"You're late."

Hello to you too, Kagome thought, sighing internally as she pulled herself up the last few inches to the top of the well. She swung her legs over its wooden edge and stood up. Inuyasha was waiting there, arms crossed in his sleeves. Suddenly his nose twitched.

"You smell like blood, woman."

Kagome cringed, her face blushing bright red. Secretly, that had been her whole reason for going back home: to make use of the comforts of her own time as she waited out the abdominal cramps. She really didn't want to explain her female hormone cycles to this grumpy hanyou. But his stubborn posture, towering over her, implied that he wasn't going to move an inch until he got an explanation.

"Um…" she very carefully looked anywhere but at him. "It's… uh… a girl thing… I—"

"Kagome." He frowned. "That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"Huh?"

He snarled in impatience. The girl suddenly felt a clawed hand on her shoulder, pushing her forcefully down to sit on the rim of the well.

"Idiot," Inuyasha grumbled, settling down on his haunches in front of her. "That's not the blood I'm smelling. It's down there." He pointed at her socks.

If her cheeks could have gotten any redder, Kagome was sure they would have. His words echoed in her head, the meaning sinking in. That's not what I mean. That's not the blood I'm smelling.

Oh, God. Inuyasha could smell her every time she went through this? She'd never be able to face him again!

"Oi, woman. Out with it. Another demon show up in your time or something?" Her brain came back to reality to find him pulling down the top of one long stocking, revealing two small red cuts on her lower leg. She swatted his hand away. "Inuyasha!"

"What! You obviously weren't gonna tell me!" he said defensively.

"There's nothing to tell! I cut myself with the razor, okay? Happy? Sheesh!"

Golden eyes blinked up at her. "The ray-zer? What's that?"

"It's a thing girls use… to… to get rid of their leg hair." Her blush was back in full force.

Inuyasha cocked his head curiously. Then he looked back down at her exposed leg. "But your hair is still there."

"Oh for the love of—" Kagome took a deep calming breath and let it out in a sigh. "Okay, look. My razor broke. It was cheap and too old, the blade must have been cracked or something and it snapped off when I used it on my leg. The corner of it cut me before I realized."

The hanyou's eyes widened. "Blade? You dragged a blade across your leg on purpose?"

"No! Well—I guess so, but…" This whole conversation was so embarrassing. How on earth could she explain the culture of shaving? "Normally it doesn't even hurt. The blade doesn't really scratch—"

"It's a blade, Kagome!"

"Yes! Yes, it's a blade! Okay? And I use it on my legs. Ugh. Just stop. This isn't getting us anywhere."

Kagome shut her eyes and held one hand up to her furrowed brows, trying to keep her temper in check. Silence fell over the two of them.

Finally, after a few long moments passed, Inuyasha spoke again.

"I don't get it."

"What don't you get?!" She had just spent the last five minutes explaining!

"All of it! Women make no sense! Why treat hair like a good thing on your head but a bad thing somewhere else!"

"Because!" Kagome was fuming now, her words slipping out before she could stop them. "Because everybody does it! Because people laugh at you if you don't! Because stupid boys make us think that's the only way we're beautiful!"

Inuyasha growled low in his throat, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Someone told you to cut your legs?"

Kagome blinked, startled. Her anger dissipated as she stuttered. "Well—n-no, but—"

"Keh!" The hanyou stood up and crossed his arms inside his sleeves again, turning away. "Then quit doing it. C'mon, let's get going already!"

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AN: Inuyasha always struck me as very natural... and with his sense of smell, there's no way he could be unaware of women's menstrual cycles. I think he would be unfazed by it, as it's just a natural process. He would probably scoff at quite a few of the social pressures that Kagome faces in her time. Society makes girls do crazy things for beauty these days!

Reviews are always appreciated! And if there is any particular theme you want to see in future chapters, I'd love to hear your suggestions.