Chapter 6: Indulgences

She was not trying to dress up for a date.

A huff escaped her as azure eyes glared at her reflection as her brush got stuck with a stubborn knot. No matter how she looked at it, the gap in quality between the clothes she took with her to the feudal era was impossible to ignore. It couldn't be helped. The light blue fabric of her dress wasn't sturdy enough, and the white lace accents would get caught on the first bush their travels guided the group through. Every piece of clothing left in her closet for modern-time use only looked fancier than what she could take over to the other side of the well. Even discounting how easily fabric could be torn when falling on rock-filled trails or how often fighting demons included myriad of attacks being sent her way. There was only so much washing her clothing on a river bank could do before there were clothes on her shirts that had nothing to do with claws and blades. It would cost a fortune to take her 'nice clothes' across time. So really, it wasn't surprising she looked better put together now than she did in the Sengoku era. It couldn't be helped, and there was no reason for the hint of pink dusted her cheeks because this outing was not a date.

This was all her friend's fault.

In an entirely expected move, the girls refused to let the topic of the shrine's newest guest go; only Ayumi refrained from making comments about his appearance or trying to compare her with what they knew of Inuyasha. Knowing nothing on this earth could've stopped them from talking, so Kagome did her best to ignore the comparisons. None of her modern-day friends had the real context behind the silver-haired hanyou's attitude or actions; they didn't understand how hard it was for him to be open with his feelings or vulnerable when he'd been a target for most of his life. And even without it, the priestess had grown to despise the very action of comparing people. It was pointless…yet, try as she might, her traitorous thoughts kept whispering all the different ways the two acted and how different her expectations towards both males were.

Brashness was Inuyasha's brand, and he didn't care to do even the bare minimum when it came to passing unnoticed. Horrible as it may sound, every time the silver-haired male was on this side of the well, she felt constant stress buzzing in the background because the hanyou didn't think twice about jumping from rooftops or trying to attack cars with Tessaiga, no less. Hell, he'd knocked on her third-floor classroom window when Mama sent him to deliver her forgotten bento. To Itachi-san, on the other hand, she'd given brisk explanations, a copy of the house keys, and offered him a handful of money, trusting the older teen to navigate her world without causing a scandal. He'd even changed his clothes, taking her words and awnings to heart. But those were just superficial comparisons, easy to wave away after blaming the differences on cultures. No, the thoughts she wished to stop were not as easy to dismiss. After all, regardless of if Inuyasha could walk around without attracting attention to himself, the male had no interest in learning about her time period and often disregarded the part of her life that involved the era she was born in, but Itachi-san cared. He was curious about her culture, willing to learn and help her out as best as he could. Instead of demanding her time and expecting her to attend to him, the young warrior in sister on taking over half of cooking duties until her family came back. Yes, they spent most of Saturday together, sitting in the living room. But he'd been more than happy to sit with a book of his own, only occasionally asking a question and offering his input when she asked for a second opinion. And that was without even mentioning how different their ideas of how to protect her went.

Shaking her head, Kagome let go of the brush. She wasn't going to keep thinking about it, and she was not dressing up for a date.

This outing was a way to both help Itachi-san open up and for her to relax a little so she wouldn't panic during her tests. It was a friendly gesture and nothing more. And there was nothing wrong with taking advantage of one of the few times she could actually wear her good clothes for once.

Refusing the urge to take yet another look at her chosen outfit and grabbing her bag from its place in her bed, Kagome followed the smell of frying eggs. Entering the kitchen, the girl had to bite back a laugh at the sight of the stoic teen staring at the tamagoyaki still resting on the pan. She'd bet what was left of her pocket money that the young man was used to not struggling with most tasks, and he clearly wasn't all that happy with the results he got, even though, in her opinion, they were perfectly ok if simple dishes.

In a way, it was sort of endearing, and if it helped her keep her focus off the way the older teen looked in modern clothes. She'd dragged him off to a mall Friday afternoon to get something that could fit him well. Just as expected, he'd first tried to refuse altogether, and she'd had to push a little to get him to look at clothes that weren't pilled together on the cheapest aisle. Unsurprisingly most of his picks were darkly colored, but Itachi had clearly paid attention to the people walking on the street because, despite the fact that some of the things he bought had to be foreign to him, he still took a couple of jeans and similar. Now that the clothes he was wearing weren't hanging off of him, the young warrior could easily attract many gazes to himself.

"Are the eggs refusing to tell you their secrets?" she joked, trying to ignore the train her thoughts had taken.

"Kagome-san, good morning." Turning to look at her, he offered her a small smile before moving to plate the food. "I tried following a recipe, but…" clearly, he wasn't satisfied whit the results.

"Recipes can only get you so far, or so I've been told. But practice makes perfect, right?" With a smile of her own, the priestess sat down.

Offering a quick "thanks for the food," the girl took a bite and held back a wince. The taste wasn't bad, but the flavor was certainly…strong. A stark contrast to the first breakfast he'd made for her, the thing had been decidedly bland, since Itachi-san hadn't wanted to poke around too much without permission. Though, today's miso and the rice both seemed to be keeping that trend. And going by the sight of the slight twitch on his blank expression, the young warrior was very much aware of it.

"It could use a bit of tweaking, but I'd say it's a good try."

"The one time I was in charge of my family's meals, my brother said that, since he guessed it was food, he'd eat it." Itachi shook his head at her attempt to soften the blow. "This taste about the same."

"Ouch…picky eater?" Kagome asked with a wince.

"The worst one, at times." As always when he talked about his younger brother, Itachi's expression softened. "He doesn't like sweet things either."

"Ok, that's definitely out of the norm, you know, I hate to admit it, but I was the picky one in my family." At his questioning look, she continued. "You may have noticed because of the photos, and the like, but my dad passed away when I was little. We moved to the shrine to get jii-chan's help, but Mama didn't want to overwhelm him with our expenses, so she decided to work part-time for a while. Without her in the house, that meant gramps was the only one left able to use the kitchen, so…" Her laugh was mixed with an open wince at the memory of the abhorrent taste her grandfather managed to concoct. "Let's say I learned the difference between 'not my favorite' and 'inedible' I swear, at some point, I thought he had to be trying to poison us."

"That bad?"

"Yep, he's been banned from this room for years now."

"I see…" His words trailed off, an odd look making the light-hearted conversation fade away. "I'm…sorry for your loss."

It wasn't the slightly delayed condolences that almost brought her to a stop. This wasn't the first someone felt a bit awkward for mentioning a topic that brought on the memory of her father, and it wouldn't be the last. It was the faint hesitation that colored his voice. Almost as if there was something else he wanted to say. There was something more lurking beneath the surface, honestly, Kagome would be more surprised to learn the young man wasn't hiding something from them. But the last thing the girl wanted to do was to push too far and have him pull away. Trust didn't bloom in a day or a couple of weeks.

"Thank you, but it's okay." Her words were soft. Chosen as she tried to be careful with what she said. "I mean… It would be even sadder if I stopped talking about the good times; plus, he'd want me to live life to the fullest…which is why we'll go all out today!"

"…are you sure you're not just using me as an excuse to skip studying today?" Taking the offer to go back to lighter topics, the young man smiled once more.

"Absolutely not!" Feigned outrage painted her denial, hiding her relief. "Rest is just as important when it comes to proper learning."

"Right."

"Come on then, we have a full schedule, and Tokyo is a busy city." Speeding up her eating, she glanced at the clock hung on the opposite wall. "Trains are the most convenient way to travel, but it can get…crowded. If we want to beat rush hour, we need to leave on time."

The older teen laughed softly at her obvious redirection as he nodded, and Kagome could feel her previous nervousness vanish at the sight of him. Sure, the priestess had found herself enjoying Itachi-san's company, but that really wasn't what mattered.

Finding out the boy from her memories was real had her analyzing everything she could remember with a fine tooth comb; what she got left her heart aching at the loneliness that permeated not only their first encounter, but their second meeting as well. The more time she spent with him, the more convinced she was that pain and agony were hidden within his silences and vague answers. Where all members of her group had gone through a tragedy. With Itachi, she couldn't help but fear that if she wasn't careful, he'd go away before she could have any hope to reach him. Maybe even in a misguided attempt to protect her. Ever so slowly, at a crawling pace, maybe, these little interactions were making progress, so her anxiety about the confusing mess the girls unleashed could go and take a hike. At the end of the day, she wanted him to feel like he could rely on them, even if he didn't need to…and the little voice that tried to point out how she thought about wanting the young warrior to open up to her instead of opening up to the group, well, it could shut up as well.

He wasn't sure exactly when was it that he accepted the fact that there would be no way to avoid the violence and horrors that ruled his world, but before he knew it, Itachi had already resigned himself to the fact that this was a law within his world that would never let him go. The Uchiha prodigy grimly accepted his fate, just as he didn't fight the loss of his vision. All he could do now, walking through a place that looked as if someone borrowed a piece of the ocean via human ingenuity and his working eyes drank in the collage of colors, was take a second to marvel at it.

The aquariums was the last place in his butterfly's list, and Itachi supposed he could understand why.

A big part of their city tour consisted of museum visits, likely inspired by his constant questioning about details from her world. From traditional and western art, to historical, to science, even including one that made use of projections to showcase their exhibitions, his appetite for knowledge grew even as it was filled. For every answer he got, at least a dozen wished to take their place. So vastly different, yet similar, in their own way, the connection between their worlds fell stronger than ever. But something about this place that made him fully realize that his heart was still beating, and colors bled back into his life, poured back into his life by the young woman pulling his hand. It felt more solid, in a way, than the paintings and recreations failed to capture all the beauty of the gardens, and projected images could be faked after all. But the brightly lit displays showcasing glimpses of what the bottom of the ocean and every species on the other side of the glass were breathing, living animals were real. It must've taken a lot of effort to construct it, and it served no practical purpose at all.

Back in the Elemental Nations, and even this world's Sengoku era, most things were constructed for survival. After all, what's the point of entertainment if there was no one alive to enjoy it? Only the rich and the elite could afford to waste money on time-consuming enjoyment. Hard to make tourism a sustainable business when peace could be shattered at any moment. And yet, the people here were common, everyday people.

Comparing the humans who lived here didn't possess chakra or any kind of spiritual power. Individually, they were weak, yet they also managed to create far more amazing and destructive accomplishments. This time period may not be perfect, but even internationally, things were peaceful for the most part. And question wondered in his mind.

"So," Kagome-san's voice broke his train of thought. "What do you think?"

"It's…amazing. I wonder if we can ever build something like this…" As he spoke, his voice grew fainter.

"You're world…it's not that nice, is it?" Azure eyes pierced into him, as if trying to see something else. "Humans can be annoyingly stubborn, and there will always be people persistent enough to fight for what they believe is right. I'm sure people will eventually have so much time on their hands that they'll have to find new ways to not get bored."

Before he could come up with a response, the girl hurried to move them to the next exhibit, going back to inane topics, her hand still holding his.

Truly, he was letting his guard down too much. During breakfast this morning, he'd almost slipped when the young priestess mentioned her father's passing, not just because that was something he already knew, but the Uchiha clearly remembered how Kagome-san looked like during the man's funeral. How could e not when that was the first time Itachi was forced to acknowledge he didn't think of her as just some random civilian girl he could see out of the corner of his eyes once a day. Powerless, he could do nothing but pointlessly research grief and hope she could recover. The memory of how relieved he felt when he saw her smiles and fire return to her soul. His beautiful, brave, little butterfly.

Maybe it was because it was clear the priestess was unwilling to push for answers. Or perhaps he was simply growing greedy, because the Uchiha couldn't bring himself to go back to the feudal era or put some distance between them. It was a selfish decision. The number of sins he'd committed, all for the sake of keeping his brother and his village safe, were incalculable by now, and the Uchiha knew too well he didn't deserve forgiveness. Wouldn't even dare to beg for it, but being by Kagome-san's side seemed to lighten the burden he carried. Her warmth in his hand a reminder that thanks to the miracle she brought forth, now, he had time and the freedom to choose what he wanted to do with it. That she was willing to accept his presence when he'd been nothing but a stranger still amazed him, though he'd known from the start how caring was her nature, and he couldn't be more grateful that the girl seemed to want his company. Perhaps he was being careless by allowing himself to be carried away by the wind her pace created, but he wanted to do so as long as it allowed her to keep smiling like this, then it would be worth the risk.

"Are you interested in all this?" The glimpses of her life he'd been shown occurred at random times, so despite his observations, there were many details of her life that remained a mystery.

"Hmm?" Kagome tilted her head as she thought. "Well, it's more that I like visuals. When I was a kid, it felt like stepping into a different world altogether. Although I guess I kinda do that on a weekly basis, though," she laughed bashfully. "I figured it might make a nice end for our Tokyo tour."

"It is…I apologize for having you pick so many museums." As much as he'd insisted on this being an excuse, this whole thing had been tailored around what she thought he'd enjoy.

"I'll have you know I picked those to myself as well." With a huff, the girl half turned away, a sly grin on her lips. "To be honest, I've become more interested in history since I fell through the well. Sure, I got to actually see and live through those historical periods, but more than that, our old myths and legends turned out to be true! If things like youkais and the rest, what else was hidden because the label of myths were stamped on to it; I mean, Japan can't be the only country with supernatural history…and I'm rambling again."

"There's nothing wrong with being passionate about something. Was that why you insisted on explaining everything?"

He'd noticed that in some of the museums, groups could be led by one of the workers, and the girl explained that guided tours were common, especially for foreigners, but that the information she didn't have herself should be available on the placards. He'd thought that must've been to avoid being crowded, but he was starting to think there may have been another reason for it.

"Yeah, although maybe that wasn't the best idea since it's not like I'm a historian or anything." The girl pushed a strand of raven hair back, an embarrassed flush on her cheeks. "The only area I may know better is incredibly specific."

"An advantage is an advantage. At the very least, you'd have a better chance at distinguishing the truth from the legends," he offered with a smile.

"I would, wouldn't I? Maybe I should just go for it." What started as a laugh turned into a soft question. "I… could actually do something of the sort…couldn't I?"

Years of being stuck on the other side of the one-way glass allowed him to see the realization brightening her oceanic eyes. She'd said it jokingly, and even now, it wasn't like the priestess was absolutely confident this was the direction she wanted to take, but it wasn't an undesirable path either. In one way or another, his butterfly was, once more, beginning to think about what lay after her self-imposed mission was over.

"A-anyway." With a forced cough, she willed a grin to her face. "I don't know too much about sea creatures, so this was mostly just for fun…also, you can drop the honorifics."

"Huh?"

"I mean, I've saved your life, and you're saving my grades, so I'd say there's no need to be so polite."

"I…you're right, Kagome."

Once more, a flush colored her cheeks, but she grinned at him, happy to let the previous topic be forgotten, and continued to pull him along. Innocent questions centered around her likes and dislikes as she explained how her parents took her to different aquariums each year and how that kept going even after her younger brother was born. In return, he shared vague details of the handful of beaches he'd gotten to see while on assignment, basking on the peace he felt as they continued walking through the brightly lit exhibits. Selfish choice or not, he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

Egocentric as it may sound, Kagome couldn't stop smiling as they made their way back up.

Her feet were loudly complaining for not picking something more comfortable than her low, white heels when she knew they'd spend most of the day walking, but if the priestess could hike her way through a rock-infested, poor excuse of a trail for several days, then she could deal with a bit of soreness. There was no point in having these shoes if she wasn't going to wear them, so refusing to take her aching feet into account, she considered the outing to be an outstanding success.

Unsurprisingly, Itachi didn't raise a single complaint, but she felt confident none of his reactions had been polite charades to avoid offending her. Knowing she'd spent most of her time studying and that her family didn't have a lot of books outside of her grandfather's collection (and because she wasn't about to subject him to her mother's romance novels, her brother's mangas or her own…stuff) Kagome took some time on Friday to teach him how to use her computer, and avoid the pits of dubious information that so populated the dark corners of the internet. And while she couldn't be sure about what he'd looked for, she did pay attention to the books he'd picked and the few questions Itachi asked, so she knew he wouldn't get bored to tears, at the very least. But it was the way he spoke and even his posture changed that made her feel glad to have insisted on today's outing.

No, he hadn't opened up his heart, but he'd relaxed, and there were even moments when he'd make a comment or two that were more personal.

And quite honestly, she just…had fun.

Ever since she first fell down the well, her life became the very definition of hectic. If she wasn't hunting down the Shikon fragments, fighting all sorts of demons, or trying to help a town or a group of villagers, then she was desperately trying to catch up with the massive loads of schoolwork waiting for her. Lives were on the line, every day the jewel remained fragmented was a day more tragedies could be occurring, of course, she was aware of it. But she was already going to stay for the full week, and her grades couldn't go lower than they already were by missing a single day. Now that the young warrior had a general idea of how to use public transportation, she didn't feel as guilty about leaving him on his own. Plus, his interpretation of the exhibits they went to was really interesting since his perspective was so different from her own. Once they were black on the other side of the well, she'd focus even more to make up for today. After all, there was nothing wrong with a bit of fun.

Opening the front door, she almost froze as her gaze fell on the extra sets of shoes lying in the foyer.

Right…her family was set to come back today. She'd even considered that when planning today's schedule, but somehow, that particular fact seemed to have escaped her mind for almost a day and a half. Come to think of it, she hadn't really spared many thoughts about being alone throughout Saturday either. It wasn't like she forgot that Itachi-san wasn't used to the modern era. It was impossible when she'd dedicated time of her days to go through basic explanations of how things worked, yet, it was almost as if a part of her thought that spending her days with the young man by her side was the most normal turn of events.

Knowing she was probably pushing a bit, her hand found him for the hundredth time this day.

There was no excuse she could use right now to explain away her touch, but it was the only way to keep away the slight voice that warned her that if she were to let go of his hand, he'd be gone by the time she turned around, and that was a feeling that became more present when others were around. So pretending not to realize her actions would probably cause some confusion, the priestess pushed forward, rushing them both to the living room.

A/N: So this is a bit shorter than usual, but then again, this is fluff. I tried to make it a bit longer but I didn't like how the chapter felt after extending the scene, so here we are. I was a bit mor lax with the grammar checking with this chapter since I'm feeling under the weather but I don't want to keep postponing this one, so here it is!

As always, thank you guys so much for reading and any and all reviews/comments/criticism are greatly, greatly appreciated.