Sequel to Chapter 7 (SessKag, Oceanographer, Orange)

"You're lucky you didn't end up without a kidney," Kouga groused, writing down the next set of data.

Kagome had to put her beakers down, shoulders shaking with laughter. "That's exactly what I asked him!"

"And you believed his response?" her partner asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "He said I'd put up too much of a fight."

Kouga groaned, dragging a hand down his face before turning on her. "Kags, we're in the middle of nowhere. You can't just go off on some stranger's boat. You might never come back."

She crossed her arms, nonplussed. "Why? You did."

He shook his head. "That's different."

"Why?"

"Because it never left the dock."

"Only because you two couldn't keep your hands off each other long enough to actually get anywhere."

He had the decency to flush. "I'm also a guy."

"So?"

"So—"

His mouth snapped shut as she shoved a scalpel in his face. "If you start in on that 'women are delicate and need to be taken care of' shit again, I will poison you."

Kouga put his hands up in surrender, their makeshift lab settling into awkward silence. "Look, I'm just tryin' to keep you safe. Your mom would kill me if anything happened to you."

Kagome sighed, ticking a few things off her list before glancing at him over her shoulder. "And you've done a great job, but this is different. He's different."

"Inuyasha says he's an ass—"

"He said the same thing about you when you first met!" she argued. "And he threatened to tie you up in his boat and throw you to the sharks if you came near him again."

The flush returned, colouring his entire face this time. "I mean… He followed through with half of it."

Kagome covered her ears, singing loudly and offkey. "Don't wanna hear it! You're basically a brother."

He chuckled, then poked her in the ribs. "Just promise me you'll take your phone with you next time he hijacks you."

"Fine." She poked him back with her mahogany pen. "But if you call more than once, I'm turning it off. Kidney be damned."

"Deal."

Kagome glared at him for a moment, then blew him a kiss. "You are an ass, but I love you."

He finally brightened, a cocky smile lifting his features. "Right back at ya."