He hated going to Sesshomaru's house. It was a cold, loveless place (which he would argue mirrored his brother's sentiments exactly). He never understood why, or even how Rin dated and eventually got engaged to the man. He was happy for his brother of course; he's doing much better than Inuyasha could ever imagine himself doing at that age. He sighed as he pulled his car into the gravel driveway, slowing down his speed as he parked his car next to Miroku's car, but behind his brother's Range Rover. He sighed as he leaned back in the driver's seat, collecting his thoughts before leaving the vehicle. He rolled his shoulders as he walked from the driveway toward the porch, placing his hand on the doorknob. Before he could turn the knob, the door was pulled open, ripped from his grasp. His brother stood on the inside of the minimalistic house, blinking at Inuyasha.

"Ah," Sesshomaru said lowly, his judgmental gaze flickering over his brother, "you're here." He stepped to the side to allow Inuyasha into his home, closing the door softly behind him. "I wasn't expecting you to arrive."

"I wasn't gonna." Inuyasha muttered, turning his head to take in the décor of the house. It occurred to him that he had never actually come into his brother's house, apart from when he helped him move him a year or two ago...whenever it was that they made the cross country move from California to New York. He could smell food cooking in the kitchen and his ears picked up on the delicate, melodic timbre of Kagome's giggle. "Hopefully this makes up for the lateness." Inuyasha uttered, handing a wine bottle to his brother.

"This was Rin's idea." Sesshomaru said, as they walked toward the kitchen.

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha asked, raising an eyebrow. "Woulda never guessed." He added sarcastically. It wasn't exactly a formal event, but it also wasn't casual. He opted for dark blue dress pants and a plain white dress shirt, tucked in. He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up a little bit.

"Ah, Inuyasha! Welcome!" Rin called warmly from the kitchen, smiling as she shut the refrigerator door. She set down the vegetables she had in her hand on the counter and walked over to him, giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek, which he returned.

"Rin, hi." Inuyasha muttered, chuckling. He glanced over her shoulder to Kagome, who gave him a soft smile. He gave her a crooked grin, a fang popping out over his lower lip. Sesshomaru grunted from behind Inuyasha, signaling it was time to let go of his future sister-in-law. "Relax, would ya?" Inuyasha said playfully, rolling his eyes as he moved on to greet the other guests. He shook Miroku's hand, and gave Sango a squeeze on her shoulder, which he reacted to by placing her hand over his and smiling over her shoulder.

He stopped when he reached Kagome, who sipped on her glass of red wine. "Kagome." He greeted, clearing his throat.

It had been awkward between the two since they last spoke on the phone a week ago, in fact this was the first time they were seeing each other since...that day at his apartment. And while both parties had both agreed that what happened as an unfortunate case of misunderstanding and anger, it was awkward between them.

It didn't help that he was bad at expressing himself, and she had a tendency to over express herself. He found feel everyone's eyes on them, as they sucked in their breath...waiting.

"Inuyasha." Kagome said quietly, turned her face up to him from where she sat, a polite smile gracing her features. "You look nice." She complimented.

"Don't I always?" Inuyasha shot back, a playful twinkle in his eyes. Kagome took a sip of her wine quickly, causing a rumble to rise in his chest. "You can admit it."

"I'm pleading the 5th." She mumbled, turning her face away. Inuyasha smiled, satisfied before turning his attention to the kitchen, his hand resting on the back of the chair Kagome sat on at the island.

"What can I help you with, Rin?" Inuyasha asked, changing the tone of his voice as he looked toward the kitchen, ignoring the look of bewilderment Kagome and Sango gave him. Miroku tsk'd his tongue, shaking his head as he took a sip of the cognac that was in his hands.

"Well you can season the meat if you're up for it." Rin said over her shoulder, and Inuyasha scrunched up his nose.

"Anything else?"

"Cut the vegetables." Rin said back, quickly as she hoovered over a pasta sauce she was making.

"Um," Kagome said, cocking her head to one side and blinking hard. "Why...why does he get to help? Sango and I begged you to let us help." Rin waved her hand dismissively as Sesshomaru scooted by her, placing the bottle of wine Inuyasha gave him in the wine cooler.

"Nonsense, you three are guests!" She said cheerfully, causing Inuyasha to snort as he rummaged through the drawers, finally finding a knife.

"Oh, so what am I? Chopped liver?" Inuyasha asked.

"Probably." Kagome mused offhandedly, earning a glare from Inuyasha. She shrugged her shoulders in response.

"You're family." Rin said to Inuyasha, causing him to stiffen in his spot. Rin immediately realized what she said and began apologizing lowly, placing a hand gingerly on his arm. "Oh my god I'm sorry, it missed my mind I-"

Inuyasha shook his head, giving a small smile to the petite woman beside him. "No, you're good, Rin." He sighed. "it's fine." He turned his head quickly, focusing on cutting the vegetables that sat on the cutting board now, zoning out the quiet conversation and laughter of everyone else. The word family brought back painful memories for him.

Family...never really existed. It always felt so foreign to him. Strange. His mother was constantly absent, and when she was around, she was abusive. His father neglected him and when he didn't, he beat him, and called him names. Most times he was high off his ass, and didn't give a damn about the world.

That left Sesshomaru.

His brother...half-brother, so not even fully his brother. He suspected Sesshomaru had been through his fair share of family trauma. He endured the same abuse as his father, often times taking Inuyasha's place. His own mother died mysteriously when he was younger, leaving him with their father for a while before Izayoi came into his and Toga's lives.

Despite enduring the same trauma at the hands of the same person. Despite often times sacrificing his own body for his brother...Inuyasha could feel the resentment radiate off of him. It made him angry, to feel resented. Especially by the same person he survived that with. Was it because of the fact that Sesshomaru had to sacrifice himself sometimes for him? Was it because he was born half-human? Was his own brother prejudice toward him?

Was it...all of it?

He hissed in pain as he looked down at his finger, his thumb having been sliced by the knife he was using as he was deep in thought. "Shit." he cursed lowly, turning away from the vegetables, holding his hand out. Rin gasped as she noticed the injury, and Sesshomaru merely shifted his gaze. "Bandages are in the powder room past the living room." Sesshomaru uttered, pointing opposite the kitchen, in the direction they came from.

"Thanks." Inuyasha sighed, as he walked briskly in the direction of the bathroom, Kagome's eyes burning holes into his back. He tried his best to ignore it, and walked into the bathroom, letting the door slam shut behind himself. He sighed as he opened the faucet, letting cool water run over the cut. From what he could make out, the cut was pretty deep, but not deep enough to need Rin to suture it. "Just great." He whispered to himself, as his free hand opened the bathroom cabinet, locating a first aid kit. He pulled it down and let it fall on the counter with a thud. His hand opened it, and he scanned the contents, looking for anything helpful. He found a few alcohol pads and some thick bandages. He took his thumb out from under the water and stuck it in his mouth, letting his tongue drag over the area of the wound for a few minutes. He realized, -as he stood there, one hand on his hip, the other with his thumb in his mouth-, that he would need help putting on the bandage, lest he stain his white shirt red. So, as embarrassed as the half-demon was, he opened the door, only to be met with a familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes.

"Inuyasha?" She giggled out his name, placing a hand on her cheek as she took in what Inuyasha could only presume to be a funny sight. "Do you need help?"

"Um," he vocalized, his thumb still in his mouth. He didn't dare to take it out. "Mhm." He answered, stepping aside so that Kagome could enter the small powder room. It was impossible to not feel like a little kid, as he leaned against the counter, his eyes trailing over Kagome's hands as she picked out an alcohol pad and a bandage. He felt like he was at the school nurse's office all over again.

"Give it," Kagome said motioning for the thumb he had in his mouth. Reluctantly he pulled it away and positioned his hand over the sink, wincing and whimpering and Kagome gently dragged the alcohol wipe over the cut. "You cut yourself pretty deep there." Kagome said softly, eyes flickering in the dog demon's direction. "Did you like not see your finger?"

"Something like that." inuyasha sighed, forcing his eyes shut as he tried not to make a sound at the sting of the alcohol. She threw away the pad in the waste basket and let go of his hand for a second as she unwrapped the bandaged, and placed it on his thumb, making sure the cotton pad fit over the whole cut. She smiled up at him when she was done. "There you go." She said, looking down at his hand, her fingers gently rubbing over the calluses on his palm.

"Thanks." Inuyasha said awkwardly, pulling his hand away. He looked down, and rubbed his own hand over the other, feeling the calluses himself. "Um, they're from uh..."

"Lifting weights, right?" Kagome finished, shoving her hands into her black dress pants.

"Yep." He added, nodding his head slowly. It was painfully awkward between them, as they were beginning to enter a new stage in their relationship; tolerance.

And tolerance...had to be built. It didn't rise out of the ashes of their burnt bridge like a phoenix. Oh no, the bridge had to be slowly built again, and they had to meet half way. Only neither one of them were taking steps toward building said bridge. That was until...

"You look nice." Inuyasha uttered, looking away from the woman standing in front of him, the scent of the perfume he bought her that first week together filling his nose, intoxicating him. "Never seen you in a pant suit before."

"You look good too." Kagome said, Inuyasha raised his eyebrows.

"I fuckin' knew it." He boasted, smiling at her, "I knew you thought I looked good."

"You'd look better in the kitchen." Kagome responded as she motioned for Inuyasha to get out of the bathroom. "Now go! Let's not have a repeat of Vegas."

"Gladly." Inuyasha agreed, letting Kagome step aside for him to leave the bathroom. She followed closely behind him.

"Took you guys long enough, how long does it take to put on a Band-Aid?" Miroku called to them from his place beside Sango, one of his arms draped over her shoulders. His other hand holding a whiskey glass.

"As long as it takes your sorry ass to finish." Inuyasha spat back, rolling up his sleeves to his elbow, the smile on Miroku's face disappearing as realization settled in.

"Oh, fuck you." Miroku muttered, taking a long sip of his drink. Inuyasha shifted his golden eyes to Sango and shrugged his shoulders.

"Forgot to tell you he's a ten second ride."

"Inuyasha!" Rin exclaimed from the kitchen, "can you stop being a dick for one night please? I just want us all to have a nice dinner. I don't have a night off from the hospital very often so I would love it if you could save the insults."

"Sadly, my brother can't stop being vulgar even if his life depended on it." Sesshomaru said, tilting his head in Inuyasha's direction. "Isn't that right...little brother?"

Inuyasha swallowed hard, always uncomfortable at the way Sesshomaru said the words. It often sounded like a hiss...like...like some hidden message was in them. "Yeah," Inuyasha responded, locking eyes with his brother, clenching his jaw. "Sure...alright. Sorry." He cleared his throat as he shook his head. "Still need my help in the kitchen?" he asked, to which Rin shook her head.

"No..." her voice trailed off, "but if you could set the dining room table, that would be great."

"Sure." Inuyasha answered, grabbing a stack of plates that sat to one side of the island counter in the middle of the kitchen. Miroku cleared his throat as he hopped out of his seat the bar.

"I'll take the utensils." He announced, grabbing a fist full of spoons, knives and forks from the kitchen drawer.

"That's alright, I don't really need you to-"

"I said I'd take the utensils." Miroku responded, his tone suddenly cold and low. Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows, but nodded as he headed for the dining room, Miroku close on his track. Once they were in the dining room and Inuyasha set the plates down on the wooden table, Miroku spoke again.

"So... what'd you do?" He inquired, tugging at his earring. He stood behind the chair at the head of the table, watching as Inuyasha walked around, placing plates at each seat. Inuyasha glanced up at Miorku warily, distrusting eyes traveling over the serious expression of the monk.

"What did I do?" Inuyasha repeated, standing at the other end of the table, across from Miroku. "What do you mean what did I do?" He clarified, tilting his head to one side.

"Don't play dumb, you sleezy dog, you know what I'm getting at." Miroku seethed, clutching the back of the chair, his knuckles turning white. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, a growl forming in his chest. "Don't growl at me." He ordered, causing Inuyasha to set his fist down on the table, defiantly. The plates jumped slightly.

"You don't tell me what to do Miroku, you don't own me." Inuyasha grumbled, opening the fist he had on the table to lay his hand flat on the table. "And don't call me a dog."

Miroku rolled his eyes at Inuyasha, who glared him down from across the table. "What'd you do with it...Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, looking away from his friend as he clenched his jaw.

"Do we have to do this now?" Inuyasha asked, rolling his eyes as he moved to walk around the table and out the entrance to the dining room, Miroku moved, blocking his path. "Seriously?"

"If I don't corner you, we'd never talk about it." Miroku hissed back at Inuyasha, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets. "So, I'm gonna ask again...what did you do with it?" He took a step toward his friend, tongue in cheek waiting for a response. Daring him to lie.

He already knew what he told Sesshomaru, he sounded the alarm and told Sesshomaru, who paid his brother a "visit" that same night. Sesshomaru then called Miroku and informed him.

"He hasn't taken any...at least not yet." Sesshomaru said over the phone, sighing as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand in his car. "But the drugs are still in the apartment...I could smell them."

"Ugh." Miorku said as he stood in his kitchen, his hand gripping the edge of the counter, it moved to run through his hair. He glanced over at the clock seeing that it was late at night. "Are you sure you didn't go way too soon after he threw them away?" Miroku questioned, biting the tip of his thumb. "I'm just trying to be optimistic here."

"I'm positive they're still there." Sesshomaru said through gritted teeth as he pulled away. It was quiet for a moment. "God help that man." he uttered, glancing in his rear-view mirror. "He's gone, Miroku. He's on his own now."

"No!" Miroku yelled, slamming his fist into the countertop, grimacing at the pain. "We can help-"

"No, you can help." Sesshomaru spat back quickly, shaking his head. "I'm done. He's on his own with this, as far as I'm concerned."

Miroku wasn't ready to let Inuyasha crash and burn on his own...not without a fight.

He'd be damned if he didn't try to get a straight answer from him.

"So?" Miroku questioned, taking in a deep breath and exhaling, his breath shaky. "What did you do?"

"I flushed it down the toilet." Inuyasha lied, golden eyes staring into his friend's indigo ones, watching for any sign of relief...hope. His own eyes remained expressionless, matching his plain tone.

Nothing. His eyes remained emotionless.

"You what?" Miroku asked, blinking hard.

"I flushed it down the toilet." inuyasha repeated, crossing his arms.

"Hothothothothot!" Inuyasha shifted in his spot as Kagome walked into the dining room, carrying a bowl of pasta in her hands. She placed it in the center of the table and briefly acknowledged the men in the room, before leaving the room.

"You did...did you?" Miroku said softly, once he knew she was out of earshot. "you spent all that money...just to flush it down the toilet." He added, and then looked up, turning his face to the ceiling. "Huh...well then... okay." He said, sounding almost dejected. Defeated in a way. He turned on his heel, and walked out of the dining room, leaving Inuyasha to finish setting the table himself. Miroku rubbed the part of his chest where his heart was, feeling en emptiness. The bastard...lied...to me, he shook his head in disbelief, his best friend...his confidant... he lied. Miroku felt oddly betrayed by Inuyasha, as if he had just had the wind knocked out of him...like the floor beneath his feet was slowly disintegrating.

"Are you okay, babe?" Sango asked, once he reached her. He nodded his head silently as he rested it on her shoulder, watching as she tossed a salad. "Well...alright then."

Dinner had gone well for the group. It was supplemented by healthy conversation and laughter, and of course, dessert. Inuyasha couldn't help but make awkward eye contact with Miroku who seemed to stare him down during the entirety of the dinner, even as they all indulged in conversation afterward. Inuyasha's attention eventually moved from Miroku to someone, anyone else, as everyone seemed to dissipate within the property. He eventually found himself on the back porch with Kagome, holding a glass of whisky in one hand, the other in his pant pocket.

"How's the thumb?" Kagome asked, pointing at his hand. Inuyasha glanced down, and raised the hand clutching the whisky to eye level.

"Oh this?" Inuyasha asked, inspecting his thumb, "seems fine to me. It'll be gone tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Kagome asked, furrowing her brow. "Oh wait...half-demon...right." She added awkwardly after, bringing her palm to her forehead. "Whoops."

"Yeah." inuyasha replied awkwardly, taking a sip of his drink. "What are you doing out here?"

"It's nice." Kagome whispered, glancing over to Inuyasha. She never tore her eyes away from the empty night sky, squinting in an attempt to find a star. It was in vain, as usual. She'd never find a star in the night sky in NYC. "I like this area of NYC...Riverdale. It's like...farm country in the middle of the big city."

"Yeah...I guess so." Inuyasha responded, looking out at the sky as well. "Can I ask you a question?" Inuyasha asked, cautiously. He licked his lips and cleared his throat as he turned his head in her direction.

"Well...it depends what it is." Kagome answered softly, still looking out at the sky, her hands cupping a mug of tea.

"What'd you tell Kouga?" Inuyasha questioned sternly, biting his lip. "About that day...last week." Kagome stiffened in her spot, her calm and content demeanor shifted as she was visibly nervous. Inuyasha could hear her heart rate speeding up, and a panicked expression washed over her features. She turned her head in his direction, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"I-" She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing seemed to come out.

"I'm not mad." Inuyasha said, as he raised his glass, his lips hoovering over the edge, "well...maybe a little."

"I didn't tell him anything...I don't think." Kagome finally answered, looking down at the cup of tea that warmed her hands. "I..."

"Really?" Inuyasha asked, sighing. "Because that's not what he said."

"What?" Kagome breathed, "what did he say?"

"He knew about the argument."

Kagome sucked in a breath.

"Inuyasha I-"

"I'm all for starting over." Inuyasha interrupted, looking up from the wooden floor of the back porch out to the trees in the backyard. "But, um...we're getting off on the wrong foot here again...don't ya think?"

Kagome swallowed a lump that formed in her throat. "Inuyasha..."

"I..." He paused as he considered his choice of words, "honestly don't want to hear it." He offered Kagome a weak, dejected smile before opening the storm door and stepping inside the house, letting the door slam shut behind him.

And just like that... the step he took toward rebuilding their bridge was taken back...again.

And they were right back where they started.

Right back at square one.