Chapter 3
"Hey, One Question: What the Hell?"

Kagome woke with a moan. Her arm throbbed, and it was drawing her out of her precious, precious sleep. She shifted her arm slightly and whimpered. Her entire arm felt like it was bruised and almost raw.

Rolling her head to the side, she saw a glass of water on her nightstand. Now, if only it wasn't on the side of her currently incapacitating arm. Honestly, she'd had the jewel ripped out of her with fangs. She'd suffered through her fair share of wounds and stitches, so why did this one, a simple dog bite, make her want to curl up and cry? Maybe it was the headache.

She groaned and threw her good arm over her eyes, trying to block out the sunlight. Someone had left the curtains open on her window for some God forsaken reason. Who would commit such a terrible, terrible crime on her poor, wounded body? The sunlight was only making things worse.

The door edged open, and she shifted her arm to look at whomever was entering.

Her mother leaned her head in and smiled.

"Good morning, honey," she greeted. "Inuyasha said you were awake."

"Inuyasha's here?" She shifted to push herself up on her elbows and regretted every move she'd ever made since she was five. Hissing at the sharp pain, she let out a low moan as it reverberated and pulsed in tune with her heartbeat. "It hurts," she groaned as her mother took a seat on the edge of her bed.

"Ah, I thought you might be hurting a bit. The doctor prescribed these for you." Her mother picked up the glass of water as she dropped two pills into her hand. Kagome quickly popped the pills into her mouth and took a couple swills from the offered glass. It was cool against her scratchiness of her throat, offering a small amount of comfort, but comfort nonetheless. "The pain pills are a bit strong. They might make you feel sleepy." Her mother took the empty glass away and held it in her lap. "Would you like something to eat? You haven't had anything since lunch yesterday."

"I ate dinner," Kagome argued.

"Not unless you ate something at the hospital last night."

"I was at the hospital?" Kagome said the words and vaguely remembered the trip. "The doctor asked a lot of questions."

"Grandpa told me all about it. He also said that you wanted an omelet last night. Apparently, it was very upsetting to you."

Kagome let out a low groan and covered her face.

"What did I do?"

Her mother laughed.

"We'll tell you all about it after you've had something to eat. You can't take that medicine on an empty stomach."

"Please tell me it wasn't too embarrassing."

"Nothing you won't recover from. Come now, I'll help you down the stairs." She flipped the blankets back, and Kagome sighed as the warmth left her and stood, immediately aware that she was in a pair of summer sleep shorts, rather than her usual pajama pants.

"I'm gonna put on some pants before I go downstairs." She rummaged through her drawer one-armed, and quickly divested herself of the shorts and pulled on her pants. She accidentally grabbed the waistband of the pants with her bandaged arm and hissed and released the fabric almost immediately. "I thought the pain pills were supposed to help!"

"They take some time, dear. Here, let me." Her mother pulled her pants up and tightened the cord around the waist. "Better?"

"I guess." She shrugged. "My arm still hurts."

"It'll be better in a few minutes, I promise." Her mother guided her down the stairs; she held her arm in front of her, cradling it against her stomach. "We'll have something to eat and then I'll change the bandages on your arm."

They'd barely made it down a couple steps before Inuyasha appeared at the bottom, watching her, ears flickering between sitting straight up and flattening back against his head.

"Morning, Inuyasha," she said as she reached the bottom.

"Mornin'," he muttered, glancing down at her arm, ears laying flat back against his skull.

"I'm fine. Don't worry," she said with a slight yawn, patting his shoulder with her good arm. He moved out of her way, but followed her step for step back into the kitchen, perching on the seat next to hers. He was staring at her as she rested her bandaged arm on the table in front of her.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, ears completely flattened back. He made eye contact for a moment before looking away, appearing every bit the wounded puppy.

"A little, but it'll be better soon." She shifted it a little. Mama was right, the pain killers were starting to help. The deep throbbing was finally diminishing into something manageable. She lightly patted his forearm with her good hand, but it didn't seem to appease him whatsoever. "I'm fine. Really."

A plate of toast with a small rolled omelette appeared in front of her. A larger omelette appeared in front of Inuyasha. Kagome took her chopsticks in her hand and winced as she tried to manuever her fingers to use them, but that was a failing cause. Great. Now eating was going to be complicated.

Why was life never simple?

"Somethin' the matter?" Inuyasha asked, taking a rather large bite of omelette. She huffed and tried again to use her chopsticks, with the egg falling out and back onto her plate.

She snatched a piece of toast with her other hand and bit into it, glaring at the wall in front of her.

"Oh, I didn't think about your arm," her mother lamented. She turned and dug around into the drawer and set a fork down next to the plate. "Use this instead. It will make it easier."

At least with the fork, she could stab something.

She ate left-handed and unhappily, brutally stabbing portions of her omelette and shoving them into her mouth.

The hanyou next to her ate silently, his movements slow and silent, a far cry from his usual manners.

"What's wrong?" She asked, turning towards him. He looked halfway panicked and darted his eyes towards her mother. "What? What is it?" Her own eyes looked to her mother for an answer.

"Nothing, dear. Don't worry about it. Are you feeling okay? I know the pain medication makes some people feel ill."

"I feel okay."

"Alright then, finish your breakfast so I can change your bandages."

Kagome ate quickly, sparing glances at the man sitting beside her.

"Do you think I could bathe before we change them?" She asked.

"You can't get your arm wet; the papers were very specific on that, but I suppose a bath would be safe enough then. I'll go start it for you." Her mother looked at Inuyasha. "You'll keep an eye on her for me?"

Inuyasha gave a curt nod, watching her mother disappear up the stairs. When she was gone, he took his plate and set it gently into the sink before turning around and looking directly at her like he expected her to grow horns or, God forbid, randomly purify him.

"What?" She asked him, and he gave a quick shake of the head.

"Nothing."

She quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise, let it rest. Seeing her plate empty as well, he took it and set it in the sink atop his own. While he didn't feel comfortable enough using any of the appliances, Kagome had noted that he was at least comfortable enough to put things where they belonged and use most of the plumbing appropriately in the house. It was nice to see him somewhat comfortable in her world. A year ago, he jumped at every little thing or poked dangerously at whatever provoked his interest at the time. Now, though, it at least looked like there was hope for the wayward hanyou.

"Kagome, your bath is ready!" Her mother called at the top of the stairs. She jumped up from her chair and made for the bathroom quickly, legs faltering underneath her, but Inuyasha intercepted her spontaneous trip towards the floor. His arms snapped around her midsection, suspending her completely from face-planting.

"Thanks," she squeaked as he hauled her back to her feet and set her down, his chest behind her as his hands moved to her elbows to make sure she was steady before he let go.

"Keh," he mumbled, but let her go as she took a hesitant step towards the bath.

Kagome emerged no worse for wear but feeling significantly cleaner and refreshed. Sure washing her hair one-handed was—awkward and made her really wonder how Sesshoumaru managed to keep his own hair clean.

She collected her dirty clothes once she'd changed into new ones, setting them over her arm to take downstairs for laundry. The sharp twang that ran up her forearm and into her elbow made her hiss and drop the clothes. It stopped as quickly as it started, but the echoes of it pulsed though lighter and lighter. Her fingers twitched involuntarily as the pain faded, but it still hurt.

Descending the stairs, she dumped her clothes into the laundry and made her way back into the kitchen where her mother was waiting with a cup of tea and the family first-aid kit. Her grandfather was also drinking tea and setting up the shogi board in front of himself and Inuyasha, who watched her as she moved beside her mother and the sink.

Since when did Inuyasha play shogi, and more importantly, how did grandpa convince him to sit still long enough to play?

"Ready?" She asked as she propped open the lid of the kit. Kagome nodded and her mother made quick work of the bandages with a small pair of scissors, letting the wrappings fall onto the counter.

Her entire arm was bruised, deep dark splotches mixed with red. The bite itself seemed larger than when she'd first seen it. The length of her hand, from the bottom of her palm to the tip of her middle finger's worth of teeth marks marred her skin, neatly stitched together in small little groups.

The bite didn't seem to match up to the size of Jasmine, but then again, it was a little traumatic. Maybe she wasn't remembering properly. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Those are deep," Inuyasha said from behind her, making her jump and loosen her mother's grip on her arm. He rotated her arm around as she got a good look at the wounds for the first time. They were deep, especially from the sharp canines and molars; those had done the most damage. Two distinct round puncture marks towards her elbow and then longer, broader marks towards her wrist. "You're not going to be shooting an arrow for a while."

She sighed slowly. "Yeah, I figured. It hurts to grab anything with this hand, so I was pretty sure archery was out of the picture. Sorry."

He let go of her arm and took a step back.

"Keh," he muttered. "Not a big deal," he mumbled as he sat back down opposite her grandfather.

Not a big deal? The Inuyasha she knew would be fuming over the set back. This meant that she would be slower than normal, something he already could barely tolerate as it was.

Her mother snagged the rough edge of a stitch with a piece of gauze and she made a small squeaking sound out of surprise and pain.

"Sorry!" Her mother apologized as she tried to wipe off the orange stain around the wound. Kagome glanced over at the two players and saw that Inuyasha had an ear pointed solidly in her direction, despite his attention on the shogi board.

Now sufficiently cleaned to her mother's standards, she began placing gauze and wrapping the arm securely in a soft ace bandage.

"This is going to leave a mark, isn't it?" Kagome quietly asked her mother who only gave her a sad smile.

"Probably, but it should fade with time."

"I will look in the storage room. Mermaid scales are supposed to do wonders for scars," her grandfather commented without looking away from the board.

Kagome smiled.

"I'm going to go work on some homework," she said with a glance down at her arm, giving a slight wince at its condition and subsequent restrictions. "Maybe do my reading."

"Bring it down here and sit with us. The boy here is losing. Needs a cheerleader on his side."

"Oi!" Inuyasha shouted, scowling at the old man. "Just don't go trying to purify me when you lose, old man!" He shifted a piece on the board, smirking at her grandfather who only frowned deeper.

Kagome climbed the stairs slowly, suddenly feeling a little off kilter. She noted that the small package of crackers on her nightstand had been smashed to absolute crumbs but thought nothing more of it.

She grabbed her books from her bag and started towards the stairs. Her arm jolted with the sharp twang again, and she hissed at the sudden flare of pain.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, watching her from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm fine," she said and started back down, Inuyasha watching her each step of the way. He stood, waiting, as though he expected her to fall, only stepping out of the way once she reached the bottom. "Come on, I'll sit next to you."

"Keh," he muttered softly, following her back into the living room. He pulled her cushion out for her, dragging it out from under the table and aligning it next to his own, and sat down without looking at her. Her grandfather, though, practically radiated a smugness, like he knew something they didn't.

"Ready to keep losing, boy?"

"I've been playing this game longer than you've been alive, old man!" Inuyasha retorted, placing his piece harshly down on the board.

"Then why are you still so bad at it?" He hummed.

Kagome laughed, snorting in the process, and quickly clamped a hand over her nose and mouth, chancing a glance to gauge Inuyasha's reaction. His mouth twitched at the corner, trying to suppress a grin.

"Sounds like you might be part pig-youkai there, Kagome," he teased.

"Shut up, dog boy." She gave his shoulder a light shove, in which he only moved fractionally and only because he allowed it. When he didn't want to be moved, there was no forcing him. She'd tried that time and time again with no success; the only way to move this hanyou was with the command. And he'd been far too sweet to merit that.

Another round of shifting pieces. Kagome sat at the low table, resting her book against the flat surface and holding it open with her good hand while she let the other rest in her lap.

"Bold move, boy," her grandfather stated as he moved his own piece.

"Keh, I don't need to hide behind generals and rooks."

"But you've left your king unprotected." Kagome watched her grandfather as he carefully placed his piece, advancing towards Inuyasha's side of the board.

"Keh," he muttered, brows furrowed, staring at the board. She'd never thought of Inuyasha as one with the ability to plan and strategize long-term. He was usually the one to go rushing off without a plan. Usually meaning always. But this was interesting to watch. The game was actually taking longer than she thought. Her grandfather was pretty good; he went to small tournaments and won a handful of them too, but Inuyasha was managing to not only hold his own but prevent her grandfather from doing any real damage to his pieces. Inuyasha had claimed one of her grandfathers, and her grandfather had two of his.

She let out a small yawn.

"Sleepy, Kagome?" Her grandfather asked and she shook her head, returning to her book.

She continued to read as they went several more rounds, neither side really gaining an advantage. For every piece they gained, one was lost and that in itself was a rarity.

Her eyes grew heavy, and she closed them for just a moment, before taking a deep breath and sitting upright.

"Do you want to lie down on the couch? You can still cheer on the losing side from there," her grandfather asked, motioning to the couch behind him.

"Oi, she'll be cheering for you in a moment."

"I'm good sitting right here for now. Thanks though."

"Told you," Inuyasha muttered and Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. "I wasn't talking to you," he added quickly.

"Hmph." She puffed the sound out through closed lips and returned to her book.

She let her eyes fall closed to gather her strength for just a moment, letting her breathing deepen as she tried to refocus herself on the task at hand.

He hadn't been expecting Kagome to just crater like she had. The stupid girl nearly bashed her head into the low tabletop and would have if he hadn't caught her forehead in his palm. She mumbled something about oden, sitting up slightly and staring across the room, squinting. Then she stretched out onto her side and put her head practically in his lap.

He glanced between the girl and her grandfather, who only seemed more and more amused by the entire event. He held his hands and arms at shoulder level, because he really wasn't quite sure what to do with them. He normally rested them on his legs, but now she was there, and that would mean touching her more, which he really wouldn't mind, but her grandfather was literally sitting right the fuck across from him and somehow that was just a mood killer—

"I was surprised she lasted as long as she did," he commented, moving a tile across the board. "Oxycodone usually knocks her out pretty quickly. Just be glad that she's sleeping."

"Oi, not your turn, old man!" Inuyasha hissed as he put the moved tile back into its proper place.

"Then stop fondling my granddaughter and play the game."

Sputtering didn't quite cover the sounds coming out of his mouth at the moment.

"I am not fondling her!" He wiggled his fingers for dramatic effect. "My hands are up here! Look." At that moment, Kagome nuzzled his thigh with her cheek, sending a shiver from the base of his spine all the way up. She really needed to stop doing that. It was doing things to him.

"Are you going to sit like that until she wakes?" The old man raised an eyebrow at his opponent.

"N-No," he swallowed the ball that had lodged itself into his throat and slowly lowered his left arm to rest on his raised knee. He carefully placed his right on the tabletop, so that her grandfather could see exactly where it was.

"You could forfeit, you know. It would be an honorable move," he said as he tapped his general that was sitting in wait to take his dragon.

"Like I'd forfeit to your cheating ass," he mumbled, staring at the board to look for an answer.

"I swear, old man, if she wakes up and sits me, I'll—" Inuyasha hissed.

"You'll do what, boy?" Her grandfather goaded, and Kagome shifted in an attempt to block out the lowered voices.

"I'll—I'll go into that shed of yours and—and—and—and do something!"

"You wouldn't! My ofuda repel all demonic energies!"

"Keep your voice down!" Inuyasha whisper-yelled. "And your ofuda do jack shit! How many times have I been in that thing to move your dumb shit?"

"That is an insult to the Higurashi name! Why, right now I have a mummified Kappa hand that is at least a thousand years old."

"That thing? You're lucky if it's older than a decade! I've smelled Kappa, and that ain't it! Probably some damn overgrown lizard!"

"Would you two be quiet?" She nuzzled her head into her pillow, which was much firmer than normal, but whatever, she was comfortable. And it smelled like Inuyasha. Definite bonus. If this belonged to him, he wasn't ever getting it back.

Both men quieted down, and she let out a small sigh at the quiet with only the infrequent sounds of tiles shifting on the board.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position from the floor, rubbing her eyes. There was no one else present in the room. Even the shogi board was put away.

"Inuyasha?" She called. "Grandpa?"

No answer. Pushing herself to her feet, she looked around for a note or any sign of her family. This was weird.

She even went upstairs to their rooms, just to see, but again, nothing.

Priestess.

She jumped at the sound of another voice.

"Who's there?"

She moved into her room and looked around, but no one was there.

Priestess, it sang out. The voice echoed around her, making it impossible to determine where exactly it came from.

"Who are you?" She shouted at the room.

The loud slam of her door made her scream as she spun to face the intruder—who wasn't there. She grabbed the door handle and pulled, but the door refused to move.

"Let me out! You know I can purify you." She let go of the door handle and took a step back. "I'll do it too!" She kicked at the door. Fine. If the door wasn't an option, she could always go out the window.

She grasped the edge of the window, when her door opened. Spinning back around, she again, saw no one. Snatching a pencil off her desk, she held it up like a weapon, ready to shank the nearest intruder. But the hallway was empty.

"Show yourself!" She yelled.

As you wish.

A loud thump came from behind her.

She moved too slow. A solid black hand gripped her arm where the bite was and she howled at the flare of pain behind it. But what really terrified her was the endless expanse of shadow that consumed everything else.

Inuyasha found it increasingly difficult to focus with Kagome's newfound tendency to nuzzle his thigh and shift closer and closer to his crotch. And with each subtle movement he wondered just how he was going to move her without waking her or make her grandfather think that he was taking advantage of his only granddaughter.

Kagome shifted again, burrowing her nose into his thigh, fingers gripping his hakama tightly. She let out a soft huff, and he glanced down at her for just a moment before returning to the game at hand.

"FUCK!" Inuyasha shouted as she screamed. He scrambled away from her reiki that had just seared straight through his fire rat and into his thigh. His flesh was literally smoking.

"Kagome!" Her grandfather called as she curled up into a ball, gripping her injured arm close to her chest.

"What happened?" Her mother came rushing into the room, kneeling beside her daughter, but saw the charred remains of his hakama. "Inuyasha, your leg—"

"Hell if I know! Bitch tried to purify me!" He knew better than to use such language in front of her mother and to call her only daughter such names, but the pain was still sharp and Kagome had never purposefully wielded her reiki against him. Not that she had now, but damn, that was a hard blow to take without warning. But he could smell the tears coming and winced.

Her mother rolled her onto her back and wiped her cheeks with her fingers.

"Kagome?" Her mother asked, much more calmly than he could at the moment. "Kagome, what happened?"

"It was a dream," she muttered, pushing herself up onto her elbows. "Right? It was all a dream?" She moaned, curling back up to cradle it against herself. "My arm feels like it's on fire." His own pain was diminishing, and he knew that it would heal far quicker than hers would.

"Kagome?" Her grandfather knelt beside her as they tried to pull her arm free to look at it, but it throbbed so violently that she curled up tighter around it.

"It hurts," she moaned.

"I'll get her pain meds," her mother said, standing and disappearing from his line of sight.

He moved towards her, cautiously in case her reiki was still unstable. He didn't think that she'd purposely hurt him, but he also had no intention of being human more than one night a month if he could help it.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice was quiet. He was kneeling in front of her, and he knew the moment she saw the scorch mark on his thigh because of the look on her face. Had she had his ears, they would've been flattened on the top of her head.

"What?" Her left hand reached towards his leg. "Did I—"

"Don't worry about it." He reached out, clawed fingers gently grabbing her wrist and tugging it back into view. She watched him, as if she was prepared to tug it back if he did something wrong. But he slid a hand underneath her shoulder, urging her to sit up, keeping a hand against her shoulder blade afraid that she'd topple over.
Her mother reappeared with a glass of water and a pill, which Kagome gladly took without question.

"It's a little early for your next dose, but—" Her mother glanced over at Inuyasha, specifically his leg as Kagome finished off the glass of water. "Do you want me to look at that burn?"

Kagome flinched at the mention of it. She'd done that. Well, her reiki had done that, but she really wasn't quite sure what made it flare up, when it had never done that before. Usually she had to focus so hard to make it surface that for it to come so readily was—well, weird.

She hadn't realized she was staring at her hands when Inuyasha mumbled behind her.

"It'll be gone by tonight, so there's no point."

"I'm really sorry, Inuyasha. I didn't mean to—" She was on the verge of crying again.

"Woman, I already told you not to worry about it." He huffed. "So don't. Besides, it'll be better by the evening and the clothes mend themselves. No harm done." He inhaled to calm himself.

"I can still bandage it, if you want," she asked, and he blushed, glancing at the two other people in the room. Three if you count the stupid fat cat. She obviously hadn't quite marked where the burn was exactly, because it was practically next to his hip, meaning that he was going to have to strip for Kagome to treat it. And having her hands right there seemed like a bad, bad idea at the moment.

"It'll be fine. You only got one good hand anyway." He broke eye contact and stared at the wall.

"Are you still in pain?" Her mother asked.

"It's not as bad, but it still hurts."

"Give the medicine some time to work, and it should go away shortly."

Kagome agreed and sat holding her arm.

"Mr. Nakamura called this morning checking on you. He and his wife were very upset about what happened."

"They should be," Inuyasha grumbled.

"It was an accident. Obviously, I did something to scare her or else she wouldn't have bitten me."

"Still say you shouldn't go around trying to pet random dogs."

"She was cute!"

"So that makes it okay?"

"No, but that's the reason I was trying to pet her."

"Kagome is very partial to cute things," her grandfather added. "Why just look at Buyo!"

"That fat cat ain't cute!"

"So what, you're an expert now?"

"Keh! At least I know cute shit can still bite!"

Kagome groaned, reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose, only to hiss at the motion.

"Still hurting, Kagome?" Her grandfather asked.

"How much longer until the pain meds kick in?"

"Probably too soon for our liking, but hopefully, not long," he answered.

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it." Her grandfather waved his hands at his statement. Her mother frowned at him, but she didn't say anything else.

She could feel the headache building the more she sat there, the pressure rising across her forehead. The room felt slanted and trying to focus took more effort, making the headache worsen until she felt the tears coming back. Seriously, how long before this stuff kicked in?

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache."

"How about you go upstairs and rest, and I'll bring you some tea and some cheese and crackers to help settle your stomach?" Her mother asked.

"Okay," Kagome gave a nod and wiped her eyes with her fingertips. She stood, wobbling on her feet, but he was quick to catch her underarms and steady her.

"Keh, I'll take you up so you don't fall and break something else important."

"So if I fall and break something unimportant?" She asked, tilting her head back enough to lay on his shoulder. Her eyes were slightly glassy, like last night only not as intense.

"Shit," he muttered. "Drunk Kagome."

"I have not been drinking!" She spun on her feet and swayed; his hands instinctively went to her hips to steady her, again. "I don't remember drinking. Does tea count?"

He sighed, frowning at the reappearance of Drunk Kagome, glancing at the old man for some assistance, since her mother bailed to work in the kitchen.

"Well, I think I'll go work in the shed for a bit. Have fun, boy." The old man stood and moved before Inuyasha could argue that he should stay and take care of his granddaughter, who was not in her right mind, and shit, how fast did that stuff take effect?

"Traitor," he muttered under his breath.

"Are you going to take me home?" She asked, draping her arms across his shoulders, her torso leaning against him.

"Kagome," her mother chided, reappearing into the living room with a tray of tea. "Leave Inuyasha alone. He's been very helpful."

"But he's cute!" She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and let out a deep exhale. His face flamed at the casual remark. Kagome thought he was cute?

"Kagome, listen to your mother," the tone was firm, not allowing for any argument. Even his ears went flat at it, and she wasn't even mad at him.

"Yes, ma'am," Kagome mumbled and leaned away from him. He moved his hands away from her, allowing her to step back from him with no restrictions.
But what he hadn't been counting on was Kagome quickly leaning up and pecking his jaw with her lips.

"Bye!" She chirped and disappeared.

Wut?

He was aware of sound and light and that time was still moving forward and there was the whole jewel mess with Naraku and what all, but his jaw tingled, like he'd been sucker punched.

Did Kagome knock him out with that reiki blast earlier?

Holy shit.

Kagome kissed him.

He was aware that he stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the space where Kagome had been like an idiot, but Kagome had kissed him!

"I'm gonna go check on Grandpa!" Kagome told her mother.

"No, we're going to go to upstairs so you can rest."

"No," Kagome insisted. "I'm gonna go check on Grandpa. You can go upstairs."

"Kagome, we're going upstairs."

He should leave. He really should. This was prime escape opportunity.

"I don't want to."

"Kagome. Go. Up. Stairs." Her mother hissed, jabbing her finger in the direction of Kagome's room. "Before you embarrass yourself."

Kagome looked at the tray and then at her mother as if calculating her chances of whatever she was going to do.

"Make me."

He should leave, but it seemed wrong abandoning her mother like that.

"Kagome, go upstairs," he ordered, moving to stand at the bottom of the steps. She'd made it up two of them before deciding against the idea. Kagome turned her glare on him, and he swallowed, feeling a 'sit' coming on sooner rather than later. "Do what your mother says."

The grin that broke out on her face made him blush.

"Make me." She enunciated every single letter. He glanced at her mother, who only sighed in frustration. He stepped up and deftly wrapped one arm around her waist, hoisting her up enough to clear the steps. With that, he carried her up the stairs as she squealed with laughter.

"I'm so sorry, Inuyasha. She only gets like this when she's on those pills. She's really belligerent until she falls asleep. She's like a toddler who doesn't want a nap." She let out a sigh as she set the tray on the top of Kagome's desk, picking up the smashed package of crackers off her nightstand.

"'s okay," he said, setting her down on the ground once safely inside her room. "Not her fault exactly."

"Ah, but she doesn't make it any easier though." She brought a mug over and handed it to Kagome who sat against the wall on her bed, smiling like she'd gotten exactly what she'd wanted the entire time, sipping from the mug. "I'll need to work on dinner soon, could you—"

"I can watch her until she falls asleep," Inuyasha said.

"Can you make sure she eats something? If she doesn't, I'm afraid she'll throw up the medication."

"Sure, yeah, no problem," he said and her mother gave a smile to him as she walked towards the door. She paused beside him, raising a hand to lightly stroke his cheek, incidentally right where his crests showed.

"What would we do without you, Inuyasha?" She gave him a soft smile and moved to the door. "Call if you need help or you need a break."

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, looking back at Kagome who only sipped her tea with relish.

He sighed.

Maybe she'd behave herself if he just kept his distance and didn't touch her.

But Kagome thought he was cute AND she kissed him! Granted, not the kind of kiss he actually wanted from her, but he'd take it.

Maybe this day wasn't going to go to complete shit. All that had to count for something good!

A/N: I always felt like Inuyasha was smarter than was acknowledged, just not very socially adept. And I know that oxycodone doesn't work that fast, but I needed Drunk Kagome to reappear sooner than later. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Comments are love!