Kagome had been giving Inuyasha the silent treatment. Usually, this wouldn't be a big deal to him, he was used to her giving him the cold shoulder. He was used to Kagome not talking to him for a few hours when he'd upset her, but this time was different.

He felt like her very essence had wrapped its hands around his throat and was squeezing him. He felt like she was trying to drown him with her eyes every time she looked at him. He felt judged.

Unwanted.

Alienated.

Inuyasha knew that he couldn't blame her. He knew that there was no amount of apologizing, no amount of explaining, no amount of anything that he could offer her that would mend the gaping hole in their friendship now. He'd lied to her, he'd put her reputation in danger, he'd shouted words at her that he hadn't dared attempt to do sober, at least not anymore.

He felt awful.

He wanted to apologize, which was hard for him to admit because apologizing wasn't his strong suit, it never had been.

Kagome didn't talk to him when she encountered him in the living room of their hotel suite. Her usual warm greeting was replaced by a cold, icy stare. At that point, it had been twelve hours of no communication.

"Good morning," Inuyasha said, his voice groggy.

She merely looked at him up and down, and then brushed past him as she shrugged on her puffer jacket. Her hands reached up to smooth down the hairs of her slicked-back bun as she turned to look at herself in the mirror in the living room.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked, watching as she patted herself down for her phone and hotel room card. "Kagome?" He pressed, furrowing his eyebrows. "You can't just fucking ignore me for the rest of our time here—"

"I'm going to find breakfast," Kagome sneered at him, Inuyasha jerked his head back at the tone of her voice.

"...Why didn't you just order room service?"

"Because," Kagome took in a deep, steady breath. "I don't want to be around you."

"I'm coming with you," Inuyasha said as he turned back toward his bedroom.

"Don't," Kagome cautioned, clenching her jaw as she pointed a finger at him. "Don't you dare try to pull that safety bullshit on me right now."

"Kagome, you're in a whole other country, in a city you've never been to. You're recognizable, it's just better if you go with someone—"

"I've already asked Myoga to go with me," Kagome countered quickly and for some reason, her words hurt. For some reason, Inuyasha felt his ears droop slightly—disappointed. "Your weigh-in isn't until this afternoon."

"...Kagome," Inuyasha started, taking a step toward her, "will you please allow me to explain myself? Please?"

Kagome stayed silent as she watched him, "...I seriously debated calling The Sun and airing out all your shit," she muttered. "I did, I really truly did—"

"But you didn't and I'm grateful—"

"So what, Inuyasha?"

"Let's talk. You and me. 8 PM. Dinner or something," Inuyasha sounded desperate, pleading. He was pleading for her to work with him, pleading for her to give him another chance.

But he wasn't exactly sure why.

He didn't know why it was so important for him to have her approval, he didn't understand why his heart was pumping this much adrenaline and fear into him. His brain felt like it was going to short-circuit. He needed her to say yes, he needed her to agree, to be merciful.

"I will tell you everything," Inuyasha added after minutes of tense silence, after minutes of staring at Kagome's frozen figure, watching as her eyes burned, her fingers twitched, and her chest red with anger. He had no choice but to tell Kagome everything. He had no choice but to be honest with her now, she knew.

She fucking knew.

He should've been more careful but he wasn't and these were the consequences—this is what he had to do.

Kagome tore her eyes away from him, staring hard at the walnut walls of the luxury hotel. A hand came up to rub at her decolletage, as she swallowed hard. "...You get forty-five minutes, Inuyasha."

'That's fair," Inuyasha responded, nodding his head. "That's perfectly fair."

Kagome nodded, "I'm going to get breakfast now," she said, pointing towards the door. "Bye."

Inuyasha waved at her as she left, and he didn't relax until he heard the door click closed. Once she was gone, he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

He felt as if her essence had let him go, allowing him to breathe again—no longer suffocating him, no longer drowning him.

I need a drink.

He pulled his hair up into a messy ponytail as he made his way toward the minibar. His eyes scanned over the array of miniature bottles before he picked out three of them—Inuyasha opened one as he turned to sit down on one of the couches, chugging the alcohol and throwing aside the little plastic bottle. It clattered onto the pale, wood flooring. Inuyasha sighed as he threw his head back, staring up at the ceiling.

He imagined that if he stared long enough he could just…stop thinking, his mind would go blank and nothing would matter to him anymore. Nothing would affect him…nothing.

He could just be lost in an inner void of nothingness, but he knew that wasn't feasible. At least, it wasn't feasible in this reality—his reality. He had responsibilities that preceded himself. Inuyasha had an image to keep up, a version of his life to live for the public.

His eyes shifted, moving from the ceiling to the coffee table in front of him where he noticed wet receipts were.

The fight they'd had yesterday flashed through his mind—all the memories he had of it were choppy, and together they formed a blur of confusion. He remembered loud voices, he remembered ducking something that was thrown at him, the way he lunged forward to prevent her from reaching into the bag that was on the couch. The way he's called her a whore left a sour taste in his mouth, a pang of something in his chest.

Inuyasha leaned forward and picked up the receipts, curiosity getting the best of him.

The fuck did she buy?

"Seven hundred pounds at Zara," Inuyasha muttered. "...almost two thousand pounds at Bottega."

He sighed as he moved on to the other receipts. "Six thousand pounds at Hérmes…" His voice trailed off as he read the next receipt.

Did she spend almost nine thousand pounds on a fuckin' Van Cleef necklace?

Inuyasha groaned as he sat back, scratching at the back of his head. The amount of money she spent wasn't a problem, she could spend all she fucking wanted—he got paid enough, and his accounts could deal with her spending, that wasn't a problem. It would never be a problem—he was fulfilling his part of the contract by letting her burn through his money.

But for some reason, staring down at the tea-soaked receipts, the glossy paper now tainted a slight brown—rough to the touch. He felt slightly guilty. There was a knock at the door, causing Inuyasha's head to snap up in its direction. Inuyasha folded the receipts he had in his hand and got up to open the door.

"Hey," Miroku greeted once Inuyasha had opened the door, pushing his way through as Inuyasha stepped to the side. "How are you? Where's Kagome?"

"Kagome went out," Inuyasha responded, noticing for the first time that his voice wasn't just groggy, but also hoarse. Miroku glanced in Inuyasha's direction, indigo eyes narrowing at the sound of his voice.

"You never answered any of my texts yesterday after the three of us arrived at the hotel—Kagome tells me you didn't come in until much later," Miroku was quick to get to the point, he looked around the hotel suite, and pointed towards the two miniature bottles of alcohol that Inuyasha had left on the couch. "Seriously?"

Inuyasha ignored his last comment."I went out," he started, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants. Miroku snorted at his response as he bent down to pick up the empty bottle on the floor.

"That's lie number one," Miroku muttered to himself, shoving a hand into the pocket of his jeans. He turned to look at Inuyasha. "You know how I know that's a lie? Because if you had gone out it would have been everywhere seeing as you haven't stepped foot in this country once."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at Miroku. Okay," He confessed, shrugging his shoulders. "I got into an argument with Kagome on the jet when we landed, that's why she went with you guys—"

"I figured that much," Miroku interrupted.

"—I told my driver to drive around the city for a little bit so we could both calm down, that's why I didn't check in until much later," Inuyasha responded and Miroku nodded, kissing his teeth in the process. Inuyasha shifted in his spot, sniffing. "What?"

"No, nothing," Miroku responded. "it's just…the floor there," he pointed to where Inuyasha was standing. "It's kinda sticky—"

"Kagome spilled tea yesterday," Inuyasha responded quickly, clearing his throat. Now that he thought about it, he could use some of that tea that she threw at him. His throat was scratchy and it burned to talk.

"Are you getting sick?" Miroku asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't sound okay,"

"Must be the weather," Inuyasha said. "London is colder than New York, ya'know."

Miroku took a moment to pause, his eyes scanned over Inuyasha's figure, darting over his bangs and the hair that framed his face, he looked at the hem of his shirt. All places where Inuyasha would have left evidence of a bad night (vomit, blood, questionable stains), but he seemed to be okay.

Besides his voice and the fact that Miroku had noticed the alcohol on the couch, Inuyasha seemed perfectly okay.

"You should be more careful with this," Miroku said quickly, changing the subject of the conversation as he waved around the miniature bottle. "You don't want Kagome knowing, do you?"

"She already does," Inuyasha said lowly, running a hand through his hair. Miroku's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets, his face went pale as he held in a breath.

"What the fuck? Since when?!"

"...Vermont."

"And neither of you told me?!"

"It's not really something you need to know," Inuyasha shot back, narrowing his eyes at his best friend. Miroku twisted his face into one of worry. "Cut that shit out, Miroku."

"Her contract needs to be adjusted like yesterday," Miroku said, "She needs to sign an NDA, something—you need to be protected!"

"She won't do shit," Inuyasha said—although he said that with a lot less confidence than he would have two days ago because now he wasn't so sure. She said she wouldn't and then changed her tune the moment she'd caught him with something else. "Look…Miroku…"

"What?"

"I'm gonna tell her everything…something happened last night and—"

Miroku cut off Inuyasha, "Inuyasha…no, c'mon. That's fucking stupid!"

"No, Miroku…listen to me," Inuyasha said, and suddenly Miroku noticed how pale Inuyasha looked. He noticed the way his eyes seemed panicked.

What the fuck happened last night?

"Inuyasha…"

"...I have Xanax."

"What the fuck—"

"Kagome found them in my bag on the jet…" Inuyasha continued, watching Miroku closely. Miroku took a deep breath and sat down on the couch, holding his head in his hands. "She threatened to call the authorities, we got into a heated argument—"

"And you're telling me you don't want her to sign an NDA?" Miroku challenged. "Have you actually lost your fucking mind?"

"I'm going to offer to negotiate her contract. Two and a half million. Cash. She signs an NDA like you want her too, and-and..fuck dude, I don't know—that's it!"

"And you think you can do this alone?! You think she'll agree to this?!" Miroku pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat on the couch, cursing the gods above and all the stars for the situation he found himself in. "She should've signed an NDA from the beginning…"

"Miroku for the love of fuck, lower your fucking voice!" Inuyasha hissed as he paced around the living room area. "I…I fucked up, and now I need to unfuck up…somehow.."

"This is a stupid idea, Inuyasha," Miroku muttered, "you need to talk to your lawyers. Talk to Jaken, Sesshomaru—"

"My brother doesn't work for me anymore and I don't fucking talk with any lawyer that isn't Totosai. I don't see a need to."

There was a pause. The air was still. Miroku tried to process all of the information that Inuyasha had given him. He tried to wrap his head around it.

"You're going to tell her about the coke, too?"

Inuyasha bit down on his lip as if debating that fact—should he? Would it even matter at this point?

"...Yeah. Yeah, I am—"

"Fuck, Takahashi—"

"She already fucking knows about the alcohol and the Xanax, Miroku!"

"What about me, Inuyasha? When were you going to tell me about the pills? When were you going to tell me about the cocaine? I found out about the coke because I happened to drop in when you first got it. I'm finding out about the pills because you're so worried about her knowing. If it wasn't for that, would you have come clean to me? Would you have told me? Would you have trusted me this much? As much as you trust her?"

Inuyasha gulped, taking in Miroku's words.

"I feel like I've fucking lost you, man," Miroku breathed, glaring up at the ceiling now. He didn't want to look at Inuyasha—he didn't dare to, anyway. "Like you're slipping before my very eyes and all I can fucking do is watch you because you don't want the help."

"I'm not slipping," Inuyasha said, "I'm right the fuck here, you keep saying that—"

"No, Inuyasha, you aren't 'right here', you aren't here at all, this is some fucking shell of you. This isn't normal," Miroku said, shaking his head. "I just…I miss the old you, I miss you before all the money and the fame. He wasn't like this,"

"He was exactly like this, Miroku," Inuyasha said darkly. "He was just…poor and younger, he had less pressure on him."

"You wanted this—"

"I never wanted this, Miroku!" Inuyasha said, motioning around him. "You think I want this shit?! I never wanted this shit!"

"You wanted to be a legend—"

"EVERYONE wants to be a legend, Miroku. No one actually expects to be one," Inuyasha snarled. "I just wanted…I don't fucking know—moderate success? I wanted to move to Tokyo, I didn't want to move to California. I wanted to have a few good paychecks and then fade the fuck away—but now I'm in fucking London. Do you think I aimed to be this successful? Do you think I aimed to own a private jet?"

"I shot for the moon expecting to land amongst the stars and for some fucking odd reason—I landed on the fucking moon and now what? I never thought I'd get this far!" He continued. "And now there's this fucking woman that hangs around me and is with me every fucking day and you think she wasn't bound to find out about all my ugly shit? You think that wasn't part of the contract?"

Miroku merely watched as Inuyasha went off on his tangent—he wasn't even sure what triggered it. He wasn't sure what was bothering him so fucking much, but Miroku didn't dare to interrupt he just listened. He grimaced as Inuyasha pushed over a lamp, it shattered on the ground.

"Everyone in my fucking life just expects me to go with it—go with everything! Smile for this camera, pose for this, act in this, say this, do that, don't do that, don't do this. Wear this designer, don't wear that one. Sit back—don't do anything, we'll fix it for you, in fact here—here's this bitch you're gonna hang out with, and give your money to because you're too messy and you need to calm down—"

"...Inuyasha…you're going to give yourself an anxiety attack or something," Miroku said calmly, slowly rising to his feet, his hands out in front of him. "Sit down, don't break any more things,"

Inuyasha glared at Miroku, and Miroku glared back.

"You put me in this situation, Miroku—"

"I didn't put you in this situation—you did," Miroku said, "You needed to be given more structure, a stricter schedule to adhere to, and you needed to slow down. Otherwise, you were going to wind up behind bars for a very long time, or dead."

"Oh, okay, so what? Kagome's some fucking toy for me to play with for a year to see if I get any better? And then what? What happens after her? Nothing about me has changed, Miroku."

"You haven't been arrested in quite some time, Inuyasha, have you noticed that?" Miroku responded.

Inuyasha dragged his hands down his face, taking a deep breath. "Just…go, Miroku."

"You have your weigh-in in a few hours," Miroku said. "I'm going to ask for this room to be cleaned," He added as he picked up the mini bottles of alcohol from the couch. He walked over to the minibar and set them down. "Calm down, take a shower, change, get something to eat. Think about what you're doing," Miroku paused as if he was going to add something else, but then decided against it.

Wordlessly, Inuyasha watched as Miroku did exactly what he'd been told. He walked out of the hotel room.

The second he was gone, Inuyasha reached into his pocket and swallowed Xanax that he pulled out.

Inuyasha blinked and he was at the weigh-in, squinting against the bright lights that were angled toward the stage he was on. He looked down, seeing that he'd already stripped down to a pair of shorts. He wasn't sure how he got there, he didn't quite care how, either.

His mind was blank.

Empty.

He felt almost like a shell of himself floating through time-space.

Inuyasha stepped up onto the scale when it was his turn, a blank expression on his face, he faintly registered the sound of someone's voice saying his weight. He turned to look at them.

He felt like he was both high and drunk at the same time, it was a unique feeling. He felt overly confident that he could conquer the world.

A lazy smile spread over his features, he glanced back to Miroku who gave him a look of some sort. Inuyasha couldn't exactly tell what the look was for. His eyes slowly trailed over to Myoga, who looked away from him.

What's up with everyone?

Inuyasha stepped off the scale and faced his opponent. His opponent was older than him, and slightly taller too, a native Londoner.

"Thought you'd be more aggressive than this, mate," his opponent said to him through grit teeth as they posed for the weigh-in photo. Inuyasha blinked at his words.

"Sorry—who are you again?" He asked, rather plainly.

His opponent gave him a blank stare for a few seconds, before throwing a punch straight at Inuyasha's jaw. Inuyasha stumbled back a little bit, his hand slowly coming up to touch his jaw. It felt hot, pain seared through his jaw, penetrating his gums, making his teeth feel like they'd been knocked loose. His tongue quickly moved toward the area where he'd been hit, pushing against his teeth.

Before Inuyasha could really think, his hand was already reaching into his mouth, fingers feeling across his teeth, moving them to see if they wiggled. They didn't. He flashed a bloody smile for the reporters and photographers to see. "Fucker really meant that one, damn," Inuyasha said with a laugh, shaking his head as he spat out blood.

Well, that's a first.

As he looked around himself, he noticed that he'd suddenly been surrounded by medics. One of them reached forward, peeling up his lip, forcing his mouth open to take a look. Inuyasha batted away their hands, he didn't need them to check his mouth.

"Fuck, are you alright?" Myoga's voice asked him as Myoga made his way through the crowd that surrounded Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked over to him and nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "What happened to you there?! Did you zone out?!"

"Yeah…I'm okay," Inuyasha muttered.

What happened to you there?

Inuyasha couldn't say, all he knew was that he felt good, he felt relaxed. Is this what being happy feels like? Does happiness feel like…nothing? The punch hurt, yes, but it didn't bother him. He was alright.

It's alright.

"I guess I did zone out," Inuyasha said nonchalantly, taking his clothing from one of the ring girls. He pulled his sweatpants on, and then pulled his shirt on, pulling the sleeves down to cover his wrists. "Not a big deal—"

"Not a big deal?! Inuyasha what the fuck was that?" Miroku sneered, grabbing Inuyasha by the shoulder. Inuyasha paused in his steps, his head turning slightly to look down at Miroku's hand. "What the hell are you on, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, leaning forward. His voice was low, and Inuyasha's ears twitched at the sound of it.

"Get your hand off of me," Inuyasha muttered, attempting to shrug off Miroku's hand. Miroku jerked Inuyasha forward, forcefully pushing him to walk.

Normally, this would have caused Inuyasha to turn on his heel and beat the living shit out of the person doing that to him, regardless of who it was. This time, however, Inuyasha simply kept walking, his hand rubbing gingerly at his jaw.

Ouch.

Inuyasha blinked again and he was in a low-lit bar with walls covered in artwork. He was sitting back against the velvet chair. There was a candle flickering in the middle of the table. A glass of wine sat on the table, and Inuyasha was turning it by the stem.

The bar was empty, as if he'd reserved the whole place for himself. Had he done that?

What the hell am I here for, again?

He was reminded exactly what he was there for when Kagome walked through the entrance. She wore a pretty dress.

She always wore pretty dresses around him.

As soon as his eyes settled on her, he focused on her like she was his target. Watching her with a laser-like focus.

He gave her a soft smile as she walked over, but his smile wasn't met with one of her own, instead, it was met with a scowl. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

I think I took too fucking much.

Kagome scoffed at him as she threw her clutch down on the table and sat down across from him. Her hand reached up to move her hair away from her face before she folded her arms over her chest. She glared across the table at Inuyasha for a moment, before noticing her own glass of wine.

She took a sip from it and set it back down, the red color of her lipstick leaving her lips painted on the glass.

Usually, her actions would have caused Inuyasha to blow up on her but he didn't. He wasn't phased by her attitude, at least not as much as he would have been. "You look nice," Inuyasha said, taking a sip from his own glass.

Kagome continued to glare at him, she glanced at the clock behind him. "You have 40 minutes left, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha sighed heavily, sitting up in his seat. "What do you wanna know?"

"You said you'd tell me everything," Kagome sneered at him.

His ear twitched a little bit at the tone of her voice.

Someone's feisty today.

"Right," Inuyasha said, his tongue poking into the empty spot where his molar would have been. "Well, I mean…there's not much to say. You know two of them, already. Alcohol," Inuyasha raised his glass. "And pills," He added, pointing to his head.

"Pills?" Kagome hissed. "You mean to tell me you're on more than just Xanax?"

"Not currently," Inuyasha admitted, shrugging nonchalantly. "I left the Percs in New York."

Kagome had to close her eyes and take a breath, "And when did those start?"

Inuyasha squinted as he tried to do the calculations in his head, "...about three weeks ago."

"So, at the same time as…this?" Kagome asked, motioning in Inuyasha's general direction. He seemed different now than he did in the morning. Inuyasha seemed more relaxed, more confident, and easygoing. "Very cute," She muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Vogue would say I'm sexy but, sure, cute works."

Kagome was taken aback by his audacity, the gall he had to make a joke about his attractiveness in the middle of a conversation that could either mend their already fragile friendship or ruin the opportunity for them to leave London better than they entered.

"I fucking hate you, Takahashi," Kagome spat at him. "You are so lucky I need this fucking money or else I'd—"

Inuyasha held up a finger as he finished the rest of his wine, setting the wine glass down on the white tablecloth. "Yeah, about that—" Inuyasha started, but he paused as he noticed the look on Kagome's face as if she was scared of what he was going to say next. "You talked all that shit just for you to be scared I'm gonna end this contract? Please." He'd all but called her pathetic.

"...I'd like to open the contract up to renegotiation," Inuyasha said after a few seconds of thinking. "I realize that this isn't what you signed up to deal with—"

"Damn fucking right, it's not—"

"And," Inuyasha sighed, "this is very personal information that can be damaging to my career, you understand where I'm going with this, right?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, she wasn't sure what he was attempting to do, but something told her that it was the drugs talking. "...I have an idea."

"Look everything I'm saying is still up in the air, nothing is happening or set in stone until we're back in New York and can talk with the lawyers, okay?"

"Uh-huh…"

"...I want to pay you more," Inuyasha said in one breath, leaning forward a little bit. The effects were starting to wear off, finally. He felt like he was starting to float back down to earth, he wasn't invincible anymore. The realization of that hurt, but nonetheless, he continued to talk. "Two and a half, and you sign an NDA when we're done. You don't talk about our 'relationship' for however much time we set and—"

"Three," Kagome blurted, sitting back in her seat. "Three million, and I sign an NDA."

Inuyasha almost laughed at her, he had to stop himself from doing so. "Ah-ha, sweetheart I don't think you understand—"

"Oh no, I get it. The extra one point five is hush money. I'm saying I want two."

"...How about we discuss that when we're back in New York, alright?" Inuyasha offered, and Kagome shrugged.

"Sure, I'll get a lawyer as well."

Her indifference, for some reason, was attractive at the moment. He liked the way she tried to negotiate with him. The quickness with which she caught on to his game displayed intelligence. She was smarter than he thought, smarter than she led on.

"You're smarter than I thought," Inuyasha said, his fingers tapping on the table.

"I went to Harvard."

"You're quick-witted. You didn't shy away from what I want—"

"Because I know that the person with the real power here is me," Kagome said with a small smile. "I'm the one who can run to the tabloids with all your shit. I could ruin your fucking life and you know it—"

"And yet you don't," Inuyasha interrupted.

"I don't."

"Why?"

There was a pause, a beat of deliberation as Kagome pondered what she would say.

"I know you have a hard time accepting the fact that people actually care for you, especially given your current situation," Kagome said. "I feel like I say this every few weeks, but…I really do care for you and view you as a friend. There's just something about you that makes me like you even when I hate you. I don't understand it—but…"

"I can't stop you from doing what you're doing. It's impossible for me to do so, I don't live with you, I'm not close enough with you to even think of doing something—I don't even know what that something would be. I can't go to the tabloids—that would ruin your career. I can't make you go to therapy, rehab, or detox. That's something you need to want. I can only hope you're careful, and that you know what you're doing. I understand that you're self-medicating, and I can see that you're hurting."

"...Uh-huh," Inuyasha said slowly, watching her from across the table. She clasped her hands together, biting down on her lip nervously. "You're gonna fuck up your lipstick," He muttered with a smile. Kagome shot him a glare.

"…I can't even begin to comprehend what you're trying to run from," Kagome added after a little bit of silence.

"I'm not running from anything," Inuyasha said darkly. "I just don't need you to monitor me—"

"If I don't, who will?"

It was quiet again. Kagome ran her fingers through her hair. "I want to apologize for how I acted last night, it was uncalled for. I hope you know that my intentions weren't, and never will be, to cause you harm or distress. I panicked and flipped out on you and it was uncalled for and—"

"Kagome," Inuyasha raised a hand, taking a deep breath. "Stop apologizing."

"I just feel awful—"

"…We both did and said fucked up shit yesterday," Inuyasha said quickly. "Plain and simple."

"Right, well we need to take steps to make sure that doesn't happen again," Kagome replied, shifting her seat as she crossed her legs. "You need to be honest with me."

"I am being honest with you—I told you everything."

"What you take isn't everything I need to know when it started, and how often and—"

"Fine."

Kagome paused, eyebrow raised as she waited for him to speak—to say something.

Make a fucking effort.

"Alcohol started when I was younger. You know this. It's…often. More often than I'd like and more often than you'd like, too. It's the oldest one," Inuyasha started.

It's the oldest one? There's more?

"….Drugs in general are also old. Been doing them since…maybe high school. Not sure. My memory of that is weird. I did them on and off. Sometimes, sometimes not. I stopped for a few years when I was in the states. They just recently started back up," Inuyasha said. "By recently, I mean toward the beginning of this contact." He was being so uncharacteristically honest, it was surprising even himself.

Like he was on some sort of truth serum, he provided the answers to her questions honestly, maturely, and with little hesitation.

He liked to think it was the quiet little part of him that secretly wished he'd stop being an asshole earlier in the contact.

Keywords: liked to think.

"You told me you started taking pills three weeks ago…" Kagome said cautiously.

"Yeah. Pills. Pills started three weeks ago. Those are new in that I've had them once or twice in the past—"

"Then what are the others?"

"One—one other. Cocaine."

Oh-Kay. Fuck.

Kagome froze for a few minutes, processing what he was saying. "You were on it at your birthday party weren't you?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"What else were you on that day?"

"Nothing—other than alcohol and secondhand pot smoke," he said with a laugh but Kagome wasn't laughing. She stared at him like she wanted to eat him alive, and not in a good way. Not in a way he was used to.

"I kissed you—"

"You were fine Kagome, stop being dramatic."

"So now I'm being dramatic?"

"…You know what I meant."

"You do understand how your dependencies can affect not just me but everyone around you, right? You do know that?"

"…Yes."

"Do you, really?"

Inuyasha gulped, he leaned back against his seat and when Kagome's lips parted to speak he gave her an amused smirk.

"Addiction doesn't just take you over," Kagome said slowly, leaning towards him. Her upper half was held up by her forearms that pressed into the table. Head tilting up ever so slightly to look at Inuyasha.

He swore he felt his heart stop for a moment.

"It infects your relationship with your friends, your family—"

"I ain't got no family."

"Your coworkers, team members, mentors…the public. Everything and anything you touch will be set aflame and you'll be left in a constant state of wondering why the hell it's so hot before you realize you've created your own hell."

Inuyasha stayed silent.

"Addiction is exhausting—"

"I'm not addicted."

"Dependency, then. It's exhausting, but not just for you. For everyone around you. Have you ever wondered how working with you has affected Miroku? As both a business partner and a friend? What about your brother?"

No.

Inuyasha's silence provided the answer Kagome was expecting to receive. She gave him a sad smile. "I figured—"

"Miroku's my best friend, Kagome. Let's leave him out of this—"

"We can't talk about your dependency without talking about the people surrounding you, Inuyasha," Kagome said, her eyes darkening. "You aren't alone in this. You're bringing other people along for this ride with you. Whether you like it or not. Whether they like it or not."

"Alright—"

"I said it once," Kagome started, increasing the pressure. "And I'll say it as many times as you need to hear until it gets through your head: if you need anything, I'm right here."

"Stop—"

"I'm not going to stand by and watch you destroy yourself from the inside out, Inuyasha. That's not the type of person I am. I will fight for your life if you won't fight for your own—and I fucking mean that."

"Kagome—"

"I care, Inuyasha. Everyone around you cares and it's just so. Fucking. Upsetting," her voice was beginning to break down and crack. He could smell the salt in the air before he even noticed the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Enough," It was an order, his voice so dark and angry that Kagome felt as if she'd been grabbed by the throat by it. "I don't need anyone to fight for me. I don't need anyone to vouch, defend, or rescue me. What I do with my life is my business–"

"Except it's not—"

"Except it is."

There was silence as they stared at each other. The candle in the middle of the table flickering, faltering.

Inuyasha didn't know when it happened, but Kagome's face was inches away from his. Her palms pressed into the table as she stared at him with the most defiant look she'd ever given him. His eyes flickered to the blood-red lipstick, the curtain bangs that were styled away from her face like a frame. Her chest heaved her necklace—the one she'd bought recently—dangling from her neck, glimmering over the candlelight.

Kagome's eyes searched his face for any sign of understanding. Anything that showed her that her words got through to him. "Did you even hear me?"

Inuyasha looked up, meeting her eyes. He gave her a sort of distracted look, licking his lips. "I…um,"

"You what?"

Inuyasha's mind went blank a little bit. He blinked to try and get the words in his head to form coherent thoughts but he couldn't.

Kagome was still waiting for an answer.

There was an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness that washed over him like he'd gone absolutely shit-faced off just one drink.

Did they put something in this?

Kagome noticed the way he seemed to look lost, disconnected. "Are you alright?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Are you sure—hey, look at me? Inuyasha?"

"Inuyasha?"

He felt her palm press against his cheek and Kagome sighed in relief when his face changed, senses coming back to him.

"You're out of it," she whispered, moving his hair out of his face.

"I'm not."

Kagome gave him a concerned look, but Inuyasha ignored it.

"I'm not out of it," Inuyasha repeated, "just tired. Jet lagged."

"Jet lagged?"

"Yes," Inuyasha responded through grit teeth, "jet lagged."