Of course, Kagome hadn’t forgotten about the glimpse she’d stolen of her supernatural massage therapist.

That bright, eerie glint…

She’d spent a good deal of time reflecting on it without success. By that point in the session, her recollections had become all too fuzzy. But it was a sudden gleam one evening that sparked her memory. As Inuyasha cracked his knuckles menacingly in response to Shippou’s latest mischief, everything came sharply into focus for her at last.

Claws, she realized with a start. Not the willowy long nails of some woodland sprite—but the wicked, bone-white talons of an otherworldly predator.

No wonder the guy had thought twice about engaging her. Putting all the pieces together, Kagome now felt certain that her first suspicions about him had indeed been correct: the cave-frequenting spirit was most definitely a youkai, and a powerful one at that. How else could he have moved so soundlessly and swiftly? How else could he have concealed his demonic presence from a miko like herself?

To top it all off, not once had he reached for the pendant of Jewel shards around her neck…

Intrigued and unsettled by this in turns, Kagome continued to ponder her strange encounter. As the days ticked by, her curiosity finally won out. With the moon waxing full once again, she enlisted Kirara’s help and under the guise of returning home for the night, set a course for the cave instead.

At the pitchfork-shaped tree, she slipped down from the nekomata’s warm back.

“Thanks, Kirara-chan,” the miko said, scratching the feline behind the ears. “I’ll meet back up with you here tomorrow morning, okay?”

Kirara rumbled, head-butting her companion in the ribs—an affectionate gesture which in her transformed state nearly sent Kagome sprawling. Though she’d explained the situation beforehand, Kirara’s large red eyes still gazed uncertainly after her as the two of them parted ways at the forest’s dark edge.

Now that she knew it was a demon she was dealing with, Kagome didn’t want to risk another youkai’s scent warding him away. The guy seemed finicky enough as it was. Tossing a reassuring smile back at her feline friend, Kagome disappeared around the trunk of the gnarled old tree and continued on to the cave alone.

It was full dark by the time she arrived. Sitting down cross-legged in the moss, she set her backpack and weapons aside and began to wait. Yet once again, as the hours crept by without so much as a hint of his presence—or conspicuous lack thereof—Kagome frowned. Maybe she really had dreamed him up, after all…

Chin braced in one hand, she was starting to nod off when a short sigh from behind her had her reeling around in surprise.

Rubbing at her eyes, Kagome blinked toward the now-empty threshold. In the wake of his sudden departure, the vines swung widely from side to side.

“…Kami,” the miko grumbled, sagging in dejection. “I keep forgetting the rules…”

A whole month of anticipation, wasted.

Defeated, she fell back to the moss—or rather, she would’ve fallen back to the moss—except that a pair of clawed hands intercepted her midway. Kagome tensed, letting out a startled shriek.

“Y-you—you’re still here!”

Though he said nothing in reply to this statement of the obvious, his grip on her upper arms seemed to tighten a fraction in answer. Or maybe he was simply annoyed at all her shrilling.

“Sorry, it’s just that you keep surprising me.” Relaxing a little despite his pinching hold, Kagome flashed him a smile he couldn’t hope to see. “If what I’ve heard about you is true, you sure seem to cut me a lot of slack. But then, I guess I could say the same about myself—seeing as how I’m a miko, and you’re a flesh-eating daiyoukai.”

Abruptly, he released her. Kagome gasped, nearly toppling over in her state of half-recline.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, sensing that he was about to vanish on her for real this time. “Don’t go! I haven’t been deceiving you—I only just figured it out the other day. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me that you’re a wolf demon”—Kagome blanched as the air around her seemed to chill a few degrees—”o-or whatever! It’s just that random acts of kindness are sort of unexpected for a youkai, you have to admit. That’s why I came back here again, because I’m so curious about you.” Faintly, she flushed, her voice falling to a murmur. “Well that, and I wanted to thank you.”

Although he remained silent still, the fact that he’d remained at all was encouraging.

“That massage you gave me was something else,” Kagome continued with warmth, “but what I’m most grateful for is the boost of self-confidence. To tell you the truth, I’m not all that experienced when it comes to men.” At the rather dry snort behind her, the miko glowered. “Okay…so maybe that went without saying. But the point is, you made me realize that there’s more out there than just Inu—t-that there’s no sense in staying hopelessly hung-up on any one guy,” she amended in a fluster. “So, anyway, thanks for that.”

Kagome bit her lip—half-wishing she’d put a stop to her runaway tongue a little sooner. But a light sound of settling in the moss behind her placed her somewhat at ease. Against her back, she could sense the uncanny heat of his presence, as if he were sitting right beside her.

“What I still don’t understand is why you’re so against showing your face. You really are a strange one.” His silence at this felt rather pointed, and Kagome’s mouth twisted. “Yeah, I guess I don’t have a lot of room to talk, there. And I have a feeling you’re not going to tell me anything, anyway. But that’s okay, I respect your privacy. It’s only fair really, seeing as how you respected mine.” Mussing her bangs a bit, Kagome gave a sheepish laugh. “Even with the masseurs back home, I’ve never been comfortable stripping buck naked.”

However, just alluding to the fact that he’d gotten her down to her panties made Kagome’s blush redouble. She realized she was babbling, but she didn’t realize she was wrangling her poor shirt hem in her hands—until his own were prying them mildly away.

“Ah,” Kagome muttered, reaching even greater heights of mortification. Yet when he started to knead her from fingertip to palm, her embarrassed stiffness ebbed away altogether. “W-well,” she stammered out, giving herself shamelessly over to the firm, commanding warmth of his touch, “since we’re here and all…”

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Sigh, writing feels like my one refuge right now…hope you guys are staying healthy, safe, & sane out there <3