The sound of small stone grinding against pavement left a sharp ring, as tires pulled away from the side walk he was left beside. Inuyasha slung a large duffel bag over his shoulder. One eye was slightly winced as the sun glared on him from behind a rather small building. He heaved out a heavy breath, as he made his way forward. The apartment building was narrow and tall, consistent with the many buildings scattering Tokyo. As he got to the door, he dropped his other large bag, to rummage through his pockets. His eyes lingered on the large sign, 'THE JEWEL', The name of this particular set of apartments. He managed to dig through small balls of old crumpled receipts, loose coins and lint before he pulled out a bundle of keys. Each one had a different colour rubber framing the tops, to help him identify which key was for what. He recalled the key to open the glass doors was framed in red. His fingers fumbled through each one before he got to the jagged piece. His placed the key into the panel, causing the glass door to slide open.

'Fancy.' He thought to himself, as he picked up the bag and made his way through. The foyer was small, and enclosed by a second set of glass doors, that automatically slid open with motion. To his left, were the mailboxes. There were 28 in total. One was specifically for building management. He figured he would check it later. He kept moving forward, into the small hall that led to elevators. He stared at the single door. This would inevitably cause traffic, especially amongst 27 different patrons, including himself. The morning rush hour between 7 and 10 am would be the worst times. Then the evening between 6 and 9. He made a note to himself he would avoid the elevator at all times and rather take the stairs. He glanced at his watch. 1346. He was ahead of schedule.

The dig of the elevator announcing its arrival caught his attention. He stepped in. The smell of old fabric and air freshener assailed his nose. The walls of the elevator were lined with what appeared to be some sort of scratchy looking fabric. The colour of yellowed age stained what was probably once a light beige. The wooden handles that reached about below his waist line were scratched and dinged, but otherwise in tact. The mirrors that covered the rest of the half of the walls were somewhat smudged. He could see the hand prints of children, smudged of permanent water stains and some discoloration. He turned around and inserted his key into the panel, then hit '6'.

The doors opened to the outside. He stepped out and stared at the view of the patio, facing the streets of Arakawa. He could see the trailway leading to Machiya station, just a few 15 minute walk from his new place. He turned to walk the narrow path of the patio. He counted the doors. There were three apartments per level. He got to his. 503. He dropped the bag in his right hand, and grabbed his keys once again. The blue framed one is the one he needed. He inserted the key and twisted to the left, the bass click indicting he was in welcomed him to his new home. He pushed the heavy door open. He was not surprised to see the foyer was small. He slid his shoes off, and kicked the door behind him closed.

"Okaeri." He mumbled out loud to no one in particular. As he entered, the space was close to around 750 square feet. Rather large for such a small complex. To his right was the kitchen, a single stove, a small counter space and very few cupboards, acted as a suspended border between the kitchen and the rest of the house. A small couch sat right against the wall, in front of it a coffee table, covered with a tacky table cover. A small TV stand and TV were across, pressed against the other wall.

He paced across the living room, then opened a door in the corner, right by the couch. It was the door to his bedroom. It was just a tiny, with a twin sized bed pressed into the corner. Beside it was small bedside drawer. The lack of furnishing and décor made the room look deceptively large. A single lonely alarm clock, buzzed in the middle of the drawer. To his left, another door which led to what he assumed was the bathroom. He dumped his bags onto the floor before flopping face down onto the bed. This was home now, he supposed.

Loud banging caused his ears to twitch. One eye cracked open, to be greeted by a plain white canvas. He brought one hand to his forward and slid it down his face, letting it rest over his lips. His breath was warm and thick against his palm. As he inhaled and pushed his hand through his volume silver hair, Inuyasha cranked his head to the side. 1523. He felt the weight of gravity on his head and shoulders, his nap seemed much shorter. Heaving out a sigh, he placed his palms onto the bed and pushed off.

"Calm down!" He yelled as he pulled his arms up over his head to stretch.

The banging continued, picking up a frenzied pace. "This better be good," he mumbled to himself as he grabbed the doorknob leading to outside. "What?"

As he swung open the large, heavy door his eyes stung from the bright lowering sun. He blinked away the tears welling from waking up and burned. Only to be greeted by shock.

The girl in front of him was absolutely beautiful. His breath caught, as she tucked a thick strand of wavy black hair behind her ear. Her eyes were snapped shut, as she bowed deeply. "Sorry, sorry, it's just that-" She looked up to him, her eyes were doe-like and blue, very uncommon for a Japanese human. Her lids fluttered over those pearly blue orbs. "Ah, s-sorry! You- I thought you were Takahashi-sama."

Inuyasha shook his head, he suddenly remembered how irritated he was from being disturbed from his snooze. He had to shake off the spell of her beauty. "No, he moved out a few days ago."

"A-ah." The girl smiled. His stomach's reaction betrayed his desire to stay annoyed. It flopped onto its side, and felt like it had deflated, "Sorry! I forgot he was moving. I'm Kagome. I live downstairs." She pointed down.

An awkward silence breezed between the two. "Mh… Sorry to bother you. I usually go to Takahashi-sama for help."

"It's fine." Inuyasha grunted, his hand moving on its own to scratch behind his ear. "I'm on the clock, anyways."

Kagome's head tilted. His stomach suddenly flopped over to the other side, this time, seemingly tugging his heart down with it. "I'm the new super."

"This building does that?"

"Does now."

"Oh. That's great!" Kagome beamed at him. Any more of this, and Inuyasha swore his insides would collapse and he would die. "The building itself is fine, but it'd be nice to have consistent management!"

Inuyasha nodded, he could almost feel his brain melting. He was not sure if it was due to just waking up or from this new neighbour and apparently, patron of his. He looked down at his feet. Thankfully, he was wearing a pair of plain black socks. The buzz of empty silence, suddenly made him self-conscious. He was not totally sure how to respond to her statement. He wondered if she expected him to be enthusiastic. Should he play nice? He just made himself come off as an absolute jerk, with how he yelled at her. Then again, she didn't seem to notice. Or maybe, she was being nice because he was new. He could not tell. How much time had gone by? Was it too late to respond? Would it be weird. He looked back up at her, she was now looking off to her side. "S-so, what'd you need?"

She looked back at him, "Hmm? Oh, uh… you know what? Don't worry about it. You should get settled in." She smiled gently.

"It's fine."

She shook her head, her smile never once breaking. Her hands folded together in front of her as she bowed once again. "No, no! You should settle in first. It's not a big deal. I'll figure it out."

She turned to her left to return to either the elevator or stairs. "It was nice meeting you… uh…"

"Inuyasha."

She smiled and nodded. "Inuyasha. Welcome to 'THE JEWEL'".