Kagome wasn't expecting his name to flash across her phone screen.

He never really called her.

The times that he did were few and far between.

Kagome was actually more likely to call him than he was to call her. But that wasn't exactly important at the moment. With squinted eyes, Kagome reached for her phone and answered, swiping her hair to one side in the process. "Hello?"

"Hey, are you busy?" Inuyasha asked quickly. Kagome's confusion (and, if she was being honest, fear) grew. An eyebrow raised as she pulled her phone away from her ear for a few seconds and stared at the phone screen. The seconds on the call ticked away. When Kagome pressed it back against her ear, his voice filled her head again. "Did you die?"

"You ask that every single time it takes me more than a minute to answer you," Kagome said, rolling her eyes as she did so. She turned, leaning against her kitchen counter.

"Because I hate waiting for answers."

"How fitting." She deadpanned. She heard Inuyasha groan, and could practically see the eye roll, almost as clearly as she could hear him groan at her response. "To answer your question, no, I'm not busy…why?"

There was a pause, and Inuyasha drew his bottom lip between his teeth, trying to decide if he should ask her the question he had or if he should make up some excuse and hang up instead. And then suddenly Kagome spoke and he was broken out of his thoughts, she used his own words against him.

"Did you die?" She said, imitating his voice by taking on a deeper, baritone voice. He was sure she was making some type of stupid face to go along with it, too. There was a stifled laugh that followed and again, Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"N-no, I'm not fuckin' dead." He responded, "look I just had a question for you, is all."

Kagome blinked, slightly stunned. A question? For me? She drew in a breath and held it for a few seconds, eyebrows knit together in mild concern. "A question? Are you sick or something?"

"Would you shut up? No, I'm not sick." He grumbled, a fingernail running along the marble of the kitchen countertop. "I just…okay look—"

"I'm looking."

"Oh fuck you, Higurashi."

Kagome sucked in a breath, shaking her head slightly. "Alright, alright…what do you need, hm?"

"So…do you remember in Vermont…when you made me food?"

Of course, Kagome remembered. It was hard to forget, especially given the circumstances. "Yeah…I do. Why?"

"Well…" Inuyasha paused again, mentally rolling his eyes. Asking Kagome for a fucking recipe was supposed to be simple. He didn't need to make such a big deal out of it and yet he was sitting here, unintentionally dragging out this conversation for as long as he could to avoid asking the question. But with every second that passed on the phone, the conversation grew more awkward.

"Could you maybe slide me that recipe once you get the chance?"

There. Finally. The Big Question was out already, and he could breathe easy. Except Kagome asked a question of her own in return.

"Do you just want me to go over and show you how to make it? It's easier."

"Absolutely not," Inuyasha responded almost as soon as she was done talking. "Just send the recipe."

"I mean…I'm just saying, it's probably easier to just…watch and help me make it than it is to just send you a recipe. Your kitchen looks like it's never been used." Kagome said with a shrug, she heard him sputter on the other end. "What? I'm right!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I mean to say you don't seem like the type to cook, is all."

"I—I do, I live alone! I'm not fucking ordering take-out every damn day!"

"You could, though. You've definitely got the money for it." Kagome giggled, and Inuyasha didn't find any of this amusing in the slightest.

"But I don't, so just gimme the recipe."

"No, I'd rather show you."

"So, what I'm hearing is…you don't have a recipe for the curry?" He asked, and she could already see the lifted brow, the smug smirk on his face like he was proud of himself for figuring something out that should've been obvious from the get-go. Kagome fell silent on the other end.

"...Yes." She admitted, "so can I show you? Will you settle for that?"

"Sure." His voice was easy, low, fucking intoxicating.

She shouldn't have the stupid grin on her face.

Stop that! Stop it! The grin fell. "Today?"

Kagome sputtered, nearly spitting out the coffee she held to her lips. "T-today?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha said, shrugging. "We could go get the ingredients you need, and then come back to my place and you can show me." There was a beat of silence that followed before he spoke again. "Okay?"

"Yeah…I'll um…I'll text you when I'm ready."

Inuyasha was Satan incarnate, Kagome was sure of it.

He'd wandered off with the grocery cart on multiple occasions and she had found him three aisles away…on multiple occasions. At present, she found herself walking around the grocery store with a packet of chicken breast in one hand and a jar of minced garlic in the other. She was convinced he was doing it on purpose and muttered to herself about how much of a dick he was while she sped through the chip aisle, glancing at the shelves that lined either side of her as if he was hiding among the endless rows of salty deliciousness.

He wasn't, obviously, but she wasn't ruling anything out. "Inuyasha!" She called out like he was going to be nice enough to shout back.

Of course, he wasn't. She got nothing but silence in response. Or at least, as much silence as she could get because almost immediately the other person in the aisle looked at her up and down and chuckled in response as if amused by her obvious irritation. Kagome grumbled, turning the corner. Her side went smack into a brick wall of a chest, and a strong, yet familiar hand came out and steadied her. She looked up, taking note of the twinkle in the half-demon's eyes. "Where the hell were you?" She asked, waving the chicken in the air, "I need to put this in the cart."

He shrugged. A single, strong, shoulder shooting up. "Got distracted, sorry."

Kagome looked over at him, glaring at the easy smile on his face. "Distracted. Sure."

"I saw like…chili flavored ice cream and just needed to see if my eyes were playing games on me." Inuyasha frowned, sensing that something was wrong. "You good?"

"I would just…much rather have you not run off from me every second you get." Kagome sighed in response. "We need to get an apple."

"The fuck do we need to get apples for?" He snorted, and Kagome rolled her head to look in his direction lazily.

"Grating an apple adds a bit of sweetness to it," Kagome explained and Inuyasha huffed in response, but pushed the cart anyways, stopping momentarily to pluck a bag of chips off of the end cap of the chip aisle. He glanced into the aisle, making eye contact with the man standing in it, and gave a smile before disappearing as he trailed after Kagome.

He stared at her for a few silent moments as he followed her around the grocery store, ignoring the stares and whispers and obvious phone cameras. He was used to it. Inuyasha couldn't go grocery shopping without people having to document. Inuyasha was sure that there would be some shitty BuzzFeed article later on in the week raving with stupid GIFs about how he 'shops at Trader Joe's, just like us!'.

Kagome stopped, the cart bumped into her heels, and her head turned as if she was going to berate him for it…but she didn't. She merely winced, muttered about being more careful, and started walking again.

Something was off about her, but he couldn't quite place what it was.

Something's been off about her since the morning at the gym…

"Kagome?"

"What?" Her question came out a little more abruptly than she intended and she paused, staring at him for a few moments—she hoped he understood that she didn't mean to be aggressive. There was a flicker in his eyes of something, but it faded almost as soon as she saw it.

Whatever he was going to say died in his throat because he simply shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows, as if angry with himself. He motioned for her to keep walking. "Nothing. Forget it." Her eyes lingered for a few seconds, before turning forward, and Inuyasha let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The way she looked at him made his heart do something weird and he didn't like it, so he ignored the feeling and kept pushing the cart.

He wasn't sure at what point he moved, but he found himself standing behind Kagome's tiny form, looking over her shoulder as she picked apples. "That one's tiny and has a dent in the side," Inuyasha said, his voice low. His hand stretched out to take it from her, and he tossed it back into the pile.

His breath tickled the back of Kagome's ear, she could feel his chest pressing against her back. His hair brushed against her elbow as he leaned forward, picking out an apple and holding it out in front of her. "This one's better."

"It's getting grated anyways," Kagome said, clearing her throat, and trying her hardest not to seem distracted by his proximity to her. She was still struggling to get over whatever the fuck it was that brain tried to pull on her a few days ago, and having him so close to her was not helping in the slightest. "It doesn't matter."

"Well, I'm not having an ugly apple in my house." Inuyasha retorted and Kagome could barely hold back the amused snort that she let out.

"You won't even see it."

"So?" He was firm in his stance, she could practically feel his indignance. "It's ugly."

"Fine, we won't take the ugly apple," Kagome said, snatching the apple that he'd deemed to be good from his hand. "Fussy over the simplest things."

"I'm a perfectionist of sorts," Inuyasha muttered as he stepped out of her way, watching her drop the apple into the cart. He winced. "No longer pretty."

"It doesn't matter. It's getting grated." And again Inuyasha noticed the sharpness in her voice, albeit he was sure it was unintentional. His ears fell flat, and his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her, not letting up on the eye contact until she made a point of staring back at him. "Can I help you?"

He squinted at her. Kagome squinted back.

"Takahashi?" She asked, moving her head ever so slightly. "What is your problem?"

"You are." Inuyasha sneered, leaning over the handle of the cart. Kagome rolled her eyes and waved him off, but he growled at her, loud enough for her to hear. "The fuck is your problem? I haven't even done anything lately."

"For the last time, I don't have a problem with you," Kagome said through grit teeth, and Inuyasha turned his head to the side just slightly, still squinting at her. She was lying and he knew it. The skin around her decolletage always turned a little red when she lied, and her eyelid twitches. But he wasn't going to push her any more than he already had.

He preferred to live…sort of.

"Let's just go pay, alright?" Kagome said, "We have everything now."

Her voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he blinked, looking down at the full cart and then up at her. "Fine."

He was making her nervous.

Like, really nervous.

Everywhere she moved, she could feel his eyes glued on her. And every time she glanced up, he was always doing something that wasn't supposed to be sexual or attractive in any way but when Inuyasha was the one doing it, it suddenly was.

"What are you doing now?" He asked, and Kagome glanced up from what she was doing, watching as he popped a grape into his mouth and chewed. Golden eyes trailed from her face towards the carrots and potatoes in the sink that she was washing.

"I'm uh," Kagome stuttered and mentally kicked herself for doing so. She looked up at him again and noticed the tug on his lips like he was fighting down a smile. "W-washing the vegetables."

"Need help?" Inuyasha asked, and Kagome looked up, glared at him, and suddenly found her voice.

"No, I'm fine."

It was quiet again for a few seconds and then Inuyasha spoke again, popping grapes into his mouth. "You know—chew—I'm not gonna learn—chew—unless you help me learn, by letting me help you."

Kagome was fully aware of that. In fact, she was painfully aware of it, but she couldn't handle any…possibility of close proximity to him at the moment; which brought her to the question: why the FUCK did I agree to this? Because at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to throw herself out of his window and fall forty floors down.

Every single god-forsaken time she looked up at him, she heard nothing but the moans she let out in that dream, she felt his hands pressing into the dimples of her back. His encouraging words, the way he thrust into her. She could feel his hands pulling on her hair, cupping her neck, fingers making their way into her mouth.

And he didn't even know it—of course, he didn't even know it! It was a dream! A literal fucking dream, and yet this fictional figment of her (wild) imagination had invaded every waking moment of her day since then. She couldn't look down at the strong, large hands that—in her dream—had spread wide across the expanse of her back, practically wrapping around her. She couldn't look at his mouth, she couldn't look at his arms, she couldn't look at him.

He was too much right now. Too. Damn. Much.

I can't look at any of him!

And she had the feeling that he was on to her too, he didn't typically ask her if she was okay or if something was wrong unless she was making it blatantly obvious that something wasn't right.

Which she must have been doing, because he was watching her like a fucking hawk, and if she squinted enough, he seemed like he was enjoying it too.

"I know," Kagome responded after it seemed like far too much time had passed for her to even bother responding. "I just don't like people in the kitchen when I cook."

"So why are you teaching me?"

"You're the one who wanted me to come over and make this for you."

"Uh, no," Inuyasha said, running a hand through his hair before pointing a finger in her direction. "I asked for the recipe…you objected."

"Because I don't have one," Kagome responded with a shrug.

"Right, and then you offered to come over and make it—"

"To teach you," Kagome interjected, stealing a glance in his direction. Inuyasha ignored her interjection.

"And now you won't let me help." He finished, and Kagome looked up to see a fake pout. She turned her back to him as she took the washed and peeled vegetables and moved to a counter. Inuyasha grumbled to himself, and went around the island, leaning against his refrigerator door and crossing his arms as he watched her cut them. "Why are you doing this?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You could have said no."

"I have a problem with saying no to people," Kagome said, and Inuyasha let out a small laugh.

It was cute.

Why was it cute?

How dare it be cute!

He isn't allowed to be cute!

"Damn it." Kagome cursed, and she didn't notice that she'd cursed aloud until the words hung in the air, and after she realized that she'd cursed out loud she cursed once more. This time, in reaction: "fuck."

"No seriously," Inuyasha moved forward, gently taking the knife from Kagome's hand and setting it as far away from her as he could. "What the hell has been up with you lately? Your vibes are all off."

"My vibes?"

"Your vibes." He repeated with a slow nod.

"I don't–"

"You're acting really weird. Ever since that video shoot, you're acting more awkward than usual and it's making it hard to be around you. Because you seem like you're gonna jump at any sudden movement." Inuyasha said, Kagome made a funny face that he mimicked before his features fell flat again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong Inuyasha, Jesus Christ," Kagome said, and the little flutter her heart did because of his laughter died down. He was being pushy, and nosey, and honestly, she would rather him go back to being cold and angry with her all the time.

Which…when did that stop happening?

"I should be asking you what's wrong." She said after he didn't respond. He snorted, and her eyes darted in his direction, giving him a once over. "You've been oddly…cordial, with me." She reached for the knife he'd moved away from her.

"...What, I can't be polite to you, now?" Inuyasha asked, giving her a confused look. Kagome gawked for a few seconds, before closing her mouth. "Thought so."

"I never said you couldn't be polite to me, I just think it's…I need to get used to this side of you."

"What side of me?" He was genuinely curious.

"...The nice side."

"Oh, please." His voice growled when he said 'please' making a shiver run up and down her spine, sending bolts of electricity throughout her body. "Fuck do you mean 'nice side'?"

"You called me to make you curry, when you could have easily just ordered from somewhere."

"...that doesn't mean anything, nothing beyond me just liking what you made, I mean…" his sentence barely made sense, and it took everything in him to not say something stupid again. So he turned on his heel, scratching at the back of his neck as he walked out of his kitchen. Inuyasha glanced down at his phone as if its empty reflection would somehow save him from the mess of words he created.

His phone didn't have any answers for him…obviously.

"I didn't call you so you could make it for me…I called you so I could have the recipe." He said over his shoulder, pausing in his footsteps. Somewhere between the fridge and the living room, he remembered who he was. "You offered to teach me."

"Teaching requires having a willing student."

"I am a willing student." Inuyasha retorted, giving Kagome a dirty look. "You haven't taught me anything."

"You're the one walking out of the kitchen, Inuyasha." Kagome heard a grumble and turned her head right as he began to pull his hair up. Brown eyes trailed over the way the muscles in his upper back stretched, fanned out, and then flattened. The ears atop his head flickered in what she could only assume was annoyance and before she knew it she was staring straight into his chest. Her eyes flickered upward, meeting a pair of determined golden eyes. He didn't seem to notice where her eyes were originally placed and for that she was relieved.

"Alright, you know what? Bet." He said, pointing with both hands towards what she was doing. "What are you doing, Chef Higurashi?"

"Prepping," Kagome responded simply and he nodded, eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed. He stared at her like he was really taking in what she said, but she could tell it was sarcastic. It made a smile threaten to pull at her lips.

"And- and what does that entail?"

"Chopping vegetables, boiling water, seasoning, and breading the chicken…cooking the vegetables, wanna help?"

"Of course." He said, leaning against the counter, dangerously close to where she was standing. He leaned forward a little bit, "where do you want me?"

There was something in that last phrase…Kagome couldn't quite put a finger on what it was but something sounded different in his voice when he said it and she wasn't sure if it was intentional or not. Either way, it made the tingling sensation return to her body and that wasn't what she wanted at the moment. In fact, it was the opposite of what she wanted. For once, she actually wanted him to…go back to normal? She wanted him to stop this fake nice shit and go back to being a dick, a massive one at that.

Right now? As far away from me as humanly possible.

"Chicken."

"That's the worst option." Inuyasha frowned, pouting at her. "Can I do…anything else?"

"...Do you want to take over the vegetables, then?"

"Now we're talking," Inuyasha said, giving her a cocky, triumphant, victorious smile, and god he was so fucking annoying with his perfectly straight, white teeth and that dimple in his fucking cheek that she hadn't fucking noticed until now.

Fuck.

They shifted, Inuyasha took hold of the knife in her hand, and shuffled into her spot, while she shifted away, careful to not get caught between him and the counter. Kagome watched in silence for a brief moment as he mimicked her motions and then glanced at the pot on the stove, which didn't need her immediate attention at the moment. So she turned to give something else her attention, and it fell quiet for a bit.

"So, what? Did your mom teach you this?" Inuyasha realized his mistake a little too late and immediately whipped around, the knife still in hand. "Oh…" He couldn't really bring himself to say the next words…partly because he didn't have them yet—he just knew her mom was a touchy subject and fuck he was such an idiot. "Shit, Kag—"

"It's not a big deal." There was a flicker of something behind her eyes, but it was gone before he could pick up on what it was. Her features tightened, and his ears drooped in response. It was as if a physical brick wall had been built between them in a matter of seconds and he was trying desperately to tear it down.

"You can curse me out if you want, I—"

"Inuyasha," Kagome held up a wet hand, waving it dismissively in the air, "it was an honest mistake, it's not a big deal, okay?"

Inuyasha exhaled, eyes flickering rapidly over her face. "You…don't look like it's not a big deal." He said simply, eyebrows raised in question. Kagome maintained that it was, in fact, not a big deal, although every inch of her body was yelling at him that he'd obviously struck a nerve.

Why am I always screwing up?

His mind flashed back to the time they had dinner at Sesshomaru and Rin's—oh.

It's…

Just Sesshomaru now.

Right.

But his mind flashed back to that night they had dinner at their place.

"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.

He must have struck the same type of nerve that Rin did that day, calling him 'family'. Inuyasha scoffed at the thought of it, shaking his head as he went back to what he was doing. How the fuck did that turn out for us?

That's why he never used the word. Family.

It was a while before he realized how quiet it was, and how Kagome had slipped into the little space between himself and the stove, Hands setting down a cutting board of raw chicken on the counter. "Done," she announced, as if she'd just finished cooking but she was long from done—or rather, they were. She seemed relatively unphased.

That's…good, right?

His mind was in some faraway place at the moment, hands moving automatically, while his brain searched through every single conversation he'd ever had with Kagome. It finally settled on the one they had in Vermont. The one on the couch. The one with 10 Things I Hate About You long forgotten on the TV screen.

They'd gone upstairs at some point after the movie had ended and the Disney Plus end-of-movie screen came up with all the stupid recommended shit. Which..that probably would have been helpful if he was still watching, but at that point, he was balls deep in her and—

It was wandering again. His mind, that was.

There was a smell, some words were said and before Inuyasha could fully register what was going on, things were simmering in the saucepan, a pot of water was beginning to boil. He'd missed the instructions but he pretended like he'd heard her.

Why the fuck am I doing this? Why are we doing this? Why did I call her?

"How bored did you have to be to call me, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, and that was a question he didn't have the answer to. His smart mouth had answers to everything but that so Inuyasha shrugged. Silver hair fell off his shoulders, mouth turned into a bit of a pout. He truly couldn't answer it and no lie he said was enough.

She could sniff out bullshit from a mile away, there was no use in lying.

"How bored did you have to be to answer?" When in doubt, turn the question back onto the person asking it. Kagome glanced over at him, a smile tugging at her lips.

"I don't work anymore, you know. I don't do much other than hanging out with you, now."

"You were working a few days ago."

"Things change."

"So you're going through with it?" Inuyasha asked arms crossed over his chest. "The whole not working till the contract is up…that is."

"I think so."

"You think so?"

Kagome flinched at the modulation of his voice, the sharpness with which he said the word think. You think so. As if he would have preferred her to have a definite answer. As if he didn't want her to go with some other option. The other option being work.

Or maybe he did?

He was difficult to read. Just like his brother.

For a second, the steely gaze faltered, the walls he'd built up in his expressions fell, and Inuyasha relaxed. "I just…" He started, jaw set, wheels turning in his head as he thought.

Kagome raised her eyebrows, leaning toward him as if to hear him better.

"Wasn't expecting to see you then…was all. You seemed pretty set on it."

"Yeah but…I feel bad."

"Only person I know who feels bad for not working," Inuyasha said with a snort, Kagome shot him a look as if to say he wasn't much better. He wasn't, but it was for entirely different reasons.

"I already told you—"

"It's you and Sango's baby. You started it together. You don't want to leave her alone to man the ship, even though you guys have Shippo. You feel guilty about it. Yadda yadda…" Inuyasha's voice dragged, his hand waving in the air as he spoke. Kagome blinked. "What?"

"You actually listened," Kagome responded quickly in his native tongue. He rolled his eyes at her. "Maybe you don't hate me after all."

"For the last time: I don't hate you, fuck." Inuyasha responded. "I've never hated you."

"Are you sure about that?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Inuyasha moved his head side to side, lips puckered slightly. Eyes angled away from her. "I knew it!" She barked out a laugh.

"I had a valid reason." He grumbled. The water on the stove boiled over, hissing as it touched the flame. Kagome cursed as she grabbed a handful of the chopped potato and dumped them into the water, wincing as the hot water splashed against her skin. His brow creased but as he watched her quickly go back to what she was doing, he gathered that she was alright. "You were some random girl Miroku picked out for me to hang with for a year. And you looked like a crybaby, and I had to give you my money, and just…the first thing I thought of when I saw you was 'this bitch is gonna air out all my shit in the press'."

"And I've told you I won't do that," Kagome said, her tone of voice suggesting that she was a bit tired of that topic. "Multiple times."

"Yeah—"

"I'm not that type of person, Inuyasha. I thought that after, what? Six months? You would know that by now?"

"Okay and—"

"So why the hell are you so worried about it?"

"I'm sorry…are we just gonna skip past what happened in Vermont?"

"Oh," Kagome scoffed, "So now we don't want to skip past that, but if I recall correctly, you wanted to skip past it last week."

"I had a fight!"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Let's change the subject."

"Stop acting like it's so surprising or insulting that I don't trust you, Kagome," Inuyasha muttered, nostrils flaring as he exhaled, somewhat defiantly.

Kagome paused—stiffened in her place, the hand holding the knife slowly lowered, placing the knife down. Inuyasha followed her movements, it was silent. The water on the stove boiled, and whatever else was on the stove was forgotten for a moment. Why did this…hurt?

Why is that sort of hard to hear? She thought back to the mini-lecture Sango had given Kagome when she arrived from Vermont, the way she warned her to protect her heart. She wasn't…with him. They weren't a real couple. This was all pretend. But the friendship they were forming, the laughs and conversations and banter…that was real. To her it was real.

Was it real to him?

But there was also the bad. The name-calling, the way he'd grabbed onto her arm that one time with so much force it left a bruise she had to hide for days (an accident, a bonafide accident..but it hurt). Alcoholism—his lying about it, specifically. The fact that he disappeared off the face of the earth for a while after his surgery…yeah. Oh! And! He was a criminal to boot. She had plenty of reasons to not trust him.

They had plenty of reasons to not trust each other, not..really trust each other.

"I don't trust you either, Inuyasha," Kagome said in response. She felt him move, fingers scratching at the nape of his neck, chest rising and then falling with a heavy sigh.

As far as Inuyasha could tell, Kagome had no valid reason to not trust him.

"Why don't you trust me?" She could feel his eyes burning into the side of her head, glaring down at her like she was some 5'2" vermin.

"Well…you grabbed my arm really hard that one time."

"Oh for fucks sake—"

"No actually," Kagome turned off the burner the saucepan was on and turned to look at him. "I didn't trust you even before I met you. I saw some highlights from your fights, I saw your headlines, the mugshots, you…" she took a deep breath, "I was scared of you when I first met you."

Inuyasha thought back to the way she seemed to flinch every time he even slightly raised his voice for the first week or two. The way she shied away from his question the first time they went to Las Vegas together. The outbursts, the defensiveness. Oh shit, she was terrified.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked the question in a curious tone, tilting his head to one side. Kagome gave him a bewildered look. "I yelled at you when we were signing that contract, and you looked scared for a second. Today you attacked me. You cowered away in my apartment when I picked up Miroku." Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands into his pajama pants pockets. Kagome gulped and looked down. "And yet...you also have times when you seem completely unafraid of me at all." He squinted his eyes at Kagome and took a step forward. "What's with you?" He asked softly, offering a small, fleeting smile.

"I.." Kagome started, seeing how close she now was to the dog demon. "I..."

"You?" Inuyasha asked, teasingly.

"I don't feel comfortable talking about that," Kagome said, and took off the blanket, shoving it into Inuyasha's chest. He blinked in confusion and watched as Kagome quickly walked out of his room. He followed her.

"Kagome, it's a simple question!" He said, slumping his shoulders, staring across the suite at Kagome.

"It doesn't have a simple answer." Kagome firmly retorted, opening her door.

"I mean," Kagome's voice called him back to earth, he blinked as he looked down at her. "I know you now. I know who you are, what you're like. I'm not scared of you anymore, but…I don't fully trust you, annnnnnnd shit, now I've probably offended you." She wanted to dunk her head in a vat of water and scream until her lungs filled up with it.

"No…actually…it makes sense." Inuyasha shrugged. "I know I'm an asshole. I act like one, I come off as one, I am an asshole. That reputation kinda…I don't know—"

"Precedes you?"

"In..a..way, yes." There was a beat of silence, and then he spoke again. "You probably…felt unsafe around me for a bit."

"I knew Miroku was around or going to be around, so I knew you wouldn't do anything dumb, but yeah I was a little scared of you at first. I'm not anymore though, like I said."

"Right, because you wouldn't have sex with someone you're scared of," Inuyasha muttered, trying to lighten the mood. Kagome laughed, turning the burner back on.

She thought for a moment, before speaking again. "Question."

"Yup."

"...are we…do you…ugh, damn it. Are we friends here? Is this a friendship or the start of one, at least?" The words shot out rather quickly, a hand resting on her hip as she asked. "Cause I think we both agree we're past the…hating."

Inuyasha gave her a weird look. With a sort of confused and wary expression, Kagome waved her hand dismissively, signaling that he didn't need to answer her question. She turned back to the stove "It's a stupid question. Don't need to answer."

They finished cooking rather quickly, the kitchen was the messiest it'd ever been since Inuyasha moved into the apartment. But the outcome was well worth it, so he would put up with it.

He didn't learn a goddamned thing, though. So the mission failed successfully.

Kagome pointed out that his stomach seemed a little bloated, poking into it with her fingernail.

She laughed at him when he scrambled to the mirror in his closet, lifting his shirt to reveal a swollen, bloated stomach. It replaced the rigid abs he'd woken up with that morning, and he groaned loudly. He said he'd never eat that much food again.

It was a lie because he immediately went back for another plate.

"You said you wouldn't eat anymore!" Kagome said with a mouthful of food, Inuyasha scoffed at her.

"I meant like..some other time."

"Bullshit!"

"It's good, alright?" He muttered in response, an ear flickering in her direction. Kagome took notice of its movement, the way it angled and flicked, picking up on her voice, the sounds coming from her direction. It was adorable. She always thought they were adorable.

"Do you like it when people touch your ears?" Kagome asked suddenly, the question coming as an outburst fueled by food coma brain fog. She let her head fall back, the kitchen upside down in her line of vision. "I just ask because…I always thought they were so fuzzy and adorable. It was actually the first thing I thought of when I saw you."

"No one really touches them, but I do know they have an Instagram page dedicated to them with like 2 million followers."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, NO WAY!"

"Oh yeah. I think it's called something dumb. A fan made it, I never gave it much thought. So my follower count may not be accurate." When he turned around, Kagome was doubled over with laughter, wheezing at the thought of his ears having their own Instagram account. "When I was in high school, girls used to come up to me and try to touch them. Which…was weird? Like, bitch, I sold drugs in the courtyard before class, what the fuck—"

"Oh my god–were you the school weed dealer?"

"No, honey, I sold Adderall at school."

"Oh fuck." Kagome sucked in a breath.

"Yup."

"I mean," Kagome started, "You could have been selling worse things."

"Like?"

"I don't know…cocaine? MDMA? Acid? Heroine?"

Inuyasha almost spit out his food, it caused Kagome to give him the side-eye. "Y-Yeah, that's true." He said, his voice a bit shaky. Inuyasha swallowed. Hard.

"But isn't Japan super strict on drugs and drug usage though? How did you even get this stuff?" Kagome asked the questions, and only after saying them did she realize that they may have been invasive.

Inuyasha stiffened next to her, spoon dangling from his mouth, eyebrows furrowed as he thought. Kagome, again, waved her hands in the air like a white flag.

"Don't answer that, you don't have to."

"Okay."

"I'm serious, you don't need to tell me potentially incriminating information—"

"Okay."

"I'm sorry I even asked, I'm not sure what—"

"Higurashi. Shut the fuck up." Inuyasha responded, spoon still in his mouth. He pulled it away, and pointed at her with it. He was going to say something but forgot what it was. Instead, he started eating again.

There were a few moments of silence as they watched a random movie that Kagome had picked out on Netflix. Inuyasha hadn't noticed that they'd spent the whole afternoon together until he realized that they were sitting in the dark in the apartment, the sun had set long ago.

"Yes." He said suddenly, causing Kagome to raise her eyebrows slightly in response, engrossed in the movie on the screen. She hardly glanced in his direction.

"I'd consider this the start of a friendship…yes."

"Really?"

"We trusted each other enough to talk about reasons we don't, or…didn't trust each other before. You know things about me no one else knows, I know things about you that no one else does. That's what friendship is, right?"

"…Yeah, I guess."

"So…we're friends."

Something about the way he said friends…it felt good. It felt right.

Kagome smiled a bit, nodding her head. "I should have you know," she leaned over a bit as he set his plate down on the coffee table, "I'm an annoying friend."

"Oh fuck, never mind then. Friendship is over before it even begins." He muttered, turning his face away from her. Kagome pushed him playfully.

"Asshole."

"We talked about this: I know I'm an asshole." Inuyasha shot back, sinking into his couch, his head leaning against the edge of it. "Why did you let me eat so much?"

"You wanted to, I wasn't going to stop you."

"I've won but at what cost?"

"Your abs were the cost," Kagome said jokingly.

"...Do you think that was too high a price to pay?"

Kagome looked over at him just as he looked over at her. She shrugged her shoulders. "Nah."