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.

18. Whispers and Tall Tales

Madame Masseuse

"Whispers and Tall Tales"

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Kagome's body hummed with a nervous, excitable energy. She found it impossible to sit still after Inuyasha squeezed her fingers then stepped out of the vehicle. A chaotic excitement had her heart dancing. The sounds of nightlife were muffled inside the sedan and a smile coated her features—a Friday night out on the town sounded raucously similar for demons as it did humans.

Inuyasha's lean, muscular torso loomed over her as soon as the driver opened her door, and Kagome was quick to accept Inuyasha's outstretched hand. She slowly and mindfully exited the silver Bentley, brown eyes enraptured by grinning swirls of ambered gold.

Outside of the car, the noise level was deafening. Between the bumper-to-bumper vehicles on the six-lane street, the foot traffic, and the line-up of patrons eager to get inside the high-rise building before them, Kagome's senses were instantly overwhelmed. She was surrounded by a cacophonous clamour of sound that buzzed in her chest.

Inuyasha held onto her hand firmly as he turned to address the driver, shouting some kind of instruction that Kagome disregarded to observe her surroundings.

The sheer amount to look at was staggering; Kagome's eyes zoomed around with a hunger to see where they were, to know what demon territory was like. While the street felt like any other in the city, there was one thing obviously different about here than Human Tokyo, and it was the significant lack of marketing material.

There were bulbed lights and bright, neon signage everywhere, brightening the thoroughfare to an almost daylight quality alongside the lampposts, but Kagome couldn't spot a single illuminated billboard. There were no banner ads, no storefront posters, no video advertisements on gargantuan screens high above. Demon territory was an uncommercialized Tokyo, and the lack of digitality gave the street an ambience that Kagome quite enjoyed.

Her eyes darting up and down the long boulevard, it became obvious, quite quickly, that the focal point of the street was meant to be the high-rise behind them, the one with the line-up of bodies eager to get inside.

Was that her and Inuyasha's destination?

The popular high-rise in question was a bona fide skyscraper, the building so tall Kagome could barely make out the top despite her head tipping as far back as her spine would allow. It looked like any other commercial high-rise that Kagome would expect to see throughout Tokyo. It was your typical steel-framed, tubular structure with most of its surface area covered by windows. Its shape kind of reminded Kagome of a bottle of wine. The frontage had beautiful, museum-quality curb appeal, housing a wood and glass canopy with timber soffit and pot lighting; and thick, dark oak columns every few feet with sconce fixtures casting hourglass cinctures of light. The main floor was a wall of wraparound windows with tinted, one-way glass. The only entry was a wide, revolving door surrounded by five huge beings adorned in black.

When she couldn't locate signage on the facade, giving their likely destination a name, Kagome's shoulders slumped with disappointment.

Her eyes continued to snap around, a giddy upturn to her lips as the result of being both on a date with Inuyasha and somewhere so new, so exciting, so different. Kagome couldn't help but gawk around like the human tourist she was, electricity in her veins.

Her head carried a befogged heaviness from the crazy amount of noise, particularly the roaring hubbub from those who crowded the building's carpeted entryway. The harder Kagome tried to differentiate what she heard, the more of a muddied blend it became—a drone of voices and laughter merging with various animal noises: growling, hissing, warbling, cawing, snarling. Kagome felt like she could barely hear herself think, marveling that she couldn't even overhear Inuyasha exchanging words with the driver despite them both standing beside her, next to the Bentley.

Before she could become acquainted with impatience, Inuyasha was stepping away from the driver with a nod of his head, his arm wrapping around Kagome's waist, his lips against her temple. As soon as she felt the loss of his warmth in her hand and his body heat against her, a shudder from the cold shook Kagome where she stood. Apparently the sights were an affecting distraction from the goosebumps she'd been wearing like a second layer.

Inuyasha's lips bloomed into a silent smile in response to her gooseflesh, and it wasn't long before he was shrugging out of his jacket and wrapping it around Kagome's shoulders. She beamed up at him with amused gratitude, exaggerating how she gripped the jacket around her shoulders, her eyes closing as his scent invaded her senses. Inuyasha teasingly bumped his hip against her with a roll of his eyes that had her giggling.

It was strange, how casual and normal and good it felt to be out with him like this. Kagome giggled again, her eyes ravishing the smile he wore for her, feeling the bubbly laugh take flight from her throat only for it to disappear, swallowed up by the din.

"It's so loud!" Kagome acknowledged as a shout, observing how his ears lay flattened to his scalp.

"It's a popular spot," Inuyasha replied, his voice a resonate loudness in her ear over the background noise.

Intending to further inspect the skyscraper before them, a jolt shot up Kagome's spine when she made direct eye contact with a demon walking past her on the sidewalk. The half-human-half-tiger-looking creature's eyes immediately narrowed distrustfully at her, leaving Kagome with a twisting ache in her gut.

It kind of amazed Kagome that, in the minutes she'd been looking around, it had taken her so long to observe the crowd, and to realize the blatant audience of demons who detected a human amongst them and seemed less than pleased about it.

The otherness she suddenly felt had her gulping.

Kagome felt a new type of energy—a panicked, fearful energy—begin to radiate through her body. Her eyes jumped to survey the demons who were the primary source of loudness around them. It became very clear to Kagome, very suddenly, that humans were not welcome here.

The nearby demons that looked like all manner of beast, insect, or elemental creature had clearly scented her, and their eyes—many, many eyes and more than just two on many of the faces directed at her—pinned Kagome to the spot. Pedestrians in a mass of bodies slowed as they passed, their eyes and attentions flicking from Inuyasha to Kagome to the Bentley, which was an eyesore amongst the vehicles of varying shapes and sizes lining the curbside drop-off. Some demons made a show of giving Kagome a wide berth as they passed, a hand over a nose or snout like her scent was offensive.

Some of these demons looked like they were built of mix-and-match parts from various creatures and it was just...unsettling.

Nostrils flared in her direction. She could see lips moving as whispers were shared, their focused gaze on Inuyasha. A few pedestrians lowered their heads at Inuyasha in an obvious sign of respect that Inuyasha appeared reluctant to acknowledge but did with a sharp bob of his chin.

His words from earlier—non-humanoids—suddenly made so, so much sense. There were some creatures around that had humanish features, but barely any beings that looked overtly human at all. Kagome realized she stuck out like a sore thumb. It made her wonder if the humanoid demons occupied space outside of demon territory simply because of their physical ability to blend in better.

Her excitement turned volatile. Kagome pressed herself closer to Inuyasha and felt a modicum of relief when his arm tightened around her waist securely, protectively.

She tried to ignore the looks from those waiting to enter the skyscraper, the leering stares from the swarm of demons on the sidewalk. She tried not to take it personally that demons viscerally recoiled at her presence.

Being tucked against Inuyasha's body and wrapped in his fine wool and cashmere blend suit jacket helped her feel a little better, a little less flustered, but she still felt so incredibly unwelcome.

As if Inuyasha could sense her distress, he pressed his lips to her forehead. His chin brushed the side of her head as he squeezed her against him. "You doin' okay?"

Her ears rang from his loud whisper, but Kagome nodded, words caught in her throat. She felt a little woozy from the attention she'd been receiving for doing nothing except standing on the sidewalk, having just exited a vehicle.

Inuyasha's breath was warm in her hair, a welcome respite from the cool evening. She shivered as he spoke into her ear again. "You're probably the first human some of these demons have ever seen," he said, as if that could help her better digest the looks that made her want to shrivel up on the spot. "Don't make direct eye contact with anybody. You don't want anyone to think you're challengin' them. Either keep your eyes on me, or keep 'em aimed low, alright? We'll be inside soon."

The instructions had her heart pounding but she nodded her understanding. She lowered her chin until the long line-up was just a colourful mass of shapes in her periphery. The queue of demons waiting to pass through the revolving door was ridiculous. Kagome couldn't even see where the line-up ended once it wrapped around the nearest intersection. She wanted to approximate how many bodies occupied the line—the line-up they'd very likely be joining—but Inuyasha's words about no direct eye contact made her nervous, so she didn't risk another glance.

"You ready to go?"

Inuyasha squeezed Kagome's hip and she nodded. Her heart wanted to react to the way his fingers wrapped around her hipbone familiarly, intimately, but her nervousness seemed to forbid any other sensations right now. Words felt a little jerry-rigged atop her dry, anxious tongue.

When Inuyasha didn't start moving, despite his question and her conceding answer, she turned her eyes up to him.

Her pulse climbed into her throat as she watched Inuyasha's head descend until his lips were on hers, his palm a gentle, cupping pressure on her cheek. Kagome's eyes drifted shut, closing herself off to everything but Inuyasha's warm, soft mouth. Her lips moved against his, his hips closing in. A splayed hand against the small of her back drew her body flush with his, fingers releasing her cheek to tangle in her hair.

One of her hands rose to his chest, the other rounded his side above his hip. She marveled at how his hardened muscles allowed very little yield when her fingers pressed into his flesh. His body radiated warmth through the dark fabric of his shirt, Kagome's body guzzling down every bit of his heat. A sigh breezed from her mouth as her forearms circled his neck, feeling properly and intimately sheltered in his embrace and sheath of warmth. Her heartrate escalated when his tongue prodded at the seam of her lips in a polite request for entry.

Inuyasha's kiss was tenderhearted and sweetly attentive. The nibbling and caressing motions of his mouth were deftly in sync with the way his body and his arms cradled her. His tongue was thorough and sensual in the way it stroked hers until her body was melting for him, a moan slipping from her mouth into his.

If the human had been the centre of attention before, she was even more of an attraction now that she was kissing-slash-borderline making out with a half-demon, and super publicly at that. As Inuyasha's lips detached from hers, the spectacle of their kiss had a fierce blush crawling up Kagome's neck, roosting in her cheeks.

Inuyasha was all smile lines and smugness as his eyes scoured her face, skirting away for a sweep of their surroundings, causing Kagome to chuff a husky laugh. Her date wasn't daft. Inuyasha kissed her knowing they had an audience. Was this part of his plan? Wanting these demons to know this human woman was his and he was open about that, proud of it even? There was something equally confrontational and protective in the way he looked at the demons around them, like he was daring their audience to do something or say something about the affectionate little moment he and Kagome had shared. The two of them continued to receive nothing but troubled stares and wide berths.

Kagome, meanwhile, was a stomach-somersaulting, girlishly-giggling, cheeks-pinkening mess as she reached into her purse for tissues. Her grin widened, her eyes meeting his, as she began wiping her lipstick off Inuyasha's mouth and chin. The way he smiled at her while she worked didn't exactly make the task any easier, but Kagome persevered until the dark red was gone—mostly. She was quick to check the state of her own lipstick in her phone's reflection, swiping a thumb beneath her mouth, over the arc of her top lip, across her chin, deciding that was good enough until she could get inside to a restroom.

In retrospect, perhaps a shade this dark wasn't the wisest of choices for tonight.

"Don't panic, Kagome," Inuyasha stated, raising his voice above the din, a smile curving his mouth as his palms found her hips.

"I'm not panicking," she answered, her pounding heart making her feel like a hypocrite.

"Liar," he grinned, inclining his head towards her. "Me and every other demon can hear your heart beatin' like you wanna make a break for it."

Kagome snorted. "Maybe I just really liked that kiss," she bickered. She had to give herself credit for cracking a joke despite her insides feeling like hot, carbonated water.

The noise around them didn't allow her to hear Inuyasha's snorted exhale, but she felt the little puff of air on her face. "You're safe with me, Kagome. You got nothin' to fear from anybody as long as I'm around, understood?"

She reached for his hand, squeezing his fingers, feeling a little dizzy from his syrupy sentiment. "I know. I trust you."

He laid a quick kiss to her forehead before pulling her legs into motion. "That's my girl. C'mon."

Inuyasha's grip was firm as he led them towards the front entry of the high-rise building. Kagome's neck strained back to look up at the behemoth steel and glass tower. This entire building surely wasn't the club, right? That would be like...thirty or forty floors of party space. She opened her mouth to ask Inuyasha, but stopped when she accidentally locked eyes with a birdlike creature who flapped their wings at her in a gesture that she assumed wasn't friendly.

Kagome's eyes snapped to the ground, her face warm and heart frantic. After a few steps, she felt stable enough to allow her eyes to turn to Inuyasha.

It had been one thing to see the queued demons eyeing her from the sidewalk, but as she and Inuyasha approached the front door, it became something else entirely to easily distinguish the noses wrinkling, multiple heads—some sharing one body—sneering, teeth snarling, and bestial bodies grimacing.

Kagome's stomach flooded with unrest, her heart hammering with solicitude.

She hadn't expected this reaction from the demons around her. When Kagome thought about her date with Inuyasha, she had mistakenly assumed she'd be ignored by demons, treated like an inconsequential mortal. Yet it couldn't be more obvious that Kagome was wholly unwelcome here, unwanted. No one tried to hide their disdain for the human in their presence. Apparently the patrons here tonight were mostly non-Sympathizers and human haters.

Because these demons hated her, and did so openly. She caught the odd mention of a half-breed here and there, but mostly the looks and curses were directed at Kagome. They hated her for what she was. They hated her simply because she was there, with the gall to be different from them, because she was other.

And that hurt.

That's what she gets for allowing herself to have expectations...

When some demons in the queue started catcalling her, shouting at her to go back to where she belonged, Kagome flinched. Inuyasha's grip tightened to the point the joints in her hand ached. She thought she heard him mumble something like, I got you, but it was hard to focus on anything but the pounding of her heart in her ears.

It only took two more shouted insults before the heat of tears stung her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome could see Inuyasha bristle, his jaw clenching like his fangs would puncture his skin. But he just had them walking faster, his arm tugging at hers.

Is this what Inuyasha faced as a half-demon?

How? How could he endure this? Why would he willingly subject himself to this?

If Kagome were him, she'd never step foot into demon territory again. Because she had never known such emptying, hollowing hurt, and she'd only been on the receiving end of it for minutes.

But then she remembered his comments about humans not welcoming him either, because of his ears, and a sourness began to eat away at her stomach. A ghost-like memory drifted to the forefront of her mind of Inuyasha lamenting a lack of belongingness, and Kagome's heart crumbled into her stomach.

She looked up at him with a softening gaze and an outpouring of love and warmth in her heart that quickly overwhelmed the churning acidity in her gut. Kagome felt amazed by him and how truly thick his skin must be, how incredible his resilience and resolve.

Someone calling her a dirty human bitch had Kagome's gaze turning to her feet, tears prickling behind her eyes as something heavy sat in her chest. She took a lung-filling breath and held it until it burned. Trying to be calm when she felt the opposite of calm had the breath shuddering her shoulders as she let it go.

"Eyes on me, darlin'," Inuyasha instructed, the words harsh despite the sweet sentiment, like it was taking all his willpower not to lash out at those insulting her. He squeezed her hand in a gesture of comfort like he could hear the anguishing tremor of her heart. "Don't listen to these assholes, Kagome. We're almost there. I got you."

Kagome looked up at him, her eyes catching on the swing of his hair from his broad steps. One of his footsteps was two or three of Kagome's, especially in heels. He had them walking at a brisk pace, bypassing the line altogether. Inuyasha didn't slow down until he approached the horde of muscly, intimidating beings that guarded the door.

Only one of them turned to acknowledge their approach, a crocodile-looking demon with human-like eyes that sneered at them down a long, narrow snout. The crocodile demon towered over Kagome by a good foot. Even Inuyasha had to tilt his head back to stare the demon in the eye, which Kagome found interesting given Inuyasha had told her not to do that.

But, then again, there was a good chance Inuyasha was intentionally challenging this demon.

The crocodile demon took an intimidating step to block Inuyasha's path, forcing him to a stop. The suddenness of it had Kagome barreling into Inuyasha's back with an oof and a mumbled apology.

"Outta the way, asshole," Inuyasha barked with an authoritative timbre that had Kagome's eyes widening. She wasn't ignorant of the way Inuyasha took a protective step in front of her. His fingers squeezed hers in a steady pulse, as if to say, Don't worry, I got this.

"You not see the line, half-demon?"

Inuyasha didn't balk at the demon's hostility. "You not know a Taisho when you see one, jackass?"

Kagome didn't know if it was the canopy or the columns that blocked some of the surrounding noise, but she found herself not struggling to overhear the tense words between the two. She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.

The croc's eyes turned to Kagome then—thin, reptilian irises that made her adrenaline spike. "No humans," he spat. "Take that trash back to the crossing where you found her."

Kagome's stomach clenched, along with her jaw.

"Watch your mouth," Inuyasha hissed, sounding the most dangerous Kagome had ever heard him. "She's here under my protection tonight."

The crocodile turned those predatory eyes on Kagome again. "What's so good about this human?" He chuckled. "Other than what females are generally good for?"

Kagome's cheeks flushed as a medley of fear and anger swirled in her belly. She felt unbelievably useless as her head played tennis between the two males, her stomach wringing itself in knots.

"She's none of your goddamn business," Inuyasha snorted, adjusting his weight on his feet, squaring his shoulders. When the demon's body language mirrored Inuyasha's, showing no sign of letting them pass, Inuyasha scoffed a wry laugh. "You got some balls, Croc, gettin' in my way. You better hightail it before I get really pissed off."

The crocodile demon-slash-bouncer snapped his teeth at Inuyasha, his hand rising to settle on a black box on his hip that Kagome thought to be a taser. "I'm not allowing a half-demon bastard and his pet human to bypass a line-up of my kind. So follow the rules like everybody else, vermin, and get outta my face!"

Inuyasha's eyes tapered threateningly. "You don't know the world of trouble you're bringin' on yourself if you don't fuckin' move."

"You fucking deaf, half-breed? I said fuck off!"

Inuyasha scoffed a crude laugh. "I got better hearing than you, asshole," he sneered, his voice cold and antagonizing. He rolled his eyes, his grip on Kagome's hand strong and unyielding. "But you must be a new kinda stupid if you're willin' to disobey a direct order from a Taisho."

The crocodile demon's responding laughter was minatory. Kagome's eyes fell wide as she watched his jowls open and close with the rumble of humour. She swallowed audibly at the sight of all those sharp, little teeth.

"What? You think a half-breed bastard like you is actually demon royalty? Yeah, I know who you are—you're Toga's sullied offspring." He scoffed. "Like hell I'd ever yield to you, half-breed. Such a fuckin' waste—our Lord General impregnating a human bitch. It's bad enough you gotta exist let alone dragging a human into our places, onto our land, like your goddamn brother and daddy before you!"

The vehement hatred the crocodile demon threw at Kagome, at Rin, at Inuyasha's mom, had Kagome taking a fearful step away from him, her hand tugging on Inuyasha's as if to draw him back with her, which was futile.

Inuyasha didn't budge.

"Get the fuck outta my face, half-breed scum, and take your human cunt with you or else—"

The next few seconds were a dizzying, stomach-clenching whirlwind.

Inuyasha's hand was instantly gone from Kagome's, wrapping around the croc's throat in a chokehold that had Kagome feeling nauseated. His claws sunk between scales with the pressure of his grip, silencing the demon mid-threat. Inuyasha slammed the crocodile's hulking form against a wood column with shuddering speed.

The demon's eyes widened, obviously caught off guard by the sheer force of Inuyasha's grasp and his booming, authoritative snarl for the croc to shut his fuckin' mouth.

As soon as Inuyasha laid a hand on the demon, the atmosphere around Kagome changed. The other demon bouncers backed away, eyes keenly observing the half-demon aggressor. The crowd of demons behind them, waiting to enter the building, grew rowdy, louder. They hurled insults at Inuyasha. A few shouts were directed at Kagome, as if this escalated conflict that delayed their entry was somehow her fault. Many were just screaming, cheering, calling for blood to be drawn and spilled. These demons were hungry for violence, and Inuyasha snarled a guttural laugh like he was happy to oblige.

The previous deafening volume became so loud it hurt Kagome's ear drums. She winced, her heart vaulting into her throat.

When a familiar, balding man with round, beady eyes and a grey-white moustache burst from the revolving door, causing a temporary distraction, Kagome's eyebrows shot up beneath her bangs.

"Myoga?" She couldn't help but yell out the male's name, startled by his appearance.

Okay, what the actual hell?!

Between entering Rin's shop earlier and now having one of her regular clients show up, Kagome had had enough serendipitous, universal interference for one day.

Myoga's squat shoulders, overshadowed by a brown jacket two sizes too big for him, heaved with gasping breaths. "Lord Inuyasha! Apologies for the delayed escort! We are all ready for—" His eyes settled on Inuyasha pinning the demon to the column by the throat and Myoga's shoulders sagged— "Oh dear..."

"Myoga," Kagome stated again, wondering if he hadn't heard her the first time, "what the hell are you—?"

"Apologies, Kagome," Myoga smiled at her, his eyes quick to dart back to Inuyasha. "It's nice to see you, although, perhaps not under these particular circumstances."

Kagome couldn't rectify the sight of the male who had run from the building like he was late and knew he would hear about it. How was he here? How did he know Inuyasha?

Why did he call him Lord Inuyasha?

Despite her shock and abundance of rhetorical questions, the way Myoga carried himself found Kagome feeling annoyed for a different reason, like she knew from his posture he'd strained his Tensor fasciae latae muscle again—when she just got his hips as good as new only last week.

Myoga struggled to regain his composure as he absorbed the look on Inuyasha's face, heard the tension building in the crowd, saw the way the crocodile struggled to detach Inuyasha's claws from his throat. The short, aged demon sighed like he had just become thoroughly inconvenienced.

"My lord, is this really—?" Myoga paused to sigh again as Inuyasha slammed the crocodile into another column.

Kagome didn't know what startled her more: Inuyasha's hand wrapped with deadly force around the other demon's throat, her client's sudden appearance, or hearing said client refer to Inuyasha as Lord Inuyasha!

"Myoga!" Inuyasha snapped, tightening his grip on the croc, who pried at Inuyasha's fingers with the same kind of fury as a fish flailing on a hook. "Take Kagome inside! I gotta deal with this asshole!"

Any time the croc tried to speak, Inuyasha hit him in the face. When the demon tried to bite Inuyasha, the half-demon punched him in the jaw so hard Kagome feared for Inuyasha's knuckles. The crowd was divided between boos and demands for more violence.

The crocodile demon spat blood at Inuyasha's feet, barely missing his Italian loafers. "You worthless, fuckin' half—"

"Shut the fuck up, you annoying bastard!" Inuyasha growled, adjusting his grip. "You don't get to open your goddamn mouth for one more fuckin' syllable, you got that?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, her eyes taking in the smug curve of his lips, her ears ringing with the callous chuckles that kept rumbling from his throat. How was it possible he seemed like he was enjoying this? "Inuyasha, what're you—?"

When the full-blooded demon aimed his tail to knock the half-demon off his feet, Inuyasha's counter-maneuver was faster. He swung his right fist into the croc's snout, knocking the demon into a stunned sitting position against the column. His hand now free of the croc's throat, Inuyasha shook the blood from his claws, little specks almost landing on Kagome's dress.

"Go inside, Kagome," Inuyasha huffed between laboured breaths, his eyes on the demon. "Stay with Myoga. I gotta teach this bastard some goddamn manners!"

The crocodile demon snorted. A long, grey-green, scaly finger flicked a button on his taser as he looked up at Inuyasha with a dangerous leer in his eyes. "You may look like a Taisho, but you'll never be my lord, you waste of flesh!" When Kagome gasped at his words, he sneered at her. "Who'd've thought the taste for human cunt runs in the family? Fuckin' disgraceful." He spat out another wad of blood, chuckling, shaking his head. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you, half-breed, and then I'm gonna enjoy that little bitch you brought with you. Think you can take me? Show me what you got!"

It felt a little anti-climatic, hearing those words of intimidation and then watching the demon struggle to rise to his feet.

Myoga sighed like he was vexed beyond belief. "Oh dear," he said again, pinching his nose. "Now he's gone and done it..."

"Done what?" Kagome asked, her pulse a drilling pressure in her ears. "Myoga, what the hell—?" Her eyes widened and mouth snapped shut when Inuyasha started unbuttoning his dress shirt. She gripped his jacket over her shoulders with tight, shaking fingers beneath her chin.

"Inuyasha, what are you—?" Kagome tried for another question but found herself equally unable to finish it.

Her eyes devoured Inuyasha's bare chest and broad shoulders as he tossed his shirt at Myoga, who caught the garment with an outstretched arm like muscle memory, folding it over his forearm. Kagome didn't know where to look when Inuyasha grabbed the demon by the cuff of his shirt, lifting him onto unsteady legs. He pinned him with a slam that vibrated the nearby glass.

Something was clearly wrong with Kagome because she felt arousal warm her core from the masculinity of Inuyasha's body and brutality of his protective actions. Her eyes inhaled the ripple and strain of muscles beneath taut skin, marveling at his show of strength. Seeing the way the crowd—the female crowd—watched Inuyasha, Kagome suddenly felt grateful she had taken the time to claim him yesterday. Knowing that demons respected power, and with how dominant Inuyasha appeared right now, Kagome knew she wasn't the only female eyeing him up like the delicious, masculine specimen he was.

Despite the panic of her fluttering organs, Kagome couldn't deny the proud smirk that curled the ends of her mouth.

The croc hissing while he attempted to bash his skull against Inuyasha's quickly drove Kagome out of her aroused fog. A startled cry slipped between her fingers when the demon swung a left hook that Inuyasha thankfully dodged before wrapping his hands around the crocodile's throat with a curse under his breath.

"Inside, Myoga!" Inuyasha strained, his molars grinding together with his show of strength. "Now!"

"Y-yes, my lord!" Myoga answered, turning to Kagome with a waving gesture of his arm. Kagome looked down at the small-statured demon who was no taller than her breasts. "Come with me, Kagome; let's get you inside."

She took a step back from her client, shaking her head. "No! You can't expect me to just leave him here to—"

Myoga's gentleness surprised her words away. The older male placed a hesitant hand on her arm, his eyes tapering with a pleading expression, while the crocodile demon made another poor attempt to knock Inuyasha on his ass. "Please, Kagome, do as Master Inuyasha has asked. You don't need to witness what inevitably needs to happen here."

But Kagome couldn't look away.

When the demon finally shook himself free of Inuyasha's grip, his taser was fast in his hand and he lunged at Inuyasha, who jumped away with lightening quick reflexes. The croc then turned his eyes on Kagome, like he realized she would be the easier prey. Before the demon could even fully turn toward her, Inuyasha threw his body weight behind a fist that had the croc careening into a wooden post.

Kagome marveled the thing didn't break.

"Rule number one, asshole," Inuyasha spat, cracking his knuckles, "you respect the fuckin' sovereignty and be grateful for its protection! Rule number two—" Inuyasha kicked the croc so hard in the chest the demon collapsed onto a knee— "don't fuckin' look at my girl!"

Kagome was torn between horrified shock at the violence and her heart hiccupping from Inuyasha's protectiveness.

She was quickly distracted from the conflict when Myoga slipped his fingers under her elbow, eager to drag her away.

"Kagome, inside!" Myoga called, his voice raised above the jeering taunts of the crowd. "We've dallied here too long, and Master Inuyasha is too preoccupied, at present, to keep you safe should any other demons get any bright ideas. It's time for us to make our leave!"

She barely noticed her head nodding. Her entire body was focused on Inuyasha, a horrified, sinking ache grinding into her stomach as she watched the two males begin to circle each other.

As soon as her back turned on the fight, Myoga's fingers firm as he escorted her through the revolving door, Kagome heard the crowd cheer. She knew their reactions were a real-time response to the violence unfolding before them. Peering through the one-way window over her shoulder, she watched the croc lunge for Inuyasha with a swing of his taser, but Inuyasha was adept at avoiding it, landing a tight fist in the demon's abdomen.

She tripped over her feet as Myoga tugged her forward. Kagome straightened, briefly taking in the opulent, high-ceilinged, marbled interior covered in an array of plant life. If she weren't so distracted, she would have enjoyed looking around this incredible indoor courtyard where nature met modern luxury. Yet, her gaze kept falling over her shoulder, thinking that every step took her further away from Inuyasha, when he was alone out there; a half-demon amongst full bloods who wanted to see him hurt...or worse.

If he sensed her hesitation or reluctance, Myoga didn't allow it to falter his own scurried steps as he dragged Kagome further into the building, deeper along the marbled path etched into the concrete floor. He led her forward until Kagome could no longer see the fight over her shoulder, the revolving door and wide windows disappearing behind thickly stacked tree trunks lining each side of the path.

The shadowed coverage of lush foliage and the faint, yellow lights along the floor were enough of a temporary distraction to draw Kagome's awareness to her environment.

This path, this place, was lovely!

Even though there was something eerily off-putting about finding herself in a forest despite knowing she was indoors, Kagome gawked at the incredible way nature was clearly preserved in this behemoth, modern structure. Although, she wondered for a moment if the forest was artificial, because it was well into autumn and these trees were still dense and full with dark emerald leaves.

Kagome came to a standstill as the crowd roared a muffled bellow. The space around her echoed with searing slaps and wet crunches of wounds being torn, blood being drawn, bones broken. Sweat beaded along her nape. Kagome could only imagine how bad the damage must be if she could hear it this clearly.

Fear for Inuyasha wrung her stomach. It felt so wrong having left him out there. Not that Kagome could have done anything to help Inuyasha, but abandoning him to do what he needed to do alone felt like the wrong choice. Every fibre of her being was screaming to be with him. Every echo of her high heels, every beat of her heart, had her feeling cowardly remorse and regret. As if her body decided she needed to turn back, her feet faltered for a moment, the click of her heels falling silent.

Until Myoga tugged her to keep walking.

She was too antsy to keep silent; she needed the distraction of conversation. "What's going to happen with that demon?" she asked, the trees swallowing up her voice, giving it a muted quality that had Kagome receding into Inuyasha's jacket.

Myoga sighed, sounding like a worn and weary parent. "I understand from Master Inuyasha that you're not familiar with demon ways, Kagome." He looked up at her, the path lights illuminating the contours of his face in a soft, yellow glow. "As upsetting as this conflict may be for you, I'm afraid it is highly necessary. That demon insulted Lord Inuyasha and his family, insulted you as his protected guest, and that cannot go unpunished. My lord will make an example of that demon, for the sake of his family's honour."

"His family's honour?"

Myoga nodded. "As a member of the monarchial family, it is Master Inuyasha's responsibility to rectify the slander or else he's allowing disrepute to the family name. The Taisho family is the most powerful demon family—and has remained so for centuries—because of their ability to abolish all efforts to undermine their power, verbal or otherwise." The old demon chuckled quietly. "I must say, the young lord has grown quite adept at handling himself in these matters."

Kagome remembered Inuyasha telling her that nothing matters more to demons than power; that his dad had been challenged by demons; that Sesshoumaru had taught Inuyasha to protect himself, which she now realized meant Sesshoumaru had taught Inuyasha how to fight.

A chill crawled down her spine.

If demon ethics required Inuyasha to participate in violent power struggles to avenge his family's honour, no wonder the guy picked his battles, choosing to let it go when someone insulted him and him alone. Because Inuyasha could permit himself to walk away from those comments, the ones that didn't include his family. But he couldn't walk away when his family name was dragged through the dirt—like that crocodile demon had done when he insulted Inuyasha, his dad, as well as Rin and Sesshoumaru, and his mom.

Kagome's brain felt like a tornado with thoughts whipping around; however, the one thing that kept replaying in her mind was the way Myoga referred to the Taishos as the monarchial family.

But Inuyasha had corrected her when Kagome called his dad a king. He denied that fact, saying his father was a general.

No, she reminded herself, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall his exact words. Inuyasha said his dad called himself a general. Inuyasha never denied his dad was a king...

Had Inuyasha just been teasing with semantics regarding his dad being a ruler of demons? Kagome never stopped to consider before that Inuyasha's dad may have been a literal ruler, a self-aware king who chose to go by a different title, which would, in fact, make Inuyasha a...

Kagome shook her head, trying to dispel the heart-pounding realization that there was a very good chance she was in love with demon royalty, an aristocrat of the immortal world.

She needed to know what that meant, how Inuyasha was impacted by it, what it meant that he was a lord, what that could possibly mean for her. All of it.

As all these thoughts spun and came together, something clicked in Kagome's brain. But it wasn't a good click—it was a saddening click. If Inuyasha was truly a lord, demon royalty, it finally made sense why Kikyou was so intent to stick around despite the obvious lovelessness of their relationship.

That realization had Kagome's stomach turning in on itself with spiteful anger that had her blood running hot.

If Inuyasha had suspected Kikyou stayed with him for his family's wealth, because of her desire to marry into the demon royal family, why would he condone that? Why would he stay with her?

Could he have stayed for the same heartbreaking, self-deprecating, low self-esteem reasons that had prompted Kagome to stay with Hojo for over a decade?

Another murmuring cheer from the crowd had Kagome's neck snapping to look behind her, as if she could even see what prompted that reaction.

Suddenly, all of her questions and curiosities paled in comparison to the fact that she was inside this gorgeous albeit slightly ominous forest of an atrium while Inuyasha was outside, shirtless, on his own, and engaging in a violent method of teaching that crocodile demon a lesson.

Kagome's chest felt tight with worry. Her head tilted back to explore the curve of broad trunks and lush branches above her. "Is he going to be okay?"

Her question had Myoga looking over his shoulder at her thoughtfully. "Master Inuyasha? Oh, certainly. Lord Sesshoumaru has trained his younger brother exceptionally well. You should see the two of them when they spar. For being a half-demon, Master Inuyasha's strength is quite impressive. He undoubtedly takes after his father."

Kagome's brows pinched. "Spar? As in present tense? As in, they still do that sort of thing?"

"Yes, of course." Myoga looked at her like her question puzzled him. "My Lord Sesshoumaru is very strict about maintaining the young master's skill level. Unfortunately, being both a half-demon and a member of the monarchial family means Master Inuyasha is more prone to receiving attention that requires swift discipline. It's imperative that the young lord be capable of punishing those who seek to undermine the Lord General's authority and Taisho rule."

Kagome felt winded. She wondered how many times Inuyasha had told her he was working out when really he'd been meeting up with Sesshoumaru to...spar, as Myoga called it.

"You talk about all this violence and fighting as if it's perfectly normal."

"For demons it is, Kagome," Myoga answered kindly. "Physical displays of power are how demons have maintained their social standings for centuries. It's one of the reasons demonkind claimed this sliver of land to do upon what we wish and deem necessary. With their delicate and prudish sensibilities, I can't imagine the humans would take too kindly to how frequently demons engage in acts of violence to settle a score. No offence meant, of course."

Kagome nodded, her mind spinning. Her brain couldn't comprehend that Inuyasha was outside in a situation where he could be hurt and Myoga seemed so perfunctory about it. "So, what is happening outside exactly?

Myoga scratched at his neck, his tone even. "It's typically Master Inuyasha's way to seek penance through submission rather than through taking a life."

Call her naive, but despite the threats, Kagome never actually assumed death could be in the cards for this fight! Her heart shot up into her throat, a frenzied panic making her feel unsteady on her feet. "Which means...?"

Myoga chuckled. "It means Master Inuyasha will beat that brute within an inch of his life, rendering him unconscious rather than outright killing him," he explained with a touch of humour in his tone. "Not that he's not capable of taking a life," Myoga emphasized prudently, "since he has, when the nature of the disagreement or offence merited that level of response—" Kagome gulped— "but, he's fair and equitable, the young lord, despite his temper. I believe he'd rather give the offender an opportunity to improve—a second chance, if you will—rather than take their life as his immediate response."

When Myoga registered the look of dread on Kagome's face, the obvious discomfort as she came to terms with the fact Inuyasha has killed before, Myoga smiled at her warmly. "I know this is all new and likely quite overwhelming for you, Kagome, but Master Inuyasha is one of the best fighters I have seen of this century. I've watched him make fools of much larger demons than that crocodile demon outside. He's scrappy, the youngest lord," he said with an amatory timbre and a chuckle laced into his words. "He'll be fine."

A whooping cry and roars of a satisfied crowd echoed along the path behind them. Kagome's heart drilled a hole in her chest. After the two of them rounded a corner, a worrying, heartfelt longing paused her steps as she turned over her shoulder once more. Those sounds the crowd just made seemed finite, celebratory, like the fight was over, like a victor had emerged.

She was suddenly desperate for Inuyasha to appear from the brush.

Myoga stood at her side and placed a hesitant palm on her forearm. "I know you worry for his wellbeing, Kagome, but I assure you he is fine. He'll be along momentarily—you'll see." His grin was kind albeit tired. "Come, we'll wait for him by the elevators."

Kagome cast one final look over her shoulder before she chewed the inside of her cheek and followed Myoga to the brightly lit space that housed eight elevator bays, four on either side of the cubed room. She found her head playing ping pong between the forest path they had left and the modern, golden-hued space in which they found themselves.

The minutes crawled by and Kagome's skin felt itchy with impatience as she paced, stopped, paced some more. Myoga stood indifferently, calmly, as if he truly were not phased by Inuyasha's delay. Kagome tapped a foot impatiently—the waiting was starting to feel like torture.

"What's taking him so long?"

Myoga sighed. "Ah, yes... The young lord has a tendency to...showboat his victories."

When Inuyasha finally, finally rounded the corner, Kagome almost tripped as she ran at him. She hurled herself against him, her arms constricting around his neck. She tugged him down to deepen her embrace, his chin colliding with her shoulder. Inuyasha caught her, laughing, a smile of genuine, happy surprise on his face from her reaction, from the way she arched him forward so she could tightly wrap her arms around his neck.

"You big idiot!" she cried under her breath, flattening her cheek against his. Grateful tears of relief stung her eyes. She opened her mouth to tell him off more thoroughly, but stopped, feeling the hefty presence of tears in her throat. Instead, she clenched her lips together, allowing the firm hug and those three initial words to be enough.

Inuyasha stood, bringing Kagome with him. His arms cinched around her waist, squeezing the length of her against him. Kagome's feet left the floor despite her heels. She considered wrapping her legs around his waist until she remembered her lack of undergarments.

Instead, she allowed herself to just...hang there, his arms tight against her, her arms ever tighter around him.

"I'm okay, Kagome," he laughed into her hair as he rocked her gently. He set her back on the ground and brushed a hand down the side of her head, cupping her jaw. God, his smile was huge and beautiful. "I barely broke a sweat. Don't tell me you were actually worried about me?" He laughed at the concept. "It wasn't anywhere close to a fair fight for that bastard."

Kagome rolled her eyes at his cavalier attitude. "Of course I was worried, you ass! You say all these lovely, cliffhangery words in the car and then disappear to fight some asshole demon? What if you got hurt? What if I never got to hear what you wanted to tell me over dinner?"

Inuyasha snorted in a playful, light-hearted way. He wore a facetious smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Don't worry, darlin', no one's been able to take me yet. I still plan on puttin' your brain outta its impatient misery."

Kagome scoffed at the same time Myoga cleared his throat and proffered Inuyasha his dress shirt, which shone a rich plum-burgundy under the fluorescent lights. Kagome took a step back as Inuyasha accepted the cloth garment.

"What happened?" she asked, her cheeks pinkening while she watched Inuyasha slide into his shirt and button it. Her eyes ravaged every spare inch of his chest, back, and abdomen, eager to spot any bruises or injuries. She released the tension from her shoulders when she saw he was unscathed. Other than a flush to his face, he really did seem fine.

"That asshole was slow, clumsy, and uncoordinated," Inuyasha answered with a scoff, brushing dirt from the knees of his trousers. "I coulda had him out cold in less time but the crowd wanted a show, and I didn't want anyone else thinkin' they could get away with talkin' shit about my family so, I played it up a little, drove the point home that I'm not to be fucked with."

Myoga extended a hand at Inuyasha in a gesture that Kagome knew was meant for her. The word showboating was evident through Myoga's gesticulation and it had Kagome giggling.

She turned back to Inuyasha, raising an incredulous, amused eyebrow at his aloofness. "Played it up a little, huh?"

Inuyasha nodded, lifting his jacket from Kagome's shoulders to climb into it, straightening the lapels. Once the two of them were back in their respective outfits, Inuyasha's eyes drew a quick line of her body to appreciate her curves and bare arms in this light.

He smirked at her. "I don't think you gotta worry about anymore fightin' tonight, Kagome."

She snorted, a blush on her cheeks from his appraising gaze, her eyes turning to Myoga as he pressed the button to call an elevator. "I wasn't aware I had to worry about fighting at all tonight, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha snorted back at her, draping a casual arm around her shoulders. "'Cause I'm sure she woulda been trippin' over herself to go on a date in demon territory if she knew I might have to beat up assholes who talked shit about my family."

Kagome rolled her eyes at him and grabbed onto his hand that kept floating a little too close to her breast for comfort. Inuyasha's eyes tapered into a cheeky grin, like he knew what she was doing because she knew was he was doing.

As an attached duo, they followed Myoga into the elevator that dinged upon its arrival, a silence falling between the three. Kagome's eyes lingered on Myoga as he removed a key from his pocket to insert into a small, golden keyhole before selecting their destination floor. As the elevator began to ascend, Kagome couldn't help staring at her client, who she'd been seeing for service every three weeks for the past several months. It was so unsettling to see him up and about and clothed rather than facedown on her massage table. It felt kind of like being a kid and seeing a teacher in the wild—it was uncanny and a little off-putting.

Myoga offered her a small, knowing smile when he saw her staring. "I'll see you both to the thirtieth floor before I bid you farewell. Given you'll be on your brother's private floor, Jaken will be overseeing the remainder of your evening, my lord."

Inuyasha nodded at that.

Kagome, meanwhile, was itching to get Inuyasha alone so she could corner him about this whole family royalty business. It brought back their conversation from yesterday, her teasing him about being a prince, and it made her chest and ears feel warm.

Her tongue felt jittery with questions in the heavy silence. "Myoga, I have to ask, how are you even here right now? How do you know Inuyasha? Inuyasha's family?"

Myoga laughed and Inuyasha's head swung between the male demon and Kagome as if he just realized they knew each other prior to meeting outside. Kagome felt a tug of anxiousness swirl in her stomach; should Inuyasha ask, she didn't know how she'd explain knowing Myoga without breaching her employer's rules about confidentiality.

The old demon huffed a laugh, his shoulders quaking underneath the oversized suit jacket that made his frame look even frailer. "I have known the Taisho family for centuries, Kagome. In Master Inuyasha's case, I've known him his whole life. I am the Taisho family's steward. I first served my Lord General Toga and I now serve his sons."

"Mostly Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha snorted under his breath. "Since he's the new general or whatever."

"Your brother is the Lord General, Master Inuyasha," Myoga answered, eyes narrow, his tone reprimanding yet respectful, "the most prestigious of positions among demonkind. If not for Lord Sesshoumaru—"

"Feh!" Inuyasha interrupted with a petulant roll of his eyes. "I'm not in the mood for a history lesson, old man." He raised a single shoulder dismissively, his gaze brushing over Kagome, who looked up at him questioningly. "All I can say is better Sesshoumaru than me."

Kagome found herself feeling a bit like a third-wheel in this enclosed space. Her head gawked back and forth between the two conversing males, awkwardness heavy in her chest like this conversation was not meant for her ears.

Myoga sighed, his tone taking on a cadence and timbre that suggested he was resuming the middle of an unfinished discussion. "You would have made an excellent Lord General, Master Inuyasha. Your father would have been proud if you were the one who—"

"We're not talkin' about this again, Myoga," Inuyasha snapped coldly, bristling to the point he removed his arm from around Kagome's shoulders, startling her. "Sesshoumaru stepped up, I didn't. So, zip it!"

Myoga looked frustrated. "Your brother wasn't any more eager to ascend the throne, my lord—"

"Throne?" Kagome balked, her head snapping between the two.

"It's a figurative throne," Inuyasha groused quickly, his gaze flicking to her for so brief a second it may not have even happened.

"—but Lord Sesshoumaru recognized that his centuries of experience was advantageous to replacing your father. And now with Rin, the family line will—"

"How could I forget," Inuyasha sneered with a scoff, putting space between him and Kagome, "that all you old bastards care about is that the crown stays in the family?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes again.

Wait, so it was a figurative throne but a literal crown? Oh boy, was Kagome ever confused.

Myoga's countenance prickled. "The crown stays in the family, my lord, because of the fortitude of Lord Toga's sons, not by any will of the demon council."

"Coulda fooled me," Inuyasha tartly replied, his eyes drifting to Kagome again, barely, before he cast them low.

Myoga pursed his lips. "You may have declined the title, Master Inuyasha, but—"

Inuyasha snorted a crude interruption. "Sesshoumaru was the only one fit to take the damn job, Myoga! It was a fuckin' joke that it was offered to me!"

Kagome turned her gaze up to watch the numbers increase with every floor they ascended. Uncomfortable, she chewed the inside of her cheek. Maybe she'd feel less awkward if she pretended not to be listening so intently?

"You've done a fine job, Master Inuyasha, upholding the family name. You've stood your ground against far more competitors than your brother. It's been what—? Years since you've had to ask him to intervene on your behalf? You should feel confident that you're living up to the Taisho name. Despite your fears, you wouldn't have easily been dethroned if you were the one to—"

Inuyasha growled. "Didn't I say zip it, Myoga?"

"My lord, I'm just saying that you—"

"Myoga!"

Kagome flinched.

Nope, she was most definitely eavesdropping and still feeling awkward as hell.

Her eyes bore into the side of Inuyasha's face. How could both males be so obtuse that they had an audience for what should probably be a private, family discussion? Inuyasha refused to meet her eye, despite her lingering, eager stare. She knew embarrassment and deep-seated regret when she saw it.

Myoga sighed hotly. "As much as I appreciate your limited interest in adhering to the expectations of being the Lord General's kin, you still have a vital role to play to ensure your brother—"

"Trust me," Inuyasha spat, crossing his arms and leaning his shoulder against the elevator wall. "I'm well the fuck aware of my responsibilities, Myoga."

Kagome's eyes bounced between the pair, finally settling on Inuyasha for a few tense moments. She so desperately wanted to ask what they were talking about, to understand these responsibilities that Inuyasha blatantly hated. Unfortunately, Kagome knew better than to ask. Instead, she settled for trying to read between the lines—except she was failing at that miserably. She genuinely had no clue what they were talking about.

Except for one thing.

There was no doubt about it—Inuyasha was royalty.

It wasn't long before Myoga spoke again, drawing her attention.

The old demon sighed heavily and turned away from Inuyasha with a remorseful expression on his face. "As the first half-demon in a long line of rulers, you're doing well, my lord. That's all I wish to say."

Inuyasha's leg started to fidget, bouncing with irritation. "Feh! Well, forgive me for not bein' thankful for all the goddamn pressure my old man's ambition has dumped in my lap!"

Kagome's head had ping-ponged to the point her neck started to ache. Her heartbeat felt loud in the silence of the elevator as they ascended multiple more floors. She jumped when Inuyasha slid his fingers between her much smaller ones, reestablishing contact with her. She turned her head to him and offered a small, forced smile, squeezing his fingers until she saw some of the tension leave his shoulders. His eyes remained low, thoughtful, beneath dark, furrowed brows.

Myoga sighed and turned to Kagome, as if suddenly remembering she were there. "Apologies, Kagome," the male offered with a nod of his head and a forced grin of his own. "You're no doubt wondering how all this affects—"

"No, Myoga," Inuyasha snapped coldly, his eyes narrowing, his grip tightening on Kagome's hand. "I don't want us talkin' about this tonight." He swore under his breath. "We shouldn't've been talkin' about this shit at all!" He leveled a curt, aggrieved glower at Myoga who turned away with a flustered exhale. "Drop it, Myoga—I mean it!"

Myoga sighed a throaty groan but stood taller and nodded his head with a curt, "Yes, my lord."

Talking about what tonight? Kagome wondered, her eyes tapering as she examined Inuyasha. What the hell...?

A small part of her hollowed out following Inuyasha's demand that information be withheld from her. What happened to him not holding back anything from her tonight?

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed to the point she was very aware of the tight space between them. She wore confusion and disappointment like a new kind of face primer. Inuyasha wouldn't meet her perplexed gaze but he squeezed her fingers gently, like he knew what being teased with information was doing to her and was apologizing for it in his own non-verbal way.

Another few seconds of—awkward—silence lingered before Myoga cleared his throat loudly into a closed fist. There was no confusing the old demon's intention to change the subject. "What are your impressions of Nocturne Tower so far, Kagome?"

Kagome blinked at Myoga a few times, like she was trying to forcibly move her brain forward from the previous terse dialogue. "Is that what this place is called? Nocturne Tower?" When Myoga nodded in response, Kagome flicked her eyes up to Inuyasha as she asked, "So, this entire place is the club, or...?"

Inuyasha chuckled at that, squeezing Kagome's hand. However, Myoga was the faster of the two males to respond.

"The club in question, Kagome, is called Nocturna, and is an exclusively private venue within Nocturne Tower." He grinned at her. "The club occupies the top two floors of the Tower."

"Oh..." Kagome's head cocked to the side. "So, what's the rest of the Tower, then?"

"That's kinda a loaded question," Inuyasha answered, a curve to the right-side of his mouth. "There's a lotta history to this place."

Kagome grinned up at him. "I kind of assumed there was something special about it. I mean, not many modern high-rises have literal forests on their main floor." She turned her gaze to Myoga. "Are those trees real?"

Myoga chuckled. "All the plant life you saw, Kagome, is most certainly real."

She made a face. "But, it'll be winter soon. How are they still so...green? Is it because they're indoors?"

Myoga grinned at her observation. "Let me tell you a little bit about the history of Nocturne Tower, Kagome. Maybe it might even answer some of your questions."

Kagome gave Myoga an assenting nod of her head and Inuyasha clutched Kagome's palm tighter, as if to say she was in for quite the gripping tale.

"Centuries ago," Myoga began, "there used to be a lush forest that covered this entire area of Tokyo and beyond that was rumoured to host a magical being, a woman, who granted all kinds of wishes during the darkest hours of night. Demons would travel from all over, seeking out this magical female for cures to the incurable, things that no shaman or priestess could ever cure: heartbreak, terminal disease, and the death of a mate, among many other things. They say this woman, who was called the Lady of the Forest, possessed a jewel that could grant any wish, should anyone be fortunate enough to earn the Lady's presence. For, you see, it was said the Lady would only show herself, and present her wishing pearl, to those most worthy of having their wishes granted."

Kagome scoffed quietly. "Is that true, Myoga?" She asked, an eyebrow raised skeptically. "I know there's magic in demonkind's history, but this Lady of the Forest stuff sounds like a child's bedtime fairytale. Did such a woman really do those sorts of things? Are you saying those are magic trees downstairs?"

Myoga chuckled softly to himself. "The legend of the Lady of the Forest and her magical jewel is a fond, recognizable story amongst demons, not just children. Many like to debate whether she and her magic pearl truly existed or not," he answered, "but, it's hard to deny the enchantment of the forest below. Wouldn't you agree, Kagome?"

She pulled a face to imply she didn't not agree. "Where did the rumour of this woman come from?"

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, who seemed content being the one to third-wheel the conversation now. His gaze lingered on the inclining numbers above the door, a look entrenched on his face to suggest he was deep in his own thoughts.

"There were all kinds of flora that existed in this forest," Myoga answered, "beyond what we were capable of preserving within the tower. Many of those plants had hallucinogenic properties, it turns out. Whether such a being truly existed or was merely collectively dreamed is often debated. Demons would come, drink from the waters and consume some of the flora in a reprieve from their journey, and declare they'd been visited by the Lady with her jewel, granted the answers to their hearts' most desperate desires."

Kagome considered that for a second or two. "So, this building was erected to honour the legend of this magical woman?"

Myoga chuckled. "Nocturne Tower was a shared initiative between the demon clans in this hemisphere. Some would argue it was primarily erected as a way of preserving the endangered flora from the original forest. Other demon clans, however, who swear the Lady of the Forest saved the life of an ancestor, will say the tower was built as a way to preserve some of the magic the forest was rumoured to hold. You may even hear some acquisitive clans arguing that the tower was created with the hope of containing the Lady of the Forest and obtaining her magic jewel."

Kagome recalled the way the trees downstairs looked, the presence they held, and found it hard to deny the possibility there could be a hint of magic here, even though she had grown up in a world where such a thing only existed in fairytales.

"The textbook answer, however, for the tower's creation is a different reason altogether," Myoga continued. "As happens with modern day development, nature is the first to be destroyed for the sake of industry. As demons in a modernizing human world, it was important that our heritage be protected while the humans were keen to advance their technology and structures. We claimed this land in Japan as demon territory and marked our place in the human world using a symbol they would recognize—a building. Nocturne Tower was constructed and part of the forest was able to be protected."

Kagome's eyebrows creased. "But...why would demons want to share a high-rise building?"

Myoga huffed a laugh at her question. "There has always been conflict among demon clans, Kagome. Many battles took place over which clan rightfully owned the land that inhabited the infamous Lady of the Forest. As is the case for many species, nothing unites foes better than a common enemy."

"You're referring to humans in this case, aren't you?"

Myoga offered her a sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately, yes. After demons began co-existing with humans, many clans wanted a safe space for demons where humans were not permitted." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Nocturne Tower was built as an agreement between demon clans, a sanctuary and symbol of peace for demonkind, while also acting as a larger marker to humans that this land belongs to demons."

The elevator dinged their arrival at the thirtieth floor and Kagome followed Inuyasha and Myoga out. They stood in front of the elevator door and Kagome quickly took stock of the beautiful, Victorian-looking hallway before her eyes turned back to Myoga. She had to admit she was quite enraptured by the tale.

"So, you see," Myoga resumed, gingerly drawing Kagome's attention away from the antique, wooden design of the space, "the Tower is the only place amongst all demonkind where fighting is not permitted. It's long been honoured as a place of neutrality."

Kagome huffed a sarcastic laugh, her eyes darting to smile brazenly at her date. "Didn't Inuyasha literally just beat someone up outside? That doesn't sound all that peaceful to me."

"Outside bein' the key word, Kagome," Inuyasha stated, a half-smirk on his lips. "Once we stepped inside, that shit wouldn't be tolerated. So it was kinda time sensitive that I made a statement that me, you, and my family are not to be fucked with, 'cause I couldn't do shit about it once we were inside."

"That's why you wanted Myoga to take me inside," she answered, mostly for herself to help bring the pieces together. "Because no one could harm me, because fighting isn't permitted inside the tower." Myoga nodded in response to Kagome's words and she giggled as she said, "So, it's perfectly fine for demons to rile each other up indoors, but they have to take it outside to throw down?"

Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at her verbiage and Kagome shrugged at him in response.

Myoga shook his head as he answered Kagome's question. "Even acts of verbal aggression aren't permitted. The rules of Nocturne Tower are peace and respect amongst all demon clans at all times. I commend the workers who built this place like a fortress. The amount of times fights break out as soon as demons step out of the entryway—" Myoga trailed off with a bemused shake of his head.

"I can't imagine no fighting is an easy thing to enforce among a group of beings that thrive on fighting."

Inuyasha snorted. "It is with the security system bein' what it is in this place. It's somethin' Sesshoumaru put a lot of effort into improvin' when he took over for our old man. Camera and audio recorders in every corner of this place. Guards in the bathrooms. If anybody causes shit, or looks the least suspicious of causin' shit, they're paid a lovely little visit by an enforcement crew."

"And people, sorry, demons, actually listen to this enforcement crew?"

"When the perpetrators are beaten within an inch of their life as a warning?" Inuyasha chuffed. "Yeah. 'Cause it took decades to get Nocturne Tower to the state of neutrality that it is today and demons not followin' the rules are either banned or killed."

"Sometimes both," Myoga laughed.

"But, you said it's members only?" Kagome asked, her eyes scanning above Myoga's head to appreciate the beautiful hallway that was half-wallpaper, half-mahogany with walls lined with framed fine art. "That line-up outside? That's an awful lot of members."

"Nocturna is the only part of the tower that requires membership to access," Inuyasha explained, "which is the top two floors. The top is the nightclub and lounge and the floor below that is the restaurant part."

Kagome felt like they were finally back on a topic that actually pertained to their date. "So, that's where you're taking me? To Nocturna?" Kagome looked around the thirtieth floor, the look on her face clearly evident that she was confused about how they ended up on Sesshoumaru's private floor, given what Myoga had said when they first entered the elevator.

Inuyasha grinned as he watched her survey her immediate surroundings. "Not exactly."

Kagome pursed her lips, drawing them to the side in a contemplative frown. Her focus turned to Myoga. "You said this is Sesshoumaru's floor?"

Myoga nodded. "Below Nocturna, the immediate next five floors are private spaces for important figureheads of demon society. Each of those floors host all manner of board rooms, private dining rooms, cigar lounges, libraries, that kind of thing. In addition to the board of directors and key government figures, there has always been space in this tower protected for the ruler of demons, the Lord General."

"The thirtieth floor," Kagome added, which awarded her a nod from Myoga.

"It was something the previous Lord General, Master Inuyasha's father, requested during the tower's construction—a private space to run professional and private affairs. As the new Lord General, the floor now belongs to Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha nodded, squeezing Kagome's hand to draw her attention back to him. "So, you and me are takin' advantage of his private dining room and then I'm takin' you upstairs."

Myoga smiled at the two, his eyes honing in on how Inuyasha's thumb stroked the back of Kagome's hand. The older demon excused himself for a brief moment with a polite bow of his head, then disappeared down the hallway, taking a right at the bend.

Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha after he placed a gentle kiss on the crown of her head.

Even though she had wanted a moment alone with him to ask him her hundred million questions, now that she found herself in said alone moment, Kagome found his presence, the beat of her heart, the way he made her feel, far too distracting.

"I hope you didn't go to too much trouble," she said quietly, a blush on her cheeks. "We easily could have just gone to the main dining room."

Inuyasha merely smirked at her in answer and then wrapped his arms around her, loosely resting his hands on the small of her back. Kagome closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of his hot breath on her forehead, his hands on her body.

After a few heartbeats of silence, Kagome looked up at him. When she had thought about her evening, she wouldn't have expected to be learning so much about demonkind and about Inuyasha and his family. All this knowledge suddenly had her feeling hungry for more information. "So, if the top two floors are this fancy all-demons club, and the floors below are for private use by the important demons who run this place, what is the rest of the building?"

"A variety of things," Inuyasha shrugged, "but mostly a sanctuary and host of resources for demons. Think of all your human public services, and government resources, plus libraries and museums and a cafeteria, and merge 'em all together and that's Nocturne Tower. That line-up outside you saw woulda been for demons wantin' general access to the building. Members of Nocturna typically bypass the line after they check in with security."

"Is that what you had tried to do?" She teased with a little smile. "Check-in with security?"

Inuyasha snorted. "I'm not in the habit of checkin' in with anybody. Bein' a Taisho allows me to walk directly into this place. That croc was just bein' an asshole about it."

You walk right in as if you own the place because you're royalty, Kagome wanted to say; however, a weird flutter in her stomach had the words staying firmly behind her teeth.

When Inuyasha's arms tightened around her waist, Kagome rubbed her palms up his arms to settle them on his pecs, a curve to her back as she looked him in the eye. "Seems a little weird to me that the most exclusive club for the demon elite is on the top floors of a governmental resource building-slash-protected magic forest-slash-peaceful sanctuary for demons," Kagome shrugged, "but okay."

Inuyasha guffawed brightly. He enclosed his fingers around her chin, tilting her head back while he lowered his. He just started caressing her nose with his, when a thoroughly vexed, nasally voice began shouting from further down the hallway.

Kagome startled, emerging from Inuyasha's embrace to see Myoga walking alongside a small, green, goblin-esque demon with an unimpressed scowl and arms flailing while he vented to Myoga, who looked...less than thrilled about the exchange. The demon was squawking some frustration about no respect for his time when he stood before Inuyasha and Kagome, narrowing his eyes at the half-demon before he began tapping his foot impatiently with a cross expression.

"You're lucky Lord Sesshoumaru bid me to lend my resources for this evening of yours, Inuyasha," the imp said by way of greeting, his eyes narrowing upon Kagome. "I have been pacing this hallway a good ten minutes. My time would be better spent in useful support to Lord Sesshoumaru rather than playing Date Coordinator for my lord's younger brother!"

Kagome couldn't help staring at the little green demon, fighting back a grin that caused her lips to tremor. He was so irritated and annoyed by Inuyasha that the imp was almost cute.

"Master Inuyasha," Myoga answered with an scolding look, "was upholding the family name against a demon thug who had some ugly things to say about our Lord General and future Lady. You should be thanking him for that, Jaken, not berating him for the time it took to rectify the defamation!"

Inuyasha placed a hand on Myoga's shoulder and snorted. "Save your breath, Myoga," he chuckled, "Jaken's prone to gettin' pissy about the dumbest shit. Aren't you, Jaken?"

The green imp blew out his cheeks as he met Inuyasha's smug, antagonizing expression. If it was physiologically possible for steam to bellow from his ears, Kagome was sure it would have just happened. This time, she outwardly giggled, resulting in a not so kind leer from Jaken.

"Kagome," Myoga stated after clearing his throat, "allow me to introduce you to Jaken. He is Lord Sesshoumaru's personal steward and concierge." Kagome smiled at the imp who gave Kagome merely a blank, unamused stare in return. "Given the Lord General's schedule, as well as his financial responsibilities, and his upcoming nuptials and mating, it's been helpful having a second pair of hands to manage the family affairs."

When Jaken didn't say anything in greeting to Kagome, Myoga elbowed him in the side. Jaken sighed loudly. "I suppose it's nice to meet you, human," Jaken said to Kagome, not looking up at her. "I'm not in the habit of associating with humans outside of Lady Rin, but Lord Sesshoumaru has me at Inuyasha's disposal this evening so..." He looked like he fought against a grimace and chose to sigh loudly instead. "This way, if you please." With that, he turned on his heel and trudged down the hall, not once looking over his shoulder to verify Inuyasha and Kagome were following him, which they weren't—at least, not yet.

The two said a quick goodbye to Myoga who stepped back into the elevator. As the door slowly closed, Kagome thought she could hear Myoga making some under his breath remark about his hip acting up again, which had Kagome rolling her eyes so thoroughly she almost glimpsed the back of her head. However, it wasn't hard to quickly shift her attention to Inuyasha when he laced their fingers together and brought the back of her hand to his lips for a gentle kiss.

The memory of the car ride had Kagome's mind recalling Inuyasha's promise of emotional honesties, and those butterflies-slash-water buffalo from earlier started dancing and stomping throughout her stomach all over again.

"You finally ready to get on with our date, Kagome?" he breathed against the back of her hand, his eyes on hers in that deliciously predatory way of his.

"It's only about time," she teased, a flush on her cheeks. She bumped him playfully with her hip before the two ambled down the hallway slowly, in pursuit of a long gone Jaken.

Inuyasha's rumbling chuckle echoed around them. "She's not willin' to be patient for me anymore, huh?"

Kagome paused mid-step, moving in close to Inuyasha and lifting her chin until her lips gently met his. He looked disappointed when she pulled away, like the graze of her mouth wasn't nearly enough, which was the point. There was barely any lipstick to wipe away. "I think I'm well past being patient, Inuyasha. I think I'm also owed an honesty from you, if your words from the car are to be believed."

"I thought I told her over dinner?"

"I thought I said I'm done being patient?"

Inuyasha snickered, running his knuckles down her temple, across her cheek. There was a look in his warm, amber eyes, his bottom lip drawn ruggedly between his teeth, that had Kagome's heart soaring. A small—very small, barely there—part of Kagome just wanted to skip ahead to the part where they found themselves in Inuyasha's bedroom.

God, she couldn't wait to pry him out of that suit.

"Don't dawdle, Inuyasha!" Jaken snapped from up the hall, his head appearing from around the corner. His loudness made Kagome jump, which had Inuyasha chuckling low in his throat.

Holy, for a small, little thing he sure was pissy, and certainly spry.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, walking alongside him. "Why does Myoga refer to you as master and lord but Jaken doesn't?"

Inuyasha snorted. "Because Jaken doesn't respect me, which is fine by me 'cause I sure as fuck don't respect him either."

Kagome coughed a laugh at that, falling silent as she took in the taupe and dark wood decor.

When they caught up to Jaken, he straightened his back, his wide, round eyes peering up at them with a scowl etched into his features like playing host was the most beneath him.

"We'll be making our way to the dining room once the meal is ready to be served," he called over his shoulder, a few steps ahead. They made their way down a hallway lined with multiple closed, wooden doors. "You'll be starting the evening in my lord's library."

"What are all these other rooms?" Kagome asked, keeping the hand Inuyasha didn't hold into a fist to prevent herself from reaching out to open one of the knobs to see for herself.

Jaken sighed loudly. "I suppose I can provide an overview of my lord's space, so long as you don't touch anything, human." He turned to look at her like he was onto her and Kagome's cheeks warmed instantly.

"She has a name, frog," Inuyasha called threateningly, which just had Jaken sighing a groan again and clenching his jaw.

The interaction had Kagome giggling.

"The Lord General's floor consists of four meeting rooms; my lord Sesshoumaru's personal office with terrace access; library; dining room; and his personal quarters, which are strictly off limits for the extent of your visit, in addition to his office. You have no business meddling with my lord's affairs, given your purpose here this evening."

Inuyasha scoffed then rolled his eyes loudly. Kagome nudged him to behave.

"Here is the library," Jaken announced, opening a double door entrance and stepping to the side to allow Kagome and Inuyasha to enter ahead of him.

This space felt even more like Victorian era decadence. It smelled of wood, leather, and old paper. It smelled academic, rich. Kagome was positive bougie men's colognes were named after this kind of scent. Jaken paid the space no mind, regarding it as plainly as he had the allure of the hallway from which they came. He led the two past massive, stocked shelves of books to a live-edged, wooden bar, staffed with a single barkeeper, who had a bottle of red wine airing in a decanter on the bar top, two glasses at its side. The bar was the only thing modern Kagome had seen in this, otherwise, 19th century space. The bar, itself, was beautiful with all its moody lighting, dark wood, and glass.

The pretty, female bartender smiled at the two of them, her eyes lingering on Inuyasha for an extra second that had Kagome's eyes narrowing.

"Riku will be at your disposal while the chefs finalize your dinner. I will be back to fetch you when supper is ready." Jaken turned his sneering face to Kagome again. "Try not to get your itchy, human, little fingers all over my lord's things without a proper chaperone."

"Jaken..." Inuyasha warned.

The imp sucked his teeth, gave Inuyasha another look over then turned on his heels, closing the double doors behind him without a word more.

A feminine giggle behind Kagome had her turning and smiling at the blue-haired bartender. "Don't mind him, miss. Jaken's far less frosty towards humans these days. I'd say that was the nicest I've ever seen him be to a human stranger."

Kagome snorted. "I suppose Rin has helped with that?"

"Oh, yes," she beamed, lavender eyes crinkling as she poured the gorgeous-looking red into the two glasses. "Lady Rin has melted a lot of hearts around here. Our own Lord Inuyasha has done his share, as well, for our half-demon community. We owe him quite a lot, actually, me especially."

Kagome's head pivoted between Inuyasha beside her and the bartender.

Inuyasha stepped towards the bar, a grin spreading up his face. "Shiori Kugo, glad to see you made it through Wednesday night in one piece. I gotta say, I'm a little shocked you're still workin' for my dick of a brother. You go by Riku these days?"

Shiori—Riku—snorted a laugh and smiled up at Inuyasha, sliding the wineglasses across the bar top and gesturing for the two of them to sit in the plush, backed barstools. Inuyasha sat immediately.

"I haven't heard much from my grandfather's clan after you saved me from him, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to go by a different name, just in case. I feel like I could have probably been more creative than Riku—you know, the end of my first name, start of my family name—but—" She shrugged, turning her eyes to Kagome. "Having the protection of the Lord General is also hard to beat," she laughed. "So, yeah, I stayed put."

Inuyasha turned to Kagome as she sat down and carefully arranged the skirt of her dress. "I've known Shiori since we were kids," he explained. "My mom was friends with her mom, and Sesshoumaru gave Shiori a job as a form of protection as a favour to my mom on her deathbed. Shiori is a half-demon, Kagome, like me."

Kagome turned towards the female half-demon and offered her a bright smile. "It's really nice to meet you, Shiori."

Shiori smiled at Kagome before narrowing her gaze at Inuyasha in good humour. "It's so like you to skip the best part of the story, my lord," Shiori teased. She turned a fond smile back to Kagome. "You see, I lived with my mom in the same human community that Lord Inuyasha's mother, Lady Izayoi, lived in. My father is a bat demon, and the leader of the clan, my grandfather, hated humans—uncharacteristic of full bloods, I know," she joked, making Kagome laugh as she brought her wine to her lips. "My grandfather grew quite senile after being alive for so many centuries. He had it in his head that he knew how to convert half-demons into full demons, and he kidnapped me, wanting to test out his theory."

"Oh God," Kagome answered, her hand hovering in front of her mouth. "And Inuyasha saved you?"

"He did," she smiled. "My mom told his mom what happened, his mom told him, and he showed up at the bat demon clan's primary residence and said I needed to be set free or the head of the clan would be removed of his head."

Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha as Shiori giggled. "So, yeah, I guess that's the story of how Lord Inuyasha decapitated my grandfather, saved me from torture, and developed a reputation as being Prince of the Half-Demons."

Inuyasha groaned. "Please don't use that stupid fuckin' moniker, Shiori. I'm not—"

Shiori waved his words away, laughing. "That's enough talk about me and from me, anyway. You two are on a date, so I've heard from Master Jaken, and the last thing you need is your bartender getting in the way." She grinned at Kagome, giving her a sneaky little wink. "It's lovely to see you again, Lord Inuyasha, and it's nice to meet you, Kagome. I hope you have a lovely evening. If you need anything, just ring that bell there. Otherwise, I'll be just through this door here."

Once Inuyasha and Kagome said their goodbyes to Shiori, they sat in silence for a few breaths, Kagome's finger tracing her wineglass, the rim of Inuyasha's glass hovering against his lip.

"Tonight's been pretty eye-opening for me so far," Kagome said finally, her eyes on the ripples in her wine. "Between everything I learned from Myoga, meeting Jaken, meeting Shiori... It's hard to believe the night's really only getting started when I feel like so much has already happened."

Inuyasha chuffed a laugh. "I'm sorry things got off to a dramatic start, Kagome. Are you doin'—?"

"Oh, I'm not complaining, Inuyasha," Kagome was quick to say, turning in her stool so quickly her knee bumped his. "Yes, some things have caught me off guard, and I didn't realize there was this whole other side to you I didn't know existed, but—" Her words trailed off as she shrugged.

Inuyasha flinched. "You talkin' about the family stuff you heard Myoga and me get into in the elevator?" When Kagome nodded, Inuyasha groaned, taking a large mouthful of wine. "Listen, there's a story there, and it's not like I don't wanna tell you about that stuff, Kagome, about my family—well, more than you already know about my family—but I really wasn't wantin' to get into any of that tonight. I bet you have questions—" When she nodded, Inuyasha snorted a laugh— "and I'll answer 'em, Kagome, I swear. Just...not tonight, alright? I wanted tonight to be about...about somethin' else."

Kagome's heart lurched up into her throat with a little dolphin flip. "Something else?" she echoed.

Kagome was used to occupying space and navigating silence with Inuyasha. There really weren't all that many times she felt like silence between them seemed huge and awkward. But this silence right here? Where Inuyasha looked like he was in pain, and he wanted to say something, but he also looked like he didn't want to say something, and Kagome wanted to say something about that, but didn't know what to say?

Yeah. This silence was awkward as fuck.

When Kagome opened her mouth to finally say something, Inuyasha sighed at the same time, prompting Kagome to instantly seal her lips together with a smack that drew his attention.

When neither of them spoke, Inuyasha's cheeks coloured as he said, "Sorry, were you gonna—?"

"No, I thought you were—?"

"Oh," he flushed as Kagome chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah, uh..." Inuyasha fingered the stem of his wineglass for a few breaths of silence before he grabbed the bowl, tipped his head back, and downed the rest of his glass.

Kagome didn't know what to say as she watched the rhythmic bobs of his throat as he swallowed, the deep gulping sounds after every chug.

"Fuck it," he hissed when he came up for air after his enthusiastic, glass-draining swig. "I'll be right back."

Kagome watched, wide-eyed, as Inuyasha slid off his stool and disappeared through the double doors of the library. The silence that encircled Kagome once Inuyasha had left wasn't awkward, but it was hungry, it was expectant, it was impatient. Kagome fidgeted, adjusting and readjusting her posture, the fall of her dress over her legs. Sipping her wine, putting it down, just to pick it back up for another little sip to give her hands something to do.

Inuyasha came back after what felt like an hour but was realistically only a few minutes. Her eyes searched him over, feeling a quiver in her stomach upon noticing a white envelope in his hand—a card. Her head fell to the side with a questioning gaze when it seemed like Inuyasha was trying to hide said envelope from her field of vision.

"Inuyasha, what's—?"

"Okay, so, listen," he cut in. Kagome was vicariously nervous because Inuyasha was just...beside himself. She'd never seen him like this before.

When he went to open his mouth to say something else, Kagome slipped off her own stool—carefully, holding down her skirt, of course—and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him firmly. "Are you okay, Inuyasha?" She interjected. "'Cause you seem—" What's the word?— "okay, I don't know how you seem, exactly, but it's off. You seem off right now. Is everything okay?"

Inuyasha nodded multiple times, like he couldn't stop the bob of his head once he started. He licked his lips, looking everywhere except meeting her gaze. Geez, he was making her nervous by how nervous he was. "Yeah, Kagome, I'm—"

"Kiss me," she said suddenly, which drew his brows together tightly.

Because when she was nervous, nothing felt more right than Inuyasha's lips on hers. Maybe the same could be said for him.

"What're you—?"

"Kiss me, Inuyasha," she repeated. "I'm on a date with you and I'm asking you to pause whatever weirdness is going on right now to kiss me. Can you please just—?"

He didn't let her finish her sentence, which was perfectly fine, because Kagome would much rather be like this—her tongue in his mouth, her fingers in his hair, rubbing his ears, him moaning in her mouth in return—than given the opportunity to finish that sentence. When Inuyasha had Kagome bumping up against the bar, she gasped a needful sound that had Inuyasha's hands reaching around her to fist his hands in the material of her dress over her buttocks.

The next time Kagome opened her eyes, she gasped.

Oh dear god, her lipstick was everywhere!

Inuyasha trailed his lipstick-coated lips down her neck, painting her ashen skin her own shade of red. Kagome giggled, pressing on his shoulders gently to bring him to a stop. Seeing his swollen lips and kiss-starved expression all painted in a smudged disaster of her lipstick, Kagome broke out into a shoulder-shaking laugh.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she laughed, reaching over the bar for some napkins and wiping roughly at his mouth. "This lipstick was such a bad idea."

Inuyasha laughed in response, his hands on her waist. "It's fine, Kagome. I really don't mind."

Kagome was silent for several heartbeats as she wiped at his lips. She could feel Inuyasha's eyes peering between hers as her own focused on his lips, his cheeks, his chin.

She brushed his bangs from his eyes when she finished, her gaze following the movement of his hand as he placed the white envelope, the card, on the bar top.

They were silent for a few more breaths after that, both pairs of eyes locked on the blank envelope.

Kagome chose to break the silence, as was often her way. "What's this?"

"I, uh, it's, um—" Inuyasha paused, pressing his palms into Kagome's hips— "It's for you. I was gonna wait until dinner to give it to you, but, uh, you said you were impatient and I'm thinkin' I might just wanna get it over with and—" Kagome pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, silencing him.

"It's okay," she whispered, pulling back. "You don't need to panic."

"I'm not panicking," he whispered against her red-smeared lips.

"You sure?" she teased softly. "Because that looks an awful lot like an Inuyasha panicking face."

He snorted a laugh at her for recycling his words. "It's just—I'm just hopin'—"

"Can I open it?" Kagome asked, her hand hesitating to pick up the envelope, not trusting herself not to rip into the thing once she had it in hand.

"Yeah," he said quickly past a gulp that bobbed his Adam's apple. "I'll be right back, but, uh—I mean, uh—" He paused, audibly swallowing again— "You open that and I'll be right back, okay?"

Kagome nodded. "Okay."

She rested a hesitant palm on the smooth, white paper. Turning to watch Inuyasha leave the room, Kagome suddenly felt incredibly intimidated, anxious, nervous, excited, hopeful.

Afraid.

She was a little afraid.

Fuck, what a lie. Okay, she was a lot afraid.

Because once she knew what was inside this card, she could never unknow it. There would be a definitive before and after to this envelope, and that premise was terrifying.

Last week, you said you wanted me to be upfront with you about how I'm feelin', and I'm gonna be... I didn't need to go on a date with you to know that I like bein' with you, Kagome.

The echo of Inuyasha's words were enough encouragement to have Kagome slowly lift the envelope and slip her fingers underneath the seal. There was a noticeable beat in her chest that could have been a flutter or a pounding assault, but she was too focused on her fingers to spare the rest of her body any attention.

Kagome opened the card.

Only to learn it wasn't a card at all.

It was a letter.

Apparently, Inuyasha had written her a letter.

Kagome had never seen Inuyasha's handwriting before, but it was neat blocking, legible and tidy, a curve to some of his lettering like he had once been in the habit of writing in cursive.

Kagome tongued her bottom lip as her eyes feasted into the letter's contents, falling back into her seat at the bar.

Kagome,

I'm gonna be honest: this feels really fucking weird lol. I can't tell you the last time I sat my ass down to write somebody a LETTER of all things, but here we are. I'm hoping that writing shit down gets my point across better than trying to stumble through something on the spot and making a mess of things like an idiot.

So, here goes:

You were led on for years by a dickhead and I'm not gonna let that happen to you again. So that's my reason for doing the letter: to make sure you don't feel led on and to tell you the truth about what I want from you (even if I'm not 100% and figuring shit out as I go lol).

I wanted to do all of this tonight for you because I've realized recently that you've become important to me, which has me feeling a bunch of things that are new to me. You make me feel helpless sometimes, dumb as fuck, clueless, but also happy. That's the big one: you make me really, REALLY fucking happy, Kagome.

After Kikyou, I didn't think I'd find anybody who makes me feel as FULL as you do, so that must be a good thing, right? It feels easier to smile these days and I think that's your fault. Fuck, sometimes I even feel like you've started to mean more to me in MONTHS than she did to me after YEARS. I don't know why the fuck I wrote that, but I guess it's here now so I have to keep it lol. I guess I said it because I don't know what you make me feel...but it's big. It feels big.

When I've been saying you're claimed, Kagome, I mean you're my girl, you're MINE. Things may have been just physical for me at some point, but it doesn't feel that way anymore, especially not after Wednesday and what you did for me, what you were willing to do for me.

So, this is me letting you know that I don't want you seeing anyone else, and I don't plan on seeing anyone else either. I told you before that I didn't want a new relationship because the last one felt like a cage, a miserable fucking prison, so I'm trying not to psych myself out over what it means that I want to be exclusive with you. But, I don't know, I get the sense a relationship with you could be something different, something better, and I'm willing to see what that looks like, I guess.

It probably makes me sound like a dumbass, but I haven't been able to use the word 'girlfriend' without getting into a fucking panic about it, like Kikyou ruined that term for me. Why does that stupid word have to have so much packed into it? I hate it. Can I just say you're mine, Kagome? That I've claimed you, knowing that when I say it, I mean all of you belongs to me and all of me belongs to you?

I don't need to explain overthinking when you're the expert lol, but shit feels right with you when I don't think about it too much. It's easy to enjoy you, Kagome, when I let myself, so I'm just gonna do that.

I know I still got a bunch of shit to work through, but if locking things down is the only way to keep you then I'll do it. Because facing my issues is a way better alternative than not allowing myself this happiness you've brought into my life.

So, yeah, long story short, you can take this as me wanting you to be mine, Kagome, exclusively. Now you just gotta let me know if you want that too or not. Because yeah, I'm not gonna leave you hanging and left wondering what we're doing together. You don't deserve that and I never want to treat you like you're not important. You deserve to be spoiled and taken care of, and I think I'd like to be the one to spoil and take care of you (if you don't hate the idea, obviously.)

Because you've turned me into this chicken-shit, emotional idiot, I won't be in the room with you while you're reading this lol. So, when you're done, I'll be just outside the door. Come find me and let me know what you think.

Inuyasha

Like any self-respecting woman in love, Kagome read the letter over at least three times, fully. On the fourth read-through, her eyes jumped around to key sections that had tears of the most unspeakable happiness trailing her cheeks.

Kagome shot up from her barstool, tripping over her feet, her lips trembling, torn between laughing and crying. Happy tears stung her eyes, her cheeks aching from the breadth of grin she wore. She was outwardly laughing, she could feel it in her throat, rumbling her diaphragm, echoing in the antique space around her.

She was delirious with happiness.

Inuyasha wanted to be with her.

Inuyasha wanted her. Exclusively.

Kagome tore from the bar, running towards the door as furiously as her wobbly, wedged high heels would allow.

When she pushed open the library double doors, there he was. His hands behind his back, pacing. Kagome thought she pushed open the doors, but realistically, she had slammed them open, announcing her presence with such fervour that Inuyasha's head snapped up to look at her, like it was possible she startled him. His cheeks were coloured. He looked all kinds of flustered and uncomfortable.

Kagome threw herself into his arms, her lips on his, devouring his mouth in a kiss that allowed a few of those happy tears to leak out onto his cheeks.

Fuck her lipstick. Fuck decorum.

She was his and he was hers and she'd damn well kiss her man wherever and whenever she damn well pleased.

Kagome laughed into his mouth, a sputtering, gasping sound of amazement, of gratitude, of happiness.

"You make me really, really fucking happy too, Inuyasha," she mumbled, gasping another laugh as his fingers came up to gently wipe away her tears. The pads of his fingers were careful not to damage her makeup—well, anymore than it was already damaged.

But, again, she didn't remotely care.

"I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Happy tears, I promise," she said around a breathy, shuddering laugh, kissing him again. "I'm crying because I'm so happy."

"So...does that mean—?"

"It does," she interrupted. "Nothing would make me happier, Inuyasha, than being yours, than having you be mine."

His next kiss was bruising, intimate, and emotional in a way that was aggressive and needy and so intensely passionate Kagome felt more tears catch in her chest. Inuyasha had her backing up into the wall, a gasp leaving her mouth as Inuyasha's tongue drove between her lips, stroking hers, sucking hers. His hands were in her hair, running the length of her arms, palming up her sides, over her abdomen, squeezing her breasts over the fabric of her satiny gown.

Kagome moaned into his mouth, desperate for more, but first...

"Remember how I said before that I thought you were probably the best thing to have ever happened to me?"

Inuyasha drew back from kissing her to look between her eyes, unsure where this was going, why she had stopped kissing him to ask him that. "Uh, yeah, why?"

"Oh, no reason," she giggled, before claiming his mouth in another ravaging kiss. "I just wanted the record to show that I think you, my dearest Inuyasha Taisho, are absolutely the best thing to have ever happened to me."