Chapter 6

This was all Kikyou's goddamn fault.

Fine. Fine! Maybe there was some blame that fell on Inuyasha's shoulders too. He probably should have solidified things with Kagome sooner. Told her about the whole mate thing sooner. Asked her to leave with him sooner. Not been an asshole baby about two-week old bedsheets.

Was it his fault he was so swept up in Kagome he didn't do anything or say anything once Kikyou took that goddamn microphone? Fuckin' Kikyou. How the hell hadn't she moved on to somebody else in the five goddamn years corporate's been throwing these stupid parties?

This was just a misunderstanding. He could fix this.

He just needed Kagome to stop ignoring him for long enough to fix this.

Because she has feelings for him. She doesn't feel hate or disgust towards him for being a hanyou. She wanted to know if Inuyasha could have a mate. Because Kagome thought she was his mate.

Kagome THOUGHT she was HIS MATE!

Holy shit. Kagome knew.

He knew that she knew.

But she didn't know he knew that she knew.

Well, she might. He did tell her he overheard her after all.

But there would be time to figure that out.

She wanted to be his mate.

It was enough of a motivator that Inuyasha followed her to the coat check despite how obviously Kagome wanted to pretend he didn't exist. He was anything if persistent, and Inuyasha felt encouraged to disregard the Fuck you, Inuyasha face she threw over her shoulder. He decided it didn't matter how pissed she was at him. Inuyasha wouldn't let her leave without him. There was no way in hell he was gonna let her go now that she'd come into his life and seemed open to staying there. He was gonna fix this.

When she cast him another look that said, No, really, fuck you, Inuyasha, the hanyou smirked. The toothy half-sneer had Kagome snapping back around with a scoff. It wasn't long before she began fidgeting with impatience. She joined the queue at coat check, her ticket stub being passed back and forth between her hands. Her gaze was focused pointedly in the other direction. Inuyasha tried to get in front of her to meet her eye, but Kagome spun so she wouldn't have to look at him. After her first full circle, Inuyasha swore under his breath and tried to get in front of her again. Around and around they both went until Inuyasha snorted loudly and grabbed her bicep.

"For fuck's sake. Will you just—?"

She harrumphed and whipped her arm from his grasp. Inuyasha exhaled a sigh so hot it sent droplets of spittle onto his chin.

"Kagome, c'mon! Can you just look at me?"

She was back to pretending he wasn't here, was she? Fine—let her try to ignore him. Inuyasha was an all-star champ at being fuckin' petty. Did he mention he was persistent?

At most, Inuyasha would allow four seconds of silence before he'd say her name again and again. And again. He reached for her hand twice before she crossed her arms, ensuring she kept her back to him. She kept huffing with irritation, which just encouraged Inuyasha to call her name again or grab her shoulder. She rolled off his touch for the third time. He resorted to poking her between the shoulder blades until she deigned to re-acknowledge his existence. She did so with a throaty growl that had him smirking again. He knew he was pissing her off, but anything was better than this cold shoulder crap.

Let her be stubborn. Inuyasha wasn't goin' anywhere.

Because Kagome was his mate, and she wanted to be.

For better or for worse or for pigheaded stubbornness, right?

All he needed to do was lock it in by telling her.

Which had the hanyou stumbling over his verbal feet. Smack dab in the middle of a fight is not the way he wanted the mate reveal to go. Yeah, alright, maybe waiting for the "perfect moment" was what had fucked things up in the first place and led them to this fight. But this didn't have to be the "perfect moment" for Inuyasha to know it was the wrong one.

He didn't want Kagome's rage-leaving to be the time and place to have the mate conversation. Inuyasha knew they'd memorialize the time they discovered they were mates. Doing it during Kagome's rushed exit after Kikyou claimed she'd be leaving with Inuyasha? No way. It would turn his confession into the shittiest proposal ever. And he didn't want Kagome hanging onto this specific memory forever.

Yes, it was just one huge, idiotic misunderstanding. Now, he just needed her to stop pretending he didn't exist so he could tell her that.

Well, tell her most of it, without revealing they were mates. At least until she wasn't pissed anymore.

Because Kikyou had no fuckin' place in Kagome's memory of Inuyasha being her mate.

"Kagome, c'mon."

"You are. So. Annoying! Leave me alone, Inuyasha! I mean it!"

Success! She actually acknowledged him. Maybe he was wearing down her defenses.

"Just," he exhaled loudly, "talk to me. Kagome. Look at me. Let me explain."

She made a gagging scoff-like sound and crossed her arms even harder. Her back to him, she moved her neck a quarter of an inch, as if to make a point. "I don't wanna talk to you."

"Yes, you do."

"Wow, you are—" Kagome leered at him over her shoulder with a raised chin. She seemed to consider her next words carefully.

Your mate.

The guy you wanna spend the rest of your life with?

"—so much of an asshole. I wanted to be creative and call you somethin' else but I'm so mad I can't think of anything better right now. Just," she sighed heatedly, her face turning away again, "go away."

"Kago—"

"Stop being an ignorant jerk, Inuyasha! I said go away!"

He reached for her hand, hanging onto her fingers like his heart depended on it. His grip tightened with her every attempt to shake him off. She was like a bucking horse trying to rid itself an unwanted rider. "It's not what you think!" he said gruffly, struggling to hang onto her without hurting her. "I wasn't gonna go home with her! I'm leavin' with you, remember?"

"Why are you doing this?" she spat at him, frustrated she couldn't shake him. Her arm collapsed to her side.

As soon as Inuyasha felt the give in her arm, he yanked her towards him, his arm circling her waist. Kagome's hands propped onto his forearm, her fingers digging into his skin. She shot him what he assumed to be her nastiest expression. How unfortunate for her he thought she looked adorable.

"I'm not lettin' you leave without—"

"Letting me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fuck, okay. Don't leave this like, Kagome. I don't want you to go, alright? Just...just talk to me—" When she scowled up at him he added— "Please."

Her gaze ripped from his and her head lowered. Kagome peered over her shoulder to stare daggers at the four people in front of her. As if it was their fault she had no escape from having this conversation with Inuyasha. "I can't believe you have a girlfriend," she mumbled indignantly. Her cheeks pinkened while Inuyasha's eyebrows furrowed, creating two definable ridges between his eyes.

Inuyasha was so close to laughing at her assumption; however, the look she cast him had him swallowing instead. "Kagome...Kikyou isn't my girlfriend."

She attempted to slide her fingers between her ribs and his forearms. She looked uncomfortable, insecure. She was no further ahead at getting Inuyasha to let her go. If anything, he wrapped her more tightly in an embrace and drew her closer. Kagome reluctantly met his chest, her palms up in an effort to ward herself away from his body heat. The crown of her head was inches from his chin. Inuyasha caved into his baser instincts to study her scent.

Her hair was more jasmine up close. The vanilla musk of her skin had him desperate to burrow his face in the slope of her neck. The citrussy bite of her anger tingled in his nostrils. There was absolutely no trace of ginger, allspice, or cantaloupe and that had Inuyasha feeling...pissed. Pissed at Kikyou. Pissed at himself. Pissed at Kagome for making it so hard for him to apologize.

She mustn't have heard what he said because, her head still lowered, Kagome responded, "I can't believe you danced with me, spent most of your night with me, freaking made out with me, and you have a girlfriend! What the actual hell, Inuyasha?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" he shouted, his cheeks beginning to mottle.

Kagome refused to meet his stare. "Well, she's either a previous one night stand who is way too sure of herself or you have something steady going on with her that's maybe not a committed relationship but just as bad."

"Kagome—" He was beginning to lose patience, which was already a rare commodity for him— "she doesn't mean—"

She scoffed, cutting him off. "Half the room seemed to think you'd be fucking her later, Inuyasha, so..."

He growled at her, pulling away just enough that he could stare at her (read: the side of her face, since she still wasn't looking at him). "Yes, okay, she and I have had this recurring thing after the solstice party the last few years but that—"

Kagome snorted and rolled her eyes. "I fucking knew it," she mumbled to herself, but Inuyasha didn't struggle to hear it. "Define thing."

"We've fucked."

Now her eyes snapped to his, making him flinch. There was a shimmer that had the whites of her eyes glossy. He knew it was withheld tears, which made Inuyasha's heart beat faster. His ears lowered close to his scalp with disappointment. He didn't like the way she looked at him.

"How many times?"

"Like, different sessions...or number of times total that we've—?"

"For fuck's sake," she hissed under her breath, turning from him. Her fingers went back to work, trying to pry herself loose. "It's more than a one night stand?"

He looked away and absentmindedly scratched at his cheek. Kagome took advantage of his loosened grip and scurried away from him, putting as much space between them as she could while still staying in line.

Inuyasha sighed harshly. "Does it help my case if I say it was only a one night stand, since it was one time a year?"

Her eyes narrowed. "For how many years?"

He cursed under his breath, his fingers curling into a fist. "Does it matter?"

His avoidance to answer the question seemed to be all the answer Kagome needed. "So she's a frequent enough booty call—great! That's just freaking perfect!" She scoffed a joyless laugh. Kagome was second in line now.

"Just because I've fucked her more than once doesn't make her my girlfriend or anyone important to me! I had no intentions of that happening again this year! And I don't wanna keep talkin' about her, Kagome. I wanna fix this!"

That got her attention. "Fix what exactly?"

There was accusation behind her eyes. Kagome wore her heart on her sleeve and her emotions in her expression. Hearing Inuyasha claim he wanted to fix this was the closest she'd gotten to an apology from him. It seemed to take the bite out of her glare. The change in her countenance had Inuyasha stammering, "I—I don't—You said—"

Kagome crossed her arms under her breasts, raising an eyebrow at him. "Why won't you date her but keep having sex year after year?" Kagome rolled her eyes at herself, her palm to her forehead. "Dumb question, Kagome. It's 'cause you're a gym bro. Of course you'd just be looking to rack up your bedcount and thrive in bachelordom. Of course you're anti-commitment!"

"Why the fuck are you givin' me a hard time for not makin' her my girlfriend? Do you want me to be unavailable or somethin'? Why the fuck are you even mad at me, Kagome?"

It was a loud question. It was an uncomfortable cliffhanger while Kagome turned to exchange a token for her coat. No wonder she was in line so long—the person running coat check was slower than molasses in winter.

The half-demon was waiting for her just next to coat check. She didn't fail to notice he stood between her and the exit.

Kagome groaned audibly and tucked her puffer jacket over her forearms. She stood in front of Inuyasha and frowned up at him. "I'm mad, Inuyasha," she began, her cheeks turning a heated crimson, "because I feel led on."

He recoiled at that. Her response was clearly not what he was expecting to hear. "I haven't been—"

"Whatever," she sighed, slipping into her coat. "Just go back to your non-girlfriend, okay? I'm...I'm just gonna go."

"Kagome..."

"What?"

His glare deepened, his fists shaking at his side. "You're really gonna fuckin' run outta here like this?"

"I'm not running," she argued defensively.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Fuckin' looks that way to me!"

"Just—"

"Inuyasha! You're leaving?"

No, no, no, no, FUCKING no!

His eyes didn't leave Kagome's face as he said in his deepest fuck off tone, "Not now, Kikyou."

The woman two years older than Kagome paused, taking in the scene before her. Kagome zipping up her jacket, her face red and eyes glossy. Inuyasha blocking her exit, frustration radiating from every pore of his body. "But," Kikyou muttered, a downturn to her lips, "we always—It's solstice, so I thought—I thought you and me were gonna—"

Kagome scoffed and stormed past Inuyasha, knocking him with her shoulder as she passed.

"Kagome!" he shouted after her. She kept walking. "Kagome!" Her palms were depressing the handle bar to exit. "Kago—" The door slammed shut.

Kagome had left.

"Thanks for fuckin' nothin', Kikyou!" Inuyasha snapped, turning on his heel. He was about to lunge after Kagome, heading for the exit when he felt slender fingers wrapping around his bicep.

"Inuyasha, don't. Please don't leave. I thought we—"

"What the fuck don't you get?" he cried, pulling himself free from her grip. He felt manic, like his blood was simmering in his veins. He felt like a deep breath before a scream. "We're not a thing, Kikyou! How many years in a fuckin' row do we have to talk about this? Yes, past years were fun or whatever, but we're not together, I don't wanna be with—"

"But you do with her? I'm not good enough for you?" Her eyes filled with tears. "Every year you come back! Every year you come crawling back into my bed, and every year I'm a stupid twit for expecting this to be the year anything more happens between us!"

"Kikyou!" He didn't know his tone could reach this level of exasperation.

"Fuck you, Inuyasha! I hope she wants nothing to do with you and you find yourself all alone. Because that's what you deserve, using me year after year to keep your bed warm and nothin' more. I don't ever want to see you again!"

When Kikyou stormed off, Inuyasha stood there in stunned silence. He didn't know whether to feel badly for upsetting Kikyou or to feel pissed. As he weighed those two options, a thought like a lightning bolt sparked in his brain. He remembered it had been a couple minutes since Kagome stormed out of the building. He didn't allow another second to pass. The hanyou took off after her.

He knew where his priorities lay.

Holy shit it was fuckin' freezing! Rubbing at his biceps, Inuyasha closed his eyes while he focused his senses on Kagome's scent. It had started to snow and the foot traffic was just as busy now at ten-thirty as it was during the day. People narrowly avoided bumping into Inuyasha, who stood motionless and tall on the sidewalk. Demons turned their noses up at him. He heard mumbled insults and Inuyasha felt them bounce off his thick skin thanks to years of practice.

He couldn't focus on Kagome with all the stimuli, and he felt his nerves kick into gear. A small voice in the back of his head was trying to elbow its way into his brain, shouting that Inuyasha had lost Kagome. There were too many people. The wind was too strong. He wasn't going to pick up her scent.

His eyes closed, his brow creasing until his eyebrows quivered. He had to focus. His ears pivoted atop his head. His nostrils flared with every deep breath.

That's when he heard it. Sobbing.

Inuyasha lunged. It wasn't even a dozen bounding steps before he found her. She was sitting in a bus shelter, hunched over, crying into her gloved palms.

"Kagome!"

Her head shot up with her name. She didn't have the time to wipe at both her eyes before Inuyasha sunk onto his haunches in front of her and pulled her into his arms. Her cheekbone collided with his Adam's apple.

"I-Inu—?"

"You idiot," he mumbled into her hair. Holy shit, his heart was gonna take off at the same time his limbs were gonna freeze and detach from his body. "Why the fuck did you—?"

"You came after me."

"Yeah, obviously!" He pulled back just enough to meet her gaze. He shook his head at her, wiping the streams of wetness from her cheeks with his thumbs. "You didn't gimme a chance to explain, dummy. Obviously I needed to—"

"B-but...but what about Kik—?"

"I don't care about her," Inuyasha sighed, not caring in that moment if that was cruel of him to say, given how he had obviously hurt Kikyou's feelings not ten minutes ago. "Kagome, I—"

"Why did you—?" She paused, wiping beneath her eyes, leaving faded half-circles of black that looked like sleep-deprivation beneath her eyes. Inuyasha didn't care though. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. And he'd seen a lot of shit in his almost one hundred and thirty years.

"You wanted to know why I wouldn't date her?" Inuyasha's heart lurched into his throat and he cleared it, hoping it would settle his pulse. All he heard was the blood pounding in his ears. "She's not my mate."

Kagome flinched with the word, her lips separating into a look of surprise. Inuyasha couldn't stop staring at her lips, his heart beating harder and louder with every passing second.

"So?"

"So—" He sighed, injecting a pause, hoping to get the words in order— "I don't have any interest in bein' with a human unless they're my mate."

Kagome blinked up at him a few times. It was clear from the look on her face she was processing what he said. "You...don't date?"

Inuyasha exhaled loudly. He didn't know why this felt so hard to talk about with her. "I do. I have. I just...I don't like to date humans."

She flinched again. It wasn't the same as last time though. This one looked like it stung, like it lingered and left a bad taste in her mouth. "Oh, I-I see."

"Human relationships," he continued, "I've done it before. It...it's depressing. They age. I don't—or differently than them, rather. If I wanted a girlfriend, it'd be easier to date a demon."

Kagome nodded, refusing to meet his eye. "So...why don't you go date a demon then?" He could feel her getting her back up in the way her shoulders tensed. He could hear in her voice a defensiveness, especially as she said, "Why me, then? I'm a human, obviously," she added with an insincere laugh. "Or, am I just another Kikyou to you? Another—?"

"Stop." Inuyasha steeled his expression at her, his forehead wrinkled from the depression of his brows. "Don't, Kagome. You-you're not like her."

You're my mate, he thought at the same time another voice inside him said, Not yet.

Kagome opened her mouth but no sound came out. She obviously wanted to ask him to explain, to clarify what he meant. But Inuyasha took the opportunity to keep talking. "I don't date demons either. Not because I haven't met a female demon I'm attracted to, but...because—" He took a lung-filling breath— "I've never met a demon female who wanted to be with a hanyou. It's just—" He paused again, turning his eyes away. He could see in his periphery Kagome looking up at him— "It's always been easier to stick with human females to—" To satisfy my needs. To fuck. To try and stave off the fuckin' loneliness.

Inuyasha startled when Kagome's palm slid over his cheek. She pressed into his jaw, turning his head until his gaze only had to flick upwards the barest amount to meet her lingering stare. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

He snorted, feeling uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to tell her to save her apologies, but he found words unable to form. Her thumb began to pace back and forth across his cheekbone.

"I know it probably doesn't mean anything to you," she said in a small voice, her cheeks glowing pink, "but I'm sorry for how you've been treated, just because you're...different. It's not fair, and it's not right, and I'm sorry."

Inuyasha sighed uneasily. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to open his mouth, find his voice, and synchronize his lips and tongue to apologize, to tell her he's an idiot, to explain everything. He wanted to ask her to stay with him forever. Ask her if she'd still wanna come back to his place even if he hadn't changed his sheets.

Instead, he found himself leaning forward. His palms cupped her head beneath her ears, his fingers wrapping around her nape. His thumbs moved in syncopated motions across her jaw and the hollows of her cheeks. He kinda amazed himself for how gentle he was, pulling her mouth to his. Inuyasha really hadn't thought through the kiss, the pressure he'd use, if he'd add tongue or not. He hadn't thought about it at all. One second he wanted to kiss her, and the next he led her lips to his.

But apparently Kagome had wanted him to kiss her, because she didn't allow this to stay a gentle, tentative exchange. Her forearms circled his nape, her elbows tight against his neck. The sides of his face were devoured in the dusty blue pouf of Kagome's jacket as she kissed him with a fervour that had her moaning. They became a flurry of tongues and teeth as their kisses became hectic, wet, passionate.

Inuyasha wanted to draw her earlobe into his mouth. But he couldn't because of her ear muffs.

He wanted to nibble and suck his way down her neck. But he couldn't because of her scarf.

He wanted to lay her on her back and climb on top of her. But he couldn't because she was sitting on a bench in a bus shelter and he was freezing his ass off kneeling in front of her.

But her tongue was in his mouth, her fingers in his hair, and Inuyasha thought that was enough motivation to freeze his ass off a little longer.

"Don't go," he heard himself saying when she paused their kiss for a much needed breathing respite. "Let me fix this."

"There's nothing to fix," she sighed hoarsely.

"Yes there is. You know there is." Pointedly looking at her was the most mate-like reference she was gonna get out of him right now. That, and maybe the slight reference earlier to Kikyou not being his mate and Kagome not being like Kikyou.

Inuyasha didn't realize he had found his way between her knees until he felt her thighs squeeze around his middle. His abdomen felt cold when her body shifted.

Her gloved fingers stroked his hair. Her blush was magnificent, a blotched pink that complemented the frosted mauve of her nose. She opened her mouth to say something but Inuyasha spoke first.

"I know I won the bet to have you leave with me, but this doesn't count, alright?"

She sputtered a breathy laugh, her eyes flicking back and forth between his. "I suppose I can agree with that."

"You—" He paused, taking a breath to find his confidence. All he could focus on was her taste in his mouth— "You still willin' to...to—"

"To go back to your place?"

Her blush intensified, and Inuyasha felt a little badly laughing. Unfortunately, he couldn't help himself. "What I was gonna say was willin' to spend the rest of the winter solstice with me."

A look of horror took over Kagome's face. Instead of detaching from Inuyasha, or turning away from him, she leaned into him. She hid her face against his neck. The heat of her breath was the warmest thing he'd ever felt. It caused a tingling sensation to skirt beneath the surface of his skin.

"I really need to stop making an ass of myself with these presumptions," Kagome muttered, her lips tickling his clavicle.

Inuyasha chuckled. Having the weight of her head on his chest and neck made the sound reverberate through his core. "You wanna?" She looked up at him, a look of puzzled curiosity directed at him that had Inuyasha helpless but to lean in and kiss her again. Kagome's eyes looked bewildered and glassy when he pulled away with a scoffing laugh. "I can take a hint, Kagome," he breathed, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. He felt her breath and heard her sigh and Inuyasha's heart played a drum solo in his chest. "I'm askin' you now. You wanna come home with me?"

She leaned back so she could look at him properly. She fidgeted, chewed her bottom lip. Inuyasha's eyes dove to watch the gesture. "Y-you sure? I don't want you to feel obligated to invite me—"

"Dummy," he huffed as a soft laugh, his eyes still on her lips. "I don't feel obligated. I've wanted to ask you over all night."

Her brows furrowed at that. "But...but you—"

He shrugged, as if that was a good enough answer. Then he decided to say, "I didn't want you think—I thought—" He paused, catching his breath— "You're worth more than a quick invite back to my place, Kagome."

Her eyes glazed and quivered with a smile that began to bloom and spread up her face. The look she wore for him made Inuyasha's chest feel warm. His heart felt tight and fragile. "You really want me to come over?" She blushed and looked away. She was making a meal out of her bottom lip. It had the ghost of a smile inching up one side of Inuyasha's mouth. If his balls weren't too busy clawing their way back inside the warmth of his body, he was sure he'd be hard.

"Yeah," he answered. "But a couple things gotta happen first."

She cocked her head at him. "Such as?"

"First," he said gruffly, standing, "I'm freezin' my balls off out here." Kagome gasped, like she hadn't realized he had come after her without his coat. Inuyasha interrupted her with a laugh as he tugged her into standing. "Second, you pointed out its the longest night of the year, so we got plenty of time to kill."

She grinned. "We do, do we?"

He smirked back at her. "I distinctly recall some immature, human kid sayin' somethin' about a park walk with a hot chocolate with sprinkles and marshmallows and whipped cream and a curly straw and—"

"I said nothing of the sort!" she bickered with a bright laugh. Kagome wrapped herself tightly around one of his biceps, looking at him with the softest expression he'd ever seen her wear. Inuyasha had himself convinced she was just being a sweetheart, holding him tightly 'cause she wanted to help keep him warm.

"—and I think there was also some implied harassment around havin' to try some roasted chestnuts or else."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "There was no or else, you big galoot," she laughed, squeezing his arm tighter. Inuyasha hated that his demon senses could detect how his bicep was held in the hollow between her breasts, beneath her coat, obviously, but still. He could detect the beat of her heart against his triceps.

Inuyasha chuckled. It was a soft tickle in the back of his throat. He ushered them back inside the bar and his ears immediately hurt. "So what does she think?"

They joined the coat check queue—longer now than when Kagome was in line—and Inuyasha watched Kagome's breasts emerge when she unzipped her jacket. "I think I'm game if you are."

Inuyasha was convinced her luscious mounds—probably C-cups—distracted him from the rest of her sentence. He found himself asking, "Game for what?"

"Our solstice itinerary," she answered with a broad smile that twinkled her eyes. "The most mature and adult-like hot chocolates known to Earth enjoyed on a lovely evening walk. To be followed by the finest chestnuts the first street vendor we find has to offer. Then—" Her smile grew— "your place." She laughed, adding, "Unless you change your mind."

He rolled his eyes with a scoffing snort. "Unless you change your mind."

"What? Why would I change my mind?"

He shrugged. "You're more fickle than me."

"Fickle? I am not!"

"No?" He scoffed again, fighting back a smile when her arms wrapped around his bicep again. "Sure have me fooled then." Inuyasha most definitely did not lean his body closer to hers, stealing a whiff of her scent. An apple-like crispness radiated off her in droves as she beamed up at him. He wondered if this is what her happiness smelled like.

"You trying to talk me outta coming over, Inuyasha?"

He shrugged again. "No skin off my back if you don't come over." Lies. That was a lie. He wanted her to come over more than anything he's ever wanted in the past one hundred and twenty-eight years of his miserable existence.

"I think you're lying," she whispered, pushing up on her toes to kiss his cheek. Inuyasha turned to her with a crimson heat to his cheeks and a widened, alarmed stare. "I think you like me more than you're trying to let on."

Guilty, he thought, losing the battle not to grin at her. 'Cause I like you a fuckin' lot, Kagome. Maybe even lov—

His thoughts were cut off by being the next in line at the coat check. Who would've thought how fast time flies when, a) you're not paying attention to it; and b) you want time to crawl and arguably even pause because the present moment is too special you never want it to end.