Til Death Do Us Part

by Elkonigin

It's happening: Sango and Miroku are finally tying the knot. But it's far from a smooth event what with possessive ex-boyfriends and new fiancées, not to mention an incredibly attractive best man. However, Kagome's troubles only intensify once the wedding is over.

12. Between a Rock and A Hard-On

Chapter Twelve
"Between a Rock and a Hard-On"

---

When she'd come out of the bathroom in his clothes, he'd thought that the instant hard-on would never cease. He made sure to keep himself behind her because she couldn't see the face he was making as the sight of his cuffed sweatpants and how his shirt fell to almost mid-thigh on her.

Fuck.

She was something that he'd only imagined or daydreamed about, and here she was, wearing his clothes, and letting him take care of her.

This was simultaneously the best and worst day of his entire life.

He made sure that she'd have dry clothes later.

Much later, considering that he put it on extremely low heat to ensure that he had finagled himself both as much time with her as he could and also that she might wear his clothes outside.

At the rate that he was going, he was going to have to put his dick in a sock and tape it to his thigh with duct tape or something.

He was afraid it'd break through simple scotch tape at the rate that he was going.

He'd put her on a barstool and cooked her food—properly—in a pan, like it should've been.

He was taking such good fucking care of her.

Of course the woman would be fucking stubborn and try to actively wash the dishes when he saw her visually wince when she stood.

Like he was going to let her wash a single fucking plate.

He wasn't even going to wash the stupid plate. Not when he could shove it into a dishwasher and—you know—take care of Kagome in the meantime.

He didn't miss the sigh of relief as she sat down, tucking her feet up awkwardly under her and that was when Inuyasha walked over and sat down beside her.

"Gimme," he said motioning to her feet. It couldn't be comfortable sitting there like that and it was blatantly obvious that her feet were aching. He could tell that much from when she'd sat down.

If she'd been standing for half as long as he'd suspected, he wouldn't doubt it. His mother always complained when she had to wear heels to the fancy dinners his father dragged them all to.

So he shoved a pillow into his lap—to provide more comfort to her, and give himself a small barrier because he was going to get to touch leg—and convinced her to let him rub his feet.

The moment that his thumb pressed into her foot, she inhaled sharply enough that it made him pause. But her face didn't look like he was hurting her. He knew that face. That was damn near the same face that Sango made when he'd rub her feet. His momentary panic abated, and he continued rubbing her feet.

It made him happy to take care of her, pleased and soothed him in a way that he hadn't expected. He'd always felt like taking care of people was an obligation, a task, even when he didn't mind helping others out.

People took and they rarely gave back, but with Kagome—he didn't care about it.

And she didn't just take.

She gave too, and she didn't expect him to do things.

In fact, she fought him at every turn when he was trying so fucking hard to be nice.

Didn't she get that he wasn't nice to just anyone?

So now, he was here, rubbing her feet and legs as she laid out on his couch, in his clothes, watching some stupid show with him.

Her skin was supple under his fingers, and he could feel the lean muscle in her calves.

She was fucking perfect.

Thank fuck that pillow was keeping her unaware of what touching her legs was doing to him.

The show ended, and Kagome stretched her legs out just a bit with a yawn.

"It's getting late," she said, pushing herself up. He kept a firm grip on her legs to keep her from pulling them away.

"Stay here," he blurted out, realizing a second later what he'd said. "I mean, you can stay here, if you want."

Kagome stared at him for a second before giving him a slight smile.

"That's sweet, but I don't have any clothes for tomorrow," she gently tugged her legs away and he let her after a moment, squelching the whine that built up deep down.

She was right. He knew that she was right, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to be selfish just a little bit.

"Yeah, no, I'll take you home," he said, and she pulled her legs away, setting them down on the floor.

"I'll go check on my clothes," she said after a moment.

Ah, fuck, yeah, this was going to backfire. Her clothes were not going to be done at all.

His greedy nature had finally caught up with him. She was never going to come back here once she saw that he'd sabotaged the dryer.

She stood up, and so did he, except he was frantically watching her hobble her way towards his laundry room where the dryer had gone off ages ago and he'd just sat there, on his couch, like a limp noodle because he had a grip on some really nice calf.

He had a problem, and he had it bad.

And now he'd fucked it up. Fucked it up so bad.

He followed her, ears flattening against his head the closer that she got to the laundry room.

She opened the dryer, and he watched her frown at the dampness of her clothes.

"They're still damp."

"Sorry!" He blurted out.

"What are you sorry for?"

His mouth opened and closed for a hard few seconds.

"That they're damp? I put them on delicate?"

"I didn't expect them to be dry-dry, but—" She made a slight face as she felt the material in spots. He knew that they were definitely not dry enough to be worn. "Oh well, I'm going to get wet outside anyway."

Inuyasha tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"When I go outside?" Kagome asked. "I have to go outside to catch the train."

At that instant, a loud clap of thunder made her wince.

"Yeah, fuck that. I'm driving you home."

"What? No! You've done so much already! It's not that far and—"

"Would you stop already?" He growled. "You're not walking anywhere in that!" He motioned towards the outside of the building where another clap of thunder rolled overhead again. Clearly, nature was on his side for once.

"I still need to change, and—"

"Just wear those out," he gestured vaguely to the outfit that she was in. "It ain't like I'm going to die without them or anything."

Kagome looked down at her—well, his—shirt, and then at her clothes.

"Come on, they're dry and yours aren't. You're going to catch a cold."

He realized his request was mainly made out of selfishness, because she would wear his clothes outside—where people could see her and know that she was wearing his clothes—and then she would take them home where someone else would see his clothes and know that he had metaphorically laid some sort of claim to her.

He internally winced.

There was something about this that was making that instinctual part of himself just a bit too excited.

"Fine," his ears perked and he cursed them, "I'll wear them, but I'm washing them and giving them back to you on Friday!"

His metaphorical tail would be a bloody mess from where he was beating it against the wall in pure joy.

"Fine," he answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Kagome sighed, turning around and walking back towards the living room.

He'd not only managed to avoid getting yelled at for not drying her clothes completely, but now she was wearing his clothes outside.

He should really go buy a lotto ticket before his luck ran out and give it to her.

"Here," he said, clearing his throat. "Let me get you a bag."

He dug through a drawer and found a plastic sack that had brought in groceries at some point, and she placed her clothes inside, before taking the bag from him.

She started collecting her things, and he wondered how far he could press his luck. She wasn't going to stay here—that much was obvious.

She slid her foot into a heel, and he watched the painful grimace cross over her face.

"Hey," he said, grabbing his keys and sliding on a pair of sneakers, "I'll carry you down."

"What? No!"

She might as well have just slapped him with the aggressiveness of that reaction.

Apparently that was too far.

"Sorry, I didn't —that wasn't supposed come out like that. I can walk down." She took a step as though to prove a point and practically whimpered. Inuyasha sighed and knelt down in front of her.

"Come on," he said. "You can't walk in those."

There was a long moment of silence and then her arms wrapped around his neck, and he mentally fist pumped at his luck.

She hiked one leg up onto his hip, and he reached back to grab onto her thigh, and—this was a bad idea—very, very bad idea—there are not words to describe how bad of an idea this was.

Especially when she jumped a little to get herself up high enough, and he felt her chest press against his back.

Was there such a thing as anti-Viagra? Because he was definitely going to have a hard-on for more than four hours at this point and probably was going to have to seek medical attention.

When he died from a lack of blood flow to all the important parts of his body, because his dick was a greedy little bastard, his parents could put that he felt boobs against his back and died with his own personal memorial of this glorious moment.

Children would be able to use him as a ring toss.

He could be used as a candelabra.

Kagome wriggled a bit to situate herself, and his hands gripped the fleshy part of her thighs, biting his lip to muffle the whimper that threatened to come out.

"Am I heavy?"

"Not at all," he laughed weakly.

This was going to be a long trip down to his car.

He looked over at his keys on the counter, swallowing thickly.

"Hey, I'm gonna grab my keys and open the door, so hold on," he said, letting go of her leg to grab his keys.

But when her legs clamped around his waist—

Oh shit.

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

Yep.

Bad idea.

Mmmm-hmmm.

Definitely. Baddest of bad ideas.

At this point, he should just tuck himself into the waistband of his underwear and just let it be.

But it was too late now. Can't fondle himself while still holding onto her, and he really wanted to keep holding her.

He pulled the door open, holding it with his foot as he stepped out, hearing it slam closed behind him as his hand returned to her thigh, and he resisted squeezing it just to see how fleshy it was.

That would be bad.

"Here, I've got it," Kagome said, thighs squeezing his waist as she propped herself up, leaning over slightly to press the button, and then resting her chin on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Yep," he chirped. He was going to die from blood loss, but that was fine. He'd die an unsatisfied but happy man.

"You're sure?" She asked him. "Your cheeks look a little flush. Are you getting a fever?" She reached a hand up and pressed it against his forehead. "You don't feel very warm."

"I'm fine. Hanyou don't get sick like humans do."

Her hand pressed against his cheek as if confirming what he'd said.

The elevator door opened, and he gratefully stepped inside.

A fear he'd never felt before ran through him, because he'd forgotten about the nearly 360 degree view the mirrors provided.

If she wanted a glimpse of his perpetual hard on, she could just take a gander.

Kagome leaned over and pressed the button for the garage,

Please don't let anyone come in. Please just go straight to the floor.

He watched the elevator slowly descend to the garage.

Kagome shifted her grip on him, thighs squeezing him tightly, and he dug a fang into his lip until he tasted blood.

His fingers flexed on her thighs, and she stiffened against him.

"Sorry, am I moving too much?"

"It's fine," he said.

"It just felt like I was slipping."

"I'm not going to drop you."

"Sorry," she apologized again.

"Don't be." Her chin rested back against his shoulder, and there was a small bing as the doors opened—and not onto their floor.

Ah.

Well, fuck.

Someone's about to see how excited he is to grab a handful of really good thigh.

He was very excited.

Kagome gave a small wave to the person entering before burying her face into his shoulder.

Her breath was humid through his shirt, and he closed his eyes for a second to gather his wits.

The man cleared his throat, and Inuyasha shot him a glare, daring him to say something. But when the elevator doors opened for the lobby, the man made a quick exit.

"That was so embarrassing," Kagome whispered as the doors closed.

Inuyasha scoffed loudly.

"Why? Because some dumb ass couldn't keep his mind out of the gutter? Fuck 'em."

Or him. She could definitely fuck him. Was that an option?

Because he really wanted it to be an option. He'd make it an option. Just write it in at the bottom of the ballot.

She giggled, and he caught sight of the smile on her face in the door.

The doors opened again, revealing the parking garage, and he moved towards his car.

"If you lean forward a little, I can get the door," she said, and he grinned.

Let her see how strong he was, and how little she weighed to him.

He bent over at the waist, nearly to the level of the door handle, and she squealed as he stopped, laughing as she swatted his shoulder.

"You did that on purpose!"

"No. Why would you think such a thing?"

"You jerk," she laughed, and he smiled as she pulled the door open. "Okay, put me down so I can get in."

He scoffed at that, kneeling down to let her slide in without putting her feet down.

"Now you're just showing off." She fell back into the car, and he let her legs go slowly, feeling them graze down almost the full length of her leg as he stood and watched her tuck her feet inside so he could close the door.

Yeah, he was probably his own worst enemy, but he was going to die a happy man.

A sexually frustrated and unfulfilled man, but a happy man nonetheless.

Maybe he could just shift and tuck a bit when she wasn't looking.

A risky maneuver, but there was an obvious tent to his pants and he was sure trying to rest his hand over his crotch wasn't going to detract attention away from the area either.

Maybe just a quick slide in and then distract her?

Who was he fucking kidding? This wasn't like a sleight of hand that he could do.

Now, you see the dick, now you don't?

You could totally see the dick.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called, looking up through the window at him. "Everything okay?"

"Uh yeah," he said, "sorry." He cleared his throat. "I was—uh—listening to the weather."

"Is it bad?"

"It's—uh—something," he answered, climbing into his car ass first, pulling the waistband of his pants out just a bit and feeling himself shift.

It was weird.

It was awkward.

It was the opposite of graceful.

But he was in the car, and Kagome appeared to be none the wiser, so he was going to count himself lucky.

Neither of them spoke right away, and he was sure that it has him making things weird. He'd fucked up somewhere and now she was never going to come close to him ever again, all because his dick looked for hints where there were no hints to find.

It was getting difficult to keep himself in line when it came to his thoughts about Kagome, which were starting to become alarmingly descriptive.

Her hand touched his arm and he tried to not jump at the casual caress.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Whatever," he scoffed. "It ain't like I've done anything special."

Her eyes watered. He could smell it, and he chanced a look at her. She had these big fucking doe eyes that looked like he'd just given her a fucking pony.

He could get her a horse—if she wanted one.

There was room at the estate.

He could make it happen.

"You made me dinner, and picked me up, and rubbed my feet, and loaned me clothes, and," she looked down at herself, "I'll wash them and bring them back."

"Don't worry about it. You can keep them." His voice cracked, and he cleared it casually.

"Did I get you sick?" Kagome nearly shouted, hands running across his forehead and cheeks, and he'd felt his entire body twitch at the touching.

"Hanyou don't get human sick."

"But they do get sick!"

"Yeah, if we're like half-dead! Do I look half-dead?" There was definitely a part of him that was very much alive, despite him wanting it to not be that way.

Kagome withdrew her hands, and he found himself following it just a bit before catching himself.

He took a deep breath, only to catch every bit of Kagome's scent when he did, which was great and he'd probably huff his way through her seat before going back to his apartment.

Totally normal.

Just a totally normal thing to do.

"No," she answered quietly. "I just—I—sorry," she answered.

"Don't be," he said just as quietly.

"Thanks for driving me home, and for, you know, everything else," she said after a long answer.

He stared at her for a moment, knowing that how he answered her would impact everything.

She expected so little of him—of everyone really.

He just wanted to take care of her, but she'd fight him tooth and nail on it. He'd known her for a few weeks, and he could tell that much about her.

"Anytime," he said, turning to look back at the road. He caught sight of Kagome looking over at him, and he glanced over at her in just enough time to see a genuine smile break out across her face.

The rest of the ride was quiet but not awkwardly so.

He pulled into her parking garage and parked his car in the guest space he'd taken last time.

Turning the car off, he opened the door, watching as Kagome did the same.

"Wait just a sec," he told her, shutting the door behind him and walking around to her side. He squatted down, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I can walk the rest of the way," she argued.

"It ain't right though. Carried you all the way here, might as well finish." Lightning struck nearby, and she flinched. "There's that too," he added. "You can't run in those," he said, pointing to her shoes.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak.

"And you'll break your neck if you even try."

Kagome huffed, and he wiggled his fingers, inviting her to climb onto his back.

"Come on, it's not like you're heavy."

"But it's more than a couple flights," she said, pointing towards the stairs.

"And?" He raised an eyebrow at her statement, and she at least considered his single syllable question. "Come on, Kagome, let me at least escort you to the front door."

She half-whined and half-groaned.

"Fine," she admitted, and he felt her hands on his shoulders, and he nearly sighed with relief. He inhaled as she moved to lean against him, and he grabbed her thighs, hoisting her up and onto his back.

Dragging her up where he could hold her comfortably, he stood, nudging the door shut with his knee.

He walked over to the elevator, and looked for it to open.

"You gotta key for this thing?" He saw a pad looking thing at the door, but nothing that would release it.

"Oh—uh—I don't—I mean, I have a card, but I don't have—you know, it doesn't work."

"Your elevator key doesn't work?" He asked. It didn't matter, because what was a couple flights of stairs? He'd honestly just leap up the flights. He'd probably actually beat the elevator honestly, but it made him stand out, showed people how he wasn't human, he wasn't normal.

He liked his senses. He liked his strength and power. But it bothered others, and he didn't want to bother her. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable around him ever.

She mumbled something into his shoulder, and the heat of her breath made him nearly shiver.

But he started towards the stairs anyway and her head jerked up from where she'd buried it into his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

He continued up.

"Taking you up the stairs."

She wriggled, making him hold onto her tighter.

"Stop that, it ain't like you're heavy."

"I'm not light either!"

He scoffed at that, leaping up to the landing and then turning and leaping up to the next without any struggle.

Kagome had reflexively yelped and clung to him tighter.

"Warn a girl before you do that!"

"I was gonna and then she was saying stupid shit."

Kagome huffed, and he grinned, leaping up the flights of stairs to her floor.

"So how long has your card not been working?" He asked, walking out towards where the walkway came out into the pouring rain.

"Not that long," she answered.

"Kagome," he sighed, "you walk up all those steps every day?"

"I mean, at least I don't live on the top floor?"

Rolling his eyes, he darted towards her building, skidding to a stop under the covered walkway. Inuyasha walked casually to her door and set her feet down gently before turning around to face her. They were right in front of her door, and he wanted to say goodnight to her at least.

He could do that without fucking it up too badly.

Probably.

"Um, thanks for the clothes. I'll wash them and give them back to you soon."

"Don't worry about it. You can keep them."

The words had escaped his mouth again before he'd even thought about it, but that was an excellent plan. His clothes in her apartment?

Oh that scratched an itch he didn't know that he even had.

Her cheeks flushed, and she stared at her feet, making him grin like an idiot. And he was one. He knew it.

"Oh, okay," she said barely above a whisper. "Do you—maybe—want to come in for a little bit?"

Inuyasha was sure of two things: He did very much want to go inside and if he had a tail, it would definitely be wagging.

Wait, what did 'come inside' mean? Was it just for like a visit? Or something more? Like did he need a change of clothes? Well, Kagome was wearing a change of his clothes, so those could work in a pinch.

Maybe they were just going to have coffee or tea?

Kagome looked up at him as she fumbled with her keys a little bit.

He would also be perfectly happy with no clothes.

"Ye—," he cleared his throat as his voice broke. "I mean, yeah, sounds good."

Kagome quickly unlocked her door, stepping inside and holding the door open to him.

He took it from her and followed her in. She slid into a pair of house shoes, before walking through her living room, knocking her thigh into her couch and flipping on the light switch for the living room.

It was probably better to view this place in the dark.

The light did nothing for it.

And those were the best words he could come up with.

"Sorry, it's small."

That—that part wasn't what bothered him at all.

It was the fact that he could hear everything outside, and even though he was a hanyou, he should have some sort of dampening happening. Probably meant that there wasn't enough insulation, and she would be cold in the winter.

The cabinets were two—three different colors and literally looked like someone had just dumped whatever they'd had left over into her kitchen.

Not to mention the smell of another man was here, and entirely unpleasant to his senses.

He'd never even considered that she'd already found someone, and who was he kidding?

Look at her.

Of course she'd have someone.

Who wouldn't want her? He was an idiot to think the he even had a chance.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked. "I've got tea—or I could make coffee, if you want? I have decaf too. Oh! And herbal teas!" She started to almost putter around in what looked like nervousness, and he quickly reached over the counter, grabbing her wrist.

"I'm fine," he told her.

And now that he was actually capable of thinking, he should probably let her rest. The day had been taxing, and the hour was later than usual.

Kagome deserved to relax before she went back to work.

"I should probably go anyway," he said, glancing towards the door. "It's late for you, and you will have to work in the morning."

He'd gotten ahead of himself, and he shouldn't have.

"Oh," was all she managed to breathe out.

He caught the flash of disappointment in her face, but it disappeared so quickly that he'd briefly considered that he hadn't seen it at all.

Or maybe it hadn't been disappointment at all and was in fact relief.

"Well, thank you for driving me home," she said as he released her wrist, and she moved around the counter, walking him as he moved himself towards her door.

"No thanks needed," he answered, and he meant it.

They were friends, and at least he knew that was all that they could be now.

Whatever he thought was happening—or was possible—he now knew that it simply couldn't be.

He hadn't gotten to her first.

"You know you can come over anytime, right?" His mouth said the words right as his brain thought them, no filter available. "No invitation needed."

She grinned up at him, and he couldn't help the involuntary stutter of his chest.

"Noted. The same goes for you too."

He returned the smile at her.

"I might take you up on that offer when it's not so late."

She turned over her shoulder to look at a clock on the stove.

"Oh, I hadn't realized!" She turned back to him. "I'm so sorry to make you stay out this late and drive me home and—"

"Kagome, stop." She momentarily stopped rambling, and he huffed an irritated breath at her. "It ain't like you ruined plans or anything, so stop it."

"Okay," she breathed.

"We still on for Friday?"

Kagome nodded vigorously, following up with a high-pitched, "Yep!"

"Alright, dinner and then we can go buy shit."

She giggled.

"It's a date!"

His heart fluttered just a beat, but it was hard enough to wrack through his entire frame. He knew it was just a phrase, but to hear her say it? Oh, that got a lot of things moving in his head that probably should've just stayed stationary.

"Okay then," he agreed like the lame son of a bitch he was.

And now the awkward part. What did he do? What did he do with his arms? Did he wave? Did he just leave?

Kagome, however, gave him a reprieve and leaned up, wrapping her arms around his neck, tugging him down to her.

He went willingly, finding his cheek against hers.

His arms slid around her waist, and he squeezed her tightly for just a moment, wishing that he had half the guts to ask her if she really wanted to make it one.

"Alright, then I'll see you on Friday."

"Unless you get stranded at a train station during a horrific freak rain storm?"

"You'll be the first one I'd call," she grinned up at him as she pulled away.

He couldn't help but smile back at her. It felt like he was looking at the moon, not blinding and blistering but something reassuring. Like he'd never know a moment without the sunlight if he just looked at her.

He followed her as she moved towards the front door, and he realized the moment she opened the door that given the opportunity, he'd follow her wherever she wanted to go.

Fuck, he should've moved faster, claimed her—nope, bad word choice—taken her—nope also bad—decided to be her boyfriend.

He stepped outside, feet just on the threshold of her door as he turned to face her, leaning against the door frame so that he was just a couple inches closer to her height.

"Thank you," she told him again. Her voice was soft and barely above a whisper. "For taking me home."

"Go rest, Kagome," he said, reaching up to rest his hand on her still slightly damp hair. "Call if you need me." He stood there, very clearly in her space, and just—they were so close and there were so many things he wanted to do.

"Okay," she whispered, still just standing there.

A flash of lightning made her flinch, and he stood completely upright—no longer slouching—as the thunder rolled through a couple seconds later.

"You should go before it gets worse."

"Yeah," he said, glowering at the sky for a moment before turning back to her. "I'll see you Friday."

And this time, he took a step away from her door and so did she, reaching out to push the door slowly closed.

He ran his hands through his hair a few times before jogging back towards his car through the rain.

Reaching his car, he grabbed the handle, feeling the grin spread out across his face. His shirt stuck to his skin and he felt like the world was right and fair for once.

Because maybe he had a chance after all.

He slid inside, shutting the door behind him and barely resisting the urge to crack his cheekbones with a grin.

He backed his car out and headed home.

---

Kagome locked her door after him, and then turned to lean back against it.

They'd—they'd had a moment there, right?

That was definitely something.

But she also hadn't missed the look he'd given her apartment when he'd gotten an actual good look at it.

She'd seen that look before. It was the same look that Sango and Miroku had when she'd first walked them inside.

It was a look that said they'd avoid coming here as much as possible.

And she'd brought them after she'd deep cleaned the entire thing. There had been a significant improvement.

Significant.

The carpet was a light gray and not near black like it had been when she'd walked in, and her socks no longer turned black when she wore them inside. The cobwebs and spider webs were no longer present and thickly woven over the tops of the cabinets.

Seriously, she'd taken a mop and ran it across the ceiling and the webs came off in sheets that were so thick, she'd had to wash the mop twice to get them all off.

She won't even talk about all the spiders that came out of the mop when she submerged it into the water. The cabinets were thoroughly cleaned, and the fridge was white. Well, turns out that the fridge was white because it had been painted white.

Inside and out.

How did she know?

Whomever had done the job had sprayed right over the light on the inside. So when she'd replaced the light—because the landlord said that as long as the fridge was running, it was fine—it had remained dark, except the light was on. That's when she realized that the light cover was also white and completely opaque.

And the area under the light?

A yellowish brown color that made her regret knowing the answer to a question that she'd never meant to ask.

She'd scrubbed the floors with bleach and water and dish soap, and she'd scrubbed so much that the patterns had started to fade—but all the layers of grime that she'd managed to get up was impressive and completely gross.

The bathroom was by far the worst.

So much dirt and dust and grime.

And spiders. So many spiders.

She'd set off so many bombs that she'd been unable to enter the apartment for a couple days. And when she vacuumed afterwards, the bag was completely full of tiny little carcasses. In the process, she'd found three dead mice in her bedroom.

In short, if they thought her apartment was a dive now—they should have seen it before, because the after, while still not great was definitely a stark difference from the beginning.

Kagome sighed, staring at the small space.

It was hers though, and she was paying for it all on her own and had gotten it on all her own, and that was something she was proud of.

Sure, it was a shitty little apartment that she'd never look at with any sort of fondness. But there was something about saying that this was hers and hers alone that filled her with some amount of pride.

But that didn't mean that anyone else saw it that way though.

The look on Inuyasha's face, that one hurt. That was the look of near disgust, and the moment that she saw it, she'd panicked and tried to start to distract him with something to drink, because she'd wanted nothing more than for him to stay for just a bit longer.

But he didn't. He'd quietly and gently pulled away and left.

At least he'd promised to see her again on Friday.

That was only a few more days away.

She'd be completely fine.

Sighing loudly in the small space, she moved towards her bedroom, slowly slipping by her small couch. She flipped on the light, going to her dresser to dig out her nightclothes, before pausing and looking down at what she was wearing.

She could sleep in this, right?

It felt like—it felt wrong, but at the same time, it felt so devilishly wrong that she wanted to do it so badly. She'd just wash them later. He'd never know.

She'd know.

But that didn't mean that he would.

Wearing his clothes to bed was definitely something that she'd take with her to her grave.

Kagome quietly shut the drawer to her dresser before fetching the bag by her front door and hanging up her clothes in the closet for later.

She quietly brushed her teeth, staring at Inuyasha's shirt as she did.

It was so big and comfortable, and she could probably wear it without the pants, but that felt too risqué, and she was already pushing the envelope.

Spitting in the sink, she quickly rinsed it down, and then crawled into bed, curling up into her blankets and feeling strangely relaxed after everything that had happened today.

The rain continued to pour outside and she could hear the familiar trickling on the outside of the wall like she always did as thunder rolled through the sky in random patterns.

Flicking her light off, Kagome grabbed her phone and opened up the messages, smiling to herself.

9:40pm

Kagome: Goodnight! Thank you for everything.

She waited, fingers scratching along the seam of her phone case, waiting for a reply that clearly wasn't going to come as long as she was watching her phone.

Resigning herself, she locked her screen and started to set it on the nightstand when the screen lit up.

Handsome Asshole: Night. Don't mention it. Get some sleep.

She bit her lip to keep from breaking her face in half from grinning like an absolute idiot.

This was fine.

She was sleeping in Inuyasha's shirt.

No big deal.

Because it wasn't.

Friends did these sorts of things. She borrowed Sango's shirts a ton when they were in college. It wasn't uncommon for her to steal a shirt and sleep in it until she did laundry or got her bags unpacked or what not.

So how was this different?

She and Inuyasha were—also friends. They were allowed to borrow clothes.

Yeah, okay, maybe Inuyasha wouldn't exactly be borrowing her clothes because they were way smaller than he needed, and his were so much bigger and comfier than hers. She couldn't help that. If the man laid on top of her, he'd probably smother her.

Wow.

Okay, she hadn't been expecting a trip to the gutter that quickly.

Like she just dove headlong right into that, didn't even try to stop herself, just swan dived right into that filthy little pool.

Oh God, Inuyasha at a pool. How could she even possibly sleep with that vision drifting through her head?

Letting out a low groan, she covered her face with her hands.

He'd probably just strut out without a shirt and no towel and he'd just leap into the water and—no, bad Kagome. Bad. Stop, down girl. No.

Kagome twisted onto her side, trying to get herself to calm down and rest. She had no right to be thinking of him like that and when he'd been so kind to her.

She was just taking advantage of his kindness.

Huffing to herself, she forced clamped her eyes shut and attempted to sleep off the day, and not wake completely exhausted tomorrow.

Because she was going to be good and get some rest.

---

Inuyasha resisted the urge to gut punch himself.

How was he this fucking awkward?

How was he—a fucking CTO of a multi-million dollar business—so fucking awkward around a woman that he actually liked?

How hard was it? A date. Why couldn't he just ask her out on a date?

Or to fucking coffee?

Why did he have to take her furniture shopping like some sort of lunatic?

Why couldn't he take her on a normal date like a normal fucking person?

He nearly pressed on the brake pedal and skidded to a stop in the middle of the lane.

Oh God.

He did want to date her. He wanted to date her so bad, and the fact that she was taken already made him want to whine pathetically and give her sad eyes until she gave in and chose him instead.

Like that place was such a dive and she deserved better, but it wasn't his place to force her, even if he was dating her, which her currently wasn't.

Maybe causing a thirteen car pile up that would kill him instantly wasn't such a terrible idea.

Leave it to him to be so into a girl for the first time in a fucking decade, and he picks the one that he can't have.

Even if she seemed fucking perfect.

Sighing to himself, he drove the rest of the way home trying not to whine like a dog that had lost its owner.

---

The alarm screamed at her, and she glared at it.

It was far too early and they both knew it, but this little asshole was just going to yell at her anyway.

She reached over, fingers fumbling across the screen to make the thing stop screeching.

Groaning, she kicked her feet out from under the blankets, already feeling the chill start to seep into her feet.

Ugh, why was it cold? She had her heater set to make her apartment not cold when she woke up and then shut off when she left, and kick back on when she was heading home. Because you know energy conservation and all that.

Also, Kagome couldn't afford to keep the apartment at the temperature she wanted to.

And this place cooled down exponentially fast.

It probably had the bare minimum insulation that was required, and Kagome wouldn't be surprised if there was less than the requirement in her walls.

There was very little in this place that screamed 'well done'.

She crawled out of bed, flicking on the lights—which were working today—and she shuffled over to her thermostat to see what the issue was.

It showed the heat was on.

It showed that it was set to 67 degrees.

However, the thermostat was showing that it was currently 60 degrees in her home.

Great.

Fine.

She was going to hope that this was a fluke and that it was just taking a little bit longer to heat up than normal.

Because everything was going to be fine.

Her heater was not going to go out right at the start of winter.

It was just taking a bit longer to heat up.

Shuffling back to the bathroom, she resolved herself to get ready for the day.

Stepping into her bathroom, she noted that the linoleum tiles under her feet seemed to squeak and move a bit more than it had been the last few days.

Another deep breath. This was fine.

It was all going to be fine.

---

He wasn't going to lie to himself. It was harder than he thought to just not think about Kagome in general.

First off, there was fucking nothing for him to do at his place.

And he didn't want to go out and he didn't want to do anything, and he was trying to not bother her at work. Especially since he knew how her day went yesterday. She probably had plenty to do and none of it involved him.

Unfortunately.

Letting out a low groan, he grabbed his phone and cursed at himself when he realized that he shouldn't text Miroku or Sango for a distraction. He could, but it was like 4am or some shit there.

11:30am

Inuyasha: Hope you're having fun.

He tossed his phone onto the couch before he wandered around the apartment lamely. He passed his office and stared at it forlornly. He should set it up. All the stuff was in there, but he hadn't actually taken the time to set up his station and his equipment.

He supposed he should do that, even though he was going into the office more frequently now, but there would still be moments when he'd be working from home, and it would be a distraction until he could safely talk to someone other than Kagome.

Sighing to himself, he opened the doors and started connecting wires and ports and checking connections.

It was a couple hours into his adventure as he was unpacking the new monitors and CPUs, and setting up his desk the way that he liked it.

Soft membrane keyboards that were damn near silent to human ears and passable to his own.

If he heard one of those clicky-clacky motherfuckers one more time in the office—he growled just thinking about it. The fact that someone thought that bringing back those mechanical monstrosities proved that humanity was just circling the drain.

His phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket, hoping that it was Kagome way more than he should have.

2:12pm

Miroku: Are you okay?

Miroku: Is something wrong?

Miroku: Are you dying?

Miroku: Is someone trying to kill you?

Miroku: Are you being kidnapped?

Miroku: Type 'avocado' if you're being held against your will.

Miroku: I'm calling Interpol.

Inuyasha stared at his phone as it exploded in front of him.

Inuyasha: I'm fine. What's your problem?

Miroku: My problem?

Miroku: You just texted me something *nice*

Miroku: That's like code for something.

Miroku: I thought you were dying!

See? This is why he didn't do anything nice. People made a big deal out of it. His phone buzzed again, and he reluctantly looked down at it.

Miroku: Wait.

Miroku: Do you miss me?

Inuyasha winced.

Miroku: Are you lonely without me?

Miroku: Sango says hi btw.

He didn't know why he bothered with friends.

He tried to be nice and now Miroku was going to make a deal out of it.

Miroku: I'll call Kagome and tell her to come check on you.

Miroku: Give you some love. Maybe take you on a walk and go to a dog park and toss a ball around.

Inuyasha panicked. He started typing back a panicked response of 'no,' but stopped himself as his thumb hovered over the send button.

No.

He had to play it cool. He had to make it seem like he didn't care.

Suave.

Aloof.

Calm.

He could do that.

He just had to send a message that conveyed that he didn't care what Miroku thought. Not to mention it had to also give the intention that Inuyasha didn't care about Kagome way more than was probably healthy.

No, he had to keep all that a secret.

Inuyasha: Fuck you.

There that should do it.

His phone stayed silent for a bit, and he tossed it back onto his desk before crawling underneath to start corralling all the wires into neat little clusters.

He worked carefully, waiting to hear—and feel—his phone buzz, but he didn't.

Aw, shit.

Miroku was right.

He was lonely.

And why the fuck was he feeling lonely to begin with? It wasn't like he hadn't been around fucking people almost every fucking day that he'd been back.

So why did his apartment feel so empty?

His phone buzzed, and he was already mentally constructing the perfect version of 'fuck you' that he'd ever conjured up for Miroku as he looked down at his screen.

Except it wasn't Miroku.

His ears perked up at the name on the screen.

Kagome was texting him, and he definitely wasn't excited about it.

Kagome: Why is Miroku telling me to take you to a dog park?

Kagome: He says that you're lonely?

Inuyasha: I'm fine.

Inuyasha: He's being an asshole.

There was a pause in her reply, and he huffed through his nose. She was at work, and he shouldn't expect her to reply immediately because he'd messaged her.

It didn't mean anything.

It didn't, even though he weirdly wanted it to.

Because when he went back to work meant that he wouldn't have time to answer texts all day long either.

And it wasn't like he was her only friend.

Because that's all they were. Friends.

Nothing more, and hopefully, nothing less, but also hopefully more eventually.

Inuyasha grimaced at his own inner ramblings. Since when was he so needy?

He tossed the phone across the room, because he didn't need her to answer his texts and talk to him at all hours of the day because he didn't like being alone in his apartment with nothing to do.

Tying off the last of the cords, he looked at the underside of his desk and sighed. Well that was done.

Yay.

Guess he should boot up his computer just to make sure everything worked.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his chair over and sat down, flicking on the surge protector with his toe as he powered up his computers.

He waited, tapping his nails against the hard wood of his desk. He should be able to relax now and just chill around his apartment, maybe wander outside.

Oh, hey.

Patio furniture.

He should look at some of those.

The computer screen lit up with the login screen and he flipped to his work computer, adding the network so he could login. The moment that the computer showed a successful login, he immediately logged out and shut the computer down and flipped his monitors over to his personal computer.

The keyboard was soft to his ears, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He opened the browser and started shopping for patio furniture that could be delivered quickly, because he wanted to sit out on his patio. No other reason.

And maybe a little firepit so that the cold wouldn't bother him too much.

Not that it did, but comfort was important.

Thankful for the last bit of a distraction, he started looking through a few stores online.

His phone binged a very familiar sound that he looked forward to very much, and he frantically patted the desk and then himself before realizing that the buzzing was coming from an entirely different direction.

Cracking his knee against the desk with a curse, he hit the ground and scrambled towards his phone and snatching it from the floor, he rolled onto his back as he looked at the screen of his phone.

It was Kagome.

Kagome: So you're not desperately lonely for attention?

What was he supposed to say to that?

Did he admit it?

Did he tell her that he honestly just wanted to spend time with her?

That he didn't give a flip about Miroku, and he honestly just enjoyed spending time with her. That the best thing that came out of that stupid fucking wedding was her?

The phone buzzed again, and in his surprise, it fell right onto his face.

"Fuck," he muttered, picking up the phone from where it had attempted to crack his face open.

Kagome: I figured that Miroku was just trying to stir up trouble. ? ﾟﾘﾉ

Inuyasha stared at the phone before his fingers lightly tapped against the screen.

Inuyasha: You know how he is.

Inuyasha: How's your day going?

Kagome: It goes . . .

What—what was that supposed to mean? How did he follow that up? What did he even say in response? He was fucking awful at small talk and usually just embarrassed himself.

Kagome: I'm really looking forward to just heading home. Only 5.5 hours to go.

Inuyasha stared at his phone again.

Was she just making small talk by herself?

Oh God, she was perfect.

All he had to do was listen. He could listen. He could listen to her easily. He looked at the clock, seeing that it was just past the typical lunch time.

Inuyasha: Have you had lunch yet?

There was silence on her end, and that made him think that she didn't know what to say, which meant that she didn't actually have a lunch.

Inuyasha: Do you need me to bring you lunch?

Kagome: No! I'm fine!

He stared at his screen.

That seemed suspicious. Highly suspicious.

The kind of suspicious that meant that she was not fine, and he should do something about it.

But what exactly?

And how to get out what was wrong and not fine.

Because something was clearly wrong, and she was keeping it secret.

Did she not have a lunch?

He'd wager that she didn't, which is why she didn't want him involved.

Inuyasha: Kagome, do I need to bring you lunch?

Kagome: Absolutely not.

So that really meant 'yes'. But how to get her to tell him where she worked without being obvious? It wasn't like he could call Miroku or Sango, because they would ask questions. Why did he want to know? What was wrong? Why are you keeping secrets from us? Aren't we friends?

Wait.

Kagome seemed like the type to have social media.

So maybe a quick search wouldn't hurt anything.

It wasn't like he had anything else to do today. Nothing important.

He kicked his computer back on, ready to play Inuyasha: Boy Dog Detective.

---

Thirty seconds in, Inuyasha hit his first roadblock.

He didn't know her last name.

And he feared the results that he could get by typing in "Kagome in Tokyo".

So, shit.

He was a really shitty Boy Dog Detective.

He could call Kagura. She always did some weird girl thing where she could find out where some random person in a bar went to high school.

It was some strange girl magic shit and he was infinitely glad that he'd never gotten on her bad side that she would scrounge up whatever cringeworthy thing he'd posted when he still had a social media account.

The accounts had long since been deleted, but he knew that Kagura would some how discover them.

She'd told him once, "nothing on the internet is really gone."

And Kagura seemed to make that motto her life's work.

He could call Kagura, but that would mean explaining things, and he was not prepared to handle that disaster.

Because she'd want to know why and he'd give some lame excuse that she'd immediately use girl shit magic on and then she'd know and then Sesshomaru would know, and then his father, and of course, his mother.

And he'd just be fucked.

So no girl magic shit.

Fuck.

Okay. He took a deep breath. He could do this.

He could Boy Dog Detective this.

---

He'd done something stupid and terrible, and he hated himself for it.

"Kagome near me" had auto filled and he'd clicked on it.

Accidentally.

None of these women were going to be Kagome, and one little finger slip had jacked up something and he'd just shut the entire thing down before laying his head in his hands.

Why couldn't he have girl magic?

Or just social skills in general?

Instead, he just clicked on a porn site on accident and was now trying to figure out how to unearth the name of a girl that he actually liked.

Alright, time to think about this logically.

He knew that she lived in Tokyo. He knew where she lived.

Like that didn't sound like some sort of stalker.

Spinning himself around in his chair, he let out a low groan. He was a stalker! How did this happen?

Why was he like this?

Pulling himself up to an upright position in the chair, he turned his computer back on, taking a deep breath.

He was smart.

He could figure this out.

Kagura wasn't smarter than him.

Though he'd never say anything aloud to her about that ever, because if she didn't kill him, then she'd make sure that Kagome knew every single one of his embarrassing and dirty little secrets.

Hell, she'd play videos where appropriate.

His desktop came up, and he stared at the browser.

"Okay, you're gonna figure out where Kagome works and not look like a stalker. Can't be that hard. Kagura does this shit all the time and no one thinks she's a stalker."

He grabbed his mouse, clicking the browser open.

Step one completed.

Okay. He could do this.

Now to carefully search for Kagome and whatever he remembered about her.

---

Kagome stared at her phone as her boss talked her through the project that she'd started and finished for him two weeks ago.

And she was hungry.

Every time she was about to get up and go eat her lunch, he seemed to find another reason to talk to her for another fifteen minutes.

She just wanted a break.

"Got everything?" He asked.

"Yes, sir," she said, holding in the sigh that was trying valiantly to escape.

"Okay, so you'll have it all for me before you leave today?"

"Good, because I really want time to look it over before our presentation tomorrow."

"I will have it to you before I leave today."

"I'm holding you to that, Kagome," he purred, and she didn't even want to look towards his office window to see the face that he was making at her. Because no.

She'd made that mistake more than once because she never seemed to learn her lesson.

Cringing just a bit, she hung up the phone, looking at her computer.

The presentation he wanted would take her the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. She'd be lucky if she left here before dinner.

"Think of the overtime," she muttered to herself before clicking open the files and slides.

---

He remembered literally nothing about this woman, except for things that would literally not help him find her.

What kind of Boy Dog Detective was he?

Inuyasha glowered at the screen.

Why was Google being such a dick?

He'd told it what he wanted, and he'd got absolutely nothing of actual and substantial use. He was not one step closer to finding Kagome.

Shit, maybe he should just text Sango.

Wait!

He sat upright, hands slamming down on the arm rests of his chair.

That was it!

Fucking Sango!

She could finally be fucking useful for once.

She had to be friends with Kagome on social media somewhere.

Okay. He knew that Sango still had the one app with all the pictures.

He'd deleted the app and never downloaded it again after the Kikyo fiasco, promising himself that it was just better if he didn't see what people thought about him or her or of the situation in general.

Was it worth logging back in to find out where she worked?

He'd have to see all those comments and remarks.

He'd have to see her pictures again.

Maybe—

Maybe it wasn't worth it.

Inuyasha stared at his screen, trying to muster up the courage to log in and face the commentary.

He knew that he'd done nothing wrong. If anything, he'd been wronged.

But that didn't relieve the hesitation; it didn't fix the damage already done.

He was a coward, he thought as he removed his hand from the mouse and decided that he'd try again later.

---

It was way past working hours when she finally shut her computer down. The file was sent to her boss so he could look it over before the presentation.

She knew that he wasn't going to look at it until the moment that he was actually giving the presentation. She knew this, but she also knew that if she didn't do it, then he'd call her down on it. And out of everything that was currently happening in her life, searching for another job was not one of them. Losing her job was definitely not on that list.

Hiten was a quick to fire individual, and she was not about to beg for her job—even though she would probably have all things considered.

Mostly money.

It was dark out, and she picked up her bag and her purse, and walking out towards the parking lot.

She'd driven today, and she was glad that she wasn't going to have to walk any farther in these stupid heels. She hadn't even been on her feet that much in the latter part of the day, but they still ached.

Her little toes needed to be free.

Riding the elevator down to the parking garage, she leaned back against the wall waiting for it to lower completely.

The elevator dinged, and she waited a beat for the doors to open. When they did, she leaned away from the wall and walked out.

Her heels clicked across the concrete as she walked slowly towards her car. The parking lot was mostly empty and she could clearly see her car.

A sound scuttled behind her and she turned to see what it was.

Nothing was behind her, though the elevator door was still open.

Definitely weird.

She started back towards her car, walking more briskly and with a definite purpose. Clutching her bag, the sound of a low whistle came from behind her, and she paused, spinning to see who else was there.

But again, nothing and no one.

Just a completely empty and desolate parking garage.

The lights shone overhead, and she searched the corners, but nothing moved or shifted anywhere.

The elevator doors were still open.

Definitely weird.

She started walking backwards, eyes looking for something that clearly wasn't there.

Tired. She was tired and imagining things. Making big deals out of nothing.

She walked this parking lot all the time. All the time and nothing had ever happened.

Soft foot falls came from behind her, but she was already at her car door, fumbling with the keys as the footsteps came running towards her at a full sprint. Closer and closer as she wrenched the door open, leapt inside with a yelp and slammed the door shut, fingers mashing the lock buttons until they clicked.

Blood pulsed in her ears as she dragged in deep breaths, checking all her mirrors as she threw her bags into the seat next to her.

This was too much.

The key refused to slip into the ignition as she practically scarred up her steering column trying to start her car.

"Come on," she whined, still glancing at her mirrors, expecting to see someone there.

Her key slipped in, and she wrenched it forward, probably harder than necessary for the engine to start. Her backup camera was completely black. Of all the times for it to go bad.

She started to back up, looking in her mirrors to help guide her, not that there was anything around her.

Stopping to shift into drive, she looked at her console and saw that the camera was working perfectly fine.

At least it wasn't broken?

Putting it into drive, she took off for home, glancing in her rearview just to check. Something darted into the shadows, and she stopped, looking over her shoulder. But there was nothing there.

She was just going to go home and pretend like all of this was some sort of delusion.

That's all it was. A complete and utter delusion that was definitely going to encourage her to leave earlier when there were people in the garage.

It was probably just a cat.

Just a really big cat that made a lot of noise.

Her hands were shaking from the cooling weather, and that was all, because there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of and nothing to worry about.

Kagome drove in complete silence, hands gripping her steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were white. She was chilled, but she didn't want to take her hands off to turn on the heater.

She drove home, pulling into her space and turned the car off. She needed a moment to gather herself.

She was home, and she was safe. She was safe here. Her hands shook as she grabbed her purse and her bag from where she'd thrown them in the passenger seat.

She was fine and safe.

Or she would be once she got to her apartment.

Kagome quickly walked up the handful of flights of stairs to her apartment, briskly crossed the landing, fingering her keys, ready to use them at a moment's notice.

Making it to her door, she struggled to shove the key into the deadbolt.

"Please," she sniffled, finally slipping the key into the lock and twisting it. She shoved the door open and threw herself inside. A few hard jerks freed up her key, and she slammed it closed before locking all the locks again. Standing at her door, she stared at it, almost waiting to hear something following her here.

But there was no noise. No footsteps. No knocks. No sounds except the low hum of the appliances in her kitchen.

Her apartment was chilly as expected. Her heater rarely worked properly—much like everything in her life, except her car currently, and she needed that to keep working.

Dragging herself away from the door, she slipped off her shoes and wandered over to her thermostat and kicked it up a few degrees, hoping the heat kicked on this time.

Flicking on the light, she looked around the small space as the light flickered at the first few seconds before staying on. Good, at least everything was brighter now. She could see and she didn't have to be afraid of anything and everything.

Alright. First things first, she'd shower, put on some pajamas and then make something to eat, and then curl up in her bed and watch something stupid and funny and totally a romantic-comedy that would soothe her frazzled nerves.

"You're totally safe," she told herself as she dropped her bags back at the door and then hung up her coat. Sighing, she walked into her bathroom and flipped on the hot water. She wanted something borderline blisteringly hot to help soften those knots in her shoulders.

Stripping off her clothes, she tossed the shirt into the hamper and then hung up the skirt in her small closet. It was dry clean only, and that meant that it was consistently dirty. It wasn't like skirts got really dirty. The same philosophy could be used with jeans; those could be worn lots of times and until they smelled, they didn't need to be cleaned.

Oh wait, she couldn't do that with Inuyasha. He'd probably hate that they smelled.

She was definitely going to have to do laundry if she was going to wear them out with him.

Kagome stuck her hand in the water, and it was warm enough to at least subject her body to the pounding stream of water that came from the 'adjustable' shower head that just fell off when she tried to adjust it at all.

So fire hose pressure it was.

She'd long since learned not to tip her head up too far or else it felt like she was getting throat punched by the shower.

Wait, what was the dress code for Friday? He wanted to go to dinner and then furniture shopping.

Was that casual wear or was that something more formal—because dinner.

Did he always eat fancy food?

Kagome shoved her entire head under the water, no matter how not hot it was. Her hair clung to her skin and face as she closed her eyes.

It wasn't like she knew what fork to use if they were eating a six course meal or something.

Could she convince him that normal burgers or chicken tenders was a perfectly acceptable dinner?

What was she going to do?

The water burped as she started shampooing her scalp. There was a sudden flash of scalding water, and she yelped, trying to move out of the way, but the small enclosed space was literally big enough for her to raise her arms and bend over to shave her legs as long as she pressed her butt up against one of the walls.

But the temperature lowered back down to something tolerable and not scarring quickly enough.

That didn't bode well, and Kagome quickly rinsed her hair and conditioned it as the water continued to cool.

"Stupid water heater," she muttered roughly scrubbing at her body with a wash cloth and rinsing both herself and her hair in a flurry of movements.

She knocked her elbow against the door, forcing it wide open and she only just managed to grab it before it swung into the wall, and closed it again.

Her hair felt clean enough, and it didn't feel like there was any residue from the conditioner left. She ran her fingers through it a few more times before she wrenched the water off, and leaned out to grab her towel. So much for a long and relaxing shower.

Maybe she'd have some time Saturday to take a bath.

Groaning to herself, she remembered Inuyasha's bathtub. She could probably lay down completely in that thing and pretend that she was Ophelia in the river.

He probably always had hot water.

Or a super that could actually fix it.

Oh well, no sense in dreaming of what she'd never have in her lifetime.

She slipped into her warm pajamas, wrapping her hair up as she shuffled across her creaking floor towards the kitchen.

She checked the door again, just to make sure that it was still locked, and it was.

See? Nothing bad was going to happen. It was probably nothing; in fact, it was nothing. She was sure of it.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her cabinets to see what should could possibly make quickly to eat while she curled up on her couch and watched something completely and totally inane.

But looking at her groceries, it was going to be very slim pickings, and so she resolved herself to heating up a cup of ramen—but in a pan because this was dinner and not a running meal between meetings. She let the water heat up with the noodles and then just put the lid on it and let it sit with the seasoning packet before dumping it in a bowl and going to sit on the couch.

The television added some nice sound to the emptiness of the apartment, and made everything feel less like she was being watched.

And after dinner, she climbed into bed, took a deep breath, and turned out the lights.

---

Inuyasha stared at his phone.

He should just call Sango and ask her.

It would be the easiest way to do things.

Fastest way to find out information.

But the questions that would follow.

Like, maybe he just wanted to know.

Maybe he was curious and didn't want to ask her directly.

It was afternoon there, and midnight where he was, so he could just text her and ask. He didn't have to call.

It was just a stupid text message, so why was this so hard?

He was just going to have grab hold his balls and just type it out then.

Snorting, he picked up his phone and nearly threw it across the room when it buzzed. Instead it only went as far as bouncing on the mattress and landing on the edge. He exhaled and leaned over to grab it.

He looked at the message and saw it was Kagome. Weird. Why was she texting?

Kagome: Are you awake?

Something was clearly wrong. She wouldn't be texting him so late on a weekday unless something was wrong. He should deftly navigate this conversation to figure out what the issue was.

Inuyasha: What's wrong?

Okay, so subtleties weren't his thing, and straight to the point was probably the best tactic anyway.

Grabbing his other pillow, he tucked it up against his chest so he could prop his chin on it as he leaned back against his headboard while he waited for her to respond.

The three dots appeared and disappeared for a beat and then reappeared.

And then they disappeared again and stayed gone, and he buried his mouth into the pillow, ears twisting sideways as he waited for the words to appear on the stupid little screen.

The three dots appeared for a blip, and then they immediately disappeared.

"Oh, come on!" He groaned before typing his response.

Inuyasha: What is it?

There was another long moment of nothing and then the three dots showed up again.

Kagome: Sorry, it's stupid.

His ears pricked forward at that. He knew that meant it wasn't stupid and now she was having second thoughts.

See? Not so dumb as everyone thought.

Inuyasha: You going to elaborate?

There was a little bit of of a wait as she was clearly writing a response and then unwriting it and writing it again.

Kagome: Just something weird happened today, and now everything feels weird.

Inuyasha sat upright at that, fingers moving before he could really think about it.

Inuyasha: Weird, how?

Kagome: Just weird.

Kagome: It's nothing. Sorry I bothered you.

Oh, she wasn't getting away that easily.

Inuyasha: Weird, how?

He repeated his question because he needed to know if he needed to do something about something.

Kagome: It was just a feeling.

Kagome: It's nothing.

Kagome: It's just me being a weirdo.

Inuyasha: But you're safe, right?

Kagome: Completely! I'm at home in my bed.

Ears twisting sideways, he didn't like the answer she gave but it wasn't like he could just go over there and demand answers.

Kagome: I'm going to go to bed. Sorry for waking you.

Inuyasha: Some of us don't have old lady bedtimes.

Kagome: So rude. ?ￂﾠ Some of us have to get up early to go to work.

He laughed a little at that. His little vacation was almost over as it was, so he'd have to go back to the office sooner than he would have liked.

But something was clearly worrying her, and he clearly couldn't fix it for her.

Inuyasha: I'll keep my phone by me, so call if you need something.

Kagome: You're so sweet.

Kagome: I'm fine.

Kagome: Promise.

Kagome: Have a good night.

Kagome: Sorry for bothering you.

This idiot. How many times did he have to tell her that she wasn't bothering him? He wanted to fix her problems.

Yeah, okay, that may have sounded a little desperate.

Kagome didn't write anything more, and he threw the phone into his lap.

At least she was attempting to sleep.

He should bring her coffee in the morning or bring her lunch.

Shit.

He was back to square one.

He didn't know where she worked.

Knowing that would solve like half of his problems.

He scoffed quietly into the silence of his bedroom.

She was coming over Friday. That should've been enough to satisfy him. He'd have her for the entire evening.

Well, not like that. Just he'd get to be with her for the evening and then he'd be able to make sure that she was okay. And then maybe she could tell him where she worked, and it wouldn't be like he was trying to sneakily found out information behind her back.

Like a stalker.

Yeah, he definitely wanted to stray as far away as he could from that territory.

Because he wasn't a stalker. He just wanted to make sure that she was okay. That's it.

Taking his phone, he quickly added another person to his favorites list. Just so he would notified of a call or a text. Then, the phone went on his nightstand.

He wrapped both his arms around his pillow as he slouched down against his other one.

She was fine.

And he should take some comfort that she would reach out to him after all.

Clearly, whomever she was dating wasn't worth their salt if she was contacting him instead.

Maybe he had a shot after all.

He was able to make her feel safe, and that was something.

Wriggling down further into his covers, he stared at the wall for a bit before finally falling asleep.

---

By the time that Friday had rolled around, Kagome was eagerly ready for the end of the day. She'd made sure to leave earlier the day before and tonight she had plans.

So no working late for her either.

She had an excuse to leave at the proper times, no matter what her bosses said.

She walked into the building, heading straight for the elevators.

She stood with the small gathering crowd as gently held onto the strap of her bag where she'd tucked in a change of clothes for later this evening. It was something pretty but far more comfortable than her work clothes with a pair of cushy ballet flats. She'd even brought that comfy bra she loved.

She could change into her dress in the bathroom and then ride the train over to his place.

Today couldn't help but be a good day in comparison to the rest of her week.

The doors binged and she squeezed inside with the other workers, pressing her floor number as she slipped in.

The doors closed and she rode up in the usual quiet.

A very casual brush ran along her thigh, and her head snapped in the direction of the motion, and the man refused to make eye contact with her, but the brushing stopped immediately.

She grabbed her bag, backing up against the wall as the elevator emptied a bit more at the next stop.

The man didn't move at all, and she made sure to keep a fair distance between her and the other passengers.

When her floor binged, she eagerly got off and walked towards her office.

Walking in her heels, she strode across the floor to her little desk outside his office, and pressed the power button to her computer before she started putting her things away.

Grabbing her coffee cup, she went back to the employee break room.

It was hard enough to get good coffee here, but if she didn't get there quick enough she was going to get the burnt remains.

But today was definitely looking like her day, because there was an almost full pot sitting there and waiting just for her.

Sighing happily, she rinsed her cup out and dumped in her cream and sugar before pouring in the one thing that was going to get her through the day today.

She walked back through the hallways to her desk, when she spied Manten stepping out of his office.

"Ah, Kagome!" He called, waving her over. "Just the lady that I was looking for."

Kagome bit back the cringe, because that statement never boded well.

"Good morning. How can I help?"

She clutched onto her coffee as she walked into his office.

"Oh, it's quite the matter, I'm afraid."

Great, like she didn't have enough on her to-do list.

"Have a seat," he said, motioning to the empty chair in front of his desk.

Oh yeah, this was not going to go well. Nothing good came from sitting at Manten's desk.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, you see, there is an important meeting happening tonight, and there will be important people there to impress. I—We—need you to be there."

Yeah, that sounded awful.

"I'm so sorry, Manten, but I already have plans for tonight. I'm afraid that I won't be able to make it."

Manten's eyes narrowed.

"How important are these plans?"

"Important," she answered quickly. "I've had them made for a while now."

He hummed, leaning back and steepling his fingers beneath his enormous bald head.

She was half convinced that if they put him under a skylight then the reflective surface of his head would be the only way that this man would ever light up a room.

"Are these plans—do they involve someone else?"

She gave him a forced smile.

"That is how plans traditionally work, yes." She took another careful sip of coffee to keep herself collected.

Manten let out a heavy breath through his nostrils.

"I should remind you that this is an important meeting with important people."

"So you've said, sir, but I'm afraid that I simply can't break these plans."

"Miss Higurashi," he said quickly, and she held her breath, trying to tamp down her anxiety.

He rarely used her last name when it was anything good.

If anything her last name was only referenced or said in this place when it came to things that were not going to go in her favor.

"Need I remind you of your position in this company?"

"No, sir. I know my position."

"Then you know it is to assist executives, which means attending functions as necessary."

"I am aware, but these occur outside of business hours, and to be fair, it's not on either of your calendars."

Manten's eyes widened a bit.

"So what is this meeting for?" She asked.

"Oh, just a meeting with some important people?"

"Like investors?"

"Uhh," he gaped for just a moment. "No, not exactly."

"Look, if I had some notice, I might've been able to help you organize this, but I can't change my plans tonight."

"Well, what's so important about these plans anyway?"

"Does it really matter? They're personal plans."

"I would say so if it's going to impact the quality of your work."

"But it's not impacting the quality of my work. I just can't attend a surprise event tonight. One that isn't on any of the calendars."

Manten stared at the desk in front of him as if daring it to disobey him also.

"I will call my brother and determine how we are going to handle this."

He made a shooing motion with his hand at her, and Kagome quickly half-stood, half-rolled out of the chair with her coffee and left the room without saying another word or giving him another opportunity to say anything else to her.

She took a pit stop at the breakroom to refill her coffee before she went right back to her desk.

There was a sinking feeling that this wasn't going to end well or in her favor, but at this point, she in for the ride. But she was absolutely not going to compromise on staying late. She and Inuyasha had a date.

Not a date.

Definitely not a date.

It felt a little like a date though.

But it was, for sure, not a date.

Because he would've said something.

Kagome sat down at her desk and quickly logged into her computer.

Her email was loading, and her calendar started filling in with all the updates that came through from the previous ending.

Her phone rang that specific tone from Hiten's office and her stomach sank.

"Sir?" She asked.

"Come into my office," he said, and she dragged in a breath as she stood, abandoning her coffee on her desk, opting to grab her small notebook and a pen, and walked into Hiten's office.

He was lightly tapping on his desk as he leaned back into his chair.

He shifted in his chair, motioning silently to the chair in front of his desk.

"Have a seat."

Kagome moved to sit, smoothing her dress as she prepared to make her notes.

"Manten told me that you refused a direct order. You know I could write you up for subordination."

Kagome started to correct him, and then thought better of it and opted to just let him keep talking.

He dragged in a deep breath.

"But you've been a good employee, so I'm going to let you explain yourself." He tapped the desk with his finger.

"As I explained to him, I have plans this evening that were made far in advance, and I can't just change them on a whim." She paused, and Hiten didn't make any start to talking, so she continued. "And if I was given some notice then I could work around it, but I can't change these plans last minute."

Hiten sighed.

"Manten felt very strongly that you should be the one to be his—accompany him to this event."

Kagome stayed still for a long moment.

"You must understand that it looks very bad for an executive such as ourselves to arrive with no one on our arm." He cleared his throat. "Now, I don't have a problem, but my brother, he's sensitive, and he was sure that you would be happy to go with him."

She paused.

Wait a minute.

"Manten implied that you both needed me because there would be a meeting with important people."

"Oh, no, I have a date," he said with a low chuckle.

"And I was supposed to be Manten's date to this event?"

Hiten cleared his throat.

"Not in so many words, I suppose."

"Sir, I cannot be Manten's date to a dinner function. I am his and your assistant. That seems a little inappropriate." Kagome gripped the edge of her notebook.

"Well, he said that you refused him outright."

"I told him, just like I told you, I have plans tonight."

"So you would be open to dating my brother in the future."

"No!" She stated quickly.

Judging from the look on his face, she cleared her throat.

"I mean, I can't date your brother. Or you."

"And why not? We're paying your salary."

Wow.

Okay.

So much was wrong with that for so many different reasons, and she only had so much time to talk about it.

But in light of that bomb, her brain was coming up with nothing good to argue that point.

"Why can't you go on a date with my brother?"

So instead of something good, she said something very dumb and very foolish.

"Because I'm already dating someone."

And then her brain really panicked.

"I have a boyfriend."

Because adding onto the lie more made complete sense.

She could smack herself for being such an idiot. How could she say something so stupid?

What if they demanded to see proof?

What proof did she have?

She'd deleted all her pictures with Kouga from her phone.

Why was the silence so loud?

"I see," was the only thing that Hiten said in response.

That wasn't good.

Definitely not good.

"And your plans tonight have to do with this boyfriend of yours?"

"Yes, we've had them for quite some time."

"Are they important?"

"I think so. We think so."

Hiten didn't say a single word to that or even make a noise. What she would give for just some sort of facial expression so she just had an idea of what he was thinking.

"You can go back to your desk."

"Uh, alright then," she said, standing and walking out and making sure that she closed the door behind her.

Whatever was going to happen was not going to go in her favor.

She had half a mind to text Inuyasha, but she had actually been looking forward to going out with him.

No, she was in the right here.

Kagome sighed.

She just wanted to have one good day.

Why was that seeming to become harder and harder?

She could hear Hiten talking on the phone to someone on speakerphone—someone who was very clearly upset.

Which meant that he was talking to Manten.

If there was one thing that Kagome knew it was that neither brother was overly great at being reasonable when they were upset.

There had been so many firings over banal issues because Hiten or Manten had been upset over something insignificant.

She wanted to bang her head on the desk, but instead she typed overly aggressively in a way that would probably destroy her keyboard, but she was beyond caring.

Kagome glanced over at Hiten who angrily threw a pen across the office.

Yep, this was going to end badly for her.

---

Kagome walked out of the office in a fresh outfit, a new bra, and a pair of comfy ballet flats.

She clutched her bag close as she moved quickly to the train station. There was more than enough time for her to catch the train to Inuyasha's. She'd looked it up on her phone before she left and there was a stop a few blocks away from his apartment building. It was perfect!

She slipped out into the crowd, moving past her regular train and to another part of the station.

Finding her spot, she shifted slightly waiting on the train. Still had plenty of time to spare. Plenty of time.

She smiled despite her day as the station announced her train arriving in the next few minutes.

Perfect.

---

Inuyasha was frantic.

Did he wear a tie?

Was this a tie sort of thing?

Did he just wear jeans and a button down?

What was she wearing?

It wasn't a date, but he didn't want it to seem too casual.

Especially if she'd dressed up.

But what if she didn't?

Maybe he should just try to match her work clothes. That would definitely be safe.

So pants and a button down.

Nice but not trying too hard.

Even though he was.

Maybe he should've made reservations at some place slightly fancier than that ramen bar around the corner.

Nope. He was definitely over thinking things. This was Kagome. She wasn't after him for his money. She was literally just trying to be friendly.

No ulterior motives.

She didn't even know about his past.

He grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt out of his closet and dressed quickly. She should be getting off work and heading his way.

Inuyasha dressed and then ran a brush through his hair before deciding that pacing anxiously was the best option until she got there.

When that did nothing to help him, he went out and perched on the balcony that overlooked the entrance to the building, thinking that maybe he could spot her before she was at his door and give him a moment to soothe his very frazzled nerves.

It was a very far fetched hope, but he clung to it.

His phone buzzed and he looked at it, seeing Kagome's name pop up on the screen.

Kagome: Not comming 2nite.

Inuyasha frowned at that.

Couldn't make it?

Inuyasha: Everything okay?

Kagome: Not interestted.

Inuyasha resisted the urge to toss his phone into the wall, across the city, whatever deserved his anger at the moment.

Because of course the moment that he got excited about something or someone, then she'd just go and change her mind.

Who was he to think that she really wanted to spend an entire evening with him anyway?

You'd think that he'd learn by now that almost no one wanted to be romantically involved with a hanyou.

Sirens sounded in the distance, and he looked up to see lights flashing a few blocks away.

At least someone was having a worse night than him.

---

Kagome bounded out of the train station and caught sight of the walking signal flashing those last couple of seconds on the sign.

Instead of waiting, she opted to keeping walking on this side of the street, heading towards Inuyasha's apartment and crossing to the opposite side later.

Taking out her phone, she started to text him that she was a few blocks away, when she realized that her previous message hadn't gone through.

Rude.

Stupid tunnels.

She caught the light at the next street and quickly wrote out a message as the cars started blazing through the intersections.

Her fingers stopped as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, and then the firm solid push of hands sending her falling right out in front of a pair of headlights that squealed and crashed into her hard enough to make everything go dark.

---

A/N: I hope all of you are enjoying Thanksgiving. I hope you all know how thankful I am that you enjoy my stories and how much I appreciate the comments you post. You all honestly make all the work worth it, and you have no idea how much I enjoy hearing from you.

I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter, and just know that I'm already working on the next one.