Welcome back, readers! Thanks for returning if that's relevant to you, or if you're new, welcome to the story! Never too late to join. I don't have a long intro today, but I will give this update: the next chapter won't come out until after Thanksgiving, possibly after December starts. But since this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, i promise to make the next one good and long!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to InuYasha or any of its characters. I also do not own Beautiful Disaster or any of its characters. Any likeness to any real persona or event if purely coincidental and should not be taken as fact.

When Inuyasha returned from his not-date with Kagome, Miroku was on the couch playing Call of Duty. He must've been anxious for Inuyasha to return because he paused the campaign the minute the half-demon threw himself down on the couch with a deep sigh.

"You're back early," Miroku commented, then gave him a sympathetic look. "It didn't go well, huh?"

Inuyasha furrowed his brow, reflecting on the evening for a moment before answering. "No, that's not it, actually. It went much better than I thought it would," his eyes slid over to look at his human friend, "but she was adamant that it was not a date. So, I don't exactly know what to think of it."

"Well, you didn't bring her home to sleep with her. So that's already way out of the norm for you."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to sleep with her, asshole."

Miroku gave him a doubtful look. He didn't even have to say a word for Inuyasha to know he didn't believe the statement.

"Okay, I want to sleep with her. But that's different than me actively trying to do so," Inuyasha insisted. "Is she always so closed off?" he continued, changing the focus of the conversation.

It was Miroku's turn to think. His brown eyes stared at the ceiling as he did so. "I'm going to be honest; I don't really know a lot about her at all. From what I've gathered so far, she's a really nice person – "

Miroku stopped when he noticed that Inuyasha was shooting him a doubtful look. "Okay, well, she's not nice to you, but you do get on her nerves a lot."

Inuyasha relented with a shrug. "Fair enough. Continue."

"She's a nice person, obviously very caring. Sango told me they've been friends since they were kids, and their brothers play soccer together. But most of what I know about Kagome, I learned from Sango. Kagome doesn't really talk about herself unless it involved school. Even Sango doesn't offer up much information about her."

Inuyasha listened intently, taking it in. He could see that was she was a kind person, even if it wasn't necessarily directed towards him. Now he knew that she had a little brother, which is more information than he had before since she had dodged the family question earlier in the evening.

"Inuyasha, I've known you for a long time. I've never seen you spend time with a woman unless you intended to sleep with them. At least, not in a long time. So, what's the big deal about this one?" Miroku asked bluntly.

Inuyasha's brow furrowed deeper. Honestly, he didn't quite have the answer to that himself. He knew full well that he was acting so far out of his normal habits. He slept with women but didn't get close ot them. Kagome was . . . different. He didn't quite know why yet but from the moment he smelled her scent, Inuyasha couldn't get her out of his mind. It was like he had one hit of a drug, and he was instantly addicted – needed more. He constantly wanted her in his presence so he could take the edge off the cravings. It didn't help that she was insanely attractive. Dreams of him fucking her until she could no longer stand had already been plaguing his dreams for days.

"I don't know, Miroku," Inuyasha finally sighed, "I don't know."

And he was telling the truth.

The next morning, Kagome was out for her morning jog. She and Sango had both woken up early, which was completely coincidental. Sango had plans to go to the gym before hanging out with Miroku for lunch. Kagome simply couldn't sleep. A certain pair of golden eyes were haunting her dreams (or nightmares, as she liked to call them) and she couldn't fall back asleep. Thus, she got up, ate a granola bar, and got dressed to go on a run around campus.

Even though it was a Saturday morning, and one would expect campus to be barren, campus was buzzing with the activity of some early risers. It most likely helped that the weather was gorgeous, with the sun inviting you to come outside and bask in its rays. It certainly made it easy for Kagome to justify being up early on a weekend. She figured that she would go back to the dorm after this and shower off and brush her teeth, then head to the library on campus to get some homework done. The day's plan was coming along nicely in her mind.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Kagome pulled over into a grassy area off the brick path. She pulled out her phone to find a text from her grandfather:

Kagome, please respond. We just want to know you're okay.

She hesitated, not sure whether to respond or ignore it again. While there could always be a less innocent reason behind her grandfather reaching out, she hadn't spoken to anyone in her family since she left home. And besides, Sota was probably worried out of his mind.

Kagome hesitantly typed back the response: I'm fine. How is Sota?

She didn't want to leave it open to conversation, but she did genuinely want to check on her little brother. Unfortunately, he wasn't old enough to have his own cell phone so she couldn't contact him that way.

"Hey, purple jacket!"

Upon hearing the voice call out, Kagome turned her head to see a male from a few feet behind her, looking straight at her. She slipped her phone back into her pocket.

He gestured to the frisbee that was on the ground next to her feet. "Do you mind?"

"Oh!" she said, feeling embarrassed she didn't notice it there. "Yes, of course!" She bent over to pick it up, then turned to throw it back to the male who called out to her –

And threw it straight into the stomach of another male passing through.

The brown-headed boy immediately double over as he let out a whimper, his arms wrapping around his torso.

"Oh my god!" Kagome gasped, dropping the frisbee back to the ground and rushed over to the doubled-over man. "I am so, so sorry! Are you okay?" she asked as she wrapped an arm around shoulder.

"Yep, yep, I'm fine, just fine!" the brown-haired man gritted through his teeth. Kagome could see his eyes were tearing up.

"If it makes you feel better, you're a cute cryer," Kagome consoled, giggling a little.

"I'm not crying!" the man stood up straight, as if trying to shake off the whole event.

Now that he was standing, Kagome could see his features more plainly. He was cute, in a boyish way. His bangs hung over his eyes, rest of his chestnut hair short. It there was one way to describe him, he looked cute and kind.

Maybe a little plain, Kagome thought, but she had no idea where it came from.

"How long have you been captain of the Frisbee Club?" he managed to push out through puffs of breath.

"Oh, no, I – I'm not captain – "

"That was a joke," he brought a hand to his head sheepishly, "that clearly didn't land." He took a deep breath then extended his hand. "I'm Hojo."

Kagome smiled and took it. "I'm Kagome. I'm so sorry again."

"Don't worry about it. I have to go, but I'll see you around?" Hojo asked, beginning to back away.

"Yeah, sure! And next time, no frisbees," Kagome called out as she waved.

Hojo laughed before turning away to get to where he was going.

Kagome had finished her run shortly after the run-in with Hojo and decided to head back to her dorm. She was sweaty and had begun to get hungry for more than just a granola bar. Sango had texted her that she had finished her workout but was grabbing breakfast with Miroku. She offered for Kagome to meet them at the library for a homework and study session. Kagome agreed and said she would meet them as soon as she could.

The black-haired young women peeled off her sweaty leggings and sports bra, tossing them into the laundry basket. The shower had been heating up for a few minutes, so Kagome stepped in and let out a sigh as soon as the water glided through her hair and down her body. As she began to wash off, her mind drifted.

Her grandfather had started texting her a few days ago. While Kagome on one hand totally believed they wanted to be sure she was okay – which was fair considering she left while only leaving a note behind – she also knew that she could easily be drawn back into that world. Kagome had promised herself when she left for school that she would create distance for her own sake – to lead an honest life. No more schemes, no more games.

As she was lost in thought while washing her face, the warmth of the water suddenly stopped. Her eyebrows knotted in confusion as she kept her eyes squinted shut so soap wouldn't get in them. Reaching out her hand, she smacked around a bit until she felt the handle. She could feel it was still in the on position, so she turned it a couple times back and forth to see if that would help.

Nothing.

"Shit," she grumbled, starting to shiver from the cold and her being wet.

Kagome felt around for the shower curtain, and once she found it, she peeled it back so she could step out. Every move and step she made was clumsy and slow – she was relying solely off of her mental memory to find her towel. Grabbing it off the bar, she wiped her face off vigorously. Soap still covered her body. She would have to change out her towel later.

Wrapping herself up with the towel, she stepped out of the bathroom. Sango was still gone, which was expected. Kagome crossed the room to grab her phone off her desk, dialing her Resident Assistant's number. Luckily, Ayame picked up the phone quickly.

"Kagome, hey! Are you without water, too?" she answered, quite cheerfully considering the nature of the call.

Kagome was taken aback by her statement. She gathered this was a common problem. "Let me guess, I'm not the only one?"

Ayame sighed. "No, unfortunately not. Apparently there has been a break in the water line going underneath this part of campus. The sewer workers said that it could take a day or two to fix."

"Oh my god," Kagome gasped. "Thanks for the info, Ayame. Let me call Sango to update her."

"Of course. I'll keep you updated, Kagome!"

Kagome thanked the wolf demon and immediately ended the call to dial Sango. After a few rings, she answered.

"What's up?" Sango said, clearly through a bite of food.

"We don't have any water," Kagome stated. "Ayame said it could be a day or two before the water line is fixed."

"Fuck," Sango groaned. "What happened? How did you find out?"

"Oh, you know, little old me, taking a shower. In the middle of it, my water got shut off. I didn't even get to finish!" Kagome complained, her voice taking on a whiny tone. If there was anything she truly cherished in life, it was the modern showering system. Nothing got between her and her bath time. Well, almost nothing.

Kagome could hear Sango lean the phone away and speak to Miroku, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was they were saying. After a minute or two, Sango came back to the conversation.

"Kagome, meet us at Miroku's dorm," she said authoritatively, "and bring a bag of things you might need."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Thanks, Sango." She would be sure to thanks Miroku later, too.

They hung up the phone and Kagome immediately set to packing her bag and her backpack. She threw on random clothes that would make her look decent enough to walk across campus. Since it was only for two days max, Kagome just grabbed a couple outfits and the absolute necessities. It's not like she couldn't come back for more stuff later if needed.

When she arrived at Miroku's dorm, he and Sango were waiting for her in front of the steps. Sango gave Kagome a sympathetic look, as the nursing student was still soaking wet.

"You can finish showering upstairs in our room, if you want," Miroku offered, leading the two women inside.

Kagome had been in the lobby of Miroku's dorm before, but never inside. She also had no clue who his roommate was. "Thank you so much, Miroku. I appreciate it."

"Sango told me your RA said that it could take a day or two to fix. Please stay for as long as you need."

"Oh, that's so nice, but I hope we'll only have to be in your hair for one night!" Kagome responded. "Are you sure your roommate won't mind?"

"No, it's totally fine," Miroku said, unlocking the door to his room. He held the door open for them and gestured for the girls to step inside. As they did so, he added, "Just make sure to not go into Inuyasha's room."

Kagome's bag fell to the floor with a dull thud. She froze in place, not moving as she slowly spoke, "Inuyasha . . . is your roommate?"

"Uh, yeah, Sango didn't mention that?" Miroku responded, confused.

Kagome turned to glare at Sango behind her, who was wearing a guilty grin. "I knew if I told you, that you wouldn't come!"

"Damn right!" Kagome shot back, picking up her bag and made a move towards the door.

"No, no, no!" Sango cried out, grabbing Kagome's arm and dragging her further into the apartment. Kagome tried to fight her off, but Sango had always been stronger than her.

"You won't even see him because he's barely here!" Sango continued making her case. "I'm over here a lot and even I barely see him. I swear! That's why I didn't mention it before."

Kagome refused to make contact with Sango's big brown eyes, and instead chose to stare at the floor with an annoyed look. While she and Inuyasha had called a truce as friends, he still liked to get under her skin. And every time he came around, he ended up being in her dreams for the two days. She didn't care to deal with that even more.

"Please, Kagome, it'll be fun!" Sango pleaded, then turned to Miroku for help. "Tell her everything with Inuyasha will be cool."

"Oh yeah, Inuyasha won't care," Miroku stated matter-of-factly. "In fact, he really likes you."

"He doesn't even know me," Kagome retorted, but she knew deep down that she really didn't have a leg to stand on. They were offering her a shower and a place to sleep. She shouldn't be ungrateful.

"Look, we'll have a movie night tonight with popcorn after we do homework!" Sango bribed. "But for now, we'll let you shower while we go pick up some of my stuff. I promise it'll be fun!" she called as they exited the apartment, leaving Kagome standing the middle of the living room.

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