Sahara-mouthed and head slightly plagued by a dull drum tempo, Inuyasha pried open one eye to test the waters of consciousness. Brightness magnified by the dorm's white brick walls, the florescent lights attacked his sleep-shaded retinas. He cursed inwardly and squeezed his eyes shut. Had Kagome turned on every damn light in the place this morning?

He blinked, growing accustomed to the loss of sweet darkness, and ever-so-slowly swung his legs over the edge of the mattress. Finally sitting upright, he grimaced and pressed a palm to his aching forehead.

He glanced at the futon on the other side of the room through squinted eyes. The blanket was folded neatly and set on top of the pillow, her overnight bag kicked under the seat, but Kagome was no where to be seen.

She had to be close since the pain he was feeling had nothing to do with the Warrior's Oath and everything to do with last night's overindulgence.

As if in answer to his thoughts, Kagome entered the room holding a styrofoam cup of something. She was fully dressed for the day and had already showered. He could smell the floral scent of whatever soap she used.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," chirped Kagome as she entered. She served him a teasing grin but upon seeing his bare torso, she averted her eyes rather quickly.

"What time is it?"

"After one," she supplied, taking a seat on the futon carefully so she didn't spill the cup of instant ramen.

Inuyasha grabbed for his phone in disbelief, but of course he hadn't charged it last night. He'd slept on top of the covers in his jeans but shirtless, as if he'd gotten halfway undressed before giving up. His bandages were on the floor next to his shirt, he noticed. Trying not to feel embarrassed about being half-naked in front of Kagome, he rotated his injured shoulder carefully at first and then more vigorously once he confirmed there was no pain.

"I can't believe I slept this late. I'm usually up at six."

"Six? Why?" she asked aghast.

"I take a morning run in the woods." Mainly so he could take off the bracelet for a bit but also to stay in fighting shape.

"Well that has to change this week." Kagome ate some noodles.

Noticing she was eating one of his favorite flavors, Inuyasha eyes narrowed suspiciously. He had a clear container with snacks and quick meals. "Where'd you get that?"

She met his eyes innocently, a sheepish smile spreading on her lips.

"From the box under your bed. I tried to wake you up," she challenged. "It wasn't like I could leave you here and go to the dining hall."

He crossed the room to get a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and drank half in one gulp, his back to Kagome where she lounged on the futon. He set the plastic bottle down and went about removing the gauze still wrapped around his knuckles.

Kagome gasped and he heard the futon shift as she stood. He turned half way to see what had happened, but he stumbled back a step when Kagome was inches from his face, moving her hand in a circle as she requested that he turn his back to her again.

"I can't believe it. It looks even better than it did last night. You really do heal fast."

Kagome was amazed. The claw-raked skin of his shoulder blade had healed to smooth, red lines with a few patches of scabs and bruising. He looked weeks healed instead of one day.

"Demon, remember?" His bravado covered his own surprise as he repositioned himself to view his back in a mirror. He hadn't expected it to be that far in the healing process. He considered the expedient recovery as yet another perk of the spell.

Kagome's eyes dipped to his nearly-healed knuckles and then she turned her attention to the cut on his lip while Inuyasha still studied his back. There was no hint of that minor laceration from her run-in with the door. Instead the memory of last night's kiss surfaced and she felt her face heat.

"How do you feel otherwise?" She returned to the safety of the futon, her back to him as she spoke. She retrieved the half-eaten cup of noodles, fork scraping the bottom. She looked down at the contents with great concentration as she added, "You were impressively drunk last night."

"A little headache is nothing." He was, in fact, dying inside. He hoped a shower would help him feel a little less dead.

It didn't help that he was overwhelmed by smells making him nauseous and sounds making his headache worse. There were only a couple other demons that lived in his building, but one of them must have been loitering near his room because the scent was stronger than normal.

His heart stopped as he began frantically searching the bed sheets and then dropped to his knees to search the floor.

Kagome ate the last of the noodles and stood up to throw the empty cup in the trash. "What did you lose?"

"My bracelet. Please tell me I was wearing it when we got back."

"It's right here." She held up her own wrist, the beaded jewelry sliding down her arm. "You said it was suffocating to wear, but for me it feels kinda nice. Like a warm bath."

"Probably because you aren't a demon. For me it's like being mummified," he said crossly, holding out his hand. "Give it back. It's not a fashion accessory."

"Excuse me," she removed the bracelet as she spoke, "buy you threw it at me last night."

"I did?" He only relaxed once he took it from her, the scents and sounds fading as his demonic side was muted.

"So ... what do you remember from last night?"

Something in her voice put him instantly on edge. He set his attention on gathering clean clothes, a towel and his shower caddy with robotic precision and answered with a calm he did not feel.

"I remember leaving Kenji's apartment, but after that it's all a bit fuzzy. Why?"

She rushed the words, her voice entirely too light. "No reason. I expected you to have a higher tolerance I guess, being a demon and all."

He watched her shift weight from one foot to the other and cross her arms. She was looking at him but with eyes carefully trained above his head. She wasn't exactly frowning but there was no levity in her face, her soft lips pressed tightly together.

He dropped the shower caddy on his bare toes. "Shit!"

"You okay?" asked Kagome, her attention rushing to the spilled contents of shampoo and razer and soap rather than lingering on last night's meaningless kiss.

She knelt down to help collect the scattered objects and Inuyasha grabbed for the conditioner at the same time, their hands touching. She let go immediately and he stuffed the bottle into the caddy, nearly jumping off the ground in his haste to stand.

"I'm fine. Seems like your spell even protects me against shower caddies," he joked. Did she think it sounded as fake as he did? He quickly dug through a dresser drawer. Where were all the damn towels? He still hadn't looked at her.

"Gotcha." He slung the towel over his shoulder, scooped up his clothes in one hand and shower caddy in the other, and marched out the door.

He truly had no memory of the majority of their walk home. Car headlights and crossing a street and the door of his dorm, as if he'd only opened his eyes a few times after leaving Kenji's apartment. Everything else was dark as night.

Except tucked inside one of those bright spaces between blinks was the feel of Kagome's lips against his. He'd remembered it right before he dropped the caddy.

From her struggle to bring it up, he'd made her uncomfortable, which piled guilt over the embarrassment. Plus she liked the Akitoki guy, who'd just dumped her. Not the best timing to kiss her. Not that timing was a problem, he corrected internally, because he wasn't interested in her like that. He'd just been drunk and she'd happened to be there.

But apologizing to her would mean admitting he remembered the kiss. Wasn't it better to deny his memory and save them both from an awkward conversation? It would be a pointless talk since they both knew the alcohol was to blame in the first place. The awkwardness would pass.

"I'm never drinking again," he grumbled as a fresh wave of embarrassment rolled over him.

As Kagome waited on Inuyasha to shower, she was thankful that he didn't remember the kiss. If he did, she was sure he would have said something, and she didn't plan to bring it up again. There was no point, really. She shouldn't have even tried but for some reason she'd thought that if he did remember it and they didn't talk about it, it might lead to some weirdness between them. Not a good time for that since they were stuck in close quarters all week. But she'd worried for nothing.

She couldn't deny feeling a bit flattered by the kiss though. Given the unceremonious dumping she'd received yesterday from Akitoki, it had stupidly dulled some of the more negative feelings about being undesirable, even though she knew Inuyasha had no feelings behind it. Assured it was a forgotten, drunken impulse, she could continue on with Inuyasha like normal. Or as normal as their relationship could be at this point.

Her thoughts drifted back to the strange dream she'd had last night.

Yuka had turned into a dragon and was breathing fire everywhere. She'd been running through a forest and made her way to that same miasma-filled pond, but instead of purifying it like she had as a child, the pond itself swallowed her up and she drowned.

In those final, fuzzy moments before she inhaled murky water, she'd been watching the light at the surface get smaller and farther away when a slender hand appeared.

It belonged to a woman whose face was in shadow. Her palm was out as if demanding Kagome give her something, but instead purple light ignited in the center of the woman's palm and expanded to swirl around her hand like a fiery glove. Even though they were both underwater, she heard the woman say clearly, 'Now you.'

Alone in Inuyasha's room, Kagome held out her hand, palm facing upward. She concentrated on the center, staring at the life lines and other creases. She pushed all her energy and focus to the center of her hand.

A tiny, lilac spark flickered into existence. Kagome closed her fist in surprise. After a moment she slowly unfurled her fingers, half-way expecting the spark to still be present, but it was gone. She was still trying to recreate the phenomenon when Inuyasha returned.

"Listen, Kagome, I remembered something from last night, and look, we had both been drinking and you were sad about Akitoki so it's not like it meant anything. We can forget it happened. You don't need to be embarrassed about kissing me."

Surprise and nerves fluttered in Kagome's stomach and morphed into a sharper sort of shock.

"You kissed me," corrected Kagome. It felt like an important distinction.

Inuyasha swallowed nervously and scoffed, "Whatever. Doesn't matter who initiated."

To really bring home how inconsequential the kiss was, he added, "If I did, it wasn't for any reason in particular. I would have kissed Yuka if she'd been there, but it was just you."

"Just me," she echoed stiffly, "Sorry to disappoint."

Inuyasha knew he'd made an error as soon as he heard her chilly tone. He watched her lips press together in a tight, displeased line.

"Look, I just wish I hadn't kissed you. That's all."

"There's an easy way to fix that: keep your lips to yourself."

She invested her attention to her laptop, which she flipped open with rather more force than necessary, but it effectively ended any interaction with Inuyasha. She put her headphones in for extra measure though.

It was later that evening and Inuyasha and Kagome were leaving Main Street, where they'd gone to eat at his request for real ramen. Things had been a bit stilted after their conversation about the kiss, but somewhere during dinner things returned to normal, the shadows of discomfort dispersed.

As they walked back across campus, Kagome checked her phone and sighed aloud, drawing Inuyasha's attention.

"I haven't heard from Yuka at all today," she explained. "I'd like to check on her. I know I'm not great at it," she said, curtailing any skepticism about her powers before he could make a comment, "but maybe I could sense if something was still wrong."

"Let's go now," agreed Inuyasha, game for anything that would keep them out of the room for longer. Sure, things were seemingly okay between them now, but being crammed back in his tiny dorm with her ... for some reason he wasn't keen on the idea.

"Yuka tends to eat late dinner. I want to go later so there's a better chance she's in the room."

Kagome and Inuyasha were about to walk by the main campus courtyard, but a large screen had been assembled by the student activities committee and lots of people spread out on blankets to watch a film, which was currently showing the opening credits.

Inuyasha stopped walking. "Let's watch it and swing by your room after. Sound good?"

As they changed course to venture further into the courtyard, Kagome tripped on an uneven brick in the sidewalk and Inuyasha's hand reached for her reflexively, his fingers gently wrapping around her elbow to keep her steady.

"Thanks, sorry," she mumbled, knowing she'd nearly given him another bruise.

He quickly released his grip and swept his hand through the air. "Watch where you're going."

They settled on the dry grass at the back of the crowd and the movie played for the first twenty minutes until something malfunctioned with the projector. As the committee member worked to resolve the issue, conversations broke out among the audience.

Inuyasha got a phone call and Kagome noted the concern sweep across his face when he looked at the screen. He excused himself and walked off to answer the phone in private.

With Inuyasha gone, her gaze wandered without purpose until she noticed Yuka, Ayumi and another girl sitting only a few feet away. It was dark enough that she hadn't noticed them before, but as she opened her mouth to call out, her name come up in their conversation in a tone that gave her pause.

"Kagome totally knew I liked Akitoki, but she kept talking to him anyway. What was I supposed to do? He'd already rejected me and I didn't want to seem desperate or jealous so of course I told her to go for it."

"Last night I told her Yuka liked him, but she acted like she had no idea," confirmed Ayumi.

The third female with light brown hair, the intended audience of this conversation, responded in a disgusted tone. "Wow. What a snake."

"I thought sure, if she really likes him, it's fine," continued Yuka sanctimoniously. "It's not like you can help who you like, and I know it's not her fault that Akitoki didn't like me. But then I saw her coming out of the dorm with this guy named Inuyasha yesterday morning when she's supposed to be with Akitoki. You know, the guy I like."

The girl shook her head.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't lied about it," said Yuka. "She told me she was going on a run, but I guess she got her exercise in with Inuyasha. Just in a different way."

The girl snorted at the lewd insinuation.

Yuka sighed heavily. "So that's when I realized she didn't actually care about Akitoki. Which meant my friendship must mean even less since she went after him knowing I wasn't over him."

"That's awful," comforted the girl.

"And I'll admit this isn't my finest moment," Yuka began with an apologetic tone, "but I invited Inuyasha just to see if she'd do it again. And Ayumi can vouch.

Ayumi stepped dutifully into the conversation, regretfully thoughtful. "They were close to each other all night. And they did leave together."

"Kagome was all over him. She wouldn't let me be alone with him for a second. It's like if I want it, she has to take it to show that she's better than me. She can't stand when the attention isn't on her."

"Sounds like this girl I knew in high school." The girl inhaled, ready to launch into her story, but Yuka cut her off.

"Yeah, but did that girl ever pick a fight for attention? Kagome did the minute Inuyasha and I had a moment together. All so Inuyasha would leave me and rescue her. Talk about insane."

"I still can't believe she lied about being friends with that one guy," agreed Ayumi.

"Honestly, I think she's a little off in the head. The way she stares at people sometimes is creepy. Like she's trying to see through them. And after those whack-jobs attacked us on campus? She went back to normal like it was nothing even though the third guy is still running around out there. I definitely got the crazy roommate this year."

"Sounds like it," offered the girl, ready to move on to another topic.

Kagome sat there processing what she'd heard, still looking in their direction when Ayumi's eyes drifted to hers. It was a deer in headlights reaction and if Kagome's anger hadn't been building, she would have laughed at the girl's expression.

Ayumi looked away as if burned, and she immediately whispered to Yuka, who at least had the decency to look ashamed before the defiant mask shuttered in place and she turned her back on Kagome, completely ignoring her as the three girls leaned their heads closer together, whispered and then laughed.

Kagome felt her face burn, her heart thudding as the friendship she thought she had with these girls crumbled under Yuka's cruel jealousy and Ayumi's support of it. She'd known from the start that she was the outsider to their friendship, but this? She hadn't expected this.

She wanted to yell at the back of Yuka's head, but there were too many people here and it would only give credence to Yuka's depiction of her as a crazy roommate. There was no way to defend herself to Yuka and Ayumi's evaluation of her character without revealing demons, and she had little faith that they'd believe any of it.

The one thing she could contest was Yuka's lie. Her roommate had never told her that she liked Akitoki. Which meant her little speech about Kagome not valuing her friendship and choosing Akitoki over her was just a way to make herself look like a victim.

But even that would be her word against Yuka's, and Ayumi would never take Kagome's side.

Suddenly Kagome was grateful that she'd be spending all week in Inuyasha's dorm instead of her own.

When Totosai's name appeared, Inuyasha was instantly on edge before he answered the call. He hadn't spoken to him in months, and the old man wasn't one to call for a friendly chat.

It had been a short conversation with long-lasting effect. He carried the weight of it back to Kagome's side, and he almost wondered if she'd overheard it when he stood looking down at her expression.

She looked as tense as he felt. Her face was a bit red. Her frown deeply pronounced. Her lips lifted a bit when she saw him but the effect was minuscule.

"What's up?" he asked.

She didn't answer but her eyes flickered to somewhere in the crowd. He twisted his head and found Yuka and Ayumi staring at them. They turned their backs immediately.

Kagome stood up before he could sit down.

"I'm tired," she announced, leading him away from the movie. He waited until they had walked out of ear shot of everyone in the courtyard.

"So is she still poisoned?"

"In the head maybe," she answered stiffly.

Thrown by the apathetic manner of her response, he asked seriously, "don't you need to do something about that?"

Kagome shook her head, realizing Inuyasha referenced the amulet.

"I forgot to do it," she grumbled. "And I really don't want to go back there."

But she did. She hovered at the back of the crowd, praying that Yuka and Ayumi kept their eyes on the movie, which was now playing with no issues.

She thought back to how the amulet had felt and searched for any lingering vestiges of the aura. There were none. The only thing she felt was Inuyasha's demonic aura, muted by his bracelet, and another demonic signature somewhere in the crowd of movie watchers. She caught sight of pointed ears when a particularly bright scene bathed the audience in a white flash.

"She's fine. Let's go." Kagome didn't wait. She took off at a brisk pace without a backwards glance.

Inuyasha marked the sharp edge in her voice as he hurried to catch up with her.

"So did something happen while I was on the phone?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Was everything okay on the phone? You looked a bit upset when you came back."

"Ah," he hedged, not enjoying the focus being flipped. "It was nothing."

Because he would handle it.

Supporters of Naraku's claim to the throne had freed several demons from a high-security prison as a screw-you to the Shikon Council for siding with Sesshomaru. Unfortunately, one of those escapees held a bit of a grudge against him, and Totosai had started to sound like Myoga by the end of the conversation, urging him to return to Sesshomaru's estate for safety.

As if Inuyasha should be worried. He'd definitely been insulted that Totosai didn't think Inuyasha could take the disgruntled prisoner.

"Okay, if you say so," shrugged Kagome.

He did say so. Mainly because he didn't want to tell her. Because she'd ask why the demon held a grudge and he'd have to explain parts of his past that he really didn't want her to know.

Besides, it was a slim chance of him being located here in the first place. No reason to scare her with the slight possibility of a threat.

He had the spell to protect them both. He had his bracelet to disguise him.

Inuyasha had it all under control.

A/N: Happy New Year! My resolution is to finish this story before the end of the year and NOT take months between updates again. Now that it's out there in the universe, I'll feel obligated to follow through haha

See You Next Chapter,

Radiant Sun