Disclaimer: I don't own it, I swear.

...

A Meal

"Good Morning, Kagome." her anger management teacher smiled at her as she walked into his office. He looked like, and there was no other word for it, a nerd. Granted, he had a nice face and he wasn't overweight or even underweight. However, the pocket protector, the big, round glasses, and PDA that looked like it could hack a satellite in his hands, and the general air of 'nerd' that floated around him was unmistakable.

"Hi, Dr. Tahiro." Kagome smiled back as she sat down on the couch across from him. She always felt like these anger management classes were more like a phyciatrists visit than anything. He saw her one on one, he took notes on his PDA, and he asked her things like 'and how does that make you feel?'

"I hear you got into a little incident." He said gently.

"Who told you that?" Kagome asked sheepishly.

He pushed a button on his PDA before turning it around to show her.

Kagome watched, via youtube, as she landed her fist right on Kikyo's nose.

"They recorded that?" she asked as Kikyo fell hard to the ground, blood already coming out of her nose.

"There's about three minutes before that of you two arguing." he said turning the PDA back to him and clicking some buttons.

"You don't understand!" Kagome protested. "She was insulting me!"

"And?" he looked at her critically. "What have I told you? Just because some one starts a fight-"

"-doesn't mean I have to finish it." she finished dully.

"Exactly." he nodded. "Now, I have noticed that no charges have been filed."

"Yeah, her uh..." what exactly was Inuyasha to Kikyo? She wondered. "A guy who paints her agreed to get her to drop the charges in return for me being his...model."

Dr. Tahiro looked at her for a second. Then he beamed. "Very good. You're making amends for your wrong. I'm proud of you." His air of 'nerd' got turbocharged as he said, "It is too late to correct mistakes that have happened, that doesn't mean it's too late to make amends for them."

"Yeah, I know." Kagome said unhappily. A nerd who got his life lessons off of fortune cookies. Why did she come to see him again?

Inuyasha stretched as he took a break and leaned back from his easel. The painting on it right now wasn't Kagome's. It was a painting he was doing for his mom's birthday. It was her and his father locked in an embrace. He thought she would like it. Deciding to give his tired eyes a break, he got up and looked around his dorm.

The place was filthy. When was the last time he cleaned it? He shrugged and walked into the kitchen. A few minutes in there and the only things he found was a mouldy loaf of bread, a half empty bottle of ketchup, and a pile of dirty dishes he should really get started on.

So he grabbed his keys and left to go get some food instead.

He wasn't really thinking, he was acting more on autopilot, as he drove to WacDonalds, parked, and went inside. He had been up all night painting and sketching. It wasn't unusual for him, though he felt he should really stop because mornings were hell on him.

He ordered breakfast, went to a booth, and ate mechanically. He stared across his table at the plastic booth, his eyes half shut and his appearance ragged. He was sure he looked like death warmed over but he really didn't care.

It wasn't until he finished his hashbrown and was starting on his sausage sandwhich that he realized-

"Shit! I forgot!" He abandoned his food and dashed out the door.

He drove as fast as legal to the beach but it was too late. The sun was already long past up and Kagome was already long past gone.

He groaned and leaned against his truck. Well, he hadn't really expected her to stay. She did have work, after all. But still, it would have been nice to see her.

"There you are."

He turned and saw her walking up the beach towards him. She was wearing the nightgown he had picked and her bare feet were leaving footsteps in the sand that were almost immediately erased by the waves coming in and out.

"What are you still doing here?" he growled. "Don't you have to be at work?"

She smiled at the roughness in his voice. "No. I'm off today."

"That doesn't answer my other question." he pointed out.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

He blinked at her.

She smiled and, when he said nothing for another moment, she said, "Want to go get some breakfast?"

"Uh..." he paused thinking about his food that he hadn't finished eating. "Okay."

"I'll just go get changed real quick." she smiled.

A few minutes later, they pulled up at Rin's and went inside.

"So, you work here?" he asked looking at the cutsie tea shop.

"Uh-huh." Kagome nodded. "Come on in. We have the best cinnamon rolls."

He shrugged and followed her.

While she went and got them some tea and rolls, he chose one of the tiny tables and sat down.

It was a lovely place and not nearly as quiet as one would imagine a tea shop to be. The waiters and waitresses were laughing with their customers, the customers were joking and gossiping together. It was actually a very homey place.

"Here you go." Kagome came back and set some tea and the cinnamon rolls down. "Fresh from the oven."

"You're not getting a tip." Inuyasha said as he grabbed the giant roll and took a bite. It was warm and gooey with just enough icing to make it sweet.

"Hey, Kagome." their own waitress showed. She was a dark haired brunette that Inuyasha ignored in favor of his food. He was quite hungry.

"Hey, Sango." Kagome smiled at her friend and took a sip of tea. "This is Inuyasha."

"Oh." Sango looked at him, really looked. "So you're him."

"Guilty." he mumbled as he finished his roll and started licking his fingers clean. It was a really good roll.

"You want another?" Sango asked as he eyed Kagome's.

Kagome laughed and pushed it toward him. He descended on it like a pack of hungry wolves. "Get us two-"

"4."

"4 more." Kagome laughed as Inuyasha scarfed hers down. "When was the last time you ate?" she asked him as Sango walked off.

"Can't remember." he said honestly as he paused long enough to take a gulp of tea. He could swear he hadn't been this hungry earlier but the second that bun touched his tongue he was ravenous.

She shook her head as Sango came back with their rolls. "Want some more tea?" she asked.

"Yeah." Kagome nodded. "Jasmine, will be fine."

"Coming right up." she left them again.

"You look awful." Kagome said studying him. His clothes were wrinkled and had the rumpled look of someone who hadn't changed out of them for a while. His eyes had bags underneath them and he was slightly pale, though the warmth of the tea seemed to be bringing back some color.

"Didn't sleep." he said as he started attacking his third roll. "Painting."

"Is that healthy?" she asked in concern but he didn't answer.

He didn't speak again until he finished his fourth roll and half of the last one.

Then he sat back and looked around as if he was just now fully realizing where he was. "How did I get here?" he asked in confusion."

"I drove us." Kagome laughed. "You don't remember?"

"No." he looked around. The last thing he really remembered was sitting in his room. "Did we already sketch this morning?"

"You forgot." she said finishing the last of her tea.

"Damn." he cursed himself. He should have set an alarm clock or something. He should probably get an alarm clock first."Why are we here?"

"You wanted breakfast." she said helpfully.

"Yeah, that sounds like me." he sat back in his chair.

"Do you forget doing things often?"

"Only when I'm really hungry." he stretched and yawned. "I'm tired. I think I'll go home."

"Wait." Kagome tried to stop him but he had already stood up and was leaving. Grumbling, she took some money out of her pocket, threw it on the table, and ran out after him.

"You can't drive." she pointed out. "You're car isn't here and besides, you're wobbling on your feet."

"Tired." he said as his eyes got heavy. Those cinnamon buns had really hit the spot.

"Well, hold on. I'll take you back to your place." she said as she unlocked her car.

No sooner had he gotten inside than he was falling asleep in the seat.

Kagome shook her head, buckled his seat belt for him, and got into her side. She started the car and pulled out all without him moving an inch. His breathing was deep and even and she knew he had really fallen asleep.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked but she really didn't expect an answer.