(A/N) 8-22-2010: It's been a while! Hi! Went through some big changes in the interim: a bad break-up, a new job, a big promotion, a big vacation to do research for my original fiction novel, working on writing said novel… But I'm back and working on my stories! It was never my intention to allow this stuff to go by the way-side, so for the long delay I apologize, but y'know… Life happens.

Here's the next installment of 'Spring Break'. Please enjoy!

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Previously…

Sesshoumaru smiled slightly as he paused, and turned his golden commanding eyes onto Kagome once more. Kagome shook her head, pleadingly. "It wouldn't do to have anything happen to the Priestess who guards the Shikon no Tama."

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Chapter 6: Socially Awkward

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The office was silent for several seconds after that softly uttered bombshell was dropped. Kagome, very conscious of herself and the odd group of people and demons she was sitting with, looked around at everyone to judge their reactions. Sesshoumaru, having been the one who spoke the dreaded words, merely gazed at her as though he'd found something mildly interesting in a scene of boring drivel. Miroku and Sango were both staring at her with identical wide-eyed expressions of astonishment. And Inuyasha…

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha to her side and was surprised to see him looking unimpressed, and eyeing Sango and Miroku curiously.

He turned to Sesshoumaru again and snorted. "The Shi-ka-who-what?"

Sesshoumaru sighed slightly and recrossed his legs in the opposite direction as he leaned back into the sofa, looking like nothing so much as a monarch lounging on an opulent throne, his fingers steepled carefully below his finely structured chin. "The Shikon no Tama, you uneducated buffoon. The sacred Jewel of Four Souls. The Living Jewel made up of the crystalized soul-essence of the ancient demi warrior-priestess Midoriko-sama and the three great taiyoukai she could not defeat in battle any way but to drag them with her to limbo."

Inuyasha frowned as he listened to his half-brother's description. "I've never heard of it before."

"Of course you haven't." Sesshoumaru looked vaguely amused. He stood in one fluid motion, turned and walked across the lush office to a dark wooden bookcase where he selected a small slender volume. "It is an ancient legend. Here..." He negligently flipped the book through the air to Inuyasha who caught it in one hand without moving his eyes from Sesshoumaru. "Educate yourself, when you have a moment to spare."

Inuyasha's lip curled in displeasure at the slight to his intelligence. Kagome eyed him sideways as she twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands. "I really don't want to be a nuisance. I'll go find my friends in the club and leave with them."

Inuyasha glanced at her and snorted again. "And how did you want to explain your wounds and torn clothes?"

Kagome frowned and bit her lips, glaring harshly down at the coffee table with nothing to say. She just desperately didn't want to explain anything to her parents, or her friends, really.

"Miroku, shut your mouth, you'll catch flies." Sango said. Kagome looked up to see the pair on the opposite couch watching her as though they'd never seen anything quite so interesting. She squirmed uncomfortably at their attention.

"Go now." Sesshoumaru said. His dark honey eyes lit with subtle mirth and a slight smirk curling one corner of his mouth. "You don't want to break curfew."

Kagome frowned at him, not appreciating his condescending attempts at humor. She stood and followed Inuyasha out of the office. Sango and Miroku followed behind her and all four of them passed through the magnificent entryway with its potted plants and the glorious fountain full of koi and into the elevator. It was beyond awkward: Kagome didn't know what to expect anymore. 'I was always taught that demons go insane with powerlust for the Jewel, but neither of them seems even remotely interested. Inuyasha had never even heard of it. And Miroku and Sango are both completely human, and Miroku is even some sort of holy person, yet he doesn't mind hanging out with two demons. They're so different from what I was taught...'

Inuyasha stabbed the button for the top floor, two up from the fiftieth floor where the office was, entered a code into the keypad on the operations panel, and leaned back against the beautifully polished wood paneling of the elevator interior with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm going to take a quick shower, wash this blood off, and change. Sango, would you let her borrow some of your clothes?"

Sango was already nodding before he finished talking. "Of course."

Inuyasha's ears flipped back and forward again when the elevator dinged. "Miroku, pull the Jeep around in the parking garage. You're both coming with us."

"Oh?" Miroku quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I don't know what this Shi-ka-whatever-the-fuck is, but it's obviously pretty important." Inuyasha glanced at Kagome and she felt a blush rise in her cheeks at his considering appraisal. "No point in taking risks." He stepped out and threw an arm out to hold the door open while Kagome stepped through. She brushed past him, moving carefully to favor her wounds, and realized as she did it that they barely hurt anymore. 'He must have been telling the truth about dog demon saliva having healing properties.' She began to blush harder at the memory of his hot, rough tongue gliding over her skin. 'Kagome, when did you turn in to such an ecchi hentai? Stop thinking about that!'

The room she stepped out into was a foyer of sorts. Again, it had a beautiful glass skylight which in the day would allow the sun to illuminate the irregularly colored and shaped flagstones set in the floor. Off to the right there was an enormous wardrobe against the wall beside a dark hallway. To the left was a coat tree standing beside a long low bench and another hallway, though this one was illuminated with soft yellow light. Directly across from the elevator was another set of massive doors.

Sango rested a gentle hand on Kagome's shoulder. "My rooms are this way." She said with a soft smile, and turned to lead Kagome down the hall to the left.

Kagome followed her a few steps and glanced back over her shoulder at Inuyasha to see him talking quietly with Miroku, who was still in the elevator. He must have sensed her eyes on him, though, because he turned his head after a moment and met her gaze. She didn't know how to interpret his expression: it seemed partly inquisitive and partly curious, but somehow piercing and wholly inappropriate. Kagome unsuccessfully tried not to blush again. She broke their connection and hurried after Sango.

The taller girl smiled at her again when she caught up. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Kagome laughed slightly. "Me too! That fall was terrifying! If Inuyasha hadn't jumped after me..." She trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Try not to think about the 'what if'." Sango advised. She stopped at a door along the hall indistinguishable from every other and punched a code into the keypad mounted on the handle, then pushed open the door and gestured Kagome inside. "In battle the 'what if's can get you killed."

Kagome looked around. She was now standing in a warmly decorated living room that definitely bore the touch of a woman's style. Mostly pale wood furniture was padded with soft looking cream colored cushions and throw pillows and blankets in shades of pink and brown. There were lovely vases of flowers at various positions throughout the room, and the odd juxtaposition of swords and diverse other weapons displayed on racks mounted to the walls. To the left was a small bare-bones kitchenette and a tiny round table with two chairs, and to the right a closet.

"Is battle something you experience often?" Kagome wondered aloud, mostly to herself but Sango heard her and answered.

"More often than I might like. But it's something I don't mind doing in order to protect this family, or anyone who needs my help." Sango moved through the room to a darkened doorway near the windowed far wall. "Over here."

Kagome followed her as she turned on the lights to illuminate her bedroom. It was dominated by an inviting looking large bed made of dark wood and creamy white bedclothes. There were several dressers and a vanity table in the room as well, and a set of open double doors that led to a massive walk in closet. Sango made a bee-line for the closet. "I'm absolutely certain I have something in here that will fit you. You're a little smaller than I am, but not too much. C'mon and shop! I assure you, I have excellent taste in clothes."

Kagome smiled and stepped into the closet.

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Sesshoumaru sat for a short time after everyone had filed out of his office, reclining in his massive leather office chair and gazing out the full wall window that faced the club so many stories below. His keen eyes could see the damage caused by the miko's attackers and Inuyasha, and the workmen scuttling about like ants to repair it. He kept such crews of skilled workmen on hand and on call at all hours of the day and night, as he often found their services necessary.

The damage to the building was trivial. He was more concerned with the fact that one of the carefully carved trees had been damaged in the fight. That tree had taken him three hundred years to craft...

Frowning in displeasure, Sesshoumaru turned from the window and rose to walk across his office to the same book case from which he'd taken the small volume about the Shikon-no-Tama. He pressed a small concealed button under one of the low shelves and watched as a panel slid asside to reveal a glass security case. Behind the inch thick unbreakable glass and a bevy of sensors lie a small object Sesshoumaru considered with slightly pursed lips. His father had been extremely explicit about it: Inuyasha was not to know until after he'd retrieved the Fang. The Inu no Taisho refused to tell Sesshoumaru any more about his plans, and nothing displeased Sesshoumaru more than not knowing all the facts.

Still, his father's plans were set in motion. Now it was up to Inuyasha to unknowingly carry them out.

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Inuyasha watched Kagome disappear down the hall and into Sango's room, appreciating the subtle sway of her hips as she went and enjoying the memory of the hot blush that stained her cheeks when he caught her looking at him again. Riding in the elevator with her was nearly excruciating; her rich scent filled the tiny enclosed space and he could feel the warmth radiating off her soft feminine body. He wasn't entirely sure that she was healthy for him. He kept wondering what her hair would look like wrapped around his fingers, or what color her lips would be after he kissed her breathless, or how she would sound if he were to...

"She is a rare beauty indeed, but I wonder if she would approve of your lascivious attention focused on that magnificent posterior of hers with such unwavering devotion."

Inuyasha whipped his eyes back to the monk and curled a lip while growling slightly, embarrassed to have been caught staring. "Shut the hell up, Bouzu. And you'll keep your eyes away from that posterior if you know what's good for you."

"Of course. You're quite taken with the young priestess, I understand. I'll steer clear." Miroku's lips twitched with a suppressed smile. "I'll have to redouble my efforts to woo the lovely Sango, then."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Tch! Right. Good luck with that. You won't get anywhere unless you can learn to keep your damn hands to yourself."

Miroku merely chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. "I'll go get the Jeep. Go wash the blood out of your hair. I'll make sure the Jeep is fully stocked with defenses and I'll meet you in the parking garage."

"Don't forget to pack Sango's Hiraikotsu." Inuyasha told him as he spun to head through the double doors across from the elevators. He stalked through the richly decorated common room and punched his five digit code in to the keypad on his apartment door. He went straight for the bathroom and pulled off his clothes, chucking them in the general direction of the hamper for the maid to sort out later.

The cool water of the rain-style shower felt good trickling down his chest and turning his hair into a heavy mass pulling at the back of his head. 'I don't know why I keep it so long.' He thought as he pulled his hair forward over his shoulder and squeezed a ridiculous amount of unscented shampoo into it. 'I could hire my own personal barber and have it cut every morning. Keep it short for a while. I'd save a fortune in hair products...' He worked the shampoo through his mane, careful to clean the soft fur on his ears but not get any of the foam inside them, and stepped under the heavier deluge to rinse, again careful to clench his ears down tight to his head to keep the water out.

He next grabbed the unscented soap he favored and began scrubbing the dried blood off himself. 'Kagome...' He didn't think anything at first but her name, rolling it around his mind the same way he would roll a fine wine across his tongue. He found himself analyzing the memory of her scent, the way she smelled while she was grinding into him on the dance floor of the club. Green tea and jasmine and clean sweat, exhilaration, interest, and lust... He could drown in her scent. He couldn't believe she was a shy 17 year old, and he could smell her virginity on her like a taunting neon sign. So tempting...

Inuyasha grunted in surprise when he realized he was half erect. He briefly considered the indulgence of relieving himself of that problem in the more satisfactory way. "Geez, just the memory of her scent..." He grumbled, but decided he didn't really have time. He huffed an annoyed sigh and reached over to turn the water colder.

Ten minutes later he was standing in his bathroom with nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist and he was still wringing water out of his hair with the help of a second towel. He looked at the tangled sodden mass sticking to his torso without much hope.

That was when Sango knocked on his apartment door. 'Oh thank the gods: Sango will fix this mess for me.' He pitched his second towel into the same heap as his bloody destroyed clothes and grabbed his brush on the way to answer the door. He flung the door open expecting his sister to be on the other side. He wasn't expecting Kagome to be there too.

"Uh..." He sputtered unintelligently. She was wearing a pale cream colored tank top that was a little too big for her and a denim skirt that was almost indecently short. Inuyasha never thought he would approve of his sister's penchant for mini-skirts and thin delicate blouses, but damn him to hell if what was disturbing on his sister wasn't ridiculously tempting on Kagome. The thin silky blouse draped on her frame in such a way that her breasts were clearly outlined. He tried not to stare, he really did...

"Ah..." Kagome's soft exclamation was equally well articulated. Inuyasha realized she was equally distracted by his naked chest still dripping water from his hair and smirked, pleased.

"Inuyasha, I need to go find Eri and make up something about why Kagome's not leaving with them. She just sent me a panicky text." Sango blew past him into his apartment and looked around. "Ugh, can't you even keep this place clean for six days?" She was eyeing his piles of clothes and electronics and dirty dishes. "You shouldn't abuse Rin this way."

"She's the maid, she's paid well to come clean up my shit." Inuyasha grumbled at her.

"She's a sweet girl with a full load of college courses, and you're a grown man: for gods' sake, you could at least put your dishes near the kitchen!" She grabbed a pile of dirty dishes and crossed to the kitchen, kicking obstructions out of her way.

"Don't kick my guitar!" He yelled, leaping across the room to snatch the object from her path.

"Ugh, Yash, It's not even a real guitar. It's a Playstation accessory."

"It's custom designed!"

"It's a toy!"

"It's a tool for entertainment!"

Sango dropped the stack of dishes into the sink and scowled at him. "Put your toy away and go clear a spot on the couch so Kagome can sit down! I-" She cut off when her phone vibrated again. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. "Eri's about to call the police. I have to go. Yash, I'll meet you guys down in the parking garage in twenty minutes. What am I going to tell Eri?"

"Tell her I wasn't feeling well and called a cab." Kagome suggested quietly. Her stormy eyes were staring fixedly at the ornamental sword display on its wall mount near the door. "Tell her I apologise for not saying anything, but that I couldn't find them and I'll call them when I get home, so they know I'm alright." She turned her eyes to Sango and smiled slightly. "I don't have a cell phone." She offered in explanation.

"That should work." Sango agreed. She moved to the door and glanced at Inuyasha once more, who was still standing there with his brush in one hand and his guitar in the other. "If you ask Kagome nicely I'm sure she'd brush your hair out for you." And with that she was gone.

Inuyasha leaned the guitar against the end of one of his couches. He fiddled with the brush in his hands. "Um..."

"Sure." Kagome nodded. She extended her hand, silently asking for the brush.

Suddenly overcome with embarrassment Inuyasha clenched the unoffending grooming tool in his fist. "I don't need someone else to brush my hair like a damn child. I'll do it myself."

Kagome frowned. "Fine." She snapped. "Have fun with that." He could feel her miko's aura clashing with his own youki and trembling with suppressed irritation.

Inuyasha growled at her and stalked back into the bathroom, barely resisting the urge to childishly slam the door. The little book that Sesshoumaru had given him was resting on the edge of the sink where Inuyasha had dropped it before his shower. He grabbed it and whipped it through the open door into his bedroom where it hit the wall with a satisfying thud and fell behind his TV. He began yanking the brush through his hair, viciously untangling it and tearing a good quantity of it out in the process. Not that it really mattered, since it would grow back in a matter of a couple days. 'Stupid Sango, suggesting that to me! She knows I never let other people brush my hair. I only have her do it because she's my sister. And Mom, but Mom hasn't brushed my hair in forever...'

Inuyasha heard rustling coming from the living room where he'd left Kagome by herself. He peeked through the crack in the door and saw that she was delicately folding a blanket that had been thrown on the couch. She sighed and draped it over the back of the sofa before sinking onto the soft leather cushion. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, hugging her arms around her shins. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in a mess of soft waves. She closed her eyes and Inuyasha heard her breathing and heartbeat slow down almost immediately.

'She looks so peaceful.' He sighed, almost regretting his harsh words before. He decided he'd better hurry up and get her home. Once she was home he wouldn't have to think about her anymore.

He moved through his room and dressed quickly, throwing on loose fitting dark jeans and a red tee-shirt, as well as an old pair of Keens. He hated shoes, but the Keens weren't so bad because they had a really wide toe-box and thus plenty of room to hold his claws. He double checked the pendant that anchored his concealing spell, making sure it was resting in its proper place on his chest.

In the living room he wasn't sure what to do about Kagome. "Hey, wake up." He said softly.

"I'm not sleeping." She lifted her head off her knees and turned to hold him with her stormy eyes. "I was meditating."

"Strange pose for meditation, isn't it?" He tried to sound light and joking, not wanting to be an oblique dick to her all evening. It wasn't really her fault her scent was so overpoweringly, mind-numbingly delicious.

"Position doesn't matter as long as you can relax." She told him. Inuyasha laughed in his head, 'That's what she said.' Kagome unfolded her legs and stood up. "Are we ready to go?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Miroku and Sango are going to meet us in the parking garage." He turned and headed to the door, pulling it open and letting her pass through first. "Where exactly do you live?"

"The Sunset Shrine." She told him.

"You live at the shrine?"

"My family's house is also located on the property."

"Hnn." He grunted in understanding. He'd never really been much good at small talk.

He jabbed the down button for the elevator and crossed his arms over his chest. When the elevator chimed its arrival he again put his hand across the door again and held it for her. Kagome stepped past, and stood in one corner of the elevator car. They descended in silence until Kagome sighed and quietly said, "Thank you."

Inuyasha turned his head to meet her eyes, mentally holding down his demon half that was practically salivating and demanding he jump her. "What for?"

She smiled slightly, the first smile she'd given him, and her eyes dropped shyly to the floor. It was like the sun peeking out from behind clouds, and he wondered if she were to really smile would he be blinded by her radiance? "For everything, really. For jumping off the building to rescue me. For cleaning my wounds. For... for dancing with me." A subtle blush blossomed in her cheeks.

Inuyasha didn't know what to say. He wasn't really good with words, and he really wasn't good with people. He decided to keep it simple. "You're welcome."

She seemed to understand some of what he couldn't articulate, and her smile grew. He'd been right: her smile was like the sun.

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(A/N) So, Inuyasha is not privy to the subject of the Shikon-no-Tama. That's interesting... He's also still a putz where social interaction is concerned, but it doesn't stop him from being criminally sexy, heh. And Sesshoumaru is carrying out secret instructions from the Inu no Taisho. Mysterious.

Next Chapter: Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku drive Kagome home, Inuyasha has a strange feeling he can't shake, and Kagome has to face Mama Higurashi and Gramps and introduce them to her half-demon savior.

When I hit thirteen pages on this chapter I decided I should probably split it, so there will be another chapter to follow this one shortly. Thanks for reading! I'll see you all again soon.

~Malkharah

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Inuyasha's grooming habits are something I think is funny to play with. Dogs, as well as many other animals, use grooming time as social time. It isn't necesarily intimate in the romantic sense, though I don't see why it couldn't also be, but it is something peace inducing, relaxing. He's happy to allow Sango to brush his hair, because she's his 'sister', and his mother to do it because, well... she's his mom. But for Kagome, whom we've seen he's begun lusting after, to do it... Well, that would be a whole different ball game.