One Month for Romance

Chapter Two: Livin' for the Weekend, Part 1

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: Kagome: Corisu Li wants you guys to know...the usual...she doesn't own any of these characters, nor does she claim to.
Miroku: She could own me anytime...
Sango: Lech! *bops Miroku a good one with her Hiraikotsu*
Miroku: *lies on the ground, swirly-eyed* Twinkle, twinkle, little star....
Shippou: Hey, when are me, Sango, Miroku and the rest going to get in the story?
Corisu Li: Be patient...it's coming....(just not this chapter!!!)

Chapter 2: Livin' for the Weekend (part 1)

Saturday. That meant no school. And it also meant a whole day of arguing with Inuyasha. Kagome rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she yawned deeply and swung her feet out of bed. She began to place her weight on the floor, but leapt back onto the bed as her feet came in contact with something solid, soft, and warm. She peered over the side of the bed to see Inuyasha's sleeping body. She reddened, first with embarrassment, then with anger. How DARE he sneak up to her room after she'd gone to sleep? Her mom made it perfectly clear that he was supposed to sleep in the den, on the couch. Certainly she didn't authorize THIS?

She looked closer. He looked so innocent while he slept. His ears quivered slightly with each breath, and his mouth was open slightly, allowing her to see one of his fangs. He had removed his haori and his underkimono so she was awarded the full view of his muscular chest. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. 8:00 a.m. She was never up this early on Saturdays, and she proved it by letting out another huge yawn. She lay down once more, getting sort of used to the idea that a dog-demon was sleeping on her floor. At least it's a cute one, she thought, before shaking her head violently to clear the idea. Kagome sighed and reached one of her hands off of the bed. She gently curled her fingers around Inuyasha's ear and rubbed it. With this comforting sensation, she drifted off again, wondering vaguely what had woken her in the first place.

Inuyasha's eyes opened an instant later. He felt a pleasant warmth in his left ear and craned up to see one of Kagome's hands caressing it in her sleep. He smiled faintly and gently lifted her hand off of his head, sitting up. He gazed at her sleeping form. She was so beautiful. Her ebony hair spilled over the pillow, an unchecked waterfall, and the covers on her bed were dislodged so that they lay at her waist. Inuyasha's eyes followed her curves until they disappeared under the blanket, leaving the rest to the imagination. He glanced again at her lips, slightly parted in her slumber. His mind flashed to the last time he'd thought of kissing her -

"...hanyous can't be trusted..."

- and he winced. He heaved a deep sigh and raised her arm so that he could gently brush his lips across her palm. She murmured in her sleep, but didn't wake. He laid her arm gently by her side, but as he prepared to stand and leave, he noticed something strange. On Kagome's pillow lay a very small dart, barely the size of a pencil lead. He lifted it, and raised it to his nose. The smell hit him long before it got there, however.

"Ka...Kagome's blood?" There was only a small amount, because the dart was so tiny, but it immediately infuriated him. Who would DARE do something like this to his Kagome? He silently vowed to catch whoever it was and personally feed them their liver and spleen. He frowned, turning the minuscule object over and over in his hands, until he noticed a small crack running down its center. Inuyasha gently inserted a claw and slit it apart. A cloud of yellow dust poured out and wafted over the sleeping Kagome. She stirred, coughed, then sneezed. Her eyes popped open, and she gasped.

Inuyasha faltered as he realized what this situation gave the impression of. He was leaning over her, shirtless, his face very near hers from examining the dart. Kagome, meanwhile, was wearing nothing but a large T- shirt and underwear! She opened her mouth before her brain could process the consequences of this position: "INUYASHAAAA! OSUWARI!!!!"

Kagome immediately regretted this as the necklace pulled him facedown - right into her chest. She gasped and her heart immediately sped up. She knew that Inuyasha could probably hear her heart and tried in vain to calm down. She put up a vain struggle, but the spell that bound Inuyasha was a strong one, and neither Inuyasha nor Kagome could move.

Of course, this was exactly when Souta came barging in.

"Eww, nee-chan! I'm telling mom! Wait until she hears about THIS!" Souta did a happy sort of dance on the spot, the kind that never failed to annoy Kagome, and succeeded especially well at the moment. She clenched her fists, but couldn't do anything, because Inuyasha's dead weight was pinning her down. But then -

The hanyou suddenly jumped up, grabbed Souta, tugged him into the room, and slammed the door behind him. This left a bewildered Kagome to blush and wonder: How long had he been able to MOVE?

Souta, meanwhile, was explaining to Inuyasha the regrettable things that were going to happen to him when he told his mother. "She'll probably cut your ears off with a kitchen knife and keep them in a jar on the TV...then she'll string you up by your toes in a tree...and she'll probably encourage passerby to hit you with sticks..."

Inuyasha was only half listening. His mind was still on the situation that had just unfolded. He had spent a glorious 20 seconds with his face buried in Kagome's bosom! Dammit, he was starting to sound like that lech, Miroku. Never, of course, would he admit to Kagome that he could actually move after about 12. He was enjoying the feel of her, even if it was through the shirt. AND...he was sure that he had heard her heart beating wildly in her chest, and coupled with a certain scent that she was starting to acquire, made him want to lie there forever. A dreamy smile came over his face, and at the same time, he was sent flying into the wall at the opposite side of the room. Souta sweatdropped. He was NEVER gonna understand Kagome... Shaking his head slightly, he said, "Well, I'll leave you two to sort things out..." He winked. "And Kagome-nee-chan?" He added mischievously.

"What?" Kagome sighed, knowing what was coming.

"If you're not extra-super nice to me, I just might slip and tell Mom..."

He disappeared from the room, right before Inuyasha managed to stand. "Kagome!!! What the HELL was that for, huh?" A flaming red handprint stood out on his face.

"What was it FOR?!!?" She exploded. "For leaning over my bed, you perv! Is that how you hanyous get your sick kicks?"

This led Inuyasha to remember WHY he had been leaning over her bed in the first place. His lack of an angry response worried Kagome, and she lowered her voice and asked, "What is it?"

He walked back over to her bed and retrieved the dart from where it had fallen after his unexpected 'sitting'. He showed the two halves, which still contained a small amount of yellow dust, to Kagome.

She frowned slightly. "What's this?"

Inuyasha couldn't help but roll his eyes. "It's a dart, you numbskull!"

"I know THAT!" She bristled. "I just meant - well, it's so small! It can't really do any damage, can it?"

He halted, on the brink of telling her about smelling her blood on it. "Well, just...stay inside, today, Kagome. That way we'll be sure nothing can happen to you." Because, he added silently, with such a small dart, their aim may not have been to kill you...

Kagome wasn't listening, however, for she had just noticed that she was standing in the middle of her room wearing a T-shirt that barely covered her panties! "Eep! Osuwari!" She shouted again. Inuyasha facedived again and got a mouthful of carpet while she bolted to the bathroom after snatching her clothes from the dresser.

But not before Inuyasha could see the curves that the blanket had been hiding. Her calves looked delicate, yet very strong. They flowed upward into her hips and thighs, causing tantalizing contours that made him growl deep in his throat. He shook his head as well as he could under the spell, then lowered it back to the ground to wait it out. He really hoped Kagome would make it quick.

At that moment, he had never before needed a cold shower like he needed one now.

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Kagome found it while she was showering, but thought nothing much of it. She just got dressed and went downstairs, joining Souta and her mother at the table for breakfast. "Where's Inuyasha?" She asked.

Mrs. Higurashi glanced up and made a strange face. "I believe he's hosing himself off in the backyard..." Kagome and Souta sweatdropped. Then Souta saw it. He leaned close to Kagome.

"I guess you won't have to worry about me telling Mom, huh, Kagome? You're doing a pretty good job by yourself!" He tried to hide a snicker, and failed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ohhh, nothing!" he responded, returning his attention to food.

She didn't have time to badger him for the answer, because at that moment, Inuyasha entered the front door with his sopping wet hair tied up behind him with a strip of cloth. He was dressed in his usual red kimono now that he didn't have to go to school.

He stepped up to the table and reached for his chair, but before he could pull it back, he saw it. And his reaction was much different than Souta's.

Before anybody could say anything, he had grabbed Kagome by the arm and dragged her upstairs, leaving Mrs. Higurashi and Souta to stare after them.

In Kagome's room, Inuyasha rather rudely tossed Kagome into the middle of the room. "Why didn't you say anything? And don't say you didn't know, because I know you did!"

"What are you TALKING about, Inuyasha?" Kagome yelled, genuinely confused. (a/n: and I know YOU are, too :P)

"This!" He grabbed her arms, spun her around so that her back was against his stomach, and leaned them both toward the mirror. Kagome flushed at the close contact, but was snapped back into reality when Inuyasha grabbed her head and twisted it slightly to the left, so that she could see the right side of her neck.

Oh, yeah, I remember that now...but it wasn't this bad before, she thought. No wonder Souta had said that to her. It looked as if an angry, red hickey had taken up residence on her neck. She frowned as the noticed that the center of the coin-sized bruise was a very small puncture, tinged with yellow. She looked up at Inuyasha. "The dart?"

He nodded slowly. "I think so."

She raised her hand slowly to touch the bruise, then hissed slightly in pain and winced. "Ouch...that hurt..."

"Kagome..." Inuyasha began carefully. "I think that we should go back and ask Kaede if she's ever seen anything like this. I don't like this whole situation at all."

Kagome gave him a dry look. "OH, NO....If you think I'm letting you off the hook for this, then you're sadly mistaken, mister!" She poked him in the ribs. "Whatever this is came from MY time, therefore medicines from MY time should be able to help! You just want to go running back to the Sengoku Jidai and lea-" She cut off the sentence and suddenly became very interested in a chip on the corner of her dresser.

Inuyasha snorted. "Keh. Fine. But if that thing isn't better in 2 weeks..." He studied it closely. "...or if it takes a turn for the worse, then we ARE going back to Kaede and you WON'T be able to stop me. Get it?"

Kagome looked at him, amazed. Was he...worried? Did he actually care about her more that he was letting on? She cleared her throat. "Fine. Now that that's settled, I want to go shopping!" She leaned into the mirror while sponging a bit of concealer on over the bruise. When she finished that, she tossed a hat (red this time) in his direction, and began coaxing him to put on some street clothes.

Inuyasha sweatdropped. Surely she wasn't serious? "Don't you remember the little agreement we made this morning about you staying HOME today? Whoever sent the dart is still out there somewhere!"

"And if this bruise is the worst they can do, there's nothing to worry about! Besides, wouldn't you protect me anywayyyy?" Kagome put on a pleading face.

Inuyasha folded his arms. "Keh."

Kagome, taking this for a yes, grabbed a rather flustered hanyou and dragged him out of the door, having yelled a quick good-bye to Souta and her mother, who could do nothing more than gape at the pair, Kagome now dragging Inuyasha by the arm. She grinned broadly at the prospect of going shopping with her own personal bag-carrier, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in her neck.

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"Ayako..." the man's voice hissed, drawing her out of her trance. Ayako jumped and whirled to face him, raising her blow-gun to her lips as she did. "Have you done what we discussed?" Ayako stared for a second before she recognized the speaker. "Ah, Sesshoumaru, can't tell you how pleased I am to see you..." She contradicted this with a sour look, lowering her weapon. "Anyway, the girl has been infected, and it will take around 3 weeks for it to take full effect. My Siaku powder has never failed, and this wench is no different than a common girl." Ayako resisted the urge to spit at Sesshoumaru's feet. She really HATED him, but it wouldn't do well to tell HIM that.

He smiled. "Three weeks. Not bad. But two would have been better. One, best. Hell, tomorrow wasn't beyond expectation!" His voice rose in contempt. He pressed his face to hers and hissed, "The only reason I bother to associate with you, lowly youkai, is because your knowledge of potions and hexes is...slightly admirable...but if my wretched half-brother finds the cure..." Here he raised a finger and channeled a bit of poison into it. His claw glowed a sick green. He gently set it on her cheek, careful not to break the skin. "You will find yourself dead before you can scream. So...I would consider being attentive...taking up a position at the local hospital, just in case (here Ayako flinched)...and I would also consider that you stop harboring the urge to...spit at my feet." He lowered the claw and walked off, disappearing gradually.

Ayako punched into a tree and smashed it into pieces in rage. "Dammit, Sesshoumaru!" She really HATED him when he did things like that...she kicked at a rock before turning to look up at the Higurashi household. Ah, well...that bastard will get what's coming to him... she thought. Better sooner than later. Hell, tomorrow wouldn't be beyond expectation... She scowled as she flexed her muscles...time to wait for the idiot hanyou to return.

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Inuyasha watched as Kagome fluttered around the shop, holding up various items of clothing, then dropping the items she had the most liking for in his arms before flying off again. He looked on, exasperated. She was really in her own world while she was shopping...but at least it gave him more time to think about the dart and who was behind it. What could their plan POSSIBLY be? he asked himself. The first person that jumped into his mind was Naraku, but that was impossible, he was currently powerless, even if he'd somehow managed to survive Inuyasha's last victory. This left...who? Any demon who you've really pissed off since you met Kagome, his mind answered. Or maybe...who Kagome had pissed off?

He sighed. He was stumped. He started to run through a list of names when Kagome grabbed his hand and tugged him off in the direction of the dressing rooms. He was VERY agitated, but at least this was getting him away from the stares of the other shoppers. They had been staring at the white-haired young man, dressed in a red top, red hat, and slightly baggy dark blue jeans ever since he had entered with Kagome. He had half a mind to rip off his cap and scream out that he was a hanyou to the whole world!

While Inuyasha struggled with his inner (and outer) demons, Kagome had banished hers with the best therapy she knew, even better than all the herbal remedies that she had learned from Kaede - shopping!!!

When the pair reached the back of the store, near the dressing rooms, Kagome grabbed the clothes from the hanyou and entered one of them. She then proceeded to model the outfits for him. Inuyasha acted indifferent, although one really caught his eye. It had taken Kagome a while this time, and he wondered how many articles of clothing she was trying on at the same time. When she burst out, however, he couldn't help his jaw from dropping.

She wore a very short patent-leather light blue skirt with fluffy white fringe and matching vest, a white halter top underneath, white boots with VERY high heels, sunglasses, and a white sailor's hat. She grinned at his reaction. "I knew this one would get a response," she laughed, as Inuyasha struggled to collect his jaw from the floor.

"So...you're not gonna buy it then?" He asked, quite innocently.

Kagome narrowed her eyes dangerously, a vein popping out in her forehead. "What kind of slut do you think I am?" She howled, getting many strange looks from the patrons. One boy, however, made a very grave error.

"Well, I think you look like a great one!" he yelled, walking past her and squeezing her behind suggestively. He shook his sandy brown hair, winked, and went to laugh with his buddies.

Kagome reddened with embarrassment and anger, but Inuyasha did much more than that. He leapt from the chair beside the dressing rooms and sprinted across the room in a flash. The baka that had yelled squealed right before Inuyasha grabbed him right in the front of his shirt and lifted him from his feet. "What the FUCK did you say to her?" he hissed.

"H-h-hey man! W-w-w-we don't want n-no trouble!" The guy stammered, struggling weakly, fear all over his face.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH KAGOME?!?!?" Inuyasha roared as he clenched his hand tighter and swung the guy around, slamming him into a wall and knocking over a display of cell phone covers. He was vaguely aware of Kagome calling his name, but the blood was pounding so hard in his ears that he couldn't think straight. He raised his fist and swung into the baka's face, pulling the punch as much as he could at the last moment. However, there was still sufficient force to break his nose. The catcaller began to scream.

Inuyasha would have punched him again if soft hands hadn't encased his fist. He turned and met the eyes of Kagome. "Inuyasha....stop it. Now. Onegai." She gently eased his hand back. The hanyou sighed and dropped the idiot to the ground, who scrambled to his feet and made a hasty exit, supported by his buddies. The store was silent as the grave. Everyone's eyes were on Inuyasha. His eyes, however, were on Kagome.

"Now you see what I was talking about!" He yelled, his voice strained with anger. "We're going! Go change, NOW!" Kagome nodded meekly and set off to do just that. She also took the time to buy a couple of the outfits (not the light blue one, though) before following Inuyasha from the shop.

They walked in silence for a while, until they passed a certain store. Inuyasha peered inside, then casually asked Kagome, "How come you don't wear anything like that?"

Kagome, still brooding, cast an uninterested glance in that direction and blushed. The store was Victoria's Secret! He was asking her how come she didn't wear lingerie! "Grr, you hentai! That's-" She stopped as she heard a yell from somewhere behind her.

"That's the guy, officers!"

Kagome turned around, slowly. The sandy-haired boy (holding a very red cloth to his nose) and his friends were leading three police officers in their direction. "Oh, no!"

Inuyasha followed her gaze. "Oh, shit!" he agreed. "Should I run? Fight them off?"

"No! You'll just make things worse! You'll never be able to come back to the shrine or show yourself in public! And I doubt if mom would ever let me go back home with a felon!"

Inuyasha nodded. Just then, the officers caught up. "We've got you now, bishounen!" one sneered, grabbing Inuyasha by his wrists, twisting them behind him, and using the motion to slam him face-first into a wall. (a/n: for all who don't know, bishounen = pretty boy. I used it to make the officers seem like jerks.)

Inuyasha growled, infuriated at this violation, but he stopped at one look from Kagome. Her face was set. "Iya!" she yelled. "No! You're making a mistake!" Her eyes filled with tears as one of the officers pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

Another officer chuckled. "We'll sort this out at the station," he sneered. It took all three officers to drag Inuyasha to the security station in the mall (and then, only because he let them), earning very odd looks and muted whispers from the other mall shoppers. Kagome sighed morosely. It would be a looooong day...

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When they reached the station, they learned that baka-boy had told the officers that Inuyasha had tried to force himself on Kagome. As they had been told, when the boy tried to help her, Inuyasha beat him up. Inuyasha was fuming. So was Kagome.

"And you BELIEVED him? Why would I be walking with someone who tried to molest me! You need to deal with HIM!" she yelled, pointing at the boy who was smirking at her through the window of the station.

The officers shifted slightly. "Maybe he threatened you and forced you to go with him...maybe he was saving you for later?" Inuyasha growled again at this, but said nothing. "Maybe he told you not to tell anyone or he'd kill you. That may be the reason that you're sticking up for him!" The officer continued.

Kagome sweatdropped despite the situation. How in the world was she going to make these idiot cops get it?? But then...she had an idea...

"I'm telling you, he tried to protect ME when that hentai over there came on to me! And you can trust my word because-" She put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "I'm his girlfriend!"

Inuyasha stared at Kagome, shocked. He wasn't entirely sure about the term 'girlfriend', but he had an idea...had Kagome just said what he thought she'd said? Did she just call herself...his mate? Little did he know...the best was yet to come...

The biggest, dumbest officer of the lot said, "How do we know HE didn't tell you to say that?" Kagome sighed. These guys were so persistent! But just then, she got another brilliant idea.

"I'll prove it!" she said defiantly. She turned to face Inuyasha, hesitated for a split second, and then pressed her lips to his. Inuyasha's eyes widened as he felt the contact. His muscles relaxed slowly, and his eyes closed. Meanwhile, Kagome felt as if she might as well make it convincing...she opened her mouth slightly and slowly probed her tongue into his mouth. Again, Inuyasha was surprised, but he responded, and Kagome began to melt into his lips...until she remembered the officers...

She broke the kiss abruptly (and reluctantly) and turned shameless eyes to the officers, who were sitting, wide eyed. She grinned. That probably wasn't what they'd expected.

At long last, an officer rose and took the handcuffs off of Inuyasha. He and Kagome stood and turned to leave.

"Oh, and young man? Try not to hurt him so badly next time. I wouldn't blame him for being interested. A fine girlfriend you've got there." Inuyasha simply nodded and ushered Kagome out.

"Now, to deal with that lying baka-" the officer stopped his sentence short. At the sight of the kiss, the boy had fled.

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Inuyasha's mind was reeling. That kiss...it was so compassionate...surely it wasn't just an act? He stole a glance at Kagome. She was concentrating very hard on the sidewalk in front of her. The two were walking home in silence. And then she called herself my mate? he asked himself. Is it possible that she...

Just then, another thought pushed into his mind. It was something that Kagome had said before the policemen had taken him:

"...I doubt if mom would ever let me go back home with a felon!"

Home. She considered the Sengoku Jidai her home? So then, why was she making a big fuss over them staying here for the full month? He sighed, then rubbed his temple. So many mixed messages...

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Kagome, at the time, was beating herself up. Stupid, stupid! she thought. She was taking his silence as rejection. How could I do that? But it was pretty nice... she smiled inwardly. And...didn't he kiss me back? She opened her mouth to speak when she caught sight of her home. And screamed.

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Corisu Li: Oh, nooo! What happened?!?! I should be posting the next part pretty quick so this cliffhanger won't last long!

Kagome: I can't believe it!

Inuyasha: What? You can't believe that that-

Kagome: Osuwari!

Inuyasha: *thuds to the ground* WHAT?? I wasn't gonna give away the story or anything....

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