ScarredInnocence: Hey, I noticed that I didn’t do a disclaimer for umm…any of my chapters yet. Heh heh, bad bad me I know. So here is my disclaimer for all previous chapters! I do NOT own Inuyasha or any if it’s characters, in fact they all belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I am merely manipulating them into doing my will for my stories. THANK YOU TO YOU WONDERFUL REVIEWERS, I MUST SAY I LOOOOOVE YOU~! R/R plz!

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-2 days later-

The first assignments of the new semester had been given, in just about all of her classes…at the same time. At the moment, Kagome was walking through the halls, books clutched to her chest, her usual stoic expression on her face. Though on the outside it appeared that there was nothing happening, on the inside there was what one could call turmoil. She was worrying over her project that she had been assigned during History… a project that involved group work, and with her luck, she had been grouped with a certain silver haired boy with a rude mouth.

/Flashback/

“The fundaments of your project will be based on Creativity, Punctuality, Organization, and Contents. The whole project will span over a 2 month period, and you will receive absolutely NO class time to work on it. All work is to be done at home. The project will be out of 100 marks, and will account for 50% of this term’s final mark. Now, are there any questions?” the teacher asked from his place at the front of the room, he did a quick wash over the class with his eyes and seeing no hands, continued. “In each group there is to be 3 people. Now, I will announce your groups.”

The teacher continued to drone on with the partner pair ups, Kagome –who was seated near the back next to the window- only listening with one ear, the other ear occupied with her headphone. Staring out the window, she laid her head on her folded arms on the desk, thinking to herself, ‘Group Work huh? Maybe if I’m lucky my group will either divide up all the work and we’ll never have to get together or they can just dump it all on me… or someone else.’

She was jarred out of her thoughts when her name was called, her head immediately shooting up from its cradle in her arms to stare wildly up at the teacher. Everyone around her glanced at her, making some rather rude comments, those of which she ignored, instead waiting in baited breath to see whom she was to be paired up with. The teacher was looking down at his clipboard flipping through the pages, a frown on his plump face.

“It seems that Ms. Takahashi will only be in a group of 2… It seems as if I forgot to remove Ms. Miko from my list… Well Ms. Takahashi you are the lucky one to be working with Mr. Taisho, alone. Good luck.” As soon as the teacher said her partner’s name, she turned her head to face the pair of golden eyes that were staring back at her, a smirk on his face. Huffing, she crossed her arms over her chest and slouched in her desk. ‘This is not going to be an enjoyable 2 months…at all.’ she thought to herself.

/End Flashback/

Pausing in front of her locker, she carefully balanced her books on one arm, and then proceeded to slowly spin her combination into the lockers…lock. “OI!” someone yelled from behind her. Cursing slightly, she readjusted the shifted books in her arms and ignored whoever had yelled out; choosing instead to get her books ready for her next class, placing the needed books in her arms and the un-needed ones back in the locker.

“OI! Are you deaf or something?! Didn’t you hear me?!” the same voice called again. Huffing, she closed her locker and started walking to her next class. ‘Damn, can’t whoever is being called just respond already? Having that baka continuously yelling is getting annoying.’ She thought to herself, an annoyed expression on her face. She blinked as a heavy hand fell on her shoulder, and turned her head to stare into a pair of golden eyes, those of which belonged to her ‘partner’.

“OI! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WENCH!?” Inuyasha yelled from behind her.

Turning around fully, she said calmly, “Do you mind refraining from yelling through the halls where anyone willing to listen can hear? It is rather irritating.”

“GAWD you STUPID wench! YOU’RE THE ONE BEING IRRITATING! What is your problem!? I was calling you for the last 10 minutes!” Inuyasha growled at her.

“Oh.” As if considering something she stood there and looked past him to see ...something. Inuyasha turned to see what she was looking at but saw nothing. "Oi wench! Whatcha starin' at? "

Bowing slightly, she mumbled, “I apologize for not responding to you, I was unaware that it was someone yelling for me.”

“Oi, don’t bow or anything… Feh, forget about it.” Inuyasha replied, turning his head away.

Straightening up, she questioned him on why he had been calling for her.

“Feh, I was just wondering when you wanted to start that uh, project thing.”

“We have 2 months to work on it; there is no reason to start now. Besides, I am willing to do the project myself, so you won’t need to do anything.” She said, secretly hoping that he would agree to her plan of doing the project by herself. ‘I don’t need you, I don’t need anyone. I can do it by myself… just as well as someone could do it with others, perhaps even better.’

“NANI?! You WANT to do the project BY YOURSELF?! No Friggin way!”

“There isn’t a reason to worry you know, I am perfectly capable of doing it alone. If you are this upset about it we could split it up and come the due date, just put our research together. Is that acceptable?”

“NO! What if uh- what if we both find the same information or something?! I can’t just let a girl do all the work! Yeah, we should just do it together.”

“If I didn’t know any better Inuyasha, I would say that you’re vying for time for us to spend together.” She said a small smirk on her face.

“NANI!? NO WAY I would want to spend my time with someone like YOU!” Inuyasha huffed, turning his head away though Kagome could see a blush seeping onto his cheeks. ‘If you did I would have to ask what is wrong with you… why anyone would want to spend time willingly with me is beyond me.’ She thought.

“No need to get upset or anything of the sort." Kagome said. "Feh. I ain't upset or-or anything." came Inuyasha's reply as he ducked his head, his ears flattening slightly to lay flat against hid head. "

Alright then, if you are so set on us doing this project together, then where do you suppose we do it?”

“Well, we could do it at your house.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

“Nani? Why not? That isn’t an answer.”

“Look Inuyasha, I offered to do this thing alone, you refused. So if we are going to do this together then we both get a say, and my say is that it can’t be at my house.” A staring contest ensued between the two, Inuyasha being the first to turn away, an annoyed ‘Feh’ escaping from his lips. Turning back to stare into her eyes, Kagome could see that she had won this battle, she could literally see the walls in his eyes crumbling down.

“Feh, wait for me after school at the front gates, wench.” Was all Inuyasha said before he walked away in a huff. Kagome frowned as she watched him walk away, sending several people’s books flying and continued making her way to class, wondering the rest of the day what Inuyasha had planned.

-After School-

Kagome stood outside the front gates-as she had been for the last half hour-just as Inuyasha had said, her earphones in. Grumbling, she waited another 10 minutes before straightening up and-having had enough- started to walk the way back to her house. About halfway home she felt -yet again- a heavy hand fall on her shoulder and yet again, she turned to see who had laid their hand on her shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going wench?! I thought I told you to wait for me outside the school gates! How frickin hard could it be to do that?! Stupid wench!” Inuyasha yelled at her. That was it, she had waited for a good 40 minutes for this… baka and he had the gall to come and yell at her?!

“I’ll have you know Inuyasha I was waiting for you for a good 40 MINUTES outside the school gates so don’t you dare say that I didn’t! In case you didn’t know my name is KAGOME! IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO SAY! KA-GO-ME!” She yelled at him.

“Don’t yell at me wenc-wait. Kagome? I thought your name was Hitori.” Inuyasha replied, a confused look on his face.

“Kuso.” Kagome swore. Turning around, she tried to make a run for it, but to no avail; that damn hand landed on her shoulder again, whirling her around and pressing her hard against the wall.

Staring up into the confused/angry eyes of Inuyasha she gulped. “Kagome? Is that your real name? But, at school-- you--Hitori Takahashi, that’s what it is. So you aren’t… Hitori Takahashi?” Inuyasha questioned.

‘Kuso… How could I screw up like that?! How I could make that mistake!? Now, now I will have to leave, I can’t live here anymore. If anyone were to find out about this…I promised myself that if anyone found out I would leave… but there’s something that… something that is keeping me here, telling me that it isn’t time for me to go yet. I wish… I wish I could take it all back! I wish… I wish I had never said that!’ Kagome shut her eyes, a single tear escaping from her tightly sealed eyelids and slowly sliding down her cheek to disappear in the collar of her shirt, wishing with all her heart that she could repeat that moment over; unknown to her that her body was shimmering an emerald green. Inuyasha stood in front of her, watching that single teardrop slowly slide down her cheek… then watched as Kagome’s body began to glow green…and then…nothing.

/-FLASH OF EMERALD LIGHT-/

“Where do you think you’re going?! I thought I told you to wait for me outside the school gates! How frickin hard could it be to do that?! Stupid wench!” Inuyasha yelled at her. That was it, she had waited for a good 40 minutes for this… baka and he had the gall to come and yell at her?!

“I’ll have you know Inuyasha I was waiting for you for a good 40 MINUTES outside the school gates so don’t you dare say that I didn’t! In case you didn’t know my name is--“Kagome paused, blinking and staring around at her surroundings.

“What wench? Are you so stupid that you forgot your own name?” Inuyasha sneered, his arms crossed over his chest.

“H-Hitori Takahashi, that’s my name. Do-Do try to use it.” Kagome stuttered, utterly stunned-she had done this already hadn’t she?

“Whatever wench, just come with me.” Inuyasha said, spinning around to walk the direction he had come from, Kagome trailing behind him quietly.

‘What happened just then? I remember… I remember wishing with all my heart that I could repeat that moment again, and now I have. What, how?! Why… why did that happen, how could it have happened?!’ Kagome continued to ponder on the situation at hand, her head hanging and eyes clouded over. Even as she entered the car, even as Inuyasha drove to…wherever, even as she got out of the car, even as she walked up the massive driveway, even as she entered doors at least 20 times larger then her, even as she moved to what could only be described as a mansion- she never looked up from the ground.

“Oi! Wench, this way! Watch where your going or you might crash into somet-“ Inuyasha stopped speaking abruptly once he saw Kagome crash and make her descent to the floor.

She was startled to say the least as she felt herself falling, only to be caught in arms she had once felt before.

“I do believe that we talked about one watching where they are walking… and staring freely at my person.” A deep baritone voice said, said voice she had heard before. Glancing up from the magenta stripes she stared into similar eyes to Inuyasha’s, except more extraordinary… though they were cold and calculating at first glance she could see just a hint of amusement in them.

Huffing,-not liking that someone found amusement out of her errors (even if that someone was incredibly hot)- she moved herself out of the man’s arms placing distance between them and placed her hands on her hips.

“I do believe that it was an accident that I walked into you, perhaps if you were quicker you would have moved out of my path.” Blinking, she realized that the man was now in front of her… his lips dangerously close to hers.

Startled she took a step back but due to her clumsiness she ended up falling onto her butt, this time no arms stopping her fall. Staring up at the tall figure which was now glaring down at her, she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time; fear…and excitement?

“Was that fast enough for you ningen? I do believe that it is not for me to move out of your way, but rather for you to move out of my way.” The man standing above her growled.

“OI! Lay off her Fluffy! Not everyone can know how ‘High and Mighty’ you are.” Inuyasha said sarcastically, holding out a hand for Kagome to take. Kagome brushed the hand aside and stood by herself, dusting off her butt. The man huffed and turned walking away, a final comment of ‘take care of your little ningens hanyou, who knows what could happen to them left unprotected.’ Inuyasha stood there grumbling for several moments before whirling around with a gruff call for her to follow him. With a glance at where the man had gone she followed him.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome asked. Inuyasha turned his head, his angry ‘NANI!?’ dying on his tongue at the worried look in her eyes.

“Feh, it’s nothing. Fluffy is always like that.”

“Fluffy? Is that his name?”

“-laugh- No. It’s just a nickname; he carries around this pelt of his that is superbly fluffy.”

“What is his name then? Who is he, your father?”

“HIM?! MY FATHER?! YOU’VE GOT TO BE FRIGGIN KIDDIN ME! My Dad is away on a business trip in America. That icicle back there was my older half brother. If you’re lucky you won’t need to interact with him at all, no need to if you ask me. Why anyone would want to interact with that Popsicle is beyond me.” ‘Many things are beyond you Inuyasha... But, how familiar to me. Why anyone would want to hang out with me of their own free will is unknown to me. What is this I feeling... loneliness? No, I don’t need anyone, I never have and I never will.’ She thought to herself, quickly glancing over her shoulder.

“Why did he call you a hanyou?”

“Because that’s what I am.”

“What are you?”

“A Hanyou is a child born from one parent that is a demon and the other parent a human. My mom was a human.”

“ Was?”

“She’s dead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“-shrug- Don’t worry about it. It happened a long time ago so it’s fine.”

Kagome stopped the conversation for a bit, feeling slightly guilty over bringing up his mother, she could tell –though he said it was fine- that he felt uncomfortable talking about her. ‘I guess I can kind of understand what he feels like, after all my parents left me with my aunt and then she killed herself. Even though they hated me, I loved them and they left me… All the more reason not to love anyone ever again, that way I won’t even be hurt again.’ Kagome thought. Scanning through her mind for something to bring up to fill this uncomfortable silence; finding something, she spoke.

“What is he?”

“He’s a full youkai, kind of like Shippo. He is also the heir to my father’s business and to the Western Lands.”

“Western Lands?”

“It’s what we’re in now. Right now, my father owns it but my half-brother is to take over it in the future.”

“I thought this land was owned by the government?”

“That’s just to keep the ningens from worrying over it, some ningens despise youkai. If they found out they were living in a place controlled by youkai they would freak.”

“Oh. What makes you different from him?”

“Because I have ningen blood running through my veins I can’t be accepted by neither youkai nor ningen. Some youkai hate ningen and some ningen hate youkai, I can’t fit in anywhere.”

“I don’t think that that is true.”

“Nani?”

“Nothing. It seems to me that you fit in just fine.”

“Feh, only you would think that.”

“Why only me?”

“Because your naïve.”

“That may be so, but I would rather be naïve then fake.”

“Hn.”

By now, they had been walking through the mansion for a good 15 minutes and Kagome started to wonder just where they were going. Inuyasha finally stopped in front of a pair of deep red doors, golden outlining of vines swirling over the surface.

“This is my father’s study; we can do our work in here for now.” Inuyasha mumbled, pulling open the heavy door for her and moving aside to let her in first. Nodding, she walked into the room and was quite surprised; this room could be equal to the size of her house!

“Inuyasha… what does your father do?” Kagome questioned, staring in awe around the room.

“I would have thought you would have made the connection by now what, with my last name being Taisho and all…He owns Taisho Inc. you haven’t heard about it before? It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t let you do this project by yourself.” Inuyasha grumbled, making his way over to a very intricate table. Kagome ‘hmmed’ softly then joined him at the table, setting down her books.

Over the next few hours they sat and discussed what would be on their project, going through their books and taking down some notes; dividing up what they needed for their project week by week for the next 2 months. By the time Kagome said that she should be heading home they had agreed to meet at Inuyasha’s house next Wednesday.

As she walked out of his house, waving her silent goodbye from the front gates until Inuyasha closed the door she happened to glance up at one of the windows, a flash of silver catching her eye. She found herself staring up into the eyes of Inuyasha’s older half-brother, who stood leaning over one of the many balconies- appearing to be watching her. She stood for many moments watching him watching her- the way the moonlight illuminated his silver hair making it appear to glow and shine, the way his usual golden eyes seemed to come to life as they stared into her own sapphire ones. She couldn’t help but let loose a small smile at the sight of him, he was absolutely gorgeous.

Abruptly the older half-brother stood straight and turned, disappearing in a whirlwind of silk-out of her view. Surprised at the sudden movement she took a step forward hoping to catch sight of him again but to no avail. Sighing softly, she turned and continued making her way home.

Once home, she put away her bags and got ready for bed. Settled under the covers she wondered over the day but more specifically that chance meeting between her and Inuyasha’s half-brother. Did it mean anything? Was it supposed to? Why did she care… why was she still pondering over it? All these questions filled her mind as she let it wander its way over to the Dream World, visions of her and the silver haired youkai sharing yet another Moment in the Moonlight.

XoX--XoX