I wrote this as a follow-up to Dashed Hopes and Aftermath's Destruction in mind; I never really did resolve the romance between Inuyasha and Kagome. That being said, I'm sure this can stand alone just fine. Either way, keep in mind that this is a modern-day AU that takes place in Tokyo; Miroku and Sango are now married; and Kagome is always a magnet for trouble.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

So This is How it Happens?

In which Inuyasha tries to propose.

Inuyasha was talking to himself.

It was actually the third time this week that Kagome had found her boyfriend of nearly a year alone in a room, nervously muttering and growing more agitated by the second. She would have been worried, but Kagome had come to terms with the fact that Inuyasha was a strange man a long, long time ago.

Now, as she hovered uncertainly outside the kitchen doorway, she still couldn't completely make out what he was saying.

"Ever since I first… Went for ice cream… Love… Despite your piss-poor luck… Seriously! It's like a damsel-in-freaking-distress complex…"

She just couldn't make sense of it. Before she could stop herself, Kagome stepped into the room, clearing her throat loudly as she did so. When Inuyasha jerked around, eyes wide, hands immediately jamming themselves into his pockets, she tried not to be paranoid about how he was obviously hiding something from her.

"Kagome!" She didn't respond to his panicked shout, instead watching as he scrambled for what else to say. Finally, after several seconds of awkward silence (in which Kagome could feel her stomach dropping even as her heart jumped into her throat with nerves), his broad shoulders slumped in defeat. "I love you."

Relief washed over her instantly as Kagome's face softened, her suspicion giving way to a pleased surprise. "I love you, too," she responded, happy for once that he had told her in an unsolicited way. It wasn't often that Inuyasha admitted willingly to his feelings for her. Normally, those three little words were prompted by him screwing up royally or when she got upset when she told him how she felt and he wouldn't say it back without some pushing.

When their friendship had given way to a tentative relationship, Kagome had made peace with the fact that Inuyasha was horrible at expressing himself. He was either in denial, or too flustered to say something right, or he got angry at himself (and everyone else) if he felt like whatever he was feeling was a weakness. He was terrible with words and most of his actions were fumbled and never quite right. The man before her—yes, the one standing nervously in his own kitchen—was not the type to give flowers or jewelry, instead giving her pepper spray or telling her to stop dressing "so damn provocatively" despite the fact that her wardrobe was pretty conservative. (In her hopeful, sweet way, Kagome took these things to mean Inuyasha was worried about her safety and found her attractive.)

Now, she enjoyed watching as his normally guarded expression morphed into something she recognized as affection and… anxiety? Uh-oh, she thought, he must have screwed up again. Maybe she'd been too quick to think his "I love you" was not a reaction to him making yet another massive mistake.

Kagome closed the space between them and reached for his closed fist, the one that was not hiding quite as deeply in his pocket. Gently, she unclasped each of his fingers and intertwined them with her own before raising their hands to her lips.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just… Nothing."

The dark-haired woman pointedly eyed his tense shoulders and his other hand still hidden from view, clearly grasping something tight. "Really?"

Inuyasha began to shift his weight from foot to foot, struggling with how to string together what he wanted to say. "Really. Nothing's wrong."

"So, what is it? You've been weird for days."

He grunted and pouted, easily offended, but let her keep holding his hand in her own. "I love you," he said again, instead of explaining himself.

"And as much as I love hearing it, what is it that you're really trying to say?" Kagome tried to keep an understanding and sweet look on her face, even as he flinched and tried to extract his hand from her. Inuyasha was bad at this. And he knew it.

As in most situations, he let the frustration get to him, making him irritable and impatient. "Here!" Now, Inuyasha's hands were big, but even his couldn't completely hide the small, black, velvet box he'd been keeping from view in his jeans pocket. (Kagome would find out later that he'd actually been carrying it around for almost three weeks.) Inuyasha, the romantic that he was, shoved the box in her startled hands and proceeded to stick his own back in his pockets, avoid eye contact, and radiate discomfort and petulance at the whole situation.

Kagome stared down at the box in her hand, her mouth open in shock. She knew something was up, but not this. She thought maybe he'd broken or lost something of hers. Slowly, she opened the box, half expecting to see the Shikon no Tama itself glinting back at her. Instead, she saw a simple but pretty diamond ring—not small, but not gaudy either. Somehow, she knew Sango had helped Inuyasha pick it out. For a moment, just a moment, she entertained the scenario. Had Inuyasha broken down and begged for Sango's help? Or had Sango, the clever woman that she was, figured out what Kagome's deplorable boyfriend was trying to do and had insisted on making sure he'd done it right? As the seconds ticked by, Kagome shook herself out of it, realizing that it didn't matter how it had happened; it just had.

Well, sort of.

When Inuyasha finally pried his eyes off the kitchen ceiling (it had been nearly a full minute, and Kagome hadn't said a word), he was horrified to find her frowning at him, one hand on her hip while the other held the engagement ring. Before it could fully hit him that Kagome—his Kagome!—was going to turn him down, her face transformed into an expression that could rival his on one of his worst days.

"Seriously? No. I demand a do-over, Inuyasha. You have to actually ask me. No just shoving the ring in my face."

"Wait—what? No!"

"Yes. Either you ask me yourself, or my answer is no. Dude, I am not going to be telling our GRANDKIDS that this is how you proposed. I want a sweet one."

"But I've been trying! I swear, I'm just… I'm just really bad at it. I've been trying to figure out what to say for weeks now and nothing sounds right because I always end up accidentally insulting you or going into a stupid rant or something."

"Even Miroku managed to propose to Sango without making a sexual innuendo or groping her, Inuyasha."

"He put the ring on her finger while she was asleep!" Inuyasha pointed out heatedly. "One, it was sappy. And two, Sango didn't even agree to marry him for a week!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I want sappy," Kagome snapped back, pouting.

"I told you I loved you!"

"Which was real sweet and all, but you didn't even ask me to marry you."

Inuyasha clenched his fists, locked his feet into "fight mode" position, and started snarling. Then, one look at Kagome's irritated face that was masking something very like hurt made him hesitate. This wasn't about him; it was about her. Sure, he was really bad at this, but Kagome made him want to try. Since he'd met her, time and time again, she had proven that she was willing to forgive his missteps and appreciate his attempts for what they were—sincere but totally off-base. So instead of letting another argument pass his lips, he bit it back, and asked her, as sweetly as he could (which meant he still sounded a little angry), "Kagome… Will you marry me?"

And that was enough. Her face crumpled from angry to overjoyed and she wrapped her arms around his neck, planted a big kiss on his cheek, and nearly deafened him with her cry of happiness.

However, when Kagome pulled away from him and started to launch into how she would have done it, which was enough for him. He grabbed her by the shoulders—gently, of course—and made her meet him halfway. The height difference meant he had to slouch a bit, and she had to stand on her toes, but it was worth it every time their lips met. Sure, he did it mostly to make her shut up, but he enjoyed it anyway.

And they lived happily ever after.

Well, as happily as those two ever can.