Human Compensation

Kagome woke up again in the morning, this time she was alone. She sat up in bed feeling refreshed. The long rest she’d taken the other day had finally put her nerves at ease. She stretched and yawn, glancing at the indents in the pillows and sheets Inuyasha had made when he'd slept beside her. Everyday with him seemed to get weirder. Last night, he’d turned into a full human and told her he loved her. She hadn’t responded. She pretended to be asleep because she didn’t know how to respond to that. Did she love Inuyasha? She cared about him a lot more than she ever did with Hojo, her ex-boyfriend, who she’d left behind at home to move to the city. Boyfriend? Did she see Inuyasha as a boyfriend now? He’d certainly made her his girlfriend or bitch as he would call it. He was moving too fast for her. Sango had told her that dog youkai didn’t need to get to know someone to determine if they were their mate. They could tell, by the way a person smelled. Did that mean that Inuyasha knew what kind of person she was just by her scent, when they'd first met? He’d certainly sniffed her long enough. She smiled at that. Maybe it was the reason why dogs growled at certain strangers and acted friendly with others? Kagome snapped out of her musing when the scent of breakfast floated pass her nose, causing her stomach to growl loudly.

Inuyasha was in the kitchen frying eggs when she found her way to the food. He turned around and smiled at her.

“Good morning, Kagome. How do you like your eggs, scambled or sunnyside up?”

Kagome stared at him in shock. ‘He cooks too?’ She thought incredibly. ‘I don’t think I’ll have a problem falling for this guy.’

“Scrambled, thank-you,” she said politely. She sat down at the table. “Where is Sango?”

“She’s at work,” Inuyasha said.

“I should be at work,” Kagome said.

Inuyasha glanced at her. “You got to be kidding, right? After what you’ve been through, you deserve a few days off.”

“I do?” Kagome asked, surprised.

“Yes!” Inuyasha said. He raked the eggs onto two plates that were full of french toast and bacon, and took the plates to the table, giving one to Kagome, and keeping one for himself.

“Wow, this looks good,” Kagome said. “I didn’t know you knew how to cook. I mean Inuyasha, I mean you, I mean he, I don’t know how to address you...” Kagome said looking slightly embarrassed.

“I’m still Inuyasha,” he said, trying not to smile at her confusion.

“Well, you usually tell me to fix you something to eat and when I don’t, you order out.”

“Perhaps it’s because I prefer your cooking over mine,” Inuyasha said.

“Oh,” Kagome said, smiling a little.

They ate in silence for a while.

“You’re much easier to talk to,” Kagome finally said.

“I’m glad you think so. I don’t really mean to give you a hard time in my hanyou form. I hope you know that.”

“I know now,” Kagome said.

“Kagome, I know I can act like a jerk most of the time when I’m in my hanyou form, but you have to know that it doesn’t change the way I feel about you,” Inuyasha said sincerely. He watched her blush and pick at her food. “I meant what I said last night, but I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I wasn’t expecting a reply. I just wanted you to know how I felt.”

“I...I...” Kagome stuttered.

“It’s okay,” Inuyasha smiled, tenderly. “I understand, really. Humans need time to deal with their feelings. Youkai are different. We know what we want and we go after it without any doubts.” He said staring at her intensely, making Kagome squirm in her seat. “You told me I never took you out on a date. I was hoping I could do that today.”

Kagome looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”

Inuyasha laughed softly. “Yes. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, today is entirely yours. Besides, you need to have some fun after what you’ve been through.”

“But what about, Kikyo?” Kagome asked.

“Kikyo doesn’t know you’re still alive and I doubt we’ll be running into her anytime soon, not after what she did.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if I kept a low profile?” Kagome asked.

“Kagome, I don’t want you to let her control your life. I’ll be right beside you the whole time we’re out. I thought about it last night and I was upset because I lost my powers. I thought there was no way I could protect you in this human form, until I remembered something my mother gave me when I was child. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Kagome followed him back into the bedroom they shared.

“I went back to the apartment after you had fainted yesterday, to see if there was anything left, and I found this,” Inuyasha pulled a black trunk out of the closet. “This was the only thing that hadn’t been destroyed. The outer cover is made out firerats skin. It’s impossible to destroy anything when it’s covered with this.”

Kagome looked inside when he opened the trunk and saw a beautiful, light blue material. It was so sheer she could barely tell it was there. Inuyasha lifted it up with two fingers on each hand and held it in front of her. “My mother had this made for me when I was a child, when she discovered I turned human once a month. I stopped using it when I was old enough to take care of myself. Besides, I didn’t like the color.”

Kagome smiled. “What does it do?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself,” he said. He stepped toward her and flung it over her head.

Kagome watched the delicate material float down towards her like a cloud. It landed on her head, covering her face like a bridal veil as it covered the rest of her body. She held out her arms. The material felt like cool silk against her skin. Suddenly, her skin began to tingle. She watched in horror as the material began to quickly absorb into her skin.

“What’s going on!” She yelled, trying to grab it and snatch it off.

“Don’t worry, Kagome. It won’t harm you, it’s a magical cloth used to make humans invincible. It only tingles because it’s absorbing into your body. The feeling will pass in a second and everything will be back to normal.”

He was right. The cloth had completely disappeared. She touched her arm, it felt normal, so did her hair and face.

“It only works for a day, before it reappears. It’s perfect for you. Now, I can take you anywhere I want in my human form without having to worry about your safety.”

“What about you, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked.

“Are you implying I can’t take care of myself?” He asked.

Kagome almost rolled her eyes at his macho attitude. Maybe he hadn’t changed so much. “No.”

“I’ll be fine. I haven’t used that cloth in ages. I just kept it because it reminded me of my mother.” He smiled. “Would you like to test it out?”

“How?” Kagome asked, looking at him warily.

Inuyasha grinned. “I’m going to pretend to hit you.”

“Wait!” Kagome yelled, but his fist was already coming towards her face. It stopped an inch in front of her and his entire body was sent flying back against the wall with a loud thud. Kagome watched him sink to the floor in obvious pain.

She ran to him and kneeled down beside him. “Are you all right?” She asked helping him up.

“Still works,” he said, rubbing his head.

“Amazing,” Kagome said, staring at the slightly cracked wall, then at her hands.

***********************************************************************

‘This is like some kind of dream,’ Kagome thought. She glanced at Inuyasha as they sped down the streets in his black convertible, watching his long black hair blow in the wind. He must have felt her watching him because he turned to her with his Christian Dior sunglasses covering his eyes, and gave her a sparkling smile. Kagome blushed at being caught. She smiled back before turning to the road in front of her. Inuyasha looked like one of those male models she saw on the cover of magazines. What the heck was she doing with a guy like him? He was good-looking, rich, and very important by the way people had scrambled to obey his orders at the stores he’d taken her to.

After his demonstration with the magical cloth, she’d taken a shower and resentfully changed back into the same clothes she’d slept in, since they were the only ones she had after the explosion. Inuyasha took one look at the wrinkled clothes she had on and shook his head. “Seems like we both need a new wardrobe,” he’d told her. She hadn’t thought much about it, until he took her to the expensive stores downtown. Kagome glanced down at the new $1500 summer dress she was wearing from Tiffany’s and then, at the Manolo Blahniks shoes Inuyasha had insisted she wear. She carried a designer purse from Gucci on her shoulders. ‘It must be a dream,’ she thought again.

Inuyasha had taken her to every designer store in the city and bought clothes for her and himself. At first, she’d refused, but when the store clerks started showing her all those beautiful designer dresses, accessories, and shoes. She gave in. What woman would pass up a chance like this? He’d sat there and watched her try on some of the dresses, pointing out the ones he wanted her to keep and the ones he didn’t like, while he talked business on his cell phone. She felt like a model prancing around in front of him. He’d even picked out her underwear from Victoria Secret. Kagome hadn’t mind at all. Everything was beautiful to her. She’d gotten a facial, a make over, and her hair done by top of the line hair stylists, while he did his own shopping. By the time they’d finished, she didn’t recognize herself. The names like Chanel, Fendi, Versace, Armani, kept circling around over and over in her head. How much money did Inuyasha actually make?

“You’re quiet,” he said. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was just thinking that this is the best date I’ve ever been on,” Kagome said.

Inuyasha laughed. “You look gorgeous, Kagome.”

She smiled shyly. “So do you,” she said, softly.

Inuyasha laughed again. He leant over and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Where did you have all those clothes sent?”

“To our new home.”

“You found a place? Where?”

“It’s only temporary, until all this trouble with Naraku and Kikyo pass. I wanted you to be in a safe place and it was the safest place I could think of.”

“Where?” Kagome asked.

“It’s a surprise,” Inuyasha smiled. “So what do you want to do next?”

“Well, there’s this new movie I wanted to see,” Kagome said.

“Okay, and after that, we’ll have dinner.” Inuyasha said. “I get to pick the restaurant.”

The movie was sappy and romantic and had Kagome crying her eyes out at the end. Inuyasha had went to sleep on it. By the time the movie was over, he was snoring. Kagome had to shake him awake and then frowned when he gave her a sheepish look. He made up for his rude behavior at the restaurant he took her to. It wasn’t The Plaza, but a romantic little restaurant located by the ocean. They had their dinner outside on a private patio while an Italian fiddler played a slow, melancholy song. Afterwards, Inuyasha took her for a walk on the beach.

“Well, look at that,” he said as they stared into the waves. “There’s a full moon out tonight.”

Kagome giggled.

“What’s so funny?” He asked curiously.

“Nothing, I think you just said the chorus of a song.” She giggled again, then covered her mouth.

Inuyasha stared down at her. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, her dark hair blew around her shoulders. The peach colored, silk dress he’d bought her fitted her body perfectly. She was so beautiful it made his heart ache, so beautiful and...drunk.

“You’re not much of a drinker are you?” He asked with lopsided smile.

“I don’t know... I never had champagne. I like the way it bubbles and tickles my lips,” Kagome said, wrapping her arm around his.

“You’ve never had any alcoholic beverage?” Inuyasha asked, surprised.

She shook her head, liked the way her hair bounced around her face, and shook her head again. “Whoa,” she said getting dizzy.

Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her waist, possessively, and frowned at a few men who walked by, gawking at her.

“Did I tell you how good you look in that Armani suit?” Kagome asked.

“No,” he smiled.

“You look great!”

“Thank-you,” he said.

“You’re like the most handsomness man in the world,” she said, giving him a priceless smile.

Inuyasha blushed and stared back at the ocean.

Kagome looked down at the Manolo Blahniks she was carrying in her left hand. “You could stab someone to death with these heels,” she said, thoughtfully.

“I’m sure you could,” Inuyasha replied. He couldn’t help smiling. She was so cute when she was drunk. He watched her, wondering what she was going to say next.

She pushed away from him and walked carefully toward the waves, stopping a few feet from the wet sand. She dropped the shoes and stretched out her arms. “I feel as if I’m on top of the world!” She shouted. “WHOO HOO!”

Inuyasha shook his head, chuckling softly as she began to twirl around. He caught her when she staggered. Kagome smiled up at him.

“You always make sure I don’t get hurt. You’re like a guardian angel,” she said, softly.

“I’m far from an angel, Kagome, but you’re as close as a person can get without actually being one.”

“Hmm,” she said in a distracted manner as she stared at his lips. “I think...I think...I wanna...kiss you.” She grabbed the long locks of hair that hung down on the side of his face and pulled him down toward her lips.....