Chapter Six
"Can't We Leave the Underwear Out of This?"

Kagome pulled into her assigned parking spot, sagging against the steering wheel as she turned the engine off.

That had been the longest seven hour drive.

Not to mention that she'd stopped and unloaded all the gifts at Miroku and Sango's apartment. All of them. Every single one. Did all the guests actually purchase a box of something for them, because that's what it felt like. Weren't they supposed to be the gift card generation? Because that would have been infinitely less work than what she just did.

There was a bathtub calling her name at the moment, and she groaned at the thought of climbing the three flights of stairs to get to her apartment, because her keycard didn't work in the elevator, had never worked. She'd asked and asked, over and over, for the building manager to fix it, but he never actually did. 'Best he could do' was getting it so that her keycard worked on the stairs next to the elevator, but not the elevator itself.

She still had another—what?—eleven months left on her lease? She'd been forced to commit to two years because she'd broken her last lease after Kouga left. She'd tried making it on just her salary, but there was just no way for her to pay rent, ride the subway, and actually be able to afford food. She'd made it through three months before Sango found out that she wasn't eating every meal every day, or that she wasn't actually eating every day before she convinced her to stay with her and Miroku for a bit while she found another place to live.

Sango had insisted that she would not accept any sort of payment of any kind while Kagome recuperated her fiscal health.

She'd lived with them for almost a month, feeling like the awkward third wheel for most of it, even though she knew that her two friends probably didn't mind at all, but there was also Kagome's wounded pride from the whole ordeal.

She hadn't been able to afford living on her own. She had to move in with friends in order to have a place to stay, because she couldn't do it on her own. And to top it all off, she'd been dumped by her boyfriend with little to no explanation other than it wasn't working out for him anymore.

It had been a rough month, and she was eager to move out and wallow in her own self-pity, which Sango wasn't letting her do while she lived with them.

She was tired of putting up a cheery facade to convince them that she was fine when she really wasn't.

But in the frantic search for places to live that were within her budget and decent looking for a single woman, none of them were willing to let her take on as a resident, even when she offered them bank statements and paystubs and explained why she'd had to break her lease.

She was a 'risk,' something she'd never been before, and they'd all denied her.

Not to mention when she was attempting this particular life event, there had been a housing shortage, so most complexes had a litany of applications and could pick and choose their residents. And she was generally relegated to the bottom of piles.

Except this place. And they'd roped her into a 24 month contract without an option for leaving, and if she did, she would be required to payout the contract in full. She'd taken the deal, consoling herself with it was two years, and by then, she'd be better off than before and just better in general.

Well, there was still eleven months left to go, which meant that there were eleven months worth of opportunities to complete all those things, right?

Right.

But first a bath.

With epsom salts.

She climbed out, grabbing keys and small suitcase from the back, before locking her car twice and then heading for the stairs. She paid extra to have a parking spot, but she needed her car more frequently than she initially thought she would in the city.

But her job offered her free parking, so on days when she knew that it was going to rain or if she was going to be working later than normal, she made sure that she drove so that she didn't show up looking like a hot mess.

If there was one thing her boss never failed to notice was her appearance when she didn't put forth her usual effort.

Her feet throbbed by the time she reached the top of the stairs, and she limped all the way to her tiny, little apartment at the end of the hallway.

She was lucky in some ways, because her apartment only had one neighbor who was almost never there in the evenings, and their bedrooms were on opposite sides of their respective apartments, so when she did have—ahem—guests over, the noise wasn't noticeable when she went to sleep.

But Kagome had also learned that anything placed on the top of the cabinets might shift forward over time when she was nearly bludgeoned with a vase from her mother as it fell from the shelf while there were activities happening on the other side of the wall.

So when she saw that there would be more than one person in the apartment next door, she always made sure to eat early and then retreat to the sanctity of her bedroom for the evening. It was fine, and she made a little nest out of blankets anyway and watched Netflix on the television Kouga had always hated and left behind.

He left lots of little things behind, some tangible and some not, and Kagome in her practicality and frugality saved them to reuse later.

But the small little flat screen allowed her to play a show in the background while she played around on her laptop, distracting her from the quiet, the noises, and the loneliness.

But tonight, Kagome was going to soak herself in reward of being the best damn maid of honor on this side of the globe. Dealing with Kouga and his fiancée had been much more difficult than she originally thought. Of course, at the time, she'd just thought that it would be Kouga, but then there was Ayame and that mess just grew to be very, very complicated very, very quickly.

Kagome opened her door, letting it swing open as she pulled her limping self inside.

She closed the door behind her, setting the deadbolt, the door knob lock, and an additional latch that Sango had insisted she'd add on top of everything else. She thought it was over kill, but Sango insisted and Miroku had agreed.

Sango rarely thought anything was safe enough.

Dragging everything into her bedroom, she left it, stripping out of her clothes as she went, before turning on the tub and digging out her bag of salts and throwing in small handful.

It wouldn't be long now, and—she looked at her bandage covered feet. Should she take them off?

Inuyasha had said that they would stay on for a few days.

Soaking for a few moments probably wouldn't hurt. Right?

She grabbed her phone, turned off the tap, and climbed inside.

She knew that her legs ached, but stretching them out onto the edge of the tub while she sank into the water was a merciful relief.

Letting out a soft sigh of satisfaction, she let her body uncoil slowly in the steaming water. It was quiet at the moment, and she relished in it. Tomorrow, she would do laundry and grocery shop, but for now, she'd order something to be delivered, soak for a bit, and then relax on her bed with her feet propped up.

She grabbed her phone from where she'd set it on the edge of the tub, pulling up a list of places nearby that delivered. There was a ramen place that was relatively cheap, and the food was really good. She could use a little pick me up. Or pizza. Pizza also sounded really good, even though she'd had that only a couple days ago.

And the pizza could be her lunch when she went back to work. If she spread it out enough, it could be four meals.

Sold on her decision, she ducked her feet into the water and started her order. She'd keep it simple, and cheap, and make it last for a few days.

She ran through the app's questions, placing the order for cash delivery, and quickly threw her phone to the side, taking her feet out of the water to set up on the edge. She didn't want to force the bandages off early; they'd made things bearable today.

Oh!

She'd almost forgot!

Reaching back over the side, she grabbed her phone, sending off a quick text to 'Handsome Asshole' Inuyasha.

7:58pm

I'm home! Thanks for all your help this weekend!
Let me know when you get into town!
Have a safe drive!

Okay, that was a lot of exclamation points, and she probably sounded really eager at seeing him again, and after what that woman said at the club, she'd been tempted to google him, but thought better of it. She didn't need to know who he was to make that sort of judgment call. He seemed like a really nice, though sometimes rude, but nice person and she was perfectly fine with only knowing that about him and not tainting her opinion with whatever someone else said.

And she definitely wasn't changing his name in her phone either.

She'd learned from her own past experiences that what people said and thought about others wasn't always true and confirmed. Social media only showed certain facets of people's personalities and their habits, and usually people only wanted to show their best sides.

When the timer revealed that her pizza was actually out for delivery, she climbed out of the tub, drying off and wrapping herself in a fluffy robe to go change.

She grabbed a pair of pajamas from one drawer, and then reached over, pulling open her underwear drawer.

Except that it was empty.

And it hadn't been when she left.

She was positive.

Throwing her clothes on the end of her bed, she went to her laundry basket, digging through the mass of clothes that she'd left for herself to clean later, because Past-Kagome was an asshole to Future-Kagome.

Shirt.

Leggings.

Shirt.

Dress.

Shirt.

Skirt.

Skirt.

The more she kept digging, the more panicked she felt. There was not a pair of underwear in her entire apartment.

She recoiled from her laundry basket.

Someone had been in her apartment. Someone had been in her apartment and stolen every piece of her underwear.

She dragged herself away from the laundry basket, standing upright. Someone had been in her apartment.

Someone had been in her apartment.

Her hands shook as she ran back into the bathroom and grabbed her phone off floor. She started to dial the emergency number, but was it really an emergency?

The sudden creeping feeling that she might not be alone in her own apartment rushed over her shoulders, and she looked at her open bedroom door, and then at her closed closet door.

She dove back for the change of clothes, eager to change before she ran for her life out of her apartment, especially with her landlord creeping around like he usually was.

She tugged on her pajama shorts and her bulky shirt that hid almost everything. She threw the robe on the edge of the bed, grabbing her phone, and running out of the door before she decided to call the police after all. She slid her flats on again, wincing at the pressure on her feet. She grabbed her keys and the bank envelope from the table over her shoes and went outside, letting the door shut behind her. She leaned against the railing outside her apartment, holding the ringing phone to her ear.

The operator answered a moment later.

"Oh, hi—uh—this—it's not an emergency, but I think that I've been—uh—robbed, I guess." She grimaced at the idea that she was going to have to explain that someone had broken into her apartment and stolen all her underwear was almost mortifying.

She'd almost missed the reply asking for her address, and she quickly gave it. The lady told her that she was sending a car and officers should be there within a few minutes before disconnecting the call.

Kagome stared at the phone, suddenly wishing that Sango and Miroku were here to talk to at least, but they were on a plane, and she wasn't going to call and leave this on a voicemail for them. She was not going to ruin their honeymoon because of some weird pervert's underwear fetish.

She stared at her phone for a moment, as the wail of sirens came through the distance. She sighed. So much for a quiet night in.

The police didn't take long, and in between that, her pizza arrived as well.

They swept through her apartment, dusting for fingerprints, making her repeat at least four times what she had done when she'd come home, when did she notice, why didn't she notice this earlier, etc. She clarified with them that her apartment was empty and no one else was in there with her and the only people who had a key weren't even on this continent.

"Miss Higurashi," the officer said, turning a page on his steno notepad. "I'm going to be real honest with you here. We're probably not going to find anything out about this." He tucked the pen into his pocket. "The fact that the only thing they stole was your underwear means that it was probably some kids looking for a laugh or doing some kind of dare. You know how college kids are these days." He waved his hand, dismissing the notion that it was anything serious at all.

"But the door was locked when I came home. How did they get in?"

"Maybe you didn't lock it when you left? Who knows?" He shrugged. "But there was no violent entry, and nothing else was disturbed. If it was a real burglary, your big value items, like your laptop and TV would be long gone by now. But since nothing of value was taken, I'd say it was more of a prank than an intent to steal for monetary gain. But I gotta tell you, even if we do find the perp, you probably don't want what he took back."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, you can always ask management to change the locks. I'll give you a copy of the report so you can show it to them. It should help validate your request."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." She paused just for a moment. "You're positive that there's no one else in there, though?"

"We've gone over your place twice. If you're still uncomfortable, you could always go stay with a friend tonight."

"Yeah," she winced, thinking that her only friends within any distance were actually so far out of reach it wasn't funny. "Thanks for the suggestion."

The other officer walked out of her apartment, holding onto the duffel of equipment that they'd brought in to dust and print her apartment, which seemed like it was covered in fine graphite dust at the moment.

"No problem," he said with a smile, tearing a sheet off and handing it to her. "Show that to your super and they should replace the lock for you. Make sure that your doors are locked before you leave though. Is there anything else that I can help you with?"

"No," she sighed, giving him a weak smile, "that's it. Thank you," she said, and the officer tipped his hat.

"We'll call if we find anything, but don't get your hopes up. Have a good rest of your evening, Miss Higurashi." He stepped outside the door, and she shut it behind him, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the coolness of the metal. She latched the locks, all of them, and turned back to her black smudged apartment.

Trudging into the kitchen, she wetted a sponge and began wiping down all the counters and cabinets of the black powder before running a dish towel over them to dry.

She looked at her pizza, now more room temperature than hot, and she sighed as she realized that she really wasn't that hungry anymore. It felt more obligation than a treat she was intending to enjoy.

Groaning, she pulled a plate out and set two slices on it before tossing the box into her empty fridge and pulling out the half bottle of leftover wine she'd tossed in before she'd left.

Tucking the bottle underneath her arm, she grabbed her plate and hobbled into her bedroom, sighing again at the sight of everything being smudged and dirty. She might as well unpack on the floor since everything else was dirty to the literal touch.

Settling herself on the ground, she unzipped her small suitcase, and began piling up her dirty clothes into a group and setting aside the clean ones to put away. Letting out a quick cheer for her past self being so proactive, she found a couple pair of clean underwear and a bra that she hadn't worn. While not her favorite, it would work for tomorrow so she could at least go shopping for more underwear and groceries.

She rezipped the suitcase back up, taking a swig of wine directly from the bottle as she finished off her slice of pizza.

Her phone pinged, and she eagerly dove for it, hoping to see a text from the Handsome Asshole, but she just frowned at the message displayed across her screen from someone she really didn't want to hear from.

8:32

Fuckwaffles McGee
It was good seeing you again.
I miss you so much.

Kouga's message stayed lit up across the screen, and she frowned at it.

She hadn't deleted his contact, because some part of her wanted to hold onto it.

And the other bigger part of her wanted to know if it was him messaging her. She wanted to know if she needed to ignore him. So she hadn't deleted his contact, just changed his name to something that would at least make her smile when she saw it, for moments just like this.

She stood, wincing as her feet throbbed and her joints cracked, before scooping up her dirty laundry and chunking it into the hamper before she dragged that back to the small laundry room closet. She had a washer and dryer that were stacked one on top of the other, which was great and fine, except the washer was still almost too tall for her to reach all the way into. Throwing in her underwear specifically, she tossed in whatever else could be washed in that particular load before starting the machine.

Leaving the hamper by the door, she moved back to her bedroom, sitting down on the edge of her bed, finishing her dinner, and purposefully avoiding answering his text message.

She had a lot of stuff to clean before bed, and all she'd really wanted to do was put a pillow under her ankles and watch some terrible drama where she didn't have to care about who slept with who or engaged to whomever, just brain-numbing television drama.

But alas, that was not meant to be. Much like a lot of things in Kagome's life at the moment.

Taking her plate into the kitchen, she corked the leftover wine, and placed the plate in the sink before grabbing a rag and some cleaner and starting to wipe down her kitchen.

It was well after midnight before Kagome finally threw in the towel, literally, into the washer and set it to run. She rechecked the locks on the door and her two windows and then went into the bedroom to collapse and sleep off a simultaneously really great and awful day.

Inuyasha yawned as he pulled into his parking spot. Opening the door, he crinkled his nose at the onslaught of oils and asphalt; he always hated parking garages, but there was no other place for him to park here, and it came with the apartment, so why not? Grabbing his bag from the trunk, he started towards the elevator to take him up to his studio apartment. He'd rented it without the intention to stay, but the small space hadn't bothered him as much as he'd thought it would initially.

His mother had argued for him to get a bigger place, but what was the point? It wasn't like he had anyone to come over. The only person who actively visited him was Miroku, who honestly didn't care about sleeping on the pull out sofa that Inuyasha had purchased when he'd realized that someone might actually stay the night. Miroku had made it a point to visit every few months, particularly on long weekends when he could get away. But as the wedding had grown closer and more looming in the calendar, his visits had disappeared entirely.

It was lonely living in a new town and knowing no one there, but it had been alright. He'd chatted with Miroku and Sango over the computer, and for those few moments, it hadn't seemed quite so lonely.

And he had work. So much work.

He'd come down this way to help reorganize the leadership structure in this branch, who were failing remarkably and shouldn't have been. He was shit with people, and even he could admit that this was a leadership problem, not an employee problem.

It had taken almost four years to weasel out the problem children in this branch, but he'd done it and trained everyone who he'd hired—or rehired, in some cases.

Things were somewhat comfortable here, and he really dreaded the idea of moving, even if it was back around his family. He would at least be able to see Rin more often.

He swiped his card key and entered the elevator, pushing the button for his floor and swiping his card again. The elevator began moving.

He'd also be near Miroku and Sango, which meant that he'd be able to actually have a conversation, or at least listen. Most of their video chats were spent with the two of them bickering.

And then there was Kagome. The thought of moving didn't seem quite so awful when he considered that she was also at the other end of that move.

He hadn't been interested in anyone in a long time, but he liked her. In purely platonic terms, but he would be remiss if he didn't say that he wouldn't mind pursuing something more.

He knew that there was something more going on behind the woodwork between her and the wolf, but it didn't matter. She'd made it terribly clear that they were over. Grinning to himself, the doors binged before opening, and he stepped out on his floor, moving to his apartment at the end of the hallway.

She'd also made it really clear that she didn't mind his company, and not because he was one of the heirs to Touga Taisho.

She was—refreshing.

He opened the front door, kicking it closed behind him. Ambient light drifted in from the floor to ceiling windows. There was a reason that this apartment had never bothered him, and the view was part of it. He was near the top of the building, allowing him to have a nearly unobstructed view of the edge of the city, and then the surrounding trees beyond it.

Totally worth the drive and the traffic.

His mother hadn't seen the place, only heard that it was a studio, and that had upset her.

This—he let his duffel drop to the floor as he kicked off his shoes—this was entirely worth it.

He moved into his kitchen, drawing his phone from his jeans, as he reached in the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Driving always made him thirsty; dog jokes aside, he never quite understood why.

He saw a text message from the contact he'd listed as "Cute Bitch at Gas Station". He promptly went to his contacts and changed her contact to Kagome, as it should be.

Reading the message though, he leaned back against his counter, a slow smile breaking out across his face. She wanted him to contact her when he moved.

She wanted to see him again.

Looking over at the clock on his microwave, he realized that it was nearly one in the morning, and he opted to send her a message back.

12:47am

Made it home in one piece. I'll see you soon.

He sent it, setting his phone on the counter.

Spending almost 24 hours driving there and back suddenly seemed totally and completely worth it.

All in all, it hadn't been a bad day by any means.

In her foolishness, Kagome had set an alarm for herself. She'd thought that it would help encourage her to get up and be active, but there was nothing "bright" about this morning. There was nothing "good" about this morning.

This morning was the shit of Satan.

Letting a guttural groan escape her, she rolled over onto her back. Stretching her legs, she groaned again as her muscles ached.

But she had a lot of things to accomplish today.

Like buying food.

And underwear.

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she looked around, struggling to find the wherewithal to motivate herself into action.

But her underwear wasn't going to buy itself, and she really did have to go get some groceries. Grabbing her phone off the charger, she smiled, biting her lip as she read the message he'd sent.

See you soon.

So maybe he was looking forward to seeing her again? Or maybe it was just him being casually friendly. It was a common sentiment. Maybe she shouldn't read too much into it.

But they had hit it off at the party, at least she'd thought so.

Responding to his message would be something that a friend would do, right?

10:52am

Good morning! Glad to hear it!

There it was. Short and simple and straight to the point. Nothing that could be misinterpreted as anything else.

Kagome swung her legs over the side of her bed, standing and whining as her feet ached. She limped her way to the bathroom to dress herself and prepare quickly for the day. She didn't bother to put on anything more than a sweatshirt and a pair of leggings. She slipped a pair of socks and then slid her feet into a comfy pair of sneakers. The bandages were still stuck securely to her feet, cushioning the blisters from the party.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her phone and her bank envelope before heading out. She turned and made sure that her door was locked, jiggling the handle to make sure. She started down the hallway towards her car, but paused as she reached the stairs, turning to look back at her apartment door. She shrugged off the feeling of eyes on her back and continued down to complete her errands.

Inuyasha had taken off the Monday after returning. He'd figured that with the amount of PTO that he'd accrued over the years, he'd earned a day off, and with the move coming up sooner rather than later, he had plenty to do actually.

He slept in, unusual for him, but also not. The amount of people he'd been forced to interact with was insane, and it'd drained his social battery down to nothing. In fact, he'd probably still be sleeping it off if his mother hadn't called to ask how his trip was.

"Good Morning, Sweetheart!" His mother cooed.

Inuyasha pushed himself to sit up against the headboard.

"Morning, Mom."

"How was the wedding?"

"It was fine."

"How was Rin? Was she absolutely adorable? I bet she was just completely adorable."

"Rin was fine. She had a lot of fun."

"I didn't ask if she was fine, I asked if she was adorable."

"Will it make you happy if I say yes?"

"I knew it!" She cheered. "Oh, please tell me you have pictures!"

"Why would I take pictures? They had a photographer there."

"But you would've had a prime spot to take a picture of her walking down the aisle!"

"Mother, I am not going to take pictures while I was up there with everyone looking at me. And she went up there ahead of me, how was I supposed to get a picture of her?" He rubbed his face, pulling the phone away to yawn.

"Oh, honestly, it's like you're not even trying to be a good uncle."

"I'm a perfectly good uncle!" He countered, sitting upright.

His mother laughed over the phone.

"So are you excited about moving back? I heard your father talking to the movers this morning."

"Oh, does he know that you heard him?"

"Why? Is there a surprise?"

"Who said anything about there being a surprise?"

"Your father never hides anything from me unless he wants to make it a surprise."

"Who said he was—"

"Oh, please, I've been married to the man for over four centuries. I know him like the back of my hand. And I know that he's planning something." She hummed lightly. "Do you know what it is?"

"Uh, no?" He winced. He was shit at lying; he knew that. It was more a personality flaw than an actual trait. Traits implied good things; not being able to lie successfully was not a good thing. It ruined more things than it helped.

"Hmm," she mused again. "Fine, don't tell me. Keep secrets from your mother."

Inuyasha groaned, flopping back against his headboard.

"I'm not the one keeping secrets from you."

"So he is keeping secrets!"

Inuyasha let out another low groan. He needed to get off the phone before he ruined his father's surprise.

"Look, Ma, I have to go—and—and do—you know—things." He winced. "I'll talk to you later."

"I'll call Kagura and see if she has any pictures."

"Sounds good. Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Sweetie! Love you!"

"Love you too."

Inuyasha hung up, letting the phone fall to his chest as he tried to clear away the last of the sleep from his brain.

He ran a hand down his face, inhaling sharply.

He loved his mother more than anything, but she was a bit much for this particular morning.

His father was upset that they hadn't been able to make it, but there was a merger happening that the seller pushed back the deadline and refused to negotiate. Normally, his father wasn't one to allow such things, but he'd been after this particular company for ages now, and the old man was finally relenting once he realized that there was no one to inherit the company, or at least no one he wanted to inherit the company.

But he was going to be an asshole about it.

And his father never traveled anywhere without his mother, if he could help it.

So they'd both gone to sign the papers, and in doing so, missed the wedding.

But maybe it had been for the best. He'd never have been able to talk to Kagome like he did, and his mother was always trying to meddle in his love life. Not that he didn't need a little meddling, but less from his mother and more from anyone else really.

People just didn't get what it was like being a hanyou. The women he'd found that were willing to go out with him were usually only doing it for the hope that there would be something in it for them. Usually for the human women, it was either about money, or some weird sex fetish. One date literally asked him if he would knot like a dog. While they were waiting to order for dinner. Like that was the sort of question you asked while staring at a menu. The youkai—he could practically smell their disgust at even being in the same room as him. It didn't matter that he was stronger than most of them already; all that mattered was that he wasn't one or the other. They tolerated him because of his father and who he was. Some tolerated him because of his money. Either way, no one had really wanted to be around him just because of who he was.

Kagome though—

He really hoped that Kagome was different. She seemed different.

Opening up his laptop, he looked at the emails his father had sent and the calendar updates. The movers were scheduled, and he only had appointments through Wednesday, so he'd be able to be off Friday to be here to supervise the packing and the moving and the whatnot.

Not bad.

He leaned back in his chair, tapping his claws on the counter, and glancing around his apartment. It didn't look like he would have too much work ahead of him. He'd lived sparsely enough.

His phone dinged.

8:02am

Old Man
Boxes should be arriving this morning. Pack what you want. Movers will handle the rest.

Or pack up the things that he didn't want anyone else touching. At least his father knew him well enough to know that there were some things that he didn't want someone else messing around with. He looked out through his windows at the city; he grinned at the sunlight casting broad shadows from the skyscrapers that pierced the city skyline.

It was a beautiful morning, and he got to see it first hand.

He was excited for the first time ever at the prospect of packing up all his shit and hiking it four hours to another city.

Who the fuck looked forward to that?

He leaned forward, gripping the granite countertop, staring out over the city and the forests that extended beyond. It was green and shining and beautiful.

And maybe, just maybe, after a decade of failed dates and toxic relationships, things were finally looking up for Inuyasha Taisho.

All in all, what was left of what cash she'd managed to withdraw before the wedding didn't go as far as she'd hoped. She settled for buying a couple of bras and a couple extra pairs of underwear. This meant that she could get through a week without having to do laundry.

And then came groceries.

While she had a temporary debit card, she still didn't want to withdraw any extra cash if she didn't have to. While she wasn't necessarily living paycheck to paycheck, it was close enough that the cash she'd lost in the robbery was enough to make her have to cinch her purse strings just a little bit for the next month or so. She probably shouldn't have ordered pizza last night, but it is what it is. Managing to buy just enough that she could survive until her credit cards showed up later that week, she carried her meager haul up the stairs and to her apartment.

Her phone dinged as she opened up the door, turning to latch it behind her and tossing her keys onto the small table.

Setting her bags on the counter, she pulled her phone out of her pocket to see a text message from Inuyasha.

3:45pm

Handsome Asshole
Looks like I might be moving back before the month is out.

She frowned, flipping over to her calendar to check the date.

"I thought he wasn't moving back for a month," she mumbled as she flipped to the month view and realized that the month was over next week.

3:46pm

The month is over next week! I thought that you weren't moving here for a month!

It was barely a second after she'd sent that she got a response.

3:46pm

Counting down the days were we?

She could practically feel that stupid smirk through the phone. That asshole.

3:47pm

Hardly. That's a big jump though. Is everything okay?

3:48pm

Fine. Project finished up, and the apartment's ready. No reason to stay here.

What was she supposed to say to that? She was excited to see him again? Because she was. Or was that too forward?

Why was this so complicated? It wasn't like she had feelings for the guy. She'd barely known him for a few days; she was just lonely with Sango and Miroku gone.

So why was she making this so awkward?

3:49pm

Let me know when you're here. I'll bring you a housewarming dessert!

She'd clicked 'send' before thinking twice on what she'd written. That was weird, wasn't it? Who even did that? Who brought over things like casseroles and plates of cookies to people who just moved in?

He probably thought she was weird now and was going to avidly avoid her in their friend circles. Well, circle.

Groaning, she tossed her phone onto the counter and flopped forward to rest her forehead on her arms.

She was so dumb.

And awkward.

Good job, Kagome. You've literally managed to scare a guy off that wasn't afraid of Kouga and had shown an interest in you for more than five minutes.

Her phone binged, and she knew that when she looked at it, she was going to be cut off. This was it. This was the last straw of her weirdness; she'd broken him and any chance she had of them being friends.

She lifted her head just enough to see her phone screen and the text from Inuyasha.

3:50pm

I'm holding you to that, Kagome.

She grinned unabashedly at the phone and the text from Inuyasha.

Setting it back on the counter, she turned to her fridge opening the door and putting her groceries away.

And maybe, after an entire year of bullshit from terrible relationships and living situations, things were finally looking up for Kagome Higurashi.

A/N: I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter! I wanted to show that they're both kinda excited at the prospect of seeing each other, while still being the dumb idiots we know and love.

I'm on the struggle bus of finishing up the year with my students, and I'm both physically and mentally exhausted, and I felt like I could sleep another 8 hours when I woke up this morning. The fatigue is a real and malicious beast, and I'm hoping that with a vitamin B shot, I'll feel like a real human being again. Or at least human enough that I can finish packing up my room (I'm already 80% done, but that last 20% is the real killer-at least I'm not moving rooms like a couple of my hallmates.)

Thanks for all your support!