Chapter 2:

Dark clouds boiled in the sky, sending thick sheets of rain and thunder hammering into the city of Tokyo. All over the city, people in the streets scuttled for cover. Families stayed toasty and warm in their homes, while kids looked out of their windows in despair. No play time today.

Kagome's house wasn't that warm however. In fact, since the power for the house had been shut down a little while before, it was getting downright cold, despite it still being fairly early in the morning.

Kagome's perspective:

I couldn't believe how heavy this guy was. If he were standing he would be about a head taller than me, but I'm not that tall to begin with. Struggling, I wrestled him onto the sofa in the living room, settling him down on his back.

With that done, I finally had enough time to truly examine him. He was wearing a pair of extremely baggy brown pants, with holes in both knees. Mud and other things I shuddered to think about made deep stains in them. I had the impression that these poor pants had never seen a washer in their entire existence, all one thousand years of them. His faded red tee shirt was in almost as bad shape. It too had holes and rips in random places, and seemed completely saturated with sweat stains, amongst other, more sinister markings.

He wore a pair of ragged tennis shoes, with holes in both of them, no socks to be seen. Yep, there was no doubt about it; this boy was dirty. I would be willing to wager that this rainstorm had been the first water to hit him since, well, the LAST rainstorm. His fingernails were almost as long as mine, but ragged; it was obvious he chewed them. That did it, what I was looking at was a genuine, honest to goodness, street bum. But he was so young! Sitting back, I sighed. 'Now what?'

I eyed his growing bruise and made the obvious conclusion; a washrag for one.

Getting up, I went to the kitchen and wet down a small towel with warm water. Coming back to the unconscious freaky dog boy, I knelt down beside him, gingerly dabbing at the ugly bruise on his head.

"UGH!" I gagged, scrunching up my nose, as I took in just how much this guy STANK! I might as well have been sitting next to a two-week old garbage bin.

As I wet down his forehead, his head jerked in his sleep, flinching away from my hand like it was a monster. The wet towel cleared away the dirt from part of his face, revealing a paler color than the rest of his dirty skin.

"N-No" he mumbled, eyes squeezing shut even tighter while his brow furrowed.

I almost dropped the towel when I received another shock to my system. The white dog-ears on his head had moved! Looking more closely, I squeaked when the little things twitched yet again right before my eyes. They were REAL?!

Reaching out a hesitant hand, I lifted a length of silver hair on the side of his head, where his ears were supposed to be. No ears there. Holy crap, what was he? Despite how dirty he was, his hair was surprisingly un-greasy. In fact, it was downright silky. Reaching up to his ears, I rubbed them, just to make sure they really were real. Sure enough, they twitched in my hand, and the boy started mumbling in his sleep some more.

Well, hurt or not, I had to wake him up to get him washed up! My nose couldn't take this much longer.

"Hey." I shook him. Nothing, he just mumbled something I couldn't understand.

"HEY BOY! WAKE UP!" I yelled into his ear, shaking him as hard as I could. "Please?" I finished lamely. Still nothing! Damn! It was up to me then. Lifting his shirt a little, I pulled down on his pants, revealing a pair of very dirty looking underwear. Thank god! As much as I was tempted, I don't think my heart was ready for a naked dog boy.

Maneuvering him off the couch, I dragged him up the stairs, bit by bit. That alone nearly drained me of all my energy, and took a really long time as well. Finally reaching the bathroom, I turned on the hot water in the bathtub. Looking down at my dirty guest, I got to work, first going for the shoes, then the pants. Throwing the pair of incredibly disgusting things into the corner, I next went after the shirt, trying to avoid looking at the part of his body I most wanted to see. I am not a pervert, after all!

Still, with his shirt off, I got a good look at him, and couldn't help staring. I had never seen a body as in shape and toned as his! Well I had, in movies, but never in real life. It was obvious he couldn't afford a gym, so how could be so toned without going to one? Cheeks heating up, I ripped my gaze away, then lifted and tipped him over into the bath.

Immediately the bath water started turning brown. Frowning, I positioned him so his head was above water, and started cupping water and pouring it down on his head. Again, he mumbled quite a bit, but he never woke up. Squeezing half a bottle of hair wash on him, I started rubbing it into his hair, letting the suds really build up before washing it out again using a container I spotted in a corner.

Noticing the bath water was turning a darker brownish color; I drained the water out, and then filled the tub back up again with fresh water. I realized with a start that I was still pretty damp from going out in the rain. Looking the boy over with a critical eye, I decided I was pretty much done, so I decided to let him soak for a while. Taking the free time to get changed into some warmer cloths.

After changing into some sweats and a different sweater, I walked back to the bathroom, gazing at the boy, whose head had tilted a little in his sleep towards my position, facing the doorway. He seemed so otherworldly. His little white doggie ears had slumped down, giving him a relaxed look. I couldn't help it; I giggled to myself. He was so damn cute!

Oh my god! Cute! Hojo! I was supposed to meet him!

Frantically I looked at my wristwatch. I was supposed to meet him NOW! I started running to the phone before I realized the power was out. My cell phone! Quickly I dug it out of my school bag and dialed Houjou's cell number.

Hojo's cheerful voice could be heard on the other end. "Hello?"

"Oh, um, hi Hojo! It's Kagome." I had to force cheerfulness into my voice I didn't feel.

"Oh Hey! What's up Kagome? I'm glad you're ok, I tried calling your house but the line was busy. And you didn't answer your cell phone. You're not trying to ditch me are you? Hah ha!" That last bit had sounded a bit strained. He was worried I was trying to ditch him. Poor guy! Unfortunately, this time I really was.

I forced regret I didn't feel into my voice. "Oh no, nothing like that," I then went on to explain about the power outage at my house, and how I had to stay home because I had to be there while the repair guys came and fixed things. Which was true! I just hadn't gotten around to calling them yet. "So, I'm so sorry Hojo! Maybe next weekend or something?"

'Sure Kagome! I'll see you at school. Bye!" I had to hand it to him; he certainly was a gentleman.

I had just hung up and had started to dial the repairman's number when I heard a dull thud from upstairs.

Running up I turned the corner just in time to see a very confused, wet, and angry (but clean!) dog boy picking himself up off the bathroom floor.

Seeing me, his face turned beet red, and he scrambled back covering his privates, shouting, "What the hell? Where are my damn cloths?!" I felt my own face heat up; watching him move around was a treat. God, he was gorgeous. And those eyes! Quickly, I turned my back on him.

"Well, see, you were hurt bad, and I had to do something, but you stank, so I, uh-" Ok, I babbled. A lot. It went on like that for a few minutes until I finally wound down with "So just wait here while I get you some fresh clothes, ok?"

Sneaking a peak over my shoulder, I saw his face had a slightly confused look, as he tried to piece together the random bits of information I had just thrown at him. His golden-amber eyes were slightly glazed, and his cute ears were twitching spastically.

Not wanting to dig myself any deeper, I rushed out of the bathroom before he could begin to reply.

To be continued...