Chapter 4

Kagome began to look around frantically, opting to lead him over to the sink. InuYasha gently placed his other hand on her tensed shoulder and shook his head. She seemed hesitant, but she listened and stayed still. He held up his wounded palm and they watched as the tiny valleys of blood began to dissipate.

"I—huh?" Kagome had never been so baffled in her entire life. "Bleeding? Shikons fucking bleed?" She excused herself past him and reached in one of the cupboards for her unfinished bottle of wine. She took a swig straight from the bottle and offered it to her companion. He obliged, much to her surprise. "Alright…I could use a drinking buddy for sure." Her attention was drawn back to the simmering meal and the bubbles that threatened to burst out of the pot. "As weird as this is, which is an understatement if I've ever heard one, soup's on!" Kagome laughed nervously to herself and focused on getting her plate together. InuYasha took another innocent sip from the bottle she gave him, peeking at her from the corner of his eye.

()()()()()

A few days had passed since the whole 'bleeding and quick healing' event. Kagome had tried to contact Urasue with questions, but she was directly sent to voicemail. Their meet up was in a couple more days, so she figured she could wait. Kagome had no other choice but to brush it off for the time being. She noted what she expected were shortcomings from her Shikon, InuYasha. He didn't speak back to her like the product had claimed, his facial expression was slightly intimidating, and the fact that he's already tried to runaway twice had really put a damper on their relationship.

A knock at her door jolted her from her daydreaming and instantly initiated a panic attack. She wasn't expecting company and she was pretty sure she didn't tell her family or friends where she lived-at least that was the plan. Kagome cracked open the door and gasped.

"Sango?" Kagome said in disbelief. The woman in question smiled briefly at Kagome. They used to be inseparable friends in their college days but as far as Kagome knew, she was moving away with her boyfriend, and that was that. Sango erased the smiley expression and stormed into the apartment past a wide-eyed Kagome.

"I'm gonna kill him this time, Kagome! I swear to god!"

Kagome mouthed the words 'come in' with strong delay and shut the door perplexed at her unexpected guest. Sango was pacing the floor, her ponytail flailing about, trying to keep up with Sango's jerky motions. Kagome darted her eyes to InuYasha who seemed to take interest in the new face in the house. She grimaced; pretty sure it specified in her contract that the beta test was to be kept on the down-low. Sango didn't seem to notice the awkward figure in the corner of the living room in her riled-up rage.

"I'll see if I have any spare liquor for you, give me a second." Kagome excused herself to the kitchen hesitantly. It couldn't be too bad if Sango saw InuYasha, right?

Sango rubbed her fingers over her temple, the figure in her peripheral drew her away from her actions. She gulped and adjusted her posture, fixing her bangs in the process. "Uhm H-hello."

InuYasha disregarded the woman's sudden shyness and followed where Kagome had gone. He nearly bumped into Kagome with the drinks, but she was able to save them. Sango watched the two in interest.

Kagome snapped her fingers and pointed over to the couch. Sango's eyebrows rose when he followed the direction of her fingers obediently and sat on the couch without a word.

"You gonna introduce us or…?" Sango trailed on, accepting the glass from Kagome. Kagome nervously tapped her own glass, trying to think of any way to avoid addressing the elephant in the room.

"W-wouldn't you rather tell me what Miroku did this time?"

Sango blinked a few times, not understanding what the big deal was. Nothing Miroku did would come remotely close to her current infatuation- The golden orbs looking at her from the couch.

Kagome sighed heavily in defeat and sank onto the couch beside InuYasha. She didn't mean to sit so close; her thigh gently brushed against his. Sango bit her lip in a girl-ish manner at the sight; anticipating what Kagome was going to say. She had been waiting for this moment.

"Okay, so I volunteered for this company to try out a product and well…Sango, meet InuYasha."

Sango arched a brow-that wasn't what she pictured Kagome announcing. It only took mere seconds for her eyes to narrow and she gave a knowing grin from ear to ear to Kagome.

"Oh my, Kagome…" Sango puckered her lips and leaned back in a sassy manner. Kagome could have sworn they buried this side of Sango early in their college days. She was wrong.

"Christ Sango, it's not kinky, I swear!" Kagome wanted to punch through her own eye sockets, knowing exactly what Sango was concluding, having seen something similar in a documentary. "Look, its hard to explain, I don't even know if the company's patent is in line, I'm just trying to get a paycheck. Their whole objective is companionship." She practically blurted out in frustration not exactly fond of the house intrusion to begin with, but she was too much of a softy to kick out a friend who was in need.

"Dude… He looks so real. I thought you finally had a rebound lined up." Sango felt brave and went to investigate him closer. Kagome met his eyes, almost as if asking for approval. She gave him an assuring pat on his hand. It hadn't quite been a week yet since she received him. She still thought the whole thing was a little weird herself. For the most part she powered him down whenever she had to do an errand or shower. She had yet to discover everything he could be capable of. As far as she could tell, he seemed to be comfortable around her and trust her thus far. "That is some high-tech shit! Go science." Sango danced.

Kagome smiled, slightly relieved that Sango was more fascinated and less accusing and judgmental like she had feared.

"Is he fully equipped?" Sango wiggled her brows. Kagome's jaw dropped, and her cheeks speckled with red.

"Sango! I-I don't know- now that I think about it." Kagome cleared her throat and tried to shift her gaze elsewhere. "I doubt that was the company's intentions."

"Kagome, my sweet innocent Kagome, they wouldn't make their product this bangin' if some said bangin' didn't go down."

"Um hello!? Is Sango anywhere in that body? I feel like I'm talking to Miroku!"

InuYasha just sat innocently between the two women, every so often shifting his eyes from each girl.

"Okay seriously, I never considered that possibility. Besides, this Shikon is technically already spoken for so if that owner wants to do freaky shit, by all means…" Kagome threw her hands up in defeat.

"So, what have you done with him?" Sango asked, slightly disappointed.

"I don't know what to do with him! I'm just supposed to note any glitches. His biggest fault is he isn't programmed for verbal communication. That was their biggest sales pitch." Kagome finished the rest of her drink and set it on the coffee table. She bit her lip and watch Sango perversely check out her product. "Wanna see something cool?" Kagome ran back to the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife. Sango stepped back and watched as Kagome lifted up InuYasha's shirt. Sango bit back a manly grunt of approval at the sight of the impeccable abs. Maintaining uncomfortable eye contact with Sango, Kagome lunged the knife into InuYasha's abdomen. InuYasha flinched but only slightly, looking more irritated than anything else. His expression was almost as puzzled as Sango's who coughed up some of her drink. Kagome withdrew the knife to display the blade dipped in crimson and returned the knife back to the skin next to the first wound.

"Kagome, what the fuck are you doing!"

"Synthetic blood!" Kagome said in a revealing tone. "That's not all, watch!" Kagome pointed at the wounds, her elbows resting on his lap and breasts unashamedly on his knees. They were equally mesmerized as a few minutes passed and the wounds began to heal. Setting aside her silliness, Sango grew worried. Something about this wasn't adding up.

"What's the name of your company you're working for?"

Kagome was a bit taken back by Sango's change in demeanor. "Shikon Corp, or something like that." Sango took a mental note, promising herself she would do research when she got home. She couldn't tame the uneasy feeling she felt. Technology was advanced, but to the point of replicating hemorrhaging? She looked straight into his eyes, hoping that's where the clear answer would be. They were close to soulless. "Oh, I forgot, he's pretty strong too. Watch!"

Kagome leaned back onto the ground and lifted her feet up in the air at 90 degrees.

"InuYasha." She commanded.

Sango watched as he broke the staring contest with her and focused on Kagome. He lifted himself off the couch and wrapped his fingers around her ankles and lifted her in the air, his arm hyperextending over his head. Sango didn't want to know how she discovered that.

"Kagome, I'll be honest with you, I don't have a good feeling about this whole thing. You don't think it's a little suspicious that he bleeds-that he isn't showing wires and circuit boards?"

"Yeah, it's weird, but I figured it was just like an expansion pack. I'm sure if I asked they would give me a blueprint of how they do it." Kagome motioned and InuYasha placed her gently back onto the ground.

"I don't know girl, this sounds fishy. How long do you have to keep it?"

"It's only for a month, I get my first stipend this Friday for his first evaluation."

Sango sighed, she wasn't used to Kagome being the naïve one in their college group. Sango had heard plenty of rumors of sketchy online ads about odd jobs and hoped Kagome didn't fall victim to one.

Next Update: 10/26/18 – I'm excited for chapter 5, so you should be too. ( •̀ω•́ )σ