Kagome stifles a yawn. Seated out on the balcony, looking over the other homes, she has never felt so awkward around InuYasha. The air between them is stale with something she cannot name. Or maybe it is the way he stares at her stomach like it is a foreign object. "So, what have you been up to?" She tugs the fox printed blanket around her.

"You didn't try to find me or even ask about me." His voice is low, so low that she has to strain to hear, but his words pierce her in the heart.

Cool. Going right for an argument because having a nice catch up is too much to ask for.

"Honestly, I was afraid that you were dead. No one mentioned you being alive, and maybe that is my fault for being too scared to ask." That sounds so bad now that she's admitted it out loud, but it is the truth. She didn't want to hear the words dead and InuYasha in the same sentence.

"Why him? Sesshomaru told me you haven't been in this world that long and you immediately jump into bed with him. You couldn't wait or some shit? Try to find a way back to me, or even your time?"

"It's been nine years for me. Did you expect me to wait for you forever?" Kagome shakes her head. "I'm human, Inu. I can't wait 20 or 500 years or whatever like you guys can. I waited for the first three. Focused on finishing school. Did my best to be a dutiful daughter, especially after all the trouble I caused my mom. I waited a long time. Maybe you don't think so, but on my end, I tried everything I could to get back to you and the others. When the well finally worked again, it didn't take me back to the past. I landed here without a way back. No well or portal. Just sort of proofed into this world and that was that."

Kagome leans back, glancing up at the stars. She is so not gonna mention that she landed in Satoru's lap specifically. Not with the way InuYasha's ears drooped with every word. That would just be adding salt to his wound, and she isn't that cruel.

A part of her feels bad. It's clear that he's been holding out far longer than she has. If the well had taken her back to him, then yeah, they probably would have gotten back together, but that's not how it worked out. No matter how many times they try, it just does not work between them. Whether it's time in between them or someone else, they've never been on the same wavelength.

"I understand if you need time. But we can't change the past, just try to move forward. I still consider you a friend. I don't want to lose you, but I can't be with you." She doesn't want to be with him.

"I still don't understand why it had to be him," he grumbles. His eyes glow under the moonlight. He digs his claws into his palm, ears flickering back and forth. If he had a tail, then she's sure that would be swishing back and forth as well.

"What's wrong with Satoru?" Kagome furrows her brow. InuYasha jerks back as though she's threatening to 'sit' him. "He's been nothing but nice to you since you've got here." Yeah, Satoru didn't have to snatch the flowers away. Come to think of it, she has no idea what he did with those.

"N-nothing." He turns away. "He's a real stand-up guy."

That sounded like sarcasm. Maybe she should 'sit' him just to see if the subjugation beads still work. This hostility of his is uncalled for. She isn't sure what InuYasha was expecting, but surely if Sesshomaru gave him her address, then he also mentioned she was in a relationship.

Surely.

"Inu, look at me."

"I can't." He shakes his head. "I'm trying so hard not to when you're flaunting your new relationship."

Flaunting? She isn't flaunting anything. She is being very considerate of InuYasha's feelings. He's the one that wants to pick a fight with her. Kagome chews on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something she can't take back. He's hurting. That much is clear. But to pin all of this on her is not fair. There are far too many what ifs between them. What if she had gone back to the Feudal era? Would he have been there to greet her or would she have been met with the news that all the demons were gone? And what about him? Not once has he mentioned the lengths he's gone to get back to his world.

No. Somehow, all of this is her fault because she should have waited for him for the rest of her life. Un-freaking-believable. He would have preferred she spent the rest of her life waiting for him.

"This is bullshit," InuYasha declares, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I'm here now. You don't need this stand in. Hell, I'll even take in the brat as my own."

Her heart stops. She can't hear anything over the ringing in her ears. He can't be serious. Leave Satoru? Her stomach clenches at the thought. The last thing she wants to do is leave the man she loves. And InuYasha still refuses to look at her. Instead, he makes such a declaration to his fists.

"Toru isn't a replacement," she stresses. "You think I would toy around with someone's emotions like that? I'm not like you." She runs a hand down her face, tugs at her lips, and tries to calm her breathing. It's not good for her to get so worked up, but InuYasha is pushing it. How could he think so lowly of Satoru? Of her? "I don't see you when I look at him. I'm sorry that this is difficult for you, but I'm not leaving Satoru. I'm not stringing him along or whatever it is you think I'm doing."

The door opens, and the awkwardness descends upon them like volcanic ash. Satoru hums and takes a spot next to Kagome. Not even the smell of a greasy burger is enough to pull her out of this funk. Between Koga and InuYasha, she is over how her friends are treating Satoru like he's some villain. He didn't kidnap her or keep her against her will. Well... Okay, maybe when they first met, he heavily implied that she should stick with him until he figured out if she was a threat or not, but she could have left anytime if she really wanted to.

"The kids went out," Satoru says, rummaging around in the bag. "But they'll be back later because they don't have anywhere else to sleep, apparently." Satoru tosses a burger at InuYasha. "All caught up now?" He offers her some fries, but she just shakes her head. Suddenly, she isn't hungry anymore.

"Mostly," Kagome replies. For once InuYasha isn't snarling or trying to pick a fight like he used to with Koga. He's just observing them. Now he looks at her, or rather he's observing Satoru. "Did they say where they were going?" If only they had taken her with them. If she had known InuYasha was going to be like this, she would have told him to come back another time.

"Karaoke. I'm pretty sure they overheard us say it. They dragged Megumi into going. We can still go, maybe later—"

"What are you doing tomorrow?" InuYasha interrupts. His burger remains unwrapped on his lap. Beside her, Satoru tenses before ripping the wrapper off his food. He chews so hard that she can hear his molars grinding the food. What a lovely evening this is turning out to be. Not even the meeting with Sesshomaru and Shippo was this bad. They at least acted more like overbearing family members than whatever the hell InuYasha is going for.

"Helping out at Yakeru's shop. He's a fox that runs an occult shop. Sometimes he comes by and hangs around, but he's been so swamped lately because of Halloween. Said there's been an uptick in sales this year, which is abnormal." She'll also check in with Totosai and see if her gift for Satoru is ready. This awful feeling that something bad is going to happen wakes her up at night and won't go away no matter how much she tries to will it away.

"Why?" InuYasha scrunches up his nose and tosses the burger back to Satoru. "You shouldn't have to do any kind of work. There's no reason why that fox can't find someone else to help out." InuYasha points a claw tipped finger at Satoru. "Is he not providing for you?"

Oh boy. He just isn't going to let this go. She rolls her eyes. Now he's insulting Satoru's ability to provide. Because clearly, they live in a shack.

Kagome places a hand on Satoru's arm and squeezes gently. "I'm helping because I want to. I don't like being cooped up in the house all day. And Satoru provides just fine for us." She slaps her hands on her thighs and stands up. "It's getting late. Why don't we catch up some other time? You can stop by Yakeru's tomorrow if you want. I'll send you the location."

Please leave. There's only so much she can handle before she blows up on him.

InuYasha fumes, but follows her to the door. Surprisingly, Satoru is being so considerate and understanding that it's concerning. She wonders if he overheard any parts of their conversation. If he did, he isn't giving away any clues that he had.

Probably for the best. He would have blown the roof off of the house if he had heard InuYasha talk about raising his kid. She grimaces. On second thought, she won't send InuYasha the address. She doesn't need him being a party pooper while she's hanging out with Yakeru or trying to come up with some half-brained scheme to keep her away from Satoru.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," InuYasha says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Take care of her. She likes to get in a lot of trouble." Another jab that she'll just pretend she didn't hear. InuYasha frowns and then walks away. Satoru shuts the door. The door creaks and protests.

"I'll fix it later," Satoru says right before bending down and lifting her up. "Or maybe I'll have Megumi do it."

"I'm sorry," she says, wrapping her arms around his neck. He smells like grease and spices.

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong." His jaw ticks with tension. Yep. He's definitely mad, but she can't blame him. InuYasha and Koga were way out of line.

"Still, my friends were out of line. They can't come back over until they deal with their feelings." She nuzzles into him. "You didn't finish your food."

"I lost my appetite." He carries her up the stairs and to their bedroom.

"Toru?" Kagome looks up at him. He hasn't let her go.

"I just want to stay like this for a while," he says. His arms tighten around her as he shifts into a more comfortable position on the bed. "I put in a vacation request. You should pick out a spot for us to go."

"For when?"

"I want a ticket out of here on November 1st. A week or two. Or longer. I can talk Shippo into taking on some missions for me."

"Since when are you and Shippo so buddy buddy?"

"I wouldn't describe us as being buddy buddy. More like I remind him of how he calls me dad, so that means he has to help his young man out."

"You're ridiculous." She chuckles. "But I'm glad that you and Shippo are getting along." At least someone is being decent to Satoru. "But alright, I'll find a spot for us."

"Make it out of the country. Maybe France or—"

"Paris!"

"Uh, yeah. Wherever you want." He kisses her temple. "Just somewhere not in Japan is preferable."

Kagome smiles. A vacation with just them is just want they need. She hopes that the bad feeling she has will wilt away. Besides, Toru is the strongest. There's nothing (except her) that can touch him and he handles every challenge with ease, so logically she has nothing to worry about. It's not like anyone can hurt him and with all of her wonderful bodyguards, she's pretty protected herself.

It's probably just her hormones messing with her. Her eyes droop shut as sleep grabs a hold of her. Nothing bad is going to happen. She's sure of it.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your support! Originally, InuYasha wasn't supposed to show up yet. I was actually working on Shibuya, but here we are.

Stay healthy and safe! I'll see you guys next week :)