Thank you to everyone who has joined/stuck around! I appreciate all the reviews, and I'm a little overwhelmed this crazy, CRAZY crack pair has some shippers who want to sail (or just joy ride). I could cry.

Enjoy!

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Auburn Strands and Red Threads #23

Miroku was very understanding of the half-demon's situation.

He understood emotions were not something that could be controlled. He understood people could not help who they fell in love with. He understood Inuyasha was, in fact, in love, which led him to do impulsive things, like leave at a moment's notice to travel to Kagome's time and be gone for days on end. Love was the only way to explain Inuyasha's actions as of late, and the only way for Miroku to be sympathetic to his friend's recklessness was to mark the half demon as a hopeless romantic.

Aw, how cute, so that's why we got abandoned in demon territory, Miroku tried to say cheerily to himself, but it didn't work to uplift his mood.

So, in short, Miroku understood Inuyasha's time away from the group was because he was mindlessly in love with Orihime. Five whole days Inuyasha was gone, and Kagome was no longer worried; she was furious. Miroku understood there was something going on with Orihime that caused Inuyasha to be beside himself with worry, but he just didn't understand how Inuyasha could so easily forget about Kagome.

The two acted normally enough, but it was always apparent that Kagome was not as lively as she used to be, and Inuyasha's mind was elsewhere when he was here anyway. It didn't help that Miroku knew the reason for these changes, but there wasn't anything he could do to help them. Kagome wanted Inuyasha, but even if Inuyasha still wanted Kagome, he also wanted Orihime. He had more or less already done the hard part by choosing, but was it not time for him to tell Kagome he had feelings for someone else? Inuyasha was dense, but he had to know how Kagome still felt for him. His abrupt absences and distracted mindsets were becoming more apparent, so it was about time he came clean.

Miroku was also tired of keeping this secret.

He and Shippo couldn't lie to the women anymore; they were a team, and the women of this team didn't deserve to be lied to. They worried for Inuyasha, and telling them Inuyasha just needed space wasn't working anymore.

Miroku didn't really want it to work anymore.

The monk sighed, reclined against the well. Everyone else was back in Kaede's village, but he had decided to wait for Inuyasha's return by the well.

It was late in the morning when the silver-haired appeared, and Miroku nearly jumped out of his skin when the red figure landed in front of him.

"Yo," Inuyasha greeted, staring down at him. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Wrong." Miroku raised a hand, getting to his feet. "In these situations, I do believe it is the person who has the guilty conscience to do the explaining."

Inuyasha forced a frown. "What'd I do?"

"Really, Inuyasha, do not insult me. You were gone for days, and while I can continue to make excuses, I cannot assure you that the women will keep believing me."

Inuyasha folded his arms into his sleeves. He frowned curiously at Miroku, scrutinizing him. Inuyasha was determined to remain quiet but ultimately muttered, "She was attacked."

Miroku blinked. "Attacked? Orihime?"

Inuyasha kept his gaze fixed to the side. "Yeah . . . By a demon. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but it got hold of a human body and practically split her head open."

"Split her—?! She is alright? What happened to the demon that attacked her?"

"She killed it, but she doesn't-"

"She killed it?" Miroku's eyes became horrendously wide. "Her head was practically split open, but she managed to kill it? How is that possible?"

Inuyasha looked at him, groaning. "Remember those hair ornament things of hers?"

"I recall her saying she used them to fight, but I had no idea they were that powerful."

Inuyasha shrugged. "It killed me, so it's pretty-"

"It killed you? What do you mean it killed you? When did you die?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, becoming irritated with himself. "Okay, maybe I left out the part where a shard fused with her ornament."

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Miroku thrust a hand in his hair, staring at Inuyasha completely baffled. "She's had a shard this entire time? No wonder she got attacked!"

"Stop reminding me."

"And you still let her keep it?"

"It's in her clip, and I can't just break it. It's important to her."

"Is your love for her really making you this blind?"

Inuyasha waved him off fiercely. "Yer askin' all the wrong questions here! The point is, she was attacked, she defended herself, and I'm even more mixed up in all this!"

"Well, I can see that bright and clear. Kagome has her fair share of encounters, but I've never heard of her getting injured like this. And didn't you get Orihime in trouble with some group or other?"

Inuyasha scowled.

Miroku shook his head. "You have to put all feelings aside for this one. Can you honestly say that establishing a bond with her in any form is worth it? You have enough to worry about here, so should you really get involved with the mysteries there? There's no way you can protect her all of the time."

"There's a few things wrong with that ya said there, Miroku. First off, I'm already involved, and second, yes I can."

"How do you expect to do that?"

Inuyasha huffed, squinting his eyes at Miroku. "You know, you used to be a lot more agreeable, but now all I hear is complaints."

Miroku laughed dryly. "Well, to be fair, there weren't as many lies or people nearly dying when this all started."

Inuyasha exhaled audibly through his nose, his discomfort urging him to changing the subject. "What are ya doin' out here again?"

"Waiting for you." Miroku recomposed himself. "Listen, I get that you love someone, and it's great—Orihime is a sweet girl. But Kagome has a right to know that you're moving on."

"This again?" Inuyasha grumbled, walking past him.

Miroku followed, falling into step. "I don't see what the problem is. If you've really moved on, then this shouldn't be hard for you." He paused. "Or . . . do you still have feelings for Kagome?"

Inuyasha frowned, thinking hard. "She's still important to me . . . And it's not like I can just shut out everything I felt."

"So . . . you do still have feelings?"

"Keh!"

"Oh, Inuyasha," Miroku sighed, wiping his hand over his face. "You know, the sad part is that I want to be shocked, but you've exhausted me already." He looked at his friend. "Do you at least know which one you want to be with?"

Inuyasha's frown deepened, cheeks gaining color. "Yeah, I guess."

"And it's not Kagome, is it?"

Inuyasha remained silent, looking straight ahead.

Miroku put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Then as a friend, you should tell her so she can have some peace of mind. She's done a lot for you—for all of us—so we shouldn't use her."

Inuyasha was silent.

o0o0o

"I can't believe he's not back yet!"

Shippo and Sango shook, sitting away from the fuming high school girl. Kirara sat near Kaede, who was unaffected as she organized herbs. Kagome, on the other hand, glared down at her lap, fists balled.

She had officially had it.

Inuyasha had run off one time too many, and it was downright rude how he expected them to say nothing about it.

For crying out loud! He returned completely healed after a night with a hole in his gut and continued to disappear!

Just what was he doing, and why did he think it was okay to act this way? And to her no less! He knew full well that she worried, yet he— He just—! He kept on-!

"Sorry, I'm late," Miroku said, entering the hut. "I was waiting on a friend."

Inuyasha entered.

Shippo and Sango gave him horrified looks.

Kaede merely shook her head.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome roared, shooting to her feet. "Where have you been?! We get back from fighting demons—worrying about you all night long—and you disappear again?!"

"Yeah . . . about that . . ." Inuyasha looked around the room briefly. "Can we talk?"

"That's what we're doing now."

"I mean in private."

Kagome crossed her arms. "We all deserve answers."

"Yeah, okay, you all can get answers, but we," he made a small gesture between himself and her, "really need to talk."

"So, talk. I'm listening"

"Kagome," he said thickly. "Please. Let's talk outside."

"Who. Was. That. Boy?"

Orihime jolted, looking at Rukia, Tatsuki, Michiru, and Chizuru—the last of whom had demanded an answer. It was lunch time, and they were all in their classroom gathering their lunches to go find a place to eat. Orihime had been bombarded with questions about her absence all morning, and this new line of questioning truly stumped her.

"What boy?" Tatsuki asked, giving the two girls questioning looks.

"This morning," Chizuru said, glaring at the auburn. "From the upstairs window, I saw you hugging some boy."

All eyes turned to Orihime. They knew it couldn't have been Ichigo because Orihime had been late today.

"He was a friend," Orihime said, hiding her unease. "He walked me to school."

"Does he go here?" Tatsuki asked.

"No . . ." Orihime smiled nervously. Her stomach began to cramp from anxiety. She had been so worried about the bad blood between Inuyasha and Ichigo that she never considered there was bad blood between Inuyasha and Tatsuki. But perhaps that was all in the past now? "He's not . . . from around here."

"A boy who isn't from around here walked you to school?" Tatsuki raised a brow at her. "You do know this boy, don't you?"

"Of course. I, um, met him a while ago. His name is Inuyasha."

"Inu-what-sha?" the girls said, highly suspicious of this name.

Orihime laughed, scratching her cheek. "If you want, I can tell you all about him when we find a place to eat."

"Let's eat here," Tatsuki said, sitting down at a desk. "I want to hear about this mystery guy."

"I want to hear why he isn't Ichigo," Michiru said.

Chizuru slammed her hand down. "I want to hear why he's a boy!"

o0o0o

Ichigo blinked thickly, walking by the classroom.

He wasn't about to turn nothing into something.

Orihime was safe, and he should be okay with that. The guy he thought was out to hurt her turned out to be another person he could count on to protect her.

He should count on him, anyway.

If Ichigo had to be perfectly honest, he didn't trust guys around his female friends, which is why his female friends were far and few in between. Tatsuki was a force to be reckoned with, so he didn't have to worry about her in that respect, but he was always prepared for the day he'd have to beat some punk's face in. It was the same with Rukia. He doubted there was a human alive or has ever lived who could get the best of her, and the Soul Society lacked a man who cared to.

But Orihime . . .

Could he have thought of a worse liability of a friend than her? She was caring, accepting, independent, and . . .

She looked very nice.

She looked nice and she stood out.

He would have liked to avoid friends like her, but she had been Tatsuki's friend, and he found Orihime's weirdness to be more puzzling than off-putting. It was a while before he had to admit to himself she was someone he had great concerns over, and he always thought boys would take advantage of her. He's never had an incident that made his fears valid, but now could be the time to worry, since Inuyasha and all.

But Ichigo had to calm down, let it go, and let Orihime play out her own life. He couldn't interfere.

He shouldn't interfere.

"Ichigo!" Keigo called from up the hall with the others waiting with him. "Can you pick up the pace a bit? Lunch doesn't last forever!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Ichigo walked faster.

After school, Orihime convinced herself she wasn't avoiding her friends. The talk about Inuyasha had not gone how she had hoped.

She had begun to describe him when she remembered Tatsuki had met him before, and their first and only encounter had not been a pleasant one. She didn't know why that hindered her ability to talk about him, but she became vague, and her reason for knowing him didn't make any sense, so, as would be expected of high school girls, they came to their own assumptions.

Since Orihime told them this boy scowled a lot, was somewhat stand-offish, and had unnatural hair color, they assumed she was talking about Ichigo and that 'Inuyasha' was a code name. And, seeing how Chizuru couldn't recall the boy she saw with clarity and no one could recall if Ichigo had been inside the building at the time, they thought the hug was shared with Ichigo (in disguise at the time) as well. Then, as to be more ridiculous, they assumed she and Ichigo were secretly dating.

Her only comfort was that neither boy was around to hear this.

Still, if she thought about it, their conclusions were absurd—namely the dating part. If she was dating Ichigo, she couldn't possibly hide that fact because she would be too cheerful all the time. And if she was dating Inuyasha . . .

That was just impossible.

Did they know just what they were implying by saying that? That meant doing dating type things, like holding hands, hugging, and kissing . . . But they did hug this morning, and they kind of held hands once, but kissing Inuyasha . . .

Kissing Inuyasha . . .

"Hey."

"Impossible!" She whipped around with inhuman speed. "O-oh. Rukia. Kurosaki-kun."

They stared at her, only mildly shocked by her outburst.

"What's impossible?" Rukia asked.

The auburn blushed, self-consciously swinging her bag around. "Focusing on school . . . It's impossible."

Ichigo raised a brow. "Why? Thinking too hard about something?"

"No," she squeaked. "I was just . . . saying stuff . . ."

"Right," he said slowly. "Well, hey, let's talk."

"About what?"

Rukia looked at Ichigo, a stern gleam lacing her eyes. "He wants to talk about . . . Inuyasha, was it? I met him the night of your attack."

"Ah! You knew who he was?"

Rukia smirked. "Of course. Who do you think led him to you?"

"But . . . back in the classroom-"

Rukia laughed. "Sorry about that. It was kind of funny."

Orihime tried forming words but became apprehensive when she remembered Ichigo was with them. "So . . . What about Inuyasha?"

Ichigo shifted, his frown deepening. "He isn't—bad."

She nodded slowly. "That's true. He's not bad at all."

"Yeah . . ." He urged them all to start walking. "And Kisuke is—caring—as it concerns you."

She looked forward, clenching her bag. "Yes."

"Right . . . Yeah. I see why you got angry that day."

Orihime glanced at him. Rukia was watching Ichigo closely, ready to act in some way Orihime wasn't sure of.

"The thing is," he went on, "I want to know them better."

Orihime went wide-eyed, not sure of his meaning. She turned to him; he was looking at her, being as unreadable as he wanted to be. "You mean Kisuke and Inuyasha?"

"Yeah. You seem . . . close to both of them."

Close.

Her and Inuyasha close?

Close enough to hug and hold hands and-

"I-I suppose." Why were those thoughts popping up? "So . . . you decided you want to know them better?"

"Yeah." Ichigo took a moment to gather his words. "See, Kisuke did a lot to help us, so there's no reason I shouldn't know him well, right? And your—friend—Inuyasha is . . . Well, we know people weirder than him. Besides he seems . . ." He paused. "Yeah, we know weirder."

Orihime stared for a long while, wondering where this change came from. It must have been because both Kisuke and Inuyasha were at his house this morning, and he saw for himself how neither meant her any harm. So after that, he was willing to get to know them when he was so sure they were a threat? It was very humble of him. It was very mature.

She smiled, looking away. "I'd like that, Kurosaki-kun." She turned to them again. "And you, Rukia?"

"I know Kisuke well enough, but your new friend seems interesting. What's the deal with him anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"He looks rather . . . strange. It's obvious he's no human, but I don't quite feel anything from him."

Orihime smiled brighter. "He's half demon."

Rukia and Ichigo stared, her meaning not clear.

That Evening

"Mom, when is Kagome coming home?"

Mrs. Higurashi turned from her task of making dinner to look at her son, who had walked in from the living room. "Do you miss your sister already?"

Sōta frowned. "I was just curious, mom. Why do you let her go off like that when I have to finish my homework before I can even watch television?"

She smiled. "Kagome has a responsibility to save the Feudal Era, which, in turn, saves the world we live in today. You have an obligation to do well in school since she is making a better world so there can be school."

Sōta huffed, leaning his head against the wall. "Then she doesn't have to work so hard. No one is all that eager about it."

Mrs. Higurashi laughed, turning back to the stove. "If your time comes to save the world, then I won't stop you."

The boy groaned, making a conscious effort not to pout, and turned to walk back into the living room.

No matter what justifications they had for Kagome, he still didn't think it was fair. When she was back, she didn't act like she was out there saving the world. Sure, he's had the misfortune of encountering some of the dangers of that era, but more often than not, his sister was making a fuss about one thing or the other—Inuyasha or some other. All he wanted was a little fun, too.

Or, at least, to not worry so much over his grades.

He sighed, plopping down on the living room floor, and stared at the television screen. No sooner had he got engulfed into the show, Kagome entered the house.

"Eh? Hey, sis. You're back kinda early, aren't you?"

"Hm, nope." She hardly stopped moving. "I live here, after all."

He, again, held himself back from pouting. "Don't you need to be saving the world with Inuyasha?"

Kagome frowned, puzzled, and faltered in her steps. She stood silently. He stared at her for a moment, and he got the strangest feeling something was wrong.

"Uh . . . Kagome?"

She looked at him, her eyes wide and curious.

"Are you . . . alright?" he asked.

She laughed, waving her hand. "Don't be so strange. I haven't done anything for you to ask that." She laughed to herself, walking past him. "I'm gonna take a bath and go to bed, okay?"

Sōta stared after her, unsure if he was worried or indifferent. If she was indeed acting peculiar, then it was due to Inuyasha, no doubt.

"Was that Kagome?" his mother said, peeking into the living room. "She sounded troubled. Is everything alright?"

"Um . . . I think so."

o0o0o

Kagome walked into her room after her bath, turning the lights off, and sat on her bed. Her mind was preoccupied with forced topics—school, homework, false illnesses—but she couldn't fool herself for very long.

She thought about the things she knew, and pondered hard on the things she didn't know until today. She had been so confused and curious for many reasons, and was she not the one who wanted to be enlightened? She wanted to know. She wanted to help. But those were no longer worries of hers.

Everything was made clear to her now. She understood things she hadn't now.

She knew . . . too much

She stared at her desk until she realized her gaze had shifted to the floor. She blinked, finding her eyes incredibly painful.

And everything broke loose.

Her throat tightened, and nothing was making sense to her anymore. She curled on her bed, face in her pillow, and sobbed out questions and accusations. She found herself not truly wanting answers—she just wanted to blame. But the more she thought about it, she needed answers, but she was too afraid to know it all.

"What do you mean?" she said, her body shaking. "What do you mean?"

Inuyasha led Kagome out of the village, perhaps walking too fast for her the whole time, but his entire being felt like it had to constantly move in every way possible. She ranted at him for a portion of their walk, but at some point he noticed she wasn't saying anything anymore—just silently following him. It made his nerves jump.

He led them far enough into the forest until, by chance, they happened upon a fallen tree. It was here he had them sit.

Things were quiet, and he wished Kagome was still angry. He didn't know what precise mood she was in because he found he couldn't look at her, but she was sitting close to him like she would have normally, and he could smell the faint scent of apples that was exclusive to her.

And then he wondered why this wasn't enough.

With Kagome, there was no guessing. Her scent had always been detectable. The reasons why she helped him didn't need explaining. Her kindness and compassion towards him were different from what she bestowed on everybody else. She had obvious feelings for him. The only thing holding them back was their inability to say everything outright . . .

But he couldn't say those things anymore.

He grit his teeth, a pain throbbing in his chest, and he had no clue how he was going to do this.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, worry (for him—always for him) present. "What's wrong?"

Even then, he couldn't force himself to look at her though he desperately wanted to. He wanted to give her the courtesy of looking her in the eyes when he told her, but he was deathly afraid of what he would see if he did.

"Kagome . . . Sorry about leaving all the time."

She hesitated. "Thanks, but the issue is more with you not telling us when you're leaving and where you're going."

"I know."

She waited. "So . . . ? Where have you been going? Why won't you tell us anything? Why won't you tell me anything?"

"It's . . . I've been going to your era a lot."

"My era?" She paused. "Why?"

He bit his lip, his heart a shallow ache in his chest. "I met . . . someone. A girl."

The air between them halted. The apprehension between them turned tense, neither knowing how to confront the issue. Inuyasha waited, deciding he'd give her every opportunity to ask questions instead of speeding through this.

"Did you?" she said. "What kind of girl?"

"A . . . human. She's very-" He bit his tongue. "Very human."

"I see . . ."

A silence dragged on, but he was sure she caught on by now. He knew she would catch on from the moment he gave such a vague opening to this whole thing, but he couldn't just leave it there. She deserved to know everything.

He opened his mouth, almost tempted to look at her, but kept his head bowed, biting his lip hard. "I've been going to see her. I got her into some trouble, and . . ." Just say it, he told himself. "I'm . . . I'm in love with her."

And along with that confession came a great deal of regret. If he had known this would happen, he wished he didn't have to get someone he cared for so emotionally involved. He wished he could have kept things platonic and easy going between him and Kagome. He wished he could have spared her all the trouble she must have went through because of what was blossoming between them, but now he crushed it all and diminished it to nothing more than just events of the past.

More than anything, he wished the first time he admitted these feeling weren't to her.

When moments continued to drag by, he swallowed, fists clenching. "Kagome-"

She laughed, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Wow. I didn't expect that."

He looked at her, a pained frown taking over when he saw her mood shift.

"Love, huh?" She grinned. "That's pretty strong words coming from a guy like you."

"Kagome-"

"I guess that explains a lot, though. I mean, now I know why you were acting all weird and stuff."

"Kagome, I-"

"Ha!" She stood, clasping her hands behind her back. "Love, huh?" She laughed again. "What's her name?"

He opened his mouth, not sure what he was going to say.

"Wait! Don't tell me!" She smiled at him, eyes searching his face, then turned abruptly. "So . . . I guess that's that, huh?"

"Kagome . . ." He stood. "I'm . . . sorry."

She laughed again, a soft, broken sound. "I don't know why. No one can control things like this. And it's not like that changes what we need to do, right?" She paused, her head falling a few notches. "But . . . But I do have one question."

Inuyasha waited.

"When . . . did you meet her?"

He bit his lip, breathing in deeply. "A while ago. I . . I didn't really get knocked out by a demon. I got attacked by one, and she . . . saved my life."

"O-oh . . ." Her voice cracked, and she had to clear her throat. "I see." She nodded to herself, shaking slightly. "I understand."

Inuyasha watched as Kagome walked back to the village, and his chest hurt. He never wanted to hurt her. Never in any way. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, and he wanted nothing more than to explain why he never wanted this to happen and how he never intentionally made it happen. He wanted to make it clear to Kagome that he did have feelings for her, too—pretty strong ones—and how their time together was worth something to him

He wanted to let her know that if he had to do this all again, he would have told her everything from the start—he never meant to catch her off guard.

But, if he had to do it all over again, he would have told his strong emotions to wait just a little bit longer—until he met her.

(/\)(/\)(/\)(/\)(/\)(/\)(/\)

Inuyasha walked for a while.

It was odd to feel awful all because he didn't feel as bad as he thought he should. The fact that he hurt someone close to him tore him up—if he just focused on that—but he didn't feel bad for the way he felt. In fact, it was because Kagome finally knew that he felt a lot better than before. He felt as though he could freely admit to himself how he felt, but this new-found liberation is exactly what made him feel awful.

He took Kagome's feelings for granted.

It wasn't until today that he actually realized the full extent of her emotions. He half expected her to yell at him and tell him to 'Sit' until his body was broken, but she hadn't done that. Her smile and cheerfulness were fake, but she made it a point to show that side of her. She decided to let him see her encourage him and be understanding, and that must have been because she felt strongly for him. In that regard, he was very grateful.

And, hopefully, it wouldn't all be in vain.

There was a very strong possibility Orihime didn't feel anything more than friendship for him; he would like to think he could change that somehow. He had no earthly idea how to do that—he's never had to woo anyone, really—but maybe he had to keep being himself.

It worked twice.

Inuyasha sprinted over rooftops. He was back in Kagome's time, and he was following a scent he had only come in contact with a few times.

He had to claim his prize, after all.

He looked down, coming close to the building Orihime lived in, when he saw the auburn girl.

He stopped, watching her walk, and basked in the moment, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Hey!"

Orihime stopped, turning around. Upon seeing Inuyasha, she smiled, walking towards him. "So much for not seeing each other."

He snorted, landing near her. "That big guy owes me somethin', so I was headin' over there."

"Really? All the way to Kisuke's?" She paused, looking down briefly. "Do you mind waiting? I'm going to cook dinner and then head over there. We can go together, if that's okay."

He frowned. "You still want ta go out when it's dark?"

"Dinner takes a while to make," she reasoned.

He walked over to her, not saying a word, and knocked on her head.

She winced, tilting her head slightly. "Why?"

"No wonder you're so dense."

She resisted the urge to scrunch her nose. "That has nothing to do with my head."

"Feels dense."

"I have a hard head."

"That's what I'm saying." Inuyasha crossed his arms in his sleeves. "Looks like I don't have a choice but ta wait fer ya."

Inuyasha followed her to her apartment and lounged around as she started cooking. They talked for a while about nothing in particular, and he marveled at the weird objects she used to cook food. By the time she was done, the sun was going down, and she told him to wait as she changed her clothes.

When Orihime got to her room and shut the door, she stood with her back against it, staring at her floor. Her heart was pounding unbelievably fast ever since he showed up, and she had an idea why. Those odd thoughts had been popping into her mind all day, and they were in her mind when he called out to her.

Hugging him.

Holding hands with him.

Kissing him.

She clenched her collar, cheeks darkening, and looked to the side.

What was this all of a sudden?

Everything about this encounter made her nervous. Bringing him home made her stomach flip. Talking to him made her want to pick the right words. Just being around him had her shaking, but this couldn't possibly be . . . because things were different. Things couldn't be different because nothing happened . . .

She swallowed hard, ignoring her jitters and heated face, and busied herself with finding a jacket. Once found, she put it on and walked back to the living room, mustering up her composure.

"Okay!" she said. "I'm ready."

Inuyasha was sitting on the floor, staring at his palms. He looked at her, coming out of his thoughts. "I thought you were changing."

"Ah . . . Well, yes, but I thought this would be best. You're eager to get over there, right?"

"Yeah . . ." He looked back at his hands, frowning. "Some other time."

"Ah . . . Oh . . . Are you leaving?"

He was silent for a moment. "No."

"No?" She hesitated. "Is everything okay?"

Again, he was silent. He looked at her, thinking very hard, then turned away, crossing his arms. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Orihime was thrown off by his behavior, but she didn't know what to think of it. Deciding she didn't want to think too hard, she announced she would gather the food. It had taken her no more than fifteen minutes, but when she walked back in the living room, she froze, staring at the boy sitting on her floor.

A boy who had . . . dark hair.

Dark hair . . .

Dark hair?

There was somebody with dark hair sitting where Inuyasha had sat, and oddly enough, he was wearing Inuyasha's clothes.

But . . . no one could have possibly come inside because she neither heard nor felt anything.

She set the food on the counter, and walked towards the person. When in front of this person, she sat on her knees, peering closely. His eyes were closed, one eyebrow twitching.

"Inuyasha?"

His eyelids rose to a squint, revealing brown eyes. "Yeah?"

Orihime screamed, causing him to jerk backwards, and her hands flew to his face. "How did you do that?!"

He blinked rapidly, and she didn't catch the color coming to his cheeks. "Wh-what?"

"Your hair! Your eyes!" She shot to her knees, hands searching through dark locks that actually felt like hair and not fur. "Where are your ears?!"

"Orihime-"

"You didn't always look like this, did you?"

"Orihime-"

"But I remember. You had white hair and-"

"Listen." He grabbed her wrists, pulling her back down to his level. His face was red, and if she thought about it, he looked uncomfortable. "Stop doing that."

She blinked at him, her previous nervousness forgotten. "You have human ears."

"Yeah . . . I'm human."

"But . . ." She reached for his ear, her wrists still in his hold, feeling for herself. "I mean . . . How? I thought . . ." Orihime was too fascinated with touching him to form anymore questions, and Inuyasha allowed her touch.

He should have known the heightened change in his emotions were the warning signs that there would be no moon tonight. He was always more aware of his emotions when he was human, and this was a very crippling feeling.

His heart was pounding, his face was burning, and despite dreading when she would inquire about those oddities, he really wanted to stay like this. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to have her close—touching him freely—and that was largely due to his human emotions. At least when his demon side was present, he could push them to the side, but they couldn't be ignored now.

Her scent made his head buzz, and he wanted to close his eyes and take a deep breath.

"Inuyasha?" she said, gaining his attention. "Are you okay? You're burning up."

He blinked, taking notice of her hand on his forehead, free from his hold, and smirked, looking to the side. "You're so dense."

Kisuke sighed, closing his cellphone, and walked out of his research room. He entered the kitchen, where everyone was getting dinner ready.

"How did you know?"

Tessai turned to him, wearing a floral apron. "Know what?"

"Orihime just called and said she can't come. Mr. Ears is 'sick'."

"He's smitten with her. This won't be the last time this happens."

Kisuke slumped against the wall. "So that's what you meant. She's going to start . . . dating now."

"Dating, perhaps. Our little Hime is rather—oblivious—to situations like these."

"Yeah? How can you be sure? She's never had to deal with the opposite sex until now."

"No, you just never noticed the issue before."

Kisuke sighed again, dejected. He thought he prepared himself enough for this, but now that the day had finally come, he wasn't ready to let someone else have her. He smiled to himself, realizing Sora would take the news harder than him.

"Kisuke!" Jinta snapped. "If you're not gonna help, then go back to getting your portal ready or something!"

The man laughed. "It's not a portal. I manipulate-"

"Yeah, okay," the redhead scoffed. "Just stop filling the air with your depression."

"What're you making the extra portal for, anyway?" Ururu asked.

"Mr. Ears," Kisuke said. "Tessai promised him an easier way to see Orihime."

Jinta snorted. "Why go outta your way for someone you barely know? The guy sounds weird."

Tessai smiled by the smallest degree. "There's many things you still need to learn about love."