A/N: A Christmas gift for my wonderful friend, Mariah! You're a very dear and very sweet friend, and I hope you like the InuKag fluffies, just for you!
"Rudolph, the red-nosed, reindeer…"
Inuyasha's eye twitched violently as the cheery tune drifted to his ears. The sun had risen only a few moments ago, and the last thing he needed to hear was a Christmas song at nearly seven in the morning.
"Had a very shiny nose…"
He grit his teeth as he tried to place the source of the music. It couldn't be from his own apartment, unless Miroku had broken in again to wake him up early for the holidays. A perfunctory sniff of the air concluded he was indeed the only one present. Groaning, he forced himself to sit up in his bed, rubbing an eye as his ears flicked back in forth.
"And if you ever saw him…"
There! That same apartment across the hall that was playing a ridiculous amount of holiday music the other day was at it again. Quiet as the song may have been for other neighbors, it rang loudly in his head, as his heightened senses forced him to listen to the disgustingly cheerful tune.
"You would even say it glows…"
His nose may not have been as red as Rudolph's, but the rest of his face surely must have been that color as he felt the anger heating up his cheeks. Pulling a sweatshirt on over his pajamas, Inuyasha marched across his living room and threw open the front door, completely forgetting his shoes. In the hallway, the music was infuriatingly louder, and he could now hear what sounded like the person inside singing along to the carol.
"All of the other reindeer…"
He raised a fist and knocked loudly on the wooden door, feeling tempted to open his fist and claw it down instead. The sooner the music stopped, the sooner he could go back to sleep.
The sound of footsteps approached the door, and it swung open to reveal a human girl, standing with a bright smile on her face and looking up at him. "Hi, can I help you?"
"Oh, you can help, all right," Inuyasha hissed. "Would you mind turning your damn music down? It's seven in the morning, and some of us are trying to sleep!"
The girl blinked at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so loud. I can barely hear it now."
"Maybe you can't, but I sure can," he said, pointing to the ears twitching on top of his head. She glanced up at his head.
"I'll put my headphones on, then. I'm very sorry," she apologized. She stuck her hand out to him. "My name is Kagome, I just moved in a few days ago."
"Um." He eyed her hand speculatively before taking it in his own. "I'm Inuyasha, I live across the hall."
"I can tell," Kagome said, her eyes sparkling. "You left your door open."
He turned around and cursed, abruptly letting go of her hand to take a few steps back and pull it closed before returning.
"Ah, I've just been getting up early to set the place up, I didn't really think that I'd be bothering anyone."
Inuyasha shrugged and sighed, scratching the back of his head. "S'okay, it's probably just me who can hear it. Most of the tenants here are human, anyways."
"Still, I don't want to bother anybody at all. Thanks for letting me know that I was too loud. I'll probably be moving boxes around all week, so feel free to drop by if I'm making another racket," she said with a laugh.
"I'll be out all day, so don't worry about it." He looked over her head and into her rather messy apartment. "Want help with anything?"
Kagome shook her head. "I'm okay, but thanks anyways. It was nice meeting you, Inuyasha."
"Ah, sure," he said awkwardly. "See 'ya around."
"You too!"
With that, she closed the door, and a few moments later, he heard the music stop. He inclined his head towards the door as though she could see his gesture of thanks before returning to his own apartment.
"Ah-CHOO!"
There it was again. Another sneeze in the past few minutes, making a grand total of ten, from what he had counted. He had no idea that anyone could sneeze that loud. Maybe it was just a human thing.
Grumbling, he shuffled into his slippers and knocked on Kagome's door. It had only been a few days since he'd first visited her, and only a few days since any noise from her apartment had bothered him.
After a while of no answer, he raised his fist to knock again, only to have the door jerked open partway.
"Who is it?" A voice asked meekly.
"Inuyasha, from the across the hall?" he said.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but you really should go, I don't want to make you sick." As if to prove her point, he heard another violent sneeze from the behind the partially opened door.
"I'm part demon, I don't get sick." He pushed the knob gently until it opened all the way, and took in her disheveled appearance. Her pajamas were rumpled and her hair was ruffled. Her nose was bright red, and her dark eyes were glassy. "What happened?"
"I'm sick," Kagome emphasized, glaring at him. "Don't tell me my sneezing and coughing is bothering you?"
"Of course not," he lied. "I, uh, just wanted to ask you how moving in was coming along."
Kagome heaved a tired sigh. "I'm nearly done, and I would have been done today if it wasn't for this stupid cold." She shivered. "The worst part is that I still haven't unpacked my extra blankets."
"I can help you unpack," he offered again. "I don't have anything to do for today."
"I'd rather not have a stranger going through my things, if you can understand," Kagome said sheepishly.
Inuyasha nodded. "That's fair. I can give you a spare blanket or two, if you'd like. I don't have much use for them."
She gave him a shaky smile. "You really don't have to, I can manage."
"I don't need 'em, and you obviously do. Might as well just take them." Before she could say anything, he had disappeared into his door and reemerged a minute later holding two large quilts.
"Ah-choo!" Kagome sneezed into her elbow, hugging herself and sniffling. "I appreciate it, Inuyasha, really. Thank you so much." She moved to take the blankets from his hands, and her mouth opened in surprise when he, instead, unfolded them and draped them over her shoulders.
"Go back inside, you look like you're about to collapse." Still surprised, all Kagome could manage was a nod and a grateful smile. She turned and went back inside, and Inuyasha closed the door gently behind her, since she seemed to have forgotten to do so.
"Do you like cookies?"
Inuyasha stared blankly down at Kagome. She had just rung his doorbell, and, when he had opened it, she stood there, holding up a red box neatly tied off with a white bow up to him, grinning brightly. Her cold seemed to have disappeared quickly, as her face was less pale and her nose was it's normal color again.
"I didn't put any chocolate in them, because, you know, dog-demon and all, but they do have nuts in them, so I hope you like them!" She lightly shook the box as a gesture for him to take it, and he did, slipping it from her hands and into his own.
"What are these for?" he asked, trying his best to sniff at the box discreetly.
"For the blankets, and being such a nice neighbor. I found the box with all my cookie sheets, and decided to make you some cookies earlier this morning." She twined her fingers together and pushed herself forward onto the balls of her feet and back onto her heels. "You're not allergic to nuts, are you?"
"No, and if you're still wondering, I'm not allergic to chocolate either," Inuyasha said, a little amused. "And don't worry about the blankets, you can keep 'em."
"Are you sure?" Kagome asked. "I found mine, and you'll get cold. It's going to start snowing soon, you know."
He waved her off. "I don't really get cold, so it's fine. You need them more than I do."
When she had left, Inuyasha took the box to the kitchen and opened it. The pleasant smell of fresh baked cookies hit his nose, and he lifted one for inspection. A small, round cookie that held a swirl of cream in the center. The box was filled with them, many of them different colors and sizes.
Aside from the bitter taste he could make out from the food coloring, he decided they were delicious, and once he finished the whole box, he regretted not saving some for later.
The next time Kagome saw him, she was on her way back home, arms loaded with bags from Christmas shopping, and only a few blocks away from the apartment building. Inuyasha was returning from a brief visit to his parents' house, and spotted her from behind, her now familiar scent standing out in the crowd.
He walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder so she would see him. Kagome looked up at him and grinned.
"Hello, Inuyasha, I didn't expect to see you out! Where were you heading off to?" She adjusted the bags in her left hand.
"I was visiting my parents, I'm going back to the apartment now." He looked down at the several bags she was balancing at once. "I'm guessing you were shopping?"
"I was," she replied. "I guess I bought more than I had expected."
He took hold of her elbow and pulled her over to the side of the walkway so they wouldn't get knocked into. "Here, I'll help."
"Oh," she said, her eyes widening. "You don't have to do that! They're really not heavy."
"Maybe not, but you're stumbling all over them." Without another word, he held his hand out, eyebrow raised, waiting for her to give him some of her bags.
With a grumble, she lifted a hand and slipped the handles of one bag onto his fingers.
Inuyasha frowned at her. "Really?"
"All right, all right," she snapped, managing to shake the handles of all the bags on her left hand onto his, leaving her with half of her original load. "But that's all, dog-boy."
"Dog-boy? Like I haven't heard that one before," Inuyasha said with a snort, but his eyes twinkled.
"Yes, yes, I'm not the best at nicknames, okay?" Kagome set back to walking, and Inuyasha followed right beside her. "Thank you for your help. Again. You're a very good friend, you know that?"
Inuyasha blinked rapidly. "Me?"
"Yes, you, silly. Always popping up when I need it. You'd better stay for some tea or hot chocolate before going back to your own place, I owe you a proper thank you."
"Nah, you don't. It's nothing," he grumbled. The apartment was right in front of them, and Inuyasha held the door open for Kagome before entering behind her, also hitting the elevator button for her.
"At least come over for some more cookies," Kagome said hopefully. "Did you like the ones I made you the other day?"
Inuyasha shrugged indifferently. "They were good."
"I'm glad!" she exclaimed. "Then I'll give you more to take home with you, huh? I made too many last night."
Forcing himself to suppress his happiness, he just gave her a lopsided smile.
For the third time, Inuyasha, not out of annoyance for once, left his apartment to knock on Kagome's door. From the farthest part of his apartment, he could hear her sniffles and rather loud sobs for the past few minutes. After a knock on the door didn't elicit a response from her, he pushed on the doorknob, and to his surprise, it opened.
Inuyasha followed the sounds of Kagome crying to a room—her bedroom, presumably—and he knocked on the closed door loudly. "Kagome? It's me."
He heard a loud sniffle and the sound of soft footsteps before the door was pulled open. Her face was pink and tearstained, her eyes and nose red from crying, and she was still rubbing her eyes and nose when she looked up at him. "Inuyasha? H-how did you get in?"
"You left your door open, dummy," he admonished. He put a hand on her shoulder and steered her to her bed, pushing her shoulder lightly so she sat, and once she did, she nearly fell into tears again. "What happened?"
"I-I spent all month fixing this place for Christmas," she choked out, "and I was so looking forward to Mama and Souta and Gramps coming over. I w-was so hoping they would see how I fixed everything up and we would all spend Christmas together like we always do." She sniffled and almost hiccuped. "B-but they're stuck in Kyoto because of the snow and they can't come here and I can't go there and Christmas Eve is tomorrow and—" She cut herself off, tears spilling out of her eyes again as she frantically tried to wipe them away.
Unsure of what to do, Inuyasha sat there, frozen, before awkwardly scooting over and pulling her hair out of her face, rubbing her back carefully and doing his best to keep his claws from nicking her or her shirt.
"If, um, it makes you feel better, Kagome, you can always spend Christmas with me," he stuttered, patting her once before draping his arm over her shoulders, looking straight forward.
"R-really?" Rubbing her eyes with her wrists, she straightened, peeking at him from the corner of her eye.
"Yeah, I mean, it won't be here. It'll be my mother and father's' house, and my brother will probably be making an appearance, but they wouldn't mind at all." He grinned. "Mother might even love it, she's always complaining about how she's the only human in the family. Having a new friend would make her pretty happy."
"I don't want to intrude." Kagome bit her lip, looking down. "It's a very sweet offer, but I don't think I could accept. You don't want to bring a stranger over, and on Christmas, no less!"
"You're not a stranger to me," he reassured, "and trust me, the second you step through that door, you'll practically be family."
"Are you sure?" she asked again.
He nodded firmly. "Positive."
"Inuyasha!"
Kagome stood behind Inuyasha awkwardly, adjusting her hold on the large box of homemade cookies she held. A woman who she presumed to be his mother had reached out for him in a hug the second he had opened the door, and he had hugged her back, resting his cheek in her hair.
A tall man came up behind Inuyasha, likely his father from the eye and hair color that they shared, and he gave her a curious look and warm smile. Kagome smiled shyly back.
Inuyasha stepped out of his mother's embrace and placed a hand on Kagome's back, giving her an encouraging push forward. "Mother, father, this is Kagome. She's my neighbor, and her family is stuck in Kyoto, so I invited her over. Kagome, this is my mother, Izayoi—" his mother stepped forward to hug Kagome as best as she could with the box between them, "—and this is my father, Touga." Touga held out his hand and gave her a warm handshake before offering to take the box from her hands.
"Oh, thank you! I was going to bring presents for you all until I realized I didn't know what any of you all would like." She drummed her fingers together nervously. "I made cookies, I hope everyone likes them."
"They're really good," Inuyasha assured her, before turning back to his parents. "Is Sesshomaru here already?"
"In the living room with Rin," his father said, stepping back to let Inuyasha and Kagome enter. Inuyasha took Kagome's jacket and scarf from her to hang on the hooks by the front door. Kagome stepped through the foyer and surveyed the living room, gasping in awe at the beautiful decorations hanging from the ceiling and lining the walls.
On the couch sat a young man, with long silver hair like Inuyasha's and Touga's, occupied with watching a cartoon alongside a little human girl who was snuggled into his side. His eyes slid over to look at her, and they narrowed.
Kagome swallowed nervously, and raised a hand from her side to wave a little.
"Uncle Inuyasha!" The little girl leapt from the couch, running towards Inuyasha, who had suddenly appeared behind Kagome, and firmly hugged his legs. Inuyasha smiled down at her, ruffling her hair before lifting her into his arms.
"Hey, Rin. How's my jerk of a brother been treating you?" Inuyasha asked. Rin giggled, but said nothing, instead opting to wrap her arms around his neck.
"Uncle, who's this?" Rin questioned, smiling at Kagome.
"That's Kagome. She's gonna spend Christmas with us, okay?"
"Okay!" Rin kicked her legs to get down before running back over to Sesshomaru, leaping onto the couch and burying herself into his side again to resume her show.
Kagome laughed. "She's very cute. You're her uncle?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Ah, I guess so. She's Sesshomaru's adopted kid, so I guess that makes me her uncle, huh?"
"It does," Kagome confirmed. She looked around, still unsure of what to do. "Is there, uh, anything I can do to help out? Any last minutes cooking or decorations?"
Touga popped his head in from the kitchen. "Don't you worry about that, I've got everything under control. You just sit and enjoy yourself, dear."
Kagome's mouth dropped in surprise. "He heard me from over there?"
"Demons, remember? Why else do you think I came barging into your apartment when you were just sneezing?"
"...You said that was to check in to see how moving in was coming along." Kagome laughed at the cringe on his face when he realized he'd been caught, and rubbed his arm in a friendly manner. "Don't worry about it, Inuyasha, that was a very sweet thing to do. I wish I had your ears, so I could check in on you whenever you sneeze or cough."
"That's the thing—I don't sneeze or cough. Ever."
"Sure you don't," Kagome said amusedly.
After dinner, Kagome had happily watched the Takahashi family unwrap each of their gifts. Though they expressed their apologies at not having gotten her a gift, she waved them off, saying she was perfectly happy to have been invited in the first place, and that was gift enough.
She watched from the couch, smiling and laughing whenever someone opened a new gift. She did her best to smother her laughs when Sesshomaru opened his gift from Rin, a carefully put together craft of a ring of flowers, large enough that it was obviously meant to go on his head. At Rin's encouraging smile, Sesshomaru begrudgingly set it on his head, and promptly returned to his previous spot on the opposite side of the couch. Rin ran over and seated herself in his lap, reaching up to fuss with the flower crown.
How someone could still look so cold with a child on their lap and flowers on their hair, Kagome wasn't too sure.
Soon enough, after all of the gifts had been opened, Izayoi popped a copy of How The Grinch Stole Christmas into the DVD player for them all to watch. She and Touga snuggled on the loveseat adjacent to the couch, where Sesshomaru remained with Rin on one end, and Inuyasha joined Kagome on the other.
The platter of cookies Kagome had brought in sat on the table in the middle of them all, and by the time the movie was only halfway done, they had all disappeared. Touga had gotten up in the middle of the film to make them all hot chocolate, and after Kagome insisted on helping him, found himself getting assistance from Kagome carrying them all in.
After her cup of hot chocolate had been polished off, Kagome found herself fighting off sleep as her eyelids began to get heavier. Silently hoping Inuyasha wouldn't mind, she let her head fall onto his arm, and soon afterwards, fell asleep all together.
Inuyasha surprised to feel the sudden weight on his arm, and turned to see Kagome snoozing on his shoulder. A small smile pulled at his lips, and he moved to pull the blanket on her legs over her shoulders and lean down to make her more comfortable.
Sesshomaru rose to bring a sleeping Rin to her bed in her room, and Touga led Izayoi, who was half-asleep already, to their room, saluting to Inuyasha before they began to ascend the stairs.
As he was the only one left awake and in the room, Inuyasha reached for the remote and shut the television off. He pulled Kagome, blanket and all, into his arms and rose to his feet, carrying her up the stairs and into his room. After clumsily kicking the comforter away with his foot, he lay her down on the mattress and pulled both the thin blanket from the couch and the thicker comforter over her, making sure the blankets reached up to her chin.
Inuyasha grinned a little and brushed her bangs off of her face before he turned to leave. He closed the light and shut the door behind him, but not before quickly grabbing a pillow off the floor to bring with him.
He vaulted over the railing and landed silently on his feet, sauntering over to the now empty couch to flop down on it, face down into the pillow and feet hanging off the arm of the couch.
Only minutes later did Inuyasha's snores fill the air, breaking the brief silence in the household, but not disturbing the peace at all.
"It was wonderful having you over, Kagome," Izayoi said as Kagome readied herself to leave. "Don't hesitate to come over and visit another day, just tag-along with Inuyasha."
Kagome's eyes brightened. "Thank you very much, it was a pleasure being here. Ah, I'm sorry for spending the night unexpectedly…"
Touga waved his hand. "Not a problem. We look forward to seeing you again sometime, soon, dear. Bring her around sometime, son."
"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha groused, grasping Kagome's elbow as she wiggled into her boots. "We've gotta get going now, father."
"Get home safely!" Izayoi called. Inuyasha unlocked and opened the door for Kagome, and when he heard a jingling sound, he looked up and sighed.
"That wasn't there last night," Kagome said curiously, craning her neck to look up at the sprig of mistletoe, with a small, golden bell attached to it. Inuyasha side-eyed his mother suspiciously.
"I wonder how that got there," Touga said innocently. "Well, you two know the rules."
Kagome shrugged and turned to Inuyasha, who exhaled sharply through his nose. "Of course…"
With a cheeky grin, Kagome stood on tip-toe and placed her hands on Inuyasha's shoulder, giving him a quick but sweet peck on the tip of his nose. When she pulled away, she almost laughed at the sight of his now bright-red nose and cheeks.
Ignoring the stifled giggled of his parents, Inuyasha ushered Kagome out of their house, tossing a half-hearted goodbye over his shoulder as he helped her down the icy steps.
"Your family seems really sweet," Kagome commented. "And, ah, sorry about kissing you without asking."
Inuyasha raised a shoulder. "S'fine, I didn't mind or anything."
"I'm glad I didn't freak you out or anything, then," she said. "You look really cute with a red nose, by the way."
Inuyasha pursed his lips, but said nothing.
"That's a good thing," Kagome laughed. "Anyways, I really do appreciate you inviting me over for the holidays. I hope I can return the favor soon."
"There's no favor to return," he said, shaking his head. "We were all glad to have you over, and they're probably expecting you back next year, too."
"I'll see if I can make it. Hopefully the snow won't be as bad next year." When they reached a crosswalk, Kagome shuffled towards Inuyasha and linked her arm through his. "By the way, you're coming over to my apartment right now. I have some more of those cookies for you I know you like."
Unable to say no, Inuyasha huffed, but a smile bloomed on his face anyways. "Sure thing, Kagome."
The light turned green, and after a moment of clumsy steps, they fell into sync and continued their trek home.
A/N: This was sort of cheesy and silly and I'm sorry about that, I just really like pointless fluff. Pointless angst, too, but I'm not too good at writing that.
Inupapa does the cooking and the chores because gender roles belong in the garbage.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that your New Year's are fabulous and nice and full of snow, because there is no snow where I'm at, and I desperately need some snow. Send some over, friends!