Kagome was in a sour mood, as she walked to school the next morning. She was still furious with InuYasha, but, admittedly, she felt his absence like a part of herself was missing. When she'd woken, she'd instinctively reached for her phone. Every night, she would lie in bed texting InuYasha, and every morning she would wake to a text he sent after she'd fallen asleep.
Instead of a love note, there was an angry inquiry: "I don't understand why you're so mad. I didn't do anything wrong." And instead of butterflies in her stomach, she felt a flash of anger. The only reason they were having problems now was because of him, because he had to make such a big deal about her studying with Koga.
She smiled to herself. Just make sure he treats you right. She felt a growing fondness for Koga. He made everything so easy, even fun. She liked hanging out with him, but she didn't have feeling for him. Why couldn't InuYasha see that?
Kagome entered the school and walked to her locker. She quickly opened it, reaching for her books. Before she had filled her bag, the silver-haired hanyou was behind her. He'd probably caught her scent as soon as she was on school grounds.
"Why haven't you answered my texts?"
Kagome stiffened, irritated at the accusatory tone in his voice. She shook her head, she couldn't afford to have her head messed up before first period. "InuYasha, I can't talk right now. I have class."
"Well, when can you talk?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean, you 'don't know'?" InuYasha stared at her, incredulous.
Kagome huffed in exasperation, her fingers clenched the door to her locker. "Just what I said, InuYasha. I don't have time for this." She replied, without looking at him.
For a few seconds, there was silence between the pair. Then, InuYasha spoke quietly from behind her. "But you had plenty of time to spend with Koga, yesterday." He said it like a statement, not a question.
Kagome couldn't help it. "You're such a jerk!" she said, slamming the locker door. InuYasha clamped his hands over both ears. "Will you stop doing that?"
She turned away from him, "I'm going to class, now."
"Kagome!" he called, but she ignored him. Instead, she made her way to her first class, and slammed her bookbag down. The student next to her raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't say anything. Kagome started tapping her pencil on her notebook, waiting for class to start. Her phone beeped and she slipped it out of her pocket. It was a message from Koga.
"Hey, sorry I'm just getting back to you. Over slept, and gonna be late for first period :O "
Kagome felt the smile stretch across her face. He's funny. She looked up at the sound of feet shuffling into the room. The teacher has just walked in, hurrying to get his papers together.
She texted back a quickly reply: "No worries. Tsk, tsk. What am I going to do with you? Have a good morning, I'll see you for 3rd period."
His reply was almost instant: "Nothing! Bc you love me just the way I am ;) cool, see you soon."
She shut off her phone and turned her attention to her teacher, who had started the lecture. The period came to an end, and Kagome walked to her second class, which turned out to be just as incapable of distracting her as her first. By 3rd period, she was a complete mess as she walked into the room taking her seat in the middle aisle. InuYasha was already in his seat, sulking and not looking at her. She glanced at Koga, he smiled and waved at her, and Kagome heard a sharp growl come from deep in InuYasha's throat. She threw a look at him over her shoulder. Koga eyed them both, mouthing "You okay?" to her. She shrugged, and all of them turned to the teacher as he began the review of last night's homework.
When the period ended, all three of them stood up. Koga glanced back a Kagome, shouldering his bookbag. She eyed InuYasha for a second, who was standing behind them with his arms folded across his chest. She heaved another sigh, and made her way out of the classroom. Koga quickly caught up with her, while InuYasha kept his distance. But his ears flicked in their direction.
Neither of them said a word, and when they reached the history classroom, Kagome stepped through the door and took her seat without looking at anyone. Koga took his seat beside her. He set his backpack gently on the floor, and took out his notebook and pencil. He set them both on his desk and then turned in the seat, facing her.
"What's up with you two?" Koga asked, after a few seconds.
"Nothing." She replied, quietly.
"Doesn't look like nothing to me."
"Leave it alone, Koga." She snapped, planting her chin in her palm and refusing to look at him.
She heard a small chuckle, and turned to see Koga grinning at her. She glared at him, but he just winked, and flashed another bright smile. Kagome rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling. Koga reached over and gently patted her arm. The teacher started to speak, and they both started taking down notes.
The class ended, signaling their lunch hour. Kagome got up to leave, and she felt Koga's hand on her wrist. "Sit with me today."
"Sure," she said, nodding. She followed him out to the courtyard, and they sat on the soft grass. The sun felt warm on her cheeks and she placed her hands behind her, leaning back and tilting her face up to the sun. This was so easy. She looked at Koga, and noticed how the color matched his eyes. He sat next to her, taking out his lunch. When he noticed her staring, he set it aside, leaning his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together, under his chin. "Is there something you want to talk about?"
"Nope," she said, not blinking.
"Okay, what should we talk about, then?" he asked, resting his hand on the grass behind him, and leaning back.
"Nothing." Kagome fell back onto the grass, resting her hands across her stomach. For a few seconds, she blinked up at the sky, "Just talk about something. Distract me."
Koga frowned down at her, before he reached into his bookbag and took out his history notebook. "You know, I feel like I had an easier time keeping up with the lecture, today."
She smiled, "Glad to hear it."
"You should really go into tutoring." Koga rolled onto his stomach, his lunch forgotten. He angled the notebook so that she could see it.
"You're much neater, today." she observed.
"Thanks. I started underlining, too. See?" he said, pointing to the numerous pen marks scattered across the page. Kagome put her hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle when she saw how much he had underlined.
"What?" he asked, looking over at her.
"It's just a lot of underlining. Remember, we said, only the important stuff."
"Yeah, but it all seems important." Koga shook his head, then turned to stare at Kagome when she started laughing, hysterically.
"What are you laughing at?"
"You," she said, through her hands, which had come up to cover her mouth.
"Me?" Koga smiled. He moved to his knees and hovered over her. "You'll regret that." Then, he tickled her stomach.
"Ah! Koga—stop!" she spit out through each fit of laughter. She tried wrestling his hands off, but he was too strong. He started tickling her sides. She tried sitting up, but she was laughing too hard.
"Take it back, Kagome" he said, starting another tickling assault on her lower abdomen. "Take it back!"
"Okay! I take it back" she said, breathing hard when he finally relented.
"That's what I thought" he said, settling back onto the grass. He lay down on his back, his shoulder touching hers. Her breathing had evened out just as the bell rang; lunch was over. Koga sat up, "Looks like we've gotta go." He jumped to his feet, then reach down and lifted her off the grass. She lost her footing and stumbled into his arms. He steadied her, and their eyes locked for a few breathless seconds, before Koga gave her a lopsided grim. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Anytime." He smiled, leaning down to grab her bookbag. He handed it to her, then grabbed his own. "Come on, don't want to be late." He started walking towards the building. She followed, and he walked her to her next class.
The second bell rang as they reached the door, "You're late for your next class." Kagome said, with her hand on the doorknob.
"No worries." Koga stood beside her in the quiet hall. He had one hand on his shoulder strap and the other holding his history notebook and the sandwich he hadn't eaten. Kagome noticed for the second time how handsome was, but as the thought crossed her mind, InuYasha's face flashed behind her eyes. She smiled at Koga. "Thanks for distracting me."
"Anytime. But if you want to repay me, you could come over, tonight. Help me go over these notes again?" He held up the notebook, with his history notes.
"Sure," Kagome said, nodding.
Koga winked at her, turning to walk down the hall. Kagome turned the knob on the door and walked into the classroom, almost five minutes late. The rest of the day went by in a mix of lectures and notes, neither of which kept Kagome's mind off of her study date with Koga. Why was she so happy whenever she thought of him? Her body tickled with the memory of his hands on her stomach, and like before, InuYasha's face popped into her head. Her heart ached at the memories of his smile, his laugh, his body close to hers...
Her attention snapped back to reality when the final bell rang. She walked to her locker to grab the books she needed for homework. As she went to shut the door, her eyes caught the envelope taped to the inside. It was the first note InuYasha had ever written her. She slipped the small piece of paper from the envelope, and gently unfolded it. Written across the center of the page, in four short lines was the message: "Kagome, without you, my heart would be left in darkness. It will always belong to you. Keep it safe for me. I love you. -InuYasha."
Kagome bowed her head, pressing her forehead to the cold metal door. She didn't want to lose everything she had with InuYasha. She closed her locker, and headed out of the school, searching for him. She knew where he parked his car and was prepared to wait for him. As she rounded the corner, she saw him getting into his car. She ran over, and caught him just before he was ready to pull out of the parking lot.
"InuYasha!" she said, her hand on the door.
"What do you want, Kagome?" he asked, without looking at her. She cringed, not expecting his voice to sound so cold.
"InuYasha, we need to talk."
He turned incredulous eyes on her. "Now, you want to talk? What, you have time for me now that class is over, and wolf boy's hands aren't all over you?"
Flustered, Kagome stepped away from the car, "What are you talking about?"
He glared at her. "I saw you both at lunch."
Kagome's face fell, "You weren't supposed to see that."
"Obviously," he rolled his eyes.
"Nothing happened." Kagome insisted. "He was trying to make me feel better, InuYasha."
"Spare me. I saw you, Kagome, and I saw him." He faced forward, shaking his head. "I tried to talk to you, but you wouldn't listen. You slammed the damn door in my face, and wouldn't give me the time of day this morning." His hands gripped the steering wheel. "I can't forget what I saw, Kagome." He started easing the car back out of the parking lot.
Kagome's heart dropped. "What do you mean?" Kagome asked, frantically.
He didn't answer her, only swung the car out on the street and drove away. Kagome stood on the pavement, dumbfounded. What just happened?
She turned around and saw Koga standing across the lot, staring at her. In seconds, he was beside her. "What's wrong?" he asked, bewildered by the horrified look on her face.
"He's gone," her voice broke as she started to sob. "He wouldn't talk to me."
Koga put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She pressed her face into his chest, and her tears dampened his shirt. "He'll come around."
She shook her head. "You didn't see his face. He was so angry with me."
"He's angry with me." Koga softly stroked her hair, smoothing it down her back. "I told you, demons don't like other demons near their females."
Kagome lifted her head, her tear-stained face peering at him in desperation. "I think we just broke up." With that, she went back to crying into his shirt, and Koga ushered her over to his car. They got in and drove to her house. Kagome got out, and with only a small wave, walked into her house. She spent the night in her room, hoping that it was all a terrible nightmare that she was going to wake up from in the morning. Sadly, when she opened her eyes, she could feel fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked at her phone, and there was no text from InuYasha. Just one, from Koga: "Call if you need anything."