InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Craigslist ❯ Part Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Craigslist

Summary: Looking for a fun night and fantastic tumble in the sheets?  Look no further.  Name: Kagome Higurashi.  28; Female; Tokyo; highly experienced.  Happy to dress as your sexy doctor.  Cost: $600 per hour.  Serious replies from ALL types welcome.  Can a fake Craigslist post create real love for a lonely hanyou?

Miscellanies:

Word Count – 12852
Post Date – July 20, 2012

Part Two

Quick note: Part Two starts before the ending of Part One

June 6

5:00 PM

Inuyasha shuffled hurriedly down the sidewalk, hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie.  A number of people passed his shrouded form, but he kept his eyes fixed on the ground stubbornly.  His nose and heightened senses kept him from accidentally bumping into anyone, and for that, he was grateful.  If he hit someone, it would draw attention to him, and that would risk someone seeing the sweaty mess that he was.

‘Go in, find it, buy it, get out,’ he chanted.  Those words were the only things driving him forward in his mission.  It all sounded so simple in his head, yet here he was: practically about to crap his pants.

It probably didn’t help that he’d been worrying himself sick over this the past few hours.  His little mission with Miroku had been a nice diversion for his thoughts, but now he had nothing to distract him from the twisting anticipation of tonight.  He’d never done anything like this before and he wanted to curse his past self for not having the foresight to ask a few more questions in his email about what he needed to do.  Like, it would be nice to know if all the trouble he was going through now was necessary.

“It’s not a big deal.  Everyone needs condoms,” he muttered quietly, assuring himself as he stopped at an intersection.  Apparently, he wasn’t quiet enough because a mother to the side gasped in shock and quickly covered the ears of her young son, shooting Inuyasha a glare.  Inuyasha sneered right back and let her take in his ferocious features.  The scent of fear that began to emanate from her calmed him, and he turned away.  Fear and shock, those he was used to.  What he really couldn’t deal with was the idea of buying condoms, which brought him back to the problem at hand.  He could imagine the cashier’s mocking derision in his head.  Who would sleep with a filthy hanyou?

“Disgusting freak!” The woman hissed under her breath, and Inuyasha’s ears pressed down to force her insult out of his head.  “Come on.  Let’s go Seichi,” he heard the woman usher her son away and felt her shoot another disgusted look at his back.

‘Good riddance.’  He hated people like her.  She was the type of person that made his life miserable, and now she would raise another one just like her.  Demons were incredibly rare in this age, hanyou even rarer, and full demons had all found charms to hide their looks, so modern society pretty much thought they were extinct or never existed.  Of course, something about being a half-demon meant that none of the charms worked on him or when they did they completely stripped him of his senses, which meant he couldn’t disguise his features, so he was stuck to this lonely, pathetic existence.

The very few that had gotten the opportunity to see him thought he was a freak of nature or a mutant.  He’d even gotten “secret government experiment” before.  Freak of nature was probably the closest.  His parents had apparently abandoned him as a child, as he barely had any recollection of either of them.  He’d lived on the streets for most of his life, using his abnormal stealth and strength to survive until an old demon Totosai had caught him stealing, taken him in and explained what he was.  Most of the time, he just let people come to their own conclusions, especially people like that woman who weren’t worth his time.

The green light drew him out of his thoughts and he sped brusquely through the intersection.  He turned the corner and entered the small supermarket, heading straight for the aisle with condoms.

‘Ecstasy? Charged? Bareskin?’ A hot blush graced his face as he read the names of the varieties he could buy.  ‘Ah, crap.’  There was also the issue of not really knowing his…size.  He scanned the labels quickly, trying not to linger in the section too long, but really didn’t know what to pick.  He knew he was – he thought this with a blush – fairly large.  He’d seen enough porn to know that much, but he really didn’t know whether that meant he needed something larger.  Guessing as best he could, Inuyasha grabbed three boxes that looked plain enough, willing to waste a few extra bucks if it meant he could just get out of there.

The line at the cash register couldn’t go any slower, though.  He held the boxes awkwardly under his arm, desperately trying to cover their labels.  When he finally got to the conveyor belt, he withdrew as deeply as he could into his oversized hoodie, ensuring the cashier couldn’t see his face.  The familiar feeling of adrenaline and blood pumping loudly through his veins muffled his hearing, but he vaguely caught the cashier’s question.

“Uh, cash,” he mumbled and shoved a few crumpled bills into the man’s hands.  He refused to lift his head up and allow the cashier to see his face.  This was pathetic.  Really.  He could take down a dozen armed men in minutes, but he couldn’t buy a few boxes of condoms?  When his items had been rung up, he snatched them off the counter and got the hell out of there.

‘Fucking finally.’

Inuyasha darted into an abandoned alleyway.  Making sure no one’s eyes could follow him, he leapt upward, his legs taking him to the rooftops of the buildings.  He preferred this way of transportation, if only because no one could see him.  Within minutes, he landed on top of his own shabby building.  

The walls were dilapidated and worn down, so Inuyasha smoothly slid down one of the old vents, climbing into his apartment window.  Miroku constantly asked why he would live in a place like this when he could afford something better, but his answer was always the same.  He had been living here for the past thirty years, and no one here asked questions.  No one cared anymore, and that’s how Inuyasha wanted it.  To go through the process of finding another place to call home would be a nightmare compared even to the crusty walls, terrible ventilation, downtrodden stairs and lukewarm showers.  Plus, he was rarely ever here anyway.  He spent most of his time working on missions or on some empty rooftop watching the stars nowadays.

Quickly shedding his clothes, Inuyasha jumped into his tiny shower.  As he looked down at himself, he considered grooming before meeting this Kagome Higurashi.  Was that what would be expected of him?  The last thing he wanted was for her to freak out over his silver hair down there, especially if he was lucky enough to have gotten to a point where she would be willing to look at all.  But he had never shaved himself before…what if he fucked up and it ended up looking like a spastic lawn mower had run him over?

‘It couldn’t be that hard,’ he decided, picking up an old, unused razor.  I mean, a razor couldn’t be that different from a sword, and he was good at operating those.  Better safe than sorry he decided.

When he had finished, he took a look at the clock.  It was nearing six.  Inuyasha threw on his cleanest pair of jeans and t-shirt, double checking himself in the mirror.  It felt strange to be putting in any effort for his appearance, but he wanted to start the night off well.  He couldn’t say that the nervousness had disappeared completely, but damn if he wasn’t beginning to hope.

Until now, his nights had been nothing but his imagination and right hand.  Of course, he had no delusions about tonight.  She wasn’t anything more than paid companionship and sex.  However, the anticipation of finally experiencing something he’d been fantasizing about – and suppressing his desire for – for decades was nearly nausea-inducing. No human could ever understand the way he craved sex now.  It wasn’t just the physical pleasure, it was the feeling of being desired, of touching a woman’s bare skin, of someone satisfying his carnal needs, that he wanted.  And going through years upon years, decades of loneliness was crushing.

As his thoughts wandered back to Kagome Higurashi, he imagined what she would look like beneath, her smiling face flushed and glowing.  Would she smell nice? Inuyasha cringed at the thought that she would smell like – well, like a prostitute.   This wasn’t the first time he had thought to resort to a prostitute, and years ago, he had tried his luck “on the streets.”  Unfortunately, his nose rejected as many hookers as had rejected him so that hadn’t worked out.  He was desperate, but not enough to stick it where he could still smell someone else’s junk.  But this woman…she looked different.  Maybe it was the way she smiled so sweetly, or the way her face glowed naturally without the dark, seductive make-up he had seen on other women.  Whatever it was, he hoped he was right.

He threw a final glance at the mirror.  He wouldn’t wear his hoody, he decided.  He had avoided giving any real hints at his…disfiguration…in his email, but she would have to find out at one point, and he would rather that be before he stripped.

‘I can do this.’ Inuyasha reassured himself, nodding determinately.  ‘For once, things will go my way.’

6:00 PM

‘Oh, fuck me.’

Inuyasha withheld the string of very unpleasant words just begging to be released.  Great.  She’d screamed.  And then fainted.  He would say that things couldn’t get any worse, but refrained because the universe just loved to prove him wrong.

‘Just fucking fantastic…I knew this was a bad idea.’ he cursed, resisting the urge to just run away right then.  Clearly, his earlier fears had been right.  Even prostitutes couldn’t stand the sight of him.

A voice of reason piped up wryly, ‘Or…maybe she reacted the way any normal person would when she sees a dark figure watching them outside her window…’ He had only wanted to get a better look at her, to see what she was like before taking this crazy chance.  Plus, it wasn’t like he could just wander into the lobby dog ears and all.  He thought he would reach her floor long after she had come in, but of course, the same gods that made him this way had clearly decided they were against him today as well.  ‘Damn, I guess I shouldn’t have snuck up here like this…Probably not my brightest moment.’  Could you blame him?  The anxiety made it hard to think straight.

Inuyasha let himself entertain the notion that this woman wasn’t terrified by the way he looked, but by the fact that there was a dark figure watching her as she walked into her apartment.  It would make sense, wouldn’t it?  Humans were scared of dark figures watching them through their windows, he reasoned.  Or, at least, Miroku was a total wuss, Inuyasha thought with a light snicker in a feeble attempt to lighten his mood.

Perhaps, she hadn’t actually seen his features, or – even better – she had seen him and wasn’t scared by them. Unwelcome hope bubbled up in his head, but he quickly forced himself to shake that idea out of his head.  Being hopeful only meant falling harder when reality hit.

He remained still for a few moments, still crouching on the rails of her balcony, as he thought about what to do now.  Should he just leave the girl lying there in her open doorway?  That would be awfully dangerous and inconsiderate.

‘Well it was pretty inconsiderate of her to faint on me,’ he thought with a huff, never mind that she didn’t mean to! ‘Crap, I can’t just leave her here, though.’  And it wasn’t like being afraid of him was exactly her fault…he was practically born to frighten people.  No one, save perhaps Miroku, had ever bothered to look past his animalistic features, and it wasn’t all too surprising that some prostitute he found on Craigslist wouldn’t either.  ‘Jesus, he’d laugh me into the ground if he found out.’  Miroku had the habit of forgetting that his partner looked like a monster, and while Inuyasha had no idea how Miroku ignored his strange features, he was eternally grateful for it.  Unfortunately, Miroku couldn’t provide what Inuyasha wanted, which was a whole different kind of company.  He shivered in disgust and shook his head to banish the thought.

“I’ll move her and leave,” he decided with a nod.  ‘Damn it.  I shouldn’t have bothered with this stupid thing to begin with.’  Maybe this was the cosmos’s way of saying he shouldn’t have tried to find a prostitute to take his virginity in the first place.  He would have done it the “normal” way, but he wasn’t normal.  

Inuyasha wasn’t naïve.  No one would be willing to be with him that way unless there was money involved.  Mind made up, the hanyou used his claws to cut through the lock on her balcony door.  He slipped into her tiny apartment, and tried really, really hard not to feel completely creepy.

As soon as he stepped into her apartment, he couldn’t help taking a deep breath of her sweet scent.  It filled the room, teasing his nose relentlessly, and Inuyasha found himself suppressing the almost uncontrollable desire to run over to her prone body and bury his nose in her.

‘Woooah.  Tone it down, Inuyasha.’ The plan was to get her out of the doorway and lock the door before leaving, not to molest her in her sleep.  

When he caught sight of her, he stifled a laugh.  She was dressed as a doctor, just like the ad promised, but he couldn’t really say the outfit was sexy.  ‘I guess she really takes this thing seriously.’  As he got a good look at her face, he saw that she was just…beautiful, even more beautiful than he imagined when he saw her picture.  ‘Wow…’  Her cheeks were full and though she was pale from fainting, he could easily picture them flushed and rosy, beneath him as he pounded  – .

‘Jesus!  Stop it, you fucking weirdo!’ He screamed at himself, blushing profusely and immediately cutting off the not-so-G-rated thought.  Sure, he was a lonely and horny freak – why else would he bother going through all this trouble to lose his virginity – but he didn’t have to be such a creeper as well, especially since the woman was fucking unconscious.  He picked her up from the floor, kicking the door closed behind him, and easily carried her onto a small couch in the center of the room.  He ignored the way her sweet, alluring smell surrounded him and gently lay her down.

As if someone was conspiring against letting him leave in peace, her white coat fell to the side when he set her down and Inuyasha’s eyes moved down automatically.  He took in a sharp breath as he saw the very obvious outline of her breasts behind the flimsy tank-top she wore underneath her coat.  ‘Holy gods…’ She had clearly prepared for his appointment, and sharp disappointment struck him at the idea of not going through with this.  His hands moved with a mind of their own, and a tentative finger traced the underside of her breast.  His manhood – which he had really hoped to use tonight, mind you – hardened as her scent danced around him and as his finger felt the softness of her breasts.

“Damn!” He huffed out.  When he realized what he was doing, he ripped his hand away disgustedly.  Thinking about touching her was understandable – he had come to have sex with the girl, after all, and it would only be a manifestation of his disappointment – but actually fondling her in his sleep was a whole other beast.  

“Crap, I’m turning into Miroku.” Now that was a scary thought.  

Just as he was about to retract his hand, a soft moan from the unconscious woman had him stilling, her lips forming the most tempting pout.

‘Gah! Fuck, fuck, fuck!  What do I do?!’ Inuyasha’s mind raced furiously.  He could run right now, and the girl would spend the rest of her night freaking out over whether there really was some monster watching her.  Plus she would miss her appointment and lose out on quite a lot of money.  Or he could stay and explain to her what had happened and maybe, just maybe…he would get what he wanted tonight.

Before he could make up his mind, her eyes flickered open and focused on the man in front of her.  Inuyasha froze mid-flight, his amber eyes latching onto her brown ones in the darkness of her apartment.

He saw her eyes widen in terror, her mouth opening to scream, and before he even knew it, he had leapt over and slapped a hand over her mouth.  She immediately began struggling, attempting to kick and hit him.  His instincts kicked in, and he quickly wrapped his other hand around her wrists and pressed himself down on her to avoid her kicks, though they honestly felt like nothing even when they struck.  He desperately tried to ignore the delicious feeling of her soft, plump, bra-less breasts on his chest, and reminded himself that the girl was clearly terrified.  

Finally, he had enough of her struggling and said firmly, “Calm down!”

6:10 PM

Kagome had always wanted to be a mermaid.  In fact, when she was a child, her mother had convinced her that if she held her breath when passing under a bridge and made a wish, her wish would come true.  You can bet that she wished to be a mermaid every damn time.

Course it never happened, but right now, she felt an awful lot like a mermaid.  She was floating peacefully through the water, which, strangely enough, smelled of woods and pine cones.  ‘Smells good…’ she mumbled in her sleep.  However, she could feel herself slowly falling lower and lower until finally, she was sinking into the ocean floor.

‘Noo…’ A disappointed moan found its way out of her mouth, and she pouted as the real world began to filter into her senses.  ‘Real life is no fun,’ Her mind whined.  ‘Real life is boring and lonely and sucky!’  Nonetheless, the softness of her worn couch pressed gently on her shoulder, and Kagome began to blink awake.

‘Darn, did I fall asleep on the couch again?’ Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and slowly, it dawned on her that she was staring right at a pair of glowing, golden eyes.  She opened her mouth to release an instinctive scream, but a large, very strong pair of hands smothered it.

“BRHHRFF!” She screamed behind the hands, kicking and punching desperately with sleepy limbs.  The golden-eyed man easily pressed her down, restraining her movement, and when she felt his warm, hard chest against hers, she knew she would have an easier time moving a small mountain than fighting this guy.

‘Oh my god!  He’s going to kill me!  I’m going to die, I’m going to die!!’ She screamed frantically in her head, her eyes clenched shut in terror.  Why was it that as soon as she really needed to defend herself, every self-defense lesson flew straight out the door?  

Just as she was about to give one last desperate kick, the man spoke, “Calm down!”  She stilled at the authority in his voice, and her eyes opened hesitantly to look at her captor.  She found her gaze captured by the bright golden glow of his eyes as his warm hands slowly peeled away from her mouth.

Partially reacting on instinct, Kagome suddenly brought her knee up to his side, and he pulled back, startled by the unexpected action.  Taking advantage of his momentary shock, Kagome jumped away and shakily exclaimed, “I know s-self-defense!  Don’t come near me or I’ll unleash my wrath!”  

…That had to be the worst. threat. ever.  

She was pretty sure she’d already lost all credibility but still kept her stance and tried to steady her sleepy limbs, hands held up defensively.  Perhaps he was much stronger than her, but she wouldn’t be going down without a fight!  Glaring defiantly at him, Kagome nevertheless felt her arms slowly relax when the look in his eyes registered.  He looked almost…hurt?  She couldn’t figure out what that emotion was, but she took the opportunity to take in his appearance as best she could in the dark apartment.

His luminescent eyes were the first thing she noticed, and she noted with lessening alarm that they were almost soft in their gaze.  She quickly took in his long…was that silver?  She couldn’t say for sure in the blackness of her apartment…hair, the two strange triangular things on top of his head, and finally the clawed hands that covered her mouth and wrists.  He looked…different, to say the least…rather exotic.  She looked back up into his eyes again, and suddenly, she didn’t feel so scared anymore.

Inuyasha watched with trepidation as the woman carefully traced his features.  He didn’t want to be frightened by something that seemed so trivial, but somehow, he knew her reaction would make or break him.  After what seemed like an eternity, her gaze finally landed on his again, and Inuyasha waited for her to break the silence.

“W-who…are you?” Kagome finally got out.  She took a deep breath.  “What do you want with me?” She asked, hoping her voice sounded calm and composed.  He didn’t look like he was about to kill her, but you never really knew.  ‘Criminals pick on the weak ones, and you will not be one of them!  Remember: cool and confident, cool and confident.’

Inuyasha was reciting something similar in his head, trying not to look as panicked as he felt.  As much he told himself that he could just leave and forget the girl, he knew he wanted this.  Nearly a century of hiding himself and living as a social recluse would have torn apart a weaker person, but even he was exhausted, tired of waking up alone.  He desperately wanted one night to forget that he was a freak, to know what it was like to feel wanted, to pretend that someone loved him and, while he couldn’t put his finger on why, he wanted it with her.  Perhaps his expectations for a hooker he found online were too high, but part of him refused to let go of the hope.

When she stared expectantly up at him, he realized she had asked him a question.  “I’m Inuyasha…uh…I-I’m…umm…” He berated himself when he couldn’t get the words out.  Miroku would be having a field day, seeing the tough Inuyasha reduced to a stuttering fool by the embarrassment of having to say that he was her appointment.  ‘She does this for a living!  She won’t be embarrassed, so stop being such a loser!’ He yelled at himself, his fists subconsciously tightening in his frustration.  Finally, he said with an unwelcome blush, “I’m your…client…you know, for tonight.”

Kagome looked up at him like he had two heads, and he found his uneasy confidence slipping away again.  For some reason, he had pictured her much more confident and sure after reading the ad.

“Client?...I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”  Kagome congratulated herself on her cool composure.  All things considered, she thought she was handling this whole situation pretty well – minus the whole freaking out over seeing him when she woke up thing, but that was understandable.  Now that it seemed he wasn’t here to kidnap her, she could think more clearly.  Was he some patient that she forgot about?  ‘But I never do house appointments.’

“Er…” Had she forgotten already?  “You know…from the ad this morning,” he explained awkwardly.  She looked up, her expression confused, and Inuyasha reached into his back pocket to pull out a crumpled printout of her ad that he had kept with him.  He stuck it in front of her face.  He expected some sort of recognition, but that expectation flew out the window when she snatched the paper out of his hands and gasped in shock.

“Wh-what is this?!” She screeched, shooting up.  Inuyasha lifted himself off of her to allow the movement, and Kagome shivered at the sudden loss of heat.  Shaking off her unintentional reaction, she read through the ad carefully, her shock and anger rising at every word.  “Highly experienced?!...Sexy doctor!  Oh my gods…” Her hiss filled the air between her and Inuyasha.  Was this someone’s stupid idea of a prank?!  When she realized that a real picture of her had been attached, she didn’t know how to react.  “This isn’t mine.  I-I…I don’t know…”  She took a few deep breaths.  “How…how could this happen?  I’m sorry, but I’m not…er…a prostitute.  I mean, I am Kagome Higurashi, but this isn’t my ad…” Why would someone even do this? It was…frightening and violating, to say the least, the idea that some loon had specifically targeted her and put her photo online.

She looked up at the long-haired man again, trying to figure out how he would react.  Would he be angry?  He hadn’t looked dangerous just moments ago, but this turn of events could infuriate him and change that.  She forced her limbs awake, prepared to defend herself properly this time if he reacted violently.  However, he merely stared incredulously at her.

Inuyasha was at a loss for words.  It wasn’t hard to deduce what had happened.  Someone had posted a fake ad – probably as a joke – and like the idiot that he was, he had responded.  ‘I can’t believe this…I can’t fucking believe this!’ Honestly, he was equal parts mortified and furious.

He almost felt sorry for the poor girl that was clearly the victim of some brat’s stupid prank.  At the moment though, most of his pity was reserved for himself.  ‘She’s probably going to laugh at the fact that someone like me thought he could be with her.’ He thought with a sharp pang.  This would just be another thing to add onto the list of things that didn’t go his way in life, with number one being the fact that he was born at all.  His hands dug their way into his thick hair, and he pulled at the silver strands in anger.  Frustration built up in his chest and he let out a furious growl.

Kagome’s eyes shot up and she gasped at the frightening sound.  The smell of fear tingeing her scent brought Inuyasha out of his anger at once, and he forced himself to stop growling.

“Damn it.  Sorry,” he grumbled, hoping his voice didn’t sound rough.  He didn’t like fear mixing with her scent.  It smelled all wrong, and he definitely didn’t want to be the cause of it.

“That’s okay…” Kagome replied, still confused out of her mind.  She had been scared for only a moment at the harsh growling emitting from the man, but it quickly turned into puzzlement.  He almost sounded like…a dog.  ‘How…is that even possible?’  Shaking the confusion out of her head for the moment, she refocused on that one seemingly harmless piece of paper.

As he watched the woman’s eyes return to the paper, Inuyasha had the sudden urge to take the opportunity to flee while he had the chance.  He took a quick peak at the balcony window, seriously debating running away from this whole situation.  This would teach him to ever take a chance like that again.

Kagome finally looked up at the man that was apparently her “client” for the night, searching for words to say.  ‘What can you even say?  Sorry I’m not a prostitute?  Sorry you had to come all this way and not get laid?’  She knew she had to be mature and composed about all this.  She was a doctor, darn you!  Her diploma practically said, “Trained to handle awkward issues.”  Those weren’t quite the exact words, but you get the idea.  She had to remember how embarrassing this must be for the poor guy, to have someone essentially catch you in the act of hiring a hooker.

“I…” she started, but didn’t know how to continue.

He was looking towards her balcony with obvious longing, and it wasn’t hard for her to figure out that he wanted to run away from this whole thing as well.  ‘Wait…the balcony!’

“Oh my god!  You were the guy on my balcony!” She paused to collect her thoughts on her sudden realization.  “I – you!”  Kagome looked up at him with wide, perplexed eyes.  “I fainted!”

“Ehh…yeah.  That was me.” Inuyasha rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  He couldn’t decipher her expression, but he really didn’t need anger on top of everything else.  “Sorry?” He shrugged his shoulders and gave a sheepish half-smile.

Kagome had to hold back a giggle at that, her fear having mostly faded away by now.  This really wasn’t the time to be laughing, but the way he apologized for breaking and entering was pretty adorable.  If she had the mind to look at it more objectively, his entering through the balcony was pretty…creepy.  It should have sent off some red flags, but for whatever reason, she didn’t feel in danger around him.  At least, not anymore.  “Why…” She trailed off, shaking her head.  “I do have a door, you know.  Most people opt to use that entrance,” she joked.

Inuyasha “keh”-ed at her light teasing, feeling his gruff personality come back when the tension began to dissipate.  “I know that!  I just – I wanted to make sure that… – I wanted to look at you!” He huffed out, crossing his arms defiantly.  They both let his declaration sink in and twin blushes donned their cheeks when they realized what he just said.  Inuyasha hurriedly tried to clarify.  “W-wait!  I mean – gah!  I didn’t know if you were a real person!”

Kagome raised a brow skeptically.  “You…didn’t know if I was a real person…?”

He really wanted to facepalm himself right now.  Inuyasha had never been a smooth talker – that was likely the result of never having anyone to talk to, since the pervert didn’t really count – but something about being around this woman was fucking with his brain.  “You – it – never mind!  Keh! ”  That was safe.  Keh was appropriate for all occasions.

Kagome didn’t respond, her eyes falling back onto that piece of paper.

This whole thing was mortifying, and all he wanted to do was go home and pretend it never happened.   “Look, I’m gonna go,” Inuyasha said, making a snap decision and motioning towards the balcony.  The best way the night could turn out would be to go home, reacquaint himself with his hand, close his eyes, and fantasize about what could have happened had this been real.  He tried not to feel dejected at the thought; at least she wasn’t screaming in terror, right?  That had to count for something.

Her soft eyes darted up at his declaration, and the next command flew out of her mouth before her brain caught up.  “W-wait!” Don’t go yet.  The golden-eyed man stilled, turning his head towards her again expectantly.  Shoot, now she needed a reason for him to stay.

“U-um,” she mumbled out nervously, mind racing for something to say.  “Inuyasha, right?  I…uh…I really am sorry about this.”  She gulped nervously as his eyes bore into hers.  She didn’t know what was behind those glowing orbs, but it was making her stomach twist.  ‘Think, think, think!’  The doctor couldn’t ever remember feeling so lost for words.  Those eyes were so incredibly intense she thought he could see right into her soul – a very unnerving feeling, by the way.

Finally, a logical question popped up.  The ad!  

“Did you ever talk to the person behind this?  I don’t – I mean, you don’t have to help me out or anything – don’t feel obligated, you can leave still if you want – not that you need my permission to leave because you can leave whenever – if you want, obviously…” Kagome rambled on and on, praying that she wasn’t sounding demanding.

Inuyasha listened to the woman in front of him babbling, but none of the words made its way into his head.  Was she…nervous?  Why?  Maybe she finally got a clear look at him… ‘But then why would she ask me to stay if she was nervous about how I look?’ He thought, puzzled by her behavior.  It occurred to him that he might actually want to listen to her to get his answer.

“…it’s a free country – at least last time I checked, but you never really know these days – but anyway if you wouldn’t mind, I just want to figure out how this whole thing happened…” She sounded stupid, she just knew it.  She really preferred when he was the nervous one and she was calm and collected.

‘Oh…’ Understanding dawned on him.  So that’s what she wanted.  For some stupid reason, he felt disappointed, but really, what was he expecting?  For her to say, “Hey wait, let’s have sex anyway?”  It made much more sense that she wanted to find out who was behind this.

“Sure,” he muttered.  “I emailed someone earlier, and…well, obviously it wasn’t you.”  Honestly, he wasn’t really feeling up to reliving this whole embarrassing situation, but she was looking at him so softly and pleadingly that he couldn’t stand to turn her down.

“Could you show me?”  Kagome gestured to her computer.

She stood up and began to turn towards her desk when she finally saw – or at least she thought she saw – what was on top of his head.  “Are those…puppy ears?”

Inuyasha recoiled slightly at her shocked exclamation, his instincts and many past experiences telling him to flee.  However, he froze when she cautiously raised her hand to his ears as if she didn’t believe her eyes.  His eyes locked onto her curious expression.  He didn’t dare take a breath, afraid it would startle her and she would react the way she was supposed to, the way everyone always reacted.

A finger brushed the sensitive hairs of his left ear.  That was all it took to startle him out of his daze.“H-Hey!  What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He cried out, reverting to his familiar, defensive self.  Pulling his head away from her, he suppressed the involuntary shivers that ran through him at her delicate touch.

Kagome snatched her hand back at his harsh question, though her gaze remained unsettlingly focused on his ears, and then on his hands as he held them defensively in front of him.

“Wh…what are you?” Her words were so quietly spoken he was sure he wouldn’t have heard them had it not been for his sensitive ears.

This was the part when they ran, Inuyasha thought.  Well fine, he’d give her a reason to run.  “What do you think?” he growled out, letting his anger pervade his mind.  “I’m a fucking monster.”

Kagome rolled her eyes at his theatrics and waved his outburst off.  “Oh please, do you practice saying that in front of a mirror everyday?”  He gaped slack-jawed at her, and she gave him a wry look.

“Wha…uh…huh?”

“There was no need to be so rude about it.  I was just curious!”

“Well – well – you shouldn’t be curious then!” Inuyasha huffed.

“But your ears!  They’re…I don’t know…real! I think it’s perfectly alright to be curious about that.” She insisted, leaning towards him again to get a better look at him.

He pulled away, unused to having someone’s face so close to his.  “I already told you that – ”

“Yeah, yeah.  ‘I’m a monster!’” Kagome’s eyes rolled skyward again as she mimicked his words.  “Seriously, though, is that some kind of cosmetic procedure?”  Even as a doctor, she had never seen something like this.  His ears were so different.  She would even call them cute – based on what she could see at least – but something told her the strange man in front of her wouldn’t take that compliment so nicely.

“Wh-wha?! No, it’s not cosmetic surgery!”  Honestly, what was wrong with her?  When you saw a monster, you weren’t supposed to react by asking what kind of monster.  “You’re…not right in the head.”

“So…because I asked a very logical question, I’m crazy?” Her brow rose in skepticism.

“No!  You’re crazy because you’re supposed to be scared!” Inuyasha stuck his claws in front of her face.  “Look!  I’m scary!”

“Having sharper nails and cute, little puppy ears doesn’t make you scary,” Kagome insisted, lifting her own hand to hold onto the one he’d placed before her.  She lightly traced the edges of a claw, taking in the hard, sharpened edges.  The doctor and scientist in her were fascinated by this strange man.  He had already said that it wasn’t by cosmetic surgery, so how exactly had he gotten this way?

Her eyes skimmed his form again, as if searching for an answer hidden on his body, but she somehow completely missed the look that her subject was giving her.

“Did you just call my ears…cute?” Maybe she was into furry porn or something.  He didn’t know.  But what he did know was that this woman was most definitely crazy.  Who in the world thought dog ears on a person were cute?!  A small voice spoke up in his head that he was being stupid.

‘You finally find someone who doesn’t think you look disgusting – the opposite it seems – and you’re yelling at her?’

It would have been perfect.  She would have been perfect, now that he thought about it, except for the small detail that she wasn’t a prostitute about to have sex with him.  So, he smashed that voice into silence.  There was no point in coming to like her, if…well, frankly put, if he never got to come in her.  He wanted sex – and badly – not someone that thought he was cool or interesting because of his features.  In fact, he would really prefer she ignore them altogether.

“Er…well, yeah…I dunno, they’re kind of cute.” She shrugged, feeling oddly calm despite his skepticism.  When he continued to stare open-mouthed at her, she sighed in defeat.  Obviously he wasn’t going to share with her any information about what he was, so her curiosity would have to remain unsated.  “Never mind what I said, alright?  Could you still help me track down whoever did this?”

He nodded dumbly, still struck by the oddness of this whole situation.  What in the heck just happened? Leading him to her small desk, Kagome allowed him to take the chair and turned on her old computer.

He logged on to his email and clicked open the brief exchange.  “It was from someone called ssshig@tokyoshrine.com.  I got your address and phone number…” and he just realized that her phone message that he had the wrong number should have been a sign enough.

“ssshig…” Kagome’s eyes narrowed.  That narrowed things down.  Super Saiyan “Souta,” she hissed furiously.  

Inuyasha turned to look at her infuriated face.  “So…you know who did this?”  That was great, because he really wanted to go beat this guy up and tell him he had just fucked up Inuyasha’s night.

“Yes.  I know him.  He’s my little brother,” she spat the last word out as if it left a terrible taste in her mouth.  

That little fact sent Inuyasha reeling.  Her brother did this?  Was he not right in the brain or something?  Did he not realize how incredibly dangerous that was?  Inuyasha recalled a case he had worked on ten years ago, a serial killer named Naraku that had killed dozens of prostitutes, both men and women, while pretending to be their costumer.  It had taken nearly four months and eight more deaths until Inuyasha had been able to take down the murderer, and Inuyasha shuddered at the thought of the woman in front of him ending up like one of Naraku’s mutilated, tortured victims.

Kagome was oblivious to the hanyou’s thoughts, too caught up in her own shock.  “I can’t believe this.”  Cutting up her bras was destructive, stupid, immature, and annoying, but this?  Giving her address and phone number out to some absolute stranger on the internet?  Kagome had never wanted to punch her brother more than she did now.  

She was just lucky that Inuyasha didn’t turn out to be a serial killer or rapist or any other sort of crazy.  

“I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him.” She ground out.

“Good idea,” Inuyasha agreed.  Kagome leaned over his shoulder to read the emails further, squinting her eyes angrily, and Inuyasha hurriedly minimized the window.

“Hey!  I was reading that!”

“Er…you got the information you needed so you don’t have to read anymore!”  Now that he knew she wasn’t a prostitute, there were a few details about his life – specifically his sex life, or lack thereof – that this beautiful, actual doctor didn’t need to know.

“Please?” She turned her infamous puppy dog eyes on him.  “There could be important extra details in those emails, and I need as much information to do something about this.”

Inuyasha cringed under the full-on poutiness.  Apparently his internal struggle was evident because she redoubled her efforts, adding a simpering “Pretty please?”

How was he supposed to resist that?  How could anyone resist those eyes? ‘Don’t give in.  Don’t give in.  Don’t give in.  Don’t be weak!’  He chanted to himself.  However, his mouth moved on its own accord.  “Fine…”

His hand moved to click on the mouse reluctantly, but he paused.  “You can only see some of it.  There are parts that are…private.”

“Whatever you or my idiot brother said won’t embarrass me,” she said calmly, and Inuyasha could easily picture her saying something like that to comfort one of her actual patients.  “I do ‘embarrassing’ for a living.”

“Easy for you to say.  It’s embarrassing for me…cause…you know, you’re not a prostitute and stuff.”

He clicked open the email, and quickly slapped a hand over the details she didn’t need to know.  She gave him a deadpan look, but he refused to remove his hand.  She quickly skimmed through the full original Craigslist post and the response Souta had sent Inuyasha, her anger building at every word.

“I am going to beat him into a bloody pulp, skin him, stab him with my kitchen knives, make myself a chiv, stab him again…” Inuyasha watched Kagome rant on and on about the multiple ways she was going to get revenge on her brother.

‘Holy bovine.  Remind me not to get on her bad side…’

As he waited patiently for her rant to finish, he finally allowed himself to covertly take in her sweet scent.  Gods, he really wished that this had been real.  He had never wanted anything…anyone more.  His night would have been perfect.  She was so beautiful and smelled so nice, and best of all, apparently she didn’t find him terrifying or disgusting.  He wanted to scream at the world for fucking with everything in his life that could have been good.

‘This could still turn out well.’ That damned hopeful voice was back.

‘No.  No, it could not.  Just because she doesn’t find me scary doesn’t mean she’ll automatically have sex with me.’

‘Does everything have to be about sex?  Why not just make a friend?  A very beautiful friend, at that.’ The voice reasoned.

‘You have a point…she’s certainly a sight for sore eyes, and kami knows I need one of those after looking at Miroku all day.’ His amber eyes surreptitiously looked up at her face again, taking advantage of the fact the she was closer to the screen than he was.  She really was pretty, her eyes kind, her voice relaxing, and though she was quite nosy, he could imagine actually talking with her and spending time with her…as a friend.  I mean, she’d be a friend he wanted to but couldn’t have sex with, but a friend was still better than nothing.

So caught up in his own thoughts was he that only the next few words that left her mouth pulled him back to the real world.

“…law enforcement…virgin…”

Inuyasha’s eyes shot to the screen and realized that his hand had been slipping the whole time during his internal debate.  Obviously, she had taken full advantage of his mistake.

“You work in law enforcement?”

“THE HELL! DON’T READ THAT!”

They spoke simultaneously, though her puzzled question was drowned out by his panicked shout.  Reacting on instinct, Inuyasha shoved his hand straight through the monitor, creating a series of small sparks that scorched his skin.  Kagome screamed and jumped back to avoid the flying sparks just as he yanked his hand out.

“Ow! Fuck! Your monitor burned me!”

Kagome was too busy staring at the smoking screen that used to be her monitor to grace him with a reply.

“You…y…you broke it…” Her jaw dropped open, ready to catch flies, as his actions registered in her mind.  “You broke my monitor!! WH – HOW – FU – WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

“You were reading my email!”

“So you punch – no, you destroy! – my monitor?!” Kagome glared furiously at the hanyou.  “You are crazy!  Nuts!  I c-can’t believe you just did that!”  She raised her fist and shook it threateningly.  “I-I…UGH!  Do you even know how much that cost?!”

“Well – well – … you were reading my email!” He was aware that he already made that point, but he really didn’t have any other defense.  “And stop screaming.  You’re hurting my ears.”

“Right.  I was reading your email.  Like I said I would be doing when I ASKED YOU IF I COULD READ THE EMAILS.”  Okay, so she’d read the part that he’d clearly meant for her not to read, but she’d prefer playing innocent for now.

He wasn’t buying it.  “I didn’t say you could read that part!”

At least she had the good grace to blush and smile sheepishly.  She searched for some excuse or reply when her eyes suddenly caught sight of his injured hand.  “Oh my god, you’re hand!

“Oh, this?” Inuyasha shrugged like it was no big deal.  Honestly, he’d already forgotten he had hurt himself.  “It’ll be better in a couple hours.”

“Uh…no it won’t,” Kagome looked at him like he was insane and reached for his hand.  “Here, I have a kit in my kitchen.”  She dragged him into the tiny kitchen that very obviously wasn’t meant for more than one person and sat him on one of the stools.  “Stay.” She ordered with a stern look when he looked like he was about to protest.

“I hope you know this is totally unnecessary.  I’ll be perfectly fine in two hours max.”

“So, you’re some kind of puppy-eared super human now?” Kagome said as she rumbled through her drawers.

“Something like that,” he mumbled.  She shot him an odd look at his comment.  Spinning around with an “Aha!” Kagome pulled out a medical kit.

“Give me your hand.”

Inuyasha gave in, but rolled his eyes to make sure she understood he didn’t like this.  She rubbed a salve onto his burns gently, letting her years of training take over.  

“Sorry, again, about this whole thing,” she said, though her attention remained focused on his hand.

“Don’t worry about it.  Not your fault,” he mumbled, wanting her to just forget about this whole thing.

“Yeah, but I doubt Souta will apologize to you.  It would be a miracle to even get the stupid brat to admit what he did was wrong, so I’ll do it for him,” she explained.  When she smiled up at him, he froze at the sudden eye contact.

Her smile absolutely lit up her face, and his breath caught in his throat.  What should he do now?  Was it the socially acceptable thing to smile back or just to nod?  What if she saw his fangs?  A close-mouthed smile that he was positive looked all wrong crept its way onto his face in response, and he grunted to show he accepted her apology.  She cocked her head to the side cutely, trying to decipher what that look meant, but shook her head and went back to work.

“So…uh…unleash your wrath, huh?” He asked, hoping he didn’t sound like the awkward guy who’d never really had a friend that he was.

She giggled to herself at the ridiculous threat she’d used earlier.  “Yeah…I had you quaking in your shoes, didn’t I?”

“Right…where’d you learn self-defense?  Saturday morning cartoons?”

“Hardy har…” Kagome retorted sarcastically, and though her face was downturned, focused on his hand, he could see her rolling her eyes.  “I panicked, alright?  How often do you wake up to shadowed men carrying you around in your apartment?”

He followed her gaze, and saw the red and raw flesh quickly disappearing behind the gauze.  “Not often…” Inuyasha trailed off when he looked up and found himself nearly nose to nose with Kagome.  Taking a deep breath of that intoxicating scent and gulping at the both welcome and unwelcome invasion of his personal space, he opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, when she spoke up.

“You have…really beautiful eyes,” she commented, staring directly into his gaze.

His jaw dropped open in surprise.  Did she just say…what he thought she said?  No one had ever said that before – hell no one had ever complimented him on anything, and skill as a criminal hunter didn’t count.  “U-uhh…thanks…your eyes – I – never mind – ugh! No, you’re eyes too, I guess – what is to do this have we know how…wait, uh…”

Inuyasha was ready to punch himself.  He had no idea what to say in response, so apparently his mouth had made the executive decision to make an enormous fool out of himself.  What the fuck was he even saying? A thousand potential responses rushed through his head, and he tried to concentrate of finding the right response, but he couldn’t focus with her looking right into his eyes.

Apparently something he’d said had been funny because she began laughing to herself and returned her attention to his hand.  “Sorry, I just like giving people compliments that I think are well-deserved.  I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that.”

Chuckling nervously, he nodded hurriedly, and darted his eyes away.  He’d never been the smoothest talker, but Kagome was turning him into a loser with the grammatical skill of an elephant.  He’d wanted to say that he thought her eyes were pretty too – it was common courtesy to offer a compliment back, and it wasn’t like he would have been lying…

He shifted as an awkward silence spread through the tiny kitchen and glanced down at the woman tending to his wound.  Her dark brows were knitted in concentration, and his gaze was drawn to the way she delicately bit her lower lip.  He felt his heart thud uncontrollably at her glistening pink lips and hoped she couldn’t hear it.  She really was beautiful…and obviously kind, as well.  He would have liked to be her friend, Inuyasha finally admitted to himself.  Sure, he spent most of time stumbling over his words, and sure, he wanted to have sex with her too.  His gaze fell to the outline of her breasts just inches from his hand, his eyes hooding with desire.  Yes, he most definitely wanted her.  But, he could have lived with just being her friend.

“There, all done.” Kagome leaned back with a satisfied smile, returning his bandaged hand and drawing his mind away from his sinful thoughts.

“Totally unnecessary,” he said again, though this time with much less heat.

“Right, right.  ‘I’ll be healed within the hour,’” Kagome imitated his voice and shook her head, unconvinced.  “I deal with injuries like that quite often, and I assure you it would have taken at least a week to heal fully.  So stop being so darned stubborn about it.  Plus, think about it as my way of making it up to you for having been put through my brother’s idiotic prank.”  Kagome paused.  “Though, after you broke my monitor” – she tossed him a look that really wasn’t very nice – “I think you owe me.”

“I told you not to read my email!”

“Yes! I read the stupid email!  What’s the big deal?!” Kagome tossed her hands up in frustration.

“I-It wasn’t for you to read!” Inuyasha insisted.

Putting her hands on her hips, she retorted, “Uh, technically it was…since you meant to email it to Kagome Higurashi.”

“Not you Kagome Higurashi!  The…uh…you know…fake one…the one that was going to do things…” He trailed off stupidly, cursing his face for heating up with a blush at her chuckle.

“I’m not a prostitute, no, but it’s not embarrassing either way,” Kagome softened her voice, seeing that he really seemed upset.

“I already told you!  Just because it’s not embarrassing for you doesn’t mean it isn’t for me!” Crap, he hated admitting that he was even embarrassed.  That was embarrassing in itself, but he couldn’t seem to control his mouth around this woman.

“Well, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about anything you wrote either,” Kagome reassured him.  She looked at him with a questioning expression.  “Though I can’t figure out why you would put that you’re in law enforcement.  Were you going to have sex with me and then arrest me or something?”  She sniggered to herself and quickly lifted a hand to cover her slip-up.  

Talking with this strange silver-haired man was strangely freeing; she felt confident and – dare she say it – mischievous as she humorously teased him, but hopefully he didn’t take her ribbing too seriously.  There really wasn’t anything to be abashed about, though she could see how he might feel embarrassed.  Being a virgin wasn’t exactly most people liked to advertise, and he likely only said it because he thought the prostitute who was taking said virginity ought to know.  The only thing that had gone through her head was ‘how in the world is this guy a virgin?’  Sure, he looked different, but even her relatively inexperienced mind saw him as ‘hot’ different, not ‘gross’ different.  Her eyes hadn’t been idle when she bandaged him up, and they had definitely noticed his toned chest and arms.

“No!  I…uh…I dunno… – I thought – it could be a – it might…ugh!  Never mind, it’s none of your fucking business!” Why did he keep turning into a stuttering fool?  Honestly, he had wanted to do a bit of…roleplaying and adding that little tidbit had been a subtle suggestion – but he certainly wasn’t about to tell her that!

“I was just curious…”

“Goddamn it, you’re pretty fucking nosy!”  All her questions were either embarrassing him or reminding him very acutely of how disappointed he was that he would be going home lonely and unfulfilled tonight.

Kagome huffed in annoyance.  “Are you always such a butt-pain?”

“How am I being a butt-pain?!”  He was already being nicer to her than he was to anyone else, so he’d like to know where she was getting the ridiculous idea that he was a “butt-pain.”  

“You won’t answer any of my questions and you keep cursing at me!”

“That’s just… – that’s how I talk.  Get off my case, bitch!” Inuyasha yelled in response.

Kagome could not believe her ears.  “What did you call me?”

When he saw her reaction, Inuyasha couldn’t help himself.  He’d spent too much of the afternoon being the flustered and embarrassed one, and now it was her turn.  “Bitch,” he drawled, reveling in his chance to finally rile up the woman and letting a smirk form on his face.

Kagome clenched her fists, slowly counting to ten in her head to calm herself.  It was obvious that the stupid jerk was trying to piss her off.  “I don’t know what you – ”

He cut her off, “Sorry, were you saying something, bitch?”  He watched with mirth as her face reddened in anger.

“Yes, I was, you jerk-face ass-butt!” Kagome raised her hand above her head threateningly, as if ready to karate-chop him.  “If you don’t stop, I’ll – I’ll – oh, you don’t want to know what I’ll do to you!”  She had never been fond of being called stupid names, but that infuriatingly mischievous way he said it was only fanning the flames.

Her chest heaved with her deep, rage-filled breaths, and Inuyasha suddenly found himself mesmerized by the way her curves danced and swelled before him.  Did she realize how close she was standing?  Her scent, her flushed cheeks, the tiny, cute sounds of anger coming from her chest, probably without her knowing.  Everything about her was taunting him, teasing him with its unattainableness.  He closed his eyes, tearing his gaze away before he did something that would scare her off.

Kagome watched in confusion.  She had been yelling at him…and he suddenly turned away with a grimace, as if in pain.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked.  A quick glance down at his injured hand told her it likely wasn’t the burns causing the sudden discomfort.  Did she really offend him?  “Um…I didn’t really mean that.  You’re not a jerk-butt ass-face, alright?”

That seemed to do the trick.  Inuyasha chuckled loudly, and Kagome almost sighed in relief when she saw the smile on his face.  She didn’t know why this man’s smile had such an effect on her, and she didn’t really care to psychoanalyze herself in that moment.

“Actually, it was jerk-face ass-butt,” Inuyasha corrected with a grin.  It occurred to him that he hadn’t really laughed in…well, in a very long time.

“Whatever.  So, uh, you’re okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Inuyasha waved her concern off half-heartedly and smirked as he added a term of endearment.  “…wench.”

“Ugh!  You’re so…so…immature!” Kagome yelled.  “My name is Kagome!  Ka – Go –Me!  Say it right!”

“Nuh-uh wench!”

Kagome let out a highly unattractive jumble of curses in frustration and reached out to grab his chin.  “Ka…go…me, say it with me.”  She forced his chin up and down slowly with each enunciation.  However, something very long and very pointy immediately caught her attention as she opened his mouth.

“Wow…are those fangs?”

Panicking at the reminder, Inuyasha yanked his head away from her instantly.

“What? Huh – Uh…no…”

‘Nice going, Inuyasha.  That sounded confident,’ he thought sarcastically.

“But…” she trailed off, unsure if it had just been a trick of the light.  “Open your mouth again,” she ordered.

“Why the hell would I do that?!”

“Please?” Kagome let her bottom lip peak out just the slightest bit, ready to give him the puppy dog face if the situation needed.“Oh no, no, no.  You’re not pulling that shit on me again.”  Inuyasha wrenched himself away, quickly darting to the other side of the kitchen, putting as much distance between the two of them as possible.  Yeah, he was acting like a coward, but this woman was unpredictable.  Or, rather, his reaction to her was unpredictable, and he wasn’t going to take any chances.

“I don’t understand why you won’t show me…I swear, I’m not going to make fun of you or anything,” Kagome assured, upset about the way he reacted each time she asked about him – his ears, his hands, and now his teeth.  She tried to remember that he was only a stranger – a man that had tried to hire her as a prostitute, she added somewhat amusedly – but couldn’t help feeling dejected at the way he pulled away from her.

Inuyasha could smell the sadness begin to taint her scent and frowned.  Why was she acting – or smelling – like she was hurt?  Truthfully, he didn’t know why he didn’t want her to see.  She already knew that there was something very odd about him, but part of him just wanted to keep it a secret.  ‘If she doesn’t actually know…then there’d be nothing for her to hate,’ he reasoned.

“Why…?” He began hesitantly

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to see so badly?”

Why…did she want to see?  Kagome thought about it.  “I guess…I just find you really fascinating.”

That response triggered his reaction.  “Oh, so that’s what it is, huh?  You think the stupid hanyou is fucking ‘fascinating.’  I’m not something for you to poke and prod at!” Inuyasha exploded, suddenly releasing all the anger he had pent up at her.

Recoiling at the fury in his tone, Kagome yelled back, “What?!  That’s not what I said at all!  Stop…stop twisting my words like that!”  She huffed angrily, trying to compose herself before saying another word, but she couldn’t believe how he had responded!  ‘Honestly, this guy has serious issues!’ Uncaring about how crazy she might look waving her arms around, Kagome blurted out.  “I just meant that…I don’t know!  You’re an interesting person!  I want to know more about you, so sue me!”

Inuyasha stopped mid-retort.  ‘She…wants to know more about me?’  He carefully took in her scent, his heart hoping she was being honest.  ‘It smells like she’s tell the truth…but what does that mean?’  Did she want to be his friend too?  As much as he hated it, that optimistic and naïve part of himself dared to hope that meant she might want more…but he’d never been in a situation even close to this one.  He wished Miroku were here to translate and explain the inner workings of a female’s mind.  Sure, the pervert didn’t exactly have the highest success rate, but it was better than Inuyasha’s – which was a big, fat zero.  He didn’t even want a high “success rate,” nothing like that.  ‘I just want one…one person to be with…is that too much to ask?’

Watching the array of emotions race across his face was unnerving.  Kagome blushed and fidgeted under his stare.  ‘Why’s he looking at me like that?’  She didn’t know how to describe the mix of expressions on his face, but what she did know was that it was making butterflies flutter in her stomach, and she really didn’t like that.  ‘Come on, pull yourself together, Kagome!’  She hated feeling like some light-hearted teenage girl on a date – not that this was a date, mind you!  It was strictly business…or prostitution…or, actually, failed prostitution…whatever.

As if finally realizing that she was waiting for his response, Inuyasha muttered out, “Oh…ok.”

“Ok?  That’s it?”  An apology for exploding at her would have been nice.

“Yeah?”  He gave her a quizzical look, and she huffed in response.  “What…?”

“Nothing,” she sighed.

They fell into an awkward silence, both shooting subtle looks at the other.  Kagome tried to dispel those damned butterflies and to think of something to say.

Finally taking a deep breath, she said, “So, umm, I guess…that’s it.”

Her voice brought Inuyasha out of his thoughts and he replied almost sadly, “Yeah, I guess I should…leave now…”

“Do you prefer balcony or doorway?” She asked teasingly.

He smiled sheepishly.  “Balcony please.” It wasn’t really dark enough for him to walk out of the building unnoticed.  “Thanks for the hand thing by the way” – he gestured to his bandaged hand.

“You’re welcome.”

She stepped back to give him room to hop off the stool and walked back into the living room area.  Opening the balcony doors, she moved to allow him to leave.  Looking down from the balcony, she asked quizzically, “How are you planning on getting down?  It’s at least a thirty goot drop just to the next level.”  She pulled back as a thought occurred to her.  “Hey, how exactly did you manage to get up here in the first place?”

“Uh, let’s just say it’s one of those puppy-eared super human things,” he muttered.

Sighing at his response, Kagome pouted but let it go.  “So, bye then?” She quirked a smile at him, feeling strangely sad at the idea of never seeing this odd but fascinating man again.

Looking back at Kagome, Inuyasha hoped his wistfulness wasn’t as obvious as it felt.  He didn’t often meet someone who not only saw his disfigurations, but still treated him kindly all the same.  That fact alone made the little infatuation he was steadily developing with her grow even more.

He wanted to ask to see her again.  He wanted to talk to her.  He wanted to get to know her, because he couldn’t help hoping that she might be exactly what he was looking for.  He didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her, but he didn’t know what to say.  Inuyasha cursed his own cowardice, internally debating whether he could build up the guts to actually ask the woman whom he’d mistaken for a prostitute another chance to see her.

‘I might never get a chance like this again,’ his mind insisted.  

Turning back for a brief moment, he took in her sweet smile and pretty brown eyes and made the snap decision not to ask her.  ‘I’ll find some other way to run into her again,’ he decided, resting his clawed hand on the balcony.  It wouldn’t be hard to just happen to pass by her apartment building as she walked by, right?   Sure, that was kind of creepy, but he wouldn’t be able to stand the rejection.  His decision made, Inuyasha turned away.  

“Bye,” he whispered, before jumping off her balcony and landing softly on the next level.

Inuyasha couldn’t contain a cocky smirk at the amazed “wow” he heard behind him.  He landed on the alley floor and gave a small wave at Kagome.  Pretending to walk out of the alleyway, he waited until he heard her balcony doors shut before leaping back up and onto the apartment complex’s roof.

‘It would have been pretty hard to explain why I was jumping upward,’ he thought with a small laugh, imagining her skeptical glance.  

Before long, he was back at his dingy apartment.  

That night, as he plopped onto his creaky bed, Inuyasha faced the moonlit ceiling and closed his eyes, Kagome’s face appearing behind his lids.

‘I’ll find some way to see her soon.’

June 7

9:00 AM The Holding Cells

Crashes and violent obscenities echoed down the halls.  Behind a glass pane, one lone figure sat facing the clear wall.  His dark black hair hung loosely, sparse from years of solitude and malnourishment.

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS!  I’LL BLOW THIS WHOLE SHITHOLE UP IF I HAVE TO!”

The infuriated shout reverberated through the hall, penetrating even the thick glass of his containment wall.  A struggling and screaming man pulled angrily at the cuffs around his wrists, kicking at the two guards restraining him as they walked him past the cell.

It was funny.  Everyone always struggled and threatened the guards, as if it would make a difference.  He, Naraku, on the other hand, was a model prisoner.

He took a cursory glance at the passing men, and the screaming man would have passed by unnoticed if it weren’t for the gleam that suddenly caught his attention.  A silver hair, glinting under the harsh lights of the cells.

Naraku’s gaze latched on to the long, single wisp of silver dancing on the prisoner’s clothes.  Within moments, he realized what an opportunity had arisen and his mind raced to take in everything he could figure out about this man just looking at him.  Still in his street clothes…a new prisoner.  And that lovely silver strand…it belonged to none else than the filthy hanyou that put him in here so many years ago.

Immediately he searched out the 0203 inconspicuously stamped onto the man’s street clothes, his prisoner number.  That meant he was one of the lower security prisoners and would be eating in the dining rooms.  All too soon, the guards moved the man out of the way.  

An ever-present, uncomfortable wooden object deep in the folds of his clothes poked at his side, and he reached in to carefully trace a finger along its grooves.  Ten years it might have been, but he hadn’t forgotten a thing.  He glanced up at the clock right outside his cell.  It would seem he only needed three more hours to put his plan into motion, and three hours was nothing compared to the ten years he had rotted in here.

12:00 PM

The daily echoes of the guards shoes registered in Naraku’s ears.  That was the sign he needed to stand up and move to the entrance, his cool eyes following the guard’s every step.  Just like every day for the past ten years, the same guard slid a key card down and set his platter on the small window.  Evidently, Naraku’s unwavering gaze today was enough to warrant the man’s attention.

“Whadya want?”

“I’ll take my one hour now.”

The guard hesitated, briefly shocked, before his gaze hardened into a suspicious glare.  Naraku smiled back politely.  He knew the man was skeptical about why he wanted to spend the behavior time that had taken ten years to earn, now.

“You’ll miss your meal,” he warned, but after a minute of staring into Naraku’s crimson eyes, he nodded.  The man logged the request and slid a key card to unlock the cell.  After the large, clear door slowly opened, Naraku exited his cell for the first time in more than a month feeling like a new man.

“Thank you, my friend,” he smiled graciously, feeling a sense of giddiness at the uncomfortable look on the guard’s face.  Pivoting on his heel, he began to move in the direction of the dining cafeteria and “recreation” area, the guard at his heels.  

Opening the doors to the prisoner cafeteria, Naraku quickly searched out the man of interest.  He was sitting alone, picking at his plate.  Naraku checked behind for the guard, who had returned to his own duties after they made it to the common areas, and made a beeline for prisoner 0203.

He seated himself across the bench, directing his cool gaze to the human man before him, eyes finding that one silver strand in moments.

“The fuck do you want?” 0203 sneered.

“Just to make a friend,” he explained, offering a generous smile.

“Don’t want no friends,” 0203 glared back.  “Don’t need no friends – not when I’m getting my ass out of here.”

“And how do you suppose that’s going to happen?”

“None of your fucking business,” 0203 answered with a glare.

“It doesn’t sound like you’ve got much of a plan at all,” Naraku intoned innocently.  He reached across and dipped a finger into the greasy slush on 0203’s plate, making a disgusted face at the texture.

0203 exploded, slamming his tray upside down and narrowly missing Naraku’s fingers.  He pointed a finger, cursing, “You shut the hell up!  The fuck do you think you are?!”

‘What a temper,’ Naraku mused to himself as 0203 screamed without abandon.  A guy like that wouldn’t have survived too long back in his day, he thought tiredly.

Provoked by the lack of response from the subject of his ire, 0203 stomped forward and pulled a fist back to slug the insolent man, but before he could, Naraku interrupted.

“I can help you out,” Naraku offered calmly, standing up to look 0203 in the eye.

That stopped him in his tracks.  “What?”

The long-haired man smiled lazily.  “Come with me.”

Spinning on his heels, Naraku wasted no time waiting for 0203’s response.   He’d been planning this since the day he found himself here, and there was no way 0203 wouldn’t take the bait.  Heading straight for the dining hall restrooms – which were really more like half-opened stalls in a closed-off section of the wall, he sat down and waited for 0203 to make his entrance.  Based on what he saw, 0203 was hot-headed, idiotic and barked louder than his bite.  This would be easier than taking candy from a baby – though, Naraku mused, that wasn’t as easy as they made it sound…infants have surprisingly tight grips.  Not a minute passed before he heard the hesitant footsteps lightly echoing after him.

Reaching down to trace the small wooden figure again, he finally pulled the wooden doll out of the cloth and held it in his lap.  As he was not in the mood to listen to another of 0203’s profanity-laced questions, he spoke before the bad-tempered prisoner could get a word in.

“The man who took you in…he wasn’t your average guy, was he?” He began, crimson eyes focusing on the skeptical man before him.

“What do you know?” 0203 narrowed his eyes.

“Not much more than you,” Naraku lied smoothly.  “But he got me, too.  I want to propose a jailbreak with some vengeance on the side.”

Turning his head to make sure no one was around, 0203 asked, “Yeah?  What am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing at all, really.”  Naraku stood up and walked over, internally glowing at the way 0203 forced himself not to back away, delicately picking up the hair he had spotted earlier and wrapping it around his wooden puppet.  0203 watched with perplexed eyes, suspiciously eyeing the now bound wood.

“…So you wrapped the hair around the doll…you gonna perform some voodoo magic, now?  What are you?  Some kind of sheman?” 0203 snorted and rolled his eyes.  “What a fucking waste of time.”

“They’re called shaman, my friend,” Naraku corrected, not bothering to look up from his work.  Now that they were standing so close, his demonic nose, though weaker than most other demons’, could pick up slight traces of meth.  ‘A drug dealer?  Meth head?’ He asked himself.  That made him feel a little better about what he was going to do next.

Despite the skepticism, the man didn’t move, eyes watching Naraku’s hands curiously.

Finally tying up the last knot, Naraku looked up.  “What’s your name, 0203?”

“The O.G.,” the ‘O.G.’ threw up some ludicrous hand signal and cocked his head back.

“…Did your grandparents drop your parents on their heads as infants?”  Naraku mentally rolled his eyes.

“Fuck off!  It stands for Onigumo.  O for Oni, G for Gumo, retard,” he explained, as if that was the most obvious conclusion in the world.

Such a ridiculous person deserved to die a painful death, Naraku thought.  It was a shame he couldn’t provide that for Onigumo.  Naraku’s time was running out, and within a few minutes the guard would be searching him out.  Raising his right arm steadily, Naraku grinned as he felt the power he had kept suppressed for years awaken.  “It was very nice to meet you, Onigumo,” he commented before he shot his arm out in a tentacle and pierced a hole straight through the stunned man’s chest.  Letting the blood drip onto his wooden figure, Naraku watched with glee as he felt the puppet begin to heat and light into flame.

The sounds of the guards’ boots just barely began to register in his ears when he felt his body begin to cave into itself.  He took a strangled breath and shut his eyes.

…

When he opened them, he could see the sun.  

He could smell him too.  Inuyasha.  

This had to be where Onigumo and Inuyasha first came into contact.  The trail was weak, but traceable, and he set to work following the path the hanyou had taken that day.  He found himself at a warehouse, a supermarket, then a rundown apartment, and by nightfall, he had made his way to a small cozy apartment.  He was ready to turn and continue following the trail, frustrated at the apparently busy schedule the hanyou had, when he caught sight of a woman moving inside the apartment.  The scent was old but fairly strong, which suggested that he’d spent a significant amount of time in that apartment…

‘So the filth has found a little whore for himself in the meantime.’  Naraku considered his options, keeping an eye on the woman from the shadows.  Her back faced him, but even seeing her womanly figure moving – probably preparing for bed – had his blood heating in ways he hadn’t felt for a decade.  He could see her soft flesh molding in his grip, yielding to his will, and Naraku’s gaze narrowed obsessively.  Perhaps it would be wiser to lure Inuyasha to him instead of wasting his time tracking the elusive hanyou down.

He slid onto the balcony floor and quietly slid the balcony door open, delighted at the broken lock.  Someone had made his life a whole lot easier.

‘It can’t hurt to enjoy a treat while I wait…well, it won’t hurt me.’

Author’s Note:  Sorry I took quite a while to churn out this chapter.  It was a combination of business, lack of inspiration-ness, and laziness.  As always, many, many thanks to the people that reviewed ^^!  I hope you guys enjoy Part Two as well!  I welcome constructive criticisms, so do tell me what you liked and didn’t like!

I realize there may be some confusion regarding the little wonder Naraku performed in prison.  I don’t remember the Japanese name, but Naraku uses the wooden puppet thing he always used in the manga/anime to get out.  I modified the idea a bit because a) I don’t know how the thing is actually supposed to work in the actual manga and b) I needed the demon magicalness to fit my story.  Basically, he wanted revenge on Inuyasha, so he needed a piece of Inuyasha (i.e. the hair), and I borrowed a somewhat Faceless Men/Jaqen H’ghar-esque idea with the whole “The Red God takes what is his, lovely girl.  And only death may pay for life” idea for Naraku killing Onigumo.  If you didn’t get any of that, I wouldn’t worry about it.  All you need to know is that Naraku has busted his way out of the “prison” and is now planning on taking revenge on Inuyasha for putting him in there.

Lastly, I’m aware that there are plenty of nice folks on the internet and Inuyasha’s recollection of Naraku is not implying that most people who hire prostitutes are crazy psychopaths (in fact, having met people who have hired hookers, I think most of them are super nice).  But still, obvious tip of the day: if you plan on being a prostitute, always be safe and have someone who’s got your back!

Danks for reading!