It was twenty-four hours before Miroku was even able to get a coherent word out of Inuyasha. He'd been so sedated by his own exhaustion and tears and screams into the walls of his apartment that Miroku had decided to plop himself down on the couch and watch everything unfold.
He watched Inuyasha pace from his room to the kitchen, give the liquor a dead-eyed stare, swipe a bottle, taking it with him to the bedroom. When he was sure that his best friend had drunk himself into a several-hour nap, he would calmly get up, go to the room, and take whatever was left. The cocaine was dumped down the drain of the kitchen sink and washed away with water. He confiscated Inuyasha's phone, putting it on do not disturb, swatting away his reaching hands all the while.
Miroku listened calmly, patiently, to Inuyasha's silent sniffles. His broken voice as he repeated over and over that he no longer saw a point in living. Each proclamation stinging more than the last. He ran his fingers through the knots of his friend's hair, tugging gently. Around midnight, Miroku decided that Inuyasha would feel better if his hair was out of his face, so he tied it back the best he could.
And while Inuyasha was deteriorating before his eyes, Miroku couldn't help but ask himself where his best friend had gone. Where was the abrasive, larger-than-life personality? Where was the mischievous glint in his eyes? The shine of his hair? Where was the loud, booming voice that shocked the other athletes of his gym into action?
Where was he?
Where the fuck was his best friend?
Who was this person? This broken being, the one he'd slowly watched consume his friend's mind. This wasn't Inuyasha.
Inuyasha wasn't like this, or at least, the Inuyasha he knew wasn't like this. He wasn't like this at all.
So, when twenty-four hours passed, and night became the day that became night again, Miroku spoke to Inuyasha directly for the first time; the first words that came out of his mouth were an angry accusation.
"Where the fuck are you?"
Inuyasha could barely open his eyes all the way. Eyelids feeling heavy and cold from the day of crying and binge drinking. "What?"
"Where the fuck are you, Inuyasha?"
"The fuck are you talking about," Inuyasha muttered, bringing a hand up to his face, his index finger rubbing his eye. "I'm right here."
"No." Miroku shook his head, "this isn't you."
"This is me."
Miroku shook his head once more, a sarcastic laugh coming out of him. "No."
Inuyasha was too tired to figure out what his friend was going on about, and quite frankly, he didn't give a fuck what he was going on about, either. He decided to wave his hand dismissively. "My head hurts."
"You haven't eaten in twenty-four hours," Miroku responded dryly, getting up from the foot of the bed. He fished Inuyasha's phone out of his pocket and flung it onto the bed. It landed with a soft thud between Inuyasha's legs. "Here's your phone back."
"You took my phone?"
Miroku gave him a bewildered look. "Yes? You quite literally tried to take it several—" and then he stopped himself because he realized that of course, Inuyasha wasn't going to remember that. "Nevermind."
"...thanks for watching over me," Inuyasha muttered quickly, sitting up and reaching forward to grab his phone.
Miroku ignored the praise. "What happened between you and Sango?"
Inuyasha froze up, eyes tearing away from the screen in front of him, immediately landing on the serious expression on Miroku's face. "I…don't quite remember."
He was telling the truth, he really was. Inuyasha didn't quite remember much from the interaction. He was either too drunk or too high or…both, honestly. He did remember a few things, though. "I remember her asking me to back off a little bit...and me asking her if she was jealous."
"You asked Sango if she was jealous of you?" Miroku's words came across as cut. Inuyasha's ear flickered at the sudden inflection of his voice. "Why the fuck—"
"Listen, all I remember is Sango told me to back off a little bit, and I asked if she was jealous because I spend so much time with you and Kagome." There was a pause, Inuyasha exhaled as he held his head in his hands. "Fuck my head hurts." It almost made him sleepy. He wanted to go back to bed. "I think I'm gonna sleep it off."
"No the fuck you aren't," Miroku muttered, he reached forward and pulled away from the duvet and fleece blankets, letting them fall to the dark wood floor. "Did you reach out to her?"
"What? No! Fuck no! She DM'd me, now that I remember." Inuyasha groaned in reply, taking off the hoodie that he had been wearing for…god knew how long.
Miroku slightly raised an eyebrow, and then sighed. Inuyasha cleared his throat.
"I…barely even noticed you were here." He whispered, "It's like my brain forgot that you were here." It was true. He had forgotten. Inuyasha was so wrapped up in his own emotions and urges that he'd barely registered Miroku's scent. He'd barely even noticed that somewhere along with the tangled mess of a timeline, Miroku had tied up his hair. He failed to notice how the apartment smelled clean. His eyes darted to the nightstand.
He'd failed to notice a clean pair of pajamas as well.
"That happens."
It was quiet again, and then Miroku spoke. "What were you and Bankotsu talking about?"
"What?"
"What were you guys talking about? He's never here, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha froze again. "I…honestly can't remember."
"He said you texted him…sounded kind of weird so he came to check on you," Miroku said, but his eyes never left Inuyasha. He watched him like a fucking hawk and it was starting to freak him out. Mentally, however, Inuyasha thanked Bankotsu a thousand times over.
"Did I?" It was time to play dumb. Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows as if surprised to learn this, eyes downcast to his phone. It pinged with a message from Kagome. He'd respond later.
"Inuyasha I'm worried about you," Miroku replied, shaking his head. He glanced over to the lit-up phone screen, "This is getting dangerous, you need help."
"I'm fine," Inuyasha muttered as he grabbed his phone and got out of his bed. "I don't need help." His hand reached for the pajamas Miroku had set out on his nightstand.
Miroku sputtered. "Are you fucking serious—"
"Don't you have a girlfriend to attend to?" Inuyasha said darkly, narrowing his eyes as he passed by Miroku, his shoulder gently bumping against Miroku's. "Last I checked she felt like the third wheel in her own relationship."
Miroku was having a hard time registering what Inuyasha was saying. He tugged on his pierced earlobe, out of both anger and frustration. "You've got a lot of nerve coming at me like that, Inuyasha." Inuyasha laughed bitterly in response.
"Go the fuck home, Miroku. You did enough."
Miroku turned on his heel, staring at Inuyasha's back as he walked down the hall. "You really have changed, Inuyasha." he muttered, "You've become so—"
"So what, Miroku?" Inuyasha turned his head just slightly, daring Miroku to say something. "So fucking what, Miroku?"
"Nothing," Miroku responded, with a huff. "I'm leaving now. And the next time someone helps you, the saying is thank you." He announced as he walked toward Inuyasha, he breezed past him in the hall.
A few seconds later Inuyasha heard the elevator ding, and Miroku was gone. His phone dinged again, reminding him of Kagome's text. "Fuck," he muttered, scrambling to look at the message.
They'd started texting a lot more, not in any…particular way. They just communicated more lately. Their texts consisted of questions like "What's the name of that restaurant we went to last week?" and "Have you talked to Miroku lately?"
Sometimes they would talk about their day.
He'd noticed but never said anything.
[Kagome: Are we still on for tonight?]
The message made his blood run cold. Tonight? What the fuck was happening tonight? Had he forgotten? No, there was no way he'd forget something.
"The fuck is she…" Wondering out loud was useless.
Kagome I'm gonna be honest…no idea what you're talking about.
[Kagome: 😐]
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the message.
Wtf is it?
[Kagome: THE BALLET DUMBASS!]
Oh.
Oh shit, he had completely forgotten about that.
Fuck…okay gimme like…30 minutes to get ready and I'll pick you up, k?
Kagome responded, but he didn't bother checking. He took the quickest shower of his life, flew out of the bathroom, and practically jumped into clothes. Of all the date ideas that Miroku could have conjured up, this one was by far the least exciting.
But he'd already said he would take her, so he had to follow through, even if it meant complaining the whole time. "I hate this shit." He whispered to himself as he struggled to throw his hair into a bun. For a very brief moment, he contemplated cutting it off completely.
"Have you been alright?" Kagome asked, glancing up from her phone as they sped down the expressway. She had to catch her breath every time he weaved between cars. "I told you not to do that, please. It scares me when you drive like this."
Inuyasha ignored her, choosing instead to reply to her first question. "Yeah," he replied, "why wouldn't I be?"
"I mean, you went ghost for a few days." She responded, turning her body slightly so she could look at him. "Just…asking." There was a hint of worry in her voice, they both knew what she was worried about.
The question felt awkward because of it too. The way she'd said it was almost as if she was scared to ask. Scared he would blow up on her for asking. But he didn't, not at all.
"...I'm fine…my head hurts a little bit," Inuyasha said softly, briefly glancing over at her. Saying that his head hurt a little bit was a gross understatement. His head was pounding like a goddamn drum and he would have done anything to turn the car back around and go home.
He looked over the necklace she wore, the way the jewels caught the light made it stand out against the darkness in the car. "Your necklace is nice."
"Thanks," Kagome responded, looking down at it. Her fingers came up to gingerly touch the jewels. "You bought it." She joked, causing Inuyasha to smile a little bit, a fang poked into his bottom lip. "Ever been to the ballet?"
"No," Inuyasha said, "never really thought about it."
"Oh you'll love it," Kagome said, the sarcasm in her voice not going unnoticed. "More than the museum."
"I would rather shoot myself in the foot than go to the ballet."
Kagome laughed at him, causing Inuyasha to smirk. "Really? Then why are we going?"
Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, but her question made him think. Why the fuck are we going to the ballet? He glanced over at the time, it's only…8:30.
"Question." Inuyasha said, "do you actually want to go to this place?"
Kagome thought for a moment. "I mean," she started, "I wouldn't mind it. Why?"
"My head like…really hurts."
Kagome furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "Oh gosh, are you alright? Did something happen at the gym?"
He shook his head. A mistake. A big fucking mistake. "No," he started, "I…don't know, I think maybe I haven't had enough water today." He lied. Or, well, it was a half-truth. He hadn't had enough water today, he hadn't even had food. He'd just woken up about two hours or so ago. Inuyasha noticed, out of the corner of his eye, how Kagome began to look around, opening the center console and closing it, digging through it. When she wasn't finding any in the center console she started feeling around the seat, then under it, and then she turned toward the back seat. "The hell are you looking for?"
"A water bottle."
"There's no use, we're like 2 minutes away."
Kagome pouted as she sat back in her seat, sinking into the leather, not finding any water. "God, that sucks. We should get some water in you soon. People are like complicated house plants."
"…did you just…call me a plant?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, laughing a little bit. "That's a first."
He pulled up behind a line of cars, watching as people climbed out of them, handed their keys to the valet workers, and started up the long stone staircase toward the building. Kagome hit him gently on the arm with the back of her hand.
"No, dummy. I'm saying…people are like complicated house plants."
"So I'm a complicated house plant?" Inuyasha asked again, with a bit of a laugh. "What plant?"
"What plant?" Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Like…what plant are you?"
"Yeah."
"A fuckin' cactus," Kagome muttered.
Inuyasha barked out a laugh.
Kagome realized that this was the first time she's heard him actually laugh, and it made her smile. It's a cute laugh.
It made his head hurt, but she was funny. "A fuckin' cactus? But…don't they live with zero water."
"Yeah, but they're prickly and hard to touch." She looked forward as the car in front of them moved up.
"Ouch."
"Is it too late to turn around?" Kagome asked suddenly, when it was almost their turn. Inuyasha looked at her.
"What?"
"Your head hurts. The ballet is loud and long. I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable."
"I can handle it."
"Yeah but—."
"I get punched in the head for a living. I can handle some noise for a bit."
Whatever he said was a bullshit lie.
He could not handle this.
Not for any longer than he already had. Every chance Inuyasha had he glanced down at his watch or his phone, and every damn time it seemed as though time had barely passed by.
8:50
8:53
8:57
9:01
9:05
He wanted to leave. His head was throbbing at this point. It was hard to keep his eyes open. Inuyasha felt like ripping his hair out and—
Kagome leaned over, lips just barely brushing against his cheek. "Are you okay?" She whispered, her eyes scanning his face for any sign of discomfort.
"I'm fine."
She placed a hand on his bouncing leg. Fingers firmly pressed into his knee. "Are you sure?"
Inuyasha nodded, and he swatted her hand away. "Don't touch me."
Kagome's hand quickly went back to her side. She raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in tone. The hostile edge wasn't exactly something that she was expecting. He was always curt with her, of course. She figured that it was in his nature, but he hadn't been truly hostile with her since coming back from Vermont.
It sort of stung.
"Okay." She said gently, turning her attention back toward the stage, watching the show.
Or at least, she tried to watch the show. It was hard to do so when the man sitting beside her was bouncing his leg and constantly glancing down at his phone. He was distracting her. "You're distracting me." She whispered again, barely looking in his direction. She could feel the change in his demeanor almost instantly, however.
Inuyasha didn't say anything. He kept bouncing his leg.
"Damn it, Inuyasha can you just—."
"Would you shut up?" Inuyasha hissed, his elbow gently nudging into her own. "Fuck—"
"I'm sorry, you're just really distracting—" Kagome was cut off by the chorus of quiet shushing from the people around them. She lowered her voice, head angled down slightly. "You're just really distracting me with the constant fidgeting."
"I'm not fidgeting," Inuyasha said defensively, wrinkling up his nose. Kagome rolled her eyes at him. "Don't give me that look."
"You are fidgeting. Seriously, are you okay?" She asked once more, she reached as if to place her hand back on his knee but she stopped. Her hand balled up in a fist and it fell gently onto her own knee instead. I bet he needs water.
"I. Am. Not. Fidgeting." Inuyasha said slowly, setting his jaw. He was becoming annoyed with her. "Just watch the stupid ballet."
"I'm just saying—"
"Kagome? Respectfully? Fuck off."
Oh. Okay. So it was going to be one of those nights, huh? Kagome straightened, she gave him a brilliant smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Fuck you." She hissed and turned her attention back to the ballet.
Inuyasha didn't give a single hair on a rat's ass what Kagome said to him. It was hard for him to understand what she was saying as is. His brain wasn't comprehending English at the moment, fuck it was barely comprehending Japanese. The nights bothered him, there was so much sound. His ears twitched every time the pointe shoes slapped down on the stage from the jumps and the turns and the pointe stances and fuck was he hungry.
Ramen sounded good as fuck.
He suddenly wanted to leave, but he didn't want to get up during the actual ballet, so he would just wait till there was a break. His eyes left the stage, searching around for something, anything, that that told him when intermission was. His eyes settled on a clock near the bottom of the stage, they squinted as they tried to make out the numbers.
15 minutes til intermission.
That was 15 minutes too fucking much.
"Kagome—."
"Inuyasha—," Kagome's voice was stern, her tone dark. "Shut the literal fuck up."
"I want to leave." He said it anyway, amber eyes giving her a look she had yet to see in them.
Pleading. He was pleading with her. Kagome sighed, looking over at the clock near the stage. "There's 15 minutes until intermission. Can we wait?"
His hand reached for hers, squeezing it. "I literally feel like my head is going to explode. Can we leave now, please?" Kagome's jaw moved, and she kissed her teeth. Her eyes darted toward the stage one more time, only to come back to Inuyasha when he squeezed her hand again. "Please."
Please.
"Okay," Kagome gave in. She got up, one hand holding her dress and her clutch. On the other hand in Inuyasha's..
Inuyasha was quick to stand, and before the prima donna could get across the stage, they were already out of their aisle and walking toward the back of the room. "You wanna get food?"
Kagome—focusing more on keeping up with the hanyou that was damn near dragging her out of the building—barely registered what he'd said before she nodded and said sure. She slowed down a little bit when they passed through the doors into the lobby, awestruck by the architecture and crystal chandeliers. She could still hear the music from the ballet, though it was slightly muffled.
"Let's go," Inuyasha said, tugging on her hand. "Very pretty, yeah."
"You don't appreciate much do you—"
Inuyasha stopped her in her tracks with a single look. A single, smoldering, angry look, and it sort of made her breath stop. She swallowed the words that were on her tongue. Suddenly whatever she was going to say wasn't important. Not in the slightest.
"That's what I thought," Inuyasha said when Kagome went quiet. She allowed him to guide her out of the building and almost as soon as they stepped out into the hot summer night they were bombarded with flashing lights.
Kagome instinctively raised a hand, blocking out the lights as she made her way down the steps. She made sure to stay close to Inuyasha as they waited for the car to be brought to them. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?" Inuyasha asked his hands in his pockets.
Kagome shifted. Her clutch was held in front of her, snug against her body. She looked down at the chiffon bows of her heels. She furrowed her eyebrows, Inuyasha could see the wheels turning in her mind.
His eyes trailed over her. Taking note of the slight shimmer of her skin, the rings on her fingers, and the way the dress she wore hugged her waist just right. She was pretty.
Beautiful, maybe.
"Nevermind," she said with a smile, her hand waving dismissively next to her head. He wasn't sure if it was because he was starting to get a little dizzy or what, but something about the way the camera lights caught her skin made her seem…like she glowed.
"Are you sure?"
She made that face again. The deep-in-thought face. "I was just wondering what we're doing next."
"We're getting food," Inuyasha replied, blinking. "Did you not hear me back there? I asked if you wanted to get food. You said sure."
Kagome's mouth formed a perfect 'O'. "Oh," she said with a giggle, "sorry I was too busy trying to keep up with you."
"Too fast?"
"…Slightly."
It was quiet for a little bit, both of them staring at each other before they burst into laughter. "I'll keep that in mind next time."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Inuyasha," Kagome replied, laughing as she placed a hand on his arm.
"Yours is there too…" he shrugged, they both turned when his last name was called. The passenger door opened for Kagome to get into. "Guess we should get going." He muttered. He stepped aside a bit, motioning for Kagome to walk.
She gave him a small nod and started walking. Inuyasha trailed behind her, one hand rubbing at his temple. He'd temporarily forgotten about his headache, but it came back as soon as his name was called.
It was fucking annoying.
He tipped the valet worker before getting in the driver's seat. "I'm gonna be honest, I could really go for some ramen," Inuyasha said as he pulled out of the parking spot.
Kagome nodded. "That does sound good."
"Ramen, then?" He looked over, nodding a little bit.
"Yeah."
Inuyasha followed it up with another question. "My place?" Kagome glanced at him, slightly surprised by the offer. His place? He wanted her to go to his apartment? "I just ask because I want to spend as little time driving as possible. I'm starting to get dizzy."
"Well you should've told me, I can drive. I hate doing it, but I can if I need to." Kagome said, Inuyasha shook his head.
"I'm alright—"
"Stop saying you're okay if you aren't, Inuyasha," Kagome said, taking on a sudden cold tone. "Seriously. You went MIA for like 4 days. The last time I saw you was last Thursday when I taught you how to make my mom's curry. Then when I do see you you keep saying your head hurts. Your excuse is that you're 'dehydrated'—" she made air quotations around the word "—and I find that hard to believe because you are constantly carrying around a water bottle or a Gatorade or a Powerade or some shit. So really," she took a deep breath, "are you okay?"
Suddenly the light-hearted mood turned sour, Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. He said something under his breath but Kagome didn't have the energy to try and ask him what he said. It would only make it worse. "…I fucked up. But I'm back now, alright?"
"You went on a bender?" She asked, pragmatically. "Just say you went on a bender."
"…Yeah."
"Okay," she nodded, "thank you for being honest with me. I'm glad you're alright." She considered saying something else but decided against it. Or at least, I'm glad you seem alright.
There was a long silence before Kagome decided to speak again. "I'm still down for ramen."
"Is it alright if I take my heels off? They're killing me." Kagome asked almost as soon as she stepped off the elevator. She didn't give Inuyasha a moment to say 'sure' before she was already hopping on one foot, trying to take her shoe off.
"Do you want help?" Inuyasha asked, following her into his apartment.
"No, I got it—"
Before Kagome could finish her sentence, he had crouched down in front of her, undoing the little clasp around her ankle. He did the same for the other one.
Kagome nearly cried at the feeling of the cold marble floor. It was better than sex. She swore it. "Thanks," she said awkwardly, trying to fight down the blush that came over her.
Inuyasha didn't say anything in response. Instead, he shrugged off the blazer he wore and tossed it aside. Kagome kicked aside her heels and started walking toward the couch. "Did you order?" She asked over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Inuyasha called back. "Should be here in a bit."
"Thank fuck because I'm starting to get hungry." Kagome looked around the apartment. It was clean. Almost too clean. Like nothing had ever happened. It was cold too.
It was always cold in his apartment, but for some reason, it was colder. "Is it just me or is it colder here?" Kagome asked, taking her phone out of her clutch purse. Inuyasha shrugged as he walked to the kitchen, taking a cold water bottle out of the fridge.
"You can use the throw blanket," Inuyasha said, pointing to the grey and white blanket draped over the arm of the couch.
Kagome peeked over the couch, watching as he took a drink from the water bottle in his hand and giggling when he let out the most relieved sigh she'd ever heard. "Feel better after that water?" She asked, Inuyasha didn't respond. He just nodded enthusiastically while chugging the bottle. She got her answer, even if it wasn't a verbal one. "Told you you needed water."
"You gonna call me a house plant again?"
Kagome snorted, "you're still stuck on that?"
"A cactus, Kagome."
"So what do you wanna be? An Ivy plant?"
"I mean," Inuyasha shrugged, "they're better looking, right?"
Kagome had half a mind to throw the giant pillow she was leaning against right at his head but she decided not to. Instead, she laughed him off and went back to her phone. She quickly shot off a text to Sango letting her know where she was, though she was sure she knew already since she shared her location with her now.
It was something she started doing when they went to Vermont, to give Sango some peace of mind while she was away. Although Kagome was convinced Sango wouldn't actually check it very often, she was more than happy to provide her location, she had nothing to hide, anyway.
Almost instantly she got a message from Sango.
[Sango Mango: Ur where? Really? Why?]
Kagome heard Inuyasha's footsteps but she ignored it, looking up only when she felt him sit down next to her. She looked back down at her phone and sent another text.
Yeah. He had a headache at the ballet. A bad one. So we left early and decided to get food at his place. Be home L8r.
[Sango Mango: Lol. Sure you will.]
Something about Sango's message made Kagome's face wrinkle up. Why was Sango suddenly being so…strange?
"What's up?" Her eyes tore away from the phone screen, looking up at Inuyasha. She raised her phone, rolled her eyes, and then tossed it onto the coffee table. Inuyasha glanced from the phone to Kagome and then raised his eyebrows.
Seriously?
"Sorry," Kagome muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Sango's being weird."
The sentence made Inuyasha stiffen, he shifted slightly in his spot. To occupy himself—or rather, appear as though he was occupied—he acted like he was looking for the television remote. "Weird? How?" He asked while continuing his search.
Fuck.
"I dunno. It's like…I can tell through the screen that something is…wrong."
"Wrong….how?" The remote wasn't between the cushions.
Please for the love of fuck can Kanna just call me telling me the food is in the lobby. Please. Please. Please. Please.
"Like she's…upset—what the hell are you looking for?"
Inuyasha raised his hand, acting like he was pressing something between his fingers. "The uh…the…damn it. I forgot the name in English. The TV…thing."
"Remote?" Kagome suggested. Inuyasha nodded. She looked around herself before she finally spotted it on one of the shelves next to the tv. "It's over there."
FUCK.
"Oh," Inuyasha got up and started walking towards it, accidentally hitting his leg on the coffee table in the process. "Ouch."
"Dude are you alright? You're all over the place today."
Inuyasha waved her off. "I'm good—Sango though, she seems upset with you?"
"I guess so? I have no idea what I did, though."
Okay.
So.
Inuyasha had two options. Option one was to play dumb and listen to Kagome talk. Option two was to come clean and risk being yelled at when his headache was only just starting to subside.
"She might just be tired, Kagome," Inuyasha suggested as he picked up the remote and turned on the television. "Or she's lonely." The second statement was half a dig at Sango and half a genuine suggestion. Either way, he was hoping she would agree with him and move on.
Please.
"Why would she be lonely if she's with Miroku ninety percent of the time she's not at work?"
"It's a suggestion, Kagome."
"I know I just," she sighed, "Sango is never really like this. It's a little weird but I'm sure it's nothing."
"Heh, yeah. I wouldn't worry if I were you." Inuyasha said in what he thought was a casual tone.
What he didn't was that Kagome had noticed how his body had stiffened as soon as Sango was mentioned and how his sudden interest in asking questions was completely out of character for someone who she had been led to assume didn't ask questions.
"…why are you acting weird now?"
"Weird? Weird how?"
Kagome looked at him up and down and then swung her legs over the couch so she was sitting up straight. She crossed her arms. "You're asking a lot of questions. You never do that. You also got real tense when I mentioned Sango." She was speaking to him in Japanese, something Inuyasha had noticed she always did when she was being very serious.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm not, I said."
"Takahashi."
"Higurashi."
Inuyasha had decided that two people could play this game, so he also crossed his arms and stared her down.
"…Stop lying to me."
"I'm not—fuck, Kagome. I'm not lying. I'm not acting weird."
"You literally ooze stress right now, Inuyasha."
"Kagome."
"Inuyasha."
Much like the first time he ever went out with her, Kagome didn't back down. Her stare intensified, and she shifted her weight without so much as a blink. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was already faltering.
"I was…" He paused, Kagome raised her eyebrows at him. "I was on a bender so I can't remember all the details, or when I even met up with her—"
"You met up with Sango?!" Kagome was surprised to find this out. Obviously, it was inevitable that Inuyasha and Sango would know each other or follow each other on social media. They were connected through mutual friends. However, Kagome wasn't exactly expecting them to be close enough to go out to lunch or get coffee together. "Wait but..wha..what?"
"We had a discussion." He was trying really fucking hard to recall anything that wasn't just flashes of color, or that one sentence she said to him.
"I resent you, Inuyasha."
"It was about…how much time I spend with Miroku and you—"
"Me?" Kagome pointed to herself.
"Yeah, Sango is…jealous or whatever. I don't fucking know. I was high…drunk…both, I don't know." Inuyasha waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway, I told her I would back off a bit."
"Wait wait, so Sango…Sango is telling you what you can and can't do with me, and Miroku?"
Inuyasha started scratching at the back of his neck. I mean…when you put it like that…
"Not really. I think she's scared that Miroku and I are too close for her com—"
"You were here before she was in his life, and you will still be in Miroku's life even if they break up. She's being a bitch," Kagome replied and now everything made sense to her. The cryptic message, the attitude she gave Inuyasha, and the concerned "talks".
All of it was Sango being jealous, or angry? Nervous? Scared?
All of it was Sango thinking she was getting replaced by him. Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, I'm—"
His phone rang, and Kagome assumed it was the food. "Is that…?" She started, but she got her answer when he started walking toward the elevator. "Wait!"
"Food," Inuyasha didn't want to keep the conversation going any more than it had. He didn't want to cause any problems between Sango and Kagome. That wasn't something he had ever aimed to do, it wasn't even on his radar of possibilities. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
She stuck her arm in front of her, blocking the door from closing. Inuyasha gave her a nasty look. "I'm sorry Sango did that, that was rude of her."
"Ya think?"
"I just…don't know what's up with her." Kagome's eyebrows furrowed, and Inuyasha shrugged. "She's never been like this—"
"Shit happens, Kagome. You never know who people actually are. Everyone has ugly sides to them." He motioned to her arm, "now can you move your arm so I can go get the ramen?"
Kagome blinked, and moved the arm, watching as the door slid closed between them. She cursed as she turned on her heel, looking out of the window.
Every time she came to his apartment she couldn't help but stare out the large windows. The view was envy-worthy. It made New York look exactly how it did in the movies. Glittery and sparkly, a paradise of skyscrapers and luxury.
Of course, that's not how life was like on the other side, the side that didn't have access to grotesque amounts of money.
She wondered, again, if she and Sango could afford an apartment in another part of the city. Greenwich, maybe?
The elevator dinged, signaling that Inuyasha was back, much quicker than she had expected him. "That was quick," Kagome muttered, eyes never leaving the pretty skyline, she looked down at the central park, watching the shadowy figures of people walking through the park at night.
"Yeah," Inuyasha muttered, "What's so interesting?"
"Nothing," Kagome shook her head. "It just…your view from here is so pretty, that's all."
"Is it? I never noticed," there was a twinge of sarcasm in his tone of voice, and Kagome was able to shrug it off.
"That's too bad," she muttered before trailing after him. She could smell the ramen as he took the containers out of the bag, and it made her stomach rumble. She hadn't even noticed how hungry she actually was. "God, that smells delicious. What'd you get me?"
"Tonkotsu," Inuyasha handed her a pair of chopsticks from the drawer. "Personal favorite from this place."
"Where is it?"
"Some hole in the wall in Chinatown," He said, turning away from her as he gathered his own container of ramen and chopsticks and started toward the couch. "I'm fucking starving."
Kagome blinked at him, "that doesn't really answer my question."
"Honestly, I forgot the name. I just have their number saved on my phone. I'll send it to you if you like it." He tilted his head back to look at her. "Okay?"
"Alright," Kagome replied, taking her food with her as she walked to the couch. "Do you feel better?"
Inuyasha nodded. He did feel better. The warmth of the food made him feel warm and safe. Content. He was perfectly okay at the moment. "So much better,"
Kagome smiled at him as she sat down at his side. "Good, I'm glad you're getting some food in you." There was a pause before she said, "…you said you were high?"
Inuyasha paralyzed.
Oh no.
"No, I didn't."
"Yeah, you did. You said you were high, or drunk."
Shit.
"No…I—" he watched Kagome set down her bowl of ramen, and then she placed the chopsticks right next to it. Her body turned toward him, one leg bent across the cushion between them. She took in a deep breath. Inuyasha wondered what she was going to say. He couldn't read her.
Usually, he could sense when she was upset. He couldn't tell, now. What is Kagome thinking?
"…Listen. What you do in your life is your business, right? You do what you want and as long as I don't see, I don't ask questions. I've ignored the fact that you—" she pointed at him, "—are an alcoholic. As long as you control it, I won't ask you anything. But right now you've just let slip that you were high. And think I have a right to know what shit I'm gonna be around because I swear to all fucks if we get pulled over—"
"Kagome," Inuyasha was deadly calm, he furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her, shaking his head. His ears were flat against his head. "I never said that. Are you okay?"
Kagome blinked, taken aback by the change of tone. The way he looked at her—so much sincere denial. "But you," she blinked. "No, you said—"
"Nope," he responded. "I never said anything like that. I said I was drunk. I didn't say I was high."
I'm so sure he said it…I am a little tired…
She decided to let it go. It wasn't worth it. "Sorry," Kagome muttered.