InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Funny Valentine ❯ My Funny Valentine ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Notes: Now, before I start hitting myself over the head with a saucepan for doing a Valentine fic, I'm just gonna let you guys know that I am fully aware that Valentine's Day holds different meaning for different cultures.

As I've been told, the American Valentine's day is more of a time to reaffirm friendships where you send cards to your friends and family, classmates and co-workers (I hope I wasn't misinformed). In Japan it's only the women who give chocolates to the men on Feb 14th and then on March 14th (White Day) the men give gifts to the women. As I recall, it's a tradition for women to give giri-choco (obligation chocolates) to nearly all the men around them (so no one feels left out ^_~) and give honmei-choco (prospective winner chocolate) to the men that are special to them along with more expensive gifts like jewellery and clothes.

Unfortunately the idea I want to use doesn't fit in with the Japanese custom so I'm going to bend the rules a little and go with the my country's idea - where Valentine's day is strictly confined to couples or else giving cards/gifts to potential boyfriends/girlfriends while only hinting at your identity. (I got a card this morning from someone with the simple message of "Yum Bum <3"… It's surprisingly easy to identify your secret admirers ^_^;; but hardly anything ever comes of it.)

Also this is just a one-shot, fluffy fic that I wrote to take a break from all the long, confusing stories I'm writing at the moment. It's also a bit of a poke at the fanfics that make Inuyasha a romantic hero (a Romeo if you will), but shh!

So happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all enjoy yourselves!

Quote of the day:

"To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don't want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt."

-Madonna (now there's a surprise)

~*~

"This has got to be the best day of my life…!"

Inuyasha could already hear the grin on the girl's face the moment she said it. The top of the ladder that protruded out of the well bucked and rattled as she climbed, and it was only a few moments before Kagome's head popped up. She looked around for a second until she spotted him leaning against his tree - at which point her face split into a wide grin. "Hello!" she called.

That was way too enthusiastic to be normal.

"What's the matter with you?" Inuyasha frowned as he came forward to help her out of the well - she seemed to be having a little more trouble than usual. He soon found out why…

Kagome was carrying a second bag, black as opposed to her yellow canvas one. It looked like her 'school' bag. "Oh for…" Inuyasha grumbled as he snatched the bag off her and allowed her to climb free. "Didn't I tell you that we were setting off today? We don't need to be weighed down by your excess rubbish!"

"Oh relax." Kagome brushed off the imaginary dust from her school blouse and reached out to take the school bag back. "You can't take the slightest upset lightly, can you? It's alright, I plan to leave the bag here anyway."

"Why?" Inuyasha scowled at her. "What's in it?"

That question seemed to bring an extra-bright smile to her face. "My Valentine's presents." She hefted both bags over each shoulder and started off in the direction of Kaede's village.

"Valentines?" Inuyasha echoed incredulously as he tottered after her.

"Valentines." Kagome affirmed as she pushed her way through the springy, low branches of the trees. "Named after the priest, Saint Valentine, who was decapitated by the Roman Emperor for continuing to marry young couples even though the emperor forbade it. He was martyred and then in my century they made the 14th of February a Valentine's Day."

Inuyasha's head spun. "Ok… let's pretend I understood all the crap, but want it in shorter words…?"

Kagome spun around. "Valentine's Day is the best excuse in the world to make a pass at anyone and everyone you fancy without fear of getting too badly rejected.." She smiled. "And since today's Valentine's Day, people are doing that in my time."

"That sounds stupid."

Kagome shrugged. "You're probably right, but it's kinda fun… although I'm not sure if it's Valentine's Day here or not… I don't think you have February here, do you?" Inuyasha's blank look told Kagome that Inuyasha wouldn't know even if there was a February. "Never mind." She shrugged again and started off on her way.

Inuyasha followed. "So what's in the bag?"

"I told you. Valentine's Day presents." Before he got the chance to demand what the heck they were for, she went on. "Since Valentine's Day was invented by the shops for the shops, instead of being to honour Saint Valentine, people splash out and buy gifts for the ones they love… or intend to love."

"Gifts… to intended loves?" Inuyasha repeated, slowing down.

"Yep!" Kagome chirped and raced on. "At my school, we had this anonymous system where you send presents and cards to the people you fancy or love with only a hint at your true identity. It's this whole 'Secret Admirer' thing - but I was totally blown away when I opened my locker and all those cards and presents fell out - hey, what the-!"

Inuyasha had darted forward and snatched the bag right off her shoulder.

"Give that back!" she yelled as he found himself a comfortable seat on a branch above her head. The branch was low and wide, but just an inch out of Kagome's reach, even if she jumped.

"What the hell…?" Inuyasha jerked open the satchel and was instantly assaulted with offensively vibrant shades of pink, red and white. "What is all this crap?"

"My crap! Give back!" She hopped up and down in vain, still trying to grab his foot to bring him back down to earth. "Inuyasha! I'll say you know what!"

He clamped his arms down over the bag sharply. "You dare?! I'll take them down with me and crush all your valuable presents!"

So Kagome resigned herself to just picking up random rocks from the forest floor and lobbing them at him, in hopes that the one stone would take care of her two birds.

"Now let's see…" Inuyasha ducked an airborne rock as he reopened the satchel and pulled out a pliant piece of parchment, bent in two perfect halves and coloured fantastically with a flawless, shiny surface. "What's this?" He waved it at Kagome.

"My card!" she shouted, hunting around for something suitable to throw.

"A card, eh?" He opened it up. "Roses are red, violets are blue, the love of a friend is priceless, and so are you… wow, that's really clever how it all rhymed… who gave you this?"

"I don't know! That's the whole point!!" She hurled a damp, rotten strip of branch at him.

Inuyasha avoided it with ease and smirked at her. "Too ashamed to go public, is he?" He laughed cruelly and tossed the card away. Kagome made a sharp dive to catch it before it hit the earth, fumbling with it as the paper bounced against her open hands. Inuyasha was too busy rummaging through the bag to take notice of her antics. He pulled out a stuffed toy. "What the heck is this?"

"A duck." Kagome said testily, clutching the card that she'd saved to her chest.

"I've never seen a bright yellow duck before." Inuyasha regarded it silently for a moment before haplessly tossing that away as well and moving onto item number three. The duck; Kagome couldn't save. It sailed through the air and landed in a muddy puddle with a splat. She sighed internally, knowing she'd have to ask her mother to put the stuffed animal in the washing machine.

"Ooh, another card, eh?" Inuyasha pried it open.

It promptly began singing "You are my sunshine" in B flat. Inuyasha read the message. "Hey Higurashi, you're my sunshine on a cloudy day. When you smile, it lights up the science lab. See you around. YSA." Inuyasha pulled a face. "YSA? What kind of name is that?"

"Your Secret Admirer." Kagome explained with a glare. "But I know who it is."

"Who?" Inuyasha looked at her sharply.

"It's from Daisuke. He's the only guy in my lab group, so it's obviously him." She folded her arms crossly. "Now will you give me back my bag?"

"No." Inuyasha tossed the card aside and once more Kagome scrambled to catch it. He went back to the contents of the bag and shook it slightly. "Shit, Kagome, how many presents did you get?"

"Fifteen cards and three presents." She carefully tucked the two cards into her yellow bag and went to retrieve the dirty duck.

"Who are all these people?" Inuyasha whipped out a few more cards. "I love you? Be my sweetheart? Meet me behind the gym at lunch and I'll show you a good time? I'm a sword and you're my sheath, in more ways than one, baby?" Inuyasha took a moment to figure that last one out, but when he did, the reaction was horrific. "EW!" He pushed the bag and all its contents off his lap with a sharp shove. "That's - that's base - disgusting - why are you associating with people like that?!"

Kagome refused to react, only allowing a hot tinge of pink to heat her cheeks. "They're teenage boys, Inuyasha. Don't tell me your mind doesn't work like that either."

"It doesn't!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "They're just guys. I don't know all of them. Well… I know Daisuke… and Hojo - he gave me the scented candles." She picked up her black school bag and checked inside to make sure nothing had broken in the drop. "It's just harmless fun, Inuyasha. You shouldn't get so worked up about it."

"You shouldn't take it so lightly!" he snapped, jumping down from his branch to land beside her. "These guys are 'intending' to love you - that's ridiculous. You can't have them all - and what if one of them decides to take what he wants by force? Besides, they're all duping you!"

"Oh please." Kagome scoffed, brandishing the dirty duck at him. "How can giving me a fuzzy, little toy be duping me?"

He snatched the duck and pointed at the tag. "'Will you marry me?' All that means is that his mother's left him and he has no one to bring him food and clean clothes every day. He's trying to trick you into being a replacement for his mother!"

"You're so paranoid!" She snatched the duck back.

"It's a guy thing."

"All that means is that there is no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical."

"What?" Inuyasha blinked at her.

"Exactly." Kagome flourished and with no further ado, took up both bags and started for the village again, holding onto them a little more tightly than before. "I don't know why you're so worried, Inuyasha. Nothing is going to come of it. It's just harmless fun that will last a day, and by tomorrow everything will be back to normal. Besides, how can I pursue any relationships when I'm stuck here all the time?"

She says that like it's a bad thing…

~*~

"Get away from me, you fiend! Don't touch me with your defiled, vulgar, overactive hands! Take all your whores and leave! See if any of your 'loves' will house you and your adulterous ways! We don't want you anymore."

Inuyasha finished with a huff and folded his arms. Kagome just blinked at him in bewilderment.

"Is that really what the innkeeper's daughter said to Houshi-sama?" Sango asked suspiciously from the wayside.

"No." said the monk who had the misfortune to be the topic of conversation - again. "In fact, what actually happened was-"

"Save it." Inuyasha suddenly snapped, looking back at Kagome who had abruptly stopped in the middle of the forest track. "What's the matter?"

"Um…" She pointed up ahead. "Shikon shards. Two of them, I think."

Before Inuyasha could even put a hand to the hilt of his sword, Kouga had already arrived. He swept past the majority of the group in an eye blink and screeched to a halt in front of Kagome, beaming.

"Kagome!" the wolf cried happily upon seeing her.

"Kouga-kun!" She seemed equally as delighted to see him as well.

"Fucking bastard…" Inuyasha was not quite as delighted there.

"Dog-turd." Feelings were mutual.

Kagome ignored the animosity between the pair as she shifted her grip on the handlebars of her bike. "Kouga-kun, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Oh, I was just delivering a message and was in the neighbourhood when I caught your tantalising smell." He lifted a delicately arranged bunch of flowers. "I thought you would appreciate this to ward off the odour of wet dog."

"Oh… how thoughtful?" She smiled and accepted the flowers. "You know, this is a huge coincidence because today happens to be Valentine's Day which, where I come from, is the day we-"

Inuyasha coughed.

Kagome caught his furious glare and momentarily forgot what she had been saying. "Uh… never mind. Thank you, Kouga, they're lovely." she said sincerely.

"I'd love to stay and keep you company, Kagome." Kouga said, touching her cheek. Miroku only just managed to restrain Inuyasha in time. "But I have to get back to my tribe before sunset and it's a long journey."

He slipped away, looking over his shoulder. "But remember! Any time you decide the dog-turd isn't treating you right - I'll be right there!"

He kicked off and disappeared through the trees in a whirlwind of dust, dirt and leaves. Kagome coughed delicately in his wake before shaking her head and turning around… to come nose to chest with Inuyasha. She had to tilt her chin slightly to inch her gaze up to meet his. He was very ferocious when he was angry.

With a jerk, the flowers were snatched from her hand and hurled at the ground. The delicate petals exploded from the stalks and scattered across the earthy track by her feet. She gaped at the mess in shock, watching the light breeze usher the colourful petals away before turning to look at Inuyasha who was already stalking away. "Why did you do that?!" she cried. Inuyasha was often impulsive and curt - but even that had been a bit much. Talk about overreaction…

"When you've quite finished flirting with every male you see…?" Inuyasha practically snarled over his shoulder, his words dripping sarcasm and venom.

He'd had enough.

But so had Kagome.

She released the handlebars of her bike abruptly and the metal carriage crashed to the ground. Shippo managed to jump free of the basket just in time to find sanctuary on Miroku's shoulder, but the crash had been enough to make the other members of the group turn sharply to her. She had Inuyasha's full attention.

"You're a pig." Kagome's voice was an uneven tremble of emotion. "A selfish, self-centred, narrow-minded brat!"

"What?"

She held up a finger. "This is you." She rotated the index finger of her other hand around the finger. "And this is the whole universe!"

Inuyasha gaped in outrage. "What's that supposed to-"

"It means everything always has to be about you!" she shouted. "Why does everything I do and everyone I know ­have to be your business?! Hasn't it ever crossed your mind that I like my privacy and I like time to do things by myself? Has it ever crossed your tiny, pea-sized brain that maybe I want people to like me? I'm not going to let you make me feel bad about wanting to be friends with people other than you!"

With that she pivoted on her heel and started to stomp away, dumping both her bags beside her bike. She had no idea where she was going, but she couldn't resist a good storming off.

Though it wouldn't work if no one followed her…

The rest of the group remained motionless as they watched Kagome stomp away through the trees, becoming harder to see the further away she got. Then she was down an embankment and gone from sight…

Kirara's tail flicked against Sango's arm as the Taijiya turned to the Houshi. "What do you think that was about?"

"I'm not sure…" Miroku admitted, peering at a silently fuming Inuyasha. "But she's right, you know."

Inuyasha snapped a withering glare on the monk. "What?" he hissed.

"Well… I'm only saying that because you must have been wrong." Miroku told him. "Kagome doesn't flirt with me, so how can she have flirted with every male she's laid eyes on?"

"I think that was sarcasm, Miroku…" Shippo whispered in the monk's ear.

"This is ridiculous…" Inuyasha shifted impatiently, scowling off in Kagome's direction of retreat. The others watched him cautiously for a few moments until he finally seemed to come to a conclusion. "Dammit! We're going to be late if she doesn't get her ass back here!"

Thus he now had a legitimate excuse to storm after her.

"Late for what?" Sango wanted to know.

~*~

This wasn't as much fun as she'd thought it would be… she was storming off into the woods with no one around to see how pissed she was or cower in fear. With a sigh, she drew to a stop and folded her arms angrily.

She was going to have to go back. There was no question about it.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that she was so far away from the little dirt track that she couldn't see it anymore - or her friends for that matter. She chewed her lip for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Now she'd made herself angry at herself for letting Inuyasha get to her… of course, she was still madder at Inuyasha. She'd had enough of his me-me-me attitude and a good storm off to show him she meant it had felt good.

But she knew she would look like a total fool when she came slinking back…

Why hadn't he followed her?

I can't believe he freaked out so much over a bunch of Valentine's gifts… She rolled her eyes as she reluctantly turned and started mooching back the way she'd come, kicking the odd pinecone and mound of leaves. It doesn't mean anything… at least, not to me.

It had been nice to receive all those cards and presents that morning - after all she'd been out of school so long it was a wonder her own friends knew she existed. It was nice to know that the people around school actually noticed her, even though she might not have noticed them. It was even nicer to know that members of the opposite sex found her attractive… because so far Inuyasha was only giving her the impression that she had the maximum sex appeal of a warty toad with a cold. Ooh-la-la.

Ironic how the one guy she actually wanted to share her life with didn't seem to want to share his with her.

She hadn't been looking where she was going, and as a result got a face full of pine needles. "Ah!" She jumped back with a yelp of pain and furiously dabbed at her face. Those little needles had nearly poked her in the eye… if she hadn't blinked when she had…?

"Why are you crying?" said a rather defensive, but ever so slightly guilty voice from somewhere up ahead.

Kagome looked up, but with her eyes watering as badly as they were, all she saw was a red blob with a white mop. "I'm not crying." she told Inuyasha, bristling with indignation. "I had something in my eye."

"Oh, that's a relief."

What an idiot…

Kagome turned on her heel and commenced stalk-off attempt number two. But this time Inuyasha was quicker to her game. He stalked right after her. "Why do you keep walking off? It's not like you have anywhere to go."

"I'm walking off because I can't stand being around such an insensitive guy like you." Kagome said pointedly, drying her eyes on her sleeve. She stopped suddenly. "I'm not going back till you apologise."

She felt so much better now that the ball was in her court. In order to get her to return he would have to comply to her demands. It was even more ironic, because if he'd never come after her, he wouldn't have needed to resort to such means to get her to come back.

And getting an apology out of Inuyasha was like trying to teach a cat to fetch; impossible. He had too much supposed dignity to admit he was wrong.

"You're the one who needs to apologise!" he retorted angrily. "You're the one leading all these men on and acting as if it means nothing-"

"It doesn't mean anything!" She whirled to face him.

"Exactly!"

She growled, or that was what it sounded like to Inuyasha. In fact, it was just a poorly suppressed scream. "I don't lead anyone on! It's all in your head!" She turned and tried to walk away again.

Inuyasha toddled after her. "Yes you do! You have people like Kouga following you around like a lost, little puppy and you make no attempt to discourage it." Said the boy who was still following her around like the proverbial puppy.

Kagome stopped again and shot him a venomous look over her shoulder. "For your information, I do nothing to encourage him either. Like I said; all in your head. You're so paranoid."

"Then why have you got thirteen plus suitors back home?" he pointed out.

"I don't!" Kagome was getting exasperated. "It's just a little harmless Valentine fun! Half of those cards were probably from my friends anyway! They probably thought it would cheer me up to get a few cards today. That doesn't mean those guys fancy me in any way."

"Does everyone in your time get that many gifts?" At least he was beginning to get reasonable again.

"Sure." It was a lie, but she didn't want to stoke the flames. "Girls like that kind of thing. Chocolates are supposedly the way to a girl's heart, right?"

Inuyasha stared at her. Kagome couldn't even begin to understand what he was thinking. His expression was too unreadable. Then with no warning, he turned and began heading back the way they'd travelled. "Forget it…" he muttered.

"What?" She frowned, not understanding in the slightest. "Forget what?"

He stopped and looked back at her, the distance between them now quite considerable. "Is that all that matters to you?" he demanded. "Flowers? Gifts? Clever little poems? Is that what you want?"

Kagome still didn't understand. She opened her mouth a couple of times before finding something to say. "I don't…" she began, but broke off with a deeper frown. "What are you on about?"

Inuyasha glowered, but more in thought than in anger. "Because I can't give you that."

That's when Kagome's heart froze as a lump in her throat. She couldn't swallow, let alone risk opening her mouth to speak. She just stared at him hopelessly…

Had he really just said that?

"Inuyasha…" she tried carefully, but her voice felt strange to her own ears.

That didn't seem to be what he'd wanted to hear, since right then he turned and walked away. Although Kagome remained frozen to the spot, her mind was a blur of speed. She was stuck replaying his last few words, analysing it for meaning, then checking over it again to make sure she wasn't just imagining things.

Analysis done, she came to a conclusion. "Inuyasha! Don't you walk away from me like that!" She scrambled after him, knowing that if he really wanted to leave her behind he could have easily done so. She caught up with him in a matter of seconds and threw herself in his path. "You can't just say that and walk away from me!"

His expression was closed and tense. Kagome knew it had probably taken a lot of guts to say something like that… god only knew the storms of butterflies that had raged through her system whenever she'd come close to admitting her feelings. He was out of guts now and probably wanted out…

"Inuyasha…" How was she going to make this better…? She'd screwed it all up. She'd cooed over all those gifts like a pampered queen, acting as though they were the best things in the world… she'd even brought them over from her time to flaunt them to her friends in the Feudal Era. No wonder Inuyasha, who didn't have a romantic bone in his body, was probably having an inferiority complex.

So she tried again. "Inuyasha… all those gifts are just materialistic objects. They don't have any meaning… they don't promise love or affection, they're just gifts that will be used up in no time at all and then will be gone. If that's what love stands for - a fleeting moment of happiness - then I don't want any of it. If that's all a love can do for me - give me presents and shower me in praise whenever he sees me - then it'll be wasted… that won't last forever… no one can keep giving someone praise and gifts for the rest of their lives. In fact, the last thing I want is a boyfriend who only cares about giving me presents in an attempt to win me over…"

Inuyasha was watching her intently, but said nothing.

"Kouga… he only originally liked me because I was useful to him. A means to an end. If that's the kind of foundation a relationship with him would have, I want no part of it. Hojo only gives me gifts. He means well, but what else can he do other than give me health care?"

Inuyasha seemed to be softening. "What about the others in your time?"

"What others? I don't really know them… so they don't really know me. Besides… after all the stuff I've been through here, I think settling down with a mundane guy from my time who would never understand my life would be the worst thing to do…"

"Oh…" Inuyasha trailed off and averted his gaze, probably feeling a little embarrassed now.

Typical.

Kagome twined her fingers behind her back, wriggling them slightly with nerves, unknown to Inuyasha. Butterflies were ravishing her insides again, making her feel giddy and nervous…

She had a fairly sly idea…

"In fact," she started off uncertainly. "You could say that my perfect guy is a guy who would never even dream of bringing me a present, or letting me know that he cares in any particular way for me… a guy who takes me for granted." He was giving her such a strange look that she nearly lost her confidence… but she battled on. "But… a guy who, I know, deep down really does care about me… for my safety and well-being, and happiness. Someone who knows me inside-out and accepts me as I am… Someone who would always be there through thick and thin for me. Someone I trust."

Inuyasha blinked at her. "Miroku?"

Kagome hit his arm in frustration. "YOU!" Did she really need to spell it out?!

His eyes widened. "Oh…" he said simply.

Kagome let her breath out in a sigh, relaxing slightly. "That would be you…" she said quietly, as if talking only to herself.

"So…" he began uneasily, "you really don't care all that much about Kouga's flowers… or Hobo's candles?"

Kagome shook her head with a little smile playing on her lips. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll throw them in the next river we come across."

"No, you don't have to…"

"Ok then, I won't." She shrugged.

"Actually, that was hasty of me - you can throw them in if you really want. Don't let me stop you." he told her quickly.

Kagome grinned quietly at him, then on impulse hopped forward a step to embrace him. It was pretty much one-sided since Inuyasha was too shocked to do anything about it. She didn't mind so much and just hugged him warmly as his arms hung limply by his sides.

"What did you do that for?" He looked down at the top of her head, the confusion clear in his voice.

"I needed a hug." she excused herself. "It was either you or that tree."

Loosely, Inuyasha embraced her back with a soft, vaguely amused sound through his nose. With her cheek rested against his chest, she stared off into the woods next to them. An idea was cropping up in her mind… probably a very stupid idea. It made the butterflies return with a vengeance, but if Inuyasha had taken the risk to hint at his feelings, then the least she could do was return the favour.

Pulling back slightly she looked up into his face.

She was planning to kiss him.

But one look in those intense golden orbs and she lost her nerve. What was she thinking? She began pulling away. That was one risk she could never take… although if he'd let Kikyo kiss him then maybe he would let-

There was a sharp tug on her sleeve that jerked her straight back to his chest, where his lips sealed straight against hers.

All thoughts ceased in Kagome's head. For once her mind was one roaring white expanse of pure shock and stage-fright. His lips pressed against hers in a chaste kiss… probably the only kiss he knew how to give. But it was her first real kiss… she didn't know much better either.

He pulled back only an inch from her face. She could see him looking for rejection or disgust, but she had none to give. She was still rigid with shock, and she had to make a conscious effort to relax, but as he returned to kiss her again, she let her eyes drift close. Chaste kissing was nice and sweet… but she didn't feel as if it was enough to broadcast her true feelings.

Uncertainly she moved her mouth slightly against his, trying to initiate some sort of movement or rhythm. To her enormous relief Inuyasha moved with her, picking up her rhythm and learning fast. The tenseness drained from her body, and she felt him begin to relax with her as the kiss became more natural and fluid. It was still sweet and chaste, but she was moving with her instincts and her feelings… with her love. She only hoped Inuyasha was responding in kind…

She surprised herself again when her lips parted in a silent quest for entry. Her tongue tapped hesitantly against his lips before Inuyasha quickly took her lead and returned the favour.

The one giddy thought that managed to invade her disbelieving, foggy brain was odd. I can't believe I'm French kissing Inuyasha!

Strangely, this was where she felt most comfortable, most natural. Here she was expressing her feelings as clearly as she could without words. Words were clumsy - they could never truly describe how she felt about Inuyasha. She doubted anything could express the full extent of her love and loyalty, but this kiss was the damn closest she was going to come to it.

But all good things had to come to an end, and all living creatures had to breathe at some point. They broke apart, both flushed and out of breath.

Kagome had to admit that it had been a very awesome first kiss… not that she had much to compare it to. Maybe once she'd caught her breath she could ask for her second.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha breathed, evidently quicker in catching his breath than her.

She nodded, grinning, waiting for attempt number two.

Inuyasha grinned back. "Let's go find a river!"

"What?" She blinked at him, the grin fixed on her face.

Inuyasha suddenly ducked out of her arms and scooted around her, heading back in the direction of their group. Obviously he had only one thing in mind; to trash Kagome's school bag.

Kagome sighed, but smiled nonetheless as she was left with the choice to either follow him or get left behind. She didn't mind if Inuyasha trashed her Valentine's gifts… as long as he took her homework with them. They didn't matter. Material gifts, that's all they were.

She had no Valentine sweetheart.

But she did have Inuyasha. That was all she needed.

AN: I bet you're all gagging from fluff suffocation ^_~