Chapter 2
"Legally Speaking, This is Not My Job"

Kagome's hand extended in a graceful arc towards her grandfather's car, staring at the faceless black figure that stood there.

"Who's that?" She asked. Inuyasha, having panicked, had one arm around her lower back and another that slid underneath her shoulder blades, supporting her from collapsing backwards onto the ground. But she wasn't even paying him any attention whatsoever. Not that he needed attention, but he did stop her from cracking her head open on the stone steps. Should be worth at least a sideways glance.

"What?" Kagome looked up at him, frowned, and let her head drop back to look at the car again, but there was no man there. "Kagome?" He pulled her up so that she was standing upright, and she staggered a little, still out of sorts. He could smell the blood from the top of the stairs and had bolted down, panicked relief when he saw her. Her sleeve was covered in blood, and a thick bandage ran up her arm as far as he could see. Not to mention that she smelled like dog. "What the hell happened?"

"Hmm?" She turned her gaze towards him, giving him a half-witted smile.

"Your arm. Your mother said you had an accident."

"An accident?" She turned to look for her grandfather but couldn't find him. She tried to twist away, but he held her firmly, keeping her in place.

"Woman! Stop moving and focus!" He yelled as he tightened his hold around her waist. She made a pathetic whining sound and gripped his sleeve, trying to push his arms away. It was like trying to move a wall that didn't want to be moved in the first place.

"Kagome!"

"What?" She cracked back at him. "I'm tired!"

Inuyasha turned and looked up at the sky, trying to find his own inner peace and not snap at the wounded girl, and after a moment, Kagome followed his line of sight.

"Shit," she whispered, and Inuyasha's gaze snapped onto her own, halfway concerned that she actually cursed and halfway amused that she cursed in the first place. Sweet little Kagome, cursing. He briefly wondered if he could get her to drop a fuck just to watch Sango's face. "I don't know where the hell we are."

"We're at the shrine," he told her, watching her face as she stared into the darkness, brow furrowed, and tried to focus on the stairs; he tilted his head slightly. "Don't you recognize it?" Panic seized him. Maybe she needed to go back to the healers. "Old man!" He barked. "Something's wrong with Kagome!"

The old man waved for him to follow as he started up the steps.

"She's okay. They gave her some strong medicine that's going to make her a little loopy for a bit. She'll be back to normal in the morning!" He let a low growl emanate from his chest. He still held her wrist, keeping the arm partially outstretched. Her mother had only said that she'd had an accident while working with her grandfather. She needed to go get stitches to patch up a wound, and he'd been waiting for hours and hours for her safe return. He scooped her up with an arm under her knees and the other around her back and leapt up the few steps to match her grandfather. "I would not move too quickly. It might make her ill."

He considered this as he coiled his legs for another leap, deciding to walk up with her grandfather instead. It wasn't like she was heavy; she was a comfortable weight.

Kagome reached her hand up and quickly ran her fingers through his fringe and giggled as he jerked away.

"Woman, I swear I will drop you," he warned.

"You will do no such thing to my granddaughter." To be honest, he'd completely forgotten about the old man's presence and tensed as he continued to climb the stairs. "Why are you so quiet, Kagome?" For a moment, it looked like the old man was smiling as he asked the question.

She'd been staring at the twitching ears on top of his head, desperately wanting to reach out and rub them mercilessly but hadn't quite gathered up the courage or coordination to do so.

"Ears," she whispered, and her hand darted out to quickly rub said appendage gently between her fingers. Inuyasha jolted at the sudden touch and froze, torn between two wildly different forms of action, but her giggle broke him out of his reverie, and he quickly jerked his ear out from her fingertips.

"Stop it and stay still!" He barked, and she pulled her hand away, clutching it to her chest as if he'd literally snapped his teeth at her.

"But you like it," she whined. He tried desperately to mute the blush that attempted to spread over his face. He did like it. A lot. Too much. Which is why she had to stop.

"No, I don't."

"Liar." She pouted, crossing her arms before wincing and letting out a small hiss as she put pressure directly on the wound.

"Idiot, don't do that if it hurts."

"Don't tell me what to do!" She moved as if to climb out of his arms, but he only held her tighter, trying to restrain her movements.

"Stop squirming!"

"No!" She grabbed his fingers trying to pry them off with her bad arm and yelped as she strained some of those stitches.

"Would you stop?! You literally just got back from getting your arm stitched, so stop waving it around like a fucking weapon!"

"Language, boy," her grandfather warned and Inuyasha growled at him.

"You try carrying her when she's moving like a damn monkey!" The growl increased and Kagome laughed.

"That tickles!" She giggled, and for a moment, he was floored. The old man had raised an eyebrow and turned his head at the sound coming from him: feral, animalistic, not human. He'd probably even throw an ofuda here and there. But Kagome, the little woman, did not show an ounce of fear whatsoever.

They were almost to the top anyway. He could deal. He'd dealt with worse than an almost drunk Kagome.

"I don't look like a monkey!" She argued after a moment.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at the girl, glaring daggers at him, daring him to say one more thing.

"Sure, whatever." Accepting the answer, she slumped against him, cheek rubbing along his collarbone. He bristled at just giving into her, but she was injured and currently not fighting him, so he could stomach agreeing with whatever she said if he could just get her inside and then her mother could deal with her.

That, however, was not the case, as her mother promptly looked at him holding her daughter, which she should really be more concerned about, in his opinion, and smiled.

"If you don't mind, please take Kagome upstairs. I don't want her falling."

"Uh," Inuyasha's mind flashed as the lights and sounds of her house seemed to invigorate the girl he'd sincerely hoped was on her way to passing out.

"Mama! Look!" She thrust her arm out towards her mother.

"Yes, looks like you had quite a rough time of it, didn't you?" Her mother cooed.

"I have her antibiotics and pain killers here," her grandfather said, settling a small white bag on the counter. "Those should be the same amount of fun as last time."

"Oh good," she mused. "Kagome? Are you hungry at all?"

"Last time?" Inuyasha echoed but was swiftly ignored.

"Not really." Kagome shook her head at the response. "I'm tired though." She sagged against his chest as if to emphasize her point. "Mmm, warm." She rubbed her cheek along his collarbone again, and he flicked his eyes to her mother in hopes of rescue, heat flaring to his cheeks and spreading to the rest of his face.

"Inuyasha is going to take you upstairs so you can get some rest."

"Okay!" Kagome chirped. "'Night Mama! 'Night Grandpa!"

He rolled his eyes and shifted her weight before climbing the stairs.

"You gonna be still while I climb these?" He asked her. She grinned and gave him a slight nod. And damn if it wasn't just fucking adorable. Groaning internally as much as possible, he carried her up the stairs, and she behaved herself the entire way. He gently set her on her feet beside her bed, making sure she was steady before walking away. She grabbed his sleeve as he walked towards the door, making her stumble, and he only just caught her before she struck the floor. Arms stretched out in front of her no less. It was like she was actively trying to bust her stitches in less than a couple hours after getting them in the first place.

He moved her to the bed, placed his hands on her shoulders and sat her on the edge of it.

"Stay," he ordered.

"Inuyashaaa," she whined.

"Stay there!" He barked, and she pouted again as he turned back to her chest of drawers and tried to figure out what she normally wore to bed and where it was in her chest of drawers. Taking a shirt and something that seemed indecently short, which probably meant that she thought it was perfectly fine to prance around in, probably just to test him. Anyway, he didn't want to dig too deeply, lest he find her underclothes again. That fueled thoughts he wasn't keen on returning to at the moment. He tossed the clothes beside her. "Change and get into bed. I'll be back in a couple minutes. And I swear, if you fall down—" he left the sentence unfinished as he closed the door and leapt down the stairs.

"Is Kagome settled?" Her mother asked, smiling behind her tea cup.

"She's changing for bed." He crossed his arms. "Well, she's supposed to be." He grimaced at the thought of her not doing what he told her to do. That could play out rather painfully for him.

"I was just telling her about the car ride over here and the walk up." Inuyasha's ears flattened.

"She's not—" He started.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, and he looked up the stairs and sighed.

"You should probably—" he started but they both put their hands up.

"She's calling for you, dear. I would suggest taking the glass of water and crackers on the counter. Just in case her stomach is unsettled later."

Ears swiveled back, he looked over his shoulder at the two of them, silently begging them for an out.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called again. Her mother only smiled at him before pouring a cup of tea for herself and the old man. He leapt up the stairs and entered her room slowly, edging the door open with his foot.

"Kagome?" He asked and saw her sitting on the edge of her bed, changed and seemingly waiting on him.

"I changed like you asked."

Of course, that would be the one time she openly listened and did what she was told.

"I didn't even fall down!" She beamed at him, proud of her accomplishment, which it really was. The girl was a klutz sober.

"Uh, good girl?" He winced at the awkwardness of the phrase. God, she was going to sit him so hard when this was over.

"Is that for me?" She asked, and he looked down at his hands and held out the glass of water and crackers. She took the water, and he set the crackers on the nightstand by her bed. She sipped a couple swigs from the glass before handing it back to him.

"Thanks, I guess," he muttered and set it beside the crackers.

"You're welcome!"

Awkward. That was the only word running through his head. He was not meant to play nursemaid here.

"Okay—uh—you need to—go—go to bed." He struggled through the sentence and made a vague gesture to the bed she was perched on, watching him far too intently for his liking. Kagome was always attentive to him, always watching, smiling, weird human things, and normally, they didn't bother him. But Drunk Kagome was another matter entirely.

She followed the direction of his hand and frowned.

"You said you were tired, remember? So, just go to, you know, sleep." He silently begged higher powers that she didn't argue with him.

"Are you going to stay?" She asked him quietly, turning towards him with her bottom lip jutting out.

"For the love of God, yes! Just get in bed!" He ran his hand over his face, to rein in some of his frustration and annoyance with her. He settled for rubbing his eyes with his fingers for a moment.

She wasn't in her right mind. He had to remember that.

When he opened them, he gaped. She was bent over at the waist, ass practically straight up in the air, as she slowly—seductively?—pulled the sheets back to crawl into bed. He knew that he shouldn't look. He'd get sat through the floor in an instant, but—that ass—

"Inuyasha?" She asked and his eyes flitted up to hers, realizing he was still staring at the spot where her ass had been. Why? Why would her mother put him in charge of her? He could not be trusted. He was clearly male! And she clearly was not!

"You need to lay down," he grumbled, lifting the sheet slightly so she could slide down into the bedding. As she did her shirt raised up, exposing her midsection, and he quickly threw the sheet over her head. To which, she giggled. Giggled and pulled it off her head. Her hand snagged the billowing fabric of his hakama, making him look down at her, no doubt with an irritated expression on his face. "What?"

"You're my favorite." She flashed a smile at him before yawning. Fuck. Adorable.

"Okay, go to sleep." He pulled her hand off his pants, and she snatched his fingers with hers.

"You promised," she whined, "stay with me." Her hand squeezing his own.

"I will. I—uh—just have to talk to your mother. That's all." He tugged his hand free, and she rolled onto her side as he moved to the doorway, flicking the switch on the wall to turn the light out, and shutting the door behind him. He let out a breath. Drunk Kagome was a lot.

He went down the stairs slowly. Her mother had a cup of ramen ready for him, giving him a soft smile.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

He grunted in response, picked up the noodles and started eating.

"Is Kagome settled?"

"She's in bed. Though I don't know how long that will last."

"I'm afraid I must apologize," she said, and he pricked his ears forward to listen. Hardly anyone cared enough to actually apologize to him and he scrambled his brain trying to figure out where she'd done him wrong. He came up completely blank.

"For what?"

"I'm well aware that Kagome under the influence of pain medication can be quite the handful. I'm afraid that I was using you to avoid dealing with her as long as possible. I hope you can forgive me."

He watched her for a moment before breaking eye contact and returning to his noodles.

"'s fine," he muttered. "I told her I'd stay anyway."

"I would also like for her to stay home until she's done with her antibiotics." Another slow sip of tea.

"For how long?"

"About a week. Dog bites can become infected very quickly, so I want to keep her home in case she needs medical attention."

He knew infection in humans was serious. Kagome always lectured them on keeping wounds clean and always insisted on using that burning liquid on his own wounds, even though he didn't need it.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He slurped the last of his noodles, and Mama smiled genuinely at him. He looked away but felt a hand on the top of his head between his ears, giving him pause.

"You have a good heart, you know," she said. "Would you like anything else?" She took a sip of tea, and he shook his head. "Are you going back up?"

"I promised."

"Well, I'm going to go to bed as well. You'll call if she becomes too much?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Once she goes to sleep, she usually sleeps the rest of the night. I always struggled getting her to fall asleep." She patted his shoulder and walked out of the kitchen. "Good night, dear. Keep an eye on my little girl."

He waited a moment, listening before he turned off the light and went back upstairs. The old man was already asleep and snoring, but he slipped into her room. She'd fallen asleep and shifted, pulling the blankets with her in the turn. He fixed them so that they covered her shoulders and would keep her warm. Kagome shifted slightly, but he knew her well enough, or at least her sleeping habits to know she wasn't in danger of waking. But it didn't stop him from taking a seat against the edge of her bed, craning one ear back towards her to listen for her in the night.