Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Summary: Kagome accidentally finds Inuyasha bathing in a river. Hiding behind a rock, she secretly admires the beautiful sight displayed in front of her.

Lovely View

Kagome woke up late at night – only to find Inuyasha missing. She blinked a few times, before scanning around Kaede's hut. Once she observed the whole hut, she made a conclusion that Inuyasha was truly gone. Where was he? She glanced to her side, and found Shippo sleeping soundly in her sleeping bag. Slowly, she crawled out of her sleeping bag, and was careful not to make a sound when shuffling through the hut.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered.

No answer. She sighed and decided to search for the half-demon outside. She pushed the flap aside, and squinted her eyes to search for the familiar silver hair and dog ears. But to no avail, there was no sign of him.

Where could he be?

But then she remembered that one time where she had woken up in the middle of the night. He was gone during that time. She panicked because of his disappearance, and started screaming frantically for his name. He must've thought that she was in danger, because he came running back – his hair damped and his face dripping with water. And that was when she found out that he would sneak out at times and take a bath while everyone was sleeping. He may complain that they don't need a bath, but secretly, he cared about his hygiene too.

Having an idea on where he might be, she started heading towards the river. There was only one place she could think of – and she hoped that she would find him there. If he wasn't there... well... the entire village would be awakened by her screams.

She slowed her pace as she caught the silver hair shimmering brightly under the moonlight. As she got closer, she realised that Inuyasha was...

She froze.

Inuyasha was... naked.

She let out something that resembled a squeak, and hid behind a rock. She tried to calm her now rapidly beating heart.

She wanted to slap herself.

Of course Inuyasha was naked – he was bathing! It wouldn't be bathing if he went into the water fully-clothed now, would it?

She shut her eyes and waited for the moment he would call her out. She was in so much trouble. She could only imagine how angry he would be when he found out that he was caught wearing nothing. But moments passed, and he didn't say a thing. It made her curious. Gathering her courage, she slowly lifted herself up to see what prevented the half-demon from announcing her presence. She was shocked with what she found. She didn't expect his back be facing her – as he massaged his scalp – and it gave her the opportunity to look at the magnificent view of his body.

His body was slender. Not too masculine, but not too skinny either. Behind him, his silver hair cascaded down his back – reaching below his waist. The dog ears that perched on his head sat proudly on top, twitching every few seconds. She couldn't stop her eyes as they traveled down – and it landed on those beautiful pair of legs. Damn. If she thought Koga had nice legs, then she thought wrong.

As she was staring every single inch of his body, she hadn't noticed that her jaw had dropped. Looking at those legs, she wished that he didn't always wear that gaudy–

Woah, woah, woah. What was she doing?!

If Inuyasha had seen her naked, she would've sit him. So right now, she was being totally unfair to him.

Well, it wasn't as if she hadn't seen him bare before. There was a time when she had seen him naked. It was when they both returned to the Feudal Era, and Sota suggested that he and Inuyasha would have a bath. He started yelling because the water was too hot, and he immediately rushed to her room – unclothed. But during that time, it wasn't as if she saw anything. She had her eyes averted the moment her mind registered that he was naked – and started throwing things at him for him to cover up. But right now, this was different. She was actually examining his body from head to toe.

Don't get her wrong, she really wanted to take her eyes off from him, but she found out that it was quite a difficult task.

Then, she noticed something. As Inuyasha moved his hair onto one shoulder, she got a full glimpse of his back. She gasped when she saw faint white scars on the flesh behind him. Wait, that couldn't be. They hadn't battled with anyone in a while, so how was Inuyasha injured? Even if it was from previous battles, it should be healed by now. So how...?

All of a sudden, Inuyasha pushed his hair behind his back – covering those scars – and tilted his head to one side. He patted his head, and water dripped out of one ear. He repeated the process with the other. His ears twitched, and then he whirled around – his eyes widening as he caught her staring at him.

Oh, so that's why he hadn't call her name. He didn't hear her.

Because there was water in his ears.

And now, she had been caught.

"Um–"

"What the hell?!" Inuyasha shouted, and he immediately dropped into the water – covering the parts from his torso and below. His face was as red as his firerat. "Kagome, what are you doing here?!"

"I can explain!" Kagome said, as she waved her hands around. "You were gone, and... and... I... came to... to... find you!"

"How long had you been watching?!"

"I... I... I..." Kagome stuttered as she desperately searched for something as a distraction. Finding none, she replied honestly, "I, um, it was a few minutes, okay? I just... you were..."

"Wench, you have ten seconds!"

"You were gone! A-And I came to find you! And then you didn't hear me come. And then..." Her face turned red as she realised she actually had no good explanation. "You were here," she eventually forced the words out, "bathing, and I... your body..."

Hearing her mentioning his body, he immediately averted his eyes and bowed his head. The ears on top of his head flattened.

Looking at his dejected expression, she panicked. And when she panicked, she blurted out the last thing she wanted to say. "Your body was just nice to stare at, okay?!

Silence. Everything was replaced with an uncomfortable silence. Kagome found herself failing to breathe as he stilled in the water – his muscles tensed and his head still bowed. Kagome had no idea what impact she had caused by uttering those words. One thing she knew was that... she was screwed.

"You really think so?"

Okay, so maybe she wasn't entirely screwed.

But still, she realised that his voice was so quiet – that Kagome was starting to think that he might've thought she thought otherwise. So, having to swallow her dignity, she answered, "Yes, Inuyasha," she said, and quickly added, "B-But! I promise you I wasn't being a pervert or anything!"

As if she could defend herself after letting out such a statement.

He looked up, and Kagome found him looking at her as if she had grown a second head. His eyes were large saucers, and his mouth was left agape. Shaking his head, he muttered, "You're the only one who thinks like that, you know?"

"Inuyasha, why would you say that? I'm pretty sure some people think the same too," Kagome said, and wished she would just shut up. She was just embarassing herself, dammit!

"Apparently, a half-demon's body is considered filthy."

That made Kagome's mouth clamped shut. The words were spoken with such sorrow, that pity washed over her like a wave. She opened her mouth, then closed it again – having no idea how to respond. Remembering how sad he looked earlier, this must be the reason why. People had called him ugly names, and it was no surprise if he agreed with them. Years of having to hear the same, horrible words, it must've deeply affected him. She wished that she could travel back in time and presented to them that this is what they had insulted. This gorgeous, beautiful, hot-looking–

Wait, he was still...

She quickly turned around so that her back was against him. She cleared her throat and looked up towards the sky. "I'm really sorry for, um, spying on you. Had it been you who was staring at me, I would've used the word by now. I'll make it up to you with ramen, I promise."

She heard the sound of water, followed by the rustling of fabric. After a few minutes, she heard him say, "You can turn around now."

Exhaling a deep breath, she turned around and face him. His hair was still wet, and his clothes clung slightly to his skin as evidence that he didn't dry himself properly. She forced herself to lock eyes with him, even if the shame was too much to handle. It was her fault anyway for spying on him, so she had no right to complain whatever he was going to say to her. Call her a wench, or a pervert, she would accept anything right now. But what she didn't expect was the blank expression on his face. He looked like he was deep in thought, and she knew that the furrow of his brow meant that he was having doubts with her statement.

Face turning slightly red, she grabbed both of his hands – causing him to flinch by her action. She smiled at him, and gaze at the pair of his golden eyes. "You're really beautiful, Inuyasha."

His face was flushed as he looked away. It made her smile that he didn't pull his hands away from her grasp. "Keh, I'm not beautiful."

"Yes you are," Kagome said, and took a step closer to him. She smiled brightly at him. "Beautiful, selfless and courageous – that's what you are."

He lowered his head, and his ears – once again – flattened on his head. His voice was soft when he said, "Let's go back to Kaede's hut."

Knowing that he couldn't handle any more compliments, she decided to comply with his request with a nod. They both turned around and started making their way to the old priestess' hut. Kagome couldn't help but beam when Inuyasha and herself were locking hands as they were heading back. Inuyasha didn't say a word, but the blush that still dusted his cheeks told her that he was still affected by her praise. She decided to let him be with his own thoughts.

Until the images of those scars appeared.

Kagome stopped in her tracks, making Inuyasha stop too. The half-demon raised a brow at her. "What's wrong, Kagome?"

For a moment, Kagome contemplated whether this was the right time to ask him or not. "It's just... why do you have scars on your back?"

"What?"

"I saw them," Kagome murmured and looked up to meet his gaze. "While you were bathing, I saw them. They were faint, but it's still there. Why do you have them? You haven't been fighting demons in secret, have you?"

A frown made its way to his face. "It's nothing."

"Have you been fighting demons in secret?"

"No."

"Then why do you have it?"

"It's none of your business, wench," Inuyasha snapped, and Kagome flinched by the sudden raise of voice. His ears were pinned on top of his skull, and he paled at the sight of her expression. "Kagome, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to–"

"No, it's okay, Inuyasha. It's my fault," Kagome said and squeezed his hand in a reassuring matter. "I shouldn't have pressed on the issue. I'm sorry."

He was silent at first, before he spoke, "It won't disappear because it happened when I was little. My healing abilities weren't great back then, so some of the worst injuries I take would leave a scar."

Kagome listened, waiting patiently for him to open up. She had a feeling that it was related to his past – and it was no wonder that he was hesitant to reveal it in the first place.

"No matter what, it's usually my back that endured the worst," he said, and visibly swallowed the lump in his throat – making it evident that he was uncomfortable with discussing this topic. "I never noticed the scars 'cause they're behind me. Is it that bad?"

"No, it just looks like it's going to disappear, but it just stays there," Kagome said as she shook her head. She continued softly, "What did they do to you?"

She used they – because she knew that it was people who had done this – and not because he injured himself or anything.

He was reluctant to answer. "Lots of things. Kids used to kick me a lot behind the back. The adults... they sometimes hit me with an iron rod."

Nodding, she fought the tears that were threatening to flow down her cheeks. "I'm sorry that it happened to you."

"Don't be. It's in the past anyway," he said, and used his thumb to wipe away some of the traitorous tears that had started flowing down her face. "It was years ago when it happened. So don't cry, Kagome."

She gave a small nod, and used the sleeve of her school uniform to wipe her moist cheeks. She sniffed, and looked up to him, "I'm glad you're stronger now."

A half-smirk was all his response.

They finally reached Kaede's hut, and was glad that none of them stirred from their sleep. Kagome crawled back into her sleeping bag beside Shippo, and watched as Inuyasha sat in his usual position against the wall.

"Inuyasha?" she called softly.

His ears swiveled to her direction. "What is it, Kagome?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"W-What?" he said as his golden eyes flashed open. "Why?"

"Because I want to."

She guessed that the answer was good enough, because Inuyasha let out a sigh, before nodding. She smiled, and was careful not to wake Shippo as she moved out of her sleeping bag. She tiptoed to the half-demon's direction, and laid her head on his thigh.

"Wait, lift your head for a sec," Inuyasha said. She did what she was told, and he shifted his legs so that it wasn't crossed – and made it outstretched – so that it was easier for her to lay her head. "Okay, you can lie down now."

She laid her head, and turned her body to sleep on her side. She closed her eyes when she felt gentle fingers caressing her hair. "Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"I'm really sorry for spying on you," Kagome said, and she heard Inuyasha snort from behind her. She knew that there was nothing that could make her look innocent, but she tried anyway. "My intentions were actually pure."

"And then it turned not-so-pure, didn't it?"

"Uh..." she slowly turned her body to the other side, allowing herself to see his face. He didn't look angry, just amused. She grinned, and her fingers reached out to one of his silver strands – that were still damped. "I meant what I said, you know."

"About what?"

"That you're beautiful," she reminded.

"Beautiful are for girls."

"I want to say that you're handsome, but you're really more on the beautiful side," Kagome admitted sheepishly and released his hair. His face was red by her comment, and she giggled at his reaction. "Or do you want me to call you cute?"

"Definitely not cute."

"Then we're sticking to beautiful," she said, and felt her eyes closed.

"You're beautiful, Kagome."

"You're beautiful too, Inuyasha," she replied, and a yawn escaped her lips. "Goodnight, Inuyasha."

"'Night, Kagome."

She smiled.

Beautiful. Selfless. Courageous.

That was Inuyasha.

Her half-demon.

End.

A/N: Honestly, I don't know how this happened. I wanted this to be something funny, but then it started turning into this depressing... thing. Oh well, this was still fun to write. I definitely enjoyed writing Kagome being a sneaky little pervert, hehe.