A/N: This oneshot was inspired by the amazing artist lenbarboza's "Dogs and Swords" series, particularly the Human!Inu one, but really, they're all gorgeous. It also helps that Inuyasha's in a tailored suit. :)
Inuyasha always knew that Kagome was odd. Okay, so maybe being from the future had a lot to do with the weird way she said, did, or reacted to things, but there became a point where he had to stop using the time difference as an excuse and just accept that she was weird.
It took spending more time in her world for him to reach that conclusion.
Mama Higurashi had formally extended the invitation to come visit whenever possible. She always kept a steady supply of instant noodles tucked away, just for him. She didn't seem to mind that he spent so much time alone with Kagome in her room, whereas that wouldn't have been heard of in his world. Her family had been the first that he had willingly divulged his new moon transformation to, without it being dropped on them like Kagome. Yeah, he'd piss and moan about her having to go back to take tests, but he'd still follow her. He had a place where he was wanted for his company and not judged by what he was.
It was during these visits to Kagome's home that Inuyasha came across her girlfriends on more than one occasion. Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi had become used to seeing the "two-timer" around the shrine grounds, but the nickname stuck between them for some time until they were assured that they had been wrong. Oh, Inuyasha had heard them use the name, just as much as he heard the word "boyfriend" being tacked along with it, and while he wasn't completely sure of the second word, he knew what that first one meant. Why they used it was beyond him, but Kagome always stood up for him.
Most of the time when they came around, he was helping her grandfather move heavy boxes and bins around, so he didn't see them a whole lot. He could hear the conversations though, especially when Kagome left her bedroom window open. Their most recent gossip, to his horror, had been about him.
"When did your boyfriend start wearing those jeans?"
"Has he always been that fit? You couldn't tell before with that old-fashioned kimono, but he's ripped!"
"You're a lucky girl, Kagome. I wish I had a boyfriend who looked that good!"
Even with the bandana over his ears, Inuyasha had heard clearly, and very nearly dropped the antique he had been carrying. He paused when he heard Kagome sigh and respond. "Yeah, he's always been that fit. I guess it comes from the training he's done for years."
She hadn't disputed the boyfriend comment.
Inuyasha found himself watching Kagome when she wasn't aware after that. He hadn't been able to see them up in her room, but the way she had talked confused him. She almost sounded wistful. That couldn't be right. Girls were a weird species to contend with, but Kagome was a step beyond that.
She could go from content to furious within seconds. She could shed tears and argue that she wasn't. Hell, she could get so mad she'd say something lethal and not realize she did it a minute later.
In a way, she wasn't that different from Kikyo, though her range of emotions were more pronounced than the preincarnation's. Kikyo was more subdued in comparison, so maybe that was why Kagome was like an explosive with a trick fuse.
Come to think of it, Kagome had been giving him funny looks since he had started wearing clothes from her time when he stayed longer than usual. Mama had picked him out a few pieces because in her words "it would help him blend in better". Kagome had told him later that it was because she wanted to wash his robes from time to time. She had said it with a strange expression on her face, like she was dazed. Inuyasha couldn't pick up anything wrong with her scent and asking her left her blushing and stumbling over her words.
Those girls she went to school with were no better at helping him figure out what was wrong with Kagome either. He had approached them as they were leaving one day and asked outright. All he got was giggling.
Inuyasha tried to talk with her family about this, but he found himself shutting down before he could even get the words out. Grandpa and Souta gave him weird looks as he clammed up. Mama only smiled at him and told him that things would work themselves out.
Inuyasha didn't know how he got suckered into this. Scratch that, he knew, he just didn't know how he let it happen.
Kagome's school was hosting some sort of event that she was required to go to for a grade. The stipulation had been that all students and guests were required to dress in formal attire. And somehow, between the coaxing of Kagome and her friends, he had been talked into escorting Kagome to this event.
"It wouldn't look good if Kagome's boyfriend didn't bring her," Eri said with a wink.
'Felt more like a veiled threat,' Inuyasha thought, recalling the unblinking stares of the three girls as they waited for his response. He had given in, trying not to blush as the three squealed excitedly. 'At least I won't have to cover my ears tonight.'
Fortunately, he would blend in more among the other guests tonight, since it was the new moon. Mama hadn't taken the timing into account with the suit she selected for him; she just thought it would look nice. Inuyasha looked at his reflection as the transformation took place, turning his silver hair to black. It nearly blended in with the black vest that hugged his form, which lay over a dark red button-up. Black pants hugged his hips much like the other pants she had bought him.
He still didn't understand how men in this world got anything done with such restrictive hakama.
Not wanting to stand and stare at his reflection any longer, Inuyasha had gone downstairs to wait for Kagome. He sat down at the table across from Grandpa and picked up Buyo.
The older man looked up from his paper and nodded. "You clean up decent as a human, boy."
Inuyasha shrugged. "How do men in this world stand these clothes?"
"You get used to it."
"So, what am I supposed to do tonight?" Buyo had rolled over onto his side in Inuyasha's lap as he scratched the cat's fur.
"Do?" Grandpa laughed. "Not much. No, your job tonight is to make my granddaughter look good. Just follow her lead and you won't have anything to worry about, part-timer."
They fell into silence, Grandpa continued to read his paper and Inuyasha scratched Buyo behind the ears. The silence was broken a bit later as the older man stood up and muttered about "needing to stretch the old bones" and left the room. Inuyasha continued to pat Buyo until he heard Kagome's voice from the doorway.
"Inuyasha, are you ready- oh Buyo! Get off him, you're shedding!"
The cat meowed and gave Inuyasha one last rub against his clothes before hopping down, leaving a smattering of little white hairs all over the dark clothes. Inuyasha stood up and started to brush the hair off, saying "I didn't know the cat was shedding!"
"It's…fine," Kagome got the full display of Inuyasha in the suit as he straightened up. Was she about to fuss at him? She couldn't be sure. She was too fascinated with the way the suit was cut, like it was made to fit him specifically.
Inuyasha stopped brushing at his vest when Kagome's voice trailed off. He looked up at her, about to ask her what her problem was now, but found he couldn't speak himself. The dress was simple, a dark red like his shirt. The only thought he could form was how much it reminded him of how she wrapped herself in the fire rat robe that night in Togenkyo, and that was a thought he really didn't need to be having right now.
When their gazes met, Kagome blinked, realizing that she had been staring. "Let me get the lint roller," she blurted out, disappearing and reappearing with a small handled roll. She swiped it across the vest, and Inuyasha watched fascinated as the roller lifted the stray cat hairs that he had missed. Finishing with the vest, she handed it to Inuyasha, adding, "Just do what I did on your legs, and I'll check your back."
The hanyou-turned-human took the roller and brushed it down the front of his legs like Kagome had done. Kagome gently moved his hair out of the way to check the back of the vest as he worked. Buyo had been shedding something horribly lately, and she felt bad that she forgot to warn Inuyasha before he got dressed. She caught some stray hairs, not too many, but they were there. Not thinking about her actions, she continued to swipe her hands down his back to knock the little hairs off his clothes.
Inuyasha was nearly bent in half at this point, running the lint roller past his knees. He had felt Kagome's hands on his back but didn't think too much about it. It wasn't any different than when she'd bandage his back after a battle.
Until he felt her hands move over his ass.
That was new.
He let out a strangled yelp of surprise as he felt her small hands slide down the curve of his backside…and lingered.
At the sound, Kagome straightened up at the same time Inuyasha did. If his red face was any indication of hers, they must have been a matched set in that moment. With how quickly he turned to face her, it had hit him far quicker than it did her about what just happened. And boy, when it did sink in… "S-sorry," she stuttered. "The back looks good- I mean- I don't see any of Buyo's hair-!" Kagome's face felt like it was on fire. "You know what, we should get going."
"Y-yeah…" His voice did not just crack. Inuyasha nodded and followed Kagome to the front door. Neither one said anything more about the incident as they put on their shoes and left for the school.
Nothing spectacular happened at the school that night, but Yuka couldn't help pointing out Inuyasha's dark hair. Kagome had frozen, not thinking that far ahead, but Inuyasha jumped in with an excuse. "It's just temporary," he had told the girl, "and I wanted to look nice for Kagome tonight." It had gotten a chorus of dreamy sighs, and the three girls had left him be for the remainder of the night.
Inuyasha needed that time to think. Kagome had groped his ass, and he didn't know what was more alarming – that she did it or that he liked it.
Her hands had only been there for a moment, but it was enough to feel how her fingers had cupped him. In all the times that Kagome had ever touched him, it was never like that.
And the thoughts about how she had touched him wouldn't go away, either. He was mortified to realize that he was now wondering if he could get her to do it again. At school, the crowds and the noise that bounced off the walls could muffle the thoughts. Now they were walking home, just the two of them, and Inuyasha had nothing to distract him.
Unbeknownst to Inuyasha, Kagome was just as flustered about earlier that evening. She really hadn't been thinking when she palmed his backside, except to knock off the stray cat hair. But her hand had stopped there, and her brain had stopped functioning. He was firm, which shouldn't have been surprising. He was toned everywhere else, why did she expect that part of him to be different? If Inuyasha hadn't made that noise, Kagome feared she might have squeezed him, just to confirm what she felt.
All evening there had been weird air between them because of this, and Kagome couldn't take it anymore. They had reached the steps to the shrine when she broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"For…earlier tonight." Maybe looking down at the steps would hide her embarrassment.
"O-oh." Inuyasha didn't say anything for a few steps, but he glanced at Kagome. Her focus was on her feet, but he could see the telltale blush even in the dark. Inhaling, he braced himself for what he likely wouldn't say if he weren't human. "You don't have to apologize for that," he swallowed, adding, "I ain't mad about it."
They were reaching the top of the steps. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, surprised. "You don't have to make me feel better, Inuyasha. I shouldn't have done that-"
"You think I'm lying?" Inuyasha took her by the hand and led her to the well house. Clearly, they needed to talk, and he didn't need eavesdroppers. "Kagome, how many times do you think that's happened to me?"
"I don't-"
"None. Look at me." He held his arms out. "I only look like this once a month. Who would be willing to touch a hanyou?"
Kagome bit her lip and waited. She knew he was trying to make a point, but she wanted to tell him that he was wrong. That it was their loss because they were so closeminded. She wanted him to see that there was at least one person who saw him for who he was. "I would," she said softly.
Inuyasha could only stare as Kagome embraced him, pulling herself flush against his chest as her arms circled his waist. He tried to read her expression, but he only got a glimpse of red cheeks as she hid her face in his shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with you, Inuyasha. Who cares what anyone else thinks? If they have that much of a problem, that's on them..." Her arms slowly slid from around his waist to across his chest, fingering the beads that hung around his neck. A small tug, and Kagome had brought his face down to her level, noses nearly touching. "…Certainly not you."
Kagome had barely brushed her lips against his, but it was enough. Inuyasha's arms encircled her, pulling her close as he kissed her again. It was wrong, and they probably shouldn't, but he didn't care. It felt far too good to care.
Inuyasha's hands couldn't stay still. They skimmed her back, down her hips, then back up. As Kagome nibbled on his bottom lip, his hands caressed her hips again, this time moving a little bit further back. 'Turnabout is fair, after all…'
"Mmmm….Kago..me…"
Kagome was rolling up her sleeping back when she heard the moan come from the tree nearby. She stood up from her crouched position just in time to see a lump of bright red drop out of the tree with a loud THUMP!
"Inuyasha?" She stepped away from her work and rushed to where he landed, sprawled out at the base of the tree. 'Don't laugh. Don't laugh.' "Are you alright?"
A groan came from the hanyou as he sat up and looked around. "Feh. I'm fine," he mumbled.
"That must have been some dream." Okay, so she swore she wasn't going to laugh, but she couldn't resist teasing.
As her words sunk in, Inuyasha felt his face get hot. "Don't be stupid. You were probably hearing things." Horrified, because he knew that she knew, he looked around expecting to see the rest of their group. "Where is everyone?"
Kagome held out her hand to help him stand, which he only took as she told him that Sango and Kirara went to find breakfast, and Miroku and Shippo had gone to the river. "We thought it'd do you some good to sleep in for once." She couldn't resist adding, "And it must have, since you moaned my name."
He was positive his face could blend into his fire rat robe now.
"Did you dream about the last time we were back in my time?"
Silence. His face said enough, though.
She must have sensed his unease. "You know Inuyasha, you're not the first and won't be the last person to have dreams like that. It's perfectly normal."
"K-keh," he scoffed, trying to act like he wasn't as embarrassed as he was. "Maybe for someone like Miroku it's normal. It- it didn't even happen like that-!"
'Oh, that must have been a heck of a dream.' That Inuyasha had even divulged that much told Kagome plenty. 'His dream must have been revisiting our return home.'
Truth be told, the reality of the talk had been a lot less romantic than what Inuyasha had dreamed about. Kagome had apologized for her lingering hands, and Inuyasha had waved it off. There had been no eloquent confessions between either of them, and there certainly hadn't been a kiss. At least, not what one would expect. They had both been red-faced and stuttering, not really meeting each other's eyes. Once they had gotten past that bit of shyness, Kagome had stood up on her toes to give Inuyasha a kiss on the cheek, thanking him for escorting her that night. After that, they had been fine. They went inside, had a late-night snack of instant ramen, then took turns changing out of their formal wear and called it a night.
Inuyasha was busy dusting off his robes and didn't see the change in Kagome's expression. For her, it was the perfect opportunity. She stepped close to his right side and whispered softly, "Who said I was talking about Miroku?" And before she lost her nerve, she deftly reached around his waist and laid her hand firmly on his backside.
This time she squeezed.
"K-Kagome!" Inuyasha wasn't sure if he could get any redder at this point. The first time may have been an accident, but this time it was deliberate!
His only response was a small laugh, likely at his stricken expression. She had squeezed him again before she removed her hand and returned to her sleeping bag. Kagome finished rolling it up and stuffed it into her bag. "Maybe next time we go back through the well, I'll tell you about one of my dreams."
'One of her dreams?' The implication that she had said "one" and not "a dream" was not lost on Inuyasha. He watched the future-born miko move around their campsite. She'd shoot him a shy smile when their eyes met, like she hadn't just groped his ass. He knew better now. Kagome was weird, but it was a weird he was really starting to like.
Oh yes, he was definitely looking forward to going back to her time.