Author's Note: Wow, I'm so sorry that took so long but I've had kind of a week from hell. I know, I know, I won't bore you, but suffice it to say that term is ending (meaning I'm really busy), I have a cold, I'm in rehearsal for a show, and I have to sing in a contest on Monday. I wanted to update last weekend but it was either this or MIA, and it was MIA's turn next. Anyway, I'll try not to take so long again, but I'll be out of town next weekend so if I don't get a chance to update before I leave it'll take me until the middle of next week. But that's spring break, so maybe I can get a few chapters done to make up for it!

    Anyway, glad to hear people are enjoying it, and never fear; I don't abandon fics, period. At least not ones I post! ;)

Alter Ego

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

    Miroku handed the couple their beers with a smile and went back to the other end of the bar to check on his co-worker.

"You doing alright here Kagome?" It was her first time tending bar. Since it was Inuyasha's night off someone else had to fill in for him, and Kikyo, their boss, had suggested that Kagome might be ready to give it a try.

"Mm," she nodded, her attention currently concentrated on the drink she was mixing. He smiled reassuringly and returned to his end of the bar. But not without sneaking a surreptitious look at Kagome's backside on the way.

He glanced around the room, surveying the crowd for any lovely females he might want to pursue when he was off duty. As his eyes swept past the entryway he did a double-take. Was that...Inuyasha who just walked in? He squinted slightly, trying to confirm his suspicion. In human form?

Miroku raised a stunned eyebrow at his friend as he approached the bar, a smug look on his face.

"Inuyasha? What the hell are you doing? And what's with the hair -- this isn't the new moon."

"Shhh," Inuyasha quieted him, casting a quick glance to see that Kagome was out of earshot and distracted. Then he brought his attention back to Miroku. "What do you think I'm doing? Kagome despises me as me, but she doesn't know about my human form. I've got this ring that turns me human even without the new moon, so I just-"

"Hey, that's cheating," Miroku said indignantly.

"You didn't say anything about having to be in my usual form, only that she had to be willing," Inuyasha countered.

The brown-haired man shook his head with a roll of his eyes and a slight smile. "Fine, ya got me. But even in your human form you don't have a chance with her. You have all the finesse of a bull in a china shop."

"Feh! We'll see about that, monk." And with that, Inuyasha turned and sauntered on up toward Kagome's end of the bar, looking for all the world like a predator going in for the kill.

He casually took a seat at the bar, leaning one elbow on it as he glanced at the people surrounding.

"Can I get you anything?"

He had to stop himself from smirking evilly when that oh-so-familiar female voice sounded beside him. Instead, he selected a comfortably charming expression and turned fully to face her with a winning smile.

"Yes please, can I have a scotch on the rocks?"

She smiled back at him brightly. "Absolutely. Coming right up."

His eyes flashed momentarily with triumph that she had failed to recognize him, but her gaze was averted in fixing his drink so she didn't see it. "So, been working here long?" he asked in a friendly sort of way.

She looked up for a moment, then replied, "Mm, a few months. Never seen you in here before, I don't think."

"Oh, I've been here once or twice, but I don't think I've seen you either. I'm pretty sure I would remember someone as lovely as you." The last bit was accompanied with an innocently attractive grin, though it masked a revolted scoff in his mind. Keh, right bitch...or maybe just because you're annoying as hell.

She laughed lightly and smiled a bit brighter. "Thanks, that's sweet."

At least she seems to be buying it...

"It's true! Thank you," he said as she handed him his scotch. "What's your name?"

Considering him for a moment, she seemed to satisfy herself he was alright. "Kagome. What's yours?"

"My name?" Hmmm, he probably should have thought of that sooner, but he'd been a bit preoccupied with the whole 'turning human to mask his appearance' thing. Quickly he cast about for a suitable name and blurted out the first one that came to mind. "Ryoga." Ryoga?! What are you, some kind of fucking idiot?

She tilted her head curiously, "Isn't that the name of that guy from-"

"Ranma 1/2? Yeah, I get that a lot." Of all the stupid...why couldn't you pick a normal name you idiot? But he continued to smile amiably despite his inner monologue's ranting.

"It's rather unusual, don't you think?"

"I suppose, but it works for me," he said lightly.

"I like that," she replied, leaning forward on the bar. The place was beginning to clear out since it was getting close to closing, so not many people required her assistance. She was glad of that, because quite frankly there was something about this man that drew her to him. He seemed...nice. But more than that he seemed interesting and confident. Perhaps it was possible to find that middle ground after all...

Inuyasha took another sip of his drink while she pondered. "So, what do you do when you're not serving drinks?" he asked.

To that she gave a short laugh. "Not much, unfortunately. I'm afraid I don't have much of a life at the moment. I take classes at the university from time to time, but I don't study full-time anymore."

"Anymore? Why not?"

"Can't afford it, since..." she trailed off looking away and clearing her throat.

Inuyasha was curious in spite of himself. "What?" he asked.

"Mm, nothing. But how about you? What do you do?"

Ah, yet another thing he should have considered. Obviously he couldn't tell her the truth. "I, uh, work in public relations."

"Public relations? What exactly is that?" she frowned curiously.

"It's uh," he coughed slightly, "Well, I deal with people and help them get what they need." God, that description makes it sound like I'm a pimp or something. Luckily she didn't seem to catch the double meaning, taking it only as intended...however that was. Quite frankly, Inuyasha had no idea what the fuck he was talking about, but the woman seemed convinced so far.

More to change the subject than anything else, Inuyasha said, "Hey, you want to go get something to eat somewhere?"

She bit her lip, thinking. It was not generally her policy to go out with strange men she met in the bar, but this guy seemed nice enough. And besides, there was just something about him. Maybe it was the way he held himself, or the timbre of his voice, but something about him caught her attention, almost as if she'd met him before.

Finally she came to a decision and smiled. "Alright. I'd like that."

He smiled back, but inside he was laughing to himself. Like a moth to a flame...

* * *

"So there I was," she said, laughing lightly, "in the middle of nowhere with my suitcase and about ten bucks in my purse, and the stupid ATM ate my credit card!"

They both laughed at that. "I was terrified!" she continued. "Augh, I was such a spoiled little brat back then; I couldn't do a thing for myself."

"Well, with rich parents how else could you be expected to turn out?" Inuyasha volunteered with an amused smile, observing her across the table in the little all-night diner they'd discovered. The place was pretty much empty, except for the single person working night shift in the kitchen.

She cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow and smiling wryly back at him. "I suppose you're right. That's why I decided I had to get out on my own, make a living for myself awhile."

"Is that why you quit school?"

Her smile slipped slightly and she lowered her eyes to her milkshake, stirring it idly with her straw. "Part of it, yeah."

He frowned slightly, curious about her change in attitude. "What's the other part?"

She flicked her gaze up to his, then back down to her shake, with a slight shrug. "It's nothing really. I mean, I probably blew the whole thing out of proportion, but...I just couldn't stay there after..."

"After what?" he prompted, honestly curious.

She sighed, looking out the window, resigning herself to telling the whole story. "I was studying at the University of Kyoto, and I was living with this guy named Kouga -- my boyfriend at the time. We'd been going out for about a year and even sort of talked about marriage a couple times. Anyway, apparently he fell for this other girl, so he dumped me." Again she dropped her gaze to the table.

"I stayed for awhile, but it was too hard for me to see them together. And what really killed me was that when we were together he had always been so possessive and controlling, and then he went off and left me for someone else. I mean, he would literally growl at any guy who came within three feet of me. What a two-timing hypocrite.

"Anyway, my father would only pay for my schooling as long as I stayed in Kyoto, but I just couldn't take it anymore, so I left. I'd been thinking about trying to get out on my own anyway, and after the thing with Kouga...well, it all just sort of piled up. I needed a different life."

Inuyasha watched her as she spoke, entranced. He felt oddly protective of her, wanting to go find this Kouga and beat the crap out of him for hurting her so badly -- but wait, this was Kagome he was talking about. He mentally shook himself, recalling their conversation from the night before and effectively squelching the protective instinct. Bitch -- she probably deserved it, he tried to tell himself, but only really managed to make himself feel guilty for thinking such a thing. Oh crap, he thought. This could get trickier.

Kagome glanced at her watch and winced. "It's late," she said, stirring Inuyasha from his troubled thoughts.

"Mm, you're right. I'll walk you home," he offered with an easy smile, masking his uneasy disposition.

He paid the check, being the chivalrous gentleman that he was, and they headed out onto the street. They walked in comfortable silence for a while, each caught up in thought.

I can't make a move tonight, Inuyasha pondered calculatingly. She'd never go for that, I know. That's the key, Miroku; go slow and make it seem like that's the furthest thing from your mind. He smirked inwardly, his earlier sympathies for her being won over with renewal of his plan.

Why do I feel like I know him? she thought, curiously. It's weird, but I just feel so comfortable around him. For god's sake, the only other person I told about Kouga was Sango. I don't know...I just don't know...

Before long they came upon a relatively small apartment building and Kagome slowed to a stop. "This is me," she said, indicating the building.

He turned to face her with an honest smile. "I had a really nice time tonight," he said, though he tried not to think about how true it was. "Do you think it'd be alright if I asked you out again sometime?" God, I sound like such a weakling. Like I have to ask permission... he thought irritably. But girls liked stuff like that.

Obviously he'd calculated correctly, because Kagome's smile brightened at his question. How sweet, she cooed mentally. "I'd like that very much, Ryoga." She bit her lip for a moment, then on an impulse, she leaned up and kissed him.

He was slightly surprised by her boldness, though the kiss wasn't deep or passionate, only light and sweet, and relatively short. Even more, however, he was surprised by his reaction to it. He'd kissed a lot of women over the years, and done a good deal more than kissing with several of them, but never had he felt quite like this. There was a sort of tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach, which confused him, to say the least. For fuck's sake, this was Kagome, the bitch who made every day of his life a living hell, and vice versa. But before long she broke the kiss, and with a smile, turned to go inside.

"Bye," she murmured.

"Bye," he replied somewhat absently, his mind warring with itself over what had just happened. When she was out of sight, a frustrated scowl appeared on his face. "Bitch," he mumbled grumpily as he set off toward his own apartment.

* * *

Sango eyed her friend as Kagome swept around the empty club, singing to herself while she wiped down the tables in preparation for the evening's business. "Okay, I give up. What's gotten into you?"

"Hmm?" Kagome looked up, a silly sort of smile on her face. "Oh nothing, really."

Sango wasn't fooled for a second. She approached the other woman, hands on her hips. "Yeah, right. Come on, you've been humming like an idiot for the past two days. Spill it, Kag."

The dark haired waitress glanced around as if to make sure no one else was listening, then met her friend's suspicious gaze. "Alright fine."

At this Sango flashed a grin and took a seat, eagerly waiting for Kagome to do the same.

"See, a couple of nights ago -- Saturday, I think -- this guy came in here and, well, we got to talking a bit and he asked if I wanted to get something to eat, so we went to a diner after work. He's so great! We had a wonderful conversation and, I don't know, I just felt like he was really listening to me. I even told him about Kouga."

Sango raised her eyebrows, "Really? Ah, that's wonderful! Has he called you or anything?"

Kagome bit her lip, trying to hide a grin as she nodded. "Mmhmm, we went out again last night. He's just such a sweetheart," she said dreamily, then laughed self-consciously, putting a hand to her forehead. "God, I sound like a schoolgirl with a crush, but I can't help it. I mean, have you ever been with someone and gotten this feeling that you belonged there? Like you were, I don't know, meant for each other? Ack, now I really sound stupid."

"No, no, I totally know what you mean," Sango said, waving her hands. Then she leaned on the table, cocking an eyebrow. "Look at it this way; at least you've fallen for someone who sees you for more than your body." At that her eyes took on a sort of wry, longing look and shifted off beyond her friend.

Kagome followed the woman's gaze across the room to Miroku, who was completely unaware of the attention he was receiving. She turned back to Sango, whose smile had become rueful. Kagome gave her a look of sympathy, saying, "Hey, he'll come around eventually. I'm sure he does care about you, deep down."

Sango shook her head, looking skeptical. "It's not his fault; it's mine. I just had to fall head over heals for a hentai bartender, didn't I?" She quickly waved the subject aside. "But that's not the point right now. Tell me more about-"

She cut off abruptly when the sound of a door opening and closing nearby reached their ears. They both looked over to see that Kikyo had just entered the room, so, not wanting to risk being fired for sitting around chatting, they stood to return to work.

"We'll talk later, okay?" Sango said with a grin.

Kagome nodded, returning the gesture.

* * *

Inuyasha pulled out Kagome's chair for her once they had been led to their table, then took a seat himself across from her. The waiter handed them each their menus and listed the specials for the evening, before giving a short bow and leaving. Kagome was really only half listening to it all, so caught up was she in the elegantly romantic atmosphere of the place, not to mention the eyes of the man sitting directly opposite her.

"This is beautiful, Ryoga," she said with a smile, which he returned.

"Glad you like it. I thought it made a nice change from that little diner we've been going to in the middle of the night," he said, cocking an eyebrow.

Her lilting laughter floated on the air like music. "Yeah, this is probably a step up." She opened her menu, beginning to scan its contents. "So what are you going to have?"

He tore his eyes from her face, scolding himself mentally as he did so for staring in the first place, and looked at his menu as well. "Mmm, I don't know."

"Ooooh, look, they have veal parmigiana," she said longingly. "I love veal parmigiana."

"Why don't you get it then?"

"Augh, don't tempt me. Besides, it's so expensive."

"Feh, that's no problem."

Her eyes snapped up, narrowing on his face. "What did you just say?"

His insides froze and a string of mental curses rattled off in his brain. "Uh," he began, not looking up from his menu, "I said it was no problem."

"No, I mean right before that, I thought I heard you say...nevermind," she finished with a shake of her head. Really, it can't be that uncommon, can it? But I would have sworn he sounded just like Inuyasha a moment ago.

"I think I will have the veal," she said. "Want to split it with me?"

"Sure," he answered, relieved that she had dropped the 'feh' thing. When the waiter returned they ordered the meal, along with a bottle of wine, and handed back their menus. Once he had left again, Kagome turned back to her date, leaning her elbows on the table.

"So Ryoga, where did you grow up? I mean, I've told you stuff about my life, but I feel like I don't really know that much about yours."

Inuyasha felt a wave of dread wash over him. On the dates they'd had so far he'd managed to keep the conversation focused on her for the most part -- that way he could be the 'sensitive,' 'good listener' type of guy that women always fawned over. He'd been afraid of this. Oh well, best stick as close to the truth as possible.

"I grew up here in Tokyo."

"So your parents live here then?"

He shook his head. "Nope, not anymore. They both passed away."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with a sympathetic look in her eyes that made his heart skip a beat -- much to his annoyance.

"It's okay, really. Happened a long time ago. I've been pretty much on my own since then, except for my older brother," he added, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice at the mention of Sesshomaru.

"You don't get along, I take it?" she inquired.

He gave a short laugh, "No, not exactly. Were half-brothers actually -- same father, different mothers. That's kind of where it all starts I guess. Sesshomaru never really approved of my mother, who married Dad after Sess' mother left them. Then my mother died in a car accident when I was really young and Dad got sick and passed on a few years later. Sess was a lot older than me so he took care of me after that, but only because Dad had made him promise to do so before he died. He provided for me, much to his dismay, until I was eighteen, then kicked me out."

"That's awful," Kagome said in a hushed voice. "But why did he hate you so much, even if he didn't like your mother?"

Inuyasha thought for a moment, staring into space as he considered the question, then bringing his eyes back to hers. "I guess maybe he was jealous of me for taking his place with Dad. And it sure didn't help that I'm a han-" he cut of abruptly, catching himself in the nick of time. Oh shit, I almost said 'hanyou.' Great genius, why not just blow the whole damn thing while you're at it?

She frowned slightly in confusion, cocking her head to one side, "A what?"

"Uh, nothing."

"No really, what were you going to say?" she pressed on.

"Well, um, it didn't help that I'm...so handsome," he invented. Ugh. Fuck, can't you think of anything better than that?

"Oh... Is your brother not so good looking then?" she asked, amused at the embarrassment on his face.

He just barely managed to hold back another 'feh.' "No, not at all," he said bluntly. Though oddly enough most women seem to think he is. Feh, what do they know?

She nodded, the amused expression not leaving her face. "I see," she said, while inwardly thinking that she'd like to meet this Sesshomaru someday, out of curiosity; somehow she thought that Ryoga's opinion of his brother might be slightly biased. But he sure was adorable when he was flustered like this.

* * *

A/N: Ahh, done! Okay, now let's see if I can get MIA posted this weekend too (that's my goal)…

Review, please! It motivates me to no end!