By the second month, the lessons had progressed to dynamic posing, and to add another degree of difficulty, Kikyo had asked Inuyasha to dress in costume and carry props. Hitting up the drama department for spare costumes that weren't to be used for months later solved two problems. It kept the half demon from having to take time to shop, and the level of detail in the costumes weeded out the students who signed up thinking it would be an easy credit. After the first lesson when he was in ancient Greek armor as Ares, quite a few had withdrawn from the course.

Inuyasha set the helmet down in the seat he usually reclined in, leaning the sword against it. "You knew they'd quit," he told the older woman as she moved about the room.

"Not for certain," she said with a smile. "I thought that they might. You don't get to be teaching the arts for over ten years without learning who your slackers are real quick."

"You do know your class size has dropped by half."

Kikyo shrugged. "It's their choice and their W on their transcripts. No skin off my nose if they didn't want to put effort into the work." She leveled him with a look, watching him gulp down the suppressor with water. The effects were almost immediate. "Considering what you agreed to later in the term I doubt you mind…so long as your favorite student is still attending…"

"Feh. I don't know what you're getting on about." He was not blushing. Had to be a fever. That's all it was. A fever that was brought on quickly by the mention of a shy, raven haired beauty. He glanced at Kikyo and saw that she didn't look like she believed him. Fuck!

"Don't sulk Ares, you'll wrinkle the robes," she chided. "I know you do, but what I'd like to know is why you haven't told her the truth."

"Yeah you're gonna have to explain." He could only bullshit his way through this for so long. Maybe if he could draw this out long enough, the class would start arriving and cut the conversation off quick…

The instructor sighed, crossing her arms and mimicking his stance. "You know good and well. Miss Higurashi is going to find out sooner or later that you're the resident bookstore grump. Do you want her to know before or after you've posed naked?"

"….."

"Your silence stands to reason that you've not thought that far yet."

"Keh."

"Your blushing must mean that you haven't even considered that she's going to see you naked."

Inuyasha scoffed and turned, but he knew it was pointless. The woman had a knack for seeing through people apparently, and she'd just read him like a book. Of course he knew when he agreed to this that he was going to be doing nude modeling right at the end of the term. Kikyo had rearranged it so that not only would the nude drawings be the final project of the term, but set it so that if anyone were to identify him, they'd forget by the time the second term rolled around. Now that it had occurred to him that Kagome would see all of him on display in a couple months' time, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He liked the woman. More than he probably should considering that they didn't speak a whole hell of a lot outside of the bookstore – that she knew of. As far as he knew that she knew, she was speaking to a completely different person in the classroom as she worked. She spoke openly and animatedly with his human appearance in the classroom, but in the bookstore she was still shy. Come to think of it, the most she talked in the classroom was while she worked, because she had that easel in front of her with her work on it.

So she could hide.

Son of a fuck.

The half demon rubbed his stubbled chin and idly wondered if he should shave. Wasn't worth the trouble, and it would mess up Kagome's work so far. 'Not to mention if she comes in the bookstore she'll notice,' he frowned. Maybe he could use this to his advantage. He didn't have the courage to approach her in his half demon form outside of the bookstore, but with these suppression pills…maybe he could get a reading on how she thinks about him? Maybe ease into letting her know that they were one and the same?

A soft knock at the door had him spinning on his heel to see the object of his thoughts standing there. Kagome looked flushed, like she had sprinted to class again. Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks a light pink, and her lips parted as she tried to act like she wasn't catching her breath. It was almost like…NO. Absolutely not. He was not going down that road. She didn't know who he really was and he didn't know how she'd react when she found out. He would not fantasize about making her look that way.

At least not until he knew for certain he had a shot.

For now, he'd do without. Or at the very least hold the thoughts in check until he was home alone.

"There you are, Kagome." He smiled, secretly delighting in the way she was beaming at him. Gods above, he really hoped that he could make this work.


With the sheer amount of force that she was blowing through her supplies, it was no wonder that she was stepping back into the bookstore at the end of the second month. The bookstore had better quality pencils and the appropriate sized sketchbooks that she needed for the class, even if it was a little pricier. The office supply store didn't have either in stock and she didn't want to wait on the backorder to come in when she could get them on campus for a few dollars more.

"Been a while since I saw you in here, Higurashi," the familiar gruff voice said. The silver haired man with the cute ears was crouched to her left, unloading a box of graphing calculators and hanging them on their designated hooks. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, it's okay," she said quickly. "I don't want you to stop what you're doing. I can get it."

Inuyasha grinned, standing up. "Nonsense. What if it's up too high? You think I'm gonna let you climb the racks?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You think I'd honestly do that?"

"I wouldn't put it past you. Besides," he reached out and delicately took her small hand within his clawed one. "You've got an artist's hands. What kind of man would I be if I let you hurt yourself when I'm available to help you?" Holding the customer's hand was going against everything he'd been taught not to do before he first started working there, but the store was practically empty. And they were adults, so it's not like anyone was going to tell them no.

Not that anyone really paid any attention. So long as you wore the college logo on your shirt and didn't call anyone a dumb fuck it was pretty laid back work.

Kagome felt her cheeks warm at the contact, but she didn't pull away. She rather liked the feel of the half demon's hands. They felt strong, slightly calloused, like he'd worked with his hands for years. "I'd say you were like most men," she said at last, once she remembered that he'd asked her a question.

"Then you haven't met the right men," Inuyasha said with a frown. The way she looked down, away from him bothered him. Something about that didn't sit right, and he'd bet dollars to donuts that she'd been let down by most men in her life. "What is it that you're looking for today? Pencils? Paper?" 'Your model for class?' he thought with a light sigh.

For a second, there was an inkling of an urge to tell her the truth. About everything, from the modeling to the experimental suppression pills he was taking and why he was doing it. He wanted to tell her that he fancied her, wanted to ask her out for coffee sometime, but wasn't sure how she'd react. Anything if it would erase that sad look from her eyes.

When Kagome looked back up at him, he was relieved to see that the expression had faded. "It…actually yes," she laughed. "I've all but blown through most of my darker leads already with shading. I think I underestimated how much I would enjoy this class."

Inuyasha tugged lightly on her hand and led her to the arts section of the store. "Remind me again, it was Figure Drawing 628, right?" He took pride in the fact that not only did he keep a straight face asking, but also that he sounded absentminded saying it.

"Yeah. It's so much fun. I don't know why some say they hate drawing people. To me it's more fascinating than landscapes."

He snorted. "Funny cause I heard from some students the other week who had dropped that very class. They had to come in and buy textbooks all over again, whining about how it was too hard. Guess they didn't like the challenge."

Kagome huffed. "They shouldn't have signed up in the first place."

The half demon nearly added on that they'd also complained about the model's choice of costume and the intricate details in the armor, but held his tongue. That would have blown his cover for certain. He had a better idea anyway. "So…if the class isn't that bad…what d'ya think their problem was?"

"Probably the model?" she shrugged. "He came in dressed like Ares. You should have heard the outbursts! 'Do we really have to draw all those details?' 'How are we going to get this finished before the end of the class?'…" With each complaint her voice did a poor imitation of one of the students that had dropped out.

Even her expressions were reflecting what he saw that night, and just like then, it was hard to keep a straight face. Inuyasha bit the inside of his cheek until she finished. He'd never heard her talk so much outside of the classroom, and curiosity was getting the better of him. "What did you think about this model?"

Fuck he hoped that came off as flippant, because he was not searching for approval.

He was not.

Not…entirely.

Shit.

Kagome didn't hesitate to respond. "I actually liked that he put thought into his costume choice. I mean I know it probably came from the drama department, but he chose well. The dark reds and golds in the armor set really well against his skin tone and dark hair. He really looked like he stepped off of a movie set." She wasn't able to duck her head down quick enough to hide the slight blush that was rising up in her cheeks. This was bad, even just thinking about Inuyasha in the costume was enough to turn her beet red. She hadn't looked further into the syllabus for the class yet, and a small part was nervous to. If him dressed as a representation of a Greek god could get her hot under the collar, anything after that could do her in.

Maybe she needed to think about planning her obituary. Cause of death: heart failure in figure drawing class because model was heart-stopping gorgeous.

They'd reached the section that held the art pens and pencils and Inuyasha reluctantly let her hand slip from his. She was engrossed in browsing, so she missed the look of disappointment at the loss of touch flash in his eyes. He couldn't get ahead of himself. From the little signals he was picking up based on how she spoke about his human appearance, it was only his human appearance she found attractive. Dr. Mushin never said how long he could take the suppression pills, and they didn't know if there would be any long-term effects. If she was only interested in his human appearance… "It sounds like you have a bit of a crush on your art model," he teased, trying to lighten his mood.

Her hand had been about to grab a pack of 4Bs when he spoke. "I…I do not!"

"You hesitated just now."

"Because I was surprised you'd even suggest such a thing!" Kagome grabbed the 4Bs along with a few packs of the others she needed and stood up from her crouch.

"So? You're an adult. Nothing saying that you can't have crushes. Do you?"

The telltale blush on her cheeks gave her away before she spoke. "I…I don't know? Maybe? He is handsome." Was the bookstore employee right? Did she have a crush on Inuyasha? She knew she liked speaking with him before class, and after when there was an opportunity. She hadn't been lying when she said that he was handsome, but…

As the half demon guided her onto the next aisle to look at the sketch pads, she couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't think this way about the model. Despite not knowing the half demon's name, she liked his presence as well. It was comforting, and he had been so kind to her since the start of her college life. Kagome dared glance out of the corner of her eye at him as he bent forward to sort some of the stock on the shelf, grumbling about how someone had "come in and tore the place up". Short silver hair, that brush of stubble on a strong jaw, and those cute ears…he was just as handsome as the art model. 'And those dark lashes make his eyes practically glow…' she thought idly, biting down on her lip.

What had gotten into her?! Why all of a sudden was she thinking this way?! She's been coming into this store for going on her third year of college, and now she was thinking of this nameless man as she would the model in her art class! Was she that hard up for companionship? She shook her head and turned her attention back to the half demon that was rearranging the shelves. 'You came in here for art supplies. Not scoping for a date. We can unpack whatever this is when we get back to the apartment.'

When she had her sketch pads selected, Inuyasha had taken them and led her back to the checkout counter when she had everything she needed. He decided that he wasn't going to keep on with asking her about her feelings on her art model. Her scent had been a clue that she was fascinated with him, but he wouldn't go so far as to say that she was aroused. As he watched her leave with her purchases – which unknown to her he was swiping his discount card to give her wallet a break – he should have felt a pang of jealousy. She'd been taken with his appearance as a human from night one, but for over two years hadn't had the ability to ask him his name. Of course, he could have offered it to her, but then she'd been so shy around him she might've assumed he wanted something. The way she had responded to his comments earlier only confirmed that.

He returned to where he was unpacking calculators and dropped to the floor with a groan. She was too shy and he was too chicken. They made a fine pair. The half demon reached into the box and grabbed a handful of TI-84s, just staring at them in thought. If he could wiggle an answer out of her about his human appearance as the bookstore employee, could he do the same as the art model to get her opinion about him as a half demon?

"Son of a fuck it could just work…" he mumbled. If he played his cards right he might just have a snowball's chance in hell at asking Kagome out after all.