One Month for Romance by Corisu Li, chapter 1, inu yasha fanfic

This work is complete. It's one of the greatest fanfics I've found on the Web. I'm posting it here with the permission of the author. I found it at http://www.geocities.com/inuyashakarma . Enjoy. Tim Seltzer

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters in this fanfic. That said, on with the story!
Inuyasha: Hey! Don't I get to say anything?
Kagome: Osuwari! Sorry you guys! I have to deal with a certain someone right now...
*Inuyasha groans in pain as several more 'osuwari's' are heard from the distance...*

Chapter 1: Inuyasha + School = BIG trouble!

"Well, Inuyasha, you should know better than to challenge the Janken Champ of Tokyo!" Kagome began to laugh while the hanyou sweatdropped. The day before, while in the Sengoku Jidai, Inuyasha had once again tried to prevent Kagome from returning to her own time. This led to a huge argument (not to mention dozens of "Osuwari!'s") before Inuyasha decided to make a wager with Kagome. If he won, she'd have to stay in the Sengoku Jidai for a whole month, no arguments. And if she won....

"Hurry up, Kagome-nee-chan! C'mon, we're gonna be late, Inu-no-onii-chan!" Souta shouted from the bottom of the stairs. Inuyasha stood, looking distinctly uncomfortable in the school uniform that he had been forced to wear. Kagome turned to look at him, laughing inside at the tough, unyielding hanyou who now looked like any normal schoolboy...well, if you ignored the intense white hair...the cute little doggy ears...and the golden eyes...

Kagome realized that she was staring and quickly looked away, blushing furiously. Had she almost started thinking of Inuyasha like THAT?? She made a big act of rummaging in her closet until she pulled out a hat that matched perfectly with Inuyasha's blue school uniform. She tugged it on over his ears. If it was possible for him to look any more annoyed, he did now.

For the millionth time, he started the old argument again: "Dammit, Kagome! Why the hell do I have to go to this stupid 'school' thing anyway?" he growled, tugging at the hat with displeasure. Kagome sighed. At least it was Friday. She couldn't imagine the drama of having to drag him to school for five days in a row.

"That was the deal, dog-boy. You're stuck here for one whole month, and there's no telling what you'll do to the house while I'm away, so you have to come with me." She looked suspiciously at him. "And no hurting people, okay?"

Inuyasha and Kagome stood in the middle of the classroom while the entire class bombarded Kagome with questions. Inuyasha, meanwhile, was getting poked and prodded. Girls kept pulling at his hair, staring into his eyes, or examining his nails. He looked as if he was seriously contemplating opening a window and tossing them all outside. At an especially hard yank on his hair, he changed his mind. Maybe he wouldn't bother to open the window...

Just when he thought he could take no more, and Kagome was running out of answers, the door opened and the teacher arrived. The class hurried to take their seats, Inuyasha choosing the one right behind Kagome.

Miss Saiko smiled around at the class, then spoke as her eyes settled on Inuyasha, who was trying desperately to fit in, and failing miserably due to his hair. "And who might you be, young man?"

Before Inuyasha or Kagome could open their mouths, the enthusiastic teacher had leapt forward and dragged a very bewildered hanyou to the front of the room. "Please, tell the class your name!" She chirped. When Inuyasha made no move to do so, she clapped him on the back, almost sending him sprawling into the front row of desks in surprise. A deep, rumbling growl started in his throat, but he quenched it when he looked at Kagome, who was silently mouthing "Osuwari". He frowned, cleared his throat, and said "Karogune Inuyasha.", picking the first family name that jumped into his head.

"And what brings you to our classroom?" Miss Saiko continued in her disgustingly happy voice, oblivious to the stares of her students at hearing that their new peer's name was 'Dog-Demon'.

"I'm a friend of Kagome's, here on vacation from Kyoto for a month." He quoted from the lecture that Kagome had given him the night before. He folded his arms and glared at the teacher, daring her to ask another question. Fortunately for her, she didn't. She motioned for Inuyasha to take his seat and began to lecture the class, all but Inuyasha listening attentively. He was thinking of how easily he could run his fingers through Kagome's hair and make it look accidental...but he smothered the thought and instead stared off into nowhere.

Kagome tried her best to keep Inuyasha from offending people, and she finally managed to convince him not to shove any more people to the ground. This didn't keep him from shooting evil glances at anyone who dared look his way or cross his path. Inwardly, he sighed. Humans are SUPPOSED to be like this?

At lunch, Inuyasha flat-out refused to eat anything from the school canteen. He took one sniff and clapped his hand over is nose, groaning, "Ugh, man! What IS that stuff?" He took a cautious breath. "It smells like Jaken!"

Kagome sweatdropped. "Hey, you'll usually eat anything! Does that mean that everyone else was RIGHT about cafeteria food?" She asked, prodding something that looked like cheese (though she couldn't be sure). She glanced up at Inuyasha, wondering why he wasn't responding, then got her answer. He'd turned a sick shade of green, and as she watched, the hanyou jumped up and bolted from the canteen, holding one hand to his mouth and the other to his nose. Kagome sighed. I guess the smell overwhelmed him, she thought, and wandered to the other side of the room.

When Inuyasha returned, Kagome was sitting down again, with a bowl of steaming hot ramen in front of his vacated spot. He grinned, then asked, "How did you..."

She pointed towards the other side of the room. "That's a microwave. Uh, it's kinda like an indoor fire. And I knew you wouldn't like cafeteria food, so I brought something I was sure you'd like!"

Without a word, Inuyasha grabbed the bowl and started toward the door again. "Where are you going?" Kagome called after him.

After a hurried lunch in the courtyard (Kagome couldn't keep Inuyasha from jumping up into a tree with his ramen, earning him many strange looks), the bell rang and the pair (the human willingly, the hanyou reluctantly) headed for math class, the last period of the day.

After going through the same routine of annoying pulls and yanks at his hair, the questions (which had become even more annoying) ringing in his ears, and the teacher forcing him to introduce himself, Inuyasha's temper was on a short thread. What better way to avoid contact than...

Kagome began to copy the notes that the teacher was writing on the board, and only paused when she heard something over her shoulder. Something that sounded like....snoring? "Inuyasha?" she hissed. "Wake up!"

"Oh, shut up, you stupid bitch, it's not like I'll need anything from this "school" thing anyhow. This is just for dumbasses like you."

Big mistake. All of the heads in the classroom snapped in their direction at the same time that Kagome lost all sense of reason and shouted, "Osuwari!" The faint glow of the necklace under the uniform could be briefly seen before it jerked him headfirst into the desk, very hard, splintering it and sending Inuyasha to the floor facefirst. For the next few seconds, all that could be heard was silence. And then...

This last question came from Mr. Egami, who looked half-confused, half- astonished, but completely angry. He stormed over to where Inuyasha still lay flat on the floor, under the control of the spell.

"Uh, Egami-sensei? Maybe one of the screws was loose in the desk or something...I'll go get him a new one." Kagome said, wanting to get away from Inuyasha before he recovered. Too late. His hand darted up and clenched on her shoulder while he stood up, wearing a completely fake smile on his face.

"Nonsense, Kagome." His voice was kind and gentle, setting off a mental "Uh- oh" in Kagome's brain. "Tell you what. You show me where the desks are, and I'll bring one back. Oh, yeah, and I guess we'll need a broom, too." Before anyone could react, he had steered Kagome out of the room, giving everyone left a clear view of the faceprint in the demolished desk.

Outside in the hallway, Inuyasha was raising hell. "Just what exactly were you THINKING, you stupid bitch? Do you WANT the whole secret to be blown? What's the big idea, huh?"

Kagome shouted back, "Well, don't you dare blame me for you falling asleep in school! And stop calling me a bitch, baka!"

"Maybe if you DID, you'd be a little easier to get along with! Because as a human, your attitude stinks!" He made a big show of sniffing the air. "And you stink too!"

"Well, who are YOU to talk about smelling bad! To have such a great nose you can't even smell yourself! That bath you took last night was probably the first one you've had since your mother died!"

As the color drained from Inuyasha's face, Kagome realized that she had probably gone too far. His eyes narrowed to slits and his muscles tensed. "Well, at least SHE accepted me for who and what I was, Kagome. I didn't need to hide my ears around her. She wasn't ashamed of me." He folded his arms tightly and bowed his head, hiding his eyes from view.

"Gomen ne, Inuyasha." Kagome began. "I really didn't mean for it to come out like that. And I'm NOT ashamed of you, on the contrary, I-" Here she stopped and felt her cheeks getting warm. She cleared her throat and started again. "I just mean that most of the kids around here aren't ready to deal with a hanyou, they'd probably send you off to a lab somewhere and I couldn't stand-" She stopped again, but before she could think of another way of getting her feelings across without saying something she'd regret, Inuyasha had begun to stride away down the hall. "Inuyasha!!" She followed, stepped in front of him, and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek. She pulled the second hand away quickly as he raised his eyes to hers. Kagome had never before seen such a startling mixture of sadness, anger, and .... betrayal. "Inu...yasha?" He shoved her roughly backward, kicked his shoes off, and took off down the hall, never making eye contact. Seconds later, she heard the school's front door slam. She looked down at his shoes, lying on the ground, trying hard not to give in to the tears she felt prickling her eyes in remorse. Picking up the shoes, she wondered: Was that expression because of sadness over his dead mother...or because he thought I was ashamed of him?

Kagome barely made it through the rest of the class. The only thing that she could think of was Inuyasha. She wondered if he had gone back to the shrine, or...maybe he had stolen the Shikon no Tama from her room and was back in the Sengoku Jidai right now?! This thought caused her to yell out, "That JERK!" very loudly, earning her many strange looks from her peers and Mr. Egami. Her face beginning to feel abused from all of the blushing she'd been doing that day, she quickly bent her head back to her work.

When the bell rang, Kagome took off for home without looking back, even though her friends were still bombarding her with questions about the whereabouts of Inuyasha. She ran all the way home, kicked off her shoes at the door, and ran up to her room, panting and clutching a stitch in her side, all prepared to go back to the Sengoku Jidai and DRAG Inuyasha back if she had to....and there he sat, in the middle of the room, with Souta standing in front of him, trying (but failing) to lift Tetsusaiga.

Immediately, Kagome wiped the sweat from her face and forced her features into a nonchalant expression. "Oh, so you're still here?"

Inuyasha looked up. Kagome instantly became worried again. His eyes had an odd, subdued look about them, as if someone had killed his best friend. No, scratch that, because if someone had killed his best friend, then he'd look more angry. He just looked depressed, or disappointed. He blinked, and Kagome could see him do the same 'change of facial expression' thing that she had just done. He stood, gently took the fang sword from Souta, and sheathed it. The next time Inuyasha looked at Kagome, he had his normal "What do YOU want?" expression on his face.

Kagome ignored what she'd seen and scoffed. "Ahem... I said you're still here, huh?"

Souta was watching this exchange like a boxing match, and Kagome noticed his interest. "Out, Souta-chan!" She said, pointing to the door.

"Nee-channnnn....why do I always have to get out when YOU come home?" A sly look took over the young boy's face. "Maybe you kiss when you're done arguing?"

With an angry yell, Kagome threw a pillow at the boy, who ran out. Moments later, they heard him go downstairs and the unmistakeable sounds of Souta settling down for hours of playing video games.

"Kagome, what the hell do you mean by 'hanyous can't be trusted'?" Inuyasha asked, jarring her from her thoughts about Souta.

"Well, you aren't exactly the person I'd trust with my valuables...or the Shikon no Tama."

"THAT'S what this is about? Yeah, right! You stupid bitch, why the hell would I steal the jewel from you? You are such a damn hypocrite!! How dare you say that you don't trust me with the jewel and yet every day, you trust me with your life! If that isn't trust, then I don't know what is! This has nothing to do with the Shikon no Tama and if you don't tell me the real reason right now, you really won't be able to trust me! What are you HIDING?"

Kagome stared at Inuyasha for a moment, then felt the prickle of hot tears welling in her eyes. Inuyasha instantly dropped the tough guy act. "C'mon, Kagome, don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you cry..." He stepped over to her and took her chin in his hands, tilting it up so she was facing him. The wildest thoughts were whirling through his head, and he had to mentally slap himself when he wondered how her lips would feel on his..."Kagome, just tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help."

Kagome bit her lip and opened her mouth to respond when she heard a voice from downstairs. "Kagome? Where's Jii-chan?" Her mom's voice carried into the room.

Doing her best to keep her voice steady, Kagome answered, "He's probably outside redoing his sealing spells, mom! You know how he can just sit out there all day until someone comes out to remind him that it doesn't really work!" Her mom's footsteps faded into another part of the house. Kagome turned to face Inuyasha again - but he was gone. Wait...wincing slightly, she looked down to find the hanyou face down on the floor. Running through what she'd just said in her head, she realized what she had done. "Whoops! Sorry Inuyasha! My mistake!" Uttering a very false laugh, she pranced from the room hoping that the situation wouldn't replay itself. She didn't know what she would answer the next time...

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was peeling himself off of Kagome's bedroom floor, the effects of the subduing wearing off. Grumbling slightly at the unearned punishment, he eased into a sitting position and turned his ears toward the door, listening to Kagome's retreat. What are you hiding from me, Kagome? he asked himself, And is it the same thing I'm hiding from you?

Kagome paused at the bottom of the stairs to catch her breath. She had come very close to saying something that she knew that she'd feel sorry about later. Recently, she'd started to feel a little closer to Inuyasha, and not just because he protected her. She began to realize just how bright his hair could shine in the sun, or how his eyes were the softest, purest shade of gold, or how his claws sent shivers up her spine every time he touched her. And those ears...they were sooo cute, that it made her want to touch them every time she could. She figured that Inuyasha enjoyed it too - a lot more than he was letting on. Get a hold of yourself, girl! she mentally shouted. He's a hanyou...why would you think that he'd be interested in a human? He's said it himself, he thinks of you as an inferior race! So stop pining after him and straighten up your act!

A knock on the door jolted her from her thoughts about Inuyasha. She opened it, half expecting one of her more annoying female acquaintances there to see the 'new boy at school'. Therefore, the person who stood on her doorstep startled her. "Houjou-kun?"

"What's up?" Kagome asked, wondering what had the boy looking more awkward than normal (if at all possible). "And call me Kagome-chan, Houjou-kun. You make me nervous referring to me like that!"

"Oh..uh..okay, Ka-Kagome-chan...I was just wondering...uhh...if you'd like to, well, uh, maybe have lunch with me on Sunday?" He spoke the last part very quickly, as if he were afraid of losing his nerve.

Kagome hesitated. Houjou? Asking her out? On a date? Well...if it would help her to keep her mind off Inuyasha... "Ok, Houjou-kun! Pick me up at 12:30?"

The poor boy nearly tripped over his own feet in surprise. (a/n: A very interesting move since he wasn't even walking XD {can you tell I'm being kinda mean to Houjou?}) "You...you mean it, Hig-uh, I mean Kagome-chan?"

She glanced up to her room window, where she could see Inuyasha glaring down at the scene below him. She quickly turned her gaze back to Houjou. "Of course, Houjou-kun. I'd love to."

"What the hell was THAT all about?" Inuyasha roared as Kagome returned to her room.

"Er...Houjou just needed the math homework for today!" Kagome answered, not knowing why she was so reluctant to tell him the truth.

"Stop your lying, you stupid bitch! I heard every word! In case you forgot, I have VERY good hearing!" His ears twitched slightly in anger, but she quenched the desire to touch them...now wasn't the time for playing around.

"Well, it's about time for me to get out of this house and DO something! Don't think that just because you're here I have to stay and keep you company! You can amuse yourself for a few hours, don't you think?"

"He couldn't protect you! If something were to happen, he'd probably run away faster than Shippou!" Or he'd be gone beforehand, like Myouga, he added silently.

"Inu-baka, in case you haven't noticed, this is MY home! There isn't danger around every corner like there is in the Sengoku Jidai! There aren't any crazed demons HERE!"

"How are you so sure? Don't you remember that crazy Noh mask? Or the evil Soul Piper? Or that damn Lady Centipede that came through the well and dragged you there in the first place?"

Kagome blinked twice. Oh yeahhhh...that had kind of slipped her mind. She opened her mouth to respond, but Inuyasha wasn't done yet... "Plus, you have lots of sick people out there Kagome! Robbers with those 'gun' things...rapists...I don't want to put you out there without adequate protection!"

"Because-Because-" He hesitated, then turned his nose up at her. "That doesn't matter. You probably just want to go with him for another reason anyway..."

One Month for Romance by Corisu Li

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