It was too bright to be legal, Kagome decided, turning over in bed. The arm slung over her waist added a weight that made it a little difficult, but it wasn't something new. Now her knee nudging something fleshy that was definitely not a leg as she settled into place was new. Her eyes shot open immediately and stared at the sleeping face of Inuyasha in alarm. Carefully, she lifted his arm off her and placed it next to him on the bed. Her brain was beginning to wake up and she knew she'd need to use the bathroom soon.
On instinct she sat up quickly…and wished she hadn't seconds later. She was aching in places she'd never ached before, and she knew why.
They had, hadn't they?
She deftly pulled back the cover to look down at herself and brought the cover back up over herself again. Yep. They really did. Kagome peeked under the cover again at herself, wincing as she realized that she might've bled a little on the sheets. 'Great,' she thought sourly, 'How am I gonna tell him that it's not that big a deal?' She knew he was careful, but sometimes things just happened. It wasn't like she could strip the sheets with him snoring…well, she probably could, but she couldn't redress the bed without waking him up.
Kagome spared another look at Inuyasha. He was sound asleep, but she wouldn't put it past him to wake up as soon as she got off the bed. She knew she needed to get up and move – both her bladder and the spots on her thighs said so – but curiosity was getting the better of her. She lifted up the covers and decided to sneak a peek. Between being distracted the night before and still having muddle memories she didn't feel like she really got to look, so…
"See something you like, Ka-Go-Me?"
Inuyasha couldn't keep from grinning as he watched his fiancé squeal and drop the covers, blushing from head to toe at being caught. The truth was, he had woken up the moment she sat up in bed. He'd wanted to wait and see how she reacted before he "woke up", and he was not disappointed. She'd kept checking under the covers at herself, like she couldn't believe what had happened. He hadn't been able to see her expression, but the way the light reflected off her mussed hair and bare back presented quite the vision.
Then she'd plucked up the courage to look at him, and he hadn't been able to help himself.
"I thought you were asleep!"
"I was – up until you sat up," he grunted, sitting up next to her. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to look."
"Yeah – well – can you blame me?" Kagome's blush wasn't going away. She felt a sudden rush of cool air as the covers were pulled from her hands, and she let out another squeak and made to grab for them. "No – don't look - !"
The merman thought she was just playing around with him until he saw her pull her legs to her chest. "Kagome?" The way she panicked, that terrified look in her eyes. Something wasn't right. This wasn't how she acted yesterday. Inuyasha searched her face for some kind of clue as to why she might withdraw into herself, but she was looking everywhere but at him. Namely down at her feet. His gaze followed, scanning every inch of her bared skin that he could see, worried that something had happened, when he saw the dark spots on the bedsheet.
That…that was blood.
He swallowed. "Kagome, be honest with me. Did I hurt you last night?"
"I'm sorry," she whispered, dropping her head on his shoulder and leaning against him. Kagome couldn't bring herself to unfold her legs; she hadn't gotten a good look herself and she didn't want to completely scare him.
"Wait, why are you apologizing?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I'm the one that hurt you."
"You didn't!" she insisted. "It… it happens, or so I've heard. I don't think that'll happen every time, anyway, Inuyasha. We just gotta…be careful. And we can look it up on the computer later, if it will make you feel better."
Inuyasha sighed, pulling her tighter against him. He still felt guilty, no matter what she said. "Then let's go take a shower," he suggested, pulling her off the bed with him. "We'll throw the sheets in the wash. It'll be fine." He knew he sounded like a idiot even as he talked, but his brain was trying not to think too hard about the accident they'd had the night before. When Kagome set both feet on the floor and winced with her first step, his worry increased. "Kagome?"
"Sore, that's all," she smiled. "Muscles never been used before got used."
"I know you're trying to be funny but-" Inuyasha swept his arm underneath Kagome's knees as he lifted her up and started the trek to the bathroom. "-maybe you should attempt it when you're not aching and bleeding all over the bed."
"I did not bleed all over the bed!" she huffed. "It was a couple spots!"
Work was an experience.
Kagome had taken some pain relievers before they went to the diner, but either they chose not to work or they had no effect on the soreness she was dealing with. Each wrong step and she had to hold in a grunt. Couldn't let it show on her face either, or people would ask questions.
Namely her father. Who would look to Inuyasha for answers when she wouldn't say.
Nope, it was going to be one of those grin and bear it kind of days.
She was doing alright, or so she thought, as the day progressed. They'd come in right as the lunch hour really began, so there was little time to talk candidly with each other. The afternoon was relatively busy and their shift would end at closing. Kagome felt confident that she could tough it out, even with the occasional looks that Inuyasha would send her in passing. To most in the diner, they knew that the two were in a relationship, so all it appeared to them was a caring glance being exchanged.
Sango, however, was not as easily fooled. It was during her final break that the taller woman had cornered Kagome in the office. There weren't enough tables during the rush hours so Daisuke had deemed his office fitting as a break room at such times. Kagome was just about to shove a handful of fries into her mouth when Sango burst into the room and shut the door.
"You wanna tell me what's going on?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just trying to carb load before dinner."
Sango's eyes narrowed. "You did something."
"You're gonna have to tell me what I did then," Kagome said, cramming the greasy potatoes into her mouth. Her dad's chair wasn't comfortable right now to sit in but she also didn't want to stand and eat.
The brunette clicked her teeth and watched Kagome. Something was definitely off. She knew it from the moment she and Inuyasha had come through the doors. He kept whispering to her at every opportunity, and the looks he was sending her were concerned more than usual. Kagome was sporting a false smile most of the shift when she interacted with customers, and when she would turn away to go to the kitchen, the façade would drop. Sango tilted her head as she studied her friend. She was hunched over the desk eating, and the way she was perched on the chair didn't look comfortable at all, like she was putting most of her weight on her knees than actually sitting on the chair.
"Oh my god," she hissed, the lightbulb in her head going off. "You and Inuyasha slept together!"
Kagome nearly choked on her fries. It was a struggle to swallow them, so between the coughing fit and the mortified blush, it was hard to tell which was the bigger cause for her face being red. "Say it a little louder, Sango. I don't think my dad heard you!"
Sango dropped into the chair across the desk and scooted forward, leaning on the edge of the desktop. "So you really did?"
She gave a weak nod, reaching for her soft drink and taking a small sip. "Last night."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Oh come on! Was it…good? Bad?"
Kagome felt the heat coming back, along with the memories. It felt weird to be discussing this in her dad's office, but there wasn't going to be another opportunity without Inuyasha being nearby. Sango didn't look like she wanted to let the matter drop either. "It was good," she said at last. "Real good."
"Uh huh. He did something weird, didn't he?"
"No!"
"Well you're sitting kind of funny for someone that didn't do something weird."
"I'm… I'm sore," Kagome mumbled. When Sango leaned further across the desk, she explained in as little detail as possible about what happened. Sango didn't tease her, or make any comments, only listened. Kagome was immensely thankful for that. She wasn't certain if any of her other girlfriends would have been as kind, despite their hearts being in the right place.
Sango leaned back into the chair, chewing her lip. "Yeah, that's what I've heard too. But look at it this way – you both now know what you can do to keep that from happening again. Aside from that, are you happy that it happened?"
"Very," she replied instantly. Kagome couldn't bring herself to tell Sango all of the dirty details, or even that she was secretly engaged just yet, but that was one thing she could say for certain. She was very happy.
"I knew that wasn't normal!"
Kagome's eyes pinched shut in frustration. After work, they'd gotten dinner to go and brought it back to the house. Inuyasha hadn't been about to let her cook, and in return she wasn't going to let him either. She hadn't objected to the foot rub or the leg massage as they stretched out on the couch, however. Her laptop sat across the tops of her thighs, internet browser open with tabs of varying articles she said they'd look up later.
Well it was later and Inuyasha looked like he swallowed a peeled lemon whole.
"Every one of these articles says that it can happen!" she countered, waving her hand at the screen he couldn't see. "It's my fault just as much as it is yours, so don't give me that look Inuyasha. I know what you're thinking."
He made a noise of annoyance as he kept massaging her legs and feet. "You could have told me that it hurt that much. I would have stopped. We could have-"
"We could have nothing," she cut him off. "I didn't think it hurt that much to do that!" It was probably bad that they were dancing around the spotted sheets in the hamper, but Kagome knew just watching his expression that if she'd have known in the moment, that moment wouldn't have happened at all. She closed the laptop and set it on the coffee table with a sigh. "There's things that can be done to prevent that from happening," she reminded him.
"I know," he mumbled. "You didn't see what I saw today, Kagome. Every time I saw you move I knew. I knew I had hurt you. You might have been able to hide it from everyone else, but I could tell you were hurting."
Kagome bit down on her lip. The soreness had gone away as the day went on, but he had been relentless in checking on her. It was sweet, at the heart of it, but she kind of wanted to shake the sense back into him at the same time. She wasn't a fragile doll. Hell, she had hurt herself as a kid far more than what happened last night! "Yeah…about that… Sango may have guessed that something was up."
"…What?"
She really shouldn't laugh. That sour expression now had a look of panic simmering under the surface. "She cornered me during lunch. Put two and two together when she saw how I was sitting-" Kagome tried to lean forward to pull his hands away from his face as he started to groan. "Stop that right now, Inuyasha. She already told me that she's not telling anyone."
"She know about the engagement?" Inuyasha asked. It would just be his luck to find out that their families found out about their engagement by a friend instead of their children because she had deduced that they had done the deed. So when Kagome told him that she hadn't, he sighed in relief. At least he still had that going for him. He returned to rubbing her feet, thinking about what she had said. "You said there was things we could do to not make that mistake again?"
If Kagome thought that she was going to get away with not giving Inuyasha feedback after that session, she was mistaken. It was hard to answer "Are you alright" when her head was still spinning after the things he had done. But there he was, laying next to her, waiting for an answer.
He was sweet, and she loved him dearly, but sometimes she wondered if the wires in his head weren't crossed.
She was putty, and he was asking her if she was alright?!
Nodding wasn't good enough, but it was all she could do. Kagome really wasn't all that surprised when the merman began to check her over – everywhere.
Maybe grabbing a fistful of hair when he started to pull her legs apart like she was a wishbone was a little unfair. He really had been concerned, after all. It was just…weird! Kagome didn't mind him exploring but this wasn't in the moment. This was after that moment and there was nothing alluring about being examined like that.
He was lucky she didn't pinch his head with her knees.
"I'm fine," she ground out, releasing his hair. "I'm fine. It was wonderful. You didn't hurt me, I promise."
"But I was just-"
"If you stick your head back down there Inuyasha you'd best not be checking for storm damage."
There it was. It finally clicked and he let out a laugh as he crawled up the bed. "I'm sorry, Kagome. I'm just worried, that's all." He dropped a kiss to her cheek as he settled back next to her. "Can't blame me for that. Our first time wasn't exactly stellar."
"What are you talking about?" she frowned.
"You got hurt."
"So? Inuyasha, you know what I told Sango today? I said that it was really good, and I meant that. So what if it wasn't picture perfect. It was with you, and to me it was everything."
"You…" he started to ask if she was sure, but he knew it was moot. He had enjoyed it, but learning that he had hurt her had filled him with so much guilt. She was telling him that she enjoyed it regardless of a couple minor mistakes, just like she had earlier. "Can I do anything?" he asked instead. She could side eye him all she wanted to, but when he had carried her to their room he had every intention of making her enjoy it. The before, during and after.
Kagome sighed, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Can you check the bedside drawer for me? I think there's some Tylenol in there – don't give me that look Inuyasha! This isn't your fault!"
"Then why do you need it?" he narrowed his eyes at her even as he sat up.
"Because I pinched a muscle in my shoulder today at work, alright? I thought it'd go away so I ignored it." Kagome knew the moment she did it too. She had a spare set of hands for the delivery that morning. It was completely stupid too, because it was one of those moments where the repeated range of motion decides to be a jerk once randomly. That sharp pinch that makes you paranoid to move your arm in that particular direction, but your dumbass energy wants to call the bluff to see if it still hurts.
Inuyasha, having been helping unload the truck as well, frowned as he fished in the drawer. "You should have said something –" his words stopped suddenly as his hand bumped into a box. Thinking it was the box of Tylenol that had never been opened, he lifted it up to open.
Only it wasn't a box of pain reliever.
It was condoms.
Not a big box – just a small amount from the printing – but it was enough to give him pause. How long had Kagome had these? Did she buy them when she first moved into the house? Had she had them before that? His mouth opened and closed as he held the box in his hands, but he couldn't begin to find words. Inuyasha knew what they were, he knew their function – and he also knew that they hadn't used any.
Shit.
Kagome jumped as the box landed in her lap. It had taken her a second to realize what it was with the very loud and very frequent swears coming from her fiancé. "Inuyasha, what –"
"No! Don't get close!" Inuyasha all but jumped from the bed to get away from Kagome as she reached out to him. He couldn't figure out why she wasn't panicking. She was just…sitting there! "Your father is going to kill me! We're not even married yet! Fuck – we haven't even told our parents we're engaged!"
"Inuyasha, why are you freaking out?"
"Why are you not freaking out, Kagome?!" The merman was now pacing the length of the bedroom, trying not to pull his hair out. "We had sex – twice I might add – and we didn't use anything! What if I got you pregnant? You'd be a single unwed mother because your father will kill me Kagome!"
She scooted to the edge of the bed with the box in her hand. "Okay, you really need to calm down. My dad would do no such thing; he loves you like a second son." Kagome stood and slowly walked towards Inuyasha, who was backing up towards the door. "If I did get pregnant, it'd be alright. We'd figure stuff out, but I really don't think that's an issue right now –" Kagome let out a colorful swear of her own a second later.
Inuyasha had flung the door open and bolted.
He was loose. And still naked.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled from the doorway, still gripping the box of condoms, "you didn't let me finish!"
"I did and that's the problem!" he yelled back, going down the stairs in record time when he heard Kagome follow.
She groaned as she broke into a sprint. This was not how she envisioned the evening going at all. Cuddling on the couch with foot rubs, then being carried upstairs and made love to – that made sense. Not running after her naked fiancé through her house with a box of condoms and feeling the breeze on her own bare skin, trying to tell him that she was taking birth control.
Though she had to admit, it was both impressive and hilarious to see Inuyasha vault over the back of the couch.
