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When Inuyasha first moved into Apartment 114, the whispers began.
He heard them in the hallway, the day he moved his stuff in.
Can’t believe someone’s actually moving into that place, huh?
Should we bet on how long it takes him to move out?
Do you think we should let him know what he’s getting into?
Even the people who live in Apartment 113, across the hall—Miroku and Sango, a nice couple with twin daughters and another on the way—flashed Inuyasha looks of grave concern.
“Welcome to the building,” Sango, the wife, had said, giving him a salmon potato gratin the afternoon he moved in.
“Good luck with the super,” Miroku, the husband, had muttered. “Maybe you aren’t someone that she’ll eat alive.”
Inuyasha had crooked an eyebrow at that; what exactly was wrong with the super?
That first night, Inuyasha found out.
He had to be up the next morning—he’d gotten an early shift at the hospital so he would have time to run errands and pick up anything he needed on the way home—and so he’d retired a little bit earlier than usual—before 11:00, actually. The heat of the day, combined with moving, made even his hanyou body exhausted. He lay in bed, enjoying the quiet of the building, grateful that he’d no longer have to take public transportation to work: the hospital was now only a ten-minute walk, so he could sleep in a little bit more in the morning if he needed to. Not that he generally needed much sleep, but dealing with patients all day could make him extra…
A loud blast of music had him shooting up in his bed, his ears pinned back, his hands reaching up to cover them protectively. “What the fuck!” he exclaimed.
Wherever the music was coming from, the bass suddenly kicked up, and Inuyasha could feel it, pounding through the walls, reverberating through his bedroom. The walls, the floor, the bed: everything was shaking, and Inuyasha’s rage was building.
Who the fuck would start playing their music at 11:00 at night? Who the fuck didn’t have to get up and go to the work the next day? Or, at least have respect for the people who did?
Then the loud, screeching voice started, and Inuyasha had had enough. He hopped out of bed, crossed the room to the wall, and started pounding on it.
“Oi! What the fuck!” he shouted. “Go the fuck to sleep! It’s late!”
He heard an angry bellow, then some slamming, and then the person pounded back on the wall. A voice shouted “Fuck off!” and then, if in all the heavens it was even possible, the music got louder, and Inuyasha growled, then whimpered, as his ears nearly started to bleed from the depths of the bass and the screechiness of the singer’s voice.
He could feel his demon stirring beneath the surface. Whenever he got super angry, he would have to start his fucking breathing exercises, or run the risk of his demon tendencies to take over his body. Except that he couldn’t start them...not now, not when the music was filling his ears and his head and his body was quaking and his claws were...
“Oi!” he bellowed, banging on the wall so hard that he left an indentation. “Shut the music off, fucking now!”
He wanted so badly to press his ear to the wall, to hear what else could possibly be happening in the apartment, but with that noise? He could barely keep it together in the middle of his own room.
Then, he heard it again. The pounding in return, accompanied by a voice.
“Make me!” the voice screamed, and the music went up, once again.
Inuyasha got so angry he started breathing in and out through his nose.
“That’s fucking it,” he growled, and stormed out of his bedroom, into the living room. He unlocked his door, threw it open, and stalked the few steps to the apartment next door. Inuyasha raised his hand, curled it into a fist, and began slamming it against the heavy door.
“Hey in there!” he shouted; he was loud, and still was barely audible over the level of the sound coming from the apartment. “Can you please turn the music the fuck off?!” When there was no response, he tried again. “Come on, you asshole!” He was basically screeching now. “Turn the fucking music down!”
There were a few clicks, and then the door flew open, and Inuyasha gasped.
Because standing there, scowling like crazy, was a girl.
Her long dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, the ends of which were curly, as were the flyaways around her face and the little hairs at the base of her neck. She had an adorable nose, and a mouth with full, lush, dusky rose lips. Her gray eyes may have been narrowed, and her lips maybe have been scowling, but holy fuck, if she wasn’t the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Inuyasha’s gaze traveled down her body; he tried not to be rude and stare, but wow, was the rest of her as good as her face. She was wearing a black ribbed tank top, low-cut and emphasizing her perfect, round, large breasts. Her black shorts were tiny, and curved around her well-shaped hips and thighs.
And her scent: cherries, and vanilla. She smelled so fucking delicious, he had to resist the urge to sniff the air and inhale her completely.
He realized that the girl was staring at him, hands (with pointy little fingernails, also painted black, which why did he suddenly have visions of them scraping down his back?) on her hips, her face quickly becoming mottled with anger, even as the music pumped out from behind her. And she probably had no fucking idea who he was, or what he was doing there, sooo…
“Your music,” Inuyasha said bluntly, “is too fucking loud.”
The girl’s face twisted into an even more ridiculous scowl; even angry, she was gorgeous. “So fucking what?” she hissed. “Is it or is it not a free fucking country?”
“It is,” he retorted, trying not to get any more heated, “but also it’s a fucking courteous country, the last time I checked. I’m your next-door neighbor, and I have to get up for work early tomorrow.” His ears stood straight up, and wiggled at her, then dropped back flat against his skull when an exceptionally loud wave of bass rolled out of the apartment and into the hallway. Inuyasha saw the girl’s eyes widen momentarily; then, her face softened into something that resembled apologetic.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispered,” I’m so sorry. I didn’t know…” She paused. “Wait here a minute,” she said, and ran back into her apartment. Inuyasha heard the music decrease significantly, becoming muffled almost, and then she dashed back to him. He couldn’t help but notice how her breasts bounced as she moved, and he struggled not to blush at how beautiful, and sexy, and enigmatic, this girl was.
“I...I plugged in my headphones for you,” she said simply. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that you were…” She was quiet for a moment, seemingly searching for the right words to say. “That you had an early shift tomorrow.” Her eyes dropped and she suddenly seemed nervous.
“It’s no problem,” he said. “I appreciate you doing that.” He turned to head back to his apartment, but felt a gentle tug on his sleeve.
“Wait,” she said, and her eyes were now shining, instead of flashing with anger. “You’re the new tenant, right? I...I haven’t seen you before.”
“Just moved in today,” he told her.
“And this is how I greeted you?” the girl exclaimed. “I’m so sorry!” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Kagome,” she said. “The super. Welcome to the building.”
So THIS was the super. He hadn’t realized she lived next door to him, or that supers could be so sexy?
“Inuyasha,” he replied, taking her hand and shaking it. Her grip was strong, but her hand soft.
“It’s nice to meet you, Inuyasha,” Kagome said, and was it his imagination, or was her thumb massaging the back of his hand?
“I...I’m sorry again for disturbing your sleep,” she added, dropping his hand and going back to her door. “If I ever do it again, please just bang on the wall and I’ll turn it down immediately.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Have a good night.”
He detected a hitch in her breath and a skipping of her heartbeat. “Yeah,” she answered softly after a moment, “you, too.” And she closed the door, leaving Inuyasha to stand out in the hall alone.
That had gone...better?...than he had expected. He thought it would be a guy, and he’d have to get into a fistfight or something in the middle of the hallway, and he was not prepared to lay waste to one of his neighbors on the first night. But it had been a girl, a girl who was gorgeous, and who had changed her attitude fairly quickly. Why was that? Was she sympathetic to getting up early to work? Did she have to get up early to work, too?
Inuyasha mused as he went back to his apartment. She didn’t seem like she was going to bed anytime soon; why was she acting so odd?
He locked the apartment door and went back into his bedroom. His bed was still warm, and still inviting, and he crawled into it, visions of a dark-haired beauty with breasts and hips and thighs for days calling to him from the recesses of his mind, his name dropping delicately from his lips as she ran her hands over his body.
Yeah. Inuyasha didn’t sleep at all.
All day, Kagome Higurashi had to deal with other people’s bullshit.
The old lady in apartment 207 needed to have the toilet unclogged before it overflowed. The dad in apartment 321 needed help unsticking all the gum his kid had attached to the bottom of his bedroom door (how exactly had a 4-year old gotten gum, even?). The college student who lived in apartment 212 asked her for advice on how to apply for jobs (which was technically not part of her job description, but she was sometimes nice, so…). The elderly man in apartment 120 lost his keys...again...and needed to be let into his apartment...a-fucking-gain.
All day, Kagome Higurashi dealt with other people’s bullshit, so that she could have her evenings free.
After college, she’d taken a job as a builder super, so that she could save some money and work on applying to graduate school. She hadn’t had the money for exams and applications right after finishing her undergraduate degree, and she scrimped and saved in her job. She unclogged toilets and let people into their apartments. She set mouse traps and called the exterminator when someone reported “maybe” seeing a cockroach. Kagome did it all...leaving very little time for herself, and apparently, very little time to study for the intense exams she needed to pass (with a certain score, of course) in order to get into grad school.
And then to make her days that much brighter, her mother had called to let her know that she was getting remarried. Her parents were divorced; Kagome’s dad had taken off not long after her younger brother, Sōta, was born. Kagome’s mother had managed to raise them both on her own, and while Kagome had always thought that her mother needed to have a life outside of Kagome and Sōta, at the same time, she hadn’t quite expected it to happen so suddenly, so quickly, or...with Kagome’s high school math teacher.
Mr. Mukotsu wasn’t a nice guy. He wasn’t. He’d always leered at the high school girls, making odd comments about the length of their skirts or the way they wore their hair. He creeped Kagome out. He’d met her mother at the supermarket, about a year before; they’d apparently hit it off over their favorite spices, and soon Mr. Mukotsu “remembered” that Kagome had been “one of his favorite” students (how Kagome had not thrown up when he referred to her in that way, she would never know). Kagome had immediately told her mother her concerns about Mr. Mukotsu, but her mother had simply waved Kagome off, claiming that she was “overthinking” and “didn’t know Hideki” the way that she did. (The fact that Kagome’s mother even knew his first name made her sick.) Luckily, though, Kagome had already been working as the super at the apartment building, so she didn’t ever have to see Mr. Mukotsu, except for at family dinners or other events. And that was great for Kagome. She didn’t approve of him...at all...and the less she had to see of him, the better.
Until her mother had called, two months before, with the new that she and Mr. Mukotsu were to be married. That she would be taking his name. That Kagome needed to get used to calling him “Hideki.” (Like she would ever fucking do that.)
So one night, after a particularly tense conversation with her mother, and after Kagome had unclogged Mrs. Takeda’s toilet three fucking times in one day, and after she cleaned out ten mouse traps, and, after she found out that the deadlines for her exams had been pushed up, she’d had enough. She couldn’t take it anymore. She was tired of unclogging toilets and getting covered with shit. She was tired of mouse guts. She was tired of studying for something she didn’t even know if she could actually achieve.
So, Kagome put on her music. Loud. And she put on shorts and a tank top. And as the bass took over her body, she danced, whirling and leaping and rolling and moving her body in time to the music. She stomped around her living room; she pounded the walls and the floors with her fists; she bellowed out her rage and her fury.
And it fucking helped.
She knew she was being loud, and obnoxious. She knew this. But she had no other outlet for her anger and her frustration. She had no one to talk to; no one to tell how upset she was: at her mother, at the world, at herself. She had only herself. And when it came down to it, she was the only one she trusted, anyway.
Kagome became addicted to the release at night. She loved turning up her music and letting loose; it was the only time of day she could be fully herself, and she embraced it. But the tenants hated it. More than once, a neighbor came and banged on her door, demanding she turn down the music, and more than once, she told them to fuck off. Her neighbors on either side moved out; the tenants started to avoid her, only calling her when they absolutely needed her. As a result, Mrs. Takeda didn’t call her until the toilet had indeed overflowed, and Kagome was so annoyed she yelled at the poor woman. (Okay, she felt super fucking guilty afterwards, but really? Why not just ask for help?) Kagome knew she was developing a reputation as the “scary super,” but she didn’t really care. Her life sucked, and blasting her music and letting off some steam was the only way she could have a little bit of release. She knew that, were anyone to complain to the building’s owner, she’d be in serious trouble, but she was kind of at the point where she didn’t really care anymore.
And then the new guy moved into apartment 114. Kagome hadn’t gotten a look at him yet; the building owner had signed the lease with him and given him the keys, and she had no idea who he was. Except that he was gonna be another person who annoyed her.
She was too busy that day helping all around the building and studying for her exams to give him a fair and proper welcome. She’d heard him coming and going, but the fact that her little buffer zone was about to be demolished pissed her off to no end. She was, quite frankly, in no mood to be polite or friendly to anyone. In fact, she decided to let him know how just how happy she was to see him by cranking her music that night to the loudest she’d ever set it.
As always, when the bass started, Kagome began to move. She turned and rolled and jumped across her living room, practicing jabs and crosses and roundhouse kicks. She did pushups and planks and jumping jacks. She yelled along with the music. Kagome was being as loud as hell, and she didn’t care.
Until she heard the sharp bangs on her wall:
“Oi! What the fuck!” the new tenant shouted. “Go the fuck to sleep! It’s late!”
How fucking dare he.
Kagome let out an angry yell, slammed some books and some pots and pans—whatever she could get her hands on—to let out a little frustration before she responded. She marched over to the wall, banged right back, and shouted “Fuck off!” and then went over to her speaker and jacked up the volume.
But instead of it scaring off the new tenant, it had the opposite effect.
“Oi!” he bellowed now, banging on the wall so hard Kagome thought he might come through the wall. “Shut the music off, fucking now!”
Did he not know who she was? Did he not know that she could get him kicked out, with a simple word, a simple write-up? Did he not know?
Enraged, she pounded back. “Make me!” she screamed, and then Kagome cranked up the volume all the way.
He’ll be gone by tomorrow, she thought gleefully, going back to her dance about the living room.
She wasn’t expecting to hear more loud pounding, this time coming from her front door.
“Hey in there!” he shouted; he was loud, and still she could barely hear him over the music. “Can you please turn the music the fuck off?!”
He was pissed. The guy in apartment 114 was pissed.
Kagome froze. Should she open the door? Should she...
“Come you, you asshole! Turn the fucking music down!”
Okay. That teed her off.
Kagome stormed to the door, unlocked it, and threw it open. She put her best bitch face on and turned her stormy gray eyes towards…
The hottest fucking guy she’d ever seen.
He had long silver hair that was tied up in a bun, with wavy tendrils sticking out around his face adorably. His face was well-defined, and handsome: large golden eyes that stared out at her, strong nose, and beautifully formed lips. She allowed her eyes to move down the length of his body, and she was not disappointed: bulging muscles straining against his black t-shirt, and his gray sweatpants seemed practically painted on. He was barefoot, like he had just stormed out of his apartment. Which he probably had.
“Your music,” the very handsome man said bluntly, “is too fucking loud.”
Kagome knew her music was too loud; it was how she liked it.
“So fucking what?” she hissed. “Is it or is it not a free fucking country?”
“It is,” the (very hot) man retorted, “but also it’s a fucking courteous country, the last time I checked. I’m your next-door neighbor, and I have to get up for work early tomorrow.” Kagome watched, then, as suddenly, out from his hair, sprung two white, fluffy, puppy dog ears, and then, when a blast of bass poured out in the hall, his ears twitched, and flattened back against his head, back under his hair.
Kagome felt sick. She felt absolutely fucking sick.
Her new neighbor was a half-demon. And she had hurt his ears with her music.
Kagome had half-demon friends; she’d seen when loud noises freaked out her friend Shiori, who was half bat demon. She’d seen when her friend Jinenji got smoke in his super-powerful, but also super-sensitive, eyes, and she’d had to help him rinse out his eyes with warm water, until the sting was gone.
Half-demons were often more sensitive than full demons. They felt things more intensely, because of their human emotions, making it harder for them to get by in society. Jinenji had to be careful of smog; Shiori often wore earplugs when commuting to work so that in case a loud tractor trailer or motorcycle shot by, she wouldn’t be too freaked out and get into an accident.
Kagome had always stood up for, and helped to protect, her friends. And now? She’d hurt someone who was like them, a half-demon, and she felt really, really, fucking bad.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispered,” I’m so sorry. I didn’t know…” Kagome stopped. She didn’t know what to say; she didn’t know what to do. How could she make it up to him? What could she do?
Then, she had an idea.
“Wait here a minute,” she said, and ran back into her apartment. She grabbed her wireless headphones, disconnected her speaker from her phone, and connected her headphones instead. The music nearly went silent (her headphones were pretty fucking good). Kagome turned, and rushed back to the door; she could see that the man’s face had lit up with what Kagome thought might be interest?
Regardless, he was more gorgeous with even a hint of a smile.
“I...I plugged in my headphones for you,” she told him. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that you were…” She didn’t want to say a half-demon, for fear that he might think she didn’t like half-demons, or something. So, instead, she simply said, “That you had an early shift tomorrow,” and she found that she couldn’t look him in the eye.
“It’s no problem,” he said. “I appreciate you doing that.” Kagome watched as he turned to head back to his apartment, and she realized with a jolt: she didn’t know his name.
A handsome half-demon (whose ears she had hurt) showed up at her door to yell at her about her music, and she suddenly felt compelled to know everything about him. Before she knew what she was doing, she had reached out and was tugging on his sleeve. He looked back at her, and she realized that she didn’t know what to say.
“Wait,” she said, grasping at anything she could think of. “You’re the new tenant, right? I...I haven’t seen you before.”
“Just moved in today,” he told her.
Kagome knew that, and until about five minutes ago, she’d been gleeful in how she’d tormented him. But now….now that she knew he was a half-demon...
“And this is how I greeted you?” Kagome cried, nearly weeping at how shitty she felt over how she had treated him. “I’m so sorry!” She offered him her hand as a peace offering. “I’m Kagome,” she said. “The super. Welcome to the building.”
“Inuyasha,” he replied, accepting her handshake. Kagome nearly swooned. His hand was large, and strong, but also gentle. She liked touching him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Inuyasha,” Kagome said, and yet again, before she knew what she was doing, her thumb was massaging the back of his hand. Why?
Kagome dropped his hand quickly. “I…I’m sorry again for disturbing your sleep,” she apologized again, and went back to her door. She turned and looked at him; her heart was beating incredibly fast at the way his eyes blazed when he returned her gaze. “If I ever do it again, please just bang on the wall and I’ll turn it down immediately.”
“Thanks,” he said simply, impersonally. “Have a good night.”
He gave her a little bit of a smile, and it made her breath catch and her heart skip a beat. “Yeah,” she answered “you, too.” And she stepped inside the apartment and closed the door, leaning her back against it as she took several deep breaths.
He—Inuyasha—the new tenant—was…well…
There were no words to describe him, Kagome realized.
He was tall. And looked strong. And was really fucking handsome. And not afraid to stand up to her. And he had eyes that burned right through her. And he had a voice that was gruff, and sexy, and that she wanted to hear, whispering in her ear, as he lay on top of her. Her mind was suddenly filled with very sexy thoughts, and she quickly shut off her music and headed for the shower.
She had some sexual tension to relieve.
It had started out small: no more loud music, no more banging, no more stomping. The quiet from next door was shocking in comparison to what had happened the first night he’d moved in, but Kagome seemed true to her word. Inuyasha often heard her moving around at night, but she seemed to simply be doing quiet exercises, or watching television, or playing her music very quietly (perhaps still through headphones). He rarely saw her; his shifts at the hospital had been consistently 7-4, with him getting up to go to the gym beforehand, and he came home exhausted. He worked as a physical therapist, and he had taken on some more challenging patients recently, that required him to use more of his physical strength, but that was why he worked out, right? To give people the support that they needed.
One afternoon, about a week after he moved in, Inuyasha was dragging himself down the hall to his apartment, when the door to apartment 112 opened and the super stepped out. Inuyasha paused; Kagome looked gorgeous. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail again, and this time she wore tight dark jeans and yet another of those sexy ribbed tank tops, this time a red one (fuck, he fucking loved red). She pulled her door shut and made a small sound of surprise when she saw him.
“Oh, hello,” she said kindly. “How—how are you?”
“Tired,” Inuyasha grunted. He didn’t like to make small talk. “Too many shifts in a row.”
“What do you do?” Kagome asked. “You said you work at the hospital?”
“Physical therapist,” he said. His hand was on his door. He was so close to getting inside and taking a hot shower.
“That sounds nice?” She was inching closer to him, and he wasn’t sure that he could handle how good she smelled when he was this tired. Her scent enveloped him, and all he wanted to do was collapse into her arms and succumb to her completely.
Fuck. Cold shower?
“It’s okay.” He didn’t mean to be short, but fuck, she was beautiful, and smelled delicious, and if he didn’t get inside his apartment immediately, he might start purring. “Really.”
“O—okay.” She offered him a small smile, and he felt his heart beat irregularly.
Inuyasha turned the key in the lock and opened the door to his apartment. “I’ll see ya around?”
“S—sure.” He didn’t miss the slight tremor in her voice, and as he stepped in, he thought he saw her mouth moving, as though she were about to add something, but he had to close the door before she spoke, lest he be distracted by her any longer. His nose and his mind were full of her; he was having a hard time not going back out there and asking her on a date.
The even more surprising thing happened a few days later. Inuyasha had worked ten days in a row and finally was off. And he intended to enjoy every minute, starting with not getting out of bed until he felt like it. He rarely got the chance to sleep past 8am, and he was on vacation, dammit! Even if it was only for one day.
A small, tentative knock at the door brought Inuyasha to full consciousness. He’d been trying to keep his eyes closed, trying to relax, but the soft knock interrupted any sleep that might have been playing at the edges of his subconscious. He stumbled out of bed, grabbed a tank top to throw on with his sweats, and made his way to the door.
It was Kagome; she was adorable in a red track jacket and black leggings. She had a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. “Morning,” she said, her eyes widening as she took in his form. She blushed a little, and dropped her eyes (although he definitely saw her checking out his biceps). He could detect her nervousness in her scent, and for some reason, it gave him confidence.
“What can I do for you, Kagome?” he asked, smiling so that his fangs peeked out at her. He leaned against the doorframe, and didn’t miss the way that her breath caught at the sight of his muscled arms flexing as he crossed them.
“I—I—” Why did he enjoy the way that she couldn’t find her words?
“I wanted to see if you needed anything from the grocery,” she said in a rush. “I’m heading to the gym, and then I need to pick up study guides, and then more mouse traps and a new plunger—” here she scowled, and he couldn’t help but chuckle “—and a few things for myself. So I…I thought I’d ask?”
“Ummm…sure?” He was surprised. He didn’t think that she cared about her tenants; it seemed like this was really just a job to her.
“Okay.” She started to toe the carpet in the hall awkwardly, and he noticed her skin pinking up again.
“Ramen,” he said, and she looked back at him, her eyebrows raised. “I love ramen, and I’m just about out.”
“Ramen,” she breathed, and fuck, the way she said that word was gorgeous. “Any...any particular flavors?”
“Just nothing too spicy,” he told her. “And no curry.”
“Okay,” she said, a small smile on her face. They stood there, staring at each other for a moment. She didn’t seem to want to leave, and he found that he wasn’t quite ready for her to go.
He was utterly entranced by her. The way that her hair tumbled about her shoulders. The contrast of the darkness of her hair against the bright red of her track jacket. The way that her gray eyes sparkled when they met his. The way that her lips pursed slightly, full, and alluring.
Inuyasha found that he wanted her to maybe stay.
“Do you want to come in?” he asked her. “Coffee, maybe?”
Kagome blinked, several times, processing his question. “Oh!” she exclaimed at last, jumping at the sound of her own voice. She paused, and blinked again. “I...I can’t,” she added apologetically, even though she looked for all the world like she wanted nothing more than to accept his invitation. “If I don’t get to the gym now, I won’t get there today. And I need my study guides, and a new plunger before Mrs. Takeda overflows her toilet again.” She smiled. “I’ll see you around, okay?” Before he could say another word, she took off down the hall, running away as she called out, “Bye, Inuyasha!”
All he could do was wave, and say “See ya, Kagome,” to her quickly moving back.
That afternoon, when Inuyasha himself left his apartment to go to the gym, he opened his door and found several bags hanging on his door. In the first bag was his ramen; in the second bag, a bunch of nearly ripe bananas; and in the third, a small rosemary plant. Inuyasha took the bags into his kitchen, set them on the counter, and took out the items. She’d gotten him six cups of ramen, all different flavors, but nothing too spicy. He absolutely loved bananas (how did she know that?), and the rosemary appealed to his dog demon sensibilities. He lifted the plant to his nose and gently inhaled, allowing it to caress his senses.
A note fell out of the rosemary plant bag. Inuyasha picked it up; the note read:
Hi! I got the ramen for you...I hope that the flavors are okay. And since a man can’t live on ramen alone, I thought that perhaps bananas would be good, for a little boost of potassium? And I know that sometimes dogs like rosemary, so I thought you might like the scent? —K
Inuyasha set the plant down, and the letter. He looked at the items she’d bought him, a soft, thoughtful smile crossing his face. He realized that...even though they’d gotten off on the wrong foot, maybe Kagome Higurashi wasn’t so bad, after all. And maybe she was worth getting to know. She was definitely beautiful, but her attitude and personality had at first seemed to be in serious need of a revision. But maybe, deep down, she was kind, and thoughtful, and the kind of girl he could really become attached to.
Another knock on the door drew him out of his thoughts. He strode over to the door and opened it. “Miroku,” he said, “you ready to go?”
He opened the door wider and the tenant of apartment 113 came in. “I am,” Miroku said, “although I think you might destroy me with your workout. Look at you, and...me...yeah.” He gestured at his own body, which was slender, and not nearly as toned as Inuyasha’s.
“Keh,” Inuyasha shrugged. “You’ll cry a little, but you’ll be okay. Lemme go get my bag.” He popped into his bedroom and grabbed his duffel, leaving Miroku in the main part of the apartment. When he returned, he saw Miroku looking over Kagome’s gifts. Inuyasha growled slightly, and Miroku looked up, a teasing grin on his face.
“You know,” Miroku said, holding up the note, “she likes you, and she doesn’t like anyone.”
Inuyasha reached over and snagged the note out of Miroku’s hand, but his friend didn’t miss the soft blush that crossed Inuyasha’s nose, or how gently he tucked the note away in his pocket.
Kagome was tired. Bone tired.
She dragged herself down the steps from Mrs. Takeda’s apartment. The toilet had clogged, yet again; Kagome had cleared it, yet again, but Mrs. Takeda had also somehow broken two doorknobs that she needed to repair. And she couldn’t do that without going to the hardware store, but she couldn’t do that, because...
Her mother had called and insisted that Kagome come to dinner with Mr. Mukotsu and Sōta; Kagome was looking for any excuse to not go. But unfortunately, her mother didn’t think that “elderly tenant needs doorknobs” was a valuable excuse.
So, she’d just come from telling Mrs. Takeda that the doorknobs would have to wait until tomorrow, because she couldn’t get to the hardware store, fix the doorknobs, and get back to the family shrine for dinner. The best she could do was go out for the knobs and the screws, and install them either when she got home or first thing in the morning. And Mrs. Takeda wasn’t happy, and was threatening to call the building owner.
Honestly, all Kagome wanted to do was go into her apartment, crawl under the covers, pull up her weighted blanket, and forget about the world for the next twelve hours.
“Kagome?” A familiar gruff voice caught her just as she put her key in the lock. She looked up wearily to see Inuyasha’s concerned face, his golden eyes flashing with worry. “You okay?”
Kagome sighed. “It’s just been a day,” she said. “Mrs. Takeda’s toilet, and now her doorknobs, and my mom called and I have to go to dinner with her and her creepy fiancé, who was my lecherous high school math teacher, and Mrs. Takeda says if I don’t fix her doorknobs ASAP she’ll call the building owner, but my mom says I have to go to dinner, and…” Kagome took a deep, shuddering sigh. “And I don’t know what to do!” She was close to tears, but she didn’t really care.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Inuyasha said. He reached out and clasped her shoulder comfortingly. She flinched slightly at his touch, but then settled against his hand, letting out her breath slowly. “It’s gonna be okay. I promise.”
“I can’t lose this job, Inuyasha,” Kagome said. “I might be...hard...on the tenants...but really? I don’t want to move home. I can’t. Not with my mom about to marry that old creeper. Like really,” she added when he opened his mouth to respond. “He used to make comments to my friends and me about our clothes, and our hair, and...and now he’s marrying my mom and I hate it.”
Inuyasha squeezed her shoulder; Kagome closed her eyes and tried not to cry.
“I have an idea,” he said suddenly, and Kagome blinked and looked up at him, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Go get what you need for Mrs. Takeda. I’ll fix the doorknobs so you can go to your dinner and keep your job. How does that sound?”
“You—you—you’d do that? For me?” Kagome was aghast. After how she’d treated him? He was going to help her? She’d been trying to make it up to him; she was attracted to him, after all, but still…
“Yeah,” he chuckled, smiling at her in a way that made her heart beat out of rhythm. “Go get what you need, and then I’ll take care of it.”
“You—you’re a lifesaver,” she said, and before she knew what she was doing, her arms were around him and she was hugging him, hard. He was solid, and she could feel his pecs through his shirt. She trembled as his arms wrapped around her slowly, tentatively. He smelled of fresh soap and linens, like he had just taken a shower. “Thank you,” she breathed into his chest.
He hugged her a little tighter. “Keh,” he said gruffly, but affectionately. “Ain’t no big deal.”
They stayed like that for a few moments, Kagome pressing her face into Inuyasha’s chest, inhaling his fresh scent, absorbing his warmth, his kindness, the tender way that he held her. She found that...she wanted to stay like this, and not let go. She needed someone to reassure her, to tell her that everything would be all right. That Mrs. Takeda would stop overflowing her toilet. That the mouse problem would go away. That she would ace her exams and get into grad school. That her mother wasn’t going to marry that creep Mukotsu.
That she could stay with Inuyasha. That he could be the one to comfort her, to take care of her.
“Hey,” he said softly, pushing her away gently. “Why don’t you go get the materials to fix Mrs. Takeda’s doors? I have a few things to take care of, and when you get back, I’ll fix the doors, and you can go to dinner, okay?”
Kagome sniffled. “O—Okay,” she replied. She turned to her door, unlocked it, and looked back at Inuyasha. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Go on,” he said, a grin on his face. “Lemme know when you’re back, okay?” When she nodded, he offered her a wave and went into his own apartment, closing the door with a click. Kagome stood there, staring at his door, wondering how in the hell she’d gotten so lucky to have such a gorgeous, kind, and thoughtful neighbor.
She could feel the music vibrating through the floors of the apartment before she could hear it. The bass was ripping through the floorboards and up into her feet. Kagome sighed. Just who thought it was a good idea to blast music at 6:00 on a Thursday evening? She hefted the bag that was carrying the doorknob materials for Mrs. Takeda and traipsed wearily down the hall. At least Inuyasha had been kind enough to help out...she thought as she walked...and then came to a halt in front of his door.
Because the music was...blaring...through the wall, through his door.
The music was coming from Inuyasha’s apartment.
How was that even possible?
He...he hated loud noises. Like bass. And screechy singers. There was no way this was him? Kagome frowned, lifted her hand, and banged on the door. When she didn’t get a response, she started knocking even harder. “Hello!?” she called. “Inuyasha?” When he still didn’t respond, she pounded on the door as hard as she could. “Inuyasha!” she yelled. Right when she was about to knock yet again, the door wrenched open, and Inuyasha stood there, grinning at her. “Kagome,” he said loudly. “What’s up?”
“You—your music is what’s up!” she shouted, brushing past him into the main part of the apartment. “Why is it so loud? How can you possibly…” She stopped, stock-still, and stared at the scene in front of her. Kagome blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again. “What—what is this?” she asked, forgetting to shout.
Inuyasha pulled out his phone and turned off the music. He stepped up beside her, and pulled the plugs from his ears. “I—I had to think of a way to get you in here,” he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “So…”
“So you turned up the music?” she asked him quietly.
“So I turned up the music,” he replied, “and you came running.”
“But I—I can’t—I can’t do this,” she said, a hint of panic in her voice. How could he do this? Tonight? When he knew that she had to have dinner with her mother?
How could he go to all the trouble to put together a beautiful dinner spread for...for what looked like two? With ramen, and salad, and grilled fish? And wine? Tears pricked at her eyelids. She couldn’t believe...that he had done this. But had he done it for her?
“Do...do ya think if you called her and said, Mom, sorry I can’t come to dinner, but I have a date, that would be a good enough excuse?” he asked, his ears drooping, but his golden eyes hopeful.
Yes. He had.
Kagome took a deep breath in, and out, before she spoke.
“Is that what this is?” she replied in a gently teasing tone. “Are you asking me out?”
Oh, she loved the way a light blush was creeping across the bridge of his nose right now.
“If...if you want to go out with a half-demon,” he said softly.
Kagome smiled, and put the bag from the hardware store on the counter. She reached out, took Inuyasha by the hands, and led her over to the couch, where they sat down together, Inuyasha’s hands still pressed between Kagome’s. She knew that she needed to tell him. How she felt; why she changed her mind; and what...where...she wanted to go next.
“That first night,” Kagome began, “I was being selfish. I was under a lot of pressure...I was feeling shitty...I had been feeling shitty...for a long time. So I annoyed you, and…when I saw you, realized you were a half-demon, I also...realized that the noise must have hurt you, so much. And that’s something that I never wanted to do. I…I have half-demon friends,” she continued quietly, “who, when I thought about what that would have done to them—how it would have hurt them, and how it did hurt you. So I resolved immediately to stop blasting my music, to try and keep the noise down, so that I wouldn’t hurt you. Because…” and now her voice got really soft, and Inuyasha had to lean in a bit to hear her. He slung an arm around the back of the couch and leaned in close to her.
Kagome’s heart was pounding; her breath was hitching; her pupils were dilating. He was so close to her, and all she wanted to do was…
Kiss him.
Something inside her lit up; her body was burning for him. She needed him, she found; she wanted him. But most importantly, she wanted to be with him.
“Because I like you,” she finally whispered, and slipped one arm around his torso to draw him close so she could press her lips to his.
Artwork by dreaming-of-soup
Inuyasha’s lips were warm, and soft, and couldn’t help but rub her own lips against his. She felt him chuckle at her enthusiasm, and drew his arm off the couch and around her shoulder. She leaned into him more closely, and deepened the kiss, pouring all of her feelings for him into the moment, from her heart, from her soul, into him.
She liked him. She liked him a lot. And apparently, from the way he was kissing her back, he liked her a lot, too.
When she felt his tongue teasing the seam of her lips, she moaned softly as the soft, moist muscle parted them and found its way inside. He gently explored her mouth, her own tongue finding its way into his, and she massaged his fangs, keening at the polished, sharp enamel under her touch. She was suddenly filled with images of those fangs teasing the flesh of her neck, her breasts, and...other parts of her body. The excitement Kagome felt pooling in her groin was nearly impossible to ignore.
Inuyasha broke the kiss first, Kagome mewling softly in frustration. She wanted more of him. She wanted all of him. He chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. “Patience, Kagome,” he said softly. “First, how about some dinner, and later, some dessert?”
“I can’t believe you did all this for me,” Kagome breathed. “What made you think of it?”
“Well, you know,” Inuyasha replied, kissing her again, “I was just being neighborly.”
“You sure were,” Kagome said. “Having a good neighbor like you is a huge plus.” And she met his lips again, and again, for kiss, after kiss, after kiss.