Author's Note: Here we are again. This is going to be an Inuyasha and Kagome piece, but we have yet to get there. The point of view will jump around quite a bit throughout this story as I get more and more into writing it. Sometimes it will base around Rin, other times the other main characters. All of this leads up to the main plot, which is a long way coming. But don't think that this isn't important. I'll do my best to keep it interesting!
Special thanks to KneeSan!
April, 2013

On the Rocks
Chapter Two: Mistaken
Ki Ai Sky

"Fuck!" he growled under his breath.

This was one of the worst days he'd had in a while. His car had gotten a flat tire on the way to work, and now not only was Sesshomaru being a bigger prick than usual, but he was dragging ass. He'd been scheduled for twenty-four hour shifts this whole month from four to four, and he didn't like this shit one bit. He'd work for a whole day and then have one off. Hard as he tried, he couldn't manage to sweet talk his way out of it. His head was pounding; he prayed it didn't become a migraine.

BEEP.

Inuyasha grabbed his pager and glanced at the message. He rolled his eyes, and started his brisk walk towards the emergency department. How he'd become a pediatric specialist, he wasn't exactly sure. Something about children just clicked with him. Maybe it was because he was slightly childish himself. Or maybe it was because he lacked the patience to deal with the absolute bullshit that came from adult mouths. Children saw him as Superman. He could do anything and was able to save the day, a real hero.

Sure, he tended to be crass, but that wasn't true when it came to his children. He would do anything for those pups. He wasn't a father figure, but he just couldn't seem to be able to say no to them. Perhaps that was how he'd come to be one of the best pediatric surgeons in the world.

He was willing to say yes to those that others turned away, to the lost causes. He performed risky surgeries left and right, and dammit some of them paid off. He'd managed to save numerous lives because he just couldn't bear to send them away. He'd lost just as many if not more, but that didn't dismay him in the slightest. He gave his damnedest for each and every kid.

He flung open the ER doors powerfully, sparing a glance at Kagura. The demoness tilted her head toward room nine, sneering at him all the while. Inuyasha could smell the strong scent blood and tears as he proceeded quickly. He frowned, ignoring the head nurse.

Walking through the open door, he took his first look at the little girl. Shoulder bite, severe bleeding, he observed robotically. Years upon years of schooling and practice and experience had drilled within him a ritual that he followed with each case. He scanned the dark haired woman in the pink scrubs. His impatience took over when he realized that the nurse attempting to clean her wound was new. He didn't have time for her to fuck around trying to figure shit out when he was trying to save the pup.

"Get the hell outta my way!" he snapped irritably, taking the bottle of saline from the startled dark-haired young woman. "Up, out," he pointed to her, and tilted his head to the door. He wasn't usually so blatantly rude, but he didn't have time to teach. These were his kids, and he was gonna keep them from continuing to be in pain. Fucking Kagura, he thought angrily. He knew she did this on purpose just to screw with him.

"Excuse me?" the nurse choked out, her bewilderment evident.

Inuyasha turned to address her, finally getting a view of her. She was quite pretty, he would admit. If he really was an asshole, he'd fuck her. Too bad he was for the most part, tied down with Kikyo, and he wasn't a cheating bastard. Dog demons were unbelievably loyal.

He bent close to her, so that the little girl wouldn't hear what he was going to say.

"I don't have time to train incompetent nurses, now get the hell out before I pick you up and throw you out the door on your ass," he said in a low voice with narrowed eyes before he turned his attention back to the girl. He needed to stop this bleeding or else her vitals would quickly start to drop. He could hear the woman's disgusted and angry snort as she stormed out.

Whatever, not like I care if she hates me.

"Hi sweetie, my name is Dr. Takahashi. I'm going to wash out your bite and fix you right up. Don't worry, we're going to take good care of you, okay?" he smiled kindly at her, hoping to get her to relax. He watched as her eyes lit up despite her pain and fear as they fell upon the delicate appendages on top of his head: his ears. Kids fawned over them; the adorable white-furred dog ears helped to distract the kids from their pain while he did his job.

He poured the saline over the wound quickly, the run-off liquid draining into a container. He used her preoccupation to his advantage, working quickly to take care of her injury. He treated it to prevent infection, noting that it was only a slight penetration of the muscle, no major arterial or venous damage. The bite didn't reach down to her bone, which would have been extremely painful. He could smell that the dog that bit her was not rabid, he nearly sighed with relief. These pups were his life, and he was grateful that this one didn't have it any worse than she did.

"Don't even think about it," he growled lightly, seeing the uninjured arm reaching for one of his ears. She pulled back her arm immediately as she giggled for being caught. "What's your name?" he asked as he worked.

He ripped open several packets of sterile gauze.

"Hannah," she whispered through her tears. He knew he needed to calm her down in order to gain her trust and treat her easily.

"Hannah, do you like doggies?" Inuyasha smiled, as he packed the gauze on the grievance. He internally laughed at his question. She better like dogs, he thought mentally rolling his golden eyes.

Okay this part I questioned when I read it- if she *just* got bit by a dog, it's not likely she's going to be so thrilled about strange dogs, or strange dog-demons who were mean.

Technically, Inuyasha being part dog and whole asshole when he came in that room should have the girl at least close to tears and shying away from him with apprehension. He walked into a friendly atmosphere and angrily forced the gentle face helping Hannah out, so she should need some reassurance before just readily allowing Mr. Angry Stranger Man to see her. I could understand overlooking that Inuyasha is half-dog demon, but kids react with fear more quickly than other emotions and so a child dog-bite victim would develop a fear of dogs until reassured otherwise.

She might have answered his question "Not anymore," "I did," "No" or even just looking away. That would have been a good opportunity for Inuyasha to show some compassion and say "Oh come on, not all dogs are bad, I bet you liked them before today."

I would have actually used this conversation to get her comfortable around Inuyasha after his outburst. It would clarify his claims that he's so good with children, understands them, understands the difference in how you treat children and adults, and show that he has some empathy for the girl (and for how he just kicked the nurse out in front of her). Maybe Inuyasha would see her reaction (holding a sheet up to her face, looking afraid and trying to hide), and go from there to reassure her. He would ask "Hannah, do you like doggies?" and she could say "Not anymore, they bite." Then he could reassure her by saying he won't bite her and that he's there to wash her up and fix her bite. After seeing her relax, but still keeping her eyes on his ears, he should twitch them around to make her smile. Then I think he should continue the conversation with her and clean her up, but after she tries to reach for her ears and he growls, I think she would react by retracting her hand and maybe widening her eyes? Then Inuyasha would grumble that she could pet just one and smile at her, making her giggle as she reaches up again. After that, she would immediately relax and start talking about her dog.

"I don't know anymore," the little girl sniffled. "The scary one bit me."

Inuyasha paused his ministrations, looking the little girl in the eyes with a soft expression. He pointed to his ears with one gloved finger.

"What do these look like?"

"Doggy ears," she whispered in response.

"That means that dogs have to listen to me. I'll tell 'em all they have to be nice to you, okay?"

"Will they really listen?"

"Of course they will; I'm a dog demon." Hannah smiled, having visibly relaxed. "I bet you have a doggy at home, right?" he could smell it on her.

If only Sesshomaru could hear him now. Sessh would have rung him up by his balls for insulting his heritage like this. Inu-youkai were one of the strongest, oldest types of demons around. Here he was, comparing them to house pets- to simple canines. Oh yeah, Sessh would have him puking poison.

"I do have a doggy at home! Her name's Nina!" she chatted merrily. Inuyasha knew he'd found her comfort zone. "She has ears like yours, and she likes to play with her squeaky ball!" The pup went on and on about her dog as Inuyasha removed the bloodied gauze. He'd cleaned the wound thoroughly, now he just needed to close it up.

"Hannah!" an older blonde haired woman cried as she entered the room. Mom, obviously, Inuyasha observed. The bleeding on the wound had not slowed. Damn, I'll have to stitch it, he decided. The mother grabbed her daughter and hugged her closely, careful of her wound. Inuyasha felt a twinge of wistfulness for his own mother as he watched the blonde duo embrace one another.

"I take it you're her mother?" Inuyasha asked to clarify, removing his sullied gloves.

"Yes," she said with tearful brown eyes. "June Tenoh," she held out her small hand, which Inuyasha grasped and shook it forcefully.

"I'm Dr. Inuyasha Takahashi, the pediatric specialist. Your daughter has a pretty nasty canine bite on her shoulder, for which I'm afraid that she will need a few stitches," he explained as easily as possible. "We will need to numb the wound, and then we can close up the lacerations so they heal quickly and without infection. Fortunately, the canine was not rabid, so she does not need to be treated for that."

Mrs. Tenoh nodded enthusiastically, understanding the general explanation he gave. She was obviously worried for her daughter.

"Does your daughter have any allergies?"

ON THE ROCKS

Roughly an hour and a half later, Inuyasha tore of his gloves and tossed them in the garbage. He rubbed his tired eyes with the heels of his hands. The pup and her mom would be on their way shortly, leaving with twelve stitches which were expertly applied. He yawned, checking his watch for the time.

Nap time, he concluded as he turned a tight corner towards the break room. He swiftly unlocked his locker and checked his cell phone. He had two missed calls and a text message from Kikyo, which read:

Call me back XO

He rolled his eyes, holding his phone up to his ear as it rang.

"Inuyashaaaaa," her soft voice whined. "It's about time you called me back."

"I'm at work, what do you expect?" Inuyasha growled with annoyance. Kikyo knew that he worked long hours, and that what he did was trying on his nerves, but she wasn't the most considerate of people (neither was he for that matter). However, she was drop dead gorgeous and they best lay he'd ever had.

"Honestly, who doesn't keep their cell phones on them these days? I swear what if something-"

"What's so fucking urgent?" he cut her off, not mentally ready to listen to her babble about 'what-ifs'.

"I can't make dinner tonight," Kikyo sounded disappointed. "Tsubaki and the other girls are networking tonight at one of the photographer's condo's. It might be a trunk show, but I don't know for sure. I really want to go to the shoot in Egypt in April, so I need to be there!"

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Inuyasha sighed. This was the third time this month she'd cancelled on him. At least it was always for something important. She did her best not to interfere with him and his work, he could return the favor. Modeling wasn't as easy as one would think; it actually required some intellect and people skills. Kikyo definitely wasn't dumb; she was an excellent manipulator and knew how to talk to people. Inuyasha was one to know, after all, that was how they got together.

"Love ya, Yash," he could practically hear her smile.

"Uh-huh, have fun."

Shoving his phone back into locker, he slammed it shut. He crawled into one of the beds which residents and attendants used. Closing his eyes, he yawned audibly and shifted to make himself comfortable.

ON THE ROCKS

"Hurry up, boys, or we'll be late," the deep voice commanded. He knew that he needed to get downstairs or else he would be in trouble. His father didn't like to be late for things, especially if it were due to his sons' dillydallying.

"I'm coming, Pops," the young boy called down as he quickly tied his shoes.

He excitedly threw himself out of his bedroom door, nearly shoving his older brother down the stairs. His brother was silent; his icy glare more than effective enough. He mumbled an apology.

The brothers followed their father to the car, huddled under the sole over-sized umbrella. The boys clambered into the backseat. Their father turned to face them.

"Buckle up. The roads are slick in the rain and I don't want anything to happen to either of you," the man smiled, rubbing his hands on his sons' heads. The two complied with their father's request, the belts clipping loudly.

"Pops, can we listen to the radio?" the youngest boy asked happily.

"In a minute, hold your horses," the father chuckled as he threw the vehicle into reverse and backed out of their long driveway.

He leaned forward, pressing one of the large buttons on the car stereo, the music play on low; one of their favorite songs was playing- Elvis.

"It's your mother's birthday tomorrow, so we need to think of what we're going to get her while at the stores, okay?" He turned on his turn signal as he reached the stop light, waiting for his turn to go.

"She's not my mother," the older son scowled at his father's reflection in the rear-view mirror. His brother's bitterness at his parent's divorce was obvious.

"She is my wife, and youwill respect her, or so help me…" the silver-haired man raised his voice. He wasn't easily angered, but this was one of his buttons.

-"You're like my morning sky with burning love."-

"I wanna get mommy something special," the six-year old boy chirped in.

"Something special it is," the man's golden eyes softened at the cheerful innocence of his youngest.

"She doesn't deserve anything special," the ten-year old boy pouted. The car lurched forward as the father turned.

"Sesshomaru!" He turned to glare at his son, golden eyes flaming.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

ON THE ROCKS

"Ahh!" Inuyasha awoke with a start. His heart was pounding in his chest violently; he was coated in a cold sweat. "Fuckin' nightmares," he growled.

He ran his claws through his long silver hair, scratching at his scalp. He'd been having those nightmares on and off ever since she died. She'd kept them away for a long time. He shook his head, trying to shake off his unhappy memories.

Stretching his arms, he glanced over at the clock. He still had a good twenty minutes before he needed to get up. If there had been anything that required his attention, his pager would have alerted him. He threw his arm over his face, trying to block out the rest of the world. How was he supposed to work properly with these nightmares plaguing him every other night?

He was just glad that he'd never woken Kikyo up with one. She would never let him ignore them and pretend they didn't happen. She would pester him for answers until he finally caved, and then she would probably nag him to see a shrink until he really was crazy.

I don't need to see a fucking shrink, he mentally hissed, squeezing his eyes shut. Something about psychologists and psychiatrists made him uncomfortable ever since the incident with Totosai when he was a teenager.

He groaned and forced himself out of bed. He ran his claws through his long silver hair again to try relieving some of his tension. It wasn't working. He rubbed his temples slowly. It seemed like nothing was going to be able to help him relax.

Time to find my bastard brother, Inuyasha decided as he stretched his arms over his head. When he found himself in an especially bad mood, nothing made him feel better than a verbal spat with Sesshomaru. Inuyasha and his half-brother had a very unorthodox relationship; he wouldn't be the first one to admit that. He couldn't say he hated the older man though, not after everything they'd been through together.

Strolling down one of the back hallways, he picked up on a very angry and loud voice. Luckily there were no patients in this part of the hospital, just labs and storage closets. Inuyasha's curiosity and boredom brought him to seek out the source of the commotion.

"Hey! I have a few things I would like to say to you!" the female voice shouted much closer this time.

"I'm talking to you!" she shouted even louder, obviously whoever she was angry with was ignoring her. And being ignored seemed to make her ever madder.

Don't blame 'em, I'd keep running too.

He turned the corner and observed a short dark haired woman in bright pink scrubs chasing after his brother.

"You have some nerve you know!" she spat angrily. "You shouldn't talk like that around children, first off. And second, I didn't do anything to you to deserve to be kicked out like that."

Ah shit, he realized who she was. The newbie nurse in the ER.

Inuyasha silently prayed for her, knowing Sesshomaru's rage would likely not permit her to see the light of the next day. Sesshomaru turned suddenly on his heel, the action so quick that the nurse didn't notice in time and ran straight into his chest. She backed up a few steps so that she could see his face. He was much taller and she needed the space for the angle.

"Listen, asswipe, I am not some piece of trash you can kick around," she struggled to regain her composure, growing angrier by the second.

Oh shit, Inuyasha watched intently. No one yelled at Sesshomaru, especially not some unskilled nurse. His brother's face was impassive, nothing showing. His eyes stared down at the woman, but they weren't particularly cold or enraged.

"I may be new, but I worked hard to get here!" she hissed. She poked his chest with her finger, trying to enforce her point.

"Miss-" the demon started, but was cut off by her continuous verbal assault. Sesshomaru wasn't likely to let her speak to him like that, especially since she was a human.

"You can go fuck yourself. I was only trying to help that girl, and you had no right to toss me out!"

Inuyasha then realized that she had the wrong guy. She was yelling at Sesshomaru, but really meant to yell at him. He cleared his throat rather audibly as he approached the duo was the young woman kept screaming.

She's right, he admitted to himself begrudgingly. I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. I'd better save her before he brings out the energy whips. I owe her that much.

Inuyasha wasn't a complete asshole; he just did what he wanted at the time and scarcely thought of the consequences.

"I believe you're yelling at the wrong guy," Inuyasha said with a smirk as he approached from behind her. To him, the situation was quite humorous. His brother and he shared many similar features such as their gleaming silver hair and golden hued eyes. It wasn't unheard of for strangers to confuse the two young doctors.

"What the hell do you-" The young woman turned, her eyes narrowed at the intruder. Her jaw dropped open and her brown eyes widened with obvious surprise, taking in the man's features.

"Strong family resemblance, eh?" he continued to smirk. "Hello, bastard," he greeted his older sibling with a terse nod.

"Half-breed," Sesshomaru's cold eyes glinted with his returned greeting of choice.

"Oh my-" the woman in the pink scrubs began, hands flying to cover her mouth. She was absolutely mortified.

"I prefer Dr. Takahashi around here, but you can call me Inuyasha," he grinned with a wink.

"But you- he-" she floundered, looking from one man to the other.

"Beginner's mistake, I'm sure my asshole brother here won't hold it against you for too long. But me, on the other hand, I'm insulted," he frowned playfully. "I'm clearly much better looking, and it hurts that you could get us confused."

"Leave, pup," Sesshomaru's cold eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Why would I leave? This seems to be the fun part of the hospital. Can't sleep anyways, this chick's screaming so loud I can hear it through the walls," the half-demon brushed off his brother's dismissal.

"You!" the young woman's anger resurfacing with renewed vehemence. "This is all your fucking fault! Why are you ruining my life?" she hissed, pointing a polished finger in his face. Her face was bright red, anger mixed with outright embarrassment.

"What? My fault-" Inuyasha began, eyebrows raised high into his bangs.

The nurse went to turn all of her anger towards Inuyasha, but Sesshomaru stepped directly between them, facing the nurse.

"Leave us, Inuyasha," his older brother looked over his shoulder at him. The full-demon's eyes flashed red, signaling that he was serious. Inuyasha knew not to fuck with his brother when that happened.

He'd learned that lesson a long time ago, the first time he'd seen Sesshomaru transform into his canine form when he was thirteen. Inuyasha had pushed him too far then and hadn't dared try again since. Especially not after they'd been through together.

"Right…" he mumbled confusedly. He didn't get what his brother was doing. It was his fault that the poor nurse had mistakenly taken her wrath out on Sesshomaru, so why wasn't the older man letting Inuyasha clear the whole mess up?

"What are you doing?!" the young nurse shrieked, which caused Inuyasha's ears to press against his head tightly.

"My insolent half-breed brother will no longer cause you any further trouble, Miss…"

"Rin Inoue," the dark-haired young woman eyed him warily.

"Miss Inoue," Sesshomaru said with a smile.

In his entire twenty-seven years of life, Inuyasha had only seen his brother smile a handful of times. And not once had been directed at a woman- a human woman nonetheless!

Sesshomaru had never expressed a direct interest in women. Inuyasha often jibed with his suspicions that he was gay. Inuyasha of course knew his half-brother was not gay; he'd had numerous intimate experiences with some very well-ranking demonesses, but never once a relationship.

Inuyasha slowly backed up, ears perked as he listened closely for their conversation.

"Please don't let the whelp ruin your experience at our hospital. I'm sure that you will come to enjoy it," the silver haired man spoke suavely.

What the fuck?Inuyasha was truly baffled at his brother's behavior. Is he fucking flirting with her?

"I'll try to keep that in mind," she blushed back. "I'm so sorry for the confusion, and everything I'd said. It was supposed to be directed at him."

And the bitch is flirting back? Has hell frozen over?

This really didn't make any sense to the half-demon. Yeah, Sesshomaru wasn't bad looking- a little girly in his opinion- but why would they be flirting after the chick had just been screaming at him over something he didn't do.

Inuyasha kept watching as the distance between himself and the two increased.

Sesshomaru placed his hand on the small Rin's back, as if to lead her away. His brother leaned in to whisper something so Inuyasha couldn't eavesdrop. The older man's nose barely touched the tip of her dainty ear. She visibly shivered; had he been close enough to smell, he swore he would have been able to smell her arousal.

Thank god he wasn't. This whole situation was entirely too fucked up for his liking. His brother never acted like this. Inuyasha frowned, furrowing his brow with annoyance. His brother led the human nurse away, turning down another hallway so that they couldn't be watched any further.

"What the fuck?" Inuyasha asked himself. This really wasn't his day.

A/N: The Inu/Kag romance will be the main part of this story, don't get me wrong. I just have to get there first. I understand that Sesshomaru is acting partly OOC, but this is on purpose. Rin will tend to bring out a different side in him, which will be explained at a later time.

Next: Mouthwatering