Author's Note: I finished editing this story in full and realized that I hated the ending. So, long story short, I completely rewrote it and had to make massive changes to this chapter and everything going forward. Hence, the super long delay. I'll try to be faster.
There's information on my new soon-to-be live website at the bottom, for those who are interested.
Tell Me I'm Crazy
(I Can't Stop the Feeling)
Part XI
"So," Kagome says while they wait for the professor to start class. It's Monday afternoon and it's his third class of the day. Mythology, at least, is pretty easy to follow. "How was your weekend?"
Thinking of the weekend brings back memories of speaking with Sesshomaru, who he more or less ignored all of Sunday. Inuyasha had a hard time looking him in the eye. In what goddamn universe did he think asking for relationship advice from him of all people would be a great idea?
"It was good," he responds with anyways. There's no way in hell he's going to mention any of this to Kagome. "Myoga was happy. Met my half-brother's girlfriend; that was fucking weird."
To her credit, Kagome only laughs at him. "Why?"
"Because he's not human and she's very normal." Inuyasha is stopped from saying more by Bankotsu entering their row. Normally the guy passes him to sit on the other side of Kagome, where there are bunch more seats.
This time, Bankotsu takes the last seat right beside Inuyasha, sighing in relief. "I'm so fucking tired."
Kagome leans over, frowning. "Is Jakotsu not coming?"
"No, he's not really fit for the public," Bankotsu replies, shaking his head. "His words, not mine. He broke up with his boyfriend and it did not end well. They were screaming at each other on the phone all night." Well, at least the exhaustion was explained.
Kagome's still leaning over, which means she's in his space more so than usual. Her hand is on the arm rest, but her fingers are lightly over his leg. Which. Which.
Shouldn't be a big deal. But it makes his stomach flip anyways, and Jesus, this isn't an illness this is stupid butterflies because he likes her. He genuinely likes her and it hasn't gone away, not one bit. In fact, Inuyasha would bet that it's gotten worse.
The professor calls attention to the front of the room so the three of them can't speak anymore. Inuyasha manages to tear his eyes away from Kagome and the way her concerned face is overly endearing. "That sucks," he offers quietly, shrugging at Bankotsu.
"I'm not overly sympathetic, given how I didn't fall asleep until three in the morning," the guy replies, "but yeah. I'm probably going to buy a case a beer to bring back tonight, just in case." He pauses, watches as the professor brings up a section filled with words Inuyasha barely understands. "If I fall asleep, can I borrow your notes?" Bankotsu asks, somewhat sheepishly.
"Yeah, man," Inuyasha responds with, nodding. "No problem."
The thing is–
The thing is.
While there are days like that, where she's all in his space and Inuyasha thinks to himself that this is possible, that this is a thing that's going to happen and fuck everything else–
There are also days where the opposite is true.
It's not like he has a monopoly on her and he's well fucking aware of that, thank you very much. But it's Tuesday and normally Kagome walks right by him in the hallway and smiles at him and shit. They talk for all of two minutes but it's nice.
Today, however, is not that kind of Tuesday apparently because Kagome's walking down the hall with some random guy Inuyasha's never seen before and she doesn't even look for him. She's aptly listening to whatever the guy is saying to her. And that's–
Again, he doesn't have a fucking monopoly and it's not like he's demanding her time. It's just.
Well.
He's overthinking this, right?
Right?
"Hey," Inuyasha mumbles, sliding into the seat beside Kagome in Commons. She's there with Miroku and Sango already, the three of them eating food and chatting happily. He had dinner a while ago so he's just there to relax. Miroku had texted him with a demand to come and seven eggplant emojis. It was a travesty.
"Hey!" Sango cheers. "How was class?"
Inuyasha rolls his eyes. Questions like that don't deserve an answer.
"At least he missed Naraku's boxers splitting open on a particularly intense yoga pose back at home," Miroku says sadly, staring down at his plate like the food is going to make him feel better.
Inuyasha blinks. "What?"
His best friend looks up at him, blue eyes pleading. "Don't make me say it again," he whispers.
"You poor, poor thing," Kagome coos, bursting into laughter when Miroku turns to look at her. "At least he's in good shape?"
"That means nothing."
"So does that mean you're staying at their place tonight?" Inuyasha asks.
Sango snorts. "Yeah right. I've got to study. His ass is staying with you."
Winking, Miroku says, "We can cuddle if I can't sleep."
If he thinks for one second that cuddling is even a possibility, Inuyasha will be sure to set him straight instantly, pun truly not intended. "That was one time and all on you. You wanted to cuddle!" Sure, they were hung over but Inuyasha was perfectly content to be alone. "If I'm taking anyone to bed, it sure as shit isn't you."
Miroku wiggles his eyebrows. "Even if I put out?"
Bursting into a fit of laughter that sounds a lot more like choking, Sango leans into her boyfriend like him cheating on her is hilarious. "Inuyasha would rather have anyone else putting out in his bed but you, babe," she says, grinning.
And that's not entirely true, he has standards. Inuyasha looks over at Kagome, hoping for some sort of sympathy but she's simply staring at her food, not even trying to seem involved in the conversation any longer. It's weird. Really weird. His gaze falls to Sango, who is also staring at Kagome with an odd look on her face, like she sees what's happening and doesn't get it either.
Carefully, he nudges Kagome lightly in the side. It's the thing they do, right? This is normal. "Hey, you okay?" he asks.
Giving him a quick smile, Kagome nods. "Yeah, no I'm good." Usually, she would lean into his space a bit. This time, she actually leans away.
He's not hurt. He's not a fucking flower.
But Inuyasha is suddenly not so keen on Miroku's joking either. Maybe he's not overthinking this at all.
Inuyasha is pretty sure he's not having a crisis or anything. It's nothing that serious. It couldn't be. People fall in and out of love and flirt and tease and act coy all the time. Really, Inuyasha thinks, the only reason this is such a big deal is because he's never been potentially serious about anyone before.
Reaching into the box of cookies, Inuyasha pulls out another and stuffs it into his mouth without ceremony.
He tries to lay it out in his mind. He likes Kagome a fair bit. Enough that dating her is definitely on the table. Long-term dating, as well, would be preferred. Kagome sends what Inuyasha can only determine are mixed signals. Sometimes she's so close to him he figures there's no way she's not at least interested. But there are other times that she looks at him and seems standoffish. Her smile is forced, or she'll back away quickly.
But she doesn't leave him alone, so it's all very confusing.
A part of him thinks he should just ask her out. Get it over with.
Inuyasha grabs another cookie, stares at it in front of his face. There are so many chunks of chocolate. Best fucking dinner ever.
Then again, being wrong would be horrifying. Further than that, Inuyasha has a really hard time figuring out what would happen after. After they start dating, how exactly would that work?
He thinks then about that day a while back, when he and Kagome were walking back to her place. The way she got all shy and awkward, how she avoided the conversation. Sango thinks she doesn't like talking about what she wants. If that's true, how the fuck is Inuyasha ever supposed to know?
"Hey," Miroku says, bounding into his bedroom. Privacy does not exist in Corner House; Inuyasha was wrong to assume there was even a chance. "Want to play some COD?"
"Why couldn't you have come in here earlier?" Inuyasha whines before taking a bite out of the cookie.
His best friend grins. "Don't tell me that's your dinner. You have a car, dumbass. Drive somewhere."
"Like where?"
Miroku scrunches up his face, horrified because bits of cookie spewed out of his mouth when he asked. "God, you're gross. I don't know, anywhere. Fuck, McDonald's is just around the corner. It's not exactly prime health food but at least you're getting some protein."
Inuyasha sighs, lays his head back down on his pillow to stare at the ceiling. It seems like too much work. "Nah."
"Oh good, you're moping. It's my favourite version of you," Miroku says sarcastically. Inuyasha can hear his best friend approach, then said best friend is standing over him looking unimpressed. "What's going on in that stupid head of yours?"
"Nothing."
"Ah yes, because that's why you look constipated."
"Fuck off."
"Drive me to dinner, bitch." Miroku flicks Inuyasha on the nose and jumps away just in time to avoid being punched. "Come on. Let's take that beautiful, shiny car for a spin."
In the end, he doesn't need much convincing. He's still hungry despite the row of cookies he had eaten and Miroku's grin is hard to ignore. They're in the car, giving it a moment to warm up while Miroku syncs his phone to it. Inuyasha doesn't question it but it becomes immediately apparent that he should have when the first few strains of rap music comes out the speakers. "Tell me you didn't make a playlist."
"Okay then," Miroku replies. He reaches over and turns the volume way up, until the bass is pounding and Inuyasha fears for his speakers. He tries, unsuccessfully, to turn it down but Miroku only smacks him, grinning. "Come on, live a little."
"I'm going to go deaf," Inuyasha exclaims.
Miroku's grin just gets larger and he nods. Well then.
It's almost embarrassing, truly. Inuyasha starts driving towards McDonald's and Miroku rolls down the window. In February. It's not warm enough. It is not. But there are groups of students around and Miroku probably thinks he looks cool, the passenger in a really nice car with super loud music playing.
"We just seem like assholes," Inuyasha says, loudly enough to be heard over the music.
Miroku laughs. "I seem like one. You actually are, buttercup."
"I hate you."
His best friend makes kissing faces at him. It's a wonder Inuyasha doesn't kick him out of the car. The thought crosses his mind, especially when they pull into the parking lot and some people give them the side-eye. It's a bit past dinnertime but Inuyasha can see the children inside, the parents wrangling them to sitting. In no way does he want to be a part of that, especially when Miroku is acting like this. He knows they'll get kicked out for sure, so he makes the executive decision to take the drive-thru. Miroku doesn't say anything about it, not after their order or while they're waiting. It's not until Inuyasha has their bag of food in hand as he pulls into a parking space literally five steps away from the main entrance that he does.
"So, want me all to yourself, huh?"
Inuyasha looks over, staring directly at Miroku's glinting blue eyes and waggling eyebrows. Ugh, he's a horrible person. "More worried about you traumatizing the children." He gets out their burgers and dumps the fries in the bag.
"Shit, did you hear what happened to Hakkaku at the gym? With those kids?"
"No," Inuyasha replies, not caring that he's chewing with his mouth open.
Miroku snorts. "Apparently there was some tour and there were little kids involved. Hakkaku has no fucking idea but he'd just finished at the gym, bag in hand, out of the shower. He'd stepped outside and someone texted him, so he stopped to answer it–"
"What, he can't do both?" Inuyasha interjects.
"And so this little kid, I shit you not, saw him and then told his dad, 'don't you go to the gym to get big and strong?'" Unable to help himself, Miroku starts giggling, even as he finishes. "He then walked over to Hakkaku and said, apparently so fucking serious, 'You need to go back in. It didn't work this time.'"
Inuyasha chuckles. "I can see Hakkaku's face now. What the fuck did he say to that?"
"He ran!"
Something about that is even funnier, so much so that Inuyasha accidentally whacks the car horn and scares the shit out of both of them. An old man leaving the McDonald's gives them an annoyed look.
"Also, in other news, I'm going to die next weekend," Miroku continues, going for a fry. "I'm meeting Sango's family for dinner."
Inuyasha rolls his eyes. "We both know Sango wouldn't let that happen. She fucking likes you too much, which is beyond anyone's understanding."
"You're so mean."
"Fuck off."
"But probably right," Miroku concludes, nodding. "No one will ever satisfy her like I do."
Groaning, Inuyasha makes sure to throw his salty fry at his best friend's face. "Ew, Jesus Christ, don't say shit like that. I'll have flashbacks."
"To the couch?" Miroku's grinning now and it's not fucking funny.
"I'm scarred for life."
"That's okay. When I catch you and Kagome screwing on the couch, I promise I won't cry about it like you did."
The thought of Miroku being anywhere near him while he's having sex is even more revolting. Miroku is – while understandably attractive – his best friend. And while Ginta and Hakkaku are totally cool bros who may or may not be a little too close, that is so not them.
"Wow, man, I didn't think you could look so unhappy at the thought of banging Kagome."
Again with the language, holy shit. Could he be a little more delicate? "Shut up. You're the most annoying person I know." He takes a massive bite of his burger and chews on it, glaring at Miroku all the while.
"But you still want to bang her, right?"
Inuyasha doesn't choke. He doesn't.
He's just…having a bit of fit. Or something.
Miroku's so fucking delighted he's practically cackling, face scrunched up with disgusting, mashed up fries visible in his mouth. "You're such a flower. Oh my god."
"Why won't you stop talking?" he complains, loudly.
"I still don't get the whole thing," Miroku states, steamrolling right over Inuyasha's thoughts like they don't matter. It hurts only a little. "The whole pining shit. You like her. It seems to me that she's not not interested. But you're all about the crazy crap."
"I really don't want to get into this."
"Too bad, fucker. You're the one that took me on this romantic date."
"Because you told me to."
Miroku waves at him dismissively. "If you're scared of getting hurt, then you need to find your balls and sack up, my friend."
That's a part of it, undeniably so. Inuyasha knows he likes Kagome more than he's ever liked anyone else. Though his interactions with people in general are a bit limited, this always seems so much bigger. "She's acting weird," he says finally, shrugging. He looks away and into the bag of their combined fries, grabbing a couple. "Sometimes I think I should just ask her out. She gets all close and in my space and she smiles at me a lot. Other times I'm pretty sure she's trying to avoid me without actually avoiding me."
His best friend blinks. "What?"
"She used to, like… Find me? Like, I can tell she went out of her way to talk to me because we both know I don't do that shit. But for the past while that hasn't happened."
Miroku's frowning now, actually looking concerned. "Since when?"
Inuyasha shrugs. A voice in the back of his head is telling him the day he saw her shoot for the first time, in the gym. But that seems stupid. It seems like something someone who cares way too much would say. Instead, he replies, "I don't know. It's probably nothing. We were talking the other day and for the first time ever she was all shy and shit. Something Sango said about her. Kagome just completely changed the topic."
"What were you talking about?"
Shrugging again, because this isn't a big deal but Miroku seems to be making it one, Inuyasha answers. "Honestly? Can't remember. Her archery tournament I think. Oh, I asked if she was going to win."
The concern that was there moments before instantly disappears. Miroku nods sagely. "Yeah, Sango says she doesn't like to talk about things she wants. Like winning, for example."
That sounds incredibly fucking stupid. "So she wants to win the gold medal or trophy or whatever of archery… And that makes her awkward?"
His best friend nods again. "Yup. Something about how she grew up. Not much money, I don't think. But, you know, that could explain things."
Now, Inuyasha's just confused. "Explain, what?"
"Her being awkward."
Inuyasha must be missing something. "…Well yeah. That would explain why she's shy about that stuff. Kind of. It's a bit weird."
"No," Miroku whines, letting out a big sigh. "I mean, why she's being hot and cold with you!"
"Because she doesn't want to talk about…things?" Inuyasha is watching Miroku's face for any kind of sign because he's not making any sense, whatsoever. "She doesn't want to talk about things with me?"
Miroku is staring at him, like he's on some kind of cliff's edge and he's unsure if Inuyasha's going to fall or not. He looks half-scared and half-excited. He's flailing his hands uselessly.
Inuyasha shakes his head. "Well that's even worse. If she doesn't want to talk to me about important shit then obviously she can't like me that much."
A noise that he's never heard before comes from his best friend's mouth. It sounds like a dying cat.
Inuyasha rolls his eyes. "You're so dramatic. It's not that big of a deal. I don't get why Sango puts up with you."
It is a big deal, but whatever.
Inuyasha knows where he stands now, at least. He stuffs fries into his mouth and ignores the way his stomach feels like it's sinking.
Inuyasha is possibly far drunker than he should be at Corner House's Valentine's Day party. Possibly. It's hard to say, really, because he lost count a while ago on how many drinks he's had. Some drinks he didn't even know what was in them, just accepted them from Kouga and Hachi and moved along with his night. His boys are with him, all of them dancing and having a great time. DJ Naraku-The-Fucking-Best is destroying it, as per usual.
He's not scared. He's not.
Just because Shippo and Shiori – the two new official housemates of Corner House – are prancing around in cupid-like outfits, shooting people with love arrows so they have to kiss the cheek of the person on their right, doesn't mean he has any reason to be scared.
None.
But Kagome is there. Right there. There on his right.
He takes another long pull of his beer and tries not to spit it out when Kouga runs into his space and starts thrusting in his general direction. Ayame is right behind him, so apparently this is a thing.
He gets roped into some kind of writhing, grinding line, hips swaying to every pounding beat of the bass. There's a girl he doesn't know between him and Miroku, with Ayame at his back. He's lost track of Kagome but that's not surprising. It taken a conscious effort to not seek her out, to not look for her the entire night. Somehow she was always there, just a little bit away. But now, with the music blasting and his mind no longer whirling with the possibilities thanks to alcohol, Kagome is gone.
He lets himself forget that. He focuses on the girl in front of him, on the music in his head.
The line of dancers eventually breaks apart. Inuyasha feels himself getting pulled instantly in the direction of the kitchen by none other than Kouga, a wicked smile on his face. "More beer?"
"More beer," Inuyasha confirms. He's pretty sure that beer is the greatest creation on earth. "Where's Ayame?"
"Some friend needed her," Kouga replies. He grabs onto the front of Inuyasha's t-shirt as they stumble through a crowd of students dancing, blocking the way to the kitchen. "Where's Kagome?"
"No idea," he replies, drawing out the words. It's bad, he thinks, that he can tell he's incredibly drunk. But fuck it. He can't deal with this night, not with all of the kissing couples and hook ups happening around him. If he wasn't a part of Corner House, Inuyasha wouldn't even be here. Last Valentine's Day, he had a good time because there was nothing niggling at the back of his mind. There was no chat of Kagome, Kagome, Kagome that he had to try to drown out.
"Who needs women anyways?" Kouga replies, breaking Inuyasha from his thoughts. He's a good bro. The bestest of bros. Inuyasha smirks and clinks his red solo cup to the athlete's.
"There you are!" Sango's voice calls out. Arms are suddenly around his neck and pretty soon he's getting strangled as another set does the same. Jesus, breathing just got a lot harder. "Miroku! What are you doing?" Sango asks, way too close to his ear.
"Isn't he adorable?" Miroku asks, giggling. Also far too close. Holy hell, these two are ridiculous.
"Let go of me," Inuyasha grumbles out, trying to figure out a way to escape their arms and not lose any beer. "Let me be happy!"
"Why aren't you happy?" Sango asks, poking at his cheek before stepping away. "You should have more beer."
"I'm trying to."
And then, because he has the greatest of luck, he hears her. "Trying to what?" A hiccup, and then a giggle, and then Kagome is standing in front of him, beaming widely. Inuyasha blinks, grips his cup tighter. She's staring at him so fucking happily, like the sun, and she's flushed from the heat and her big eyes are on him like–
"Inuyasha?"
"Fuck off," he replies immediately, turning his head to see Kouga grinning at him. "What?"
"It's almost midnight," Miroku cuts in, nudging his side. "Wanna get to the good stuff upstairs? Hachi and the newbies can deal with the crowd."
"Shippo is adorable in his little cupid outfit!" Kagome coos, overly loud. She takes the beer from Inuyasha's hand and drinks it. He doesn't even stop her, completely unsure what's even happening. Is this real life?
Sango snorts from beside him. "Someone let loose for once."
Grinning around the cup, Kagome flips her off and continues to drink until all of the beer is gone. Inuyasha isn't sure if he's upset or aroused.
"Come on, bestie!" Nudging him backwards, Kouga makes a shushing sound at Inuyasha's indignant squawk. "Let's go upstairs. If Ayame gets here before we make it up, I'm going to have to drag both your asses to my room. I'm not sober enough for that."
"I'm not sober enough for a lot of things," Inuyasha replies. He stumbles up the stairs. His legs feel a lot heavier than they normally do. Is that a thing?
"Yes, it's a thing," Kouga says, laughing. He smacks Inuyasha on his back, which, rude. "Hurry uppppp," he complains. "Why are you so slow?"
Sango's laughing is suddenly heard and Miroku starts singing what Inuyasha can only assume is really terrible opera. He's not even singing real words, just sounds that end in 'ah' a lot. "Oh my god, you're so embarrassing."
And that's when it happens. One moment, Inuyasha is tiredly climbing the stairs, almost at the top. The next, he stumbling, reaching towards Kouga's bedroom door like a lifeline. Kouga swears behind him and then there's a heavy weight across his back. Trying to save it, trying to twist, Inuyasha manages to change direction but it's already too late. He thinks fuck, just before Kouga is practically on top of him and they're…against the door.
There's a moment where everyone is silent.
Abruptly, Kouga starts laughing, high-pitched and completely against him. Inuyasha can feel every movement and even though this is far too close into his personal space, he's drunk enough that he doesn't care. The athlete eventually pushes at him, pressing a hand into his chest to balance himself.
"Hey!" Inuyasha complains. "Get off of me."
"Shhh, I need to unlock the door," Kouga huffs.
Kagome snorts inelegantly and crowds right into their space. Her smile is incredibly wide and Inuyasha cannot stop staring. "I think you're both drunk," she whispers, as if it's a secret.
"I think you are too," Sango whispers back, butting into the conversation.
Kouga cheers when he's finally – finally – able to unlock his bedroom door. The two of them almost fall into the room as he opens it. Inuyasha would be annoyed if he wasn't so relaxed. "To the alcohol," he says. "Miroku, grab some glasses, will you?"
"Way ahead of you," Miroku replies, winking and waving around red solo cups. "It's like you think this is my first time."
Inuyasha is pretty sure Miroku has zero first times left. He doesn't say that out loud.
Snorting, Sango puts her hand up to him for a high-five. "True that."
Okay. Well, maybe he did say that out loud. He high-fives her back anyways.
The group of them manage to find spots to sit, even though the room isn't that big. Kouga and Miroku are passing around glasses of something awful; it doesn't taste like anything other than whiskey which is frankly disgusting. Sitting on the ground, Inuyasha leans against the desk and watches as Kagome comes towards him.
"This spot taken?" she asks.
She wants to sit with him? She wants to sit. With him. "Soap."
Oh god. Fuck. What? He went to say 'sure' but realized that was not an actual answer and changed it to 'nope.' But it's too late. He's fucked. Inuyasha panics and takes a massive swallow of alcohol. He looks over at her and she seems as happy as ever, her knee pressed against his. "Uh."
"I'm not actually sure how much I've had to drink," Kagome says, staring into her red cup. "I don't usually drink this much?" She ends it like a question and looks over at him, a little confused. "Is that a bad thing?"
Inuyasha shakes his head. "If you were out in the city or whatever, then yeah. But here? Hakkaku once drank so much be passed out on the stairs. We took pictures though."
"No, no pictures," she says sternly, pointing her finger at him. Jesus Christ, even that's doing something for him.
He's distracted, thank god, by music turning on from somewhere in the room. It's yet another terrible pop song that he would probably dance to if asked. Inuyasha looks around the room; no one is poised to do so, which is a miracle.
Then another miracle happens.
Inuyasha couldn't tell you how, and honestly, he doesn't fucking want to know. But one second, Inuyasha is warily making sure no one asks him to dance and the next, his lap is full and there's black hair literally everywhere, what the fuck is happening.
And oh.
Oh.
Kagome pushes at him until she's more or less happily situated in his lap and Inuyasha is pretty sure he's going to die. This can't be real life. But Kagome looks over her shoulder and waves her phone at him. "Picture, please?"
"Okay," he says. He swallows, vaguely surprised he's even able to speak right now. His hands are doing that really awkward floating thing where they don't know where to touch and she's just there. Holy shit. Kagome leans back into him while posing for the selfie, so Inuyasha doesn't have much choice but to grab at her sides and lean sideways a bit to be seen around all of her hair. She's positively beaming, eyes shut and turned slightly to face him. He looks up at the camera just as she takes one photo, smiles belatedly because he was not ready. But then she takes another. And another.
Kagome's giggling and Inuyasha can't help it: he looks at her with an expression that's probably disgustingly sappy because she's the most endearing fucking thing in this world. "You don't like pictures, do you?" she asks, clearly pleased.
"It's not often I'm in one willingly," he replies, thinking of all the times Miroku has bodily attacked him into the camera frame.
Kagome hums and shifts around, sitting properly while she fiddles with her phone. He has a moment where he remembers yet again that she's casually sitting in his lap and then he looks around the room, desperately hoping no one is paying them much attention. Thankfully, Miroku, Kouga and Hakkaku are doing this weird dance in the middle of the room, flailing wildly, and everyone is distracted by their antics.
Thank god.
"This good?" she asks suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts. Her phone is suddenly right in front of his face and all he sees is a picture of them, but not the ones where he's looking at the camera. Shit, shit. It's worse than he thought. He's looking at her so obviously. Everyone that sees the photo is going to know.
"That one?" Inuyasha asks, somewhat weakly.
Kagome smiles and nods. "Yeah," she says, touching his face in the photo. "You actually look happy. I'm the one that looks crazy."
She's laughing in the picture and she looks fucking perfect.
Inuyasha keeps his mouth shut. "Okay," he says, because he's a weak person. He takes one last look at the photo and prays that Miroku's too drunk to notice it now and too hung over to notice it tomorrow.
"You need Instagram, seriously," Kagome states, posting the photo. She goes back into her profile and Inuyasha has to blink a couple times to make sure he's seeing things right.
"How do you have so many followers?" he asks, bypassing her comment completely.
"I'm a fun person," she replies, elbowing him in the ribs. "You should be so lucky to be included here as many times as you have, considering you don't even have an account."
"Holy shit, why didn't I thank you sooner?" Inuyasha asks dryly. "The more photos I'm in with you, the more people will think we're friends and the more popular I'll become. You're completely selfless and doing this just to benefit me."
Kagome smiles, leaning a little closer. "What, you don't know this?" she asks, teasing. And this is brutally unfair, is what it is, because while he knows she's talking about something completely different, his mind can't help but wander into the danger zone of feelings.
Mayday. Mayday.
"Well now I do," he replies shortly, shaking his head. "And I thought we were–" He's shoved back unexpectedly, head hitting the desk behind him with a thwack. It doesn't feel amazing but there's a massive weight on top of him – far more than the weight of Kagome – and mostly he just confused.
"Ow, motherfucker, really?" Miroku yells, far closer to Inuyasha than he was previously.
"Shit, I'm sorry! My bad, man." Hakkaku at least looks sheepish, hands on his face. "I didn't mean to hit you, I swear."
Miroku groans again and collapses back on top of Kagome, who is on top of him. What the hell is with everyone leaning or sitting on him tonight? Pretty soon, he won't be able to breathe. "I'm too drunk for this."
"Get off me," Inuyasha complains, reaching around Kagome to slap at his best friend's face. "Offffffffff."
"Ow, ow, leave me alone!" Miroku cries. He noticeably doesn't get off and Inuyasha's about to grab at his hair and tug when Kagome announces, rather loudly, "Nope. I'm out." She shoves at Miroku, enough that he rolls a bit and she squirms out, stumbling out of the bedroom.
"Is she okay?" Sango asks, squinting in worry.
Miroku groans. "I don't know. She hits hard though."
"No one cares." Inuyasha glares at him. For fuck's sake, Kagome was in his lap. Things were looking up. She was smiling at him and shit; none of that avoiding crap from earlier. If things continued to go well, he may have even gotten the nerve to say something to her.
Ha.
Yeah right.
"Yo, where's the alcohol at?" Ginta hollers, bursting into the room and sloppy as all hell. He stumbles, giggles and then nearly topples into Kouga. "Kooooooouga," he whines. "Why are you in my way?"
"Hey buddy! Did Hachi let you go?"
"Pretty much everyone left," Ginta says. "Which means time for the good stuff."
"Bit too late for that," Ayame announces, holding up an empty bottle of whiskey. "We're all out."
"Fuck." Ginta frowns. "Someone has to have more! This is Corner House! Our lady would never let us stay sober if we didn't want to!"
Inuyasha has no fucking idea who this lady is. "How drunk are you?"
"Not enough but you–" Ginta points at Miroku, blinks and then points at Inuyasha. "I know you have alcohol. Miroku told me."
"Yeah!" Kouga agrees. "We all went out to buy the beer and I grabbed this," he swings the empty bottle, "and you got vodka!"
Inuyasha tries not to make a face. He did buy vodka but it was more as a backup plan than for a party. The backup plan being drowning his sorrows if he ever found the balls to ask Kagome out and the answer was less than ideal.
So.
"Come on," Kouga wheedles, poking him aggressively in the face. "Go and get it. I know you have it somewhere in your room."
"Fuck you, that's not for sharing," Inuyasha finally replies. There's an outpouring of rage from around the room, enough so that Inuyasha's actually taken aback. Holy shit, everyone needs to chill.
Sango narrows her eyes at him and leaves her spot on the desk chair to crawl towards him. "Don't make me make you."
And that? That's terrifying.
Inuyasha shoves Miroku off the rest of the way and gets up, trying to look casual. He knows for a fact that he's missed the mark by a long shot but he'll never admit to anything. "Whatever, fine. For the record: I hate all of you."
"We love you too, stud muffin!" Miroku yells from the ground.
Ah yes. The pet names are back. Fucking fantastic.
His room is down the hall and other than the voices from downstairs, it's pretty quiet. Hachi is probably with some other friends or tormenting Shippo and Shiori still. Being the newbies of Corner House isn't a terrible task but you definitely do things a bit past your comfort level.
Inuyasha has a flash of his own first party just as he walks into his room: the animal ears, the noises, the tail and basket of–
He shudders. No.
A door slams – correction: his door slams – and Inuyasha turns around sharply from his spot by the bed, disrupted from his thoughts. The sight before him breaks his brain a little. If anyone asks at a later point, Inuyasha was more confused than anything else because Kagome's leaning against his closed bedroom door.
The reality, however, is far different because there's a strange whining sound and it's definitely coming from him, holy shit, is this a dream? Did he pass out and this is some sort of fantasy his mind conjured up because she was on his lap? What is happening? What? What?
"Sango's looking for me," Kagome whispers, dead serious.
Inuyasha blinks, pinches himself. Ow. "What?"
His voice is considerably louder and instantly, Kagome is shushing him, a finger to her lips. "Shh, quiet!" Pressing her ear to the door, she listens for sounds out in the hallway.
Inuyasha tries to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Don't pop a boner, for fuck's sake, this is not a dream.
"I think she's gone," Kagome says, voice barely more than a murmur. "She thinks I'm really drunk and need water but I'm fine."
She's completely wasted but Inuyasha figures it's better to not say anything, judging by the look on her face. He glances at the dresser where his vodka is hiding. "Do you want to go back to them?"
"Nah," Kagome replies. She pushes her way past him and jumps onto the bed, burying her face in his pillow.
His pillow.
He pinches himself again, just in case.
"I'm actually tired," she continues. She stretches, rolls and arches her back, dark eyes watching him. It's innocent though; this isn't some kind of play. Kagome looks sleep-soft and rumpled and he's pretty sure he's in love with her. "I've been training all week for the tournament. I thought my arms were going to be nothing more than noodles on Thursday."
Slowly, Inuyasha crawls onto his own bed, keeping a solid foot of space between them. He stares at the white cracked ceiling with suspicious strains and focuses on that. "The tournament's soon, right?"
Kagome hums. "Yeah. Boys this weekend and girls the next. At least I have winter break in between to try and catch up. Tournaments are so exhausting."
Right. The winter week break starts soon. "Will you be here?"
Laughing, Kagome rolls onto her side, so much closer than she was before. She grins at him for a bit, head propped up in her hands. Inuyasha tries to commit the image to memory. "I am here, idiot."
"No," Inuyasha argues. "Not now. I meant during winter break."
"Oh." Kagome nods, apparently finding her position no longer comfortable. She collapses down and fidgets. "Your mattress is weird."
They really cannot talk about his mattress. Inuyasha is pretty sure up until this point he's been nice and normal. Drunk, but normal. "It's fine," he tries but Kagome just shakes her head and tries three different positions until she sighs explosively.
"Well," she says, muffled by her own hair covering her face. "I really have no choice."
What the fuck is she even talking about?
Then, before he can ask, Kagome is rolling again and suddenly, she's on top of him.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit–
Kagome yawns, head on his chest. Her hand pats at his shoulder. "See? Better."
This is not better. This is not. Inuyasha is pretty sure he hasn't even taken a breath, because there would surely be consequences. His room is silent. Distantly, he can hear music playing from Kouga's room and vague chatter.
"I think–" Kagome stops mid-mumble, shifts around a little until Inuyasha is pretty sure he's going to die. "I think I am drunk."
Well, no fucking shit. Inuyasha's hands clench into his bedsheets. What does he do here? Does he push her off? Does he hug her? Does he wait until she falls asleep and then goes and gets Sango to take her home? As drunk as he is, he knows that Kagome is completely wasted and that there is no way in hell she would do this if sober.
"Kagome?" he asks quietly, since her face is so close to his. He could kiss her, if he wanted to. It would be a spectacularly bad idea. Seconds pass and so he asks again, louder. "Kagome, you awake?"
She doesn't move. Her breathing is even and slow.
For some reason, it feels like a weight has been lifted from him. He lets go of the bedsheets and finally relaxes, completely drained. Kagome is dead to the world, passed out while cuddling on top of him. He should move her but what if she wakes up while he does so? Drunken sleeping can get pretty deep pretty quickly, so Inuyasha decides to wait a little before moving her. He can go and get Sango then, figure out what their plans are.
Piece of cake.
Inuyasha listens to the muffled music, staring at the ceiling and thinking about anything and everything but the girl sleeping on him. It would be nice though, if this was a normal situation. Not a drunken act but more of a 'couples' thing. He's pretty sure Miroku takes every opportunity he can to sleep in the same bed as Sango. Now he knows why, kind of.
Kagome's breathing is deep, slow and even. He could probably move her now.
Inuyasha closes his eyes instead.
Next Time on Tell Me I'm Crazy: "Oh, hey, you're Kagome's boyfriend, yeah? Let me go get her." Inuyasha chokes on air and actually has a coughing fit. It's embarrassing, really. But what's worse is the fact that his heart skips a beat, his face heats up which means he's blushing like a damn virgin, and when he tries to take a step forward to stop the freckled guy, Inuyasha practically nosedives into the ground.
And he thought the day was going to get better. Ha.
Reponses to Anon Reviewers:
Pooch: WELL, who am I to deny anyone's dream come true? Hope you liked it, love.
ThatGirl: Aw, thank you so, so much! And yes, there's a friend in my group who is incredibly short-tempered and he always gets picked on. His reactions are priceless XD
Guest: And I f'ing love you too :D
Fun Fact: Kagome captioned her Instagram post "push and pull like a magnet do." This is in reference to Ed Sheeran's song Shape of You, which topped the Billboard Music charts the week this story takes place.
WEBSITE UPDATE: I shall being creating a fun little website to help keep you guys more in the loop on things. Stories will be posted here but I'll be offering PDF versions and sneak peeks and teasers there. My question to you: what other content would you like to see?
Feedback, as always, is love.
