InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ First Class Dog ❯ All Touchy-Feely ( Chapter 12 )

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Man, I was pretty worried people would be mad with me for not having the enemy be Naraku or Sesshoumaru. I'm glad to find out only a few were unhappy about it. Regardless, I think it's a good idea to give you guys a look into my thought process so far...

You see, after catching up on a lot of the manga I missed when I moved I noticed something interesting. Have you ever noticed there's practically no mention of any demonic activity in Kagome's time period?

Well, I decided that there's only a few ways to interpret that. Either the demons that are around are in hiding or they've all been eradicated. If they had all been eradicated then that might mean Naraku had somehow been involved with it. However, that doesn't make much sense because it would be strange (I've said this in a couple of review responses so some of my readers might be hearing this a second time, sorry!) how human-friendly Kagome's world is. If Naraku had his way then I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be a modernized Japanese society in her time. So, it follows to assume Naraku is no longer around in her time period.

From there I considered that demons wouldn't just die out in six hundred years, in fact, a Naraku-free world would have been fairly conducive to demons as it became more and more modernized and less `wild-west.' The psychotic killer demons would have probably lived and died by the sword long ago (or gotten arrested) and the non-violent demons would have begun to take on disguises and live normal lives amongst humans.

Since kitsune are famous for their disguises I figured a kitsune would be the most successful at living out in the open. Being that they're also known for their sense of humor, I actually gave away a clue that it was Shippo in the name he had chosen for himself. Reynard is the English variation of `renard' which is French or Polish (according to the `behind the name' website) for the word `fox.' Also, being that they have a flair for the dramatic, I made Shippo's occupation be that of an actor.

Well, I don't want to clutter this section up with notes but I wanted to tell you all that I really thought hard about the conflict I wanted in the story before I chose it. I have a lot more I could say about what I've researched about kitsune but it might just come out in the story. We'll see.

I could still use some good activities or ideas about what Kagome and Inu Yasha might do now that the masquerade is over. What problems might they deal with now that they're kind of `official'? Send your thoughts, please!

-*-

Inu Yasha was the first to wake. Sunset-hued pools opened slowly to the light streaming through the hotel window. Even though he had only awakened in her room for the second time, the thought struck him that he ought to close the shades on the window if he wanted to keep sleeping in. Keep sleeping in? He had accepted that sleeping next to Kagome would happen so naturally it surprised him.

His ears trained on the sound of her heart beating to the steady rhythm of a resting heart rate. She looked so peaceful with one arm tucked up under her head, the other laid out away from her body, sitting in the space between them. He snuck a claw out across the covers and curled them around her fingers. She was asleep so it was not like she could get angry with him for being so bold, after all. The dog-demon studied the digits. They were small, soft, and pale compared to his sun-tanned, rough, and calloused fingers.

The hanyou wondered how such a frail hand managed to stay a bow and fight demons—even his own fully demonic form. How could he keep her safe from every danger they would inevitably face? As his mate she had no place on the front lines of battle and their search for the Shikon fragments, yet he could not find them without her. That would have to be addressed once Kagome woke up. All serious subjects would have to wait. At the moment, he was content to let his thoughts wander back to the previous night.

She had always been beautiful to him but she had been absolutely breathtaking that night on the balcony. Using the pads of his fingers, so as to keep her delicate skin away from his claws, he traced the bumps of her knuckles, then the bones in the back of her hands. He nearly jumped when the miko gave a tiny, contented sigh and wiggled her fingers. For a split second he feared being sat, pulling his hand back to guard his face.

Blue-gray eyes slowly cracked open just as he did so. A look of bleary confusion appeared on her face and she reached a hand out to grab his forearm, guiding it away from his face.

“What're you doing, Inu Yasha?”

He blinked, instinctively fighting her hand for only a second before letting her direct it down to the comforter. The hanyou sputtered.

“Oh—uh… n-nothing. Sorry.” He gave her an awkward smile.

Kagome smiled back; then stretched languidly. The dog-demon couldn't help but watch her body wriggle beneath the sheets. He could enjoy the view because she had made the motions with her eyes closed. When her eyes opened again, she noticed her companion's gaze quickly darted away from her. It was pretty easy to guess what he'd been checking out. For once, she decided to ignore it.

More pressing matters called. Shifting so that she could lay on her side with her head propped up in her hand her eyes bored into his. Her speculative gaze made the half-demon a hair nervous. Then she said it.

“What are we now… exactly?”

For a moment he had no idea what the question meant. To his gratitude Kagome allowed the hanyou to consider the question carefully. Finally, it dawned on him.

“Oh! Well, you're my mate.” He replied, matter-of-factly.

`Mate' sounded a little too wild to her. Her family would most certainly be upset if he called her that. The miko's gut reaction was to feel angry and embarrassed but the logical side of her quickly resolved that a demon wouldn't have any different terminology for that kind of a relationship.

“You can't call me that around my family—and before you even say it, yes, you have to ask permission from grandpa to date me—you're my boyfriend, I'm your girlfriend. Got that?”

Inu Yasha was miffed but agreed. He wasn't about to risk mucking up his brand new relationship over a stupid pet name. Anticipating more rules, he waited patiently; instead, she posed him another question.

“What…” She hesitated for a moment, thinking carefully before she continued, “What do you…expect me to do… as a…mate?”

Her cheeks burned hotly at the question. She did not want to ask it but not knowing what to expect out of a relationship with a demon she had to know if there were any boundaries. For all she knew he could be expecting her to do something—well—she refused think about perverted things like that but it did concern her. Thankfully, Inu Yasha seemed just as perplexed. Unlike Koga or even Sesshoumaru he had not lived with other demons and had not really learned their codes to any extent. The few things he did know were borderline instinct or common sense. Mate ownership was a rule he had accidentally stumbled upon while observing a fight between two other demons over a mate years ago.

“Well…” He began truthfully, “I don't know much… I never exactly paid attention to them to find that shit out. I just know that I made a claim first. You're mine for as long as you want to stay.” He shrugged. “When—if—you leave; that's it.”

“Well then why did Koga take me?”

The question was purely innocent, but it elicited a snarl from the hanyou.

“That dumbass wolf knows better! He challenged me. Those challenges are supposed to be to the death. Winner takes all.” He seemed to stew for a moment before beginning again, “Unless I die or you leave you're my woman—definitely not his woman… No one else… I showed that bastard a thing or two…” He trailed off, grumbling to no one in particular, fuming.

His outburst had told her more than she had expected. It was odd being spoken about like a common object though she knew it was not his fault. At least there was no sexual expectation. Inu Yasha's voice suddenly broke through her thoughts.

“What do I have to do to earn you, here? Is it different?”

She blinked and ran her fingers through her hair; thinking back to the few dates she had been on before falling into the well. Hojo had asked her grandfather before taking her out on a date; she had already ordered Inu Yasha to do that. He had already met her friends and they approved so that was not a problem, either. That gave her an idea.

“Well, you saw how dates work, right?” She waited for him to say yes before continuing, “You need to start taking me out on dates here, once in a while. Just once a month, we'll see a movie or something. If you really want to impress my family, which you'll need to keep me,” She did not like saying `keep' but she knew he would get the message better, “Then you might want to ask grandpa if you can work for him around the Shrine a little bit. You'll need money from my time if you want to keep seeing those movies you like so much… Or is that too much for you?” She pretended to look at him as if she believed he could not handle it.

“Too much for me? Feh! I'm a man, of course I can! I can do all your damned chores without breaking a sweat.”

He took her bait so easily. She smiled and gave him an admiring look for what she knew would be his future troubles. The miko was aware that he would be in for it when grandpa decided to lay on the heavy-duty chores. It would be good discipline for him.

Her smile made the dog-demon cocky again. All the relationship talk had made him quite uncomfortable. He was happy to commit and would be completely loyal to her forever. Seeing her look so enamored with him gave him the small boost of confidence he needed. Before she had a chance to react his free hand was in her hair. His fingers cradled the base of her skull, drawing her towards him.

When she was close he allowed himself to gaze on her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her azure-gray pools sparkled. Now that all of the boring discussions were out of the way the dog-demon figured he deserved a little reward. However, Kagome had one last thing to add.

“Oh. That reminds me. My family won't like it if you hold my hand or kiss me out in the open until you ask grandpa's permission. It would be really difficult to convince them to let me be yours if you made them mad…”

When she spoke she had pulled back her head a bit so she could keep her head clear as she said it. He had not thought about that. He would have to be careful with her family—it probably was not a good idea to call her `woman.'

“But I can touch you now, can't I?” He blurted out.

The miko blushed and nodded. That was all he needed to pull her back in again. He was just about to kiss her when there was a knock on the door. The dog-demon growled. Maybe if he ignored it they would just go away…? Unfortunately, the knocking persisted. Kagome dislodged her head from his grasp, scooted out of bed, and shuffled to the door. Inu Yasha flopped onto his back with a grumble.

Moments later the smell of food wafted past his sensitive nose. The growl that issued from his belly confirmed his hunger. A split-second later he had vacated the bed, starving for some grub.

-

Inu Yasha had decided that room service was the best thing ever. It was like the people serving the food were telepathic. They brought food exactly when he was hungry. He wondered if he could hire one of these telepaths in the future to conjure up food whenever he wanted. When he had asked Kagome how much it cost to get one of the magic food-bringers she had killed his dreams by telling him that they cost too much. He observed that she looked amused at his question and wondered if he had said something strange again. The hanyou decided after a brief moment that it must be a girl thing. They were difficult creatures to understand, after all. At least he had finally acquired a girl—unlike a certain priest who propositioned every pretty girl in sight.

That made him grin inwardly. He had only asked one girl to be his mate and it had worked on the first try. The half-demon would be sure to rub that in Miroku's face the next time he saw him.

A few minutes before Kagome had excused herself from breakfast. At the moment was engaged in a shower. He reclined on the couch; fingers drumming on the armrest. They had a little more than a week to be openly `official' (as Kagome had called it). After they returned home he would not be able to be openly affectionate with her until he had received her family's approval. It was strange to think that he could not simply take what he wanted, but he would abide by her rules if it meant that he could remain by her side. It was at that moment that the dog-demon decided that he would make sure he got in as much affection as he could before they got home. He had no idea how long it might be before he could be so obvious again and was not about to ruin his opportunity.

The water stopped running and Inu Yasha's ears perked up. Moments later Kagome emerged from the bathroom dressed in a white, button-down cotton shirt, left half-way open to reveal a pink tank-top underneath. The miko had paired it with a khaki skirt which stopped at her knees. He had wanted to tell her how pretty she looked but the look in her eyes told him that she was far too concerned with finding her hotel key card. She fussed with the belongings in her suitcase before finally discovering her key in the purse she had carried the night before. Quickly transferring it to her wallet, she checked to make sure the credit card was in it before handing it to the half-demon.

“You'll have to hold on to this for me, I don't have any pockets.” She said hurriedly.

He snatched it from her grasp and inspected it for a few minutes. Thankfully, it was just a plain, black leather wallet with no girly flowers or anything on it. Grunting his acquiescence he stuffed the item into his back pocket (an invention he quite approved of) and followed her to the door.

-

This time Kagome had planned for them to go to an arcade and then out to dinner. He was not sure what an arcade was but she had explained that it had games which were vaguely similar to the ones played at festivals.

When they got to the location he grew slightly concerned. The arcade entrance was down a short flight of stairs, slightly below street level. When they stepped inside his fears intensified. The place was dimly lit at best and boxes of shimmering lights buzzed and sang from every nook and cranny, humans huddled around the boxes here and there, tapping and cursing at them.

“This is where I go when I'm frustrated.” She indicated to a machine with a large screen with a half-wall in front of it. On the wall thing were two holsters holding blue and red L-shaped objects which appeared to the demon to be some sort of silly toy.

Before he could ask her what it was she swept up the red toy and threw in a coin. The screen waited for someone named `player 2' until the miko plopped the blue toy into and added another coin. The screen then began counting down to the game's start. Kagome took the opportunity to show the dog-demon how to use the thing she called a `gun.' When Inu Yasha could not grasp the concept of what a trigger was right away she sighed and grabbed his hands. Taking hold of his claws, she angled his fingers around the grip and then raised her own gun to show him how to put one of them on the trigger.

That was all the time they were given before the game began. A very life-like looking man who looked none too pleasant trained a similar-looking weapon on them. Without thinking the hanyou jumped in front of his mate to block her from the attack, bracing for the impact of what appeared to be a projectile. Instead the screen flashed red and Kagome giggled.

“No, no, that's not an enemy! That's the game. You're supposed to shoot at it—like this.”

She slipped around him, pointed her weapon at the man, and pulled the trigger. The man gasped, clutched his chest, and then disappeared. In order to maintain his dignity he proclaimed that he knew that from the start and that he was only testing her to see if she knew. When she said she had been playing the game for few months back at home he felt only a little bit stupid. Before he could give a snappy comeback Kagome had been drawn back into playing the game. He mimicked her movements (though he pretended he already knew) until he got the hang of it and no longer had to sneak peeks at the miko to understand the controls.

To his surprise he found that his mate was particularly adept at playing. The first couple of rounds he had done terribly; at one point he felt like quitting—until she called him a baby. With grim determination he persevered through several coins. Eventually he was doing so well that he did not need the coins any more. In fact, it became apparent that they were both doing remarkably better as a team. The couple alternated between covering one while the other attacked and vice-versa. They were doing so well that they began to draw a crowd. No one had ever seen anyone get so far in the game without going through a ridiculous amount of coins.

Normally, the dog-demon abhorred so much attention but they had gathered so quietly that he had been able to gradually grow used to them. Some began to cheer when they passed another level. Neither one could look at the other; if they took their eyes away from the game for a second then they might make a mistake.

The crowd grew more excited as they gunned their way through the final level to the final boss; who reminded Inu Yasha a little too much of Naraku. The dog demon growled as he popped off rounds. It certainly was a satisfying experience to put a couple of holes into the bastard, of course it did not come close to doing it with the Tetsusaiga—

“Hey! Pay attention! I'm losing health here!” Kagome's voice jerked him out of his semi-bloodlust.

He realized that his self absorption was getting his partner in trouble; it would not be any fun to play the game without her if the life bar thing got too low. He muttered an apology and resumed his attack normally. In the back of his mind he wondered if that was what it was like to be near him when he was a full demon. Sure, he had more power, but it meant nothing if it might hurt someone else—especially her.

Before he knew it the final boss gurgled its' last curse at them and disappeared. The screen faded to black and was replaced with the words “You Win! New High Score!” The crowd cheered.

A man in a t-shirt with a logo on the front pressed through the line until he was at the front. He told the couple that they were the top scorers for the game. Kagome was handed a teddy bear with the logo of the business stitched onto its' belly and Inu Yasha was given a baseball cap with the same logo. Then he told them they would have to pose for a picture. Thankfully, he already knew about cameras from a recent trip with the miko so he was not anxious about it.

There were a lot of people around and the hanyou was not sure of what to do. Kagome sidled closer to him. The cameraman spoke.

“I've never seen such teamwork—a brother-sister team, no less!”

Kagome made a face. Inu Yasha was insulted. “She's not my sister. She's my m—er—girlfriend.”

“Oh, well then, move closer! Let's get a cute picture.” The cameraman replied.

The grumpy half-demon threw an arm around his companion. Kagome blushed. The camera flashed twice and the crowd gradually dispersed. Inu Yasha kept his arm around her when the man gave them a blank square of paper. He would not say a word until the man left and they were heading out the door.

“What the heck was that for? I thought we got one of those tiny paintings?”

Kagome rolled her eyes, smacking her palm to her forehead, “Inu Yasha, that paper is the photograph. Look at it now.”

She thrust the Polaroid in his face; strangely, the paper had gone from white to a pale orange. As he continued to watch the orange color began to grow darker and the colors changed in places until it had turned into a perfect image of the two next to the video game machine.

“That's the best trick I've ever seen! Hey, can we make him do it again?” He asked excitedly.

“Yeah, only if we win another high score.”

His face fell. The half-demon looked at the picture again. It was an odd thing to see his face staring back, somehow it looked different. Besides his black hair color; something in his grin or his posture he could not quite put his finger on. His eyes lingered on Kagome's face she wore a funny smile; happy, yet shy, all at once.

“Hey, Kagome, can I keep this?”

He blurted out the question with such excitement that he was sure the miko would laugh at him. Instead the girl was giving him the same look she had been wearing in the photograph; her eyes bright.

“Only if you promise me you'll take another one with me so I can keep one.”

His taped-down ears burned against his scalp as the blood rushed to them.

He tried to sound flippant about it, “Yeah, sure, why not?”

She smiled and gave him a hug. Now was his chance to be close to her again! His hands wrapped around her middle, holding her in place. Slowly, he raised his claws up until they were tangled in her hair, turning her head up so he could gaze into her eyes. Her cheeks were pink, lips parted slightly. When she gathered that he intended to kiss her she closed her eyes and—

“Hey! Fancy meeting you here” A familiar voice interrupted.

Kagome jumped away from the dog-demon involuntarily. Furious that he had just lost his second chance to kiss his mate he turned his golden gaze to the bearer of the voice that invited his inevitable beating. His growl ended as he grasped the voice was that of Shippo.

“What do you want, fox?” He grumbled.

Shippo had taken on a more youthful-looking appearance. He had the same red-blonde hair sporting a longer, shaggy cut preferred by some Japanese youth and bright blue eyes but looked to be in his twenties and sported not a single gray hair. No one would have guessed that the man before them was the fabled actor Reynard Baines—or a kitsune.

“Well I was hoping I might run in to you, but I wasn't trying to find you.” He began, “Are you hungry? Care to have a late lunch?”

Inu Yasha's stomach gurgled in response and his ears burned from a blush. The miko was hungry as well, but she could not help but be a little concerned.

“Is this going to… mess things up at all?”

She was referring to their timeline, worried that their encounter might alter their future in some way. Shippo shook his head.

“I doubt it… fate wouldn't allow us a chance meeting twice, I don't think.”

The explanation was good enough for the half demon who decided it was a good time to speak up, “Feh. I don't care. Let's go eat already, I'm starved!”

-

Both demons were so hungry that few words were exchanged until after the two men had gorged themselves. Kagome watched them in fascination, suddenly aware that Shippo's table manners appeared identical to Inu Yasha's. She wondered if she ought to try and nip a bad habit he had obviously picked up from her companion, wait, check that, boyfriend. She smiled at the thought; apparently their crazy little group must have turned into a family at some point. The fox-demon and the dog-demon were engaged in a drinking contest; they were attempting to chug down the contents of their beverages before the other did. Halfway through his glass Shippo choked and the miko ran over to beat on his back until he coughed. She shot an angry glare at the hanyou. His triumphant look at having won wilted away.

Shippo laughed, “You always did lose, even when you won.”

For the comment he was bopped on the head none too gently. The only reason he was not immediately sat was because they were out in public. He was very excited about the new opportunity to abuse Shippo—until Kagome tersely warned him that he might get arrested for battery. The fox-demon overheard the remark and began laughing hysterically. Inu Yasha growled impotently.

Still laughing, the kitsune stood from his seat, set some bills on the table, and bowed to the miko.

“I'm sorry I have to eat and run but I have a meeting in about an hour.”

The two nodded and Shippo gave Kagome a hug before heading off. The fox demon disappeared out the door. Finally, Inu Yasha had his woman all for himself! He thought about all the secluded areas he could take her to so they could get some peace… unfortunately, the miko had other plans.

“Oh! That reminds me. Come on, let's go.” She grabbed his hand and led him off.

-

The shopping district was definitely not secluded. They had hopped a train to an area choked with people. With a growing sense of dread the dog-demon realized that they would have to stay there for a long, long time.

Kagome's first stop was a store filled with small bangles on metal hoops which she said were accessories for keys or something called a `cell phone.' She figured the little trinkets were travel-friendly and could hook on to—well, something—easily. The demon thought they were frivolous but was unwilling to risk her wrath. Eventually, she picked out one for each member of their group. When the miko finished with the cashier and had received a small bag containing her gifts Inu Yasha grew hopeful that they were finished. He was wrong.

As soon as she left the store she dragged him to several outdoor shops. At first he had been extremely irritable, but gradually it dawned on him that she was quite happy. He hand often found its' way into his and he found that he was quite content to allow the hustle and bustle. At least it was peaceful.

By the time the sun was beginning to set Kagome finally completed her shopping. They grabbed a quick dinner from an outdoor snack vendor and headed for the train station. The hanyou had watched her struggle with several bags for ten minutes before he begrudgingly took over. He gave an internal sigh, wondering if he would get a chance to hold her close tonight. It certainly would not happen if his arms were laden down with bags all the way back to their room.

They made their way to the train station and got on board with little trouble. Most of the commuters had long since gone home and there were only a few people per car. Kagome chose a train car towards the back with a few young men sitting in a far corner, apparently snoozing and in the midst of a long trip. They took a seat next to each other and the dog-demon dropped the bags unceremoniously next to him in an empty seat.

As the train rolled off Kagome collapsed against him and leaned her head on his shoulder. Finally! He had a chance to get close! Inu Yasha threw an arm around her, resting his head against the top of hers. Just as he was beginning to relax a foot kicked his shin roughly. Initially, he ignored it, assuming it was just Kagome shifting to get more comfortable…until he realized the scent of the young men had grown stronger. It could only mean that they were much closer. He slowly opened an eye to see what the trouble was.

“Aw, look at the love birds, how cute.”

Kagome sat up with a start, blinking rapidly. “What?”

“Just hand over your bags and we'll let you get back to makin' out.” A man wearing some sort of bandana covering most of a bad bleach job that had turned his black hair orange responded.

“Like hell I will” Inu Yasha stood up, gently releasing his hold on her.

The three boys laughed. Without the fire rat robe his wiry frame did not sport the appearance of a dangerous half demon. They had no clue what they were up against. One of them used the toe of his boot to lift up the edge of the miko's skirt. The hanyou growled and his woman smacked away the shoe, her cheeks stained with a humiliated blush. She heard the demon's knuckles pop, a dangerous fanged smile on his lips. All three of them continued to laugh as they pulled out switchblades.

The leader sealed his fate when he opened his mouth again, “Okay, fellas, when we're done with this dumbass we'll show the little lady a good time.”

“Humph, I'd like to see you try.”

Normally, Kagome would not have condoned any violence in her time period but one quick look up and down the car told her that there were no other witnesses. Inu Yasha was only mildly concerned that he might get into trouble for killing the three morons. He awaited her orders.

“Can I trust you to not kill them?” Her voice sounded oddly cold.

The demon's smile widened, his canines revealed, “Yes, ma'am.”

The first man, the leader with the bandana, struck first. He had made a move that Inu Yasha had thought would hit Kagome so he thrust an arm out, catching the blade in his hand. He did not even wince when it drew blood, and he wouldn't allow him to withdraw it. His fingers clutched the sharp thing as if it was made of rubber, not steel. The punk was in such shock that he let go of the handle, he was in even more surprised when the same hand punched him in the face, knocking him out cold—but not before breaking his nose with a sickening crack.

“Whoops. Better punch softer next time.” The half-demon smirked, swinging around with the same bloody hand to punch the second thug in the gut, letting up just enough so that he would be conscious.

Inu Yasha wound up to hit the third guy but was surprised when he crumpled to the floor of his own will, curled up in a humiliating bow of apology.

“P-please! We didn't mean it! J-just, let us go!” He stuttered.

“Why should I?” The hanyou snarled. “You dared touch my woman? I ought to kill you and your idiot friends' right here!”

Kagome spoke up, giving the man an icy stare, “Promise us you will not say a word about this…mistake…and we won't press charges.”

The man kept bowing and nodding as he spoke, “Y-yes ma'am. I promise. Kei, grab the chief. We're gettin' outta here!”

The man who had been punched was still coughing for air but the two managed to drag their unconscious companion out into the next car. Deprived of a decent fight the dog-demon resumed his seat next to his companion with a grunt.

“Inu Yasha,” Her angry voice exploded next to him, “What is this?”

She grabbed his hand and yanked it towards her with one hand, the other dug through her purse until she found her tissues. He winced when she pulled the switch blade out of his palm, stuffing it in a wad of tissues before setting it down on the empty seat on her side.

“I swear; you're so careless” She grumbled as she dabbed at the wound.

He sucked in a breath when she did so. The wound was healing slowly as she spoke but he had dripped blood all over. She cleaned off his hand, then the blood on the seat. When she had finished doing that the miko dropped another couple of tissues to the floor and wiped up the last few drops there by pushing them around with her foot. Finally, she picked everything back up again and shoved them all with the switchblade back into her purse.

He pulled her back down to sit with his good hand and was about to throw an arm around her when the train pulled to a stop at their station. As they got off at their stop the hanyou cast a suspicious eye about to make sure the thugs had not got off at the same place. They hadn't, but he kept a wary eye out all the way back to the hotel, just in case.

At the hotel they were lucky enough to bump into Shippo again at the lobby. His own acute sense of smell had picked up the dog-demon's blood and he hurried over to them, still in his youthful form. He spoke quietly to them.

“Obviously something went down, I've rented a room under a false name, I'll take you there so we can talk.”

The two nodded and the kitsune led them to the elevator and up a couple of floors to a smaller, less glamorous hotel room. As soon as they were inside Shippo dropped his human disguise entirely. He did not look much different from is human form except that he was now closer to Kagome's height and sported a tail and ears.

“So what happened?” He asked.

They related the whole story to him while the kitsune shook his head, finally commenting when they had reached the end of their tale.

“Kids these days have no manners. Feh.”

He blushed a little when Kagome raised an eyebrow to the distinctively Inu Yasha-like response. Shippo certainly had picked up a lot of the dog-demon's traits.

“Well, I'll call some of my people and make sure no one causes you any trouble. I doubt those kids will press charges, regardless.” Shippo ended.

The miko thanked him, she did not want to try and figure out how he was going to `take care of things' but she doubted it would be anything bad. Apparently, though the fox-demon had read her mind and added,

“Don't worry, ma, it's just a clean-up crew to make sure there's no evidence for the police to use if the idiots really do try to press charges.”

She nodded, and then remembered the switch blade and the bloody tissues.

“Oh, here, I cleaned up a little already… can you get rid of these for us?” She handed the objects over to the kitsune.

Shippo took them and shoved the items into a pocket on the inside of his jacket before responding, “I'll take care of these, I promise. You two go and take it easy, now.”

He ushered them out the door and then waved them off as he pulled out a cell phone from his pants pocket and began making calls to various people. The two companions returned to their room, far more relieved.

When they got back to their room Kagome re-checked Inu Yasha's wound. In the short span of time the cut had already healed to the point where it appeared to be little more than a long paper cut. He muttered something about it being nothing and then moved away to put her bags down.

Exhausted the miko went straight to her suitcase, grabbed up some pajamas and went into the bathroom to shower and dress for bed. It took him only a few minutes to get changed; Kagome was still in the process of showering by the time he slid under the covers on his side.

Inu Yasha thought about their terrible date. What a mess it had been! He felt like an ass for only being able to hold her hand a few times and put his arm around her shoulders. It seemed that fate had conspired against him that day. He took a small bit of comfort that he might regain some of his lost opportunity when Kagome came to bed. The hanyou laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. The night was not over yet…that was…for sure…

When Kagome emerged from her shower dressed and ready for bed she found the dog-demon sound asleep in bed. She smiled and climbed in next to him, gently brushing his bangs away from his face. The miko leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, then settled down and closed her eyes.

She murmured quietly, “Good night, Inu Yasha.”