Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. If I did, then I'd have money to go see all my oppadeul (and eonnideul).

A/N: WELL HI EVERYONE. IT'S ONLY BEEN WHAT, SIX MONTHS, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW DAYS? NO TIME AT ALL. Ahem...kidding. But you guys, I am so sorry. Things in my life are often rather insane, and also let's just say that I tend to obsess over many different things (once you go K-pop your life gets ruined). And, well, I just didn't have the inspiration for this. But for whatever reason tonight, I just like, sat down and pounded this out, which amazed me. It's only a little over 2,000 words, so not my usual standards, but honestly, I'm not going to withhold a chapter from you guys if it's not a certain length, especially since it's been this long. I want you guys to have updates, even if they're short. And please be aware that I will finish this. Even if it takes me forever I will. So, onto this chapter, which is basically me getting back in the swing of things. Not a lot of plot-development and kind of choppy, but most certainly better than nothing. And now I've had a bit more of a refresher, so next chapter should be back to more normal-ish. ^^ Enjoy!

As Day Turns to Night

Chapter 21-Devices and Confessions

InuYasha landed at the foot of the stairs with a thud – not surprising, since he had jumped down past the last few. He straightened up and yawned, stretching his arms above his head, then ran his hand through his mussed-up hair absentmindedly and meandered off to the kitchen. It was 12:37 on a Sunday, also known as 'breakfast time'.

He opened the cupboard doors eagerly, pulling back on the handles so hard they were almost torn off. Just as soon as they'd been ripped open, though, a frown graced InuYasha's face. He looked up, then down, then up again, then pushed some assorted cans of vegetables out of the way and… Fucking hell. He wasn't imagining things. There really was no ramen.

"Damn it," he swore softly to himself, standing still for a moment and breathing a defeated sigh. He hated doing this, but it looked like he would have to. There was simply no other choice.

In a few simple steps InuYasha was at the side of the refrigerator, staring down at his intended target. He crouched on the ground, swaying back and forth slightly as he centered his balance on the balls of his feet, and then reached out to one of the wooden floorboards with a chip in it. His nail hooked the chip, and using this for grip, he pulled the plank up carefully, concentrating on not dropping it. When it was up high enough, he grabbed the whole thing and hefted it to the side, now fully focused on his 'buried treasure'.

A satisfied grin replaced his frown as he reached into the depression, his hand clasping tightly around a circular foam cup and bringing it out triumphantly. He blew a bit of dust off the top of the ramen, rubbing at it with his navy shirtsleeve, and then looked into the dark hole once more, taking stock. This was the last of his stash; he'd have to remember to replenish it soon. And really remember this time, not like a few months ago, when he hadn't even had this option to fall back on. InuYasha shuddered visibly – dark times.

Walking over to the stove to start heating up some water, InuYasha's mind turned to the silver object currently buried in his desk drawer. That thing was ominous…horribly ominous. And someone had definitely been in the bushes, watching the two and then dropping it on his or her way out of there when InuYasha had noticed the prowler. If that person had been following them for a while, too, it would explain the feelings of being watched recently.

He stared down at the pot. What could that stupid little metal thing be, though?

Leaving the water he was heating behind, InuYasha sped up the stairs to his room and snatched the object from its resting spot quickly, returning to the kitchen as fast as he could so the house didn't burn down somehow. He glanced at the pot to make sure that everything was good and then set the thing on the counter, staring at to it.

What to do with it…what to do?

That was when he spied the meat tenderizer. A devilish idea took form in his head. He snatched it from its holding rack, and raised it up in his hand, positioning it over the metal device. Then…

BAM!

"Shit!" he yelled, ducking to avoid any bits of shrapnel that were suddenly flying his way. He could smell smoke in the air and metal shards were scattered all over the floor. This

wasn't good.

Then the smoke detector started beeping.

Then the pot started to boil over.

"Aww, fuck," InuYasha whined.

.~*~.

Sesshoumaru surveyed the scorch mark on the counter with distaste, but also a bit of wonder at the amount of destruction his half-brother had been able to reek. Just when he thought the boy couldn't top himself, he went and did it.

"How – exactly – did you manage this?"

"See, I found this weird metal thingy in the bushes yesterday, and I wanted to find out what it was, but I didn't know how to do that, but then I saw the meat tenderizer, and well…"

Sesshoumaru turned his head to glare at the upset teen. "So you actually thought beating it was a viable choice?"

"Well I didn't think the damn thing would explode!"

The older man shook his head and began devising a plan for the clean-up.

"Hey," InuYasha said suspiciously, "where have you been, anyway? I haven't seen you since yesterday."

Sesshoumaru's face grew a little less composed then. "Well…that's a bit of a long story."

.~*~.

"How did you find out where I live?" Rin screamed at Sesshoumaru as he stood at her door, his expression blank. She didn't know whether to be disturbed or excited. A combo was all right, she decided.

"Well, I asked Aika-chan, who asked Haruna-chan, who asked Manabu-kun–"

"Stop," she interrupted. "I get it."

Sesshoumaru nodded, pleased at the efficiency. "So, the poster."

Rin's face paled. "Oh…yeah…about that poster…."

The man caught on right after that. "You were lying."

"Um…just a little?"

He let out a labored sigh. "Rin, how could you? I was genuinely excited."

She blinked at him a few times. If he had been excited, he certainly did a good job at hiding it.

"I'm sorry," the girl mumbled, fiddling with her fingers. "I just really wanted you to come and you were rejecting everything else and I didn't know what else to do and it just kind of came out I'm sorry," she said without taking a breath.

Sesshoumaru seemed to think for a few moments. "Well…the least you could do is give me one of those Cokes. To make up for it, of course."

"Re–really?" Rin sputtered in amazement, not believing what she was hearing.

"It is impolite to make guests wait outside," was the only response Sesshoumaru gave her.

"Oh, yeah, of course, come in!" She opened the door wider, stepping out of the way and trying not to scream and flail her arms around at the situation she was in. And then she thought about how her house was an absolute mess. And then she flailed some more, but not from excitement this time.

.~*~.

"So, we ended up watching Arashi videos until we both fell asleep."

InuYasha stared at him for a moment. "Are you serious?" he blurted in astonishment. "What about when you changed?"

"I let her see. Rin would never tell. The girl's infatuated with me. Although I did regret it after when the cooing began."

"Fuck, you're weird," InuYasha muttered.

"I'm going to go get some acetone and order take-out," Sesshoumaru informed the other, ignoring what he had said.

.~*~.

"OH MY GOSH, DID YOU SEE THAT KID FACEPLANT?" Sango shrieked, managing to fall over onto her side even though she was sitting, her body shaking with laughter.

"Sango, dear, you are a horrible person," Miroku informed her, though he was laughing too.

InuYasha tried to stifle his amusement as Kagome sat there looking horrified, going on about that poor child who could have been hurt!

Sango kept rolling.

"Okay, we'll try to find a funny cat one or something for Kagome this time," Miroku suggested, scrolling through videos on the website as InuYasha reassured Kagome that the kid was fine.

"Ah, no no no!" Sango pushed him aside, getting up off the floor in record time. "Kagome, come here, I have to show you the teaser for this video! They're this boy band from Korea and they're going to be debuting here soon! They're all so cute!"

"Really?" Kagome asked interestedly, scampering over InuYasha to lie on her stomach in front of the computer with the other girl who was searching up the video.

"Oh, don't tell me you're into those boy bands like Sesshoumaru is, are you?" InuYasha scoffed, flopping onto his back.

"I am sorry but they are wonderful!" Sango snapped at him.

"Don't get into this with her," Miroku whispered into InuYasha's ear through clenched teeth. "She gets a little…crazy."

"How much crazier can she get?"

"Just trust me," the other boy advised, while the two girls squealed in the background and Sango informed Kagome that her favourite was the one with the glasses.

InuYasha stared with a pained expression on his face and Miroku sighed resignedly, being very, very used to this.

.~*~.

"Kagome?" InuYasha asked absentmindedly as he sat at his desk, fiddling with the remnants of the metal device.

"Mhm?" she intoned from where she was sprawled on the bed, her eyes closed and looking rather at peace.

"Do you think those guys are better-looking than me?"

She sat upright. "What?"

"Those guys from the boy band. Do you think they're better looking than me?"

Kagome stared at the back of his head since he hadn't turned around from whatever he was working on. His ears were twitching slightly on the top of his head. She noticed that they did that sometimes when he was nervous.

"No, of course not. I mean, they're cute – really cute – but I like you. A lot. 'A lot' a lot. "

"Okay. Just wondering."

"Aww, are you insecure?" A big smile broke over her face as she lathered on the syrup in her voice.

"No, you just seemed really excited over them and…and I wanted to know."

"Well, trust me," Kagome said, coming up behind the boy. "You're the cutest. Besides, they don't have ears like yours."

She chuckled when InuYasha grumbled, swear words barely audible under his breath.

"What are you working on?" she asked curiously, peering at what looked like circuit boards from a computer except extremely thin, colourful wires tangled around them.

"Just some parts for my laptop," he quickly covered, not wanting to tell Kagome about the possible…stalker? He wasn't sure what to call the person, but if he or she made things that exploded on his counter he was sure that the creeper was bad news.

"Oh," she replied dismissively, obviously not interested, and wandered back over to his bed. He figuratively wiped the sweat from his brow.

They sat in silence for a while, Kagome humming lowly under her breath and InuYasha trying to find anything more suspicious in the mess of parts that had been the insides of the suspicious object.

"InuYasha?" The girl broke the silence this time, the word hanging oddly loaded in the air.

"Yeah?"

"Um…you know, I don't want you to get the wrong idea from this–"

Oh god.

"–Or think anything bad because of it–"

Oh god.

"–But I just want you to know that I'd maybe like to take this relationship a little…slower."

InuYasha turned around slowly in his chair. "What do you mean by that?" Fuck, it was totally code for breakup, wasn't it?

"I just mean that there are some things that I'm not necessarily too comfortable with, and I know you can't know that and I should say something when stuff like that comes up but it's hard and I don't want you to feel bad I just don't have that much experience and I get a little nervous when you start going farther than I expect you to or even really want to."

Kagome sucked in a big breath of air, having expelled it all with every word. It was amazing how much better she suddenly felt, though, like her chest had been stuffed with cotton and she hadn't even known it. Now the cotton was gone and she could breathe again. It was a weird relief she hadn't thought she would feel.

She looked up to find InuYasha peering over the edge of the bed at her, having managed to make his way across the room in moments with his lightning speed, his ears twitching and eyebrows knit in concern. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to make you feel like that."

"It's not your fault," she said simply. "Like I said, you won't know unless I say anything. I just…don't like talking."

"Same," he agreed, his voice still quiet.

She smiled and fondled one of his ears. "Really, you're much cuter than them."

A little grin broke out onto his face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said lightly, and kissed his nose.

A/N: I did manage to tie up some things from the last few chapters that I wanted to. Also, the Korean boy band they're talking about is SHINee (my favourite lol). The teaser for their Japan debut came out right when this story's supposed to be taking place (which I have realized is a year ago, and I started it a year ago, so that's crazy) and I just couldn't resist. OTL Um, and I don't know when I'll be able to get the next update out, as I do have about thirty things I'm working on (which is not an exaggeration) but I'm really going to try for you guys! And I'm going to try to respond to reviews and PMs now...though I can't remember if I've already responded to some or not. :S Oh well. I'll try.

And one last thing! If you guys want to ask me questions or beat me with a stick to update, you can go to my tumblr (snapcrackleandkpop), which is where I practically live, or my twitter (claireness77). They're both mainly used for K-pop things, but if you guys on tumblr have any good anime/manga blogs, let me know, because I'd like to follow some. I just don't know where to look. ^^;; So thank you, and I hope to update again soon!