This is the first story I'm publishing under my new ID, Luminescify.

Thank you all for reading.

I don't own Inuyasha.

Dressing Up

Kagome gingerly stepped out of her steamy bathroom with one towel wrapped around her body and another around her freshly washed hair. She winced as a whoosh of the cold evening air sent goose bumps rippling across her exposed skin and she immediately saw the source: the window by her desk was wide open. Clucking her tongue in mild exasperation, she padded over, shut the window and drew the curtains. She then stepped across the room, bolted her door, opened the doors of her cupboard and facing the neatly folded piles of clothes, flopped onto the bed.

Inuyasha was downstairs. She knew her mother would be talking to him, to keep him from fidgeting and feeling insecure. Her mother had a way with people; the fact that she could gently draw Inuyasha out from his shell enough to get him to hold a conversation stood testament to her skill. Well, both Inuyasha and her mother were in familiar ground. Undoubtedly in the kitchen, they were comfortable with each other and Kagome knew that each liked the other. They inevitably chatted when Inuyasha accompanied Kagome to the future.

She, on the other hand, felt rather lost.
There was food festival being held in a park by the university Kagome one day hoped to attend. The festival was an annual event that pulled a lot of people and each year, the theme was different. When it was announced that the theme that year was food not just from all over the country, but all over the world, Kagome's mother had thought that it would be nice if Kagome took Inuyasha to it. The prospect of so much food had ultimately won Inuyasha over despite his intense dislike of crowds and the harsh, jarring stimuli that was so different from the Sengoku Jidai.
They were to leave in roughly forty five minutes and it wouldn't have been a big deal except for those infernal friends of hers.

Kagome buried her head in her hands as she thought of the previous evening.
Eri, Yuka and Ayumi were delighted that Kagome was back in school, even if it was for just one day and shamelessly pulled all sorts of guilt trips on Kagome to convince her to go with them for a milkshake. Genuinely feeling bad about the growing rifts of distance between them, it didn't take a whole lot of persuasion and Kagome was determined to make an effort. It was only because of this that she told them between sips of strawberry milkshake that she and her 'boyfriend' were going to the food festival the next day.
Kagome had expected the excited squeals that followed this announcement, but the barrage of grave and solicitous advice that came after completely threw her...

"So," chirped Yuka, eyes sparkling, "what are you wearing?"

"I...haven't thought about it yet."

Eri, Yuka and Ayumi exchanged looks.

"Are you planning to do your hair in a cool hairstyle?" ventured Eri.

"No..." said Kagome, feeling unsure.

"Alright," said Ayumi in a strained voice, clearly trying to salvage the situation. "What are your plans, Kagome?"

Desperately taking sips of milkshake to bolster her confidence, Kagome replied, "I just thought we'd go... and have a nice time..." Kagome's voice died away as she saw mingled expressions of incredulity and pity on her friends' faces.

After taking a swallow of her own milkshake, Eri fixed Kagome with an appraising look and said, "You said he's the jealous type, right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"And there was something about another girl!" added Yuka, remembering.

"Kikyou, yeah." affirmed Kagome.

"Kagome," said Ayumi earnestly, putting her hand on Kagome's arm, "If you're gonna fight for this guy, then you're definitely going to have to put in more of an effort."

"What kind of effort?" Kagome asked suspiciously.

Again, the three girls exchanged looks. But this time with faint smiles on their lips and a triumphant gleam in their eyes.

And so, they had marched her to the nearest mall and an hour later, Kagome had a bag full of things she had never used before in her life.
The lady at the cosmetics counter and her friends had worked some kind of magic with every conceivable contraption possible. She had argued at every step of the way, trying to tell her friends that her 'boyfriend' didn't go for such things, that he was 'old fashioned' and that this was just a colossal waste of time. But they had shushed her, assuring her that they weren't doing anything dramatic.
When they finally let Kagome see herself in the mirror, she let out a gasp. Smooth lines of eyeliner and a touch of mascara brought out the stormy grey of her eyes and boldly arrested the attention of anyone who looked at her. A little powder lightened the deep tan her face had become after hours of travelling under the sun, and just a hint of lipstick added colour. Kagome looked at herself in wonderment, because the make-up was subtle, yet lent her an air of sophistication and grace. The reflection wasn't one of a clumsy teenager, but someone older; someone with a touch of mystery about her.
She'd washed everything off in the store, but had been thoroughly coached by all three of her friends throughout the entire duration of their walk back to the shrine on how to recreate that look.

Kagome had definitely breathed a huge sigh of relief when they had left the previous day, but now, as she sat on her bed, she wasn't all that sure. The make-up had made her feel very silly and embarrassed, but she couldn't help but remember how striking that girl in the mirror was. She then thought of Kikyou: her commanding presence, quiet dignity, and unmistakeable beauty. She felt a stab of jealousy and decided to go for it. What harm could it possibly do?

Kagome went through all her clothes and had no idea what to wear. All Inuyasha had seen her in were her uniforms and occasionally, casual skirts and jeans. If she wanted to look a little older, she would have to dress that way. She dug through the cupboard, and finally found a dress that she hardly ever wore. It fell to her knees and was a definite change from what she usually wore.

She dried her hair and thought about what Eri had said about her hair. After deliberating over it for a minute, Kagome twisted it into bun at the nape of her neck. She left loose tendrils of hair around her face and decided that this was a 'mature' hairstyle.

She emptied the contents of the shopping bag on her bed and nervously looked at them. She hesitantly took the eyeliner pencil and drew it over her eyelids. She then unscrewed the mascara desperately tried to remember how to use it without stabbing herself in the eye. She dusted a little of the powder on herself, making sure that she did not look pasty. Last, she opened the lipstick, put on one light coat on her lips and remembered to blot it out on some tissue.

She could not think of a time when she had felt more self conscious as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She was fairly trembling and felt like a wreck inside. She stopped at the entrance to the kitchen.

Inuyasha, whose nose and ears had told him she was coming down, turned towards her and then froze. Kagome was just about to ask him what was wrong when her mother took one look at her and rushed over to hug her.

"Oh, you look so beautiful, Kagome! You look all grown up!"

"Thanks, Mama." murmured Kagome.

"Here, Inuyasha. I kept the bandana out. Put it on and you two can be on your way. Be careful, children, and have fun." said Kagome's mother shooing them away with a fond smile.

They let themselves inside the house quietly and judging from the silence, everyone was asleep. Kagome and Inuyasha made their way upstairs to her room and the awkwardness was a tangible force between them.
The evening had not been a very pleasant one. Kagome had felt very conscious of herself and Inuyasha seemed withdrawn. He did not really respond to her forced enthusiasm and what should have been an evening of camaraderie and new experiences turned out to be one of the most uncomfortable exercises ever. The food did not excite them and they walked through the festival in relative silence, broken only a few times with strained conversation. Far from the make-up making him notice her, he seemed to be trying his best to ignore her.

When they were in her room, Kagome sat on her bed and Inuyasha strayed near her desk. They avoided each other's eyes and finally Inuyasha said in a gruff voice,

"Maybe I'll go back now."

'Wow, he can't even be in the same room as me anymore' thought Kagome and she replied in a choked voice, "Sure, go."

Inuyasha opened the window and was about to jump out when he looked back one more time. Kagome was toying with the hem of her dress, her expression miserable. He knew she would cry soon. Her shoulders were hunched and he felt bad. He left the window and leaned against the wall.

"Or maybe I'll just stay the night." he mumbled.

"Okay,"

Silence stretched out between them. Kagome made no move to get and change for bed, Inuyasha just stood by the desk, and they continued to avoid each other's eyes. After about two years of travelling together, after establishing such strong links of friendship and trust, this sudden disconnect between them was jarring.

Feet dragging, Kagome got up and went to the bathroom. There, she washed away all the make-up and undid her hair from the bun. She took off the dress and put on her baggy pyjamas. She brushed her teeth and sat down again in the same spot on the bed. It did not seem like Inuyasha had even moved a muscle in the fifteen minutes she had taken to get ready for bed.

She could feel Inuyasha's eyes on her and unable to bear the excruciating silence between them, she said, "Inuyasha..."

"What," came the mumbled reply from Inuyasha who suddenly averted his eyes again.

"Inuyasha, what happened tonight?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Inuyasha," Kagome's voice took on a stern edge.

"Keh,"

"Look, can we please talk about it?" burst Kagome.

Inuyasha let out a long suffering sigh and looked at her reluctantly.

"I don't understand what I did wrong. We were fine until this evening. You were even kind of looking forward to go to this thing. It's not like anything has happened to the others, so I have no idea why you're behaving this way! And I tried to make it a little more special too! Eri, Yuka and Ayumi dragged me yesterday to some store, and showed me how to put on make-up and then today I thought why not, and even at the festival I kept trying to figure out what you wanted and you just made it so tough!" Kagome's eyes had welled up but her anger clearly shone through.

"What?" said Inuyasha, his eyes widening.

"Are you kidding me? You seriously didn't understand what I just said?"

"No, what did you say about the make-up?"

"My friends pointed out to me that I should try and make going to the festival a little special. They thought I should dress up and took me to a store where they showed me everything. I bought the make-up but didn't really have any plans of putting it on. But then, I started getting a little excited too. We've been travelling with the others for a year and a half now and I love them so much, but I also like it when it's just you and me. I thought that if I actually made the 'effort', you...forget it. Just forget it, alright?"

"Kagome," whispered Inuyasha, walking towards her and sitting opposite her on the bed, "why did you put on the make-up?"

"Because," admitted Kagome, tears spilling over, "I wanted you to notice me. I wanted you to look at me as more than just a girl in a uniform who finds shards, or shoots arrows and trips on every stone on the road."

"I do see you as more than that, Kagome." said Inuyasha earnestly.

"Then what happened tonight?"

"Look," said Inuyasha. "You said you liked me as I am, right? You like me as a hanyou, and you don't want me to become a full human, or a full youkai, right?"

"Yeah, of course...I've told you."

"Well, it's the same for me. I like you just as you are. You didn't need any of the extra stuff, Kagome. Tonight, it was weird. You looked nice, but..."

"Really?" whispered Kagome.

"Really. I don't know why you thought you had to go put goo on your face."

Kagome let out a watery giggle and said, "I'm sorry."

"Keh. And I'm sorry that I made you feel like I don't care."

Kagome scooted closer to Inuyasha on the bed and hugged him. Inuyasha rested his head on hers and allowed his arms to encircle her. Kagome snuggled against his chest and as her eyes drifted shut, she wondered exactly what she was going to do with all that make-up.