Hello my dear readers!

Wow have things changed since Christmas. Where do I start?

Well first I got a new job, doing something I truly love. It means I work more hours but I actually make an okay wage so that's nice. My old job really didn't pay much. Oh and now we are all in quarantine! Yay! My husband and I have been stuck at home for 6 days and will likely be stuck at home for a few more weeks. Bummer. But with that being said, I now have time to write. So let's get moving shall we?

Chapter 3: Thursday, December 31st (7:38PM)

Well hello there. Welcome to my eulogy. At least it will be once I die from internal combustion. Glad you could all be here to watch my last day on this planet.

Let me catch you guys up to speed. Its been about thirty minutes since I found out Kagome had a crush on me. Its been about 28 minutes since she locked herself in the girls bathroom. About 27 minutes since Sango went banging on the door to get her out, and 22 minutes since Sango left with Miroku to give Kagome "some space."

What have I been doing you ask? I found a nice little spot in the snack eye next to the Monster Chocolate Bar and Kill Me Please Fruity Rolls. I usually don't like to eat from the store but since this is my last day on earth I might as well splurge right?

I just don't get it. You women confuse me. Kagome didn't have to confess that she liked me. But she did, and now she's hiding from me? What kind of friend is Sango for making her do that? And how is this my fault? I mean I feel like crap! I feel like I just ghosted someone without every swiping right on them in the first place? Or is it swiping left?

See! I am not good at this stuff.

And don't just me okay because five minutes before any of you got here I knocked on the bathroom door. But Kagome didn't answer. She probably wants nothing to do with me right now. So if you're thinking of how I should've done more I tried.

Maybe she lied? Maybe she doesn't actually like me! Maybe it's New Year's Eve fever in her head. I really have no idea. All I know is I'm alone, Miroku is probably getting lucky, and Kagome is probably crying in the bathroom.

I leaned my head back against the snack shelf and sighed. "How do I fix this?" I mumbled. Just then something caught my eye. A blue and white box with the words "Whicker's Bar" written in black lettering. The same Whicker's Bar Kagome bought from me.

"That just might work," I smiled as I jumped to my feet. I scooped three bars into my hand and headed for the bathroom. The girls door was still shut right, but the light was on. It's an automatic sensor that turns off when there is no activity for three minutes. That means Kagome was still in there, probably pacing the floor.

I leaned my shoulder against the door and tapped my knuckles lightly three times. No answer. I knocked again and waited before calling out to her. When she didn't answer again I slid the Whicker's bar halfway under the door and waited.

15 seconds went by.

Then 30.

58….59….

And a shadow! Her shadow was at the bottom of the door opening, and next thing I knew the Whicker's bar was whisked under the other side of the door. I heard a thud and a body sliding to the door, I could see the blue tint of her jeans reflecting on the white tile. She was sitting by the door.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered.

"Yeah?" I asked. I sat down on the floor with my back against the door. I could feel my heart beating in my ears, and my breaths getting faster. I heard the wrapper being ripped off the bar on the other side.

"Do...do you believe in…" she cut off. I could hear the hesitation in her voice. She was probably shaking, I could feel the door moving between us. It was time to bite the bullet. I couldn't listen to her suffering anymore.

"Kagome...If Sango made you say that...you don't have to worry I won't-"

"No!" She yelled. It threw me off I won't lie, that was probably the loudest she's ever been. I won't say it wasn't sexy, but this wasn't the time to be feeding my libido.

"Inuyasha...I...do like you…" I heard the crumbling of the wrapper, I think she was moving it in between her fingers? My mind was having a hard time sorting through the information, I think this is what they called sensory overload. But God I wish she would open the door. I just want to see her.

"Sango...Sango knows I'm going through something. And she knew...that I would never tell you I liked you. So she suggested we come here tonight, and told me I should confess tonight. And I said yes, and then I started to chicken out. And when I texted her that I wasn't going to do it that's when she decided she would make me confess and…" that's when she stopped. I waited for a few minutes for her to continue, but we just sat in silence.

"Kagome...why would you have never told me?" I asked. Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic she did. But something about the way she said all of that felt like I was missing a huge part of that story.

"Well...I...have an internship starting next semester...and I will be out of the country for a whole year...so I just thought-"

"You thought I wouldn't want to start a relationship with someone who was going to be gone for a year?" I asked, turning my head towards the door.

"No...I…" she paused again. I could hear her shuffling her weight on the tile floor. This must have been so hard for her, I could only imagine what she was thinking. "I...thought you wouldn't want to start a relationship with me...and I figured if I was going to be gone for a year then maybe I would forget about you."

Ouch. That last line was like a knife to my heart. Forget about me? Why?

"Don't misunderstand Inuyasha! It's not because of you or anything! I've never had a good relationship, and usually it's my fault...or so I've been told." Kagome's voice was lower now. I couldn't tell if she was trying to hold back tears or just disappear. "I...figured if we never dated...and never broke up...I could believe that we would've been the best couple if we just had our chance."

So...I'll be honest with you guys. I've had one serious girlfriend in my life. Went on for like...three years? And then it ended, kind of bad, and then I had a series of flings followed by one night stands and lonely nights of one handed willy wanking. My love life isn't something to be put on display, it's quite pathetic. And most guys run from this. From the girl that confessed, then ran away, and then said she was going to pretend to date you in her head so she never had to date you in real life. She sounds crazy. At least she would to any other guy, but to me, I get it. I don't know why, but I really get it. I understand her feelings, and I like her even more for saying it, so what do I do now? I just go with it right?

"Look..Kagome." God please don't let me say anything stupid, I beg of thee.

"I'm no romantic. My last relationship was in high school. I'm rusty, so rusty. But...you know I still remember the first time you came in here. And I don't usually believe in fate or anything like that, but you like me and I like you and so maybe we owe it to whatever cupid-like thing that put us together out there to try just a little...right?"

There was silence, a lot of it. I don't think I've said anything stupid but according to a lot of people I've been wrong about that before. "When is your internship?"

"May…" she whispered.

"Okay...Okay! May! We can work with that." I was standing now. My hands pressed against the door. "Look we got five months until May right? How many weeks is that? Like 20? 22? What if we just didn't 'date' but…" Inuyasha what are you thinking? "What...if we...went on one date a week?"

What the hell is that! One date a week? What the hell does that even mean? Why would she ever agree to that-

Just then, she stood up. I heard the lock on the door click, and the creak of the door opening. She held it in her hand as she leaned on the doorway and looked up at me. Her eyes red, her cheeks flushed. She was crying, that's for sure, but not anymore.

"One date a week?" she asked.

"Yeah! We meet up, once a week, it could be a walk in the park, dinner and a movie, whatever, but it's a date. Noncommittal, this way when May comes if we decided to wait until you come back to continue it's like we never-"

"Okay."

"O-okay?" She agreed? Kagome said yes...to not one...but maybe 20-22 dates with me?

Holy shit.

"So...when would our first date be?" She asked, looking up at me with big, brown eyes.

"Well. It's New Years Eve right? Why not tomorrow night. January 1st, at 7PM."

"You...don't have work?" she asked.

"Not if I dictate so." I smirked, leaning a little closer to her. She gave a shy smile and nodded.

"Okay...7pm. But Inuyasha?"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Can I just make one request?" She whispered, biting the bottom of her lip nervously.

9:15PM

"She. Said. WHAT?" Miroku yelled as he followed me through the back storage room. He and Sango came back about 10 minutes ago, right as Kagome and I finished up our little chat. Miroku had a huge smile on his face, and his pants were, essentially, on inside out. He's disgusting, but definitely lucky.

"I really don't see the big deal." I shrugged, grabbing a box of 15 unopened cereals. I wrapped around the corner of several storage shelves trying to evade Miroku, but he was persistent.

"Inuyasha, you poor man. How can you be so naive?" Miroku whined as he dragged himself behind me. I could feel the drama weeping out of him, he was always a theatric. "You actually agreed?"

"I did."

"Whyyyy!" Miroku was half crying, half whining now. He was so on point with his tears I would actually believe his heart ached for me. "How are you going to not have sex for five whole months?"

"It's simple Miroku, I date her without sex." I dropped the box and turned to face him. Miroku was shaking his head between his hands. He really couldn't grasp this situation.

"Inuyasha...little baby yasha…" he threw both his hands on my shoulders and sighed, "you barely know her. You both confess, in the most...unoriginal...weirdly scripted ways...and you won't see each other for a whole year after May...and you said yes to no sex?"

"Uh huh."

Miroku threw up his hands and screeched, If he wasn't broken before he was definitely broken now. "ME AND SANGO AREN'T EVEN OFFICIAL AND TONIGHT WE-"

"Yeah that's enough." I grabbed the box of cereal again and ran out of the storage room. I could hear Miroku cursing me from afar but I didn't care. Kagome and I were dating without having a relationship and I had a lot of planning to do. I had 20-22 weeks (I need a calendar) to see if Kagome and me really are what I keep hoping we are. And I wasn't going to let Miroku make me regret this.

This is the happiest I've been...in a lot time.

9:15PM

"Kagome...please tell me you really didn't say that?"

"Why not Sango?"

"Don't you think that's a little...weird to say...especially when you haven't even gone on your first date yet?"

Kagome smiled and leaned back against the cashier table. She shuffled back and forth on her feet and whispered "not at all."

"Huh?" Sango asked.

"Not at all Sango!" Kagome said with total enthusiasm. She spun around and turned to face Sango, sighing with relief. "He was a total gentleman, he agreed and said he was too excited that I said yes to care about anything else. Have you ever heard something so sweet?"

"I think I just threw up a little." Sango gagged, placing one hand on her chest.

"Oh stop it Sango."

"Kagome come on. Five months? You're going to wait five months? You know that builds up stress right?" Sango teased.

"I'm already stressed so what's the difference?" Kagome said with a shrug.

Sango shook her head and sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. She thought for a moment and then looked back at Kagome. "So what about tonight then?"

"What about it?" Kagome asked.

Just then, the door to the storage room swung open. The two girls watched as Inuyasha carried a box from the room and grumbled to himself as he walked a different direction. They could also hear Miroku yelling and simultaneously sobbing to himself. Clearly he wasn't taking the news well.

Sango turned herself back towards Kagome, "it's New Years Eve, are you not going to kiss him when the new year starts?" Sango asked.

Kagome smiled and twirled in place, her hands pressed against her back. "No I am." She beamed with excitement.

"Oh really?" Sango questioned.

"I am. I think he earned it." Kagome giggled. The sound of a box hitting the ground startled the girls, but when they looked both ways they didn't see anything. Kagome looked at Sango, who just shrugged. If the girls had looked a little harder they probably would have seen a boy with silver hair shaking in the next aisle over, having accidently heard the end of their conversation.

How was poor Inuyasha going to last three more hours?