Author's note: Occasionally, I'll read a fanfiction that grates and sticks in my brain so bad that I can only deal with it by writing my own version. I won't say what story I'm redoing here because it doesn't really matter context wise (And I've GREATLY deviated from the story that "inspired" this) But hey, I have these little stress relief projects floating around my folders now, might as well share right?

Sadly I don't plan on making this a full-blown fic. It's about as big as I dare to make it. I have too many projects already. Maybe someday when my other fics are completed. (shrugs)

Part 1

Kagome blinked at the strange young man with long white hair standing in her kitchen. He didn't say a word. Didn't move. he just stared at her in terror with his inhuman ears pressed against his head and his body tensed to run away. His arms were full of the food from her cabinets and a few bottled waters from her fridge.

Her first instinct was naturally to scream, whether the neighbors could have heard her from the center of her empty mansion and clear across the grounds or not. She took a deep breath to try her luck and saw him close his eyes tight in a wince.

His open look of terror and embarrassment surprised her enough that she just released the breath with a shaky sigh.

At the sound, he very hesitantly opened an eye to peek at her, still poised to run.

She went back to staring at him appraisingly with her head in a whirl. If he'd wanted to he could have overpowered her by now and gotten away rather easily. She was just one girl, and she had no help coming unless she called the police…

And then she really looked at him and every thought of screaming or calling the police vanished. Her eyes widened in surprised recognition.

"You're the man from the train station," she breathed in awe.

"T-Train?" he practically squeaked.

She beamed at him in joy. "Yes, the train!" she replied excitedly. "You saved my life last year, remember?!"

"I… Did?"

She nodded enthusiastically and stepped forward, clutching the front of her nightdress in excitement. He took a step back instantly, clearly still considering a retreat.

But she just looked up at him with an expression of unquestioning certainty. "I was standing on the train platform last year when a man tried to shove me onto the tracks."

Inuyasha held still, listening carefully.

"I fell and couldn't climb back up. I thought I was going to die when I saw the train coming, but YOU jumped down and saved me! THEN you turned around and pummeled that creep into the ground!"

Recognition flickered in his eyes as he looked at her a little more carefully. "…I remember that," he replied with his own look of surprise.

Her smile brightened at his confirmation but then fell a little as she remembered the reason they were finally meeting again. Her blue-gray eyes flickered to the food in his arms then back to his face. He looked away with shame.

She chose her words very carefully and very gently. "You know, I've been trying to find you since that incident last year so I could thank you."

"Oh yeah?" he replied weakly. "Bet you're pretty goddamn disappointed now huh?"

"I'm surprised," she openly admitted. "But I don't think you're here to steal valuables or to hurt me."

He flashed her his own look of shock. "So… You're not gonna call the cops?" he asked hopefully. "You'll just let this go?"

"If that's what you want," she replied gently.

At his look of relief, she smiled. "But I would be really happy if you stayed long enough for me to reward you for your bravery last year."

She saw a flicker of hesitance enter his eyes.

"I would have rewarded you THEN but you ran off before the cops came and never told me who you were. You have no idea how much I owe to you for what you did that day," she pressed, though softly. "That man had been stalking me for five months before you stopped him. He made three attempts on my life and would have certainly killed me if it weren't for you. I owe you a lot more than some ramen and chips."

He seemed to consider his position and the sincerity of her offer, then sighed. "I guess I could stay for a little while," he murmured, depositing the food onto her kitchen table with a look of shame and longing.

"You don't have to do that. If you're hungry help yourself," she offered, grabbing one of the water bottles and unscrewing the cap casually as she walked over to sit at the table across from where he stood.

He shot her a look of trepidation but slowly took a seat at the table as well.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked chipperly once she'd had a long drink.

The half-demon shifted uncomfortably on the fine wooden chair, trying not to look at the evidence of his theft.

"I uh… I was really hungry."

"Then eat," she insisted. "I won't think you're rude or anything."

He started to finally give in under the weight of his hunger and her coaxing.

Still eyeing her suspiciously, he reached forward to snag a bag of chips, pulling it toward himself and tearing it open with a quick movement of his claws. He looked back at her with hesitation but she just smiled and nodded encouragingly. Slowly he got over his moment of worry and started tentatively eating his chips.

She watched him eat for a few seconds and asked a different question.

"What's your name? I never did get to ask you."

"Inu…yasha."

The girl nodded in acknowledgment.

"Would it be too much to ask what your situation is at the moment Inuyasha-kun?"

"My situation?" he asked before taking a bite. His eyes were on her again, still suspicious.

"Yeah. Like… Do you have a job? Where are you living at the moment? Any family?"

"What ya wanna know that for?" he asked, golden eyes narrowing.

"So I can get an idea of how to reward you," she shrugged. "And you don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable."

He stopped eating to look toward an empty chair. After a long thoughtful pause, he sighed and reluctantly said; "No job. Nobody's too eager to hire a… well ME. No home and no family either. At least no family that gives a damn about me."

"…I see," she replied neutrally.

He didn't return to his food.

"Well Inuyasha, It's very nice to meet you. I'm Higurashi Kagome."

The already nervous man went ridged at those words, slowly looking back at her with wide startled eyes.

"T-The…"

"Yes, THE Higurashi," she replied with a look of amusement as she rested her elbows on her the table. "Did you not even check who's house you were breaking into?"

"I… I had no idea. I was just… I thought that people living in a house as fancy as this one wouldn't notice if a little food disappeared."

"Well since I'm the only person living here, I would have definitely noticed in the morning and called the cops if I hadn't come down for some water and caught you."

"The only person here?" he asked incredulously. "But you're an heiress! You're supposed to be surrounded by bodyguards and, and maids!"

The girl frowned. "Maids can get… antsy when they don't have enough work to do, and with just me here I couldn't make nearly enough work for even one or two of them. I don't like being fussed over too much anyway. As for bodyguards, when you took out my stalker problem I didn't really need them at the house anymore."

She snorted, reaching for a bag of dried fruit and opening it. "Good riddance. Not one of them took the guy seriously and they were constantly hitting on me. It was like living in a house full of wolves, in one case literally."

His look of surprise and incredulance deepened. "But what about people like me who could just break in? Weren't you fuckin scared seeing me in your kitchen?"

She shrugged. "Not scared enough to put up with those guys again."

"You're crazy," he replied in a slightly awed voice.

"…if you're that concerned I might have an offer for you," she smiled.

His expression practically flew back to suspicion. "An offer?"

"Yep. I could hire you on as my personal bodyguard."

"Hire?" he parroted back in stunned surprise. "Bodyguard?"

She nodded seriously. "You'd get to pick any room in the house as yours and all the food and drink you want for free, AND I would be more than happy to pay you triple what I paid those jerks last year."

"But I- I mean… you just caught me robbing you!" he sputtered out, feeling thrown off balance.

The girl shrugged. "You weren't taking anything I wouldn't have given anyone if they'd asked. Besides, In five minutes you accomplished what twenty so-called professionals couldn't do in five months. Hiring you on would be worth every penny."

Inuyasha's head swam. He wouldn't have to live on the streets and go hungry anymore, this wasn't a charity, she was offering a job…

"I get it if you want to think about this before making a decision," she told him after a few moments of silence on his end. "But in the meantime, if you don't have anywhere else to go feel free to stay the night here. If my offer isn't what you want we can sort out something else later."

Hesitantly he nodded and she gave him a radiant smile.

"Okay, well eat as much as you want and when you're ready I'll show you to a guest room."

He nodded and sheepishly obeyed.

Five cups of ramen and two bags of chips later he found himself following her out of the kitchen, through the dining room and living room and up a flight of stairs to a long hall lined with doors.

"These are the guest rooms, but since it's just me here I only keep two of them cleaned up in case my friends stay over," she explained.

"This place is bigger than I thought," he replied quietly.

"I guess," she shrugged. "I wouldn't mind giving you a tour in the morning if you want. It might help you decide if you would want to stay or not."

"Trust me, you've already got my spot under the bridge beat by a mile," he murmured.

she laughed a little at that. "Well I'm glad I'm tempting you so far but I could give you more than just a job if you were interested. I have other properties, other houses. If you want, I could sign one of those over to you with a small fortune of your own and call it even.

Inuyasha distinctly liked the idea of that. He'd wanted a place of his own with no strings attached for as long as he could remember. But something in him wasn't okay with the idea of taking so much from this girl without really earning it. She'd been more than understanding with him and she was treating him with more decency and respect than he'd seen in twenty years on the streets and in orphanages. It didn't feel right, coming in here to rob a girl blind only for her to just hand him so much.

Even if he had helped her that one time, he wasn't sure that was really worth all that she was offering him.

The girl led him down the hall to the second door to the right. "Here you go," she told him, pulling the door wide. "This is usually the room my friend Miroku uses when he hangs out here so all the bathroom supplies are for men and there should be some men's pajamas in the dresser you can help yourself to."

Inuyasha walked inside a little warily, sniffing at everything in sight.

The room indeed smelled faintly of another man but he obviously hadn't been here within the last couple of weeks. Inuyasha walked to the bed and was relieved to smell that the sheets had been cleaned since then.

"Thanks," he told the girl, surprised by how grateful he genuinely felt.

She simply smiled and nodded. "Anytime, if you need me for anything at all I'll be upstairs in the first door on the left."

"Got it."

"Okay then, goodnight." And with that, she left, politely shutting the door behind her. He listened as she walked back down the hallway and took the second flight of stairs. He then turned back to the room, sniffing around as he went.

He checked the dresser and indeed found two carefully folded sets of mens pajamas. One in light blue and the other navy and black. he pulled out the light blue set and sniffed his way to the bathroom, almost immediately jumping into the shower.

The hot water was pure bliss after all the time he'd had to make do with fountains and rivers. shampoo and soap were even more welcome. He scrubbed himself down from head to foot and by the time he stopped the water and got out he felt like a new person. The snowy white towel he found and rubbed down with was clean, fluffy, and felt like heaven.

Putting on the soft cotton pajamas and slipping into a warm comfortable bed in and of itself was all it took to seal the deal completely.

Hell yes, he'd work for her. At this point, he'd have committed murder and hidden the body for her if she'd asked.

Anybody who could treat a stray half-breed with half as much respect and compassion after nearly being robbed deserved to be protected, not taken advantage of.

The smell of food woke Inuyasha late the next morning. still, he opened his eyes to the guest room drowsily. That in itself was a surprise. He was used to waking up at the crack of dawn or earlier. It was always hard to sleep with cars driving overhead and people walking around.

But today…

He sighed and buried himself deeper in the warm cozy bed, savoring the feeling for as long as he could. Sure he had to get up and talk to that girl again soon but… Damn this was nice.

Besides… What if she'd changed her mind?

"Inuyasha-kun!" called a familiar female voice. "Breakfast is ready!"

His ears perked and his eyes opened wide. When he looked over at the door to the guest room he caught the scent of French toast, rice, miso soup, broiled fish, and sausages.

Inuyasha got up and practically leapt to the door. When he opened it, a somewhat startled Kagome was there to greet him wearing a sundress and an apron. After a moment, she blinked at his chest but slowly smiled. "Er… want to join me for breakfast? Or do you want to sleep in today and just eat up here?" she asked a little timidly.

"I'll join you," he replied after a moment.

"Okay, well there should be some men's clothes in the closet there if you'd like something clean to change into?"

Inuyasha reluctantly looked away from the girl to consider his own bare chest. (damn he must have taken off the top in his sleep last night!) The poor boy blushed for a moment then gulped and nodded. "I ah… I'll take ya up on that thanks."

He noticed her own cheeks were a little pinker than usual too as she nodded and retreated down the hall, her summer dress swaying with her every step.

There was an audible gulp as Inuyasha pulled back into the safety of the guest room and shut the door.