I have created a Spotify Playlist of the songs used, so you don't have to go hunting for them. The Playlist will be updated as the fic is updated, so there'll be no spoilers about what's coming down the road.

Songs in this chapter in order of use, and placed in the story when to hit play:

(1) Call Me A Fool — Perlo

(2) Are You Up — Phantoms ft. Shaylen

(3) Because The Night – Instrumental — The Midnight

The faint sounds of birds were the first hint that morning had arrived. The second was that Kagome wasn't blessed with the warm embrace she'd come to know so well.

She reached around, her hands only feeling the smooth, soft sheets and duvet, with just a barely-there whisper of body heat. Her body shivered, and she rolled over, finding herself alone in the large king-sized bed.

Kagome sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before looking around and finding the apartment empty as well.

"Inu… yasha?" she muttered, moving to escape the bed and throwing on one of his shirts that had been abandoned from the night before. She shifted around the apartment before realizing that the window was slightly open, letting in some of the cooler air.

'He must've gone up to the roof,' she rationalized.

She decided to surprise him with some coffee, so she got busy making a fresh batch before heading up to the roof, finding him watching the sunrise in-between writing in his notebook.

"Morning!" she chimed sweetly, watching as Inuyasha's ears quickly darted to her voice before he even looked back to her.

"Hey, mornin'," he returned, watching her as she sat beside him and offering him one of the coffees, "What're you doin' up so early? That's unlike you."

"Ha ha…" she sarcastically laughed, "I will have you know I am perfectly capable of waking up early on occasion."

"Oh really?" he said with a knowing tone, "And who was it again that woke up an hour late for work when they'd specifically said they were going to wake up early only a week ag—?"

Kagome shoved a hand over his mouth to silence him, "I'll hear none of that!" he laughed at her antics before she answered, "Well, if you must know, I woke up because someone left the window open. It made me chilly and when I realized you weren't there, I got up."

"Shit, did I really?" he asked, his voice clearly sounding remorseful, "My bad. It doesn't always shut quite right. I'll be sure to latch it better next time."

She shook her head, "Don't worry about it."

After a moment of quiet, Kagome looked over at his notebook and asked, "Any interesting ideas?" Inuyasha lifted it, reading it quickly as if deciding if he should show her, "No clue yet."

"Can I see?" she eagerly asked.

He leaned the book her way as she set down her mug, accepting it as she started reading the notes.

Inuyasha was kind of a messy lyricist, as his notes were sometimes hard to decipher, but as long as he knew how to combine it all together, that was all that mattered.

"I'm gonna need Google translate to understand it," she joked, handing it back to him.

He scoffed, "I'll have something for it by the next jam session."

"Oh, that reminds me. I have a recording session with Kouga today," it was tossed out so casually, "You want to come? It's been a while since you've been."

Inuyasha knew what she meant. He hadn't joined her and Kouga since well before the New Years party, and Kagome hadn't gone in once after the party either.

As much as Inuyasha despised Kouga, Inuyasha now realized he had a whole other reason for concern, "We're gonna have to shower before we go."

"Huh? How come? I just showered yesterday," Kagome was genuinely confused. Inuyasha had never commented about her hygiene habits before, "I don't reek, do I?!"

Inuyasha turned and looked at her confused, "What? No, you smell fine… Better than fine…"

"So, why then?"

He explained, "Kouga may not pay attention much to what his nose is telling him, but he'll definitely smell our scents having mixed."

"Our scents…?"

He nodded, "I just don't want to deal with his bullshit, so it'd be best if we both shower to avoid the situation. And be sure to really scrub. Even if you can't smell it, doesn't mean we can't."

Kagome's cheeks turned bright red, "Wait! You mean…? Every time we go out, demons can tell when we've been… intimate?"

Inuyasha took a sip of his coffee to hide his own flush, "Yup."

As if the wind had been knocked out of her, Kagome leaned back against the brick wall and gave a loud, exasperated sigh, "I'm never gonna be able to leave the house again without showering for a solid hour."

"Don't have to go that overboard with it. I don't care if random demons can smell it, but I just don't wanna deal with Kouga's crap. Besides, I'm sure you don't want him in our business any more than I do."

Kagome let her head fall forward, "You're right about that. Although… why do you care so much if Kouga knows?"

There was too long a pause as Inuyasha froze up, embarrassed to tell her the real answer, "Uh… well…"

"You jealous?" she pried jokingly.

"Me?! Jealous?!" he shouted a little too loudly, "Why would I be jealous of that mangy wolf?!"

Kagome giggled before she leaned in to quickly kiss his cheek, "You shouldn't be. He's got nothing on you."

Inuyasha quickly calmed down, allowing her compliment to wash over him, "You're just buttering me up."

She replied demurely, "Maybe a little, but it's still true."

Inuyasha looped an arm around her shoulders as they sat together, watching as the sun finally started to come up over the city.

However, in the back of Kagome's mind, she was glad Inuyasha was coming. She secretly dreaded being alone with Kouga, remembering everything Jakotsu had told her at the party, and while she didn't know his exact intensions, or how true it all was, she didn't feel confident about going into a session with him again unless Inuyasha was with her.

"Oh… hey, mutt-face," Kagome could hear the defeated tone in Kouga's voice the instant they walked into the session.

"Hey, yourself," Inuyasha threw back as he set down his guitar case, sounding disinterested.

"Kagome, I thought we were gonna resume our sessions. What's he doing here?"

Kagome wasn't gonna deal with this today, "Kouga, he's my writing partner. Get used to him being here. And besides, there's a song we wrote that I want him to record with me today."

"What? We didn't agree to that. This is supposed to be your record, remember?"

"I know, but the song doesn't work in my head if there's no backing vocals, and I want him to record it with me."

Kouga sighed, "There's other singers at the studio I could've called in to record it; like Bankotsu."

Kagome shook her head, and declared sternly, "I want it to be Inuyasha. And Bankotsu wouldn't work for this."

After a few more minutes of back and forth, Kouga relented, allowing them to finally get set up for the session.

As Kagome was working with Kouga, giving him the demo they'd made together, he started working on a rough version of the backing track with synthesized instrumentals, asking Inuyasha to play some chords to use to synthesize the sounds.

After about thirty minutes, they were ready to record a first pass. Inuyasha and Kagome got settled at their own mic stands, each surrounded by some acoustic padding, so their voices wouldn't mix in each other's recordings.

"Let's do a once through," Kouga instructed, the pair nodding in agreement. (1)

Life was good and beautiful
Now I'm just paralyzed
Lost like you
Saw the end now
Can we come back to life?

Ahh, when you talk like that
I feel it coming back

Call me a fool
I finally found a way
To make this better, to make this okay
Ooh, In the middle of the night
You make me better, you make me okay

That's the way it goes
Lost but not alone
Call me when you're on your way
Call me a fool
I finally found a way
To make this better, to make this okay

After they finished the first chorus, they both got distracted as they watched a petite, red-headed woman suddenly burst into the recording studio. They couldn't hear what she was screaming at Kouga, but he clearly looked irritated by this woman's presence.

Kagome, removing her headphones, looked to Inuyasha, who seemed as confused as she was.

Kouga quickly switched off the backing track and chimed in over the headphones, "Can you guys give us a minute?"

They both took off their headsets and moved to leave the studio, letting the pair have some privacy.

As they waited in the hallway, Kagome casually thought aloud, "Wonder what that was about…"

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders, "Knowing Kouga, he's probably pissed off yet another singer he's working with."

"You think she's a singer?"

"I know so," he replied, "I've been working on some of the instrumentals for her songs."

"Really?" Kagome asked, "Is she new, too?"

He shook his head as they both wandered towards a vending machine to grab a drink, "No, she's been around for a while, but hasn't quite hit her break yet."

"How long?"

He hummed as he thought, "Probably three years or so? Not a hundred percent sure, but given how many times I've seen her around, I'm a little surprised she hasn't made it yet."

Kagome grabbed their drinks from the machine, handing Inuyasha his as she asked, "Why's that?"

He shrugged again, taking a swig of the drink, "I dunno; she's got decent singing chops. Just figured, with Kouga's 'star-making' skills, thought she'd be further along in her career by now."

Kagome looked back down the hallway before staring down at her drink, "Do you have any of her music I can listen to?"

Inuyasha pulled out his phone, and pulled up her Spotify listing, "Here. Her name's Ayame."

"Thanks," Kagome started playing the most listened to song on her profile (2), but looked like it hadn't even cracked 500,000 streams. For someone backed by a major label, Kagome would've assumed she'd have more popularity, especially if Kouga was producing her music.

"Her most popular song isn't even her as the main artist. She's featured," Kagome commented, realizing that she wasn't even known for her own song.

Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah, and from what I remember, Kouga just gave one of his random buddies the main spot on the song. Not even a guy from the studio who had talent, from what I understand. He just gave it to him. Seems like Kouga always wants one of his guys on a song."

Kagome kept listening to the song as the second verse started, "She has a great voice."

"Yeah, just a shame the crap Kouga gives her to work with," Inuyasha muttered, "His lyrics are dog-shit, and the beat is so clunky."

"There's definitely something to it, but yeah, I'd like to see what she can do with another producer," Kagome added, pausing the song and handing Inuyasha back his phone.

After a few more minutes, the studio door opened again, and Ayame came walking out in a rush, her face clearly upset. Her cheeks were bright red, and it looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Before Kagome could stop her to ask if she was okay, Kouga shouted into the hallway, "Alright, let's get back to it!"

Ayame breezed past them, not lifting her head before she started lightly running to leave the building. Kagome reached out her hand, as if hoping she could stop the young woman but she was already gone. What could've made her so upset? What did Kouga say to her?

As they walked back to the studio, Kouga seemed to have a look plastered on his face, pretending like nothing had even happened. It unnerved Kagome.

"Is… everything okay, Kouga?" she asked into her microphone as they got resettled.

Kouga looked up at her quickly before getting distracted with his console, clicking in, "Everything's fine. Just sorting out some details."

Kagome didn't like that response, but she didn't have time to respond before he clicked in again, "Let's go again, from the top."

"That was one of the most awkward sessions I think I've ever had, and that's saying something," Inuyasha commented as they walked out of the studio to head to his truck.

"Yeah…" Kagome replied weakly, closing the door as she settled into the passenger seat.

Inuyasha's ears twitched at her distant sounding tone, asking her timidly, "You okay?"

She sighed, "It's just… I dunno, something about these sessions with Kouga… the longer I do them, the more I'm feeling like something's not right."

Inuyasha turned to face her a little more, "You know you don't have to keep doing this if you're not happy with the output, right?"

She looked over at him, "After all the effort we've put into this? I can't just walk away now. Besides, I'm sure even if I did, Kouga could probably claim all those songs as the label's property. We'd probably lose all rights to them. And that'd be a year's worth of work down the drain."

"We could always write more songs," Inuyasha added, trying his best to be optimistic for her.

"I know, but I just want to see this through. At least if we get to the end, I can make my decision then about if I wanna go forward with the label or not."

He could hear how stressed she was in her voice, and he could smell it on her.

An idea suddenly struck him.

"Hey," he started, waiting until she turned her eyes to him, "Can I… take you somewhere?"

She gave him a pensive look, "Where?"

He lightly scoffed, "I promise, I'm not gonna kidnap you or anything."

She smiled at that, "It's only kidnapping if I'm taken against my will. You at least asked."

Inuyasha returned her smile, "Then if that's a yes, let it be a surprise."

He turned back to the steering wheel and started up the truck as she responded with a laugh, "Alright. Where's my blindfold?"

They made a quick stop at his apartment, grabbing some clothes and some things for the truck, including a cover for the back. Kagome didn't get a great look at all of the items, but it looked like they were going to be spending the night somewhere. As he got in the truck, she switched on her playlist for some ambient driving music. (3)

She had a hard time not asking him where they were going, and as the sun started to lower in the sky, she could see through the windows the pale blue sky change to a variety of softer warm hues the further out of the city they went. The drive was so long, Kagome eventually fell asleep, which Inuyasha was quietly thankful for, knowing it would be a genuine surprise when she woke up.

After an hour and a half of driving, Inuyasha parked the truck, and didn't dare to wake her, taking the opportunity to get things set up while she was still out.

It wasn't until he pulled the passenger side door opened, letting the cooler spring air into the truck, that Kagome was awoken by a shiver.

"Mmm, are we here?" she asked groggily, seeing Inuyasha offering his hand to help her out of her seat.

"Yup," he replied as she took his hand without hesitation.

As he closed the door for her, Kagome tried to look around. She could only make out the outline of some dark trees, the distinct smell of wood and earth, and she could definitely hear waves of water lightly splashing onto a shore. It legitimately felt like they were in the middle of nowhere, "Where are we?"

Inuyasha brought her around the truck to the back, which was pointed towards the view he'd wanted her to see. He could hear her heart race once she realized where they were.

"Oh, Inuyasha… It's beautiful," she breathed out, taking in the magical sight.

Ahead of them, overlooking a calm and clear lake, she could see Mt Fuji in the distance, with only a halo of light remaining from sunset, causing a stream of deep purples and blues to merge to the star-dotted sky at was slowly encroaching over the landscape. The truck was parked in a secluded area just by the coast of the lake and was far enough away from towns and cities that the stars would be in full view on a cloudless night.

Inuyasha stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she leaned back into his frame, letting herself be enveloped by the atmosphere.

He whispered softly, sounding loud by comparison to the quiet lull of the forest surrounding them, "My mom and I used to come here when I was younger. It's been one of my favorite spots to get out of the city and just… pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist for a while."

Kagome looked up at him, and said quietly, "It's stunning, truly. Thank you… for sharing this with me."

He nodded before leaning down and capturing her lips.

Before they got too caught up, Inuyasha turned them around to show her the truck bed, which had been set up with an inflatable mattress, a heater, a small lamp, and some of their favorite snacks that he'd grabbed from the apartment. The cover was opened up so they could view the stars overhead, and could be closed easily once they were ready to sleep.

"I didn't know you had this side to you," Kagome said playfully, "This is so romantic, I almost don't know what to say!"

"Keh, just get in the truck," he chided, playing off her compliment.

As they got comfy on the mattress, they turned out the light and started enjoying the sky, watching as each star become more and more visible with each passing moment, and as My Fuji became darker, blending into the darkness of the sky, with only faint lights dotting up the mountain, showing where hikers were still making their way up.

"I've never seen Mt Fuji like this before. It's strange to think so many people are hiking so late into the darkness," Kagome commented, "Must be terrifying to do that climb with so little light."

Inuyasha nodded, his gaze staying more fixed on the stars above.

They stayed quiet for a little while, basking in the moment where the world was still, if only for a little while.

"Inuyasha…" came her hushed voice, breaking the silence, "What was it like, growing up with your mom?"

By this point, Inuyasha no longer got defensive about his mother with Kagome. She'd earned his trust to be vulnerable with her about his family.

"She… she did what she could. There were a lot of times where things were rough, but she always made it better somehow. Totosai did what he could to help as well, but we were on our own a lot. She'd always find a way to cheer me up, like bringing me out here. She'd let me run into the forest for hours, and she knew that I'd be able to find her again from her scent. It was one of the few places I felt like I could really be myself... you know?"

He paused a second before continuing, "She would've liked you."

"You think so?" Kagome asked, turning to look at him.

He nodded, "I know it."

After another moment, Kagome leaned into his side, cuddling with him, "I wish I could've met her."

Inuyasha looped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close, "Kagome… I'm gonna tell ya somethin'…"

She again looked up at him, his tone sounding a little more serious, "What is it?"

Inuyasha took a quick breath before starting, "Remember… when your grandfather was asking about my 'heritage'?"

"Ugh, I was so embarrassed. I still can't believe he did that," she replied, "Wait! Did he actually offend you and you're just telling me now?!"

"Huh? Wha—No!" Inuyasha stammered, "That's not what this is about."

"Oh, thank the gods." She sighed, leaning back into him.

Inuyasha chuckled at her reaction, "What I was gonna say is… he was right."

Kagome slowly turned back to him, "In what way?"

He shrugged, "My old man… he was the dog demon General, Inu no Taisho."

Kagome's eyes went wide. She hadn't expected him to say that.

Inuyasha continued softly, "I've never actually told anyone that; not Miroku, not Sango… no one really knows. The only ones who knew were Totosai and others in the family, like my half-brother. It was kept pretty hush hush. After all, I was his bastard son… and with a human woman no less, so… couldn't have us wandering around, tarnishing the family legacy."

Kagome sat up, looking down at him, but Inuyasha kept his eyes fixated on the stars overhead, "I never knew him, but my mom would always talk about how much I looked like him, and how great he was. She gave me his sword, and his haori, and asked me to keep them as a way to keep his memory alive. Even after everything we went through, and all the shit she endured from the family… she still loved him, right until the end."

He felt the softness of Kagome's hand over his heart as he finally let his eyes meet hers, and she could see that even if he wasn't crying, his eyes had a glassy sheen in them. His hand overlaid hers, grasping her like she was a lifeline, "I miss her."

Kagome didn't even feel the tear that had streamed down her cheek as she hugged him, "I'm so sorry, Inuyasha."

His hand moved over her back to soothe her, "Don't be. I… never thought I'd be able to talk to anyone 'bout this… ever. But, I dunno… being out here again, with you… got me feeling some kinda way."

"Well, I'm glad you could tell me. It must've been hard to carry that for so long," she said as she let out a soft exhale, "You and your mom… you didn't deserve to be treated like that… by your family."

She felt him hold her a little tighter before they released each other, resuming their stargazing.

"Actually, I have a question for you," he started, as he turned to open one of the various snack bags they'd brought.

"Go ahead."

"Obviously, your family are caretakers of a shrine. So… how come you're not training to take it over?"

Kagome giggled at the notion, "You think I'm priestess material?"

Inuyasha smirked at her playful tone, "Oh, far from it."

Her return was a quick, little jab in his ribs, causing him to cough on the fried chip he was eating, before she said in a warning tone, "Watch it…"

He continued, "But seriously… isn't it tradition or somethin' that the eldest kid take over the caretaking responsibilities of the shrine?"

Kagome reached for a chip and replied as she ate, "Yeah, it's typically the tradition, but my family's never exactly been a very traditional bunch.

"My dad was supposed to take it over from Grandpa, and he had spent a lot of years preparing for it too. He gave up a lot of his own ambitions just to uphold the honor. But then he got sick… and I think he realized that life was too short to not live it how you want to. So… when I started to come of age, my parents asked me what my thoughts were for my future. I knew I wanted to do something with my music, and they respected my decision. In all honesty, I don't think they ever asked me if I wanted to continue the shrine lineage. It just didn't fit me. And they wouldn't ever have made me do something I didn't want for my life."

Inuyasha listened intently to her answer. How different things might have been, "You're lucky, you know… to have a family that supported you in following your dreams like that."

She nodded, "I know I am," but before she could continue, a streak of light crossed over the darkened sky, "Look! A shooting star!"

It trailed off in a blink of an eye.

"Quick! Make a wish!" she cried, closing her eyes and silently sending her wish into the universe, 'I wish… I wish I can stay with Inuyasha.'

Inuyasha watched her with endearment as she made her wish before silently looking back to the sky and wondering, 'I wish things could stay like this forever.'

I know this is a short chapter, but in all honesty, this one was stumping me for a bit, because the next few chapters

start to get a bit dramatic again. While there is some plot stuff here, this chapter is largely a bit of fluff and calm before things get… well, you'll see.

So enjoy this cute bit of fluff while you can lol!

Until Next Time…