They hadn't talked in days. Much less seen each other; both of them ignored Miroku and Sesshomaru's texts, telling them they had to work something out. Both of them too stubborn and prideful to admit their wrongdoings. Arguments were always a two-way street, is what Miroku had told Inuyasha a day or two after returning from Vegas, as he nursed Inuyasha through another one of his hang overs. Inuyasha was reluctant to admit that perhaps his stupid, womanizing, friend was correct just this once.

Maybe he had to suck it up and listen to Kagome for once.

But in turn, he thought as he ran a hand through his hair, she has to listen to me. He wasn't one to apologize first, much less apologize willingly. It wasn't in his DNA. He sighed, pushing himself up from his couch and resolving to pay the girl a visit. It was a weekday afternoon, so he figured that she should be at her coffeshop. "A matcha latte does sound good right now." He admitted to himself quietly as he walked into his closet and pulled on a white t-shirt, opting to keep his grey sweatpants on. Comfort was of the upmost importance, and besides, it wasn't like he was going anywhere important. He briefly looked in the direction of the safe he hid behind a pile of sneakers and dress shoes, biting his bottom lip, contorting it to one side. He felt chills go up and down his spine, the hair on his nape raising. He could vividly remember his words.

"I want to feel something."

"The world is watching."

"the next time I here that you want to 'feel something' try feeling fucking appreciative. Of what you have, and the people who have sacrificed everything for you to be in this apartment."

He knew what was in there. And it terrified him. It was enough to land him in jail for more than a few nights. Enough to be a felony. He shuddered at the thought of it, but shook his head. "As long as I forget it's there..." his voice trailed off as he left the closet, closing the door softly behind him, as if the sound of the door closing would awake the white substance. As long as I forget it's there, Inuyasha thought, it ain't botherin' anyone.

Except, perhaps, the authorities.

He made his way into the kitchen and took his credit card and keys off of the table. He went over to the elevator and waited patiently for it to arrive to his floor. Meanwhile, he thought about what he would say to Kagome. This was the first time in years that he was going to willingly apologize to someone. He wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought, but he figured if they were to ever get over this slump of theirs, one of them had to be the bigger person. He most certainly wasn't going to let Kagome be the bigger person this time.

Oh, hell no.

As he entered the elevator, he was deep in thought, and he still was as he passed by the receptionist who attempted to get his attention about a package that had arrived for him. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." he grumbled as he passed by her, waving his hand dismissively.

"Mr. Takahashi...the car garage is the other way?" Kanna, the receptionist said, pointing back in the direction of the elevators. Again, Inuyasha waved his hand to her, dismissively.

"Yeah, mhm. Thanks!" he threw over his shoulder, earning a small sigh from the receptionist. He walked straight through the open door, forgetting to thank the doorman. He had to make sure what he said was simple, straight to the point and concise. He wasn't going to mince words. Not that he did mince his words, he almost never did. It was just that he had a tendency to not articulate his thoughts as well as he'd like to most of the time.

By most of the time, he meant all of the time. He managed to get his point across when it was most important though, which, up until now had been all he needed to get by in life. By the same token, up until now he had only extensively dealt with one woman.

Kikyo.

And she was worlds different from Kagome.

Kagome was, as he liked to call her behind closed doors: a bitch. Very plain, and very, very simple. She was rude, and combative and constantly trying to one-up him in some way. Her words always had the slightest hint of attitude, sometimes more than just a hint and it was almost always uncalled for. At least, he thought so. It wasn't that he believed he was completely innocent on some occasions, sometimes he just didn't want to deal with her bullshit and was mean on purpose.

Most times that got him the exact opposite response (and yet he kept doing it). He had to let her know that he wasn't going to put up with any disrespect from her, while also letting her know that he was willing to put aside what had happened in Vegas in order to settle their dispute.

That counted as an apology...right?

He wasn't exactly sure what really constituted an apology besides an 'I'm sorry' thrown in somewhere in there. Most people ended up apologizing to him...

"Hmph." Inuyasha vocalized, bumping into someone. Instinctively, his hands reached toward the person, and then he looked up and was met with an extremely familiar, playful set of brown eyes, adorned by bangs. "Oh..." he said awkwardly, letting go of her arms. Kagome blushed, taking a step back from the half-demon, adverting her gaze. "I uh..."

"No, you're cool." Kagome said, laughing nervously. "I was just on my way to um, central park."

"Central park?" Inuyasha questioned, his ears perking up at the sound of it. He wouldn't admit it because it was cliché, but he loved central park. It was the one thing about New York that he truly thought lived up to the hype. "Alone?" He asked, arching an eyebrow. It wasn't that he cared much, he just thought that parks were places that people went to in groups, or with a friend. The only people he saw in parks alone were old widowed men, or people with boring office jobs contemplating their life choices. He watched as Kagome warily nodded her head at him. "No need to get weird about it." He snapped, grumbling.

"Who said I was?" Kagome asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'm not being weird about it."

"The way you nodded your head at me...it was...like you were weirded out." Inuyasha explained, slightly annoyed. "Why were you being so defensive about a simple question?"

"I wasn't being defensive." Kagome responded hurriedly. Inuyasha took a deep breathe. He glanced around them and noticed that people were beginning to slow down, the commotion dying down slightly as people whispered among themselves and began to point, some taking videos or pictures of them. Inuyasha pinched the bridge of his nose.

"People are watching, Kagome." He said, and then took another deep breath as he prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"Can we head to my place for a bit? We have to talk."

Kagome was taken slightly aback by his statement. He wanted to talk? It was bizarre of him, and she found herself speechless. "Uh, yes." She sputtered, slipping her arm into the crook of his, letting him guide her back to his apartment building, which was a little ways up the block. She turned her face up to him, looking at him with a puzzled expression. She felt her heartrate speed up, as sudden dread filled her. What if he knows...I know? She turned her face away from his, biting the tip of her thumb. Shit!

"Why has your heartrate sped up?" Inuyasha looked down at the woman beside him, ignoring her face of surprise. "I can hear it." he added, point to his ears with his free hand, his other hand in his pocket. Kagome looked away from the dog demon, biting her bottom lip, attempting to come up with a good excuse.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to walking this quick."

"We aren't walking that fast, Kagome." Inuyasha retorted, scrunching up his face. "You're a horrible liar."

"I'm just nervous about what we're going to talk about." Kagome said, as they reached the entrance of his apartment building. She thanked the doorman as he opened the door for them, before looking back toward Inuyasha. "I mean, you aren't particularly the 'talk things out' type of guy so..." Her voice trailed off.

"So, what you're trying to say is you're shocked I'm taking your suggestion?" Inuyasha asked, tilting his head in her direction, a small fanged smile on his face. "honestly wench? I just don't want to give you the satisfaction of being the better person this time." Kagome stopped in her tracks, glaring up at the half-demon as he stared down at her, blinking. "What's the matter?"

"So, this is all just about you wanting to be the bigger person?" Kagome asked, standing in the middle of the lobby. The receptionist pretended to busy herself by looking at something on the computer, secretly keeping an ear on the conversation. "Are you kidding?"

"What's so wrong about me wanting to be the bigger person this time?" inuyasha questioned, anger rising within him. I'm like actually trying here and I'm STILL wrong somehow! Slowly, he was beginning to realize that their arguments were, in fact, not normal at all. It didn't matter what their arguments were about it, sometimes it wasn't even an argument.

Sometimes it was simply just a conversation they would have about a problem. And most times, without his ever realizing it, there was always going to be a loser.

And, like most couples, fake or not.

He was going to be the loser. Every. Single. Time.

His ears drooped as sudden realization of that fact hit him, and his eyes glazed over, preparing himself for the tirade of insults and lecturing that he thought was inevitably going to come out of Kagome's mouth. Except, it never did. This time Kagome chose instead to roll her eyes.

"Ugh," she said, "I can't believe you." She followed him to the elevators awkwardly waiting beside him as they waited for the elevator. "So..." she broke the silence. Inuyasha glanced in her direction, curious. "What exactly are we going to talk about?"

Suddenly, everything he had thought of his mind was whooshed away in a matter of milliseconds as he attempted to condense it down to a simple phrase:

"Vegas." He responded plainly, earning a stern look from Kagome. "You need to get over it." He added, Kagome sputtered.

"I-I'm sorry...you...I'm...I need to get over it? You're the one who hasn't texted me in days!" Kagome whisper-yelled, not trying to cause a scene as they entered the elevator. She watched him press the button that lead to his penthouse. Kagome swiftly moved forward, pressing the stop button on the elevator, causing it to jolt and stop.

"You haven't either. I'm not the one completely to blame here." Inuyasha grumbled, taking her finger off of the stop button. There was a delay, but the elevator started moving again, up toward his penthouse floor. "I'm tired of you acting all high and mighty." He added lowly, crossing his arms.

"And you don't?" Kagome questioned, arching an eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips, looking up at the tall half-demon. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't act all high and mighty!"

"Yamete." Inuyasha grumbled, "stop it." he translated.

"I understood what you said." Kagome responded hurriedly. "You don't have to translate." After a moment she said again, "so look at me in the eyes and tell me you don't act all high and mighty."

"I-" the elevator door opened, he glanced in the direction of the open doors, watching at Kagome turned on her heel and walked into his apartment. He closed his mouth, growling lowly. "I don't do it as often as you do." He admitted, clearing his throat as he followed her to his living room. He vaulted himself over the couch, and sat cross legged in front of Kagome, who sat on the ottoman across from the coffee table.

"But you still do it." She pushed, wagging a finger at him. He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't cool of you to throw your emotional baggage into the argument in Vegas."

Inuyasha snorted, scrunching up his face. "When the fuck did I do that?"

"When you accused me of thinking your life is easy because you have money."

"I wasn't throwing my emotional baggage at you." Inuyasha defended, taking a deep breathe. Kagome sighed.

"Yeah you were."

"No, I wasn't." He repeated, trying his best to keep his anger in check, Kagome frowned.

"This is how our arguments always start." She muttered, and there ws a pause on both sides as they looked away from each other, suddenly more interested in the black marble of his floor than discussing the events that happened in Vegas. It was clear to both of them that their communications were less than stellar, although that had already been established. "Look aren't you...tired of fighting me on everything?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Inuyasha muttered back, raising his eyes from the floor back to Kagome, clenching his jaw as he swallowed.

"Okay but I'm asking you...right now. Aren't you tired of fighting me on everything?"

"But I don't fight you on everything."

"inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took several deep breathes. "Inuyasha...why are you like this?"

"Like how?" he questioned, tilting his head. Silver hair brushing against his knee.

"So...short-sighted."

"Short...sighted?" He questioned, squinting his eyes at her. They didn't teach that in language school.

"Kokoronosemai." Kagome said cautiously, earning a glare from the half-demon in front of her. She sighed.

"I'm not narrow minded...I'm willing to listen." He responded darkly.

"Then listen, Inuyasha." Kagome responded softly, sighing. "I'm tired of fighting."

"Likewise." inuyasha responded, clearing his throat.

There was an awkward silence between them, as neither party had ever really reached an agreement with each other before. It was different, and they were taking time to consider what this meant for them moving forward. Inuyasha broke the silence this time.

"So... are we done? With the fighting?" he asked cautiously, "Can we...restart?"

Kagome looked at him cautiously, there was sincerity in his eyes. He seemed to actually want to restart, but the comment he made in the lobby of his building still left a bad taste in her mouth. There was a sudden switch in him. How had he gone from only apologizing to spite her, to actually wanting to...restart?

"i thought you were apologizing to spite me?" Kagome questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Keh, I'm not apologizing." He said, turning his nose up, and closing his eyes, but cracked one open. "I am doing this to spite you though."

"Don't play games with me Inuyasha. You haven't even asked me what you can do to be better."

"Well you haven't fuckin' told me, wench."

And...there went the olive branch he had extended. Tossed directly into the fire, perishing before his very eyes. Truth be told, it was his fault that this talk had quickly gone downhill. He couldn't stop himself from being disrespectful. It should have been expected by Kagome, but it was still hurtful.

"Alright." She said, slapping her hands down on her thighs as she got up. "I'm done here."

"Hey wait!" Inuyasha said, watching her get up and walk toward the elevator. "Don't just fuckin' leave!"

"Well you don't even want to try!" Kagome shouted over her shoulder. "I actually am willing to try to be civil with you! But you-you-you...you're just a meanspirited, lowlife, inconsiderate, bastard who thinks everything is a fucking joke!"

Inuyasha flinched.

Ouch.

That hurt...a lot.

It was in that moment that both of them realized that their differences were irreconcilable.

Extremely irreconcilable. If they were married, this would be the defining moment of everything going downhill and resulting in a divorce.

"I know..." Inuyasha said softly looking down. He couldn't argue that she wasn't right no matter how much it hurt him. He was meanspirited, and inconsiderate, and a lowlife and a bastard and he did tend to think that everything was a joke. He heard the rapid thumping of Kagome's heartbeat as she struggled to maintain her anger at him, taking shallow breathes.

"I am tired of always being the one who tries to make shit right between us." Kagome hissed, her hands balled up in fists as her finger nails dug deep into her palms. "I am putting my life on hold, for you. I, a complete stranger am putting my life on hold. Do you think your money is making this a fucking cakewalk for me? It's not! My life is being made public because of you!"

He could have sworn he heard her say those exact words to him at some point, he just couldn't pinpoint when. His nose twitched as he smelled blood and his eyes shot up from where they were glued. "Kagome," he said, getting up. "Kagome you're bleeding." He looked down at her balled-up fists, and before he knew it, he had closed the distance between them, taking her arm in his hand.

She tore her arm away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"LET ME HELP YOU!" Inuyasha yelled back, squeezing his hand around her arm.

"You're hurting me!" Kagome cried, to which Inuyasha let her go, bringing his hands to his mouth.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to." he said softly, as Kagome brought a hand to her arm, rubbing it. She looked up at him angrily, before she looked down at her bloodied hand, and turned, walking to the elevator. He watched powerlessly after her, mentally kicking himself for ever hurting her. "I told her I wouldn't hurt her..." he muttered to himself, rubbing his face with his hands as she entered the elevator, leaving his apartment.

"Fuck." He whispered to him, dropping down to his knees. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck."

Kagome could hardly believe what had transpired between them. The entire encounter was an intense, emotional rollercoaster that she desperately wanted to jump off of. She debated calling Miroku and telling him what happened, but she figured there was no need for such dramatics. She would be fine, her arm would bruise, for sure, but she would be fine after a few says. As for her hands, well, that was her fault entirely. She had gotten a bit too angry with the half-demon and dug her own nails into her palms. She took a moment once she sat down in the trail to take a deep breathe, making sure to keep herself calm. She wasn't angry with him for hurting her, she understood it was an accident, she was more so disappointed in what happened before it escalated to that point.

"Deep in thought huh?" She looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Kouga sitting next to her, giving her a small, fanged grin.

"Oh, Kouga!" Kagome said in surprise, smiling. "I didn't even notice you, I'm so sorry." She said, smiling nervously at him. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't sweat it, sweetness." He said, and then leaned in talking softly. "What happened?"

"What?" Kagome questioned, blinking as she pulled away from Kouga. She winced at the sound of the trail shrieking against the rails. "What are you referring to?"

"I can smell it, Kagome." Kouga said seriously, his eyes flickered down to her hands, that laid on her lap. "And you seem stressed. Are you alright?"

"Oh..." her voice trailed off as she looked down at her hands, turning them so she could see the little dents in her hands and the blood at pooled at them. "I'm alright Kouga." She said, smiling. "I just got into an argument with Inuyasha is all."

"So, he fucking hurt you?" He said, gently taking her wrist in his hands and inspecting the injuries on her palms. "Did that half-breed do this to you?"

"Hey!" Kagome said defensively, pulling her wrist away from Kouga. "Don't call him that!"

"Answer the question, babe." Kouga pressed on, blue eyes filled with anger as he stared at Kagome. In his opinion, Kagome shouldn't be running with that half-demon at all. He was a loose cannon, dangerous.

And above all else he wasn't particularly deserving of all the fame and attention he was getting. His eyes flickered down to her hands, and then trailed up her left arm, seeing a slight darkening of her skin color. It was subtle, a human wouldn't have been able to tell the difference, but demons were different. "Did he...hurt you, Kagome?"

There was a pause before Kagome spoke. She took time to consider what would happen should she decide to tell Kouga that yes, Inuyasha had hurt her although she understood that it was purely unintentional and a mistake on his part. She figured that he wasn't going to listen much farther than the yes. So...

"No." Kagome said firmly, shaking her head. "He wouldn't lay a finger on me."

But Kouga didn't buy it. "Kagome..." he started, but Kagome waved him off.

"What are you doing on this train? Don't you live in china town?" She asked, attempting to change the subject. Kouga frowned, but went along.

"Eh, I used to. I moved to my own place...costs more money but my roommates were starting to annoy me." He said, chuckling a little bit.

"Ah I see." Kagome replied, nodding her head. "You just needed your own place, then?"

"Yeah...roommates aren't really my thing." Kouga responded. He let his eyes linger on her for a moment, still not buying her excuse. To him, Kagome seemed out of the loop, like the wind had been knocked out of her. A little scared as well. "Geez, whatever happened really spooked her." Kouga whispered, just low enough for himself to hear.

Perhaps, he thought to himself, smiling, I oughta pay the mutt a visit.

See how things are going over in the Upper East Side.