A birthday Story for Kalcia Inspired by her fantastic art Yo Daaawggg, found on Tumblr!
Thank you to Neutronstarchild for helping with the plot and Fawn Eyed Girl for editing it!
Team BigDog and Monkz.
Kagome Higurashi had been staring at the Instagram picture for the last twenty minutes. When the notification had hit her phone that her friend and classmate Miroku had posted, she hadn't thought anything of it until she saw the figure crouching next to him.
Inuyasha Takahashi.
One of her closest friends from high school. Also her most desperate crush.
How… when…
How the hell did Miroku know Inuyasha?
And how was it fair that Inuyasha still looked so damn good?
His golden hued eyes were as bright as she remembered, even with the annoyance and exasperation caught in the image. His bright red hoodie made his hair seem even more silver, and the two triangular ears popping out of the hood…
She couldn't help but smile. It had taken her two weeks to get the slits in the hoodie right, working with her mother to sew the edges down so they wouldn't irritate his sensitive ears. It had been a present for his 18th birthday, and those ears, those adorable ears, had quivered, giving away his excitement when he opened it, even as he had tried to keep his expression blank.
Kagome hadn't seen him since he had moved to attend Boston U. Sure, they had exchanged emails, and the occasional phone call, but it just… it wasn't the same as seeing him every day.
She sighed as she closed out the app and let her phone fall to the couch, her head dropping back with a sigh.
It had been two years since they had drifted apart for college. During the first year, the phone calls had slowly become less frequent, the emails more sporadic as college had ramped up for them, before they petered out entirely. She had thought that eventually she would have moved past the massive crush she had on him: out of sight, out of mind and all that… but nope.
It hadn't faded, not one bit.
Kagome couldn't even say when she had felt more for him than friendship. Inuyasha had stepped in their freshman year when an upperclassman had taken her backpack as a prank, grabbing it back and snarling at the upperclassman. Even as a freshman, he had been tall, his broad shoulders making him seem older. That was all it took; from that moment on, they had been inseparable.
By the time their senior year had started, Kagome had begun to wish for more: that he would see her as more than just his friend, as more than almost a little sister, and see her for the woman she was becoming.
God, she had wanted that so much.
She had never said anything, never told him how she felt. What would have been the point? He had never given any indication he felt the same, and it would have just made things awkward. So when Kikyo had started looking at Inuyasha their senior year, and Kagome had caught him looking back, she had held her tongue, wanting him to be happy. When he had complained about his ears hurting with his hoodies and hats, she had sat up, late at night, working on the perfect present for him. As she worked, she had tried to build up her nerve, vowing she would tell him how she felt, pouring all of her feelings into her work…
And then when she had gotten to his house, Kikyo had already been there, smiling and laughing at something Inuyasha had said, and Kagome had lost all the nerve she had worked up. Kikyo had just looked so natural by his side, her long straight ebony hair a perfect foil to his silver locks. She was everything Kagome could never hope to be.
Kagome had stayed to give Inuyasha his present, taking a small bit of comfort from his reaction to the gift. For a moment she felt special, like he could feel everything she had put into it as their eyes had met, and then Kikyo had stepped close, and Inuyasha's gaze had wavered. Kagome had slunk away that night, not able to stay and watch.
She grabbed her phone to open the picture again, taking in every bit of his appearance. He had filled out a bit during the two years, his chest finally growing into his shoulders, the sweatshirt almost too tight.
It had to mean something that he still had the hoodie… right? That he was wearing it?
She shook her head at the thought. She was reading too much into it: it was something made for him by a friend; it probably meant a lot to him, so, of course he would keep it.
Just… was it selfish to want to think maybe he thought of her while he wore it?
But first things first…
How the hell did Miroku know Inuyasha?
Her fingers flew across her phone, pulling up one of her contacts and pressing connect.
"BigDog and Monkz?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he dropped onto the couch.
"What, I thought it was funny," Miroku chuckled, his dark eyes filled with mirth as he tossed his phone onto the table.
"I can definitely tell this is going to be an interesting year," Inuyasha grumbled, glaring back at Miroku.
"Come on Inuyasha, it's a celebration," Miroku smiled unabashedly. "It's not every day I get a new roommate."
Inuyasha just shook his head. As irritatingly hyper as his new roommate was, Inuyasha had to admit it made things more fun. He had hated Boston; even with all the bustle of the city, he just hadn't fit in. While the city was accepting of yokai and hanyo, the students hadn't been quite as welcoming, and his first two years had been spent with awkward roommate interactions and a lot of sitting alone in the library.
He had finally had enough, and had put in the transfer to NYU. The architectural program at NYU was just as good as Boston U, and for some reason, when he had visited the campus and New York City, there had just been a feeling of it being… right, like it was where he needed to be. He hadn't questioned it, and as soon as the transfer went through, he had started searching for a place to live, a craigslist ad bringing him to the door of Miroku. He had only been in New York for two weeks, but he hadn't been as relaxed and… entertained… since he had left California and…
Her.
When Miroku's phone rang, Inuyasha was pulled out of his thoughts by one word.
"... Kagome, yeah I was able to find a roommate. Crazy, right?"
Inuyasha froze… Kagome wasn't that common a name, but seriously, it wasn't like it could really be her...
"He's in a few of my classes, so it makes sense that he will be in our study group. Yeah, oh no, we definitely need to meet up. I'll figure it out with him and text you. Talk to you soon, Kagome."
Miroku ended the call and turned with a smile.
"So it looks like you may know someone here. Do you remember someone by the name of Kagome Higurashi?" Inuyasha's ears lowered, and Miroku's eyebrow rose in interest.
"Yeah," Inuyasha said, his voice low. "We went to high school together. I haven't really talked to Kagome in… a while."
"Really? Well then don't worry; she comes over to my place a lot, so you will have plenty of chances to catch up," Miroku said, his eyes sharp as he watched the other man.
Inuyasha scowled as an irrational irritation ran through him. Kagome came over here often, huh? Was it possible that...
No… nope he was not going there. That was NOT something he wanted to think about.
And it wasn't really like he had the right to say anything. Kagome was… well, she was the one that got away; or more, that he had let slip away.
Kagome Higurashi. With her perfect raven hair waving down her back, the sparkle of mischief in her stormy gray eyes, and her sharp tongue and wit. They had been close for four years; she had been the one he wanted to share everything with: the good, the bad, the ugly… the really ugly (like the creep that kept harassing her who finally learned his lesson at the end of Inuyasha's fists). Through all of it, she had been there to make him smile, to make him laugh, to make him feel… accepted, appreciated. And god, she was beautiful; the shy freshman had blossomed into the most beautiful girl he had ever met, inside and out.
Had it been any surprise that he had fallen for her hard?
Every girl he had met after had wound up compared to her, to how open and free she had been. Kagome was a natural beauty, and all the girls with their artful makeup who had come on to him had just seemed… plastic… compared to her. Even Kikyo, as beautiful and caring as she was, just couldn't hold his interest. He had gone on a few dates with her, but they had never really meshed. It wasn't that Kikyo hadn't been nice or fun to be around… she just… wasn't Kagome.
He hadn't thought his feelings were obvious, but Kikyo had known. All it had taken was one look at his face as he had searched the crowd for Kagome after opening the sweatshirt, and the sadness when he couldn't find her.
"You really should tell her," Kikyo had told him as she ended things that night, a look of sadness in her eyes. "You will always regret it if you don't take the chance. I did, and even though it didn't work out, I got the chance to try."
Before he knew it, though, it was their graduation day, and then he had been swept up in preparing for the move from California to Boston, and he just… never got the nerve to tell her. What was he going to do, tell her, 'Hey, I've had a crush on you for two years, would you be willing to be my long distance girlfriend?'
She had stayed in California, and it wouldn't have been fair to her, or to him. So he had walked away, locking his feelings into his heart, secretly wondering what it would have been like to kiss her, to be hers.
Two years later, though, the feelings hadn't changed. He hadn't seen her in two years, hadn't spoken to her in over a year, yet at the sound of her name, everything had come back. He was pathetic… still thinking about a girl that didn't see him as anything more than a friend.
A girl that was somehow also in New York, going to NYU…
Who may or may not have something going with his new roommate…
Somehow New York didn't seem as bright and welcoming anymore.
"Would you hurry up?" Kagome's roommate leaned against the door to Kagome's bedroom, a wry smile on her face. "You have gone through every piece of clothing you own and half of mine."
"Sango…" Kagome glared at her roommate as she threw yet another rejected outfit on the bed. "It has to be... you know… right." It had been two weeks since she had found out that Inuyasha had moved to New York, but the first time they were all meeting up, and she was… well, she was nervous.
"Oh please," Sango scoffed. "It's just Miroku and this roommate of his." When Kagome's cheeks flushed Sango straightened, a gleam in her eye. "Ohhhhh, so it's the roommate that you are trying to impress? Come on girl, spill."
"He's… my best friend from high school."
"Funny, I don't get all in a tizzy, overdressing just right for a 'friend,'" Sango teased.
"Says the woman who changed her dress five times because Miroku will be there," Kagome shot back with a smirk as Sango's cheeks began to turn pink.
"Try on the red dress," Sango stammered, her gaze turned away. "You know, the one you have hidden away in the closet."
Kagome spun, her eyes narrowing. "And how do you know about that?"
Sango glanced back, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "You think you're the only one who raids closets?"
Kagome took a deep breath as she crossed to the closet, drawing a dress, still in plastic with the tags on it, from the back.
It was almost ironic, she had bought the dress in high school, hoping to wear it on a date with Inuyasha that never happened, and now, she might wear it when she reconnected with him.
The universe had a twisted sense of humor.
She said a quick prayer as she pulled it out of the plastic that it would still zip; two years was a long time, and she had never been able to bring herself to try it back on.
It fit like a glove, and Kagome had to admit it looked better on her now than it had in high school. Her eyes met Sango's in the mirror.
"Girl, you are going to kill him," Sango said with approval. "I have taught you well."
Kagome turned, trying to see the dress from all angles and smiled. Let him try and keep seeing her as the little freshman now. She slid on her highest black heels; yes, her feet would kill her, but dammit, she was going to look damn good and smile through the pain.
They were halfway to the club when Kagome's nerves kicked in.
It had been two years… while Inuyasha had never mentioned Kikyo in any of their calls or emails, that didn't mean he wasn't with her, or someone else.
Oh god, had she gotten dressed up to impress someone who was taken? Why hadn't she thought to check first… but surely Miroku would have mentioned it if they were bringing someone else with them… right?
"Breathe, Kagome," Sango whispered, her arm coming around Kagome's shoulders.
"I just…I… I don't know if I can do this."
"He's not just a friend, is he?"
Kagome started to shake her head, but paused, her gaze lowering as she drew to a stop, moving to the side of the sidewalk. "Technically, he's just a friend but…"
"But one you wished was more?" Kagome's silence was all the answer Sango needed. "Kagome, hun, it's just one night: you see him, get to reconnect; worst case scenario, you have your friend back in your life."
"Yeah… ok… I can do this," Kagome breathed, squaring her shoulders with a nod. Sango wrapped her arm through Kagome's as they hurried down the street.
As they slid into the line, the two women received more than a few admiring looks, but Kagome didn't see any of them. Her gaze was drawn to the window, and the silver-haired man she saw sitting talking to Miroku at one of the corner tables, as far from the speakers as they could get. Her heart started to race as she watched him (and noticed that the table thankfully had four chairs, not five), suddenly feeling as if she was back in high school, watching him from afar, trying so hard to keep her heart off her sleeve. He wore all black, his shirt showing just how much his chest had filled out, and it was all she could do to not dissolve into a puddle on the sidewalk. He had kept his hair down; god, she had always loved when he did that. It looked both sophisticated and wildly untamed at the same time: a look that was uniquely Inuyasha.
Sango handed their cover charge to the bouncer with a wide smile and ushered Kagome into the club.
She knew the moment he caught her scent; his ears suddenly perked up and turned to the door before the rest of his face caught up.
She held back a giggle, relieved that that, at least, hadn't changed.
She could do this… she could.
Inuyasha scowled as he scanned the crowded club. He had never really seen the appeal of them; there were always too many people and the noise was painful for his sensitive ears, but Miroku had set it up to meet Kagome and her roommate there.
And if he was honest with himself, he would rather see Kagome for the first time somewhere other than his apartment, especially if she was with Miroku. It just seemed… easier to handle, and there were more places he could disappear to if he needed.
His nose wrinkled in irritation as the smell of sweat, stale perfume and arousal assaulted his senses. That was the other reason he hated these places. How any yokai could stand it was beyond hi…
The scent of vanilla and strawberry: fresh, sweet, heartbreakingly familiar, teased his nose, and all the other smells faded. He would know that scent anywhere.
Kagome was there.
His eyes turned to the entrance, and he felt his heart stop.
She was in red—a bright, fire-engine red of a dress that looked as if it had been crafted specifically for her, and he devoured her with his gaze. The dress was deceptively simple, but devastating in its effect. The halter style skimmed her frame, hugging every damn curve she had, stopping well above her knee. She turned to say something to the woman standing behind her and he had to clutch the table. The back was open to her waist, and he ached to touch the creamy skin that showed.
"Hot damn." Miroku's whistle forced Inuyasha from his Kagome induced daze. Miroku's face held a look of awe that made Inuaysha's jaw clench while his heart twisted in jealousy.
He turned his focus back to Kagome; if this was the only time he got to pretend she had dressed up for him, he was going to etch this into his memory. He was fascinated by the subtle sway of her hips as she drew closer, the magic of her shoes making her legs go on for miles.
"Inuyasha." Her voice was soft, barely audible over the din of the room, but the word went straight to his heart.
"Kagome…" he whispered back, his throat suddenly dry.
"It's nice to see you again; fancy running into you in New York."
"Ye… yeah." It was official: his brain had checked out. He shook his head briefly to clear it, missing her small smile and spark of hope in her eyes.
"My goddess, you are the epitome of beauty and grace, the most lovely of creatures to have walked the face of the earth." Inuyasha's ears plastered against his skull at Miroku's words, shattering the spell between Inuaysha and Kagome. Inuyasha tensed, waiting for Miroku to draw Kagome from him, only to start when Miroku clutched the hands of Kagome's companion, holding them to his heart. "Sango, please put me out of my misery and say you will go to dinner with me."
Sango's cheeks flushed pink as she darted a look to Kagome then back to Miroku. "How about we start with a dance?"
"Whatever Lady Sango wants." Miroku lifted one of her hands to his lips before tucking it into his arm and leading her to the dance floor.
"Oh finally…" Kagome laughed, watching them as Inuyasha stared at her with a look of confusion.
"Wait… I thought… you were… you aren't…"
Kagome turned to him, amusement in her eyes. "You thought I was with Miroku?" When Inuyasha nodded, she smiled and shook her head. "He's had eyes for Sango since they met. When I transferred here, Sango became my roommate. Miroku was in my math class, and I'm sure you remember how much I hated math, so he would come to our dorm to study. He's been asking her out for a year. She likes him just as much, so I'm glad she finally said yes."
The dark cloud that had begun to form around Inuyasha started to fade as she spoke.
She wasn't with Miroku.
True, he didn't know if she was with anyone else, but for that moment, knowing she wasn't with Miroku was enough to keep his hope alive.
"Would you want to dance?" Inuyasha found himself asking before beginning to panic as Kagome's eyes went wide. "I… I mean it's hard to hear in here over the music and stuff and…"
"Inuyasha," Kagome placed a hand on his arm and he went silent, his attention on that one simple gesture, "I would love to."
His ears perked straight up, quivering as he took her hand and led a chuckling Kagome to the dance floor.
"What's so funny?" he asked as he drew her close, noticing that in her heels her forehead was the perfect height for a kiss if he dared.
A hand snuck up to lightly caress one of his ears, and he felt his knees begin to buckle at how good it felt to have Kagome touch his ears.
"These are so expressive." Kagome smiled as she finally got to pet his ears, something she had longed to do since she had met him. "They can tell your every mood, even when you are trying not to show anything."
"Keh, and what are they telling you now?" His eyebrow raised as the ear flicked further into her hand.
"That you are happy." She smiled at him, letting her fingers stroke against the soft fur.
His arm wrapped around her waist, drawing her close as he began to move, letting the sound of the music lead his movement. The song pulsed around them, the beat driving the tempo as they found their rhythm. Her hand abandoned his ear to wrap around his neck, holding him as he held her, their bodies in perfect sync as they danced.
It was everything she had dreamed and oh so much more. The feel of him so close, pressed against her, sent shivers of heat down her spine. His hips ground against hers in a move and she pressed herself closer, his leg moving between hers as his hand fell to her hip. She felt his thumb caressing the bare skin of her back, his claw teasing her as her body began to pulse in time with the music. Her free hand slid up his torso, feeling every muscle of his chest before finally tangling in his hair. Her head burrowed into his neck as she held on, never wanting the moment to end.
Inuyasha could not prevent the growl as he felt Kagome's body pressed against him, fully against him, for the first time. She felt so right… so damn perfect there, in his arms. And god, he never wanted to let her go. She shifted so his leg came between hers, her core grinding against his, and he was helpless to respond to her, stiffening against her as she nuzzled him. His thumb continued to stroke her back, mesmerized by the softness of her skin. She shifted again and his second hand found its way to her thigh, softly rubbing her leg, teasing the skin at the edge of her dress. He was lost in her scent, the vanilla and strawberry now laced with something spicier, a scent he ached to become intimately familiar with and smell every day for the rest of his life.
Crush? Who the fuck was he kidding? He had been in love with her since their sophomore year.
Her head lifted, swirling gray meeting molten gold, and his head dipped down to seal her lips against his. He felt her gasp, her mouth parting slightly, and then her moan coarsed through him, igniting him further as his tongue teased against her lips, inviting her to open them. He growled into the kiss, his hands grasping her hips to pull her against him, lost in her taste.
As suddenly as it began it ended as Kagome stiffened then pushed away. Her eyes met his, full of panic, as she turned and ran from the dance floor.
Inuyasha hesitated for only a moment before taking off after her, weaving through the bodies that tried to block his way as he followed her scent, now laced with tears and a bitter scent he never wanted to smell on her again.
"KAGOME!" he called out, darting after her on the street when he had finally made it out of the club. She began to move faster, dangerously fast for those heels, he thought, and he ran full speed to catch her. His hands reached her shoulders and she burst out in tears. He drew in a sharp breath, suddenly more afraid than he had ever been in his life.
"Kagome… I…"
"I'm sorry…" she cried, her head dropped to hide her face from him. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have… I got… Oh god…"
"Hey hey hey, Kagome, baby, look at me." Inuyasha stepped in front of her, gently lifting her chin to him. His heart broke at the tear tracks, tinged with mascara, that ran down her face. "What are you sorry about I…"
"You are with Kikyo and I know I shouldn't have but I just wanted to know what it was like to kiss you just once and I should have stopped it but I didn't and I …"
"Wait, slow down, Kagome, slow down… What do you mean I am with Kikyo?"
"I saw you, the night of your birthday, when I gave you the hoodie… she was at your side, so perfect and I wanted to tell you then how I felt but I couldn't because you seemed so happy at her side and I didn't want to screw that up so I left, but…"
His lips stopped her words, and she melted into the kiss.
"God, we are both idiots," he whispered against her lips before touching his forehead to hers. "I'm not with Kikyo, Kagome."
"You… you aren't?" Kagome sniffed, her eyes on his.
"No, I never really was. It just didn't click with us, and do you want to know why?" He paused, waiting for her to nod before nuzzling her cheek. "Because she wasn't you. And she knew that."
Kagome sniffled as she searched his eyes. "Inu…"
"I always wanted to know what it was like to kiss you, too." He placed a tender kiss against her lips, lingering as he poured all of his feelings for her into it. "You know the hoodie you gave me for my birthday?"
"Y...yeah."
"It's my favorite thing to wear, because it always made me think of you. I didn't say anything because I was afraid, and then I was moving and I'm just an idiot, an idiot who would like nothing more than to try and make it up to you for the rest of his days."
Her answering smile was like the sun, warming him after years of being locked in ice. His eyes closed as he breathed deep, vanilla and strawberry soothing his soul.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm really glad Miroku posted that photo of you two, or I wouldn't have known you were here."
Inuyasha let his cheek rest against her head. Fate definitely worked in mysterious ways. "I would have found you. I would always have found you." His arms held her close, secure in the knowledge that he would never let go.