She was running late and it was all Inuyasha's fault. How was she supposed to get ready in the morning with him constantly texting her? Alright, yeah, she could just ignore his messages and respond later but she didn't like that option. If she was being honest with herself, Kagome enjoyed his messages almost as much as she enjoyed their now almost-daily lunches together. And she enjoyed those quite a bit.

Remembering their exchange that morning, she couldn't think of a better way to wake up...

[Morning sunshine. You better answer all my messages today so I know the big bad wolf didn't get you. Don't wanna have to come out of hiding to kick his ass...yet]

Sunshine.

The new nickname had thrown her off and her brain immediately went into awkward reading-too-much-into-things mode. She was like a middle schooler with a crush. Why did he call her sunshine? Was it just casual or did it mean more? Would he continue to call her sunshine? Did he call other girls sunshine? Was she being completely ridiculous? Probably. He melted her brain with one word and the resulting text wasn't pretty.

[Yes, your majesty. Rest assured I shall text you at every available opportunity to inform you of my good health]

It sounded funnier before she hit send.

[You're a fucking dork and a smartass and I hate you.]

That was fair. At least she recovered quickly.

[You wouldn't know what to do without me]

[Maybe I should just let the wolf have you…]

[Maybe I should suggest purple hair for your concealment charm]

[You wouldn't!]

She might. He had delayed her morning with his messages and his stupid new nickname after all.

Even almost two hours later, Kagome was still debating hair colors when she finally reached her destination. She spotted her kitsune friend as soon as she got out of her car, lounging on a bench outside the store. His red hair blazed in the morning sun and she could see his lopsided grin from a mile away. He was wearing a concealment to hide his tail but he left his ears pointed and his eyes remained a brilliant green not found in natural human coloring. He was wearing jeans and boots so she couldn't tell if he had human feet or fox paws at the moment.

"Kagome," he called as she got closer. "It's been way too long."

He pulled her into a hug when she was close enough, lifting her off her feet briefly. He was only a few inches taller than her but he was a professional when it came to rib-cracking hugs.

"Shippo," she greeted, laughing. "It's only been like a month. How have you been?"

He shrugged. "Eh, alright. Life's kinda boring since I graduated. What about you? I was so sorry to hear about your grandfather; he was an interesting old weirdo."

"We all miss him very much. It's gotten easier though, at least a little. Things have been...interesting the last few weeks. We should grab a coffee and catch up before we shop." She was still unsure of how much to tell him but she would have to give some explanation for the concealment charm she needed him to make.

"Sure. There's a small cafe right around the corner." Shippo motioned for her to follow as he set off down the street.

It was only a five-minute walk to their destination and they kept their conversation light until they had their drinks in hand. They found a secluded bench in the little park across the street and sat sipping their drinks for a few more minutes. Kagome's phone went off and she quickly pulled it out to check it.

[You meet with that kitsune yet?]

"Impatient," she said as she typed out a response.

[Sitting with him now. I'll let you know what he says about your charm]

"So who am I making this concealment charm for?"

"A friend," she stated simply. The less explanation the better. She'd already slipped in front of Miroku and was waiting for that to bite her in the ass. She didn't need Shippo questioning her too.

"A friend? Is that all you're gonna give me?"

"Yep, just a friend."

Shippo studied her then looked around, his eyes darting around the mostly open area. "Don't freak out but, would your 'friend' happen to be an inu hanyo?"

She tried to keep her face neutral but something in the tone of his voice set her nerves on edge. "Why? What if he is?"

"Look, it might not mean anything but has anything strange happened to you lately? Anybody asking odd questions, following you, or hanging around the shrine?"

Kagome couldn't stop her eyes from widening, her odd encounter with Koga jumping to the front of her thoughts. "Why?" she asked again, her voice cracking. "Shippo, what do you know?"

"Not much. I have a friend who watches things for the right price and he let slip that he's been hired to keep an eye on a shrine. There are rumors some powerful people are looking for a certain inu hanyo and they're concentrating on shrines. If something's going on, you know you can tell me. Please Kagome, I wasn't worried about this before but I am now. You're white as a damn ghost."

A car honk made Kagome jump and whip her head around. Her hands were shaking so bad she almost dropped her coffee. Inuyasha was going to be pissed. She'd promised him, promised to keep his secret. This was too much though. Maybe this had nothing to do with her shrine but she had a sick feeling in her gut telling her otherwise. "You can't tell anyone, not a single person."

Shippo nodded and squeezed her hand. "Not a soul, Kagome. I'll help you in whatever way I can, I just want you to be safe."

"I have to make a phone call first. Can you give me a minute?"

"Sure," he said and got up to give her some privacy.

Hands still shaking, she pulled up her contacts and called Inuyasha. He answered quickly.

"Kagome?"

"Hey, I have a problem."

"A problem...Are you ok? Are you hurt? Where are you?"

Her heart lightened at the concern in his voice. "I'm ok, really. I'm with Shippo, the kitsune who's going to make your charm. But…" she paused.

"But what? Tell me."

"I think I have to tell him about you. Listen," she said quickly, talking over his protests, "He's heard things from other kitsune. They're watching shrines, looking for an inu hanyo, and Shippo is worried about me. I'm worried and...and a little scared. I was starting to relax about the Koga thing, but now...I don't want anything to happen to my family." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she finished. "I can trust Shippo, I know I can."

"I really don't fucking like this. Get that damn charm made and get back to the shrine. Tell your friend whatever you have to but make sure he keeps his mouth shut. He'll only make things worse if he starts digging for shit."

"Alright, fine. I still have to shop but Shippo will be with me so I think I'll be fine. And I promised Sango I would stop and see her today…"

"Just keep me updated, alright? Fuck, I hate being stuck down here."

"I know, I gotta go. I'll keep texting you, I promise."

"Be fucking careful, Kagome." He hung up before she could answer.

"Rude." She waved Shippo back over and he rejoined her on the bench. Inuyasha said to tell him whatever she needed to, but what, exactly did she need to tell him? Probably everything. "I don't even know where to start."

"From the beginning," Shippo said with a shrug.

So that's what she did. She told him everything, not able to stop once she started. From finding the journals to opening the well to her interactions with Inuyasha (leaving out some of the more...personal conversations) to her encounter with Koga. By the end of her rambling, he knew it all. It was a relief, she realized, being able to tell someone what she was dealing with.

For a few minutes, neither of them said anything.

Shippo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I want to meet him. I'll make the charm but I want to know you're safe around this guy. His name sounds familiar and I don't like it."

"It's been a month, if he were dangerous I think I'd know," Kagome argued. "He's had plenty of opportunities to hurt me and all he's done is chat and make me lunch. I'm way more worried about the asshole private investigator who tried to harass me outside a grocery store."

"Kagome-"

"No, this isn't up for debate. My grandfather trusted him, that's enough for me."

"Would you just listen?" Shippo growled and Shippo never growled, never let his anger or frustration show. "Something doesn't add up. He's keeping secrets from you and all you have to go on is his word. I just want you to be cautious."

"I know...I know. But can you just trust my judgment here? He wouldn't hurt me. I...I know he wouldn't."

"Kagome, is there something going on between you and this guy?"

"What? No!" she said. Her face heated with embarrassment at her friend's accusation. "For one, I've only known him for a month. And two, he's in hiding. Why would I try anything with someone like that?" Was it really that obvious? It was just a small crush, right?

The look she received was a clear indication that she was protesting a bit too much. Instead of commenting, Shippo held his hand out. "Give me the item I'm putting the concealment on."

Grateful for the reprieve, she pulled the necklace out of her purse and handed it over. "Just, be careful; it belonged to his mother."

He held the necklace in both hands and it started to glow a deep blue. "Any special modifications I need to make for this?"

"Yes," she answered. " Can you hide his yoki and scent too?"

"Sure, it'll just take a little more concentration. Give me a second."

Kagome watched the whole process. The glow pulsed a few times and the energy it gave off made her shiver, her skin tingling. Normally this process would take multiple layers of power over a few hours but Shippo was one of the best at what he did and only needed a few minutes. He didn't even need to meet whoever the charm was for if they were hanyo; he just attuned it so they took their human form, whatever that may be.

The light around the beads faded and Shippo held it back out to her. "There ya go." He pulled his hand back a little and warned her again, "Be careful. If anything happens and you need help, you call me. Got it?"

"I will, I promise," she agreed and he finally let her take the now-charmed necklace. The beads were still cool in her hand but she swore she could feel the power humming in her grip. "Thank you, Shippo."

"You're welcome. Now, let's do some shopping."

She led the way back to the grocery store. While they were walking she sent an update to Inuyasha.

[Concealment is made, will hide yoki and scent too. Heading to the grocery store now, Shippo still with me]

They reached the front of the store and her phone chirped with Inuyasha's response.

[Good, get done and get home. Be careful]

...[please]

The second message, that single word that popped up, made her stomach flip. She knew he was worried and a little protective but she could almost feel his anxiety in that one text.

[I will, I promise]

"There is definitely something going on between you two," Shippo said, staring at her phone. "At least I'm less worried now."

"Hey, quit reading over my shoulder." She locked her phone and shoved it back in her purse. "He's just worried about Koga which is completely understandable since...well, you know," she finished, not wanting to blurt out murder accusations in a grocery store.

Shippo just rolled his eyes. "Let's get this over with."

They kept their conversation neutral while they were shopping, the topic of Inuyasha not coming back up until they were loading bags into Kagome's trunk.

"You sure I can't convince you to let me meet this guy?"

"He's not going to hurt me," she said, irritation creeping into her voice. "He's worried about me just like you are."

"I don't know if he's worried like I am but I guess I should trust your judgment. You've always been a good judge of character."

"Thank you. And I promise, if anything happens I'll let you know right away."

Shippo gave her a quick hug before they parted ways with a promise to keep each other updated. Before Kagome pulled out of her parking spot, she got her phone out to send a text and make a call. She sent a text to Inuyasha to let him know she was alright.

[Done shopping, heading home]

Then she called Sango and convinced her to come to the shrine for her defense lesson. It didn't take much, just an offer of mama's cooking was enough. Her phone chirped after she hung up, 'Dog Boy' displayed on the screen.

[See you soon]

She had a brief window to get his groceries down to him before Sango showed up so she didn't waste any more time. Luckily, there was very little traffic on her way home. She was riding the platform, loaded with groceries, down to Inuyasha with 30 minutes to spare.

"You're getting pretty good at loading up the lift," he greeted, grabbing bags before the platform had come to a complete stop. He managed to get them all, leaving Kagome empty-handed.

"You know I can carry some too," she complained, following him down the hallway.

"Yeah, but you gotta carry them all the way over here so shut up."

"You're nice in the rudest way, you know that?"

"Thanks...I guess," he said, rolling his eyes at her 'compliment'.

Inuyasha went straight to the kitchen and Kagome wandered over to settle on the sofa. The tv was on and for once it wasn't a game show. Instead, she was watching a news broadcast, 'breaking news' displayed at the bottom of the screen.

"...spoke to several witnesses and several of them expressed concern over the attack. The suspect, a yokai-dominant hanyo whose name has not yet been released, appeared to have gone into a blood rage. As you can see behind me, several cars were damaged before police were able to seal the suspect's yoki and restrain him. Nobody has died but at least three people, all human, are in critical condition…"

"I thought they'd have that kind of shit under control by now," Inuyasha said, settling beside her on the sofa.

"It happens more than it should but I kind of get why. Permanent yoki sealing is a bit harsh for a kid just because their parents skipped the prenatal stuff."

Inuyasha snorted, clearly disagreeing. "My old man did research into that shit and blood rages were no joke. They never had any success preventing them without sealing a kid's yoki, at least not that I ever heard about."

Kagome hated how they treated hanyo that weren't considered true hanyo. She couldn't imagine having your power sealed away, feeling like a part of your soul was gone forever. "They did discover a few years ago that it was the lack of a human transformation that made their blood unstable. It didn't solve anything but at least now they know why it happens."

"And how do you know so much about hanyo?"

"My grandfather made me study human/yokai relations so I could better run the shrine. He always hoped they'd find a way to make any mix of human and yokai blood work." Kagome's phone chirped, interrupting their conversation. "Damn, Sango's early. I gotta go."

"Go ahead, we'll talk later."

"Alright. We shouldn't be too long"

It wasn't until she was stepping out of the well house that she realized she still had his concealment charm. "Oh well, I'll just take it down later," she muttered to herself. She spotted Sango, already dressed for the occasion in black leggings and a pink t-shirt, making her way towards the back of the shrine and hustled over to join her.

Sango spotted her and waved. "You ready to get your ass kicked?" she asked when Kagome was next to her.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Kagome shot back. "Always so encouraging."

"A little sassy today, aren't you. What's gotten under your skin?"

Well...

There's a wolf yokai who possibly wants to murder me and my family because we're hiding an inu hanyo under our property. The wolf apparently murdered the hanyo's father 50 years ago and maybe wants to finish the job now. Oh, and did I mention the hanyo is hot and kind of charming in an 'I'm a jerk with a heart of gold' kind of way. Also, I may have a not-so-small crush on him.

Shit.

"Nothing, just tired," Kagome said.

"Well, time to wake up. No distractions today, I've got some pent-up energy I need to work through." Sango's face scrunched up in a scowl.

"What did Miroku do?" Sango's boyfriend was exceedingly good at pissing off his girlfriend.

"Not a thing! I think he's avoiding me. I haven't seen him since we were here last week."

"I'm sure there's an explanation."

"Yeah. What if he's cheating on me?!"

That couldn't be further from the truth. "Sango, he wouldn't. He loves you. I'm sure there's a rational explanation." He needed to figure his proposal out before Sango murdered him.

They were at the shed that held the mats now and Kagome was seriously starting to worry about her safety. She'd seen Sango mad at her boyfriend before but this was a whole new level of pissed off. It was embarrassing how much her hands were shaking while they were setting up. Sango's near-constant stream of muttered obscenities and curses directed at Miroku was not helping to calm Kagome's nerves.

"Alright," Sango said, taking a stance in the center of the mats. "Let's do this!"

"Um, still in jeans here, gotta change. I'll be right back."

As much as she wanted to delay this little encounter, she knew taking her time would only allow Sango to stew in her anger. That would not end well for Kagome so she exchanged her jeans for leggings and was outside again in only two minutes. Sango hadn't moved from her spot; it didn't even look like she'd relaxed her stance.

Kagome took her spot across from the pissed-off woman, unsure of what to expect. She tensed, waiting for any movement in her direction. Sango lunged and Kagome panicked. She threw her hands up but that just gave Sango something to grab. Kagome pulled back from her friend's grip and tripped over her own feet, landing on her ass on the mat. Her arm burned slightly where Sango's hand had been.

She stumbled to her feet and glared at Sango. "What the hell?!" she yelled, probably louder than necessary.

"Oh my...I'm so sorry Kagome. I don't know what came over me. Shit, look at your arm."

Kagome looked and saw that she had three two-inch-long scratches running along the top of her right forearm. Blood beaded up in several places. "Damn, that's gonna hurt to disinfect."

Sango ushered Kagome into the house and towards the bathroom where they kept a small first aid kit. The scratches weren't all that bad but they did burn like a son-of-a-bitch when Sango cleaned them. It wasn't until Kagome had a bandage wrapped firmly around her arm that Sango finally stopped throwing out apology after apology.

They called it quits on the lesson since Sango was obviously too upset about Miroku, and now Kagome's injury, to concentrate. Deciding girl time was probably in order, they sat around and talked for a while after they put the mats away. Kagome tried to reassure Sango that Miroku was probably just being stupid (and that yes, her arm was fine, please stop worrying). She thought her friend looked a little less upset when she left, but she couldn't be sure.

Kagome's mother arrived home shortly after Sango's departure, followed not long after by Sota. She still needed to talk to her mother about Inuyasha but that would just have to wait until after dinner since she didn't want Sota to overhear. To kill some time, Kagome stepped outside and pulled out her phone to send a message to Inuyasha.

[I still have your charm. Want me to bring it down?]

[Not tonight, bring it tomorrow]

That was strange. He never really objected to her stopping down.

[You sure? I've got some time before dinner]

[Yeah, tomorrow is fine]

So much for that. More disappointed than she probably should have been, Kagome made her way back inside to help in the kitchen. She needed to distract herself so she wasn't a nervous ball of energy stressing over her talk with her mother.


Inuyasha hated the new moon. The problems started early in the day, his senses dulling and fatigue setting in almost from the time he woke up. It started to get more noticeable around lunch when even his food didn't taste as good. He'd never had a cold but his mother described it for him once and the feelings sounded very similar.

To make matters worse, he'd had to turn down more time with Kagome. The girl was worming her way into his heart at an alarming rate and he was doing fuck all to discourage the intrusion. Granted, it wasn't like he had many options in the relationship department but he didn't doubt that, even if the women were lining up for him, he'd still be drawn to the stubborn woman who brought his groceries and made fun of his penchant for game shows.

He glanced at the clock and estimated he had about 45 minutes until he turned human. His emotions were starting to escape his control and he was fighting to keep his thoughts in neutral territory. It wasn't working.

Pulling out his mother's necklace the week before had awakened memories he'd long thought were thoroughly suppressed. Having Kagome around had been both a help and a hindrance when it came to dealing with the bullshit in his head. She made him remember but she also reminded him that his life wasn't all bad. There were good things in his life...there was her.

And he had to constantly remind himself that his current situation left little room for whatever the hell he was feeling.

He let out a growl and slammed his fist down on his desk, jostling the laptop in the process. Uttering a string of curses, he closed the laptop and went to the chest at the foot of his bed. Maybe reading some of the journals would distract him. He pulled out the four little books and settled onto his bed.

This would be his first time looking through the old man's writings, the first time he would get a glimpse of his life from the outside. He opened the first journal and saw it was the oldest, dated 1974. He read a few entries, all detailing his first few months in hiding. They brought back a flood of old memories, mostly things better left forgotten. There was a brief entry that mentioned his mother's death but it cut off mid-sentence like the old man didn't want to put what happened down on paper.

Seeing her death mentioned hurt and Inuyasha struggled to even out his breathing, taking slow, deep breaths. His chest had tightened with each entry and now he was on the edge of a full-blown panic attack. Reading the journals was turning out to be a terrible idea. Fuck, he wished Kagome was with him. His phone buzzed and he seized the momentary distraction, grabbing it off his nightstand and staring at the message.

[Going to tell mama about you. I'm a little nervous, kinda wish you could actually be here when I tell her...would make this so much easier]

The tightening sensation in his chest lessened instantly and breathing became easier. Maybe he should have let her come down tonight. Then he wouldn't be such a fucking wreck over a few journal entries. Another message popped up.

[Don't worry though, mama is super understanding. She'll probably insist that you move in up here when she hears about your living arrangements]

He struggled a little typing out his response, trying not to scratch the screen with his claws.

[Nothing wrong with where I live. No nosey neighbors, all the privacy I want, and a beautiful woman delivering my groceries and brightening up my day...no complaints here. Unless you count 'I don't see enough of my delivery woman' as a complaint.]

He hit send before his brain could remind him why he wasn't supposed to be flirting with Kagome. What the fuck was he thinking? First, he'd called her sunshine (because she brightened up his day dammit), now he was calling her beautiful.

[You have another woman bringing you groceries that I don't know about, Dog Boy? Cause I know you're not talking about me]

Stupid woman, who the hell else would he be talking about? At least that gave him an opportunity to pull back his flirting a little.

[Did that say beautiful? It was supposed to say annoying, stupid auto-correct]

Smooth, real smooth.

[Right...Sitting down with mama. I'll text you and let you know how it goes.]

Well good, now he had something else to think about. Before he could spend more time worrying, his transformation to human started. Doing his best to ignore it, he got up and went to the sofa, determined to distract himself with some tv. There was another show Kagome suggested he check out, though why he would want to watch another serial killer documentary was beyond him.

He got another text about an hour later.

[It went well! She's looking forward to meeting you tomorrow]

[Keh don't know why. You should get some sleep, it's gonna be a long day]

[You really typed out keh. It won't be that bad, you worry too much]

[No, you don't worry enough]

[I'm going to bed, stop worrying! Goodnight dog boy]

[Goodnight annoying]

Stupid auto-correct.