Well shit.

Inuyasha knew when he woke up an hour before that he was going to have a hard time getting his head on straight. The morning shower didn't do anything to make his mind come alive. Neither did the coffee.

Seeing his neighbor dive behind her desk in a blouse and panties, however, made everything wake up. At once.

God had only given him enough blood for one brain to work, and there was a fight going on with the big brain and the – okay not little but slightly smaller – brain over who got to have it. Logical brain was screaming for it so it could do the sensible thing and pretend that he didn't just see what he saw. Horny brain was screaming for him to jump across to the other balcony and help her find her pants. Or just offer the towel he was wearing like a gentleman.

Horny brain was trying to be logical but the dickhead had ulterior motives.

It was just as well that his feet were all but glued to his balcony. No one would want to be walking down the street and look up to see him leaping across the space in a towel. More importantly, Kagome wouldn't want to see him show up.

He had to admit, even though he couldn't hear the sound that she let out within her apartment, she looked awfully cute as she spun on her heel and dove like a running back taking the ball into the endzone. Not seeing her for a few minutes gave him the clarity he needed – he really didn't need to start thinking about her tackling skills – to "step" back inside for hot coffee and his white board.

Once he was out of view, just in case Kagome happened to see him leave, he ran. He wasn't ashamed. He just didn't want her to see him possibly slip and bust his bare ass on the hardwood floor.

By the time he came back to the balcony, he could see Kagome standing at her sliding glass doors, looking around. She'd put on a pair of jeans, which went well with that dark red blouse. But he'd seen better, though he didn't think she'd take well if he said she looked fine without.

Late start? He had scribbled on the white board. Probably better to play dumb. She'd gone so red…

Kagome looked relieved to read his message as she stepped out onto her balcony. Unfortunately. Also…sorry about…you know…

You did more than this coffee did to wake me up. Don't apologize.

Her laughter bubbling up eased his mind. Hell no she didn't have to apologize for that! That was the most he'd seen of a woman in…yeah don't follow that trail. It was embarrassing. The bottle of syrup in his fridge was the closest he got to a woman every night when he opened the door.

I have a meeting in twenty minutes. She was frowning.

Can't get out of it?

Nope. Required.

Damn. Wish I could say I was off, but I have to go in early.

Will I see you later?

If you come to the diner I can guarantee it. Okay so that was pushing it, but he had to try.

…I'll think about it.

Cheeky woman. Two could play at that game. Hey Kagome!

Yeah?

10/10 do it again sometime!

The squeak he heard was too funny. Yeah he shouldn't have done it, but the opportunity to score her was too good to pass on. Just like it was too good a moment to let his towel drop as he turned around, giving her a glimpse of his left ass cheek as he walked back inside.

Tit for tat. Or cheek for cheek. Something like that.

Being a short order cook had never been Inuyasha's first choice of a career. That fell to welding, actually. Growing up in town he'd always wanted to become an apprentice of the instructor at the local college. Had decided in middle school that once he got to high school and qualified, he was signing up for early-college classes for the craft. Unfortunately, that was as far as he got. Due to budgeting issues and there being personal health problems with the instructor's family, the apprenticeship applications were scrapped. He got to take the classes, but if he wanted to practice further, he would need to buy the materials and equipment.

So he took up a part time job at The Sizzling Griddle. The owners, Kaede and Totosai, were about as old-time mom and pop as you could get. They were in need of a new short order cook, and with his demonic speed as a plus, it made for quicker orders being brought up and tables being cleaned after closing. They liked his initiative to help. He liked to listen to them bicker sarcastically at each other. He was also good at what he did, knowing when seasoning was too much, or even if a burger was medium-well done. He'd worked part time through college, and by graduation he couldn't see himself doing anything else.

Now that Kagome was a new addition to the crowds at the diner, he really couldn't see himself giving his two week's notice. The closest he'd gotten to her was the day that she'd come in for a carry out order. If it hadn't been so busy, he'd have brought her order to her, but Kaede intercepted and took it. As annoyed as he was at the old woman – what if that was his one shot – he wasn't closing up the diner empty handed.

Through all of the greasy foods and scents of his coworkers and the regulars, Inuyasha had picked up the faintest trace of a new scent that evening. It had to be Kagome's scent.

It had been haunting his brain ever since, but there was no way to know for sure unless he…well...sniffed her. There were a hundred reasons easy on why that was frowned upon in modern society, even if humans and demons coexisted without issues.

So the moment that she stepped out on her balcony with her little whiteboard, he was ecstatic that she was willing to play along. She was cute as hell and he wanted to get to know her. Unfortunately his scheduling sucked at letting him do that outside of the signs they wrote to each other. It had its perks, of course. No need to shout across the way and let the whole block know their business. They were high enough up that it was impossible to view the messages from the ground, and it'd take some sick maneuvering to be able to read them from one of the other apartments. The town was small anyway, so if any big news got out, everyone would know. For the most part, people tended to keep to their own business.

"Got a black and blue with axel grease on the side, two cows made to cry, both with frog sticks ready to go!"

Totosai shook his head as he collected the plates from the counter. "Need to find a better way to say butter, boy."

"I ain't the one that came up with it!" Inuyasha snorted as he turned back to the grill. Old man acted like he was the ancient one sometimes. It's not like it wasn't an accurate term, and given the way that steak looked as he fixed the plates up, whoever ordered that was going to need the extra help once it came time to cash that check.

He hated when a customer asked for rare. Medium-rare was pushing it, and that was their default. But, that was their choice.

Minutes later the old man was back, slapping down a scribbled note on the counter. "We got campers on table four. Asking for three Jack Bennys, frog sticks, and a helping of graveyard stew –"

"What –"

"That's milk toast, boy."

"I know that!" The half demon visibly shuddered. "I mean, who in their right damn mind would ask for fucking milk toast this late in the day?!"

Kaede walked by with a freshly made milkshake, topped with crushed cookies. "Someone who is very pregnant and very hormonal, and it would do you two well to not ask such questions." Totosai started to protest being included, but she cut him off. "I'm speaking to both of you, dear. Especially our young man, because he needs to understand that young women are going to crave things he won't be able to fathom when they're with child. You'd do right to tread carefully with those kinds of thoughts, because just you wait – one day you'll have a woman who's going to ask for pickles on runny eggs and baked beans –"

"I'd have to find her first!"

" –and you're going to want to vomit as you watch her eat it, but watch you will, because she loves you enough to be willing to pass a watermelon through an opening the size of a bagel and you will be grateful that she'll let you in the bed with her afterwards."

After Kaede and Totosai left, Inuyasha prepped the grill for the sandwiches before going to collect the ingredients, trying not to think about what she said. The one flaw to her "prediction" was that he needed to find a woman that was willing to date a half demon, and not as a "flavor of the week". It was fine in college; hookups because girls found his ears "exotic". But he wanted something more than that now, and that was why he'd only had the company of himself and his thoughts for years. Dates always wanted to end in the bedroom on the first night, and he wasn't up for that. In fact, it had the opposite effect, weirdly enough. Maybe it was because he craved something stable, but even alone with his hand he couldn't garner a twitch after those disaster dates.

So when it came to self pleasure or dates that wanted him to put out before they even went out, he chose to not date. It was simpler and he got more out of it.

Her words still lingered, and he wondered if it was getting obvious that he wanted to grow old with a woman that he could have exchanges with like his boss'. They never had children of their own, choosing instead to adopt, but the idea was the same. Wake up next to the one he loved and loved to argue with, see the steady growth of what that love could create, waiting for the day that…

Inuyasha frowned at the bag of bagels that sat on the shelf. There was no way that she was right about it opening up to the size of a bagel, was there? He was fuzzy on the details but he knew how big a newborn could be on average, so trying to imagine that coming out of that… did it really get that big? That couldn't be right. Nah. That'd mean it'd open up wider than his mouth, and women didn't have a jaw they could unhinge down there so how the fuck –

"Inuyasha! Order up!"

God help him he was going to end up going down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles when he got home, cause this wasn't going to leave him be.

You okay?

For once it was Kagome that was waiting on him to respond. And in all fairness, he really had become engrossed in reading that it'd slipped his mind. So much so that he…might've fallen asleep on the couch the night before. Fortunately for him, he didn't have any weird dreams about giving birth, but he'd missed his evening messages with Kagome. The guilt hit him like a truck and he couldn't write a reply fast enough.

Sorry. I fell asleep last night reading and lost track of time.

Oh? What were you reading that was so enthralling?

Uh…shit. Shit, shit, shit. What was he supposed to say to that?!