . . But InuYasha, we’ve only been dating for twelve weeks. That’s not long enough to fall in love with someone. I mean, I didn’t even tell you I loved until we had been dating for at least eight months. I’m not one to throw around the word love. I have to mean it.”

InuYasha briefly closed his eyes. He didn’t know why, but he knew what he was about to say would hurt. “But Kagome, your relationship with him is different than the one you had with me. It’s not like you didn’t know each other when you started dating, like us. You’ve know and been friends with him for at least eight years, and I’m pretty sure that’s long enough to fall in love with someone.”

Kagome leaned back against the couch, and looked away from him. She didn’t know what to think. Did InuYasha just give her advice? On her relationship with Kouga? Was he finally over his jealously toward him? Why did this revelation cause her chest to tighten. What was wrong with her? This is what she wanted, right? To move on? She shook the doubtful thoughts out of head. Of course moving on was what she wanted. InuYasha was right. Eight years was plenty of time to fall in love with someone, . . . but that still didn’t justify the fact that she still wasn’t in love with him.

With the silence that followed his opinion, InuYasha went back to his laptop. There wasn’t much he could do after his speech. Except maybe regret for saying it in the first place. Kagome must of felt uneasy in the silence, for she brought up another subject. “Uh, . . . where’s Miroku at today?”

Typing as much as he could be for he answered, he replied, “He’s at a study session.” Not wanted to stop the flow of his writing, leaned closer to the screen.

Kagome rose one eyebrow at out thoughtfulness. “I hadn’t pictured Miroku as much of a studier.” InuYasha continued to type for a moment before answering.

“Oh yeah.” he said, as a smile lit up his face. “There’s two things Miroku loves. Women and hydrology. Hell, you put a beautiful woman in a pool, and he’d think he’d died and gone to heaven.” Kagome laughed, and InuYasha ran through the last couple things he said again. Women and hydrology. . . The conversation he had had with Miroku came up in his mind, and the same smirk he’d used yesterday appeared again as he moved his laptop to the side.

Kagome looked at him, and studied the smirk. She’d seen it enough times in her life to know that if meant he was up to something. “What? What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Speaking of Miroku and women . . . How’s your friend Sango doing?” he asked, and he watched her blink in confusion. For she didn’t understand how he could go from Miroku to Sango.

“She’s fine. Why?”

His smirk widened. “How would she feel about going on a blind date?” Kagome sat in confusion for another moment before it hit her that he was trying to set Miroku and Sango up.

“Oh no, she can’t go with him!” she practically yelled, as she held out her hands in front of herself.

Furrowing his brow, he asked, “Why not?”

“Because she would kill me! You haven’t heard the way she talks about him.” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Besides, you and I both know that he’s a pervert, and what kind of best friend would I be if I let her go out alone with him.”

InuYasha rolled his eyes. “You don’t get it. Ever since he got his cast off, he’s been moping around here. He’s only been out a couple times, which is weird for him. I’ve never seen him this worked up over a woman before.”

Kagome stared at him questionably. “How do you know he’s just not sick or something?”

“Because we had a talk last night, and he said himself that no woman was appealing to him as Sango was,” Or something along those lines. “and besides, it’s only one date. If it doesn’t work out then they never have to see each other again.”

He had her on that. One date, huh? Well, Sango was always saying how she’d been dying to get out of the house . . . Well, why not? It couldn’t hurt to help her take that first step into the dating world, and she knew Miroku well enough that he wouldn’t force himself on her. “Alright. I’ll help you out on this.”

InuYasha’s smirk changed to a smile. “Great. So, when’s the next time you’ll see Sango?”

“Tomorrow.”

He nodded as he worked out the details. “Alright, so let’s plan on it being next weekend. That way we can get them both warmed up to the idea. Miroku won’t be that hard, but I think Sango might be.”

“No kidding. I don’t even know how to bring it up.” she replied, as she leaned her elbows on her knees.

He leaned forward as well, so that he was speaking directly at her. “Well, it won’t be that hard. If I’ve learned anything about women it’s that they are extremely envious. Just start talking about your date with Fleabag, and she eventually say something about herself wanting to go on a date. So, you’ll basically be having her bring it up.”

Kagome rolled his eyes at his woman comment. Typical player. She smiled in spite of herself. “I just hope she doesn’t kill me.” InuYasha smiled in return.

At that moment, Sesame Street ended, and Ami ran over and jumped onto her mother’s lap. “Candy Land! Candy Land, Mommy!”

Kagome let out a sigh, and InuYasha slightly shook his head, but then nonetheless climbed back down onto the floor to start up another game.