Shrine Prostitute by FlameTwirler

Chapter 3: Intuition – Fight or Flight
- direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.
- pure, untaught, noninferential knowledge; instinctive knowledge or belief

Inuyasha woke to the sound of the hinges on his door creaking open.

Though the Bacana Shrine's designers had tried to keep more in theme with the feudal motif, it was found that for multiple reasons a heavier material for the doors and walls was preferable. Namely, it allowed less sound to be carried. In a building with the purposes of this one, that was quite an advantage. (Excepting the singular hall for those who leaned toward the exhibitionistic and voyeuristic; there the traditional rice paper doors led to each room.)

Of course, since Inuyasha had come to reside in this particular room the doors had been double insulated: one of the many 'perks' for the particular type of clientele he serviced here, in addition to such things as the bare trappings and the shackles on each post of the bed.

Grumbling as he raised his head, Inuyasha had just enough time to focus his eyes on the figure in the doorway. Features became clear and he realized the woman – Kagome – was raising a hand in an awkward farewell before she exited and closed the door behind her.

Damn, he thought, rubbing a hand tiredly across his face. "Kuso!"

Rolling onto his back he groaned inwardly. He couldn't believe he'd actually fallen asleep. He never fell asleep with women, but that one stupid ningen girl had just made him so comfortable! So much so he'd fallen into a deeper sleep than he had in ages, enough so that he didn't rouse when she slunk out of his arms that morning.

He didn't have the chance to thank her, or come as close as he could to thanking anybody. He didn't get to ask her to come again one more time in her month here so that he'd get to try any of the delicious things that came to mind when thinking about her delectable body. He didn't get to say…well...anything.

Growling, he glanced at the clock and saw it was only 9 a.m.

Normally he'd just be going to bed, but since he'd slept so much during her first night… Inuyasha swore and threw his pillow at the clock.

He still had the rest of the day to stew in his stupidity.

He was not in the best of moods when his shift started that evening. Not only was he still mad at himself, and now her for having the audacity to sneak out on him, but he was going to have to deal with whatever nutcase they saddled him with whenever his next appointment came up.

The food on his plate was getting cold as he mindlessly pushed it around with his claw.

At least he didn't have an appointment set tonight. That was the one and only benefit of having to service the whackos, was that thankfully they weren't as common. He would often go for a couple days or even a week without a customer.

Then of course fate would laugh at him and he'd get some twisted psycho on his back for five nights in a row. Still, at least he usually got a couple days for recovery time until the next one showed up.

However, today seemed to be one of those days that he was a blow-up punching bag for one of the incredibly fickle kami. He tried not to snarl as he saw Kazuma barreling down on him, no doubt bearing wonderful news.

"Got a last minute addition for you, Inu." Damn, but the man knew he hated that nickname.

Kazuma repressed a chuckle at the heated glare he got in return. "I think you'll like this one though. She's…perky."

Perky? Inuyasha wondered. Who knew what that could mean when coming from the likes of someone like Kazuma. "What time?" he groused.

"Oh, in about…" he glanced at his watch, "15 minutes."

"Of course it is. Wouldn't want to give me time to get ready now, would we?" Inuyasha didn't wait for a reply as he chucked his tray into the cleaning line then stalked off for his room.

Things were not looking up.

There hadn't been anyone on his roster when he checked this morning, and most of his clientele made appointments in advance to make sure he was free. After all, if he wasn't then they had to go with someone else with more complete rights and couldn't be guaranteed their free and full amount of 'fun'.

As such, he'd spent his entire day sulking and hadn't even bothered to change his sheets yet, let alone do any other kind of cleaning required.

Still thrashing around his room, throwing open the closet door to grab a fresh change of bed clothes, he let loose a growl when he heard the knock on the door.

"Come in!" he snapped, yelling loud enough that the insulation didn't matter, not really caring if he offended the person on the other side.

Cursing his profession for the umpteenth time that week, he steeled himself against the humiliation of doing his own housekeeping in front of his new customer. Letting the sheet fall down in place and stuffing the dirty ones in the closet he turned to face the woman (at least, he hoped it was a woman) he'd been so fastidiously ignoring.

He came to a half mid-step and his jaw dropped when he saw who was standing there. "Ka- Kagome?" he asked, a combination of confusion and suspicion lacing his voice.

"Uh yeah it's me, hi again." She smiled brightly up at him, her embarrassment tingeing her cheeks ever so slightly. "I don't know if this is normal at all or anything, but I figured last night was fine and I know you now – well, kind of – so I don't have to get familiar with someone else all over again when I'm still not really used to doing this. I hope you don't mind? I mean…"

Yup, this was definitely Kagome alright. Between the stupid notions she had about what the Tetsudai workers would mind and the way she babbled when she was nervous (or so he guessed, technically he supposed he'd never seen her when she wasn't nervous) there was no mistaking it, even only knowing her after a night.

Inuyasha smirked inwardly as he started to tune her out. He was sure she was just rambling the same inane stuff anyhow about those odd ideas she had; he wondered how long it would take for her to catch on to the way things worked around there. Part of him wanted to take pleasure in being the one to chase those ideas away, but even then he wondered if part of her would stay blissfully naïve and innocent anyhow.

By now he'd finished cleaning and snapped back to the situation in front of him due to the fact that Kagome had finished her speech he tried to look like he'd followed everything. Locking his eyes on her face he sat on his bed and patted his left hand on the sheet.

Kagome took a small step forward before she knew it. Only once she felt her foot touch down did she realize what she was doing, shaking herself from the trance Inuyasha's gaze had put her in. Mentally, she groaned. He must think I want to get right down to it after only one time! Does he really think I'm that easy? Then she wondered, Is that even a bad thing in this place? She hesitated in her steps while her eyes flickered between Inuyasha's hand and his face.

He, however, was losing his patience. He wanted her, and he wanted her now, damn it! Reigning in on his thoughts he patted the bed again, a bit harsher this time.

She closed the door behind her with a soft click and took a single small step forward. What would he think of her coming back like this? Kagome felt like she was breaching some unwritten protocol by being there and she grimaced slightly as she felt her face warm from her flush. Frustrated by how much she must be coming across as a frightened school girl, she pasted a smile on her face and looked in his direction, though she still refrained from making eye contact. She just knew her embarrassment would overload if she did that right now.

For his part, Inuyasha was having trouble believing that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Since when did anybody not severely messed up in the head come to him a second night? Did she have any idea what it meant to have her standing in front of him again? It was the same as saying, Hey, you were a really good lay, wanna go again? The thought of those words coming out of her mouth had the simultaneous reaction of making him want to laugh at the chance of that happening, and the sheer arousal that spread all through his body at the desire that it would. But since he knew what it meant, who was he to disappoint?

"Kagome." Inuyasha's voice broke the stillness in the room and seemed to knock Kagome from her fidgeting trance.

"Um, yeah, hi." Her right hand left her shirt hem to do a little mock wave. She caught what she was doing a bit too late and inwardly groaned. Act a little more childish, can we? This thought gave her the boost to finally look him in the face and address why she was there.

Catching his eyes she started off as forcefully as she could, "Okay, so I'm here a second night. I figured that since I already knew you and you already knew that I was a virgin until last night that it might be easier to just come back here. That makes sense, doesn't it?" She nodded slightly at her own logic, not looking for a response from him. "So it's fine that I came back here, right? I mean, I won't break any rules by being here a second night?"

Inuyasha chuckled. He'd never seen anyone so embarrassed, but damn if it didn't make her even cuter. "Of course not. There's nothing wrong with being here a second night," he told her. "Nothing wrong with a third or fourth either…" he added under his breath.

Kagome slanted a suspicious glance at him. "What was that?"

"Keh, nothing," he said, folding his arms over his chest. Damn woman wasn't supposed to actually hear that, well not unless she was already planning on coming those consecutive nights…Inuyasha caught himself before his mind could trail after those thoughts.

"The way I see it," he continued, "the only thing wrong with this situation is that you're over by the door, and wearing way too much." To emphasize his point he lowered his crossed arms and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, yanking it over his head and depositing it at the foot of the bed. One hand swiping a few strands of hair from his face he used the other to pat the bed next to him. "Coming?" he queried.

Kagome flushed all over and she could actually feel the heat rising from her skin. She could only imagine how red she looked.

Wow, that's quite the look you're going for. Ovenripe tomato is it? Oh no dear, that would be scandalous indeed. This look is sunripened tomato. Much more distinguished, don't you agree?

Kagome grimaced for what must be the third time in as many minutes. It didn't matter what kind of tomato she was, neither was going to win her any awards for being attractive. Red skin tone is not something you typically see on a guy's "want" list.

She mentally shook herself. What was she so worried for anyhow? She was a newbie at this; she'd be more shocked if she wasn't embarrassed. He was the professional here. It was therefore all his fault that she was discomfited because he should have had more tact like he had the night before instead of forcing her to essentially…in her mind…throw herself at him, and now he…he is currently staring at my chest.

Inuyasha didn't even notice where his gaze had wandered until he heard her instinctive gasp. He hadn't meant to, it's just when she got that fierce flush he found himself wondering how far it extended, whether it stopped at her neck, or if it trailed down from there over her collarbone and…and that's when his gaze got snagged. He could sense the heat radiating off her in waves and wondered what it'd be like to feel that flushed heat under his fingers…beneath his lips.

Kagome huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you staring at, you pervert!" She really wished she had something to throw at him, but she didn't think that taking off the shrine issued house shoes and lobbing one at him would go over too well.

Inuyasha reeled defensive for all of two seconds before launching his counter attack. "What's the problem with looking!? It's not like it's anything I haven't seen before." This comment found him on the receiving end of a shoe.

One dumb-founded hanyou later, an exasperated Kagome was vehemently trying to not pull out all her hair. "What the hell did you do that for?" yelled an increasingly annoyed Inuyasha.

"That's what you get for being a hentai!" Forgetting her fear in her anger, Kagome tramped toward him. "No one ever gave you permission to stare. It's embarrassing!"

"Who said I needed rights? You're the one who came here. Doesn't that give me all the 'permission' I need?" Inuyasha smirked, feeling he'd gained the upper hand by effectively throwing all responsibility on her. He shouldn't have to be yelled at about being appreciative, now, should he?

What he hadn't counted on, however, was doing his job too well. Kagome thrived on her inherent 'fight or flight' drive, and now that he'd just taken all the fight out of her she only had one option left. Therefore, before she could further impress him with her rave rendition of a gaping trout, she stalked up to him, grabbed her shoe from his hand, turned, and strode for the door. She managed to grunt out "You jerk," before pulling the door open.

Inuyasha winced and turned to face the wall. He didn't want to see her walk out. And why was she leaving? Just because he was a stupid lout who couldn't admit he was excited to see her. Yes, excited. After all, how often did he have gorgeous young women come make love to him without simultaneously trying to rip his balls off? Fine, maybe a slight exaggeration, he conceded, but it sure felt like it sometimes. At the very least bleed him dry.

Still, he'd hoped she'd be here tonight, knowing there was no possibility of it happening, and then it did! And what did he do? He made the brilliant move of opening his mouth! What he wouldn't do to take it back and do it over again, not give her any time to argue, just sweep her up and lay her out on his bed and have his way with her, taking her breath so quickly she wouldn't have any to spare for this senseless squabbling, making her into a boneless heap of sensation that left her brain incapable of registering any embarrassment.

The click of the door made him flatten his ears to his skull and cut off his line of thinking. There was no point in wasting time thinking about things that wouldn't happen…like glorious hours spent in bed, teaching her all the tricks he'd saved up for someone who would let him do as he wished, someone who would actually appreciate the endeavor…Like pondering how he'd love to run his tongue up the taut line of her-fidgeting fingers?

His ears perked at the sound of shuffling coming from behind him. Now he was actually hearing things? Please don't let this be a trick. I'm already close enough to insanity as it is – no need to go throwing hallucinations into the mix. Please don't let this be a trick. Keeping his face as calm and unexpectant as possible he turned to face the door. And her.

She was looking everywhere but at him, her fingers turning pretzels around each other. He couldn't do more than dumb-foundedly stare at her. She was really here? After what he'd said? Man, she must be stupid. Or desperate. Or the most selfless person he'd ever meet.

"You're here," he managed to sputter out, once his mouth finally decided to obey his brain.

Kagome looked up at him sheepishly, stubbornly refusing to lose eye contact this time, no matter how embarrassed she was or how bad his mouth was. At least while he's talking…She had the grace to blush at her last thought.

"I'm already here, so I suppose I may as well stay. I had so much trouble picking someone the first time – I already told you so many of the guys here feel creepy to me. I don't want to bother tonight trying to pick another when it's already so late. Sleep is a good thing, you know?" She knew she was probably over-explaining herself, giving her words even more of a feel of an excuse but she'd never had a good reign on her tongue.

"Not," she quickly amended, "that I plan on getting much sleep tonight, I guess," Kagome eyed him warily, "but sleep is preferable to going through that enormous book again with photo after photo that doesn't really tell me a thing about a guy."

She groused inwardly as she saw a small smirk steal across the face of the still shirtless hanyou who was currently lounging quite contentedly across his bed. Her groan, however, quickly turned to fuming. Here she was, explaining her presence to a guy who'd all but chased her out of his room with his words. She tried to leave only to be lured back, as she was sure he must think it, by his amazing presence and abilities. Grrr! She could almost tear her hair out at her stupidity by playing to his ego. Not that he even needed it! By her way of thinking, all men had egos entirely too large for their heads. Maybe that's why they had to have two – to make some extra room. Kagome quickly covered a snigger at the thought. Sure, two months ago the thought wouldn't have popped into her head so easily but all the innuendo from her friends had to rub off on her at least a little bit.

Anyhow, two could play at this game. Maybe she could still salvage a scrap of her dignity. "After all, we got along well last night so I figure I can just go look at the book tomorrow and we can play nice tonight. As long as you don't talk so much. Or stare."

She sighed at her seeming love of giving account for herself. "Besides, I've already paid good money for tonight, and since I don't plan on wasting it we may as well go ahead with…it." Kagome gestured sweepingly in the direction of the bed, smiling demurely.

Her smile faltered though when she noticed Inuyasha wasn't playing along with her compromise. She figured she'd make up some silly excuse for still being there, he'd pretend it wasn't as stupid as it surely was, and things would pick up from where they'd left off at the beginning of the night. However, if the icy glare was anything to gauge by, she'd misjudged. Grossly.

"So it's all about the money, eh? Keh, should've known." Inuyasha eyed her contemptuously, raking his eyes over her as if looking at an entirely new person. "That's always how it is. And so what? So you've paid for my 'services.' If you don't want to be here you're not required to be. Unlike me, you can leave whenever the hell you want, so quit bellyaching about it. You already brought up your beloved book, so I'm sure you're familiar enough with it to have a head start on tonight. You might not get a full refund if you're having to switch to someone else so last minute, but what should that matter to someone like you."

Kagome stared at him gape mouthed – in absolute disbelief of what he'd just said. "That's what you think this is about?" Hands clenched at her sides, her fists started to shake. "You think this is about MONEY!?

"You honestly think I'm some spoilt little rich girl who came to ease her boredom by playing around here for a month?" Inuyasha's silence revealed she'd nailed his new picture of her with perfection. "How in the world could you think that?!"

Guessing by the angry red flush burning across Kagome's face, Inuyasha was coming to realize he'd definitely said the wrong thing.

"If I was so fabulously wealthy, then why on earth would I come to a shrine to send my prayers to the goddess of wealth?"

Inuyasha was surprised. She actually took the worship part seriously? That was novel. Not many of the lovely people he met were here for such noble purposes. But then again, hadn't she said the night before that she herself was from a shrine or something like that?

As if on cue, Kagome launched her tirade.

"My family and I work hard to support ourselves, but even still our shrine is going under. The original plan was for me to come for a week when I turned 21, but we're in a desperate enough state that it had to be pushed up to as soon as possible and also extended as long as possible." It burned her to no end that his insult had been enough to even bypass her pride. She couldn't believe she was actually telling him all about her family's financial troubles! Still, she would show him how wrongly he'd judged. He deserved it, her family deserved it, she deserved it.

"We all scrimped and saved to get me the money to be here – and I will not waste my family's efforts just because I'm uncomfortable. And the fact you could really think that I'm playing around here…!"

She clenched her teeth together as she stifled a scream. "So what we talked about last night, and even tonight, doesn't mean anything? Do you honestly think," she uncharacteristically sneered at the thought, "that I would actually choose to lose my virginity to a complete stranger? I would much have preferred it to be with someone I love and who loved me back, but the longer I live the more I'm learning that romanticized notions don't have much power in the 'real' world: there's too much working against them. Things like supporting my family are more important – no matter how scant the hope might be of these prayers being heard.

"I may be crazy for even telling you this," she continued, "but I am honestly the only person I know who wouldn't jump at the chance to come here. Maybe that's what you're used to – but so what? That is not who I am and right now I don't really care how weird you think I am for being like this.

"And after you knew how uncomfortable I was last night and even tonight – you still think that?" She screamed at him, "You pompous jerk!"

Kagome had been moving continually closer to him while venting her anger but was still an arms length away from him. She was disappointed she wasn't close enough to slap him but didn't care to get any closer to the idiot at the moment.

Inuyasha eyed her flexing right hand and was suddenly glad for that same distance between them. He didn't particularly want to get hit tonight if he could help it.

Kagome stilled and straightened. "I think, however, in this situation my family would be accepting of the loss, since I'm not only uncomfortable but also insulted. I'll take your advice and go look for a replacement now."

Inuyasha glared at her. If she wanted to talk insult then he'd had plenty also, but he'd had to bear it without complaining. Sure, maybe he'd stepped over the line – maybe, mind you – but at least she could still leave when the situation became too much for her. She wasn't getting any sympathy from him.

"I'd like to say I'm sorry for wasting your time, but really I'm not; I wish more that you hadn't wasted mine. But I'm sorry I came here tonight. I should have left well enough alone and stayed away after last night so that I could at least remember my first time as being with someone who, even though he appeared tough and rude, was surprisingly kind to me and careful once he knew why I was so nervous."

Her expression turned sad and wistful. "I don't know if you made up the stories you told me last night for my benefit or not, but thank you for last night." Her face turned hard again, hurt and anger shining in her eyes.

"But don't ever insult me or my family and their sacrifice again you jerk. Goodbye," she said, turning on her heel, "and I hope to never see you again."

As she stormed toward the door Inuyasha tried to calm the whirlwind swirling in his head. So what if she took offense to what he said? It's not like it wasn't a valid question, what with the lot of people he normally dealt with. Just because she didn't happen to fall in that same category didn't mean he should have known all of that up front. Besides, life was offensive and everyone just had to learn how to deal with it. There was nothing to help shield any of the blows, unfortunately, even if Kagome – that girl, he corrected – was still naïve enough to think people should still assume the best about each other instead of the worst.

One thing he did know though, she wouldn't actually walk out of this room. If she couldn't leave the first time, then why would she now? Any second now she'd pause and turn, looking up at him sheepishly with those large brown eyes…

Then he'd capitulate. He'd be disgusted that she'd clanged the symbol of hurt pride and then turned against it in order to save money or get a good lay, or whatever reason she used to justify her stay, but he'd keep that on the inside. You couldn't be in this profession long without learning to cover what you really thought of a patron. The ones he normally dealt with were below scum in his opinion, but he was careful to never show it. Can't go upsetting the sadistic client now can we?, he spat.

Apparently even 'nice' girls were the same. Give them power over someone and they'll lord it over him. He had as of yet to meet a single female in his life – aside from his mother – who knew the meaning of the word honor. To actually have and display honor was something he considered next to impossible for a female of any race and he was sure this one was about to prove him right. Again.

The doorknob clicked, and when he heard Kagome muttering something under her breath about annoying, white-haired jerks, he knew she was actually going to walk out and leave the room. Leave him. He moved before he could even think about it.

Kagome startled when Inuyasha's right hand slammed on the door in front of her face, pushing it closed with a 'click'. Her gasp, however, was due much more to the arm that snaked around her waist, pulling her back against a hot, hard body, and the lips that simultaneously latched onto the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Who said I wanted you to leave?" he murmured, moving up to kiss behind her left ear.

Kagome remained stiff in his arms, not quite sure what was going on. "I thought you did."

"Well you thought wrong," he informed her. Just for good measure he added, "Keh, stupid woman."

He moved down her neck to her shoulder, wet, open-mouthed kisses leaving Kagome trembling as she was still caught between confusion, anger, and desire, though his lips were quickly erasing the first two. With one hand on the door and the other wrapped around her stomach Inuyasha hadn't been able to pull her hair out of his way, and as such errant strands of hair were caught in his kisses, beneath his tongue, rasping against her newly sensitized skin. Making his way to her shoulder and pressing as far as the material of her shirt would allow, Inuyasha wanted to rectify the hair situation; but something else had to be addressed first.

"I don't want you to go," he breathed against her wet skin, sending shivers down her back. "Stay," he said, the slightest lilt to the word indicating it was more a request than a command.

The kisses he'd been raining on her had more than changed her mind already about leaving. Even if her mind had been in the same state her body sure wasn't; she was not quite sure her legs would even support her enough to walk out of the room if he wasn't holding her up against him. "Yes," she sighed out, smiling delightedly when she saw his hand snib the lock on the door then move to her right shoulder.

He didn't spin her around to face him as she'd expected but he stayed plastered against her back and turned them both together away from the door. "Now, we'll finally get to the place I tried to get you at the very beginning of the night before you got all squeamish on me."

She was tempted to bring up his own flaws in the past few minutes but decided she would be oh so magnanimous and overlook it – this once. Then she blinked as something occurred to her.

"Why do you have a bed instead of a futon?" she asked as he directed her onto the raised surface and then climbed on and knelt down next to her.

"Some here have beds, some futons. It depends on what suits their tastes and purposes."

"And a bed better suits your tastes and purposes?" Kagome tilted her head to a curious angle.

"Keh, not my tastes, but it does suit the purpose better." He almost spat at the word.

"What purpose would that be?"

Inuyasha nodded toward the manacles at the head of the bed. They blended in pretty well to the bed and the wall, but she still couldn't believe she hadn't noticed them last night, or even this night while they'd been arguing. Granted, she'd probably been more concerned with her own anxiety and nervousness, but still… Glancing around she noticed a pair at the foot of the bed too.

Eyes open wide Kagome was almost afraid of the answer before she asked the question. "What are those for?"

He frowned at the question. "You dense? What else would these be for? I told you last night I'm the whipping boy. These are here for those who get their shits and giggles from using dominating and dominatrix in a whole new sense of the word and get off from seeing pain and blood. They can't bring their own cuffs because the wimpy ones made most places wouldn't be enough to hold me. These had to be special made to withstand the strength of a hanyou without breaking or damaging the structural integrity of the wall and building."

She stared at him, mouth agape. "You mean people actually use these?" He nodded. "On You?!" she shrieked incredulously. He nodded again. "Why you?! I mean, there has to be some guy out there who actually gets off on that stuff too, right? You obviously hate it, so why does it have to be you?!"

He was amazed to see sparkles in her eyes of what could be the beginning of tears, especially considering how at odds they'd been with each other only minutes before. "There are some guys who like it, but these women take it to the extreme. The things they do would seriously maim or even kill a human male so they've gotta choose someone who can take more and heal better, right? There ain't many demons who stick around here for long, and when they do it's either for just a bit of fun or because they're looking for a possible mate. They're almost never stuck here for the same reasons some humans are, what with being hard up for money, since a demon can get pretty much any manual labor position he could want, not to mention many other jobs.

"And then here I am, a filthy half-breed with no rights. What more could they ask for, eh?"

During his angry tirade Inuyasha had been glaring at the door, as if his stare could pierce any amount of unseen people who'd had a hand in his ending up at the Shrine or his maltreatment while there. As he glanced up at Kagome he immediately regretted the running of his mouth as he saw a single tear sliding down her cheek.

His anger immediately turned to resentment and embarrassment coupled with something else he didn't quite understand and he lashed out. "Stop that!" he yelled, not sure how to handle her reaction. "Don't you dare pity me! I'm making a life for myself and I'm surviving, which is much more than I can say for most other hanyou out there. I'm strong enough to deal with this or any other shit life throws my way so you can just stop your crying!"

Kagome ignored his outburst and leaned forward to wrap her arms around him. He immediately stiffened at the touch that conveyed an entirely different kind of intimacy, but his squirming stilled when she pressed her lips to his forehead in a gentle kiss. She pulled back to look at him, saying "You have to be one of the strongest people I've ever met." She kissed his temple, then his eye, then his nose, safely skipping over his mouth to kiss his chin. Nudging his head up with hers, she kissed the soft skin right underneath his chin and continued down his neck.

It didn't take Inuyasha long to get back into the swing of things, and by the time she'd gotten down to the hollow at the base of his throat he had grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her more upright. She cocked a brow at the mischievous twinkle she saw in his eye, but also astutely noting the need to turn the mood she decided to play along.

He buried his face against her skin and she felt him smirk against her shoulder. "So how much do you care about this shirt?"

"Not much," she replied honestly. Her mom had warned her before she came to not bother wearing any clothing she had any great deal of attachment to. She still wasn't sure why, but she was sure she was about to find out.

"Good," he growled, just as he slipped his right hand under the collar of her shirt and used his claws to shred the material. Sometimes he loved being part youkai – it made certain things so much quicker.

Kagome woke in the morning, smiling at the feeling of a heavy, warm arm wrapped around her stomach. This is something I could definitely get used t-

Sitting up suddenly she abruptly cut off that thought, knowing it was the last thing she should be thinking, especially with a prostitute. It was just the warmth, yeah, that's it. And the comfort of having someone in bed. That was all. It just felt good to have a man, any man – well hanyou – there.

She glanced down at her companion, glad to see he'd slept through her recriminating thoughts. I swear, the guy acts like he can read my face or something! Well, at least when he's not determined to misunderstand me. Huffily she threw the arm off her and lifted her own over her head to stretch, only to wince half-way up at the soreness of her left shoulder. Remembering what had caused at least some of that tenderness, notably a certain special attention from said hanyou's lips and teeth, she flushed slightly. I wonder how bad it looks.

That's the problem with things on your back – or in this case, shoulder. You can actually see how bad it looks, at least not while looking ridiculous while trying.

That didn't stop Kagome though. She sat up as straight as she could, pulled her hair over her right shoulder, then put her right hand on her left shoulder to pull it as far forward as she could. Craning her neck while simultaneously trying to not lose her balance and tip over proved to be a harder feat than she'd imagined, but she was just beginning to see a few splotches of purple and red when she felt Inuyasha kiss her hand.

"Yaaaaaaahhah!" she screamed, turning around quickly enough to entangle her in the sheets and make it a bid harder to squirm. One hand over her heart she willed the beating to slow to a normal pace, one less likely to send her into cardiac arrest.

"Why is it you seem to keep forgetting I'm here?" Inuyasha's ploy to play wounded didn't work very well when Kagome felt she was the one closer to ending up in a hospital bed.

"I- I didn't forget," she said, catching her breath. "I just thought you were still asleep."

"You sound disappointed," he pointed out to her, slightly relieved when her gaze snapped back up from the bed clothes to his eyes, showing her shock at his question. He worried that he should have feigned sleep, allowing her to slip out the door like yesterday - no real goodbyes, no seeing the other person as anything more than a sex object. Since it was her last night with him it only made sense.

"No, not at all!" She waved her hand in front of her, the one not still clutching at her heart. "Well, I mean, not really…" she trailed off, knowing herself how pathetic that sounded. "Fine! I didn't want you to see me trying to look at my back. I'm sure I looked utterly ridiculous and I can do quite well without adding more embarrassing moments to my life."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest with a "hmph" and turned up her nose at him.

Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to kiss her nose then wipe her pout away with his own lips. Shaking his head slightly to dislocate the disturbing thought he got a better idea, one that was more sure to leave a lingering 'goodbye' for her to remember him by.

Moving forward he took hold of her wrists, slowly uncrossing her arms until she was bare to him again. To her surprise, instead of ogling her chest, as he was so wont to do, his gaze honed in on the front of her shoulder - her already bruised left shoulder.

Sometime during the night he had come up with what he thought was a rather inventive plan. He had no idea who she'd be seeing next but if he left her covered in very vivid demonstration, as he'd started last night, of just how good her last Tetsudai had been to her then the pride of the next would force him to try to one-up and Kagome would be ensured at least a decent effort and good time.

"Since you can't see what I did to the back of your shoulder, I'll just have to do the same thing to a place you can see. That's only fair, right?"

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but only a squeak came out as he was already latching on to the skin there. She lay back, completely slack in his embrace as he ministered to skin. Only when he nipped her a bit too hard, quickly remedying the pain by applying the cooling pleasure of his tongue, did her eyes snap open and she noticed the clock on his wall.

"Inu-" She gasped for breath, wanting nothing so much as to lose herself in his touch. "Inuyasha," she tried again, pushing feebly against him. She heard his whine, but he slowly acquiesced and pulled himself away from her.

The hurt in his eyes didn't go unnoticed, despite his attempt to hide it, though it confused her. Does he think I hate him now or something just for giving me more hickeys? He really was a living puzzle in so many ways to her.

Placing one hand on his jaw line she leaned up and gently kissed his cheek. "We don't have any more time," she said, emphasizing her point by flicking her eyes toward the clock, and he had to concede when he saw that, yes, time was up.

She got out of the bed and stretched fully, feeling Inuyasha's eyes on her the entire time, searing her skin. Rummaging around she found her clothes, holding her tattered shirt by one corner and eyeing it disdainfully. "We can pick up where we left off tonight, right?"

"We- we can?" The sharp intake of breath and shocked voice surprised her. Lifting her eyes from the scrap of cloth in her hand she was even more surprised to see his rigid stance and hands fisting into the sheets.

Dang it, did I say something wrong? Am I breaking some unwritten rule? Heck, even written rule for all I know! Gah!

Her gaze turned shy as she turned around and started dressing. "Yes. I mean, that is, unless you don't want to. Or if I'm being too pushy. Or am I breaking some rule? Oh shoot, I knew it-"

"No!"

She turned to him confused. Did that mean 'no' he doesn't want to or 'no' I'm not breaking a rule?

"No, I mean you should – you should come back tonight."

If Kagome didn't know any better she'd have sworn that was a blush she saw creeping up his cheeks. Then she rubbed her eyes and he was off the bed, rummaging through his closet, and she was sure she'd only been seeing things in the dim lighting. She continued to watch, mystified, as Inuyasha threw shirt after shirt out of the small space onto the floor.

"Here," he held one out to her. "This should work."

She took it from him, grateful to notice it was just about her size. "Why do you have this?"

He shrugged. "Shrine gives 'em to all the workers. Not like this is the first time someone's clothing has gotten ripped up here." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she blushed. Dang it, I'm going to have to work on that.

What he didn't say was that he had purposely found one as close to her size as possible, not to mention he steered clear away from the ones that had the Bacana name emblazoned across the front. Those shirts had become something of a keepsake or collector's item, bragging rights for those who had been to the Shrine and had an extra good time. He knew she'd want to draw as little attention as she could from the ordeal.

Glancing back over he cursed himself when he saw she'd already put the shirt on. Turning, she bowed slightly to him, then with a smile grabbed up her purse and opened the door.

"See you tonight Inuyasha!" She waved cheerily with one hand, far too chipper for someone who had to be awake this early.

"Yeah, see ya," he mumbled, barely flicking his hand in response. As soon as the door clicked shut he was lost in thought, completely forgetting about the alarm clock that chose that exact moment to go off. (Although it didn't exactly choose since Inuyasha was the one who set it.)

He jumped at the sound, yelling and threatening the device until he was finally able to turn it off. Swinging back toward the door he glared at it. Damn, what have I gotten myself into?'

A/N: Slowly but surely they are coming to know one another.

FF Version original posting: July 7, 2007

Edited: July 8, 2007