Author's Note: Sorry guys for the delay. Long story short, LIFE. But I have to say, all of your feedback is so wonderful. I love you guys. I haven't yet responded to Chapter 3 reviews (bad Witchy, bad!) but I'm doing that right now. Promise!

Tell Me I'm Crazy

(I Can't Stop the Feeling)

Part IV

Fridays are the best day, not just because it's the weekend but because he only has one class and it's at 11:30 in the morning. He finishes his class just a little after noon, making a list in his head even as he starts his walk back to Corner House. It's already half-way through November and the assignments are starting to stack up like Jenga. The pieces are moving all around, pop quizzes and tests and reports shifting places until Inuyasha goes crazy. He's hoping to catch up on a lot of it today.

Corner House is pretty quiet but there's the sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen. Kicking off his shoes, Inuyasha makes a beeline for the stairs to dump his stuff off on his bed. He stares at his laptop, half spilling out of his bag before decided to make food first. Lunch right off the bat will make sure he's not distracted by hunger later.

It's the smart choice, really.

Booting up his laptop, Inuyasha plugs it in because it's near death and checks his phone. There's only one missed call from Fuck Face, so he ignores it and heads down to the kitchen. There has to be some soup around or something. He desperately needs to go shopping, it's sad. There's only so long that he can steal from Miroku or Hachi before they notice.

The noises are still coming from the kitchen and once he takes a step into the room he stops, frustrated. Why can't he ever catch a goddamn break?

"Hey," Kouga says, nodding his head slightly. He's holding a partially eaten sandwich in his mouth. The fucking delicious sandwiches. Of course.

Inuyasha just grunts and opens the cupboard, grabbing the last can of chicken noodle. He starts to prepare it, getting out the can opener and a small pot. But seriously, what asshole came up with the can opener? It's near fucking impossible to use. The twisting motion is all wrong – all wrong – and if he twists too hard the can breaks free. All for some soup. Soup.

"Having problems?" Kouga asks. He doesn't sound like he's trying to be a dick but Inuyasha hates his guts anyways.

"I think whoever cans this shit is secretly the angriest fuck around." Inuyasha growls as he twists too hard yet again, the can teetering dangerously as it frees itself from the opener. Son of a bitch.

Chuckling, Kouga nods his head. "Probably. You're done classes now, yeah?"

It almost sounds like he cares. Inuyasha nods, finally succeeding in freeing the soup to dump it in the pot.

"Me too."

Inuyasha glances up at Kouga with a look of disdain before glaring at the pot on the stove. Why isn't the soup warm already?

"Plans for tonight?"

This conversation is painful. Painful. "Call of Duty with Miroku later, if he's not off with Sango." Inuyasha stares into the depth of the pot, manfully resisting poking the liquid to see how hot it is. All he wants to see is a bit of steam coming off, signalling near completion. That's all he wants. And then, he's going to take his delicious soup up to his room and complete two stupid assignments that make him want to smash his head into a wall, plus read three chapters for one of his classes. If he accomplishes all that, he's only about a week behind. Not bad, considering.

"He didn't say anything about being out tonight, so chances are good," Kouga responds. He shifts a little, blue eyes down on the table as if he's uncomfortable. "Have you ever gone out to Tortella's?"

Inuyasha raises his brows, a bit surprised. "Really? You think someone like me goes there? I don't exactly have a girlfriend to try and impress." He pauses, takes in the look of discomfort and finally gets it. "You're going tonight?"

"I guess," Kouga mutters. He almost looks unhappy about it.

"With a girl?" Inuyasha knows, but he asks anyways to fuck with him.

The soccer star glares daggers at him. Fair enough. "No, man, I'm going with Ginta. I hoping to woo him a little more and get the guy to finally put out after all this time." He rolls his eyes. "With a girl," Kouga imitates, mockingly.

Inuyasha's about to open his mouth to ask who, but without his permission the image of Kagome and Kouga dancing together at the Halloween party comes to mind. It's been two weeks since and he hasn't really seen them together, but that doesn't mean they're not talking. Or not dating.

In all honesty, Inuyasha's been trying to avoid Kouga like he has the plague. Inuyasha's only seen Kagome once and that wasn't by choice. She just…accosted him in the hall practically, while he was talking with Jinenji. Making friends. Whatever.

So Inuyasha is not going to fucking ask but Kouga is looking at him like he wants him to ask. There's a challenge in those stupidly attractive blue eyes and Inuyasha wants to growl but holds back.

The pot is steaming now, soup demanding to be stirred.

Thank fuck.

Turning around, Inuyasha grabs a spoon and does just that. He purposely keeps his back to the athlete and refuses to turn around. For his part, Kouga doesn't ask any more questions. The guy eventually finishes his sandwich and then walks nearby to dump his plate in the sink. He doesn't wash it, just leaves.

Inuyasha's so fucking grateful, it's pathetic.

He watches the noodles spin around and thinks, not for the first time, how much he wants to punch Kouga in his stupidly attractive face.

"You ass!" Miroku yells, bodily nudging at Inuyasha and throwing him off-balance on the couch. "You did that on purpose!"

"Obviously. This is Mario Kart, not fucking Call of Duty. We're not on the same team anymore."

"But you're Mario and I'm Peach. This is breaking all kind of rules. The Code." Miroku sighs, put upon. "How dare you. Destroying true love."

Inuyasha thinks about the way Kouga left in a nice blue dress shirt and jeans and then represses it because fuck. He is not imagining him and Kagome on a date. He is not. He needs to think about something else, something less focused on him. "So. You and Sango." Nice. Well done. Not awkward at all.

Raising a single eyebrow, like the infuriating fuck that he is, Miroku only spares him a quick glance before turning back to the game. "Yeah."

He didn't even phrase it as a question. What an asshole. His best friend is more than aware of how Inuyasha doesn't like to talk. "So you guys are… You're serious?"

Miroku snorts. "Yeah, I'd say so."

There's a lot of the word 'so' going around. It's suspicious. "And you're happy about it?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?"

"No!" Inuyasha exclaims, realizing that this conversation has gotten away from him faster than a puppy bounding towards the road while on crack. "No, I meant, like, you were happy. You are happy? Like, to still be together. Two months, or something."

Great.

Can the couch swallow him whole?

Right now?

No?

For fuck's sake.

Miroku's blue eyes watch him for a bit, probably seeing the disastrous play of emotions trying to leak onto his face. He must take pity on him because he laughs and pauses the game. "Are you trying to ask how Sango and I are doing?"

"Yes!" Inuyasha explodes. How was that so goddamn hard?

There's a small smile playing on his lips. "We're good. She's pretty awesome. The sex is fantastic."

Shocking.

"But she's good for me too, I think. Sango doesn't let me get away with shit." Miroku grins at that. "So yeah, it's going well."

"Good." Inuyasha pauses, thinks about what more he should say. He's glad? Congratulations on finding a woman that crazy to match your level of crazy? "Well done."

At that, Miroku gives in and just flops back on the couch, giggling. He's shaking his head so hard the little rat's tail of his hair shakes loose, the strands falling over his shoulder. Holy hell, he needs to get a haircut. "You, my friend, are the most emotionally stunted individual I know."

Shrugging, Inuyasha waits it out. He's been the butt of these jokes for a while now.

"But I wouldn't have you any other way." Miroku hits him hard on the shoulder, grins at him for a moment more before grabbing the controller again and resuming the game.

Peach destroys Mario, but like all love stories, that's a given.

This report is going to kill him, or at the very least make his eyes bleed.

Inuyasha dims the brightness on his laptop, sad once he realizes it's already as dim as it can go. There's only so many hours he can stare at the screen, trying to finish off a stupid essay.

His phone vibrating beside him on the desk startles him. He takes one look at the caller ID, rolls his eyes and refuses to answer.

Three calls later and finally, blessed silence.

Of course, he hasn't typed a single thing the entire time the phone was going off, letting his mind wander instead to things he's rather forget. A text message comes through: Answer me.

Inuyasha smirks, backs out of the message and opens up his last conversation with Jinenji. Hows it going? he types out. The essay is due tomorrow; there's no doubt about what he's talking about.

Not even five seconds later, he gets a response. Debating if I can die falling only two storeys.

So it was going well for him too then. Prob not.

Faaack.

Determining that he needs a break – needs something – before he can write the last two paragraphs, Inuyasha gets up and heads towards the living room downstairs. If he's lucky, the boys are playing video games and he can chirp the shit out of them. That always makes him feel better.

He's right, thank god. Hakkaku, Ginta and Kouga are sitting on the large couch, playing Borderlands. There are weird space zombie looking things shooting at them and in the space of five minutes, Hakkaku dies twice and nearly throws the controller six times. He swears colourfully and Ginta, the only one not playing, cackles loudly.

"You fucking suck," Inuyasha interrupts, leaning on the back of the couch.

"Go die," Hakkaku grumbles, making Ginta laugh even more. "You're even worse at this game!"

"Am I?" Inuyasha asks. "Have you ever seen me play to know?"

He hasn't; he knows for sure. He's only played the game twice in his life and both times were when no one was around. He is true levels of suckage at it. Hence the not-playing.

"Don't complain," Kouga chides. "We're still going to make the next checkpoint."

"You're in way too good of a mood, it's not fair," Ginta points out. "You were dying constantly earlier and weren't even phased. You should get laid more often, huh?"

What.

What.

Inuyasha suddenly can't look away from the TV because seriously? Of all the times Ginta could bring it up, he brings it up now. Inuyasha didn't fucking want to know about Kouga's date with Kagome. He absolutely did not.

Kouga laughs and shakes his head. "You don't have any clue what you're talking about."

Inuyasha pushes off the couch and leaves.

Fuck that. He rather his eyes bleed from the computer screen.

He hears Kouga curse but the bastard probably just died in the game. Selfishly, Inuyasha is pleased.

"I need your help."

"No."

"Please? Pretty please?"

Inuyasha groans and pulls the sheets over his head. He wrote a test first thing this morning and had gotten up extra early to cram more in. He was trying for a nap but… Blearily, he checks the clock. Well, he had already been asleep for a couple hours.

"Seriously, help a bro out."

Inuyasha glares dark brown eyes at his best friend. His best friend who is standing at his bedside, as if he can just waltz into Inuyasha's room without knocking or checking first. "Why are you here?"

Sighing explosively, Miroku flails his arms up. "Are you fucking deaf? I need your help! That is why I am here, dipshit."

Ugh. Sass. Inuyasha pulls the sheets back over his head.

"Stop that!" the blue-eyed man chides. "Get up and come down to the kitchen. There's food."

Well. Why Miroku didn't lead with that is beyond him.

"Free food?"

"You didn't pay for it, did you?" Miroku retorts. "Come on, downstairs."

"Okay," Inuyasha relents, tossing the sheets back. "What are we doing?" He turns to look at Miroku but he's already gone, fleeing back to the kitchen. It takes him a couple of minutes to get down there but when he does, he can't take his eyes away from the disaster zone that is the counter. "What have you done?"

Blue eyes widen, the puppy dog eyes out in full. "It's not what it looks like."

"It looks like you're baking a cake."

Miroku's lips tighten and then he nods. "Okay, it's exactly what it looks like. It's Sango's birthday today and somehow I was dared to make a cake and like… I really need help. This shit is hard."

Inuyasha comes over, takes in the empty box of cake mix and the bowl filled with eggs and liquid. "What's wrong? It looks like it's all fine. I've never made a cake before." He grabs the box and reads the directions.

"I've followed the directions but there's a problem." Miroku looks almost sheepish. "We don't have an electric mixer."

It all makes sense now. "You brought me down here to help you mix it by hand?"

"My hands were cramping!"

"You lied about the food!"

Miroku makes a humming sound. "Kind of but not really. More of an omission."

Sighing, Inuyasha grabs the bowl and the wooden spoon that his friend must have found in the depths of their kitchen drawers. "Fine. At least let me mix it in front of the TV. Two minutes of high speed on a mixer has to be like seven minutes by hand."

"You're making that up."

"Obviously. I've never been insane enough to make a cake."

Miroku shrugs because, well yeah. Point taken. Inuyasha vaguely wonders why he's so fond of the guy but it doesn't stop him from sitting down on the couch and stirring as hard as he can while his best friend finds a decent channel to watch.

He makes it two minutes straight of stirring before his arm screams at him. "This is painful. What the fuck."

"Here, my turn." Miroku takes the bowl and stares into it, a little sad. "Do you think it's stirred enough already?"

"Asking me is not going to help you. I don't know shit, remember?" He too looks into the bowl, ignoring the old action movie playing on the TV. "Maybe a little more? What could it hurt?"

"Famous last words," Miroku sighs, but starts stirring anyways.

Eventually, they deem it ready enough to put in the pans. Miroku slides them into the oven and checks the clock to put on the timer. He looks so focused, it makes Inuyasha wonder. Miroku is a lot of things: loud and friendly, kind of perverted especially when drunk, loyal to a T and popular in that effortless sort of way that Inuyasha has never understood. Despite what Kagome says, Miroku really is his best friend. Inuyasha just never had one before he met him so he doesn't exactly have a lot of experience in handling it. His life before university was a little trapped.

"So you really like her." He doesn't mean to say it but it comes out anyways.

Miroku rolls his eyes but still looks at him with an ounce of affection. "Yes, you goddamn rock. I really like her."

"Like marry her like her?" He's not asking to be mean, he's actually curious.

"Man, I don't know. Eventually? Let's try and make it a year first," Miroku jokes. He shrugs though, almost like an afterthought. "It kind of seems like it could be though. We – like – mesh well, or something. I haven't read enough chick books to explain it."

Inuyasha snorts. "I know for a fact you have a man crush on Edward Cullen."

Groaning loudly, his friend flips him off. "Fuck off, liar."

They head back into the living room and start to play video games while the cake is baking. They play Call of Duty because believe it or not, there's less of a chance of one of them freaking out (fine, of Inuyasha freaking out; he knows it's a problem). Thankfully he plays more often but Miroku holds his own pretty well. He's not keeping count, more focused on his own kills.

But then Hachi enters the room. "Why do you suck so much?" he asks, flicking Miroku on the temple. "You're a Mario Kart genius and then this happens."

"I'm nervous, don't judge me!" the blue-eyed man yells out. "I keep hoping that cake doesn't explode. Or worse: taste like shit."

"I'll taste test it if you're that worried," Hachi scoffs. "And why the hell are you baking a cake?"

"It's Sango's birthday today," Inuyasha explains. He gets a headshot off of a wall jump. "He's still wooing her."

Hachi laughs far too loudly and collapses on the nearby chair. Slowly, he reaches under the chair cushion and then pulls out a chocolate bar. Making a noise of approval, he opens it and then tosses half of it in his mouth.

"How can you eat that?" Inuyasha asks, somewhat horrified. He would be fully horrified but he died on screen due to a bullet that didn't even hit him. There are more important things to be horrified at.

"I eat my feelings," Hachi states. "I'm nervous too. I have like five tests tomorrow."

"Did you study?"

"Like every second of the past billion days." The engineer sighs dramatically. "There's no way to pass this shit. So I focus instead on the Exams are Fucking Over party."

Miroku snorts. "I don't think that's healthy." He shoots, misses, and sighs. "At least tell us what theme it is."

"I don't know," Hachi answers. "We haven't done one of those anything-but-clothes parties in the while. I think it may be appropriate."

"Lazy," Miroku chirps, but grins anyways. "What are you going to–" Just then, the timer goes off for the cake. Immediately he pauses the game and Inuyasha complains loudly. He was on a streak. "Shut up and come check the cake with me," his friend yells, already in the kitchen. The sound of the oven opening squeaks into the living room, forcing Inuyasha to get up.

He nearly laughs at the expression on Miroku's face. "Did it explode?"

"No!" Miroku exclaims, straightening up. "But how the fuck do I know if it's done or not?"

Inuyasha rolls his eyes and waves a hand at himself. "Again, I don't have a clue. Does it look done?"

"What does done look like?" Miroku asks, sounding more and more concerned. "It's always covered in icing when I eat it!"

"Tap it on top!" Hachi yells from the living room.

Miroku, head straining around the doorway so fast he probably got whiplash, glares at their roommate. "What?"

"Tap the top, or kind of poke it. Press down on it with a finger quickly and see if it pops back up immediately." Hachi shrugs, then reaches back under the chair cushion to pull out another chocolate bar. How the fuck did they get there in the first place? When? "That's what my mom does."

Inuyasha turns off the oven and stares at the cake. "Poke it then."

Miroku shakes his head viciously. "Nope. You can do it."

"What?" he exclaims. "Why the fuck would I do it?"

"I need someone to blame if it turns out badly!"

Inuyasha groans. "It'll be fine. Sango will be wooed, I'm sure."

"Poke it."

"No."

"Do it."

"No!"

Miroku glares at Inuyasha. "You owe me."

"For what, asshole?"

"For being your friend, asshole!"

Inuyasha scrunches up his face and then looks into the oven. The heat radiating out of it feels pretty nice. He sighs. Miroku has a bit of a point, but he's kind of a dick. "Fine."

"Don't ruin it," his blue-eyed friend warns. "I'll be pissed."

Desperately, he wants to scream at Miroku to just do it his damn self then, for fuck's sake. But whatever. He's going to be the bigger man, or whatever. Ugh.

Slowly – ever so slowly – Inuyasha reaches his finger towards the cake. The crazy shit he does for friends, Jesus Christ.

He pokes it.

"What the hell happened to this cake?"

Miroku groans, flinging a hand over his forehead and covering his eyes. "Long story short–"

"He's shit at icing," Inuyasha interrupts, grabbing his friend's hair to stop him from talking. "The cake itself is good though. Fluffy and shit. It's just the icing."

"It's melting and I don't get why!" he complains loudly, throwing his hands up in the air.

"But the cake itself is fine," Inuyasha reminds him, nodding firmly.

Sango looks at the cake, then at the two of them with a sort of frozen smile on her face. "I'm sure it'll taste fine. Miroku, stop having a heart attack. Get inside."

Miroku enters without a problem, kicking off his shoes and tossing his coat onto the rack on the side. Inuyasha takes a step in and hesitates, because what the fuck did he just enter?

It's not an apartment so much as it's a world of frilly pink things and pillows. He remembers that Kagome told him their apartment was open-concept. That's almost an understatement. The place is nothing more than a massive room with pink and white curtains everywhere. There's a beige couch to the far side with a TV and several pink, fuzzy bean bags. Pillows – large and small and shaped like random animals – are scattered everywhere. And there are girls.

Everywhere.

Staring at them.

"Hey!" Kagome calls, appearing from behind a curtain with nachos on a big plate in front of her. "You guys finally showed. Is that the cake?"

"Miroku actually did it!" Sango exclaims, looking pleased. She nudges her boyfriend with her hips and then disappears behind the same curtain Kagome came from. Inuyasha can only assume that's where the kitchen is. "Go introduce them while I get some more drinks."

Inuyasha looks at Kagome, who is smiling and grabbing at Miroku to push him towards the living room. She seems so normal. Relaxed.

Did she or did she not go on a date with Kouga?

How does he know for sure?

Inuyasha shakes his head because seriously, he can't be this dumb. He made a decision. He doesn't go back on his decisions. Kagome is a no-no. She's out of reach. She's like…kryptonite or whatever it is that makes Superman super lame. She smiles a lot and talks to everyone and she does competitive archery (what the flying fuck?) and frankly, with the way she already has put the judge-y eyes on him…

Not worth it.

Nope.

As he has thought before, again and again and again: he's not crazy enough for all that shit.

Inuyasha knows this in his heart of hearts, or whatever it is Miroku says when he's drunk. But, basically, it just means that he knows what he is and what he isn't. Inuyasha isn't popular. He doesn't like talking to people, doesn't like meeting people and frankly, would rather play video games with Miroku until the end of time. Parties are great for drinking and taking the edge off, but that's it.

Fingers snap in his face. "Stop being weird," Kagome states, giving him an unimpressed stare. It's ruined a moment later when the corner of her lips twitch upwards, fighting a smile. "What were you thinking about?"

If Kagome thinks Kouga is a good kisser, now that she mentions it.

"Nothing," he says instead, faintly. He lets himself get dragged into the living room, or the biggest open space of the house where the TV resides.

There are five girls and a guy already there, most of them on top of a monstrosity of pillows thrown to the ground. They all smile invitingly, shoveling popcorn into their mouths.

"This is Miroku – some of you already know – and this here is Inuyasha, his friend. Meet Koume, Shippo, Yuka, Eri, Ayumi and Ayame."

Well. Now he's just fucking confused. Kagome vaguely pointed but Inuyasha was a bit delayed and now he has all these names and knows none of them.

Perfect.

He loves social situations.

At least he kind of knows Koume and Shippo. It was easy enough to follow along in the beginning. The girl actually looks somewhat familiar but he can't place why, exactly. Shippo tries to toss some popcorn into his mouth, misses, shrugs, and then puts it in his mouth anyways.

"Get comfy somewhere," one of the other women – the redhead – says. "There's the beanbag chair over there."

"What movie are we watching again?" a girl with black hair and a yellow headband asks, calling into the kitchen.

"I told you, Eri, the Tarzan one!" Sango replies. "Margot Robbie's my girl."

"Are we at least drinking heavily?" Miroku asks. "If Sandra Bullock's not in the movie, I'm rarely interested."

Kagome bursts out with four bottles of wine, a bottle of vodka and a bottle of rye. "Obviously." She puts everything down just as Sango comes back in with solo cups and a bucket of ice.

Everyone starts to pour themselves a drink but the redheaded woman moves across the carpet until she's right beside him, ignoring the drinks completely. Inuyasha doesn't know if there's a reason and he looks around himself, just in case. Beside the beanbag chair, there's literally nothing. The woman comes closer still.

Oh god, he's going to have to talk.

"So," she says, grinning. "You're Inuyasha."

He nods, opens his mouth to introduce himself and then realize that's a fucking dumb idea. "Yup." Inuyasha tries for a smile and then stops when she starts to look concerned. "And you are?"

It probably looks bad – considering Kagome introduced everyone not too long ago – but the redhead doesn't seem perturbed. "Ayame. It's nice to finally meet you. Did you ever end up going to the homecoming game?"

What a random goddamn question. He must look confused because she laughs now, amused. "I work for the Ath and Rec department. I'm her inside woman." At that Ayame winks, bright green eyes sparkling. "So if you ever need tickets, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

"Way to make me useless," Kagome complains. "Now what am I going to bribe him with to keep talking to me?"

"Pretty sure it won't stop you from talking anyways," Inuyasha says. Ayame looks at him somewhat incredulously but Kagome rolls her eyes and turns around. "I didn't mean it like that!" he adds. "It's good you talk!" Now the other three women he only vaguely knows are staring at him: Yuka, Eri and Ayumi. Shippo and Koume are seemingly in their own little alcoholic world at the moment.

"Oh yeah?" Sango asks, kicking at him with her foot. She hands him a solo cup filled with a rye and coke. "I've certainly never said that about her."

"Dangerous territory," Miroku says in a singsong voice, making Inuyasha wince.

"That's not what I meant." And he's not whining. He's not. "I don't talk a lot so someone has to. Between you and me, you're definitely the one that spills his guts. Mostly about Sango. And wooing her. And shit. See? When around me, the other person has to talk. Not me."

Miroku's blue eyes are watching him, a sort of horrified fascination crossing his features. Sango laughs and starts to talk about the movie, dragging away everyone else's attention. Still, his best friend continues to give him the strangest of looks. "You're practically inept," he whispers, near worshipping.

"Oh shut up," he hisses back. Seriously. Why the fuck is Miroku his best friend?

"It's okay," Kagome says, poking his shoulder. He wasn't even aware that she was still paying attention, assuming she'd be listening to Sango. "I understand what you're saying."

"Finally." He practically explodes with it.

Shaking his head sadly, Miroku takes a sip of his drink. To avoid saying anything else that's stupid, Inuyasha does too.

Sango eventually starts the movie, which turns quickly into a contest of who is hotter: Margot Robbie or Alexander Skar-something-rather. Inuyasha doesn't fucking know, despite the fact that the one girl with short black hair says it constantly.

"Oh my god Yuka, shut up already about him," Shippo snaps. "Yes, he has a ten-pack. No, no real man is like that."

Right. Short hair was Yuka. Headband girl was Eri. Redhead girl was Ayame. Redhead guy was Shippo. Koume was the girl that looks familiar for no reason at all. Ayumi must be the other one.

He's so caught up in just trying to figure out who the fuck is who that he misses most of the movie and what's happening. The plot doesn't exactly strike him either, so Inuyasha just pours himself another drink and sips it slowly. The girls in the room are getting drunk pretty quickly, pouring glass after glass with absolutely no care. This isn't one of Corner House's parties though and therefore, Inuyasha can't get lost in the crowd of people knowing each other. It makes it different, a kind of anxiety he doesn't often feel. The rye and coke tastes good going down but he's hesitant to have more than necessary.

Partway through – or maybe most of the way through, Inuyasha is so goddamn lost – Sango demands cake. They've all been snacking on chips and nachos and these cracker things that are fucking delicious enough to be crack. He's a bit too full but Kagome comes out with Miroku's cake covered in candles.

Everyone sings.

Inuyasha only mouths the words. No one needs to hear his singing voice.

Eventually, Kagome cuts the cake and makes sure to give everyone a slice. At first he wasn't going to take one, but she looks at him with those dark eyes and that stupid sunshine smile and he kind of just holds his hand out, waiting for the plate he doesn't want with the cake he doesn't want to eat.

At least it looks edible.

About to tell Miroku as much, he notices that his blue-eyed friend is looking particularly worried. He's twitching uncontrollably, sitting on his hands and squirming as each slice of cake is passed around. You would think from his reaction that he poisoned the damn thing and that they were all going to die.

"Calm down," Inuyasha states, kicking him in the shin hard. It's painful enough that Miroku shouts at him and flips him off. "It tastes fine."

"You haven't even taken a bite of it yet!" Miroku exclaims, flailing a hand at him and almost knocking the plate to the ground.

"Oh my god, you're such a pain." It's maybe rude to eat it before everyone has a slice, but Miroku is panicking and frankly, he has to eat it now. Taking a massive chunk out of the slice, Inuyasha stuffs the whole thing in his mouth.

Suddenly, Sango groans. "Holy crap, you actually made this?" She sounds incredibly happy, her magenta eyes practically fucking twinkling as she takes another bite. Inuyasha has to agree with her because it is good, even if they messed up with the electric mixer bit.

"Icing isn't bad either, despite how it looked," Kagome teases. She giggles then, dips her finger into the icing and then smudges it on Sango's cheek. "Happy birthday beautiful!"

Sango beams and cheers, and the rest of the group lifts up their drinks to down massive gulps.

Later, when everyone is drunk and giggling and the movie is off but music is playing, Inuyasha sits in the beanbag chair and makes a face at Miroku. "Guys, come on. There are guests here!"

Sango detaches herself from Miroku for a second and glares at him. "Are you the birthday girl?" Her stare sharpens and she waits. Inuyasha refuses to say anything but it becomes clear that the question, while rhetorical, demands an answer.

"No," he admits, somewhat grudgingly.

"Then shush. Mingle."

Miroku winks at him, the fucker.

He gets up for another drink and if Kagome happens to be right beside the alcohol, then so be it. She's talking to Ayame, laughing at her and making stupid faces he doesn't understand. She looks incredibly pleased with whatever she's doing though and it makes something flip in his stomach.

"Hey!" Kagome says when he heads over, grabbing his arm. She's clearly drunk, bursting into his space without hesitation. "Where did you go?"

"Just over there," he says, waving at the beanbag chair where he has literally been sitting the entire night. The whole time. Not once did he move, not even for the delicious cake.

"Oh."

Ayame butts in, asking, "Did you want another drink?"

He nods and she goes about putting in some ice, dumping at least three shots worth of rye into a cup and then topping it off with coke. He doesn't comment because the green-eyed girl smiles at him so wide like this is the greatest thing she's done all night.

Holy crap. They must be sloshed to shit.

"I've been drinking vodka all night," Ayame admits. She looks over at a bottle of wine, open only because of Koume in the corner, still talking to Shippo. Jesus Christ, the two of them need a room as well. What is it with couples when they're drunk?

"Do you have more vodka at your place?" Kagome asks.

The redhead pouts. "No. I drank it all last week."

"You were nervous!" Kagome coos, pointing rather aggressively. She tugs on Inuyasha's arm and oh, she hasn't let go. Not since she took a hold of him when he walked over. Inuyasha just…hadn't really noticed that she never let go. "But it went well, right? I told you it would!"

Inuyasha is more lost now than he was during the goddamn movie.

"Yeah," Ayame says, smiling almost shyly. "It was good! He was sweet."

"Well I'll drink to that!" Kagome cheers and unnecessarily adds more vodka to both of their drinks. Inuyasha has to aggressively move his cup out of her reach so she doesn't attempt the same with him. Kagome beams his way.

"So how did you two meet?" Ayame asks suddenly, looking between the two of them with curious green eyes.

Inuyasha can't help it: he groans. "No."

"It's a great story!" Kagome whines. "Come on. What's funnier than explaining how you got so drunk on a Tuesday night that you fell asleep under a tree? And that we met because I thought you may have been dead and in trying to check your pulse, I actually woke you up?"

"That is not–"

"And your first words to me were, and I quote, what the actual fuck."

Several things happen all at once. With horror, Inuyasha notes that Miroku and Sango are no longer making out on the couch like they previously were. In fact, the grossly indulgent couple was standing behind Kagome, seemingly to get at the bottle of wine. Kagome waves dismissively at him and looks at Ayame, says, "And the rest was history."

Miroku's blue eyes are as wide as saucers. "No," his whispers, sounding like he's half in awe and half horrified. Then the other shoe finally drops. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Spinning around, Kagome finally sees that Sango and Miroku are right behind her. She spins again, wobbles in her drunken state, and gives him big pleading eyes that seriously compete with Miroku's. "I didn't know."

"You met Kagome because she tried to make sure you were alive?" Miroku is literally squeaking. "You were hung over, under a tree and that's how you two met?"

Inuyasha closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath. Lifting the nearly full cup of rye and coke to his lips, he downs nearly all of it in one go.

"I'm sorry!" Kagome practically wails.

Suddenly assaulted by arms everywhere, he's startled to realize that the black-haired woman is trying to hug him, her face buried in his sweater.

Inuyasha looks down at her, looks back up at Miroku and panics. This is not the course he's supposed to be staying on. He– He and Kagome can't be a thing. She's outgoing and just hugs people for no reason and is the life of the goddamn party. She's dating Kouga and they probably had sex, if Ginta was right. Kouga is a bitchy video game player though so if he was sucking and not yelling at the television, chances were good. And he won't get in between…that.

No. Just–

No.

Excusing himself and dodging Miroku's swipe at him to keep him close, Inuyasha makes a run for the bathroom.

He is not hiding.

Leaning on the bathroom counter, staring at himself in the mirror, it occurs to him that maybe–

Well.

Maybe he is.

A while later – or maybe not that long after, it's kind of hard to tell what with the staring into his own eyes thing – there's a knock on the door. "Inuyasha–"

"Nope," he replies instantly, the second he hears Miroku's voice. "We are not talking about this!" Opening the door rather aggressively, he comes face-to-face with his best friend, who is blinking at him owlishly.

"Talking about what?" Miroku asks. He looks incredibly confused but that's probably because he's decently drunk.

Inuyasha sighs. He's not sure if it's out of relief though, and it throws him off. "What did you want?"

"Sango and I are kicking everyone out." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and when Inuyasha only gives him a dead stare, he does a little hip-thrusting dance.

"Please stop."

"You weren't getting the message," Miroku assures him, patting him consolingly on the shoulder. "But anyways, can you make sure Ayame and Kagome get back to their place okay? They're pretty hammered."

Inuyasha frowns. "Kagome lives here though."

Letting out an exasperated breath, Miroku gives him his most judgemental look. "She's being sexiled. My god man, get with the program. Should I be worried about you too?"

Right. Curtains for walls. It's all starting to make sense.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku is actually looking worried now and the hand that's on his shoulder tightens. "Are you good? If not, we'll just call an Uber or something for you guys."

"No," he replies, shaking his head. "No, I'm good." Gently, he shakes off Miroku's hand and then goes towards the front of the apartment. Kagome and Ayame already have their coats on but Kagome is giggling loudly as her redheaded friend tries – and mostly fails – to get on her boots.

On the floor, struggling but obviously enjoying herself, Ayame is surprisingly the first to notice him. "Our saviour!" she cheers, zipping her boot up.

"More like security," Sango says, coming out from only god knows what curtain and grinning. "Make sure they get back okay, please?"

"Shippo could have walked us," Kagome points out but Sango laughs at that instantly.

"He's smaller than you and was just as drunk. He and Koume grabbed an Uber."

He frowns at Sango. How fucking long was he hiding in the bathroom for? She doesn't spare him a glance but he gives up anyways. Putting on his own coat, Inuyasha listens as the three girls chat away. They're talking about something that Ayumi said earlier and it forces him to pause, lean over to look into the living room.

Nope. Those other girls are gone too.

Huh.

"Are you ready to go?" Kagome asks, tucking her hands around his arm. She tugs none too gently and it nearly sends them both staggering. Ayame laughs, snorts and then bursts out laughing even harder.

"You guys are so drunk," Sango says fondly. She hugs Ayame and then blows a kiss at Kagome. "See you tomorrow."

"Maybe," Kagome replies. "Maybe I'll live with Ayame from now on. I bet she wouldn't sexile me."

"Bye," Sango huffs, making a shooing motion. "Text me when you guys get inside."

Miroku's leaning on the wall beside Sango and he blows a kiss at him. "Yes, you too studmuffin. Don't forget to text."

"Bite me," he replies, rolling his eyes.

Finally – finally – they are out the door and making their way down the stairs. Ayame practically runs down, yelling something up at them as she goes. Inuyasha's pretty sure it's well past midnight. People will probably get mad if they don't get out soon. It's slow going however; Kagome won't let go of him and the staircase is narrow.

"You can let go, you know," he says, mostly because he has no idea why she's holding on in the first place.

"It's going to be cold," Kagome comments, looking at him like it's the most obvious reason in the world. "Body heat."

He doesn't point out that they're still inside.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Ayame shouts without care. "Get your asses down here."

"Enough out of you!" Kagome yells back. At this rate, he's going to end up deaf.

The outside air, when they finally make it, is just a bit too cold. They had a good run with a really warm autumn, but now winter was definitely coming. The night was dark, the moon hidden behind clouds. Inuyasha looks up at the sky for a moment and takes a breath. It's so much more peaceful outside in the quiet.

"Oh don't get all philosophical, staring at the damn stars," Ayame grumps. She grabs onto Inuyasha's other arm – the one Kagome isn't attached to – and starts to drag them both. "My house is like ten minutes away and it's freaking cold."

"Could have called an Uber but no," Kagome complains. "You wanted to walk."

"It's refreshing, even though it's really cold." Ayame grins. "Besides, we have Inuyasha to keep us warm. It's not all that bad."

Inuyasha doesn't understand women. He would be the first to admit that and wouldn't care if anyone made fun of him. He can barely have a conversation with someone he doesn't know. Territory like this is dangerous because a tiny part of his brain thinks that maybe Ayame is flirting with him. He's, like, seventeen percent sure.

She winks.

Okay, maybe twenty-two percent.

"Do you play any sports?" she asks suddenly, smile never leaving her face.

Inuyasha tries not to frown and stares straight ahead. "No."

"No?"

"No."

Kagome nudges him. "Why not?"

"I was homeschooled," he answers, shrugging, "and my brother didn't sign me up for soccer or anything extra-curricular. I guess I wasn't really interested either. I don't remember ever asking." That's mostly a lie, but whatever.

"Kagome's captain of her archery team."

"Ayame, oh my god," Kagome whines. "Nobody cares."

"What?" the redhead asks. Purposefully, she pushes so that all three of them stagger sideways onto someone's lawn. "It's cool! And there's the tournament coming up. Don't worry Inuyasha, I'll make sure you get a ticket."

Kagome snorts. "I'm pretty sure it's free."

"Whatever, he'll get a ticket."

Inuyasha shakes his head and sighs. So much for a peaceful night.

Ayame is oddly persistent, nudging him again and again until he looks at her. Inuyasha has no idea what she wants because all she does when he spares a glance is grins at him and then looks at Kagome. Women were fucking weird. "So what do you do for fun?"

He stops instantly, making Kagome yelp and Ayame laugh. She swings back with the rebound and bumps into him hard. With the three of them all linked by arm, it forces them to all shuffle. "Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Why are we not walking when it's cold?" Kagome complains, holding onto him tighter. "Come on." She pulls at him and reluctantly Inuyasha moves again. He refuses to look at Ayame but Kagome he watches, seeing her cringe every time a gust of wind hits.

There's quiet for the rest of the walk, Ayame not being a nuisance any longer and not asking anymore questions. Instead, she navigates them to the house that she's renting a room in. It's not until they reach the driveway that she lets go of Inuyasha's arm, tugging out a pair of keys from her jacket. Kagome refuses to let go still though so Inuyasha does the nice thing and walks up the stairs to the front door.

"Thanks Inuyasha," Kagome mumbles, turning into him. She lets go just enough so that she can give him a proper hug, and then heads straight into the house. Her eyes are half-closed and she seems tired as all hell. She's definitely crashed from the buzz. "Night."

Ayame is still standing on the front porch. The moment Kagome disappears, the redhead smiles at him. "Thanks for walking us back."

"I didn't have much of a choice," he says and then immediately winces. That's what he meant to say but…not what he meant to say. "But, uh, it was fine. You're welcome?"

"Here." Without warning, Ayame knocks his hand out of his pocket and grabs his cell phone. He's about to make a noise of protest but she just gives him an unimpressed look. "Hold on," she murmurs, typing something in. He can't really see the screen but as she exits out, he sees the box of his contacts disappearing. "You're a good guy," she says, handing it back to him. "Quiet, but I think in this case, that's a good thing."

Inuyasha stares at her, a little scared. He doesn't have any idea what brought this conversation on but he has no idea what she's talking about. "Thanks?" It, too, sounds like a question.

With a final wave, Ayame enters the house and shuts the door.

For a brief moment, his eyes go from the door, to his phone, and then back to the door again. Did Ayame just give him her number?

"What the fuck," he croaks, incredibly confused.

Putting his phone away, he stumbles down the stairs and makes his way home.

Later, when he looks in his list of phone contacts, he realizes that Ayame didn't put her name in there. He scans through quickly, looking for her name, but doesn't see anything.

What the hell did she do then?

No longer drunk but just plain exhausted, Inuyasha tosses his phone to the side, takes off his clothes and jumps into bed.

Whatever. He'll figure out that particular brand of crazy in the morning.

Next Time on Tell Me I'm Crazy: He closes his eyes. This can't be happening. Is this the universe trying to tell him to drink less? Is this some higher power demanding that he spend less time hung over and more time present in the moment? Because it sure fucking seems like it. Twice now. Twice. Twice he has been confronted with people when he's hung over, dehydrated and praying for death. At least this time he wasn't found sleeping under a tree.

Responses to Anon Reviewers:

EndlessIdeas: I hope you've been enjoying so far :D Thanks so much love!

Billie 22: Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I hope you like what's in store!

Fun Fact: A certain character that most of you have been asking about will be making an appearance... Next chapter.

Feedback, as always, is love.