"Glad you're home." Sango greeted when Kagome arrived back at their shared apartment in the early morning. Her heels were in her hand as she walked through the door. Once curled hair now fell in thick waves over her shoulders. "Fun time?" She added a bit dryly, hand gesturing to the side of her face. Sango hadn't been up waiting for Kagome, she just happened to have gotten up to use the bathroom at the same time Kagome entered. And while Sango wasn't exactly worried about Kagome (she knew Inuyasha was a lot of things, but downright stupid wasn't on that list), she had hoped that she would come home sooner rather than later.

In Sango's eyes, Kagome tended to have her head up in the clouds more often than not. She was protective of her, is all, and New York City wasn't exactly safe, especially not the Bronx.

Kagome brought her fingertips up to the corner of her eye, picking up some of the black eyeliner. "We fell asleep…" Her mind flashed back to the moments that followed after they finished the ramen, in which she tried to get Inuyasha to admit that he did say that he was high when he met Sango.

He didn't budge, the food coma followed after and when Kagome came to, half her face was smushed up against his chest. Half her body on the couch, the other half on top of Inuyasha. He'd fallen asleep with an arm around her shoulders, the other arm and leg dangling off of the couch. She'd had half a mind to stay over, seeing as they'd already fallen asleep, but Inuyasha insisted on bringing her back home, even though it was 3 in the morning. He argued that he needed to be up anyway.

"Oh shit, my makeup ruined your shirt," Kagome muttered, fingertips brushing against the black mark on his pristine white shirt. She pushed herself up, one hand pressing firmly down on Inuyasha's stomach. He grumbled in response. "Sorry…"

"Quit apologizing," Inuyasha said, voice groggy, deeper in tone. "It's fine. I have a million other ones."

The sound of his voice made her heart flutter a little bit. Kagome felt her cheeks begin to flush, heat rising to her face. She kept her eyes locked on the spot on his shirt that she had ruined, which was becoming a little hard. She was tired, extremely so, and all she wanted was to bury her face back into his chest and fall asleep again."We fell asleep…"

"This didn't happen," Inuyasha said, swatting at her hand for her to let him up. "We always end up like this…"

"Like how?"

Inuyasha glanced at her, rubbing at his eye before sighing. "Sleeping together. We always end up like…that." It wasn't necessarily something he minded, though he wasn't about to say all that.

"It's late. You can take me home later—" Before she could properly finish her sentence, Inuyasha was already grabbing his phone from the coffee table, and patting around for his keys.

"I have to be up anyways. I gotta go to work, now c'mon. I'm takin' you home."

Something inside of her was sad he'd insisted on taking her home.

"Fell asleep, sure," Sango responded, half-joking. Kagome rolled her eyes at her friend. Sango's smug little smile fell from her face. "Wait…you really only fell asleep?"

Kagome motioned to her face. "Only one side of my face is fucked up, Sango. Context clues." She muttered in passing. "I'm going back to bed."

"Kagome, wait," Sango said as Kagome passed by her. Kagome stopped in her tracks, and looked over her shoulder, raising her eyebrows in a silent question. "Can we talk about you and Cafeium? You sort of dropped that bomb on me and…well…we never really talked about it."

Kagome had to fight the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. The truth was that she had completely forgotten to follow up with Sango about that. Her mind was so filled up with appearances and "dates", meetings with Miroku and Inuyasha. Meetings with this brand and that brand and 'can you really quick do this tomorrow at 10, please?'

It was exhausting. Life was exhausting, and Kagome imagined that half of her exhaustion came from dealing with Inuyasha alone. Although, as of late he'd proven to be a bit more enjoyable company.

She'd come to realize that Inuyasha wasn't exactly all bad. Although she knew that. But it was nice to experience it, and not just know it.

"Can we talk about this…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her phone, "In the morning? Or maybe over dinner? I'm really tired right now. I totally meant to circle back to it with you I just—yawn—have been super busy. I have meetings and brands to talk to and Miroku is trying to find me my own publicist and stylist and," she yawned once more, "yeah. Super busy."

Something about the way Kagome said 'super busy' rubbed Sango the wrong way. She sounded like the spoiled heiresses and socialites they sold coffee to. The way they dragged out the 'u' in super. The 'y' in busy.

Suuuuuperrr Bussssyyy.

It made Sango's nose wrinkle, and she was only brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Kagome yawning again before she started to speak.

"Inuyasha's kinda nice."

"Is he?" Sango asked although she could not stress enough how much she didn't feel like talking about Inuyasha at the moment. "That's nice. Anyway…Cafeium? You? What's up with that?"

Kagome waved her heels at Sango in dismissal. "Sorry, been super busy," her words were a little slurred from how sleepy she was. "Tomorrow. I promise. I just…I've been really busy."

"You've said that three times, Kagome." Sango muttered, "that must be so hard." She added, using the same tone of voice at the end as Kagome did. She was sure that her friend wouldn't catch on, though. She seemed engrossed in her half-asleep thoughts. Kagome gasped as if remembering something and then started back towards her bedroom. "Good night, Kagome," Sango said after her.

"I need to let him know I made it in okay." Kagome shuffled into her room and closed the door, she threw her heels into a corner of the room and then opened the door again. "Goodnight, Sango," she said quickly, before closing her door again.

Sango's shoulders slumped in defeat before she went back into her own bedroom, the water bottle she'd gotten out of bed to get was long forgotten. She felt Miroku's hand reach out toward her, wrapping around her wrist. "Did Kagome come home?" He asked, groggy, his eyes still closed. Sango nodded silently.

"Yeah…she's home."

Miroku smirked, one eye cracking open to look at the expression on his girlfriend's face. "You seem upset."

"I'm not upset."

"You look upset, babe. It's all over your face and your voice."

"I just…" Sango started, glaring at a spot on Miroku's abdomen. "Her voice is changing. She sounded like…such a spoiled brat for a second and it kinda made me do a double-take because she never sounds like that." She said softly, so only Miroku could hear.

"I don't spoil you enough?" Miroku offered playfully, adjusting himself as Sango laid down beside him in her bed. "You want a copy of my black card, too?"

Sango rolled her eyes at him. "That's not why I'm upset."

"So you admit you're upset?" Miroku asked, holding Sango close to him as she shifted to cuddle up to him, her cheek pressed into his chest. His fingers traced circles on her back, his eyes closed as he continued the conversation while trying to lull her (and himself) back to sleep.

"I'm upset that she talked to Inuyasha about leaving Cafeium for the rest of the year but…she never bothered to talk to me about that."

"Oh shit," Miroku breathed, cracking open an eye again to look down at Sango. "Yeah, that's…a little upsetting."

"I know." Sango breathed, closing her eyes. "She said we can talk tomorrow."

"Do you want to talk tomorrow?"

"It's 4 am, we can't talk now." Sango sighed, "I can wait. It's just…mildly infuriating. We worked really hard to build this business together and it seems like Kagome is throwing it away way too easily." She got some good dick and now she could give a rat's ass about everything else, is more like it.

Miroku stared at her in the dark for a few moments, he didn't say anything, just rubbed soft circles on her forearm with the pad of his thumb. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't think that she's throwing it away, Sango," he started slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Kagome has a lot to do as a public figure now, and that entails a lot of…different priorities. Her schedule is packed, almost as packed as Inuyasha's. People like her."

Sango twisted her face, and Miroku could tell because he felt her cheek move against his chest. "I understand your frustration, and I'm sure Kagome is as frustrated as you are but.." Miroku had to choose his words carefully, "Sango, you need to understand that Kagome is no longer your little secret, just as you need to understand that I have other priorities as well." His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. Sango turned to look up at him, dark eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What are you talking about—"

"Sango. You're smart, you're funny, you're a talented baker, you make a damn good coffee, you're drop-dead gorgeous and every single day I am so incredibly thankful that you decided to give me a chance," Miroku said softly, the hand that was once making soothing circles on her back, tightened around her shoulders. "You know what else you are? Jealous. Selfish."

Sango stayed quiet.

"I know you met with Inuyasha, he told me himself that he did. I know what you talked to him about, and although I'm sure you had good intentions—meeting with him was not the right move. You know who you were supposed to meet with? Me. Miroku. Your boyfriend," his voice was still low, eerily calm and cool. "Your frustrations were valid, I am not trying to dismiss how you feel. However, you need to understand that…in Kagome signing that contract and agreeing to this? Her life is going to change for a pretty long time, and possibly forever. You also need to understand that it is my job to be at Inuyasha's every beck and call and—"

"You're his publicist and his manager, you are not a servant," Sango argued quietly, pushing herself into a sitting position. "He treats you like his maid—"

"I am his friend," Miroku responded sternly. "I have been through hell and back with him and if you knew even the half of what Inuyasha goes through daily just to fucking stay afloat you would understand our dynamic too," there was a look on his face like he was debating on what he was going to say, "Sango…Inuyasha is…he is hanging on by a thread and I'm just trying to make sure he stays alive every—"

"So tell him to go to therapy like the rest of us, Miroku!" Sango whisper-yelled, "Miroku at a certain point you need to understand that there is only so much you can do—"

"That's not how that works—"

"Yes, it does—"

"Sango I've tried. He needs more than therapy. He needs fucking rehab."

There was still silence. Sango gulped.

"I am all that Inuyasha has in this country, Sango. Actually, fuck that—I'm all he has, period! I am everything to him. Everything. He doesn't treat me like anything other than the closest thing he has to an actual brother and if you can't understand that? If you don't have even the slightest bit of empathy after I tell you this then we can add the word heartless to the list of things you are." There was a pause, Miroku got up from the bed and gathered a pillow and a blanket.

"You need to stop being so jealous and selfish with the people you love. They do not belong to you." He left the room, letting the bedroom door slam shut behind him. Sango winced at the sound, the force of the slam washing over her like a wave. She froze in her spot on the bed, hands planted on either side of her as she debated on staying in bed and trying to sleep or following after Miroku.

She chose the former.

Whenever Sango woke up, Kagome was long gone but Miroku loitered in the kitchen. It was awkward for a moment, neither one of them having quite healed from the nasty dispute of the early hours.

"Morning." Miroku greeted a bit dryly, poking around at the rice in the bowl in his hands. He took a spoonful to his mouth, and chewed slowly, waiting for Sango to say something.

"Hi," Sango muttered, "Kagome?"

"Went out for a run."

"Huh," Sango said, kissing her teeth.

Miroku swallowed hard, "she said she'd be back soon though."

"Okay," Sango responded, "did you make coffee?"

"No. Tea."

Sango looked over at the kettle on the counter, steam still coming out of it. "'Scuse me." She said, moving to get herself a mug from the cabinet.

"So…are we okay?"

"What?"

"This morning, are we alright?"

Sango shrugged, nodding her head. "Y-Yeah, I think we are. Do you think we are?"

"I'm fine," Miroku said, although he sighed heavily afterward. As a cucumber, or whatever the fuck the saying is.

Sango's phone dinged in her hand, she looked down at the message. "Kagome wants me to meet her at Glory's, brunch."

Miroku eyed the phone, before bringing another spoonful of rice to his mouth. Glory's is Inuyasha's favorite brunch spot. "You think it's about Cafeium?"

"Probably," Sango mumbled, glancing at Miroku as she made herself a cup of tea. "I need to get ready."

"I'll take you," Miroku offered, "my car is probably over the time limit already, I need to move it before I get another ticket."

New York had a parking issue, there was no fucking parking anywhere thanks to the overabundance of fire hydrants and random 'No Parking' signs. Unlike Inuyasha (who didn't quite give a fuck if he could or couldn't park somewhere, he was going to park regardless), Miroku would rather not get a ticket. They were annoying.

"No," Sango sighed, rolling her eyes as she turned on her heel, "it's fine. I'll take an Uber or something."

"Sango I'm right here, c'mon," Miroku said, reaching over to grab her by the waist. "Please?" He kissed her neck. Sango's lip curled upward as she broke free of his grasp. Miroku frowned at her reaction. "Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just not ready to go back to normal right now. Give me some space."

Miroku huffed at her, but shrugged, opting to finish off his breakfast. It was quiet in the apartment for a few minutes, until Sango went into the bathroom to shower. By the time she was finished, Miroku had already finished off his breakfast and snuggled back under the blanket on the couch, where he'd spent the rest of the early morning.

"Miroku?!" Sango called from her room, causing Miroku to push himself up from the couch and walk over to her room.

"Yeah?" Miroku asked, leaning in the doorway. Looking at her backside as she rummaged through her closet. He liked the little jiggle it did as she got on her tippy toes to try to reach the top shelf of the closet. The underwear she wore hugged the curve of her ass just right and Miroku had almost missed the sound of Sango clearing her throat, an eyebrow raised at her boyfriend. "S-sorry...what?"

"Grey or brown?" She asked, waving two shirts over her chest. "Pick."

Miroku blinked, trying to gather his thoughts as he stuttered. "I..uh," he cleared his throat, "grey."

"Thanks."

"Mhm," Miroku responded, watching as Sango moved to put on her pants, taking a deep breath as she squeezed herself into jeans a smidge tight around her thighs yet too wide around the waist.

"Question," Sango said.

"Shoot," Miroku responded without much thought.

"Um…you weren't joking about Inuyasha, were you?" Sango asked, and immediately any dirty thoughts Miroku was having were erased from his brain. He furrowed his eyebrows at her, Sango looked over her shoulder. "Were you?"

"No," Miroku said, his tone serious. "He also doesn't like people knowing that about him so…don't say anything, alright?"

"…look I know he's your friend and everything…" Sango bit down on her lip as she debated what to say next, how to word it. "I…don't you think that puts Kagome's safety in danger?"

Miroku had to pause to think. "No…I don't think so—"

"You don't think so? He needs to go to rehab and has a history of being violent." Sango stayed matter-of-a-factly.

Part of Miroku was stunned at Sango's audacity.

"He's not violent outside of the octagon." Miroku deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at Sango. "He's a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them." That earned him a look from Sango. "Trust me. Kagome's safety is not in danger with him. If anything she's safer."

Sango wasn't quite buying it, but she knew better than to push the issue further. She'd already hit a sore spot that morning and she had no desire to push Miroku beyond his limit, which she learned wasn't too hard to approach. Especially if it was about Inuyasha. "Alright."

When Kagome saw Sango arrive, she stood up from her seat at the table she'd saved for them so that Sango could see her better. Once their eyes met, she waved her friend over. "Hey, did you get here okay?"

"Yeah, I only got lost once." Sango joked, earning a light laugh from Kagome. "You had the energy to go on a run today? You came home late." Her eyes skimmed over Kagome's outfit. Work out shorts and a cropped ¼ zip-top, her thumbs poking out through the holes in the sleeves.

"Yeah…I just…felt like I needed to go on a run. It was a good workout," Kagome said, sitting down and crossing her legs. The truth was that she wanted to give herself some time between waking up and dealing with…this. She knew that Sango would have jumped down her throat about it as soon as she could in the morning and Kagome didn't feel like dealing with that, especially not when she was still half-asleep. "Did I scare you this morning? I know I came in really late."

"No, not at all," Sango responded, waving her hand dismissively. "I was already up."

"Okay good."

It was clear that the two of them were avoiding the elephant in the room. Kagome tried to act busy staring at the backs of the people sitting at the bar. When the waitress came around, she was quick to order a pitcher of Mimosas, with extra champagne.

"This place is nice," Sango said after a few beats of silence, looking around her to take in the decor. Kagome follows Sango's line of sight.

"Yes," she agreed, "I came here once with Inuyasha. He said it was his favorite and I didn't feel like arguing so…we came here. Food is out of this world, by the way. The chicken and waffles are to die for."

To die for.

That's new.

"Hm," Sango vocalized in response, raising eyebrows slightly. She was trying to stay polite, but to be honest the more she heard Kagome talk about Inuyasha, the more she felt like walking out. She kept her cool, though, and smiled at the suggestion. "So…Cafeium." She, of course, was the first to address the elephant in the room.

"Right, Sango…look you weren't supposed to find that out from him—"

"No you're right, I shouldn't have," Sango responded quickly, coldly. Her voice was icy but her eyes burned. "I'm actually a bit offended that you talked to him about leaving but didn't talk to me about it."

"I was going to talk to you about it," Kagome responded, furrowing her eyebrows. "You act like I wasn't going to."

"When?" Sango asked through grit teeth, Kagome narrowed her eyes at her as she reached up to her ponytail, tightening it.

"I don't fucking know, I was waiting for the right moment to sit down and say something to you but I just…my time keeps being eaten up by other things."

"Oh right because you have a fancy new life now," Sango said under her breath. "I would've liked a heads up that didn't come from Inuyasha, Kagome."

"I know and I'm not saying that you didn't deserve that, because you did. I'm just saying that…I was going to tell you myself. I'm sorry you found out that way," Kagome took a deep breath to gather her composure before speaking again. "I've been trying really hard to make time for Cafeium around my new schedule, but I just…can't, it's also not really safe for me anymore. There are always people loitering by the door, and we have way too many people coming in a day for me to be there. I think I'm actually more of a distraction than anything else. I'd do more harm than good being there, Sango."

Sango's face contorted, and Kagome gave her a pointed look. "You know I'm right. I can't be there as much as I want to."

"Not being there as much as you want to is not the same as saying you're gonna quit for the rest of the year."

"We make enough money now to hire a 4th person, Sango, maybe even a 5th. There are solutions to this issue, you just don't seem willing to pursue them."

"We shouldn't need to hire a 4th or 5th person. Who would even train them?"

"I would be willing to come in for a few days to train them," Kagome said, her voice a little higher than she intended.

Sango narrowed her eyes at the wording of her statement. Willing. Kagome was willing to make time for something that used to be a priority to her.

Funny.

The pitcher of mimosas arrived and Kagome was quick to pour herself a flute and take a sip. Sango did the same. "I just don't think that's necessary."

Sango's reluctance to admit that Kagome's idea was sensible had her nostrils flaring and anger simmering just below the surface. "I think your meeting with Inuyasha was unnecessary but I didn't say anything," she muttered under her breath. Sango squinted at her, but Kagome was quick to move on.

"I can not be there as much as you want me to be there. It's just not possible. I have a lot of shit going on outside of Cafeium and you are not making it better right now. I know that I'm the problem in this equation, so I am offering you a solution. The solution being we hire one or two more people; that way neither one of us have to man the ship alone." Kagome took another sip, "When I first signed that contract you were more than willing to man the ship on your own, what changed?"

"When you first signed the contract, you weren't as willing to leave Cafeium, especially not without communicating with me. What changed?" Sango spat back.

"I didn't think this would be this involved," Kagome offered in response, "I truly thought I was just gonna be able to live pretty normally throughout this whole thing. Sesshomaru did warn me that I might have to stop working but…" I didn't think he'd be right.

"I'm sorry I didn't address this with you when it was brought up, and I'm sorry you had to learn it from Inuyasha. That's my mistake. However, I do think that hiring another person would be beneficial."

Sango sighed, staring down at the bubbly orange juice in her flute. "I'll think about it."

"Regroup in a week?"

"…Sure."

It fell quiet again. Sango pretended to pick at the ends of her hair, and Kagome pretended to seem preoccupied with social media. The air around them had grown from awkward, to tense, to hostile and hadn't quite simmered out yet. Kagome had hoped that talking it out with Sango would help address the issue but it seemed that all it did was put a crack in their friendship that hadn't been there before, and Kagome did not have any spackle to seal it with.

When the waitress came around again to take their orders, they decided to split a plate of chicken and waffles, after Kagome suggested that it might be better to split a plate than get two individual ones.

"I'm not all that hungry," she'd said as reasoning, which Sango accepted because she also wasn't all that hungry either, at least not anymore.

"How's Inuyasha?" Sango asked, still picking at the ends of her hair, enthralled with the split ends, squinting at the near-microscopic hairs as she plucked them from her strands one by one.

"Oh," Kagome blinked at her question. "He's…alright. We're actually doing okay now. We talk a lot more."

Sango raised her eyebrows as she looked up from her hair.

"We're friends," Kagome said with an eye roll. "He's…pretty chill…I guess."

"You guess?"

"Alright, he's cool. Not bad to hang around. Funny."

"Funny?" Sango repeated, fighting down the tug at the corner of her lip. "Inuyasha?"

"I mean once you get to know him…" Kagome was getting flustered, and Sango knew it because her eyes were bouncing all over the place and she accidentally poured too much into her champagne flute and cursed as she tried to wipe away the excess with a napkin.

"So you guys are getting along now? No more arguing like an old married couple?"

"Oh no, we still argue. I got into it with him last night about—" she paused—catching herself right as she was about to say about his bender—and bit her tongue.

"About what?" Sango asked, now interested in whatever was going to come next.

"About the ballet."

"Oh, how was that?" For the first time since arriving at the brunch spot, Sango seemed genuinely interested in hearing about what Kagome did with Inuyasha. "Oh wait you left early, right? Why?"

Kagome gave her friend a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "It was great. He had a headache and the loud music was bothering him, that's why we left early." Sango nodded along as if she empathized.

She didn't. Or, erm, she did. She just didn't have as much compassion for him as others did, and she didn't think that was necessarily a problem. She had her reasons to keep him at a distance. "That sucks," she responded, "I know you were kinda excited to see it."

"Oh it's not that bad, it's just the ballet, we can go again."

We.

We can go again.

"So what did you do for the rest of the night?"

"Hung around his place, had the best ramen ever from this place in Chinatown that he ordered from, and then when the food coma kicked in we passed out on the couch."

Sango gave Kagome yet another pointed look. "Serious! No sex or anything. Just two friends napping."

"Sure."

"I'm serious, Sango!"

"Oh no I believe you," Sango said sarcastically, Kagome gave her a pointed look. "So I take it things are going well with you guys then?"

Kagome nodded, "Yeah, yes," she clears her throat, "I guess you could say that, yes."

Kagome seemed a little bit fidgety when the topic of conversation pivoted to her relationship with Inuyasha. She seemed to twirl the ends of her hair absentmindedly, eyebrows knit as if she was in deep thought every time Sango asked a question. Fingernails picked at the skin around her cuticles.

"You okay?" Sango asked, raising an eyebrow. Kagome nodded at her. "…is that dream still bothering you?"

"Shut up," Kagome deadpanned, shoulders dropping as she rolled her eyes. "No, it doesn't bother me anymore." She honestly hadn't even thought about that dream after the day at the gym. Actually, that was a lie—she had thought about it, but only in passing. The way one has a flashback.

You know the ones.

Sango raised her eyebrows at Kagome, she opened her mouth like she was going to say something. "Kagome," she started, sucking in a breath. Kagome quickly looked up from her hair, head tilted slightly, a silent response to the sound of her name.

Sango had to pause for a second. Her eyes focused on Kagome's, watching the pools of chocolate as they stared at her with a silent expectation. What are you going to say?

Talking about Inuyasha, listening to Kagome speak about him…all she could think about was the bomb that Miroku had dropped on her that morning.

Inuyasha needs rehab and Kagome doesn't know.

Inuyasha needs rehab and Kagome doesn't know.

Inuyasha needs rehab and Kagome—

"When is his next fight?" Sango asked, biting the inside of her cheek. "Soon right?"

"I honestly don't know," Kagome blinked, "I think he told me he's taking a bit of a break. Has Miroku said anything about Naraku?"

Sango shook her head. "They're waiting on Myoga to give Inuyasha the all-clear to move weight classes, without that they can't move forward with anything. He didn't tell you?"

"No, we don't talk much about work," Kagome muttered, "I'm sure it'll work itself out. How are you and Miroku?"

"Good," Sango said, "we're good."

It fell silent again, with both women wracking their brains for topics of conversation, both of them coming up short. "So," Kagome started, adjusting her position in her chair, "I've been thinking of taking my mom up on her offer to go home for thanksgiving. It is around my birthday, after all."

"That's nice," Sango said, "Alone…or…?"

"I might ask him to come with me, I don't think he even knows what thanksgiving is. It would be nice—"

"Don't you think your cousins would be too much for him? What about Souta?"

Kagome cringed at the mention of her cousins: Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka. Talkative, loud, and unapologetically themselves. They've made it their mission to interrogate every guy Kagome had ever brought home, and she was sure they were the reason none of her relationships lasted beyond a year.

The food arrived and Kagome licked her lips as the plate was sat down between them, before glancing back up at Sango.

Sure, Eri and Yuka were a bit…much, but they were family and there wasn't much to be done in that regard. It wasn't like she could uninvite them to Thanksgiving.

"I think he'll be fine," Kagome muttered, cutting into the waffle.

"And Souta?"

"He's a bit too shy for his own good. He might be a little overwhelmed but—"

"Yeah I, too, would be overwhelmed by the fact that an A-list celebrity is just casually living life in my house," Sango snorted, earning a small laugh from Kagome. "Have you asked him?"

"I haven't."

"Why?"

"It's…I dunno, a little awkward?" It was true. Kagome didn't want to bring up her family with Inuyasha. It was an awkward topic of conversation and because they weren't really dating she didn't feel he would be comfortable meeting her family. However, she also understood that because—to the outside world—they appeared to be a normal couple, visiting her family was a normal thing to do. It was expected.

It was why her mother, albeit reluctantly, extended her invitation to Inuyasha. They looked like a normal couple, they acted like one. In the public, that was.

Sango nodded, chewing her food. "It's still a good idea to bring it up, better to have an answer than torture yourself with the anxiety of asking."

Kagome chewed her food slowly, and then swallowed. She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess…"

Inuyasha threw down the piece of paper on the desk in front of Myoga. One part proudly, the other part angrily. "Look," he demanded, plopping his body down in the seat across from the desk. "What does that say, hm?"

Myoga's eyes skimmed the piece of paper in his hands, eyes traveling rapidly over the words. They focused mainly on the bold black letters in the center.

NEGATIVE

"So you passed the drug test?"

"Yup," Inuyasha responded, kissing his teeth. "With flying colors."

Myoga snorted at his statement. "There is no other way to pass a drug test, Inuyasha. You either pass with flying colors or you do not pass at all." He tossed aside the paper, foldings his hands over his belly. "So?"

"So?" Inuyasha mocked, "am I back or what?"

Myoga thought for a second, looking away from Inuyasha.

"We need to talk about my weight class."

"There is nothing to talk about, Inuyasha."

"Myoga I'm not losing the fight of my career over not meeting weight," Inuyasha said through grit teeth. "I haven't worked this hard for nothing."

"You almost lost the fight of your career over a drug test, Inuyasha," Myoga shot back, "what's up with that?"

"I told you it was a one-time thing," Inuyasha started, defending himself. "You can't hold that over my head forever."

"You seem to be under the impression that I'm stupid, boy." Myoga spat back, causing Inuyasha to recoil at his words. "How long have I known you for, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha didn't respond, he rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into the pockets of his joggers instead.

"Answer me."

"I don't fucking know—since I was like 8?"

"Exactly. It's been sixteen years, Inuyasha." Myoga hissed. "I know the type of life you led outside of the gym, I know who you hung out with. I know what you did. It's no secret that I know."

"Okay well, I needed to—"

"I'm not arguing that," Myoga interjected, pointing a finger at Inuyasha. "I'm arguing that you think I didn't notice when you went through that phase in secondary school."

"I went through a lot of 'em."

"Coke."

"Oh come on," Inuyasha said with a laugh, eyes wide. "Coke? You think I'm on coke again?"

"You don't think I'm very observant, do you?" Myoga pressured, staring Inuyasha down. "You really, truly believe I'm stupid."

"I don't think you're stupid, Myoga." Inuyasha countered, meeting Myoga's gaze. His own didn't waver, he held strong, mentally preparing what he was going to say next. "I think you're speaking from a place of genuine concern for someone who you've seen grow up in a toxic, unhealthy environment, who in turn picked up bad habits." He said, shrugging. "Did I do coke in high school? Yes, I did. I also did Adderall and Molly. I smoked weed. I tripped on LSD." He laughed to himself a little bit, "I did a little bit of everything."

Nothing drew me in like cocaine.

Nothing felt like kismet to him like cocaine did. Molly caused him to have some of the most euphoric experiences of his life, but the bouts of depression that came afterward were enough to have even him worried about his own safety. Weed was okay, but it was never something he gravitated toward. If it was there he would use it, but he much preferred other drugs. LSD was an odd experience of hallucinations, colors, and calmness, but the highs lasted far too long for him, and the one bad trip he experienced was enough to scare him away for a lifetime.

Cocaine was…perfect. Like some goldilocks drug with his name written all over its white powdery self. The highs were never too intense and never lasted longer than he wanted them to. The comedown was typically rough, sure, but it was manageable. He could deal. Its effects settled in immediately, and it didn't waste any time working its way into his bloodstream. It was easily his most used drug when he was younger—and now.

"I can assure you, though. I'm not on anything, Myoga." Inuyasha added, narrowing his eyes at his trainer. "Okay? That was a one-time thing, and it will not happen again."

Myoga shifted in his spot, grunting as he did so. "I don't believe you—"

"You'll never believe me because in your eyes I'm a junkie. Always have been, always will be. It doesn't matter that I was clean for a few years before this, right?"

"Clean from drugs. Not alcohol."

"So that means it's easier for me to throw all that progress away?" Inuyasha hissed. "Is that what you're saying?"

"No," Myoga said, sighing. "That's not what I'm saying—"

"Then what?" Inuyasha huffed, nostrils flaring. "I passed the stupid drug test. I've been in the gym every single fucking day. I want this fight. I need this fight, Myoga."

"And I need you to stop throwing your life away, Inuyasha!" Myoga practically shouted at him, hands slamming down on the desk in front of him. It caused Inuyasha to stiffen, pausing in his seat. He'd never seen Myoga that worked up before. The man usually stayed pretty mellow, he tried his best to maintain his composure even when Inuyasha constantly tested his patience as both a trainer and a person.

"You have such a bright future ahead of you. You're talented. You're young. Do you have any idea how many people would kill to be in your position right now? Kill to have the amount of money you have in the bank? Kill to have your physique and your poweress in this sport? You are damn near a fucking prodigy. I said that the moment I saw you. I said 'that little boy is going to be a legend one day' and look at you—fucking look at you, Inuyasha! You're being a fucking idiot. An idiot! You're throwing it all away for what?"

Inuyasha didn't have an answer for him. He found that he didn't have an answer for a lot of things lately.

"I'm willing to work with you, but you need to work with me too," Myoga said when he finally settled down, taking in deep, even, breaths.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'll work with you. Help you drop the weight and get ready for your fight against Naraku. Alright?" Inuyasha couldn't contain the smile that broke across his face, as if he was truly relieved to hear that coming from Myoga. Myoga pointed a finger at him again, though, and spoke in a serious tone. "If you ever so much as step foot inside this gym noticeably high again you can look for another trainer willing to take you on, do you understand that?"

"Yes sir."