The reiki was filling the air, crackling and causing the hair on the back of Inuyasha's hair to prickle in warning. If he didn't do something quickly, he was going to be flash-fried.
"Wait, this was a mistake! Don't fire!" He protested, not even bothering to keep the yelp out of his voice-his skin was already beginning to singe.
"Then stop staring and get something I can cover up with!" Kagome snapped, her glare remaining just as fierce, but she thankfully turned down the heat a few notches.
There was what he thought was a fresh pile of laundry on the corner of his desk. He reached out and snagged a grey sweatshirt-it was baggy on him, so it should be practically a dress on her-and tossed it in her direction; he wasn't going to risk life and limb by moving closer.
Kagome used one arm to snag it out of the air, happy to see that it would cover all of her assets; she had been afraid he would try to give her a blanket or a towel, which would have been hard to keep in place if she wanted to move.
"Could you turn around?" She said, clutching the shirt in front of her.
Soft, white ears briefly folded to his skull before popping back into place. "Promise you won't shoot me in the back?" He grumbled, only half turning away.
She narrowed her eyes into harsh slits. "I'm about to shoot you in the front, so I don't see how it could possibly make any difference."
With a very dog-like huff, he spun to face the wall, his ears flicking backward at the sound of rustling cloth. Even once he was sure she was dressed, he remained in place, knowing he was still on thin ice. Not that he could really blame her. She had appeared in the middle of a summoning circle with only him in the room, so it definitely looked like he had done this one purpose.
Not that he was sure how it was possible to do this by accident, much less on purpose.
"You can turn around now," Kagome said, although her tone was grudging.
Inuyasha turned, wondering if he would be able to spring toward the door if things went south. Her expression was hardly promising, and she had her arms crossed over her chest defensively. The sweatshirt swallowed her up, hanging to her knees, and it made her look oddly more vulnerable than she did naked.
His sense of self-preservation warned him that it would be a very, very bad idea to mention that.
Still, he couldn't remain silent when she used one hand to reach down to tug at the hem of the shirt, all the while glaring at him with suspicion.
"Could you stop lookin' at me like I'm gonna chop you up and make a lamp out of your skin?" He grumbled, irritated that he was being treated as some kind of creep.
He just wanted to finish his dark, arcane ritual in peace; was that so much to ask?
"Well, excuuuuuse me for not being comfortable after someone basically—" she paused in mid-rant to stare down at the flopping sleeve that had completely covered her waving hand. She yanked the fabric over her wrist and continued, "After someone basically kidnapped and stripped me!"
"Or maybe a near stranger broke into my room naked without my consent. It's all about perspective."
That comment took the wind out of her sails, and for the first time since her impromptu arrival, she seemed closer to her normal self.
As some of her initial shock began to dissipate, Kagome took in his appearance. She didn't know Inuyasha well-they shared two classes that she knew of, and they had bumped into each other in the library and cafeteria on occasion. She tried to be friendly, but he seemed rather closed off, and she didn't want to offend him by pushing. He had never given her the impression that he was a perverted creep, and the way his eyes were dilated suggested he was just as surprised as she was.
"You didn't bring me here on purpose, did you," she said, her words coming out as more of a statement than a question.
"No! You're the last thing I was expecting!" Inuyasha rushed to reassure her, hoping that he could convince her not to spread this around campus.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say because she reared back with an affronted expression. "Well, excuse me if there wasn't a swipe-left option on your weird little chalk circle dating app!"
Inuyasha roughly dragged his hands through his hair, pulling on his scalp. Why couldn't he have gotten a standard youkai bent on dismembering him and stealing his soul?
"This wasn't a supernatural booty call!" He snarled, unconsciously looking more like the summoned than the summoner in this scenario.
"Then what the hell were you even trying to do?" Kagome asked, then gestured at the smeared circle. "Because this looks shady as fuck!"
That took him aback; he had never considered that he might have to explain what he was doing. Although, as a miko, it should be obvious to her—wait. Was she going to try to purify him if he went full youkai? He quickly shook off the thought; he had seen her interacting with other youkai enough to know that wasn't her style. Even though he was still reluctant to tell her, he could see that she was owed some type of explanation; if he was being honest with himself, he doubted he would be handling being teleported ass-naked into someone's dorm half as well as she had.
"I was tryin' to summon somethin' to fix….you know. My problem." He muttered, flicking his ears pointedly.
Kagome gave him a blank stare, indicating that she had no idea what he was talking about. "What problem?"
With both hands, he gestured up and down his body dramatically.
Her hair shifted as she tilted her head, forehead furrowed in confusion. "Your…..fashion sense? It's basic, but I wouldn't say it was bad enough to—"
"I'm a hanyou, Kagome!" He finally shouted.
"Yeeeeessss, I'm aware of that," she agreed slowly. That still didn't tell her what the problem was—she knew that hanyou were often viewed with distaste from both sides (not that it kept one from banging the other, the hypocrites), but she didn't see how summoning another youkai could change the situation. Unless he was summoning them to slay anyone that gave him a hard time about it. She had never gotten that vibe from him; he was quiet, but he wasn't The Quiet Kid quiet.
"I finally found a way to change that, alright? Obviously, something went fuckin' wrong, but I know that it'll work if I—"
"Wait. Are you saying that you just tried to cast some strange spell that will alter your body? Inuyasha, do you know what can happen if you don't have any basic experience?"
The concern in her voice had the color rising in his cheeks, even though he knew that was just her personality and didn't have anything to do with him personally. "I know it's worked for someone with even less experience than me, so I'll be fine."
Kagome shook her head. This had the potential to end badly, and she found herself saddened that Inuyasha felt like this was his best option. While she didn't know him well, she had interacted with him enough to know that under his gruff exterior, he was a pretty funny and kind person. In fact, this incident aside, she wouldn't have been opposed to getting to know him better.
"Let me see this spell," she sighed, hoping that it wasn't something he had printed off of the internet—if so, she was lucky that all she had lost in the transition had been her clothes.
Inuyasha bristled at the request, then relaxed. Maybe it was better to let her see it-at the very least, it would prove what his intentions had been.
"Fine, let me find it. I guess you wanna see the original?"
"If you have it, yes. I think it would give us a better chance of figuring out what went wrong," she answered, relieved that it came from a book rather than the internet. Not that there weren't hoaxes in book form, but there was a better chance of it being legitimate.
She stood in the middle of the room and watched as Inuyasha searched under stacks and piles of his belongings. Now that she had a chance to take in her surroundings, she found that she was more willing to believe that she hadn't been summoned (wrapping her head around the fact that that was even possible was a problem for Future Kagome) for nefarious purposes. This wasn't the room of a guy who was expecting to bring a girl over for sex. Well, maybe some, but it took a special kind not even to have the bed cleared off. She bit her lip as she watched his hair sway back and forth with his movements, the growl of frustration he gave the only sound in the room. No, Inuyasha wasn't that type. If he were self-conscious enough about being a hanyou, he would have wanted to present himself in the best light possible; he would have tossed out the trash and stuffed the rest of his belongings in drawers and under the bed. She was beginning to feel a bit bad for her accusations, but honestly, who could blame her for freaking out? If she had at least been able to keep her clothes...
"Ha! Found the little fucker!" Inuyasha shouted triumphantly, holding up a battered leather book that seemed to be rather crispy around the edges.
It appeared to be quite old; while she couldn't date it exactly, she did have an eye for such things after all of the old documents her grandfather had made her look at over the years.
"Here. Look through it and see what you think," he said, handing it over, the very tips of his claws brushing against her skin.
There was a musty smell coming from the pages. Not the enticing scent of old books, which she enjoyed. This was something darker, more...animal, somehow. It was unpleasant on a physical and spiritual level.
"Where did you even get this thing?" Kagome said, eyeing the book with distaste as she gingerly flipped its pages.
Inuyasha very firmly did not allow his eyes to drift to the expanse of thigh below the sweater he had tossed her; he would have offered some shorts but had a feeling they would slide right off. Then again...no. No, he had barely convinced her this whole thing was an accident-no sense in pushing it.
"Onigumo sold it to me. He says he's tried some of the stuff in there, and it was legit; he was gonna do this one himself and had already made a copy. I figured it was at least worth a shot at bein' a full youkai."
At his explanation, she threw the book from her as if it had burned, and the expression she turned to him was full of horror.
"Are you serious? Do you have any idea what you almost did to yourself?"
He flinched at the sharp pitch of her voice, shuffling away a few steps. "What's the big deal? It obviously worked for him because he left just like he said he would!"
Kagome sank onto the edge of the bed with a moan, slender fingers rubbing at her temples. "Inuyasha. Onigumo didn't leave. Naraku is Onigumo-and the youkai he summoned. Didn't you know?"
His arms fell to his sides, the shock causing his jaw to slacken. Naraku? The same Naraku that sat in the back of his class, muttering to himself and spinning an odd cacoon around his desk and chair? The same Naraku that kept sprouting odd limbs and heads at random intervals, but no one mentioned because, hey, body positivity!
He slid bonelessly to the floor, bile filling the back of his throat. He heaved, struggling mightily to choke it back.
"Here," Kagome said, shoving an empty pizza box in his direction, her large eyes filled with concern and just the barest tinge of amusement. "Aim into this. And look on the bright side! At least I just ended up here and not growing between your shoulder blades."
Inuyasha was too busy tossing his crusts to listen; his close call was too fresh in his mind to wonder how a human had been summoned at all and just what the hell that was going to mean.
When it looked like he was done, Kagome plucked a box of tissues and a half-full bottle of water off the desk and passed them to him, ignoring the box he had closed and set to the side. "Are you going to be okay?"
Inuyasha nodded, gulping down a mouthful of water. "Considerin' what I could be right now, yeah, I'm great," he answered, his voice scratchy from being sick.
"Hopefully, that means you're not going to try that again, right?"
He shook his head, shuddering at the thought. "Nah. I thought things couldn't get worse, but if Naraku really is Onigumo like you said, then clearly, I was wrong. The weird-ass spider gimmick is his thing; I don't feel the need to copy him."
Tension seeped out of Kagome at his words. She was glad that he had made that choice because she really didn't want to have to use her powers to stun him while she destroyed the book.
"Good. I'll enjoy talking to you more if you're not muttering and giggling to yourself."
Inuyasha cocked his head at her words. Did...did that mean she planned on interacting with him after this? She didn't want to just ignore him and act like it never happened? He had no idea why she would want that, but it made him oddly happy.
Kagome felt herself flush under his scrutiny, hoping that he wasn't put off. She hadn't meant anything by her statement-okay, maybe a small part of her hoped, but she was going to start off easy just in case he wasn't interested in getting to know her. Feeling awkward, she cleared her throat.
"Can I borrow your phone? I'd like to text Sango to bring me some clothes, so I don't have to walk back like this."
Like this? Everything was covered, so-oh. No, he supposed Kagome wasn't the type to parade around campus wearing nothing but some random guy's shirt.
"Sure, if you think she'll answer a strange number. Don't forget to ask for shoes," he said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and handing it over.
Kagome navigated to the messaging app and began to type in Sango's number, which she had thankfully memorized. She definitely appreciated his reminder about the shoes since some of the sidewalks were disgusting.
Once the message was sent, Kagome wasn't sure what she should do. It was strange just sitting here, but she couldn't think of anything to say. The whole situation was completely unbelievable. There was always the tried and true "You Are Fine the Way You Are" speech, but they didn't know each other that well for it to sound sincere (even though it was), and this wasn't a made-for-TV teen movie.
The phone buzzed with a reply before Kagome could come up with something without resorting to the weather. Sango said that she would be there in a few minutes, and although she didn't say anything since this was Inuyasha's phone, Kagome could tell that Sango was bristling with curiosity.
"Sango should be here pretty soon, so I should go down to meet her," she said, pushing herself to her feet. The dorms were locked for safety after curfew and could only be opened from the inside.
"I'd go down with you, but I know you probably don't want anyone to think you were, uh, visiting."
"If I were visiting you, I wouldn't be leaving this early."
The words were out of her mouth before she could think them through, and she instantly wished another summoning circle would teleport her away.
"That is, I didn't mean-oh gods, do you think this thing could just swallow me into the floor?" She moaned, looking down at the smudged orange circle.
The urge to tease her bobbed to the surface, but he shoved it back down—she had resisted the need to fry him like a carnival snack, and he didn't want to push his luck.
"Even if I don't go down with you, I can hear as far as the door if I stay in the hall, so I'll come down if someone starts botherin' you."
Kagome smiled at him, grateful both for the consideration and the way he wasn't trying to take advantage of the situation. "Thanks, Inuyasha; I really appreciate that."
When she tucked some of her hair behind her shoulder, Inuyasha's attention was drawn to her neck. When had Kagome gotten a tattoo? It was very subtle; it was an intricately detailed circle, resembling something close to the patterns he saw people using in adult coloring books. It had an iridescent sheen to it like an opal, and at certain angles, it was almost invisible. He shrugged it off, not wanting her to think he was staring.
"No problem, especially since it's kinda my fault you're here."
Why did Inuyasha think he needed to change again? Because the more she interacted with him, the more sure she was that he was just fine the way he was. Her eyes drifted down to his jeans and the way the worn material clung to muscular thighs.
Very fine indeed.
Pulling herself from her musings, she shook her head. "Don't worry about it; now that I know it was an accident, I'll probably be able to laugh about it later—when I'm in my own clothes."
Her soft giggle did something to his insides that had his stomach and heart trying to change places. Unfortunately, it also twisted his tongue into a large knot, so he ended up standing there like an idiot.
"Sango should be here pretty soon, so I'm going to head downstairs," Kagome said, handing over his phone. "I'll try to get your shirt back to you as soon as I can."
He held the door open for her as she stepped into the hallway. "Don't worry about it. I've got plenty of others." He wanted to kick himself; that at least would've been an excuse to talk to her again!
"Either way, I'll see you in class tomorrow!" Kagome said brightly, waving as she started down the hall.
Inuyasha watched until she rounded the corner, for once looking forward to the next day of classes. He sighed; while the night hadn't gone remotely as he had planned, things hadn't turned out too badly if it meant he could get Kagome to speak to him on a regular basis.
Tired, he turned back into his room….
And ran right into Kagome.
A wide-eyed, naked Kagome.
None pizza, left breast.
He really needed to do something about the way his brain worked.
"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, her lower lip trembling.
The mark on her neck was glowing, which, unless the tattoo industry had made vast strides without him hearing about it, indicated that there was some major supernatural shit going down.
He gave her a weak smile.
"Scooby-Dooby-Damn."
