The instructor was late, which wasn't a surprise. The woman was flaky by nature, and it wasn't unheard of that students took advantage of the fifteen-minute rule with her class. Barely two weeks into the semester and there had been four instances of people walking out at a quarter past seven.
These were also the students that signed up for the class for the credit, and not because they were interested. After all, art courses were by default at the bottom of the humanities in college, and were naturally looked down on by STEM majors with disdain in particular. Art was an "easy" path. There was no skill to be had in the art field. If you could draw a line you could do art. It didn't require years of grad work and losing sleep to pick up a pencil or a paintbrush.
Bull. Shit.
Kagome twisted the graphite pencil in her hand as she leaned back in her chair. It took everything in her not to outwardly scowl at the slackers who were packing up their belongings as they watched the clock. It had irked her since grade school that in every art class she signed up for, there were at least three students who joined just because it was "easy". She flicked her eyes up to the clock on the wall, and sure enough it was once again 7:15. Chairs scraped against the floor as more than just the regular slackers were packing it in and taking off. She remained where she sat, twisting the pencil in her hands and debating pulling out her sketchbook.
Having your class set in the evening had a habit of losing students, and she had to wonder why the instructor had purposely done it that way.
At 7:18 the woman showed up, carrying her overly large boho bag on one shoulder and a greasy paper bag of what was likely her dinner. "My apologies class…oh dear." The instructor looked around and noticed that only Kagome remained. "Has there been an illness?"
Kagome took in the woman's appearance and couldn't bring herself to tell her that it was the school policy coupled with the late class time that made for most of the class to bail. She smiled half heartedly and gave a shrug. "I guess some of them had other classwork to study for?" She wanted to give the ones who typically stayed the benefit of the doubt.
The instructor set her bags down on the desk and crossed her arms. "That's a shame. I'd secured us a live model for the duration of the semester, but he's only available in the evenings." She looked at Kagome, tilting her head. "Do you have plans, or would you like to proceed with class as normal? I mean I wouldn't blame you if you needed to head out."
"No ma'am, I'd like to continue with class if you would," Kagome said quickly. It was her major, after all, and if it meant delaying completing the statistics homework she had back in her apartment, all the better.
"If you're sure, Miss….Higurashi? Yes, Kagome Higurashi, that's right!" The older woman chuckled to herself as she moved around the room, setting up the center of the room for the live model. "I've heard good things about you from the other instructors in the art field," she commented. "Very talented and an attention to detail that they haven't seen in a long time. When I saw your name on the registry I actually did a dance in front of my computer, I was so excited to see what you can do. And please, call me Kikyo. I know I've crossed into the later half of my thirties but I've only ever heard ma'am around my grandmother. I'm gonna hold out on that title for as long as I can."
Kagome nodded despite the blush that crossed her face, not expecting that kind of praise. Sure, she put a bit more effort into her work than her peers, but once she got into the zone she sorta…tuned everything else out. It wasn't intentional to upstage her peers, but some of them had seen it that way, and the drama that followed…it wasn't something she wanted attached to her name. Thankfully it seemed, that the instructors on campus were more focused on student productivity than gossip.
"Anyway," the Kikyo continued, "the model I managed to score has very good bone structure, and I can't wait to see what you make of him. It's a shame that the rest of the class is going to be behind, but that's their prerogative I suppose." As she completed her task she straightened and looked at her one student. "Simple enough this evening. I just want to get a feel for your portraiture so I want you to sketch a bust of our model. You're welcome to talk with him, and since he's going to be our subject for the semester I'd encourage it. Getting to know your model is a good way to transfer life into your art."
The younger woman nodded, bending to collect her sketch pad and tin of drawing pencils from her bag. She'd heard the instructor call the model in, telling him to make himself comfortable in the chair set up in the center of the room, before returning to her desk where her meal still sat in the paper bag. Kagome righted herself and set her sketch pad on the easel before her, looking up to see the model and nearly dropping her pencils.
Holy shit he was handsome!
Black hair fell around his shoulders in waves, curling at the ends and resting against tanned skin. Eyes the color of whiskey watched her in amusement as his lips quirked upwards in a smirk. A dusting of dark stubble traced his jawline and upper lip.
She'd never cared one way or another for facial hair, but she had to admit that it worked on him, and probably just as well without.
"Hello," he greeted.
"Oh…um, hi." 'Mama didn't teach you to use "um" you moron!'
"What's your name?"
Fuck what was her name? "K.. Kagome." 'Or to stutter, for fucks sake girl! Don't let a handsome face make you stupid!'
His smile grew as he leaned back in his seat a bit. "Kagome, huh? I'm Inuyasha."
She did not want to melt when she heard him use her name. She absolutely did not. Nope. Not at all. Kagome swallowed, letting her eyes drift downwards from those hypnotizing eyes and immediately regretted it. The dark blue button down was unbuttoned and untucked from his jeans, exposing the white tank underneath. On top of having a handsome face, he was also in really good shape.
Shit.
Fuck.
Goddammit she was screwed.
And she had to draw this man all semester? She was really screwed.
Inuyasha let his hands rest on the tops of his thighs as he watched the girl across from him blush as she regained her bearings. He'd reached the classroom door and heard Kikyo speaking, but to see only one student sitting in the classroom was a surprise. He felt kind of bad for the woman; she was a good teacher, but he had suspicions she was dating his manager. Not a big deal necessarily, but she did get wrapped up in whatever she was focused on and lost track of time.
Though this one student, she was cute. And not in appearance either. No, he thought she was beautiful, but her mannerisms were what he found cute. The look of shock when he sat down in front of her. How she blushed a bit when he said her name. How when she became focused on her work she'd chew on her bottom lip. He wasn't even sure if she knew she was doing it.
And when he considered the syllabus that Kikyo had presented him with when she first approached him for the position, he was really looking forward to what kind of reactions he could get out of Kagome.
The first ten minutes was spent in relative silence, save for the sound of Kikyo inhaling her dinner of Wendy's and responding to emails on her laptop. Kagome's pencils would lightly scratch against the paper, only pausing to glance up at him them quickly back to her work. Inuyasha enjoyed the silence normally, but this felt suffocating. He had to do something, or his leg would start bouncing here soon, and Kagome didn't need that as a distraction while she worked.
She was still trying to look at him without blushing after all.
"So…" he drew out slowly, watching her gaze flick upwards. Had to be careful and approach her like a deer so he didn't startle her. "Is art something you've been doing for a while?"
"I…Yes," she replied, switching pencils. "I started drawing more in the seventh grade, and when I got to high school I signed up for all the art classes that were available."
Inuyasha crossed his legs at the ankle as he stretched them out, careful so that he wouldn't accidentally bump the easel. "You want to do art for a living?" A soft hum was his response. "Do you have a specific field in mind?"
"Not entirely. I think I'd like to try my hand at illustration, maybe a graphic novel if I could work with a writer. There's always going back to my hometown and setting up a small studio to teach classes if I could secure the funding to rent a building and all that."
"Sounds like you have quite the plan."
The scratching of the pencil stopped and she looked over the easel directly at him with a hard look. "That sounds like you don't put much stock into the arts."
He held his hands up in defense, though if he were being honest he wouldn't be surprised if this woman wouldn't utilize her pencils as weapons. She had that kind of look that said she'd stab then ask questions later. "No no, I'm impressed! Usually I only hear students in the arts claim that they want to pursue a career at Disney or work for Marvel. They never go on to reach either and decide to give up and get a job at the movie rental store. What you just told me, that's more realistic, and there ain't nothing wrong with that."
Kagome continued to give him a skeptical look before she shrugged. "Once upon a time I thought I wanted to work for Marvel," she admitted. "But then I tried to imitate the style, and I just couldn't. No matter how many times I redrew Lady Death she never looked like the comic. I finally gave up on that idea, because I have my own style now. If I did manage to get hired on, I don't know how long I could do it. They expect a certain quality, and while I'm sure I could match it, that'd be the only thing I could do."
She leaned back and studied her work before reaching for her pencil case again. "No, I think I like working with my own style better than to be confined to a set of rules. I think that's part of why the idea of teaching is so appealing. You can teach the basic principles and how to use the materials, but really after that you're helping your students define their style and figure out what it is that they enjoy doing most."
He grinned as he listened to her talk. "I'm gonna be rooting for you, Kagome. I know you're gonna do great things."
