Wow, it's been a long week of this website not working.

But we're back! I'm posting chapters 8 and 9 right now to catch up with what I've posted on AO3. Chapter 10 of this story will be up tomorrow. Thank you guys for your patience and for reaching out to let me know about the issue. I'm so glad it's fixed now!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters. All rights to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 8: The Fear

The morning after Inuyasha gave Kagome her coat, the hanyo was in their apartment's kitchenette whipping up some breakfast for himself and Miroku before they opened the bakery.

Miroku was rather quiet until he and Inuyasha sat down at the table to eat.

"So you know that girl I've been going out with for the last couple of months?" Miroku asked Inuyasha as they started their breakfast. Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah, what about her?" he asked. Miroku smiled.

"She's coming over tonight," he replied, "because I want you to meet her."

Inuyasha frowned. "I've never met a girl you've dated. Why now?"

Miroku shrugged. "She's a special one."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Aren't you afraid I'm gonna scare her off with my, how did you put it, 'constant frowning?'"

That got a laugh from Miroku. "Well, my good friend," he began, "ever since a certain anpan-loving woman entered our lives, you've let up on the frowning. I don't think I've seen you smile so much in years."

Inuyasha frowned, which was actually hard to do now that Kagome had come up in conversation. "There, I'm frowning again. Happy?"

Miroku laughed and shook his head. "Sure, sure." He waved off Inuyasha's mood. "Try and hide it from me...oh, wait. You can't. Perks of being your best friend."

Inuyasha couldn't help it; he smiled. "So what time is she coming?"

"Seven," Miroku said. "We're going to have a quick drink before walking downtown to see a movie." He smirked. "And Shippo isn't working today, which means when eight rolls around…"

Inuyasha paused. "What are you getting at?"

Miroku shrugged. "Nothing. Just saying that you'll be alone here with a certain blue-eyed woman we've all come to know and love."

Inuyasha scowled. "Yeah, for a couple minutes until we walk to her apartment. Quit being dumb."

Miroku huffed and flicked a crumb from his toast at Inuyasha. "Why don't you guys hang out here? You want to spend more time with her, don't you? Without Shippo or me around? Without walking in the freezing cold? This is the perfect opportunity for that!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I'm not…" He stopped; Miroku actually had a good point.

"I don't even know how I would go about asking her," Inuyasha countered. "What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, let's just stand in the bakery for a while until I walk you home like usual.' That's stupid."

Miroku chuckled. "You're overthinking it. We've got stuff you two could do here. Think of something."

As Inuyasha munched on his toast, he mulled over what Miroku said.

Something we could do here...maybe I could show her how to make anpan? That might be something she would like…

o.O.o

Inuyasha was buzzing with nervousness the whole day, and he found himself exceedingly grateful that Shippo wasn't at the bakery that afternoon. The kitsune had gotten in trouble for taking his mother's phone to call his "girlfriend" from school so he wasn't allowed at the bakery for the rest of the week.

He's taking after Miroku, Inuyasha mused. I hope he doesn't grow up to be too much like the pervert.

The day dragged on agonizingly slowly, so by the time closing came around, Inuyasha was quick to get everything cleaned up and finished.

He reluctantly followed Miroku upstairs to wait for Miroku's girlfriend to come, but the hanyo's mind was whirling the entire time. He barely registered when Miroku asked him what kind of wine he thought he should set out.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku said when Inuyasha didn't answer his question.

"Huh?" Inuyasha replied. "Oh, uh, you can never go wrong with red."

Miroku laughed. "You seem pretty antsy." Inuyasha frowned.

"Shut up," he growled.

Miroku's phone went off with a text alerting him that his girlfriend had arrived, so he headed downstairs to open the door for her.

Once Inuyasha was alone, he took a deep breath.

It's not like Kagome and I have never spent time together, he reminded himself. We're alone almost every night when we walk to her apartment from here. I'm overthinking all this.

"Watch out for my roommate," Miroku said loudly from where he was coming up the stairs. "Don't let him scare you off with all his frowning-oh, hey, Inuyasha." Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the obvious joke.

"Stupid," he replied as Miroku walked in with his girlfriend. Inuyasha noticed a ribbon in her long, brown hair and kind eyes painted with pink eyeshadow. He immediately got a good vibe from her.

She smiled at Inuyasha and inclined her head. "Hi, I'm Sango. It's nice to meet you."

Inuyasha managed a half-smile. "Hey, nice to meet you, too."

"Do you want to have a drink with us?" Sango asked. Inuyasha shook his head.

"I'm good," he replied. "I'm gonna head down to the bakery to wait-er, to finish cleaning up." No way was he going to admit his plan to wait for Kagome to a stranger.

"Inuyasha is having a girl over later," Miroku gushed, exposing Inuyasha's secret.

The hanyo glared at him murderously. "Jerk."

Sango surprised him by laughing. "Do you need girl advice? Because I can help."

Miroku wrapped his arm around Sango's waist. "That's exactly what he needs! Inuyasha, tell her more about-"
"Alright, that's enough," Inuyasha interrupted. "Thanks, Sango, but I'm good. I'm heading downstairs now. Have fun."

Inuyasha all but ran back downstairs to the kitchen. There was no way he wanted to finish whatever that conversation could have turned out to be.

About thirty minutes later, Miroku and Sango came downstairs.

"We're heading out now," Miroku said. "Good luck."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Bye," he replied shortly.

"Nice meeting you," Sango said as Miroku took her hand and led her out of the bakery.

Once Inuyasha was alone, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Now to wait for Kagome…

o.O.o

When Kagome finally walked into the bakery with her coat zipped up and a scarf nearly engulfing her head, Inuyasha's nerves shot up again.

Kagome smiled at him as she closed the door behind her.

"Brrr!" she exclaimed. "I think this is the coldest night we've had this winter."

Inuyasha half-smiled. "Could be." Kagome glanced around the bakery.

"Where are Miroku and Shippo?" she asked.

Inuyasha tried to keep his cool.

"They're not here," he replied. "Shippo is grounded and Miroku's on a date."

Kagome nodded. "Oh, okay. That's a bummer." Inuyasha could tell she was about to suggest they leave, so he quickly spoke up.

"Maybe we could hang out here a while?" he suggested, trying to keep his embarrassment out of his voice. "It might be nice to do something in a place where we're not freezing our butts off."

Kagome laughed but seemed surprised by his suggestion. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"

Inuyasha nodded toward the kitchen. "I'm gonna teach you how to make anpan."

Kagome's eyes widened. "Really? That would be great!"

Inuyasha finally smiled. "Then let's start."

The hanyo led her into the kitchen. "We have to wash up first," he said as he began scrubbing his hands at the sink.

When he was finished, Kagome followed suit while Inuyasha slipped on his apron.

"I have an extra apron for you," he said. Kagome nodded as she finished washing her hands.

"Very stylish," she replied as she put it on after drying off her hands. "Kitchen? More like fashion runway."

Inuyasha chuckled and motioned to the array of ingredients he'd pulled out earlier.

"Here's what we'll use," he explained. "I normally use a conventional oven, but tonight we're gonna be a little fancy."

He walked over to the wood-burning oven that he'd already prepared. He grabbed a lighter and got the fire going, only to turn around to see a look of pure horror on Kagome's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently as he walked to her side.

Kagome jumped at his question and backed away from him as the light of the flames illuminated the room.

"I just...I have to go," she said suddenly as she tugged the apron off and ran out of the kitchen.

"Kagome, wait!" Inuyasha called as he followed her out. "Let me walk you home." She didn't stop at his call; she only grabbed her coat and scarf and practically bolted out the door.

"I'll be fine," she replied as she quickly made her way down the sidewalk. "Good night."

Inuyasha watched as she walked away, completely baffled by what had just transpired.

Once Kagome had finally disappeared from his line of sight, Inuyasha snapped himself out of his stupor and went back into the kitchen.

As if on auto-pilot, he started putting everything away. It looked like he wouldn't be making anpan tonight after all.

What the heck was that about? he wondered. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Is she afraid of ovens? Fire, maybe? Inuyasha pondered the whole ordeal as he finished putting things away.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Inuyasha headed upstairs.

The hanyo was laying on the couch staring up at the ceiling when Miroku got home several hours later.

"Hey," Miroku greeted. "How did it go with Kagome?"

"She left before we could really do anything," Inuyasha explained. "Like, she just randomly walked out." Miroku looked surprised.

"Why?" he asked. Inuyasha shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "We went to the kitchen because I said I was going to teach her how to make anpan, and then she just...bolted."

Miroku frowned and sat down on their recliner, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"That sucks," he said simply. "What are you gonna do now?" Inuyasha shrugged.

"Well, I doubt she's going to leave it like that," Miroku insisted. "It seems like she likes you." Miroku looked at him pointedly. "Just like you obviously like her." Inuyasha felt his cheeks grow warm.

"Yeah," he replied, not even bothering to deny it.

"It'll work out," Miroku said. "Try not to worry."

Inuyasha frowned. "Easier said than done."

O.o.O.o.O

She saw the smoke coming through the bottom of the door before she'd even opened it.

Without hesitation, she covered her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her pajama top and approached the door. Despite the fabric covering her nose, the smoke sent her into a coughing fit.

She eased the door open with the back of her hand, only to be met with horror.

Flames met her as soon as she opened the door, the heat of them warming her skin in an unpleasant way and nearly blinding her with brightness...

Kagome rolled over in her bed, trying to sleep but getting lost in the memory over and over again as if it had just happened yesterday rather than several years prior.

A tear trickled down her cheek.

Inuyasha was so kind tonight, she thought sadly. He just wanted to teach me to make anpan. It's not his fault…

She sobbed quietly. I should've known something bad would happen. I have to stop. I can't go to the bakery anymore. I just...I have to stop.

The sliver of happiness was starting to die.

She might as well put it out of its misery.

To be continued…

Ugh, so dramatic.

Much love.