"Oi wench, what about this?"

Inuyasha tossed a brown ill-fitting cardigan at the dusting girl, and it landed right over her head.

"Hey!" she yowled, dropping her feather-duster and swinging her arms around maniacally in a state of panic. "What- oh for Pete's sake, Inuyasha! Do I look like I can even fit into this?!"

She threw the piece of clothing back at the curious half-demon, sniffing away at her collection of clothes in the drawer of her wardrobe. Boy, she sure had a strange collection of clothes. He sifted through the pile of jeans, pencil skirts and shorts, examining each one of them with curiosity. He proceeded to remove them from the drawer, and then went through her tops.

He came across a pink singlet and eyed it with tremendous disgust. What the heck was this?! Its sleeves were totally missing and it had two straps dangling at the top, its bottom ruffled with white lace. And I thought that skirt of hers was revealing, he mused.

An image of Kagome in that piece of clothing, which fitted her petite frame perfectly, highlighting her slim figure and swiveling hips came to mind. His cheeks tinted a bright shade of pink and he shook his head vigorously to rid himself of such thoughts.

What the hell am I doing?! I'm supposed to be helping Kagome with spring cleaning! He berated himself inwardly.

Still, he turned to look at her, her hair bunched up into a messy bun, apron strings circling her waist and wearing a simple turtleneck with rolled up sleeves in a shade of pastel blue. A white paper mask covered her half of her face, covering up that cute button nose of hers and her soft supple lips. She hummed a little happy tune as she took her books out, wiped them with a cloth and dusted the shelves.

Secretly, Inuyasha was overjoyed when Kagome had asked if he wanted to help her with spring cleaning. Away from the prying eyes of the rest of the group, he had fewer reservations. Kagome's family was away for a short trip, so that left the two of them.

What am I talking about? Kagome will never fall for me.

Look at her.

She's so pure-hearted and magnanimous, with an endless capacity of kindness and acceptance for anyone no matter of what breed etched in her soul. She was polite and well-mannered, and she was the one who had cried over me, tended to my wounds I gained from fierce battle and cooked me my favourite ramen. She was lively and chirpy and positive; so innocent, yet, she could strike fear into any demon that dared to take her on. No doubt, her spiritual power was even more powerful than Kikyo's; she just lacked training.

And me? A lowly creature that was neither human nor demon, with zero etiquette. I'm boorish and uncouth; curt and impolite. I am everything she was not.

He sighed inwardly and pushed those thoughts to the back of his head, resuming his work. Suddenly, his clawed hands felt something hard buried within the pile of clothes in the drawer. What could it be?

He clasped his fingers on the perimeters of the object and withdrew it.

A book.

A hardcover book, in fact. It had Kagome's name in gold letterings on the cover. Inuyasha hurriedly turned to see if the priestess was looking, then, he slowly and cautiously pried open the book.

His amber eyes skimmed over the words on the pages, not making sense of anything at all. The only words he could read were his own name and Kikyo's. Was this some kind of diary?

"What are you doing?" a high-pitched voice seared through the fog in Inuyasha's mind.

"Um…"

"What is that?" Kagome pointed to the book in his hand.

"Oh, nothing at all!" he slapped a grin on his face, a little too forced, if you asked me.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome's voice was now saccharine and soft, a sure sign of danger.

"Don't say it!" Inuyasha immediately leaped from the bed and shoved the book at her. "Here, I found this!"

"This is…" Kagome took a few seconds to register what had happened. "Inuyasha, you-"

"I can explain!" he cut her off in a fluster.

"I can't believe you would even do that!" she cried incredulously. "Haven't you heard of respecting others' privacy?!"

"Others' what?"

"Forget it!" she snapped. "I'm going down for a break!"

Inuyasha winced at her icy tone.

She ripped her mask off and hurled it onto the floor, storming out of the room and slamming the door hard as she did.

So much that the bookshelf creaked in response.

…

"Oh God he read it!" Kagome pressed her fingers to her temples, massaging them. "How much of it? Did he read the part where about Kikyo and him?"

She sighed and threw herself onto the couch, pulling her bun loose and wrapping the scrunchie around her arm. "This is so embarrassing…"

She could have kicked herself for actually hiding it in such an obvious place. She could have kicked herself harder for asking Inuyasha to clear the drawers, which she had conveniently forgotten was where she had hidden her diary.

'How is he going to react?' she cringed at the image of him telling her that he needed her no more because he decided that that stupid crush on him was going to make things awkward.

"He only needs me because Kikyo does not want to join them…" she curled into a ball and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm just a replacement…"

She then groaned and sat up. "Why did I have to fall for him, of all people!"

Little did she know that a certain half-demon's sensitive ears could pick up whatever she was muttering to herself.

'A replacement? Really, Kagome, really? Is that how much you think about yourself?' Inuyasha leaned in resignation against her bed. 'Or is that the impression I have given you?'

The bookshelf was quivering now, threatening to give way.

"What…"

"Inuyasha!" he heard her call. "Inuyasha, are you still there?"

"Inuyasha?"

The door opened and she entered.

"Kagome, look-"

The bookshelf was towering over her, its contents spilling out onto the floor and shelves sliding off their positions.

"KAGOME!"

Inuyasha instinctively ran over to her and held her tight, allowing the cascading books and wood to crash onto his back.

Sawdust and pieces of paper floated in the air, and the couple hacked and coughed.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome squirmed out of his hold and turned to face him. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Inuyasha answered, but his expression said otherwise.

"Inuyasha… thank-"

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha managed to spit out after scraping all remnants of his dignity together.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I read your diary, although if it makes you feel better, I couldn't figure out what you had written at all."

Kagome's face softened, and Inuyasha looked away immediately. Feeling the awkward tension between them, she decided to switch topics. "How did the bookshelf fall apart?"

"I dunno. It started to shake after you slammed the door."

Tides of guilt promptly washed over Kagome. So it was her fault that he had gotten injured… and he had saved her even after she had threw a tantrum.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered.

"Don't be," he wrapped his arms around her, taking her by surprise. "Kagome, do you really feel like you're Kikyo's replacement?"

"Y-you heard me?" Kagome croaked.

"Kagome," Inuyasha began. "I never saw you as Kikyo's reincarnation. Perhaps the villagers do, but not me. Granted, when I first met you, I kept seeing you as Kikyo because you looked so much like her and you both even smelled similar. But you know, Kagome, you're worlds apart from Kikyo.

"Kikyo wanted me to be human so that I could be with her, but you, Kagome, you accepted me for who I was, half-demon or not. Maybe you feel inferior compared to Kikyo because she has a calm demeanour and she is powerful whilst you're short tempered and well, not as powerful."

Kagome was about to open her mouth to protest when he put a finger on her lips.

"But that's what you think. You are powerful, even more powerful than Kikyo. Without going through proper training, your skills are already on par with hers. What would happen if you had received proper grooming to be a priestess? And believe it or not," he held her closer. "I find that our quarrels make things a lot more interesting in a good way."

Kagome was dumbstruck, and Inuyasha, well, he couldn't believe that he was actually able to find the words to express himself.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence in his arms, Kagome looked up at him, and he bore his gaze into hers. Their lips were so painfully close, but it didn't have to be anymore. Inuyasha leaned in and closed the gap between their lips.

The kiss was sweet, soft and chaste. The moment was fleeting. Because of all the magazines and books in her era, she had been taught to believe that when you had your first kiss, it was as though there were fireworks and sparks flying between the two of you. But no, there were none; it was even better than that. Kagome felt her stomach lift and her heart beating rapidly, sending more blood to the veins in her cheeks, giving them a pinkish hue.

Finally, they parted lips, and a smile crept onto her face. Inuyasha smiled too.

"Come on, let's get back to work."

And the couple began to clear up the mess of chipped wood and books.

No I-Love-You's were exchanged, but really, perhaps they weren't even a necessity in the first place. After all, actions speak louder than words.