Chapter 7

"Draw me again."

"Oh! Welcome back, Kagome! Hello Inuyasha!"

"Hi mom." The teenage miko replied softly, a frail smile on her lips. Silently, she slipped from her shoes and let her yellow backpack drag on the floor as her mother moved to give her a hug. They both pulled back with smiles to reassure each other, and, in spite of the moment, she hugged Inuyasha as well.

"What brings this pleasant little visit to us, hm?" She asked. Kagome's smile wavered. That wasn't something a mother was supposed to have to say. Not the still young mother of a sixteen year old girl. She should have her only daughter living with her at her home, happy and content as a normal family. Kagome couldn't wish such a thing. Not now that she had met Inuyasha.

"I always have time to stop by to see you, mama and keep up here." She tried to put the smile back on for her mother's sake. She knew the middle aged single mother of two had never been the same since Kagome had fallen through that well, and things had gotten even more complicated in the woman's head after Kagome's close call with fate. The moment she had first seen her baby's blood coated over her limp body and the frantic half demon that carried her, wrinkles of worry and age and restlessness had bore into her smooth skin. Kagome felt guilty for it all.

"What's cookin'?" The hanyou asked, having caught the scent of food being prepared almost even before they had arrived on the other side of the Bone Eater's well.

"Oh. Just some sushi. Nothing special." Mama told the hungry half demon as he moved out from behind her daughter with wide, hungry amber eyes.

Inuyasha gave a somewhat disapproving grunt. He stepped inside the small Japanese kitchen, eyes roaming the place for the food, even though, by the smell of it, it wasn't even done yet. By his appetite, it was hard to believe he still obtained the fit body he had.

"I'll call you two when it's done and you can have a nice hot meal."

She was always so happy, so cheerful to see her young daughter's return. The smile on her face was infectious, and the two couldn't help but grin in reply as they headed for the staircase. They made their way upward in silence, trying to avoid stirring Kagome's grandfather from his nap on the couch or Souta from his quiet play inside his room.

"Ok, ok." Kagome sighed, dropping her heavy backpack onto her pink bead spread. She bent a little, unzipping it quickly and pulling out a few of her dirty pieces of clothing.

"So what exactly is this party thing." Inuyasha asked almost suspiciously. He raised a thin brow at her, stepping around to the other side of the miko to look her in the face.

"You know. Party. Friends everywhere, music, dancing, games. Stuff like that." She answered.

He only grunted in reply, watching the movements of her frail hands as she pulled her things from her bag. Again, he asked himself why he had agreed to this. He wasn't a party guy. In fact, he had never been to one in his entire life. He stood outside the doorway of the little huts that hosted small parties back when he was a kid. He would listen to their laughter, the clinking of their little wooden cups, but never be allowed to join.

"That."

"Huh?"

"Lemme see that."

Clawed hands made a snatch for the thick art book that rested in Kagome's hands. She jerked it away just in time, a look of horror on her delicate features. She slid it quickly beneath her book bag, looking away as if pretending she didn't know what the hanyou was talking about.

"Stop hiding it, gimme." He demanded again, moving closer to Kagome so he could reach the book.

He came even closer when she flinched away, and he moved on hand to clasp her wrist, brushing her flesh softly. He leaned against her, pressing himself against her back. His other hand moved down her other arm, slowly, claws slipping unharmingly down her skin until he could feel the metal binding of the book underneath his fingers. Inuyasha hardly knew what he was doing anymore. He felt like he couldn't control himself from touching her, or being close to her, or seeing what was inside that book at least one last time.

He breathed against her ear, watched her eyes flutter, and her entire body give a pleasured shudder. He could feel her heart beating, and his own pounding inside his chest. His breath was coming short, his skin prickling with the flattery, the amazement that he was able to touch her without her turning away, or without his good sense kicking in to stop himself and walk away before something went wrong again.

In the blink of an eye, the half demon swiped the book from under the bag while the miko was stunned. For awhile afterwards, she could only slump there, blinking dramatically and breathing oddly. He did that on purpose. Kagome felt like she had been put under some kind of seduction spell.

His fingers flipped quickly through the pages, eyes moving over each one. He wanted to know if the drawings of him were still there, if she had drawn anything new. He hadn't mentioned it since he had found it, he suspected that she already knew he had seen the ink and penciled outlinings of himself.

"There's nothing new." She said out of no where, as if she had read his mind and answered any question he might have.

"Why." Inuyasha questioned quickly, like he had expected her to draw like a madman ever since.

"I don't know…I don't know what to draw."

Not know what to draw? How about them kissing. How about her almost falling off a building. How about Inuyasha fighting a kid from her school. How about him and her dressed up as Romeo and Juilet. How about Inuyasha defeating Sanraku. How about Miroku and Sango finally getting together. How about How about Kikyou hanging off a cliff. How about the lovely picnic and the return of Inuyasha's beads.

"Draw something."

"What?" Kagome stepped away from her bag, looking the hanyou dead in the eyes. He was serious. He was disappointed that he didn't get to see any new drawings by her. Personally, she didn't think they were that good. But he seem to take flattery in them.

"You heard me."

"But what?"

He paused, looking around, then back down to the art book in his hands.

"Me. Draw me again."

Kagome couldn't refuse. How could she stand there, staring at him, his perfect body, his handsome face, having the rest of the day to themselves, the party being tomorrow. How could she stand there and say no, she would not draw him. Slowly, the miko reached out to take the art book from his hands. She picked up a pencil, sighed, and plopped down onto her bed.

"Fine." She huffed, standing after a moment to move over to him and sit him down on the ground. She put her hands on his shoulders. She could feel the warmth of his skin underneath.

"What are you doing now, stupid. I thought you were going to draw." He asked cruelly.

"If I'm gonna draw, It has to be done my way. I'm positioning you, now keep quiet." She replied, tilting Inuyasha's head with one gentle hand.

Kagome touched his neck, ran her fingers down his arms, got his shoulders to look relaxed. She touched his legs, moved them, touched him until her heart beat so hard she could hear it pounding in her ears. She slowly ran her fingers through his silver hair, sweeping it over his shoulders. She tugged at the beads around his neck, repositioning them. She didn't pull back until the hanyou demanded for her to in one simple word: "Stop."

The miko stepped back slowly, casting her eyes away from his amber orbs of fire. His voice had wavered, pleading almost. She wondered silently what she had done wrong before she quickly moved back to the bed and picked up the art book again. The hanyou remained in the position she had set him, but he was breathing strange, heavily, so each time he breathed a hair would fall out of place, or he would move a little. Still, Kagome didn't dare return to him. She found she enjoyed doing that just a little too much.

His heart still hammered. What if she had kept going? He knew he couldn't have taken it very much longer. The feel of her skin, the sight of her lips in his reach. Oh no. He had to tell her to stop. Still, even though his cheeks flared red a bit, he couldn't look away from her as she sat down on the edge of her bed and picked up her pencil, and began to draw…