Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I profit from this story.

Elevator Music

His First Instinct

(Tears)

Snacking away on to-go bars, Inuyasha was quite content. He was so content that he actually forgot that they were stuck in an elevator alone. It wasn't until the crackle of the speaker burst into life that he remembered their difficult situation.

Looking over at Kagome, who was now sprawled out on the elevator floor, he rolled his eyes at how quickly she sat up.

"Hello?" said a voice.

Inuyasha frowned. He didn't recognize it as Miroku or Sango. "This is Inuyasha. Who is this?"

"The name is Kouga Matsuno and I'm the lucky guy to get you out."

If Inuyasha had really been paying more attention to the tinny voice than Kagome's big brown eyes, he might have noticed the sarcasm. "Uh, that's great. What's the situation?"

"I need you to press the lobby button for me," Kouga said. "Did you try that already?" Now that Inuyasha was starting to pay attention, he noted a little less sarcasm and more full-out irritation.

"I did," Kagome said, interrupting and looking at Inuyasha sheepishly. "I thought punching it hard would help."

"Oh, hello," Kouga said, sounding a lot happier. "And who are you?"

"Kagome Higurashi," Kagome answered, looking at the speaker and turning to sit back in her usual spot. "What do you need us to do? Press the lobby button again?"

"If you could, that would be a great help."

Inuyasha frowned at the speaker. "Excuse me, Matsuno?" There was no mistaking it: there was definitely a sigh. "You seem familiar to me. Do I know you?"

The Matsuno guy sounded less than pleased as he grumbled out curses. "Yeah you moron, you know me. I guess you don't remember high school much, do you?"

He thought about it for a moment, rolling the name on his tongue. He knew a Kouga Matsuno from high school? There was actually a guy named Kouga that he knew?

Kagome looked at him strangely before there was an even louder sigh on the speaker. "We played football, you fucking idiot."

OH! "Mangy Wolf, that's you?"

"If there wasn't a damsel in distress in that elevator, I would leave right now," Kouga said hotly, huffing out a breath. "You're still as stupid as you were back then, Mutt Face."

"Hello?" Kagome called out suddenly, interrupting the conversation. "Look, I'm glad you've found each other and your long lost love for one another but I really want to get out of here."

"What?" Inuyasha spluttered, glaring at her. "Why would you say that?"

Kagome ignore him, simply pressing the lobby button and watching it like it would suddenly transform into freedom. When nothing happened, the woman sighed. "Did anything work?"

There was a soft curse on the other end. "Hold on."

For a quiet moment, nothing happened. The crackling stopped.

"I need to get out of here," Kagome whispered, eyes still trained on the holes of the device. "There's only so long that you can forget."

Before Inuyasha could comment on that, the speaker came to life. "There still isn't any movement. As of right now, I'm going to see if we can get you on a solid level. You're stuck between the fourteenth and fifteenth floor. I'll give you more information when I have it."

There was an eerie silence in the elevator until Inuyasha finally said goodbye. He didn't even need to see Kagome to know that she was struggling. The problem was, he did see her, and there was something strangely upsetting about it. While he dated and did the relationship thing, he had never let himself get attached. Inuyasha found that it only got harder from there, once the relationship reached the plateau and the excitement was gone.

Most of his girlfriends accused him of being commitment-phobic. He always disagreed because he had been committed to his company since leaving school.

But this...was almost upsetting to him. That in itself upset him more.

"Breathe Kagome," he said suddenly. It seemed important for him to say something.

Kagome did just that, letting her chest rise and fall with her shallow inhale-exhale. "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"

Inuyasha laughed, even though it felt awkward and difficult to do. "I told you we're getting out of here. Kagome, I'll say it again. We're getting out of here."

She nodded quickly, letting her soft bangs cover her eyes. Moments later, he heard the smallest sniffle escape her. It wasn't hard to figure out that she was crying, tears falling down her face like silent rain drops.

His first instinct was to reach out. His hand extended towards her small frame, nearly touching her in the box that was their prison. He could almost feel the whisper of her against his skin. It was conflicting; he had to decide whether to come closer or not. There was the moment of rejection that could be there. There was the moment of intimacy that could always result.

"Kagome," he whispered, frowning as her name left his lips. Despite everything, he liked how her name sounded on his tongue.

"I'm okay," she said shakily, moving her head side to side as if to stop. "I'm okay," she repeated.

He didn't believe it for a second. "We're getting out of here."

She nodded again, sharply, her head bobbing up and down. Inuyasha still couldn't see her eyes. "It's hard for me...to really believe that. I've, uh, had some bad experiences."

His frown returned. "What kind of experiences?" he asked softly. His hand was still out towards her, as if he could just draw her closer with his presence.

It took mere seconds before the dam broke. All of a sudden, her body heaved with effort and her chest wracked with a sob. Her tears fell down her cheeks and to the floor, leaving a stain of sadness pooling around her.

"Come here," he whispered, lowering his hand.

When she didn't move, he didn't stop to think. He slid over and wrapped his arms around her.

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Hoped you liked this chapter!