Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Pretending to Pretend	By : SplendentGoddess Category: InuYasha AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 4817 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi or VIZ Productions, and I do not gain financially from my fanfic in any way.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter Six

The next day at school, their plan went off without a hitch, the four of them making sure they were on the same page with a group text Kagome had initiated before school. Between classes the miko 'pulled Sango aside' and told her in a serious tone, with a couple of covert winks, that she thought she was developing feelings for Inuyasha. The hanyou, likewise, spoke with Miroku about Kagome, having told him in that morning's text that he thought it was the best way to go. Agreeing wholeheartedly, Miroku played along at school and predictably told him to go for it. That day at lunch they all acted like everything was normal, which Inuyasha had said would be the most realistic, if you added another fine layer on top of their acting. If he and Kagome were independently, awkwardly realizing they had stronger feelings for the other, but didn't yet know that the other person felt the same way, then surely they would attempt to act naturally during their group's lunch together at Hungry Ninja Noodles, right?

After school they didn't go hang out at Shikon Arcade because Miroku had to work, but Inuyasha figured it was just as well. Surely Kagome was supposed to be thinking that she had a lot of stuff to think about, and he too, as he told Miroku it was fine when the houshi apologized, saying he had stuff to take care of, anyway. Then Kagome chimed in, saying she needed to get caught up on some schoolwork, too, which was absolutely true. In reality, since it was Friday and the arcade was bound to be packed, Inuyasha hadn't really felt like going, anyway, although he would have without complaint had everyone else wanted to. He was glad it didn't work out that way, although he did offer to give Kagome a ride home so that Miroku and Sango could go straight to his place. He figured it made sense to offer her a ride if he was supposed to be following the houshi's advice to go for it. Playing her part, Kagome made sure to look extra cute and shy as she agreed to let him take her home.

Dropping her off was uneventful, and swinging through a fast food place on his own way home Inuyasha watched TV while he ate, flipping through the channels in the hope of finding something that would function as a good enough distraction while he was alone. It didn't even occur to him that he wasn't trying to block out thoughts of Kikyou, but rather, how much he was going to miss Kagome tomorrow, since he wouldn't be seeing her again until Sunday.

The following day, Kagome got up bright and early since she would be walking down to the train station and taking the train out to the rural end of town where her family's shrine was located. It was a short train ride; she could just drive if she had a car, but she couldn't afford one and if he ever offered she would not let Inuyasha buy her one. At least not right now. Not while there were already rumors going around that she and the others were only being friendly with him because he paid for things. She was sure that once she and him started 'dating' there were going to be those who thought she was only with him for his money, no different than Kikyou, except that maybe her standards were even lower than Kikyou's since Kikyou had broken up with him and, supposedly, the reason for their breakup wouldn't be an issue for her, because they planned on eventually taking their fake relationship to that fake next level by letting the school think they were fully intimate. She'd had to assure him more than once that she really didn't mind doing this for him, but she really didn't.

The only thing that kind of irked her was the idea of people thinking she was only with him for his money. She wasn't that way. She'd much rather they just hated her because they didn't believe in interracial relationships and thought she was disgusting for sleeping with someone of youkai blood. At least then, while she didn't personally agree with their viewpoint, they would be hating her for the right reason because she would be willing to be with Inuyasha in a genuine relationship, and she really wouldn't care who had a problem with that.

“That reminds me,” she said to herself on her way to the train. “Gotta let Mom and Grandpa know they're coming over tomorrow.”

That was going to be fun. She was really looking forward to it.

ooo

Since Inuyasha didn't have any classes on Saturday he didn't leave his apartment at all that day, but he actually spent the morning trying to battle his depression, not give into it. Trying to psyche himself up for tomorrow, he actually reached out and group texted the others around noon, after he knew Sango would be done with her morning shift at the taijiya dojo. Even though Kagome wore traditional miko robes while at the shrine, which had no pockets, she was a modern 21st century girl and always had her cellphone with her, even if it was just sitting on a nearby desk, so she didn't miss the message either and all four of them worked out the details for the following day. Kagome informed her friends that she'd already told her family they were coming over so there was no problem there. With his mood perking up a little from their brief text conversation, Inuyasha then surprised the others by inviting Sango and Miroku over for an early dinner before Miroku's work shift, if they wanted, joking that he was bored. They recognized it as the admittance of loneliness that it was, of course, and Miroku and Sango both said they'd be glad to come over. Apologizing that she couldn't be there, herself, Kagome felt grateful, at least, that the others could be there for him. Secretly, she was amazed that he'd actually asked them to come over, basically confessing to wanting the company, but she was also proud of him for doing so. She knew better than to express all that in the text conversation, though. Instead, she merely wished them all a good rest of their day and said she was looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.

When Sunday morning finally rolled around, Inuyasha decided not to wait around until after Sango got out of work. Miroku said it was fine and that the two of them would meet him there as soon as they could. Showing up at the Higurashi Shrine earlier than expected, he'd fully intended to just hang back out of the way until Kagome was done working but upon seeing him Mrs. Higurashi went ahead and excused her daughter from the rest of her duties. Not only that, but she informed her daughter of the bento boxes and grape soda she had waiting for them both in the kitchen.

“I thought you were gonna come with the others,” Kagome said as they ate, in a way that let him know she was definitely not upset that he'd shown up ahead of schedule.

He shrugged.

“I discussed it with Miroku this morning,” he said. “This just made more sense.”

While Sango had to work her morning shift at her family's dojo, first, Miroku dutifully waiting until his girlfriend was ready because he was her ride, Inuyasha had no other obligations and could therefore head out as early as he wanted.

“Besides,” he whispered as he leaned in conspiratorially so that her grandfather and brother wouldn't overhear, “if I'm supposed to be realizing I have deeper feelings for my female best friend,” he said with a wink, “then it makes sense that I'd take advantage of the excuse to see you as soon as possible, and have some 'alone time' with you all to myself before the others get here.”

Kagome laughed a little at his words, unable to help herself since he'd been talking like they were secret spies or something. She refused to let herself feel any heartache because she'd known full well what she was signing up for when she'd agreed to do this. She supposed, logically, his reasoning did make sense, and it was just as well as far as she was concerned because, truth be told, she was glad to share some alone time with him, herself, whether he'd plotted it as a mere chess move or not.

Of course, the truth was, he really had wanted to see her. Claiming it made sense as far as their plan went was just an excuse, although a plausible one, which he was glad worked to his favor. While he didn't want to be alone, he knew he could've hung out with Miroku while they waited for Sango's shift to end, but that option hadn't sounded as appealing. He would have if Kagome had been off somewhere else doing something else and seeing her hadn't been an option. He would've definitely sought out Miroku's company as opposed to being alone in his apartment because right now being alone in his apartment for too long at a time led to depressing thoughts he couldn't always chase away on his own. In a way, he realized, he was using his friends as a type of drug or alcohol, wanting the temporary high of being in their presence to help numb him from the pain he felt whenever he was alone. But who could honestly say that that wasn't what companionship was? Everyone had friends so that they were less lonely. Some people were just more content in their solitude than others. He tried. He tried to control his thoughts at night, and reflect on the fun times rather than letting the pain of his broken heart keep him up at night. Thinking back on the good times with Kikyou was problematic, because knowing now that the bitch had been faking it since day one, those memories were forever tainted, but some of his best memories involving Kagome also unfortunately involved the other miko so he tried to put a Kagome filter on those thoughts and just think about the bits and pieces he wanted to remember, like the first time he'd treated his friends to Disneyland, or when they'd all gone to Comic Con.

In that moment, though, he had no need to think back on fun times with Kagome because he was with her, right now, eating a bento and sipping on grape soda while listening to her talk about her day. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so content.

As she sat and chatted with Inuyasha, Kagome was grateful her mother knew the whole truth. Talking and laughing openly with him as she was, Kagome had abruptly realized she no longer needed to watch how she behaved around him quite so much, at least while in public, because like he'd so eloquently pointed out, he, and she too, were supposed to be realizing they felt a deeper affection for one another, and so now, instead of her long established pretending that she only saw him as a friend whenever the four of them hung out she could finally start letting her genuine feelings for him show in little doses, albeit with him thinking she was acting, but whatcha gonna do? But if she'd never told her mother she loved him back in high school, and if she hadn't also explained to her the plan, then Mrs. Higurashi would've undoubtedly noticed the sparkle in her eyes and wanted to talk to her about it. Now, instead, Mrs. Higurashi actually did her part to play along, for her daughter's sake, coming up to them at the table to collect their long forgotten empty bento boxes and soda cans while teasing playfully, “Aren't you two supposed to be practicing judo?”

Since Souta was within earshot, the boy having come inside a short while ago, and they wanted him to fall for their ruse, for the greater good, Inuyasha pretended to get flustered and answered with, “Uh, w-well, we kinda gotta wait for Sango and Miroku to get here.”

“Uh-huh,” Mrs. Higurashi answered knowingly. “Good thing you got here so early, then,” she finished with a wink Souta didn't see before walking away.

On the one hand, Mrs. Higurashi didn't really like the idea of Kagome fooling her younger brother like that. Their classmates at Tama U were one thing, and she understood why Inuyasha wanted to put up a front around Kikyou, but Mrs. Higurashi also knew how much her son adored that hanyou and he was bound to get so excited when he thought they were actually together, only to be devastated when they eventually 'broke up.' But, on the other hand, Mrs. Higurashi had relented to Kagome's logic when they'd talked in private the day before that Souta was probably too young to truly understand why they were playing such a game, so in his case maybe ignorance really was bliss. Besides, Mrs. Higurashi was also holding out hope that their fake relationship would ultimately turn into a real one. She knew she'd told her daughter not to be devastated if she didn't get her fairy tale ending, wanting to make sure Kagome was emotionally prepared for the possibility that nothing would come of this game other than heartache, but a mother could still always hope.

Having no idea what Kagome's mother was thinking as she walked away, Inuyasha was just glad that Kagome had told her mother the truth, and he was extremely grateful that she was not only not upset with him, but was apparently even willing to play along to some degree. Figuring the others would probably be there pretty soon, anyway, he rose to his feet, then, offering a hand to Kagome as he helped her stand as well.

That she didn't glance at their joined hands for a split second as if nervous of his claws, the way Kikyou always had on the rare occasions when he'd done the same for her, was just one more thing Inuyasha mentally added to his list of things that should've been a red flag about Kikyou. He wouldn't bring it up, though. If he was supposed to be fully over Kikyou then little such comparisons shouldn't still be entering his mind, so for the sake of their young audience he would stick to the script.

“May as well start our warm up stretches. Sango's already gonna be nice and limber from her morning at the dojo so she'll be ready to get down to it when she gets here,” he said instead.

“Good idea.”

That was how Miroku and Sango found Kagome and Inuyasha about a half hour later, the miko and hanyou both wearing white judogi and going through a series of kata moves in the open space off to the side of the family house, in the back of the shrine grounds. It was the perfect place to practice. Nice and open, and out of the way of visitors to the shrine but yet still somewhat visible if anyone happened to glance in that direction. There was a steady flow of visitors to Higurashi Shrine most days, so it was theoretically possible that someone from their college would come by. They had openly discussed helping Kagome with her moves back on Wednesday, and then again Thursday evening at Tsubaki's Hideout, so just in case anyone did come by, they would see with their own two eyes that they hadn't been making it up.

That had been Inuyasha's logic at the time. When he'd first offered to help Kagome with her technique he'd definitely planned on actually doing it, not just letting Sango do it and then later pretending he had also participated. He hadn't known at the time if they were already going to be working towards pretending to build up their romantic feelings for one another yet, but now that they were, it was even better, a win/win in his eyes. Besides that, Kagome could actually use the practice.

“Sorry!” she said with a laugh as she once again failed to flip Sango, just like on Wednesday.

“Okay, Kagome, now watch closely,” Sango said, the taijiya flipping the hanyou this time instead of the other way around.

“You make it look so easy,” she said.

“That's cause it is,” Inuyasha answered as he stood back up. “Here...” he said as he approached.

Inuyasha then proceeded to stand face to face with Kagome and use himself as the throw-ee while giving her the play-by-play instructions.

“Grip with this hand here,” he said, as he used his left hand to place her left hand on his right arm, under his elbow. Nodding her understanding, she clung onto a fistful of robe. “Then you turn yourself around like this,” he explained next, even as he was actually the one who moved, coming around to stand behind her. He tried not to notice how intimate it suddenly seemed to be crouched over her from behind. “Now, reach up over your shoulder with your right hand and grab onto my robes at my shoulder.”

She did so, but didn't grab him in precisely the right place at first, so Sango corrected. “More here,” she said, moving Kagome's hand.

“Now just haul him up and over your shoulder,” Miroku added.

“It's harder, I know, when I'm not expending any energy you can use against me, so I'll hop a little for this first try,” Inuyasha offered then, Kagome having previously voiced her disbelief in her ability to budge him while standing still since he was so much taller and heavier than her.

Hopping a little as promised, Kagome tugged at the same time, crouching over a bit more in the process, and Inuyasha was relieved when he felt himself go up and over because being bent over Kagome's back like that had been stirring his inu-youkai instincts against his will. Lying flat on his back on the grass, now, his ears twisting to catch the sound as Kagome jumped up and down, squealing happily “I did it!” as she danced with Sango and Miroku laughed at the funny sight they made, Inuyasha took a moment to exhale slowly before schooling his features so that he was grinning broadly as he rose back up to his feet.

He and his instincts were going to have to have a nice long chat later, because even though he consciously knew that Kagome only saw him as a friend, and she was faking anything that was starting to seem more than merely friendly, the inu in him was starting to react in the same way it had towards Kikyou in the very beginning, before he'd tamped it down so as not to freak Kikyou out. His animal side looked at any female willing to show deeper affection as a potential mate, but being half human, he was not truly ruled by his inu-youkai instincts. They were more just an annoying buzz in the back of his head that he could consciously decide to tune out. He just hadn't expected them to stir to life, along with something in his pants, as he wrapped himself around Kagome from behind.

Okay, so that had been an oversight on his part. It was a good thing his pants were so baggy.

“Good job,” he told her proudly, keeping his grin plastered firmly in place. If Miroku knew where his mind had wandered, even though it had only been for a second and he was already back under control, the perverted houshi would never let him hear the end of it.

Instead, to give off the impression that he hadn't been flustered in the slightest, Inuyasha put himself right back into the same position, over and over again, as he allowed Kagome to throw him like a rag doll because, as he'd assured her back on Wednesday, being half youkai made it about impossible for her to accidentally hurt him. She didn't have to worry about botching the technique and dumping him on his head, or twisting his arm in a painful way, or anything else that might happen between humans if the technique was done incorrectly.

“Of course, when you're throwing an enemy, you don't care if you hurt him,” Inuyasha said, as he 'charged' Kagome in slow motion. “Heeerrreee Iii coommmee...” he said in an exaggeratedly playful 'slow motion' kind of voice that made everyone laugh, although Kagome tried to concentrate despite her amusement as he walked towards her with slow and exaggerated strides as if fighting a hundred mile an hour wind, his claws playfully raised in mock attack as he made sure to get his arm at the right height for her to start the maneuver.

Kagome went through what she'd been taught, grabbing his arm the right way before turning her back into his chest and reaching up with her right hand to hook a fistful of robe. She then bent down and forward while tugging with all her might, and even though Inuyasha was moving slowly, his movement still helped. She did it a few more times, until she was sure she was doing it right, before daring to try it on Sango again, whom she once again tried flipping from a standstill because the taijiya was much lighter. This time, Kagome succeeded.

“Yay!” the miko cheered playfully as she did another little victory dance, earning amused chuckles from her friends, which earned them her playfully sticking her tongue out at them in retaliation for their laughter.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon.

When it was finally time for Kagome's friends to depart, Sango was quick to come up with an excuse for Miroku to usher her out of there. They left rather quickly, after changing back into their regular clothes, of course, politely declining when Kagome's mother invited them to stay for dinner. Seizing on the opportunity Sango presented her with, Kagome asked Inuyasha if he'd like to stay for dinner, since he'd driven himself there and didn't need to leave when Sango and Miroku did.

“Sure, why not?”

Conversation over dinner was carefully neutral as Mrs. Higurashi skillfully asked primarily about Kagome's progress with the arm throwing technique, as had been the original reason for their get-together that day. That allowed Kagome to honestly and quite happily talk about how much she had improved, while Inuyasha jokingly chimed in that he could vouch for that because he'd seen how bad she had been in the beginning. That earned him an elbow to the ribs from Kagome, who was sitting next to him, while Mrs. Higurashi tried to mask her grin by taking a sip of tea.

Rightfully coming to his big sister's defense, Souta took that opportunity to tell Inuyasha just how unbelievably awesome Kagome was with the bow, which he told the boy he'd heard before, too, from Miroku. That earned Mrs. Higurashi asking Kagome how come she'd never actually demonstrated her archery for Inuyasha in the two and a half years they'd known each other, but before Kagome could answer – and honestly, she didn't really have a good answer to that question – her grandfather chimed in with, “Well maybe the boy wouldn't feel comfortable around the feel of her holy arrows.”

It was a legitimate concern, but before he could speak up, Mrs. Higurashi beat him to it with a somewhat exasperated, “I didn't say they had to be holy arrows.”

“Actually,” the hanyou interjected then, wanting to cut off any potential argument, “just so long as she doesn't use me for target practice...” He laughed. “...I'd actually really like to see her holy arrows.” Turning then to meet Kagome's eyes, he said, “It's gettin' kinda late, today, but maybe next Sunday?” Then he met Mrs. Higurashi's eyes again, before then shifting his gaze to her grandfather, as the man of the house. “If that would be all right with you, of course.”

“Bah,” Kagome's grandfather waved off, the man completely oblivious, so far, to the possibility of anything beyond mere friendship developing between the two of them. “So long as she completes her morning duties in the shrine,” he said.

“Of course,” Inuyasha agreed. “I would never dream of having her neglect her familial responsibilities.” And he meant it.

That earned an appreciative nod from Mr. Higurashi.

After dinner, Inuyasha once again showed how gentlemanly he could be by insisting to Kagome that he could drive her home. There was no sense, he said, in allowing her to walk to the train station, alone, at night, and then ride the train alone, and then walk home alone in the dark from the station in the city. Perhaps laying it on a little thick, he explained that he understood that she could take care of herself and that she'd been making that same journey every weekend since the start of the school year, but since he was there with her on that particular night, it would look badly on him, he said, if he didn't insist on taking her home, instead. It wasn't as if they lived in two completely different districts, in the opposite direction from one another; his apartment building was only a few blocks away from hers.

Grinning despite herself, a smile that was quite real because she found Inuyasha's over the top acting in that moment rather amusing, Kagome laughed and said there was no arguing with that logic, as she agreed to let him take her home without any fuss. She couldn't miss the not-so-subtle way her mother was smiling at Inuyasha, either, and briefly found herself wondering what her mother was thinking, if she was only playing along, thought Inuyasha was amusing as she did, or if she'd actually been fooled by Inuyasha's acting and thought she actually saw something that wasn't really there.

At least she could talk to her mother about it on the phone later, when Souta was in school and her grandfather was outside on the shrine grounds somewhere. If her mother actually thought that Inuyasha might really be falling in love with her for real she'd set her mother straight. Inuyasha was still in no condition to be thinking about the possibility of a new relationship, with any woman, as was made clear to Kagome as soon as she got into his car and they pulled away.

As his exaggerated smile fell, Inuyasha let out an exhausted sounding sigh, before glancing Kagome's way and sending her a much more realistic little half smile.

“I'm glad you managed to get the hang of the arm throw,” he told her sincerely.

“I'm glad you agreed to stay for dinner, even if you didn't really want to,” she replied.

He shrugged.

“Your mother's a fabulous cook,” he said, adding, “and besides, I'm supposed to be falling in love with you now, right?” He chuckled a little. “So I should take advantage of every opportunity to spend more time with you, like driving you home.”

“I appreciate it, though,” she said. “It sure beats walking.”

“Oh hell, I would've offered to take you home, anyway,” he acknowledged then. “How much of a dick would it make me if I was just like well thanks for dinner, bye, and left, knowing you had to walk home?”

She giggled.

“And I assume you'll offer again next Sunday, if you're gonna be coming back over to watch me put on an archery show.”

“Oh, of course,” he agreed. “And I'm actually really looking forward to it,” he added honestly. “Don't know why I never asked to see you shoot before. I was impressed just from hearing Miroku tell me about it.”

“Probably didn't want to upset Kikyou,” Kagome contemplated carefully. “Maybe, even subconsciously, you thought you didn't dare express an interest in something about me that I was better at than her.”

“Maybe,” he conceded with another shrug. “I know I asked her a couple of times near the beginning of our relationship if I could watch her practice, just tryin' to be supportive, you know?” He sighed again. “She told me it would be dangerous for me to be near her while she was trying to channel her reiki. She didn't want to accidentally harm me if I got too close.”

“I suppose I can understand her concern,” Kagome said, cutting Kikyou some slack for once, as she explained to Inuyasha her own concerns about accidentally harming a demonic ally if she were ever called to fight.

But her concerns were about a fellow soldier who might be standing right beside to her during the heat of battle, not someone watching her fire arrows at stationary targets from several feet away, and she also told him what Miroku had said, about how reiki was controlled by the heart and there was really no way she could accidentally harm someone she didn't wish to, aside from that person foolishly jumping in front of an arrow she'd already fired, because her heart simply wouldn't let her.

“It's supposed to be the same way with me and my inner youkai,” he told her then. “If my inner beast ever took over because of a life or death situation, rather than practicing in a controlled environment with teachers ready to subdue me if necessary, then supposedly, the way my sensei explained it when I was a pup, was that I would be merciless towards my enemies, whoever had been hurting me or my loved ones, but that I would not then also turn against those same loved ones, myself. On an instinctive level, my inner beast would still be able to tell the difference between friend and foe.”

“I almost forgot you'd told me you had similar training to mine as a child,” Kagome said.

He nodded.

“It's required of all powerful youkai species, if our youki is strong enough to pose a threat without proper training. I was the only hanyou in the class, and at the time the other kids made fun of me because I don't really have a true form since I'm half human. This is my true form and even though I change a little bit when transformed my body doesn't change shape at all. But my teachers knew to take me seriously, anyway, because my father's a daiyoukai, meaning my youki is strong for a hanyou, and stuck in humanoid form as I am, my transformed state is powerful enough to have my teachers worried, at first, that the strain of it would break my mind.” He snorted at the memory. “Proved those bastards wrong.”

“Yes you did,” she agreed proudly, which earned another half smile sent her way.

The rest of the drive was spent figuring out how to best go about the next couple of weeks or so. They both agreed that getting the courtship process over and done with relatively quickly was realistic, under the circumstances, since they'd already known each other for so long. Once they both admitted to 'liking' each other and went out on a few dates, it shouldn't take long at all before they decided to make it official, acknowledging that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. They could still pretend to build up their intimacy level more slowly, but they both wanted to at least get their titles in place and let everyone at school know they were officially a couple.

To that end, Kagome suggested that she could continue to talk to Sango about not being sure how to approach him regarding her feelings for him, while he did the same with Miroku, and then those two could supposedly plot something sneaky of their own when they weren't within earshot. That sneaky thing would be the taijiya and houshi each individually bailing on lunch at the last minute one day for whatever made up reason.

“Sango could tell me, oh I can't make it, but go enjoy lunch with Miroku and Inuyasha, and then Miroku could tell you the same thing, so that supposedly you'd think that you're going to be meeting up with Sango and me,” she explained. “Then in actuality it's only the two of us, and we can both publicly 'realize' those two 'set us up' as it were, and then we can have our big confession about liking each other while having lunch just the two of us at Hungry Ninja Noodles.”

Inuyasha nodded, approving of her plan.

“Whatever day we decide to do this, I'll invite you to dinner that night, not anywhere too fancy. Someplace that other students go to.”

“What about Tsubaki's Hideout, then?” she suggested. “I know some of the people were giving you, and us, nasty looks, but I don't care about that. The staff was nice and the food was good.”

“I wasn't sure if you'd noticed that or not,” he admitted, clearing his throat. “But yeah, if you don't mind then I guess I don't mind either. Tsubaki's Hideout would probably make the perfect spot for our first official date, come to think of it, 'cause there'll be lots of other people from Tama U there, and you also don't gotta worry 'bout not owning anything too fancy. Yet.”

He smirked when she asked, “And what's that supposed to mean?”

“Oh look, that dog's wearing a sweater,” he said as he looked at the people crossing the street in front of them while they sat stopped at a red light, somebody's little pet dog indeed wearing a sweater as it walked beside its human owner. “I don't really think it's that cold yet.”

“Don't you change the subject,” Kagome pouted, feigning upset when he chuckled. “You better not tell me you're planning on taking me to a fancy restaurant at some point.”

“All right.” He grinned. “I won't tell you.”

“Inuyasha...” she whined playfully. “That means you'll also have to take me dress shopping since I don't...” She saw the way his grin only grew wider and sighed. “You already had that part figured out, too. That's why you said 'yet.'” It wasn't a question.

“I don't care if you don't think I owe you anything for all you're doing for me, Kagome. I think I do owe you and I am damn well going to take you dress shopping, and out to a fancy dinner that would cost you an entire paycheck, and you are damn well going to like it, so there.”

She grinned despite herself. “Yes, sir.”

He laughed, and the rest of the drive was once again spent hashing out the rest of the details to get them to the point past dating and being officially boyfriend and girlfriend, hopefully by the end of September. That way, Kagome could spend a good chunk of October planning what kind of matching Halloween costumes they should wear, since surely they'd be doing something for Halloween. That would be fun, he acknowledged, but in his opinion, dressing her up for dinner would be even better. Her only response to that was to stick her tongue out at him, which made him laugh again, which made her smile, and Inuyasha was practically giddy by the time they reached Kagome's apartment. He was definitely looking forward to dragging her out to dinner proverbially kicking and screaming, after forcing her to wear an expensive ass dress. She'd need several, of course. He planned on taking her to a lot of different restaurants throughout their 'relationship' and she just couldn't wear the same dress over and over again, now could she?

“You really enjoy torturing me, don't you? I thought you were supposed to act like you love me,” she pouted as she exited his car, grinning wider when he laughed yet again. It was such a wonderful sound. “Two can play at that game, you know,” she said then as she turned around to face him, the passenger door still open. “While at those fancy restaurants I could always prattle on about something totally brainless and annoying, and feign anger when it's clear you aren't even listening.”

He only laughed again while shaking his head, and said, “One thing I do love about you, Kagome, is that you're definitely not that type of a girl.”

Knowing he obviously meant platonic love she only smiled for him again and winked, earning another chuckle from the hanyou as she finally closed the passenger door of his car and headed up to her apartment. She hadn't bothered teasingly inviting him inside this time, nor had she dared ask what the protocol would be once they were 'boyfriend and girlfriend' and he was dropping her off at home for the night. She knew he ultimately wanted Kikyou to think they'd been intimate, once the timing seemed appropriate for their relationship to have gone that far, but she also knew that since there were no demonic noses on campus that would spot the lie, besides his own, it wasn't as if they really had to do...well, anything.

She didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed.

But those were the kinds of stupid, pointless hypotheticals her mind threw at her when it was late at night and she was trying to fall asleep. Right now this was only the reprise of a thought that'd first crept up on her a couple of nights back. What if their school had been more mixed, and there were other youkai, even one other, who would've known they were faking their closeness unless they went through the motions in order to acquire the appropriate smells?

If you just asked her if she was willing to sleep with Inuyasha under such circumstances then the answer was yes. She was a big girl, and while she was technically still a virgin if you didn't count her toys it wasn't as if she was planning on saving herself for marriage. If she hadn't fallen in love with Inuyasha back in high school and been unable to become interested in any other boys as a result, and if she'd then had a boyfriend, she was sure she would've slept with him by now, just as Sango and Miroku hadn't put their closeness off for one minute longer than necessary. But thinking about it in that moment as she stepped out of her shoes in the entryway before heading into her bedroom to change into her pajamas, Kagome knew it was pointless to even factor in her thoughts on the matter because the real question was whether or not Inuyasha would've been willing to do such a thing for the sake of the game. And would it have even really still been a game anymore at that point?

Well, she supposed so, if there were truly no emotions involved, at least on his part. It would've made her a rebound. But then, he did care about her as a friend, so...friends with benefits?

Ultimately, Kagome decided as she brushed her teeth before bed that she was glad there were no other youkai noses at their school and therefore it was a non-issue. She would gladly let the humans think they'd been intimate, but she was equally as glad that they didn't actually have to do anything in real life that might very well jeopardize their friendship in the long run. While a fairy tale ending would be nice, she at least wanted her and Inuyasha to remain friends after everything was said and done.

As Inuyasha pulled into his own apartment complex and headed up to his humble abode, his thoughts were running along completely different and yet similar lines. The thought of actually doing anything intimate with Kagome was absolutely out of the question, and honestly, it had never even occurred to him. Obviously, it was all just going to be a story, just lies, just like their 'developing feelings' in the first place. He was glad that their friendship was so strong it could handle an entire school thinking they were more. It would be no big deal, he supposed, if everyone was going to approve of their relationship, but not everyone would, and Kagome was going to catch hell for it at least occasionally, he just knew. But she'd already told him that she was prepared for that, and that she didn't care, because those people were not her friends, he was, and at the end of the day, their friendship was all that mattered to her.

How the fuck had he gotten so lucky? And Sango and Miroku were really good friends, too, to also be willing to play along with such a long, complicated ruse, just because he didn't have the balls to tell his ex-girlfriend to go to hell to her face. But honestly, now that they'd already all seen for themselves how his happiness seemed to be upsetting Kikyou, the others were getting more into it. When he'd asked Kagome if she was nervous about Kikyou possibly confronting her again at one point, about their 'relationship,' Kagome had said she was looking forward to it, and Sango, too, had said she was looking forward to the time when she could 'gush romantically' to Miroku about all the romantic things Kagome would supposedly tell her that he had done for her, making sure to tell Miroku all about it whenever there were plenty Kikyou's spies around.

He laughed just thinking about it.

There was no doubt about it, Inuyasha knew, as he crawled into bed with a full blown smile on his face. He was the luckiest hanyou on the planet.
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Pretending to Pretend