"No way, Miroku. I'm not going to one of Sango's little house parties. I haven't yet, and I'm not about to start now," the silver-haired man said as he placed his beer bottle back onto the bar. The two of them were seated on stools side-by-side, enjoying a beer while hardly paying attention to the game playing on the screens above them. It had become a Friday tradition between them since Miroku could remember.
"Come on, Inuyasha. It'll be really small; just a couple of good friends hanging out," Miroku's tone was slightly pleading, turning his torso towards his friend completely. He could see the major defensiveness in his friend's gaze, telling his black-haired counterpart that his decision was final. Not taking 'no' for an answer this time, Miroku leaned closer to the man beside him, "Look, it's been almost a year. You gotta start moving on."
If it had been anyone else, Inuyasha would have bitten his head off. Any mention of his previous relationship had him often responding in an aggressive manner. Because it was Miroku, someone he'd grown to trust even just a little, he could tell that his heart was in the right place. Still, he kept his jaw clenched in defiance, glaring down at his friend with a narrowed gaze. They kept that gaze for a moment, then two, and on three Inuyasha turned his head away, facing forward, "Fine." It was spoken through gritted teeth as he lifted his beer to his lips, "Can we change the subject?"
If anyone were to be looking at the two men, they seemed completely opposite. With Inuyasha wearing a red plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal the sleeve on his one arm, with black skinny jeans and that backward hat still placed upon his head. Beside him was a much more polished man, wearing a purple button-down and pair of black trousers, obviously having just come from his office job. Miroku was soft-spoken and eloquent in his wording, very intentional and well-mannered. Inuyasha was the opposite, unable to keep his mouth from saying something vulgar and lacking any sort of filter most of the time. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kagome had been right, they were the definition of opposites attract when it came to their friendship.
Inuyasha's answer brought a genuine smile to Miroku's lips, nodding in acknowledgment before pulling out his phone to begin typing. Amber eyes peered to the side, trying to see what Miroku was typing before shifting it to his face with suspicion, "What're you typing?"
"I'm just sending you her address and the time to come over, that's all," the answer left him cooly, though there was still a cheeky grin on his face that Inuyasha didn't trust. Miroku could be a sneaky fucker if he wanted to be, Inuyasha knew that better than most.
"You better not be pullin' some shit, or I'll be walkin' out as soon as I walk in," Inuyasha's tone held seriousness in it. Parties had never been his forte - too much talking, too many brawls that ended the night.
Miroku gave his friend a reassuring smile, "No shit being pulled, dear friend. I just know Sango will be just as excited as I am to know you're coming."
"Keh. Why the hell would she care?"
"Believe it or not, Inuyasha, Sango considers you a friend. Can you say it with me? Sound it out, if you need to," Miroku teased, knowing just how closed off the silver-haired man was. The light jab had Inuyasha grinning as he rolled his eyes.
"Shut the fuck up," the words were followed by a playful nudge of the elbow, just enough for Miroku to lean to the side and come right back, "Can we actually change the subject, now?"
With a smile, Miroku gave a nod, "Of course."
With the sound of chime that slowly climbed in volume, Kagome found herself being dragged from her dream and into reality. Blinking her eyes open, she could see the title of 'Alarm: Post Insta' with the option to 'snooze' or 'dismiss'. With a furrowed brow, she grabbed her phone from her nightstand and swiped to dismiss it. There was no way she was ready to make some sort of post. The wound was still fresh and, even a month later, it seeped deep in her heart. Kouga hadn't tried to make any contact with her and she was beginning to realize it was for the best - a clean break, like a bone needing to be set back in place.
Sitting up on her bed, she looked towards the large floor to ceiling window that had allowed the sun to creep through. It was nice out, a nice change from the constant downpour that had been happening on and off for the last month. If it wasn't raining, it was simply overcast, no sun in sight. Throwing her blanket off her, she swung her legs over the side of the bed to slide her feet into her pink slippers that she'd placed neatly beside her bed. Dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a crop top, she made her way to the window to push the blind open more. Her new apartment was rather high up on the fourteenth floor - corner unit.
"Hmph, I bet that dickhead would think my sugar daddy bought this place for me, too..."
She caught herself then, looking down to the floor with a furrowed brow, "Why do I even care?!" the question was posed to no one but herself, the apartment practically empty of people and things. The only room in the house that was completely unpacked was the one she stood in, the rest of it not having the furniture set up or boxes still packed up. Of course, the girls offered to help her unpack, but she said she wanted to go through the boxes and make sure that anything that pertained to Kouga was tossed. The last thing Kagome wanted was to have a mental breakdown with company over, regardless of Sango explaining to her that was what herself and the other trio were there for.
She'd told them that three weeks ago.
With a huff, she turned and headed out of her bedroom and to the kitchen where she, thankfully, had set up her coffee maker.
"Now I just need -" she opened the cupboard and realized it was bare, "Oh no. I still haven't unpacked my mugs...how do I keep forgetting?" she whined, placing both hands over her face and running them down out of sleepy frustration. With the realization that she could just order some, she quickly grabbed her phone and placed an order for a venti cold brew with vanilla cream and light ice - may as well make it fancy.
Before she could put her phone away, a notification popped up on her phone - a text from Sango,
[SMS received from: Sister ❤️] - hey! i'm thinking of having a party tonight, u should come. (seen ✔️)
A party? Was that a good idea? She was sure that people would bring up her break up with Kouga, whether to try and get the full story or just give their condolences. Holding her phone in her hands, she let her thumbs start to type out a response:
[SMS sending to: Sister ❤️] - i don't know if that's a good idea. i think it's too soon. (seen ✔️)
There was hardly thirty seconds that when by before she received a response
[SMS received from: Sister ❤️] - it'll just be me, the girls, miroku, and couple of his friends. real low key. (seen ✔️)
As hesitant as she was to say no, she realized how she hadn't really had much interaction outside of Sango for the last while. Her apartment had become her safe place, as unfurnished as it was. She promised herself that she would at least get her filming room completely set up, as it was only cleared enough to have her lights and camera set up. She'd updated her followers on Instagram that she didn't know if she was ready to come back to social media, yet. Thankfully, most were kind and understanding, but the small jabs still hurt.
Weighing the options, she received another text from Sango:
[SMS received from: Sister ❤️] - don't leave on seen u nerd. (seen ✔️)
[SMS sendingto: Sister ❤️] - okay fine. impatient much? but actually. low-key? (seen ✔️)
[SMS received from: Sister ❤️] - as low-key as we can make it. u know how it goes. (seen ✔️)
[SMS sendingto: Sister ❤️] - if it gets to be too much, i'll just leave. how's that sound? (seen ✔️)
[SMS received from: Sister ❤️] - do what u gotta do but i think this'll be good for u. (seen ✔️)
With the details of how she was getting there and when, Sango figured it'd be a good idea for Kagome to come over early to hang out and get ready together. For the first time in a while, Kagome was looking forward to something.
It had taken for a few boxes, but she'd managed to find something nicer to wear than what she'd already unpacked. Even if it was just a low-key hangout, Kagome wanted to take the opportunity to dress casual, yet chic. With her hair up in an intentionally messy ponytail, she slipped on a long-sleeved, emerald green off-the-shoulder bodysuit before sliding on a pair of light blue acid wash jeans. Around her neck, she'd grabbed her small, gold necklace that had been given to her by her dad before he passed. The chain held a small, pink pendant, sitting just below the dip of her neck that merged into her collarbone. Rolling it between her thumb and index finger, Kagome gave herself a moment to wallow in her memories of him, as she sometimes did. The two of them had been close and she'd lost him at the age of fifteen to a car accident. Maybe it was because her heart was already in pain, but this particular time stung more than it had in recent years.
Looking down at her phone, she saw the notification to say the cab was outside and drew in a deep, shaky breath to gather herself enough to grab her purse, makeup bag, and head towards the door. Sliding on a pair of black, chunky-heeled boots, she grabbed her black pea-coat and headed out the door.
The low-key hang out had turned into a full-blown party, the music playing loudly and the small two-bedroom apartment packed with people. Some that Kagome knew, some she was introduced to with a shake of a hand. For the first time in a while, Kagome had felt at ease - a natural extrovert, she didn't realize just how much she had been missing actual human interaction. Even though it was a bit packed, there was still room to move around.
Kagome weaved through the crowd to make her way to the fridge, opening the freezer to pull out her vodka and make another high-ball for herself. As she did so, she carried on a conversation with Ayumi happily, finally revealing her bubbly self for the first time. It had been a joy for her friends to see, thankfully having no one bring up the sore subject that could possibly have ruined her night. Though, for some reason, she didn't think she'd very much care at this point, having a couple of drinks in her to loosen her up a bit. Not enough to be considered drunk, but the buzz was clouding her mind, that was for sure.
The doorbell rang and Kagome could see Sango, dressed in a simple pink crop top and black skinny jeans, jogging to the door, but before she could see who it was, Eri tugged on her arm to come back into the living room.
Looking down at his phone and back to the numbers in front of him, he paused for a moment, unsure if he even wanted to go. If he hadn't promised Miroku, he'd have turned around and left with no question. A few more moments passed before he tore the bandaid off, ringing the doorbell and being invited in by the hostess herself, "Oh my god, you're actually here!" The excitement in her voice couldn't be missed, even with the pumping bass and loud chatter behind her.
"Uh, yup," he said tentatively before hearing the buzzer go to unlock the door. Pulling on it, he walked in with a sense of regret, "Low-key, huh?" he murmured beneath his breath, hitting the 'up' button on the elevator, immediately seeing the doors open for him to step in. He could see himself in the mirror, sporting a leather jacket over top of a black v-neck, a burgundy toque over his head, and his hair down as it naturally fell. The outfit ended with a pair of jeans and his same black converse that he'd worn the day before.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd gone to a proper party; it must have been when-
He stopped his thought process there, clenching his jaw at the fact that still, after almost a whole year since they ended things, the thought still gave him such a visceral reaction.
"You gotta start moving on."
Miroku's words rang through his head, knowing (and hating) how right he was. She was a thing of the past and there was no chance of them finding one another again, not unless he managed to change himself completely. Not unless he conformed completely, and he just wasn't able to.
Hearing the ding of the elevator, he was brought back to the present, taking a step out before peering down the hallway and then the other. There was no question as to which unit it was, hearing the loud music bleeding from the cracks in the door.
"You can do this..." he mused to himself just below his breath before taking a few steps towards the unit and rang the doorbell. It took all of five seconds for the door to be pulled open and the true volume of the music to come free. He winced slightly at the sound, peering down at Sango as she greeted him.
"Inuyasha! I'm so happy you came!" Her voice was genuine, holding a sense of authentic happiness within it as she stepped to the side and gestured for him to come in, "You can put your beer in the fridge if there's room. I've told people to only put one on deck at a time," she added, watching as his friend slowly made his way inside, trying to catch his bearings when it came to all of the sounds and smells that overwhelmed the room.
"Miroku!" Sango called, seeing her boyfriend, dressed in much more casual wear of a white t-shirt and a black pants, turn and actually look genuinely surprised, "Look who actually showed up!" Inuyasha gave a somewhat awkward smile and a wave, not really knowing what else to do - he wasn't sure if he knew anyone else. Everyone's scent muddling together into one and making an assault on his nostrils.
Seeing Miroku walked towards him, he gave Inuyasha not warning by bringing him into a welcoming hug, "I wouldn't believe it, if I didn't see it," he stated, giving Inuyasha a pat on the back before pulling away, "You actually decided to come."
Already, he felt out of place, not having the lifeline he was used to in a significant other introducing him and being the one to carry on a conversation while he just kept close. Those who saw him were often perplexed, humans were intimidated while demons felt they had nothing to do with him - they knew what he was. Humans just knew he was a demon of some kind, and Inuyasha kept it that way. He could sense the presence of a few demons sprinkled within the crowd, which wasn't as uncommon as it used to be, especially when it came to friendships. Romantic relationships, however, were still taboo, Inuyasha would know more than most.
"Yeah," Inuyasha finally responded before gesturing to his beer, "I'm gonna go put this in the fridge." Miroku followed him as he did so, able to sense that his friend felt a little out of place.
Leaning on the counter, he folded his arms across his chest, watching as Inuyasha took a beer from the four-pack and put it in the fridge, "Where should I put my coat?"
"The office. Here, I'll take it," Miroku held out a hand for Inuyasha to pace his coat in, "Help yourself to one of my beers while yours cool down."
Having peeled off his jacket, he watched as Miroku took it and headed towards the office before turning back to the fridge and doing what he'd offered. Cracking the can open, he took a sip and simply leaned on the counter where Miroku had been before. Placing a hand in his pocket, he scanned the room in an attempt to find some familiar faces, managing to see some other friends that he hadn't seen in 'too long' - he could already hear them say it.
Having caught their attention, they held the same amount of surprise Miroku had, "No fuckin' way!" a tall, brown-haired boy shouted.
"Look who decided to grace us with his presence!" another shorter, raven-haired man followed, the two of them making their way towards him. It had caused a little bit of a scene, some people stopping their conversations to look towards just who they were shouting at.
The sudden attention on his had him tensing, keeping still in the kitchen as he simply held his beer in his hand as the two men came up to give him a similar hug that Miroku had, "Hey Daisuke, Eito." He greeted, only pushing off the counter to receive said hugs.
"It's been forever, man. How've you been?"
The conversations carried on at a pretty surface-level basis, not wanting to really talk about his failed relationship and keeping it logistical. It was easy, though; easier than Inuyasha thought. Throughout their conversations, they'd made it to the outskirts of the living room, the four of them standing close together to catch up. He was invested in hearing what Eito and Daisuke had been up to, nodding and offering small laughs here and there. Simple. It was simple. But still, he couldn't help but hold reservations to let his guard down completely, as it never ended well for him. Either he ended up getting hurt or in some sort of trouble - the last thing he wanted was to leave such an impression while in the presence of so many people he didn't know.
Kagome and the other girls danced and gossiped, sometimes going out to the balcony to take a breather before going back in when a certain song started playing. In all honesty, she hadn't intended to stay for as long as she had, thinking that she would head out after an hour or so. At this rate, she was on her way to being the last to leave, if she didn't stay the night. With her completely distracted by a conversation with Yuka, she couldn't see the look Sango and Miroku gave one another. It looked as though they were some sort of spy-team, giving a grin to one another before Sango turned back to the group of girls she'd been keeping her company the whole night.
"Wait here. Kagome, I have someone I want you to meet."
"What? No, Sango! Don't-" Kagome had gone as far as reaching out to try and grab her friend's hand, knowing exactly what Sango was doing. Wasn't it a little early to try and play matchmaker? Kagome turned away from where Sango had run off to, mentally preparing herself to start small talk with whoever she decided to bring over. Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi continued to watch Sango, seeing her grab the wrist of a tall, silver-haired bad-boy.
"Oooh, Kagome. He's cute," Yuka sang.
"Like. Really cute," Eri emphasized.
"Inuyasha!" Sango called, seeing her friend's head peer around the person who was standing across from him. Brows were slightly raised in question before feeling the seemingly vice-like grip of Sango's hand wrap around his wrist, "Come here, there's someone I want you to meet." Immediately, Inuyasha caught on as to what was happening and shot Miroku what could only be described as a death glare while he was dragged away from the group.
Miroku gave an amused grin as he followed the two, wanting to see first hand if himself and Sango's assumption was right.
As Inuyasha got closer to the intended target, he suddenly smelled it - that familiar scent. Where did he recognize it? It was distinct. Vanilla and citrus.
"Kagome," Sango began, intending to introduce the two.
"Kagome?" He knew that name. He knew he did. A slight panic rose up in his chest as he suddenly saw her turn around, "Her!"
As Kagome turned around, she prepared a sweet smile to give a friendly 'nice to meet you'; but, when she was met with that molten amber, her own mahogany eyes widened in surprise and negativity, "No way! This jerk?!"
"I want you to meet Inuyasha. He's-" Before Sango could even continue, the two intended pair shouted at the same time.
"You!"
"Oh. Do you two know each other already?" Sango asked, genuinely confused by both of their reactions. Hostility grew between the two of them, glaring at one another with a clenched jaw as both of them recanted the one and only interaction they'd ever had.
"You could say that," Kagome practically growled, fists clenched as the two of them continued their unofficial staring contest. It lasted for another moment or two until Inuyasha broke the gaze, folding his arms against his chest and turning his head away from her.
"Keh. I don't see what's got you all huffy," Inuyasha stated flippantly, causing Kagome to respond without a moment of hesitation.
"Huffy?! You accused me of having a sugar daddy, you prick!"
"Woah! Woah! Woah! Let's all just take a step back. I'm sure we can figure this out," Miroku - ever the mediator - tried to calm them, only to hear Inuyasha give his own rebuttal.
"Can you blame me?! That car was fuckin' expensive!"
"Alright!" Sango stated definitively, looking to Miroku before gesturing towards the office. Not missing a beat, Sango grabbed Kagome's wrist as Miroku began to push Inuyasha, all of them headed towards Sango and Miroku's room. The entire way, both Kagome and Inuyasha protested, and when they finally made it into the bedroom, Sango closed the door and locked it.
Facing away from one another with a huff, both Inuyasha and Kagome folded their arms over their chests, keeping the same sense of defensiveness towards one another.
"Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" Sango demanded, voice holding a great sense of authority over the two unmoveable forces.
"Nothing to tell," Inuyasha stated before Kagome interjected.
"That's because you were the one being an absolute jerk! Completely unprovoked, by the way!" Kagome had turned to face him then, only meeting his back.
Sango and Miroku simply stood there, still absolutely confused by what they were witnessing - this was absolutely not their intention. In all honesty, the two of them thought the now bickering pair would do each other some good, what with both of them having trouble moving on from their last relationship. Not only that, but they thought Kagome would be able to get Inuyasha to open up a little more - a specialty of hers. While Inuyasha would have been able to give her the devotion that she'd craved so much from Kouga and never truly got. Though, it seemed neither would be willing to give the other chance, after this certain exchange.
Miroku brought his palm to his face before pinching the bridge of his nose, "No one has told us exactly what happened," he murmured while Sango, simply released a frustrated sigh. If there was one thing that Kagome and Inuyasha shared, it was stubbornness.
"She came in to pick up her car. I told her how I fixed it. She left." As curt as ever, he peered over his shoulder towards the petite woman who was glaring up at him the same way she had that day.
"Yeah! All while insulting and stereotyping me!" she shouted, obviously still fairly rustled by the interaction. Why did she still care so much? It was a month ago.
"Hey! I'm normally right! Not a stereotype, if it's mostly true!" He snapped back, now taking his turn to face her, looming over her with their height difference.
"Inuyasha, that seems highly unlike you," Miroku finally chimed in, the other pair finally stopping their bickering to look at him with a very similar look of disapproval, "I mean, granted - look, Kagome, he's rough around the edges but," His attention found Inuyasha once again, "I've never heard you say things like that."
That statement made Inuyasha pause, jaw clenched as he kept his gaze on his friend. The silence was heavy, weighing down on the squad until Inuyasha relented. Straightening, he folded his arms across his chest with a sense of defeat, "I was having a rough go that day, okay?"
Kagome's eyes widened, looking at him with complete disbelief, "A...rough go? That's your excuse?"
It was back to how they were before, Inuyasha looming over her as they seemed to get ready to verbally fight against one another, "Whadya want me to do? Say sorry?!"
"Yes!"
Except it wasn't just Kagome's voice, but Miroku and Sango's as well, causing the only one left in the room to jump slightly, "Jeez, okay! Okay!" His attention turned to Kagome with a defiant stare, the young woman looking up at him expectantly, "I'm sorry I...said those things." It was slightly mumbled, but Kagome got the idea that it was as good as she was going to get.
Straightening herself, she folded her arms across her chest and jutted a hit out. Lifting her chin towards him, she gave it a moment, leaving the rest of the group to sweat, none more than Inuyasha himself. As small as she was, there was no denying she could hold her own in an argument.
"I accept," she finally chirped, offering him a small, but genuine, smile, "Now. Wanna try that introduction again?" Her hand went out then, leaving Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango perplexed by the gesture.
"Is she for real?"
When it became obvious that she was, Inuyasha hesitantly reached his hand out, feeling her take it with a firm shake, "My name's Kagome; nice to meet you."
"Inuyasha, nice to meet you, too."
"Leave it to Kagome's heart of gold..." Sango murmured, turning to the door and unlocking it to walk out, Miroku following in stride with a nod.
By midnight, there was only a handful of people left; included in that handful were Inuyasha and Kagome. They'd kept their distance from each other after their little incident, but not after Kagome managed to show him her talent of talking about anything and nothing at the same time. She asked him more about himself, aside from what he did as she already knew that. There had been the temptation to ask him what was this 'rough go' he spoke of, but she knew better than to pry.
Eventually, though, Kagome had been dragged back to her friend group and Inuyasha was left to find his own. He had half a mind to leave after what had just happened, telling himself that things like that were the reason he never went to parties. But something compelled him to stay, something that he didn't really understand.
When the party had died down, Inuyasha had found himself out on the balcony by himself, holding his last beer in his hand and not even feeling a buzz. Demon blood did that - made it difficult to get drunk or feel anything that would bring down inhibitions. Leaning his forearms on the railing, he took in the silence and the fresh air, his sense of smell and hearing able to take a break for the time being before he planned to go back inside.
An introvert through and through, the party had been a lot for him, but for some reason, he didn't mind. He'd forgotten what it had been like to be around friends, to have fun, and just catch up - to not take things so seriously. The gesture of forgiveness from Kagome, that had been strange and unexpected, but Sango and Miroku didn't seem too surprised by it. Was she always like that? Then she tried to carry out a conversation with him as if nothing happened. Was that normal? No. It couldn't have been.
"Hey," the greeting had him peering over his shoulder, seeing the very person he'd just been thinking about come onto the balcony.
"Hey," his reply was much less chipper than hers, feeling a bit guilty that his apology wasn't as genuine as it could be. Miroku was right, he was rough around the edges and he didn't feel remorse for a lot of things. But Kagome, she looked so much like her. It threw him off to the point where his guard had come up much higher than he'd anticipated. Their smells were completely different, as well as the subtle differences in their features, now that he'd been in the same room as Kagome for longer than five minutes. Knowing that it was because of his ex that made him treat her so negatively, he knew he'd fucked up.
Glancing towards her as she took up her own spot beside him, resting her own arms against the balcony, he took a sip of his beer.
"Whatcha doin' out here by yourself?" The question was posed gently, genuinely. It had been a long time since a woman had spoken to him in such a tone. A smirk came upon his face, turning back to look out at the cityscape before them.
"Takin' a break. I dunno if you noticed - I'm not great with people," he joked, trying to make light of their previous interaction. Kagome offered a chuff from her nose, the beginning of a laugh. There was a pause between them for a moment Inuyasha looking down at his beer before tapping a finger against the bottle, "Hey, Kagome..." he began, swallowing some. Shocked to hear her name, she turned her head towards him with a tilted.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" she replied, giving the same energy back to him by saying his name.
"I really am sorry for what I said before, back at the shop," his voice was much softer when he seemed to speak genuinely and not out of anger or some sort of bravado. Something told her she wanted to hear more of it.
The apology shocked Kagome some, she didn't know Inuyasha much, if at all; yet, with her talent of reading people, she could tell that an apology like this was not the norm. Turning her whole body to face him, one arm moving to lean on the balcony still, "I already accepted your apology," she stated simply, seeing Inuyasha look towards her, only to scoff and look back towards the view.
"Never had someone accept an apology so easily, especially after what I'd said to you."
"Yeah, well. My mom always taught me to never hold a grudge, if you can help it," she stated, adjusting herself again to find herself looking over the same view as he was, "Besides, you said you had a bad day. What good would it do if I just let that be my impression of you?"
She kept surprising him, glancing towards her with just his gaze, "What do you do?" The question had Kagome turning her head back towards him, "Like, as a job? You said you paid for the car by yourself. You know what I do so, what about you?"
Kagome always had a hard time answering that question. She had millions of followers, which meant a lot of people knew who she was without needing to ask. Yet, when people did ask, who weren't familiar with that whole aspect of social media as an actual job, it was sometimes hard to explain, "I do social media," she stated, knowing that was fairly vague, "I'm a social media...influencer." She hated that word, but it was true - she had influence over her followers, and she never took that lightly.
"Like Instagram, YouTube, and that other shit?" He obviously used all of those platforms, what person in this day and age didn't? But he wasn't necessarily active on them, nor did he really dive into that realm much. There were some things he watched on YouTube and followed some of his favourite tattoo artists or celebrities that would never know if his existence.
Giving him a nod and a hum of agreeance, she shrugged softly, "Yeah. I do mostly makeup reviews, tutorials, some lifestyle stuff. Used to do vlogs but..." she stopped herself then, seeing that his gaze was locked on hers, open and showing he was intently listening. It suddenly intimidated her, as it did back at the shop when he'd first made his entrance.
"But what?" he asked, not really realizing that he was opening a can of worms that Kagome had given him the means to.
"Uhm, I-" she shrugged softly, before averting her gaze, "I just didn't feel like doing it anymore," Kagome was good at a lot of things, but lying was not one of them. Even a stranger like Inuyasha was able to tell there was more that she wasn't telling him.
"Has anyone told you that you're a bad liar?"
Kagome couldn't help but release a giggle, "All of the time," she admitted, keeping her gaze averted and focused on the cityscape in front of her. After a moment, she leaned her head towards her shoulder, lifting it to meet her head halfway before turning her gaze towards him, chin resting on her own shoulder. There was a bit of surprise that coursed through her, seeing that he was still looking at her rather intently, "They included my ex a lot - it was kind of something him and I did together. So, I think it'll be a while until I start them up again."
Kagome had never been one afraid to be an open book, giving at least some trust to everyone she met. There had never been a reason as to why she wouldn't let people know more about her - it was a part of the reason that her channel did so well. People appreciated just how real and open she was about her life.
"Ah," he finally replied before nodding, "That's fair."
Silence fell between them once again, Inuyasha not really knowing where to take the conversation after that. He didn't need to know, as Kagome picked it back up, "What about you? What was this 'rough go' you mentioned?" She couldn't help it - she was a curious girl, "I told you mine, you tell me yours."
Inuyasha scoffed, finally taking his attention from her to the ground, "Uh..." he didn't know how to make it sound not creepy in some capacity, "You look like my ex. Well, at first glance you did. Up close, not so much."
"It must have been a rough break if that was how you reacted," she mused, now letting her own attention hold his frame, showing that same intentive listening.
Another scoff before he nodded his head, "You could say that. I won't bore you with the details," he explained letting his gaze find hers, seeing a sense of understanding that he hadn't seen in a very, very long time. It had his heart skip a beat, spooking him slightly as he straightened himself and gripped the balcony with his hands.
Trying to avert his gaze from her, he peered inside to see the obvious movements of people who had just been caught and trying to brush it off as if they hadn't been staring, "Seems we had an audience," he mused, Kagome following his gaze and rolling her eyes as she turned and leaned her back against the railing instead.
"They really thought they were being slick, hey?" she mused, letting a playful grin grace her lips, "Trying to set us up."
"Hmph, yeah. I now know why Miroku practically begged me to come."
"Oh, I bet he really needed to twist your arm," she teased, only giving him a side glance with that same cheeky grin. Inuyasha returned the smirk.
"Practically had to break it," he joked, having Kagome giving him a warm chuckle in response.
The two of them fell back into that silence, not really wanting to leave the other's presence but it was getting to the point where it needed to happen eventually. Well, until Kagome broke it once again, "Why don't we humor them a little?" Inuyasha turned his attention to her with a confused expression, something Kagome found herself finding cute. If she didn't have a few drinks in her, she would have scared herself with the thought, "Wanna give me your phone?" She straightened herself and held a hand out for him to place his phone within it.
Slowly, Inuyasha pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocking it and handing it to Kagome. It was a Samsung - she didn't know how to work those phones, "I don't know how people use Andriod," she stated bluntly.
"'Cause it's better," he replied just as bluntly as she did, "Whadya need in there, anyway?"
"Your contacts. I'm giving you my phone number. Then you'll give me yours," she spoke as if it was an order, not something he could question or have a choice in.
Skeptical, he opened his contacts and clicked 'add new number' for Kagome to put in her information. Filling in her phone number, she finished the form by putting her name in. To make sure he remembered her well, she put a little sun emoji beside it. Handing it back to him, she pulled out her own iPhone, finding her contacts and handing it to him, "Don't put in your name," she explained, causing Inuyasha to furrow his brow at her, "I like to think of my own."
Doing as he told, he put in his phone number and handed it back to her. Keeping the screen from him, she typed in a name before saving it, "What'd you put for my name?"
"It's a secret," she stated before giving him a bit of a wink and heading back inside, leaving Inuyasha out on the balcony by himself, trying to register what had happened.