Human Compensation

A/N: I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Phew!!

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Inuyasha watched Kagome sleep peacefully beside him in their bed. Midnight had passed and he was back to his old self. He thought about everything he had said and done with Kagome. ‘Stupid human counterpart,’ he thought to himself. ‘What a loser.’ He’d almost broke him by buying all those materialistic things he didn’t need and all of them had to be designer clothes. Suits, dress pants, khakis, he had no need for them. He didn’t even like them! He’d bought a lot for someone who only made an appearance once a month. Inuyasha sighed. At least he’d bought some jeans and casual clothes too. The only good thing came out of his shopping was the clothes he’d bought for Kagome. Inuyasha never cared much about fashion or styles, but at least his counterpart had good taste when it came to her.

He smiled at Kagome. She’d kissed him last night, although she was drunk when she did it, it hadn’t mattered to him. He could still feel her soft, warm lips pressed against his. She’d tasted like champagne and strawberries when he’d deepened the kiss. The kiss hadn’t last for two minutes before she passed out leaving him breathless and wanting more. She’d given him a sample of what would eventually come and he had enjoyed it immensely. Just thinking about it made him want to kiss her again. He licked his lips. Just one quick kiss, she’d never know.

Kagome opened her eyes just in time to see Inuyasha’s face slowly descending to hers with his eyes closed and lips puckered. Her hand shot up reflexively and smacked him away. Inuyasha fell to the side of the bed face first. He sat back up, his cheek glowing with her hand print and glared at her. She’d just smacked the hell out of him and was looking as if nothing had happened.

“You bitch!” He growled.

Kagome sat up. Her head pounding. She moaned. “Inuyasha, what are you doing?” She asked weakly.

Inuyasha sat cross-legged on the bed with his arms folded, still glaring at her.

Kagome looked at him for a while then rubbed her eyes. “Oh, you’re back,” she said dryly.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Inuyasha asked, suspiciously.

“Nothing, nothing at all!” Kagome said, giving a short nervous laugh which made her head hurt worse. “What happened to me?” She asked.

“You got drunk last night and now you have a hangover.”

“I was drunk? I thought I felt a little strange,” Kagome said.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. ‘What am I going to do with her? She doesn’t even know when she’s drunk!’ He thought.

“Wow, that’s a first,” Kagome laid back down.

“You like him better don’t you?” Inuyasha asked, leaning over her.

“What are you talking about?” Kagome asked.

“I’m talking about him!” Inuyasha shouted.

“Oh god, I”m going to die!” Kagome moaned covering her ears.

“Hey bitch, I’m talking to you!”

“Will you leave me alone!” Kagome shouted back in pain. She felt like her head was going to explode.

“You DO like him better!” Inuyasha said sounding hurt.

“Who is him?” Kagome asked.

“You know...HIM!”

Kagome looked at him. Was he referring to his human self?

“You kissed him two times. You’ve never kissed me! And now you’re trying to get rid of me!”

‘I kissed him again?’ Kagome thought, trying to remember.

“Well?” Inuyasha hovered over her impatiently.

“Inuyasha, are you jealous of yourself?” She asked, giving him a strange look.

Inuyasha was taken back by this. “Feh!” He got up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Kagome cringed. “Why me?” She groaned. She knew she should have stayed in bed, but she felt compelled to find out what had made Inuyasha so upset.

She got up and took two shaky steps from the bed. Something popped in front of her eyes and her legs got tangled up in some kind of material and she fell to the floor.

Inuyasha heard the crash and was back in the room before she could get up.

“Stupid girl! What are you doing out of bed?” He asked as he untangled the cloth from around her legs.

“What is that?” She asked.

“The magical cloth I gave you yesterday. The spell has worn off.”

“Oh yeah,” Kagome said with a smile.

Inuyasha easily lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the bed. “Why did you try to leave?”

“You were upset. I wanted to know what was wrong,” Kagome said.

He looked at her in surprise.

“Stop looking at me like that. What’s so surprising about it?”

He smiled a little and sat on the side of the bed.

“Inuyasha why do you prefer to yourself as...him? You’re the same person.”

“No we’re not,” Inuyasha said.

“He seems to think so,” Kagome said.

“What do you expect from a human?” Inuyasha asked.

She ignored his comment. “Do you hate your human side?”

“No, that would be like hating my mother,” Inuyasha said.

“Then what is it about him that bothers you?”

“People seem to like him better, even you!”

“Well, he’s nice...” Kagome said.

“I can be nice!” Inuyasha yelled at her.

“And he doesn’t call me the *b* word,” Kagome said.

“He’d better not,” Inuyasha threatened. “He’s a human, he’d be insulting you if he called you that.”

“You call me that all the time and I don’t think you mean it as an endearment!”

“It’s an honor to be called a bitch,” Inuyasha said.

“Okay, I’m not going to go there with you!” Kagome had to shake her head. She felt a little weird sitting here talking to Inuyasha about himself. ‘I miss my normal life,’ she thought.

“That doesn’t mean I like him better than you,” she told him.

“You kissed him,” Inuyasha pointed out.

“Would you like me to kiss you?” Kagome asked, anything to stop him from sulking.

Inuyasha blushed and moved back. “No! I didn’t mean it like that. You wanted to kiss him. You just want to kiss me because I said something about it.”

“Inuyasha, you’re a 26 year old man. Stop acting so childish,” Kagome said.

“What do you see in him? He’s a weak human. He can’t even protect you!”

“I see you in him and him in you,” Kagome said. “I see the man that I care about in both of you.”

“You...you care about me?” Inuyasha asked in disbelief.

“Of course I care about you, silly,” Kagome said with a gentle smile. She stretched out her arms to him. “Come here.”

He hesitated, staring at her suspiciously.

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” Kagome said in exasperation.

“You slapped me,” Inuyasha said.

“I didn’t mean to. Now come over here.”

Inuyasha slowly crawled over to her. Kagome snuggled up to him laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist. She sighed. “I’m glad I met your counterpart. He made me feel a lot closer to you, Inuyasha, and now I understand why you act the way you do. Now, when you act like a jerk and make me angry, I’ll always know that you care about me too.”

“Kagome...Inuyasha hesitated not knowing what to say.

“Shhh, it’s okay, just let me hold you for a while. I kind of missed you.”

Inuyasha blushed at that. Kagome cared about him? She’d missed him? His heart ached tenderly at the thought. He held her for a long time until she went back to sleep.

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

“No way, Houshi! You are not going to do that!” Sango said as Miroku followed her into her apartment.

“I don’t have a choice. You refuse to move to a safer place,” Miroku said calmly.

“You are NOT going to live with me! Get that through your thick skull!” Sango said angrily.

“I’m sorry, Sango, until we find Naraku, I cannot allow you to live alone.” Miroku sat down on her couch making himself comfortable. He closed his eyes as if meditating.

Sango stood over him smouldering. The fact that he was sitting there so calm and peaceful after he told her he was moving in with her against her wishes, made her want to whack him upside his head with her boomerang. ‘Look at him,’ she thought. 'Acting as if he already lives here.’

“Now, now, Sango, my love. You’re too beautiful to be surrounding yourself with all that negative energy. I can sense it filling the entire room.” He said nonchalantly.

“If you haven’t realized it by now, I can take care of myself,” Sango hissed at him.

“I know you can, but I’m still not willing to take any chances with you,” Miroku said. His eyes still closed.

Sango turned her back to him angrily. She crossed her arms. “Why? Why do you care?” She asked in a strained voice, then frozed when she felt it. His hand gently rubbing up and down her buttocks. For once she was glad he did it. It gave her a reason to take out her frustrations on him. She whirled around prepared to sock him in the face. Miroku easily caught her small fist and brought it to his lips. She gasped when she felt his warm lips against her skin and snatched her hand back.

“Why you!” She attacked him again. This time going for his neck. She suddenly found herself laying flat on the couch with him on top of her. ‘How did I get here?’ She thought confused.

“Aah, Sango. You maybe a skilled fighter with youkai, but you have no chance against a lover like me.” Miroku said grinning.

“Get off me, you lecherous pervert!” Sango hissed at him trying to push his heavy body off her.

“Interesting choice of words!” Miroku said, staring into her dark eyes.

"You have lovely eyes. I could look into them all day.”

“I said get off me!” Sango strained trying to push him away. ‘Just when did he get so strong?’

“I rather like this position,” Miroku said, playing with her bangs. He suddenly felt himself being lifted up by the back of his jacket.

Inuyasha lifted him up with one hand and flung him backward. Miroku landed on his backside on the floor.

“Who’s going to protect Sango from you?” Inuyasha asked.

Miroku stood up with grin.

Sango glared at him. “You will get out of my apartment right now!” She demanded.

“You can’t order me out of your apartment, Sango. You forget that I’m your boss, not just in the office. I’m staying with you and that’s final.”

“I hate you!” Sango yelled at him. She marched into her room and slammed the door.

“That was a little low wasn’t it?” Inuyasha asked.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe,” Miroku said seriously. “Wouldn’t you do the same with Kagome?”

Inuyasha nodded.

“How is Kagome?” Miroku asked.

“Hung over,” Inuyasha smiled.

Miroku looked surprised. “Our Kagome?”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

“That doesn’t sound like her. It must be your fault. You’ve driven her to drinking.” Miroku concluded.

“I have not you idiot,” Inuyasha said. “She drunk some champagne on our date. It was her first alcoholic drink.”

“I see,” Miroku said. “Are you sure you didn’t give her champagne on purpose? You know, get her drunk, bring her back to your bed.”

“Only you would think of something as sick as that,” Inuyasha said glaring at him.

“Just a thought,” Miroku said with a shrug.

“Maybe I should take Sango with me. She’s my friend too. I’d hate to leave her alone with you,” Inuyasha said.

“She’s perfectly safe with me, Inuyasha. I wouldn’t do anything to make her feel uncomfortable.”

“You lech, you were all over her when I came in here!”

Miroku laughed, embarrassed. “Yes, well, it won’t happen again.”

“If you so much as lay a finger on her against her wishes...” Inuyasha threatened him.

“Do you actually think I would hurt Sango?” Miroku asked him in a deceptively, soft voice.

“No, not intentionally, but no does mean no,” Inuyasha said. He could tell he’d made Miroku angry.

“I wouldn’t have went any further with her, you know that! And look who’s talking? You practically made Kagome yours in her sleep! Talk about taking advantage of someone.”

“Hey! I didn’t know what I was doing!”

“Do you think Kagome will be safe with you?” Miroku quietly taunted.

“Are you suggesting that I would force myself on Kagome?” Inuyasha asked in a dangerously, low voice.

“You already have,” Miroku said.

“Take that back!” Inuyasha yelled jumping on him.

They woke up Kagome with all the noise. Sango ran out of her room and stood back watching the two macho guys fighting. Kagome walked out of her bedroom looking at the two rolling around on the floor punching each other and wrestling. Sango walked over to her and stood next to her. “Are you feeling better, Kagome?”

“A little,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Who cares. I hope they kill each other, then we could be rid of both of them,” Sango said.

“I don’t know, I may miss Inuyasha,” Kagome said with a smile.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sango said, looking at her in disbelief.

Kagome shrugged. “And you’ll probably miss Miroku even though you wouldn’t admit it.”

“Please,” Sango said, crossing her arms and turning up her nose.

“Are you going to break them up or will I have to?” Kagome asked.

“They are so immature. Do men ever grow up?” Sango asked. She walked to them and kicked both of them in the head. “Whatever you two are fighting about get over it! You will not tear up my apartment!”

They glared up at her as they rubbed their heads. Miroku was the first to get up. “I think all this stress is getting to us,” he said reaching a hand down to help Inuyasha up.

Inuyasha knocked it away with his fist and stood on his own.

“Inuyasha,” Kagome said.

He stood up brushing off his clothes. “We’re leaving,” he announced glaring at Miroku.

“Fine, go,” Miroku said in an uppity manner. He walked into the kitchen.

“Come on Kagome,” Inuyasha said taking her hand.

“Thanks for everything, Sango,” Kagome barely had time to say before Inuyasha dragged her away.

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

“Inuyasha where are we going? It feels like we’ve been driving forever,” Kagome asked. They were driving to a part of the city she’d never been to. “How big is this city?”

“Big enough,” Inuyasha said.

“Oh that really answers my question,” Kagome said sarcastically. She noticed the streets were getting quieter and less crowded. She looked behind her and saw the big skycrapers and tall buildings a distance away.

“Hey we’re not even in the city,” she said.

“Wow, you’re smart, Kagome,” Inuyasha teased.

She began to get fidgety when she noticed they were driving into a wooded area.

“Okay, now this is getting creepy. Where are we going, Inuyasha?”

“Will you relax? What do you think I’m going to do? Take you out here and bump you off. I only do that to customers who don’t pay,” Inuyasha joked.

“Hey that’s not funny!” Kagome’s voice shook.

Inuyasha turned to her, smelling her fear. “I thought you trusted me, Kagome?” He asked.

“I do, but there's something about driving off into the middle of a forest away from civilization with a hanyou acting mysterious that gives me the creeps!” She yelled at him.

Inuyasha laughed. “It’s alright, Kagome. I’m taking you to my half-brother’s mansion.”

“Sesshoumaru?” Kagome gasped.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha drawled.

“But didn’t you tell me over dinner that Naraku was planning to get rid of Sesshoumaru and everyone who worked for him?” Kagome asked.

“So you do remember last night,” Inuyasha said.

“Yes, it’s coming back to me,” Kagome said, blushing slightly.

“Naraku can’t touch Sesshoumaru while he’s at home. Do you actually think the biggest criminal in town would live out in the open for attacks? He wouldn’t dare place Rin in that kind of danger. He hides his mansion with a spell. It’s located between this dimension and another one. Only people he approves of can enter it. Believe it or not we’re driving up to it now.”

“But I don’t see anything but trees and the road ahead of us,” Kagome said.

“Wait,” Inuyasha said.

Kagome suddenly found herself in front of humongous mansion. Her mouth dropped opened. “Are you sure this isn’t a palace?” She asked.

“Could be, haven’t really thought about it,” Inuyasha said as he drove the convertible up the pavement. "But I do know that this is the safest place in the world for you to stay."