Chapter 18:

When Inuyasha woke up, he became aware of two things immediately: his head ached and Kagome was laying half across his chest, sobbing as if her heart would break. He put his arms about the girl, grimacing as further aches and pains made themselves known.

"Kagome…"

Kagome sat up, wiping a hand across her eyes. "Oh, thank goodness, Inuyasha! You had us all worried."

"What happened?"

"You went postal on us."

"Huh?"

"You threw away the Tetsusaiga and became full demon for a while. Jon and Kirsty had to go in and try to stop you."

"They okay?"

"You threw Kirsty against a wall and broke several of her ribs. She's not very happy with you right now."

Inuyasha sighed. "I guess not. Are they mad? Are they going to make me leave?"

"No one's going to make you leave, lad."

Inuyasha turned his head to see Tamisé standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Tam. I just… couldn't take it any more."

"Well – you've given Kirsty and Spider lots of interesting data to work with, I'll say that much."

"I didn't mean to hurt Kirsty."

"We know that, lad. I have to say, though, that you had me plenty scared. Not one to mess with when you're in that form, I'd say."

Inuyasha turned his face to the wall. "No. I'm not."

"Any more surprises you'd like to spring on us, lad?"

Kagome looked between the two men. "Inuyasha? Did you tell them about the New Moon? It's coming up soon."

"I forgot."

"Inuyasha, how could you forget something like that?"

Tamisé folded his arms and interrupted the beginning of what might become an hour-long scold. "What happens then?"

"Inuyasha turns human with the sunset and stays that way until sunrise. He doesn't like to talk about it. He usually hides then."

"Why?"

Inuyasha sat up, snarling. "I have a lot of enemies, okay? And my period of weakness would be a great time to finish me off if they knew about it."

Tamisé rubbed his jaw. "No one here is your enemy, lad. I wish you would tell us these things instead of springing stuff on us."

"Kirsty will want to stuff me into the sensor suit again," Inuyasha griped. "And keep me awake all night doing stuff."

"Inuyasha… you're awake all night anyway," Kagome reminded him.

"Yeah… but I'm tired of being a… a… a guinea pig."

Tamisé laughed. "We only do all this testing so we understand what we've got to work with, lad. No sense giving you fifty pound weights when you need three hundred, right?"

"I suppose not. But I'm sure getting tired of Spider's poking and prodding."

"I haven't poked you for days." Spider appeared suddenly in the doorway beside Tamisé. "How are you feeling?"

Inuyasha put a hand to his head. "My head's pounding."

"I shouldn't wonder. Kirsty put enough of her toxin into you to put you out for a week. Frankly, I'm surprised you're awake already."

"What toxin? What did she do?"

Spider came over and thrust a thermometer into the half-demon's mouth and lifted his wrist to take his pulse. Inuyasha glared, but stayed still.

"Kirsty has small stingers under each of her fingernails. She can use them to inject a toxin that will put you out like a light." Spider grinned. "You're not the only one holding things back, kiddo."

"I didn't mean to," Inuyasha mumbled when the thermometer was taken out of his mouth.

"Hmmph. No one ever means things like this to happen," Spider said.

"Is she okay?"

"One broken rib, two cracked, various bumps and bruises, and one really foul attitude. If I were you, I'd be calling the florist. Or the travel agent."

"Huh?"

Tamisé laughed. "What Spider means is to give Kirsty flowers to beg her forgiveness, or get out of town before she comes gunning for you."

Inuyasha's ears drooped and he stared down at his lap. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't tell me – tell her." Spider tucked a couple of pills into the half-demon's hand and gave him a paper cup of water. "Here – these should help your head."

"Okay – everybody clear out."

Inuyasha looked up, startled. Kirsten stood in the doorway, wearing one of Tamisé's sweatshirts over her pants. The alien's scent on the clothes had masked her own unique smell. The sweatshirt hung on her, making her look like a small child dressing up in her parent's clothes. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail.

"Should you be up, dearest?" Tamisé asked.

"I'm up and staying up. Everybody out."

Inuyasha had never seen her so angry. Even Tamisé almost tiptoed around her as he left. He looked down at the pills in his hand and swallowed nervously.

Kirsten slammed the door closed after the rest had left and folded her arms across her chest.

"Take the damn pills, Inuyasha."

He threw the pills into his mouth and swallowed them dry.

"Sensei… I'm so sorry."

"Jesus, you stupid boy. Next time I tell you to walk away – you walk away. Understood?"

He nodded miserably.

"We've both been holding information back from each other – and that's going to stop too." Kirsten sat down beside him, wincing at the pain in her ribs and put an arm about his shoulders. "I heard what Kagome said about the new moon. I understand that you have had to find ways of protecting yourself. But you can't close yourself off from the people who care about you, Inuyasha. No one here would hurt you. We're all your friends. We're trying to help you, you idiot. You understand?"

He nodded. "It's hard for me to let down my guard, though. There are things I haven't even told Kagome."

"There are lots of things I know you haven't told Kagome."

Inuyasha picked up Kirsten's free hand and examined the nails. Spider was right, he could see the stingers tucked under the fingernails. They were invisible unless you knew where to look and what to look for.

"Jon doesn't have them."

Inuyasha looked into solemn grey eyes and blushed. "Sorry." In the back of his mind, the other voice jabbered at him, urging him to lean forward, just a little…

He found Kirsten's finger pressing gently against his mouth.

"No, Inuyasha."

"It's not me! It's… it's…"

"I know. Personality bleed-through from the tapes we've been using." Kirsten smiled for the first time. "You know what? I think we both need a break."

Inuyasha grinned a little at her pun.

"Stop that!" She punched his shoulder. "I need some time to recover – two days should do it – so I'm placing you with the other instructors until I can function again. But for the rest of today, why don't you go for a walk or something?"

"You mean, by myself? Out there?"

"Yeah, out there. By yourself. Or take Kagome with you. Just be back here by five, so Jon can take us home."

"You trust me alone out there? Kagome never let me go out by myself when I visited her."

"Inuyasha – you know how traffic lights work and when it's safe to cross the street, right? You don't need me to hold your hand. Go. Just put your cap on first."

"Okay. Could I… take Sharon with me instead?"

"If she's not too busy. You can tell her I said it was okay."

"Kirsty, sensei…" Inuyasha took up her hand again and squeezed it gently. "Your trust means a lot to me, especially after what just happened. I'm sorry I hurt you. I don't have any conscious control when the demon side of me takes over."

"I noticed. You didn't seem to know who we were. It was almost like a split personality – but you used one move against Jon that I know you had to have learned from Thorne. I'm gonna be using my recovery time to go over every single tape we've got on you. Spider's nearly finished with the blood work, as well, so we can get a clearer picture of what we've got to deal with. Maybe there's a way to harness the power of your demon side without letting it take over. Interesting question." Kirsten patted his cheek. "Get outta here before I change my mind."

Inuyasha leaned forward quickly and kissed her cheek before she could object. "Thank you, sensei."

OoOoOo

Inuyasha wandered along the busy sidewalk with Sharon at his side, gawking at all the sights. She was holding his hand, ostensibly to keep him from walking into things like….

"Owtch!"

"Yasha, I told you to watch out for the mail box."

The half-demon glared at the large red metal box that he had just had a close encounter with. "Why the hell do they have to put these things out in the middle of the sidewalk?"

Sharon laughed. "It's not out in the middle of the sidewalk. And neither was the lamp post you walked into earlier."

She groaned as something else caught Inuyasha's attention. This time, it was a street busker. They stood for a few moments to listen to the man sing and play his guitar. Sharon dropped a bill into the open guitar case at the man's feet and tugged at Inuyasha.

"Let's go on."

"I'm hungry."

"You are always hungry."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're exactly like Jon and Kirsty. Come on. Want a hot dog?"

Inuyasha stopped stock-still. "I'm not eating a dog! What do you take me for?"

Sharon had to laugh again at the look of absolute horror on Inuyasha's face.

"It's not a real dog, silly. You've had wieners before, haven't you?"

"Wieners – yeah! Kagome makes them sometimes for our lunches."

"It's the same thing, only here we call them hot dogs and eat them in buns."

"Why?"

Sharon opened her mouth to reply, then shut it again. Then she began to grin. "You know – I have absolutely no idea. Come on, there's a vendor over there."

Sharon tugged Inuyasha over to the vendor, where she bought them both hot dogs and sodas. They found some stone steps to one of the huge office buildings to sit on while they ate. Inuyasha demolished the hot dog in five bites, while Sharon looked on in amazement, afraid he might choke. He waited patiently while she finished her own hot dog, watching the people come and go past them.

"What do they all do?" he wondered aloud.

"For some of them, it's a good question," Sharon said.

Inuyasha tilted his head back to try to see the top of the building. "All the buildings are so tall!"

Sharon watched him for a while. He was constantly amazed by everything around him and she allowed him to stop and observe as much as he liked. She had the impression that whenever he had come over to the modern Tokyo, Kagome hadn't let him out much. On the surface, he might seem rough and uneducated, but he had a curious, albeit cautious nature and although he could not be called an intellectual by any stretch of the imagination, he caught on to things quickly.

He was beginning to fit in well at the TDN office and had made friends out of many of Tamisé's security people. Although Inuyasha could be shy around people he had not met yet, he enjoyed sitting with a group and being part of it. Sharon understood that where he came from, he was an outcast, an outsider, and because he was a half-demon, often unwelcome. He had a few other friends, other than Kagome, but no family to speak of, other than a brother that hated him.

"Hey!"

Sharon snapped out of her reverie as Inuyasha prodded her arm gently.

"Hey, Sharon. Tam gave me some money. I'd like to get something for Kagome."

"What would you like to get her?"

"I dunno. She bought me some more t-shirts the other day. And she bought clothes for herself, so… something different. What do girls like?"

"Does she like jewellery?"

"I guess. She doesn't wear much of it in the Feudal era. Gets in the way when you're fighting."

"Well, we're almost at the Eaton Centre. Lots of stores in there. How much money did Tam give you?"

Inuyasha reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out some folded bills. "I dunno. I don't understand your currency here. He said you'd help me."

Sharon took the bills and flipped through them quickly, then whistled. "You can buy nearly anything you want with this much."

"Could you hold onto it for me? I'm not used to carrying money."

"Sure." She tucked the bills into a section of her purse so they would not get mixed with her own money. "We'll go shopping, and then you can treat me to dinner."

He grinned at her. "Aren't you supposed to be making me dinner?"

"Oh, lots of time to do that. Come on."

They continued down the sidewalk. As they passed over a large grill in the concrete, there came the clattering sound of a passing subway. Sharon ignored it: she was used to the sound, but Inuyasha froze for an instant, then reached for the Tetsusaiga. He had the sword nearly unsheathed, as he tilted his head, trying to locate the sound. When he found it emanated from the grill, he bent over, trying to see what was underneath, his hand still on the sword's hilt.

Sharon couldn't help laughing – Inuyasha looked like such a rube. Other people passing by also laughed. He straightened up and jammed the sword back into its sheath, growling low in his throat. Sharon linked her arm through his.

"Sorry, Yasha! You just looked so funny. We're all so used to hearing the subway train pass below that we hardly hear it any more. I guess you thought it was a demon coming to get us."

"Keh!"

His chin went up in the air and he turned his head away from her in annoyance.

"Oh, don't be mad, Yasha." Sharon leaned over and brushed her lips across his cheek.

Inuyasha's hand came up immediately to touch his cheek. He turned to look at Sharon with a slightly moonstruck look on his face, but he said nothing. For an instant, Sharon wondered if he would kiss her back, but the moment was broken when they were jostled by a group of teenagers passing by.

"Come on, Yasha. Let's go shopping."

OoOoOo

The shopping trip had been a success, and now Inuyasha and Sharon were heading along Queen Street towards a restaurant she knew of. She had called Kirsten on her cell to say that they were eating out and she would drive Inuyasha home later.

Inuyasha carried a bag that held his various purchases. There was a pretty necklace for Kagome that Sharon had helped him find, as well as a brooch for Kagome's mother. He had also bought a necklace for Sango. For Shippo, they had found a Jacob's Ladder in a toy store and a few spinning tops. Inuyasha had even snuck in a Beyblade, arguing that it was similar to a top. Miroku had been the difficult one. They had finally settled on a deck of cards, decorated with… Inuyasha blushed even thinking about it. Sango would not be pleased about Miroku's gift and Inuyasha thought that the monk would not be in possession of the deck for very long. But it would do until he could think of something more appropriate. And for himself, he had bought some music CDs, after explaining to Sharon about some of the music he had heard that he liked. He would not be able to take them to the Feudal era, but he could leave them at Kagome's house to listen to when he visited.

"Hey, Sharon!"

They looked over the railing of one of the sidewalk patios and saw a young woman waving to them from a table. She was seated with several other people.

"Hi Corrine!"

"Hey, come sit and have a drink with us."

Sharon glanced at Inuyasha, who shrugged. "Okay – but just a quick one, okay? We're on our way to dinner."

They entered the patio area and sat down in two seats that the other occupants pulled up to the table.

"Hey, everyone. This is Yasha. He's visiting my company from Japan."

Corrine eyed him carefully. "You don't look Japanese."

"He's an albino," Sharon said quickly. "Yasha, this is Corrine, Sergio, Mike and Iris."

"Hello."

Corrine and Iris looked the half-demon over, intrigued by his long silver hair and golden eyes. The two men did not look too happy to have such a handsome stranger in their midst, but shook his hand cordially enough.

Sharon ordered a beer for Inuyasha and a mai tai for herself.

"So how long are you here for?" Sergio asked.

"Another five months or so," Inuyasha said. "I'm working with Sharon's boss."

"Oh – do you build robots too?" Corrine simpered. "You don't look like the engineering type."

Sharon snickered. "He's better at taking them apart, actually."

Inuyasha gave her rueful grin, but said nothing. These people did not work at TDN and therefore were outsiders. Inuyasha knew better than to say too much.

They spent a pleasant half-hour chatting with Sharon's friends. The women flirted outrageously with Inuyasha, much to his chagrin. Sharon finally laid her hand on Inuyasha's thigh in a casual, but possessive manner. Inuyasha nearly laughed aloud at the disappointment on the girls' faces, as he laid his arm across the back of Sharon's chair and toyed a little with her hair.

When they finally left, Sharon was clinging to Inuyasha's arm in coquettish manner. They continued down the sidewalk until they were out of sight of her friends.

"Thanks," Inuyasha said as Sharon unwrapped herself from his arm.

"Don't mention it." She grinned at him. "I'm glad you caught on to what I was doing."

"Hmmph. You women are all too forward in this day and age. Brazen hussies, the lot of you." But Inuyasha was laughing. "Hey! I just got an idea…"

"Tell me over dinner," Sharon said, steering him into a doorway. "Here's the restaurant."

OoOoOo

It was starting to get dark when Sharon finally drove Inuyasha home. They had had a nice dinner at a steakhouse and had spent a long time talking. Inuyasha had outlined his idea to Sharon and had had her grinning evilly.

In a nutshell, it was Inuyasha's turn to make Kagome jealous – and Sharon was going to help – most enthusiastically.

The half-demon believed he had found a friend in Sharon, despite their rather rough beginning. He knew she still thought him attractive, but would not poach on another woman's territory. She found his feelings for Kagome very sweet, but called him an idiot for not coming out and telling the girl how he felt.

Their plan was put into operation almost immediately. As Sharon pulled her car into the Windrows' driveway, Inuyasha spied Kagome and David coming along the path from the ravine park.

"Okay!" Sharon said quickly. "Come around to this side of the car when you get out and I'll roll down the window. Know the script?"

"Script?"

"What we're going to say. Oh – never mind. Just play along with me, okay?"

Inuyasha got out of the car and sauntered around to the driver's side. Sharon rolled down the window and leaned out a little ways.

"Thanks so much for dinner," Inuyasha said in a voice that he knew would carry on the quiet air.

"I'm glad you liked it. Maybe next time you can stay over."

Inuyasha leaned on the window as Sharon motioned him down. "Mmmm. Sounds good, babe." Inuyasha grinned as he remembered how Cerberus had made the simulacrum of him speak. Sharon gave him a thumbs up. He leaned a little further into the window and gave Sharon a kiss. It was just a small, friendly peck, but he put his cheek next to Sharon's for several heartbeats, so it would look like they were prolonging the kiss.

"That's good!" Sharon whispered to him. "They got a real good look at that, and I can see Kagome fuming from here. Okay – time to break it off."

Inuyasha straightened up. "See you tomorrow?"

"Count on it," Sharon replied. "Good night, handsome."

"'Bye, sweetcakes."

Sharon pretended to be gagging at his choice of endearment, but he knew Kagome and David were too far away to see what she was about. She waved after she had turned the car around. Inuyasha waved back, then sauntered casually into the house, whistling tunelessly, and swinging his bag of purchases.

It was not long after he had come in and settled on the couch beside Jon that Inuyasha heard Kagome come in through the back door. She did not stop at all in the livingroom, but headed immediately up the stairs. Inuyasha's sharp ears heard the door to her room close, probably with a lot less force than she would have liked to use.

Jonathan gave Inuyasha a sharp look. "What's with Kagome? She usually comes in to say goodnight."

Inuyasha shrugged, but could not keep a grin from his face.

"Alright – I know that look. What's going on?"

"Oh – Sharon and I just decided to put on a little performance for David and Kagome. I think it worked."

Jonathan folded his arms and gave Inuyasha a speaking look. "Oh, I get it: a little tit for tat, huh? Just don't let things get out of hand, hmm?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Not a chance of that."