InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Sweetest Escape ❯ Suffering From Withdrawals ( Chapter 14 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi does.

Author's Notes:

Yea! Inuyasha was happy in the last chapter! Let's see where this one takes us…dun, dun, DUN!

Also—I was reading reviews—thank you all, by the way—and I realized… Thank you for the review kokoronagomu, but I don't know what `ganbatte' or `ganbaru' mean. Sorry. Again, I'm Spanish student…anyone care to shed some light? Please and thank you!

Oh, and BlackMamba07: I can say with confidence that I…have no idea how many chapters there will be. I know everything that I want to put in the story, I know how it's going to end; I even have entire conversations worked out—but no clue how long! LOL.

And thanks SO MUCH to those who nominated this story for the IY Fanguild! That's so cool, so thanks!

Read on!

Oh, my gosh, I'm blushing so hard from this chapter right now…

Chapter 14: Suffering from Withdrawals

“What do you mean you're leaving?” Inuyasha demanded, his face falling into an incredulous frown.

“Well…my grandma's really sick, Inuyasha,” Kagome said meekly, twisting a lock of her hair around her index finger. “It's only right that I go and visit her.”

“B-b-but…but…” he stammered. “How long will you be gone?”

“Um…a mmshgmgs…” she muttered unintelligibly. Inuyasha frowned.

“A what?”

“A month, Inuyasha. A month,” she blurted finally, exasperated. His golden eyes nearly bugged out of his skull.

“A month? A month? A whole month?” He floundered, spluttered, choked on his Popsicle. He gaped up at her with wide eyes.

“Inuyasha, it's not the end of the world,” she assuaged, patting his shoulder. `But it feels like it is,' he thought forlornly.

“What the hell am I supposed to do for a whole fucking month?” he muttered sulkily.

“I'm sure you'll be fine,” she said supportively.

“I'm sure I won't,” he spat. He heaved a great sigh and crossed his arms. He knew he was being selfish and childish and unreasonable. But he couldn't help it, and he didn't care. He wanted Kagome to stay with him. She couldn't just leave for a month. Her grandmother be dam— `Okay, that's just cruel,' he thought, scolding himself before he could finish that line of thought.

“Why? You gonna miss me too much?” she asked slyly, a playful grin on her lips. She nudged his upper arm with her knee. Inuyasha glared up at her from his spot on the ground.

“No,” he emphasized. Kagome gave him a knowing look. “No.”

“Inuyasha…” Kagome smirked.

“Maybe…a little…Who gives a shit?” he growled.

“It's okay if you'll miss me. I'll miss you too,” she said lightly. Inuyasha was glad he was sitting on the ground, so that she couldn't see the bright blush that stained his cheeks. `She'll miss me too?' he thought wonderingly. The things that girl said never ceased to amaze him.

He shifted uncomfortably, leaning back against the large boulder on which Kagome sat, her legs swinging back and forth against the rock to his right. He was hard pressed not to just reach out and…and…well. He didn't exactly know what he would have done if he reached out for them. So he simply wouldn't do it. `If the day isn't hot enough…' he thought with a grimace. True, it was a scorcher; the sun was high in the afternoon sky, and there was no breeze for relief. The shrine's air conditioning was broken, making it more miserable inside than out. So Kagome had suggested that they get Popsicles, which Inuyasha was now absolutely crazy about, especially the cherry ones, and wander about in the forest, since the shade the trees provided was bound to cool them off. And so started the beginning of summer vacation.

Inuyasha had been so relieved that he'd actually managed to pass Lit &Comp. Not only pass, but pass with a B-minus! `And now,' he thought with near glee, `I'll never have to see Akuran's ugly face ever again!' No doubt all thanks to Kagome.

So much was all thanks to Kagome. That he smiled so much more, that he didn't feel so alone anymore…that he felt like he had a family. But he wouldn't tell her that; because he was sure he'd die of mortification if he revealed to her even an ounce of the gratitude he had for her…or revealed to her any of the other feelings he had for her…

He wasn't going to delude himself into thinking that he wasn't attracted to her. He was very much attracted to her. He wouldn't delude himself into thinking that he didn't like her. He knew he liked her—a lot. Quite often, she gave him those strange fluttering feelings in his stomach, almost to the point of nausea. But he'd be damned if he'd tell her that; or anybody else for that matter. He'd only said it out loud to himself once. In a whisper.

Besides. He was sure that Kagome wouldn't want anything more with him than friendship…why would she? She was so…everything that a guy could want. She wouldn't imagine ever liking him as more that that, he was sure. He wouldn't delude himself into thinking that he had a fighting chance in that area. But…surely he could just look? And imagine that she was his girlfriend? There was no harm in that…was there?

Without turning his head, Inuyasha strained his eyes as far to the right as he could, following the length of Kagome's legs from her toes, whose nails were painted a shiny framboise-fuchsia color, up the line of her calf muscle, to where her thighs met the edge of the cutoff shorts she wore. He bit the inside of his cheek. Damn girl was to damn…enticing…for her own good. Well…for his own good, rather.

“Hey…you alright? You kind of tensed up,” she said, nudging him with her bare calf.

“I'm good,” Inuyasha said tightly. He shifted again. He felt her hands on his head, deftly combing her fingers through the locks. Inuyasha sighed contentedly from the stimulation on his scalp. She separated a thin piece of hair from the rest of the mane, and twirled it around her fingers.

“I'm sorry to spring it on you,” she said softly. “My mom only told me a few days ago.”

“You really gotta be gone a whole month?” he asked sulkily.

“You can see us off at the train station if you want,” she offered, ignoring his repeated question.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I'm sure my mom won't mind…”

“Alright…if you've really gotta go…” he pouted. Kagome dropped the lock of hair, squeezed his shoulder affectionately, and hopped down from the boulder, kicking off the black flip flops she wore. Smiling at him over her shoulder, she stepped daintily into the brook. Inuyasha held his breath, and his cheeks heated. If he wasn't careful, he'd be in major trouble tonight.

Inuyasha couldn't figure out how to explain the dreams he'd been having as of late. He didn't know whether it was the hot weather that had him all in a twist, or whether his relationship with the suddenly enticing girl was to blame. All he knew was that he'd had a series of disconcerting dreams that had woken him in the middle of the night in a state of…distress. It wasn't like he'd never had…those types of dreams before. He had. But as a boy going through puberty whilst living under a roof where he could scarcely breathe without repercussions, he certainly hadn't…well, acted on anything. The cold setting on the shower dial had become his best friend. If his father were to find out that he even thought about entertaining those types of thoughts—natural or not—he'd be in major trouble.

And it wasn't like he had them all the time. If anything, he was late in terms of the whole `sexual awakening' thing…regardless, Inuyasha never wanted to find out what his father would do if he got even an inkling that his son was interested in anyone. Surely he'd want to ruin it, as he'd ruined everything else in his life. So he'd lay there, pressing a cold rag to his feverish forehead in an attempt to get his scalding body under control. Damn girl was gonna give him all kinds of fuel for his dreams…crap.

It wasn't as though his dreams were all that graphic either…he really didn't know what to visualize if he was completely honest with himself. Aside from embarrassing chapters in the health textbook at school…he'd never actually seen a naked girl. Kagome's shorts were the most skin he'd ever seen on a girl in real life. So mostly, he dreamed of what it would be like to kiss her, as he knew what her lips looked like: he'd watched them enough while she talked to him. Bland as he knew it was, because he knew there was much more to the whole…process…than what he was imagining…it excited him nonetheless.

“Come on,” the girl in question beckoned from the stream, the water lapping against her ankles. Those jean shorts clung quite alluringly to her hips, Inuyasha couldn't help but notice. He bit his lip. Had her quaint peche pink t-shirt been that tight when they left the house? Had she been quite that…curvy…when the left the house? Damn, it was hot. “Don't be mad at me.”

“I'm not mad at you,” he wheezed. He dropped his Popsicle stick into the box, quickly grabbing another one and occupying himself, dropping his gaze. `How upset would Kagome be,' he wondered, `if she knew that a dirty hanyou wanted to kiss her?'

A squirt of water slapping him in the face and head snapped him out of his potentially dark thoughts.

“What the hell!” he groused, swiping a hand over his face. Kagome whipped her hands behind her back, hiding something. A bright orange handle stuck out from behind her shoulder. `What the hell is that?' he wondered, squinting. The sneakily smiling girl sideways stepped, blocking his view of whatever she was hiding. “Kagome, what are you—“

Another blast of water shot his Popsicle right out of his hand, and it fell to the grass with a dull thump. Oh. It was on.

He could finally get a decent view of the object she held, as she held it up to her eye, aiming for him, the weapon was cocked at ready. `Super Soaker…' he read on one of the oblong tubes. `Oh, shit…'

She made to hold down the trigger again, and Inuyasha held up his hands.

“Kagome…Kagome think about what you're doing here…you…you don't wanna start this war—you will not win,” he warned, starting to rise.

“Oh, I don't, hm?” she questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

“No. No—No!”

She held down the trigger of the gun, blasting the shocked boy with cold streams of water as he fell, plastered against the boulder. Her maniacal laughter rang in his ears.

“Do you accept the challenge, Inuyasha?” she crowed. He growled, a playful, yet competitive gleam in his eye.

“Oh, you know it.”

Kagome didn't want to go…not really. She loved her grandmother, really she did. But…she didn't want to leave Inuyasha. And the way he looked so forlorn, pouting as he sat there on the other end of the back seat, he made her feel bad.

Aside from that…she was truly afraid of leaving him alone with his father. Not that she was foolish enough to believe that by her being the vicinity, abuse against her friend would stop. She supposed she just felt that if Inuyasha knew where to find her, if he knew she were in her room, he would feel safer, because he knew he had someone to run to.

What if something more atrocious than normal happened while she was away? While she wasn't there to help him pick up the pieces? Of course, he'd had to pick up the pieces on his own, before she knew his secret; before she'd even met him. But she liked to think that just by her being there, she was giving him something good to hold on to; something to serve as a catalyst for his repair. She'd never forget the first time he'd taken her up on her offer; the first time he'd spent the night. Kami knows it had taken him almost two and a half months to do it.

She'd just dropped him off on the service drive near his house, as he still didn't want her to come near it, even if she had discovered his secret. He said he didn't want to risk his father seeing her, which Kagome supposed made sense. But about an hour and a half later, he'd shown up outside of her window tapping agitatedly at the glass, claiming that he left a notebook that he'd need to study for his finals. Which he had. But he'd been so obvious about it, that Kagome had the feeling he'd left the notebook behind on purpose, to have an excuse to come back. Not that she minded or anything…She wanted him to come to her. She wanted to take care of him.

Did he really think that she wouldn't notice how banged up he was upon his return? Did he think she wouldn't notice the fresh bruise on his temple? The raw skin on his collarbone? The way he couldn't quite bend his wrist all the way without grimacing? He'd dallied in her room, talking about everything, yet nothing. Kagome had gotten his hint; she understood the question he could not ask, but obviously wanted to so badly.

“Inuyasha…”

“Hm?” He'd looked so nervous, keyed up, anticipatory.

“You can stay the night if you want,” she'd told him softly. He had looked as though he'd wanted to protest, if only for appearances sake. But he didn't. He sighed, relieved.

“Thanks,” he murmured.

She'd wanted to treat his wounds. He wouldn't let her. He wouldn't even allow her to press an ice pack to the bump on his head or on the wrist that was quickly swelling. He wouldn't allow her to share the bed, and he certainly didn't allow her to give it to him completely. All he'd allowed her to do was give him a blanket to spread on the floor and a pillow. And he seemed quite content to just recline parallel to her bedside.

She lay in her bed, watching his handsome face go slack with sleep, feeling strangely nostalgic and protective. She strengthened her resolve, and Kagome began to formulate a plan…

So many times had she approached her mother, ready to spill everything; she wanted to bounce ideas off of someone, get things out of her system. But she'd refrained. There was no way she could betray Inuyasha's fragile trust in her. She knew all too well how difficult it was for him to trust people; the fact that he'd put the precious gift of his trust in her no small feat. Even still, Kagome wondered if it would be best for her to get feedback from someone much wiser than herself; her mother seemed the perfect candidate, as her grandfather was only a tad bit senile. She'd tried the hypothetical approach the day after Inuyasha had slept over, feeling resolved after watching him sleep so peacefully. Her mother was perceptive, and Kagome wasn't sure how much she'd gotten past the woman.

“Mom…”

“Yes, Dear.”

“Say…say you have this friend. Actually—in this book I'm reading, there's this bo—girl. There's this girl.”

“Mm-hm. What about her?”

“Well…she, um…say she's got a really bad situation at home. Like…her fa—Uncle! Uncle. Her uncle hits her…yeah. Her uncle hits her and…well, everything at home sucks, basically,” Kagome blurted.

“I see,” her mother said contemplatively, leaning forward on her elbows on the kitchen table.

“Yeah. Everything's horrible, and the bo—I mean, the girl—doesn't know what she can do. She's really confused, and vulnerable, even though she'd never admit it,” Kagome rambled. “He—She! She's a really sweet girl, too. She deserves a lot better, you know? Because, I mean, who deserves that? Nobody!”

“Of course not,” Ms. Higurashi agreed, shaking her head.

“So…so the girls' got this friend, right? And…he—the friend—he's been helping her. You know, he's been there for her and everything; just trying to be her friend. And…well, the boy eventually found out. About the da—er, uncle. The boy found out about the uncle, and now she—he—he doesn't know what he should do.”

“As far as his friend goes?”

“Right. The girl doesn't call the police because she thinks that they won't care…she's got a, um…a very bad self-image. She thinks she's worthless, when she's totally not—she's totally hot and—“ Kagome stopped when her mother gave her a curious look.

“This is a book?”

“Er…well…” Kagome cringed and winced. “The, um…the other characters in the book describe her as, um, pretty. You know—hot. The uh…the friend, the boy—he thinks she's hot…” she muttered, trailing off.

“I see. Continue,” Ms. Higurashi said, mulling over this information.

“Yeah…so…so the girl doesn't think any of the authorities would care about her situation. And she can't emancipate her self, because no one would hire her for a job, and—“

“And why is that?”

“Because, she…uh…she's got a bad back…and…and lots of allergies,” Kagome explained with another wince. The woman nodded.

“Ah.”

“Yeah. So she can't get any work…But…the boy was thinking that maybe…maybe it would be better for the girl to move in with him and his family…for her sake,” Kagome finished. She gave her mother a sheepish look, positive that the woman was about to call her on her bluff. “What do you…rather…do you think that's a good thing for the boy to do? I mean, if his family agreed to it and everything?”

Ms. Higurashi was silent for a long stretch of time, her brow wrinkled. Kagome cringed; she blew it. She could feel it. She knew she was a bad liar, and now was no different than any other time.

“Is the boy aware of all of the consequences of his actions? Is he aware of all the legal tape he'd have to get through to get the girl to live with him?” she asked quietly.

“Yes. He's fully aware of everything. He…he wants her to be safe. He cares for her very much,” Kagome said with earnest.

“Perhaps the boy should speak with the girl before he takes any major steps for her sake,” she suggested with a knowing smile and a twinkle in her eye. “All this runaround for a book, Kagome?”

“Oh…yeah! It's, um…for school,” she lied quickly. “Thanks, Mom,” Kagome said, pressing a kiss to the woman's temple.

“You're welcome, Sweetheart. And Kagome?” she called as the girl was on her way out of the kitchen.

“Hm?”

“Next time Inuyasha sleeps over, maybe you should get out the air mattress. Or at least give him a few extra blankets, Sweetie. I'm sure he doesn't want to sleep on the hard floor.”

Kagome's jaw dropped. How had she known Inuyasha had stayed over? Kagome was positive he'd been almost silent…

“Oh…okay, Mom…” she said dazedly, walking away quickly so that the woman would hopefully not notice how caught off-guard she was. The woman was damned perceptive, and Kagome was pretty sure she hadn't fooled her with all her poorly-disguised hypotheticals.

Watching the back of the woman's head from her seat, Kagome was absolutely positive that she was aware of Kagome's eventual intent: to ask Inuyasha to stay with them. All she had to do now was find the nerve…perhaps she'd find it while she was at her grandmother's house for a month.

She looked at the boy in question. He was battling Souta in what had to be their fiftieth thumb war.

“One, two, three, four, I declare a Thumb War. Five, six, seven, eight, try to keep your thumb straight!” the two chanted in unison for the umpteenth time. Kagome smile fondly and shook her head as they twisted and wriggled their arms in an attempt to gain the advantage.

“I play winner,” she said playfully. Inuyasha's eyes snapped to hers, and two seconds later, Souta was whining in his defeat.

“No fair,” he pouted, crossing his arms. He eyed the two teenagers as they shifted to battle each other. A sly smile covered his face. “You guys just wanna hold hands,” he teased. Kagome glared at him as her fingers and Inuyasha's interlocked for the imminent war. Souta gave her a big, cheesy grin. “Kagome and Inuyasha, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-gnghn!” Kagome promptly clapped her other hand over the boy's entire face, her palm covering his mouth. His wet tongue sliding on her hand made her repel.

“Ew, Souta, gross!” she screeched, snatching her hand back and roughly wiping his spit on his shirt. The boy giggled and stuck his tongue out as far as he could. Kagome let out an annoyed growl and flicked the tip of his tongue hard with her middle finger. He quickly retracted it, clamping a hand over his mouth.

“Ow! Mom! Kagome hurt me!” he wailed plaintively, quickly fixing her with a Wet Willie.

“Souta! You're so disgusting! Kami!” she shrieked, furiously scrubbing her offended ear with the collar of her shirt.

“Okay, okay, cut it out you two. It's going to be a long train ride if you don't,” the woman said lightly with a chuckle. Kagome looked over to Inuyasha, who was eyeing her out of the corner of his eye, a mirthful gleam in them. His mouth was twisted, as he was biting the inside of his cheek, a laugh just barely restrained.

“That's not funny, Inuyasha.”

“Yeah it is.”

“No, it's not.”

“Yeah, Kagome. It really is,” he snorted his laugh. Kagome finally relented and laughed too. Kami, she was going to miss him.

He didn't want to say it, but she knew he'd miss her as well.

“I promise, I'll call you everyday,” she assured him, as she tossed a light summer dress onto the pile on her bed. She was beginning to think she'd need another suitcase.

“You can't call,” Inuyasha drawled, fiddling with the various objects on her dresser. He sniffed at a bottle of her body spray, and gave it a curious look before replacing it. “My dad'll definitely notice if he sees calls from fucking Hokkaido on the bill.”

“Oh…you're right…” she admitted. She stuffed the dress along with a few more pairs of shorts into the already jam-packed suitcase.

“Of course I am,” he snorted. “You're gonna be gone and I'm gonna—hey, do you actually use this stuff?” he asked, interrupting himself. Kagome looked to where he held up a small container of body glitter.

“No, not really. It kind of itches.”

“Hm,” he grunted, as if in deep thought. He stuck a finger into the glitter, and grimaced at it, wiping it on his jeans. Kagome shook her had, biting back a smile. He was so odd sometimes.

“Anyway. Like I was saying, you're gonna be gone, and I'm not gonna have shit to do.”

“What about e-mail?” she asked suddenly. She couldn't believe she'd never thought about. “Yeah, write your e-mail address down on that over there,” she motioned to her desk.

“I don't' have one. And anyway, I don't have a computer…” mumbled. He picked up a brightly colored magazine. “Who's this?” he asked with distaste, wrinkling his nose at the shirtless man on the cover. He held the magazine between his thumb and forefinger, away from him, as if it were diseased.

“Oh…that's Orlando Bloom…he's an actor. From America,” she said quickly, inexplicably embarrassed for herself. Inuyasha eyed the magazine, his lips twitching in a frown.

“Why do you have a picture of him?”

“Um… `cause he's hot?” she said slowly, holding up her hands in a slow shrug. Her cheeks reddened under Inuyasha's scrutiny.

“Huh. I see,” he said slowly. He put the magazine back down, and put a hand to his own stomach. She didn't miss the quick glance he shot at the mirror. Kagome, to say the least, was a bit nonplussed at that reaction. He moved on to shake the magic eight ball that sat on her dresser, shifting his weight to one leg.

“So, anyway…the email thing,” she announced loudly. He could get her so off topic when he wanted to… “We could set one up for you. That way we could keep in touch, okay?”

“But what about a computer? Don't have one, remember?” he reminded absently as he shook the plastic toy. He perked up at whatever fortune had shown up in the window, and shook it again. This time, apparently, the little hexagonal shape inside wouldn't turn to reveal a message; it was stuck on a point. He shrugged and set it down.

“You can check it at the library. You do have a library card, right?”

And that was how Inuyasha became one of the millions of Yahoo users, reluctantly as colorcrazy07. He'd told her that he, personally thought that it was a stupid name, but he allowed Kagome to come up with his username, because honestly, he had no idea what to say for it. Plus, according to him, it was a lot better than the others she'd come up with. He'd absolutely refused to allow her to call him `puppyearedpainter2007' or `artsy_fartsy03'.

Kagome watched Inuyasha's face absolutely drop as they pulled into the vast parking lot of the Tokyo Train Station. They all piled out of the car, and when she struggled to yank her suitcase out of the pile in the trunk, Inuyasha quite gallantly yanked it out for her and insisted that he'd carry it, though he avoided her eyes. Kagome took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers.

“Don't be so bluesy,” she pleaded looking up at him.

“I'm not bluesy,” he said sulkily.

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too…Come on…don't see me off all pouty.”

“Okay, okay…” Kagome leaned into him, laying her head on his shoulder briefly as they allowed her family to walk ahead of them to where the shiny silver bullet train was boarding.

“It's only four weeks. And I'll email everyday, remember? I promise.”

“I'll know if you don't,” he warned, looking at her hard. “I'll check.” Kagome didn't doubt it.

“I promise I will. There'll be so many emails from me, you'll be sick of hearing about my day,” she teased, straightening the black bandana that covered his ears. She fondly smoothed his ponytail and smiled.

“No, I won't,” he said seriously, looking intently into her eyes. Kagome's breath caught.

“Come on, Kagome! I'm sorry, Sweetie, but we're late boarding already!” her mother called, beckoning her over to where the conductor was checking their luggage. Inuyasha sighed, and held her suitcase out to her. Steeling a glance back at her family, and knowing that Souta would tease her relentlessly about it later, Kagome ignored the proffered suitcase and threw her arms around his neck.

“Be safe, okay?” she whispered.

“Uh-huh,” he grunted, his arms slowly reciprocating the action around her waist.

“I'm gonna miss you so much.” She felt is throat work against her shoulder.

“Y-yeah, me too,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Kagome!” her grandfather called.

Steeling her nerves, she squeezed him once more before tiptoeing and pressing her lips against the underside of his jaw, just at the pulse point. She smiled against his skin when she felt him stiffen immediately, his arms locking up around her. Lingering for perhaps longer than was necessary, Kagome let her arms slip from his neck, and pulled away.

“Kah—!”

“Bye, Inuyasha,” she said with a blush and a wink, and trotted off to join her family, suitcase in hand.

Inuyasha didn't know how long he stood on that train platform; he'd been in an almost comatose state of shock. He hadn't been able to see her through the tiny windows of the train, but that hadn't stopped him from staying until it left and disappeared from sight. Very slowly, he reached up to touch the underside of his jaw, brushing it just barely with the pads of his fingers; he didn't want to wipe her touch away.

“Holy shit,” he whispered to no one. His mouth stretched into a close-lipped smile. She'd kissed him…she'd actually kissed him! He bit his lip, still smiling. The flood of heat that rushed through him at the feel of her warm mouth hadn't left him. He was almost grateful that she'd had to leave when she did—he didn't know what to say to her after something like that. He hadn't gotten the chance to return the favor either…that was probably for the best as well…if given the chance, he wouldn't have exactly known what he was doing…`Why did she do that?' he wondered. Could it mean…could it mean that she might actually like him too? He blushed at the thought, then allowed his smile to widen further. It was a possibility.

But why?

“Inuyasha! Imagine seeing you here! What's up, Buddy?” Miroku greeted, throwing his hands up and out in mock surprise. He'd startled the other teen, whose face had been quite intently glued to the computer screen.

“Fuck!” he cursed in a whispered hiss. He turned wide eyes on the enthusiastic boy that had surprised him. “What the hell, Miroku…” he grumbled. Miroku plopped into the rolling chair next to him, leaning an elbow on the desk.

“What are you doing?” he asked. Inuyasha blushed, sending a darting glance to the computer screen. He minimized his window. It was really none of Miroku's business that he was checking for an email from Kagome…for the third time…that day…

“Keh! Nothing…” he grumbled. Miroku smiled unnervingly.

“Nothing at all?”

“No…”

“Are you looking up dirty pictures?” Miroku asked, waggling his eyebrows up and down. Inuyasha choked on his own spit, his eyes widening, and blushing even harder.

“What? No!” he hissed.

“Lemme see,” Miroku insisted, craning his neck to see Inuyasha's screen.

“I'm not looking up pictures!” Inuyasha insisted, staving the boy off with his forearm and glancing frantically around at the adjacent computer users. He maximized the window with his email login screen. “See! Kami!” he exclaimed in a harsh whisper, pointing at the screen.

“Oh…darn it. I thought you might have figured out how to get past the filters…” Miroku said sulkily, disappointed.

“You're deranged,” Inuyasha told him bluntly. Miroku shrugged and smiled.

“Yeah, I know. Sango keeps telling me. Kagome too…and now you. Totally used to it. So. Anyway, you wanna hang?” he asked.

“Uh…o-okay. Doing what?”

“I want to go see that new movie, The Incorrigible…” Miroku said, suddenly staring off into the distance. Inuyasha looked over his shoulder, and didn't see anything interesting.

“What's it about?” he asked. Miroku frowned and threw up his hands.

“Who cares? Umeko Bando is in it!” he exclaimed. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

“Who's that?” Miroku's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull, and he slapped a hand dramatically over his heart.

“Sacrilege! You don't know who Umeko Bando is?”

“Uh…no…”

“She's only the hottest woman on the planet!” Miroku looked deeply into Inuyasha's eyes, and grabbed his shoulders. “Inuyasha, my friend, I am about to introduce you to real cinema,” he said solemnly. “Now log off of that computer and let's go!”

“Oh…Kami…” Inuyasha gaped as he and Miroku exited the movie theatre. He gave Miroku an incredulous look. “I can't believe you just took me to see that…”

“Oh, come on, Inuyasha. It wasn't porn,” Miroku laughed. “She had on a bikini. It wasn't like she was naked…pity,” Miroku said contemplatively. He snickered at the other boy. “Did you almost get a nosebleed?”

“No,” Inuyasha emphasized, crossing his arms.

“Pretty amazing, wasn't it?” Miroku asked with a contented sigh. “She's hot, isn't she?”

“I guess…” Inuyasha said quietly.

“You guess? What do you mean you guess?” Miroku choked. “What are you, blind?”

“No…she was okay…”

“Okay? Just okay?”

“Yeah, she was okay!” Inuyasha huffed. Miroku shrugged.

“Okay, okay, fine. So maybe Umeko isn't your type. She's a bit…exotic…for some men's taste…what about…” Miroku tapped his chin as he perused the crowded lobby of the movie theatre. Inuyasha groaned inwardly. “Her? In the orange?”

“Uh…”

“You know what? Don't even say anything. I'll be right back. Stay here,” Miroku instructed.

“Miroku, wait—” Inuyasha started. He was gone. He'd zipped off into the throng of chattering teenagers. Inuyasha huffed a sigh and leaned against the wall. `That guy is ridiculous,' he thought with a wan smile. `Can't go anywhere without him hitting on some girl—'

“Well hello there,” an annoyingly high-pitched voice chirped quite close to him. Under his bandana, Inuyasha flattened his ears. `Kami, I hope she moves along quick,' he thought with a wince. The frequency of her voice was enough to give him a headache. He felt bad for the guy she was speaking to—He felt a tap on his elbow.

“I said hello there,” the voice said again. Inuyasha turned and gaped. `She's talking to me?' Miroku came up behind the girl, grinning devilishly.

“Inuyasha, this is Michi. She goes to me and Sango's school. Michi, this is my good buddy Inuyasha,” Miroku said smoothly, moving his eyebrows up and down at the boy opposite him. The look of shock and utter horror on Inuyasha's face was almost enough to double him over with laughter. `Priceless,' he thought.

“Uh…hi?”

“Miroku here says you're quite the ladies' man,” she said, a large smile pulling her mouth wide. She smacked a wad of off-white gum between her lips. Inuyasha's eyes widened.

“Huh? No, no, I'm not—”

“Inuyasha, don't be so modest, you sly dog, you,” Miroku drawled. “He knows every trick in the book. Ladies run to him from all over, trust me.” He winked at Michi. She tittered annoyingly.

“Is that so, Inuyasha?” the girl enunciated. Inuyasha blanched, glanced at Miroku over her head.

“You can do it!” he mouthed enthusiastically. Inuyasha gave him the coldest death glare he could manage. Miroku frowned. “Talk to her! She's hot!” he mouthed, a big, cheesy grin on his face, making gestures to his chest and then pointing to the short girl before him. Inuyasha winced. `I don't know what to say!' he thought. Inuyasha sighed. He really just wanted her to go away. Her voice was making his brain throb, and she was wearing too much perfume; it was practically burning his nose hairs off.

“I don't think—”

“Hm. Cute. Cool contacts, where'd you get them? I didn't even know they made them that color.”

“Well…”

“I got mine in this little strip mall in the Usagi district. They were like, half-off, I swear, I was so excited—”

“They're not contacts,” he interrupted. She raised an over-tweezed eyebrow.

“No?”

“No.”

“Are you a demon? Hot! I've never been with a demon before,” she purred, pursing her lips.

“Half,” he said briefly, and watched her reaction. `That ought to get her to go away,' he thought grimly. Her face froze and she squinted at him.

“Oh…um…”

“Don't worry about it. I'm interested in someone anyway,” he said quietly, and promptly grabbed Miroku by the bicep, and dragged him away.

“I'm going to murder you,” he growled at the boy.

“Why'd you do that to poor Michi?” Miroku asked indignantly, looking past him to the girl who'd already vacated the area. Inuyasha growled lowly, shaking his head and beginning to walk away. “She was so cute…so hot…so…so….gifted,” Miroku stressed. He clasped his hands in front of his mouth and said a silent prayer. “Forgive him, Michi. For Inuyasha knows not of the hotness that he has just passed up,” he said sorrowfully. Inuyasha gave him a look out of the corner of his eye. Miroku eyed him. And the two burst out laughing.

“What about her? There's no way you can tell me she's not hot,” Miroku proclaimed, pointing triumphantly to another bikini-clad woman, sunning herself on the beach. Inuyasha glanced at the magazine briefly.

“She's alright,” he said. Miroku's jaw dropped.

“What is wrong with you, man!” he cried, holding the magazine to his heart. “You…you're not right in the head,” Miroku said solemnly, shaking his head tragically. Inuyasha snickered as he peeked into the dry terrarium that took up three-quarters of Miroku's desk.

“Where's the snake?” he asked.

“You see! You see! You're more interested in Ryu than half-naked women! There's something wrong with that, man. Something gravely wrong. And there's no snake, it's a monitor lizard.”

“Really?” Inuyasha looked behind a sizeable rock. There laid a svelte-sage speckled lizard. It blinked lazily at him, one eye, and then the other. Its back tongue darted in and out of the tiny hole in its lips. “Cool.”

“You are the strangest guy I've ever met,” Miroku told him solemnly. Inuyasha shot him an almost wounded look, and he quickly recanted. “No, not because of that! Oooh…sorry. I mean because…well…most guys our age are, well…like me. Crazy into girls and—oh…are…are you gay?”

“No!” Inuyasha exclaimed. “I'm not gay…I like girls…” he mumbled, watching the lizard shuffle clumsily along the mulch in the terrarium.

“But you hardly even looked at the ones in the—”

“I like girls,” Inuyasha insisted, a little more forcefully this time. “I do.”

“Just…not these girls,” Miroku assumed.

“…yeah.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you're interested in someone a little more…familiar, shall I say? A raven-haired photographer who lives in a shrine…” Miroku guessed, trailing off leadingly. Inuyasha stiffened. “Ah! Touched a nerve?”

“Keh! What do you know?” Inuyasha mumbled. He tapped the glass with a claw, and the monitor lizard hissed, nipping at his finger through the glass.

“Hah!” Miroku exclaimed. “I knew it! I knew you liked Kagome! I could so tell!” he crowed in triumph. “Just wait till I tell her…”

“No! You can't!”

“Why not?”

“B-because!”

“Because why? Don't you want her to know?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I just don't, alright?”

“…Can I tell Sango?”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because she'll tell Kagome!”

“I think she should know,” Miroku said loftily.

“I don't want her to know.”

“I think she likes you too,” Miroku said in a sing-song tone. Inuyasha froze, and looked at him.

“You lie.”

“Nu-uh. I never lie,” Miroku said seriously, looking into his eyes from where he lay reclined on the bed, bikini magazine propped up on his stomach.

“That's a lie right there,” Inuyasha said dryly, and resumed tapping on the glass.

“No it's not!”

“Yeah it is.”

“Sango said she does,” Miroku sniffed defensively.

“She did?”

“Yup. And nobody knows Kagome better than Sango. Except…maybe you…”

Inuyasha thought on this. She had kissed him just before she got on the train…perhaps Miroku and Sango were right? He didn't dare to hope. The last time he'd liked a girl, it hadn't gone terribly well, and he would never forget that.

He had no idea how it had gotten around the school. He hadn't whispered a word of it to anyone, hadn't written her name in his notebook whilst daydreaming in class, or even made any attempt to speak to her aside from the passing `Hi,' in the morning as they both went to their respective lockers. Yet somehow, some way, it was the gossip on everyone's lips: The freshman hanyou likes the transfer student from Matsudaira High. It was a scandal.

He cursed his last name. If it weren't for his last name, he'd have never seen her, never met her. But they followed so closely in the alphabet: Kikyou Chiba, Inuyasha Chikamatsu. After all, that was how locker assignments were given out. And so, he'd ended up two lockers away from her, and over the course of a month or two, after seeing how apparently benevolent and compassionate she was, not to mention how pretty she was, he developed a little bit of a crush, his first.

He wasn't so stupid as to think that she'd ever actually be interested in him. After all: she was pretty, smart, and a junior. He was a half-breed, a loner, and a freshman. She was two years older, a half a foot taller, and, so it seemed, light years more advanced in…well…everything. Inuyasha was sure that she didn't have the exposure to violence that he had, but she was one of those people who just seemed more mature than everyone around them, even their peers. So he hadn't deluded himself into thinking that he had a shot; he was content to watch from afar.

Which was why he was shocked the day she approached him one Friday after school while he was putting his books away.

“It's Inuyasha, right?” she asked him suddenly, shutting her locker door and sauntering slowly over to his. He did a double take, his algebra book almost slipping from his fingers.

“M-m-me?” he gaped, poking his own chest. She smiled and tilted her head cutely.

“You're the only one in the hall, aren't you? And certainly the only Inuyasha.”

“Uh-huh,” he grunted dumbly.

“I'm Kikyou,” she introduced needlessly, holding out her hand. “We haven't really talked much.” Inuyasha gawked at her outstretched hand, and she smiled at him, the area around her eyes crinkling as she did so. “Well, shake it, silly,” she prompted. Inuyasha quickly tucked the math book under his arm and lightly gripped her hand in his. Her hand was slender, smooth, and cool to the touch. His was…well…hot and sweaty. He blushed hotly and clumsily wiped his hands on his jeans.

“Sssorry,” he mumbled embarrassedly. She laughed a bit.

“That's alright. Nervous?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Why?” she questioned. He glanced up at her before averting his gaze again.

“Kinda…Kinda like you,” he muttered, barely audible.

“So I've heard,” she smiled. She shifted her weight to one foot, and put a hand on her hip. “So do you want to go out?”

“Do I want to what?”

“Go out. With me. To dinner,” Kikyou elaborated.

Inuyasha's arm went slack and he promptly dropped the algebra book, which in turn, landed corner-side down on his foot.

“Ow, shit!” he hissed painfully, his toes curling inside of his sneaker. His face burned intensely in his embarrassment. He'd been so awkward then; gangly, and not quite grown into his feet and hands yet. His arms had been disproportionately long, and if all that weren't enough, he was quite clumsy. That hodgepodge of awkwardness showed itself quite plainly to Kikyou that day in the hall.

“Are you okay?” she asked around muffled giggles. He looked up to see her pressing her lips together in an attempt not to laugh at him full-force. He kicked the accursed book aside.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he wheezed. Could this get any worse?

“So, dinner. How about it? Bankotsu and Momiji—do you know them?”

“Yeah. I mean, not personally, but I know who they are…”

“Right. So they're going to that new Italian restaurant that's near here…you know the one?”

“Um…no…”

“Oh, well I'll give you directions. Anyway, it's a double. And I didn't have anyone to go with, so I figured maybe you'd like to go with me?”

“A-are you serious?” Inuyasha asked, squinting at her. There was no way she was serious…she couldn't be—

“Of course I am,” she smiled.

“Why me?”

“Why not? I didn't really have anyone particular in mind, so why not? You seem like a sweet guy,” she reasoned. Inuyasha blushed. “So do you want to go?”

“Y-yeah…” he stammered, fiddling with the edge of his shirt. He allowed a small smile to tug at the corners of his mouth.

“Do you need me to pick you up or anything?”

“N-no, I can get there…”

“Great. Here's the address…” she said, scribbling it down on a sheet of notebook paper she produced. “There you go. We're meeting at six tomorrow night, okay? See you there!” And she walked away, leaving Inuyasha to watch her retreating form.

He'd been a nervous wreck when he entered the restaurant. He'd never been to such a nice place; it was obviously expensive. And he felt horribly underdressed. He smoothed out his black button up shirt as best he could, and glanced around the intimately lit dining room.

“There you are,” Kikyou said, coming up to him, seemingly out of nowhere. Inuyasha wanted to speak; he wanted to tell her how pretty she looked—wanted to tell her thanks again for inviting him. But he couldn't get his tongue unglued from the roof of his mouth. “Well, come on, Momiji and Bankotsu are waiting,” she urged, leading him through the maze of tables to their booth near the rear of the restaurant. He slid into the seat after her, sitting across from the severe looking Bankotsu. He didn't think he could sweat more if he were running a marathon. “Momiji, Bankotsu, you all know Inuyasha. Inuyasha, these are my friends Momiji and Bankotsu,” Kikyou introduced. Inuyasha tried to smile, but his lips were stuck quite securely to his gums, and so he ended up giving the couple a sick-looking grimace. Momiji laughed.

“Kikyou, oh, this is just perfect,” she emphasized. “He's just so cute,” she squealed, and Inuyasha ducked his head to hide his blush.

“Oh, ya, just adorable,” Bankotsu drawled, rolling his eyes. Inuyasha could suddenly feel his youth with ten times more intensity than before. Throughout the night, there were several times he would feel that; feel as though he were quite the youngster among a group of older, wiser, and more sophisticated adults. At times he felt as though he were just outside of a joke they were telling; as though he weren't too quick on the uptake, and was missing some crucial punchline.

Besides that, he was nervous. He kept himself busy when he had nothing to say by chugging down the cranberry juices that the waitress kept bringing like there was no tomorrow. He wanted to impress them so much; after all, they were the popular kids—what kid at their school didn't want to impress Momiji, Bankotsu, and Kikyou? He only hoped he was doing alright. But he didn't dwell on that; Kikyou and Momiji were being so nice to him. They kept telling him that he was `so cute' or `just adorable'. For what reason, he didn't know.

“Maybe you could even eat lunch at our table sometime,” Bankotsu suggested offhandedly as he speared a piece of broccoli. Inuyasha perked up at the prospect of future friends.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You're a pretty cool kid,” he said lightly.

“I know, isn't he?” Kikyou agreed, giving him a once over.

It wasn't long before Inuyasha was forced to excuse himself to go the restroom, as embarrassing as it was. He had no idea that cranberry acted as a natural diuretic, and he was definitely feeling the effects.

Business taken care of, he returned to the table, almost cheerful. He knew better than to think that Kikyou wanted him as a boyfriend; but, friendship, perhaps? There was nothing wrong with that. And maybe, just maybe, if Kikyou was his friend, then others wouldn't be so afraid of him or so disgusted by him. Maybe if she could set the example, then the rest would follow, and he could find acceptance. His heart warmed at the prospect.

The table was empty. Inuyasha looked at it, confused. Perhaps he'd gotten the two sides of the restaurant mixed up? `Must have gotten turned around when I came out of the bathroom,' he mused. He glanced across the tables to the mirror image of the half of the restaurant he was standing in. No…that couldn't be right….there was an elderly couple seated there. Inuyasha looked back at the table, the half-eaten meals still in place, dirty napkins on one plate. `Oh…oh no…don't tell me—'

“Looking for someone?” a voice came from behind him. Their waitress.

“Um…yeah…you do remember the people who were sitting here, right?” he asked apprehensively. She nodded. “Right…do you know where they went? I mean, they didn't—”

“Oh, they left,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It was two girls and a boy, right? The boy had a really long ponytail, right?” Inuyasha nodded mutely. “Yeah, they left. In a hurry too…” Inuyasha's shoulders slumped. A cold feeling entered his stomach, and he stiffened, closing his eyes. “…I guess this leaves you with the bill,” the waitress said, scribbling in her notepad and then handing it to him. Inuyasha's eyes flicked to the total, and he gawked.

“Wh—? I…”

“What's the problem?”

“I…I don't have nearly enough,” he muttered sadly, handing her the slip of paper back. The waitress shrugged.

“Tough break, kid. Then I guess you're going to have to give me what you do have. You're going to have to do quite a few hours of dishes to make up the rest,” she warned. “Come with me.”

“My dad's gonna kill me,” Inuyasha whispered fearfully to himself. As the manager set him up with a pair of gloves, a scrub brush, hair net and a sink full of sudsy dishes, Inuyasha beat himself up. `How could you be so damned stupid?' he raged, slapping the water. `Like this would actually be real. Fucking moron.'

The walk home had been a tortuous one. Over dinner, Kikyou had offered to be his ride home; since she and her friends had ditched him, he had to walk all the way to his house. A bus was out of the option, since all of his money, bills and pocket changed, had gone towards the tiny dent he'd made in the dinner bill. All the way home, all he could think about was the inevitably horrible punishment he was going to receive. His dishwashing had taken hours, and now…now his father was bound to be furious beyond all belief with him. He shuddered despite himself. He could almost feel the blows now….

On Monday, he'd been greeted with the sight of his image, hundreds of times over, clad in a hair net, apron and soapsuds all over the halls of Uboshita High. He pulled his hood low over his head, and braved the hallways as the laughter from students and chuckles of teachers and administrators rang loudly in his ears. He made eye contact with no one. He spoke to no one. He didn't bother ripping down the fliers; there were too many for him to handle. Over and over and over, his image appeared before his eyes, hair bound into the silly-looking net. `Dine-and-Dash Victim' the caption read.

“And if you could have seen the look on his face!” Bankotsu's raucous voice rang out amongst the throng of chattering teens, eager to gather close and hear the story. As inconspicuously as possible, Inuyasha spun his locker combination.

“He was completely in! He totally thought we wanted to hang out with him!” Momiji exclaimed. Inuyasha's ears burned, as did his cheeks. He swallowed thickly as he pulled out his necessary books for that morning.

“There's my favorite little freshman,” Kikyou's smooth voice purred. “How was your weekend?” she asked. Inuyasha ceased his motions and looked up from his task. The throng of teenagers had shifted to encapsulate him and Kikyou. Inuyasha didn't respond; he only ducked his head in shame, wishing that she would just go away. He only wanted her to go away and leave him alone. Hadn't she done enough? He didn't need to know the details; it was painfully clear what her intentions had been from the beginning, seeing her now. She'd devised a little ruse to get him into an embarrassing situation, and then, in true popular-girl form, she'd taken pictures and plastered the school with them. Uboshita's popular population clearly approved of her little joke, as they now flanked her, snickering under their breath. She'd been accepted into their fold: the price of admission? One mortified hanyou.

“What, you don't want to talk to me now? What's the matter, Inuyasha? You nervous?” she smirked. He kept his eyes trained on the ground. Did she absolutely have to embarrass him more? Was it absolutely necessary? “Hope you had fun with those dishes the other night. Oh! And thanks for dinner. Really nice of you to treat us all. You're such a big-spender!” she tittered. Inuyasha growled. She prattled on and on with her sarcasm, carrying on about how gullible he was, and how pathetic he was to actually think that she'd want anything to do with him, until finally, she fell quiet.

“Are you done?” he ground out from between clenched teeth.

“Yeah. Sure. Why?” she asked smugly.

“I just thought I'd take the time to tell you what a massive bitch you are,” he hissed, his words harsh and clipped. “Fuck you, Kikyou,” he growled. And then, he drew back a fist and sent it slamming into the locker behind her, leaving a sizeable dent in the metal not even a foot away from her head.

She'd screamed. The crowd screamed. He hadn't cared. He hated them all.

He had ended up caring however; he'd been expelled from Uboshita for that little move. Damage to school property and all that jazz. His father, needless to say, had punished him into the next month for being kicked out of another school. Inuyasha supposed that denting a locker right next to a girl's head wasn't the best action plan he'd ever devised. But he had learned something from the experience.

If he didn't have the lesson `Trust no one' engrained in his mind before, the incident with Kikyou certainly did it for him. And he hadn't trusted anyone since her. Not until Kagome.

Inuyasha knew he trusted Kagome. There was no way he could deny that he did; he'd told her more about his life than he'd ever been willing to. He knew why—the girl had somehow, inexplicably wormed her way into his heart. And he liked it that way. He liked feeling that way about her.

But that didn't change the fact that he was afraid. He was afraid to tell her that he liked her. There was so much room for her to turn him down…

“I'm just not ready for her to know,” he told Miroku finally.

“You miss her don't you?” he asked quietly, eyeing the suddenly pensive boy at the desk. Inuyasha heaved a sigh. Damn right! It was only a month and he knew that. And, yes, she'd been emailing everyday like she'd promised. But…but he missed her. He missed her scent and her warmth. He missed looking at her. That picture in his flat wasn't enough. He was, he had to admit, suffering from Kagome-withdrawals.

“Yeah.”

“Hey…you wanna feed it?” Miroku asked, changing topic to get Inuyasha out of his sudden melancholy. He got off of the bed to go to the tiny refrigerator in the corner of the room.

“Feed it what?”

“Mice.”

“You know it.”

Author's Note:

I don't know how I feel about this chapter. Let me know how you feel about it. I like the beginning, and I think I like the end, I just don't know about the middle part. Sorry if there's typos. It's 4 in the morning, and I haven't slept. Dunno why.

I just had a funny thought the other day of Miroku trying to hook Inuyasha up with some random girl, and thought it'd be kind of funny to see Inuyasha squirm. *shrugs* Then it kind of morphed into to this whole `chick-hunting/chick-ogling guys day out' with most of he hunting/ogling being done by Miroku. :) Don't really know how I feel about the chapter, but I wanted a `boy's night out' sort of thing in here somewhere.

Let me just say: I don't hate Kikyou. I really don't. I don't particularly care for her, but I don't hate her. So…for this chapter, I really just needed a she-villain…and…well…why bring in a made up character when there's Kikyou: so conveniently placed…I just really don't want to get flames from Kikyou-lovers because I kind of made her a meanie in this one.

(I just like Kagome better. Admit it…she and Inuyasha make a better couple.)

Anyway. You know what to do. Drop me a line. Review.

Wowzer313