Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Searching for a Song

"Now Kagome, don't be mad."

Kagome paused at the door, one shoe off and the other set to drop. Slowly she set down her bookbag, took her other shoe off, and narrowed her eyes at her mother.

"You know... when someone says that... the chances are that I'm probably going to be mad."

"Now dear, just listen please."

Kagome crossed her arms and tried not to glower. It wasn't her mother's fault it had been a rotten morning (How could her alarm clock possibly be broken AGAIN?). A rotten day at school (she hated lying to her friends and teachers, and having to come up with creative lies to cover her grandather's lies was even harder). A rotten trip to WacDonalds (besides the fact they got everything on her order wrong, she still had her now meddling friends physically shoving poor clueless Houjo at her). And a rotten walk home (maybe she just got too used to walking with a scary looking hanyou that kept people from harrassing her).

"What did he do?"

"Just keep in mind that possessions are replacable..."

"Did he break my bike again?" She tried not to scream. Honest.

"And I have already placed an order to buy back some of the broken CDs," her mother said as if Kagome wasn't on the edge of hysteria.

"My MUSIC? You let him touch my music?"

She stormed off in the direction of the stairs. She was stopped by a gentle hand on her elbow. Trying to not breath fire, Kagome turned to her mother and bit back a snarl.

"I want your promise, Kagome. Right now." Her mother said firmly, though a smile was still on her face. In fact, the woman seemed downright giddy in the face of Kagome's wrath. "You will promise to listen, pay attention, and not make any snap judgements. Count to te... thirty before you say a word to him. Promise me."

"Thirty? You're kidding."

"Kagome..."

The young miko closed her eyes. "Fine. I'll count to thirty. Then I'm killing him."

Instead of arguing, her mother did the oddest thing... She wished her luck from the bottom of the stairs.

Even as Kagome was shaking her head at her mother's odd behaviour, she regretted making the promise. The sounds coming from her room were a sure sign that it must be in shambles. And she never really heard Inuyasha use words like those before, and she had heard her share of swear words coming from his mouth in the past. Quietly she opened the door. Hoping she would be able to get through the silent counting fast.

A CD barely missed her head as the door opened.

30

Inuyasha was in the middle of the floor throwing around her CDs!

29

She opened her mouth to yell, then promptly clamped her jaw shut as she remembered her promise. Dang it.

28

Inuyasha reached for her computer!

27

Her body jerked as if she had been punched as he touched the machine. Her mind blanked, then countinued her count... possibly a little faster than before.

26

25

24

He opened up the CD drive on the side of the computer and took out a disk and threw it backwards as he inserted another disk? How in the world did he know how to do that? She didn't know he knew what a computer was for, much less know how to open the disk drive. Was he... downloading music?

23

22

Inuyasha downloading music? All she could do was watch and try not to lose count so she could ask him what in the world he thought he was up to.

21

He scrolled through the music and gently (GENTLY!) touched the key to make the music play.

20

He glared at the screen and tapped his foot, and growled, as if threatening the music to hurry along.

19

Her eyes strayed to the wreckage of her room and she lost count. Every CD she owned was off the shelf. Most were on the floor or on the bed, others were in pieces scattered on the floor. She must have made a sound, because a Inuyasha spun around.

15 maybe? Close enough.

14

"K...Kagome..."

13

"I uh.... I was uh...."

12

The dog demon looked for a way to escape. Kagome simply crossed her arms and glared at him. Glaring wasn't talking. Guiltily he looked around the room.

11

"I was looking..."

10

He looked terribly uncomfortable, and Kagome fought against feelings of sympathy.

9

"I was looking... for the right music... because it talks for you."

What in the world was he talking about?

8

"And you might be the broken road, but that ain't all of it and its still missing something."

7

Broken road?

"And the others said music says stuff better than sometimes someone can say stuff without it because the words work better."

6

Oh good heavens. Please say that they weren't messing with poor Inuyasha's mind anymore.

5

She thought she had scolded them well enough after Inuyasha broke into the school and nearly destroyed the place trying to find her after some silly prank Sango and Miroku played on him with a song.

4

It wasn't nice for them to keep emotionally manipulating him.

3

"Your mom said I could try to find a song in here that said the right thing if I wanted to."

"My mother?"

"She said it might be here, but it isn't. She showed me how to use the com-pyu-tor to save the songs I thought might work. Some of 'em say ok stuff, but none of them is the right stuff. And..."

"My mother knows how to use the computer?"

Inuyasha fidgeted nervously, Kagome moved her body between his and the computer in case he had any funny ideas of using his sword on it. "Yeah... she showed me something called a web page that she works on."

"MY MOTHER HAS A WEB PAGE?"

He shoved broken pieced of CD under her bed with his foot, probably hoping she didn't notice. "Said it'd help business at the shrine. Which I... uh... promised I'd help clean."

And before she knew it, the dog demon was gone. Big strong fearless Inuyasha had taken the coward's way out of the conversation.

She sighed at the wreckage that was once her CD collection. Why would her mother have let him do this? And when did the woman learn to use the computer? Kagome turned to the computer and looked at the screen. It struck her as funny that Inuyasha had a playlist. Then she looked at the folder that was labeled with her name. She wondered if he typed it or if her mother did.

Broken Road by Rascal Flatts, Always and Forever by Heatwave, Happy Together by the Turtles (maybe that one was her mother's CD), You are the Sunshine of My Life by Stevie Wonder, Everything I Do by Bryan Adams, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston... Kagome's heart began to race. She tried to calm herself and not get suckered into wishful thinking. She kept reading the song titles. We've Only Just Begun by the Carpenters, I Do Cherish You by 98 Degrees, This I Promise You by *NSYNC, No One by Alicia Keys, Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel... Was it possible? Was Inuyasha saying what she thought he might be saying? Because You Loved... It's Your Love... But I Do Love You...Could I have This Kiss Forever...

Wait... What? Quickly she looked up the title Could I Have This Kiss Forever by Enrique Iglesius as she clicked on the song to play it.

"I thought he had forgotten," she whispered. They had shared one kiss. One small kiss so long ago. One he never mentioned after that day.

"Don't be an idiot, Kagome," said a soft voice from the other side of her bedroom door. "I ain't forgot nuthin."

Words of desire filled the room as the music played. Wishes to hold and be close and to never let go. Wishes to have this kiss for a lifetime. Forever. Kagome's heart thundered in her chest as she listened to the words, knowing that Inuyasha was on the other side of the door listening too.

"The songs... they don't say it all... they don't say it the way... they just don't say enough. But... but they all have something that is right, too..."

"They..." Kagome tried not to hyperventilate as she gathered her courage, "They say a lot of the right things for me too."

There was silence. Neither one moved. Kagome was caught between jumping for joy, hiding under the covers, and being held motionless in fear of breaking this fragile moment in time.

"I'll help you clean up," he said gruffly, then pink cheeked came from behind the door.

Together they began gathering pieces of CDs, managing to avoid the other's eyes. Then they turned towards each other. Kagome blushed as she managed to meet his intense gaze. They held a little fear, a little apprehension, and a lot of hope. She couldn't help but smile at him. Slowly the fear and apprehension in his eyes faded, leaving only hope... and a warmth she felt in her own heart.

She leaned forward, causing Inuyasha to drop ungracefully from his usually squatting pose to land on his rump. But he didn't run. He took a slow breath and stayed very still. Kagome smiled at him.

"Yes," she said.

He blinked in confusion, since he had not said a word since they started cleaning.

"Though forever doesn't seem long enough."

Inuyasha blushed, then swallowed. Hard. "I can't give you money, Kagome. Or nice houses. Or cars. Or..."

"I don't care about that."

"And I still have a lot to learn. And I don't have my demon powers totally under control. And with Naraku still out there I can't promise..."

"Inuysaha," Kagome pressed her fingers to his lips to stop his rant. Mustering all of her courage she drew closer she could feel his breath on her face. Then she removed her fingers and asked, "Are there any reasons why we should?"

There was a moment of indecision in his eyes. Then she could see the change. The resolve. His eyes practically glowed like amber as his hands oh so gently went to her shoulders. He waited, as if waiting for her to pull away. When she tilted her head up instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then so softly, so carefully, Inuyasha touched his lips to hers. It was a kiss like the brush of butterfly wings.

"Yeah," he whispered against her lips, "yeah there are."

Briefly Kagome made a note to thank her mother and Sango and Miroku. Then he began kissing her again, and the only song that briefly went through her mind before she lost all ability to think was "Ever After", because that is how she knew that things were going to end after all...

Happily Ever After.

ooOOooOOooOOoo
OOooOOooOOooOOooOO
ooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Note: Yes I know that all the songs are in English and probably not very representational of what she would really be listening to. But I have to go with music I know and what was reccommended by various Top Love Song sites.

Hope you enjoyed the story. It was fun, though it went on much longer than I originally intended.