Inuyasha pushed the door to the shrine around the Bone Eater Well open, and stared at Kagome's house in amazement. The path and court was cleaned, and white washed as it might have been in his own time. The shrine he was in had been painted with some vile smelling substance, but it made it shine like cherry wood. The other building, near the old man's store was washed, and there were flowers hanging from the doorway.

Inuyasha stepped down carefully, wishing he had washed his feet before walking across the stones. "Ach! Inuyasha! Stop right there!" The old man's voice froze Inuyasha with one foot in the air. "Don't walk on that yet. I'll get you a towel to wash your feet." Inuyasha looked to where the old man was speaking from, and was surprised to find him in the robes of a priest of the shrine. Inuyasha didn't move, staying balanced on one foot, intending on being stubborn, and waited patiently while the old man ran into the house. I guess this is a shrine, he thought to himself, but somehow I didn't realize it was ever in use.

Kagome rushed out of the house, carrying two towels with her. The old man followed behind her, anxiously hurrying her on. "He's going to make a mess of the steps, and I won't let that happen." The old man's eyes widened slightly to see Inuyasha had frozen, as he was commanded.

Inuyasha grinned and bared his fangs for the old man. "You sure took long enough," he yelled across the courtyard.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," Kagome jumped, and told him quickly. "He just told me you were here."

Inuyasha looked from her to the old man, and realized she thought he was speaking to her. You should tell her that it wasn't her that you were teasing, he told himself. But instead, "Feh."

Kagome was still prattling on, even as she wiped his raised foot off and dried it carefully, on her knees in front of him. "One of the elders of the neighborhood has passed away and requested that his funeral be here. We've been working non-stop getting the shrine in order." She nudged his other foot, and he switched. "The lacquer on the Bone Eater's Well hadn't dried, and its too sticky for us to push it open or I would have been back yesterday. Cleaning sucks." Kagome finished, breathlessly and looked up at him.

Inuyasha turned an even deeper shade of red. She cleaned my feet like a servant, now she's staring at me. What am I supposed to do? I should say something. Anything. "Feh," he said, from behind where his hair had fallen in his face when he looked down to watch her. Try again, Inuyasha. "Thank you." He held his hand out to help her up.

Kagome blushed this time. "Oh, I'm sorry, I should have asked if…" she trailed off as her hand touched his and he pulled her up. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he was amazed at the life she always had behind hers. The contact was electrifying for him, but then it always was. "…if it was alright to stay extra," she improvised, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that wasn't what she meant to say. They both blushed again.

Inuyasha shrugged and looked at the ground. "Someone kicked it, and this is a shrine of sorts. I guess it was to be expected sometime." He shrugged again. "I only came cause they asked me to." He jerked his head towards the well.

"Ahem," the old man was watching from behind Kagome. "Its good that you did come. I was waiting for you," he grinned at Inuyasha. "I don't trust Souto on the roof of the shrine, nor am I spry enough to get up there. Will you patch the roof with some tiles for us?"

Flashing his eyes at the old man, Inuyasha pointed to the building with flowers. "That shack you mean?" He asked, condensendingly. "I guess that if you're foolish enough to put a roof on it, I can humor you by patching it."

"Inuyasha," Kagome snapped at him. "Behave yourself."

"Feh," he said, meaning that he'd said he'd do it already, so why complain.

"Osuwari," Kagome said, and Inuyasha instantly was flattened. "Weren't you ever taught to respect your elders?"

Inuyasha pried his face from the ground and glared at Kagome. "I said I'd do it, didn't I? Do you ever listen to what I say?" He added, frustrated for being sat.

Instantly Kagome flushed pink, and he noticed it was a different blush than she'd had all day. This was one where she was embarrassed for doing something wrong. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha." She held out her own arm, to help him up. The whole thing was absurd to him. One moment, they were almost close, then she had to go and do this horrible thing to him. He didn't take her arm to raise to his feet.

"Feh," he said to her, refusing to look. He turned to the old man who was watching them. "So, where's the tiles at? Is it obvious which ones need replaced?"

The old man grabbed his arm and led him away from Kagome. "The tiles are in the back of the shrine. Just replace the ones with holes in them. Start with the largest holes, so if there isn't enough tiles it won't be quite as obvious."

Behind him, Inuyasha heard Kagome run into the house, and he thought he could smell her crying. But, rather than go check on her and disappoint the old man, who really had been waiting for him to do this, he sighed heavily and turned back to listen to what he was saying.

"Really, don't worry about her, Inuyasha. You two are too much alike, and it causes friction sometimes. But, beyond that, even I can tell she cares for you."

"Excuse me?" Inuyasha's eyes opened, surprised. One moment they were talking about roof tiles, the next he was assuring him of Kagome's affections. "What does it matter if she cares for me or not?"

The old man smiled wisely. "I can hardly wait for the wedding." He winked at Inuyasha and turned to leave. "Don't take too long. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Feh," Inuyasha said, and jumped on the roof to start inspecting the damage to the aged tiles.