Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
He waits.
He impatiently taps his foot against the wooden floors, the skin sticking slightly. He looks at his wrist, pretending that there is a watch ready and willing to tell him that they are, to no surprise, running late. He partially runs hand through his knotted silver locks and feigns bordem. He's not sure what to do with himself in the time that it will surely take his "date", as she had called it, to finish prepping herself for the evenings' festivities. Normally, he wouldn't care that she was taking so long. Normally, he would join her in her room as she asked for advice on which outfit to wear, how to do her hair, or other silly things.
This was no ordinary night.
It had been two years since they had meet and started the search for the jewel shards. Two years since he thought he was done for, never to see the light of day again all thanks to Kikyo. One year and three hundred sixty-four days more since he had realized what he was getting himself into.
Not that he minded, really.
He had so many other things that he had to worry about, things that should be on his mind at that very moment. They were so close to finding the remaining shards, so close to putting an end to the madness and destruction. They, along with the help of various friends along the way, had come so far. A thought crossed the half-demon's mind and he wondered where they would end. Inuyasha and Kagome had started roughly, absolutely despising each other. Now, they genuinely cared for one another…and perhaps a little more.
Would there be an end to his utopia that had formed over the past two years, even with all of the troubles and hardships they had gone through?
He didn't waste a moment dwelling on it as his ears twitched at the sound of heels against the wood. His eyes darted up, fixating on the girl. As she descended the stairs, he took in her breathtaking form. He could care less about the clothes that framed her petite body or the jewelry that practically glowed against her skin. He didn't care how much, or how little for that matter, makeup she caked on her flawless face or which way she tried to her curl her hair.
She was beautiful, and he knew it.
The pairs of eyes met, locking and holding for what seemed like another lifetime entirely. The corners of her lips tipped upwards, a sort of sparkle twinkling in her eyes. Inuyasha lost all train of thought and felt a funny sensation in his stomach. "Butterflies", he remembered her telling him once, "is something weird your body does when you talk or see someone you like." He could feel the butterflies, clearly as giddy as he. Suddenly, he felt as light as a feather.
He inched closer to his date and held out his hand in order to escort her to their destination. "You look beautiful, Kagome," He told her, the butterflies increasing ten-fold. She whispered a muted thanks, her face turning bright red. Inuyasha squeezed her hand in reassurance, forgetting his calloused hands and clawed nails for the first time in what seemed like forever. He turned and smiled a toothy grin; his normal urge to hide his fangs was forgotten.
The calloused hands were rough from years of fighting and defending. The nails were just a side-effect of being a half-demon. Forgetting them, forgetting the part of himself that he wanted to fix and hide from her, from everyone that he cared for, meant a great deal.
Perhaps there was hope for him after all.