InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shadow ❯ Her Unrecognized Jealousy ( Chapter 8 )

A/N: Well, I just have to say Inuyasha is soooo obsessed with Kikyou (and it's starting to annoy me)! Kagome, do something! To compensate for last chapter's little Inu/Kag fluff, here you go! Inu/Kag fluffy bits. Yeah, bits. Squint your eyes to see them! Lol! Just kidding. But really, it's no major fluff but still… (Okay, I'm rambling…)

 

Thanks to my sister for tolerating me whenever I force her to stay up late just to listen to my ramblings about The Shadow… Ayame-chan, thank you so much!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. As of now.       

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

Her Unrecognized Jealousy

 

 

 

 

Inuyasha was waiting silently. For what, he didn't know so he sat on a random chair, looking at his adult relatives and his father's business comrades as they talked in loud voices—apparently they didn't care who would overhear their conversations. Even without his sensitive hanyou ears, he would have heard their words. They were talking about him and Sesshoumaru, his elder brother.  

“Poor kids. They lost their mothers and now they have lost their father as well.” A man in his late thirties said, sparing a quick sympathetic look at Inuyasha's direction.

Inuyasha bowed his head to avoid their eyes. He could feel that some of them were staring at him and giving him those looks he hated a lot. It wasn't filled with sympathy—though he was also ticked by that kind of look given to him. It was more like a look of disgust, telling him that they didn't want his presence. Most of his relatives treated him that way—especially when his father wasn't around to protect him.

“Mothers? You mean Mr. Tsuzuki remarried?”

A regretful sigh was heard then Inuyasha's uncle said in a low voice, “Yes.”

The businessman didn't seem to get the meaning of the sigh and he didn't want to elaborate more on the topic so he changed it. “Mr. Tsuzuki was a very honorable businessman. Yomiuri Company will never be the same without him.” He said honestly, speaking good about the late youkai tycoon.

However, the conversation was led astray again when another curious inquirer—woman this time—asked, “Who will gain custody of his kids now? Surely Mr. Tsuzuki's relatives will take them?”

Inuyasha's attention was caught by this certain question. This was the thing he was waiting for. He crossed his fingers together and silently prayed, `Please don't let it be Uncle Taika, please… Not him…' He didn't like his Uncle Taika very much because of all the relatives he had met, he was the worst. He always beat him up for small things and he loved calling him names. In short, he was a big, bad bully in Inuyasha's point of view. 

“Sesshoumaru will be staying with me,” Inuyasha heard his Uncle Taika say. “I'd make sure he'd be a great man like his father.”

Inuyasha's heart gave a small sigh of relief when he didn't hear his name. At least Uncle Taika was taking Sesshoumaru and not him. `Sesshoumaru will be pretty bored with him.' He thought, smirking mentally at the thought of his brother's misfortune.

“And Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha stopped his thoughts and waited for someone to speak and claim him.

Nobody spoke to break the emerging silence. Inuyasha didn't dare raise his head to look at them. He wouldn't let them see the hurt in his amber eyes. He knew they would only mock him and laugh at him. He was about to get up and walk away when—

“I will be the one taking care of him.”

Inuyasha quickly lifted his head to find a familiar man standing next to him. He was his father's best friend and he was very nice to him whenever they saw each other. Plus he had a cool job too and Inuyasha knew that he had lots of video games at his place.

Inuyasha let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding for some time now. Someone was taking care of him. And it was far better than Sesshoumaru's guardian.

The ten-year-old Inuyasha grinned at the thought.    

x

Inuyasha opened the door and congratulated himself mentally for spotting his old guardian quickly. “How come you're here when you're supposed to be in Hong Kong?.!” Inuyasha greeted, walking towards Myouga, who was currently sitting on the sofa comfortably and cleaning his sword.

Myouga smiled knowingly at his adopted son and replied calmly, “I'm glad to see you too, Inuyasha.”

“Keh!” Inuyasha sat unceremoniously on the chair opposite Myouga's and took the other can of soda on the center table.

Looking contented with his work, Myouga sheathed his weapon and looked at Inuyasha seriously. “Hell's Gate has captured my charge.” He said gloomily, his eyes looming with some sort of remorse.

Inuyasha slowly pulled the tab of the soda to open it. He took one long drink then dropped the can on the table. His eyes returned to Myouga as he said off-handedly, “Didn't you track her down?”

Myouga shook his head from side to side slowly. “She was taken here in Japan. We are currently tracking her but still there is no sign of her. Her tracking device must have been taken away from her. The last signal said that she was somewhere in Hiroshima.”

Inuyasha didn't say anything anymore. If the tracking device was lost, there was little chance that they could find her—worst, there maybe no chance anymore. Even though Mayuki was his previous charge too, Inuyasha wasn't exactly attached to her. They had only spent two days together after all. `Because her father thought I was incompetent.' He thought, taking another swig from his can. Then a thought struck him out of nowhere. `What if Kagome was placed in the same situation?' He thought, knowing pretty well that it wasn't impossible to happen. Hell's Gate had tried to get her before. Before he could ponder some more on that certain thought, Myouga brought him back to reality with a question.

“How's your new charge?”

Coincidentally, Myouga's inquiry was not far from Inuyasha's current thought. Inuyasha grimaced as he was reminded some more of his present charge. “She's such a pain! I have to go to high school because of her.” He said sourly, picturing an angry Kagome in his mind. “She loves to shout at me and she always thinks she's so great.”

Myouga's eyes seemed to lighten at their new topic. A small smile was starting to appear on his lips. “I heard she looks like Kikyou.” He commented innocently, trying to catch Inuyasha off guard.

Inuyasha's lips was already touching the rim of his drink but he quickly lowered it on the table with such force that some of its contents spurted out of the can. “She's nothing like her!” He barked instantly.

That very moment, Myouga thought Inuyasha looked liked a dog trying to defend himself because he was cornered.

x

Kagome cringed her eyes shut as she felt a sudden itch in her nose. She covered her nose quickly and allowed herself to sneeze.

“You have a cold?” Kikyou looked over her shoulder and at Kagome, who was still covering her nose.

“No, someone's just talking about me behind my back.” Kagome answered her as they continued to walk along the carpeted corridor, passing by doors that looked all similar. “Probably an ITOFC member…” She said to herself, frowning slightly at the memory of the said fans club.

“ITOFC?” Kikyou asked with interest, catching Kagome's words clearly. She spared another look at Kagome, looking intrigued by the acronym.

“Ah! You heard me then?” Kagome said in surprise, laughing a little. “It's nothing special. It's just Inuyasha's silly fans club in our school.” She told her.   

`Inuyasha has a fans club?' Kikyou turned to face the front again, smiling softly to herself. “He does attract a lot of people, doesn't he?” She commented, this time not looking at Kagome anymore as she continued to move forward.

Kagome considered the question for a couple of seconds before answering. “Sort of.” She muttered, thinking of all the girls lining every morning in front of the campus just to greet Inuyasha when they arrived at school. `And a lot of trouble too.'

Kikyou stopped in front of a door that looked very much like the others on its line. “We're here.” She announced and turned the knob to open the door.

Kagome held her breath as the door opened. This was it. She was going to see the secret base of Solferis. Or maybe this was just an ordinary room and they still had to move sculptures to reveal hidden doors or enter some kind of code and that kind of stuff.

To her disappointment, it was only a plain, empty room with metal walls. There wasn't even a single painting or sculpture. The only things that could be found inside the room were metal stands and a table filled with glass orbs and other things she guessed would be used for her training lessons. `Maybe the training for beginners isn't done inside the secret base.' She thought, looking at the other door besides the one they had used to enter. A part of her wondered where that door would take her. `Maybe that's the entrance to their secret base?' She thought, still looking a little hopeful.     

“Are you looking for something?” Kikyou asked out of curiosity, watching Kagome carefully as the schoolgirl scanned the room with her eyes.

“Not really, just looking around.” Kagome replied kindly, smiling at Kikyou. `And hoping to see Solferis' secret base!'

The door Kagome had been looking at a while ago opened to reveal an old woman with long white hair tied in a low ponytail, wearing traditional miko clothes—red hibakama and white haori. A leather eye patch was covering one of her eyes but she didn't look scary to Kagome. The smile that graced the miko's face told Kagome that she was kindhearted and patient to her students. Kagome hoped that she wasn't wrong about her instructor.     

“Kaede, this is Kagome. She is quite young so she needs to go under basic training first before the advanced training.” Kikyou told the elderly miko instructor then turned to Kagome. “Kagome, this is Kaede. She will be your instructor. I'll be leaving you now.” She thought that it was better for Kagome to be alone with Kaede so she could concentrate more on her training. “I guess I'll just see you for lunch?” She said before she headed for the door.

“I would love to,” said Kagome with a wide smile. “Thank you for everything, Kikyou.” She added.

Kikyou nodded briefly to acknowledge Kagome's thank you then left. 

“Let us begin, Kagome?” Kaede offered warmly, leading her towards the table.

Kagome took a deep breath then smiled brightly. She was going to make sure that she would learn how to control her powers soon. “Yes, teacher!” She exclaimed vigorously.

Kaede took a glass globe from the table and held it in front of Kagome. “First of all, your miko energy is housed inside your body. You have the ability to release that energy once you need it. For now, we will practice on releasing that energy to use as a weapon.” When she saw Kagome's confusion she added, “It's like you have a gun but the bullets will be your miko energy. Get it?” She looked at the younger miko's face for any hint of confusion.

Kagome thought that by the way her teacher was discussing miko powers to her, it looked pretty simple. But she still didn't know how to do it. “But how will I do that?” She asked uncertainly.

“The key here is having both perfect aim and concentration. Watch me closely.” Kaede put the glass ball on top of a metal stand and walked a distance away from it. She raised one hand and looked at the glass globe with concentration. There was a pink light that shot from her hand and towards the glass orb, shattering it into hundreds of small pieces. 

`Just like that time when Inuyasha was in danger.' Kagome thought as she looked at the tiny pieces of glass on the floor.

“Inuyasha, look out!” Kagome shouted, going out of her hiding place. A surge of pink light suddenly went towards the balcony, dissolving the arm of a youkai and making him drop his weapon.

“Let me see you try it,” said Kaede, replacing the broken glass ornament with a new one. “I want you to aim your miko power at the glass ball and try to shatter it.” She walked a few steps away from the metal stand and nodded to Kagome.

“Okay…” Kagome started, putting some distance between the glass orb and herself. She lifted her hand to level it with her target and looked at her hand. `Come on, Kagome! Just blast it!' She thought to herself, smiling a little when her hand began to glow a familiar pink. Before she could direct the light, the beam zoomed not towards her target but towards Kaede.

Kaede quickly erected a barrier to protect herself, making the beam of light bounce off and towards the metal wall. “Kagome, focus!” She said as Kagome rushed towards her.

“Sorry, teacher!.!.!” Kagome quickly apologized to Kaede. “Are you okay?” She added, worry evident on her young face.

“I'm fine.” Kaede told her, reassuring her with a small smile. “Let's try that again.” She said encouragingly, putting another similar orb on the iron stand. “Never lose your concentration.”

Kagome closed her eyes and breathed in slowly. “Okay, focus…” She said to herself, letting the air out little by little. She leveled her hand with her target once again and looked straight at the object she intended to shoot. Another pink light emitted from Kagome's hand and towards the glass orb—causing the glass to shatter.

“I did it!” Kagome jumped in joy at her little achievement.

x

Inuyasha was sitting on the black leather sofa of one of the vacant rooms, his hand lazily flipping through the pages of a sports magazine. When he reached the last page and found nothing interesting he placed the magazine on his side and looked through the huge glass windows that ran throughout the height of the wall just behind his seat.

From the window, there was a clear view of the archery fields. Kikyou was also inclined to archery so she had her own archery fields within her residence. In fact, she was there that very moment, practicing alone in the fields. Inuyasha's eyes fixed on the Solferis leader, watching her silently as she stretched the string of her bow and took her aim. Even from afar, Inuyasha could see precision and determination in the way Kikyou stood and held her bow.

Inuyasha had done this so many times already. He would stay inside the room for hours, waiting for her to come to the archery fields and practice. Whenever Inuyasha saw Kikyou in her archery uniform, he would often think that she looked so much like the traditional mikos back during the early times. Her long black hair was tied back in a low ponytail with a white ribbon, making her face clearer for Inuyasha's view. The hanyou would often remember the day when he had first met Kikyou. He had hated her because she had always smiled at him, acting all fine like life wasn't hard for her.

Four years after Inuyasha's father had died, Inuyasha had been under Myouga's care. He lived with him in his apartment and also began learning martial arts and weapon handling from his guardian. He insisted in learning the craft because he wanted to be stronger. He didn't want to be weak and bullied by people. No, he would never allow that anymore…

Inuyasha entered the room where Myouga had left him before. Myouga had asked him to deliver some papers to the security agency—again, he forgot to bring them. He sat on the usual chair he always took when he waited, paying no attention to the girl seated in front of him. He watched the door impatiently, wanting to go home soon.

“Are you waiting for Mr. Yamura?”

Inuyasha didn't need to turn his head to know who had spoken. He was alone except for the girl sitting across him. He decided to ignore her attempt to start a conversation and continued to stare at the door.

However, the girl didn't seem to be discouraged and tried again. “You must be Inuyasha.” She said in her smooth, kind voice.

Inuyasha grudgingly looked at her with annoyance, which increased when she smiled brightly at him. “Do you mind? I'm trying to ignore you.” He said harshly, not caring if she got mad at him.

“I'm sorry if I'm annoying you.” She replied with the same tone she used before, not laced with any sarcasm. Her smile was as warm as before, her eyes told Inuyasha that she wasn't used to being treated that way. Yet, she handled herself very well.

Her smile was ticking him off. It was like she was telling him that life was so easy for her. He scoffed at her inwardly, telling himself that she was smiling because she never knew any hardships. `If she were in my position, I bet she would be crying her eyes out.'

The door opened and Myouga entered with a loud greeting to Inuyasha. “You're here!” He exclaimed, beaming happily at him. “I see you've met Kikyou. She's Mr. Hijima's only daughter.” Myouga smiled at Kikyou briefly then turned again to Inuyasha. “She's just a year older than you. I think you'll get along quite well!”

Inuyasha spared another look at Kikyou to find her looking at him, still hoping to be able to befriend him. He slowly got to his feet, handed the papers to Myouga and said in a bored tone, “I'm going home.” He ignored Myouga's calls for him to come back.

At the elevator, he wondered what the girl's last reaction was when he had left. A part of him was curious and wanted to come back to see if she got mad or if she just ignored it. `No wonder she acts so carefree towards everything. Keh! A princess who doesn't know a thing about the true hardships of life...'

He wished he would never meet her again.

But he did. Almost every time he went to the security agency to do some errands for Myouga, he would see her. Not only in the waiting room but almost anywhere he waited for Myouga—even when he rode the elevator, she was there! Inuyasha was now thinking that the Hijima girl was stalking him.

Kikyou would always smile at him when they met. Inuyasha never returned the smile. Whenever she tried to start a conversation with him, Inuyasha would walk away or ignore her but she didn't seem to give up—ever.

That made Inuyasha dislike her even more.

x

Three years ago, Inuyasha had hated the way Kikyou smiled but now he missed those smiles. Kikyou Hijima smiled rarely now. She had changed through the years. The way she dealt with things was different now…

Inuyasha's ears flicked at the soft footsteps he had detected outside the door. He averted his gaze from the archery fields—and from Kikyou—then picked up the magazine he had set aside a while ago, feigning interest in the reading article he held in his hands.   

Two more seconds and the door slowly opened, letting Kagome inside the room. Her eyes immediately spotted Inuyasha sitting languidly on the leather couch so she walked towards him with a big grin on her face.

“What are you doing here?” She asked curiously, sitting beside him and relaxing herself. “Wow! This sofa sure is comfortable!” She sighed, leaning back on the cool leather.

“Don't tell me you ditched your miko training just to hang around here!.?” Inuyasha said coldly, his eyes narrowing at her.

“No,” said Kagome calmly, still keeping her good mood. “I'm done with training today. Kaede said we'll continue tomorrow morning.”

“Keh, I bet you didn't learn anything today!” Inuyasha scoffed at her, throwing the magazine softly and making it land precisely on the table. He also leaned on the sofa, closing his eyes.

“At first it was hard but I got the first lesson. Kaede said that…” Her words died when she found that Inuyasha had his eyes closed, maybe not paying attention to any of her words. “Hey, Inuyasha,” She looked at him closer to try and see if he was asleep.

“What?”

“Are you sleepy?”

“No.”

“Will you give me a tour around the house?” She asked hopefully, not knowing who else to ask. She didn't want to bother Kikyou anymore because she knew that she was busy.

“Keh!” Inuyasha sneered, opening his golden yellow eyes to look at Kagome. “Why the hell will I want to do that?.!”

“Well, I want to see the house…” She started, knowing that she wasn't going to get her tour now. “I can't ask anyone else—Wow! Archery fields!” She quickly kneeled on the sofa and leaned forward to see the archery fields clearer through the glass windows. “Is that Kikyou down there?” She looked at Inuyasha questioningly.

Inuyasha shrugged, not even glancing at the windows. “Probably.” He said uncaringly, standing up to leave. “She's good at archery.”

“She's leaving…” Kagome observed, seeing Kikyou disappear from her view. “Hey, where are you going?” She turned to look at Inuyasha and saw him opening the door.

“Some place without you.” Inuyasha said vaguely then closed the door behind him.

Kagome quickly followed, walking along the corridor with Inuyasha in front of her. “We're having lunch, I forgot to tell you. I had been looking around the house for you to tell you that.” She said nicely, speeding up so she was now walking beside the hanyou.

“Too bad your effort's going to be wasted,” said Inuyasha, not really sounding sorry at all. “I'm not hungry.” He also increased his pace to leave Kagome behind.

Kagome's good mood evaporated and was replaced by annoyance. “Just why are you so mean to me?.!” Kagome ran after Inuyasha and pulled his long silvery white hair.

“Ouch! Wench, let go of me!” Inuyasha halted instantly, trying to pry Kagome's hands off his hair. Kagome's question suddenly sank into him and he realized that he had been treating Kagome the same way he had treated Kikyou during their first meeting. `No,' He thought, vanishing the thought quickly out of his mind. `That's not true. The instances back then and now are different. THEY are DIFFERENT.'

“Kagome, Inuyasha, what are you doing here? I thought you were in the dining room by now.”

Inuyasha knew that voice perfectly well. He stopped trying to get Kagome's hands off his silver locks, turning his head around to find Kikyou standing before them, still in her archery uniform.

“I didn't know you had archery fields here.” Kagome said to Kikyou, not realizing that she still had her hands fisted on Inuyasha's hair.

“I practice from time to time. If you want, you can use the archery fields any time you want to. You also know archery, right?” She offered generously to the younger girl.

“Archery is one of my hobbies,” said Kagome in return. “Thank you, Kikyou.”

“It's nothing,” replied Kikyou then looked at Inuyasha, her eyes looking directly at his eyes. “Will you join us for lunch?”

He could never say no to Kikyou. He never wanted to turn her down. He let out one word to answer her. “Fine.” If he wasn't going to be able to talk to her, at least he could see her longer. That was enough reason for him to agree.

Kikyou nodded briefly at Inuyasha's response. “I'll be seeing the two of you in a while then.” She excused herself from both of them and walked away with the grace she always carried with her.

Kagome was shocked at the answer Inuyasha gave to Kikyou. Didn't he just tell her that he wasn't hungry? She began to wonder what sort of power Kikyou had that made even a stubborn jerk like Inuyasha bow down to her every beck and call. `Maybe he's afraid that Kikyou will cut his salary if he disobeys her… She's the boss that's paying Inuyasha after all.' She thought but something told her that that wasn't the reason behind it. She was curious about the real reason but she was more curious about the dull pain she was feeling in her heart that moment. What did that mean? An answer was trying to surface but she was afraid to hear it out so she ignored it, feeling something silky in her hands. That was the moment she remembered that she was still holding Inuyasha's hair. She released it slowly, letting it fall back into its natural position. She was supposed to murmur an apology but the words that were formed were far from an apology. “I thought you weren't hungry…” Her eyes were trained on the red sandals she wore.

“Keh!” Inuyasha turned away from Kagome so she wouldn't see the faint blush on his cheeks. He was too busy trying to hide his blush that he wasn't able to notice the tone of disappointment in Kagome's voice.

“You're so rude!” Kagome commented, Inuyasha's impoliteness annoying her quickly. “Why not try to be nice to me for a change?.!” She demanded, her eyes now looking at Inuyasha to glare at him. “Like giving me a tour around this house!” She added but knew that it was impossible to convince Inuyasha.  

Inuyasha met Kagome's eyes for a moment then turned to head to the dining room. Just as he was turning he muttered to Kagome, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He was in a good mood that moment so why not give in to Kagome? There was no harm in spending two hours or so with her around Kikyou's mansion. He wouldn't admit it out loud but he was already used to be always beside Kagome.  

“You agree?” Kagome asked in surprise, not hiding the thrill she was feeling at Inuyasha's small act of sweetness. She forgot her annoyance, her questions and even the dull pain seemed to vanish when Inuyasha agreed to take her around the mansion.

“I'm not agreeing. You're forcing me to agree.” Even though Inuyasha agreed, he wasn't going to make it look like he did it out of kindness—he preferred to make it appear like he was still unwilling but had no choice left.

Kagome knew Inuyasha was just putting an act so she smiled at him softly. “See?” She said cheerfully, beaming at him. “You can be kind at times!” She grabbed Inuyasha's hand and pulled him gently towards the dining room, feeling very happy.  

Inuyasha didn't protest and allowed Kagome to drag him slowly. “If you repeat that again, I think I'm going to change my mind.” He told her, looking at the young schoolgirl's back as they walked along the empty corridor.  

Kagome looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at Inuyasha. “That was a compliment, stupid!” She couldn't help but grin at the sight of Inuyasha's childish scowl.

“It was like you were insulting me!” Inuyasha reasoned out, meeting Kagome's eyes for a brief moment before looking away from her.

“Poor thing…” She said sympathetically to Inuyasha. “Your compliment sensor is seriously damaged.”

“Keh!”

Kagome laughed merrily at Inuyasha's favorite way of ending their conversations as they continued their way to the dining area—their hands linked together comfortably.

x

“What is this dish called?” Kagome asked as she took another slice of meat into her mouth to relish the unique taste once more.

“Mr. Otorima calls it Roasted Rimiya with Oyster Sauce and Mushrooms,” said the maid, who was refilling Kagome's glass with orange juice.

“Rimiya?” Kagome repeated uncertainly, looking at Kikyou, who was seated at the head of the table. “What kind of meat is that?” She inquired.

“It is sheep meat.” Kikyou answered, dabbing her lips softly with the table napkin.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow as he stared at the meat on his plate. “Last time, he called this very dish Roasted Shimiko with Oyster Sauce and Mushrooms.” He said while scrutinizing the dish to find the difference. “There's no difference.” He finally concluded.

“Mr. Otorima names the animals he cooks.” The maid commented out of nowhere, smiling as she went around the table to fill up Kaede's glass.

“Aren't they dead already when they're brought in the kitchen?” Inuyasha mused aloud, looking confused.

“Mr. Otorima is very sentimental when it comes to animals.” The maid replied then went off to prepare serving the desserts.  

“He names dead animals before cooking them?” Inuyasha said slowly, looking at the direction where the maid had gone. “He's nuts. How come you hire someone like him?” He turned to Kikyou, his eyes meeting hers easily as he waited for her answer.

“His cooking is first class.” Kikyou answered simply, breaking the eye contact hurriedly but not obviously.

“He's still nuts.” Inuyasha shrugged, taking another slice of food into his mouth.

“You call him nuts yet you eat the food he's cooking.” Kagome remarked, looking sideways at her right where Inuyasha was sitting. 

Kikyou smiled secretly at Kagome's aside, seeing that Inuyasha was easily put out by a teenage schoolgirl like Kagome. She could see that Kagome was a bright girl—strong and brave.

“Well… It's not like I have a choice!” Inuyasha said in a futile attempt to defend himself, glowering sideways at the miko seated at his left.

“You can stop eating.” Kagome said briefly in return, definitely not willing to let Inuyasha outwit her.

Kaede chuckled at the two teenagers arguing and said between her laughs, “Give up Inuyasha. Kagome is far better than you.” She winked at Kagome using her uncovered eye.

“No, she's not!” Inuyasha protested, growling lowly at the old miko sitting across Kagome.

A smile was gently tugging at the corner of Kagome's mouth but she suppressed it.

“Excuse me, Miss Kikyou.” Another maid appeared behind Kikyou, her hand outstretched with a cordless telephone. “You have a telephone call. Urgent business.” She added as Kikyou took the phone from her.

“Please excuse me. I think I'll be off now.” Kikyou stood up and left the room immediately.

Inuyasha followed Kikyou silently with his eyes until she was gone. The appetite he had was lost and he felt like going home after Kikyou left. Not letting another minute pass by, he stood up abruptly and said all of a sudden, “I'm finished.”

“I'm finished too,” announced Kagome, preparing to stand up and go with Inuyasha to have a trip around the house.

“I'll be going home now.” Inuyasha followed up, not directly looking at Kagome as he spoke.

“Wait—going home?” Kagome stood up instantly and looked at Inuyasha questioningly. `But aren't you going to escort me to see the whole house?' She wanted to ask but was only able to stare at him silently.

“Yeah, you don't need me here now.” He told Kagome, looking sideways at Kaede, who was watching them wordlessly. “Kikyou's security team is here so you're perfectly safe.” He added to reassure her.

“But you told me…” Kagome's words trailed off, realizing that Inuyasha didn't really want to give her the tour. `He must have been kidding when he agreed to give me a tour around the house. He really didn't want to do it.' She thought, her heart sinking slowly and painfully down to her stomach.

“I'll be back tomorrow.” Inuyasha said then turned his back to leave, not looking back anymore.

“Okay...” Kagome barely heard his words because she was still busy trying to nurse her wounded heart. She didn't even notice Kaede shaking her head in disapproval at Inuyasha's action.  

x

“Wait, Inuyasha!”

Inuyasha spun around to find Kagome running towards him. “Anything wrong?” He asked when she finally caught up with him.

“Well…” Kagome said hesitantly, not knowing how to tell him exactly. “I think you forgot something.” Well, at least she didn't have to tell him directly. `Maybe he just forgot it accidentally.' She thought, not believing that Inuyasha purposely wanted to leave her.

“Forgot something?” He said in puzzlement, trying to remember what Kagome was talking about. “Oh yeah!” He said with a gentle smirk on his lips.

Kagome's face lit up like a bright lamp post. `He remembered!' Her heart skipped a beat as she looked expectantly at Inuyasha.

“Tell Kikyou I'll be going if ever she looks for me.”

Kagome could feel her heart sinking lower than before, perhaps it was now on the ground. She was even tempted to see if blood was spilled on the floor she was standing on. `That wasn't the thing I was trying to remind you.' She wanted to tell him so much but it came out as, “Sure.” She even managed to add a small smile but there was nothing happy about her smile.

This time Inuyasha had noticed the sudden change in her expression—from happy to upset—but he ignored it and walked away.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome called out again, gathering all the courage she could muster to tell him directly. “You don't remember, do you?.!” Her eyes flashed with anger but deep beneath the anger was hurt that she didn't want to show to Inuyasha.

“About what?” He really didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

Kagome's eyes narrowed at Inuyasha's uncaring attitude. `He doesn't even care!' She thought, feeling annoyed with the hanyou more and more. “You jerk! You told me you'll give me a tour around the house!”

“I did?” Inuyasha said halfheartedly, his forehead cringing as if trying to remember. `I did.' He remembered it now but he didn't really want to spend time with Kagome at Kikyou's house—knowing that he wanted to spend his time with the girl that looked just like Kagome.

Kagome sighed in defeat, her shoulders slumping as she exhaled. “Never mind.” She muttered, turning around so she wouldn't have to see Inuyasha's irritating face anymore.

“Okay.” Inuyasha shrugged and turned on his heels, looking unaffected by Kagome's words. But that was when his ears caught what she had murmured next—almost undetectable if not for his sensitive hearing.

“Insensitive moron.”

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to see Kagome walking away—all alone and definitely annoyed with him.

x

Inuyasha was on the back of the mansion, standing beside his motorcycle. He swung his leg over the seat, sat down and was about to take the helmet when he thought of Kagome's last words.

“Insensitive moron.”

`She really wants to see the house.' He dismounted from his motorbike and walked a few steps towards the back door, planning to look for Kagome. Just as he was about to reach for the knob, he stopped and thought again. `Wait! How come I'm so concerned about her?.! Who cares if she wants to tour the house?.!' He turned his back and treaded back to his motorbike. After taking three steps, he stopped and pondered—yet again. `But I told her I will accompany her.' He spun around again but didn't walk this time. `Well, it's not like I promised to her.' He faced his motorcycle again and took two steps towards it. He paused when his conscience began to kick in again. `She didn't do anything wrong. Why am I so harsh to her?' He looked back at the back door but then closed his eyes. `AGAIN! Why do I care?.!.?'   

“Are you leaving or not?.!.?” Someone drawled out of nowhere.

Inuyasha turned to his left and saw Myouga standing against the wall, looking bored with the scene he was watching. “How long have you been standing there?.!” He demanded, amber eyes glaring at his old guardian.

“Long enough to see you walking to and fro stupidly more than thrice.” Myouga answered bluntly, stepping forward towards him.

“Get lost!” Inuyasha dismissed him, riding his motorcycle but not showing any signs that he was about to leave soon.

“You're the one who seems lost,” said Myouga, observing Inuyasha closely. “Need any help?”

“No.” Inuyasha quickly said, avoiding Myouga's scrutinizing gaze.

Myouga arched an eyebrow but remained quiet.

Inuyasha sighed in defeat. His guardian knew him too well. “Okay, I need you to do something for me.” He admitted, looking seriously at Myouga.

Myouga smiled triumphantly in his mind but he hid it and pretended to look indifferent. “It depends.” He said in a layback manner, crossing his arms over his chest.

Inuyasha took a deep breath before talking. “I need you to go with Kagome around the house. She wants to see the whole house but I can't escort her because I need to go home.” He said all of that in one breath, hoping that Myouga wouldn't catch his words and would just leave him alone.

Unfortunately, Myouga was trained to catch a lot of information even though it was spoken rapidly. “Because?” He questioned innocently.

“Huh?”

“Why do you need to go home?” Myouga asked, rephrasing his question for Inuyasha.

`Because I need to get Kikyou off my mind and staying in her house isn't helping me.' Inuyasha thought but of course he wasn't about to say that aloud to anyone. So he resorted to one of his usual rude replies. “That is none of your damn business!” He said between gnashed teeth.

“Love life getting complicated?” Myouga said coolly, paying no attention to the way Inuyasha's eyes were gleaming dangerously at him. “You're being torn between the two girls, I see…” He even added, smirking at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha smirked back and decided to play along. “What two? There's more than two.” He told him airily.

“Oh sure…” The older agent said in a dragged voice, giving Inuyasha a deadpan look that read, `Do I look stupid or what?'

Inuyasha stared back at him and said in exasperation, “Just do it, okay?.!”

“Fine.”

Inuyasha put his key in the keyhole but before putting his helmet on, he reminded Myouga about one more thing. “And don't you ever try sucking even a drop of Kagome's blood. If you do, you're so dead.” His eyes told Myouga that he was serious about his words.

But the old man still decided to joke about it. “See?” He said with a knowing grin, pointing his finger at Inuyasha accusingly. “You even threaten me now just because of her…” He tried to sound offended but Inuyasha had seen past his act.

“I always threaten you when you try to suck blood.” Inuyasha answered back defensively.

“I'm a flea demon, what do you expect?.!”

“Just don't try it on her. She might faint or something.” Inuyasha said insistently, a momentary trace of concern could be seen on his face but was quickly replaced by mischief. “Worse, she might purify you accidentally.”

“Okay, okay… no need to scare me.” Myouga said in conclusion, waving his hand to send Inuyasha on his way. “Go ahead!”

Inuyasha looked at his mobile phone then back at Myouga. “She's at the first floor. Near the staircase.” After saying those words, he put his helmet on and sped off—worrying no more about Kagome.

x 

“That Inuyasha! He's so insensitive!” Kagome sat on the lowest step of the stairs, her chin resting on her hands. “Who needs him anyway?.! I can tour this house alone! It's not like I can't find my way around here without that jerk!” She stood up resolutely, not realizing that she had an audience.

“Inuyasha can really be a jerk at times.” Myouga stated, letting his presence be known. “You must be Kagome?” He walked closer and smiled good-naturedly at her.

Kagome blushed a little when she found out that someone had overheard her, hoping that he didn't catch all of her speech about Inuyasha. “Yes sir. How did you know my name?” She asked, returning the smile.

“I'm Inuyasha's guardian, Myouga Yamura.” Myouga said amiably, introducing himself to the young miko. “He sent me here to give you a tour around the house since he needed to go home.”

“Who?”

“Inuyasha, of course!”

Kagome couldn't believe her ears. Inuyasha sent someone to accompany her? Her heart warmed at the thought. `He does care…'

“Shall we start then?” Myouga gestured his hand for Kagome to start walking.

“Okay!” Kagome smiled brilliantly, forgetting that Inuyasha was a jerk. For her, Inuyasha was once again a nice person.

x

“That's another not-so-used room for Miss Kikyou's guests. She has plenty of spare rooms.”

“Mr. Yamura?”

“And that over there is the indoor swimming pool.” Myouga continued, as they stood over an opened door. “Call me Myouga. I feel older when people call me so formally.” He said warmly, closing the door again to continue with their trip.

“Okay,” said Kagome in agreement. “Have you been working here ever since Solferis started?” She inquired, feeling that this was her chance to get some answers to the many questions that bugged her mind.

“Yes, along with Inuyasha.” Myouga answered as they went on exploring the lower grounds. “We both became agents right after Solferis was built. I was working for Miss Kikyou's family even before Solferis was established. Her family owns a security agency before and I was one of the bodyguards of the agency.”  

Kagome had seen enough of the whole house. She really admired the whole architecture and even the furnishings were top class but she was more interested now to have some answers. “She's so young to manage this organization. I wonder how she knew about Hell's Gate and the mikos' existence.” She started, leading the conversation to her question. “She must be a miko too, right?” She had always wondered about Kikyou's identity—she never knew if Kikyou was like her or not.

“Oh no,” said Myouga, shaking his head gently. “Miss Kikyou isn't a miko like you. I don't know how she learned about all of these but I'm sure she's not a miko. Inuyasha must have sensed her if she's a miko.”

“Inuyasha?” Kagome spoke his name with uncertainty in her voice, her forehead cringing in confusion.

“Inuyasha's a hanyou so he's a natural-born tracer. All hanyous have that special ability to detect miko auras.” Myouga explained to Kagome, noticing that Kagome's interest in Kikyou's house was long gone. He didn't bother anymore to show her the other rooms which were not that interesting.

“So that's why he was able to tell that I'm a miko…” said Kagome ponderingly, more to herself than to Myouga. “Does that mean that all hanyous know I'm a miko? It's like I have this sign on my forehead that says, `I am a miko. Kidnap me!' whenever I walk in public?”   

“Well, that's one way of saying it.” Myouga acceded, smiling humorously at the miko he was with.

“No wonder Inuyasha walks so close to me whenever we are outside…” Kagome said in understanding, remembering all of the instances very well.

Myouga couldn't help but smile, just thinking of the confusion and the hardships Kagome had gone through because of Inuyasha's weird ways of fulfilling his mission. “Inuyasha isn't very comfortable with this kind of missions. You are only his second charge so he is not used to the things that are to be done. He may be weird and harsh on you sometimes but I'm sure he's just doing it for your safety.” If he would be able to let Kagome understand that Inuyasha didn't actually mean to be rude to her, perhaps they would have a better relationship and they would fight less often.  

“Second?” Kagome wondered, her brown eyes reflecting perplexity. “What happened to the first one?”

“His father didn't want Inuyasha on the job so I replaced him.” Myouga said simply.

“Why?”

“Because he thinks he's incompetent I guess.” He bowed his head, thinking about those people who had judged Inuyasha before they even got to know him. `They're all wrong... He has lots of ability and he's a good person. All because he's a hanyou, that's why they overlook his good qualities.'      

“But he's wrong…” said Kagome softly, thinking the same way as Myouga. “Inuyasha is actually very good at his job. He's never failed me.” Even she was surprised with her own words but she realized that they were all true.

Myouga raised his head and smiled genuinely at her. “I'm happy with what you have said, Kagome. Thank you for trusting Inuyasha.” He looked at the miko's face closely and saw in her eyes that she was one of the few people who bothered to see Inuyasha past his exterior cover. He could tell that the girl in front of him cared for him. “Maybe you're the one Inuyasha needs for him to see that trust is important in this job…”

It was Kagome's time to smile. Deep in her heart, she hoped she could talk to Inuyasha freely so she could know more about him directly from him and not from other people. `At first, I never thought Inuyasha was someone who I could trust my life with. But he gained my trust little by little… He's never lied to me and has always been there to protect me.' She thought of all the times they'd been through and knew that Inuyasha had done so many things for her already. `Even though he can really be aggravating sometimes, I trust him completely.' She realized that now and she hoped that he would never do anything that would destroy that trust. A part of her heart still wondered about something though. `But still there are times when it seems like I can't reach him. He seems to be distancing himself to me—avoiding me. I don't understand him... Is he scared of me? What's the reason?'

As if reading Kagome's thoughts, Myouga continued when Kagome didn't say anything. “Inuyasha is never good at expressing himself to others. During his childhood, he was avoided because he was a hanyou. His youkai relatives didn't acknowledge him and his human relatives were afraid of him. He had experienced a lot of hardships at the young age of ten. If ever he distances himself, it's his way of protecting himself from hurt and complications. I hope you'll just try to understand him. He's still a child at heart…” He looked at Kagome hopefully, slowing down and finally coming to a halt. 

“I think you're right…” Kagome smiled in return, a part of her was enlightened by Myouga's words. She would try to reach Inuyasha. She would not give up easily. She could feel Inuyasha was alone deep inside and he needed someone.

“So that's the end of our tour!” Myouga announced happily, standing at the door of the room Kikyou had provided for her while she stayed at Kikyou's mansion.

“Thank you, Myouga.” Kagome said gratefully, opening her door but not yet entering.

“It's my pleasure, Kagome.” Myouga said in return, controlling himself when he suddenly felt like biting her neck. `Damn youkai instincts!' “I'm glad you are Inuyasha's charge.” He added sincerely then turned to leave.

`I just hope he's glad too…' Kagome thought, thinking about her silvery white-haired protector. “Thanks again!” She watched Myouga walk away and thought, `Inuyasha's lucky that he has you…'

x

It was the day of the festival. Everyone was busy with different activities. Two girls were talking on an isolated aisle, planning for the auction that would be held soon.

“Chisa, you know what to do now, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” Chisa nodded, smiling deviously at her companion. “I'm sure no one will know anything.” She assured the other girl.   

“Good,” said the other girl, sounding satisfied enough. “Make sure the annoying bitch is taken care of.”

“Will do.” Chisa replied, looking at her watch. “I better go. The auction is about to start.” She left the other girl hurriedly.

The other girl also walked away in the other direction, her long wavy hair bouncing smoothly behind her.

x

“What did you say?.!.?” Yuka gasped aloud, her eyes widening in horror at Kagome's words.

“Kagome! You should have brought some money!” Eri added, scolding her like she had just done a heinous crime that was unforgivable as they fought with the crowd that was also checking out the booths.

“Why should I? I'm not interested in bidding,” answered Kagome in a carefree manner as she continued to look at the stuff in front of the crafts booth. “I'll just waste my money.”

“What about Inuyasha?.?.?” asked Ayumi, looking over at the hanyou, who was standing next to Kagome. “What if he gets chosen? He'll be free for anyone who has the money to buy him!” She looked even more worried than Kagome, who was enjoying herself and was not looking even a bit worried.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha for a second then returned to look around for more interesting things. “It's just a date, okay?.!” She told her friends as they moved to the next booth. “Calm down. It's not like Inuyasha will fall in love with a girl in just one date!” She secretly looked at Inuyasha again and thought, `I doubt he ever fell in love with anyone!'    

Inuyasha caught Kagome's sneaking a look at him but pretended he didn't notice. “Girls have their ways on how they can make us do what they want.” He said to no one in particular but he actually intended it for Kagome. “I'm only a guy and we have our weakness…” He emphasized the last word, trying to tease her. He never got tired of that certain hobby of his.

“Oh shut up!” Kagome said to Inuyasha, looking sharply at him. “I told you I don't have any money!”

“Keh!” Inuyasha sneered, dodging her glare. “If you get chosen, don't go begging me to save you if some perverted asshole tries to buy you!” He said arrogantly, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“Don't worry I can take care of myself, thank you!” Kagome said airily, reassuring him then turning her back to him. “And if ever a fangirl of yours buys you, she'll probably faint or scream her heart out so there's no harm done.” She further added, purchasing a cute stuffed toy of a white puppy.

“Aren't you just so obsessed with me?” Inuyasha grinned as Kagome stowed the puppy stuffed toy inside her bag.

“I'm giving it to Buyo so he would stop gnawing my favorite stuffed toy.” Kagome said over her shoulder, smiling sweetly at Inuyasha.

`What?.!' Inuyasha growled at her, swearing that he would not spend a single yen on her if ever she would be auctioned later.

“Oh, you don't know how desperate girls get, Kagome... They will definitely use this opportunity to have Inuyasha.” Yuka continued to sermon Kagome as they circled the other booths. “Inuyasha's right. What if the girl who buys him forces him to drink a love potion? What if Inuyasha is kidnapped? You won't be able to get him back again!”

“Yeah! You'll be separated forever! It's safer if you're the one who buys him!” Eri agreed, sounding like some hopelessly romantic addict while she tried to convince Kagome. “Well, it's not like you don't date Inuyasha but at least you have some more time with him.” She nudged Kagome suggestively, smiling at her friend.

Kagome stared at Eri silently for a few moments, trying to process her suggestion. `They really believe Inuyasha and I are together…' She thought, feeling guilty about tricking her friends. “You just don't know how much I want to spend less time with him…” She muttered to herself as she continued to walk.

“You were saying something?” said Sango curiously, looking at her friend.

“I mean I spend so much time with him that there's no way I'm going to miss him.” Kagome smiled at Sango innocently, hoping that she would buy it. “From time to time, it's good to miss your boyfriend, right?” She added even though she was gagging just so she could convince her friend. `How sappy can I get?' She thought, wanting to hide her face behind her palm.

“You're so sweet.” Inuyasha beamed at her but Kagome knew that he meant to say, `That was the sappiest line I've ever heard.'

“Thank you.” She managed to reply, forcing herself to smile sweetly at him. `Argh, don't remind me anymore!.!.!'

Kagome's friends were clueless of the true conversation going on between the couple. “Aw… aren't you just so sweet together!.?” Ayumi cooed, her eyes looking dreamily at the two. She really shouldn't hesitate any longer! She would write her friend's love story and let the whole world know how their love blossomed! 

“Come on, the auction's about to start!” Sango changed the topic before Ayumi started another comment on how cute Kagome and Inuyasha looked as a couple. “All of us are needed there, remember?”

When they arrived at the auction booth, Chisa was already standing on the stage, next to the raffle box. A lot of people stood in front of the booth, readying to bid. When Inuyasha arrived, a lot of the girls screamed excitedly and demanded that they start the auction now.

“They look like I'm already for sale.” Inuyasha grumbled, looking peeved as they took their spot in the crowd. 

“Relax, Inuyasha. It's not yet official…” Miroku tried to erase Inuyasha's bad mood and let him enjoy the event.

Chisa cleared her throat and announced the opening of the auction. “We have in this box the names of every student in Section A and the names that will be drawn out will be auctioned.” She began, pointing at the raffle box.

“Oh come on! Just get on with the auctioning!” A girl, who—Kagome was definitely sure—was one of Inuyasha's fangirls, yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Right,” said Chisa flatly, glowering at the said girl while putting her hand in the box to draw the first name. “Six names will be auctioned, three boys and three girls. Let's begin.”

x

“Ueda Michihiko sold to Yoshikawa Hideki!” Chisa announced as Michihiko went down the stage, blushing furiously because her crush had just bought her. Chisa walked over to the box again and drew out another paper. “Last guy to be sold is…” She looked at the paper and saw the name `Inuyama Takeo' but to fulfill their plan, she changed it and read it as, “Tsuzuki Inuyasha!”

Almost all of the girls in the crowd screamed loudly and began taking out their money. A few began breaking their piggy banks on the ground and counting the money they had saved.

“Me! Me! I'll buy Inuyasha!”

“No, I'm going to buy him!”

“I want a date with INUYASHA!.!.!”

Kagome could tell that the ITOFC had died only by name but the members still lived.

“Miroku, stay with Kagome.” Inuyasha said in a low whisper before he went to the stage to get it over and done with. `Damn, I just hope I don't end up with a scary fangirl…' He thought as he stood in the middle of the stage and looked at the crowd, all girls seemed to be willing to buy him. His eyes found Kagome in the crowd, still being convinced by her friends to bid too. 

“Kagome! Come on! Bid!” Eri said in frustration, looking at Kagome pleadingly for her to do something.

Kagome read Eri's look as, `You've got to save Inuyasha!' but she wasn't exactly sure that was what Eri meant. “What?.!” Kagome said, barely hearing her friend's words because of the crowd's noise. “I told you I don't—”

“I said BID!” Yuka yelled at her authoritatively, her eyes had that `Bid-Or-Else' look that scared Kagome.

“All right! All right!” Kagome gave in, taking her purse out of her bag. She looked inside and pondered for a moment before her hand shot up in the air.

“Let's begin the bidding!” Chisa looked at the crowd to find someone to give the first call. “First call will be given by… you there!” She pointed in the middle of the crowd, making everyone look at that direction.

It was Kagome.

Everyone silenced and looked at her in anticipation, knowing that she was Inuyasha's girlfriend. Some of them feared that the bidding would end soon because Kagome would buy Inuyasha with everything that she had in her wallet.

“Fifty yen!” Kagome yelled out loud.

Silence for two seconds then everybody ignored her, pretending they didn't hear anything, and everyone started screaming their heads off again.

“Me! Me! Fifty-one yen!” Someone said proudly.

“Kagome! That's your boyfriend out there!” Sango said in disbelief, looking at Kagome with a `How-Could-You?.!' expression on her face. “You plan to buy him with fifty yen! Is that all he is worth?.!”

Kagome sighed helplessly. What could she do? She didn't bring any money with her. “I told you I—”

“Forget it! I'll do the bidding for you!” Yuka cut her, taking the matter in her own hands. “Five hundred yen!” She yelled, trying to fight with the crowd's volume.

“One thousand!”

“Five thousand!”

“Ten thousand!”

“Fifteen thousand!”

“Woah… Inuyasha is that valuable?.!” Miroku said to Sango, looking amazed as the girls continued to bid for his friend. “The others were sold below ten thousand!”

“He has a fans club. The others don't.” Sango said in reply, although she too was astounded by the amount Inuyasha's fangirls were willing to spend just to have a date with him.

“Well, you've got a point there.” Miroku replied then took Sango's hand stealthily before Sango even noticed his attempt. “Don't worry, I'll buy you with more than ten thousand if ever you'll be sold.” He winked at her, squeezing her hand softly.

“Now, I'm worrying.” Sango told him, pulling her hand away from Miroku's iron grip but to no avail.    

“Fifty thousand!” Yuka called out, raising her hand in the air.

“Hey! Where do you think will I get that kind of money?.?.?” Kagome asked her, trying to block out all of the other shouts that filled the air.

“Pay me tomorrow. I'll let you borrow,” said Yuka hurriedly, not wanting to miss even a single call from their opponents.

“Tomorrow?.!” Kagome gasped, looking alarmed. “Do you really think I can pay you tomorrow?.!” She didn't have that much money even at home. Well, Inuyasha was rich so he could pay for her…

“Sixty thousand!”

“One hundred thousand yen!” Someone announced clearly, making the other bidders stop to see who the rich girl was.

“Who's that?” Kagome too was curious because she found the voice familiar. Her heart was beating fast in her chest as she stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious girl.

“It's Nazuna.” Ayumi said in a whisper, seeing Nazuna standing in front of the stage—right in front of Inuyasha.

Kagome's heart stopped all of a sudden. She looked at her left and asked Yuka suddenly, “Yuka, aren't you going to bid some more?”

“I don't have that much money!” Yuka told her, looking worried as well.

But not as worried as Kagome looked.

“What if Eri, Ayumi and Sango also help?” Kagome tried again, calculating mentally. All of a sudden, she wanted to win the bidding. A voice inside her was telling her that she shouldn't let Nazuna have Inuyasha.

“I guess we could mana—”

“One hundred and ten thousand!” Kagome suddenly shouted in the middle of the silence of the crowd. Everyone's eyes were turned to Kagome but she didn't care. Her eyes looked determinedly at the stage—at Chisa.

“One hundred and ten thousand! Higher?” Chisa repeated, looking around the crowd for anyone who could challenge Kagome's bid.

“I thought you didn't care about Inuyasha?” Eri inquired, smiling knowingly at her friend.

“Going once…” Chisa began.

Kagome felt like going to the stage and saying the rest for Chisa because it seemed like it was taking her forever to say the final words to finally sell Inuyasha. “I just don't like Nazuna getting near him.” She found herself answering to Eri.

“Going twice…”

“Jealous?” Eri offered, trying to put a name on the emotion Kagome was currently feeling.

“No!” said Kagome quickly. `But what if Nazuna does do some desperate measures…She really wants Inuyasha badly.' She thought, looking at Inuyasha but the hanyou seemed to be listening too to Chisa's final words. “I'm just worried.” She added to Eri.

“Going thrice and—”

“One hundred and fifty thousand yen.”

It was Nazuna—Kagome was sure now. She bit her lower lip hard. There was no way she could beat her. She was far richer than her. All of the people were looking at her, waiting for her to bid higher but she couldn't. The silence was suddenly deafening and she knew that she had lost. Her chocolate brown eyes found Inuyasha standing on the stage. He was looking straight at her, smirking at her gently. His mouth opened and she read the words that he had mouthed to her.

`It's all right.'

All of a sudden, losing didn't seem to matter anymore.

Kagome nodded silently, her heart calmed by Inuyasha's words.

“Going once… twice… thrice… Sold!” Chisa announced, pointing to Nazuna. “Tsuzuki Inuyasha is sold to Ikimura Nazuna.”

Nazuna smiled victoriously, glancing at Kagome's direction. `And now, to take care of the pest.' She thought, smiling at Chisa.

Inuyasha went down the stage and went straight to Kagome's side. He leaned close to her ear and whispered softly with a hint of curiosity in his voice, “I thought you didn't care whoever bought me.”

Kagome could feel Inuyasha's smile even though she couldn't see him. His breath was tickling her gently, making her cheeks grow hot. She didn't dare look at him in case she was blushing. “My conscience nagged me.” She whispered back, hoping she wouldn't hear the loud thumping of her heart.

Inuyasha's smile reached his heart, feeling warm at the answer he heard from Kagome. He leaned back and was silent for a while, just thinking of her words. He decided he wasn't going to comment anymore but then he also thought it wouldn't hurt to say something nice in return. He had been rude to her most of the time so to compensate somehow, he thought of trying to be nice to her for a change.

“Why not try to be nice to me for a change?.!” She demanded, her eyes now looking at Inuyasha to glare at him.

His clawed hand had tapped Kagome's shoulder to catch her attention and when she turned her head to face him, he said in a voice that he was sure only she would be able to hear, his eyes safely looking straight forward and not meeting hers, “Tell your conscience, it was sweet of her.”

Kagome stared at Inuyasha for two seconds but knew that he wasn't going to look at her. Then she also looked away and when she was sure Inuyasha couldn't see her face, she smiled softly. She often wondered how Inuyasha said his thanks, now she wasn't wondering anymore.  

“Inuyasha,”

Nazuna was standing in front of them, looking like she had just won the greatest prize of all.

“What?” Inuyasha growled out, looking venomously at her.

“See you later, okay?” She gave out a warm smile but Inuyasha didn't return it and didn't even say anything.

Inuyasha turned to Kagome, looking at her and completely ignoring Nazuna. “Stay with Miroku while I'm on the date, okay?”

“Yeah, I know.” Kagome nodded gently and then met Nazuna's eyes. Her eyes told Kagome that something was coming—and it wasn't good. 

That was the moment Chisa's words were heard. “Last girl to be sold is…” She paused and looked at the crowd as if searching for someone. Her eyes stopped when she found Kagome.

“Higurashi Kagome!”

 

 

 

 

A/N: Yay! How exciting!.!.! Fluffy enough? Oh believe me, angst will follow afterwards so don't be relieved. Thank you for all the warm reviews and suggestions and laughs! Keep it coming and the chapters will keep on coming as well—although they may be delayed… Oh well.