DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from the Inuyasha franchise

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'This was a bad idea Kagome! What were you thinking?' Kagome kept biting her thumb incessantly while holding the steering with her other hand and taking a peek at the man outside the car speaking to someone angrily on the phone.

— FLASHBACK —

"So how do we do this?" Yashiro came to the front to where Kagome was leaning on the car door while in deep thought and biting her thumb.

"Huh? What?! I beg your pardon…" Kagome was dazed. The 'arrangement' was finally sinking in and she was wondering how she got stuck on a 4 hour trip with this hunk of a man.

"Let's back up a little. I offered to accompany you on your drive to the Hamptons which you graciously accepted. I have my stuff loaded in your trunk now but I can sense you might be regretting this? I can still catch a flight there if this is a bother, you know. You can still say no, Kagome. I won't bite." Yashiro was beaming at her. She didn't know why but she just couldn't stop staring at him or say 'No'. It just didn't sit well with her.

"Um.. no that's not the problem. I was just thinking about the route. Sorry. Are you done? Shall we make a move?" Was she convincing enough? Saying she was nervous about the trip now, was an understatement. She was excited? That was an understatement too. Kagome Higurashi wasn't impulsive like this. She did not pick up hot men for road trips to her gran-gran's place. She did not travel for 4 hours in enclosed spaces with a said stranger, but here she was, doing all those things. All this in her head, and she could only manage those words to come out of her mouth while looking at him with the hope of taking charge of the situation.

"Have you had something to eat?" Yashiro was staring at her in wonder.

"I kind of went overboard with the junk food on the way here and maybe grabbed a toast while leaving the house?" Kagome grinned and suddenly rushed to her passenger seat to clear the wrappers.

"Maybe I should drive. What do you think?" Kagome looked up at Yashiro from the passenger seat. He was perched on the driver's window and smiling like a predator. Yes. That's what she thought. A majestic predator she was waiting to be devoured by. Kagome shook her head. 'Too many erotic novels, Kagome! Cut it out. You'll creep the poor guy.'

"Sure." Kagome tossed the car keys to Yashiro.

They got into the car and Yashiro revved up the engine and started for the road.

"I think we should start making a conversation before you explode that pretty head of yours with unfounded theories." Kagome looked at Yashiro and chuckled.

"Okay. Let's play 20 questions. Rules are simple. We ask questions alternately, but we both answer all the questions. If someone feels they don't want to, then they have to drive for the next 1 hour listening to the other person's favorite music. Is that ok?"

"I'm game. Shoot!"

"Let's start with something simple. What do you do?"

"I am an author." Yashiro responded after sniggering.

"Did I miss something?"

"Is that another question? I thought I was supposed to ask next after you respond to the same."

"Ha. Ha. Stop being cheeky! You know what I meant."

"Well… you'll know why I laughed. Maybe? Eventually? Who knows." And he winked. Yes. This hunk winked at Kagome with a side-grin. This was not good for her heart.

"I run a small ad agency in my hometown." Kagome peeked at Yashiro to see if he had any side comments. Usually, people had a lot of follow-up questions and then the conversation would tank when they found out that she still lives with her parents in their house.

"That's awesome. I would love to hear about the whole thought process. From one creative person to another." Yashiro was still beaming.

"Well, it isn't huge. We've had a lot of local businesses coming up in my town recently and it's a booming market. We do low-budget concept ads for them while recruiting people from the neighborhood. I think we did 1 or 2 high-profile ads for mattress king in our district? Can't remember, but we mostly concentrate on local businesses." This was her baby. She couldn't NOT sound proud. She wasn't boasting as much as she was proud of what they as a company had managed to achieve in such a short time.

"That sounds wonderful. I am all for supporting local businesses. You should be proud." Kagome was blushing profusely now. She wasn't used to people complimenting her so openly. She did hear a lot of praise but she would mostly redirect it to the team since it was a team effort at the end of the day.

"Yashiro, what type of books do you write?" She wanted to ask outright what was the title of his books so she could order and learn a bit more about him but she wanted to be discreet.

*sigh* "I write erotica." Silence. Absolute silence for a minute and then they stared at each other.

"Oh. Why haven't I heard of your work?" That's all she could utter, trying to not sound awkward while looking everywhere but Yashiro's eyes.

"Umm… I use a pen-name to write books. I don't write them under my name"

"Oh." Yashiro sighed, pulled over on the side, and stared at Kagome.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"No. It's just… I can't imagine you writing erotica." Kagome was pointedly looking at her hands.

"Why not?" Yashiro was laughing at this point.

"Hey! Don't laugh. You don't seem the kind of guy who would write erotica." Just saying the word out loud was making her blush and for some reason, Yashiro was finding this extremely amusing. He turned completely towards Kagome and was grinning from ear to ear.

"Pray tell, what kind of guy do you think I am?"

"You seem so… different. Un-erotica type." She was staring at him and then blushing again. OMG. All she had been doing through this Roadtrip with him was blush!

"Kagome." Yashiro leaned forward towards Kagome. She instinctively moved closer to the door. "Let me assure you, I have an extremely vivid imagination when it comes to eroticism. Being able to elaborate them and put them on paper was a happy accident." He was speaking in a low voice. Kagome was mesmerized by his eyes and voice, it seemed like she was in a trance while Yashiro kept talking and leaning in. "My personal experience feeds my fantasy. This car. Your fragrance. Our proximity. My heartbeat. They all help in building the 'erotica'" He was so close. Kagome could hear her heart pounding loudly in her chest at this point. She gulped feeling a bit hot and bothered.

"May I?" Yashiro asked gesturing her hair and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ears when she nodded. He came in closer to her ears and whispered. "Should I go on? This might get dangerous, Kagome."

"It seems I will be driving for the next 1 hour while listening to your playlist."

— end of flashback —

They had only been on the road for 10 minutes when Yashiro got a phone call and asked if they could stop for him to take this call.

DAMMIT! Kagome was now banging her head on the wheel.

'Why did I chicken out? What did he mean by -Shall I go on-? Argh…' This just wasn't her day.

"I am so sorry. That was my editor who I am meeting in the Hamptons. She was not happy with me. I was supposed to show up at her doorstep by now. So you can imagine." Yashiro apologized while getting seated and putting on the seatbelt.

"No worries. We should be there in another 3 hours." Did she sound disappointed? Well, she was.

"Yeah. I haven't written anything in 2 years now. She just wants me to get over my writer's block." Yashiro was fidgeting with his phone now.

"That's sweet of her."

"She's just like an overbearing older sister at this point." Yashiro chuckled.

"But you do listen to her, so it kind of works. Right?"

"I guess. When my first book was published, I wasn't sure if I wanted to use my name or not because I don't want my family involved. They are old school and would blow this out of proportion. Come to think of it, they might already know because of my pen-name."

"huh? How so?"

"I wasn't Yashiro always. I changed my name to fit the new-age culture more."

"What do you mean new-age culture?"

"How old do you think I am, Kagome?" Yashiro was smirking while looking at Kagome

"Late 20s or early 30s?"

"Add 70 odd years to it kid." Yashiro's booming laugh was all Kagome could hear and not help smile. It was a nice laugh. Everything about this man was nice.

"Wow. And hey! No age shaming ok!" Yashiro laughed while Kagome was pouting.

"Aww.. you are so cute." Yashiro reached out and pulled Kagome's cheek lightly.

"Stop it, Grandpa."

"Hey!"

"You asked for it, with the kid remark." Kagome stuck out her tongue and Yashiro laughed again.

"Okay okay. No age shaming, deal?"

"Deal"

Kagome turned the keys to get back on the road.

"Yashiro, what was your name?" The curiosity got the best of her.

"Inuyasha." Kagome knew then, that she really liked that name.

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Please review! P.S. I may make small edits to the chapters