Just a Little Rivalry

Disclaimer: Not mine and I don’t make anything monetarily.

Chapter 18: A Day Out

A few weeks passed uneventfully. Everybody was still watching Kagome closely, waiting for her to fall apart. The extra attention was starting to great on her nerves and she was just happy that the end of the semester was looming close. It would be winter break.

Koga had pretty well moved into the house. He kept clothes in the laundry room and slept usually on the sofa in the den or in the guest room.

Kagome had been considering asking him to just go ahead and move in. Sesshomaru had also been by every weekend since the ‘incident’. On the weekends, Koga slept in the den and gave Sesshomaru the guest room.

It was a damn good thing that they had bought a large house. If they hadn’t, they would be really crammed in there.

Kagome couldn’t hide the mirth that her thoughts had generated. She knew it would freak people out, but she loved this time of the year. It was cold outside and gave her an excuse to use the fireplace that was in the den and the one in the living room.

Inu Yasha walked up behind her and watched her for a little while as she did some laundry and cleaned up around the house.

He began to put away the dishes from the dishwasher before he said anything.

“How would you like to go out tonight? I was thinking that it would be nice to go out and grab something to eat and then go see a movie or something.” He watched her reaction closely.

She turned a sun bright smile onto him and nodded enthusiastically.

“Sounds like a good deal, but only if we go Christmas shopping first and start to get the house decorated. I want to do up a Christmas tree in the living room and put some candles around and all of that.” Kagome rattled on about what she wanted to do for a little while.

Inu Yasha was stunned by her sunny demeanor. He still couldn’t shake the whole feeling that she just shouldn’t be acting like this. But, she hadn’t been having any nightmares or any outwardly repercussions. She just seemed to accept what had happened to her and moved on.

Koga and Sesshomaru both had been worried about this, but Sango, who knew her best, didn’t seemed to be phased by her actions, or lack there of, or attitude. When they had cornered her, she had said that Kagome would deal with her feeling and fears as she saw fit. That was just the way that she was.

Inu Yasha just smiled and listened closely, making a mental list, as she went on with what she wanted to do.

“That sounds great. Why don’t I finish up here while you go get ready?”

Kagome nodded as she put away the last of the laundry. All that was left was what Inu Yasha was doing.

She began to mentally go through her entire wardrobe. It was cold so she would have to wear a coat. It would probably be really warm in all of the stores. Hmmmm…

She went upstairs and began to pull out what she wanted to wear. Where did he want to go out to eat? That would be the deciding factor. She made up her mind as he walked in and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved tee shirt. Where ever they would went would be casual. She finally decided on a pair of blue jeans that she loved and a thinner ¾ length sleeve sweater that was dark brown. She loved the lace detail to it.

Tossing her clothes and some undergarments on the bed, she turned and went into the shower, trying to whistle and gauging his reaction to her actions.

His attention was solely on her and her behavior. He couldn’t have kept himself from following her for anything. He trailed along like a puppy after its mistress. She giggled as he studied her body while she was revealing it slowly.

Stepping into the shower and turning it on, she waited for him to enter and grinned at him after just a few seconds. What did he do? Shred his clothes?

He returned her grin as he began to soap up her body. He had not done anything that was any more intimate than just holding her and nuzzling her.

He was really scared of scaring her or breaking this reprieve that her mind had given her-whatever it was.

Kagome had been waiting for him to touch her like he used to. Ever since they had met, he had to touch her and this change had been grating on her nerves. She knew he was just concerned, but damn it. It had happened and was over.

She wanted to be able to enjoy herself again.

Leaning close to him, she pressed her body to his and touched her tongue to his lips.

His eyes widened before he gave her a big grin and growled playfully. The growl was deep but it was also his growl. She laughed and did it again, but this time his mouth opened and his tongue snaked out to touch his.

He pressed forward and kissed her like he had wanted to for so long. The kiss was explosive.

Kagome moaned into it before pulling back and tickling his sides.

“We need to get out and dried off, or we may not go out at all.”

That thought didn’t really bother Inu Yasha too much. But, he did want to take her out to do that shopping she was excited about.

“We’ll stay home tomorrow and take care of wrapping and stuff. Maybe we can continue this when we get home.”

Kagome loved the idea and began to hurry him out of the shower.

Once they were dressed and leaving, he put his arm around her and escorted her to the passenger side of his car and put her into it, even fastening her seatbelt before going around and getting in himself and starting up the engine.

They went to the square first to walk around and go to those stores there. He knew Kagome loved those little privately owned stores there. The people were always friendlier and more helpful. She had also met most of the storeowners while she had been at school here.

They bought something at almost every store they went into. They even went into an old-fashioned candy store that also had a small bakery in it. He loved the smells coming out of there and so did Kagome.

He went over and filled up a bag from there per pound candy wall. He and Kagome mixed in different chocolate covered nuts and raisins as well as any candy that caught their attention. She also bought some of that wonderful smelling bread. He was thankful that they had gone to the car to deposit their bags before walking in here. He had decided that they could walk around outside for a little while and look at the decorated square. It was only 2 o’clock on a Saturday.

Kagome insisted on putting the bread into the car before she realized that that was the last store there. She turned to Inu Yasha. “Well, ready to hit the mall? We still have more people to get something for. I have no clue what to get for Koga, but we lucked out and found this beautiful painting of wildlife scenery for Sesshomaru. I didn’t know what he would like to be honest. She giggled as she remembered trying to get it in the car. It took up the entire trunk.

Inu Yasha began to think about how he should have borrowed Miroku’s Explorer for this. He thought about it for a second before pulling out his cell.

“I’m going to swap cars with Miroku to give us more room. I’ll be just a second.”

He anchored her to him as he made the call to let Miroku know about the swap that was about to happen. His friend laughed and agreed. He told Inu Yasha to come pick it up from him at the Rec. Center he and Sango were at. They had opted to go and enjoy themselves that morning and had been out just goofing off.

He knew Sango had been tense about Kagome, but she was really relaxed now.

Once they had finished swapping vehicles, Inu Yasha took her to the mall. The mall contained a large Cineplex and several restaurants. One thing he knew for certain, especially after her insistence to leave the square and not walk around was that she wanted to be in a building with lots of people or at home.

He should have figured that out because she no longer went to the park to run. She began to frequent the gym on campus. They had a large track in there.

He grinned even though he didn’t like to just go shopping. Kagome was smiling and laughing and having a great time.

They caught the movie around 5.

Inu Yasha was snuggling Kagome close as the opening credits ran. He was completely calm and relaxed until he smelt something that caught his attention.

It couldn’t be them. Could it?

A/N: Hey all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I would really like to thank Danny Girl, Lord of the Flames and madmiko for reviewing. I look forward to ya’ll’s reviews.

Take care everybody.

Let me know how ya’ll are enjoying this story. I happily accept reviews, comments, suggestions, ect.

I know this chapter is a little short, but it shouldn’t be too long before I give you another.