Hello
Chapter two

"Hi," Kouga said softly, a small smile on his face.

Kagome stared blankly, her blue eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She felt her heart clench in her chest before dropping down into her stomach.

"K-Kouga?" she gasped out in surprise.

His smile widened and he gave her a small wave. "Hey, Kagome. Can I come in?"

"Uh..." Kagome felt as if her voice had betrayed her. It refused to speak. She nodded weakly and stepped aside, opening the door to the tall man. He walked around and inhaled the scents of the apartment.

"Like I never left," he said and slipped off his shoes. He glanced up in time to see Moriko running around the corner.

"Dad—"she stopped in her tracks when she saw that it wasn't Inuyasha, who she had started to call Daddy, and was in fact her old daddy. She blinked her bright blue eyes trying to comprehend why her Daddy wasn't around and that her old daddy was here instead.

"Hey Moriko, sweetie," Kouga greeted his daughter like he'd only been out for about five minutes. He acted like nothing happened. Kagome continued to stare at him as Kouga strolled into the kitchen.

"Like I never left," Kagome heard Kouga murmur again. She snapped out of her reverie and started after him. She glanced at Moriko to see her daughter staring at her, an unreadable look in her eyes.

"Kouga," Kagome said calmly and saw that he was nearing the refrigerator. The refrigerator with numerous pictures Moriko had drawn that featured Inuyasha. She walked quickly and stood in front of the giant white box, leaning against it as if for support. She felt her heart speed up as she gazed at Kouga. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, don't I?" Kouga laughed and lifted the lids of pots that still sat on the stove. He took a deep breath of the red sauce and grinned. "It hasn't changed at all."

"Kouga... you've been..." Kagome bit her lip and glanced at Moriko, who was staring at her from the doorway of the kitchen. "Gone for so long... why suddenly do you come back?"

'Why are you here...? What about your movie? Isn't that why he left...? Maybe he didn't do well and got fired? Maybe he's come back because he realized his mistake!' Kagome felt a small amount of hope rise in her chest as Kouga turned to look at her, his cerulean gaze staring at her with an almost hungry expression.

He walked forward and grabbed her hands in his own and stared deeply into her eyes. "Kagome, I was a fool. I thought I had my priorities straight in life, but the truth is... you're all I've ever needed." He looked sincere. But Kagome turned her eyes away.

"Kagome...!" Another voice broke the moment the reunited couple had formed and Kouga snapped his head up as a very masculine voice filled the room. He backed away from Kagome as Inuyasha turned the corner. "Kagome, I'm so—"

He stopped when he saw that Kagome was not alone. Instead he saw Kagome up against the refrigerator and Kouga staring at him in shock. "Kouga...?"

"Inuyasha?" Kouga asked in shock. The two knew each other; they'd spent many years together as friends/rivals. After Kouga had left for Italy, he'd sold the apartment to Inuyasha. The man had obviously forgotten that little known fact.

Kagome watched as several emotions passed by Inuyasha's face. His shock, his confusion, and finally his anger. She watched his hand clench into a fist as his lavender eyes locked on Kouga. Inuyasha knew of the pain that he'd put Kagome through.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped at Kouga.

"I live here," Kouga said, surprised and annoyed.

"No, I live—"

"Downstairs," Kagome said quickly. Inuyasha turned to look at her in surprise. "Inuyasha lives downstairs," she said calmly to Kouga. "He just came up here to check on me when he heard someone coming up the stairs. Thanks so much Inuyasha; you're such a sweetie."

Kouga seemed convinced, but still watched Inuyasha suspiciously. "Then why did he come in without knocking?"

"Inuyasha is Moriko's babysitter; he practically lives here," Kagome said quickly, digging herself into a deeper hole. "He doesn't need to knock."

Inuyasha's anger dissolved into an obvious look of hurt and betrayal. Kagome felt her heart clench again and knew that she'd made a big mistake allowing Kouga into her house. The lavender-eyed man lowered his gaze to his feet. He curled and uncurled his toes, sending a loud crack through the silent kitchen.

"Yeah, that's me... the babysitter," Inuyasha said lightly.

"Daddy..."

"Yes, baby?" Inuyasha and Kouga both asked at once. Kouga blinked and stared at the longhaired man in confusion. "Why do you answer to 'Daddy'?"

"Uh..." He glanced at Kagome, who refused to meet his gaze. "It's just a game we play."

Kouga pursed his lips and turned back to Moriko, kneeling down to the little girl's level. "Hey, sweetie, did you miss me?"

Moriko stared at Kouga for a long time, her bright blue eyes wide in confusion. She backed away a step and hid behind Inuyasha's leg. "Daddy..." she murmured, gripping the blue denim of his jeans. Inuyasha twisted his torso so he could glance back at her. Moriko looked up, confusion evident in her eyes. "Daddy..."

Kouga stood straight up, though he fell a few inches short of Inuyasha, and glared at him. "So you're her babysitter? Funny, I thought that was a woman's job. Plus, I thought you were an actor, Inuyasha. What ever happened to Broadway?"

Inuyasha averted his gaze to Kagome, who was busy removing the pictures Moriko had drawn when no one was looking. His amethyst eyes darkened and he bit back a snarl. Why was she denying it? He sure as hell wasn't going to.

"No. I'm not her babysitter," Inuyasha said and Kagome snapped her head up to stare at him in disbelief. "And I don't live downstairs. I'm on the fucking pictures Kagome's trying to hide. I've been living here ever since you've left. I've been taking care of Moriko and I've been trying to take care of Kagome."

Kouga glared at him, his eyebrows turning downwards. "I took care of them when Kagome felt absolutely lost. She lost her almost-husband and the father of her child and then suddenly she got some moron dumped on her doorstep because some fucking asshole sold the apartment to his friend.

"For the past five months," Inuyasha continued, his eyes narrowed dangerously, "I've been living with Kagome and I've been taking care of Moriko. Do you have a fucking problem with that? Because it seems Kagome does."

Kouga fisted a hand and drew it back, as if he was going to punch Inuyasha, but resisted. His blue eyes blazed with an angry fire, his challenging look met with Inuyasha's own lilac colored eyes. Kouga instead turned slowly around and turned to see Kagome, who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen.

"Is what he says true, Kagome? Have you been cheating on me?" Kouga asked softly, as if this was all her fault.

Kagome's first thought was to lie and say that Inuyasha was a stalker. But she knew that Inuyasha would hate her. She was sure he hated her now, anyways. She gulped and lowered her head. "Yes..."

Inuyasha grasped Kouga's shoulders and slammed him against the wall. "You fucking asshole. Kagome hasn't cheated on you," he snarled, "You fucking left her alone! What the hell was she supposed to do? Wait for you to come back when the likelihood that you would is as likely as being struck by lightning?"

"Inuyasha, stop, please," Kagome pleaded and touched his back. Inuyasha turned his head and glared at her.

"And you, why the hell did you even let him in here? He left you for his damn movie career."

"So did you!" Kagome protested.

"But I came back," Inuyasha snapped.

"And so did I," Kouga said weakly and pushed Inuyasha off him. Inuyasha backed up a few steps in surprise, his back hitting the door jam and almost tripping over Moriko. The little girl stared at the exchange between the adults.

Kagome licked her lips and fiddled with her fingers. "I'm just... really overwhelmed right now," she admitted softly. "I just need some time to think."

"Kagome..." Inuyasha said softly and reached for her.

Kagome backed away. "Please don't."

Inuyasha retracted his hand as if he'd been burned and cradled the hand to his chest, above his heart. His lavender eyes observed Kouga and Kagome and watched as Kouga placed an arm around Kagome's shoulder and the woman paused for a few moments before pushing him away too, though not as hard.

"Fine..." Inuyasha murmured and felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest and thrown to the ground, only to be crushed by Kagome's foot.

"Daddy," he heard Moriko murmur again.

Inuyasha ignored her as he turned and walked out of the kitchen, his footsteps taking him to the fire escape outside one of the windows. He opened the window slowly and dipped underneath the ledge so he could sit on the cold metal.

It was raining, and the city lights of New York were almost drowned out by the heaviness of it. His black hair was quickly plastered against his head and back, his red shirt and jeans clinging to him like a second skin. He drew his knees to him and wrapped his arms around it, feeling empty and alone.

Why did he have to come back?