Chapter X

Kagome couldn't stop looking at the pearls of sweat sprouting on InuYasha's forehead, as he moved with determination and knowledge. She noticed how all of her attention was on him and the way in which he was putting in effort while in that exposed kitchen, belonging to a restaurant whose specialty was ramen. When he asked if that dish was of her liking, she thought he was inviting her for dinner, and in a way it was true, although he didn't mention being the cook.

When they arrived at the place, she immediately noticed the familiarity with which InuYasha treated everyone there.

This is my friend, Kagome. He introduced her, after an instant, and she felt quite comfortable with it.

The place kept the kitchen at the center, surrounded by a table in which there could be public, besides a few more tables around it. It wasn't too big, yet wide enough.

"You can sit wherever you want. Once everything is ready I'll serve you the ramen I offered you." InuYasha smiled at her, then his steps took him past the door at the other end, as his hands deftly tied his hair in a high ponytail, that Kagome felt tempted to undo later.

Kagome! She reprimanded herself. Her original idea wasn't to take him to bed today, however she had to admit there was a certain yearning growing with every passing moment, and that both of them shared it.

She found a place besides the main table that was right in front of the kitchen, in which a man was organizing every ingredient to be used. She distracted herself for a while reading the messages in her phone and sent one to Sango, telling her she had arrived without issue, albeit technically she wasn't in her apartment. To think about the place she slept at, arose a bit of anxiety, as she accepted to let InuYasha escort her to her street and she could always invite him to come over, although that would of course break another of her rules. Maybe she could find some hotel on the way, from where they were currently at, to the building in which she lived. With that idea, she began to search for such a place, yet her labor was interrupted by his figure entering the kitchen. She analyzed everything for an instant. His attire had changed: his shirt was now black, with a little sewed seal at the left side of his chest with the name of the restaurant. He also wore a black bandana that kept his hair for falling on his eyes, and was now tied in some sort of arrangement on his nape. He also had an apron surrounding his waist and that brought her to look at how the line of his body narrowed. She recreated the touch of the skin in that waist and the way she had caressed that part when they undressed last time.

She puffed, slowly, and attempted to keep her attention on her phone and that hotel.

After an instant, she found herself looking at InuYasha again, without pause, as he handled objects and ingredients and turned them into the food that he'd soon leave on their plates. Some people began to arrive after a moment and despite all the efforts she put into going back to her phone, her gaze would constantly go back to the hands of her companion, deftly moving and handling sharp knives and applying pinches of condiments to the dishes. The truth was that his precise and controlled movements relaxed her.

She turned her gaze back to her phone, and saw how a messaged from Kōga popped: Will you come tomorrow for the designs?

She knew what that question entangled. She wanted to write an answer, but every time her fingers managed to write something, she'd end up erasing everything. The truth was that, as weird as it could sound, she didn't want to decide that at the moment.

"Am I boring you?" She heard InuYasha's voice, who had bent over the table and was now practically over her phone, in a position which allowed him to read her messages if he so wanted.

She smiled, with a hint of seduction and left the phone screen-down. InuYasha followed that movement with his gaze and for an instant saw him blink with a certain slowness to return his focus to her. She couldn't help thinking in that gesture there was a thought hidden she'd never know about. She saw how he pushed a little black plate with the shape of a leaf towards her, with some cubes of breaded fish, aside from a sauce.

"It's what you promised me." She smiled a bit more, and could see how he held his lip with his teeth, and now she received a clear message of what was going through his head.

I want to kiss her. And unfortunately, she wanted to do so too.

"And I always keep my promises." She felt something stir inside her. Those words had truth in them, she could feel it in her skin, in her muscle, in her bone.

"You've never broken any?" She had to ask; she couldn't not do it. She wanted to see the way his eyes looked at her as he answered.

Inuyasha. She heard someone call him.

"That's what I'm trying at least." There it was, that honesty he used and that resulted even wild to the superficial times they were living. She couldn't answer. "I'll bring you something to drink."

She saw him leave and yearned for him in ways beyond just flesh. She tried to focus on her phone once again, as her last refuge.

The restaurant kept being filled in the meantime, and the attention InuYasha had been managing between his work and her, was now fully on his job. It was then when Kagome allowed herself to watch him with total freedom, and concluded he was beautiful in a way that had many layers. She looked for what first caught her attention about him, and became inclined to think it had been his ass, the one that even though it was half-covered by the apron, was a tight peach she wanted to bite. She lowered her gaze immediately as she found herself imagining it. She had to be honest with herself, it had been a while since she had actually desired someone. Normally, her lust would come through the need of control she exercised when in an intimate encounter; very few times it had been because of the person, of their body, smiles and thoughts.

InuYasha approached her with a succulent and smoking dish. She could see in his cheeks he felt hot and agitated, and she couldn't evade thinking that image was the most desirable thing she had seen in the entire day, her peach delusion included.

"You can see what it has." He pointed to the dish, with one hand on the table and bent towards her. "Spring onion, some egg, some mushrooms, algae; in this case the soup is made of vegetables, I think you'll like it. "Kagome could only think about how much she liked to see his hand on the table, with those long fingers which had attracted her from the start, besides that marked vein on his forearm. Maybe, and after all, she hadn't only watched his peach. "It also has shrimp, the noodles we make here, and there is also the house's special touch."

By the time InuYasha finished explaining, she couldn't avert her gaze from his mouth as he talked.

"It looks good." She muttered. He didn't answer immediately, but smiled and made a gesture as if denying himself some thought.

"I hope you enjoy it." His voice sounded deep, in that way that slightly darkened a certain hidden intention that he couldn't explore right now, even if he wanted to.

"I think I'm going to." She touched the back of his hands, still on the table.

At some point they had stopped talking about the food.

"I've still got like an hour left." He began to say, turning his hand to meet hers and caress her palm with the tip of his fingers, rising her anxiety with efficiency. "I'll understand if you don't want to wait."

He finished his turn almost at nine'o clock that night. He had taken off his apron and gone back to his shirt, leaving his job attire ready to take it back the next day and wash it. He undid his hair and combed it a bit with his fingers, feeling how comfortable it was to leave it free after having it tied for so long. When he put on his jacket and thought he was ready, his gaze turned towards the door that gave way to the restaurant, and to the place in which Kagome had been left waiting for him. For some reason the mere idea of crossing that door was accelerating his heart. He didn't need to think too much about it to recognize all the signs they had been sending each other the whole time they were there. It was evident that encounter would end with them shouting each other's names, naked and in a bed. It wasn't the first time he shared such signs with someone, and the result, usually, was the one he presumed with Kagome; however, there was such chemistry and closeness between them that he felt overwhelmed.

The door opened, the same one he had been staring at, and through it his coworker came in, Hisao.

"Your friend went out. She said she'd wait for you outside." He told him, while taking off his own work attire.

"Thanks." He answered, as he tried to ignore his fears and went out the door.

He crossed the local, whose tables were already stored so they could clean the place. He said his goodbyes to someone in charge of it and finally went outside. Night was already on them, so he had to actively search his surroundings for Kagome. At first try, he didn't find her, which brought him a strange sensation of disappointment. Beyond his own fears, he wanted to be with her and it was precisely that discovery what kept him restless.

In that instant, he saw her coming out of a 24h convenience store across the street. She walked towards him, as she put something in the purse she was carrying.

"What were you buying? Were you left hungry?" He asked with a smile, as soon as she stood in front of him. For a moment it looked as if Kagome became mute, but then she smiled and shook her head. In that moment suspicion invaded his mind.

"Nothing really, just what I lacked." An evasive answer usually triggered more questions.

"I see." He didn't bother hiding his absolute lack of intention of leaving the topic alone. "And that which you lacked was for your own personal use?

"Why don't you better stop asking and we go somewhere?" InuYasha knew how to recognize an invitation, and it wasn't like this one was being veiled.

"Didn't we make a deal about me taking you to your street?" He took one step closer to her, almost without thinking. Kagome had that ability to attract him, despite not doing it on purpose. He saw her holding her upper-lip with her teeth, barring her answer for a moment. He couldn't help being charmed by her mouth.

"Better somewhere else." One of her fingers touched his abdomen, and descended softly until reaching the belt in his pants, and play there with the buttons. He held her hand and pulled it apart, without letting go.

"You don't want me to know where you live." He guessed, a part of him understood that, there were those who preferred to keep a certain level of privacy. Then his mind opened to another possibility: she lived with someone. His fingers threw the grasp of her hand, how did he not think of that?

"It's not that. Not exactly." She seemed to want to defend her stand, and in the way, kept trying to hold the hand that was now letting go.

Kagome noticed immediately that something had become weird between them.

What was he seeing? The question installed itself inside her mind when she became aware of the way InuYasha's gaze was being veiled. As if something was retreating, back to the depths.

"Well, it's all the same, we have only one thing in mind, right?" Was the phrase he suddenly spat, with an impudence and detachment that maybe she found in him at the beginning, and never felt so cold as now.

"Something the matter?" She couldn't help asking. In some way both of them were quite honest, despite how little they knew of each other.

"Nothing." He shrugged, and smiled, however she didn't like that smile, as it didn't reach his eyes.

Crap. She found herself accepting he liked him.

"As a woman, I can tell you 'Nothing' is never 'Nothing'." She rebuked, annoyed with herself too for giving so much importance to that light shining a bit less in his gaze. What difference did it make?

"What a cliche you've just spouted!" He almost laughed in her face. She saw him get a bit closer to her, his gaze darting between her eyes and lips, as his influence forced her to bent backwards because of the strength his energy emanated. "Do you want something that's not cliche?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "Women who prefer the bad boy: Always."

She had to wait a moment before being able to think about how to reply. InuYasha's breath was hitting her right on her lips, and she would lie to herself, and all the kamis, if she didn't admit she wished to kiss him.

"Always? Isn't that a bit too broad a guess?" His smile was still there, and his gaze was intensifying his attention on her. "Women? All women? Do you know each and every one?"

The next thing she saw was how his laugh became a burst.

"And again, I'm funny." She tried for him to catch the irony in her phrase.

He lowered the tenor of his laugh, his smile ever so present.

"No, you are not funny. You are smart, and I like that." There it was again, his honesty and desire in the middle of his gaze.

She found a vague sensation of panic under her thoughts. She didn't want him to like her in any way that wasn't sweating and in a bed. She wasn't prepared for anything else.

"Best you take me to my street." She turned around and made the attempt to start walking, waiting for him to follow.

"To your street? All the street is yours? You've bought it?" He used the same type of numbering she had used before.

She turned sideways and looked straight into his eyes, without smiles nor words. She also liked him for his smarts, and also because he was beautiful and subtle in some cases. Because of many things she didn't know how to handle, as it had been too long since she stopped allowing herself to let go in the arms and kisses of someone.

She extended her hand towards him, and InuYasha stared at the gesture. It felt strange to see in his expression how the ease gave way to surprise, to go back to indifference, not without going through an emotivity Kagome managed to catch a glimpse of, for a second.

For a moment she allowed herself to think he also had his own ghosts.

"C'mon, take me there." She offered, being the one ahead.

The touch of the fingers was delicate for an instant, then confident and InuYasha's steps finally caught up with hers.

A/N

Well, what can I say?

This chapter went through different phases, mi creative mind took it through one routh, and the characters would suddenly tell me "Nope, we want this." and I, because I love them I allowed them to take a stroll before going back to the main path xD

Thanks for reading and keeping me company in this adventure that is to create.

Anyara.

This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart