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The Breakup

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Kagome sighed as she crawled into bed. She had been all ready to jump straight through the well the second she got home when she tripped over the human Inuyasha with his knees curled up tightly against his chest just inside the well house door. By the time she managed to pry what happened out of him and made to storm inside, her angry tirade was cut short when she saw her mother sitting in the kitchen...seemingly waiting for her as she merely pushed a few pieces of paper towards her...a police report already filed, a formal complaint already sent and...and a petition to withdraw from school which he apparently had refused to sign. So much for heading to the feudal era anytime soon. She was going to be there for at least the next few classes and sessions. Jewel shards and her own school work be damned. As she huffed and settled more comfortably under the sheets, a soft knock at the door and his timid voice reached her ears.

"Kagome?" he whispered quietly, "You awake?"

"Yeah," the miko whispered back as she sat up abruptly and made to get up, "What's going on? You alright?"

"No, no I'm fine. I just…uh, could I sleep by your bed…like, like I used to?" he asked timidly as he stared longingly at the space he so often occupied before. Kagome nodded and smiled at the look of pure relief that washed over his features as he quickly moved across her room and plopped down, leaning the back of his head against her bed as he sighed.

"That's never looked comfortable," Kagome snorted as she propped herself up on her elbow and peered down at him, "but I've never really seen you sleep any other way to be honest."

"I'm used to it," Inuyasha mumbled as he adjusted himself a little. Kagome frowned and lay her back down on the pillow, "But you've been sleeping fine on the pull out couch, haven't you?"

"Yeah…" he mumbled quietly, "But…I just…I feel safer when I sleep like this is all."

"Safer," Kagome repeated quietly, her eyes turning unfathomably sad as she stared idly at the back of his head before reaching out to touch his hair - withdrawing her hand like it burned when he flinched involuntarily when her fingertips made contact. Sighing, Kagome sat up and scooted against the wall as she held up the covers, "Do you...do you want to sleep up here with me? Mama wouldn't mind."

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha chewed the inside of his cheek and blushed. He knew what she was trying to do and while he didn't want pity, he couldn't deny that he really would feel safer in her arms. Slowly, he got to his feet and slowly maneuvered into bed beside her, relishing when she gently pulled his head onto her shoulder and rubbed his back soothingly. In no time, the tension in his muscles relaxed and he breathed a soft sigh of relief as sleep overcame him.

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Inuyasha woke a few hours before Kagome but was content to merely lie there in her embrace. Gently, so as not to wake her, he buried his nose in the crook of her neck and tried to inhale her natural scent - something that he'd turned to time and time again to find comfort only to remember with a wave of disappointment and remorse that his nose just wasn't as sensitive anymore. Oh, he could smell the soap she used and her freshly shampooed hair but her scent...her natural scent...wasn't something his human nose could pick up. For a brief moment, he desperately, desperately wanted to become his old self again if only to smell that scent once more.