Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Kagome stared at the man with wide eyes, still too stunned to speak.

"Wait, are you telling me that you're Inuyasha of the future?" Kagome studied his face again. "No wait, I mean the present. Wait that doesn't sound right…you know what I mean."

"Of course I do," Inuyasha smiled warmly.

Kagome's eyes narrowed at that unfamiliar smile. "So, what's gotten into you these few hundred years? Why have you become so nice?"

Inuyasha pretended to look offended. "Hey, I've always been nice, I just preferred not to show it. Until two hundred years ago, give or take."

"Important things first. What happened to Naraku? Did we finish him off?"

"What? You thought I wasn't powerful enough back then to kill him?"

"Just answer the question!"

Inuyasha scratched his head nonchalantly. "Yeah we did. Then Sango and Miroku got married and had tons of kids."

"And you?"

He shrugged, keeping his face void of any emotion. "I stayed mostly by myself. Then I moved on around the world. I couldn't stand seeing Kaede die, then Sango and Miroku too. The pain was…indescribable, I really don't know how to put it. I would've been ashamed to admit this before, but not now. The truth was, I cried."

Kagome patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Hey Kagome, aren't you going to ask me what happened to you?"

She cracked at smile. "I think I almost forgot. So what happened?"

Inuyasha couldn't meet her eye at that moment. "Well, after Naraku was gone, you simply disappeared. You went through the well, and that connection became closed."

"Oh," was the only thing Kagome could say. "Why did that happen?"

"Nobody knew. I went to see this old priestess Kaede told me to. A distant relative of Midoriko's. She guessed that since you came to the feudal era with the Shikon Jewel, and when the Jewel disappeared, you did too. Your mission was finished, so to speak."

"That sounds logical, I guess," Kagome was deep in thought. "But if I never came back, what happened to you?"

Inuyasha avoided her intense gaze once more.

"I lived alone, of course. I made a few new friends, humans and demons alike, but mostly, I kept to myself."

Kagome couldn't control herself. She had to comfort him, to wipe that melancholic expression off his face. She pulled him in for another hug to assure him that he was no longer alone.

"Oh Inuyasha, I'm here now," she said simply.

"I know, and I'm so glad to finally see you."

"But why didn't you come see me earlier? I've been alive for almost sixteen years now."

"I did, I always kept an eye on you, but imagine what would happen if I approached you when you were ten. You didn't know me yet. Even now, I don't think it's the right time to see you yet. I wanted to wait until you came back to this era for good. Until Naraku was destroyed."

"But why?" Kagome asked again.

He shrugged, not really knowing how to answer. "It felt…right. I was so scared that it was all a dream, and that you'd disappear on me anytime. Even now, I can't believe I can finally feel you here with me."

Kagome nodded. "And why is your hair black but your eyes are amber?"

Inuyasha inhaled her scent deeply once more before speaking. "A simple spell was invented as soon as humans started to overpopulate the world. Some powerful demons that survived all these years are now in hiding. However, me being a half-demon, I think I screwed up the spell a bit, so only half the transformation took place. My eyes are still golden, I can run the way I do as a hanyou, and I can lift things a thousand times my weight."

Kagome frowned. "Why aren't your ears on your head?"

"I have no idea. Why do you want them there so badly?" The smile was evident in his voice.

Kagome sighed. "Honestly, they are the cutest, fluffiest, most adorable things I've ever seen."

She was surprised yet again as this new Inuyasha didn't make a fuss over her girlish choice of words.

"That's fine. I can conjure them back when we're alone. I would do anything for you, you know that right?"

Kagome could really get used to this nice and sweet version of the man she loved.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

He was about to place a soft kiss on her cheek when an old woman came hobbling over.

"I've been waiting for ten minutes to get a cup of ramen, and my patience is running thin! Take this somewhere else. Oh my innocent eyes!" she moaned.

Both of them turned red.

"Uh," was the only thing Inuyasha could say before Kagome grabbed his hand and led him towards the cashier.

"Hey I didn't get my ramen!" Inuyasha complained as soon as the old woman was out of sight.

Kagome smiled sheepishly. "Well, we're kind of out of ramen too at the shrine…"

Inuyasha groaned as he turned around to get as much ramen as he could carry, which was ten boxes. Kagome gave him a look as he returned by her side with his huge stock of precious ramen, while he simply shrugged and quipped, "Well it tastes good" as his perfect excuse.

"So what do you do for a living now?" Kagome asked as they were walking back towards the shrine. She had been pleasantly surprised when Inuyasha whipped out his wallet at the cashier and refused to let her pay a single cent. Not to mention how he had paid using a credit card.

"I'm a model."

Kagome choked on air. "You're a what?"

Inuyasha spoke slowly, annunciating ever syllable clearly. "A model. For a popular American brand."

Kagome continued to gape at him. "You are so full of surprises. But why haven't I seen your face on billboards or posters?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I'm not exactly the designer's favourite model, mostly becuase I like to keep my shades on. I really hate contacts, so I just stick to the shades. But he once said that my body was 'to die for', so he uses me sometimes, just to get a shot at me neck down. And I get paid well, so who am I to argue?" An arrogant smirk plastered itself automatically onto his face.

She smiled at his arrogance. It was that part of his character that she liked so much. "And what exactly do you model for?"

"Just clothes, you know, like shirts, pants…and sometimes underwear."

'WHAT?" Kagome stopped dead in her tracks.

Inuyasha continued to walk for a few steps before noticing that Kagome was stunned. He quickly got to her side, put down his ten boxes of ramen and shook her shoulders lightly.

"Hey you okay?" His face was etched with worry, which made Kagome melt inside.

"This guy is incredible," she thought as she collected her thoughts after overcoming her initial shock. Underwear? Seriously?

Somehow, Kagome felt jealous. Jealous of all those girls who must have seen his photos when he was shooting an ad for underwear. Jealous of any girl who had immoral thoughts about him, especially when he now wore clothes that were obviously meant to attract the female population. Jealous of anyone who had even glanced at the man who was hers.

She shook her head lightly to clear herself of those thoughts. They were pleasant, but impossible. Inuyasha really must have a girlfriend or something, but he was juse keeping it from her for now.

"Hey! Inu baby!" came a girly voice from behind.

"Speak of the devil," Kagome thought darkly. However, it was strange that Inuyasha suddenly looked panicked. It was even stranger when he let out a barely audible "Hide me!". Was that his attitude towards his girlfriend?

The girl flung herself onto his arm, while babbling away about Inuyasha's perfect features. Inuyasha, on his part, looked irritated and was trying to free his arm, with no success.

When Inuyasha couldn't stand it anymore, he interrupted the girl's nonstop chattering. "Kagome, meet Jakotsu. Jakotsu, this is Kagome."

Kagome's eyes widened instantly, and she tensed as she prepared herself for battle. A closer look told her that it was indeed a man before her. A very familiar one at that. "Jakotsu?"

The girlish man frowned. "What? Do I know you?"

It was Kagome's turn to frown. Jakotsu was a human, and there was no way he could have lived for hundreds of years.

"This is actually a great great grandson, or something close to that, of the Jakotsu we knew in the feudal era. Don't ask me how the Jakotsu we knew knocked up a girl, I have no idea at all. Looks and acts exactly the same as that Jakotsu," Inuyasha explained quickly.

Still shocked, Kagome extended her hand to Jakotsu. "Sorry I got you confused with someone else I knew. I'm Kagome."

The man smiled warmly. "Jakotsu, which you know already. I'm Inuyasha's photographer. Isn't he the most gorgeous hunk ever?"

Kagome blushed deeply, silently agreeing with him. Inuyasha caught her blush and smirked that extra cocky smirk of his.

"Embarassed Kagome? Maybe I should give you a private show," he taunted.

Kagome flushed again, wondering how perfect a man Inuyasha had turned into. He was nice, understanding and wasn't as dense as he used to be. Was this a dream come true?

"Hey why does she get to have a private show when she didn't even ask for one? I've been asking for years! Pwetty please, Inu baby?"

Inuyasha shuddered, while Kagome giggled at the scene before her.

"Quit it Jakotsu! I hate those pet names of yours. And Kagome, stop laughing like a pig rolling happily in crap!"

That shut her up.

"Anyways," Inuyasha continued. "We need to get going. So bye Jakotsu."

He picked up his ramen again and marched off, leaving a stunned Jakotsu and an amused Kagome behind.

"What did I do this time?" Jakotsu whined.

Kagome laughed lightly. "It's nothing. I'll train him, and he'll be a good little puppy in no time."

"I heard that!"

Kagome continued to laugh as she waved goodbye to Jakotsu and sped up to catch up with Inuyasha.

"He's not that bad," she said after a while of silence. They had reached the shrine and were walking the long staircase up.

"Keh!"

He was about to add something when his eyes widened.

In front of them, not ten metres away, was Inuyasha in his red haori, with white hair, fuzzy doggy ears and scorching amber eyes. Very angry scorching amber eyes.

"Kagome! Where have you been? And who's that guy with you?"

Next time…*drumroll* the grand finale! Stay tuned!