"I regret everything." Kagome hated and loved the dress Ayame had selected for her. The midnight blue material was slinky, but it was the mid-thigh length that bothered her the most. She felt like her ass was exposed, even though she could see that it was clearly hidden in the full mirror.

Her friend had surprised her with the cross halter garment, not telling her that the keyhole window would make it impossible to wear a proper bra. Though, given the situation she found herself in currently, a bra wouldn't make things any better.

One week earlier…

"I need your help." Ayame didn't let Kagome get a chance to take a drink of her coffee before she stated the reason for the meeting at their favorite café. "You know how our ladies club is holding the fundraiser for –"

"You mean the one where women are being auctioned off like cattle?" Oh yeah, she remembered. She found the concept demeaning and ironic, given the social club was all women. So what if the money would go towards the local program for fighting against hunger in their community, the whole thing was sexist! Auction women off on blind dates with a basket of ingredients to cook the winning man a dinner?! What the fuck?!

Ayame at least had the decency to look guilty. It had been her suggestion, even if it had been a joke originally. The other women in the club were frothing at the mouth at the idea of snagging a blind date. "Yeah well, get ready to moo, boo –"

"Hell no."

"But –"

"Absolutely not!"

"Think of the hungry families!" Ayame reached across the booth table and grabbed Kagome's hands. "Please, Kagome! I wouldn't ask you to do this if I had any other options! I know you were against this fundraiser from the start but I literally found out two hours ago that one of the girls in the club that was going to participate can't!"

Kagome frowned but didn't shake Ayame's grip off. "Then why aren't you hounding her instead? What kind of excuse does she have that's keeping her from being a bachelorette?"

"The kind of excuse that involved the boyfriend-turned-fiancé that she was riding when she called me to tell me she was dropping out."

Thankfully Ayame still had her hands, or Kagome might've lost her coffee by dropping it. "W-wha…h-ho-w-why..?!" she stuttered. 'How big was the rock on that ring for a woman to insist on making a phone call while she was in the middle of sex to cancel plans?!' The wolf demon across from her looked like she'd wondered the same question hours before.

"I've called around everywhere else before I called you, I promise." Ayame brought her hands back to her own cup, turning it slowly to keep busy. "The ladies that weren't able to before still can't because they have plans, or they're already in a relationship and the significant other doesn't like the idea. Like Sango, who suggested you right away, so you can be mad at her too. We've got the big auditorium at the civic center reserved, and if I can't deliver on the number of bachelorettes I promised, we're out the deposit it took to secure the date."

Another reason Kagome gagged at the thought of this fundraiser. They were gonna have to hold a fundraiser to break even on this fundraiser because it emptied out their petty cash reserve. All the ladies in the club knew the costs and still wanted to move forward with it, citing that the price of admission would make up the difference. She was skeptical, since she'd had years of examples for her pessimistic attitude…

But Ayame wasn't him. The wolf demon had supported her over the years, and Kagome knew she still had a handful of instances before she considered herself even with her friend's generosity. "I'm only doing this for you," she started to say, wincing when the other woman squealed. "But I don't think I have anything to wear for something like this."

"Oh, thank you Kagome! I know just the dress that will be perfect for you! Trust me, you won't regret this!"

A gasp of delight tore Kagome from her memories as Ayame burst into the dressing room. "You look so pretty!" she gushed, setting down her clipboard for probably the first time all day as she moved behind Kagome to fuss with her hair.

Kagome didn't have the heart to tell her friend that she felt like she was naked in the dress. It really was a cute design, and one she might've considered for a date with a guy, but not a first date. Not even second. Maybe if they stayed together for a year she'd bring it out, since it was the kind of dress that screamed, 'The owner wants to get laid now'.

"Alright, here's the deal. There's no hard order for the auction, so – if you want to go ahead and get your turn over with, you can go first. Or if you'd rather wait, I can have you be the final bachelorette."

"Is it terrible to procrastinate?"

"Of course not! Although… I have heard of some auctions where the pickings were slim towards the end 'cause all of the really hot guys chose their dates as soon as possible…"

"Do you want me to go first?" Kagome didn't care about the date's appearance as much as whether or not he was a serial killer. Her priorities were to support her friend, the fundraiser, and preferably not be skinned for some maniac's collection.

Ayame hummed in thought. "I can make sure you're the grand finale," she said at last. "I'll be able to scope out the room and see if I can goad any hot guys into bidding –"

"…Won't I be able to see them as well?" Kagome turned slowly to face her friend when Ayame went silent. "Ayame…"

"It is going to be a blind date…" the wolf demon hesitated. "All of the bachelorettes will be blindfolded to add some flavor to the bidding… Remember?"

Fuck. That was right. Just two days after agreeing, Kagome had learned that her friend and club organizer would be taking blind dating literally. She'd gotten that reminder, among other surprises, the day that Ayame introduced them to the process she was using to run the auction. Not only had the wolf demon invested in the large space, but she'd rented bluetooth equipment for the purposes of bidding. Very expensive equipment that ran over their allotted budget for the event, making the need for the fundraiser to be successful more important.

Ayame's excuse had been that the appeal of new tech would draw more interest. Men had a thirst for bluetooth devices like women did a good pair of heels. Instead of simply holding up a paddle with the bidder's number on it, these would send a signal to the sensor next to Ayame. With the press of a button on the handle, the bidder's number would flash on the paddle. The bid would be recorded, the amount would move up by a pre-set increment, and a two-minute countdown would begin. When the timer runs out, the last bidder would be declared the winner.

Kagome was skeptical of everything to do with the process. She'd even brought her concerns up with her friend; would there be enough time in the countdown? What if something malfunctioned? What prevented someone from cheating the system? Even one of the more recent members, Makoto, felt it was ripe for complications.

Ayame swore she'd checked for every situation. Her boyfriend Koga had also looked over the equipment and would be in the audience for support, so if anyone got out of hand, they had protection. There was nothing to worry about, but somehow, Kagome couldn't shake the sour thoughts that lingered. Something was going to happen. She was certain of it.

"You want to tell me why you dragged me to this thing?" Inuyasha groused, pulling a few bills from his wallet and passing it to the ticket holder. A couple of his friends thought it would be entertaining to invite him out on a Saturday afternoon. He would have spent this time alone, but they'd been persistent. They also refused to give him any details about the outing. The fact that he handed over the cost of a nice dinner for a ticket with no identification on it didn't make him feel better either.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford it. It was the principle of the thing. He'd worked hard to get to where he was with his business, and he wanted to know that he wasn't getting fucked over.

Koga clapped a hand on his shoulder and steered him into the building. "I'll tell you this; Ayame's thrown together a fundraiser, and as her loving boyfriend, I want to support her. So, any additional support I can loop in will ultimately get me sex points –"

"Didn't need to know that," Sango said, a few paces ahead of the two demons. Her husband, Miroku, escorted her on his arm. He turned his head to ask what the value of said points were and how the system worked. She pinched him with her free hand, reminding him that that was not something to be discussed in a public building.

Inuyasha still didn't get his answer until they reached a large set of doors that led into a heavily decorated room with a wide stage. Round tables offering seating for five were carefully arranged across the open area. The whole space looked like it was decorated with some type of feminine theme, and as soon as his eyes found the banner hanging across the room, he understood why. "You brought me to a bachelorette auction," he said dryly.

"Yup!" Koga beamed. "My girl did a great job with organizing, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did," Sango nodded. As a club member who wasn't participating in the auction, she'd offered her services to set up the auditorium before the event started. "What Koga's refusing to say, Inuyasha, is that we want you to get out of your house on the weekends. Do something fun with us, like we all used to."

"Keh. You mean before the bunch of you decided to shack up?" he scoffed. There were only so many times one could be the fifth wheel on outings with friends, and looking for a filler date just to not look so pathetic made it worse. 'It didn't use to be so bad, back then,' he thought, following his friends to the table they'd picked. 'Not when we were together, at least.' But, like many decisions he'd made in his past, he'd fucked things up.

The moment that he'd settled into his seat, Koga dropped down into the chair next to his, plopping a blank paddle on the surface before him. "Here ya go, man. Happy birthday."

"The fuck is this –"

"You paid the dues to bid, man!" the wolf demon cut him off. "I went and selected this number just for you," he added with a grin.

Inuyasha glared at the paddle, not liking the look on Koga's face. "What number?"

"69 –"

"You're an asshole –"

"I'm attached, just like these two across from us," Koga waved a hand to Sango and Miroku. "Just hang onto it, okay? You're the one bachelor at our table, and it's required. You don't have to bid if you really don't want to, but give it a chance. The money the girls are raising is gonna go to the food bank and the program they run, so even if you win a date and it doesn't take off, you helped some families eat."

Inuyasha didn't mind the idea of the fundraiser earnings supporting the fight against hunger, but he did mind the insinuation that he had to buy himself a date. Slowly, he picked up the paddle with a clawed hand and pointed it under Koga's nose. "I'm doing this for Ayame," he growled. "But as soon as this is over, I'm beating your ass with this."

"Thank you all for coming out tonight and supporting a wonderful cause! Before we get started…"

Kagome crossed her arms over her chest, pressing her lips into a thin line as she sat in a folding chair backstage with the other bachelorettes. Listening to Ayame talk about the rules of the event only seemed to annoy her further. Being bid on by some man was bad enough, but to be blindfolded and standing on stage felt more like an execution to her. The basket of ingredients for the dinner she was going to prepare was sitting on the floor next to her, and the matching blue blindfold lay across her lap.

Ayumi, one of the volunteers who had helped decorate, was on prep duty. She was checking to make sure each woman's makeup wasn't smudged before helping them to the stage with their meal kit after they had been blindfolded. Ayame would meet them on the other side of the curtain and guide them to where they would be best seen. After that, the bidding wars would begin.

Ayame took the "blind date" part of the auction a little too far, in Kagome's opinion. She swore up and down that the bluetooth connections were strong, having tested them with Koga at their place the night before. 'I've got to believe this will go off without a hitch,' she reminded herself. 'We're in the red if we can't make up the difference. If we can't follow through on our donation on top of that…'

That wasn't a thought she wanted to consider.

"You're welcome to talk, of course," Ayame continued speaking into the microphone, "but for the purposes of the auction, I strongly advise bidders not to reveal their identities to the lady in waiting. You won't get to see each other until you have left the premises, so no spoilers!"

Kagome looked up to see the first woman being led to the curtain, then a sliver of bright light filled the backstage area before the curtain swayed shut again. She could hear Ayame announce the woman's selling points off cards she'd had the bachelorettes fill out, and to her horror, Kagome realized that she'd never been given one. 'I can't say I'm surprised with everything happening last minute. It's easy to forget something like that, but…what is Ayame going to do when it's my turn?'

Inuyasha was in hell. Every other man in the room, single or not, would probably disagree with him. There was something sickening about bachelorette and bachelor auctions on principle, no matter how nicely and respectfully Ayame had organized the fundraiser. He'd been sure to whisper these thoughts to Koga, poking him in the shoulder with the paddle for emphasis.

The wolf demon turned, and Inuyasha saw concern in his friend's eyes. "Yeah, I know. Ayame knows too, trust me. She's stressed over this for months." Koga's voice dropped to a whisper, knowing that the other two at their table already knew. No one else at the function needed to hear it though. "The club's original intention was to raise money for the food bank, right? Well you know how the cost of living went up, but no one's savings did?"

It hadn't been an issue in the half-demon's personal experience for a few years, but he understood it personally all the same. He wasn't going to make a point of saying it like an asshole though.

"Yeah, well…it took the entirety of the club's funding to cover the fees for reserving the space and most of the supplies. What she didn't have, she had to ask on loan from the other girls," he glanced briefly at Sango. "She hopes that once they meet their goal for the hunger program, she'll be able to recover the club's funds and pay back what she owes."

"And you didn't offer to –"

"Man, I didn't learn about this until after everything was bought and paid for!" Koga whispered harshly. It was clear there had been an argument about wanting to support her, and if Inuyasha knew Ayame at all, he was sure that she'd insisted on not worrying him. "I've already told her that if there's not enough to cover something, that I'd be helping her fix it." The wolf demon rubbed his face and sighed. "I love her. She's got a big heart, and she's worked so hard to get to tonight that I don't want her to regret doing a good thing in the first place."

"You're a good man," Miroku nodded. Koga waved him off as the next bachelorette appeared on stage.

Inuyasha settled back into his seat, leaving the paddle on the table. He had no interest in bidding on any of these women for a date. The idea of Ayame not meeting her goal didn't sit well with him, and he idly toyed with the idea of an "anonymous benefactor" choosing instead to make a donation on behalf of the ladies' club or to just give Koga the check to surprise her with. 'If I hand Koga a check he'll kick my ass for not taking part,' he frowned, 'But if I say that it's to make up for not bidding then maybe…'

The point he was going to drive home to his friends this afternoon was that he just wasn't interested in dating random women. He needed a little bit more than a pretty face to be the reason that he made plans to take a woman to dinner. Since his business had made such quick advances, his eligibility as a higher-wage bachelor made him look appealing to women that had turned their noses up at his half-demon status.

They could chase, but they weren't catching that car.

He didn't even need his nose to see that a woman was lying when she made advances on him. He could see it in the forced smiles, the way they'd scan him and his clothes to see what high-end labels he was wearing. They'd spend more time talking about their dream vacations than what they did for a living. He didn't need to know that they didn't have hobbies outside of mining for rich husband potential.

In fact, there was one woman he wouldn't object to a date with, but he'd burned that bridge years before. He'd had her, and then he'd ruined everything by running his mouth. He'd been selfish and drove her away. 'It doesn't matter anymore,' he thought bitterly, watching yet another lady be escorted offstage by the winning bidder. 'She'd laugh in my face if she had any idea I was sitting at a bachelorette auction right now.'

Kagome watched with growing trepidation as each woman before her was blindfolded and taken to the stage by Ayumi. She could hear the shouts of men in the audience become more clear whenever the curtain was pulled away to let the next "date" be featured. They weren't allowed to yell out their bids thankfully, but the sounds of delight with each woman that walked out seemed to increase. It was enough to make her self-doubt crawl its way to the surface, and she'd thought she'd done a decent job of beating it down for years.

'I didn't used to be so self-conscious, but I barely remember those days. All I can think about looking back is how he made me feel.' Kagome uncrossed and recrossed her legs, trying not to bounce her thin heels against the stage floor. She couldn't let her nerves get to her. 'I really thought he loved me…'

"Looks like I'm next."

Kagome blinked, realizing that Makoto was rising to her feet and adjusting her dress. She held up the basket for the woman as the stage hand was coming forward to tie on her blindfold. Makoto was pretty; her dark brown hair was full of waves and pinned back, and the wine-colored dress looked like it was painted on her. Kagome received a small thanks in return along with wishes of good luck before the woman was led away.

'Yeah…I'm gonna need it to not be humiliated if I'm following her…' Now even more discouraged, Kagome slumped back into her chair as the cheers began. It's not that she wanted a date. She wanted to be able to help raise money like she'd promised Ayame. 'How am I supposed to do that now?' she thought miserably.

The sounds of applause took off, but the stage hand hadn't moved from her position. Occasionally she'd glance through the curtains and then back to Kagome, which didn't help Kagome's anxiety. Suddenly, Ayumi moved from her place by the curtain closer to her. "They're still going," she whispered. "It's a full-out bidding war! The numbers are changing so fast that Ayame can barely follow the current bid!" She missed the look of dismay that crossed the last bachelorette's face when she scuttled back to her spot.

Kagome wanted to groan loudly. If it weren't Ayame running the fundraiser, she would have already backed out. 'Sango wouldn't be happy either,' she reminded herself. 'But I know both would understand.' Unable to help herself, the leg resting on her knee began to bounce, but it wasn't doing anything to distract her. The thoughts of being a failure began to spiral, and soon she was revisiting one of the most unpleasant parts of her life. 'Part of me wishes I could run into Inuyasha right now,' she mulled, trying to burn her anxiety off as rage. 'It would serve him right to see me walk out there and get picked by some stranger to go on a blind date with. He made me miserable, wrecked my self-esteem, and now he's out there walking around somewhere not giving a shit. Who knows what over-processed blond is hanging all over him. He probably has a different one for every day of the week.'

On second thought, rage probably wasn't going to make a good impression. No guy would want to bid on a woman who walked out tense and looking like she wanted to murder someone – even if she was blindfolded. Kagome had to find a good balance. She had no idea when –

More shouts and clapping. Ayumi was starting to come her way. Fuck.

Kagome stood, gripping the blindfold in one hand and her basket in the other. She hated that her hands were shaking despite how she clenched the handle, but the stage hand didn't mention it. Instead, the other woman checked her over, fluffing up her curls and fixing any slight wrinkles in her skirt. A slight tap on her shoulder, and Kagome released the blindfold.

"Take a deep breath for me?"

She didn't see how that would do any good, but Kagome obeyed. On the exhale, she saw the blindfold move across her eyes as it was tied firmly in the back. Ayumi adjusted her hair again, pulling some thick strands over the knotted fixture.

"There you go. Feel better?"

Kagome shook her head no, feeling the woman take her now-empty hand and slowly walk her across the space. The blindfold muffled the sounds she had been hearing clearly. 'Maybe it's for the better. That way I won't hear the jeers.'

"You're gonna do great, Kagome! I know it!"

Ayumi had more faith in her than she did in herself, apparently. Kagome felt her hand being placed in another hand moments later, and she knew it was Ayame. 'Oh god, the curtain's moving. I'm exposed. Small steps. No going back now.'

"You guys were impressive with your bids on our latest lady!" Ayame beamed as Makoto was slowly escorted offstage by her date. Like each of the previous participants, she held onto her date's arm as she exited the auditorium. It had been nuts with her on stage, and the wolf demon couldn't believe that their newest member had been anxious at all. The men that were bidding had gotten so enthusiastic that some of them were standing up and waving their numbers with each increase. She hadn't been sure when the literal bidding war would end. It was safe to say that there was a substantial amount going to the local food bank just from her participation.

Kagome was going to come in and sweep the floor with bids. She was sure of it.

The wolf demon held tight to Kagome's hand as she walked slowly back to her podium. Kagome took careful steps, pausing when her hand was squeezed. "And now, we have one last lovely lady who wants to meet one lucky guy! Who will it be?"

The murmurs in the audience was a good sign. She glanced over at Kagome, who held her basket in front of her with both hands. With the blindfold on, she couldn't tell if the woman's nerves were getting the better of her, but she could smell it. 'I need to give her a boost,' she thought, pushing aside the notes she'd made the night before. "Our final lady is known as Sweet Song. Her hobbies include reading, being out in nature, and snuggling up next to the fire on cold nights. She's bubbly and passionate, a true ride-or-die companion."

More murmurs. She could see that a few were reaching for their paddles.

"Remember gentlemen, if you speak your bid amount, you're disqualified. If you wish to bid, raise your paddle and press the button. We begin with a starting amount of $25, and the bidding increases by $25. There will be 2 minutes after the last bid before a winner is declared. Let's begin!"

'Deep breaths, deep breaths…' Kagome knew the blindfold covered the bridge of her nose, so it gave her the advantage of not looking like she was about to hyperventilate on stage. She listened as Ayame went over the rules for the umpteenth time that night and the bidding began. Or, she thought it began. Things seemed to be silent, save for the occasional ding notification that a bid had been placed. Ayame would leave some comments here and there, clearly bullshitting her friend's good qualities. Then again, it was hard to really hear anything over the sound of her heart beating furiously in her ears, magnified by the blindfold pressing down on them.

She thought that the idea of it being a "blind date" had its merits, if one had to host a bachelorette auction for a fundraiser, but in reality, it was a little terrifying. The only one she could hear clearly was Ayame, and her microphone was so loud that any talking she thought she heard from the audience was impossible to decipher. If someone were to speak loud enough for her to hear, they'd have to be almost as loud.

'Act like you own the place,' she told herself. 'Stand tall and pretend that Inuyasha is out there and you're gonna let him know that what he did doesn't hurt you anymore.'

It was a lie, but Kagome lifted her chin a little higher anyway.

"Sweet Song?" Sango frowned around her drink. "What a weird choice for a stage name."

Miroku looked to Koga, who was staring too hard at the bachelorette on stage. "You know who she is?" he asked, leaning forward to whisper.

To his credit, Koga didn't have an answer. "I thought it was supposed to be that girl, Botan. But…but that's not her?"

"You mean Ayame did something else without running it by you first?" Inuyasha asked, poking him with the paddle he hadn't used once that night. He had to be careful with the thing; not only was it a costly piece of equipment, but Koga said the signal was strong. One good button tap and there was no telling what the current bid would turn into.

The wolf demon was tempted to take the paddle away and hit his friend with it, but he thought better of it. He didn't want to interrupt the auction and take the spotlight away from the mystery lady. "Dude, shut up. It ain't like that! Ayame's been so stressed that I haven't wanted to pry about things that I thought were handled! This was probably some last-minute switch!"

"I don't like this…" Sango tipped back her drink. When the other men at the table looked at her, she leaned in. "Look around us," she whispered, "and think back to what it was like when that woman before was on stage."

Inuyasha glanced around, noticing what Sango meant first. There were a handful of men that were placing bids for a date, but not nearly as many as with the previous woman. 'It's a shame,' he thought, twirling the paddle in his hands. 'From what I can see she's not bad to look at. Long legs, good curves…dark hair…brown eyes…'

He shook his thoughts away. Brown eyes? He didn't know what color this woman's eyes were! And he wouldn't know, because he wasn't going to bid against other men for a date!

"This is embarrassing," Miroku commented, earning a smack from his wife. "What did I say?!"

"You can't say something like that!" she admonished him.

"You told me to look around!"

"You don't point it out!"

Koga waved at the couple to shut it before they got too loud. Inuyasha had to side with Sango on being more tactful about making observations. At least he kept his thoughts to himself. 'Even if they do keep going back to Kagome...'

The bids were getting fewer and far between, but the commentary was getting more vocal. Some of it was supportive. Others were trying to goad bidders into joining back in, making comments about the basket of ingredients she held tight to. And then there were a few that Ayame had to warn because their choice of words weren't appropriate for the event.

"She's barely broken triple digits, boys," she heard one man loudly jeer. "Get yourself a cheap one!"

"That's enough!" another man's voice broke out. A familiar voice. "The next person to say anything vile against her will be escorted out of here by me."

Ayame cleared her throat. "Yes…thank you, Koga. You've heard my significant other, ladies and gentlemen. Regardless of whether you are participating or not, if there is another outburst like the latest one, he will remove you from the premises."

'Oh god, that was Koga.' Kagome tried to swallow the lump in her throat. 'Sango's here, I know. Which means Miroku is probably here. But would they...? I doubt it. They know that things didn't end on good terms, surely they wouldn't –'

"Looks like Number 42 is our current bidder -"

The silence that followed seconds after Ayame stopped talking didn't sit well with Kagome's stomach. 'Of course there's no interaction now,' she thought. 'If I couldn't bring them in when it began, what are the odds that I'd get any bids now? Makoto did so well that anyone left is either too intimidated or burnt out to care.'

"There's just thirty seconds left – oh, number 42 is holding on!"

'Makoto never seemed to get a lull in bids… this guy must have missed out and sees an opportunity.' Kagome's hands gripped the basket handle tighter so she wouldn't visibly shake. 'Or it's out of pity…'

"A new challenger approaches!" she could hear Ayame exclaim. "Number 17 has placed his bid – oh wait, Number 42 is bidding again! Looks like we've got another bidding war in the works! Two minutes, ladies and gentlemen! Just over a minute and a half…" Ayame had gone silent. Kagome couldn't glean with her limited senses what that meant, other than it couldn't have been good. Her stomach dropped the moment Ayame started to speak again. Gone was the excited bubbly voice, replaced with confusion. "Thirty seconds to go before Number 42 takes the win, the date, and the dinner… anyone else...?"

That was the moment that her hands began to shake. As tight as she'd been holding onto the basket, it was a wonder some of the ingredients hadn't fallen out. No one wanted her. She'd failed to round out the fundraiser on a good note. The last bidder probably retracted their bid, or if he hadn't, he probably walked out, although she couldn't actually hear anyone walking out of the room. Ayumi had done a number on securing her blindfold. Kagome couldn't really hear anything beyond her heartbeat in her ears and bad memories of being dropped from her last stable relationship because she wasn't "enough". 'Inuyasha was right all along,' she thought, feeling her eyes water behind the cloth. 'I really can't be enough for anyone, can I?'

"I'm so sorry, Ayame," Kagome whispered, feeling her heart break all over again.

He'd been watching the men that had been making a pathetic attempt at a bidding war for the last bachelorette. It was by far the worst performance in the entire auction, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the woman on stage. Inuyasha glanced over at Sango, who was visibly upset. Miroku kept asking his wife who the woman was, but she wouldn't reply. She couldn't take her eyes away from the stage.

The half-demon turned his eyes back to the men who lowered their paddles and scowled. It was on the edge of his tongue to snap at them, but he thought better of it. Any comments about why they decided she wasn't good enough for them would only upset her further; he'd seen the slight shake of her hands when that asshole had called her "a cheap one". It could also start an argument about why he wasn't bidding if she was so special, and he really didn't want to hurt a complete stranger by telling the room that there was only one woman that he wanted. 'I fucked up running my mouth without thinking in the past. I've learned since then –'

Inuyasha froze as the scent of fresh tears hit his nose.

He looked to Sango, who wasn't crying but probably could if provoked. Then he subtly tried to look around at the other women in the audience. If they weren't looking away in second-hand embarrassment, they were looking down at their phones. He saw a few get up and walk out, unable to watch the spectacle unfold any longer. Finally, he looked to the stage. Ayame, like Sango, was upset but not crying. Which meant…it was that woman… Inuyasha felt his heart twist. This wasn't right. This –

"I'm so sorry, Ayame."

The words fell from lips that barely moved, but he heard them. It was a familiar voice, one that he hadn't expected to ever hear again.

"K-Kagome…"

Everyone at his table turned to look at him in unison. "What'd you say?" Koga looked floored. "D-did you just –"

"Sango, is that why you wouldn't tell me –"

Inuyasha was too busy reaching into his jacket and removing his wallet and pen to listen. He wasn't going to let this go on any longer. The longer he thought about writing out a donation in lieu of actually bidding, the more it appealed to him, but now that he knew Kagome was standing on that stage…

The check was ripped from the pad so fast it was a wonder it hadn't been torn in half. Inuyasha shoved his wallet and pen back in his inner jacket pocket, throwing up his arm with the paddle in hand.

Ayame saw the lone bid and did a double take. "N-number 69 has just entered the race! The countdown has started again…um…s-sir?"

Inuyasha stood up, not bothering to look back at his companions that he left at the table, and walked towards the stage. Ayame looked surprised, but he wasn't sure whether it was at him bidding, the paddle number, or the fact that he was stepping up on stage. He made sure he was careful to not brush against Kagome as he made his way to the podium, placing the paddle and the check into the wolf-demon's hands. "This is over," he told her quietly. Without waiting for her response, he turned and made his way to Kagome.

Being this close to her again after years of avoiding the slightest sign of her…it took more courage than he had to reach out and touch the back of her hand softly. He didn't want to startle her by grabbing her suddenly, but the action still made her jump in surprise. When Kagome loosened her grip with the hand he'd touched, he carefully slid his hand underneath hers.

"Uh…Right!" Ayame turned back to the audience. "That concludes our bachelorette auction…"

Inuyasha didn't wait around for the hostess to finish. He didn't stop back by the table where the others sat, slack-jawed by what he'd done. Kagome had been ridiculed too much at this fucking event, and she didn't need to spend another minute there. He needed to get her out and take them somewhere else where they could talk. 'If Kagome will even hear me out.'

He had a lot to explain for.