Puppy Love

3- Friends?

Koga and Inuyasha had worked for a few hours before Sesshomaru called out to them that dinner was ready. The two boys left their stuff on the floor and walked out of the room, Inuyasha holding the door for Koga and following him out. Eventually Inuyasha moved in front of Koga to lead him to the kitchen. Sesshomaru smiled when he noticed his brother and his 'not' friend sitting at the table, setting a plate of lasagna in front of them.

"Looks less diseased than your last one," Inuyasha said jokingly.

"Oh please, you love my cooking. Don't try to act all tough just because your friend is here," Sesshomaru said, causing Inuyasha to punch him in the arm.

"Shut up!" 

Koga just chuckled at their antics and how fast they went back to normal. Sesshomaru decided to leave the two alone while Inuyasha opened the fridge. 

"Want something to drink? We have soda, water, and lemonade," Inuyasha said.

"Sure. Lemonade, please," Koga said politely, causing Inuyasha to chuckle.

"You're so polite. You don't need to do that to me. Honestly you could say 'fuck you' in every sentence if you want, I do it to Sesshomaru all the time. Just don't boss me around or I'll kick your ass," he said, handing Koga a cold glass of lemonade before sitting down with a glass of soda.

"I'll keep that in mind," Koga said.

They sat in silence after that, an uncomfortable silence at that. Koga couldn't tell what Inuyasha was thinking, and that somewhat concerning him. He was already worried that Inuyasha hated him instead of mildly disliking him, but if he did then he most likely would have agreed to let him stay. Maybe he had a chance to fix how Inuyasha felt about him.

"Oi, you listening?" Inuyasha asked, causing Koga to snap out of his thoughts.

"Oh, uh yeah! Sorry," Koga said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You zone out a lot, which is weird cause I never see you do it in class," Inuyasha said, causing Koga to blush a small bit. He was looking at him in class. "Geez, no need to get embarrassed. I was just saying." He paused for a moment before mumbling a sorry at the end. Koga tried to speak, but Inuyasha ended up beating him to it. "Look, I get it. You're uncomfortable around me and you hate me. I don't blame you, considering how I've treated you so far."

Koga immediately got defensive, "no, no, I'm not uncomfortable around you, and I definitely don't hate you. I guess I just thought you hated me. I know you don't want to be friends or anything, and that's fine, but I just didn't want you to hate me."

"You're a people pleaser, huh? Guess that makes sense considering your little girlfriend acts just like you," Inuyasha said.

"Girlfriend? You mean Kagome? She's actually not my girlfriend, but a lot of people think she is because she's always clinging to me. I know she likes me, but I don't like her. I just can't bring myself to be mean to her," Koga said.

"You could just say that you don't like her and say that if she doesn't stop then you won't be friends anymore, simple as that."

"Simple for you, maybe."

Inuyasha chuckled and turned to face him. "Tell ya what, how about you gain a friend so you're more comfortable losing one. A friend to replace one if you want."

"Wait, are you suggesting that you want to be my friend?" Koga asked with a small smile.

Inuyasha faced away from Koga for a bit as if thinking of an answer. He sighed and looked back to him, "sure. And I don't want you thinking that you're forcing me or whatever. If I didn't like you, you wouldn't be in my house. And if you want, I'll help you out with Kagome."

Koga rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, "I'd like that."

"Great, now let's finish eating so we can get back to work."

~☆~

Inuyasha groaned at he stretched his back. They had gotten a good amount of work done today, but they were nowhere close to being done. Just as they were about to finalize their notes, Koga's phone began to ring.

He apologized to Inuyasha as he answered it, realizing that it was his mom. "Ah shoot, sorry mom. I didn't realize what time it was. I'll be home in a bit. Okay, love you too." He hung up the phone and looked and Inuyasha, who's face went from neutral to sadness that he was trying to hide, though Koga didn't understand why. Though he quickly snapped out of it and looked up at Koga. 

"Want me to drive you home?" He offered.

"I thought Sesshomaru didn't want you using his car?"

"He said I couldn't have anyone that's not my friend in the car because he thinks I'm gonna crash cause I'm fighting with them. Since we're friends now, he won't give two shits. And if he does, I don't care." With that, Koga packed up his stuff and walked with Inuyasha out of the room. 

Inuyasha grabbed Sesshomaru's keys that were hanging next to the door and called out to his brother, "I'm driving Koga home, be back in a bit!" He didn't give his brother time to answer, instead shoving Koga out the door and towards the car.

The ride was rather enjoyable to saw the least. They talked about random things, mostly to get to know each other a bit better. Inuyasha was hesitant to answer some questions, and some he didn't answer at all, but Koga understood that it would be a while before Inuyasha would be comfortable opening up more to him.

With some guidance from Koga, Inuyasha drove them to Koga's house. When he pulled up into the driveway, Koga grabbed his bag that sat at his feet and smiled at Inuyasha.

"Thanks for the ride," he said.

"Don't mention it. Do you want to meet up again tomorrow to work on the project?" Inuyasha asked, feeling slightly happy when Koga agreed. Koga stepped out of the car, walking up to his front door and waving to Inuyasha. He didn't wave back, driving off instead, but Koga swore he saw a smile on his face. It was nice seeing him smile for a change.

~☆~

Turns out Sesshomaru fell asleep at his desk before Inuyasha left, which was good because Inuyasha didn't want to answer any questions his brother may have had.

He walked to his room and lied down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't realize that a smile was still present on his face as he thought of Koga. He hadn't had a friend in a long time.

"Friends...maybe it won't be so bad," he mumbled to himself as his eyes slowly closed, eventually falling into a peaceful sleep for once.