Inu-yasha awoke at twelve o'clock and was halfway to his bedroom door, panicking, before he remembered that he had the day off from work and was in no danger of being late. He returned to his bed and sat down on the edge of it, yawning wide enough to swallow a small continent. Well, he had gotten his eight hours of undisturbed sleep, at least... now where were his jeans?
"Well, good morning," said a voice behind him. "Aren't you a handsome one."
Inu-yasha froze. He closed his eyes and counted slowly to ten, then turned around, fearing he knew what he was going to see. And was proven right. There was a young woman lying in his bed.
In his bed.
"What – the – hell are you doing here?" he growled, jumping up from the bed and glaring down at her with his most fierce expression. She didn't seem at all taken back by the I-am-ready-to-kill-something glare, however, merely looked up at him with a very insolent smile.
"Miroku said I was free to sleep wherever it took my fancy," she said. "And I must say you took my fancy, rather a lot." She grinned at him, then stretched slowly, alighting him to another infuriating fact: she was wearing his Blind Guardian T-shirt. Ooh, Miroku was going to pay for this.
He stormed out of the room, seeking target: Miroku. In the corridor he almost stumbled over another girl who, seemingly, preferred sleeping on the floor. After disentangling his foot from her long hair he hurried on, swearing to himself that this time, Miroku wouldn't live to see daylight again. Of all the idiotic playboys! He found his friend in the living room, sipping a drink of something... green... and watching MTV. He took a deep breath, intending to fracture Miroku's eardrums with the lecture the moron was about to receive.
"MIROKU, WHAT THE – " he began, but got no further. Miroku turned around and with the most annoyed look any rowdy kid has been given by a parent, said "Shush!" This response from someone who had taken advantage of his home made Inu-yasha so surprised that he deflated completely. As Miroku turned back to the TV, watching a video by A-teens doing their fifth come-back, Inu-yasha simply stared, stared, and then stared some more. Finally he got a grip on himself and walked around the sofa, intending to sit down beside Miroku – so as to have him closer at hand when he decided to strangle the pitiful excuse of a human.
However, the space in the sofa was already taken. By a third, sleeping girl.
Inu-yasha dropped into a chair, counting slowly to ten again. When he felt that this wasn't enough, he counted again. To fifty. By the time he arrived at forty-five, he felt calm enough to talk to Miroku without wanting to rip his bowels out.
"Miroku," he asked, "would you mind telling me why there is a girl lying in my bed, wearing my T-shirt and saying she wants me? And while on the subject, do fill me in on why my home seems transformed into what I shall for lack of better word call... motel? And with that I mean, WHY ARE ALL THESE BLOODY STRANGERS SLEEPING IN MY HOUSE?!??"
"Shut up!" hissed Miroku, clamping a hand over his mouth. "You'll wake her up!" He indicated the girl in his lap, who was snoring. To Inu-yasha, it didn't look probable that she would be waking up this century. He said as much to Miroku, and added something about how Miroku was in danger of sudden, ever-lasting sleep, also known as death, as well.
"Alright, alright," sighed Miroku. "I'll tell you about last night if you try to keep your voice down. Met these five girls at the Roxy – "
"Excuse me. Did you just say... five?"
"Yeah, two are sleeping in my bed. Anyway, met these girls at the Roxy and man, they are great! All-night party animals, just like me. Trouble was, the club closed at seven, and nothing else was open. Have I ever mentioned how extremely dead this town is?"
"And what are they doing here, now?" asked Inu-yasha, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Miroku grinned.
"After-party."
"Miroku, what the hell?! You can't bring people here! This is what we call a respectable neighbourhood – "
"Ah," said Miroku, smiling, "With that I think you mean, was what you call a respectable neighbourhood."
Inu-yasha spluttered for a while, before realizing that it was fruitless. And, as countless times before, he just gave up. Miroku was an insufferable idiot, but somehow, he always got away with things like this.
Oh well. Inu-yasha owed him one for the comfort he had been yesterday, anyway. He just hoped Kagome hadn't noticed anything.
...um, and the odds that she hadn't noticed Miroku plus five girls partying were...?
Oh shit.
..................................."I heard that there was a bit of a party in your house yesterday?" grinned Kagome, as Inu-yasha stepped into her house, hanging up his coat in the hall. He cursed under his breath, regretting that he hadn't knocked Miroku's head off while he had the chance.
"Yeah," he said, wondering how to explain himself, "it wasn't me, actually..."
"I thought so," said Kagome briskly. "Otherwise I would have expected you to invite me! Ooh, are they for me? Thank you." She took the bunch of flowers from him with a smile, then motioned with her hand into the house. "Follow me to the kitchen please, and I'll put these into water. Koga isn't here yet, but he'll arrive in just a few minutes. Works late on Fridays, his boss is nothing less than a slave driver. Horrible, isn't it..." Chatting easily, she led the way into the kitchen, which was light and spacious. Miroku would have cried tears of happiness if he saw it.
Inu-yasha would have been happy just to sit there and listen to her talk for the rest of the afternoon, but his peace was broken after about ten minutes, when the scream of tyres could be heard outside and a car stopped in Kagome's driveway. Inu-yasha had come to recognize that sound. Very well. Only one person drove fast enough to leave a small tornado of dust in his wake.
"Hello, 'ello!" came Koga's voice from the hall. "It's me!"
"We're in the kitchen!" shouted Kagome, grinning at Inu-yasha. "Honestly," she said, "one of these days I'm going to have to install an internal phone or something in this house. I shout myself hoarse in here!"
"Well, hello," said Koga, stepping into the kitchen. "Sorry about the delay, but you know what they say – the fine folk arrive late! How are things with you?" He stuck out his hand and Inu-yasha took it, reluctantly.
"Fine," he managed. "Just fine. Feel like everything's finally straightened out now, and it's a real home instead of a house filled with boxes. Had a spot of trouble with some of the plumbing the first week, but that's sorted out as well now."
"Oh, really? I've had some experience of plumbing, actually. If there's any trouble with it again, just give me a call, and I'll take a look at it."
"He just can't resist any opportunity to show off," said Kagome, tugging on Koga's ponytail fondly. "Well, if you two could keep yourselves amused for a while, I'll finish our dinner..." And she walked out of the room, leaving Inu-yasha alone with the one person in this world he'd rather not have spoken to if he could avoid it. But surprisingly, he found that Koga was smart, and funny, and that he actually liked talking to the guy!
This spell of Koga-liking lasted about half an hour, until they were part-way through their meal and Koga asked the question that made Inu-yasha choke in outrage.
"So, Inu-yasha," said Koga casually, as if he was talking about the weather, "why didn't you invite your boyfriend along, too?"
(This was where Inu-yasha choked on his food.)
"My... what?!"
"I think he means the young man who is living with you," said Kagome. "I've sure seen him around a lot, so we assumed you were a couple."
"He. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend." Inu-yasha ground the sentence out between clenched teeth, blushing up to his ears.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Koga, looking very unhappy. "...You broke up?"
"What? No!" Inu-yasha exclaimed, all good-natured feelings towards Koga evaporating on the spot. "What the hell – do we look like we're together? He's just living with me, damnit! Using and exploiting my house! And I am not gay!"
"Whoa, take it easy." Koga grinned apologetically. "Sorry if I offended you, I just thought... OK, I was wrong," he added hastily as Inu-yasha bared his teeth, saying what would be universally understandable as One more word and you're a dead wolf, mister.
"So..." Kagome strove to steer the conversation onto a safer path. "Do you have a girlfriend, then?"
"No! Isn't it obvious?!"
"I'd say it is," muttered Koga under his breath, adding something about "homophobic, as well". Inu-yasha heard him, and forced himself to calm down, smiling at both of them. (Smiling at Koga took some effort.)
"Sorry for my outburst," he said. "I don't have a girlfriend. I haven't found anyone. I guess I'm just... just waiting for the right one to come along." He looked hard at Kagome as he said it, willing his eyes to tell her what his mouth could not: You are the right one, Kagome. I love you.
"Well, I'm sure you'll find her. One day," grinned Koga, thumping him on the back, rather hard. "Until then, hang in there!" He laughed, setting Inu-yasha's teeth on edge. The first thing he would do, Inu-yasha decided, after he had gotten together with Kagome again, was kick that insensitive bastard's ass. And kick it good.
................................elsiey: Sorry, I leave it up to your own imagination... suffice it to say that Miroku is in this fic an insufferable playboy. He goes off with new girls every so often...
kid: Thank you:)
Yoko: My darling silly sister, of course there will be blondness involved. (Sheez, what do you think?)
MintiMyst: Wow, that really made me happy. :) Hope you find lots of other nice stories!