A haiku of non-ownership:
I don't own the show
Inuyasha is not mine
If only it was...

It had started, as it often did, with a fight.

Kagome was tired. Fruitless searching for jewel shards was wearing on the entire group, and Inuyasha had been even snippier than usual. All she wanted was a nice bath and some of her mother's home cooking. Or Wacdnalds. Or anything that wasn't caught, spitted, and roasted over an open flame. A little restand relaxation...she was a teenager, after all. Life wasn't supposed to be all about demon fighting and shard hunting.

Inuyasha was having none of it. She had admitted...ADMITTED that she didn't have 'skool' that day. That meant no tests, and no reason to go back. He argued with her all the way to the edge of the well. And in the end, she sat him and went home anyway. No one but Inuyasha was surprised by this. Truthfully, he wasn't surprised by it either...he just had to make the effort. It was a ritual. He'd yelled at her before and she'd come back, so he stuck with what worked.

By the end of the day, though, he was tired of waiting.

x-x-x-x-x

She wasn't home. Judging by the lingering traces of her scent, she hadn't been home in a couple of hours. Could she be out somewhere with her family? No, their scents were older. They'd been gone for at least a day. Could she have possibly gone out alone? With no protection? She'd told him that her time was safer than his, but even so...

Well, there was no helping it. He'd have to go find her and make sure she was okay. Grabbing 'his' baseball cap from the peg beside her door, he jumped out her window and to the ground in one graceful leap.

x-x-x-x-x

Now, this was the life. Live music, partying teenagers...doting guys, she mentally added as she gratefully accepted a soda from a handsome boy about her age. The nightclub she was at was widely considered (well, among her friends, at least) to be the coolest hangout in the area. After so long in the Feudal Era, she wasn't even sure she knew what cool was anymore, but she was willing to re-learn. So this was what it felt like to be a normal teenager...

This was what she should be spending her weekends doing – not chasing around Feudal Era Japan looking for jewel shards! Forget Inuyasha and his domineering attitude. Now this guy – she grinned at the boy who had been bringing her drinks all night – this guy knew how to treat a girl.

x-x-x-x-x

Her scent had led him to a strange building. He could see lights flashing on and off, and the loud sounds coming from inside made him want to flatten his already-squashed-under-a-baseball-cap ears. Could that possibly be...music? What sort of instrument could make sounds that loud? What could Kagome possibly be doing in a place like this?

Whatever. He'd followed her trail all the way here. He might as well go in and make sure she was okay. A firm plan of action in mind, he walked confidently toward the entrance...only to be stopped short by a rather muscular human. Inuyasha blinked when the human made a demand for money. Was he being robbed? Or maybe this was like some of the geisha houses that Miroku frequented, where you had to pay to get in...but surely Kagome wouldn't go to a place like that? Maybe his best course of action would just be to render the human unconscious and then walk in...but that was the kind of behavior that always made Kagome mad at him, and she'd probably sit him for it...

While Inuyasha pondered his options, an important looking woman leaned over and whispered to the man barring his way.

Even over the mind numbing music and ear squashing baseball cap, Inuyasha was able to make out her words. Just let him in. Any outfit that outlandish has to be trendy, and we could use the image boost.

The large man stood aside and gestured for Inuyasha to enter. With a smirk, he walked inside. He was trendy. Whatever that meant. Hopefully, it meant imposing and scary.

Now to find Kagome. Her scent was more difficult to find in this place...all swirled in with the smells of other people, sweat, smoke, and an undertone of something bitter and medicinal.

There. Kagome was in a corner, laughing and talking to...a guy? And accepting a drink from him? Why would she...was she still mad at him from their fight earlier? Keh. Not like it mattered. He'd done what he came here to do - he'd checked on his...shard detector, and she seemed to be doing just fine without him. He should just go, and wait for her on the other side of the well.

Except the more he thought about it, the more he realized that there was something he really didn't like about that guy. He couldn't put his finger on it, but...

Anyway, Kagome was always trusting people when she shouldn't. Like that wimpy wolf, for example. She trusted him completely. Left to her own devices, she'd probably have borne him pups by now. He shook his head to rid his mind of THAT mental image. No, she was entirely too trusting a person. What she needed was someone to look out for her, and make sure she didn't get taken advantage of by the wrong sort of people. Someone like him, for instance.

He decided to move in for a closer look. It was strange...the closer he got to her, the stronger that weird medicinal smell got. Inuyasha frowned. What on earth could that smell be?

x-x-x-x-x

"Inuyasha! What are you..."

Kagome watched in horror as Inuyasha's stalked toward the nice guy who had been buying her drinks all night. Everything was becoming surreal. Inuyasha's hand circled the guy's neck and lifted him off his feet. What was he DOING? He'd shown signs of jealousy before, but never anything like this. Even with Kouga, he was all bluster and no bite. But he looked like he was ready to rip the poor kid's head off. She opened her mouth to say the word that would put an end to this nightmare, but was cut off as Inuyasha spoke.

"Kagome, how much of that did you drink?"

She blinked in surprise, and looked down at the cup in her hands. "Drink? What are you talking about...it's just soda! Inuyasha, put him down before you hurt him!"

Instead of responding, Inuyasha turned his attention to the dangling person in his grip. "What did you put in her drink? I can smell it! I know what 'soda' smells like, and that's not all that's in that glass. What were you trying to do to Kagome?"

She was beginning to get an inkling of what was going on here, and her face began to pale. The boy was blubbering.

"It...It's just something to help her relax! I swear, man...c'mon! You know what it's like! Girls fuckin' tease, but they won't put out unless you..."

Inuyasha didn't understand half of what the boy was saying, but he didn't like the sharp smell of fear that had begun to radiate from Kagome. Clearly, she understood something about this situation that he didn't, and he didn't like that one bit. He allowed the tips of his claws to prick the boy's skin slightly.

"What will it do to her?"

"N...Nothing!" He yelped as the pressure on his neck increased. "She'll just get more relaxed, you know, more loose...and she won't remember anything in the morning! That's all, man, I swear!"

Suddenly the pieces clicked together in his head. This boy...this...male...had drugged HIS Kagome so that he could ....and she wouldn't be able to stop him from...

He began to growl. This kid was gonna be so dead.

A crowd had formed around them, and Kagome could see bouncers making their way toward them. As gently as she could, she put her hand on Inuyasha's arm. "Let him go, Inuyasha." She motioned toward the burly men striding toward them from all parts of the bar. "The bouncers will take care of him. We need to get out of here."

Inuyasha seriously doubted that these "bouncers" as Kagome called them could administer the same quality of beating that he could. "But, Kagome..."

"Please, Inuyasha. Trust me. I need you to take me home now. I...I don't feel so good." It might have just been the suggestion of what she had just drunk, but she was beginning to feel slightly woozy.

Amber eyes gazed worriedly at her. Normally in perfect harmony, Inuyasha's need to keep her safe was now warring with his need to beat the living shit out of anyone who threatened her.

Reluctantly, he removed his hand from the guy's neck and settled for cracking his knuckles menacingly. The boy took off like a shot, only to be caught and held by several onlookers who had overheard the entire drama. To Inuyasha, this confirmed the seriousness of the boy's crimes against Kagome. He started toward the kid again, but was held back by the weight of Kagome stumbling against him. She was still holding on to his arm, and his sudden movement had pulled her off balance. One hand clutched her forehead, and she held the other out as if to steady herself. "Please, Inuyasha. Let's just go."

Without another word, he scooped her into his arms and ran out of the club.

x-x-x-x-x

"Dammit woman, you told me you were safe in your time!" He was in a rage. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go back and kill that kid, and anybody else who got in his way. Only Kagome's small weight in his arms prevented him from doing just that. What would have happened if he hadn't been there? He shuddered to think of someone touching Kagome. She was so gentle and trusting. She didn't understand that the world was a cold place, that people could hurt her just for the fun of hurting her...She was always giving people the benefit of the doubt, and one of these days it was going to get her killed. Strangely, it was this same quality that drew him to her, and made him want to protect her so desperately.

"Inu..yasha..." Her voice broke him from his thoughts. "I feel really weird...

"Why don't you go to sleep? We'll be home soon."

"Home...Which one?" she mumbled.

"Your home, baka! The shrine. What other home do you have?"

"...feudal era...with you..." Her words were becoming soft and hard to make out, even with hisacute sense of hearing. She sighed softly and closed her eyes. He felt her breathing slow, and realized she was falling asleep. She wiggled slightly, burrowing deeper into his fire-rat haori.

Blushing, Inuyasha continued toward one of the places she considered her home.

x-x-x-x-x

"I'm all hot...and my nose itches." She'd woken up as he began ascending the steps to the shrine.

"Well, if it itches, scratch it. What do you expect me to do about it?"

Her eyes were wide. "Scratch it for me?" She giggled suddenly, as if this were the most hilarious thing she'd ever heard.

Shit. She was acting like she was drunk. How was he supposed to deal with this?

He hoped her mom was back – she would know what to do to make Kagome better. Moms always knew what to do. As the house came into view, though, he realized that he would have no such luck. The only light burning was the one he'd left on when he'd entered her room earlier.

"Kagome, where's your family?"

"mmm? They're out. They had to go...to...a..." She was drifting off again.

"Kagome! Listen to me. Where is your family?"

"I'm awake! I just...um...what was the question?"

"Where...Is...Your...Family."

"Oh! Soccer game. Souta. Big tournament, out of town. Be gone all weekend."

Oh great...

x-x-x-x-x

He made it to the roof beside her window in one smooth jump. Adjusting her weight from one arm to the other, he opened the window and dropped down inside her room.

Kagome moaned softly as he gently lowered her to her bed. He pulled the covers over her and he paused to push a sweaty lock of hair from her face. She was breathing easily, and he could hear her heart beating steadily. Satisfied, he turned to leave the room. Maybe, he thought, there's some ramen in the kitchen.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome's voice held a plaintive note.

"I'm here. Do you need something?"

Her eyes were open. "Don't leave me." She grabbed his large hand in her own small one.

"Um...okay." He sat down on the bed beside her. So much for ramen...

She scrunched up her feet and sat up beside him. "No, I mean...don't ever leave me."

He frowned at the strange conversation they were having. "Kagome, you know I'll always protect you."

"Yeah." With a suddenness that surprised him, she wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. "That's 'cause you're so...you!"

Her face was buried in his chest, and her hair was tickling his nose. He allowed himself to smell her hair for a moment, before gently prying her away from him. Speaking as if to a child, he said, "Okay, Kagome, that's great. Don't you want to sleep now?"

She scowled. "No."

He was certain he was going to regret it, but he asked anyway. "Then what do you want to do?"

He was utterly stunned when she pressed her lips to his.

x-x-x-x-x

She was kissing him with a passion he'd only imagined in his guiltiest dreams. Somehow, she'd slipped into his lap, and her hands were inside his haori, under his shirt, sending shivers up and down his back...Gods! She was soft, and she smelled so...and she was so...

Drugged. She was drugged. Kagome wasn't kissing him. It was whatever that hentai kid had slipped into her drink that was making her do this. He abruptly pulled himself away from her and dumped her roughly – a little more roughly than he'd intended, actually – on the bed.

"What's the matter? Don't you want me?" She sat up and pouted. With her hair fanned messily around her shoulders, and her lips still red from kissing him, she was easily the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Afraid of his own reaction, he took a couple of steps back from her.

"That's not...Kagome, we can't do this!" His voice was a little more frantic than he would have liked.

"Why not? If I want you, and you want me..." She moved her gaze down to the bulge now poking at his pants. Blushing furiously, he moved his hands to cover himself.

"This isn't you! This isn't what you really want! You just think it is because you're drugged, but it's not!"

Her face was beginning to redden with anger. "How dare you try and tell me what I do and don't want! How could you possibly know? How would you know what I dream of every night? You're too busy always running off with...Oh, just SIT, dammit!"

Being smashed to the floor was almost as effective in curbing his desire as a cold shower.

"It's because I'm not her, isn't it? I'm not Kikyo, and so I'm not good enough for you?" He groaned from the floor, wondering what god he had pissed off in order to receive this fate. He could hear Kagome sniffling now. That's how it always started. First sniffling, and then tears, and then accusations, and then a sit or two for good measure. The only difference this time is that she couldn't use the well to avoid him afterwards. They were already here, and it was about time they had this argument out to the end.

The necklace finally released him, allowing him to get to his knees. "It has nothing to do with Kikyo."

"Oh yeah? Then what makes me so repulsive that you can't even kiss me? What's wrong with me? I supposedly look just like her, so it must not be my looks you object to...it must be something about me specifically. Oh, and by the way, SIT!"

Angry, sore, and growling, he picked himself up from the floor again. "I already told you, it has nothing to do with Kikyo! You are a totally different person from her!"

"Well give the little dog a big cigar! You've finally figured that out, have you?" He was moving toward her now, and she had enough sense left to not like the look in his eyes. "SIT!"

"Kagome." He snarled from the floor. "You need to listen to me, because I'm only going to say this once. None of this has anything to do with you not being Kikyo. I didn't want " He wondered if there was anything in the world he could say that wouldn't get him sat again. Resigning himself to it, he continued. "...because you're not YOU right now. And I only want to kiss the real you." He braced himself for the sit he knew was coming. It didn't come. Instead, he heard...

Snoring?

Kagome was asleep. She...was...ASLEEP. Inuyasha's left eye began to twitch uncontrollably. She had sat him three times, accused him of all kinds of things, forced him into an admission of WAY more than he was ready to say...and she fell ASLEEP?

He walked unsteadily over to the bed and leaned down to look at her. She was mumbling something. "...Yasha...love you..."

He twitched in surprise, and his expression softened. He pulled the covers over her and tucked them around her. What the hell...she wouldn't remember any of this tomorrow anyway.

"I love you too, my Kagome."