A/N: This was supposed to be the epilogue...but time went sideways along with my inspiration, so have a funny idea that could fall within the events of chapter 6. The next chapter will be the final one and the epilogue that this fic needs, I promise. It's in the works (outline anyway), and I hope to work on it next.


Kagome couldn't believe that her figure study final entailed nude artwork!

What was the teacher even thinking?!

Now, she didn't consider herself a prude by any means, but when the student is crushing on the art model, it makes it really hard to look him in the eye when at some point she knew that she'd have to draw that one eye that was located much lower. It would've helped loads if Inuyasha wasn't constantly focused on her as she worked on drawing him. For being the one letting it all hang out on display – and good lord did he have a lot to display – she felt like she was the one exposed. Like a gazelle in the plains trying to eat and knowing that there was something bigger, stronger, and much faster that was going to eat her.

Okay maybe that was a bad analogy because she wouldn't mind being eaten by him.

'Fucking hell, woman. Get yourself in check for once tonight, will you?!'

Kagome took too much delight in stabbing the plastic on her tv dinner tray before she threw it in the microwave. Horny and hungry were a bad combination on a normal day, but when you throw in firm muscle that looks like a literal god within touching distance, everything was amped up. It didn't help matters at all that she needed more than just him holding her hand, or the hugs, or even the kisses that made her want to drag him in her apartment. She wanted everything, but until she could make her heart decide, she was going to have to deal with the little that she could get. Inuyasha had dropped her off as usual, in front of her apartment door. She hadn't asked him to come inside again, knowing the answer already, but damn did she ever want to.

Especially after seeing what he had under that silk robe earlier that evening. Her thoughts were still going "UNF" each time she revisited that memory of the belt coming undone.

In fact that was the problem. She couldn't forget. It was seared into her brain, and all she wanted to do the next time was be the one to untie that knot. With her teeth. She needed a distraction, and with limited resources at her disposal, she had unhealthy food and mind-numbing sitcom reruns.

She needed mind-numbing almost as bad as she needed Inuyasha to storm into her apartment, throw her onto the closest flat surface and –

It took almost two hours of WKRP in Cincinnati, the Hungry Man meal, and the remainder of her pint of Ben and Jerry's before she felt like she could hibernate in her bed on a food coma until morning.


"One of these days it's going to be me behind that easel sketching you, Ka-Go-Me."

The purr in his voice made her face hot instantly. Why did Inuyasha have to say her name like that? Why did he have to do it when he was standing not three feet away from her and stark-ass naked? And why did no one else in the class pick up on that suggestive tone? Surely someone had to have heard the subject blatantly imply something with one of the other students.

Kagome shifted in her seat, reaching for her pencil case to get out her 6B and replace the tortillon she had been using for an old eyeshadow brush instead. She took advantage of being concealed completely behind the easel from Inuyasha's smug look and looked to either side of her to observe her classmate's progress. Her lips flattened into a line as she looked at their progress.

Of course. Most of the work on either side of her was limited to gesture lines or basic shape-blocking, whereas most of the current progress as focused on Inuyasha's dick. At least the person on the left had the decency to spend some time on the hard cut lines that ran above his hip bones, but the one on the right had essentially just drawn a dick floating on the paper. She shouldn't have been surprised, but then again, if she could've gotten away with staring at him for the entirety of the time she would have.

Preferably just the two of them.

In her apartment. In her bedroom. Or his.

She wasn't picky.

"Need more time?" Inuyasha asked teasingly. Like he knew where her thoughts had strayed.

"I'm doing just fine," she ground out, snapping the case closed.

Inuyasha broke his stance to stretch – which normally would've created a fuss so she was shocked that there was no uproar – but as her eyes peeked over the easel she could swear he was flexing. For her. 'If only we were alone…no! Bad Kagome! Focus!' She was shaking her head to rid the thoughts that were getting progressively dirtier by the second. On the other side of the easel she could hear him continue to talk.

"I know this is part of your final exam and all, but I don't see why I couldn't offer myself as study materials…"

Kagome let out a squeak at that. Yes – yes she would very much like that – a hands-on examination of said materials would be wonderful – but he couldn't say things like that in the classroom! She straightened and prepared to tell Inuyasha just that when the side door to the room flew open. A cold blast of air filled the room, pulling papers off easels, tables, and every surface where it wasn't weighed down. The yelp from Inuyasha had Kagome knocking her chair backwards as she shot to her feet.

"Someone close that damn door!" she called out, stumbling around her belongings and the overturned chair to grab the silk robe that he'd left on the empty chair next to hers. As the cold air kept filling the room, Kagome could only watch in horror as the robe disintegrated at her touch. She kept shouting for the people around her to do something – anything but sit there on their asses – but she could barely hear herself over the sound of the wind. "What's going on?" was shouted into the void for all the good it did as she continued to search the room for something to keep Inuyasha warm. Kagome found his clothes in a pile behind the changing screen, but each article she touched turned to dust and was carried off by the wind. The old sheets she'd found folded on the table against the wall that were to double as drip cloths also vanished at her touch.

The whirlwind left as quickly as it had come, but the room was destroyed. Finals papers were scattered everywhere, some even ruined by other materials in the mayhem, but it didn't matter. Right then there was a man who had no clothes and was in desperate need of getting warm, and she didn't have any way to help him. Kagome turned back to Inuyasha to see him rubbing his arms. "I'm sorry," she said dejectedly. "I don't know what's going on…"

Inuyasha didn't appear to look phased. "It's just clothes. I've got more."

"But not with you! And it's freezing in here! You need something to keep you warm!"

"So come here then."

Kagome's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air on land. "Are you crazy? We're not alone! You can't say things like that!"

"We are alone," he grinned, opening his arms. "You gonna come over here or what?"

Her mouth shut with an audible click as she looked around her. Where had everyone gone? The room wasn't full by any means, but she was pretty damn sure that there were people besides her and Inuyasha in the room. When she looked back to Inuyasha she realized her feet had made the decision and were bringing her closer to him. 'Keep your eyes up. Don't look down. Don't you dare look down, you've seen enough of him already. He's cold. He needs to get warm, not have you ogling him.'

If only he hadn't said "Good girl" when he started to slip his arms around her, she might not have let out a whimper of want. She already knew that he was solid muscle from that first hug, but by god she could feel everything now and she loved it. Kagome's arms were starting to wrap around his waist when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Hey now, I'm cold too!"

Her eyes snapped open and she turned in Inuyasha's arms to see that the book store employee with the cute ears was there. When did he get there? Why was he there? Kagome glanced up at Inuyasha to see his reaction, but she was more surprised to see that he was…smiling? Why was he smiling?

"I don't have a problem with sharing Kagome," Inuyasha said to the half demon, "so long as she doesn't mind dividing her attention."

One fuzzy ear flicked as he started walking closer. "Somehow I don't think that'd be an issue." Oh dear god why did the bookstore guy sound like Inuyasha when he spoke with that rumble in his voice?

"W-wait just a second –" Kagome pushed back slightly against Inuyasha's chest and felt his fingers slide down the small of her back. How…how the hell did she feel him touch her skin? She was wearing a long tunic top today…

Or…she was.

One glance downwards showed that she was naked too, though no one could blame her for doing a double take when she realized that Inuyasha was ready for more. Kagome started to throw her arms over herself, to turn away on instinct, only she came face to face with the half demon.

And now he was naked.

"Why are you naked?!" she squeaked, backing into Inuyasha and his hardness and gasping in surprise.

"You know what they say," the half demon grinned, opening his arms in a mirror image of Inuyasha. "It's better to warm each other with skin on skin contact."

Kagome's eye was starting to twitch as she looked between both men who were closing in on either side of her. This couldn't be happening. There was just no way it was possible. She had to be dreaming. How else could she explain why Inuyasha and the half demon looked exactly the same when they were naked? She turned back to Inuyasha and wanted to say something. Anything really, but he was cupping her face and drawing her in for a kiss as her body pressed against the hard planes of his chest. Behind her she felt the half demon drop kisses along her shoulder as he ground his lower half against her, and this time she might've let out a moan.

Just a tiny one. Miniscule.

Inuyasha grinned against her lips as one hand reached down to guide her thigh around his hip. It...shouldn't have fit so snugly as they closed the distance, but then the very hard insistence that now pushed between her thighs shouldn't have fit so well either. The half demon was nibbling against her neck now, and Kagome couldn't decide if she was better off rocking forward or backwards. Either way she was in for it, especially when both men murmured in her ears, "That's our girl".

Kagome jerked awake with a shriek, sitting up and patting herself all over.

Oh, good. Clothes were still on. And she was alone, in her bed, and not in the classroom.

That…that shouldn't have felt as disappointing as it did in that moment.

She let out a shuddering breath, rubbing her hands over her face as she pulled her knees to her chest. That dream, that was something else, and she could safely say that of the few sex dreams she had in the past, they were all "faceless" men that she'd never seen before. There was nothing significant about those dreams that held meaning. Not like this one. This one…this one was trying to tell her that she really needed to make a decision: either give up on the one that she's liked from afar because she's too chicken to ask and be with the one that she knows has interest, or lose them both and be alone. She couldn't keep leading Inuyasha along, no matter how many times he told her he'd wait. It wasn't fair.

None of this was fair.


Inuyasha shoved his phone in his back pocket as he exited his truck. The latest email from Dr. Mushin was reminding him of why he couldn't keep taking the concealer. He'd approached the old man the day after he'd first driven Kagome home and inquired about if he could get a smaller dose. Dr. Mushin had been ready to run him out of the room until he'd quickly blurted out that it was for Kagome, which meant he had to give a quick explanation of why he was picking her up and driving her home as a "human". In the end, he'd been given the same dosage but was advised to cut them in half; to try to create more this late into the semester with a smaller dose was pointless. Since he had been taking them for months anyway, the doctor assumed that a tolerance was built so a half should cut the effects of the time down. It'd be enough to hold the appearance when he went to pick Kagome up in the mornings, and bring her back in the evenings when he wasn't needed to model.

Right that moment he didn't give a damn. He couldn't stop thinking about the previous night. How Kagome's eyes had widened when he removed the robe, how her scent picked up before she became immersed in work. It was a bit of a confidence booster, he couldn't deny, but secretly he was also thankful that her scent had mellowed out. The last thing he needed was to be standing there for almost two hours and not being able to hide or explain why he was sporting a rager.

No, couldn't do that. Kikyo wouldn't let him live it down either. And Kagome…well, if he was going to present to her, he wanted to do it in private anyway. The half demon balanced the hot drinks in hand with the paper bag clenched between his fingers as he pulled open the door to the building. It was probably a dumb thing to do, considering the time and that she had likely already fixed herself something to eat, but he'd taken the long way around and stopped at the coffee shop for fresh coffee and breakfast. It gave him enough time to let the concealer take effect, even if the poor kid working the drive through got a shock at seeing the half demon's ears disappear into his hair.

Not really a lot of people around, but then it was early. There was one, dressed in baggy pajama pants with an old band tee and messy hair, clutching her mail like a lifeline when she turned away from the mailboxes.

Kagome.

She looked surprised to see him, but all he could focus on was how cute she looked. How was that even possible? He rolled out of the bed most days and startled himself, but when she does it – okay probably not the best idea to think about Kagome and a bed when the hands are full of coffee and food. There'd be no way to hide tented jeans. "Hey," he cleared his throat. "Brought you breakfast."


'I think if I ever manage to look Inuyasha in the eye again, it'll be a miracle.'

Kagome's day was pretty dull, for the most part. Study between classes, go to class, take final, have an existential crisis, repeat. At long last, the day was drawing to a close and she knew that she'd have to face Inuyasha again. He still insisted on making sure she got home safely whether it was the night of the art class or not, and while the gesture was sweet, this evening it was going to feel like absolute torture.

When he had appeared in the foyer with breakfast, multiple thoughts had all crashed together in her mind. Oh god, he's early. He's brought food. It smells delicious. I'm still in my ratty pajamas. I haven't brushed my hair yet. He smells delicious. It wasn't fair to look that good so early in the morning.

He'd walked with her back upstairs and she'd listened to him explain his reasoning as she sipped on the coffee that he'd given her. It really had been a sweet idea, so she couldn't be upset with him for stumbling across her at her worst moment. To be fair, after that dream she'd had, it had taken a while to go back to sleep. Waking up antsy and horny were a terrible combination, and if she kept this up she was going to burn the motor out on her Hitachi. Once she'd fallen asleep again, she was pretty certain that she knocked her alarm clock off her bedside table and overslept as a result. All she knew was that it was in pieces when she woke up the second time and would have to resort to her phone's alarm.

At least this time when she invited him to come in and sit down, he did. They sat on the couch and finished the breakfast he'd brought while the news played as background noise. She'd apologized for not being ready, but he shrugged it off. And he'd told her that she looked fine as he wiped a small spot of jam from her bottom lip that she'd missed.

She could've jumped him.

Instead, she'd blushed mumbling a thanks as she got up to get dressed. Kagome could barely look him in the eye as she left the room. Hell, she could barely look Inuyasha in the eye as they left for campus! It was too weird still and she had this fleeting thought that if she stared too long he'd be naked the second she blinked.

'No, that'll be Friday,' she thought, collecting her bag and making her way to the exit. As she expected, Inuyasha was waiting for her on the other side of the hallway. Despite the dream, despite her anxiety over everything, she still found herself smiling as she walked up to him. It wasn't forced, and she could only think of one other man – er half demon – that could do that.

In fact the only time she felt that smile drop was when Inuyasha had started the engine of his truck and asked, "Is there something wrong, Kagome? You've barely looked at me straight all day? Is it the modeling?"

"W-what?"

"Your final for the class. Does this – I mean, does seeing me naked bother you?"

"No!" Kagome blurted out a little too quickly. She wasn't sure if her face heated up over how fast the response was, that she didn't mind seeing him naked, or the cheeky grin that was spreading across his face. "I – I mean no, it doesn't bother me. Why would you think that? Shut up."

Inuyasha let out a small laugh as Kagome tried to pump the brakes on her mouth before she admitted more than she wanted to. "I was going to say that if it bothered you, I could back out of it. Maybe Kikyo could bring in a different model at last minute. I don't want to upset you."

"I've drawn nudes in the past," she huffed, and his hands squeezed the steering wheel a little tighter. "They were from photos though. I've never drawn from a living model until this class."

"I'm glad I get to be your first then." He shouldn't have said it, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. His hands clenched and unclenched the wheel as he silently cursed himself for being a moron. He really wasn't trying to make it sound dirty, but the stifled laughter that bubbled from the woman next to him eased his mind. She found it funny, thank the gods. "Anyway," he continued, "you really haven't looked me in the eye since last night. Did I do something wrong? You can tell me, I won't be upset. If there's something I can do, I'll do it."

Kagome let out a sigh and glanced his way. Inuyasha looked bothered, and that upset her. She was going to have to come clean. "You didn't do anything, Inuyasha. I…I didn't sleep well, that's all."

"Like a nightmare kind of bad night, or sleep weird kind of night?"

"Not so much a nightmare," she mumbled. "More like…a weird dream…that you were in."

If he hadn't been wearing the concealment his ears might've perked up. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, uh…it was in the classroom. We were doing another part of the final exam, and you were…well you were naked. I was drawing. You were talking to me, and the side door – I think it's the emergency exit? – it flew open and this arctic cold air came in the room. Scattered paper everywhere, and no one would get up and shut the door no matter how much I yelled. I tried to find your clothes but they…turned to dust. Even the drop cloths for painting disappeared as soon as I touched them."

"And I'm still buck ass naked."

"Uh huh."

"Sounds cold."

"Yeah," Kagome swallowed. "This is…this is where it gets weird. You wanted me to come warm you up-"

"That doesn't sound weird to me-"

"Okay shush! This is going to be weird enough to talk about without you interrupting me!" She rolled her eyes at his grin. "Anyway, as soon as I got to you…the bookstore employee I've been talking to you about shows up. Says he's cold too, and you…you said…that you didn't mind sharing…"

Inuyasha's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline as Kagome continued to talk about the dream. Fuck, no wonder she couldn't look him in the eye! When she finished her recount he didn't know what to say. He cut the engine as they came to a stop in the parking lot of the apartments and sat back against the seat. "Well…that's…that's different."

"See what I mean?"

"You do know that I don't expect you to make any snap decisions, right?" Inuyasha reached over and grasped her hand within his. "I'll wait however long it takes. If you're concerned about the semester ending, don't be. You have my number. I'm still going to be coming around to see you until you tell me otherwise, including taking you to campus and back."

That was the second time that day that Kagome wanted to jump him. At least this time her excuse was that if she did, her ass would hit the steering wheel and blow the horn. That horrifying image made it a lot easier to let him escort her back to her apartment.

If only he hadn't whispered in her ear that he wasn't against the idea, then maybe she wouldn't have to break out the Hitachi again just to fall asleep. She was either going to numb her lady bits at this rate or destroy the motor in her vibrator if he kept saying things like this.


On Wednesday, Kagome had come in to return a few of her rental books. Things were going alright, he thought. He completed the steps to clear her balance, dropped the books into the cardboard box at his feet, and then…

Suikotsu entered the bookstore from the parking lot door, which by either sheer coincidence or karma out to get him, a cold blast of air wafted into the open space.

It was all he could do to not yell at his boss on a normal day. The oblivious bastard grinned like a dope and made his way to the back room without a word. The half demon shook his head and reached for a scrap piece of paper under the counter, writing "Use indoor entrance" on it before taping it to the glass and locking the door.

The soft giggle from Kagome reached his ears before he had turned back. "You think that'll work?"

"If it doesn't we'll have to huddle together for warmth."

Shit.

Her eyes widened.

His eyes widened.

She was blushing a pretty shade of pink.

He…really hoped he wasn't.

How could he be so damn stupid?! Kagome had told him in confidence as the human about that dream, and he had gone and blurted that out without thinking?! Fuck, this was not how he wanted her to find out the truth! He had to think quick!

"I mean – uh – in theory. So to speak. Not necessarily us us, but not saying that I'm against the idea or anything – shit, hang on. What I mean is, if given the choice I'd pick you in a heartbeat any day…fuck, let me explain…"

And there it was. The giggles had returned. The half demon glanced up from the counter to Kagome to see her trying to muffle her reaction behind her hands. Her cheeks were still pink, and he could definitely tell that she hadn't been against the idea either – 'Don't inhale you dumbass! Don't be weird!' – but nothing about her scent or her body language suggested that she was upset. He absently rubbed his neck, grinning like an idiot. If she wasn't upset by his blunder, he wasn't going to push his luck.

"I know what you mean," she finally said at last, just loud enough for him to hear. Kagome collected her receipt from the counter and tucked it in her bag, turning swiftly to look behind her before looking back at him. "If I were you I wouldn't want to snuggle up to my boss either."

A cluster of students were coming up behind Kagome, and Inuyasha wished he could've sent them elsewhere. Unfortunately he was the only one at the counters until lunch. It took every ounce of concentration to not visibly show his displeasure.

Kagome sensed that they were on borrowed time as she shouldered her bag. "I'll let you get back to it," she said with an apologetic smile. "Sorry to keep you from your work."

"No, no – it's fine." Inuyasha wanted to say that she was fine where she was, but after that last fuck up it might come off as something else entirely. Which…wasn't wrong, but not what he was aiming for.

"Maybe I'll see you around then?"

That sounded hopeful. That was a good sign. So was that shy little smile as she chewed her lip. "Yeah," Inuyasha smiled. "I hope so."