The Nerd

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own anything about the Inuyasha series or it’s characters.

AN: Thank you to all that have reviewed. It gives me inspiration to continue writing this and I believe I have the ending all worked out but is still a bit away. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6


Eri, Yuka and Ayumi sat at a table close to the where the waitresses took their breaks. They waited patiently until the girl that Sango had showed them earlier sat down to take her break before starting their performance. “Did you guys see that article in the paper about Kagome?” Eri said loud enough for Kikyo to hear. She glanced their way with annoyance in her eyes but went back to looking at the book she was reading.

“Yeah, that guy she was with was really hot.” Ayumi said excitedly.

“No didn’t get to see it. Did you bring it with you?” Yuka asked innocently. Eri produced said tabloid that Sango had provided before they went into the restaurant. After opening it to the front page Yumi widened her eyes. “Oh my god. Look at that beautiful silver hair. Where did she find such a hunk?” Yumi said excitedly. This time Kikyo looked up at them with more interest. She pretended to be reading when she was really listening to the conversation.

“It says here he is a mystery hunk.” Eri said sagely making them all giggle. “But really it doesn’t surprise me. Kagome has guys falling for her all the time.” Ayumi noticed Kikyo straining to look over Eri’s shoulder after she read that head line and smiled to herself.

“That is true but she usually doesn’t take them to her club because of stuff like this unless...” Yuka started. Eri and Ayumi looked at her questioningly.

“What do you mean?” Eri asked.

“Well she doesn’t like people to know who she is dating because of stuff like this unless she is serious about them. This guy must be something special for her to expose him to the reporters that hound her at that club.” Yuka finished with a slight scowl. “If I had guys like this hanging off me all the time I’d want the whole world to know. They all laughed then began gathering their purses. Eri placed the tabloid on the table while she gathered her sweater. All of them walked up to the register seeming to have forgotten all about the tabloid. Kikyo’s eyes followed them as they went out the door and walked past the window. Kikyo jumped up and grabbed the tabloid from the table looking at it as she sat back down.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at the gorgeous hunk that used to be her nerdy best friend from high school. He looked so different. Inuyasha never went without his glasses so she figured he must be wearing contacts. That would show off his beautiful sun kissed eyes. That shirt and the jeans fit him snugly but not too tight enhancing his masculine physic. He looked like an exotic model for underwear or something. Just thinking about the times she felt those muscles under his baggy tee shirts made her heart flutter. The only problem with the picture was he had a lip lock on that stupid bitch he was with the other day. ‘How dare her kiss him like that and in public no less. Little slut has no shame. Everyone will think they are a couple.’ She frowned deeply as her heart pinched. ‘He was her’s. He always had been so why was he chasing after that bimbo now?’ She just didn’t understand it. She narrowed her eyes as she glared at the figure of the dark haired girl in her best friend’s arms. ‘We’ll just see about this.’ Her mind fumed as she stood up and went back to her job as she dropped the tabloid unceremoniously into the trash can. With a devious smirk she pulled out her cell phone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kagome and Inuyasha stood out in the parking lot waiting nervously for Sango to emerge from the restaurant with her report after they saw the three stooges leave. “How do we know they pulled it off?” Inuyasha whispered in her ear making her shiver as a twinge settled in her stomach from his close proximity. “You cold?” He asked as he subconsciously wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his warmth.

“Thanks.” She mumbled with a blush running across her face. They both looked up as they heard the door of the restaurant open and Sango stepped out. She walked slowly toward her parked car that was on the other side of a big truck as she dug through her purse. “Well?” Kagome asked excitedly scaring the hell out of her and making her jump. Sango pursed her lips as she bent down to pick up her keys.

“Damn Kagome. Where did you come from? You scared the shit out of me.” Sango fumed then put the retrieved key in the lock of her car door.

“Sorry but what did she do?” Kagome asked a little more reserved as she fought the anxiety that was building in her chest. Sango looked from her to Inuyasha who chewed silently on his bottom lip while looking at a piece of torn up parking lot pavement.

“Well...” Sango began but was interrupted by Kagome.

“In detail.” Kagome insisted. Sango put her hand on her hip and glared at her.

“If you wouldn’t interrupt me I was going to.” She said drily.

“Sorry.” Kagome said sheepishly.

“Yeah don’t interrupt wench.” Inuyasha jabbed her with his elbow making her flinch.

“Wench? I’ll show you wench nerd boy.” Kagome countered as she swatted at him but he moved back.

“Missed me, missed me now you have to kiss....” Inuyasha sang playfully as he hopped around keeping out of her reach.

“Look do you two want to hear this or not?” Sango snapped hotly. “I have somewhere to be.” They both looked at her in surprise but stood still with bowed heads while still picking on each other. Sango threw her hands up in the air. “She tried to ignore them at first but when they mentioned silver hair it brought her around.” She began as she opened her car door and threw her purse in.

“Yeah she always was fascinated by the color.” Inuyasha said dreamily. Sango and Kagome looked at each other then put their fingers in their mouths to gag themselves. “What?” Inuyasha asked with a pout. “You don’t like my hair?” He frowned at Kagome. Her eyes widened.

“I didn’t say that. And besides it doesn’t matter what I think. I was gagging cuz you were getting all gushy over it.” She defended as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

“Oh.” He said with a slight frown and looked away. Sango watched them with a shake of her head.

“Anyway, she kept listening in on what they were saying and as soon as they left she snatched up that tabloid like it was a thousand bucks. She didn’t look very happy by it. It was almost like I could see the gears turning in her mind. She was not happy at all.” Sango finished as she got in her car and started it up. “Ok, I did my deed for today. I gotta run. Be careful.” She waved as she sped off before Kagome could ask her for another favor. Silence fell over the two as they stood there with their backs to one another. After a long stretch of silence, Kagome couldn’t take it anymore.

“Well you want to go in now or go somewhere and hang for a bit?” She asked quietly. Inuyasha looked at her from the corner of his eye with a slight smirk. He knew she couldn’t stay mad for long. Even though he had only known her for a day, she was pretty easy to read most the time. Staying quiet definitely wasn’t her thing.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I thought the whole point here was to make her jealous. Wouldn’t it be better of we made an appearance then went somewhere after letting her know that we were having a good time with each other?” He said while staring at the front of the café. Kagome turned and looked at him with her mouth agape.

“And I thought you were going to be slow at this.” She half smiled when he turned and looked at her innocently.

“Well it only makes sense.” He explained calmly. “I mean, if I put myself in her shoes, then I should do exactly what I wouldn’t want to see right?” He glanced at Kagome but the smile had left her face as she stared at her shoes. It bothered him to see her with a frown like that. It just wasn’t Kagome. “You ok?” He asked softly as he touched her shoulder.

“Yeah.” She said without looking at him. “I was just thinking.” She murmured then took his hand in hers after taking a large breath. “Come on.” She smiled as she tugged on him to get him to follow her. “Let’s get this over with.” She continued to smile but he could tell it was forced. He knew something was bothering her and figured that she would tell him eventually. If not, then he would hold her down and tickle her later until she did. He grinned to himself and clasped her hand tighter in his as she opened the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Kagome, slow down!” Inuyasha yelled as he ran to catch up with her.

“You are such a jerk. I don’t even know why I bothered trying to help you.” She hissed back at him then turned and stormed down the sidewalk angrily. He trotted after her still in confusion.

“What did I do?” He asked getting agitated. Her attitude had been bad since Sango told them about Kikyo’s reaction. He couldn’t help it if Kikyo wanted to talk to him the whole time they were in the restaurant.

“What did you do? The question is, what didn’t you do?” She fumed. “You didn’t treat her like you should have. The point to this whole thing is to make her jealous so she thinks she could be losing you, not for you to fawn over her like a love sick puppy when she flirts with you.” Kagome snapped aggravated. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around to face him.

“She wasn’t flirting with me and besides I wasn’t acting love sick. What’s it to you anyway? You aren’t my girl friend for real. This is just business.” He shot back angrily. The fiery sparkle in her eyes dimmed at his words but he was too mad to notice.

“You were too. Every little remark she made, you hung on her ever word. Or when she giggled you laughed no matter how stupid it was. You were eating out of her hand like a sugar starved kid. I know we aren’t really going out but you’re supposed to be pretending to be my boyfriend and you acted like I didn’t even exist. Let me give you one hint about relationships. You don’t ignore your other half and make them feel like second best.” She said flatly as the pain in her heart twitched tightly. “I have put up with guys like you for most my life and I’m sick of it. You won’t listen to what I’m saying and I know your smarter then that.” She went on since he didn’t have a smart remark. “Don’t you get it? She’s keeping you on a string as security so that when she gets tired of messing around with other guys, she knows that good ol’ Inuyasha will be panting for her to come back.” She almost screamed at him as a tear slid down her face. “Until you realize that, you don’t have a chance of making her realize that she could lose you and you’re doing exactly what she wants you to.” He just stood there looking at her shocked. She closed her eyes and laughed sadly. “You know what, I don’t care anymore. Just take the report and shove it. I don’t need it and I don’t need you or your love sick problems. I’ll just deal with it on my own like I always have.” She turned and ran as fast as she could before he saw the tears that ran down her cheeks.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Inuyasha couldn’t get the image of Kagome’s face out of his mind as he thought about what she said. He just couldn’t figure out why she was so mad at him and worse yet, he couldn’t understand why it bothered him so much that she was. The only thing he could think of doing was coming to see Miroku and find out what he thought. Sure Miroku was a pervert most the time but he knew a lot about people, especially women. He looked up as Miroku entered the room with two beers in his hands. Miroku handed one to him then took a seat in the chair next to the couch Inuyasha was setting in. “So explain to me why you don’t understand why she should be mad.” Miroku said then took a sip of his beer.

“She isn’t my real girl friend so why should she care if Kikyo was flirting with me or not. Or that I was responding to it.” Inuyasha took a drink of his beer then leaned back to relax. “I mean, shit, we’re not even friends. This was a business transaction. That’s all.” He added as he looked at the same window he had been staring at before.

“So you’re saying Kagome is nothing more then a business acquaintance. That you have no feelings at all toward her.” Miroku said bluntly. Inuyasha looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

“No, she’s more then that. I mean she...” Inuyasha’s voice faded out as he tried to think of the words to describe how he saw Kagome.

“Then what is she to you exactly?” Miroku prodded.

“I don’t know.” Inuyasha closed his eyes and looked down at the beer in his hands.

“Well how do you feel when you are with her?” Miroku asked calmly. Inuyasha smirked to himself.

“Alive.” He looked up at Miroku with a smile. “She has this way of making you feel like you’re the only person in her life when you’re with her. She’s fun to be with, beautiful, smart, sassy.” He smirked to himself just thinking about her.

“So you like her enough to be around her?” Miroku asked as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

“Well yeah. I mean who wouldn’t.” Inuyasha said back with a half smile.

“You wouldn’t.” Miroku said bluntly. Inuyasha looked at him shocked. “Inuyasha, you may not have realized this but you aren’t the most social person to be around. You tend to brood in your own self pity quite often keeping to yourself while being a total grump and yet you find this girl you just met a day or so ago fun to be with. I find that curious don’t you?” Inuyasha just blinked at him. Miroku shook his head knowing that Inuyasha was definitely dense enough to not understand his own heart let alone that of a young woman. “My friend, from what you told me so far about this whole arrangement, it seems to me that Ms. Kagome has been doing all she can to ensure you get what you want. And that is Kikyo. I have to agree with what she said about Kikyo stringing you along.” Miroku held up his hand to stop the rebuttal that was sure to spew from Inuyasha’s mouth on Kikyo’s behalf. “I know it is hard to swallow but if you take a moment and step away from your feelings and look at it from the out side you will see that Kagome is telling you the truth. It seems to be evident to all around you but you don’t see it.

I can tell you from what I know of women that most have emotions just under the skin. Some can control them better then others but it doesn’t mean those emotions aren’t there. I believe the problem here is that you have hurt Kagome’s feelings by fawning over Kikyo in a public place. It is true that your relationship is based on a lie but those feelings are still there. She is looking at it as if you slapped her in the face and told her that no matter how much effort she put out to get you want you wanted, you were going to bend to Kikyo and you don’t care who sees or knows about it.” Miroku looked at Inuyasha earnestly. “Now I know that Sango would have my head for this because she told me things in confidence that really shouldn’t be repeated but I think under the circumstances, you should know.” Inuyasha looked at him curiously. With a deep breath Miroku leveled his eyes with his friend.

“How much do you really know about Kagome?” He asked seriously.

“Well that she inherited that club when her father died and that she has a brother who has one on the coast. I know that she has money but I don’t know how or why.” Inuyasha admitted as he rolled the beer bottle between his hands.

“Well that is all true but like all beautiful women there is more to her then you think. Sango has known her since they were children. Kagome had a modest up bringing and didn’t really know her father well since he divorced her mother when her brother and she were still very young. Although he provided them with the money they needed to live in luxury, their mother refused to let them be spoiled and put their money in a bank for them.” Miroku took a drink of his beer to wet his mouth before continuing.

“Smart woman.” Inuyasha replied as he took a drink from his beer too.

“Yes she is. Mrs. Higurashi is one of Japan’s leading export executives. But that had little affect on Kagome’s upbringing. She was raised in a shrine by her grandfather for most of her young life until she graduated from high school and came here to attend college. Her father died shortly after she arrived leaving her to learn to deal with our way of life versus the slower life she had in Japan. Needless to say her innocent way of life was quickly shattered. She adapted well from what Sango told me with the help of a young man by the name of Koga Wolf that worked in the bar. She became very attached to this young man in a very short time. Sango said Kagome was deeply in love with him. Three years ago, Kagome found out that he was seeing someone else behind her back. He told her that the woman was his fiancé and that the relationship he had with Kagome was nothing more then a close working relationship. Sango said it nearly crushed Kagome completely.” Miroku looked at the anger that flared in his friend’s eyes. “That makes you mad? Why so protective?” Miroku asked flatly. Inuyasha glared at him.

“How dare he do that sort of thing to Kagome. She doesn’t deserve....” He spewed hotly.

“Better yet, how dare you do that to her.” Miroku looked at him knowingly as Inuyasha’s eyes widened.

“But...I...we are...” He tried to defend himself but couldn’t form any legible words.

“You are what? You just said so yourself, that this was all business.” Miroku held back a smirk at the look of acknowledgment in his friend’s eyes. “And you just admitted to me that you totally disregarded her presence while Kikyo was flirting with you. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Kagome was in love with you but I’m sure knowing the type of person she is, she held your relationship more dearly to her heart. So tell me now, how dare you treat her like that. Or better yet, why do you even care if you think your relationship with her is nothing more than business?” Inuyasha looked down at his hands ashamed for the way he had treated her. He put his half full beer on the coffee table and ran his hands through his unruly mane.

“I was so mad I just didn’t want to listen to her. It made me angry cuz it seemed like she was trying to come between Kikyo and me. Shit I really fucked up.” Inuyasha put his hands over his face regretfully. “What am I going to do? She’s more then just a business acquaintance. I really do like her. She’s fun to be with and I feel comfortable with her. She doesn’t judge me or make me feel like less a person because of how I looked. Did I tell you that she kissed me right in front of Kanna the first day we met. I thought Kanna was going to come unglued from the look on her face. Damn it was a nice kiss too.” He shook his head. “I’m no good at this sort of thing. It’s probably better to just leave it alone.” Miroku stood and patted him on the back as he walked past him toward his desk. He searched through the clutter of papers on top for a few minutes before coming back and handing Inuyasha a business card that read Marty’s Flowers. Inuyasha looked up at Miroku questioningly.

“I hear she likes Forget Me Nots with Baby’s Breath but if they are out of season roses will do. Lots and lots of roses.” Miroku said as he walked over to his door and opened it. “I think you have some ordering to do.” He motioned toward the door. Inuyasha slowly stood up then half grinned as he walked toward the door quickly.