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Chapter Text

Soul mates . Kagome had always wondered what that word meant. Was it some spiritual connection between two beings? Or was it the pure, unadulterated love one had for another? She played with that thought as she examined herself for any new writing and found her outfit for the day. By the time she was out of her apartment, she was too busy thinking about the test she was getting back to think about it anymore.

She thanked the barista, dropping the coins he handed her into the tip jar in front of the register, and grabbed her coffee before walking to campus and finding her classroom. “Hey!” Rin greeted as Kagome took a seat next to her. “You nervous?”

“Ridiculously,” Kagome responded, placing her bag under her seat and her coffee on the table in front of her. “But you studied hard, you must’ve done great. SM’s underlining helping?”

“I don’t wanna disappoint him,” Rin agreed shyly. “I know he’s just underlining what I write, but it’s so sweet!”

Kagome rolled her eyes. The girl wrote everything on her arm, from test dates to appointment times to reminding herself to bring lunch. It was a wonder whoever this guy was hadn’t written back yet – all he did was underline things when the dates got close.

Rin pouted. “Hey, just because you hate your soul mate doesn’t mean I have to hate mine.”

Kagome sighed and gave her friend a small smile. “You’re right, I’m sorry. He seems great.”

Rin bit her lip and grinned. “Doesn’t he, though?”

Kagome smiled back. Rin was right; just because her own soul mate sucked didn’t mean everyone’s had to.

~~~

“Miroku got arrested again,” Sango sighed, handing Kagome the bowl of popcorn before sitting down next to her on the couch.

“You know, I’m surprised he can still be a monk with how often that’s happened. Seriously, he knows he’s your soulmate, why doesn’t he just…stop grabbing every pretty girl he sees?” Kagome asked, bringing her mind again to what being a soulmate meant. One would think that it meant happiness. A utopia where everyone was happy forever.

It wasn’t.

Even just Sango. She met her soulmate over a year ago. Something like that should have been perfect. But for Sango, she got to meet him when he was brought to the precinct on sexual assault charges. A cop!   And her SM got brought to the precinct at least once a month. Every time he got there, he asked her out, and every time she said no.

Sango shrugged. “It’s not like he ever actually ends up in jail. He just gets brought into the precinct and talked to. For some reason, everyone there still likes him.”

Kagome looked at her, eyebrows raised. “The police officers like someone who constantly gets arrested on sexual assault charges?”

“Right? They think he’s fun and charming. And since the ‘worst he does’,” Sango made air quotes as she said it, “is rub butts, they let that go and enjoy it when he’s there. And since he’s made it very clear that I’m his SM, and since I constantly have to reject him at the precinct, I’m the bad guy.”

“That jerk!” Kagome scoffed. Soul mates. Ugh .

Sango sighed and pressed play on the show. “Yep.”

Assassination classroom was Sango’s favorite non-nostalgic anime, and if anything was going to get her mind off Miroku, it was watching two high school assassins use their SM status to help each other locate their target’s whereabouts. It wasn’t a romance anime at all, so that was as deep as the relationship got, but it didn’t stop the fangirls. Or Kagome. “What’s their ship name again?”

“Karmagisa.”

“Right. Nice.”

Sango side-eyed her friend and grinned. The only thing better than the fangirl train was dragging your friends down with you.

~~~

“Are those…ink marks? Oh my god, yours is in jail! Ahaha!”

“Kagome?”

Kagome turned her head towards the voice and gave a small smile. “Sorry, I got distracted again.”

“Tattoos?” Koga asked as he walked to her before wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. As her looked at the two of them in the mirror, naked – damn, they looked good together.

“Yeah,” she sighed, absentmindedly bringing her hand up to trace the barbed wire-shaped ink on her bicep. There was another tattoo on her back, but with Koga holding her from behind, she wasn’t going to break apart from a six-pack just to torture herself by looking at it. “I mean, who does that? I know it’s legal, but it’s super rude that I have to sign up for these for life with no choice in the matter.”

Koga’s eyebrows raised as he examined his girl in the mirror. “Uhh… I hate to break it to you, gorgeous, but I think he’s making another life decision for you right now.”

“Huh?” Kagome put her focus back on the reflection in front of her and gasped. “That asshole!”

She watched as a what seemed to be the beginnings of a star started appearing in a faint ink between her right shoulder and chest. Seriously? He was getting a third tattoo? “Oh, hell to the over my dead body,” she spat, breaking apart from Koga to grab a pen from her backpack. She brought it back to the mirror with her. Almost brimming with anger, she drew two straight lines through the tracing in an X shape to send her first message to her soul mate.

Koga watched her as she stared intently at the mirror, almost daring the person on the other side of her link to keep going with that tattoo. After a full minute passed and nothing happened, she breathed out in relief and turned to smile at her lover. “All better. Now…” she bit her lip and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Back to bed?”

Koga smirked and used to lighting to get one more look at her before heading into her dim room. He swept his eyes over her body hungrily.

And he almost didn’t tell her. It would have been so easy to not tell, to keep this fucking hot thing going for another hour before saying adios for the night. But even though she didn’t love him, he couldn’t look at that beautiful face and lie to it. “Kagome…you should have another look.”

She furrowed her brows and cocked her head to the side. “O…kay?” Uncertainly, she turned around and her fists clenched as she watched the words “SUCK IT” being written in red ink above the tattoo tracing.

When she woke up the next morning, the tattoo was done.

Chapter Text

“He got another tattoo?” Sango blanched. Rin frowned as she sipped her milkshake.

Kagome nodded, taking a bite out of her burger far more forcefully than necessary. Using her free hand, she pulled her shirt down by the neck to reveal the new tattoo, the big X over it still present, as well as his response.

Sango narrowed her eyes and left her jaw drop. “That little bitch!”

“Right?” Kagome agreed angrily, her mouth half full of chewed cheeseburger.

“Maybe he’s going through a really hard time,” Rin suggested, smiling shyly. At Kagome’s glare, she sank down into her chair and let the smile fall. “Sorry. He’s a selfish jerk and doesn’t deserve you. That’s what I meant.”

Kagome sighed and took a long sip of her soda. “Rin, you know I love you. But just because your soul mate is thoughtful and caring doesn’t mean mine is.” She sighed. It felt like she went over that thought with Rin constantly. The girl was sweet, but she had to stop assuming everyone was good, especially the ones she hadn’t even met. “The guy is clearly a Grade-A selfish ass. And, need I remind you, a criminal?”

“Come on, Kagome,” Rin argued, “Yeah, he’s selfish to get those tattoos without your okay, but there are lots of reasons someone could get fingerprinted. Maybe he’s foreign and moved here in high school and needed to get fingerprinted for a green card.”

“That is true,” Sango admitted. “Criminal activity isn’t the only reason for fingerprinting.”

Kagome scoffed, staring at her friends in disbelief. “Guys! Are you seriously giving the benefit of the doubt to the guy who did this?” She tugged the collar of her shirt down again to emphasize her point, the black ink of the yin-yang tattoo giving a stark contrast to her pale skin. “Not only did he get three tattoos, he got the third one after I actively showed him I was against it. He deserves none of your niceness.”

Sango and Rin looked down in shame. “Sorry,” the mumbled.

Kagome sighed, putting her burger down for the time since they got their food and put her head in her hands. Spreading her fingers, she peeked through them at her friends. “I’m really screwing everything up, aren’t I?”

The two friends looked at each other before smiling at Kagome. “No,” Sango said slowly, “But you have to admit, you do spend a lot of time being angry at someone you don’t know – with good reason,” she added and held her hand up before Kagome could protest, “but you’ve also never tried to talk to him and see why he does this. Maybe you’re unlucky and he’s an awful person, or maybe there’s another not so terrible reason.”

“You’re not resolving anything by constantly being angry at a stranger,” Rin agreed.

“I am not constantly angry!” Kagome protested, removing her hands from her face. “I focus plenty on school, and I have Koga.”

“Yeah, Koga, your secret bed buddy who is completely in love with you, and therefore another reminder of what you think you don’t have,” Sango countered.

Rin nodded. “His soul mate wants to meet him, but he won’t do it because he thinks he’ll be able to be your dirty little secret forever.”

“Hey! I’m not stopping him from meeting her, more power to him if he wants to!” Kagome folded her arms over her chest and looked away from her friends, reminding them of a petulant child. The two friends sighed.

“Alright, alright, we can talk about something else,” Sango held up her hands in defeat.

“Good.” Kagome relaxed her posture and took her burger in hand again. Taking a bite, she grinned. “How about Rin’s future dirty little secret.”

“He’ll be no such thing!” Rin squeaked, her cheeks turning a bright pink at the thought.

“Anyway, how come you never met the guy? You’re clearly already in love with him, why not just meet him already?”

Rin’s eyes widened and her blush deepened. She took a big sip of her drink. “Oh, I just—You know, it’s not the right—I mean, I just thought—“

Kagome and Sango looked at each other curiously before turning their attention to Rin, staring intently as she attempted to form a coherent sentence. It lasted a full twenty seconds before Sango flicked her lightly on the forehead.

“Okay, okay!” Rin sighed. “When I was in 10th grade, I tried.” She looked down at her hands that rested on the table, nervously twisting the ends of her friendship bracelet between her fingers. “I wrote down the name of a park near me and a time. I waited almost two hours for him to come, but he never showed up. After that, he stopped writing—or rather, he stopped underlining—for a month. When he finally started again, I didn’t want to mess it up, so I haven’t tried anything since.”

The pair looked at each other again before wrapping their arms around their friend. Rin smiled as they pulled away. “It’s okay. I’ll take what I can get. You know what they say, never meet your heroes.” She laughed, and Kagome and Sango smiled.

“How about some ice cream?” Kagome suggested with a grin.

Rin perked up immediately. “Let’s go!”
~~~

“What’s wrong, beautiful?” Miroku asked, bringing his hand up to gently stroke the soft cheek in front of him.

Sango smacked his hand away. “I’m working, Miroku,” she said in annoyance, not looking up from her paperwork. It was the most boring part of her job, but it had to be done, and this guy really wasn’t helping.

“I know that. Doesn’t mean you can’t talk.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what it means. Go away.”

“Nope. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Sango sighed and put her pen down to glare at him. “What are you even doing here? As far as we know, no butts were touched without permission, so why would you waltz in here voluntarily?”

“Because it’s the only way I’m able to see my soul mate,” Miroku answered, seeming surprised that she hadn’t figured that out on her own.

Her brows furrowed as she stared him down, looking for some sign that he was lying. He had to be. If he really cared so much about their SM status, why did he still grope every pretty girl he saw?

Finding nothing, Sango sighed again, shaking her head. “It’s Kagome and her unknown beau-by-design.”

“Oh?” Miroku’s ears perked up. “This is the one who got that tattoo even though they haven’t met, right?”

Sango tilted her head to the side in pleased surprise. “Wow, you listen.” Miroku grinned at the praise and she continued. “Yeah, him. Except it was two tattoos, and now a third one. He just got it the other day, and for the first time, she told him no.”

“She actually wrote to him?”

“Ehhh…not exactly. While they were tracing the design for the tattoo, she put a big X over it in marker, and you know what he did? He wrote ‘suck it’ and got the tattoo anyway. Poor girl was so upset, she has no choice over what happens with her own body. And I get it, but it also means that she’s so…angry. Not just at him anymore either, it’s like she got so disillusioned with the universe, and she’s just upset at everything and everyone now. I want to help her, and I just have no idea how to do that. She’s upset, and I’m just…lost.” She buried her face in her hands with a groan. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that, but her brain came back to reality with a start and she looked back at Miroku with wide eyes. Had she really just said all that to this pervert? “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Miroku was staring intently at her, eyes narrowed as if he was trying to figure out a difficult math problem. “Was this by any chance a yin-yang tattoo?”

Sango looked at him curiously. “How did you know that? And why are you grinning?”

Miroku’s smile was wider than she’d ever seen and he nodded. “Well, mostly because you just spilled your guts to me, which means you trust me, which is a great sign for our future.”

Sango groaned, immediately regretting letting her guard down. “Miroku—”

“But,” he interrupted, holding a hand up to stop her, “I also know how to help Kagome.”

She furrowed her brows and cocked her head to the side. “How?”

Somehow, his grin got even bigger. “I know who her soul mate is.”

Chapter Text

“This will never work,” Sango argued as Miroku led her to a coffee shop in his neighborhood. “She’ll never meet with him, she would have tried ages ago.”

“That’s why you’ll have to convince her. And you’ll be able to once you meet him. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside while she tried to ignore the way her heart seemed to start beating just a bit faster when their skin made contact.

“How about I decide that after I decide if he’s even good enough for her. Just because I think she’s going crazier than she needs to doesn’t mean I think she’s completely wrong,” she continued arguing as they approached a table, and stopped talking when Miroku stopped walking as they got to a table where a young man with long white hair sat, watching something on his phone.

Miroku pulled a chair out and motioned with more flair than necessary for Sango to sit. With a surprised smile, she did, and Miroku took his place in the chair next to her. “Sango, meet Inuyasha.”

The man looked up when Miroku started talking and took the headphones out of his ear, locking his phone. “Hey.”

Sango smiled. “Hi. Miroku told me you’re my friend’s—”

“Let’s start with the basics, shall we?” Miroku interrupted, giving Sango a look that she took to mean he hadn’t told Inuyasha the reason for their meeting. He turned back to Inuyasha. “Inuyasha, this is my soul mate, Sango. She’s a police officer.”

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “So she’s there all those times you get arrested for groping women who aren’t your soul mate?”

Miroku rubbed the back of his neck and gave an embarrassed smile.

Inuyasha pressed his lips into a line as he nodded, before turning to Sango. “I’m so sorry the universe stuck you with him.”

She shrugged. “I think Kagome probably has it worse.”

He cocked his head in confusion. “Who?”

“We’ll get to that,” Miroku piped in, giving Sango the look again. “For now, tell Sango all about you.” Inuyasha opened his mouth to ask why, but Miroku spoke over him. “More specifically, tell her about your soul mate.”

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. “Why?” he growled through his teeth.

“I already know all about his soul mate,” Sango protested. “She’s my best friend, remember?”

Inuyasha turned to her, eyeing her as if she’d grown a second head. “What are you talking about?”

“Guys, don’t—” Miroku started, but was quickly interrupted by Sango.

“Yeah, surprised your complete disregard for your soul mate actually affects her? Why would you be so selfish? You know she has to live with those tattoos too now, right?”

Inuyasha clenched his jaw, his eyes glaring daggers at her. “You think that’s funny?” he growled through his teeth.

“Inuyasha, Sango, it’s not—”

Sango ignored and pressed on. “No, but apparently, you do, ‘cause you keep doing it.”

“Fuck you,” Inuyasha spat, standing so quickly his chair fell backwards, clattering loudly on the tile floor. “I’m outta here.” Grabbing his phone, he took two strides towards to the door before Miroku got in front of him, hands up and pleading.

“Inuyasha, please. She doesn’t know what’s happening, and neither do you. You have to trust me.”

“Hell, no!” Inuyasha yelled, not caring that people were starting to stare at the scene they were causing. “I don’t know what she thinks I did to this Kagome chick, but I’m not gonna sit around and listen to this crap, so get out of my way.”

“Inuyasha, just give me a minute and everyone will be much calmer, I promise.”

When Miroku didn’t move, Inuyasha just pushed past him, making it out the door in a few more strides. With a sigh, Miroku sat back down next to Sango. “We’ll try again and I’ll make sure it goes better next time.”

Sango shook her head. “I told you it wasn’t gonna happen,” she said, before standing up and walking out.

~~~

“Mommy, I wanna write to him! Can you help me?”

Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her little girl and knelt down beside her. “Sure, sweetie. What do you want to say?” she asked, taking the thin blue marker Kagome handed her and uncapping it.

“Say hi! Just like I said it!”

“With an exclamation point?”

“Yiss!”

Her mother nodded and gently took the small arm in her hand before writing “Hi!” on her wrist. “There you go,” she said with another smile before recapping the marker.

“Thank you!” Kagome said excitedly before giving her mother a hug and running back to her toys. A couple minutes later, she ran back in, crying excitedly, “Mommy, mommy, he’s saying somefing! Wha’s it say?”

Mrs. Higurashi knelt beside her again and looked at the words forming on her daughter’s forearm. The handwriting was pretty bad, though not as bad as a 4-year-old, and the mother wondered how much older this soul mate was. Curiosity was replaced by horror as the writing finished and “I hate you” was printed with no backwards letters on the little girl’s arm.

“Wha’s it say, wha’s it say?” Kagome asked impatiently.

“Oh, uhm… It says ‘I can’t wait to meet you’,” she lied. “Maybe it’s best for you to leave the soul mate thing alone for a while, okay, sweetie?” Mrs. Higurashi said sweetly, taking the marker that Kagome had once again brought in with her and hurriedly scribbling over the words until they were no longer visible. If someone who could read saw it and told Kagome what it really said…

“Mommy?”

She smiled. “Go wash up, sweetie, dinner will be ready soon. We can talk about this later.” Hopefully Kagome would forget all about it by the time later came around.

~~~

“Why wouldn’t you just trust that I know what I’m doing?” Miroku chastised as his friend pointedly ignored him to stare at the deodorant commercial on the TV in front of them. “It’s not what you think, if you’ll just meet with her again, I’ll make sure she doesn’t say anything before she knows about Kikyo.”

“She never will know about Kikyo because I’m never being in the same room with her again,” Inuyasha growled. “Now stop not letting me ignore you.”

“But you’ll both be so much less angry at each other if you just meet up and find out what’s happening!”

“If it’s so important that I know what’s going on, why don’t you just tell me?” Inuyasha looked at him, eyebrows raised, just waiting for Miroku to challenge him.

Miroku stared at his friend for a moment, before smiling and rubbing the back of his neck. “Dramatic effect?” He ducked his head in time for Inuyasha’s fist to hit nothing but the air above him. “Because you won’t believe me! It needs to come with proof, and I don’t have any, but Sango does . Come on. When have I ever let you down?”

Inuyasha looked back at the TV, which had stopped the commercials and gone back to whatever the hell this show was. “I don’t know, literally any time a pretty girl is involved?”

“You wound me.”

“Speaking of, what the actual fuck is wrong with you?” Inuyasha asked, looking back at Miroku again. “You’re worse than I thought if you’re flaunting your lecherous ways in front of your soul mate. Why the fuck do you keep letting yourself get arrested for groping if you know she’s gonna be there?”

Miroku shrugged. “It’s the only way I get to see her. She thinks I’m disgusting, she won’t see me at all unless I force it, and how am I gonna convince her I’m not as bad as she thinks unless I get to see her?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe prove it to her by not groping strange women anymore? Stop being a lecher and maybe she’ll believe that you’re not one?”

Miroku’s eyes widened as if this thought had never crossed his mind. Apparently it hadn’t. “You think that’ll work?”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and stood up, heading into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out two beers. Setting them on the counter, he grabbed the bottle opener off his keychain and opened both drinks, tossing the caps in the garbage and returning his bottle opener to his keychain before heading back into the living and siting down. He handed one of the beers to Miroku. “Fine, I’ll meet with her again. But if she’s as much of a bitch as the first time, I’m ending it, and there ain’t gonna be a third chance.”

Miroku beamed and took a swig of his drink. Now all he had to do was get Sango to agree again, and it wouldn’t be nearly as easy.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Koga?” Kagome asked softly.

“Hmm?”

She stopped her fingers as they finished their dozenth round tracing every crevice of Koga’s godly abs and pushed herself up to a sitting position. Feeling the bed move, Koga opened his eyes and propped himself up slightly, leaning back on his elbows. “Everything okay, beautiful?”

She bit her lip and grabbed the sheet from the foot of the bed, wrapping it around herself and using what was left to cover Koga’s lower half. He raised his eyebrows, uncertain why she would ever cover their nude forms when they didn’t need to, but stayed silent as he waited for her to speak.

“Is it true that you’re purposely ignoring your soul mate because of me?” Kagome asked softly, looking seemingly anywhere but at him.

Koga sighed. “Now who would go and tell you something like that?” He asked, pushing himself up to get into a full sitting position.

“Sango and Rin.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear, Kagome.” When she finally looked at him, he smiled. “I have lots of reasons for not meeting her. Is one of them that I really enjoy this wonderful thing we have going? Maybe. But,” he continued when it seemed she was about to interrupt him, “Another reason is that she isn’t even 18 yet. I’m not really up to dating a minor.”

Kagome blinked. Koga’s soul mate was a minor? “How old is she exactly? Cause if she’s 17, that’s not—”

Koga stopped her with a kiss, gentle yet telling. When she didn’t push him away, he deepened it, wrapping an arm around her waist to bring her closer. When he did finally pull away, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “When she’s 18, I’ll see where I’m at. Until then, is it really so wrong for me to want to have fun with someone as gorgeous and, frankly, as amazing as you?”

At his words, Kagome blushed, unable to stop the smile that crept onto her face. “Okay. But you have to promise me you’ll never let me be the reason you ditch potential bliss.”

“I promise,” He agreed. Easy peasy, gorgeous. You are my bliss.

He leaned forward, hoping to start up round two, but was interrupted by a knock at the door and Sango’s voice telling them the pizza was here. The pair giggled and Kagome extracted herself from the arms that made it very clear they didn’t want to let go. She walked to her dresser and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, throwing them on before tossing Koga’s own clothes at him. “Meet you out there,” she said with a wink before heading out of the bedroom and into the living room, where Sango and Rin sat in front of the open pizza box. She smiled at them before quickly going to the kitchen and grabbing four cans of soda. She tossed one each to Sango and Rin (the latter dropping hers) as she walked towards them, before plopping down next to Koga, who’d somehow managed to get dressed, find his seat, and give them each a slice in the time it took Kagome to grab drinks. She handed him one of the last two before opening hers and taking a sip.

“So what’s the plan tonight?” Sango asked after swallowing her first bite of pizza. “In or out?”

“In,” Kagome voted, shivering when Koga traced his nails over her hand in silent agreement before just squeezing it. “I’m already in pajamas.”

“I’m up for anything,” Rin shrugged.

“And Koga goes where Kagome goes,” Sango answered for Koga, who grinned. “Alright, in it is. Someone pick a genre.”

“Romance,” Rin started.

“Cheesy horror,” Kagome offered.

“Rocky Horror it is,” Sango decided before standing up to grab her laptop. As she googled for websites to watch it on, her mind kept wandering to yesterday. Should she tell Kagome? Maybe the fact that her soul mate really is a douche would give her closure, but maybe it would just make her angrier, having proof.

“Sango? You okay?” Kagome asked, and she started.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking of someone Miroku introduced me to.”

“Who?” Rin asked curiously.

“And why would you agree to meet anyone for that lech?” Kagome piped in.

Sango looked up at the three faces that watched her curiously and sighed. Well, crap. “Because, he, uhh…” She wracked her brain to find the best way to put that she’d gone behind her best friend’s back and spoken to the soul mate she hated so much? Giving up, she sighed. “Because he’s your soul mate.”

Rin’s eyes widened and Koga tightened his grip on Kagome’s hand. “You…met my soul mate?” Kagome breathed.

Sango nodded. “Miroku apparently knows him, and knows something about him that we don’t, so he wanted me to meet him so I could get you to agree to meet him. His name is Inuyasha.”

“Inuyasha? Taisho?” Koga growled, startling the three girls. “I work with that guy. He’s a total ass.” He turned to Kagome. “You can do so much better than that jerk, universe be damned.”

Sango bit her lip. Sounded about right.

They all watched Kagome for her reaction, but she didn’t say anything. Her lips were pursed, as if she was deep in thought, but that was all the indication they got as to how she felt about the situation. Finally, she grabbed her pizza and took a bite, chewing slowly until she could swallow it, and took a sip of her drink. “Well? I thought we were gonna watch something.”

Sango and Rin looked at each other before Sango went back to finding the movie and Rin went back to her pizza.

Koga wrapped an arm around Kagome’s shoulder and pulled her closer, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her head. He hadn’t needed another reason to dislike Inuyasha, but boy, had he found one. And he was gonna make sure that guy never found out about his Kagome.

Chapter Text

“No.”

“C’mon, Sango,” Miroku pleaded.

“No!” Sango said firmly, looking up from her paperwork to give Miroku a hard stare. “I heard all I need to hear already. Kagome was right, he’s a selfish jerk and he isn’t good enough for her.”

“But don’t you want Kagome to be happy?” Miroku continued to plead. “I know that last meeting was bad, but you really don’t understand. It’s not what you think!”

“So tell me what I’m not thinking,” she sighed, rubbing her face with her hands in frustration. “Because he was a jerk, and they say first impressions are everything.”

Miroku bit his bottom lip, trying to figure out how to get the situation across. He still wanted Inuyasha to tell her, it was his story to tell. But Sango was being predictably difficult and he had to figure something out. Giving up, he sighed. “Please, Sango,” he said seriously. “For once, trust me?”

Sango stared at him, wondering. Should she trust him? It wasn’t as though he’d proven himself to be trustworthy. Though probably because she’d never given him the chance… She sighed. “Fine. One more meeting. But if he’s a jerk again, I’m out.”

Miroku grinned and sat up straight, elated that his soul mate was finally starting to trust him. “Deal.”

~~~

They went to meet Inuyasha as soon as Sango finished work, so she was still in uniform when they arrived at the coffee shop. This time she knew to look for long, silver hair, so he was quickly found. Taking long strides, she walked up to the table Inuyasha was sitting at and sat down across from him. “Hello again,” she said in a forced voice.

Inuyasha merely grunted. He clearly didn’t want to be here, judging by the arms folded across his chest and the fact that he was looking away from her. Sango sighed and shook her head. Of course .

Giving an awkward chuckle at the tension in the air, Miroku sat down. “Okay guys, let’s make this as painless as possible. Inuyasha, please tell Sango about Kikyo.”

Inuyasha glared at his friend, obviously wanting to do anything but talk about Kikyo. Miroku met his glare with raised eyebrows, challenging him. Eventually, Inuyasha sighed and turned to face Sango. “Kikyo was my soul mate and she died. You guys happy now?”

Sango’s expression softened from venomous to shocked. “Kikyo? Dead? You mean...you have more than one soul mate?”

Inuyasha furrowed his brows in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Sango raised her hands in front of her and shook her head. “No, no, your soul mate is my friend Kagome. It’s not possible to have two soul mates.”

“Kagome again?” Inuyasha groaned. “What kind of trick are you trying to play?”

“It’s no trick!” Sango said loudly. Realizing her volume, she blushed and put her hands on her lap. “My best friend has a barbed wire tattoo on her arm, a yin-yang on her back, and just received a star on her chest. That’s all you, right?”

Inuyasha’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’re fucking with me,” he breathed, his arms falling from in front of his chest to rest on the table.

Sango shook her head. “You said she died, so maybe...maybe you got a replacement? God, this is a lot to process…”

“You’re telling me,” Inuyasha laughed humorlessly. “Wait,” he turned his head to Miroku, “You knew ?”

Miroku raised his hands in front of him in surrender. “Only since I planned that first meeting!”

Inuyasha closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his pointer and middle fingers, trying to wrap his head around the situation. He had another soul mate? How was that possible? Nobody ever had two soul mates. And Kikyo… Would meeting her be a betrayal to Kikyo?

“Inuyasha?” Miroku pressed softly. “What do you wanna do?”

He stayed silent for a while longer, still trying to wrap his brain around everything. Eventually, he put his arm down and stared intently at Sango. “I need to meet her. Soon.”

~~~

“No.”

“Please!”

“No!”

“I promise, it’s not what you think!” Sango put her burger down, too busy desperately trying to convince her friend to meet her soul mate to eat. “It’s too much for me to explain, so please just trust me.”

“I think it sounds great!” Rin said excitedly, her eyes twinkling. “Isn’t this exactly what you need? To find out your SM isn’t the douche nugget you thought he was?”

Kagome and Sango shifted their attention to Rin, unable to stop themselves from giving small smiles. Douche nugget . Kagome sighed. “Look, I spend the better part of my life hating him. How am I supposed to just meet him like it’s nothing?”

“It’s not nothing,” Sango said softly. “But it is important. You can’t spend your whole life hating someone, not when you know there’s more to it. Please.”

Kagome put her head in her hands and let out an overdramatic sigh. After a minute, she lifted her head and looked at her friend. “Fine. But you’re coming with me.”

Chapter Text

This wasn’t how Kagome had planned it. She was perfectly happy living out her life hating him. So why did he have to come into her life now and turn 10 years on its head? Why couldn’t Sango have just left her be? Why was she sitting at a table across from her soul mate, tears threatening to wash over her face, questioning every decision she had ever made regarding him? Why ?

“You don’t have to cry,” the man across from her stated gruffly.

Startled at the sudden speech, Kagome looked up at her soul mate, something she never imagined she would ever do. Finding her resolve again, she straightened her back before rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry that she died. But that only explains the tattoos; what about the ink marks on your fingers when I was in high school?”

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking pointedly away from Kagome. “Why is that your business?” he grumbled.

“It’s not,” She responded smoothly, squeezing her fingers together underneath the table to keep herself from losing control again. “But I’d like to know why I had to be bullied in high school for having a criminal for a soul mate.”

His eyes met Kagome’s, startled. He hadn’t even thought of how that would have affected her. HIs whole life, he went through it thinking he was alone. Sure, he had companionship when he wanted it, but no one to care, no one to be affected by his decisions. It was strange to suddenly find out that he did, to say the least. “I’m sorry,” he started, looking back at Kagome. “That wasn’t fair to you.” He sighed, running his fingers through thick, white locks. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But I have to preface it by saying I was young and had some...temper problems. Still do, but I’ve definitely calmed down.

“A few years ago, I had a dog. His name was Lucky -- stupid, I know, but I got him when I was a kid and it was the first name that came to mind. My brother actually got him for me not too long after Kikyo died. I guess he hoped it would make me feel better. And it did. I mean, back then I didn’t even truly understand what soul mates were, I just thought I lost my best friend. Having a new one didn’t replace her, but it helped.” Inuyasha ran his hand over his face and Kagome wondered if he always looked this tired or if the burden of meeting her had weighed down on him that much; was she the reason his face seemed so weary?

“I loved that thing,” Inuyasha continued, one hand now anxiously thumbing at the coffee cup in front of him. “Anyway, years later I was going away for a weekend so I hired a guy to watch Lucky while I was gone. Probably should have gone through an agency, but I was in college at the time and going through Craigslist was cheaper.” He laughed humorlessly. “So I get back from the trip, bring Lucky home, and he’s all lethargic and weak. I bring him to the vet and find out the dude didn’t even feed him. Over two days I was gone and the bitch fucking starved him.” His anxiety seemed to turn to anger as his lips formed a scowl. He wasn’t looking at Kagome either, choosing instead to stare at his coffee cup as he bared his story. “So I go back to the guy and I let him have it, I give him a piece of my mind. Bitch doesn’t care at all. So I beat the shit out of him. He calls the cops, next thing I know I’m on house arrest for assault.”

His eyes finally met Kagome’s again and he sighed. “That’s the story. I think I only got off as easy as I did because my brother is a hell of a lawyer.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kagome breathed. “I had no idea.”

Inuyasha shrugged. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I put you through a lot of shit.”

He was right, of course. It wasn’t as though knowing the story suddenly took away the trauma. But it did make it easier knowing. “I have to ask, though,” she started, her mind already back on the topic at hand. “How did you not know? I remember, when I was a little girl, I wrote to you. You wrote back, but my mom...crossed it out, I think? I can’t really remember. But I wrote to you.”

Inuyasha looked at her, confusion adorning his admittedly handsome features. It took a moment, but soon recognition dawned on his face. “Oh, no. I-I think I wrote something really awful back to you.”

“Why?”

“I was scared!” He took another shaky breath. Why did this have to make him so damn emotional? It wasn’t like him at all and he hated it. “My SM died . And then suddenly, years later, there’s writing on my arm. I thought her ghost was haunting me or something.”

“What about the third tattoo?” she asked, her breath getting shaky as well. “I crossed it out.”

He looked away. “I don’t know,” he whispered truthfully. “I guess I was scared then too. In my mind, I had no soul mate. I didn’t know what was happening.” He looked back at her. “I am so, so sorry, Kagome. But I promise, I will never do anything like that to you again.”

Kagome buried her face in her hands, her inner turmoil more intense than ever. She knew she should just forget the past, put all her hatred away, and just be happy, but that wasn’t how emotions worked. She’d spent the better part of a decade hating him. Being angry. Now what was she supposed to do?

~~~

When Kagome walked back into the apartment, Sango and Rin were sitting on the couch watching a show they’d both seen at least three times. Knowing her friends, they didn’t want to have to interrupt something new to hear the details when she got home. Her hunch was proven correct when Sango shut off the TV and the pair of friends turned to face Kagome. “So?” Sango asked, her face lit up with curiosity. “How did it go?”

“Tell us everything!” Rin added, a smile perking her lips.

Kagome walked over to them, gave an over-dramatic sigh, and flopped backward onto the empty space on the couch.

“That bad?” Sango asked, rubbing Kagome’s arm sympathetically.

“That’s just it. It turns out he’s not just some inconsiderate asshole, he actually thought he didn’t have a soul mate. Even the jail time--house arrest, whatever--was pretty understandable.” She ran her hands over her face and groaned loudly. “I spent most of my life despising him. Acting like soul mates were dumb because I thought I would never have a proper one. What am I supposed to do now?”

Rin scooted closer to Kagome and started running her fingers through her friend’s hair. “You talk to him is what you do. You make the best of this. I know you feel like the world is upside down, but this really is a great thing.” She smiled as Kagome peeked through her fingers at her. “You’re gonna be fine.”

She looked at sango, who smiled her agreement, before sighing and removing her hands from her face. “My whole world IS upside down. But you’re right, I’ll get through this.” Suddenly, she grinned. “And to thank you, I’m gonna do the thing.” Kagome jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen. She quickly returned, sharpie in hand and grin still plastered to her face. Before anyone could protest, she grabbed Rin’s arm and started writing.

“Hey!” Rin squeaked, but made little attempt to remove her arm from her friend’s grasp. “What are you doing?”

Kagome didn’t answer, choosing instead to let her work speak for itself. After a moment, she let go of Rin’s arm, and the two friends could see “What’s your name?” scrawled in black marker.

“Why did you do that?” Rin whispered, looking up at her friend with a terrified expression. “What if he doesn’t respond?”

“He will,” Sango comforted, before giving Kagome a ‘what did you just do?’ look.

“He will,” Kagome agreed, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “He wouldn’t keep reminding you about assignments if he didn’t care about you.” Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Look!”

Her friends looked down at the stained arm and, sure enough, someone was writing back.

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god,” Rin squeaked. “I can’t believe this is happening!”

The trio anxiously watched as the person on the other end scrawled something barely legible, vaguely wondering if he was a doctor. When it was finished, they stared, as though the name in front of them was magic in itself.

Sesshomaru. You?

Chapter Text

[Kagome, 8:13pm]

Favorite color?

[SM i guess?, 8:15pm]

Red. You?

[Kagome, 8:16pm]

Blue. Fave meal?

[SM i guess?, 8:16pm]

Instant ramen, any flavor

[Kagome, 8:19pm]

Seriously? Not even proper ramen beats instant to you?

[SM i guess?, 8:23pm]

Nothing beats the beauty of a delicious, 5 min meal

[Kagome, 8:25pm]

Strange, but ok

[Kagome, 8:25pm]

Mine is cheeseburgers. Mmmmm

[SM i guess?, 8:26pm]

Not a bad choice i guess, but still doesn’t beat mine

[SM i guess?, 8:27pm]

Favorite tv show?

[Kagome, 8:30pm]

Oh, assassination classroom, hands down

[SM i guess?, 8:32pm]

Never heard of it

[Kagome, 8:35pm]

??? Seriously? It’s basically the best anime in the world

[SM i guess?, 8:37pm]

Oh, i don’t watch anime

[Kagome, 8:39pm]

I shall teach you the way of the anime, young padawan

[SM i guess?, 8:46pm]

...do i even want to know your favorite movie?

[Kagome, 8:47pm]

Oh, much more tame. Pixels

[SM i guess?, 8:48pm]

The adam sandler movie? Didn’t it get really bad reviews?

[Kagome, 8:51pm]

Yeah, i didn’t get it either, it’s adorable!

[SM i guess?, 8:53]

Idk, i didn’t see it

[Kagome, 8:54pm]

Oh, we have sooo much work to do

[SM i guess?, 8:56pm]

Oh no

[SM i guess?, 8:56pm]

Should i be afraid?

[Kagome, 8:59pm]

Very. But we can move on for now

[Kagome, 9:00pm]

What’s YOUR favorite movie and tv show?

[SM i guess?, 9:03pm]

I like action shows, if it’s got blood and fighting I’m in. So probably wrestling. Favorite movie’s gotta be deadpool. Got the blood, the action, AND it’s hilarious

[Kagome, 9:07pm]

God, you are such a guy. But I’ll give you Deadpool.

[SM i guess?, 9:08pm]

Is that a bad thing?

[Kagome, 9:09pm]

Nah. In fact, I kinda like it. But I WILL get you into anime, you mark my words.

[SM i guess?, 9:15pm]

Sounds like a plan. How’s Saturday night?

[Kagome, 9:18pm]

Dinner first?

[SM i guess?, 9:20pm]

Of course

[Kagome, 9:33pm]

It’s a date.

~~~

“ Ugh! ” Kagome grunted angrily as she fumbled through her overcrowded purse for her transit card. Stupid Inuyasha , she thought. Stupid Inuyasha and his stupid face and his stupid lateness and his stupid... “UGH!”

Finally finding her transit card, Kagome plopped onto the bench at the bus stop, letting out a huff as she did. Taking out her phone, she opened Sango’s contact and sent her a text, pressing the buttons much more forcefully than necessary.

Bastard didn’t show

I knew he was a jerk

Shoving her phone back into her jacket pocket, she stood up as the bus pulled up in front of her. With a sigh, she stepped onto the bus, giving a small smile to the driver as she slipped her card into the reader. She groaned as the red letters flashed “Insufficient funds” before spitting her card back out almost tauntingly. She didn’t even have time to give the driver puppy eyes and hope he would let her through anyway before he opened the door back up for her to get off. She thought about looking through her wallet for change to use instead, not wanting to walk in the rain, but she knew that it was empty and it would be nothing more than a pathetic stalling tactic, so she stepped off the bus.

She took out her phone again, not bothering to read Sango’s response, and opened her map to find the nearest subway stop to refill her transit card at. 11 blocks away. Of course. She sighed. This night could not get any worse.

She had barely made it two blocks before she regretted that thought.

Attempting to cut her 25ish-minute walk in the rain shorter, she cut between a couple of buildings. After walking for what she assumed to be one more block, Kagome stopped and groaned. “A fence. Of course there’s a fence. Why wouldn’t there be a damn fence?” She turned on her heel and started to walk back, kicking herself for making her walk longer in her attempt to make it shorter. She only made it a few steps before she stopped abruptly as two figures stepped in front of her.

She scanned the confident faces in front of her, trying to figure out what to do. Her best friend was a cop, after all, it’s not like she could just let this happen. Whatever “this” was. “Hi.”

One of the men smirked. “Hiya.”

“I don’t have any money.”

“Well, why don’t you let us decide for ourselves?” The second man said, holding out his hand in front of her.

Kagome gripped her bag as she weighed the situation in her head. Slowly, she pulled the bag off her shoulder and began to hand it to the thief in front of her. Right before it reached his hand, she swung it at his head, pushed him backwards, and made a run for it.

“You—” The other one didn’t miss a beat and grabbed her by the hair before she managed to get anywhere, pulling her toward him. As soon as she got close enough, he used his other hand to squeeze her arm in an attempt to hold her in place in front of him. “This could have been easy.”

“I am not easy,” she hissed before lifting her leg and stomping her heel into his foot. With a cry, his grip loosened and Kagome made another run for it, stopping short as Mugger #2 blocked her way, his teeth ground together and a vengeful look on his face.

“You little fucking—”

Kagome tried weighing her options again as the two men closed in on her, but before she had a chance, the one in front of her fell to the ground with a cry of pain to reveal a new figure behind him. “Inu—”

Before she could finish registering the person in front of her, an arm wrapped around her neck, her hands flying up the arm instinctively.

“What did you do??” The mugger holding her cried, waving a knife at the newcomer.

“So, threatened enough to wave around a knife, even a pathetic one like that.” Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, his glare fixated on the man holding Kagome. “Good. You should be scared.”

Before the mugger could make a move, Inuyasha moved forward, grabbing the hand that held the pocketknife and twisting until the knife fell out of broken fingers and the man screamed, letting go of Kagome in favor of running in the opposite direction. He reached the fence in seconds and attempted the climb it one-handed, but was pulled down by his hood, landing flat on his back. Inuyasha squatted next to him, grabbing his throat with enough strength to lift his head a good few inches off the ground. “Stay here,” he growled. “If you know what’s good for you.” He threw the mugger’s head back down on the ground.

He stood up with a sigh and turned around, surprised when he felt a slap land across his cheek.

“What the—” he started, stopping short when he looked down at the girl in front of him and saw the tears in her eyes. “Kagome?”

“You’re late,” she said angrily.

Inuyasha was about to speak again, but he didn’t manage to before she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his shirt.

He sighed, placing one hand behind her back and the other on the back of her head. “I know.”