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u38195: I can’t believe how fast the professor goes in this class.
u14692: Hard agree. It’s like he thinks that we’re all physicists or something
u52940: Dude, I just needed an intro class, and I took this one because nothing else was available
u24080: But can someone explain why we are using derivatives in measuring acceleration?
u12749: Because acceleration is the rate of change in velocity. So, it’s a derivative of the velocity, but with respect to time.
u24080: But what does that even mean???? I am so fucked.
u12749: You’re not. It’ll be fine. Let’s look at page 173 in the textbook and I’ll show you...
Inuyasha Taisho sighed and rolled his eyes. Intro to Physics was a required course for physics majors (of which he was one, thank you very much), but it was also a course for non-majors, so it meant that he spent three hours a week in a lecture hall with about 75 other students; about half of them were science majors, like him, but the other half of the class?
Well, if the group chat on the class homework app revealed anything, it was that half the class were total fucking idiots.
He grumbled. He’d come to this university because of their outstanding physics program and their special scholarships for hanyou science majors (of which he was both and definitely qualified); the faculty were among some of the top in the country, and the opportunities he would have to be in the lab, working with real scientists, had excited him to no end. He’d moved into the dorms back in September, an eager, shiny-faced freshman, with no idea of the mundaneness of that first college semester: required courses, making friends he wouldn’t keep past winter break, and did he mention required courses?
His dog ears, normally so alert and taking in the sounds around him, drooped as he half-listened to the professor drone on and on about how to find the acceleration of a car, and how the way that acceleration is determined has changed over time. His golden eyes slid back from the professor and down to the homework group chat. u12749 was still working with u24080 on acceleration, and he scoffed.
He should have been the top student in the class. He’d come into Shikon University with basically a full ride; he’d already met most of the physics department before he even made his final decision about where he wanted to attend school. And in his Calculus class, his Intro to Psychology class, his Spanish class, and his World History class, he was very much the star student, the one that others asked when they needed help...the one that the professors recommended should any students ask for help. He studied hard, got good grades, and…
Well, that was about it, really. School was all he needed. He didn’t have any reason to focus on anything else.
Until u12749 came into his life.
Everything Inuyasha did, u12749 did better. If Inuyasha scored a 95 on an exam? u12749 scored a 100. If Inuyasha tried to help someone with an assignment, u12749 immediately would jump in and gently correct his methods (or his physics, which fuck, he knew that he was fucking right). Eventually people started pinging u12749 directly in the group chat to come and help them, and like it was the fucking Bat Signal, u12749 always answered the call. The person was kind, helpful, and even when someone was being a total fucking idiot, u12749 never called them out or made them feel like shit. (Which Inuyasha definitely would have, because Intro to Physics was not hard.) He...he didn’t like being shown up by someone in the class...especially not by someone who was the damn class pet.
“Excuse me, Professor?” said a soft, feminine voice from the other side of the room. Inuyasha’s ears perked up, and he was a young woman raising her hand, waiting to be recognized. Inuyasha’s heart stopped. Kagome Higurashi. The prettiest girl in Intro to Physics, and maybe, the prettiest girl Inuyasha had ever seen in his entire life.
Her hair was long, and black, and curled lightly in soft waves. Today she wore it back in a simple ponytail, but a few flyaway strands had come loose and framed her face beautifully. Even though she was on the other side of the room, he could see that she had beautiful gray eyes, the color of the clouds over a stormy sea. Her face was heart-shaped, and sweet, her nose well-formed, and her lips? Inuyasha inwardly groaned at the dusky pink color of her lush, full lips.
She was beautiful. Why a pretty girl would be in a physics class was beyond him, but here she was, and if he wasn’t so caught up in staring at the homework app, he would be caught up in staring at her; he was sure of it.
The professor nodded at her; she stood up, and he did nearly swoon at her gorgeous figure. She wore a red sweater (fuck, his favorite color) that was tight-fitting and showed off her ample breasts. Her torso flared down into a small waist, but then he couldn’t help but be drawn to her shapely hips, and her perfect, round ass, which were covered by some very tight, black pants.
He...he may have been panting at the sight of her.
“Kagome Higurashi,” she said, and the way her voice danced over her own name practically made Inuyasha swoon. “I was wondering if you could review the equations for acceleration one more time? I just want to be sure that I have the theory correct.”
The professor nodded at her, and went back to his lecture. Inuyasha watched Kagome for a few moments, her own face intent as she took notes and moved between her notebook and her laptop. He wished that he had the nerve to ask her out...that he had the nerve to even talk to her...because he wanted, more than anything, to introduce himself to her and get to know her better.
Take her out for coffee. Maybe to a movie. Or to dinner. Anywhere. Just with her.
He had never liked a girl before; fuck, he’d never even really noticed girls before. But Kagome? The first day of class, when she’d walked in wearing a long-sleeved minidress and Converse? When he saw how she filled out that long-sleeved minidress? He was instantly hooked, instantly enraptured, instantly in love. (Or in lust, at least.)
Over the next few weeks, he’d tried so hard to figure out a way to talk to her. He thought about sitting close to her, but she was always sitting with the wolf demon who walked her to and from class. Inuyasha was pretty sure they weren’t dating, because they never held hands, they never kissed, and the wolf never whispered in her ear or did other things that, were Kagome his girlfriend, Inuyasha would definitely do. Plus, he’d heard the wolf and Kagome talking about an “Ayame” who sounded like the wolf’s actual girlfriend. So maybe he and Kagome were study buddies, or something like that. But still...he didn’t fuck around with wolf demons. They tended to be badass and bad news, and Inuyasha preferred to keep his head down and not get into any trouble. Although, he kind of thought Kagome might be worth it.
A soft ping on his laptop brought Inuyasha back from his Kagome-filled daydreams. He snarled softly, out of the hearing of the droning professor, and looked back at his screen.
u12749: So if you’re using Newton’s second law to try and find the force, you need to use the formula F dp/dt = d(mv)/dt. In this case, mv refers to movement velocity.
Inuyasha froze. Was it possible that… u12749 had made a mistake? And not just any mistake...a simple, easy mistake? One that, had they checked their work carefully before entering, they probably would have been fine?
Oh, this was going to be good.
u10010 (this was him): Actually, “mv” refers to the canonical momentum, where the net force on a particle equals the rate of change of the momentum of the particle over time. Sorry you missed that one!
There was a few seconds break, and then u12749 popped back on again: Are you sure? I could have sworn that’s what the book said.
Inuyasha grimaced. Perfectly sure, he typed back. Fuck, what the fuck are you doing in a physics class if you don’t know the basics?
The chat went quiet for a few minutes, and Inuyasha hissed as they all saw his comment. He knew it was risky, but after all that u12749 had done to undermine him, to show that they were the smarter person, he had to do it. He had to strike back.
Another ping drew his attention again, and he saw that this time? It was from u12749 themselves, DM’ing him directly.
Why did you call me out? I 100% belong in this class, just as much as you.
Oh, so they wanted to compare notes on who belonged in a physics class more, huh? Inuyasha checked and actually cracked his knuckles before he started to write back.
Not if you don’t know that mv refers to momentum. Not if you don’t know how to do derivatives (did you not pay attention in Calc?). If you don’t know those things, you don’t fucking belong here. So get the fuck out.
There was a brief pause as Inuyasha saw that the person was writing back to him.
Me, get the fuck out? I’m sorry, but that would be you! Why are you being such an ass? What did I ever do to you?
The questions brought out all of the hard feelings, the insecurities, the anger that Inuyasha had been harboring in his heart towards u12749 since the beginning of the semester, allowing them to rise and bubble to the surface. He was the one being mean? He was the one hurting them? What had they done to him?
I’ll tell you, you goddamn Hermione Granger wannabe . Oh, he was on a roll. You come into class, acting like you know everything, like you’re so helpful to everyone, like you’re the perfect student, the class pet. But you just proved that it’s all a fucking facade. You don’t know what they fuck you’re doing. You don’t know dick about physics.
He paused, then wrote one final line:
Really, you should just drop the class and go back to Hogwarts. I hear they’re still accepting Muggles.
A loud gasp made his ears flatten and Inuyasha’s head swiveled around. He saw someone—NO .
He saw Kagome Higurashi jumping to her feet, and looking around the classroom in a panic, her eyes trying to meet those of each of her classmates. When no one would look at her directly, she let out a choked sob, packed up her things, and fled up the steps of the lecture hall and out of the classroom, leaving several stunned people, including her wolf demon friend, in her wake.
Inuyasha took a moment, inhaling and exhaling, his eyes wide with horror, his heart pounding in his chest.
Right after he’d sent those messages, Kagome...well, shit.
She’d gotten up and ran from the classroom. But not before looking around, like she was wondering…
Like she was wondering who was sending her those DMs.
Ah, fuck. Inuyasha was the biggest fucking idiot on the planet.
U12749 wasn’t just anyone. U12749 was Kagome Higurashi.
Who had just flown from the classroom. Because he, Inuyasha Taisho, had made her cry. Had made the girl he liked cry. Because he, Inuyasha Taisho, was the big fucking idiot in five states.
In a panic, Inuyasha also frantically gathered his belongings. He shoved his laptop, notebook, and textbook into his backpack, and shot to his feet. He dashed up the steps after Kagome and out of the lecture hall, as well, making sure to capture her scent as he ran (and fuck...oranges and cherries? What kind of deliciousness was she, exactly?).
When he got out into the hallway, Inuyasha immediately sniffed the air, trying to sort out which direction she had gone. When he detected her trail going up the stairs to the third floor, he immediately took off after her, flying up the staircase with a speed he didn’t know that he possessed. He tracked her down the hall, ignoring the classrooms full of students who were staring at him as he ran past, his mind and heart and nose full of only her. Only Kagome.
The girl he had a massive crush on. And now...the girl he had so cruelly, and maybe irrevocably, hurt.
Her scent ended at the closed door to a classroom at the end of the hallway. It was a heavy wooden door, with no windows surrounding it; perhaps it had once been an old closet that was renovated at some point in the past. Tentatively, he opened it, and went inside.
His nose was hit immediately with the scent of orange, and cherry, and salt. Fuck. She was crying. His golden eyes took in the small space of the classroom, the desks all crammed together in a way that made Inuyasha cringe at the thought of having a class in there. But he saw a glimpse of dark hair, and heard a sniffle, and immediately dropped his backpack and leapt over several desks to find her, huddled in the corner, sobbing.
“Ka—Kagome,” he said breathlessly, helplessly, his heart breaking at the sight of her weeping so harshly, sunk into the corner of a classroom, all alone.
She looked up, and sniffled. “You,” she whispered, hiccuping slightly from the tears. “You’re in my physics class. The cute hanyou who smiles at me.”
What? She had...noticed him?
And she thought he was... cute? Again, what?
“Ummm, yeah. Yeah, that’s me, I guess. Inuyasha Taisho.” He smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. Fuck. Why exactly had he followed her? What did he think this was going to accomplish? What did he think that he could do here?
She thinks that you’re cute. You have to tell her. Admit what you did. Don’t be a fucking coward.
If you ever want a chance with her AT ALL, you have to tell her the truth.
“Inuyasha?” she said hesitantly, a slight blush coming over her cheeks. “Did—did you come to check on me?” Her eyes turned up to him, and he could see that they were red-rimmed from her tears, but also, a beautiful, cloudy gray, with flecks of blue and green. His heart started pounding in his chest.
“I—I did,” he choked out. “Because—”
She smiled through her tears. “Thank you,” she said softly. “You were very nice to do that. But I think that I want to be alone, if that’s okay. I really don’t want you to see me like this...I’m such a mess.”
No , it wasn’t okay. He needed to comfort her; he felt an overwhelming urge to sink down beside her, put his arms around her, hold her…
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t, because…
“Itwasme,” he said in a rush. “It...it was me. I am u10010. I was the one who...who…” And he found that, when it came down to it, he could not admit what he had done.
“Who called me Hermione Granger?” she said quietly. “And told to go back to Hogwarts, with the other Muggles?” She got to her feet; Inuyasha could see that her face had shift from sad to angry. A red flush spread across her cheeks, and her eyes flashed.
Commissioned Artwork by magnoliajades
“Where do you get off, anyway?” she said, the heat rising in her voice. “Do you have any idea what I have been through, to get to college, to try and make something of myself, to try and actually think that I could even become a physicist? To be like the only female in all of my science classes? To have to always be better than the men, because if I’m not, I get teased, bullied, told to leave class and go somewhere else ?” The last bit she shot at him , full of anger, venom, and pain.
And suddenly, he got it. He got why u12749 was always at the top of the class; why u12749 was always rushing to help others. Why u12749 always was anxious to seem like they had all the answers.
Because u12749 was a woman in the sciences; a woman in a world dominated by men...by men who made the sciences so unwelcoming to women.
By men...like him.
Inuyasha felt sick to his stomach, as he stood there and watched Kagome cry, and fume, and watched her look of anger morph to one of extreme sadness.
“No…” he said quickly, reaching out to touch her arm, “please, don’t cry. Please, oh fuck, please don’t.”
“What do you know about anything?” she shrieked, yanking her arm away, tears flying off her cheeks as she did so. “What do you know about being the only one in the room? About being the only one who sees yourself as having anything to contribute, as having any value? What do you know about constantly having to prove your worth to people who ultimately don’t give a shit about you, because of who you are, regardless of your intellectual capabilities?” She paused to take a breath, her chest heaving now from the effort of speaking, from the force of her words.
Inuyasha paused, and stood stock-still. He had never...he hadn’t even thought about…
“Kagome,” he said quietly, causing her to turn her beautiful, tear-stained face to him in surprise, “you’re not the only one. I am, too.” When her eyes widened, he continued. “Do you know what it’s like, to grow up, the only hanyou you’ve ever seen? To wonder if other people like you even exist? To be so rare that there are scholarships specifically for you?” Kagome nodded, and he knew that, as a woman in science, she felt this, too. “To always have to prove yourself, because you wonder if other people are judging you on account of who you are, and not on account of what you can do? To have to be better than everyone, because if you’re not, it means that you didn’t earn that scholarship, you didn’t earn that award?” He paused. “That’s what it’s like to be a hanyou in general, Kagome, but even more...to be a hanyou who wants to be a physicist.”
He closed his eyes, reliving the feelings of loneliness that had accompanied him all of his life: the lack of friends, of family, or mentors. The lack of support. The lack of everything, really.
A warm hand on his cheek caused him to pop his eyes open. There, standing so close to him he could see himself in her gray eyes, was Kagome. Her eyes were shining, and her cheeks were flushed. Her lips were slightly parted, and again, so plush and full.
“I do…” she whispered. “I really, really do.”
She was so close; his heart was starting to beat erratically, and her scent flooded his nose, his mind. He...he had to…
“I’m sorry, Kagome,” he breathed. “I’m so fucking sorry for how I treated you, for how I made you feel. If I had known…”
“It’s okay,” she breathed back. “I know why you did it, I really do. Just, please...don’t do it again?”
“I won’t,” Inuyasha said immediately, “I promise I won’t. Do you...do you forgive me?”
“Yes,” Kagome sighed, a smile relaxing onto her face. “I...I forgive you.”
Before he knew what was happening, she was crossing the short distance between them, her lips slightly pursed, aiming for his cheek. A kiss. She was going in for a kiss.
Fuck, he...he…
Startled, and nervous, and scared, Inuyasha turned his face, hoping to avoid the kiss altogether. But he turned the wrong way, and instead, their lips met, hers brushing his oh-so-slightly. And the moment her lips touched his, Inuyasha felt a tightening of his groin, an igniting of his insides, in a way that he had never felt before. Her lips were soft, and his lips started tingling, causing a shiver to run through his body.
Fuck, she felt...this was…
But then, just as soon as it started, it was over. He felt her freeze, break the kiss and stepped away, leaving him stunned and blinking blindly, trying to figure out what happened.
“I—I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I was aiming for your cheek, but you...and then I thought that maybe you...but you don’t.” Her eyes dropped to the floor, and Inuyasha could smell the salt yet again.
Then he realized that he was frozen in place; he hadn’t moved when she kissed him. He hadn’t responded at all. And she hadn’t been expecting to kiss his lips. So of fucking course she thought that he didn’t like it.
“No,” he said quickly, “I didn’t...I mean, yes, I do...I mean, yes, that was… fuck.” He paused and rubbed his hands over her face, trying to get a grip on language. Why were words suddenly so fucking hard?
He took a deep breath. “I mean,” he said, “yes, I liked the kiss, and yes, Kagome, I really like you.” He let out his breath. “I like you, a lot, and again, I am so, so sorry for everything. And now, for this too.”
“No.” She had stepped close to him again, and her arms were now around his neck, tickling the hairs that had poked out of his long silver ponytail at the nape of his neck. “I’m sorry. For kissing you. I shouldn’t have...I mean, I should have…”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he replied, and fuck it, he’d already made her doubt him once, and he was not going to do that again. So he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Fuck,” he added, “if anyone should be apologizing, it’s me, for making you think for even one half nanosecond that I wouldn’t want to kiss you.” He paused. “Because honestly? That’s all that I would want to do.” And he bent his head and pressed his lips to hers, this time deepening the kiss, pouring all of his feelings for her—all of the past few months of watching her, longing for her, and feeling too chicken-shit to do anything about it—pouring all of that into the kiss.
This time, he wasn’t going to freeze, and this time, she wasn’t going to misinterpret his actions. He wanted her to know that he was into her, one hundred—no—one thousand percent, and that in that moment?
He didn’t want to worry about exams, or homework questions. He didn’t want to worry about who knew which answers and who was better.
All he wanted to worry about was her: Kagome. About kissing her. About making her feel special. About making her feel good.
He may have never even kissed a girl before that moment, but fuck, the feel of her lips on his? Of her warm and supple body pressed into his?
It was doing things to him—amazing things—and Inuyasha realized that he wanted her to feel just as amazing.
Kagome moaned softly, and he used that opportunity to probe her lips with his tongue, seeking access to her mouth. She granted permission, and he slipped his tongue inside her, exploring the heated interior, feeling her teeth, the roof of her mouth, and her own tongue, which was soft and pulsing against his own. His chest rumbled from the pleasure, and he felt her hands travel up the back of his head to his ponytail. At first, she tugged at the elastic, but then, her hands found something even more incredible.
His ears.
Kagome was touching his ears.
And holy fuck, every stroke, every caress, every little tweak of the soft downy tufts at the top, every one was slowly turning him into a puddle. A great, big, giant, Kagome puddle. He wanted to be in her, all around her. He wanted to melt into her completely. He felt his cock growing hard in his pants, but he needed to tamp that down.
Because today? He’d been an ass. More than an ass. And Kagome? Her needs, her pleasure, her desires...it all came first.
Plus, the more they kissed, the more her scent was rising, mixing with something spicy, like ginger almost; she was so delectable he could barely stand it. He just wanted…
He wanted to be with her. If she would let him.
“Kagome,” he whispered against her lips, brushing them lightly with his own, “would you...would you want to…”
“Yes?” she whispered back.
“Go...go out with me?” he breathed. “Like, let me take you out?”
Kagome sighed and kissed him again. “Is this to make up for being an ass?” she teased him.
“It’s to make up for not having the nerve to ask you out for the last two months,” he replied. “ And also yes, for being an ass. But I promise,” he added, pressing his lips to hers and enjoying the sigh she made, “I promise to take you on the most amazing date. And in the meantime…
“How about if you help me with my homework?”
Kagome’s eyes widened. “Inuyasha,” she said, “you’re like the second-best student in the class.” She giggled.
His gentle smile earned him one in return. “I know,” he teased, “but there’s so much I want to learn, and I can’t imagine that there exists a more beautiful tutor.”
“I think,” she replied, offering a gentle caress of his ears and making his chest rumble, “that we need to work on your flirtation skills first. And maybe, once you get good at that, we can focus on physics.”
“I’d like that,” Inuyasha replied, and leaned in to give the only person he was okay beating him in physics a long, tender, kiss.