InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ The End of Days ( Chapter 57 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that line called OOCness!! Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a twat because I took so long to update, but life has been something else as of late, and my focus has been elsewhere. Anyway, thanks for waiting and for your continued support my friends, please enjoy!! And as always a special thanks to the ace in the hole, Neko!!

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of Dinshu, Dr. Aikio, Maki, Moki, Nola, Nya, Gage, Ashton, Takira, the spinx, and Hoko.

Chapter 57

The End of Days

“What happened to them? Who would've stepped on them like this?” Nola questioned, her face set in a deep scowl as she pulled on her gardening gloves.

Kagome blushed and adjusted her mother's gardening hat that she'd borrowed for this little afternoon adventure. She didn't know a thing about gardening accept that she needed to dig a hole, put something in it, and then cover it up, but she'd promised her mom that she'd help repair the damage that she and Inuyasha had caused a day or so earlier.

Of course, he was supposed to be here helping her, but she'd honestly forgotten to tell him about it. Once everything had calmed down from their first real fight since they'd been together, all she'd wanted to do was enjoy the quiet peace that he offered. That aside, she really couldn't see him doing such manual labor, so she decided that she'd handle it herself.

When he'd dropped her off earlier that morning, she found it almost impossible to get out of the car and leave him to his own endeavors. It wasn't that she thought he was going to do something-no-it was just the sullen look that she'd seen on his face from time to time when he thought she wasn't paying attention.

She knew it probably had everything to do with the things she'd shouted at him when she was angry, but she also knew that she'd apologized for them. If he was still upset or believed even a word of it; she couldn't really do anything about it except prove otherwise to him.

Truthfully, she'd been kicking herself over their little spat the entire night and most of the morning. She'd always had a knack for sticking her foot in her mouth at the worst time, but the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt him.

That's what I did last night, she told herself, When I think back about that moment… The look on his face… It was like I had cursed him or…or hurt him worse than anyone ever had before. I didn't notice it when I should've but…

“This is just sad,” Nola admonished, “What animals would do such a thing? If I knew who did this, I swear I'd take a bite out of their bottoms!”

“Oh, it's not that bad, is it?”

“Well not to you, of course, but Mom and I spent hours out here getting these bushes ready for the rose festival.” The girl actually sounded like she wanted to cry. “This is just…just sad.”

Kagome looked down at the rose bushes. The ones on the end seemed to be in good condition, but the ones in the middle were vacant of their buds, petals scattered in the soil and squished by what had to be Inuyasha's shoes.

“Well, it's done now, so there's really no reason to cry about it is there?” Kagome questioned, dropping to her knees in front of one of the bushes. Picking up the pair of gardening scissors, she started snipping off the leftover buds of the bush before her, wanting nothing more than to be done with this so that she could head inside.

“What are you doing?” Nola shouted, grabbing her hand before she could snip the last bud.

“Well, I have to cut these off otherwise they won't grow back, right?”

“Well, yeah, but you can't just do it all rough like that! Roses have feelings, you know. They're kind of like people. If you're nice to them, they'll bloom for you, but if you're mean and rough, they'll shy away.”

Kagome frowned at her as if she thought she'd just lost her mind. “I'll be the last one to even pretend that I have a green thumb, but that just sounds like complete nonsense to me.”

“Be that as it may, Sis, it's the truth.”

Kagome sat back on her haunches and stared up at the young lady. She wasn't really sure if she liked Nola all that much, but she was definitely growing on her. She figured if her and Souta were really destined to be mates, then she might as well at least try to get along with her.

“How about this,” Kagome started, “I let you do this and I'll sit out here and keep your company?”

Nola shrugged her shoulders and settled down next to Kagome. “You don't have to. I like gardening; I can do it for hours on end and not even realize how much time is passing.”

“Really, it doesn't get boring?”

“Nah, it's therapeutic,” she laughed as she picked up the discarded scissors that Kagome had just lain down. “I remember when your mom told me that the first time I gardened with her; I didn't believe her, but now it's like my favorite pastime.”

Kagome stood quickly and brushed off her bottom and her knees before stepping over to the other side of the sidewalk and sitting down on the grass. She leaned back so that she was staring up at the white fluffy clouds rolling past.

The day was young and felt promising. There was a perfect westerly breeze that caused goose bumps to rise up on her skin, but just as quickly as they came the rays from the sun that hadn't quite reached its highest point in the sky would chase them away.

She sighed while leaning back on her elbows, her neck tilting back. Closing her eyes, she allowed the sun to warm the underside of her neck as she questioned, “Nola?”

“Yes?”

“Are you serious about this my brother is your mate stuff?”

“Of course, why do you ask?” she retorted absently as if she was just going through the motions.

“Well, you are a little young, aren't you?”

The girl giggled, causing Kagome to look up just in time to watch her brush a strand of fiery red hair out of her face. “Why do people always say that? Love knows no age and there isn't a time limit that you have to know someone before you know whether you want to be with that person. Either its right or it's not. Besides, I'm going to be 17 in a few months. In some countries I would be considered an old-maid.”

Kagome sat up; a little disturbed by the girl's unfailing confidence in what she was feeling for a high school student. “You don't worry about heartbreak?”

“No,” she answered quickly, wiping at her forehead with the back of her hand. “There aren't enough hours in a day for me to devote time to that.”

“But Nola, what if Souta goes off to college and meets someone else? Have you thought about that?”

Nola's hands stilled momentarily, and then started up again. “It has crossed my mind once or twice, but he's mine. Even if he forgets every once and awhile when he goes off to school, he's still mine, and he'll come back to me.”

Kagome could only stare at the back of the young woman's head wondering just how she could be so sure of anything, especially love.

She looked as if she just had an epiphany and she sucked in a deep breath. She's sure because she's a demon; they aren't nearly as fickle as humans are. Her mind raced back to a conversation that she'd tried to have with Inuyasha about choosing his mate, but she quickly brushed that off because he'd never truly given her an answer.

Eyeing the girl closely, she decided that maybe if she asked another female, one that wanted to be a member of her family, she'd get the answers she needed. “Nola, how do you know he's your mate?”

“What?” she questioned softly, not turning around to face her.

“How do you know Souta's your mate? Did you choose him?”

She sighed softly as if whatever image she had in her head was just too precious to share with a complete stranger. For a minute, Kagome didn't think that she was going to answer her but then she stated softly, “I honestly didn't have a choice, Kagome. From the first minute I saw him, I was drawn to him. At first I didn't understand it. No matter how hard I tried not to think about him or not to run into him, I always did.”

“Really?”

“It wasn't until I talked to my parents about it that it all started to make sense.” She set the sheers down on the sidewalk next her and turned to face Kagome. “They told me that when a demon finds his or her mate, it's like two magnets pulling towards one another. There's no fighting it, no avoiding it, and no stopping it; it's inevitable.”

“Inevitable? But is it the same for humans? I mean with two demons, I could understand, but with you and Souta…”

Nola shrugged offhandedly, “I honestly can't say with any certainty, but I think that humans that date demons have an idea too. Souta patronized me at first when I told him, but I could always see in his eyes that he wanted to believe me, and now he does.”

Kagome chewed on her lower lip and looked away from the girl. Could that be the truth? If she were Inuyasha's mate, wouldn't he know by now? And if he knew, why wouldn't he have told her? Maybe this means that she isn't, and regardless of her wishful thinking, it was never going to happen for her.

“So, does the demon know right away?”

“No, at least with my mom and dad, they didn't. My mother knew first, but she said she kind of had to literally beat it into my father's head. He was just stubborn about the whole mate thing and had never considered that he had one,” Nola answered. “I think it's different for everyone.”

“I see,” Kagome intoned, her voice distant.

Nola laughed and turned back around to her gardening. “Do you really want to know about me and Souta or is this about you and that dog of yours?”

Kagome blushed and was thankful that the girl couldn't see her face. “Well…”

Nola glanced back at her and winked, “I don't think you have anything to worry about, Sis.”

Kagome leaned forward hopefully and questioned, “Why do you say that?”

She shrugged again, her nose wrinkling slightly. “You smell different, but then Souta tells me that my nose is broken, so I could be wrong,” she retorted quickly.

Kagome thought back to Hakkaku's assumption that she and Inuyasha were mates and her heart leaped. “Different how?”

Nola shrugged, her frown deepening. “I don't know… More like a wet dog, I guess. You didn't smell like that when you first came home.”

Kagome blushed. “That's just because I've been spending a lot of time with the Takahashi's, right?” She hoped it was more than that, she really did, but she also knew that it was foolish to even give voice to such a thing.

Nola sniffed in her direction and fanned her hand in front of her face as if to dissipate the scent. “We can always hope,” she replied, her nose wrinkling.

Kagome looked down at her lap, but she could feel Nola's eyes boring into her as if she was trying to decipher something, but the young woman said nothing more before she went back to snipping at the rose bushes.

Kagome started to say something to her, but stopped at the sound of a car. Then three car doors slammed and she stood quickly to her feet.

“You didn't have to hit him,” a woman's voice said.

“Well, next time he'll know to keep his goddamn hands to himself!” a male voice growled.

Checking her watch which read just before noon, she knew they shouldn't be back now, but she'd know his voice anywhere; it was definitely the Takahashi clan.

Nola stood up as well beside her. “Your dogs, I presume,” she said blandly.

Kagome couldn't remember the girl's voice ever being that emotionless and had to turn and look down at her to make sure that this was still the chipper helpful girl that she'd been talking to less than a few minutes earlier.

“You need to call and apologize,” Rin chastised loudly, and Kagome had to admit that she'd never heard Rin raise her voice before. “He's the only one that takes our pictures, Inuyasha, you have to.”

“He's bleeding,” Nola whispered softly.

Kagome took a slow step forward as she heard Inuyasha growl, “Not on your life, Rin. He's a fucking pervert and I'm sick of his bullshit!” As they crested the steps, she quickened her pace until she was practically trotting towards them.

As soon as she laid eyes on Inuyasha who was draped in a pair of white linen pants that fell perfectly over his hips, and a button down short sleeved linen top that showed just a sliver of the red tank top that he wore beneath his shirt, a grin broke out over her face. His hair was pulled up in a high ponytail at the crown of his head, which she'd never seen him wear before, but she had to admit that she liked it and would have to tell him to wear it like that again.

He stopped and smiled at her seconds before opening his arms for her to fall into. Kagome collided with him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him dead on the lips.

“Damn Wench, you'd think that I was gone for years,” he told her.

She blushed and leaned back, but didn't drop her hold on him. “What can I say; I missed your psychotic butt.” Kissing him again, she questioned quickly, “Nola said that you were bleeding. Did something happen? Are you alright?”

“Nothing serious, I just split a knuckle but it's healing.”

“What happened?” she questioned stepping back and taking both of his hands in her own. “Who did you hit?”

“Tell you later,” he told her quickly as if he didn't want to talk about it.

The hanyou grinned at her as he narrowed his eyes at someone over her head. Glancing back, Kagome said, “That's Nola, Souta's mate or soon to be mate, or something. She's cool as long as you don't flirt with her.”

Inuyasha glared at the girl. “You don't need to worry about that, I don't much care for kitties.”

Kagome swore she heard a hiss from somewhere behind her, and she spun to see Nola damn near snarling back at Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru was the last to appear at the top of the stairs and Kagome noticed from the corner of her eye that he stopped short as well, his head dropping low.

“You guys must be joking,” she bellowed after taking in the standoff. Nola looked like she was ready to take off at any moments her heckles raised to levels that Kagome couldn't explain. Glancing at Inuyasha, she noticed that he had this stupid grin on his face that told her he was about to do something really, really dumb and Sesshomaru, even he had an uncharacteristic smirk on his face.

“Oh my,” Rin whispered softly. “Um, Kagome, I think your friend should leave.”

“What, no, why?”

“Their dog demons, Kagome,” Rin told her brusquely.

“You're kidding me, right?” she whispered, turning to look from Nola who was standing stock still, and then to Inuyasha, who was now leaning towards the neko as if at any moment he was going to pounce on her.

“I wish I was, but some things are just ingrained in them,” Rin told her lacing her arm within Sesshomaru's.

Kagome turned her back on Nola and turned her full attention to Inuyasha. “Hey, look at me!”

He didn't.

“Takahashi,” she called, “I said look at me!”

He didn't.

Kagome pulled and slapped him hard across the face. He snapped out of his reverie then and looked down at her as if he hadn't a clue as to what had just happened.

“No, no, no, bad dog!”

Inuyasha leaned back from her, one eyebrow raised higher than the other as if he thought she was stir fucking crazy. “Wench, who in the hell do you think you're talking to, Ashton?”

Kagome blushed, but didn't back down. “You can't attack her, or chase her, or anything understand? That's Souta's girlfriend. You just can't, okay?”

Inuyasha frowned down at her. “Do I look like a dog to you?”

“Well…”

“Should I get you a rolled up newspaper, Sis?” Nola called from across the yard. “It's what my father uses to teach our neighbor's dog manners!”

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru growled and started to step forward. Rin pushed her weight against Sesshomaru, while Kagome pitched up on her toes and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck.

The hanyou grinned. “Try it kitty; I'll give your raunchy ass a bleach bath!”

“Inuyasha!” Kagome chastised.

He stepped back as if he'd just come back to his senses. “Sorry,” he whispered not sounding half as sorry as he should've. “You know there are just some people that you meet that you just don't like; well she's one of them.”

“Why, because she's a cat demon? That's really stupid; you guys are supposed to have evolved pass this!!”

Kagome couldn't hear what was said from the opposite side of the yard, but a second later her arms were free and Inuyasha was a silver blur headed across the yard. Nola was a reddish streak in front of him zipping between the trees that lined her family's yard.

“Inuyasha!” she screamed.

Kagome heard Nola hissing violently, but she didn't hear a solitary thing coming from Inuyasha; it was almost like he wasn't there at all. She couldn't hear his feet crunching against the ground nor could she make out anything about his physique from the blur, but she knew it was him because he was the only one missing at the moment.

Staring at the two demons in amazement, she couldn't help but to think how unnatural it was for anyone to move in such a fashion and with such speed.

The sound of Souta bursting through the front door jarred her from her reverie and Kagome turned to look at him. For a moment she didn't recognize him because of the mayhem that was taking place before her, but the minute he opened his mouth the world around her started moving again, “What the hell is going on?!?”

Kagome turned just in time to see the red blur zip to the left, and then double back twisting awkwardly in her brother's direction, but it veered off to the right again when a second silver phantom that should've been standing with Rin appeared in front of Souta blocking the cat's path to safety.

Sesshomaru materialized in front of Souta, his arms crossed over his chest, his face set in snarl.

Kagome couldn't believe her eyes, this just was not happening. The Takahashi's were not acting like…like dogs! This wasn't happening! They weren't dogs, damn it! They were refined! They were beyond rich! They were…they were… Damn it, they weren't mongrels!

Souta shouted, “Nola, what the hell?”

Kagome jogged towards her brother as she screamed an answer to his question that wasn't meant for her, “Their dogs, Souta, and she's a cat; they don't get along!”

“You're shitting me!” he retorted without looking back, apparently too intrigued in the display before him to look away. “Nola!” he called again urgently while taking a hesitant step towards the red and silver blurs that vanished and reappeared at the opposite end of the yard away from them.

“Get the hose; if we stop her, we'll stop Inuyasha from chasing her,” Kagome told him.

“I'm not spraying my girlfriend with a fucking hose, Kagome,” Souta ground out angrily. “Spray him!”

“Are you crazy?” she grunted back, “I will not!”

The two blurs zipped across the yard again and ended finally with Inuyasha standing comfortably at the base of the family tree, Nola hidden deep in the bows of the tree barely visible from the ground.

He stood there looking up at her, a silly grin on his face. “Come on down,” he stated conversationally, “Let me show you how much of a mongrel I really am.”

“Go to hell,” she shrieked down at him.

The hanyou chuckled and retorted, “Oh come on down, I've always wanted to know what it was like to skin a cat.” He cracked his knuckles eerily seconds before raking his claws across the bark of the tree, creating a sick ripping sound that rolled through the yard. “I'll be gentle, I promise.”

Nola hissed at him from the branch, but didn't move to get down. “Souta, get this mutt away from me,” she called desperately, “Call the pound or a butcher! Help me!”

“Oi, leave her alone,” Souta hollered coming to a stop under the tree a few feet behind the hanyou. “How old are you anyway? I can't believe you actually chased a girl up a tree like that!”

Inuyasha grinned unrepentantly back at him and winked, “Payback is a bitch isn't it, playboy?”

Kagome came to a stop next to Inuyasha. She was breathless and didn't know if she wanted to laugh at him or scream at him, but she didn't have time to do either before she heard Nola hiss, “Mangy flea bitten dogs that need to be euthanized.”

Inuyasha sprang from the ground and into the tree. Landing easily on the branch right beneath Nola, he questioned arrogantly, “Didn't think I could climb, did you, pu…ssy?”

“Leave her alone!” Souta screamed while searching for something to throw at the hanyou.

Kagome pushed her brother aside, knocking him off balance as she stared up at the demon and half demon mounted in her 500 year old family tree. “No fucking way,” she whispered in amazement as she took in the height to which they had reached. It had to be more than 10 stories high.

Nola scrambled back, leaping from one branch to the other and then bounding effortlessly to the ground. Thankfully, Inuyasha didn't move from his perch, but as she charged towards the front door of the house, Kagome couldn't stop the groan of horror that slipped from her lips.

The damn girl was zigzagging directly for Sesshomaru. Kagome wasn't sure what she thought she was going to do once she got within arm's reach of him, but she definitely seemed to have a purpose.

She was 100 feet away from Sesshomaru.

Kagome whimpered softly.

She was 75 feet away from the full demon.

Kagome stepped back away from the scene not wanting to know how it played out. She tried to tell herself that nothing was going to happen; Sesshomaru was better than this, so much better than this. He'd eventually step aside when Nola got closer, but he didn't.

She was 50 feet away from him.

Kagome closed her eyes and clenched her fists. He's better than this, he's better than this, she chanted silently.

She was 20 feet away from him now.

Kagome raised her hand and covered her face, while the other found its way to her parted lips. He's not going to do anything! He's not!

She was 10 feet and Kagome screamed helplessly as she watched through parted fingers as Sesshomaru took a step that she couldn't say she actually witnessed and snatched the girl up from the ground by the skin of her neck with about as much effort as it took a human to swat an invisible gnat away.

He was holding Nola up off the ground her feet dangling and kicking, twisting in the air, and Kagome swore she actually looked like a dam kitten that someone was looking over before they decided whether to drown it or keep it.

“Who's mangy?” he questioned impassively, his head tilting to the left and then again to the right.

Nola hissed and clawed at the air. She twisted her body this way and that way and scratched at his arm, his face, and anything else that she had any hope of reaching.

“Sesshomaru, you put her down now!” Rin screamed. “I mean right now, you put her down this instant, damn it!”

“What the heck is going on out-” Mrs. H asked stepping out the door behind the full demon. Stepping around Sesshomaru, she spared a long confusing moment to take in the scene before her as she planted her feet and placed her hands on her hips.

Narrowing her eyes in that no nonsense manner that formidable mothers everywhere used, she questioned calmly enough, “And exactly what do you think you're doing with her?” Not waiting on Sesshomaru to answer, she demanded through clenched teeth, “You put her down this instant!”

Sesshomaru spared just a glance at the older woman before he dropped Nola unceremoniously to the ground. “Pfft,” he murmured as if this entire situation was a waste of his time, but he did not move from where he'd been standing.

Inuyasha sprang from the tree landing behind her, and Kagome sighed as she felt herself being pulled back against his warm hard chest. His hands slipped around her waist hugging her close and she melted into him easily as she stared across the courtyard at Nola, who was hiding behind her mother's back, peeping out at her and Inuyasha.

“Who's going to tell me what's going on out here? Why are you, two grown men chasing Nola around my yard and Inuyasha don't tell me you chased her up that tree, I swear…”

Kagome stepped forward. “Mom, it's nothing. It's just a dog and cat thing, but nothing we can't handle, right Rin?”

Rin stepped forward quickly. “Yes, ma'am. Sorry about all of this,” she told her with a polite bow.

“Souta, right?” Kagome questioned.

Souta stared at the two dog demons and then at his girlfriend, he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. This was nuts absolutely nuts, but he nodded his head anyway and said, “Yeah, we got it Mom.”

“It damn sure doesn't look like it,” she murmured, eyeing the occupants of the yard slowly. Patting the young girl on the hip, she told her without taking her eyes of the other occupants of her yard, “Go ahead in the house and clean yourself up.” Taking her time to take in the demon closest to her, she said, “I assume you're related to Inuyasha?”

Sesshomaru nodded once.

“And she,” she continued pointing at Rin, “Is with you?”

Sesshomaru nodded again. “My mate, yes.”

“I see,” she said to everyone. “Well, when you all have found your common sense, please come in; lunch will be ready shortly.” She turned away and started into the house, but stopped, “Don't step foot in my house any of you, with that dog-cat nonsense. You're civilized and she's civilized so act like it.” With that she disappeared into the house without another word.

Sighing as her mother disappeared back into the house, Kagome spun on Inuyasha. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

He scratched his head and grinned at her. “Sorry?” he questioned more than stated.

Kagome slapped at his chest and tried not to laugh at his antics, but she couldn't help it. “You're an idiot,” she giggled hitting him again before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead.

She sighed into his chest, raised her head and kissed the side of his neck. “You are without a doubt, a full-out idiot, you know that?”

He chuckled huskily, his heart racing in his chest from the adrenalin pumping through his veins she was sure, before he responded, “Yeah, I am, but I'm your idiot, wench.”

She leaned back away from him and smiled up at him. “You better be.”

Souta shuffled up to them then, a glare on his face. “You are going to apologize to her, right?”

Inuyasha glanced at him and grinned, but didn't comment as he scooped her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and started towards where Rin and Sesshomaru were standing talking quietly.

Simonkal of Inuy

Inuyasha leaned back on the couch and rubbed his belly, his other arm draped over the back of the couch in Kagome's mother's living room.

He hadn't meant to spend the entire day here, but every time he thought about going back to the hotel, he couldn't make himself leave her here. Then when he'd think about asking her to come with him, he'd look at her and she'd laugh at something stupid her brother or the wet-cat said, and he'd feel bad about taking her away from her family.

He knew that with the doubts he was now having with regard to his decision about claiming her, it was probably best that he start putting some distance between them, but he just couldn't do that…he didn't want to. Regardless of whether she ever accepted him as her mate, she was his mate; there wasn't a damn thing he could do about that now.

Sesshomaru and Rin had left shortly after they'd finished eating lunch and Rin had apologized for the millionth time on his and Sesshomaru's behalf, but mostly his behalf because he was the one that chased the damn cat up the tree. He was actually more than a little surprised when Sesshomaru got involved to tell the truth, because his normally stoic brother had never really had a penchant for attacking animals of the feline persuasions. At least, not since he'd reached his teenage years.

Inuyasha would've liked to say that he was sorry, but he wasn't, so he didn't. The heifer deserved it for all of the derogatory shit she'd been mumbling under her breath about him and his brother and their kind. Under normal circumstances, he nor Sesshomaru would have stooped to such uncivilized antics, but there was only so much chiding that one person could take.

Even after they came in the house to sit down for lunch, the wench had continued with her ass backward comments, and snide remarks. The humans couldn't hear most of what was being said, but he and Sesshomaru had heard every freaking word she mumbled under her breath.

The only reason why they, well, he hadn't done anything except make a few comments of his own, was because of Kagome's mother.

Speaking of which, he had to wonder-not for the first time-if he'd ever get a chance to live this down with her. She'd caught him groping her daughter, he'd crushed her roses, and he'd chased her son's girlfriend up a goddamn tree; it couldn't really get any worse could it?

Probably not, but I'll never be able to live this shit down, he told himself. First impressions suck!

The hanyou closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and rub his flat full stomach. He knew he shouldn't have eaten thirds, but the damn woman could cook and it had been entirely too long since he'd had a real home cooked meal. Rin's meals didn't count, because she didn't and couldn't really cook anything but breakfast, Hoko did the real cooking. But Kagome's mom, she cooked everything from scratch.

I have to ask her to teach Kagome, he decided quickly.

His stomach bubbled and he sat forward, pushing out his chest to allow a low burp to escape, and then he sighed in relief.

“Inuyasha?”

The hanyou looked up and wondered why it was that the woman had never formalized his name in the same manner that everyone else did. Surely, she knew who he was.

Brushing his thought off, he looked up and in the direction that her voice was coming from. “Yes?”

“Would you like dessert?” Kagome's mom asked, and he groaned inwardly.

“What did you make?” he questioned just being civil since he knew he couldn't eat another bite even if he wanted to.

“Daigaku Imo with honey and cream dipping,” she called back to him.

“Crap,” he hissed.

That was his favorite dish, but he hadn't had it since before his mother passed away. Rin had tried to make it a few times but she always fried the sweet potatoes too long, or cut the chunks too big or too small. Maybe it was just that he knew his mother wasn't cooking it, he didn't know, but they never smelled quite right, not like they did now that he thought about it.

Kagome appeared in the doorway, a plate in her hand and a smile on her face. Shuffling over to him, she sat the plate down on the center table and took a seat next to him.

Glancing down at the plate, he could feel the saliva building in the back of his throat and reached down and pushed the plate away.

“What's wrong?” she questioned concernedly.

“Nothing, I'm just way past full, Wench.”

She giggled and picked up the chop sticks. Picking up one of the golden colored potatoes, she then dipped it into the little dipping cup and brought it up to her mouth. Biting off half of it, she held out the other piece for him to take.

He leaned back away from it, but she leaned forward and pleaded while holding the morsel of food to his mouth, “Please, if you don't she'll be insulted.”

“But I'm full,” he whined.

“Tell you what, take this little bite and I'll package the rest of this up for you to take with you back to the hotel.”

He grinned at her and leaned forward taking the potato into his mouth without a second thought. It melted on his tongue, tickled the top of his gums and his jaws locked and unlocked. It was just as he'd remembered his mother making it.

Swallowing, he declared, “Damn, babe, your mom can cook her ass off.”

Kagome grinned. “Is that even possible?”

“What?” he questioned not really paying attention to her as he leaned forward and picked up another chunk of potato. Dunking it into the syrupy goodness, he popped it in his mouth.

“Somebody cooking so good, that they cook their asses off, of course.”

Takahashi rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

The phone rang loudly in the kitchen, but he paid it no mind as he reached down and picked up another lump of potato and popped it in his mouth. “You hash to leark how to kix dis,” he told her around a mouth full of sweet potato.

Kagome laughed again . “And why is that?”

He wondered absently how in hell she knew what he's just said, because to his own ears it sounded like complete nonsense. He brushed that thought off.

“Because,” he swallowed and looked at her seriously, “if you don't, I'm going to move in with your mom.”

Kagome pushed against him with her shoulder and reached down to snatch one of the sweet potatoes. The hanyou slapped her hand away and picked up the plate, pulling it to his chest and out of her reach as he spun away from her. “Get your own, wench!”

“Give me one,” she demanded seriously.

“No, get your own!”

“Inuyasha,” she chastised.

He grinned back at her over his shoulder and stuck another treat in his mouth. “No!”

She narrowed her eyes at him and pushed to her feet as if she was going to leave, but instead jumped at him almost knocking the remaining treats from his hands. The hanyou pitched forward holding the plate steady. Just as she was about to swing for them again, her mother's voice sang out from the kitchen, “Kagome, phone!”

She growled in annoyance, and plunged at the plate again.

The hanyou stood quickly to his feet and held the plate over his head. “Not on your life!”

“But-” she started to say again, but was caught off when her mother called her a second time.

Watching her go as he swallowed the last of what he had in his mouth, he stated, “Oi, fix me and Sesshomaru a to-go bag; he's going to shit when he tastes this! It's just like my mom used to make!”

She fanned her hand at him dismissively and disappeared around the corner and into the kitchen. He couldn't help but to chuckle as he flopped back down on the chair across from where he had been sitting and commenced to finishing off the remaining perfectly sliced sweet potatoes.

Simonkal of Inuy

“Selfish, greedy heathen,” she hissed as she stomped back into the kitchen. Her mom shot her a look but didn't comment as she passed her the receiver and went back to what she was doing.

“Sis, are you alright?” Souta questioned, pushing back from the table and closing the book he'd been reading.

“I'm fine,” she snapped, “He's just…” Kagome growled, her hands going to her hips the receiver totally forgotten. “He wouldn't let me have just one! I swear he's a pig and he calls me Miss. Piggy!”

Souta laughed and Nola rolled her eyes as she intoned, “All you need to do is get a rolled up newspaper, I bet it would work wonders on him.”

“Kitty needs a bath?” she heard Inuyasha shout teasingly from the living room before he came shuffling around the corner ,the empty plate in his hands, and one clawed finger shoved in his mouth.

Nola hissed at him, and he growled right back at her.

“None of that!” her mother told them both, looking up from the pot she was stirring.

Kagome stepped between the table and Inuyasha, her eyes narrowed. “Don't make me get the newspaper or do I need to put a muzzle on you?”

The hanyou grinned, holding out the plate for her to take. “I'd like to see you try either one of them, Wench.”

“A muzzle, why didn't I think of that?” Nola questioned. “No, a leash. A really short leash.”

Inuyasha growled low at the cat demon, and Kagome grimaced and turned to Nola. “Stop antagonizing him, Nola, or I'll get the hose for you.”

“Enough you two! Goodness,” her mom said in an exasperated tone. “You two are acting like…”

“A cat and a dog,” Souta finished for her, his tone exasperated as well.

“Oi, who's on the phone?” Inuyasha questioned, pulling her attention away from the conversation starting up at the table.

Glancing down at it, she blushed having forgotten about it totally. Putting the receiver to her ear, she stated quickly, “Sorry, hello.”

“Hey, are you dressed?”

Dressed for what, she thought, her eyes searching the room absently and landing on Inuyasha's inquisitive one. “Who is this?”

“Oh, you just hurt my feelings! This is Yuka! Don't tell me you forgot that we're going out tonight.”

Her last conversation with Yuka came flooding back to her, and Kagome's heart sank. She'd forgotten all about it. When she'd told her that she would go out with her, she hadn't known that Inuyasha was going to be in town, and truthfully now that he was, she really didn't want to be anywhere he wasn't.

“Oh, Yuka, I'm sorry, I did. I completely forgot.”

“Well, it's not too late, Kagome, we still have an hour or so before things start to jump off. Go get dressed,” the girl said without meandering.

Kagome tried to look at anything and everything except Inuyasha's questioning gaze. How was she supposed to handle this now? She couldn't just leave him to go hang out with her friend, but she didn't want to just blow Yuka off either. They hadn't actually spent any quality time together and she'd promised her.

“Yuka, I can't, I have company. I'm so sorry,” she told her sadly.

Yuka was quiet for a long moment before she whined, “That's so not fair. I've been looking forward to this all week. We didn't get to spend anytime together, and yes it was my fault but… Kagome please, I want us to hang out like we use to before you go.”

“Yuka…” she trailed off not sure of what to say next.

“We won't stay out long, I promise,” Yuka continued in a pleading tone.

Kagome ran her hand down her face and released a sound caught between a growl and a moan. “Hold on, Yuka. Just hold on for a minute.”

She set the phone down near the cradle being careful not to hang up on her longtime friend. Glancing around at her family who were all now sitting at the table locked in their own conversation, Kagome turned back to Inuyasha and pushed him backyards out the kitchen and into the narrow hallway that separated the living spaces.

“What's up, wench? Who's that on the phone?” he questioned, coming to a stop near the front door.

Kagome scratched her head. “That's my friend Yuka, the one I told you I got in a fight with.”

He nodded in understanding his mouth forming an O shape. “Okay so, what's wrong?”

She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't come up with the right words. After the way he acted last night, she couldn't really see where he'd be okay with this, but she still couldn't come up with anyway of not going out with Yuka either.

“Kagome, spit it out. What's the problem?” he questioned, his patience clearly wearing thin with her.

She inhaled and blustered, “IpromisedherthatIwouldgooutwithhertonightsinceIhadn't spentanytimewith hersinceI'vebeenhereandtomakeupforthefightthatwehad. She exhaled, and inhaled again while twisting her fingers in front of her. Taking a small step back from him, she continued, “ButwhenIpromisedherthat,Ididn'tknowyouwere goingtobehereandnow,Idon'tknowwhattodo.Iwanttogowithherbecauseshe'smyfriend andIfeelIoweher,butthenIalsodon'twanttogobecauseyou'rehereand-”

“So…you're going out?” he questioned a frown on his face.

“Well,” she stumbled over her words and tried again, “What do you think? I mean I don't want to, but I don't want to hurt her feelings either.”

“And this is the girl that you slapped?”

Kagome nodded, her palms sweaty for some reason.

The hanyou shrugged his shoulders and queried, “And this whole going out thing is like you and her making up or something?”

“Yeah, but I didn't know you were going to be here. If I had known I never would've made plans with her.”

Inuyasha looked at her for a long moment as if he was trying to decipher whether she was lying or telling the truth, but he didn't say anything.

She sighed softly and turned away heading back to the phone. “Don't worry about it, I won't go,” she told him softly, her tone despondent for reasons she couldn't quite understand, since she could've sworn that she really didn't want to go in the first place.

Inuyasha grabbed her hand, stopping her. She spun back to face him as he stated quietly and with another shrug of his shoulders, “Go out with her. You made these plans before I even knew I was coming. Besides, this is your friend. Go, make up with her. Do what you gotta do.”

Kagome stepped towards him slowly. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed with a frown like he didn't understand why she would think that he wasn't sure.

“And you're not going to be mad about this later and try to get me back?”

He laughed at that and placed an X over his heart as he declared, “Cross my heart, Wench; it's cool.”

Kagome looked at him for another moment before she stepped towards him and tipped up on her toes kissing him once, twice, three times slowly. “You're alright sometimes, Takahashi.”

He chuckled, his arms encircling her waist and pulling her closer. “Where are you guys going?”

“I don't know, really. Yuka said it was some new lounge that recently opened, but she promised me that we wouldn't be out long.”

He nodded and smiled that mischievous grin of his as he questioned, “So you want me to help you pick out something to wear?”

Kagome blushed and stepped back away from him. Twirling on the ball of her feet she stated, “Of course,” as she disappeared around the corner and back into the kitchen.

As she picked up the receiver and placed it back to her ear, she noticed absently that Inuyasha hadn't followed her, but she brushed that away as she stated, “Yuka, sorry about that.”

“About time! What did you have to do, ask your mom's permission?” the woman joked.

Kagome laughed. “Something like that, anyway I'll go, but I want to be home no later than 12, okay?”

“You'll probably be home way before that, especially if the crowd is whack.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kagome quipped as she watched Inuyasha step out of the darkness of the hallway and into the kitchen. “What time are you coming?”

“I'll be there in an hour.”

After taking in the way that Inuyasha was leaning against the door jam, his hands in his pocket, and his head down as if he was concerned about something, Kagome told her, “Leave your house in an hour and half.”

“Why?”

“Just do it,” she ordered, “I'll see you then.” She hung the phone up and turned to her mother and brother. “I'm going out for a little while with Yuka, okay?” Not waiting for any kind of answer she turned and trotted over to Inuyasha. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him out of the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs to her room.

“Kagome, what are you doing,” he questioned softly as he climbed the last of the stairs and turned down the hallway to her room following behind her.

She didn't respond until she tugged him into her room and closed the door behind them. “I'm getting dressed and you're helping me.” She stepped across to her dresser clicked on the radio and turned it up a few decimals before she turned back to him. “Take your pants off.”

“What?”

She reached down, pulled the ends of her shirt up over her head and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. “Take your pants off, Baka, we only have thirty minutes before I seriously have to get dressed.”

“I will not,” the hanyou avowed. “Your mom, your brother, and the damn cat are downstairs. If the humans don't hear us, that damn cat will.”

“So,” she snapped, tugging off her bra and tossing it across the room.

“You're nuts!”

She stepped towards him then, her movements slow, methodical, and almost hypnotizing. Running her fingers down his covered chest to the ties that held his linen slacks, she tugged slightly and allowed her hand to slip into his waistband, past his boxer briefs, and unto the warm flesh of his member.

He sucked in a deep breath of air and stepped back until he was flush against the door of her room. Kagome smiled softly up at him, gripped his member in her hand and jacked it slowly up and down in a circular motion while tipping up on her toes.

She kissed him once. “I'm not nuts.” She kissed him twice slow, deep, nibbled on his lower lip and inhaled each breath that he exhaled. “I'm in love,” she whispered as the floor slipped from beneath her bare feet.

Until Next Time…(Your .02 cents are greatly appreciated!!)

Next Chapter: Hello

Acknowledgements:

Chocolate Cake ~ Crazykiss (You didn't remind me this time) ~ jflorea ~ Renomaru ~ InuGoddess715 ~ Angel-up-above-heaven ~ Deipurple ~ Animegirl ~ Ravens_Ashs ~ Mynera