Higurashi Shrine, Tokyo, the present day
"You sure you don't want to come with me, B.?" Faith asked, from the back seat of the taxi that had come to pick her up. "The nightclub action's supposed to be great in the Roppongi district."
Buffy, leaning on the open door of the taxi, shook her head. "I still have some stuff to wrap up here, and then I'm catching a flight to Australia tomorrow. But thanks for the offer."
"Well, if you change your mind and head for where the lights are bright and the music's loud..." Faith let her head loll against the taxi's headrest.
"Actually, I'm fantasizing about a long, hot bath right now," Buffy grinned. "Not many of those in the sixteenth century."
"Yeah, well...bye, I guess." Faith reached for the door handle.
"Oh, wait--I thought you might need this." Buffy handed over her rather battered Japanese phrasebook. "Just so you won't get into any trouble."
"Maybe I should've gotten the language implant thingy," Faith replied with a smirk, stuffing the little book into her jacket pocket.
"Believe me, you don't want it." Buffy squeezed her eyes shut in remembered pain. "I thought my head was going to explode." She stepped back from the car. "Bye. And thanks for helping out Kagome's family--they're good people, y'know?"
Faith made a wry face. "And they date demons. I can see how you guys have a lot in common."
Buffy slammed the taxi door with a bit more force than was probably required. She stayed long enough to watch the taxi's tail-lights disappear in the distance, then began the long climb back up to the shrine.
A dark shape was waiting for her just under the torii. Long hair, baggy clothes, a pair of triangular ears perched on top of his head.
"Oi, Buffy." Inuyasha's tone sounded almost...hesitant, and that, if nothing else, caught her attention.
She stopped. "Yeah?"
"I want to ask you something." He was studying his bare feet intently. "Um, about girls."
"Why me?" Buffy asked, intrigued. "I mean, I don't mind, but you don't even like me."
"You're--you're okay." He ducked his head. "I didn't know who else to ask. And you're a girl."
"So's Sango," Buffy pointed out, reasonably enough. She moved past him, into the shrine's lower courtyard. "And Kagome."
Inuyasha stayed put. It was dark, but it looked almost as if he were clinging to the torii's pillar for support.
"I asked Sango first," he admitted. "She said she didn't know anything, but she told me to talk to you since you've had boyfriends. And--" He stopped.
It was too dark, and the little lamps around the courtyard too dim to see much except for the general shape of his face, but Buffy would have bet he was blushing again.
"And?" she asked, after a long moment had passed.
"And you're leaving tomorrow." Inuyasha turned away from her. "If I asked any of the others, I'd never hear the end of it. At least you won't be able to give me shit about asking dumb questions once you're gone."
Buffy could only imagine what had driven this proud, prickly half-demon kid to ask her for dating advice.
"Okay," she said, making her tone as welcoming as possible. She walked back to the torii, sat down on one of the steps, and patted the ground next to her invitingly. "I solemnly promise I won't give you shit for asking me questions about girls."
"Yeah?" He still sounded suspicious, as if he hadn't quite made up his mind to go through with the conversation.
Buffy smiled, counting on his superior night-vision to communicate her expresssion. "After all, how else are you supposed to figure out this whole boy-girl thing?
"Really? You mean I'm not...uh, weird for not knowing this stuff?" After a moment, Inuyasha lowered himself to crouch next to her, his hands resting on the ground between his bare feet.
"So..." Buffy said brightly, after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. "What do you want to know?"
He shifted, and she saw his fingers clench. "When you're a hanyou, most girls are scared of you. Kikyo was the first one who ever, uh, liked me. And Kagome...well, she...I...I would never hurt her! But maybe I'm supposed to?"
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, keeping her tone carefully neutral.
This was probably the most she'd ever heard him talk. He was a one-liner kind of guy, and if nothing else, this told her how desperate he was.
"That picture-book," he mumbled. "All those things that the men were doing to the girls. It looked like they were hurting them. And the girls were crying and saying Stop, please stop. But the men didn't." Inuyasha huffed. "Aren't you supposed to...stop? If you're hurting them?"
Buffy sighed. "Yeah, you're supposed to stop."
Inuyasha tilted his head. "Then...why?"
"It's just that book is a fantasy, you know," Buffy said, carefully. How did you explain porn to a half-demon boy from the medieval era? "Some men find it exciting to, um, dominate. To hurt. But that's not the only way, and if there's ever pain, it should be because both of you want it."
"But that's what the youkai do, not humans. They bite and tear at each other." Inuyasha looked even more confused. "Humans kiss and...and shit like that."
Buffy sighed again. "Look, I don't really understand it myself."
Liar, whispered a voice in her mind. She didn't want to remember those dark months with Spike after her resurrection, when her pleasure hadn't seemed quite real without pain to anchor it. She had craved feeling something...anything...in an existence grown unreal to her.
Inuyasha was looking at her questioningly, and Buffy realized she had stopped speaking. "How far have you gotten with Kagome?"
"She's got broken bones!" Inuyasha said indignantly. "I'm not an animal!" His ears twitched, violently.
Buffy just waited.
Finally, he said, "We've, um, kissed."
"Did she like it?"
Inuyasha nodded.
"Did you?" Face averted, he nodded again.
"Well, you're off to a good start. Look, whatever you do, don't take that comic book as any kind of guidance. It wasn't meant for you--or Kagome."
"But...what should I do? What would she like?"
Buffy blinked. "Are you asking me for sex advice?"
He scowled. "You're laughing at me." He started to rise, outrage bristling from him.
"I'm not. I'm really not!" Buffy reached up and caught the wide sweep of his sleeve. "I'm just--surprised. And, um, a little embarrassed."
At his look, she relented. He must be really desperate if he's willing to go this far. "Look, like I said, it's different for everyone, but here are some of the things I like..."
When she had finished telling him a version that she tried desperately to edit down to, at most, an "R", his eyes had gone nearly as wide as they had with the comic book. "You think that Kagome might really want me to do that to her?"
Buffy shrugged. "Look, she's, what, sixteen? She probably doesn't even know about that. Heck, I'm not sure I should have even told you. Although--" She studied him. And his sharp, sharp teeth. "Um, you turn into a human every so often, right?"
"Why do you wanna know?" She saw his suspicious expression in the faint glow of the shrine's terrace lamps.
"Maybe...if you're going try that...wait for a night when you don't have the fangs." She paused. "And don't forget to use protection."
He looked blank. "Protection from what? Youkai attacks? Because I'm human that night?"
Shoot. I keep forgetting that they didn't know about that stuff in the sixteenth century.
"No, protection so that Kagome doesn't become pregnant. If you guys get that far, just ask her, okay? She'll know what to do." I hope. They have sex ed in Japanese high school, right?
He looked down again, intently studying the stone step between his bare feet. "Won't need it," he mumbled. "I can't--hanyou can't-- "
Long, uncomfortable pause. Buffy waited patiently.
Finally, it came out in a rush: "Sesshoumaru told me hanyou can't have children. Because our blood is impure. We're like mules, he said."
"Oh." Asshole brother, indeed. Buffy considered this, trying to remember high school biology. Though she was pretty sure that her teachers had never discussed demon reproduction. "I'm sorry."
"Do think Kagome will...mind? I mean, not that I want to marry her, or anything." A shade of his old bravado returned, but Buffy wasn't fooled. She had seen enough this past week to know he used his grumpiness and rudeness to conceal his feelings. "But should I tell her before we...um, before we do that thing?"
He was still looking overwhelmed. Buffy squeezed his shoulder. "Look, don't rush things, okay?"
He shook his head, yellow eyes fixed on her face.
"And be gentle. You're really strong, and--" Buffy reached for his hand and traced the slender length of one forefinger. "You'll have to be very careful." She tapped his long, wickedly-sharp claw for emphasis. "But you seem pretty in tune with Kagome...you can tell the difference when she's hurting, or if she's enjoying, right?"
He nodded.
"Use that as your guide. It's different for everyone, Inuyasha. Even with my, uh--my boyfriends, it was different with each one. She's still really young, and so are you. Why don't you just stick to kissing and holding hands for a while, and then see what develops? When you're ready, you'll know."
"She's got to heal first," he said, snorting. "Takes such a long time with humans. If it were me, I'd be all better by now."
"In the meanwhile--" Buffy rose to her feet and dusted off the seat of her jeans. "Regarding what I told you..." She paused, and cleared her throat. Then it came to her: "'With great power comes great responsibility,' Inuyasha. Don't abuse your knowledge, and for God's sake, don't tell Miroku, whatever you do."
They walked companionably back to the house.
"You hungry?" asked Inuyasha, as Buffy stooped to remove her shoes. "I know where Kagome's mom keeps the ramen."
"Speaking of her mother, don't ever tell her, either, okay? She'd probably skin you alive for thinking about her little girl that way. Then she'd come hunt me down." Buffy shuddered.
"Okay." If Buffy didn't know better, she would have said Inuyasha was looking thoughtful as he began rummaging through the cupboards.
oo0oo
After that uncomfortable--and highly educational--conversation, Inuyasha had one more favor to ask of Buffy, which she granted with that annoyingly superior smile of hers.
Then he marched straight to Higurashi's bathing chamber. He frowned at the strange silver knobs for a long moment, trying to remember the sequence from his previous visits here, and managed to produce water that was--for once--not scaldingly hot.
He removed the bandages on his chest and back with a single slice of his claws. The skin had already healed, but his gut was itching furiously as his youkai blood set about repairing the internal damage. He flexed his fingers with the instinctive desire to scratch--this was the part of healing that he hated. It was worse than getting injured in the first place.
At least it would be finished by morning. Poor Kagome, whose weak human body would take weeks to heal from the injuries that Naraku had inflicted!
His nose wrinkling, Inuyasha poured out some of Kagome's thick, fruit-scented bathing liquid, and spent a long time scrubbing the scent of Naraku--and Faith--from his skin.
Buffy had touched him, too, but that had been different. He hadn't smelled anything but friendliness and gentle teasing from her. Not like the dark-haired girl with the painted lips. That one had smelled hungry...and desperate.
Kagome was already dozing by the time he entered her room. Her scent was laced with the bitter smell of the painkillers that the doctor had prescribed, but as least she looked relaxed.
Her heartbeat jumped. "Inuyasha! I thought you went back with the others. And where's Buffy-chan?"
"Downstairs. She's sleeping in the living room tonight." He settled down, cross-legged on her bed, and lifted her into his lap. She curled against his chest with a sigh, and he suddenly felt much better.
She smiled at him, a bit shyly and lightly drew her fingers down his cheek.
Inuyasha kissed her, and felt the now-familiar reassurance when her scent changed after a few moments.
Kagome had always said she liked him as a hanyou, but words were slippery things. More often than not, people used them to lie.
But scent...scent didn't lie. And when he kissed her, when he touched her, he knew that this much was true: she wasn't repulsed by his claws. Or his teeth. Or his ears.
And if he kissed her long enough, her scent would change again, becoming thicker, more delicious, her body indicating her interest in doing that thing with him, even if her mind didn't know it yet.
Or maybe she does know, he thought, dizzily, as she kissed him back. Maybe she wants to...with me. When she's healed. He remembered what Buffy had told him.
For Kagome, I'll be gentle. When the time comes.
"I'll stay with you until you're healed," he said, between kisses, and heard her heartbeat speed up. That meant she was pleased, right?
"Can you really stay that long? It'll be weeks and weeks," Kagome whispered, raising a pleasant shiver as her lips moved against his throat. "And I don't want you to be...bored." She laughed, almost silently, and winced as the motion jarred her ribcage. "When you're bored, you get into trouble."
"I do not!" he said indignantly. "I just need something to do. I'll--I'll help your grandpa fix the shrine. And I'll be returning through the well during the daytime, just to make sure that bastard Naraku isn't stirring up trouble. But I'll return to you every night."
He felt her happiness press against his skin like warm sunlight. Buffy had been right. He knew exactly when Kagome was hurting...and when she wasn't.
"I don't want to be a burden," Kagome murmured, in her Polite Voice. "I could--"
Words again--the ones Kagome used to try and hide how she really felt. He stopped her words with another kiss, secretly pleased when her hand crept into his hair, drawing him closer.
"Keh," he murmured, briefly lifting his mouth from hers. "You need me--how else are you going to sleep sitting up?"
oo0oo
The next morning, it was time for Buffy to go. Her flight didn't leave until dinnertime, but she still had to give Koji her report of everything that happened, for his Watcher's Diary.
Koji left to fetch his car from where it was parked, giving Buffy the chance to make her goodbyes with Kagome, and the rest of the Higurashi family.
Grandpa Higurashi gave her a Shikon-no-Tama keychain as remembrance of her adventures, and Kagome gave her a hug, promising to write and to keep Buffy up-to-date on her adventures on the other side of the well.
Inuyasha, who had been rather aloof through the girly protestations of undying friendship and affection, walked Buffy as far as the shrine gate.
There he stopped, tucking his hands into his sleeves. Maybe remembering their conversation last night, he refused to meet her eyes. "So, you're really leaving?"
Buffy nodded. "I guess this is goodbye."
He cleared his throat. "Thanks for helping Kagome." He sounded like he had to force out the words, and hastily added: "Not that I couldn't have handled those wimpy youkai myself."
"Sure thing," Buffy put down her backpack, and grinned up at him. "You're a real tough guy, you know that?"
"Eh, I guess." He glared at her from beneath his shaggy silver bangs. "You're making fun of me."
"No, I'm not." Buffy reassured him. "And for coming across as such a jerk most of the time, you're a pretty nice guy."
"Keh!" He looked away, nose in the air, but she knew him well enough by now to realize he was embarrassed.
"You know what else I thinking? Kagome has excellent taste in boyfriends." Then she added, just for good measure: "You, Kouga..."
"That fucking wolf isn't her--" Then he caught on. "You always say such stupid things," he muttered.
Then, partly because she enjoyed discomfiting him, and partly because she just wanted to, she said, "Hey, Inuyasha. I'd like to say goodbye to you the way that friends part in California."
"And how is that?" he asked, suspiciously.
"Well, for one thing, we don't bow at each other."
He looked at her, questioningly.
She stepped closer, went on her tiptoes, and gave him a hug. "Bye," she whispered, giving him a peck on his beardless cheek. "It's been a lot of fun."
His reaction wasn't quite as gratifying as Kouga's--but it was close. He went rigid, and blushed.
With regret, Buffy saw Koji's Toyota pull up on the street below.
"There was just one more thing," she said.
"What now?" Inuyasha asked, suspiciously, his cheeks still flaming from her embrace.
"Before I go, I have to know--do you have a tail?"
She waited for the inevitable explosion. But for once, he didn't look angry. Instead, he smirked at her. "You know what? I'm not gonna tell you."
Buffy scooped up her pack, and ran down the stairs to the street.
"Don't worry," she called over her shoulder. "I'll just email Kagome, and ask her!"
"Bitch!" But she could swear he was smiling behind her back.
"Jerk!" Grinning, she reached the bottom of the hill and waved good-bye at his scarlet-clad figure. After a moment, he raised his arm, and waved back.
Buffy hopped into the waiting car. Koji greeted her, smiling, and she noticed that his dimple was back. Definitely a cutie.
oo0oo
As Koji navigated the narrow streets to her hotel, Buffy thought about the email she was going to send Giles from the Internet café in Sydney tomorrow. He'd probably want to know all kinds of historical stuff, but that was okay. She hoped Sango and Miroku would be all right, and as for Kagome and Inuyasha...
Smitten. He was definitely smitten. And so was Kagome. Buffy was confident that they'd work things out...and hopefully escape the same heartache that she had experienced.
Speaking of working things out...Buffy smiled. She still had the whole day in Tokyo before she had to leave
"Koji-kun," she said, coming to a decision. "Do you like coffee?"
It was probably against the rules to ask a Watcher out on a date, but she'd never been very good about following the rules.
--The End--