InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Christmas Cab ❯ One-Shot

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.


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Greetings!

Well, it's that time of year again. Christmas time! I also figured it was time to introduce a new universe rather than making any more Christmas-related sequels to preexisting universes.

The rules for this world are fairly simple. I'm trying to lean more towards authentic Japanese rather than a blatant Japanese/American mix, although it's obviously not the real Japan since youkai and hanyou abound in the cities. This is a world in which humans and youkai more or less coexist peacefully, but there are also still plenty of racist bigots out there. While there is no official segregation some districts have naturally become more youkai over time, while likewise some other areas are primarily human, and while no business is allowed to refuse service to a customer of a certain species, or discriminate against hiring anyone of a certain species, rude neighbors will sometimes make their opinions known if they don't want a certain species living next door.

This is even more true for hanyou, at least in the predominantly youkai or human parts of the city. Fortunately, the vast majority of people in this modern day and age are actually not complete bigots and many humans, hanyou and youkai live and work together peacefully in the numerous mixed districts that are scattered in and around the not so mixed ones. Inuyasha lives in one such district, which thankfully makes his home life relatively safe and peaceful, but unfortunately that's not where he works. He works far from home, in a predominantly youkai part of town.

Humans with spiritual powers also exist in this world, and are basically thought of by all parties involved as just a different type of human, just as there are many different types of youkai, some naturally more powerful than others. Miko and houshi are the human world's equivalent to the daiyoukai. Even racist youkai respect the reiki users; at least they aren't weak and helpless like the 'normal' humans.

Now that you've got a feel for the universe, let's get this party started!




Groaning quietly as he ambled down the blackened street, Inuyasha brought his right hand up to the side of his head, as if the broken appendage were actually capable of putting enough pressure against his cranium to stave off his worsening headache without causing severe pain in his hand, instead. Although, a throbbing hand would definitely be better than a throbbing head, if he could choose. Unfortunately, he had both.

The good news was that he'd broken his hand against Kouga's face.

“Keh, fuckin' bastard,” Inuyasha grumbled to himself as he continued the long, long walk home, his left hand holding his bleeding side. There went his favorite gray business suit and cream turtleneck sweater.

“Why don't you get a car, Inuyasha?” he mocked in a high-pitched voice. “Because youkai don't need cars,” he said then in a deeper voice that was still a mockery of himself, as he recalled what he'd told his cousin's then-girlfriend when she'd questioned why he'd wanted to walk so far to and from work every day.

Not that he really wanted to work with his bastard half-brother at their father's company, but whatcha gonna do? He supposed it was an honor thing.

At any rate, under normal circumstances the walk didn't seem like that far of a distance to him, considering he could run over twice as fast as the legal speed limit for cars on the city streets. Even though it still took him about a half hour it was just fun exercise to go for a run like that twice a day as far as he was concerned, leaping from building to building as most more powerful youkai did when swiftly traveling long distances so as not to pose any risk to the people down on the sidewalks below. There really was no reason for him to have a car, unless he were to travel with a passenger somewhere; a highly unlikely scenario considering the only people in his life that he considered himself even remotely close to, besides his mom of course, were his cousin Miroku from his mom's side and Miroku's now-wife, Sango. On the rare occasions when the three of them went places together he was always the passenger in the back of Miroku's car. He certainly had no girlfriend to impress, nor did his mother ever require him to give her rides places since she lived within human walking distance to the nearest train station and had been traveling by train or bus her entire life.

Maybe that was another reason why he'd never felt the need to get a car. Having grown up without one, since his mother had never had one, he'd learned from an early age to depend on his own two legs to get him wherever he wanted to go. He'd also learned to do his grocery shopping in reasonably small quantities at a time so that it would be easier to carry everything home. He certainly didn't need to buy very much food for himself now that he lived alone.

Did he mention he didn't have a girlfriend?

Sighing quietly to himself, Inuyasha momentarily contemplated taking the train that night rather than hobbling all the way home, since the nearest train station was a much shorter distance away, but one look at his own reflection in the windows of the building he was standing beside, the street lamp shining off his silvery-white hair and light gray business suit, both of which were dirtied with blood, some of it his own, some of it Kouga's, his suit also sporting several claw slashes while his face was swelling and turning black and blue, and he knew that taking a human train would be a very bad idea. To put it mildly, he looked like hell. Besides, even if his appearance didn't make it beyond obvious he'd just been in a terrible fight, what inu-youkai in their right mind would voluntarily step into an enclosed space with so many mixed, overpowering smells?

He shuddered at the thought.

While he could survive the train if he had to, if he were accompanying his mother somewhere as a courtesy, and indeed he remembered his days taking it with her as a child, he would much rather avoid it that night if at all possible. He would much rather avoid all public places if at all possible, actually. Which, for the streets of Tokyo's Youjutsu District, seemed surprisingly easy to accomplish that night. Oh, he'd passed a few people, all of them youkai who'd either completely ignored him or deliberately crossed the street in order to avoid him, not one person offering assistance, not that he'd asked, but all in all the streets were relatively deserted, all things considered.

That was probably because it was well past the normal time one usually headed home from work in the evening, plus that part of town had a higher youkai population and most youkai didn't do too much to celebrate Christmas, so there were no holiday lighting displays and thus no hordes of onlookers out there to gape at said displays. The mixed and mostly human districts had plenty of winter illuminations, since humans weren't bothered by the buzz of all those damned lights. He'd be facing throngs of people soon enough, he knew, when he finally crossed over into the gaudily decorated Goshinboku district. He was not looking forward to it. To the crowds, or the lights.

Keh, I can already hear Mom calling me a scrooge…

He'd already called her earlier that evening to wish her a Merry Christmas, of course. Private scrooge though he might be, he would never put a dampener on his mother's love for the winter holiday, knowing how much it meant to her.

Thinking about the kind, gentle woman who'd birthed him, he briefly lamented his mother's own lack of a car, not that he would have wanted to worry her considering how bashed up he was, although he knew she'd have come to get him in a heartbeat. He momentarily contemplated calling Miroku, but knew he'd never hear the end of it. From him or Sango, and considering her family owned a dojo he did not want to get on that woman's bad side.

Calling his bastard of a half-brother to come give him a ride home was definitely out. Perhaps if he were actually dying then he'd have considered it, but since he was perfectly fine, from a youkai's point of view at least, Inuyasha knew he'd find no sympathy from Sesshoumaru and in fact, the daiyoukai would probably wind up making him wish he really had been dying by the time he was through with him.

Oh, Sesshoumaru wouldn't actually hurt him, too. This wasn't the Feudal era, after all. But Sesshoumaru didn't like him, and he was his boss, and he was married, and enjoying Christmas Eve with his human wife at that very moment.

He would not be calling him.

Limping down the sidewalk the best he could, every step bringing him more pain, Inuyasha cursed his fate. Sure, he'd had no specific plans for Christmas Eve, but he'd pick just about anything over staggering home in the middle of the night covered in blood with multiple injuries. The only thing that replaced his grimace with a genuine smile was remembering how much worse off Kouga had been after their 'encounter'. He'd beaten the wolf to a bloody pulp and left him lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood, although thanks to being a purebred he was in no danger of dying and would recover enough to walk home in a few hours.

“Stupid fucking wolf, thinks his shit don't stink,” he grumbled. “Heh, he just can't smell the difference because he already smells like shit.”

His laughter was short-lived when it turned into a wince, but he was no less amused. That stupid ookami had gotten what was coming to him, and Inuyasha's conscience was clear because Kouga had attacked him. Stupid bastard had jumped him as soon as he'd left the building. He'd been beyond enraged, too, since Inuyasha had worked late that night, as if he'd known the wolf was waiting to attack and had been deliberately stalling, letting the ookami's already furious anger rise to a boil.

“Feh, if I'd known he was waiting in the shadows for me to kick his ass, I'd've left work on time.”

Even though he had totally kicked the wolf's ass it had technically been in self-defense. He could report Kouga's actions to the police as a hate crime if he wanted to be a pussy about it, but in his mind, Inuyasha had already settled the score by turning the tables on that lupine asshole. He'd think twice before trying to say any more shit about Inuyasha being a weakling simply for being half human.

Feh, my mom might be human, but my old man's a fucking daiyoukai, stupid dumb-ass…

Kouga might've been a pureblooded ookami-youkai, but neither of his parents were particularly powerful. Getting one up on him had been relatively easy, and while he had not escaped unscathed Inuyasha knew he wasn't that badly injured. He'd be completely healed in a day or two. It was just that walking with a sprained ankle, a few broken ribs, a punctured lung, a slashed up side, shattered hand and a concussion hurt like a son of a bitch, and he didn't have the endurance to run through the pain in order to get home any faster. Doing so would undoubtedly aggravate his wounds, so the slow gait was required in order to prevent injuring himself even further.

Finally reaching the street that acted as border between Youjutsu District and Goshinboku District about two hours into his walk, Inuyasha exhaled a sigh of relief, despite the rising crowds, his sigh turning into a gurgling cough that took him a minute to get under control. Even as multiple sets of eyes looked his way and he found himself feeling uncomfortable in the growing crowds, he still knew that despite being around more people the chances of somebody else randomly deciding to tear into him because they saw him as an easy target had actually gone down. Both because there were more witnesses, as well as there not really being that many racist bigots in the mixed district to begin with.

Even when he eventually entered Tama District, which was mostly human, it was unlikely a group of racist humans would try to attack him on Christmas Eve of all nights. He would tell them the truth, that he didn't want any trouble and was just trying to get home.

Now if he could just make it home before it was time for him to be back to work in the morning…

Shaking his head, and then immediately regretting the autopilot move when it exacerbated his migraine, Inuyasha knew it would take him all night long to get home, and he also knew he needed at least a few hours of lying in bed for his ribs and lungs to heal properly, not to mention it'd be hard to write up reports until his hand healed, and until his ankle healed he also wouldn't be able to run back to work very quickly. His hand and ankle were both superficial though, compared to his lungs. He knew he had at least one punctured lung because of how much harder it was getting to breathe as the night wore on, plus coughing up blood was always a bad sign. He was just glad that neither lung had collapsed. Being half human, he might've actually needed a little medical intervention if that had been the case, in order to accelerate the healing process, but as it was, he knew he'd be fine all on his own. The open gash on his side had already stopped bleeding, which was a telltale sign that his healing abilities were working properly. He just needed to rest. He'd definitely be calling out tomorrow, no matter how upset it made Sesshoumaru.

“Keh, bastard can suck it,” he grumbled under his breath, trying not to look as hurt as he felt when a pair of humans walking his way asked him if he was all right and if he needed any help.

“I'll be fine, thanks though,” he answered them politely, earning two nods of satisfaction before they went on their way. He'd been able to scent that they'd only asked to be polite, themselves, not having actually wanted to help him. They'd smelled nervous as they'd awaited his response, their scents immediately turning to relief afterwards.

Oh well. At least they'd been polite enough to ask, and for honor's sake they would have helped him had he accepted their offer, whether they'd wanted to or not. But he'd let it go because without a car there was really nothing they could've done to help him, anyway, since the only help he needed was getting home faster. That'd be nice, although it didn't look too likely.

Suddenly, though, as he glanced over his right shoulder at the retreating pair, his eyes widened in hope to see a taxi with a glowing empty light on its roof heading his way. A taxi! Why hadn't he thought of that? They were a little smelly, sure, but nothing compared to a train or bus. Plus they were private, relatively speaking, at least; just him and the driver.

Immediately trying to flag that taxi down, he grinned when it began to slow and pull over for him, but the grin slipped quickly from his face when, apparently after the driver had gotten a good look at him, he sped back up and took off down the road. Was it because he was part youkai, or because he was covered in blood? Perhaps both?

Asshole…

Deciding then to just suck it up and call a taxi company to have somebody come get him, he retrieved his phone from his pocket only to scare the next group of approaching humans into illegally crossing the street to get away from him when he loudly growled out his frustration upon discovering his cellphone was broken. Smashed. Toast. Must've taken a direct hit during his fight with Kouga, and he hadn't even known it until now. So much for calling anyone to come get him, unless he could get somebody to let him use their phone.

Keh, not likely...

Seeing the wary looks the next group of people were sporting, he sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets as he approached them, keeping his head down. Could his night get any worse?

He mentally groaned as soon as that thought crossed his mind. Great, now he'd probably just jinxed himself.

Come on, you fucking kami, cut me some slack here, he thought then, practically begging the higher beings to show him some mercy. What he needed was a Christmas miracle.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Kagome sighed for the umpteenth time as she drove around practically in circles, trying to pick up a fare. She'd done the usual thing earlier in the day, waiting in line at a taxi stand, but after a few fares it had fizzled out with most people now home for the evening. It had then been time to hit the streets.

Business wasn't nonexistent, but it certainly wasn't what it'd used to be. Some of the old timers had told her stories about the good old days, back before deregulation. Taking a taxi was simply more expensive than taking a bus or train long distances and so most people who took taxis only took them short distances, or were business people or tourists who could afford it, and so with more taxis on the road than people who needed them it was kind of a game of musical chairs with some drivers unfortunately being out of the game on any given day. She could only lower her rates so far before it became impractical, and it wasn't as if she were the only one to offer slightly lower rates than the regional average, so she was still pretty evenly priced with some of the other cabs out there. It was still mostly just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

At that point in time, with as late as it was getting and most everyone either being settled in bed with their loved ones or walking the streets to look at the winter illuminations, Kagome knew she was just burning gas, but the fact of the matter was she didn't want to go home yet. Why go to that cold, empty apartment and be reminded of her loneliness? Shaking her head, she knew it was just the romantic aspect of the holiday that was getting to her. She'd snap out of it in a day or two. Still, as miserable as she was she had refused to wallow in self-pity, and so she wasn't. She was working, she was making something of herself – well, sort of – and most importantly, she was proving to herself that she could survive in this world all on her own.

Not that she was truly alone, and she understood that. Her family had always been supportive of her, and she knew she could move back home to the Higurashi shrine if she wanted to, but she'd chosen to move out at age twenty to prove not to them, but to herself, that she could be a normal, functioning member of society, supporting herself as any other single, adult female would do.

Spotting a laughing couple exiting a local bar, the drunk pair practically leaning on each other to hold themselves up as they walked, Kagome's predatory instincts kicked in and she pulled up alongside them, pushing the button that opened her rear passenger door.

“You guys need a lift?” she asked in her sweetest voice.

“Yes, yes, thank you, thank you...” the drunk man managed to answer, the woman leaning against him busting up into another fit of giggles that had Kagome cracking a smile despite herself. Drunks were difficult sometimes, but she could handle them. Especially when they were happy drunks.

“You've got money, right?” she asked then, just to be on the safe side. She'd gotten burned once before.

“Umm…let me see...”

“I do!” the woman answered, opening her small purse and pulling out a handful of cash.

“Hey! You said you didn't have any money!”

“I only said that so you'd buy my drinks, silly,” she answered playfully, tweaking his nose.

Kagome tensed slightly, briefly worried things were about to escalate into an argument, but the man only snorted out another laugh and assisted his 'date' (whom he'd obviously just met that night) into the back of the cab before getting in after her. Kagome couldn't miss the way he stared up the girl's skirt the whole time she crawled to the far seat, but shaking her head to herself, Kagome merely pushed the button that closed the door and then asked them where they were headed.

Not surprisingly, it turned out the man didn't live all that far away, and it was his intention to bring his date back to his place. Fortunately, both for Kagome's sake as well as the young woman in question, she was still coherent enough to decide for herself that while she'd had a good time with the young man at the bar, she was ready for their evening together to come to a close. Upon dropping him off at his apartment building the woman decided rather abruptly that she just wanted Kagome to take her home, as well, and since she was the one with the money Kagome eagerly complied. She would've felt a little guilty letting her go if she'd wanted to go up with the man, although she wouldn't have stopped her if she had voluntarily gone with him. No way would she have let the man drag her away against her will, though, which the man had thankfully had no intention of doing, the youth looking defeated but compliant when his date bid him a good night and remained seated in the taxi.

Great, now Kagome felt sorry for him.

Oh well, it was still more money for her, she reminded herself then, as she pulled away and got the woman's directions. It took an extra twenty minutes to take her home. Cha- ching!

Dropping her off, Kagome was then on her own again, and closer to Youjutsu District than she'd ever been before while on the job driving her taxi. Few humans lived in Youjutsu District and few youkai would ever have need of a taxi cab so she, like most drivers, didn't see the point in randomly driving its streets in search of a fare. If somebody needed a taxi they could always phone one, which of course Kagome knew meant they'd get one of the company owned taxis instead of her, but she did not regret her decision to go independent. If she'd worked for a distribution center she'd have had to turn her cab back in long before now, unless she were working the graveyard shift, in which case she'd have to stay out even later than she wanted. No, she much preferred being her own boss and making her own hours. She could be out however long and late she decided.

For Christmas Eve, at least, that was pretty late. She wanted to be out at least until after midnight so that it would no longer be Christmas Eve when she got home. How she hated this holiday.

Although, granted, the winter illuminations were certainly pretty in her home district, and there were more than a few people out observing them although it was unlikely any of them would wind up needing a taxi. Still, you never knew. Didn't hurt to try, right?

Driving up and down the streets of Goshinboku District, then, she decided to just cruise slowly and keep a look out for anyone who might possibly try to flag her down, knowing they might not see her until after she drove past and then they'd be yelling “Taxi!” to get her attention. It was a fool's hope, but any hope was better than none. Maybe later, after the buses and trains had stopped running, she'd circle back to her local train station's taxi stand for one last fare before calling it a night. Until then, it was time to go hunting.

For the first half hour or so she had zero luck. She was jokingly starting to feel like a hooker, mentally thinking to herself as she'd come up beside a man something along the lines of 'Hey there good looking, can I give you a ride?'  

Okay, so she was getting tired. Maybe it was actually time to forget about finding one last fare and call it a night, she thought then, as she started giggling to herself in that way you do when you're so tired that everything is funny. Just as suddenly as that thought came, however, it went out the window, along with her giggles, when she spotted a man hunched over and walking with a very slow, uneven gait, as though he was struggling just to move. That wasn't the only thing that caught her attention, though, or the way everyone else on the Christmas illuminated sidewalk seemed to be giving him a wide berth. What really stood out to her, being a reiki user, was the feel of his youki.

A youkai in Goshinboku District was nothing strange since it was a mixed district, and she had absolutely nothing against youkai. Both her family shrine and apartment were located here, after all. But a clearly demonic man in pain and struggling to walk was definitely a sight you didn't see every day. That nobody he passed, human or youkai, was offering him any help, lit a fire behind her eyes that made it impossible for her to just stand back and do nothing.

As Kagome pulled up alongside him the reason why everyone else was avoiding him became a little more clear when she realized that he was absolutely covered in blood. He'd clearly been in a fight, and most people were probably either afraid of him or disgusted by him. Plus it wasn't like he needed emergency medical attention like a human would, she supposed. While a part of her wanted to rush out of her cab and treat his injuries the rational part of her mind knew he would heal just fine on his own. Still, she could do her good Christmas deed for the night, she decided then, and hopefully be rewarded for her kindness in the form of a fare, but even if this man had no money she would help him all the same. Something about him just tugged at her heart. He was in pain, and he was in need, and she would never forgive herself if she ignored him.

It only took Inuyasha a moment to realize that a car had pulled over beside him. A taxi no less. It only took him another moment to realize he could feel a miko aura from the female driver, but that didn't deter him when the rear left door popped open and a sweet, angelic voice asked, “Are you okay? Do you need a ride somewhere?”

Thank you, kami! Inuyasha thought gratefully, immediately getting in before she could change her mind, although he couldn't suppress his grunt and gasp of pain as he did so, his instinctive gasp causing him to cough a little before he got himself back under control.

Damn it, he hadn't wanted to draw attention to how bad off he really was.

“Oh man, you're really hurt, aren't you?” Kagome asked, realizing from the specific feel of his aura that he was a hanyou and wondering if maybe he needed medical attention after all. “Do you want me to take you to a hospital?”

“Nah...I'll...” He paused, wincing as he struggled to get his seatbelt on. “I'll be fine if I can just get home and rest.”

“Okay, if you're sure...” she answered hesitantly.

Smiling, he assured her, “I'm sure.”

She brightened then, her smile mostly for his sake since she didn't imagine he wanted her pity and besides, it was her job to remain happy and professional no matter the situation.

“All right then,” she said with a grin. “So where to?”

Telling her his street address, and that it was in Shikon District, Inuyasha felt nervous when his driver visibly blanched.

“Shikon District?” she asked, as if the other friendly, mixed district were somehow a taboo destination.

It was nothing of the sort, of course, it was just that it was an hour away. Kagome hadn't really wanted to be out that late, although on the other hand, it would be a really good fare, assuming…

“I have the money!” Inuyasha stated right away, both interpreting and interrupting her thoughts.

He was worried because he'd have thought that hearing how far of a drive it was going to be would've made the cabbie happy, but on the other hand, he could understand that it was rather late at night for an hour long drive. Especially on such a girlie, romantic holiday, and since his driver was a girl, maybe she'd had plans?

Still, his assurance about having the money to pay for the ride seemed to do the trick, he noted in relief.

Nodding over her shoulder at him, Kagome pulled away and got into traffic. At least now that she had somebody to talk to she could probably stave off her earlier fatigue. Hadn't she originally wanted to stay out pretty late tonight, anyway? Squaring her shoulders in determination, then, she already felt herself feeling more awake as she asked him, “You were actually going to walk all the way to Shikon District?” She found that concept mind boggling. “It'd take like, nine hours!” At least with as slowly as he'd been going.

“I didn't really have much of a choice,” he replied, trying to sound casual about it. “I tried to flag down another cab earlier but they...didn't stop for me. Was going to call one but my phone's broken.”

Kagome couldn't miss the hesitation in his words.

“Wait a minute,” she started. “You mean another cab driver saw you looking like you do and deliberately didn't stop when you signaled them?” Her tone of voice made it very obvious how she felt about whomever that driver had been.

“Well, what youkai needs a taxi, right?” Inuyasha asked rhetorically, trying to excuse the other driver's behavior.

“A half youkai who looks like he's been hit by a truck definitely needs one, in my opinion,” Kagome said, not meaning to emphasize the word 'half' like she had, but she'd meant it in his defense.

“You...you can tell… Ah, well of course you can. I can sense your reiki, after all.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I have absolutely nothing against hanyou, so you know. I just meant, being half human, you're probably in worse shape than a full-blooded youkai would be,” she explained then. “What on Earth happened to you, anyway? Are you sure you don't want to go to a hospital?”

He chuckled a little, until it turned into a wince of pain.

“I'm sure,” he said, his voice only mildly strained. “And as for what happened, let's just say the other guy started it, and he looks a hell of a lot worse than I do, so I've got no complaints.”

“Got in a fight, huh?”

“Like I said, he started it.”

“You know, for some reason, that you might've been the aggressor in whatever you'd obviously been involved in never even crossed my mind. I wasn't afraid to pick you up.”

“I know,” he answered, tapping his nose. “I'd've been able to tell if you'd feared me. What I want to know is, why didn't you?”

“I saw an injured man in pain and my first thought was to help you,” she answered honestly, his nose also confirming for him that she wasn't lying about that, either.

“Well...thank you.”

Things were quiet for a minute or two after that, as Kagome expertly navigated the crowded city streets. Tokyo was pretty much a twenty-four hour metropolis, so there was no such thing as deserted streets in the middle of the night. It would definitely take a while to get this man home. Thinking about her passenger, she suddenly decided that she wanted to get to know more about him. It would sure as hell beat a long, awkward drive in silence.

“My name's Kagome, by the way,” she said in introduction then.

He grunted an acknowledgment.

“Inuyasha.”

“So...inu-h anyou?”

He snorted, mildly amused.

“Astute observation.”

She rolled her eyes.

“So, what were you doing so far from home? Before totally kicking the ass of whoever stupidly attacked you, I mean.”

He smirked at the way she so confidently believed him that he had indeed kicked Kouga's ass. She wasn't being sarcastic.

“I actually work in Youjutsu District, so I make this commute every day. It's usually much faster when I can leap from building to building, though.”

Kagome picked up on what he probably hadn't meant to reveal, that being just how badly injured he really was, if he could not do his normal leaping. Not every youkai traveled that way in the first place, although his pain had already been apparent to her with the way he'd been limping, regardless, but to now hear that he did indeed normally soar above the sidewalks just confirmed for her how bad off he truly was. Still, if he said he'd be fine she'd believe him. She could feel how strong his youki was and figured that his youkai parent was most likely a daiyoukai.

“What do you do in Youjutsu District?” she asked then, curious why he'd work so far from home, even if under normal circumstances it wasn't that long of a commute.

He snorted in disgust at the question, but it wasn't directed at her.

“Stupid office job. I'm a partner in my father's company. Gotta work with my damned bastard of a half-brother. He's senior partner and doesn't ever let me forget it, the jerk. Couldn't even tell you what I actually do, it's all just a blur of never ending boredom.”

“Sounds lovely,” she answered sarcastically, truly sympathizing with him. “I once had a boring office type job, myself, and while my boss was nice enough some of the other office girls...weren't.” Kagome had to suck in a hard breath to keep from losing her cool. “Well, so now I'm my own boss, and I don't have any nasty coworkers to deal with. The money's not great, but I'll take my freedom over a bigger paycheck any day.”

“Wish I had the balls to do that,” he muttered under his breath, although in the enclosed space she easily heard him. “Wait,” he began then, “what do you mean you're your own boss? You don't work for a taxi company?”

“Nope,” she answered smugly, smiling proudly. “I passed the test to become independent. I just rent this bad boy.” Patting the steering wheel to indicate her taxi, she was radiating with pride in her accomplishment, and Inuyasha whistled, genuinely impressed.

“Strange goal for a beautiful young woman, but congratulations on succeeding and doing what you want in life.”

He meant it. Including the part about her being beautiful.

She blushed at his praise, which he easily noticed in the rearview mirror, chuckling lightly, which only made her blush even more.

“So,” she began, clearing her throat. “I must admit, I'm curious. What the hell happened to you? And I want more than just 'he started it.'”

Ordinarily, she'd never speak so unprofessionally to a customer, but she was an excellent judge of character and had easily picked up from this man that he actually appreciated such things.

Indeed, Inuyasha merely snorted at her question, amused, and not offended in the least.

“You're a girl,” he answered. “Didn't figure you wanted the gory details.”

She wasn't offended either, knowing he meant well. He'd been trying to be polite for her sake.

“Try me.”

So he told her the story, then, of how he'd been staying late at the office to finish up on some paperwork. Stuff that was supposed to be Sesshoumaru's job but since his dear big brother had left work early to go be with the missis, Inuyasha had done the responsible thing and done the work his half-brother had dumped on his desk rather than tell him to fuck off and leave the work for Sesshoumaru the next day.

Actually, that was a warped interpretation of what had actually happened. In reality, he admitted then, Sesshoumaru had actually asked him if he could finish up the last few reports, since Rin had had 'plans' for Christmas Eve, and because Inuyasha actually liked his human sister-in-law, he had complied to Sesshoumaru's rather humble – for him – request. Sesshoumaru didn't dislike him because he was hanyou, but because he was the other woman's son, their father having had an affair. But for all his faults, Toga Taisho had done right by his would-be illegitimate son. It was all water under the bridge now, and Sesshoumaru no longer truly hated him like he had when they were children. He only mildly disliked him, and Inuyasha fully believed Rin was to thank for his brother's gradually softening demeanor.

Kouga, on the other hand, hated him with a passion, and it had everything to do with him being half human.

He had met the wolf shortly after he'd started his job at Taisho Enterprises. The ookami worked a few businesses down but walked past the Taisho building on his way to and from work every day. One day, as Inuyasha had just been heading inside, he'd heard somebody declare rather loudly that something stank, and that they needed to call pest control. Inuyasha had shot back a casual 'fuck off' and gone inside, but it had only gotten worse from there. Even now, ten years later, the punk was still like a high school bully, but at thirty-two Inuyasha was too old for that shit and he'd never put up with the wolf's insults for long without offering to shut him up permanently. The coward would always back down, then, bluffing it off by saying how he didn't want to dirty himself with his tainted half-breed blood before heading down the street either towards work or home, but he would always be back, every morning and every evening. Kouga had spouted off everything from how Inuyasha's kind wasn't welcomed there and he was a disgrace to the youkai blood flowing through his veins, to how his whore of a human mother could fuck as many youkai as she wanted but the stupid skank should have aborted the abomination she'd gotten knocked up with.

At that point in the story, Kagome gasped, absolutely appalled, not at Inuyasha's language as he recounted Kouga's words but at what he'd had to endure.

“He didn't really say all that, did he?!” she asked, even though she knew it must've been true.

“And worse,” Inuyasha answered. “Believe it or not, I'm still trying to watch my language, since you're a lady 'n' all.”

Kagome snorted mildly at that, not just because she could curse like a sailor, but also because he honestly believed he was watching his language in any way, shape or form. A sense of foreboding made her wonder just how much worse it'd really been if that was true.

“I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did, all things considered,” she said then. “If it were me I probably would've snapped long before now. How long did you say you'd been working there, again?”

“Ten years,” he answered. “Started fresh out of college.”

He sighed.

“Yeah, I've put up with a lot, but the truth is he just isn't worth my time. Anyone who can sense youki knows which one of us is stronger. I've swung at the wolf a few other times throughout the years. Hell I've usually swung first when the bastard said something that hit a nerve, but he'd always just run away while talking smack, the fucking coward.”

He sighed again, the sound turning into another cough. Kagome cringed but didn't comment on it, and after a moment Inuyasha continued as if his coughing fit had never happened.

“At one point a few years back Sesshoumaru must've told our ol' man about it, 'cause Dad comes into work one day and tells me he doesn't want me getting into any street fights. Everyone in our building knows who I am, the boss' younger son, and I had his image to consider. Fuckin' talked to me like I was seventeen, but, I gotta say he was right. I kept tellin' the wolf after that that if he wanted to settle it once and for all, I'd meet him in the ring. There's a local gym not far from our jobs that caters to youkai with a youki-proof MMA cage. I go there sometimes to spar with other gym goers. In there, we could kick each other's asses to his heart's content, but he'd always just said I wasn't worth his time. My comeback was always that yet, there he was, every day, eager for my attention. He couldn't leave me alone even if he tried. He was the one who wasn't worth my time, I told him, but I was willing to humor him. All he had to do was name the time and I'd be there.”

“What made him suddenly decide to attack you for real, on the street?” she asked.

Inuyasha sighed.

“A woman,” he answered, earning a raised eyebrow from his miko driver.

“I got nothin' against ookami-youkai as a race. I ain't gonna lower myself to his standards. So when this she-wolf chick came into the office this morning, because her father's company is working on a trade agreement with our company and she needed to look over the proposals, I was a perfect gentleman. Then halfway through our meeting she actually outta nowhere apologized to me for Kouga's behavior, tellin' me she's his mate but that she did not share his racist views and in fact she'd had no idea he was such a bigot until he'd started bitchin' to her about me all the time.

“Guess she hadn't been too bothered by it since she'd never gone outta her way to apologize until she'd had to be in the same room with me for business purposes, but at least she was sincere enough. She could've not even said anything and I wouldn't've even known, since she must've taken a real good bath to get rid of that bastard's scent. Probably didn't want to risk setting me off if I would've smelled him on her right away and then been an instant dick to her for it. Not that I would've, knowing her father's company's legitimately doing business with us, but how's she supposed to know if I can keep my cool or not? So I told her it was fine, that I wouldn't hold her mate's attitude towards me against her or her father, and the rest of our meeting went fine, too.”

“And then?” Kagome prodded.

“And then that stuff with Sesshoumaru askin' if I minded stayin' late to finish up the last of the reports. Since he's got a wife 'n' I don't I said fine, to be nice to Rin. I had no idea that bastard had gotten furious when he'd smelled me on Ayame, as if I'd been hitting on his woman or something. That was what he fucking accused me of when he jumped me outta nowhere as soon as I left the building. Most of my injuries happened right away, 'cause he caught me off guard. But even though I know my dad didn't want me fighting on the street I figured two things in that moment. One, I wasn't about to just let myself take a beating, and two, with it being pretty deserted there was nobody to watch us, anyway.”

He paused there, laughing, which earned a chuckle from Kagome as well when she asked him what was so funny.

“I just remembered we've got a ton of security cameras on the outside of the building. There's probably two or three different angles of me kicking his ass!” he answered, laughing some more until it turned into another coughing fit, this one causing him to cough up a little bit of blood.

Kagome watched him wipe his lip in the mirror but didn't say anything.

“So he thought you were hitting on his mate?” she asked instead.

To an ookami, she knew, a mate was basically the same thing as a wife, except even stronger. Some select species of youkai, including ookami, were much more strict about 'mating for life' in the sense that they were all virgins before marriage, or rather, the act of mating was the marriage. There was also no such thing as divorce, although a widowed ookami would be allowed to mate again, but so to hit on one's mate was the lowest of the low, even worse than hitting on a married woman from a species that didn't mate for life.  

“Yeah, the dumbass,” Inuyasha answered. “I'm sure she must've tried to tell him the truth, that she'd just been there for business. That's what I told him too of course, that it was purely business. I had no desire to take his woman. Then I made the mistake of insulting Ayame in the heat of the moment.”

“What'd you say?”

“Nothing too bad. Just something about not wanting his sloppy seconds or something like that. I can't remember specifically.”

Kagome nodded. She could only imagine the things that might fly out of her mouth if a long-term tormentor had suddenly turned violent and accused her of going after a loved one she had no interest in.

“So he got in a few lucky hits but then I turned the tables on him. Fists and claws, we tore into each other, but like I said before, he's a hell of a lot worse off than I am. Yeah, I'm half human, but I'm also half daiyoukai, so I'll be fine. I left his ass unconscious. It'll take him longer to fully heal than me. I didn't even use any youki on him; we kept it purely physical. I didn't wanna kill the guy.”

“Well, all things considered, I gotta say, good for you,” Kagome said then, nodding.

“Yeah,” he chuckled quietly. “Maybe he'll finally leave me the fuck alone from now on.”

“I'm sorry you have to deal with that kind of prejudice every day.”

“Thanks.”

Something about her tone of voice gave him pause, like she wasn't just being politely sympathetic. It seemed like she actually knew what it was like. Maybe not to the point of being physically attacked, but to a certain degree, she understood. Then he remembered what she'd said about once having had an office job of her own, and how some of her coworkers had been nasty to her, implying that that was what'd made her decide to become a taxi driver instead. But how bad must it have been that she didn't just get another job in some other similar setting somewhere else? Wouldn't it have been easier to get another office job if that was the field she had experience in, as opposed to changing careers completely? And to join an industry that had few women, most taxi drivers being older men, she had to feel even more like an outsider here than she could've possibly felt surrounded by women her own age, although granted, he supposed the male taxi drivers were probably a lot nicer to her than a clique of mean girls. Women could be real bitches when they wanted to be.

He knew that from personal experience.

He got the feeling that this Kagome girl was a genuine nice person, though. As few and far between as they seemed to be anymore in this day and age, she was one of the good ones.

“Enough about me,” he said suddenly. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Me?” she asked, both sounding and feeling a little more nervous than she'd intended. Especially knowing that her passenger would be able to smell her nervousness.

Indeed he could, and he wondered what she was afraid of, what she was hiding. Surprisingly, though, he didn't feel suspicious or uneasy at the notion, as if she had an unsettling secret he wouldn't like. Instead, he felt concerned, like whatever she was afraid of was something he needed to protect her from.

Damn inu instincts, he cursed to himself mildly. There was no point in allowing himself to feel attached to his driver in any way. It wasn't like he would ever see her again after she dropped him off at his apartment.

Maybe it would be better, then, if she actually didn't tell him anything about herself, after all, but just as he was about to tell her to never mind, she started talking.

“Well…I grew up in a shrine, but was obviously raised up right. No prejudice in my family,” she started.

“Always a good thing,” he acknowledged.

“I have a younger brother named Souta who still lives at home, planning on taking over as the priest when our grandfather passes away. Our father died in a car accident when we were little.”

“I'm sorry.”

She nodded, though as their eyes met briefly in the mirror the look in her blue-gray orbs told him she'd made her peace with that chapter of her life long ago.

“As you already could tell, I'm a miko, and as you already know, I'm an independent taxi driver. I, uh...got into taxi driving as a great alternative to office work pretty early on in my career. I worked for a company at first, but took the geography test as soon as I could to get my independent license. I also keep up on my miko training regularly, so my skills are well honed.”

Skipping a good portion of her life's story, she obviously wasn't about to tell him anything more about the office job she'd once had or those mean bitches who'd chased her away, but that was all right with him. He wouldn't push her into anything she didn't feel comfortable doing. With his nose detecting her rising nervousness over what he imagined were probably her fears of what questions he might ask her, he decided to put her mind at ease.

“It's all right, Kagome, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to,” he told her then.

“Oh no, no no no...” she said then, turning and glancing at him quickly before getting her eyes back on the road. “It's just that, well… Let's just say, while I don't really know what it's like to be hated for being what I was born being, I do know what it's like to be harassed for being...different.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what she meant.

“You seem perfectly normal to me,” he stated, unconsciously reaching up with his left hand to scratch his ear. An act Kagome caught in the rearview mirror.  

“You seem perfectly normal to me, too,” she said softly.

He snorted, dropping his hand.

“Yeah, right,” he muttered under his breath.

“I mean it,” she insisted. “Actually, I think your ears are kinda cute.”

She giggled when he blushed lightly, although he would've been a lot cuter if it weren't for his black eye and bloody, swollen lip.

“Well I stand by what I said earlier. You're beautiful.”

Great, now she was the one blushing again.

“You're just trying to flirt because it's Christmas Eve.”

He snorted again.

“Actually, no offense, but I'm really not all that into the holiday,” he admitted then.

“Oh, no offense taken,” she assured him. “I'm not really too into it, either.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised. “I'd thought just about all human chicks were into Christmas. My mom absolutely adores the holiday; I've heard the story of how her and Dad met on Christmas Eve about a zillion times.”

Kagome smiled a little at that, and then deciding to be honest with him, feeling like she owed him one, she admitted, “I was into it when I was younger, but now...” Sighing, Kagome met and held his gaze in the mirror for a brief moment. “You ever hear the expression 'she's stale Christmas cake'?”

“So you stopped liking the holiday because you're still single at age twenty-six and there's a stupid insult about it?” he asked.

“I'm actually twenty-seven now, and what bothers me about the expression is what it implies. I'm unwanted, and for a romantic holiday designed for lovebirds...”

“Yeah...” he sighed after her words trailed off. “I hear ya. Probably why I don't much care for it either, since 'unwanted' would be a polite way to describe me.”

“Oh come on,” Kagome said then. “There are plenty of human, youkai, and hanyou women out there who'd love to date a guy like you.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged the best he could, wincing only slightly. “I guess it's less about what I look like and more about how I act. Never really been that good with women. Have a couple ex-girlfriends who can attest to that.”

“Did you cheat on them?” Kagome asked, her tone inquisitive.

He snorted.

“No,” he answered, as though he thought it was a stupid question.

“Did you abuse them?” she asked next.

He looked genuinely appalled.

“Of course not!” he defended himself sharply.

“Did you honestly care for them at the time and try your best to make the relationship work?”

His demeanor softened noticeably.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Then whatever their problems were, they were their problems. If they didn't like this or that about you, that doesn't mean you should've changed a thing. I bet the right girl for you is out there somewhere. Someone who'll love and accept you just the way you are.”

Something stirred within him at her words but he tried to tamp it down.

“Maybe,” he answered, sounding unsure. “Maybe the right guy's out there for you, too.”

“Maybe,” she conceded, sounding even less convinced than he felt regarding his own chances at love.

Swallowing hard, Inuyasha didn't know where the impromptu feeling of bravery came from, but he suddenly decided to just go for it.

“Maybe...that is...if you wanted to...” She glanced at him in the mirror again, and he felt his cheeks heating back up. He cleared his throat. “Maybe you 'n' me could, ya know, go get a bite to eat sometime, or somethin'.”

Kagome smiled a little at his shyness. She was about to say something along the lines of how sweet his offer was, but in a gentle form of rejection, like a teacher might do if her young student revealed having a crush on her, but then the words stilled in her throat. Why should she turn him down?

Because he'll probably reject me, just like everyone else has, once he discovers…

Thinking about her handicap for a brief moment, Kagome knew that that was no excuse for rejecting him outright and proving his own belief that he was undesirable. To reject someone merely to prevent them from having the opportunity to reject you was just setting yourself up for misery. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy ensuring your solitude, and she wasn't quite bitter enough yet to so utterly convince herself that everyone would reject her and therefore there was no point in putting herself out there in the first place. Besides that, she just didn't have the heart to reject him, and so for that reason above all others she knew she had to give him a chance, even if he did end up hurting her in the end.

“You know what? Sure, why not,” she said then, absolutely shocking the man in the backseat as his eyebrows rose up to hide behind his bangs. She tried to suppress a snicker. “I do know where you live and work, after all, so that means I could stalk you if I wanted to,” she added with a wink at him in the mirror, deciding to use humor to mask her nervousness.

He laughed again at that, before it turned into another coughing fit which was then followed by cringing.

“I'm sorry,” she apologized upon seeing his pained expression. “I guess I should stop making you laugh.”

“I like that you make me laugh,” he argued, before wincing again as he tried to take a deep breath. “Although, maybe for right now laughing's not such a good idea,” he conceded then, sounding thoroughly out of breath.

“Are you sure you're gonna be okay?”

I hope so. “Yeah, I've had worse.” Not that I can think of an example right now.

“I hope you're just saying that for my sake, because I hate to think you've actually been hurt worse than this at some point in your life.”

“I've been in fights before, at that gym I told you about. It was just sparring but youkai sparring could be fatal for humans. I've gotten slashed up a few times and a few broken bones, but I guess I'm not sure if maybe this is the worst off I've ever been or not,” he admitted then. “Before, those guys were just trying to kick my ass for the sport of it. They didn't even know me let alone hate me, and I gave as good as I got. But I think Kouga might've actually been trying to kill me. Even so, I will be fine.” Was he trying to convince her or himself? “All things considered, when it comes to youkai healing abilities, I'm not really too bad off.”

“Well, I trust that you know your own body, so if you're sure you can heal just fine from a few hours of bed rest then I'm just gonna do my part by getting you home safe and sound.” Meeting his eyes again for a brief second in the mirror, Kagome added, “But if you really think he was trying to kill you then I hope you call the police.”

He snorted again at that, but kept his laughter in check so as not to aggravate his injuries.

“I guess I will if the douche actually continues to be a problem, but hopefully he's finally learned his lesson.”

“People like that, sometimes they're incapable of learning any kind of lesson.”

“Sounds like you're speaking from personal experience.”

“Perhaps...”

Lett ing her words trail off a moment, she sighed, realizing that if they were actually going to give dating a chance then she'd better start by being honest with him. Still, that didn't mean she wanted to just tell him everything and scare him away for sure. Baby steps.

“I know you said you thought I looked normal, but, well...I am different, in some ways. Not that I necessarily consider that a bad thing, but it was enough to make me a target more than once by a couple shallow, heartless bitches whom I realize now were precisely that. When I was younger it really bothered me, especially back in high school, but now I've come to accept myself the way I am. It's lonely, sometimes, but all in all I'm a happy person. I've forgiven them for their ignorance.”

“So you don't need me to go kick anyone's ass for you?” he asked.

She chuckled.

“No, but thank you for the offer.”

He nodded his head, as if he hadn't even been kidding, except she'd caught his amused smirk. A smirk that quickly went away to be replaced by a serious, contemplative expression.

“May I ask how you're different?”

She noticeably stiffened, although she'd expected he might just ask her that.

“Let's just say...I know what it's like to be physically attacked, though not by another person. At the time, I actually envied youkai healing abilities.”

This time, he was the one who visibly paled.

“Wild animal?”

She nodded shortly, and if he noticed the way her hands were suddenly gripping the steering wheel extra tightly, he didn't comment on it.

“Mortal animal or demonic one?”

“Mortal, unfortunately.”

“Oh yeah, huh. I bet you'd have been able to defend yourself against a demonic animal, come to think of it,” he acknowledged then, in reference to her miko powers.

“I definitely would've been able to, had that been the case.”

“Was it a bear?” he asked her then.

“Great white shark, actually. I used to surf when I was a teenager.”

Eyes wide, he took a moment to look her over at that revelation. Two arms, two legs...hell, she was lucky to get away with her life! But now that he thought about it, all he could really see of her body were her hands, neck and head. She was dressed in a professional pantsuit with business appropriate boots, the latter no doubt because of the temperature. It wasn't unheard of to see business women in pantsuits even in the summer, although granted, skirts were much more common. If she'd previously had an office job, then she had almost definitely worn a skirt, unless she'd already decided better of it after high school. Contrary to his ex-girlfriends' opinions of him, he did listen, and he distinctly remembered Kagome saying some girls had been mean to her even back in high school, where wearing a skirt would've been mandatory. Given that fact, and what he now knew of her having been attacked by a shark while surfing, it wasn't hard to guess why the shallow bitches had been mean to her.

“So...I guess you've got more than just emotional scars, huh?” There, that was a polite way to put it.

“You could say that,” she answered, glad he'd left the question as vague as he had. She definitely had a few scars, after all.

“Well that doesn't matter to me one bit, just so you know,” he immediately assured her then, and his honesty was easy to read in his eyes.

“Thanks,” she said. “That means a lot to me.” And she meant it. She just hoped he'd really meant what he'd said, too.

With about a half hour left to their drive, their conversation drifted into other topics. Reluctantly, because she asked, Inuyasha told Kagome about his ex-girlfriends. There wasn't too much to tell, really. Just how they'd met, how long they'd been together, and how, both times, the women had ultimately been the ones to break up with him. His first girlfriend, from high school, had told him he was too crude. She'd tried to mold him into a perfect gentleman, but while he knew how to put on the act when it was required of him that just wasn't who he really was and he hadn't felt as if he should be 'acting' day in and day out around his significant other. Kagome wholeheartedly agreed.

He'd met ex number two while in college, his father having gotten him into a good business school in preparation for joining his company. He'd talked openly with her about how he was going to be working for Taisho Enterprises, only he'd been complaining about it at the time, not having really wanted to work for his father but feeling like he'd had to after the daiyoukai had extended the official offer. Plus his mother had wanted him to take the job, so that he could get closer to his father and half-brother. For her, and for the money, knowing on paper it was the logical decision career-wise, he had decided to suck it up and accept his dad's offer instead of telling the man to fuck off.

At first he'd thought his girlfriend had understood his situation, and unlike his previous girlfriend she'd even seemed to accept him for who he was, potty mouth included. He'd thought she'd loved him, but it'd turned out she had just been a gold digger who'd only wanted him for his money. He had humored her to a point, when she'd not-so-subtly hinted about the various outfits or pieces of jewelry she wanted, telling himself that he wanted to buy his girlfriend such things and that there was nothing wrong with that, but after a while it had started to feel like he was paying for an escort. He might've let something to that effect slip a time or two during an argument, when she'd been upset that he hadn't given her an expensive enough piece of jewelry, or didn't want to eat at an expensive enough restaurant, and she'd finally broken it off with him, calling him a cheapskate.

Kagome snorted at that story while calling both of his ex-girlfriends total bitches, which he greatly appreciated.

Deciding to open up a bit more she then told him about how she'd had a boyfriend in high school, although they hadn't been too serious yet, and then after her...accident...things just hadn't been the same between them. He hadn't broken up with her right away, probably for appearances' sake, but she'd been able to tell that he hadn't been in love with her the way she'd imagined a loyal husband would've stayed by his wife's side no matter what. They had drifted apart and she'd started to suspect he was seeing someone else on the side so she'd finally decided to break up with him, but it had more been to let him go, and he hadn't even argued with her over it, agreeing with her points about how things just weren't working out. He'd seemed...relieved.

“Pardon my language, but that guy sounds like a total asshole.”

“Well, it was high school,” she said, trying to defend him. “It's not like we were really that serious to begin with.”

It had still hurt, though, and Inuyasha could tell.

“And you've been single ever since?” he asked, just for clarification.

“Gone on a few dates from time to time, but nothing's ever progressed into the realm of serious boyfriend, no.”

Instead of even the smallest part of him beginning to wonder what he was missing, suspecting that there might be something he didn't yet know and that maybe there was something about her that made her undesirable, Inuyasha found himself feeling torn between wanting to be angry with every other man – no, blind idiot  – who'd been hurting this woman, and actually grateful that she was in fact available so that now he was the one who had a chance to date her. He knew he'd only just met her, but he was an excellent judge of character, and so he'd easily been able to get a feel for her overall personality, and she seemed to him to be the type of woman he could get along with quite well.

For starters, she was neither offended by his potty mouth nor did she seem to be the gold digger type. That was fairly apparent by both her reactions to the stories about his exes, as well as her desire to work for herself and support herself as opposed to just letting a man take care of her, desirable or no. There were plenty of undesirable men out there who'd take any woman they could get, not that he even remotely believed that she would need to settle for such a man as if no one better would want her. The point was, with her thinking that she was undesirable, she had decided to show the world that she didn't need a man rather than settle for one she didn't want; somebody who'd only want a little house slave and wouldn't love her the way she deserved. As undesirable as she thought she was, she still knew she deserved to be loved, and for that, he was grateful, and proud of her.

He was sure just a few bad experiences had made her feel self-conscience. She probably hadn't even really gone on that many dates. Her agreeing to go out with him had been spur of the moment, he knew, since asking her had definitely not been premeditated on his part. That she had agreed, though, told him that she wasn't yet so far gone as to fear all hope was lost. She was still willing to put herself out there, risk getting hurt for that potential chance at happiness, and he would make sure she didn't regret that decision. There was just something about her. Sensing her pain, he wanted to take care of her, but on the other hand he admired her desire to be independent and hypothetically should they actually hit it off and become a couple he had no intention of telling her to quit working if she didn't want to. He wanted to take care of her emotionally.

He was also lonely, himself, and could see himself being a lot happier with somebody like Kagome in his life. Somebody that so easily got him; somebody that made him laugh, even when laughing hurt like hell. Talking with her, she'd made him forget about most of his pain. It wasn't until they pulled up in front of his apartment building that the feel of all of his various injuries came rushing back.

“Well, here we are,” she said then, not sounding overly eager as she pushed a button on her meter to stop the clock, the display reflecting the amount of money he owed her.

“Yeah...I guess this is it,” Inuyasha said, making no immediate move to either pay or exit the vehicle, not that she'd even pushed the button to open his door yet.

“Do you want me to help you up?” she asked him then, remembering the tough time he'd had of walking down the sidewalk before.

Instead of either getting genuinely offended by her request or even pretending to be for laughs, his humor went in a different direction when he asked her, “Why? You trying to think of a way to invite yourself in?”

Kagome laughed at that, which made him smile. Another thing about this chick was that she really got his sense of humor. She also didn't get offended when he used words like 'chick' when referring to women. He certainly didn't mean anything derogatory by it. Chicks were chicks like dudes were dudes. He loved and respected women, knew they were probably a hell of a lot smarter than he was, and worthy of someone much better for them than himself.

Still, if this miko chick was actually serious about being willing to give dating him a try then he would do everything in his power to make sure she wouldn't regret that decision, not just for her sake, but for his own as well.
“Now, now,” Kagome chided playfully. “You need to heal first, remember?” she joked.

“Oh, so you'll come in after I'm healed?” He waggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh again.

“Maybe...” she teased back. “If you're a good boy.”

Kagome couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun just joking and flirting with someone. Come to think of it, had she ever? But there was just something about Inuyasha that made her feel carefree, like she could be herself. Like she could be the person she was supposed to be, the person she had been before her...accident. Even though that nasty little voice in the back of her head was a constant reminder that she was on a slippery slope, one that might lead to heartbreak in the end, she was not yet so jaded that she wasn't still willing to give him a chance, just in case.

“Oh, I can be a good boy,” Inuyasha assured her teasingly. “I can be a very good boy.”

“Down boy!” she laughed. “You don't want to faint if your blood pressure drops.”

Chuckling, Inuyasha knew she was right, of course. It actually hurt to talk; he was in no condition to be joking about what he was really in no condition to be doing.

“I would ask for your phone number, and give you mine, but like I said my phone's broken. Got smashed in the fight, and I don't have a landline.”

“Well...if you trust me to not just be leading you on, I was going to say that I can just come back by this way, say next Friday evening? That way, you'll have a whole week to get good and healed.”

“Next Friday? But that's New Year's. Don't you gotta help your family at the shrine or something?”

“I'm sure I would've, if I didn't have plans, but if I tell Mom I've got a date then she'll excuse me to my own celebration. A few high school girls help us out there as part-time miko so it's not like I'd be leaving my mother to fend for herself. She's been waiting for the day I tell her I've met a guy with baited breath,” she joked.

Chuckling, he smirked at her, waggling his eyebrows again.

“Oh stop,” she snickered. “On the first date we're just going out to dinner, thank you very much, but you still want to be healed, don't you?”

“It'll be the longest week of my life, but I actually agree with you,” he told her then, getting a little more serious. “Of course, if you're a no-show it'll scar me for life.” He was only half kidding.

Kagome could sense the hidden fear, the hidden pain, that he was trying to mask with humor. Her eyes softened in understanding.

“I'm nervous, too. But I'm not going to chicken out, because I would never be the one to reject you.”

“You say that like you're thinking I'm going to reject you.” His tone of voice revealed how he felt about that. “I get it, you got chomped on by a shark. You probably have cool ass scars all over your body, and some superficial bitches put you down for it, and then your boyfriend turned out to be a total ass on top of it all. But you gotta think of those as battle scars you earned. You're still alive, aren't ya? From a man with claws, fangs and dog ears, I can assure you, I understand that it's what's on the inside that counts, and so far, I like what I see.”

Kagome felt herself tearing up at his words, in a good way.

“Okay, so...” She cleared her throat, grinning when he smiled softly at her. “I'll be here next Friday, promise. Say, six o'clock?”

He nodded to that.

“That works for me.”

“And here...” Kagome added then, reaching into her jacket pocket and producing a business card that had her cellphone number on it. “I don't know how long it'll take you to get a new phone, so I'll still plan on just coming over next week without a call, but this way, you at least don't have to be a nervous wreck all week long that you have no way of getting in touch with me if I hypothetically might not show, which I will.”

He visibly sagged in relief as he accepted her card. Transferring it gingerly into his practically useless right hand for only a moment before reaching into his pants with his left hand and producing his wallet, he tucked her card inside it first, and then went ahead and pulled out the cash to pay for his ride. He was pretty sure his driver would actually like to get paid at some point in time tonight. He was also pretty sure she'd like to be heading home soon, too, so stepping out of the car without delay when she finally pushed the button to open his door, he thanked her not only for the ride, but for her enjoyable company as well, and told her that he was looking forward to their date next Friday.

“Me too,” she said with a grin, before pushing the button that shut the passenger door.

She stayed for a moment and watched as he headed towards the door to his building, but then deciding it would be too weird to actually sit there and watch until he went inside, especially since it looked like it was going to take him a couple of minutes, she finally decided to leave him be and pulled away, merging back into traffic. She almost missed the sudden spike in youki that was the dramatic reveal of two full-blooded youkai who had previously been masking their auras, along with a third spike of a very familiar demonic aura.  

As quickly as she could, without driving recklessly and risking a traffic accident, Kagome got herself turned around and zipped back to Inuyasha's place.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Inuyasha had to consciously resist looking back at Kagome as he exited her cab and headed towards the main entrance to his apartment building. He could hear that she was still idling behind him, and could only imagine that she was watching him to make sure he made it all right. In a way he was touched by her obvious show of compassion, but on the other hand it was kind of embarrassing, not to mention painful, since he was trying to walk as if he were not as injured as he really was. That was exceedingly difficult to do on a sprained ankle. She must have finally realized that it would take him a couple of minutes and decided to go easy on him because he heard her drive away after a moment, and he felt himself sigh in relief as she left. Now he could limp and she wouldn't see it.

Hobbling towards the door he was about halfway there when all of a sudden two ookami-youkai he'd never seen before jumped down from the three-story roof to land right in front of him. He hadn't sensed or scented them until they appeared; apparently they'd been concentrating on suppressing the feel of their auras, but along with their sudden appearance they let their youki flare to life in an obvious show of power. It was the spiritual equivalent to puffing your chest and flexing your muscles to show how strong you were. Injured or no, Inuyasha would never cower in the face of such an obvious threat, and so he flared his aura as well, his not-so-subtle way of wordlessly telling them he was not about to be intimidated.

Claws readied, Inuyasha eyed his two opponents warily. While his first real street fight had been with Kouga he was no stranger to sparring in the gym. It was good exercise. Like boxing for humans. It had rules, and an honor system, but it had already proven invaluable training that had helped him to wipe the sidewalk with the first miserable wolf who'd attacked him that night. He wasn't sure what was up with these two, but from their stink, now that he could smell them, he'd say they were probably Kouga's lackeys.

They smelled strongly of his blood and from the looks on their faces he seriously doubted they were there to thank him for what he'd done to their friend.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, he got right to the point.

“Outta my way, wolves. I got no beef with you or your kind; Kouga got what was coming to him because he attacked me.”

“And rightfully so!” Ginta insisted without delay. “Putting your half-breed stink all over his woman!”

Inuyasha actually snorted at that.

“Her dad's doin' a deal with our company, and-”

“And that doesn't give you the right to warp her mind and turn her against Kouga!” Hakkaku stated next, taking a swing at Inuyasha that the injured hanyou had to jump back from in order to avoid getting his nose smashed to pieces. These guys weren't fooling around.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked from his place crouched a few feet away, trying to breathe through the pain.

The only thing he could figure was that Ayame must've told Kouga how nice he was, ridiculing her mate for his bigoted ways. Kouga hadn't really gotten into it with him much, basically just accusing him of having put the moves on Ayame, which was even more ridiculous than what these two clowns were accusing him of, although he knew he couldn't laugh because clowns or no, they clearly meant business.

“Coward,” Ginta ground out at Inuyasha's retreat. “Too weak to fight like a man?”

Oh, like two against one when I'm this hurt is a fair fucking fight… Inuyasha thought bitterly.

“I already did, over three hours ago,” he retorted as he rose to his full height. “And I won.”

“You left our boss alone and vulnerable on the street,” Ginta said then, and Inuyasha couldn't help but notice that the way he'd said 'boss' sounded more like gang affiliation than standard employment. “Just goes to prove what an honorless mutt you truly are,” the wolf added in disgust, spitting on the sidewalk.

Inuyasha had no time for a comeback because Hakkaku had already launched another attack while Ginta was still talking.

He managed to duck just in time to dodge the second punch aimed at his head and then hop over the kick meant to sweep his legs out from underneath him, but then suddenly Ginta was also upon him and while he was still evading Hakkaku Ginta's hard punch to his stomach struck true. Gasping, which made him start to choke on the blood that was still in his bad lung, Inuyasha hunched over and coughed up a fair amount of that blood, although while he was bent over doing that he also swiped at Ginta's legs with his left hand, succeeding in slashing his exposed shins up pretty good.

That they weren't using their own claws gave him the passing thought that they might've been trying to make it look as if they weren't actually trying to kill him. It was the youkai fighting equivalent to throwing eggs at someone as opposed to throwing rocks. But he wouldn't be fooled. They'd obviously been sent by Kouga and they probably knew all about the first few nasty hits their 'boss' had managed to land. In other words, they knew they only needed to use their fists to do a decent amount of damage to his already heavily damaged body. He had every reason to believe they were here to finish the job Kouga'd started.

He wouldn't go down without a fight.

That fight, along with his victory over slashing Ginta's legs, were short-lived however, when he felt a hard punch, like both hands clasped together to come down like a gavel, against the middle of his back. Enough force had been used that it would've shattered the spine of a human, and Inuyasha went down from the blow to land sprawled on the blood-covered pavement.

Which one of us is without honor? Inuyasha thought to himself, unable to speak as he struggled to breathe and maintain consciousness.

Then Hakkaku stomped on his right hand, making him cry out in pain, although he was quick to lift his head enough to see and reach over with his left hand, digging his claws into Hakkaku's exposed calf, ripping out a nice chunk that would take several days to grow back. That's what these idiots got for wearing shorts in the winter.

Just 'cause we don't feel the cold doesn't mean summer attire is acceptable this time of year, baka.

Clearly, these goons didn't work in any kind of a professional setting.

Unless you counted being a professional street thug.

As Hakkaku staggered away, yowling in pain, Ginta moved in for the kill, and Inuyasha tried desperately to force himself up, managing to get himself on hand and knees before screeching tires drew his and his attackers' attention.

Ginta and Hakkaku both eyed the taxi warily, recognizing it instantly and wondering what the hell she was doing back here. Before they could even look at each other to decide what they should do about the witness Kagome was out of the cab and walking briskly with only minimal difficulty over to Inuyasha's battered form. She, too, let her aura flare, the silent challenge clear as she stood protectively over him, between him and the wolves.

“You, miko, this don't concern you,” Hakkaku hissed, his words strained from the pain in his leg although aside from having to stand with his weight shifted to his good leg he didn't back down in any way.

“See, now, that's where you're wrong,” she replied in a tight, condescending and superior voice. “The fact of the matter is, Inuyasha and I have dinner plans for as soon as he recovers from his minor injuries, so I can't go and let you two injure him even further and risk him missing our date.”

Ginta spat in disgust at her words.

“A miko and hanyou? What, so you can breed the next generation of freaks?”

Looking over her shoulder at Inuyasha, who was still trying so hard to stand up because he didn't like her seeing him like that, except for the life of him he just could not find the strength to rise, Kagome offered him a reassuring smile before turning cold eyes back on the two racist wolves before her.

“I suggest you two join the twenty-first century. Times are changing and there is no place in a prosperous future for your kind of ignorant, hate filled mentality.”

Ginta and Hakkaku met each other's eyes then, both of them nodding at the same time as if they'd just silently formed a plan, which was precisely what they'd done.

“L-look out,” Inuyasha managed to croak from behind her, but she could already feel the charge in their auras.

It was the wolves themselves who charged, then, both of them running at her at inhuman speed, claws drawn and infused with youki. How they'd thought they would be able to get away with such a murder was beyond her but Inuyasha needn't have worried for her safety. She was no weak layman human, after all. Raising both hands she summoned two powerful blasts of reiki, one for each wolf, and sent them flying back to land on their asses, third degree burns sizzling on their exposed skin. Inuyasha finally managed to stagger to his feet at around the same time, using unknown strength summoned from an embedded need to protect Kagome, although he could see now that his concerns had been unwarranted. Both ookami were out cold.

Inuyasha whistled, impressed.

“Now what?” he asked her, looking them over nervously.

Both of them had nasty leg wounds courtesy of his claws and burns thanks to her reiki, but they were otherwise relatively unscathed and would probably be waking up soon. He, on the other hand, had bruised and possibly busted internal organs now, on top of everything else, and while his spine hadn't broken under the force of that punch his back was hurting him something fierce. He was absolutely in no condition to fight should the wolves wake back up ready for a second round.

He'd be needing to take the next two or three days off work, now, in order to fully recover. And he just realized he couldn't even call out because of his broken phone.

Fucking perfect...

Sesshoumaru was going to kill him, but at least he meant that figuratively. These wolves had tried to literally kill him and he honest to truly owed Kagome his life. He wouldn't be forgetting that any time soon.

“Now?” the miko of his thoughts echoed then, pulling him back into the present. “Now I call the police,” she stated matter-of-factly, producing her own cellphone from her pants pocket.

Inuyasha sighed, but didn't try to stop her as she did just that, reporting it as a hate crime and stating how the violent and dangerous suspects were still at the scene, presently unconscious although they didn't know for how long.

Speaking of unconscious, Inuyasha began to feel increasingly more tired as they waited the few minutes it took for the cops to arrive. He assured Kagome when she began to worry that they hadn't struck him in the head. He was pretty sure it was just the fatigue of everything catching up to him, plus it was naturally a drain on his energy for his body to have so much damage to repair all at once. His system was probably busy at work filtering out toxins from his busted guts. He'd survive, though. Internal injuries healed just as well on him as external ones. He just needed to go to sleep, but she didn't have to worry that he'd never wake back up again. He'd be worried if it were near the night of the new moon, of course, not that he shared that particular detail with Kagome, but the new moon was a little over two weeks away so there was nothing to worry about in that regard, anyway.

While they waited, Kagome also took a brief moment to properly park her car, since she'd left the taxi running in the middle of the street, as desperate as she'd been to get out and get to Inuyasha's side once she'd seen what was going on. Of course, she'd inspected Ginta and Hakkaku first to make sure it didn't look like they would stir during the couple of minutes it took her to find an available guest parking spot for the apartment building. They were even still out of it by the time the cops arrived. She'd zapped them good.

While they got hauled away by one of the two patrol cars that arrived on the scene, the two youkai officers placing them both in youkai-proof restraints as they groggily came to just in time to be placed in the back of the police car, Inuyasha and Kagome were very cooperative with the other two officers as they took their statements. They were at Inuyasha's apartment, she'd dropped him off, the wolves had attacked., she'd sensed them, returned, and when they had moved to attack her she had used her reiki in self-defense, intentionally using a non-lethal dosage because her control was just that good. They then explained why the wolves had attacked, since they knew the answer to that question, as well as explaining why he'd needed a taxi in the first place, telling them about his previous injuries due to Kouga's attack, which he also told them his office building should have plenty of security footage of to prove that Kouga had been the instigator in that attack, as well.

With Inuyasha getting more drowsy by the minute, not to mention it was hard for him to talk since it was hard for him to breathe, Kagome actually did most of the talking, including filling in a lot of the blanks, like recounting what she recalled from her conversation with him during the drive. Things like how Kouga had been harassing him for ten years, and that it was his mate Ayame's dealings with Inuyasha that day – which had been legitimate for their fathers' businesses – that had been what'd pushed Kouga over the deep end.

The two officers who took their statements, a partnership between one human and one youkai, then asked Inuyasha if he thought he needed medical attention. As tired as he was feeling Inuyasha still insisted he'd be fine and that he just needed to get some rest, so since he refused medical treatment the police left without calling an ambulance, telling him they'd be in touch in a few days.

With one crisis averted, Kagome suddenly found herself alone in the middle of the night with Inuyasha outside of his apartment complex, wondering what to do with the bloody hanyou who could barely walk and was slowly losing consciousness. Already he was leaning on her, his left arm draped around her neck and shoulder while she wrapped her right arm around his waist. She'd gotten herself thoroughly covered in his blood, not that she cared. Even if the cleaners couldn't get it out, she had more than one pantsuit. That wasn't her concern; her ability to walk with him and keep them both upright was.

Slowly, one step at a time, she coaxed him forward. She could tell he was trying not to lean too much of his weight on her, but he just couldn't help it. She was torn between struggling onward and just staying outside with him on the pavement, although she was sure he'd much rather get inside his apartment. Abandoning him to go look for help was out of the question; she would not be leaving his side.

“I'm sorry...” he mumbled suddenly.

“You have absolutely nothing to apologize for,” she argued immediately. “I'm the one who said my part was to see you safely to your apartment so you could rest, and I failed. If I'd stayed, offered to help you up anyway, then-”

“Don't, K'gome...” he interrupted with only a minimal slur. “Not your fault.”

“I still feel responsible.”

“You're responsible for savin' me,” he countered, his words quiet but understandable.

As he drooped some more, and she felt him putting more of his weight on her, Kagome found herself frantically glancing around, wishing someone, anyone, would miraculously show up to help her. Unfortunately, there was nobody around.

As far as fights went, theirs hadn't been particularly loud, a few shouted words and one cry of pain in the dead of night when most everyone should be sleeping, and so it hadn't drawn any attention that she could see. There were no onlookers standing around, at the very least. She could easily believe it'd been quiet enough to not have woken any of the human tenants of his apartment building, and the few youkai tenants she could sense who might well have heard the commotion or felt her blast of reiki were apparently minding their own business.

Or so she thought, until suddenly salvation in the form of a kitsune showed up out of nowhere, much to her relief.

Oh, he actually looked human, but Kagome knew better, and one look in his eyes had the disguised fox youkai knowing that she knew what he really was. Trying to trick her had been the farthest thought from his mind, however. He was just used to wearing his human face.

“My kami...” he said in horrified shock as he looked Inuyasha up and down.

“Nice to see ya, too,” Inuyasha muttered, in regard to his neighbor's less than flattering assessment.

“Those guys really did a number on you,” the fox stated sympathetically, not having originally known from what he'd seen and heard just how badly injured Inuyasha truly was.

He'd had no idea the hanyou had come home already hurt, not having seen that he'd been dropped off by a taxi. He'd awoken to the sounds of their fighting, but had initially felt confident that Inuyasha would be able to handle the situation on his own. He hadn't become truly concerned until he'd felt that blast of reiki, and then peaking out the window he'd seen the miko speaking with Inuyasha and the two downed ookami-youkai. He'd immediately realized that the miko had come to his neighbor's defense, but seeing how bad off Inuyasha had looked even from the third story had made him decide to go downstairs and see if his neighbor was all right. After making sure his son was still asleep he had headed outside and had just been about to approach them when the police had arrived and so he'd kept his distance. He'd been close enough to eavesdrop, though, and so he now knew precisely who this miko was, as well as what all the poor hanyou had been through that night.

He turned to address Kagome in that moment, stating “Come on, I'll help you get him up to his apartment.”

That said, he reached out to gingerly scoop the injured inu-hanyou up into his arms, his youkai strength making it an exceedingly easy task whereas Kagome had been having a tough time of it. Especially considering her limitations. She certainly wasn't as surefooted as she used to be.

“Thank you so much, Mr…?”

“Shun,” the kitsune answered. “We live across from Inuyasha. My son Shippou absolutely adores him.”

“Don't know why,” Inuyasha muttered from his place in Shun's arms.

“Oh you adore him too, don't even try to deny it,” Shun answered, earning the best Inuyasha could manage as a shrug in reply.

Wordlessly, Kagome grinned at their interaction as she followed after Shun and Inuyasha into their apartment building and, unfortunately, up the three flights of stairs.

“Hey, you okay there, yourself?” Shun asked her when he noticed her having some mild difficulty on the stairs.

It looked more like she was just being cautious than actually having a problem, which indeed was the case, so she told him she was fine and that she just had to be careful on stairs because of her balance and he let the matter go, slowing his stride so that she could more easily keep up with him. Inuyasha noticed the exchange but chose not to say anything.

“Here we are,” the fox said quietly once they got to Inuyasha's door, keeping his voice down because he didn't want to risk waking his son.

It'd been a small miracle that Shippou had slept through the fight and Kagome's blast of reiki. As it was, Shun was going to have to figure out how to get the scent of blood off of himself before going inside his own apartment or else that would freak his son out for sure.  

Standing Inuyasha up on his feet, the hanyou was a little wobbly but capable of standing on his own. He wasn't completely out of it after all.

“Thanks Shun, I owe ya one,” he said as he swayed on his feet while reaching in his pocket for his keys. He unthinkingly tried to get them with his right hand, since they were in his right front pocket, sucking in air through his teeth in a violent wince as soon as he pushed and pain shot through the shattered appendage.

“I'll get them,” Kagome said then, reaching into his pants pocket without even a moment's concern about it being improper.

Shun made no comment, although what worried Kagome was Inuyasha's own lack of comment. From what she'd gotten to know of him thus far she would've expected some kind of a joke if he'd been feeling better. In her mind his silence just went to prove how bad off he truly was.

As Kagome unlocked and opened the door, finding and flicking on the nearby light switch, Shun asked Inuyasha quietly if he wanted him to help him get ready for and into bed. It wasn't that he thought it would be inappropriate for Kagome to help him in that regard. He was just honestly asking the hanyou if he wanted the extra help.

“I'm fine, Shun, but thanks,” Inuyasha answered, the look in his eyes telling his kitsune neighbor that he and Kagome could take it from there.

Nodding his understanding, Shun left the two of them to their own devices.

“You sure you can walk okay?” Kagome asked quietly as Inuyasha began staggering forward by himself, the miko also keeping her voice down for the sake of the sleeping child next door.

“Yeah...I got it,” Inuyasha muttered, remembering how hard it'd been on Kagome when she'd been helping him before. He didn't want to be a burden on her when she seemed to be hurt in her own right. That plus her comment on the stairs made him figure that she must have a bad knee or something, probably from that shark attack.

Managing to get into the entryway by himself before needing to lean against the wall with his left hand for balance as he slowly slipped his business loafers off his feet, the move left a bloody hand print on the wall but he immediately decided he'd worry about that later. There were more important things to worry about, like getting out of his clothes and into bed.

With that thought in mind, he then managed to shuffle into his living room in his socked feet, which was easy against the hardwood floor in that room, successfully making it to the sofa which he then turned and leaned against with his butt, the seat of his pants thankfully being blood-free.

“Don't think I can take my clothes off by myself, though,” he stated in belated realization then as he blushed mildly at the thought, wondering if maybe he should've accepted Shun's offer after all.

Blushing as well at his statement, Kagome closed and locked the door before placing his keys on the side table, and then, after hesitating only a moment, she sat down on the small chair provided to more easily remove her boots, revealing her own pair of socks. Inuyasha was too lost in his own world of pain and embarrassment to notice the way she'd hesitated, or the way she'd carefully held onto her left shin with her left hand, as if to keep it in place, while pulling her boot off with her right hand.

Approaching him with only a very mild limp, then, the same one she'd been walking with the entire time, which he still decided not to comment on, Kagome offered Inuyasha her right hand for support before stating with red still on her cheeks, “Well, come on, let's get you cleaned up.”

His blush darkened, but he took her hand nonetheless, leaning the least amount of weight on her as possible as he tried desperately to walk on his own. He was more just holding onto her for balance, just in case he would misstep and fall down otherwise. For Kagome's part, she walked silently with him through the apartment, doing her own best to not show him her own difficulties with walking, even though she was sure he'd already noticed. Regardless, he appreciated her support. He didn't think he'd have been able to make it to the bathroom down the hall without her.

Entering said room, Kagome flicked on the light with her left hand and took a quick moment to take in her surroundings. In front of her was the sink, the Washlet toilet to the left. A door to the right led to the separate shower room with soaking tub.

“Do you want to try to get cleaned up yourself while I find you something to change into?” she asked him.

“There's no way I can undress myself with my hand like this,” he told her in reply, holding up his smashed and discolored right hand for emphasis. “Plus I can hardly move with as fucked up as my guts and back feel right now. I'm actually debating whether I should just get into bed like this and worry about buying a new blanket and sheets later.”

That he actually admitted how much pain he was in spoke volumes to her in and of itself.

“Whatever you want to do,” she told him then, adding, “although if you want me to help you get out of your ruined clothes, I will.”

He actually smirked at her at that, which looked better on him now that the swelling on his lip had gone down some.

“Just can't wait to get me undressed, huh?”

She smirked back.

“Well if you can joke again then you must be feeling at least a little bit better,” she acknowledged, imagining he had a tiny reserve of adrenaline to thank for his slight improvement.

She knew well the phenomenon of being dead tired while heading home, of thinking that the instant she got home all she was going to do was plop onto the bed, but then when she actually did get home she'd feel a bit more awake as she went through a ritual of things that needed to be done first before she could actually get into bed. She'd watched as he'd woken up a bit as soon as Shun had placed him on his feet outside his apartment door, but even so, she knew he had to be in tremendous pain, especially if he was actually considering going to bed in his bloody clothes simply because the idea of removing them seemed so daunting.

“Why don't we compromise?” she suggested then. “I'll help you get your jacket and sweater off so you're not totally covered in blood, but the pants can stay.”

Although granted, his slacks weren't exactly blood-free, having one nasty stain on the left hip and thigh that had run down from the now scabbed over slash in his side. They'd probably stain his bedding, too, even if not as badly.

Inuyasha realized this as well, and blushing again, told her that embarrassing or not, he'd better get completely undressed. Well, not completely undressed, since at least his underwear could stay in place. Even if a little blood had gotten onto them as well his sweatpants should act as a sufficient enough barrier between them and his bedding so that he wouldn't stain his sheets. He also told her his sweatpants were easy to find, being on the bed, telling her also in which direction his bedroom lied.

Saying she'd be right back, then, Kagome went and retrieved his red sweatpants.

“Well, at least if you do get these a bit bloody you won't notice,” she joked lightly, in reference to their color.

“Oh, I'd notice,” he replied, tapping his nose. “But right now I don't care.”

She nodded her understanding to that, before moving in to help him shrug out of his jacket. He immediately complied, holding his arms out behind him so that she could slip it down and off, before tossing it into the adjacent shower room at his instruction. It was ruined, so he'd throw it away later. She then removed the belt from his slacks, draping it over the towel bar for now, before trying to untuck his sweater.

“This is gonna be a bitch,” he grumbled, hissing through the pain as the shredded material pulled and came stickily away from his scabbing wounds.

“Sorry,” she murmured as she worked as slowly and carefully as possible, grimacing at the appearance of the slowly healing slashes that had been caused by Kouga's claws. His stomach was also bruised dark purple from Ginta's punch, and she'd bet he had internal bleeding. “Do you have a first-aid kit?” she asked him then, really wishing she could at least bandage the slashes even though she knew there was nothing she could do for his internal injuries.

“Never thought I'd need one,” he answered, in a tone that revealed he was now regretting that decision.

With Kagome managing to get the bottom of the turtleneck up and over the wound on his side, he then slowly and painfully managed to raise both arms for her, although he couldn't bend over too much thanks to that punch to the gut plus the pounding he'd taken to his spine. Since he was so much taller than her, Kagome couldn't reach to pull the sweater up and over his head and arms, but then she got an idea. Carefully, mindful of her balance, she closed the lid on the toilet before climbing up to stand on top of it, so that she had room to work. Her position gave her the leverage she needed and she was able to get his sweater off without too much difficulty.

Once she got him shirtless, Inuyasha immediately offered Kagome his left hand for stability as she carefully stepped back down.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, chucking the ruined sweater into the shower room to lie on the floor along with his suit jacket.

She then took a quick breath and moved to unfasten the button on his pants, knowing there was no way he could do it himself with only one hand. After the button was unfastened she glanced up to meet his eyes and asked him if he wanted to handle the zipper himself.

“Yeah, I think I can manage this part,” he said. “But don't go anywhere.” Pulling his zipper down he then started tugging the slacks down from both sides with his left hand, doing one side for a moment and then the other, and then back again, and so on.

Kagome turned around to give him at least some semblance of privacy but stayed in the bathroom with him per his request. He still also had a sprained ankle, after all, on top of everything else, and so once he got his pants to drop around his ankles he needed her help to step out of them. Kagome did her best to not look up as she turned back around and knelt down in front of him in order to help him pull the slacks free as he lifted his feet one at a time, leaning against her right shoulder with his left hand for balance when he had to put his weight on his bad foot. She then got his sweatpants into position, bunching up each pant leg for him to easily step into.

Finished with that, he then offered her his hand again and helped hoist her back up to her feet, which she greatly appreciated. She then went ahead and pulled up his sweatpants for him, covering the fancy briefs he wore that were as bright a red as the sweats themselves, which also happened to match her cheeks at the moment. She'd tried not to look, but she just couldn't help it!

Not that he really seemed to mind all that much. He certainly had nothing to be ashamed of. Despite all his injuries, he was hot!

Mind out of the gutter, Kagome.

At least she still had their date next Friday night to look forward to. This moment had been like a sneak preview of what might, maybe, possibly await her in the not-too-distant future. Sans injuries, of course. The poor guy was so bashed up, and still for the most part in nurse mode she was easily able to keep the majority of her hormones under control.

Fortunately, for her sake, all Inuyasha could really smell at the moment was his own blood, and so even if he would've ordinarily been able to detect the slight shift in her scent he missed it in that moment as he looked himself over in the mirror. Specifically, at the few spots of blood in his hair. It only took the miko a moment to realize what he was looking at.

“Want me to try to help with that, too?” she asked. He nodded.

Grabbing the hand towel when he gave her permission to use that one – it was one of many identical towels he owned so if it wouldn't come clean it wouldn't be the end of the world – she wetted it under the sink and then ran it through his hair, pocketing the bloody patches of silvery white locks and rubbing between two pieces of wet towel until at least most of the blood came out. Using the still dry end of the towel she then tried to dry the wet patches in his hair as much as possible so that even if his hair was still a little discolored in places it hopefully wouldn't transfer much onto his pillow.

She also wiped as much blood off his skin as she could without aggravating the slashes themselves, which were thankfully already fully scabbed over now. His youkai healing truly was amazing, she noted, since a few new patches of scab had actually formed only in the few minutes it'd been since she'd removed his sweater. He told her that that was the way it usually worked, that since a scab didn't take too much work their bodies would usually do that first and foremost in order to lessen the risk of exposure to anything. The only time a flesh wound would take an inordinately long time to heal would be because there was very serious internal damage that required top priority and the body's every last resource, like needing to stop internal bleeding before the youkai in question bled to death. So the fact that his exterior wound was healing so well was actually a very good sign, he told her, revealing that his internal injuries were hopefully not as bad as he'd momentarily feared.

Finally deciding he was as ready for bed as he was going to get, Kagome glanced back at the toilet behind her before asking him, “Do you want me to exit so you can use the restroom before going to bed?”

“I peed before leaving work,” he told her bluntly. “Good thing, too.” He tried to chuckle but it turned into a grimace as he reached down to hold his aching middle.

Indeed, it was probably a very good thing he'd emptied his bladder already, Kagome thought then, otherwise even if the strength of the punch he'd taken hadn't been enough to rupture his bladder, at the very least it could've forced him to pee his pants, and while she would've been understanding about it she could bet he'd have been embarrassed. Plus in that case, they would've also had to change his underwear. Her face flamed just thinking about it.

Clearing her throat, she tried to ignore her heated cheeks as she stated, “Let's get you to bed, then.”

It was easy enough for Kagome to ignore the perceived impropriety of her accompanying a half naked man to his bedroom in the middle of the night, especially since that shirtless man was black and blue and could barely walk. Inuyasha, for his part, was rapidly losing the last vestiges of the adrenaline that had allowed him to make it this far, getting out of his clothes having really taken a lot out of him, and he was barely aware that the miko at his side was gradually supporting more and more of his weight with every step they took. At that point he was aware of Kagome only on the most basic of levels, in that he knew she was with him, he wasn't alone, and it was from her presence that he found his comfort when everything hurt and all he wanted was for the pain to go away.

Making it into the bedroom, Kagome didn't need to pause to flip the light on as she carefully escorted her companion to the bed against the right wall since she'd left it on after having popped in earlier to retrieve his sweatpants. Making it to the desired piece of furniture, he pulled the blankets back and plopped himself down on the right side of the bed almost on autopilot, although he did murmur his thanks to her as she pulled the blankets back up and over him. He was suddenly feeling exceptionally sleepy, and almost didn't feel it as Kagome brushed his bangs back from his face as she leaned over him.

“You're welcome,” she answered softly, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, careful of his tender black eye.

She turned to leave, then, hand just about to turn off the light, but a strained, wheezy murmur of “Don't...don't go...” gave her pause.

“Inuyasha...” she started slowly, as she turned back around to face him.

His eyes were open wide as he stared at her, an almost panicked look on his face, she'd say.

“Please, don't leave me,” he begged her.

Instead of getting weirded out, her heart instantly went out to him, as she offered him a sincere, reassuring smile.

“All right, I won't leave,” she told him then, realizing she truly had no pressing need to get home, considering she lived alone and didn't even have a pet to take care of. “I'm just going to turn off the lights in the living room and bathroom, all right? And then I'll be right back, promise.”

He seemed unsure but nodded anyway, and offering him another smile she headed out into the hallway, although keeping her word she merely turned off the lights before immediately heading right back into the bedroom. She wasn't even gone a full minute, but he was already asleep by the time she reentered the room. Slipping out never even entered her mind, though. She'd given him her word that she would stay and she intended to keep that promise. Besides, she doubted she'd be able to get any sleep that night if she did leave him, as worried as she was for his well being at the moment. She doubted she'd be getting any sleep there, either, but at least being able to watch over him as he slept would help alleviate her worries. If something did happen, like he developed a fever, she'd be able to do something about it.

With that last thought in mind, she decided to make herself a little more comfortable. First, she used the facilities, then, she retrieved the small chair from the entryway and brought it into the bedroom and, careful of the tatami flooring in this room, placed it against the far wall, underneath the window. She then removed her suit jacket and draped it over the back of the chair before having a seat. She winced mildly as she leaned down and rubbed at a spot on her left leg just below the knee, but then a noise from her patient drew her attention and she was back on her feet in an instant, making her way to Inuyasha's bedside.

He was wheezing, his chest making slight gurgling sounds, and she remembered then the sight of him coughing up blood. From the look of the bruises on his chest and knowing what had caused them, she would bet he had at least two or three broken ribs, and apparently a punctured lung to go along with them. She momentarily contemplated calling an ambulance against his wishes but ultimately thought better of it, remembering what he'd said about his skin healing over meaning his internal injuries were not immediately life threatening. She knew that youkai healing was a remarkable thing, and in fact for most demonic patients hospitals did nothing more than monitor their condition, anyway, as they allowed the youkai's body to do its own thing. They basically provided a bed and somebody to bring them food and drink until the youkai was well enough to be on their way. Sometimes with hanyou the situation would be a little more serious, if their human half was enough of a hindrance, but being a powerful miko in her own right Kagome could easily sense just how powerful Inuyasha's youki actually was. He was a daibanyou and now that he was finally lying still in bed she knew his body would take care of the rest.

Even so, she couldn't help but worry, at least a little bit. Besides that, she also felt tremendously sorry for him, although not in a pitying sort of way. While she sympathized with his predicament she actually admired his strength, both physically and emotionally. Yes, he had broken down right at the end there, begging her to stay with him, but she couldn't honestly say she blamed the guy. If their circumstances were reversed she probably would've begged him to stay with her, too. She knew she certainly wouldn't want to be left alone at a time like this.  

With that last thought in mind, she made her way back over to the chair, limping a little more than she'd previously been doing as she made the brief trek across the room. Her leg was really starting to bother her, although it was just an annoying irritant, no different from shoes hurting someone's feet at the end of a long day, or an uncomfortable bra with straps that were starting to dig a little more noticeably as time wore on.

Ugh, speaking of...

But first things first.

Glancing down and looking at her socked 'feet', she wiggled the toes of her right foot and sighed, before darting her eyes back up to Inuyasha again. He was out cold.

Slowly, and as quietly as possible, Kagome pulled her left pant leg up past her knee, revealing the below-the-knee prosthetic that she wore, along with, as Inuyasha had put it, the 'cool ass scars' on her knee and thigh, courtesy of the shark's teeth. She was definitely lucky to have escaped with her life.

Loosening the straps that held her prosthetic limb in place, Kagome carefully pulled her stump out and moved the artificial leg aside before removing the two special prosthetic socks she wore on the end of her leg for added comfort. Then she scratched and rubbed where the straps had been getting annoying.

Ahhh yeahhhh…

She needed to take her bra off and do the same thing, but for something that risqué she should probably head back into the bathroom, she knew.

Putting her leg socks back on after a moment, she then put her leg back down into the padded and admittedly rather comfortable cradle of her prosthetic limb. It was the straps that were annoying, although she refastened them anyway in that moment, not really having much of a choice. Making her way into the bathroom, next, she closed and locked the door, just in case, then removed her shirt and bra. After some brief, satisfying rubbing, she decided under the circumstances that it would be all right to leave her bra off, so she folded and tucked it into her pants pocket before putting her blouse back on and heading back into the bedroom.

Checking on Inuyasha, she was satisfied to see that while a bit wheezy, he was still breathing mostly all right. She would've tried to prop him up a bit more but didn't want to disturb him. He was sleeping, and she wanted to let him sleep. With that last thought in mind, she made her way back over to the chair against the back wall, that faced the left side of the bed, and tried to get as comfortable as possible, which included removing her wallet and keys from her left front pocket and setting them on the dresser at her right, transferring her bra into her jacket pocket. She then got her phone out of her right front pocket, which had close to a full charge although she had a charger in her car's glove compartment if need be, figuring that playing around on social media would help keep her awake. She made sure the volume was off on her phone so as not to disturb her patient, although since he'd conked out with the light on she decided to leave it on so that she could more easily see him should he start having trouble at some point, not to mention it should make it easier for her to stay awake.

Okay, long sleepless night, here I come.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Inuyasha awoke some time in the late morning, blinking the blurriness out of his eyes as he glanced around his bedroom in a brief moment of disorientation until the memories of the night before came rushing back. Moaning quietly, he tried to sit up only to wince and fall back against the pillow, not really wanting to move. But he needed to see what time it was, and he needed to call Sesshoumaru, and he…

Just noticed that he wasn't alone in his bedroom.

Kagome's slouched and sleeping form was balanced precariously on his entryway chair, which did not look comfortable to him in the slightest. Managing to sit up then so that he could get a better look at her, he noticed her cellphone lying on the floor below her hanging arm and imagined she must've dropped it when she fell asleep. How exhausted must she have been to fall asleep in the chair like that? Had the poor thing been keeping an eye on him all night long? He grimaced when he suddenly remembered the way he'd begged her not to leave him last night, like some kind of pansy-ass weakling. But that she had actually stayed seemed truly remarkable, and really meant a lot to him.

A burst of strength coming from his desire to see to her needs before his own had Inuyasha climbing silently out of bed to make his way over to her. He was nowhere near fully recovered but a few hours of sleep had really done wonders. His ankle, he noticed, was fully healed at least, as he was able to make his way over to her without any pain in his steps. His chest, guts and back were still sore, and his right hand was still too tender to use although he could tell the bones were knitting nicely; another couple of days and he should be back to his old self.

Picking up Kagome's phone off the floor and placing it on the dresser next to what was obviously her keys and wallet, he looked her over a moment before deciding the best course of action. Should he wake her or let her sleep? Under normal circumstances, like if she had gone out into the living room to curl up on the couch, then he would've let her sleep, hands down, but he was worried that she'd develop a stiff neck with the way her head had fallen to the side, almost touching her shoulder. He also couldn't help but notice the way she hadn't yet woken from just him standing over her, looking at her, even though he was only about a foot away. Nearly all people, even laymen humans, had that natural animalistic instinct to sense it when you were being stared at, even in your sleep. But especially because she was a miko and his aura had gotten so much closer to hers, she definitely should've felt him. That she hadn't stirred told him two things. One, on a subconscious level she was comfortable around him and her instincts didn't consider him a threat. He grinned stupidly at the thought, especially since he was surprisingly comfortable around the feel of her aura as well. Two, she was exhausted.

Reaching a decision, then, he decided to try to pick her up without waking her, like they somehow always managed to do in the movies, and if he actually pulled it off, awesome. Otherwise, if he accidentally woke her in the process of moving her, then oh well. If so, he'd still finish carrying her to the bed, regardless, telling her that it was her turn to get some real, decent sleep. Plan ready to go, he moved around to her right side, grateful her head was drooping towards her left. Crouching down, he slowly and carefully slid his right arm underneath her knees, grateful also that he could do so without hurting his hand. His left arm he wrapped around her shoulders, gently cupping her left arm in his left hand, the move of getting his arm behind her easy enough thanks to the low back of the chair. Touching her now, she still hadn't stirred. So far so good.

Taking a few slow, deep breaths, fighting against the pain in his chest although he thankfully at least didn't cough, his lung healed even though his ribs weren't, he mentally counted to three and picked her up. She still didn't stir.

Making his way over to the bed, then, he just as slowly and carefully laid her down on the left side, closer to the chair, since he had been occupying the right side, closer to the door. He didn't care if it was appropriate to share the bed with her or not, his ass was lying back down.

Besides, from what he knew of her so far and with as close as they'd already gotten, something told him that she wouldn't mind. It wasn't like he was going to undress her or anything. At that point, the blood on her clothes was already dry, so it wouldn't stain his bedding. With the blanket bunched up at the bottom half of the bed she was thankfully already just lying on the sheet, so all he needed to do was carefully drag it out from under  her legs and pull it up over her.

His right hand was very tender, and he couldn't move his fingers yet, but it was functional enough to use the back of his hand to push the blanket down past her legs without much pain. Carefully scooping his left hand underneath and lifting up her right leg, first, down near the ankle, he quickly pushed down the blanket then leaned forward the tiniest bit to do the same with her left leg. It only took him a second to realize something wasn't right, feeling a thing metal bar where her leg ought to be.  

What the… he thought, surprised, as he carefully felt around her shin and calf, over her slacks of course because he wasn't a perve.

Finding where the prosthetic was strapped to her leg a little below the knee, the first thought to pop into his mind was that she was lucky it was a below-the-knee amputation. The second thought to pop into his mind was how this must've been what the other girls at her school had been ridiculing her for.

Those fucking heartless bitches…

There she was as a high school student blessedly surviving what had to have been the scariest, most traumatic experience of her life, and then they'd teased her for it? And her fucking ass wipe of a boyfriend! And then that second group of bitches at her office job. Damn.

No wonder she'd decided to go the independent route. Driving would be easy enough for her, since it was her left leg. Thinking back on it, he recalled that she hadn't been shifting gears during the drive, so her cab was an automatic, no doubt making the task much easier. Not that she wouldn't have been able to drive a stick. He'd bet she could do just about anything if she put her mind to it.

Including facing off against too crazy, rabid ookami-youkai and saving my sorry ass.

He officially did not give a fuck about her prosthesis. However, he did wonder if it should come off, because surely she wasn't supposed to sleep with the thing on. He just imagined that it'd be more comfortable for her without it. That would probably be crossing a line he dare not cross, though. Even for a woman who'd already seen him in nothing but his underwear, he remembered with a blush rising to his cheeks.

Deciding then that he'd better just pull his blanket over her and be done with it, especially since it was cold in his bedroom what with it being late December and all, he almost got right back into bed himself before remembering he needed to call his work. Mentally grumbling about it but knowing it needed to be done, he did not think that borrowing Kagome's phone would be crossing a line and took it before leaving the room, clicking the light off that had still been on along his way.

Quickly and while keeping his voice down, he made the call from the kitchen. It was a little underhanded, but he really didn't want to deal with his brother at the moment, so he just left a message with the secretary. He gave her a highly edited but basically accurate account of what'd happened, and he wasn't really surprised when she told him that they'd all known something had gone down last night because the sidewalk outside still reeked of his and Kouga's blood. He honestly hadn't thought about that last night, but now he was mentally smacking himself for having overlooked something so obvious. Sesshoumaru had already tried to call him, he learned then, but of course his phone was smashed. He doubted his brother had really been 'worried', but he did smile a little to himself at the thought that he was at least mildly concerned. He told the secretary to let his brother know that he was all right, but that he would be off for at least the next couple of days. He also told her to let Sesshoumaru know that the police would be wanting to look at the security footage, and why, because two of Kouga's lackeys had been waiting for him at home and after his miko taxi driver had zapped their asses she'd called the police.

He didn't go so far as to tell the secretary his driver had actually spent the night at his place. It was nobody's damn business first and foremost, and he'd already just vaguely said that he'd had to borrow somebody's phone in order to make this call. But he did tell her to tell Sesshoumaru not to bother coming over, if he would've been inclined to do so, or – to save face – he stated if 'Rin' would want him to come over to check on him. He assured her a second time that he was fine, that he'd be fine, but he just had a few important enough injuries that he wasn't yet able to come back into work. She told him that she'd pass all of his messages along, and also that it was good to hear from him, that even if his half-brother would never admit it, she had been worried about him and she was glad to know that he was all right. He grinned again at that as he told her goodbye for now and hung up the phone.

Making his way back into his bedroom, then, he was relieved to see that Kagome was still asleep. He quickly set her phone back down on the dresser and climbed back into bed on the other side, careful not to suck in any air or make any other noises at the pain he felt while doing so. It didn't take him long to conk back out again.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Kagome awoke some time in the early afternoon, bolting upright in the bed as she glanced around the foreign bedroom she was in in a brief moment of panic until the memories of the night before came rushing back and she sagged with relief. Her movement disturbed the injured man lying beside her, of course, and Inuyasha groaned as he woke back up as well, but that Kagome was lying beside him didn't fluster her when her focus immediately shifted to his well being.

Cracking his eyes open, Inuyasha gazed up at Kagome's concerned face looking down at him from only about a foot away and he grinned stupidly, deciding to tease her to take her mind off of worrying about him.

“Now there's a sight I could get used to waking up to every morning,” he said brazenly, chuckling when Kagome immediately blushed a dark crimson and looked away, although she didn't move to get out of bed, he noticed.

“Did you carry me?” she asked timidly, knowing she had been sitting in the chair and that she must have fallen asleep. “I hope you didn't hurt yourself on my account.”

“Nah, I managed all right,” he assured her.

She nodded to that, but then suddenly, her cute little blush was wiped from her cheeks as she paled, her eyes widening in panic, and that caused him to sit up in the bed as well, or at least try to, before she turned back to him and shushed him with her right hand on his chest, encouraging him to lie back down since he'd grunted in pain when he'd tried to sit up.

“I'm fine, I'm healing okay,” he managed to say without sounding too out of breath. “Are you okay?” he asked her in turn.

Had she had some kind of responsibility she'd needed to do last night or this morning that had gotten missed because of her staying with him? Was she now in trouble because of him? As far as he knew she lived alone, and surely if she really couldn't have stayed last night then she would've just told him so, wouldn't she have?

In fact, Kagome had no pressing responsibilities. She'd spoken with her mother yesterday afternoon before starting her shift, the elder Higurashi woman knowing her daughter had just wanted to work for the holiday rather than celebrate it, so nobody was missing her. What had made Kagome panic all of a sudden was the abrupt realization that if Inuyasha had carried her to the bed then he'd most likely discovered her prosthetic leg. Seeing the concerned look in his golden eyes in that moment, however, not to mention the way he'd teased her a minute ago, did tend to suggest that even if he had, he wasn't bothered by it. Maybe she was just being silly. Either way, she figured it was time to get it out into the open. If he didn't already know then he was about to find out.

“Sorry, I just...” Clearing her throat, she tried again, staring at the wall straight ahead of her when she couldn't brave meeting his eyes. “I just realized what it means, for you to have carried me to your bed,” she began, waiting to see what his response to that would be.

“Keh, means you were damn tired, is what it means. Don't go beating yourself up that you fell asleep, or that you didn't wake up when I moved you. And don't go freaking out that I did anything inappropriate, either. You're still dressed ya know.”

She nodded to that, snickering a little.

“I wasn't worried about that,” she assured him with a sideways glance, her lips quirked up in a half grin.

Despite her trying to smile for him, he could still see the worry in her eyes. Not stupid, and realizing what was probably the real issue here, he managed to prop himself up enough on his right elbow to reach over and gently pat the shin of her artificial leg with his left hand, as if it were her real leg and he was patting her in a comforting way she'd be able to feel.

“And if this is what you're worried about, knock it off. I don't care.”

Her eyes shifted from staring down at his hand on her leg to meeting his gaze again, hesitant hopefulness in her stormy blue-gray pools.

Pools that looked suspiciously more moist than they ought to be, and then before his eyes, a tear fell down her left cheek. Reaching up and over he used the back of his left index finger to wipe it away.

“I mean it, Kagome. It doesn't bother me. You're not somehow less of a person, or whatever the hell those bitches told you. You're awesome. You're strong, independent, and quite frankly you probably saved my fucking life last night.”

That last part had her thinking back to the two ookami who'd been waiting to jump Inuyasha at his apartment. She knew they'd probably followed his scent trail from that morning, that it had been easy for them to find out where he lived, so that wasn't the part that boggled her mind. What she couldn't wrap her head around was the simple fact that they had done so. They'd actually gone to where he lived with the intent of attacking him, and all he'd ever done wrong was be born hanyou, and then defend himself when that first wolf, Kouga, had attacked him earlier.

“I hope you intend on pressing charges,” she stated, her tone of voice and the hard look in her eyes both indicating that even if he didn't, she would. After all, they had been preparing to attack her when she'd zapped them.

“I wouldn't have on just Kouga, at first, but now, yeah, I will, on all three of them,” he assured her. Changing the subject back, he then asked her, “So...we good?”

She smiled brighter and chuckled a little.

“Yeah...we're good.”

“Good.” He nodded, then settled back down, lying flat on his back, although he was still looking her way. “You're welcome to stay but if...if you need to get goin', whatever's fine, but I can tell I gotta stay in bed. I'm not healed yet.”

“Aren't you hungry?” she asked him then, her own stomach growling.

He groaned at the prospect of getting out of bed again.

“Yeah, but it's too much hassle. I'll be fine.”

“Well, then,” she said, tossing back the blanket on her side and getting out of bed. “I'm not going anywhere, except into your kitchen to fix you a decent meal. You can't expect to recover on just bed rest alone.”

Gazing up at her with adoration in his eyes, he blurted, “Will you marry me?”

She laughed again, but it was a joyous sound that had him smiling as well.

“How about you let me go fix you breakfast, first, and we'll take things from there?” she asked teasingly, and he couldn't help but grin stupidly at the simple fact that she hadn't outright told him no.

“Whatever you think's best,” he replied with a wink.

Chuckling again, Kagome shook her head and then exited the room. Inuyasha continued to smile as his head fell back against the pillow after watching her go, staring up at the ceiling in wonder at the recent turn of events. For the next few minutes, his ears and nose informed him of her progress in his kitchen. First, there was the sound of multiple cabinets opening and closing, as well as the fridge, as he imagined she was taking stock of what all he had on hand, once she learned where everything was located of course. Then he heard the sound of rice being poured into his rice cooker, and not long after he heard whisking, which gave away the preparation of miso soup, before his nose then also detected the smell of broiling fish. She had clearly decided to go with a traditional breakfast despite the late hour, which truth be told was quite all right with him. Any food would be good at that point since he knew she was right, he needed to eat.

Kagome hummed to herself as she worked, feeling surprisingly comfortable in the foreign kitchen. It was such a wonderful treat for her to be fixing breakfast for a second person that she wished she could forget about the detestable circumstances. That such closed minded, racist bigots still existed in the world was an appalling reality she had been forced to come face to face with, but she was proud of how she'd handled herself. Not of how she'd defended Inuyasha in and of itself, because she'd like to believe that any decent human or youkai being with a soul would have done the same, but she was rightfully proud of how she'd zapped those two puritan zealots.

Even though she was a taxi driver by trade she had always made it a point to stay up on her miko training. It was like going to the gym for her reiki; one couldn't maintain a good figure without proper diet and exercise, and so too did her miko powers require a steady workout. She might be self-conscious when it came to her prosthetic leg, but when it came to her miko powers she was both confident in and proud of her abilities, and rightfully so. Why shouldn't she be proud of the spiritual powers she'd been born with? It was no different than Inuyasha being proud of and feeling grateful for his ability to heal quickly, and thank the gods he had that ability because otherwise she would've taken his ass to the hospital no matter how much he might've protested.

That thought had her smiling wistfully as she put the finishing touches on breakfast. On the one hand, she was grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know Inuyasha, but on the other hand, if a magic genie should show up and grant her a wish she'd be tempted to use it to spare Inuyasha this suffering, even if it meant that by not being attacked by Kouga they would never have met. Good thing that was a pointless hypothetical.

Besides, I could just use my wish to instantly heal him as he is now without altering the past.

Without even having to ask him, somehow, Kagome knew that if Inuyasha were given the choice, he'd take his current suffering in order to meet her versus not getting beaten up and not meeting her. She wasn't trying to toot her own horn, and honestly, she wasn't even sure what he saw in her outside of the fact that she'd saved his life, but the fact that he seemed drawn to her and seemed to genuinely care about her was rather hard to deny, and really meant a lot to her.

She'd almost be tempted to say that his attraction to her was due to something psychological if not for the fact that he'd already asked her out on a date before getting jumped at his apartment, unless you wanted to argue that her picking him up in her taxi had already elevated her to hero status in his mind, but somehow, Kagome knew that that wasn't it. He just genuinely liked her, as amazing as that concept seemed, but she genuinely liked him too and she was looking forward to their date on Friday, even if she couldn't rightfully still consider it their first date after everything else they'd already been through. For crying out loud, she'd helped him undress, spent the night at his apartment, had woken up in bed beside him and was now fixing him breakfast!  

I think we might already be on our second date, she thought with a snicker as she headed back down the hallway towards his bedroom carrying their breakfast dishes on a large serving tray, two glasses of water for their beverages since she didn't want the caffeine from tea keeping him awake if he needed to sleep again after eating.

“Merry Christmas,” she greeted as she reentered his bedroom, and his eyes cracked back open as he smiled at her.

“It is now,” he answered.

Smiling as well, she sat the tray down then helped him sit up in bed, and then after placing her dishes on the dresser she handed him the serving tray with his dishes still on it, so that he could more easily eat breakfast in bed, placing his glass of water on the nightstand beside him.

“You're welcome to come back up here with me,” he invited as she took a seat in the chair, reaching for and grabbing her bowl of miso soup.

“Maybe later,” she teased. “Eat your breakfast.”

“Yes ma'am.”

They ate in companionable silence for the most part. Inuyasha was the one who eventually broke that silence, but just to thank her for everything she'd done for him thus far, and also to timidly apologize if his teasing had crossed any lines. She assured him she could handle his teasing just fine and that if he crossed a line she'd let him know it. She also told him that she didn't mind taking care of him, even being so bold as to acknowledge that for some reason, just as he was obviously drawn to her, so too was she drawn to him in return.

“I'm glad,” he confessed.

Things became quiet again after that, and after they were finished eating she cleared away their dishes, taking everything back to the kitchen. Washing their dishes in the sink and then putting them all away, it was creeping up on late afternoon by the time Kagome realized she was deliberately stalling. She should have probably gotten out of there a long time ago.

On the other hand, she had nowhere else to be, had no animals or even plants to take care of, and by renting her taxi cab she was not in trouble for not having returned it to her boss. She had no boss. The only thing she should have probably been doing was driving her cab to try and make more money, but how could she leave Inuyasha when he so obviously wasn't well enough to be on his own yet?

Decision made, she headed back into the bedroom and asked him if it would be all right if she stayed the night again, just in case he needed her help with anything. Giving her a knowing smirk, the look in his eyes silently busting her that the real reason she wanted to stay was just because she was already too smitten and didn't want to be away from him, he told her out loud that she could stay as long as she wanted.

She blushed a little at the knowing, amused look in his eyes, but didn't try to defend herself and instead merely nodded before moving to have a seat on the entryway chair that was still temporarily in his bedroom against the far wall.

“If you wanted to get freshened up, you're welcome to use my shower,” he offered then, his tone completely serious and in no way sounding like he was going to make a joke about getting her naked in his apartment. “I've got spare sweats and t-shirts, if you wanted to change your clothes for now, get more comfortable.”

Besides the fact that her clothes had gotten some of his blood on them, it was also yesterday's outfit, so surely she'd like to change, he figured. After everything she'd already done for him it was the least he could do for her in return.

Kagome recognized his sincerity and thanked him wholeheartedly. She could definitely use a shower and a clean change of clothes, she agreed. At first she tried to assure him that she would wash her work clothes so that when she left tomorrow – she figured she'd better leave the next day before she overstayed her welcome – she wouldn't be leaving wearing his things, but he insisted both that she didn't have to leave tomorrow if she didn't want to and also that she was more than welcome to wear his clothes home, since they were still on for their date next Friday...right?

“Oh, absolutely,” she assured him then. “Although, it sounds like I might already be moved in before then,” she added teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him when he joked that his plan was working perfectly.

At his direction, she got out another pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt from his dresser, and even a pair of briefs when he assured her it was okay. In all seriousness he said he was sure she'd feel better in clean underwear, too, before he went back into the realm of humor when he added that those would be his favorite briefs from here on out. True to her word, though, Kagome could take his teasing, and she didn't rise to his bait except to retort that that was only if she chose to return them. She just might decide to keep them as a souvenir. He only laughed.

Heading into the bathroom and setting her clean change of clothes on the edge of the sink after he assured her he didn't need to use the facilities first, she grabbed his soiled clothes from the floor of the shower room and tossed them onto the floor in the main bathroom now that they were at least dry and wouldn't get blood everywhere. Making sure the door was locked before getting undressed, she used the facilities herself and then removed her prosthetic leg before expertly hopping on her right foot into the shower room. Having a seat on the stool provided she didn't dillydally, getting cleaned up in a short amount of time. A part of her wanted to heat the water in his soaking tub and take a nice long soak, and she was sure he wouldn't mind, but it still seemed a bit presumptuous on her part and so she'd leave that for when she was spending the night at his apartment for other, more enjoyable reasons.

Her cheeks heated at the thought, but at that point in time she knew it was pretty much a foregone conclusion, not that she wasn't looking forward to it. She didn't have what she figured would be normal first time jitters, not at her age. She was eager to have a man, but only if he were truly her boyfriend and they were in a loving relationship, of course. Her leg had always been the deal breaker with the previous guys she'd dated, or else they'd turned out to be weirdly into it in a way that'd made her feel uncomfortable, but Inuyasha knew and he seemed perfectly at ease with the notion. For once in her life, Kagome didn't feel any sense of anxiety at the thought of him seeing it.

Which he probably would that night, since she didn't plan on sleeping with it on again.

At that last thought she shut off the water and went about carefully maneuvering on one foot on the wet floor to exit the shower room. It was a dance she knew well by that point. Getting dressed in his clothes after toweling off, she didn't feel weird and actually found the oversized sweats and shirt to be quite comfortable. Especially since she was wearing the shirt without a bra. Noticing her nipples standing out quite prominently in the mirror she blushed again but quickly decided not to worry about it.

Strapping her leg back on, she had to reuse the same prosthetic socks but that wasn't that big of a deal. She didn't bother putting her regular socks back on; no need to hide her artificial foot. Bundling up all of their dirty laundry, she brought it back with her into the bedroom, dumping everything into the hamper she'd noticed in his semi-open closet. Checking her phone, then, she noticed how low her battery was getting, but when she told him she'd be right back, reaching for her keys, he told her where his phone charger was and since the plug was the same she just used his cord to charge her phone instead of getting hers out of the car.

Upon learning that he'd used her phone that morning to call his work she expressed her relief to know that they'd been made aware of what'd happened to him so that they wouldn't be extra worried from not knowing how bad off he was, dismissing his claim that his half-brother wouldn't have been too worried.

“I'm sure the only reason he hasn't come beating your door down is because you called them and let them know you're still alive,” she told him. “Otherwise, with your phone broken, I'm sure he'd have come by to check on you by now.”

Inuyasha shrugged from his place sitting up in bed.

“Maybe,” he answered halfheartedly. “If Rin made him.”

Knowing she hadn't met this Sesshoumaru person Kagome decided not to argue the point, although silently she still believed she was right. Deciding to lighten the mood, she quirked her lips up at him in a half-smile, and putting her hand on her hip, she joked, “I'm glad he hasn't come by, though. I'm glad I get to keep you all to myself.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, which made her laugh. She was glad he was feeling better, and he certainly looked much better, his more shallow bruises like his black eye completely healed.

He's even cuter when his face isn't all bashed in, she thought naughtily.

Of course, his right hand wasn't healed yet, which had been evidenced by his mild struggle to use his chopsticks with his left hand during breakfast. She would've asked him if he'd needed help eating if he'd had even more difficulty than he'd had, but he'd managed to get through the meal well enough and so she'd let it go, not wanting to risk offending him if he'd gotten the impression she felt he was completely helpless. She did help him lie back down in that moment, however, since his ribs were another thing that had yet to heal fully, not to mention his battered spine and internal organs. While the bruises on his face had healed his previously blemish-free shirtless torso was now taking its turn being black and blue. It was hard to ogle him when her first impression upon seeing his topless form was sympathy.

Sympathy, but not pity.

He could tell the difference, which was why he'd let her help him lie back down when she'd rushed over to his side as soon as he'd started to try to slide back down on his own, wincing in pain as he'd done so. Honestly, while he knew he could manage on his own, he was grateful for her company, and he would miss her when she eventually left him. He did have her phone number, though, even though he temporarily didn't have a phone. As soon as he was bodily able he'd be getting his ass a new cellphone, since he could certainly afford it.

He knew his modest apartment didn't look like much, but he actually did very well for himself financially, which he knew Kagome knew since he'd told her about his career at his father's company during the drive, not to mention his gold digging second ex-girlfriend. Kagome certainly didn't seem like the gold digging type, although, hopefully, she would turn out to be the girlfriend type. She seemed to care about his well being, for starters, which was certainly a good sign, and she was also independent, which he actually respected. The fact that she was a miko didn't bother him in the slightest, and even the fact that she'd protected him from Kouga's lackeys didn't make him feel emasculated in any way, only grateful.

Seeing her in that moment, wearing his t-shirt and sweatpants, her hair still a little stringy and wet, he felt two separate stirrings in his body. The more physical one was probably in response to her hard nipples, which he was trying equally hard not to stare at, but besides that, he felt a stirring in his heart. It was much too early to actually say he loved her, he knew, but he hoped they would be together long enough for him to get there.

Kagome seemed to be able to read his thoughts as she blushed in that moment before turning and heading back over to the chair, having a seat. She then asked him if he wanted to try to take a nap, saying she could keep herself entertained by reading things on her phone, but telling her he wasn't sleepy at the moment at that just lying still was helping his body tremendously, he offered that they could talk if she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get to know even more about each other. She agreed and decided to get things started, telling him all about herself now that she was no longer trying to hide anything.

She told him more about her little brother Souta, who was in his second year of university, and about her miko training and her various abilities. She also told him about how she used to surf as a teenager before being attacked by the shark, although she downplayed the hardships she'd faced immediately afterwards. That was all water under the bridge, although she did admit, since it had been rather obvious, that she was still self-conscious when it came to her appearance.

He assured her that she didn't need to be, although he did understand what it was like to be different. When it was his turn to speak, he told her about his early life, growing up with his human mother in Shikon District. He hadn't been the only hanyou at his elementary school, although since hanyou came in many different shapes and sizes he'd been among the very few who'd had animal ears instead of either round or pointy human or youkai ears. Several curious human classmates had always asked if they could touch his ears, which had bothered him at the time although looking back on it he knew they'd meant well. He hadn't really experienced cruel racism until Kouga.

He also explained why he lived so far from work, since her home district, Goshinboku District, was just as diverse as Shikon District if not more so, with about an equal number of humans and youkai with plenty of hanyou mixed in, and it was much, much closer to his work than where he lived. The fact of the matter was, he just hadn't wanted to move too far from his mother, or his cousin Miroku for that matter. His father lived in Youjutsu District, but they weren't that close, although they weren't enemies.

His father had always been in his life, doing the best he could for him under the circumstances. His father had had an affair with a human woman living so far away probably for the simple reason that it'd be unlikely his wife – or anyone who knew Toga Taisho for that matter – would ever meet Izayoi. Demonic noses would have blown the whistle on their affair right away, although, of course, so had her unintentional pregnancy. They'd tried to be careful, but daiyoukai semen was persistent that way. It had ruined Toga's marriage, which Inuyasha said Sesshoumaru had blamed him for when they'd been boys, Sesshoumaru being five years his elder, but those days the younger full-blooded daiyoukai had mellowed out, definitely thanks to his own human wife.

Inuyasha then told her how she and Rin would definitely get along, that young lady being a little spitfire able to get away with stuff with his brother that nobody else would ever dare even attempting. That thought had Kagome snickering, and she said that at some point, when they got to that point, she'd love to meet his family.

They continued to chat about anything and everything until evening turned into night, his bedroom softly illuminated by the table lamp sitting on the nightstand at Inuyasha's left.

Finally, unable to deny it any longer, Inuyasha admitted that he needed to use the restroom, and he was grateful for Kagome's assistance when she helped him get out of bed, although once he was standing he was able to make it into the bathroom and back on his own. It was only the getting in and out of bed part that really hurt at that point, thanks to the nature of his remaining injuries. After she helped him get back in bed, Kagome asked him what he wanted for dinner, insisting it was no trouble at all to cook them both something when he tried to tell her she didn't need to if she didn't want to.

“You might not need to eat all that often, mister youkai stamina, but I'm human and I'm hungry,” she argued teasingly. “And if I'm going to cook myself something anyway, then I may as well fix enough for you as well.”

“Well, if you insist,” he jokingly relented, hoping she couldn't hear it when his stomach growled.

At his request, for her benefit, Kagome kept dinner simple, preparing each of them an instant noodle bowl. That worked for her. Her cupboards were full of the stuff, too. She always took the time to make herself a decent, wholesome breakfast, not allowing herself to become so lazy in the kitchen that she'd just eat cereal in the morning, but when it came to wanting a quick meal before bed after driving her taxi half the night there was nothing quite like a good bowl or cup of instant ramen.

Inuyasha again managed to eat with his left hand, although he did grumble and curse a little about how long it was taking his right hand to heal. It would've at least been functional by that point if Hakkaku hadn't stomped on it, shattering it even worse than it'd already been. Still, upon Kagome's concerned inquiry he assured her that he didn't need to have a doctor do anything to set the bones properly. It'd heal, eventually.

With dinner over and their disposable dishes disposed of, Kagome politely asked Inuyasha if he wanted her to go sleep out on the sofa. She wouldn't mind it, for propriety’s sake. She had no intention of sleeping upright in the chair again.

Unsurprisingly, Inuyasha told her that she could sleep on the couch if that would make her feel more comfortable, but that she was perfectly welcome to share his bed again and he promised he'd be a good boy. Grinning, Kagome admitted she hadn't really wanted to sleep on the sofa, but she'd just wanted to offer for the sake of offering. They were two mature adults and were perfectly capable of sleeping beside one another without getting all touchy-feely.

That said, she got herself settled beside him, and when he tried to glance away out of respect when she made to remove her prosthetic leg she told him it was okay for him to look if he was curious. She then pulled up her left pant leg and unstrapped the false limb before then also removing her prosthetic socks, exposing her stump as she leaned over and sat her limb and socks down on the floor next to her side of the bed. Since he had her permission he did glance down at her leg while it was exposed, but he was not disturbed by the sight. He did feel a little sorry for her, for what all she'd had to go through, but he was also proud of and impressed by her. He definitely didn't consider her handicap a deal breaker, he didn't even really consider it a handicap, and he made sure she was aware of his thoughts on the matter.

Trying not to tear up at his words, Kagome suddenly found herself wanting to kiss him, so instead she smiled and said her goodnights before turning over. Smiling a little to himself, having caught that look in her eyes, he only murmured a softly spoken “Goodnight,” as he reached up with his left hand and clicked off the lamp on the nightstand beside him.

oooooooooooooooooooo

The next morning, Inuyasha watched again, more fascinated than anything else, as Kagome strapped her leg back on. He asked her if it was hard to walk with it and she told him it really wasn't that difficult anymore, that she'd gotten used to it. It got a little annoying after a long day and it was a relief to take it off at night, but she'd much rather get around with her false leg than a pair of crutches, which was what she'd used in the very beginning, while her leg had still been healing.

She admitted that her leg had been the sole reason why she'd originally decided to become a taxi driver, not just because she didn't have to deal with coworkers all day and she could wear pants but also because she got to sit on her butt all day, but now, she assured him, she actually loved her job and how it enabled her to meet all sorts of new, interesting people. If it weren't for her choice of career the two of them would almost definitely never have met. Neither of them brought up the fact that if it weren't for her he probably wouldn't even have survived the night, but it was a truth they were both completely aware of. Just as Kagome had mused the day before that if given the choice, Inuyasha would have taken his pain and suffering if the alternative would've been never meeting her, so too did Kagome realize in that moment that if she had it to do all over again, she wouldn't change a thing, either.

After another full breakfast, at Kagome's insistence, the miko reluctantly stated that she really did need to get going. Her taxi wasn't going to drive itself and she did have bills to pay, after all. For a split second Inuyasha thought about offering to give her whatever money she needed for her immediate bills but that wasn't the kind of relationship he wanted with her and so he let both it and her go. Not without first borrowing her mobile phone again, though, at her insistence that he call back into work again just to give them a status update. Doing so, he found out the police had indeed been by to collect the surveillance video from their security cameras, and there was a message for him to call the police department as soon as he was well enough to go in. He told the secretary it would probably be another couple of days, but that as soon as he was able he'd be back to work. He didn't usually work the weekends, anyway, so she told him to get some rest and that, hopefully, she'd see him on Monday.

With that, Kagome prepared to make her exit, after first making sure he'd be okay without her. Hating the idea of leaving him without a phone since it would be a few days still before he could get a new one for his subscribed contract, at voicing her concern Inuyasha suggested, and Kagome readily agreed, to get him a prepaid phone as a temporary substitute. He had plenty of cash and let her rummage through his wallet, insisting that he would pay for his temporary phone.

Not even caring that she was dressed only in a t-shirt and sweatpants, although she did put her bra back on, Kagome borrowed his hooded jacket because it was cold out and then, also borrowing his apartment key so he could stay in bed, she headed out to the nearest shop that sold prepaid phones. Gone only about twenty minutes, she returned with activated phone in hand, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders knowing that now, Inuyasha could call her at any time if he needed her.

With that done, she made her exit for real that time, leaving him his jacket and taking her dirty clothes with her in a trash bag. First, she had the long drive home ahead of her, so she could get cleaned back up and changed into another pantsuit. Then, it was time to hit the streets, looking for fares.

It was hit and miss during the day, although she did fairly well that evening and night, considering it was Saturday. She stayed up late, well past midnight, to get more fares after the public trains and buses stopped running. Business was so good that she just kept at it, not wanting to go home yet when there was more money to be made. The fact that she didn't want to sleep alone might've had something to do with it, too.

Eventually, though, it was time to call it quits for the night. Her empty apartment had never before seemed quite so lonely.

The week seemed to drag by for both hanyou and miko, although they did speak to each other at least once a day on the phone. The first time, he'd called her, Sunday morning, telling her he'd just wanted to hear her voice. She'd made him hang up so she could call him back, to save his minutes since incoming calls were free for him, and then they'd talked for a couple of hours. After that, half the time he'd called her, but the other half she'd been the one to initiate their phone call, letting him know with a smile in her voice that she'd missed him just as badly as he'd missed her.

Despite his hand and stomach still being a bit tender Inuyasha did indeed go in to work on Monday. He'd left extra early so that he could take longer to run there, needing to stop and rest a few times along the way. If he hadn't known better, he would've sworn Sesshoumaru's stoic, emotionless face had flashed with something that might have almost been mistakable for relief when he'd first walked in, but since he had known better he hadn't lingered long on the thought before getting to work.

Tuesday went by uneventfully. On Wednesday, he and Kagome met up again in person at the police station, because they needed to give more detailed statements, but that didn't count as a date and both of them were eager for the weekend to arrive.

On Thursday, Kagome did help her mother, grandfather and brother with last minute preparations for New Year's Eve. In fact, she'd been by at some point every day all week to help them when she could, in and around driving her taxi. She would be staying to help them that night, instead of looking for fares, although just as she'd suspected her mother happily excused her for tomorrow when she learned she had a date. In fact, Kagome had invited Inuyasha to come to the shrine for New Year's Eve if he'd like, but he'd politely and perhaps a bit nervously declined. They weren't technically even dating yet, since their 'first date' wasn't until tomorrow, he'd told her over the phone, so he'd thought it a bit early to be meeting her mother. Especially since Kagome'd told him she had ghosted over the details of how they'd met, omitting the part about staying with him for two nights. She would probably tell her mother the truth eventually, but he'd agreed it was a story her family didn't need to be hearing right away.

When Friday finally arrived Kagome kept to her original promise of showing up at his place at six o'clock. He was of course completely healed by then and took her out for a fabulous dinner. Or rather, she took him, since he didn't have a car. Perhaps it was time to change that, although the thought of learning how to drive seemed daunting. Kagome told him with confidence that he could do anything he put his mind to, and that if he was serious about wanting to learn she would gladly teach him.

After dinner, Inuyasha didn't even need to come up with a line to try to get Kagome to agree to go up with him to his apartment. While they'd both agreed to take things a little slowly over dinner, and she only visited for a couple of hours while they both ignored a movie together on the couch, the fact that they actually spent most of that time making out spoke volumes.

A second date quickly led to a third, then forth, and then it was finally time for Inuyasha to meet Kagome's family and for her to meet his mother, Miroku and Sango. By that point they agreed they were boyfriend and girlfriend, although they hadn't yet been intimate beyond heavy kissing.

Inuyasha didn't mind waiting. He had a girl who genuinely cared for him and that was all that mattered. He wasn't stupid, and had put two and two together without even needing to ask. Her accident had happened during her third year in high school, and she'd already told him that she and her high school boyfriend Hojo hadn't really been that serious. They'd pretty much just been in dating status, themselves. Since then, she'd never had another boyfriend...until him. Inuyasha knew what that meant. But he would never, ever try to force Kagome into anything she wasn't ready for yet. He and his thankfully healed right hand had already gotten very acquainted with one another during his years of solitude; now, he at least had a loving woman to share other aspects of his life with, and that was a vast improvement as far as he was concerned. Intimacy of the body could wait, when they were so very intimate in heart and soul, and getting closer every day.

Since his work wasn't too far out of the way for her she'd started meeting him for lunch every day. She didn't often spend the night at his apartment since she was usually out driving at least until half past midnight, but on weekends she always came over and they went out to breakfast together. Both of them figured that eventually, at one point, they'd need to think about taking their relationship to that next level, and which one of them would be willing to make the move to the other's part of town, but for now they had settled into a routine that worked well for each of them and they were both quite happy with the way things were. They would just take it one day at a time.