Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha cast

He was spacing out again; it had been happening a lot all of a sudden. Maybe it was because the thought of graduation was closing in fast. Whatever the reason for his absent-mindedness right now he had to focus on the work in front of him. School, a breeze; Work, no problem; but right now at the top of his list of things he sucked at it was having fun. How could someone like him ever have fun, just hanging out in front of the theaters with friends or on a date? Self-pity was another thing he, Inuyasha, had been excelling at recently.

Normally things went smoothly enough for him, wake up, go to school, and go to work, homework, and then sleep. But smack in the middle of advanced chemistry he, the half-breed whom never had a lab partner, found himself with a transfer student, a girl no less. He didn't want to think about her right now, that's all he ever did lately, think about her.

There were so many reasons for his attention to the newest addition to his class, the main being that she was undoubtedly sent straight from heaven, or at lest that is what he thought on most days. Sometimes he cursed her, angry that she would have such an effect on him when she would never even look his way. Kagome Higurashi, instantly popular among the male population, had unfortunately been partnered to him, the nerdy mutt. Yet again he felt himself digress.

It wasn't until three days before the end of the first semester that she ever approached him outside of school.

"Taka?"

Kagome's hair was a mess today, and she was scared, and she didn't know who to turn for help until now. Inuyasha Taka, he was her chemistry lab partner. At first she had felt awkward around the young man merely because of his reluctance to even speak to her but it didn't matter. Nasty things reached her ears about the shy hanyou, none of which she really believed. At lest four months had passed without incident in the class they shared in fact she found her chemistry grades rising, at lest in her labs. Inuyasha was really a genius; he definitely knew his advanced compounds. Kagome had grown up on the outskirts of Los Angeles and then moving into New York she knew there were bound to be something of a culture shock but the situation surrounding her lab partner is what confused her the most.

From what she gathered Inuyasha was a loner, nerdy, and lower then dirt half-breed; but none of this made sense to Kagome. Raised by only her mother, Kagome grew up in an environment of tolerance and acceptance of youkai; it had to be the Californian air. Here in the streets of the large city hanyou like Inuyasha Taka were treated horribly. Kagome was no saint, a fact of which she was well aware and so was afraid to stand up against popular belief and be-friend the hanyou outcast. She too cast a blind eye to his suffering.

Today though, today she needed help and she prayed to the heavens that Inuyasha would not refuse her.

"Higurashi, is something the matter?"

"Please...I need your help. I need a place to stay for a while." Please, please, please don't say no.

"No."

Her heart faltered and she looked up only to see his retreating form.

"Please…"

His posture stiffened and his steps halted. Kagome prayed it was a good sign.

"Listen, whatever problems you've got they must be bad if you ask me for help. Nothing good will come out of a situation like this. If your so much as seen talking to me, you'll be in a lot of shit, I thought that at least by now you would have figured that out." He was peeved, how dare she, he didn't need anymore reminders to how alone he really was.

"Please, I don't care about that I just really…really need a place to stay…please."

With her final plea she sunk to her knees. Everything was crashing down on her; the whole situation was coming back to her in waves. How…Why?

Inuyasha felt his chest tighten, he really hated it when a woman cried. What could have possibly happened to send her running to me…a half-breed?

"My apartment is around the corner."

Kagome had barely heard him, but when he picked up the bags beside her she knew that she had heard him right. He's going to help me.

"T-thank Y-you" She stuttered.

"Don't say I didn't warn you though. If anyone finds out there will be Hell to pay."

Quickly wiping her face she had to jog to catch up to the hanyou.

"Idiot, stay at lest five paces back and pretend to not know me."

She huffed but said nothing since he was letting her crash at his place.

"Will your parents mind though?"

"Don't have any…anymore."

How could he not…oh, they must have passed away. She felt silly, she had been Inuyasha's lab partner since she transferred to the school and she barely knew anything about him. And yet here he was helping her, now she defiantly didn't believe any rumors about the poor boy.

"Well, it isn't much but it is livable."

The tall apartment building was plain looking with a narrow entrance way that led to a similarly small elevator. Without much adieu he led her five flights up and to the end of a long corridor stopping in front of a slightly dented door that had recently been repainted, strangely enough the walls to the right and left of his doorway were painted as well while the rest of the hallway was a dull off-white.

With a click the door unlocked and her host ushered her inside peeking out into the corridor to check for any neighbors that might have spotted his guest. Content that her presence was unknown he bolted the door.

"Let me give you the grand tour. The doorway on the left leads to my bedroom with a bathroom adjoining the extra room, but I've got nothing but junk in there so you'll have to stay in my room until I get a chance to clean it out."

She nodded in understanding, with a light blush at the mention of staying in his bed.

"Obviously to the right are the kitchen/dining room, and in front of you is the living room. Feel free to help yourself the kitchen, right now I need to take a shower and get to work."

Kagome just nodded mutely causing him to sigh.

"Kagome…you can put your stuff in my room and make yourself comfy, just don't answer the door or phone…ever."

With a nervous glance around the slightly messy apartment he shuffled into his room for a change of clothes before retreating into the bathroom. Kagome lugged her bags into her host's room.

The room was plain with a queen sized bed against one wall opposite it stood a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, beside the books rested an oak desk supporting a rather high-tech computer and stereo. But something was missing, something any house or apartment rarely missed.

Pictures.

So far no where in the apartment had she seen a single picture. There should be at lest some photos of when his parents were around. Right?

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