Madame Masseuse

by princesspvmpernickel

Kagome Higurashi is a recently single massage therapist at "Madame's", a luxury spa in downtown Tokyo where client anonymity is the number one priority. Needing a distraction, Kagome picks up a shift the same night the spa is hosting a bachelor party. Just when Kagome wants nothing to do with men, there's a certain client she can't get out of her mind or keep her hands off.

12. The Brightest Star on the Darkest Night

Madame Masseuse

"The Brightest Star on the Darkest of Nights"

---

Kagome regretted not asking for a to-go tray for their flat whites. The white cups burned her palms as she crossed the intersection amongst a throng of other people despite the late hour for a Wednesday.

An exaggerated smile grew across Kagome's lips as she finished crossing the street. She was temporarily distracted from the stinging twinge of her hands as she looked around, fondly recalling the hailstorm—when she and Inuyasha had crossed this same intersection hand-in-hand, absolutely pelted by the elements.

That was back when Kagome hadn't yet known Inuyasha wanted her, before their commitment to brutal honesty, when kissing hadn't become a thing for them yet.

That felt like a lifetime ago.

Kagome grinned with the realization of all that had changed between them. She and Inuyasha had come a long way from their initial meeting at Sesshoumaru's bachelor party those months ago at Madame's.

Kagome's backpack straps dug into her shoulders and she wished she had a free hand to redistribute its weight. Her purse swung a steady beat, crashing against her thigh with her rushed steps. She could see the doorman for Inuyasha's building from here, the man's uniform illuminated in the canopy spotlights and decorative wall sconces on the building's extravagant, covered exterior.

The increasing closeness of Inuyasha's building solidified just how soon they'd be together. It made Kagome realize she had barely spoken to Inuyasha all day and she was eager to see him.

She'd be lying to say she wasn't a little nervous to see him as a human. Despite having received his permission to come over, Kagome couldn't shake the feeling that she was encroaching on something that was not remotely her business.

She gripped the coffee cups tighter, pushing past the discomfort whirling in her bloodstream by pumping her legs into a brisker pace. A flurry of nervous energy swirled around her stomach, making her feel fidgety.

All day, Kagome tried to keep her expectations under close supervision, refusing to let her mind think about what the night had in store for her. She still felt so clueless about all things demon—half-demon—so she felt even more overwhelmed by the premise of Inuyasha's human night. When she found herself considering what Human Inuyasha would be like, Kagome compelled herself to change gears. Of all people, Kagome knew that expectations only led to disappointment, and Inuyasha didn't deserve anything but her unbridled support on his most vulnerable night.

Her hair a thick pendulum with her steady gait, Kagome's eyes scaled up to observe the dark, cloud-covered sky. It really did seem that much gloomier at night without a moon, despite all the light pollution.

The starless, blacker-than-usual night sky had Kagome reflecting that Inuyasha had been human for a few hours now.

Kagome learned that sunset would occur at 18:58 and had set an alarm for that time, hoping that a quick text to Inuyasha would be received well. She grit her teeth with a grimace. She wished she said something other than the Thinking of you she had sent after being at a loss of what to say and in a rush to get to her next client appointment. She had been quick to follow that message with a See you tonight xo before putting her phone away. Somehow that addition didn't make the recollection any fonder.

Her heart felt skittish over including those two little letters that held so much meaning for people who were still technically just friends.

Kagome realized with an eye-rolling and self-deprecating sigh that she should let it go—she was probably just overthinking it again.

The doorman for Inuyasha's building was an older gentleman tonight, the same man from the first time she visited. From overhearing Inuyasha greet the man by name one time, she knew he was called Totosai.

"Good evening, Miss Kagome," Totosai greeted with a polite nod of his head. The whiskers of his upper lip curled into a smile, his wide, round eyes tapering with the grin. "Lovely night despite it being a dark one."

"Hi, Totosai," she called with a bright grin. "It is, yes."

"Mr. Taisho has let the front desk know to expect you?"

Kagome's smile fell. "I—I hope so," she laughed nervously, suddenly self-conscious of the dull pain in her palms from the hot beverages.

"Please check in with Hachi at the front desk, Miss Kagome," Totosai said to her, opening the large glass door and beckoning her through. "Building security this evening is more stringent than what you're used to. He'll let you know what you need to know before you can head on up."

Kagome nodded her head in understanding and stepped across the threshold. "Thank you. Have a good night."

"You as well, my dear."

Kagome's eyes instantly sought out the staffed front desk—a sight that was unfamiliar to her. The previous three times Kagome visited, the front desk had been barren, the wandering Night Guard or doorman the only employees visible on the premises.

A plump man with thick, black-rimmed glasses waved Kagome over to the desk. She couldn't help a double-take when her eyes looked him over—there was something about him that looked almost raccoon-ish. For the first time upon meeting someone new, Kagome found herself speculating if Hachi was indeed human or if he could be a demon—or both, like Inuyasha.

Even though she had lived amongst demons her whole life, it never seemed to occur to her that she could be in the company of someone who was, well, not a person at all.

A shudder of brutal awareness crawled up her back.

Kagome offered him a hesitant smile as she placed the coffee cups on the counter and rubbed her palms against the thighs of her pants.

"Good evening, Miss," he greeted in a nasally voice without raising his eyes from the computer monitor. "I will need two pieces of government-issued identification, please."

Kagome knit her eyebrows, two solid lines of confusion appearing above her nose. "You need my ID?"

"Yes, please. Two pieces."

Kagome dropped her backpack to the floor with a thud and reached into her purse for her wallet. She flipped through various cards until she found two pieces of ID that she hoped would suffice. She handed them to Hachi with tentative fingers.

The man—demon?—was silent as he checked the validity of Kagome's identification and then seemed to cross reference her information with something on his computer. The deskman was silent as he slid the two cards back to Kagome across the countertop.

"I have you here, Miss Higurashi. Mr. Taisho is indeed expecting you this evening."

"Um—is this normal?" She asked cautiously, placing her cards back into their respective slots in her wallet. "I haven't had to do this before."

Hachi's face lit up with a grin of understanding. "On a night of a new moon this is protocol, Miss Higurashi. If this is your first time registering with the desk, then I presume you haven't been on the premises during a new moon?"

Kagome licked her lips. "Uh—no, I haven't. This will be the first time."

Hachi smiled courteously, pulling a small, rectangular, laminated card from a drawer with a metal clasp on one side. Kagome saw him remove a sticky note with her name on it before handing the card to her.

She eyed the card, her brain reading and processing the only two words written on it—Authorized Guest—until Hachi spoke to her again.

"You will need that card on your person to activate the elevator; you'll find the buttons won't work without it."

Kagome nodded and clipped the nametag to the breast pocket of her t-shirt.

"For security purposes, you will only be permitted access to the floor you have been registered to visit. I would highly encourage you, Miss Higurashi, to attach that pass in a visible place anytime you are outside of Mr. Taisho's residence. Security will have a noticeable presence on every floor, and in the elevators and stairwells, and the discernability of that tag will make things easier for you while you are in transit. Any non-resident without an authorized pass on their person will be immediately escorted off the premises—no compromises, no exceptions."

Kagome swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling very parched. "Understood."

"Should there be activation of any alarms requiring evacuation of the building—such as a fire alarm, for example—an announcement across the PA system will sound to validate the legitimacy of the alarm. While it may feel counterintuitive to do so, please do not rush to evacuate the building until that announcement has sounded—I promise you, it would be quite diligent to happen."

"Uh—um, okay."

"Access to communal spaces is restricted until sunrise; however, you are certainly not a prisoner—" He chuckled a twittering, breathy laugh at the word— "so, now that you are registered, you may come and go from the building as you please. However, please do ensure the return of your authorized pass before you exit so we can ensure it's availability for you on future new moons."

"So," she ventured to say, "this pass is mine?"

"Yes," Hachi replied with a curt nod. "It is registered to you, personally. As I'm sure you can appreciate, for security purposes, we do not permit our authorized passes to leave the premises. So, I will implore you to safeguard it accordingly and ensure it's prompt return at the end of your visit."

"Yes, of course."

Hachi smiled at her again. "Very good, Miss Higurashi. Do you have any questions with which I can assist?"

What the hell even is this? This is so—

Intense, another voice answered. This is kind of intense. I don't know what I was expecting when I got here but it was definitely not this.

"Um—no, I think I'm okay. Thank you for the information."

"Of course," he beamed. "Our residents are all very knowledgeable on our protocols and requirements, so certainly feel free to direct any outstanding questions to Mr. Taisho."

"Sure."

Hachi motioned to the elevator bays with an outstretched hand. "If I can be of no further assistance, I wish you a pleasant rest of your evening."

Kagome nodded, crouching down to heave her backpack on, and collected her coffee cups—now significantly cooler.

"Thanks again," she called with a groan as she turned toward the elevator.

Hachi bowed his head in reply and went back to clicking on his computer.

Kagome made for the elevator, her heart drumming in her ears. Where she had been nervous to see Inuyasha before, this security debrief and the weight of the authorized pass on her chest had her feeling even more tense.

The elevator car dinged its arrival to the lobby and Kagome entered, startling to a pause when an attractive pair of serious brown eyes met hers from the corner of the elevator.

The security guard wore a nametag on his breast that said Kouga, and the guy was fully loaded—Kagome could clearly distinguish a firearm and taser on his hips. She gulped nervously, feeling self-conscious of his eyes on her as she stepped inside the car. He nodded at her in greeting and Kagome swallowed past her discomfort, stumbling her way through returning the gesture.

She angled her body so the pass could flash the black card reader on the wall. After a beep sounded and a green light appeared, Kagome pressed the button for Inuyasha's floor. Once she felt the car begin to rise, she let a sigh loose and leaned her shoulder and head against the wall.

She could feel the guard's eyes on her but Kagome was resolute in keeping her gaze away from him.

The ride up to Inuyasha's condo felt like it simultaneously took ages and no time at all.

"Have a good night," the guard called to her as she hastily made her exit onto Inuyasha's floor.

She nodded at him, offering him a quick, polite graze of her eyes, before she hurried to stand before Inuyasha's door.

Kagome juggled the cups—holding her beverage between her forearm and breast and Inuyasha's in her hand—while she reached into her pocket for the key Inuyasha had dropped off at Madame's for her.

Kagome regretted that she had been unavailable with a client when Inuyasha had stopped by over his lunch. She could only imagine how reluctant he must have been to leave a key to his condo with someone other than Kagome. She was dumbfounded and speechless when she opened the tan envelope Suki had extended to her. Kagome hadn't expected the key or the note from Inuyasha.

I'm not in the habit of leaving my front door unlocked—just let yourself in when you get here.

Kagome gripped the key tightly between her thumb and forefinger and opened Inuyasha's door. She was diligent to lock the deadbolt behind her.

Where she was used to decorative valence lights and the rhythmic lull of blues or twelve-string guitar instrumentals, Inuyasha's condo was dark and silent. If Kagome hadn't known any better, she would have been compelled to think Inuyasha wasn't at home.

But, she knew what night it was, and knew Inuyasha was around here somewhere.

She kicked off her shoes and found her way through the dark to his kitchen. Thankfully, the city lights through his living room window granted Kagome enough of a glow that she didn't crash into anything. Coffee cups discarded on the island, the pass unclipped and safe in her purse, and her backpack on the floor next to the island, Kagome turned, straining her ears for a hint of Inuyasha's whereabouts.

She dipped her head into the living room then determined he must be in his bedroom.

She felt like an invader in Inuyasha's private space. There was nothing but silence in response to her movements slicing through the quiet. A sense of discomfort and foreboding hung over her—she'd never felt this uncomfortable any previous time she'd visited.

She recalled Inuyasha saying something last night—technically this morning—about losing his demon senses during the new moon. It was likely he hadn't heard her enter or that he couldn't smell her presence.

Kagome gulped.

There was something so off-putting about potentially sneaking up on him, frightening him.

Despite the ridiculousness of it, Kagome couldn't help tiptoeing down Inuyasha's hallway, fear of producing any sound a genuine concern. Kagome hadn't felt this apprehensive about making noise since she was a teenager trying to sneak out at night while her mom was sleeping.

Kagome snorted to herself with a self-ridiculing eyeroll.

She stopped in front of Inuyasha's bedroom, noticing that the door was slightly ajar. A muted warm light radiated from the cracks in the door, and Kagome snuck through the opening, catching a glimpse of a torso curled beneath the duvet on the far side of the bed. The only light was the dim glow of a shaded table lamp across the spacious room.

Kagome was torn over calling out to him. Was he sleeping? He hadn't taken that sleeping pill after all, did he?

Kagome's heart was a throbbing, restless monster. Especially when it dawned on her that he was laying on the left-side of the bed—not his side.

She took hesitant steps towards the bed. Her eyes widened, fixating on black hair cascading across Inuyasha's satin pillowcase. She gulped silently, willing herself to relax.

That was something Kagome had promised herself—no matter what she saw, what she heard, or what was changed about Inuyasha, she would mind her reactions. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him by an accidental twinge of a stupid facial expression.

Her eyes were cemented on the black hair as her thighs dusted the side of the bed. Kagome bit her lip as her stomach tumbled over itself. She felt like she was sneaking up on a stranger.

While she would never say anything to Inuyasha, she found the sight of black hair—when she was expecting silver—incredibly unsettling, especially when she had no forewarning about what to expect.

If she had allowed her brain to go there, she wouldn't have expected to find him with a different hair colour, of all things.

Kagome climbed onto the bed, crawling across the wide expanse of mattress until Inuyasha's curled up torso was close enough to touch. Without saying anything—or allowing her brain to further agitate her nerves—Kagome laid down. She shuffled her front against Inuyasha's back until the only thing separating them was Inuyasha being underneath the duvet and Kagome being above it.

She wrapped her arm around his waist and placed a gentle kiss to his naked shoulder blade.

"I didn't hear you come in."

The voice that spoke to her was doubtlessly Inuyasha's; however, there was an obvious difference to it. His usual gruffness seemed rounded out, less sharp, softer in its delivery. His timbre was breathier, gentler, not the throaty coarseness she expected. He was less sexy radio host and more pleasant phone operator.

"I didn't know if you were sleeping," she answered, her lips moving against his back. "I didn't want to wake you." She licked her lips. "Or startle you."

Inuyasha snorted. "I knew you were coming—you wouldn't've startled me."

Kagome spooned herself against him, tucking her knees into the backs of his. "How're you feeling?"

"Not great," he answered after a pause.

Kagome squeezed him tightly, trying to push past the discomforting ache she felt from his tone, his words. She wanted to distract him from whatever darkness circled his mind.

"I missed you today."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she nodded, resting her blushing cheek between his shoulder blades. The scent of him was everywhere and it was beautifully intoxicating. "Which feels a little silly to say since I only just saw you this morning."

"You're allowed to miss me, Kagome."

"Oh, am I?" she teased, clasping him snugly. "You're too kind to give me your permission."

Inuyasha snorted away her badgering and leaned back into her embrace. "Y'know," he started after a short silence, "all day I was considering if I should change my mind and tell you not to come over."

Kagome let those words sink in for a few seconds, feeling her waggishness fade away. Her eyes followed the contour of his flowing dark hair. "So, why didn't you?"

"I dunno," he replied quickly. "I guess I'd've felt badly cancelling last minute."

"Obviously, I'm happy to see you, but, after you told me how hard this night is for you, I'm here with you—for you." She placed another kiss to his shoulder blade. "If you changed your mind about wanting to be alone, I would have understood."

"Yeah, I know." His tone was missing the usual fire and smugness Kagome had grown to expect and it made her heart ache.

"Would you—" Kagome paused, moistening her lips— "would you rather I not be here?"

"No," he said quickly, almost immediately. "No, I'm—I'm glad you're here." The harshness of his tone faded into a sigh and Kagome held him close, wondering if he could feel the devastating meter of her heart.

"I'm glad I'm here too."

Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, adjusting his hold on his pillow. "You really missed me today?"

Kagome nodded against his back. "Yeah, I did."

"Why?"

She shrugged despite having an answer on the edge of her tongue. "I like things better when you're around."

Inuyasha snorted so hard it sounded like a gag in the back of his throat. Kagome had never heard something sound more incredulous.

"You know I care about you, don't you, Inuyasha?"

He made a small sound like he was either clearing his throat or scoffing at her—Kagome couldn't tell.

She bit her cheek, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "Hey, um—would you be willing to turn over?"

"Why?" His tone was defensive, curt.

Kagome chewed her lip, debating what to say.

There were things she could say to make herself happy.

There were things she could say to try and make Inuyasha happy.

And then there was the truth.

Kagome decided she wouldn't hide from feeling vulnerable with Inuyasha tonight—exposing her insecurities and delicate emotions would be small in comparison to the vulnerability he surely felt.

So, she decided to answer him with the truth.

A part of her even hoped that the truth, that her being vulnerable with him, might ease some of the negativity he felt.

She squeezed his midsection until her cheek flattened against his back. "Because I've been thinking about you all day, and I'm relieved to see you, and I'd really like to kiss you hello—if you'll let me."

Inuyasha sighed after a few heartbeats of silence.

Kagome felt the mattress divot from the shift of his hips. His movements didn't have the smooth swiftness she was used to—he was a little sluggish, his motion edged with a clunkiness she'd more likely associate with herself than Inuyasha. It took a few turns and bounces from his hips before he was arching over and facing her.

Kagome couldn't help the widening of her eyes as they met his. She was swimming in pools of coffee with warm, auric flecks. She wanted to study those eyes, lose herself in their unfamiliarity until she knew them as intimately as her own, but Inuyasha was quick to turn away from her self-consciously.

Kagome refused to give him an opportunity to feel badly or to worry about how she received the change in his appearance. She palmed his cheek, caressing the curve of his cheekbone with her thumb, and then placed her lips tenderly to his.

She could have cried feeling his reluctance to kiss her back.

"It's good to see you," she whispered against his lips, past the lump of withheld tears in her throat. She caressed his nose with hers. "Thank you for letting me be here."

Inuyasha sighed and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

Her circumstances felt surreal—this was Inuyasha, but it almost wasn't. It was him with a different wrapper, a despondency in his mannerism that made her feel like she was choking on unshed tears. Human Inuyasha was more subdued when she was used to him being larger than life.

The way he presented made her want to do nothing but cradle him in her arms and exhaust him with kisses.

Kagome lifted her hand from his cheek, keen to brush his bangs away from his forehead—a comforting gesture she'd done so many times before—but she paused. He was already ill at ease with her and she didn't want to make anything worse.

It had been a while since she felt this hesitant with him.

"W—would it be okay if I touched you?"

Inuyasha opened his eyes, noticing the way her hand hovered beside his head. She saw him draw his lip between his teeth and bite down with a canine-less chomp. It took a few seconds for him to ponder her question before he nodded. Then he closed his eyes again, like he couldn't bear to watch, like he was admitting defeat.

The gesture left Kagome feeling hollow.

Was he so ashamed of how he looked that he needed to close his eyes to avoid any reminder of it—to avoid her reaction to it? Inuyasha was closing himself off to her when she had just grown used to his openness for affection.

Kagome shuffled closer to him like she was on a mission to alleviate his distress—like bringing him happiness was her newfound sole purpose in life.

She started her exploration at his mouth, appreciating the familiar curve of his cupid's bow, the softness of lips that had left her panting for him countless times before. She drew her fingers up his cheek, over his temple, brushing away his bangs, letting her fingers smooth dark locks from his forehead—his complexion was less perfect as a human but still fair, his skin soft. She ran her hand through his long hair, feeling the texture between the pads of her fingers. She brushed strands, coarser than she was used to, over his shoulder, out of his face.

Despite the softness of her fingers, Inuyasha winced.

Kagome's eyes followed the pale golden curves of his honed arm and shoulder, a warmth developing in the pit of her stomach over the appeal of his masculine physique. Her fingers marked the firmness of his collarbone, circled the hollow of his neck, eliciting from him a rasping, trying breath like he had been holding it. She tracked a gossamer trail down his naked shoulder with her palm until she reached his duvet-covered bicep, where she stopped. It felt too invasive to continue her exploration any further below the bedspread.

At least his muscles hadn't seemed to change—Inuyasha was still all hard lines and well-defined brawn. His skin did, however, feel cooler to the touch than she was used to.

Kagome's eyes shifted to his face. She was mesmerized by the fan of his eyelashes over his high cheekbones, by every little hair of his dark eyebrows, furrowed with a reserved disquiet.

Her voice almost didn't work when she parted her lips to speak. "Can you look at me?"

Inuyasha's eyes seemed to clench tighter, his eyebrows knitting into greater creases.

"Inuyasha, please," she said softly, her voice wavering. "Look at me."

His eyes opened warily, his brow straining with taut displeasure.

Kagome's gaze swallowed his. She ran her fingertips over his forehead like she could smooth away the worry lines and wrinkles with her touch. She trailed her fingers down his nose, over his lips again, cupping the side of his face before she kissed him.

His lips barely puckered in response.

She listened to his stiff, uneasy breaths for a few seconds before she sighed, bringing her black bangs to rest against his.

"I don't want you worrying all night about what I think, so I'm going to be honest, okay?"

Inuyasha shrugged, his eyes struggling to maintain contact with hers. For every second he held her gaze, his focus was quick to shift elsewhere, skipping back to hers eventually, unenthusiastically.

Kagome filled her belly with a deep inhalation, letting her discomfort go as she breathed out. "Your brown eyes are beautiful, Inuyasha, but I miss the amber. Any attractive guy can have nice brown eyes," she said with a single shoulder shrug. "Only you can look at me with that gold-coloured stare I've grown to like."

He snorted, lowering his gaze.

She didn't let his reaction discourage her. "Your black hair threw me for a loop at first." She chuckled softly, fluffing his bangs gently, hoping the lighthearted gesture would make him feel less heavy. "But, it's growing on me." She smiled. "Even though it's not as soft as your silver hair, I am a bit envious of how beautifully thick it is."

Inuyasha scoffed, wanting to turn his face away from her, but Kagome's quick palm to his cheek wouldn't let him.

"Listen, I know you're uncomfortable, Inuyasha," she said in a voice above a whisper. "I can tell you feel self-conscious, and I can't imagine how vulnerable you must feel with everything being so different from what you're used to. I bet it's especially uncomfortable when you haven't really allowed yourself to experience being human—you know, with the whole sleeping pill thing." She sighed, wrapping a strand of his black hair around her finger. "I can imagine having company isn't making it any easier on you, either."

She leaned forward until he was looking at her again, his eyes searching hers with evident suspicion. Her tone became even gentler. "Please believe me when I say I don't see anything I don't like. Seeing you like this doesn't make me feel any differently about you, Inuyasha," she said with a blush. "Even though there are things about you that are different tonight, you're still mine—my special friend, the guy I really like kissing. I just wish there was something I could do to make you feel less awful."

He blinked at her several times. "Yours?"

Kagome blushed. "In as much of the sense that I'm yours, I guess."

Inuyasha exhaled loudly, his eyes shutting for a moment before he opened them, focusing on her lips.

"Can you tell me what you're thinking?" Kagome inspected each individual eyelash from his lowered gaze.

His words were slow to leave his mouth.

"I fucking hate this." For being so quiet, his words scorched with their intensity.

"I know you do," she whispered, inching as close to him as she could before she'd have to be on top of him to be any closer.

Inuyasha lifted an arm from underneath the duvet and the sight of his uncovered, billowing bicep had Kagome restraining from biting her lip. Inuyasha raised his hand like he wanted to touch her.

Kagome only needed to glimpse the hesitation of his bent fingers before she laced her narrow digits between his, squeezing until he squeezed back.

His nails were shorter, less sharp than she was used to, but his callouses felt the same.

She closed her eyes, allowing silence to settle between them, relishing the way his hand felt.

"You're bein' really nice to me, Kagome," he said on the tail end of a sigh. His words sounded almost like a question, imbued with confusion and genuine uneasiness. "I've never met someone like you."

He detached his hand from hers and sunk his fingertips into her bangs, brushing the strands away from her forehead. She felt a tingling spark from his cautious touch. It was like he needed the comfort of feeling her but didn't trust himself to touch her anymore than this.

"You've never met someone who was nice to you?" Her heart was pounding ferociously under the gentle, exploratory ministrations of his fingers in her hair.

"Not in the way you are."

She tongued her bottom lip. "How am I nice to you?"

Kagome didn't know if it was his words or how quick he was to utter them that made her heart pound.

"You somehow know what I need before I even realize I want it," he huffed as a joyless laugh, his cheeks pinkening. "Like, all that stuff you just said—I didn't realize how much I needed to hear it until you'd already said it." He curved his fingers around her nape. His eyes glued to his hand as if it helped his train of thought. "You're...kind to me and—and thoughtful, even when you're stupid for not putting your own needs first. You—you make me feel cared for."

"You are cared for, Inuyasha." Kagome felt her heart soften as she exhaled.

He closed his eyes so he didn't have to look at her. "It's hard not to feel like your care is wasted on me."

She recoiled from him, away from his touch. She scoured his face with a pained expression. "Why would you say that?" she gasped with deeply knit brows. "You deserve kindness and so much more, Inuyasha! You're so considerate and generous with me. You're downright passionate to make me feel better when something upsets me. I—" She paused as a powerful, heated blush washed over her face— "I've never known affection like yours. Do you not realize how easy you make it to care about you? How much I—I like the way you hold me?"

He snorted. "If you like it so much, why'd you move away from me just now?"

Kagome frowned, looking away from him. "Because I don't wanna hear you say you don't deserve being cared about. It breaks my heart enough—seeing you go through an already tough time. I don't want you adding to your troubles by worrying that you're not—that you're not—"

The words became stuck at the back of her throat.

Fuck it, just be honest with him, Kagome, she bade herself, remembering her desire to be truthful regardless how it made her feel.

She sighed, her cheeks burning. Resignation had her heart clobbering her insides. "I don't want to ever hear you say you don't think you're lovable."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. "Kagome, you—"

"Kiss me," she cut in. Tears lined her lashes for reasons she couldn't explain. Her eyes plead with his in a way she'd never allow her voice. "I don't like what I'm feeling right now, Inuyasha. I need your lips to make it better, okay?"

"It—" He paused for a relinquishing sigh— "it won't be the same."

"What won't be?"

"Kissing me—it'll be different. You—you may not like it."

The pain in his expression made a wave of anger pulse through her. "Would you like it?" She threw back at him.

He looked at her through a frown, like she just spouted utter nonsense. "Nothin' could ever make me not enjoy kissing you."

"Then why can't it be the same for me?" She sighed, leaning forward to nuzzle his chin with her nose, hoping the contact would diminish the fire of anger, her rushing heartrate. "I know there's a chance you might taste different as a human, or that your teeth or tongue will feel different as a human, and maybe, as a whole, you'll kiss me differently as a human, but that won't make it any less enjoyable for me, Inuyasha. You wanna know why?"

He exhaled heavily before humouring her. "Why?"

"Because it's still you." She palmed the side of his face, keeping him stationary so she could look into his warm, brown eyes. "You, Inuyasha Taisho, will still be kissing me—and that's exactly what I want. You're you to me, no matter how being human changes you. I still feel the same desire for you. My heart still wants you. Your lips are your lips and I want them against mine more than anything."

"Kagome..."

His eyes were wide, bouncing between hers with a sincerity of emotion that Kagome couldn't decipher. His look was so intense, so heartfelt, so raw, it overwhelmed her.

"Yeah?"

"I—I think—"

"Yeah?"

His blush was more prominent as a human—it made her heart soar.

"Kagome, I—" He sighed so deeply he groaned, frustration evident from the dip of his brows. "I think—I think I might—"

You might—? You might what, Inuyasha? Please don't stop that sentence there—I don't think my stupid, lovesick heart can take it.

With a grunt of irritation, he pushed the duvet to his naval, angling himself to tug Kagome flush against his chest. His arms encased her in a tight, arm-quaking hug.

Kagome swathed her arms around his neck, inhaling the warmth of his musk. She burrowed her face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, holding him so tightly she worried she was crushing him. Her heart pounded within her ribcage.

His arms tightened around her, fingers bunching in the material of her shirt. His head tucked hers between his cheek and shoulder, his own face hidden away in her wall of hair. Kagome could feel the labour of his uneven breaths against her ear.

She could feel so much emotion in the way he held her, and she tried to transmit every bit of comfort, of her care for him, into how she held him.

"I got you," she murmured into his neck, basking in the pleasure of his unyielding embrace. "It'll be okay—I promise. I have you."

Somehow, he constricted his arms even more, ejecting a strained laugh from her lips. The smell of him surrounded her, washed over her, invaded her senses. There was nothing but his body, the feel of him compressed against her. Inuyasha was comfort. Inuyasha was peace.

Inuyasha was home.

"I really do love the way you hold me," she mumbled into his skin, blushing. "Death grip and all."

She felt Inuyasha smile against her head, his arms loosening ever so slightly.

"Sorry."

She shook her head, chuckling. "It's okay. I liked it."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhmm. Holding you like this is very...warm and cozy."

"Is it?"

"Mmhmm," she repeated, snuggling into his neck. "I really hope you don't mind it either, 'cause I could stay here all night."

"Could you?" There was a smile in his words and it made Kagome's heart throb.

"I could—if you'd let me."

"I mean—I guess I could let you."

She feigned a sigh of relief. "You're too good to me, you know?"

"I know," he said softly, a chuckle at the edge of his words.

Kagome kissed his neck and she felt his hips move a little.

"You know how you tell me you like the way I smell?"

He nodded.

"Your scent brings me a lot of—" She paused to flush— "comfort." She kissed his neck again, her tongue making an appearance this time. Two more tongue-tipped kisses followed up the column of his neck. "I can't even begin to tell you how much I like it."

Inuyasha was silent for a few heartbeats, his arms adjusting his hold across her back. "I'd watch those kisses if I were you, Kagome."

She giggled faintly in her throat. "Why's that?"

His tone was noticeably less playful. "I might not be able to stop myself tonight." His arms tightened around her. "I feel so out of control right now—I don't trust myself not to rush things with you."

Kagome looked up at him, into the richness of his dark eyes and the warmth of the expression he wore for her. She placed a hesitant kiss to his chin. "Then trust me to not allow anything to happen. I don't want you to feel more out of control than you already do. I don't want to make tonight worse for you."

Inuyasha scoffed a laugh, squeezing her until her breasts ached—which wasn't very hard since her breasts already stung from their last death grip-slash-embrace.

"You're a real idiot, Kagome, if you think your being here could make anything worse for me."

Despite the fact he called her an idiot, that was actually a really sweet thing for him to say.

Kagome injected some space between their bodies to be brave and look up into his face. "Inuyasha—I—"

He met her eye so easily, his brown eyes searching hers for a hint of what she so ineloquently wanted to say.

"I—uh—I mean—" Kagome blushed, her cheeks enflamed with a flustered, heart-pounding heat. "I—I think that I—" I think I'm in love with you.

Inuyasha cupped her cheek, whisking her unspoken words away. His next words were so hoarse they were barely just audible.

"I know," he sighed, lowering his forehead to hers.

"What do you know?" Her heart was insatiable for kind words and whispered honesties.

"I know that this—" He cradled her cheek in his palm— "This thing between us is—" His words trailed off. "You know that I—I know—Fuck," Inuyasha hissed, evoking a warm laugh from Kagome. "Why it so hard to finish a goddamn sentence right now?"

Kagome leaned away from him to smile up into his eyes, appreciating how the red of his face probably matched hers. "It's okay, Inuyasha. Words of Affirmation isn't our love language, remember? You don't need to say anything."

Inuyasha snorted a self-deprecating, embarrassed laugh. "But, why do I feel like I want to say something right now?"

Her heart thrashed around her chest like a tempest. "I don't know." Kagome rested her head against his shoulder.

"Why does everything feel so much better when you're around?"

Kagome took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I don't know."

"Why do I need to touch you all the damn time?"

"I don't know," she repeated breathlessly.

"What the hell've you done to me, Kagome?" His words were a breath of a whisper, his embarrassment evident in his timbre.

She exhaled a thin, bashful laugh through her nose. "Isn't that the million dollar question?"

Inuyasha gripped her chin between his fingers, raising her red-faced gaze to his. "Didn't you want to kiss me?"

"I did—do. I'm still waiting for you to."

"Are you?"

She felt a warmth plummet to her naval as her eyes bounced back and forth between the intensity of his round, mahogany irises.

"Mmhmm—I'm not gonna rush you though," she said around a smile. "Especially when you're not in the habit of trying to say such sweet things to me."

Inuyasha flushed, silence falling over him for a few heartbeats before he spoke again. "Being human makes certain things feel—intense. Which is really fucking annoying. I don't even know what the hell I'm feelin' right now." He growled a vexed exhale. "I feel like I'm being a goddamn over-sensitive baby."

Kagome giggled, leaning forward to place a kiss against his chest, below his throat. "You're not a baby—you're being very sweet, Inuyasha."

"You—you're being kinda annoying." She could hear his blush in the way his words stalled but he forced them out anyway.

She chortled a bright laugh, raising her head to smile happily up at him. "You gonna kiss me anytime soon?"

"What do I get out of it?"

She grinned, grateful for his playfulness. "Me. My mouth against yours. Maybe the odd sound or six that I like what you do with your tongue."

"And what do I do with my tongue?"

"I don't remember—you should probably show me again."

Inuyasha chuckled, pulling on Kagome's bicep until she was sliding on top of him, her thighs falling over the swell of his angular hips. She let her weight sink into him, stomach to stomach, chest to chest. He brushed her hair away from her face and tucked a strand behind her ear.

"Oh!" Kagome cried with joyful surprise, rising onto her elbows. "I can do that now, too!"

"What are you—?"

Kagome couldn't hold back the mirthful giggle as she reached forward to tuck some of Inuyasha's black hair behind a round and very human ear on the side of his head. She did it again for good measure before resting her palms on his pecs. She smirked down at him proudly.

Inuyasha made a face at her with a lifted eyebrow. "Did you get that outta your system?"

Kagome blushed slightly through a giggle. "Sorry, yes, I'm done—that," she giggled again, "that was a little weird, though, if I'm being honest."

Inuyasha snorted a laugh. "Why?"

Kagome reached forward to trace the outlines of his ear with hesitant fingers. She felt him shudder under her touch and her movements stilled, her eyes snapping back to his face to evaluate his expression. Seeing how neutral he looked, she continued.

Her middle finger followed the curve of his ear, sketching his helix with a featherlight touch. "Does it hurt?"

"What you're doin'? No."

"No—" Kagome shook her head— "when you transition. When your ears disappear to show up somewhere else—as something else. Does it hurt?"

Inuyasha's face turned solemn. "It's not painful, but it's pretty uncomfortable. Like, really bad pins and needles."

Kagome nodded, her experience with TOS making that sensation all too understandable.

"Does this feel weird?" she asked after a pause, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she continued her attentions to his ear.

"No weirder than if you touched my other ears. These ones are far less sensitive though."

Kagome met his eye. "Would that be weird for you? If I touched your other ears?"

"Do you want to?"

Kagome flushed. "I've thought about a time or three."

A small, poking half-smile appeared that was the closest to a trademark Inuyasha expression Kagome had seen all night.

"As long as you're gentle, go for it."

"Really?"

"Why would it be any weirder than you touching my ears now?"

Kagome's cheeks pinkened and she poked her tongue out of her mouth to wet her lips. "I'm familiar with human ears—I have them, I know how to be gentle with them, believe it or not I've actually kissed them before." She chuckled. "I'd worry about doing something with your dog ears that you don't like."

"Kagome," he chided around a breathy laugh with a pointed look, "I doubt you could touch me in a way that I wouldn't like."

She chuckled softly, the red of her blush still highlighted across her features. "Do you like having your ears touched?"

Inuyasha reached forward and cupped her ear, his thumb running the length of her helix. "Do you?"

Kagome nodded. "Very much."

"Yeah?"

Kagome nodded again. "But, if I'm being honest, it may be more who's doing the touching than the touching itself."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

Inuyasha cupped the side of her head and coaxed her closer until Kagome's lips hovered above his, close enough to share their next breath.

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha and his eyes scoured her face like he had a question he wanted to ask despite his lips staying firmly sealed. He brushed her bangs away from her face and cupped her cheek.

Kagome nuzzled into his touch. "Your hands feel colder than I'm used to."

"I'm not surprised," Inuyasha answered with a dreary tone. "Demon blood runs hotter, so on my human nights, I run colder—it can be hard to stay warm." He snorted. "Hence why I'm in bed."

"Do you feel cold now?" she asked, her palms running over his cool-to-the-touch shoulders and biceps.

"You're helpin' some," he grinned slyly, running his hands down her sides until they rested above her hips.

Kagome smirked back at him. "Hold on a sec."

She lifted herself up off of him then shimmied underneath the duvet beside him. Kagome manipulated his arm, holding it out so she could snuggle up against his bare side. She tucked one of his broad thighs between hers, the coarseness of his leg hair catching on the material of her black leggings.

Inuyasha didn't need Kagome's coaxing to wrap his arm around her shoulders, holding her to him snugly.

Kagome looked up at him from where she had made a pillow of his pectoral. "Better?"

"You tryin' to keep me warm, Kagome?" Inuyasha tucked his chin into her mass of wavy hair.

"Is it helping?"

She felt his cheek move as he grinned. "Technically, skin-to-skin contact is better to transfer body heat."

"Is this your subtle way of trying to get me naked in your bed, Inuyasha?"

"You thought that was subtle?"

Kagome propped herself on an elbow and snorted a guttural, scoffing laugh, smacking him in the arm. "You don't get that wish crossed off your list until Friday, mister."

"I know," Inuyasha chuckled, running his palm up and down the length of Kagome's arm.

"Are you looking forward to it? Friday?" she asked, her eyes dancing between his.

"Yeah, obviously."

Kagome giggled, her cheeks a soft hue of pink. "Because you finally get to have sex with me?"

His eyebrows twitched like they wanted to frown but his expression stayed neutral.

His was a puzzling look that had Kagome's brow knitting in response. "Tell me what you're thinking," she bade with the tone of a question.

Inuyasha paused to chew the inside of his lip—he looked so positively human in the way he did it, it made Kagome want to giggle. "Things're gonna be different for us after Friday," he finally said.

Kagome studied him, her eyebrows still furrowed.

He sighed, adding, "There's inevitably gonna be a different dynamic once sex gets involved. We've also never gone on a date before."

"We've had our figs," Kagome offered, humourous amusement coating her face.

Inuyasha grimaced an unimpressed expression. "But not a date."

Kagome cocked her head at him. "You think things'll be different because you take me on a date?"

"Yeah."

Kagome suddenly felt a huge weight on her chest as she thought more about their current topic of conversation. What she wanted to say made something in her stomach feel sour. "A couple of times I've wondered if you proposed the date just as a way to—I dunno—make the whole idea of fucking more palatable to me."

Inuyasha's countenance morphed into one of noticeable upset. "Why would you think that?"

Kagome lowered herself until her temple rested against his shoulder. She lifted her shoulder that wasn't pressed up against him in a shrug. "Dating implies interest, like we're going out to test the waters, to see if there's the possibility of something long-term between us. People don't go on a date with someone they're not interested in."

"And you don't think I'm interested in you?"

His defensive tone had Kagome getting her back up. She couldn't help the guarded way she replied, "It's different for us, isn't it?"

"How is it different, Kagome?" His voice sounded strained, like he was having a hard time keeping his tone temperate.

She sighed. "There's always been sexual interest between us—that's never been up for debate. Dating just makes it seem like—I dunno—like we could be exploring something other than just sex."

"Like what, a relationship?"

"I don't know—maybe?"

"Wasn't that your whole thing? You were scared of emotions getting involved and that I'd walk away then and there? I said I was willing to see how things play out between us. Doesn't that imply testing the waters?"

Kagome frowned, her heart beating nervously. "Maybe it's my own problem—I hear going on a date and I associate that with romantic interest."

"And what—? You don't think I could be romantically interested in you?"

"Are you?" she asked, detaching her cheek from his skin to look up at him with very pink cheeks. Insecurity and discomfort swam in her gut. "Could you? Is that even something you'd want? I—I thought that, after Kikyou, you wouldn't—you didn't—?"

"Have you ever considered that I wanna take you on a date to figure that out?"

Kagome looked at him like her heart could explode from her chest.

"I told you before, Kagome, Kikyou and I didn't have an emotional relationship despite how long we were together. It took me way too long to realize she and I wanted different things—she cared more about security and financial stability than I think she did about me. My family is wealthy, has a reputation." He shrugged. "I think she hung around more for that than for me, which just made me an idiot for stayin' with her as long as I did."

Kagome stilled to consider his words. "What is it you want, then, from a long-term relationship?"

Inuyasha angled his head so his chin rested against Kagome's forehead. "Honestly? I dunno. I guess just...more than what I had with her."

"So, you want an emotional relationship?"

He thought about that. "I guess? I want my needs to be met in the same way I meet my girl's needs. I wanna find and be with my best friend."

"And have really good sex," Kagome added with a joking giggle.

Inuyasha bumped his chin against Kagome's head. "That's a given—I'm a great fuck, Kagome. Really good sex is guaranteed."

Kagome snorted, knocking her head right back into Inuyasha's chin. "Nice to see no new moon can take that ginormous ego from you," she giggled.

Inuyasha held Kagome in a way that could only be described as squishing her. She cackled in his arms, straining for breath within his constricting, one-sided embrace before she turned to face him, planting a giggling kiss to his jaw.

"Can I ask you a weird question?" she asked, after catching her breath.

"Sure."

"How will you know? After our date on Friday, how will you know if you're interested in me? I mean—we already spend time together. Wouldn't—" Kagome paused to gulp, feeling so incredibly foolish for indulging this train of thought— "wouldn't you already know if you liked me that way?"

Inuyasha took a few seconds to think about her question before he placed a tentative kiss to her hairline. "I don't think I can give you a black-and-white answer to that, Kagome."

Kagome frowned, a little frustrated that he didn't answer her question. "But, you must have some way of—?"

"I think—" He interjected, his lips moving against her hair— "I think part of the reason things'll be different after is 'cause I plan to treat you like you're already mine—see how it feels. If I like it, I might just—" He paused to shrug— "keep it up—I dunno."

Kagome blushed. "Treat me like I'm yours?"

Inuyasha nodded, his chin bumping into her. "I hold parts of myself back with you, Kagome—for a ton of different reasons." His admission shocked her. "I don't plan on holding anythin' back from you on Friday—see what happens after that, see how it makes me feel."

Kagome leaned her head back to look him in his brown eyes, speckled with enough flecks of gold to remind her that his beautiful amber was still in there somewhere. She propped herself up on an elbow to lean forward, tracing the helix of his ear with her finger before laying a kiss on his earlobe.

"Thank you for not holding back your human side from me, Inuyasha." She kissed him again, this time just below his ear. "This means more to me than you know."

Kagome felt him shift his hips and she angled her head to look at him.

Inuyasha's eyes wore lust the exact same way, whether in his demon or human form. He looked just as delicious in both forms, too.

She felt an instantaneous heat propel beneath her naval, like a heady shock to her system.

"Do that again, Kagome."

"Do what?" she asked suggestively, leaning over him, her breasts indenting, her body heat rising from the mixture of his body and the duvet. "This?" She exhaled before kissing his neck, her nose tickling his earlobe.

Inuyasha flexed his hips and Kagome giggled.

"You like that?"

He licked his lips. "Yeah."

Kagome looked at his half-lidded, glazed eyes and cupped his cheek, her thumb skating across his cheekbone. "Have you—" She paused to gather enough bravery for her question— "Have you ever been intimate with someone while you were human?"

Inuyasha held her gaze for long enough that Kagome felt a warm flow of arousal pool between her legs.

"No."

"W—would you like to?"

Inuyasha yanked on Kagome's bicep to bring her closer. "Is that an invitation, Kagome?"

"It doesn't have to be tonight," she answered timidly. "I don't want you worrying about losing control, remember? Maybe next new moon? We can keep our original plan for Friday to still be our first time, if you like."

The arousal waned in Inuyasha's eye. Kagome heard his breath hitch.

"You—you'd really want me like this?"

Kagome didn't like that question. "Of course I do!" she snapped heatedly. "I want you, Inuyasha. Did you really think I wouldn't—?"

"Kikyou didn't. She—" Inuyasha interrupted her only to stop suddenly, his face reddening. "I think she was only attracted to my demon side 'cause of my family and wealth and—" He stopped himself again, sighing.

Kagome held his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Listen to me, Inuyasha. I have never been attracted to anyone like I am to you. I might be ravenous for my silver-haired, dog-eared Inuyasha, but you are doing all kinds of things to me as my black-haired, brown-eyed Inuyasha. Wanting you will never change for me, do you understand?"

"Kagome, you—"

"Do you need me to prove it to you?" Kagome shot at him, her eyebrows high. "Is that it, Inuyasha? Do you not believe how badly I want you? How easy it would be for me to—?"

Kagome interrupted herself by crushing her lips to his. She allowed her frustration and her hurt and her pride into that kiss. Her tongue dove between the seam of his lips, coaxing his organ with a flirtatious thrill. She moaned against the moist warmth of his mouth, relishing how his tongue felt when she sucked him, swallowing his flavour.

Kagome gasped a bawdy groan when she felt him move his mouth against hers, when his tongue took over her mouth like he was combating her for control. He gripped her cheeks between his palms, groaned a carnal throaty cry as he sucked her bottom lip between his teeth.

Kagome was absorbed in a mass of heat as Inuyasha kicked the sheets off them both to roll on top of her, his elbows on either side of her head. He ground his erection against her sodden centre and Kagome cried out from the glorious pressure he applied to the growing ache between her legs.

"Inuyasha—oh god, you—"

He denied her words, sucking her tongue with a deafening slurp that had her panting into another moan.

Kagome wrapped her legs around his waist, pinning him to her. She returned the aggressiveness of his kiss with a fervor that left her heart gasping for breath, her fingers entwined in hair her own colour. She moaned at the sensation of him cupping the back of her thigh. He trailed his palm down the length of her leg, gripping her calf.

"How wet are you for me? Fuck, I miss being able to smell you," Inuyasha grunted against her lips, breaking away to suck at her neck.

Arousal did brave, maybe even stupid, things to Kagome.

She grabbed Inuyasha's hand, manipulating his limb until she had him cupping her sex above her leggings. She held onto his wrist, keeping him there.

"Holy fuck, Kagome!" Inuyasha hissed as a keening, surprised grunt. His fingers pulsed against her, drawing a moan from her mouth as she kissed him.

"You might not be able to smell my arousal, but I know you can feel it. Do you feel how hot my pussy is, Inuyasha?" Kagome bucked against his palm, grinding her clit against the heel of his hand. Her fingers shook as they squeezed his wrist. "I'm soaked for you—just like I always am. I told you," she groaned, forcing him to look her in the eye. "I want you. I always want you. As a human. As a demon—it's just you that I want. Please don't hurt me by doubting that again."

Inuyasha grabbed her pussy—his fingers denting into her labia while his thumb dug into her pubic mound—and it had Kagome gasping a needful cry.

Arousal soaked down her cleft, wetting her entire slit from the way his fingers locked around her vulva.

"I don't know how I'm going to manage being in a bed with you tonight. I know I said I wouldn't let anything happen but—fuck, Inuyasha. I want you so badly."

Inuyasha grinned against her mouth, grinding his erection against her hip. "You still trust yourself to not let anything happen, Kagome? You're hot to the touch like you want me to do a whole helluva lot more."

Kagome shuddered at the way Inuyasha's fingers held her. The way his hard palm felt against her vagina had her absolutely insane with need. She wiggled away from Inuyasha's touch and straddled him, shimmying from side-to-side when her slick heat docked on the solid length of him within his boxers.

Boxers.

Where she had previously assumed he wore basketball shorts or something to that effect, Kagome found herself even more lost to arousal to realize she was straddling a mostly naked Inuyasha.

If she thought it felt good grinding against his bulge in trousers, then this—

Her brain didn't even work—like, it became completely dysfunctional—upon feeling how truly big he was. If being human impacted his size at all, Kagome could have trembled in fear for what would be awaiting her on Friday.

Inuyasha wore black silk boxers that left less than nothing to the imagination. His rigid girth was solid, long and wide, and magnificently wedged between her labia.

"Oh my god..." The words stumbled out of Kagome's mouth as she sat back on her calves, her eyes appraising every bared atom of this muscled human hunk beneath her.

Inuyasha smirked up at her, clearly liking how she objectified him with lust glowing in her eyes, her lip between her teeth.

Kagome leaned forward, a gasping cry echoing throughout his room as she felt his unyielding length press into her sensitive bud. Despite the savagery of her heartrate, she placed a gentle kiss to his lips. "You are the sexiest thing I think I've ever had the pleasure of laying my hands on, Mr. Taisho."

Inuyasha gripped a fist into her hair and destroyed her mouth with a persuasive and bruising kiss. She took that to mean thank you.

"I don't wanna wait, Kagome," he gasped into her mouth. "I need to be inside you. Please let me—fuck, I need you."

It took every scrap, shred, and trace of her willpower not to start ripping her clothes off.

"Yeah?" she cooed against his lips, bucking her increasing wetness against the rock solid behemoth contained within the satin confines of his underwear.

Kagome seized his face with one hand, forcing his head to the side so she could suck his earlobe into her mouth, lick the contour of his ear. She breathed and moaned into the organ, feeling Inuyasha's hands shoot to her hips, holding her steady to buck and rub the length of himself against her. His cock slid smoothly back and forth between the lips of her vulva, spreading her aroused discharge until it seeped even further into her panties, absorbing into her leggings.

Kissing and sucking a man's ear was something so familiar to Kagome yet something so foreign when it came to Inuyasha.

The sounds he made from her sucking his ear kept Kagome hot and moist for him.

"I love how much you love this," she whispered into his wet ear, a flirtatious little grin plastered on her lips. She hummed a purr that had his dick lurching up against her.

Fuck—Kagome could feel an angle, a curve to his erect member, hidden-but-not-really within his boxers. It made her wonder if he was so big, so arched, he'd hit her G-spot perfectly every single time or if he'd be punching her in the cervix with every thrust. Inuyasha's seemed to be the kind of impressive penis she'd feel all the way up into her stomach—if he bent her just the right way to take it.

Not that Kagome would know what that was like. She based that conclusion solely on the presumed credibility of the smutty books she's read.

She felt her mouth water with desire to taste him, to get her hands on him.

Inuyasha cradled the back of Kagome's head before he shot them both straight up so Kagome was straddling him in his lap.

"Holy shit, that was hot," Kagome whined into his smirking mouth as he brushed her bangs from her eyes, bucked his hardness against her. "You keep doing those dead-whatever exercise things you do so you can throw me around like I'm nothing, okay?"

Inuyasha grinned against her lips and kissed her hungrily. "Two things," he stated, surfacing for air. "First, they're called deadlifts, and you're just bein' a brat about it."

Kagome giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. They were all hands, and teeth, and tongues for a few moments before Kagome would release his tongue so he could continue speaking.

"Second, even though you weigh nothing, you could never be nothing, Kagome. So, don't say shit like that again, alright?"

Kagome's heart roared with the syrupy sweetness of his breathy words. "I—I didn't mean—"

"Yeah, I know." He nipped at her lips, prodding the entrance of her mouth with his tongue, swirling his organ around the tip of hers.

Kagome shamelessly captured his tongue between her teeth so she could suck it like her own personal popsicle. "Mmm—you still taste like you."

Inuyasha broke their kiss to nuzzle her nose with his, completing long sweeping strokes up her bridge to kiss her brow. "Yeah? And what do I taste like?"

"You taste like you—I can't explain it." She sighed contentedly as Inuyasha folded his arms around her in an intimate embrace, his kisses slowing as he trailed a gentle path along her jaw. "I've always thought there was something about you being a dog demon that made you taste the way you do. But, that's clearly not the case, because you taste just as amazing now as you did this morning, when you had me up against my door."

"You liked that?"

"I fucking loved it."

"You want me to take you up against my bedroom door, Kagome?"

"Is that a threat?"

A husky moan curdled from his throat. "Consider it a promise."

Kagome gasped as Inuyasha sucked on the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

Fuck me—he even does that delicious bite-lick-suck thing as a human!

That's because he knows what I like...

He needs to learn more and immediately!

"What the hell do you even do to me, Inuyasha?" Kagome cried out, her head falling to the side as his fingers laced in her hair, his tongue foraging up and down her neck.

"The same shit you do to me, Kagome."

"I make you positively crazy with need?"

"And then some."

Kagome sighed as Inuyasha gently rocked his hips against her, the length of his hardness riding her slit. The base of his cock ground against her clit and Kagome shivered, a throaty cry lost into his black hair.

"Your body feels so good against mine."

"It does," she cooed.

I promised him I would stop us.

I promised him I wouldn't let anything happen.

Fuck me—okay, we need to—shit, that feels so fucking good!

"I can feel how wet you are through your goddamn leggings."

"I know," she cried, allowing her hips to undulate against his hard arousal, the tight, pleading bud of her sexual organ desperate for another grind of his cock, frantic to bring her release.

You need to stop this, Kagome.

I know—I know, but I...

Kagome felt a quivering heat melt her insides as a keening wail trapped in her throat. A twisting coil inside her was turning and wrenching her towards climax.

Fuck, okay, okay!

Goddammit—why do I have to be the bigger person?

"Inuyasha," her throaty, husky, aroused-as-all-hell voice uttered. "That's starting to feel good." Kagome whimpered reluctantly, grabbing his hips to still them. "Too good—we should stop. If you keep going, I—God, I'm going to come, Inuyasha, if you keep that up."

He growled into her mouth with a frenzied kiss and Kagome couldn't believe how even more arousal pooled from her already slick opening.

"I love the feel of you against my body...the taste of you in my mouth," Kagome exhaled into Inuyasha's lips. She raised her hands to cup his cheeks. "But, we should stop—we need to stop. I promised you I wouldn't let you lose control."

"I don't fuckin' care about that—not now that I can feel how wet you are for me through your leggings."

Kagome gasped a groan then snorted, kissing his temple. "Just—shut up, Inuyasha. Do you know how hard it is for me to be putting a stop to this? Please do not say things like that to make this even harder for me."

"You don't wanna make me even harder for you?"

She groaned dramatically, regretting her word choice. "I do, in fact, which is what's making this so difficult for me."

Inuyasha chuckled, kissing her cheek, running his hand through the ends of her hair down her back. "Fuck—fine. Not that I wanna thank you for not givin' me what I want, but thanks for bein' the bigger person, Kagome, despite how wet I make you."

Kagome snorted a laugh.

Inuyasha laid a trail of kisses up her jaw and across her temple that had Kagome closing her eyes, focusing on the swell of her heart and the mouthwatering opulence of his scent.

"You always soak through your bottoms for me?"

"Usually, yes," she sighed.

"That's so fuckin' hot."

She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck and molding her lips to his. "Always glad to please you, Mr. Taisho."

Inuyasha settled his hips, hooked his arms above Kagome's tailbone, and looked her firmly in the eye. "I'm so fuckin' glad I met you, Kagome."

Her heart gave a gratified surge in response to his words. The warmth of his comment shuddered all the way through her body, leaving her with a sprouting incandescence that could only be happiness. She kissed his lips softly, tenderly, hoping to convey every bit of what she felt for him.

"Well, that's convenient," she chuckled, "'cause I'm really fuckin' glad I met you, too."

Inuyasha hummed a sound of contentedness as he pressed his lips to hers. He broke their kiss to run a hand down the side of her head, straightening her hair, brushing unruly waves of it away from her face. "You hungry? Can I get you anything?"

"Oh, shit! I brought you coffee!" Kagome laughed, grabbing hold of his shoulders. "Oof—it's gonna be long cold by now," she giggled. "I guess it's my turn to bring frigid flat whites, huh?"

Inuyasha grinned. "You came over a couple hours before midnight and you brought coffee?"

"Yeah, I figured we could use the help staying up." Kagome stared at him, her expression declaring, obviously.

"Staying up? You don't plan on lettin' me get any sleep tonight, Kagome?"

Kagome snorted and smacked Inuyasha in the chest before running her hands along the firm brawn of his upper torso.

"You're incorrigible," she chuckled. "I wanted to stay up all night with you, but not with any scandalous intentions." She wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with strands of his black hair, her tone sounding thoughtful. "You told me you've historically slept away the night. I thought—well, I hoped, rather—that I could help you—you know—stay up to enjoy a new moon night for once—if that's even possible," she added a coy, flustered mumble under her breath.

Inuyasha guided Kagome's lips to his for a pleasant and supple kiss that left Kagome's heart raging with piercing delight. How was it possible for something so gentle to be so highly erotic, emotional? She loved the way Inuyasha's mouth felt like it was molded specifically to fit hers.

"Sometimes I'm just—fuckin' bewildered by you, Kagome."

She flushed in response to Inuyasha's words.

"Your heart has more compassion than I've seen in my entire goddamn life."

Kagome smiled through her blush, pressing a kiss to his nose. "You wanna know how compassionate I'm feeling?"

Inuyasha locked his arms around her waist. "Tell me."

"I'd do anything to make you happy tonight. I'd even go heat up your flat white for you and serve it to you in bed."

Inuyasha feigned shock. "You wouldn't..."

Kagome's lips quivered from holding in her giggle. "I would—that's how badly I want you to feel something other than awful tonight."

Inuyasha snorted. It sounded almost—affectionate. "I don't need coffee in bed to make me happy, Kagome."

Kagome rubbed his shoulders and liked the way it felt to sit in his lap while they spoke—regardless the occasional throb of his ever-so-slowly decreasing erection. "What do you need then?"

"I already have what I need in bed to make me happy."

He leaned forward, planted a sweet little kiss to her lips then side-saddled out from underneath her. Inuyasha sat on the edge of the bed, reaching over to grab a pair of pajama pants to pull on.

Kagome watched him tie up the strings around his waist, a pink heat wrecking her face. She sat on her knees, stunned by his sweetness, by his loving words, for a few more heartbeats before she kneeled to the edge of the bed to stand.

She watched him throw on a t-shirt that had been discarded beside the bed.

"You're very forthcoming with nice words when you're human." Her cheeks were so warm. "I thought emotional stuff made you trip over your words?"

"It does—usually," he added with a shrug. "I dunno—maybe you just make it easier sometimes."

Kagome smiled bashfully. "Maybe. But, I gotta say, Inuyasha, hearing you say sweet things to me tonight—" She paused, meeting his eye with a coy smile— "It's been nice."

"You want me to talk to you with honey on my tongue more often, Kagome?"

"I'm not saying you have to do it more," she argued with a heightened blush. "I just wanted you know that I like it—I don't expect you to be a mind-reader about stuff like that. What you choose to do with this newfound information is on you."

Inuyasha grinned at her before opening his bedroom door wide and gesturing for her to exit. "I'll keep that in mind, I guess."

Kagome followed Inuyasha into the kitchen and kneeled to open her backpack. She pulled out pajamas, her toiletry bag, and an extra pair of panties—because there was no way in hell she was spending the rest of her night absolutely drenched with cold arousal.

She rose her gaze to meet his. "I'm just gonna go change and leave this—" She shook her toiletry bag— "in the bathroom. I'll be—"

"You can put that stuff in my ensuite—y'know, if it's convenient keepin' your stuff near where you'll be sleeping."

Kagome beamed at the faint trace of red painting the apples of his cheeks. "If there's sleeping, you mean. But, on a serious note," she said, the smile fading from her lips, "if you're tired, Inuyasha, and don't want to hang out, that's more than—"

He scoffed, raising an eyebrow at her over his shoulder. "If there's no sleeping, it'll be your fault—since you're the one who can't seem to keep her hands to herself."

"Said the pot to the kettle," she laughed at him facetiously. "But, I meant what I said, Inuyasha—I just want to spend the night with you doing literally anything—innocent," she added when he gave her words a racy look. Kagome snorted a laugh. "Even if that's just sitting on your couch and talking until the sun comes up." She smiled at him faintly then started walking towards Inuyasha's room. "But, I'll be right back, okay?"

Once donned in her new panties and her racer-back tank top and sweatpants, Kagome returned to the kitchen to find Inuyasha looking introspective, leaning against the counter and sipping his flat white.

"I thought I was supposed to heat those up for us?" She chided, stuffing her previous outfit into her backpack.

"You were too slow."

Kagome rolled her eyes and walked towards Inuyasha, accepting the white takeaway cup he held out for her. She sipped the beverage then held it in both hands, her eyes skimming Inuyasha.

His hair was black with brown undertones beneath the kitchen pot-lights, giving his locks a richness they lacked in the dark. His muscles strained through the holes of his t-shirt, making a familiar ache shoot up her centre. There was a casual allure to seeing him in sweatpants this late in the day-slash-early in the morning. His eyes were bright, alert, and the richest mocha that seemed to look right through Kagome with the piercing, skeptical glower he wore.

"You're staring."

Kagome grinned, finding his antagonistic, scowling pout to be very cute. "Forgive me for finding you handsome."

Inuyasha sputtered a flustered breath, his eyes jerking away from her. He brought his coffee cup to his lips, as if he could sip away his embarrassment.

Kagome giggled and leaned against the countertop. "Other than the obvious answer, what would you like to do with me for the rest of the night?"

"Is fucking you the obvious answer?" Inuyasha's smirk was outright dastardly.

Kagome stifled a disapproving snort as she nodded.

"Shit—then, I dunno."

She laughed, shaking her head at him, clutching her coffee cup in front of her chin. "What'd you have for dinner? Could I tempt you into a snack?"

Inuyasha thought about that for a moment then turned his face away from her. "I didn't."

"You didn't eat?" Her words were more remorseful than reprimanding.

"No."

Kagome's lips perched against the opening of her coffee lid. "Have—have you just been in bed since sunset?"

Inuyasha angled his body away from her and discarded his coffee cup on the counter. He gripped the marble in his hands, his shoulders bunching with a strained, held breath as he leaned into his fists.

Seeing him start to close himself off to her, Kagome abandoned her cup to approach him. She wrapped her arms around his side, her lips pressing into his bicep.

"What can I make you to eat?"

Inuyasha sighed, his body feeling less rigid the longer she held him in her arms. "I don't really feel like eating."

"Can I make you something anyway and you just have a single bite of it to make me happy?"

Inuyasha exhaled and cast her a haughty, side-eyed expression. "You're not here to cook for me."

"Not specifically, no," she answered wryly. "But I am here to do everything in my power to make you feel less awful. And if that means reheating you something I find in your freezer, then so be it."

Inuyasha grumbled incoherently at her under his breath and Kagome offered him a small smile, kissing his bicep again. She let him go to stalk for his freezer.

She rummaged for a minute or two before finding some of the eggplant lasagna she'd made for him not that long ago. Not wanting to give him the opportunity to decline, Kagome dumped the contents into a low bowl from his cupboard and put it in the microwave.

"So, here's the plan," Kagome said, looking up at him as she crossed her arms, her back to the microwave. "You eat as much as you want, and I'll eat the rest—got it?"

"Kagome..."

"Inuyasha..." she retorted in the same tone as him.

He scoffed and Kagome chuckled at him, approaching him to give him a kiss on the cheek before returning her focus to the microwave.

After a few minutes, she placed the steaming bowl and a fork at his breakfast bar.

Inuyasha skulked over and sat himself down on a stool before swiping up the fork. He stabbed it into the bowl with more irritation than interest.

Kagome fought back an amused chuckle as she watched him pout at his forkful.

Not wanting him to feel self-conscious, she collected her flat white then ambled into his living room. She took a long sip as she surveyed the city landscape beyond his window. She didn't know how long she stood there, looking out, listening to him eating behind her—the scrape of his fork against the bowl, the soft sounds of his chewing. She allowed her mind to wander, thinking about the various aspects of her day that felt like it could have spanned multiple days given all that'd happened—the long farewell with Inuyasha that morning, work, her security debrief with Hachi, being in bed with Inuyasha.

It mustn't have been that long before she heard him rinsing the bowl in the sink and then felt him stand behind her, his chest pressed up against her back.

"Don't feel badly if you didn't save me any," she said quietly, once he'd been there for a few heartbeats. She leaned back into his chest. "You know I'm shameless enough to raid your cupboards if I'm hungry." She exhaled a serene, breathy laugh. "You needed that more than me."

"Just wanted to trick me into eating?"

She tipped her head back to look up at him, a bemused smile on her face. "It wasn't intentional trickery, but it does make me happy that you have food in your belly now."

"Sneaky wench," he mumbled under his breath with a smile trying to weasel its way from his mouth.

Kagome giggled as Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her head. She'd never understand how he found a way to make those little insults sound so endearing.

"Can I ask you a random question about your building?"

"Sure."

"Was this place built for half-demons?"

Inuyasha's arms went rigid around her midriff.

Kagome turned in his arms to circle hers around his waist, a slight curve in her back from how she looked up at him. She didn't think he was going to answer her question, until he finally did.

"It wasn't originally, no. But, a few years ago it went through serious renovations to—" He paused to exhale a large breath— "accommodate half-demons."

"What do you mean by accommodate?"

Inuyasha sighed. "This place is a half-breed's goddamn wet dream. It was renovated into basically a fortress with demon abilities and securities in mind, staffed with full demon Sympathizers who have no issue doin' whatever necessary to keep people safe on the night of a new moon."

Kagome looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing. "Sympathizers?" God, she hated how little she knew about demons.

Inuyasha sighed again, more irritation laced into the exhale this time. "Kagome, I—"

"I'm sorry," she uttered quickly, regretfully. "There's just so much I don't know. If you don't want to tell me, it's—"

"C'mon," he interrupted, sighing heatedly. He unwrapped her arms from him and motioned for her to follow him to the couch.

He paused to grab a fuzzy, tassel-ended white blanket from the nearby console table—remembering Kagome's fondness for couch blankets—then sat down on the chaise end of his sectional.

Kagome released her coffee cup on the nearest side table then crawled between his legs onto the chaise. She rotated to settle herself between his thighs. It took them a few shifts of their hips and backsides to find a comfortable position where Kagome wasn't harming Inuyasha's testicles and his hard chest wasn't painfully rocklike behind her shoulder blades.

Inuyasha flapped out the blanket to drape it over their legs. His knees bent to sandwich Kagome. His arms pleated around her biceps, resting on her stomach over the blanket. Kagome leaned her head against him, her cheek tucked against his neck.

"Comfortable?"

Kagome shimmied her back against him for emphasis. "Yes, very. You know, even though it's like cuddling with concrete sometimes, you're very cozy to snuggle with, Inuyasha."

"Like concrete?"

His tone had Kagome laughing. "Yes! Your muscles are super impressive; they're just a little pointy sometimes."

"Pointy?"

Kagome peered up at him over her shoulder. "Is there an echo in here?" She smiled endearingly at the pinkness in his cheeks as he grumbled under his breath, his hands tightening over her stomach.

Kagome folded her hands around his, tracing lazy patterns in the backs of his hands and wrists, hoping her touch and her hold would keep him from shutting her out.

"Listen, I don't want to make you uncomfortable by asking you questions, Inuyasha. I just—" She paused, allowing her head to fall heavier against him— "I just want to understand."

It's okay to be vulnerable with him, her mind reminded her. Don't censor yourself—speak from the heart. You can't expect him to if you don't.

Kagome chewed her cheek—it wasn't that often her thoughts were wise and helpful.

"It's never really bothered me before—being ignorant about demonkind. But, since knowing you, since growing—" She blushed, annoyed by her rambling but helpless to stop it— "growing close to you, it bothers me that there's this big part of you and your life that I don't know." Kagome nuzzled her cheek against his neck. "I know you said earlier there are parts of yourself you hold back, but—" She tightened her hold on his hands— "I don't want you holding things back from me because you feel embarrassed or—or ashamed about me knowing those parts of you. I care about you, Inuyasha—I could never think any less of you by knowing you better."

Kagome willed herself to stop, to force silence in the hopes it would encourage a response from him.

Inuyasha's wrists rotated, his fingers lacing between hers and squeezing.

Kagome squeezed back, hoping the gesture would communicate what her pounding heart was saying—I'm here. I got you. I won't feel any differently about you no matter what you tell me. You're safe with me.

He sighed before she heard him moisten his lips to speak. "Sesshoumaru funded the renovation project for this place when my mom got sick a few years back. He'd never welcome me into his place—not that I'd ever wanna live with the bastard—and I couldn't continue staying in a human community, so—"

I wouldn't be where I'm at today without my brother's help; he got me this place, my job. I appreciate his help but I also despise the bastard for it.

Kagome recalled Inuyasha's words from the night of the storm, when they shared rapid-fire truths. It made her heart pound, realizing the depth of the honesty he disclosed that night, which she'd been oblivious to.

"Are you close with your brother?"

Inuyasha exhaled loudly through his nose. "Things with my half-brother have always been complicated."

"Half-brother?"

She felt Inuyasha nod. "Sesshoumaru is a full demon—my dad's first son from a previous demon relationship. We had a rough childhood growin' up—well, not that I ever knew him as a kid. He ages a lot slower than me, than humans—he's always been a cold, adultlike asshole as long as I've known him. And, since I age like a human, it wasn't until we got physically closer in age that we started—getting along."

"You say getting along like—" Kagome searched for the words but didn't get a chance to find what she wanted to say before Inuyasha continued speaking.

"Like I said," he groaned, "it's complicated. There's a lotta bitterness Sesshoumaru feels towards our dad, our family history—he tends to take that shit out on me."

"Can I—can I ask about your dad?"

She felt Inuyasha's throat bob from an overt gulp, like he was trying to work past a lump caught in his throat.

Kagome wondered if it was their earlier closeness in his bed—the proof of her care for him—that helped him loosen up to talk to her.

"He—he was the strongest dog demon in recorded history," Inuyasha answered, a reservation to his tone. "He was so powerful, he ruled over demons across the western hemisphere. Demons are territorial, confrontational bastards, and back then, other demons would challenge him, wanting his terrain, his title. For demons, nothin' matters more than power.

"When demons allowed themselves to be known by humans, there was a certain prestige that followed my dad around. The humans in power at the time were intimidated by him, but they also seemed to respect him. My dad was also one of the biggest advocates for livin' among humans, so I think he just kinda threw himself into the role of helpin' demons acclimate, creating the structures and rules to make it happen."

"Wow," Kagome breathed, her eyes following the angle of Inuyasha's chin, "he sounds pretty amazing."

"Yeah," Inuyasha said solemnly, "he was."

"Was?"

Inuyasha nodded. "He died a while ago."

Kagome squeezed his hands, tears lining her throat. "I'm so sorry."

Kagome recalled his earlier comment about his mom getting sick—had she passed away, too? Did he have any living family other than Sesshoumaru?

"It—it really wasn't until dad died that Sesshoumaru seemed to give a shit that I existed, and that might even be a generous way of putting it," he snorted facetiously. "He's mostly been a pain in my ass, but I can't deny he's done a lot for me—to keep me alive."

Kagome was overwhelmed with appreciation that Inuyasha kept trudging through the conversation despite the tremor in his voice. She didn't want to be the reason he felt encouraged to stop, to withdraw from her. So, she asked, "What changed between the two of you?"

Inuyasha exhaled thoughtfully, realizing there was more history Kagome had to know in order to get a proper answer to her question.

Kagome marveled over the slow meter of his words, the way he recounted his family's loaded history.

"When my dad became this public figure, encouraging demons to live peacefully among humans, many demons saw it as weakness. Their challenges for power turned into challenges out of contempt, then finally just straight-up assassination attempts.

"That's the kinda life Sesshoumaru knew before I came along—demons goin' after my dad, after Sesshoumaru, after his mom, 'cause they were pissed at our old man. A lotta demons didn't want to live among an inferior race and hated my dad for it—for creatin' an entire system to govern demons in a human world.

"Apparently some humans were also resentful towards my dad—for demons startin' to live as humans, working human jobs, benefitting from human technology and resources. I remember my mom saying how hard it was for my dad—feelin' like he could never win on either side. Someone always hated him regardless the progress he made."

"That must have been so hard on your dad."

Inuyasha nodded.

"And my heart hurts for Sesshoumaru," Kagome whispered, her thoughts churning. "I can't imagine having to live my life constantly looking over my shoulder, worried about the safety of my loved ones."

Inuyasha tightened his grip around Kagome's middle. "Not that Sesshoumaru ever confirmed it, but I think that's why his mom left my dad—and I don't think Sesshoumaru had a relationship with her after that."

Kagome nodded, small pieces falling into place. "And then your dad met your mom and I'm sure that wasn't easy for him—Sesshoumaru probably felt like he lost both his parents. I can't imagine your dad choosing a human woman would have been easy for him either, especially when co-existing with humans already had a difficult significance for him."

Inuyasha sighed. "Yeah. I think my mom harboured a lotta guilt over Sesshoumaru. She never really seemed to care that he was centuries older than her, that he held a grudge against her, that he didn't like her for makin' our dad look weak. Mom gave Sesshoumaru space but was still...motherly," he laughed. "Sesshoumaru hated it for the longest time, but I think he eventually started to recognize what she was tryin' to do. I think she also wanted to find ways to keep my brother in my life."

Inuyasha was silent for a few breaths and Kagome pivoted in his lap so she could look up at him. She rested her palm against his cheek and offered him a comforting smile.

Inuyasha exhaled noisily, then continued. "There was one new moon—a bunch of demons attacked us, mom and me. I was just a kid when it happened, so I don't really remember much, but mom said Sesshoumaru saved us." Inuyasha sighed, perching his chin on top of Kagome's head. "That's when my relationship with him started to change—when I think his attitude towards humans started changing, too."

Kagome snuggled into Inuyasha's arms further. "Did—did that happen a lot? Demons coming after you? Your mom?"

Inuyasha's sigh ruffled her bangs. "Once my parents were married and had me, there were attempts on our lives pretty much instantly. I think dad having a half-breed kid made the resentment and rage worse for some demons, honestly. Dad couldn't be around all the time, so he made Sesshoumaru teach me how to protect myself—and I guess, by extension, keep mom safe, too. And, he did—teach me—but Sesshoumaru always made it clear he hated me for bein' weak, hated me for needing his help in the first place. When I got older, dad introduced me to other half-demons he knew, who taught me ways of keepin' myself hidden and safe on new moons, so eventually I didn't need to rely on Sesshoumaru as much.

"That's when Sesshoumaru started keepin' his distance from mom and me, but she wouldn't let him stay away too long." Inuyasha laughed a bittersweet chuckle. "After that one new moon, he wouldn't stay away as long, he didn't seem to openly hate me or my mom as much. And then dad died and...Sesshoumaru was just around. He followed in dad's footsteps—gettin' a job in finance—encouraged me to do the same, helped me wrangle some of my first clients when I opened the firm, built this place so I had a safe home, and yeah... Like I said, it's a complicated relationship. I wouldn't say we like each other but—"

"You're family," Kagome answered for him.

Inuyasha nodded.

Kagome reached forward to twist some of Inuyasha's hair between her fingers.

"Did—did Kikyou know this history? The details of your family—about your dad? About Sesshoumaru?"

"She definitely knew some of it. I mean, she was friends with Rin, so once Rin and Sesshoumaru started dating I wouldn't be surprised if Kikyou learned some stuff that way. She knew Taisho was an influential and recognizable surname in the demon community. We have what some humans would call old money." Inuyasha snorted. "Kikyou liked the prestige of bein' associated with one of the oldest demon families known amongst humans."

"Did Kikyou ever meet your parents?"

"My dad had died before we started dating, but yeah, she met my mom. Mom died a few years ago and she may have even shared some of the family's history with Kikyou, but I don't know for sure."

Kagome met Inuyasha's gaze with a furrowed brow and an unintentional hurt expression before she lowered her eyes to her lap. She leaned against Inuyasha, not knowing the feeling that began eating away at her insides. Was it jealousy? That Inuyasha's ex knew his mom—had a relationship with her? That Kikyou met this amazing and loving woman but Kagome never would?

As if he knew what she was feeling, Inuyasha wrapped her in his arms snugly, caressing his nose against her hair. "She would've loved you, Kagome."

"Yeah?" Kagome hated how the tears she held back were obvious in that one word.

"Yeah," he answered, pressing his lips against the side of her head.

Kagome cleared her throat. "Your mom sounds like she was an incredible woman, Inuyasha. I'm so sorry that you're so young to know the loss of both your parents."

Inuyasha squeezed her against his chest as if to say thank you. "I think that's partly why Sesshoumaru and I endure each other, despite our convoluted history."

"You're the only family you have left."

Inuyasha nodded.

Kagome cupped Inuyasha's cheek again, turning his face to hers so she could plant a soft kiss to his lips. "Thank you for telling me about your family, Inuyasha. I can't even tell you how much I appreciate this—you trusting me to know about them."

Inuyasha forced a mirthless chuckle. "When you asked about this place, I honestly didn't think we'd end up talkin' about them. I thought it'd be mostly about the whole demon, half-demon thing."

Kagome nodded, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. "Which is why this means so much to me. Thank you."

Inuyasha sighed, leaning forward again to capture her lips in a gentle kiss that still found a moan creeping up Kagome's throat.

"Anythin' else you wanna know while I'm still feeling generous?"

Kagome giggled, eyeing his mouth. "You mean before you start escalating things again with those dangerous little kisses of yours?"

Inuyasha chuckled roguishly, and Kagome sighed, tucking her head underneath his chin, her lips temptingly close to his Adam's apple.

"This might be a dumb question," Kagome ventured, "but were half-demons—I mean—did co-existing with humans—that is to say—did they exist before—?"

Inuyasha snorted a laugh at Kagome's bumbling question.

"Half-demons have always existed, but a surge of them were born within the first couple decades of humans and demons co-existing. They called it the Dawning—you can think of it like the equivalent of your human baby boom after the war."

Kagome nodded, licking her lips.

"After that, the half-demon population increased, eventually creating hordes of quarter-demons and so on, so forth. The full demons who were pissed about watered down bloodlines grew even more pissed when demon blood was bred out entirely after a few generations.

"I dunno how many half-demons are still floating around these days. I don't have much interaction with that crowd anymore. But, since half-demons live human lifespans, it always fluctuates how many there are at a given time. See, there's always been hate of half-demons. Half-breeds have always been a lesser species, an embarrassment to a race that cares about power above all else."

Kagome opened her mouth to argue but Inuyasha pushed ahead, not leaving her the room to say anything.

"Dad used to say a lotta demons had no issues wipin' out weak half-breeds whenever they came across 'em, or usin' new moon nights to hunt down those with strong demon blood, that they couldn't hurt until they were human. Dad said new moons were used as a culling, a way to kill off half-breeds for threatening pure demon bloodlines."

Kagome leaned her shoulder into Inuyasha's chest. Her eyes ran the curves and hollows of his muscles with a new, heart-wrenching appreciation. Exercise wasn't just anger management or a hobby for Inuyasha—staying fit and increasing his strength was a necessity. The more powerful he became, the better he could guarantee his safety in a world that had taught him from an early age he'd be destroyed as soon as he showed any weakness.

"That's horrible," Kagome uttered, vengeful tears edging her voice, her heart pounding with bitterness.

"Sesshoumaru told me it used to be a witch hunt back in the day," Inuyasha sighed irately. "Today, it can be hard to tell demon from half-breed from human, but demons have always been able to sense it immediately. A bunch of them still consider half-breeds an affront and hate me—us. And even though laws and shit exist to prevent anymore culling, despite how long ago it was, a lotta demons still resent my dad, so I like to keep myself scarce on new moon nights, 'cause you never know."

"I hate that," Kagome seethed, squeezing his fingers tightly. "I hate that people hate you just for the sake of hating you, just because they hate others who are different than them."

"That's just the way of the goddamn world, isn't it? 'Cause even humans have historically hated other humans who are different from them, who threaten their beliefs. It's no different than demons and half-breeds."

"So, all half-demons really turn human on the new moon?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Why the new moon?"

Kagome's question made Inuyasha snort. "I know very little about the old science—or magic or bullshit or whatever—that makes it happen. My old man never really explained it clearly. There's just some connection between demon blood and the phases of the moon—it's strongest when the moon is full and at its weakest during the new moon."

"So, you're strongest on full moons and human on new moons," Kagome repeated to solidify her own understanding.

Inuyasha nodded. "Me and every other demon, half or full, that's out there."

Kagome licked her lips, her eyes wide as the information sunk in.

"Just to make this story even better," Inuyasha grunted sardonically, "after the Dawning happened, humans learned about what happens to half-demons during the new moon. So, then the humans started killing half-breeds, thinkin' it was some kind of vengeance against demonkind when it was really doin' them a fuckin' favour." Inuyasha snorted, shaking his head, Kagome's by their contact. "So, new moon nights became even more dangerous to half-demons, 'cause everyone and their goddamn grandma wanted us dead."

"How long ago was this? The Dawning?"

Inuyasha pondered that. "A century, I think, if not longer ago. I don't know exactly—I'm sure you could find something online or in a book if you cared that much. I remember my dad saying humankind was less civilized when this all went down, that humans have evolved, matured, and advanced a lot since this happened.

"But, don't kid yourself, Kagome," he snorted. "This shit still happens—maybe not to the extent it used to, but humans love holdin' grudges and demons value power too much to let weakness go without punishment."

Kagome's eyes drew patterns in the blanket as she thought about her next question. "You said demon Sympathizers work here? That obviously means not all full demons hate half-demons?"

"No," Inuyasha sighed, "not all—just a large fuckin' number of them. There are other demons who are like my dad, they see the good in adapting to the world, living peacefully with humans. Half-demons I used to know called them Sympathizers. Some are advocates for half-demon rights—activists, I guess you could call them. Others are less intense about it and just don't wanna see anymore unnecessary bloodshed."

"So, the employees who work here are all full demons?"

"At least on new moon nights, yeah."

"Have there ever been any security breaches here?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Not one. I've felt safe as long as I've lived here—which is sayin' a lot as a half-demon. I think most of the other residents are half-demons, too, but I can't say I really interact with 'em all that much."

"Can I ask—why the sleeping pill, Inuyasha? Is being human for several hours really all that terrible?"

Inuyasha looked away from Kagome, his brows pinched tightly together. "All the history I told you about, the shit about my family, it all comes back to me on new moon nights and I just—" He shrugged— "I feel things more intensely and all this just becomes a lot to sort through, a lot to feel. So, a few years ago, I took a sleeping pill, just to see what happened, and then I woke up as soon as it was sunrise. I learned I never had to be a human or drown in those thoughts and memories so—" He shrugged again— "it just became somethin' I did."

Kagome frowned. "Have you ever considered alternatives to the sleeping pill? Like, I dunno, distracting yourself by being around others you'd feel safe with? Would you consider spending a new moon with Sesshoumaru or with other half-demons?"

"I used to," Inuyasha replied with a serious expression.

"But?"

"But," he answered as a sigh, "bein' around Sesshoumaru just reminds me too much about the past, the new moons I spent with my parents. He's also really fuckin' talented at makin' me feel worse about shit in general. He's a cold bastard, my half-brother. Even though he seemed to grow okay with my mom before she died, Sesshoumaru wouldn't think anything of bringin' her up or razzing me about shit that I'd rather not think or talk about. And as far as other half-demons go—" He groaned hoarsely, rubbing at his neck.

"I learned a lot from the half-demons my dad introduced me to. When I was a teenager, my mom put a lotta pressure on me to interact with half-demons—build bridges, she called it. So, I've known some half-demons—I even called some friends back in the day. But, bein' in the company of half-demons is fine until the new moon comes around, then the fear and panic takes hold, and their company becomes—unbearable. They start comparin' safe houses, security set-ups, freakin' the fuck out about the tiniest, unimportant shit, ragin' about things they can't help or change.

"Any half-demon I've met has fallen into one of two camps, Kagome: those that like to lay blame on my family for makin' things worse for half-demons—which is bullshit—and then those who want something from me.

"More times than I can count, half-demons I considered my friends didn't care about my family until we got to the new moon. Then, suddenly my family is the reason half-demons are hunted, it's my dad's fuckin' fault for all the cullings that've happened since the Dawning. Then, I'm the bad guy, ostracized, thrown out of groups, clubs, whatever other fuckin' community I joined to humour my mom.

"Then, there's the other assholes who like my family heritage. They saddle up to me like I'm their best friend until the new moon. Then the requests for favours start coming in—can I stay with you at your safe-as-shit condo with security out the ass? Can I borrow some money to rent a room at a new moon hotel? People I thought were my friends just wanted to take advantage of what my wealth could grant them come the new moon."

Fuck—that sounds a lot like what Kikyou did...

Inuyasha sighed, his voice sounding hoarse. "Eventually it just stopped bein' worth it to try and make friends with half-demons—I always turned out to be the son of the bad guy or the bad guy who said no. It became easier just to be on my own."

Kagome pushed forward to place a kiss to his jaw. "I'm so sorry, Inuyasha."

He exhaled as he turned back to face Kagome. He looked tired. "I've come to terms with a lotta shit, Kagome. But, I think the hardest part for me still is not knowin' where I fit in, exactly." He growled, removing a hand from hers to clench his fist. "I mean—shouldn't I fuckin' know by now?"

Kagome frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The more encounters I've had with demon communities the more I've realized I have zero interest in getting drawn into demon lifestyles or politics. We live among humans. I age and live my life by a human code. Why would I give a shit to associate with those that've only ever made me feel like a disgrace? They'd sooner kill me than accept me with open arms."

"But, you said earlier, you lived in a human community? You couldn't—?"

Inuyasha snorted. "It's like the universe's sick fuckin' joke, create a baby that doesn't fit into either world and slap a fuckin' sign on their head announcing open season one night a month."

"So, you don't—?"

"No matter what my mom did or where I've gone, I've never really been welcome amongst humans. They see my ears, label me as other, a threat, and they want nothin' to do with me."

"Inuyasha—"

"So, where the fuck do I belong, Kagome?" He shouted, his face becoming flushed. She could feel his heart pounding where she leaned into his chest. "I'm born to two different halves and neither wants a fuckin' thing to do with me! So, yeah—I come home, take a sleeping pill so I don't have to worry about any of this bullshit, and then just bide my time until the next fucking new moon." He snorted self-deprecatingly. "Unless I piss off a full blood before then and don't make it to the next—"

"Inuyasha, stop! Jesus! Just—stop!"

Kagome's chest was heaving. She threw the blanket off her legs, turning herself in his lap so she straddled him. She cupped his cheeks in her hands, the heat of his face making her palms instantly clammy.

"What you've experienced—are experiencing—fuck, it's a lot! But...God! Don't—don't say things like that." Tears lined her eyes and she blinked in rapid succession in the hopes of clearing them.

Inuyasha refused to meet her gaze despite her hold on his face.

"People suck—humans, half-demons, full demons—everybody fucking sucks, okay? You've been treated like garbage and I fucking hate it!" Goddammit, there was no holding back these tears—Kagome was way too angry for that. "I hate them—I hate everyone who has made you feel worthless, who has made you question yourself, question your family, question your dignity and your worth."

Her voice hiccupped with a sob but she forced through it, her tears flowing so freely they tickled her chin where they dangled. "I don't care if it's dramatic to say, but you are probably the best thing to have ever happened to me."

Inuyasha turned his face forcefully until Kagome's hands released his cheeks, falling into her lap. He groaned heatedly, uncomfortably.

"I don't know what to tell you, Kagome. This is—this is my life. This is what you get if you stick around. If—if it's too much for you, then—then I guess you should just leave. 'Cause shit's not gonna get any better."

"Screw you, Inuyasha, for encouraging me to leave!" Kagome spat, feeling so awkward straddling him but too angry with a point to prove that she couldn't even consider moving. "You're a stupid idiot if you think for even one second I'd leave you! Not tonight, not because of what you told me, not ever! Why would this be too much for me? The weak human existence you talk about hating so much? That's literally my life! So, one night a month, give or take, you and me are equals? Every other day of the month, you're the son of the strongest dog demon in history? If a bunch of demons or humans are too fucking stupid to not want you then good fucking riddance to them! This is their historical baggage they can deal with, and it's one-hundred-and-eighty-percent their loss for not welcoming you with open arms! Because you're amazing, Inuyasha. You're so goddamn amazing and I—"

A sob got the better of Kagome and she dropped her arms into her lap, lowering her chin as she wept.

Inuyasha was paralyzed by the weight of her emotions.

"Kagome, I—"

"Is belonging to someone—to some group—really that important to you, Inuyasha? If it is, then fine! You can belong to me, okay? You belong with me. I don't care that you—"

Inuyasha kissed her so thoroughly Kagome almost couldn't kiss him back as another sob lurched its way up her throat. He alternated between kissing her lips tenderly and whispering the odd phrase like I'm sorry, I know, Please don't cry. He wiped her tears away with his fingers, his palms, kissing and licking away whatever his hands missed.

"I care about you so, so much," Kagome gasped around a heavy, aberrant breath once her tears began to settle. "I'm so sorry for everything, Inuyasha."

"I know," he breathed, his forehead against hers, his palms erasing her trails of tears. "I know, Kagome."

Kagome tipped forward until her lips were on his, an urgency in the way she folded her arms around his neck.

"I care about you so much, Inuyasha," she moaned into his mouth when his fingers dipped beneath the hem of her shirt to graze the small of her back.

"I know you do."

"You belong with me, okay? Tell me that's okay. Tell me that's enough."

Inuyasha cradled the back of her head, his fingers in her hair, his tongue breaking through the seam of her lips to brush her tongue in long, sweeping strokes.

"You deserve more than—"

"Shut up," Kagome hissed, crushing her lips to his with a force that had their teeth clashing, an ache in her lips from the pressure she applied to his mouth. "You're mine, Inuyasha. Do you understand me? Screw everybody else. You're mine. You belong with me."

Inuyasha moaned a beautifully husky growl into her mouth as Kagome started grinding against him. She was desperate to feel anything other than heartache for him and a burning desire to tear down her last wall and tell him exactly how she felt about him.

"Please," Kagome cried, drawing him to her until their chests were flush, until her breasts stung with the pressure. "Please tell me that's enough. Please tell me I'm enough."

"You're more than enough, Kagome," Inuyasha cried, pulling away from her mouth, running a hand down the side of her face. "Fuck, Kagome. You—you're fuckin' everything, alright?"

"You're mine, Inuyasha," Kagome repeated, bringing her mouth to his again, sucking his tongue like she'd die if she let go. "Tell me you understand that."

Inuyasha smiled softly against her mouth, his teeth dragging across her lips. "I'm yours, Kagome. Fuck me—am I ever yours."