A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update!!! I hope some of my readers are still out there who don't hate me yet.

Like I said, I'm really, really sorry, but there were a few problems in my life I had to fix.(short: somebody took my dreams, smashed them to the ground and spat on them). But now, everything's fine again and I have more spare time than ever (thank god for holidays.)

Thanks to all my reviewers for their motivation! demon-lulu: I'm workin' on it! But it's not as easy as it sounds...but I promise, it's on its way! sara: You're right, it's a bit confusing, but I will clear everything up, step by step ( to be honest, I haven't completely figured out the plot for myself) Kyokohigurashi: I kind of fancy the thought of adding Kikyo to the story, but if I do so, she will not have or wouldn't have ever had any kind of romantic relation to Inuyasha, that's for sure. Inuchick06: Thanks for reviewing despite the fact that I hadn't updated for so long, and thanks for finally motivating me to get my lazy butt off the couch and write again.

Have fun:

Chapter five

Knight in shining armor

„ You know, you should be kissing my feet in gratitude!", Inuyasha stated, completely positive about being the most charitable person in the world, "I mean, that's for sure the most luxurious shelter for a derelict that I've ever seen!" he snickered and closed the door.

Unfortunately, while doing so, he turned his back to Kagome. One word: stupid

When he turned around again, a splash of cold, sticky liquid hit him straight in the face and ran down his suit. "I am NOT a derelict!" "Wha-"he stuttered and averted his gaze from his ruined outfit to look up at the girl in front of him. All he was able to see was the face of a pissed off Kagome that filled his whole field of vision, and he was sure that there was fume welling out of her nose when she hissed dangerously,

"How dare you... You were the one who caused me all that trouble after all! You should be thankful that I'm giving you the chance to make good the damage. But no, instead you're standing here and perceive yourself as a knight-in- shining-armour, just because you threw me out of the frying pan into the fire, you jerk!" She stepped back a bit, crossed her arms and blurted out a defiantly "Ts!".

Kagome eyed him out of the corner of her eye. She gulped. His eyes were covered by his white bangs, but she could see his brows twitching. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to pour the champaign over him...

A low growl emitted from his throat and he fizzed, "What.. was that?"

Kagome's hands started to tremble. "What do you mean?"

He just pointed down at his drenched clothes.

"Uhh..... that...um...champaign?" she suggested carefully and took a few steps back to get a safety-distance between them.

"Champaign?" he looked up at her with angrily glistening eyes, and added, "You gonna pay for that, wench! – and I mean that ambiguous! "

Kagome squealed. And jumped five meters away from him. "You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?" she said with a dripping-of-slime smile and put up her best puppy-eyes.

"Who said I was gonna hurt you?" he smirked evilly and slowly, but surely approached her.

Kagome tried to giggle innocently, but she failed miserably – she sounded like a chicken that was just being strangled. She scanned the hallway, desperately looking for an escape route... and there it was : the bathroom! "You know what Inuyasha; I think I'm gonna take a shower!" and with that, she slipped into the bathroom and locked the door. Kagome sighed relieved and slid to the floor. From outside she could hear muffled screaming, "Oh no, you don't" and something like "champaign all over" and "get out"

A nerve over his left eye started twitching. He could feel it.

It was all her fault. And now that stupid wench blocked his bathroom. Inuyasha looked down at his clothes and tried to unwrinkle the wet fabric with his hands. As if it would make any difference.

His cell phone rung. Inuyasha sighed annoyed and slid his hand into his damp pocket to pull it out. He really had to abolish that thing or he'd be a nervous wreck in the end. He clapped the deck open, "Yeah?", Inuyasha rolled his eyes "Sesshoumaru, what do you want?"

Inuyasha impatiently tapped with one of his feet, a white towel neatly folded over his right arm. He demonstratively looked down at his watch. Another thirty seconds had passed. He rose his left hand and hammered at the door "Your time is up!!! Get out already!"

Instead of an answer, the door flew open, accompanied by a wave of steam.

A clean Kagome stepped out into the damp cloud . Her cheeks were tinted pink and a relaxed smile lingered on her lips. Her delicate hands firmly enclosed a towel that was rapped around her body, showing off her long legs. This remembered Inuyasha of when she had stumbled out of his bedroom, only covered by a sheet, with dark circles around her eyes and messy hair. He could only stare and admire her metamorphosis. It was incredible what a bit of water could achieve.

She looked completely different. The dark rings were almost gone; her hair shone like the bronze cupola of a church in the afternoon sun, and her skin looked soft as a just-picked peach. But what disturbed him the most was her scent. It had already been intense before, but now, after all the dirt and exertions off the current events had been washed off, it was breath-taking. He couldn't tell what it smelt like, it was more like a feeling than a smell. It felt wonderful, that was for sure. It slowly sneaked up his nose, and obscured his senses with its sweet aroma. Inuyasha shook his head to get rid of the strange sensation and fixed his eyes back on the girl, and he was more than a bit confused. How cruel it was of god to present such an unfriendly person with such an intoxicating scent. The girl nestled her smooth legs to one another and said, with a slight blush appearing on her face,

"Umm... Inuyasha, I know that's kind of annoying, but, you know, I don't have any clothes... again.... They got 'destroyed' during that little....'accident'."

Inuyasha could feel a cold shudder running down his spine as a dark suspicion formed in his mind.

"Shut up!" Kagome stared at Inuyasha, lust to kill in her eyes.

The hanyou rolled on the floor laughing and pointed meaningfully at her 'outfit'. Between his fits of laughter, he was able to babble "You...look like...you...!" or something like that.

Kagome wore one of Inuyasha's ugliest T-shirts (most likely the most ugly and disgusting one), with two darts on it. The first one pointed upwards, and underneath was written "THE MAN". Not that bad. The other dart was the real problem. It pointed downwards and said "THE LEGEND". And now, picture that combined with XXL- Boxershorts with "fuck me" written on them and black highheels.

Finally, Inuyasha managed to blurt out a full sentence," You look like a crossing between John Travolta in Pulp Fiction and a pregnant guzzler!- on highheels!!"

Inuyasha held his stomach and slowly got up, still laughing like a maniac.

"These are your clothes, you know!" Kagome countered, "why did you even buy them?!"

"For moments like that!" Inuyasha scoffed and broke out into a new fit of laughter.

"I can't believe that you force me to wear that!" If looks could kill, Inuyasha would already be pushing up daisies.

"It's your own fault! You said you would do anything if I go shopping with you!"
The rain had stopped and the autumn revealed its colourful beauty. It had become remarkably warmer and the inhabitants of the city had abandoned their umbrellas. Yellow and red leaves surfed on the slight breeze that tousled the black her of a girl and the white ones of her companion, mingling their colours. Kagome pranced down the street, an evil smile playing around her lips. Time for payback. She ignored the strange look people gave her and the absolutely-not-funny- and-boundless-brainless-pickup lines that every second idiot shouted after her. Inuyasha still had a gleeful smile plastered on his face. But, his joy wouldn't last long...Kagome rubbed her hands in anticipation and grinned to herself.

She turned into a long boulevard, that was jam-packed with shops. Of course she had a goal. Kagome headed for a specific boutique, that was situated in the middle of the street. Next to the entrance, there stood a page with a black tailcoat, who examined her with a derogatory look. Over the glass door, there was a sign which said in big, fat letters: ROBERTO CAVALLI.

Inuyasha's grin froze in an instant. "Are you serious? I cant go inside there with you...especially not like that! These people know me!"

Satisfied, Kagome grinned and said, "Yeah...I'm dead serious". And with that, she stalked up the steps and flung the door open.

Kagome let her eyes slide over all the amazing, overly expensive and just gorgeous dresses, pants, coats, skirts...... She clapped her hands in excitement and squeaked cheerily.

The shop assistant approached her carefully, and definitely was on her guard. As if to check the air around Kagome, she craned her nose in the air and sniffled. Of course Kagome didn't notice any of that – she was off to la-la-land.

The vendor knit her brows and seemed to be trying to figure out if Kagome was rich enough to be in this shop. Taking her clothes into account, she arrived at the conclusion that she certainly wasn't. Just when she rose her arm to tap her on the shoulder, Inuyasha stepped in.

Her hand snapped back as if she had burned herself. Hastily, the salesgirl stumbled a few steps backwards. Speechless, she watched as Inuyasha Tahiko, the goddam rich Inuyasha Tahiko, walked over to that candidate for the first place on this year's worst-dressed list and asked her if she had already found something.

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"Already found something?" he asked, but there was no response.- Not that he had expected one. One look at Kagome's face and you knew that she was in another world at the moment. Shopping-heaven or something near it. Her eyes shone with that cloud-seven happiness, that only clothes could awaken in women. She surveyed the offerings. Fast, but exact. Not a single detail slipped through her inborn nice- clothes-detector-net.
Three hours, seven bags and five shops later, an exhausted and grumpy Inuyasha and a beaming Kagome stepped out of a Mui Mui- store. The T-shirt and the boxers had been accurately tucked into one of the bags, and Kagome presented herself in a new outfit.

"You look like a wandering roadside billboard" Inuyasha scoffed, but even that comment wasn't able to destroy her annoyingly unflawed happiness.

Inuyasha sighed and burrowed his hands into his pockets. Kagome turned to him, the bright smile never leaving her face. "Did you say something?"

"No" Inuyasha lied. "But...don't you get a cramp or something like that?" he added and nodded towards her cheeks. "I mean, you've been smiling for..." Inuyasha looked down at his wristwatch "Three hours and 21 minutes."

She answered with a smile.

"Ok, ok I get it..." he mumbled. "Listen wench, I've got a meeting at eight thirty, and I don't have time to drive you home. But I'll leave you with a friend of mine."

"Sango?" she asked hopefully.

"No" An insidious smirk spread on his face. "But I'm sure you'll have a great time with him too."
"Sure, you don't have to worry – he's the perfect gentlemen!" Kagome mumbled to herself, mocking Inuyasha.

She sat on an ebony desk, that looked as if it had just emanated from an old English movie.

The person that accompanied her, on the other hand, looked like he'd just stepped out of a porn film with the title 'perverted priest'.

Kagome had her hands chastely folded over her crossed legs, just for the limited purpose to protect her panty from the lascivious looks of a certain pseudo-monk.

"So you're a monk, huh?" Kagome send him a disbelieving glance.

Since Miroku had 'greeted' her, there was a safety distance of ten feet between them. Kagome had already been suspicious when Inuyasha led her into the room with that spiteful sneer,
but nothing could have prepared her for that.

Her first impression of Miroku had been a good one. But first impressions are often proofed to be wrong. He had seemed to be a handsome, intelligent young men with manners. And on top of everything, nice. He had immediately greeted her with a smile. Okay, it had been more like a leer, but Kagome had thought that there was nothing to it.

Very naïve.

About one and a half second after their amicable handshake, she had felt his hand rubbing her butt.

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"Well, hat's only partly true. But yes, most of the time I'm sort of a monk." He shot her an almost blinding white grin and added with a wink, "But I don't live abstinent, so don't be afraid to make the first move."

Kagome wrinkled her nose disgustedly. Inuyasha would live to rue that.

Inuyasha skid nervously back and fourth on his chair. "Sesshoumaru, I don't know who told you that.."

His half brother rose his hand to shut him up. " Inuyasha, stop denying it. I know that you intercommunicate with Naraku...again. I've got a very ominous call today, you know."

"I wouldn't call it 'intercommunicating'..." Inuyasha interposed, with a slightly amused undertone.

"That's not funny." Sesshoumaru said calmly "Naraku already caused us enough trouble in the past! I suppose you still remember , don't you?!"

Inuyasha gnashed his teeth. "Of course I do. After all, it was the biggest damage event our insurance company ever settled. And I don't even want to remember how much we had to pay our legal department..."

"... and it caused us financial problems for years." Sesshoumaru continued. "Do you really want that to happen again?!"

This time, Inuyasha didn't reply immediately, but exchanged a long look with his half-brother. Then, he continued, "It's not like I asked for it to happen. And there's not much I can do about it. Sorry to disappoint you."

Sesshoumaru shrugged and rose from his seat. He walked over to the window and let his eyes glide over the busy city , "Well, it's not my problem anyway... you brought it onto you, so you have to erode it."

"So why did you ask me to come then?" Inuyasha asked him point-blank.

"Because you will make it my problem!" Sesshoumaru swiped around, but stayed completely calm, "If I don't do anything about it. And you know we can't afford an incident like that again."

Inuyasha sighed in defeat. "Okay Fluffy," he began and earned a very dirty look from Sesshoumaru for using that nickname, "what do you suggest ?"

"Me? You are the one who's got to come up with a solution" Sesshoumaru laughed a sardonic laugh, "but, you are right, I already thought something up."

Inuyasha lifted one eyebrow." And what would that be..?"

Sesshoumaru turned around again and pleached his hands behind his back. "We have to destroy him before he destroys us. And since we can't inflict damage on him directly, we have to do it inconspicuous."

"What do you mean by inconspicuous?" Inuyasha asked.

"Haven't you figured out yet?" Sesshoumaru stalked back to the desk and sat back down on his 'throne' "I want you to destroy his 'company' from the inside"

Inuyasha threw him a killing glance "Keh. You're joking, right?"

"I assure you that I never felt less like joking than right now." he replied straight-faced.

"Feh!" Inuyasha laughed snidely, "You know that's impossible. How should I do that, if I may ask. Naraku knows my face, you know!"

Sesshoumaru looked at him penetratingly "Who said that he is going to see you?" he said dryly. "If I remember correctly, none of his ... employees has ever seen your face." He crossed his legs and leaned back into the leather cushioning of his chair. "I can already visualise it – Inuyasha, the labourer. Suits you, really."

"Keh."

"By the way, what happened to your face?"

Inuyasha instinctively rose his hand to his face. His cheek was swollen, and the skin under his eye was hot and tautened. "I met a girl last night."

"She didn't seem to be overzealous" Sesshoumaru said grimly and handed him a dispatch case. He cleared his throat briefly and formally, "That's all the information you need. Call me when you made progress."

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Kagome already waited for him when he left the office. "Why aren't you with Miroku?"

She glared at him. "As if you wouldn't know that. I decided to leave after he groped me for the seventh time and asked me to bear his child."

Inuyasha smirked at her, "Serves you right, wench. Anyway, what do you think of dinner? I have to talk to you."

"Hey! You can't drop the subject just like that!" she slapped his arm playfully "but, on the other hand...I'm pretty darn hungry." Kagome rubbed her grumbling belly.

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It was already dark. Heavy, bellied clouds, that were nearly black and hung so low, that it seemed as if they almost touched the tops of the highest buildings, filled the sky. Inuyasha put up the collar of his jacket and tucked his hands into the pockets. He'd chosen a small Italian restaurant which was just a around the corner.

They entered the restaurant and were greeted by a smiling, chubby middle- aged woman with rosy cheeks and a heart-shaped face. She led them to a corner table and handed them their menus.

Inuyasha ordered Ramen (what else) and Kagome chose Gnocchi. When the waitress had left, Kagome clapped her hands to get Inuyasha's attention, "You said you had to talk to me - so I guess it's explanation- time, isn't it?"

"Keh" Inuyasha took a look around to check if somebody was listening and leaned forward. "I just talked to my brother.."

"I know that.", Kagome snapped up.

"Just shut up and listen, okay?" Inuyasha demanded "and he informed me that he knows about my..." he paused and corrected himself, "..our problem with Naraku. It seems he got a nice little call today... anyway, now I have to take the can for your mistakes!"

"Eh? Now it's all my fault, hm? Kagome nagged "a few hours ago, you told me personally that Naraku only 'overreacted' like this 'cause you are not on good terms with him! Don't give me that shit!"

"Who cares? I'm the one who has got to get his hands dirty on the long run! So don't worry!" he pulled up the corner of his mouth in a derogatory way.

Kagome threw her hands in the air and hissed, "Oh! Sorry Mr. I-have-to-do-everything-on-my-own! I will help you, okay? It's my fault too. Satisfied?"

"You don't even know what I have to do!"

"Who cares? I'll have to stay by your side anyway, since I don't have anywhere to go! Besides, it can't be that horrible!"

"There's no way you will help me! I have to do that on my own!" he turned his head away from her and sulked.

"Inuyasha! Look at me!" Kagome demanded, but it was no use. "Ok, fine... I'm going to help you, end of the discussion." She turned her head in the opposite direction and tapped her fingers on her arm. At least, until Inuyasha grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. Their faces were more than close, and her breath caught in her throat when his nose tip tickled her cheek. His voice escaped as an agitated whisper, which was more a suppressed roar, "Kagome, you have no idea what you're talking yourself into!" Had he really just said her name? Before she could continue that thought, Inuyasha disturbed her by squeezing her hand tighter, "What I'm going to do is too dangerous for you." Kagome looked up and locked his eyes with hers, searching them for an explanation. What he said next was brusque, but his eyes went soft when he hissed, "I didn't scrape you of that street yesterday to have you being smashed down there again." When she didn't reply anything for a solid minute, Inuyasha suddenly became aware of how close they were, and a blush crept up his face. He shook off her hand and backed off as if she was a poisonous snake.

Kagome's face was red like a seasoned cherry when she said, "I'm going to help you."

"No way."

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Inuyasha and Kagome sat at his kitchen table, which was covered by dozens of white, single-spaced sheets, photocopies of newspaper articles, photos and countless lists and statistical tables. Sesshoumaru had promised Inuyasha all the information he would need, and it seemed as if he had kept his word. It was loads of information. Definitely too much information.

When Inuyasha had opened the folder, the first thing he had found was a handwritten note by Sesshoumaru,

Inuyasha,
As you already know, I checked up on Naraku's

businesses today and I found out that there are some job
offers in one of his establishments, a restaurant called
' Guchagucha Katasumi'
The ad was very 'ambiguous', if you express it in a

roundabound way.
Short: Act as if you were a criminal.
I want you to get yourself a job at that place and prick up
your ears – I'm sure that you will pick something up –
the location is one of his operation bases.
I'm sure it won't be a problem for you to get yourself a
new identity( including a fitting past).
Watch out for Mr. Kinruikashira Jaken.
He's one of Naraku's closest contact persons and he
resorts to the Guchagucha Katasumi often.
You find the details in the folder.
Have fun.

Kagome groaned and reached for her steaming-hot coffee (with four spoons of sugar, of course). "How am I supposed to stuff all that in my brain in just one hour?!"

A still sulking Inuyasha looked up from his reading ( a too long text about a specific restaurant) and shot her an angry glare, "Stop bitching! You were the one who was eager to help me."

Kagome had won their little argument , and because of that, his ego was still ruffled. He wasn't used to accepting defeat.

"So, what kind of restaurant is that?" Kagome asked to change the issue.

"It's a 'normal' Japanese restaurant that is famous for its exquisite entertainment. From what I read here, there's a lot of illegal stuff going on 'behind the scenes'- which means, in this case, everywhere except for the area that is used for catering. We have to get a job there and we have to come on good terms with the people there, so we can get information out of them."

Kagome shot him an anticipating look and asked, "What kind of 'entertainment'?"

Inuyasha smirked, "Dirty entertainment, if you know what I mean..."

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes."

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Kagome opened her fresh-printed passport and checked its content. "So my new name is Kagome Amaya, hm?" She grinned, "Sounds nice."

They were walking down a unenlightened side street, not far from downtown. The rain had ceased hours ago, just to be replaced by a freezing cold. Small clouds accompanied every word Kagome said. Of course, the same effect would occur when Inuyasha said something. If he would say something. Inuyasha was moping because Kagome had pinned up his hair and stuffed it under a black hat.

"Inuyasha, you don't need to make a fuss about it. We had to pin up your hair. It's just too conspicuous."

All she got as a response was a low grumble "We're here."

"Where is it?"

"On your left side."

"That?!"

"Yep."

The restaurant looked pretty tatty. The windows of the first floor were pasted with black plastic garbage bags. Dim light shone through the slits between the bags and the plaster crumbled off the cladding. There were no signs or whatsoever that gave away that there was a restaurant hidden somewhere behind these walls. The entrance looked like the door to a high- security prison. It was a blank metal door with a small scuttle that was covered by an iron plate.

Kagome snorted, "Looks inviting."

Inuyasha rose his hand and knocked at the door. After a few minutes, the plate was put back and a pink pair of eyes peered trough the opening. A cold female voice asked, "What do you want?"

Kagome gave her her best bad-girl-look and said, "We're here because of the jobs that you offer."

The woman closed the scuttle and disappeared. Inuyasha and Kagome could hear the sound of locks that were being unbarred. The door slid open with a creaky noise and revealed a slender woman with dark hair. She turned around and ordered, "Come in. And close the door." She waged her hand, indicating that they should follow her.

Kagome exchanged a quick look with Inuyasha and then went ahead. She could hear the door banging, and Inuyasha's steps behind her.

The strange woman led them through a hallway that came up to the outward impression that the building suggested: The floor was tiled with a cheap marble imitation, thin cracks spread over the flagstones and dirt gathered in the corners of the corridor. To their right site, a row of monotonous metal letter-boxes were screwed on the wall; just high enough that you could run into the sharp edge with your face if you didn't pay attention for a moment. Directly next to the stair there stood a baby carriage, and in the air lingered that typical staircase-smell, which you couldn't define properly and which seemed to be the same all over the world. The light was just faint enough to be not comfortable. Noises came trough the various thin doors; snippets of a conversation, loud music, moans, screams. Kagome imagined how it would be to live in such a world. Maybe it wasn't exactly hell, but by all means something that came close to her image of purgatory.

The woman stopped in front of a door at the end of the corridor. She waited till both of them had reached her and then opened the door. They stepped into a room that didn't look like the hallway at all. The floor and the walls were coated with black velvet. Except for some sort of a sales counter, a phone and a curtain that obviously hid the door to the next room, the room was empty.

The woman stretched out her hand and said, "My name is Kagura Tatsumaki. Call me Kagura. I'm the manageress here. And you are Ms. Amaya and Mr. Hayashi , I suppose."

"That's correct." Inuyasha said before Kagome had a chance to open her mouth.

"May I have your ID cards then?"

Kagome and Inuyasha handed her their passports. Kagura disappeared behind the counter and they could hear an electronic buzzing, and a blue light flashed up. A few seconds later, Kagura returned and gave them their passports back. "Okay, you're clean."

She looked Kagome over. "You're gonna be our new waitress, Miss Amaya. And you, Mr. Hayashi," she turned to Inuyasha, "are going to be our bartender, right?"

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. Kagura continued, "You can start immediately, since you've already called me earlier, smart boy." Her looks indicated that she meant Inuyasha. "Mr. Hayashi, you can work in your own clothes. Just go through the door behind the curtain and you'll see the bar. Commit what is where to your memory. Hurry, we open in half an hour. Miss Amaya, follow me, I'll hand you your uniform."

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Inuyasha watched them disappear. Kagome did a good job so far, he had to admit that. He sighed and brushed the curtain aside. He lifted an eyebrow in surprise. The restaurant – yes, now he was sure that it deserved that name – was absolutely classy. The bar filled out almost a quarter of the room, and the room was huge. The ebony tables and canapés were distributed in the remaining space.

Inuyasha grinned contentedly. From the bar, he had the perfect survey of every nook.

Inuyasha was getting nervous. The Guchagucha Katasumi had opened half an hour ago, and nearly every table had already been taken by dubious figures or doubtful businessmen. And the prostitutes of the restaurant, of course. And Kagome was still nowhere to be seen.

Just as he finished that thought, the girl in question stepped through the door that led to the kitchen. She wore an outrageous short black skirt and a white, almost see-trough blouse. Every time she took a step, Inuyasha could see her panty. It was pink.

She looked around, and when her eyes met his, a relieved smile parted her lips. She sidled through the people, avoiding the tables. She bent over the bar, and gave him a sign that she wanted to talk to him. At if that had been necessary. Inuyasha was already approaching her as fast as possible without attracting attention. He came to a halt in front of her and pretended to clean a glass. "Where have you been?!" he fizzed, never taking his eyes off the glass in his hands.

"In the kitchen." She fizzed back. "I got to know some of the employees, but I wasn't able to find out anything. What about you?"

"The same here."

Kagome nodded and turned around. Just when she wanted to walk away, a voice stopped her. "Hey sweetie, come her!" Kagome glanced over her shoulder and saw one of the 'doubtful businessmen' patting the bar stool next to him. She gathered all the self-control she had and walked towards the men.

Kagome plastered a smile on her face, "What may I bring you, sir?"

"Your companionship." Kagome swallowed disgustedly and sat down on the barstool. She shot an I-need-help-glance to Inuyasha who observed the situation with eagle eyes. Inuyasha approached them immediately, as if he had just waited for a sign of hers. Well. Most likely he had.

"Would you like something, mister?" The businessman tore his lustful eyes from Kagome and levelled them to Inuyasha. "Tequila for me and the lady."

"I'm not allowed to drink at work."

The man looked back at her and winked, "Who cares?"

He put one of his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

Inuyasha interfered again, "So, what may I get you?" Inuyasha smiled at the man, but it was no friendly grin. It was that almost-grin, which you see once in a while on little dogs on the backseat of parked cars, shortly before they start to yap hysterically, and try to bite through the window pane. The businessman would have been at least slightly worried, if he had paid attention to Inuyasha. But he focused on other things.

Female legs, for example.

Kagome froze.

She could feel his hand moving up her thigh, his fingers slowly gliding under her skirt. Her eyes widened and her face went pale. That was enough of a cry for help for Inuyasha. His arm shot forward. Before the man had even noticed what was happening to him, he dangled a few inches over the ground. Inuyasha grabbed the man's collar tighter, "Don't touch her." He hissed, and Kagome was sure that his eyes went red for the fraction of a second. Inuyasha growled, and the man looked as if he was about to wet his pants. "Go now. And don't come back, or I'll make sure that you will never be able to walk again." Inuyasha released the man, gnashing his teeth in anger.

The man whimpered and stumbled out of the Restaurant. Inuyasha turned his head to Kagome and whispered, "Are you okay?" The girl pressed her lips together and nodded. Then she hopped off the stool and headed towards one of the tables. Leaving a very guilty feeling Inuyasha behind who cursed himself for taking her with him.

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Inuyasha and Kagome trotted down the street to Inuyasha's apartment. It was four o'clock in the morning. The hour, when Madame Night knits big black pullovers and the blood sugar slumps into the cellar to wobble around down there. Kagome sighed happily. They had reached Inuyasha's apartment building. She cleared her throat, "Inuyasha, before we go inside... I wanted to thank you for your help with that guy, you know who I mean." Inuyasha stared at her like she had committed a crime. "What do you thank me for? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been in that situation at all." Kagome smiled. "You know Inuyasha," she said softly, "I was wrong today – Under your granite-hard nutshell, you are a knight in shining armor."

"Feh."

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