Chapter 2. Song Inspiration: Waltz of the Flowers

She had stalled long enough, and her glass of wine was long gone other than the subtle stain on her lips.

"Alright, let's see what they chose as a "perfect match" for me…" She flicked her thumbs over the latches and opened the crate slowly. It took her brain a few extra moments to process what she was seeing. She first noticed the snow, white hair sprawled artistically around the figure it belonged to. She had to do a double take a make sure the Shikon was indeed a male prototype and not female. Her breath had caught in her throat. She so badly wanted to take a picture in that instant with her phone, but it was forbidden in her contracts. He was sculpted to perfection in her eyes; the lack of clothing made Kagome blush. It was a good thing the eyes had been closed.

"Oh my…" Kagome laughed nervously. Sometimes she had no idea what she was getting herself into. As time passed she began to feel braver and picked up the hand of the Shikon. She nearly dropped it, feeling how similar it was to her own skin. The hands were accessorized with stiletto-like claws that Kagome was instantly jealous of. Saying he was gorgeous was indeed an understatement. She shook off her thoughts of impurity and continued her inspection for "flaws."

"Oh wow, are those cat ears?!" Kagome gasped, quickly losing interest in the hand and moving up to feel the perky appendages. "I kinda feel like a pervert right now but a highly intrigued one." She whispered to herself, lowering her finger down through his bangs and stopping once she reached an eyelid. She used just enough force to lift the eye lid up and nearly squealed like a girl that just saw a baby duck. "They're golden…"

'I wonder where the on button is.' Kagome thought, trying to convince herself that her AC unit had spontaneously combusted and it wasn't her creepy 20somethingyearold lust fuming. She flipped through the manual again, skipping the congratulations part. "Simply call out your Shikon's name located just below the left side of the neck. Pfft. Easier said than done. He has a shit ton of hair." Kagome scooped away some of his hair and pushed the side of his head, which moved easily. Kagome squinted her eyes at the small tattoo in Japanese characters and cleared her throat.

"Eee…new…yasha?" She cleared her throat and tried again. "InuYasha."

Golden eyes flicked open instantly and Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin, backing away slightly.

"Jesus, no warm up, huh?" she placed her hand over her quickening heart. "That scared the crap outta me."

InuYasha rotated his head slightly until he locked eyes with Kagome's. A dead expression from him and a curious one expressed from her. Her eyes followed him as he rose slowly to a seated position, his posture impeccable.

No matter how much she may have wanted to, she just couldn't look away from his captivating, almost angry gaze. She thought he was beautiful in his 'sleep' mode but now she was speechless. Some of his hair had pooled over his shoulder and onto his lap. She couldn't tell if there was an actual rise and fall to his chest or if her mind had merely created it for him.

Kagome reached for the checklist the company had given to her and ran her pinky through it. So far so good?

Now what?

"Hi." Kagome said with weak effort.

'Really Kagome? Hi?!' She mentally picked up and threw herself out the kitchen window. His lips parted, but no words escaped. She could have been mistaken but he looked slightly confused. He brought his hand to his neck and averted his gaze.

"Can you speak? I'm Kagome." She introduced. He attempted again, but to no avail so he simply shook his head in defeat. Kagome smacked her lips and began writing some notes down. She wasn't an expert or anything, but she was pretty sure these things were capable of talking back to their owners.

'That's why they needed beta-testers, you idiot'

As she wrote, his eyes began to scan her apartment. She noticed him in the corner of her eye. His eyes would focus on something and then his head would turn in the direction. It wasn't a big living space, so it didn't preoccupy him for very long.

Kagome clapped her hands together and stood up. "As much as I'd like to abuse my power and put a bowtie around your neck—" Kagome paused and quickly wrote in the suggestions section. "What was I saying? Oh. You need some clothes." She snapped her fingers. One of the many perks of living alone that Kagome enjoyed was that she could talk openly to herself all day without judgement and now she could talk to a life-size doll-thing, guilt free.

She didn't wait for any indication that he actually understood what she said before she made her way to her bedroom and pulled open multiple doors to her dresser.

"I know that asshole's shorts are in here somewhere…" Kagome grumbled to herself. She had one pair of shorts left behind from her ex that didn't make it back home after their break up. It was a good thing she didn't burn them; she finally had a use for them!

Kagome trekked back to the living room, unrolling the pair of basketball shorts. "Hopefully they fit. Sisterhood of the traveling pants, am I righ—"

The crate was empty.

"Ah fuck." Kagome groaned with a roll of her eyes, dropping the shorts to the ground. Where could he have gone? She noticed the patio door near her dining room was slightly open and headed for it.

Her shiny new toy was perched up on the balcony wall like spiderman, again slightly awkward with lack of clothing. She wasn't going to lie though- He had a great back which the breeze very kindly helped to display. Not to mention that booty in those boxer briefs.

"Uh…InuYasha?" She tried. His ear twitched at the sound of his name and he turned slightly to look at her as if what he was doing wasn't weird as shit. She simply pointed back to the inside of the apartment. "I found something you can wear." She took a step closer to him and notice him tense up. What was with him? Did all Shikons act weird after first unpacking them?

'Of course they give me the defective one.'

He jumped down from the wall and stood leaning over her, almost threateningly. That's when Kagome figured out just how tall her new companion was. She hadn't felt so puny in her entire life until now. Even so, he was the toy and she was in control. She narrowed her brows as she was forced into yet another staring match with her exotically handsome Shikon.

"Good boy, come on." She cheeped, breaking the eye contact and leading the way back inside. "I didn't get a chance to read everything you're capable of but I'm hoping you can dress yourself." She kicked up the conveniently placed basketball shorts off the ground with a single toe and surprisingly he reached out to catch them.

He didn't break his gaze from her as he slowly bent down to place his feet through the openings and slide on the shorts.

Kagome gulped; trying to look at anything else in the room but him. The technology in Japan was getting too crazy. He was too lifelike for her tastes.

"Any of my shirts would look ridiculous on you so I guess I'll have to go shopping for some in the morning-You don't have a very welcoming resting face, InuYasha." Kagome interjected with narrow eyes, wondering if there was a way she could adjust that. His ear twitched again at his name. "It's getting kinda late, I'll figure it out tomorrow. Now…how do I turn you off?" She flipped through the owner's manual again for what felt like the hundredth time. Nothing in there stated that Shikons would just gallantly shimmy out the door when the owner left the room. "Don't tell me you can't turn them off." Kagome was already plotting how she was going to have to lock him in the crate, so he didn't go outside cause clearly he could open doors. "If I knew there was this much reading involved, I don't know if I would have agreed to—ah ha! Here." Kagome tried to stifle her giggle. His ears? What a cute off switch.

She awkwardly shuffled around him, not sure the best method. She wasn't entirely sure if she shut him down in a standing position if he would just fall over on her. She thought about just pushing him down but opted out of it. He still kinda freaked her out. Instead, she sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her.

"InuYasha, sit please."

The kukui nut lei around his neck pulsed about with a fluorescent light threaded through out it. Kagome watched the Shikon fall to his knees in that same instant. He looked like he was actually in- pain? Kagome stood up in a panic and clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh god, I didn't mean to do that! What the hell!?"

Next update: 10/12/18