Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or I'd be famous. And I'd have a bit more money, too.

Inuyasha finished off his beer, leaving some money on the bar. The bartender cleared his throat as Inuyasha headed out. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm not driving. I just live a couple blocks over." The bartender smiled and gave a small wave before turning to another customer.

Inuyasha reached the door and sighed. It was pouring outside, and lightning flashed in the distance. He pulled on his sweatshirt and stepped out into the rain. Two blocks in this and he'd be soaked straight through. Inuyasha almost wished he had a car.

His phone rang, and Inuyasha stepped into a store doorway out of the rain to answer it. "Hello? Oh, Miroku, what's up? No, I've got to work tomorrow, but I'm sure you'll be able to get in." Inuyasha squinted into the darkness. "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow, I gotta get home, and I don't want to get my phone wet. No, you ass, it's raining." He disconnected and switched the cell to flashlight, shining it into the corner.

"Oh, shit." There was a girl sleeping in the corner, huddled up against the side of the building. "Hey, are you alright?" He shook her shoulder lightly, but she didn't wake.

Inuyasha frowned. His morals wouldn't allow him to just sit back and let some girl sleep on the streets in the rain, but he had no clue what to do with her. Finally, he picked her up and started carrying her down the street.

It was only slightly difficult carrying a sleeping girl through the pouring rain, up three flights of stairs because the elevator was out and into his apartment. He laid her down on the bed in the spare bedroom and turned on the light.

She had long black hair pulled into a low ponytail and was wearing jeans, a black tank top and a dark blue flannel shirt. Inuyasha pulled off her sneakers and tucked her into the blankets. She still didn't wake up. Inuyasha started to wonder if she was sick or something.

He shut the door behind him as he left the room. He took a shower and went to bed, temporarily shoving the girl out of his head. In the morning, he woke up, left a note on the kitchen counter and went to work.

WMWMWMWMWMWMW

Kagome woke up in a bed. That was unusual, she was quite certain that she used to be curled up next to a convenience store. And now she was sitting here, in a comfortable bed, inside. Kagome looked out the window, not recognizing where she was. "Okay . . ."

In situations like these, (not that Kagome had this happen often) Kagome tried to make the best of things. She got up, quickly exploring the apartment. A note on the counter kindly asked her to wait until "I" got home. "Nice to know whose house this is," Kagome muttered.

It was only ten o'clock, so Kagome treated herself to a hot shower, on the rationale that the owner of the house wouldn't be home for a while yet. Then she sat down on the couch in front of the TV, reaching for the remote just as the door opened.

The man who walked in was tall, with shoulder length black hair tied into a ponytail. He was wearing black jeans and a T-shirt, and had three golden hoop earrings, one on one side, two on the other. "Ki- who are you?"

"You have purple eyes," Kagome noted. "They're pretty."

He smiled smoothly. "Why thank you. You're quite lovely yourself, if I do say so. What's your name?"

"Kagome."

The man sat beside her on the couch, placing one hand on her back. "Kagome. That is a lovely name. I am Miroku." Kagome's eyes widened as his hand slipped slowly downward and promptly slapped him across the face. "How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen." Miroku pulled away and sat next to her. Kagome turned the television on and started flipping through channels. "So . . . is this your place?"

"What? No, this is Inuyasha's house. I just wanted to come over, and he said I could." He turned to the young girl on the couch with him. "Why are you here?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I woke up here. So, what do you want to watch? Any preferences?"

Kagome and Miroku watched a couple of movies on TV, ate peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, and played a game of scrabble (which Kagome won). They were back to the TV when the door opened again at 5:30.

Kagome assumed this was Inuyasha, due to the way he walked around, hanging up his jacket and putting his keys on the counter. He was tall and thin, with short silver hair. He wore track pants and a long sleeved T-shirt with an obscure label across the front. He was extremely hot.

"You have gold eyes," Kagome said with shock. She leaned on the back of the couch to look at him closer. "That's cool." She caught Miroku's raised eyebrow and pouted. "What? I like people's eyes." Miroku leaned across her, reaching for the remote.

"Please, Kag, just let me watch it, just this once. I never get to see it."

"I'm not surprised. And watch your hands." Inuyasha sat down in an opposite chair, watching the two on his couch. "Pick something your age level," Kagome continued, "and I might let you watch it."

"Kag-babe, I will love you forever . . ."

"I am not watching Totally Spies."

"But they have cool gadgets."

"So does Batman."

"But Batman isn't a chick." Miroku gave up on the remote, walking over to the set and starting to change the channel. Kagome chucked the remote at his head and he stopped. "Inuyasha, Kagome's beating me."

"You're name's Kagome?" She nodded. "I'm Inuyasha. I think you know by now this is my house. Miroku didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"What do you think I am, Inuyasha? She's still a kid." Miroku rubbed the back of his head where the remote hit it. "Ooh, Charlie's Angels is on!"

Inuyasha turned back to Kagome. "No, I'm fine."

"I brought you here because I didn't want to just leave you in the rain. Why were you sleeping outside, anyway?"

"I ran away from home," Kagome answered matter of factly. "It was my birthday yesterday, so I spent my money and went out for dinner and had cake and everything. Then I didn't have any money to get a hotel room. The tip for the waitress took the last money I had."

Inuyasha sighed. "What will you do now?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I can find some work at one of the shops whenever I need cash, so I'll get enough for some food and a place to spend the night, and see what goes from there."

"Any intentions of going home?"

"No. I don't get along with my mother. She was going to ship me off to some boarding school for juvenile delinquents to get me out of the house, and if I go back, that's all that's going to happen to me."

Inuyasha nodded. "Miroku, did you eat dinner yet?"

"I got here at ten thirty. We had sandwiches for lunch, though."

"Call Sango for me, will you? See if she can stop by KFC or the Chinese place or something on her way here." Miroku pulled out his phone. Inuyasha walked off in the direction of the bedrooms.

"Hey, San, you're coming here, right? Do you want chicken or Chinese? Okay, then can you get Lo mein? Thanks, babe. Um . . . enough food for four, I guess. Yes. Four. No . . . I don't think I'm schizo . . . yeah, I'll see you later. Yup. Bye." Miroku tuned back to Kagome. "Charlie's Angels is cool too. They're spies and they're hot chicks."

Kagome smiled as Miroku climbed back onto the couch next to her. "Who's Sango? Does she have pretty eyes, too?"

"Prettiest ones around. She's my girlfriend. We hang out here a lot, mainly because Inuyasha's got the biggest TV and cable. I never got along with my parents, either. Didn't run away, but got into as much trouble as I could just to piss them off." Kagome blinked at the sudden topic change. "Hang on, I'll be right back. Need to ask Inuyasha something." He got up and headed out of the room. Kagome sighed. Miroku was nice. She wouldn't mind having him as a friend. Inuyasha wasn't bad either, but Miroku was fun to hang out with. It was too bad that she'd have to leave.

WMWMWMWMWMWMW

"So," Miroku said, throwing himself across Inuyasha's bed with flair. "Did you honestly just pick her off the street?"

"Last night when you called, I stepped out of the rain and she was sleeping there. Didn't wake up the whole way home. Just how hard did she slap you? When you first met, I mean."

"Ah. Pretty hard."

"That's what I thought."

"She's only sixteen." Inuyasha shrugged. "What are you going to do about her?"

"Well, I was thinking about letting her stay here, in the spare room, but I want Sango's opinion before I offer it to her."

Miroku jumped up. "Do it! You have to. This girl is the sweetest thing and you can't just let her stay in the streets. She's perfectly innocent, Yash. You have to let her stay here. I'm sure Sango will agree. I mean, I've hung out with her for hours now, and she hasn't even pissed me off once!"

"That doesn't take much."

"Yeah, well, I'm serious. I-" He stopped. "Sango's here!" Miroku jumped off the bed and ran into the other room just as Kagome was opening the door.

"You do have pretty eyes," she said. "Miroku was right for once."

"I heard that." Miroku shoved Kagome out of the way, grabbing the box of Chinese food and setting it on the table.

"Four, huh?" Sango said quietly. She had long black hair in a high ponytail, and brown eyes. She wore a light pink baby tee, a long denim skirt and ballet flats. She put her purse down on the couch, going over to talk to Inuyasha before the two of them sat down at the table and began to eat.

"Kagome, this is Sango. San, this is Kag." Miroku made the introductions, pointing at the girls in turn with his chopsticks, his mouth filled with noodles. They made polite remarks to each other, content to get back to their dinner. Kagome, who didn't usually get much to eat, ate more than anyone else, even though Miroku and Inuyasha both had three large helpings.

Miroku grabbed the first fortune cookie, cracking it open and pulling out the slip of paper. "Speak Chinese: door. Oh, wait, wrong side. Ah . . . your luck will get worse before it gets better. Nice."

Sango opened hers. "Beware men who think they know too much." She looked pointedly at Miroku, who didn't catch it.

"A chance encounter may prove fortuitous." Kagome smiled at her fortune. "Well, at least it's something good."

They turned to Inuyasha, who was quietly munching his cookie. "I didn't get one," he said. "The paper was blank." He passed it to Miroku.

"Well, that's not fair. You should sue." He began clearing up the empty boxes and plates. Kagome stood up as well and began to help him, rinsing off dishes and putting them into the dishwasher.

"Kagome." She jumped and turned towards Inuyasha. He was staring straight at her with his golden eyes, something Kagome found rather disconcerting. "How would you like to stay here?"

She blinked. "Stay . . . here? You mean, tonight? Or . . ."

"I mean as long as you want. I have an extra bedroom; you can stay here until whenever."

Miroku wrapped his arms around her. "Please, Kagamuffin. I want you to stay." Kagome slapped him lightly without even thinking about it. She was still staring into Inuyasha's eyes.

"You really mean I can stay here?" She bit her lip. Inuyasha nodded. "Um . . . okay." Inuyasha smiled slightly. Miroku picked her up off her feet and swung her around. "Kya! Miroku! What are you doing?"

"Yay! Kag gets to stay!" Kagome blushed slightly. "Happy day-late birthday!" He set her down on her feet.

Sango turned to Inuyasha. "I have to get going. I don't want Kohaku to wait up for me. What time do you have to go to work tomorrow?"

"Noon."

"I'll be here at eleven to pick up Kagome."

Kagome perked up, putting the little bit of left over food into the fridge. "Where are we going?"

"We're going out to get you some clothes. You might fit into some of my old stuff, but I don't know, so you'll have to try it on. You don't mind, do you?"

She smiled brightly. "Not at all."

"Good. Then I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Kagome smiled. Yesterday she was sleeping out on the streets, today she had a place to stay and new friends, and tomorrow she'd have new clothes, too. Things were definitely looking up.