Chapter 10-Dinner and a Fright

Inuyasha isn't mine.

His jaw dropped. No irresistible scent. No sudden, tongue tying, deep seated need to be near her. No bond. He ought to have caught her scent inside and felt the compulsion of his mate's presence...and hadn't.

Kagome, to his mortal senses was just another girl! A girl all alone, no guard...and reading a pink piece of paper and looking worried as she passed him. Where was that Sango? He couldn't help himself. Inuyasha walked closer, sniffing. Nope. Not so much as a twitch! No perfect scent! Then she turned, catching him looking. Alright, staring.

"Uh..." she began, surprised at the strange young man with thick glasses looking hardly older than she did standing there and staring with the oddest expression. Which cleared as he smiled with embarrassment.

"Sorry! I-um, sorry," he said nervously, looking away, and damn it-blushing! He paused, too scared to say or do anything, until she frowned.

"Um...excuse me! Are you from around here, sir? I'm lost," Kagome explained, and he blinked. She...didn't recognize him. Damn. 'A fresh start.' Rin had laughed, but damned if this wasn't one!

"I-guess I could try and help since you seem to need it. Where are you going?" he asked. Lost though...not good. Had something happened? Had she been told to flee by her guard? How the hell was he to protect her like this? Damn it!

"Oh, to a party," she showed him the invitation and pointed to the address-and his eyes widened slightly.

His seventeen year old betrothed wasn't going to some party at a girl's house when it clearly said there would be no parents! No no no. Drinking, probably, Kami knew what else! Out alone? With no chaperone to see to it her virtue and good name were properly safeguarded at this party, much less that she was protected from youkai? Hell no! Clearly, the little wench was out alone on purpose! What the fuck was that incompetent tajiya up to? Her job was to oversee Kagome and protect her! Some guard, if a mere human could slip past her. Inuyasha knew what street it was...she was three blocks away.

"Um...no. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Thanks anyway," Kagome sighed. All the trouble she was having, and her feet hurt from walking in new shoes...she might as well go home! Seeing her wince and shift her feet, he thought desperately. Inuyasha could no more leave her here than he could fly. Bond active or not, it would be dishonorable not to see to her-she'd probably get into terrible trouble otherwise. Damned mortals, always trouble. At least the beads were tucked under his shirt.

"Eh...uh...what's your name? I feel bad, a pretty girl out alone, lost, um..." Inuyasha managed, and she had to smile shyly at the guy.

"Higurashi Kagome. Thank you. Um, I-I'm seeing someone though, I should be going," she smiled regretfully.

He was a bit nonplussed. On one hand, she properly noted she was already spoken for, on the other, he had to get her home. And telling her who he really was? Out of the question. Inuyasha knew better then that, he doubted she'd believe him, or that this was an accidental encounter. He was too scared to do it in any case. So...Wait...his brain, he discovered with surprise, wasn't shutting down around her for once.

"Well, that's alright. Ah..." he adjusted his glasses, "my name is...Musashi Atsuo." A bow. She frowned. He looked almost familiar. He also sounded exactly like Lord Inubaka.

"Do I know you...?" she asked. This thin, nervous guy was about as human as anyone got though.

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing. It's just-no offense, but you sound like someone I know."

"None taken. I've just come here to get new glasses," he lifted the bag, and she nodded. Curious, she hesitated.

"You're sure we've never met?" Kagome pressed, and he grinned to cover his discomfort.

"I'd think I'd remember meeting someone like you," he answered. She blushed a bit. "You said you were lost, eh, may I help you home, perhaps?"

"Call me Kagome, please? I-I can get a bus or walk, I wouldn't like to impose." Damn. She was as polite to someone she didn't even know as she was to anyone else. Except him.

"Kagome, then. It would be a pleasure to help. No trouble at all. I was-just going to get something to eat and then home, so it's no problem," he offered again.

"Well..." a hesitation, "I don't get in cars with strange guys. Sorry," Kagome explained, she'd tried polite, so she'd say it right out. Inuyasha sighed and nodded. Sensible. But a problem.

"There's a cafe over there. How about something to eat? No pressure, if not, I'll understand," he asked desperately.

"Um..." it was well-lit, he seemed nice enough..."alright."

That hadn't been too hard, he decided. Their first actual date, he supposed. More than a bit nervous at being out and about tonight, much less with Kagome to look after now, he took her elbow as they crossed the street and ushered her inside.

Kagome was charmed. Atsuo opened doors, bowed her in, held chairs, and acted like a total gentleman except for some rough language. Plus, he'd insisted on paying for their meal, saying a lovely lady should not ever have to pay her way. Who said courteous behavior was dead these days? It wasn't-not for a hanyou raised by a deeply honorable youkai. Until he smelled her...he had to practically beat women off with a stick, and not just because of his position as a Lord of the Inu.

"So, um...tell me about yourself..." Kagome asked, startled by the attention and courtesy.

"Me?" he gulped.

Such lies were spun. Inuyasha knew this was dishonest, beneath him...but he was desperate, damn it! He wasn't blowing a once in a lifetime chance! And he had to admit-she was a nicer seeming person as they talked. Utterly intrigued, he listened in return. He seemed to hang on every word she said, genuinely interested. It wasn't like she would ever see him again, after all. Kagome hadn't realized how much she wanted to just talk to someone normal...and she found him rather easy to talk to.

Except when the topic of who she was seeing came up. She winced, explaining she was engaged.

"I know, no ring," a shrug as she held her left hand out, "but I am. A month after I graduate High School, I'm hitched, it's an arranged match." Rarer these days, but they still happened...

No ring? Oh...mortal women wore them now, a silly custom imported from the West. Only mortals were dumb enough to need a visible marker for prospective mates, his own scent mark on her, renewed periodically, was sufficient for any youkai to know who she belonged to. A much better system.

"So. Looking forward to the wedding?" he asked, poking about the subject.

"Um...no," she sighed. He winced at the admission. "I have to marry him, Atsuo. It's not like I want to or anything, the baka! But I have to." His face fell, he had a terrible feeling...

"Why do it then?" his tone changed, and Kagome blinked at the force in his voice, then sighed.

"Just-because I have to. And well...he's a jerk. He's a stiff necked, overbearing, mortal-hating, obnoxious jerk, and he'd be exactly the same if he was all human or youkai. Trust me, Atsuo. I can't stand him. But...well, let me start at the beginning. He's a hanyou, that's half human, right? Well, when I was fifteen I was helping my Grandpa with some things, and the next thing I knew..." The more he listened, the more depressed he got.

Crap. Kagome really did see it as an unpleasant duty. She hated the rules and customs. Worst of all...she apparently blamed him for several things he hadn't actually done, like the binder, or Miroku's behavior, or setting Sango on her. When he'd gone to her Archery matches, he'd wondered why she'd been angry, and now knew she'd done it to get away from him. Crap. Here he was warming to her, starting to like her besides the scent, and she hated his guts. Kagome resented his interference in her perfectly normal, satisfactory life. That was what she said, anyways. Rin was right. She'd had to change everything, and didn't see a bit of value in the changes.

If he dropped dead tomorrow, she'd probably throw a party.

But when they went out to the car, having insisted he couldn't allow a young lady to travel alone, and Kagome deciding it was safe enough...she hesitated and suddenly pulled him into a photo booth.

"Hey!"

"I want to remember this," she grinned wistfully, and dropped change into the slot. Four snaps as he looked a bit shell-shocked, smiling slightly with concealed horror as she beamed and snuggled close to get into the frame with him. She then tore it in half and gave him two.

Inuyasha accepted them with wide eyes, absently noting the glare reduction coating the saleswoman had pressed on him worked on the lenses. If the old man ever saw these...he was dead. Then he'd have Sesshomaru use Tenseiga, and do it again. But he tucked them into his wallet nonetheless, wryly amused. Kagome's photo was now in both of his wallets. He always kept her picture with him. If he couldn't yet have her, he could look at her image and worry over things.

Not that she cared. Because he was just 'Lord Inubaka' to the little wench. That nickname nearly killed him.

When he dropped her off at the Shrine gates, opening the door of the compact he'd chosen to look less conspicuous...she'd smiled.

"I had a nice time. Thank you so much for dinner and for bringing me home, Atsuo," Kagome said warmly. It was true. Inuyasha wasn't aware of the fact that he was much milder as a mortal. He didn't, for some reason, socialize as one usually. Not to mention that what he considered to be proper manners to an engaged woman under his protection would charm her. Even if he was the one engaged to her, er...sort of.

"My pleasure. Uh, could I call you, perhaps? As friends?" he asked. Kagome's mouth worked.

"Well...that probably wouldn't be a good idea. My fiance..."

"Oh." He looked so disappointed, and he seemed like a really nice guy. Impulsively, she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. He turned at the last moment, and she got lips instead. Blushing, she pulled back quickly and grinned. Her first kiss. Gotten with no baka insisting it was his right or something! Kagome had kissed someone else, someone-she wanted to kiss. The grin widened.

"Thank you, Atsuo, I'll never forget you," she said before she dashed off. Inuyasha just stared after her before he got back into the car and drove home.

"Kagome! You what??" Sango was furious as she helped Kagome inside and then heard what happened. The young miko looked embarrassed, having been caught just past the trees by her bodyguard. She'd only discovered her charge was gone a few moments before Kagome got back, fondly having believed her to be studying for the three hours she'd been gone.

"Please, don't be angry! I just wanted one night of being normal. Is that so bad?"

"Yes! Kagome," Sango tried to remain calm. "You aren't normal. You know that. You aren't even finished training. What if the Inu find out about this boy? Or a Panther had caught you? Do you have any idea of what they'd have done to that boy to get you, or what your fiance would do to him?"

"Do...? I know he threatened Hojo, but he'd have just hit him, probably."

"No," a head shake. "He challenged him to a duel from the sound of it. Youkai don't think of a fistfight, Kagome, they think of killing opponents. He'd probably have ripped that Hojo's throat out as a rival suitor. I thought you understood that. Surely you really read those scrolls they keep giving you?" Sango looked disturbed as Kagome gasped.

"Kill...but..." she shivered.

"Go shower, right now. Scrub. We'll make sure to launder those clothes right away, and then we're going to have a talk," she ordered, and the miko complied, soon sitting on her bed and looking worried.

Kagome was able to convince Sango to let her little trip go, after promising never, ever, to do it again. She managed to hide her photos too. Kagome had had her first and last real date-and her first kiss...and gotten away with it.

It was worth the lecture.

Author's notes- Ah, poor Kagome. Poor Inuyasha as well. This story's nearly done, actually. I've elected to split it into two parts. The legal drinking age in Japan is 20, by the way. Thanks for reading!- Namiyo