Day 1 of the 12 Days of Witchyness

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or just have a really awesome day today :)

Line Right Up

The line at Starbucks is really, really, freaking long.

Kagome sighs and stares down at the app morosely, debating the benefits. She could just head home to her tiny apartment and get started on the hundreds of papers she needed to grade. Maybe work a bit more on her thesis. Mostly likely just sit at her desk and recount the days until she could go home to see her family.

Or, she could wait seven minutes in line to get her favourite drink and then go home to her tiny apartment to get started on the hundreds of papers she needed to grade, fake-work on her thesis and recount the days until she could go home.

She steps into the line. It's the only Starbucks remotely close to university property, therefore making it one of the busiest locations. Kagome usually tries to go during quiet hours but today has been a terrible day. Just little things constantly going wrong, but it's enough to make her groan in frustration. Exam time is coming closer and closer, and while that doesn't impact her in the same way as the other students, it definitely still makes her teaching days harder.

Wondering why the hell she decided to go for her PhD, Kagome grumpily stares at the Starbucks board. There are still five people ahead of her.

"No."

The whisper is more of a hiss and is coming from directly behind her. It's a guy who's also waiting in line, with long silver hair and an adorable pair of ears. Cat or dog, she can't really tell. He's definitely a demon though. Those eyes aren't even close to human. He's also eally, really attractive. Kagome looks away quickly before he can notice her staring.

"Fuck. Goddamn that fucker," the guy hisses, seemingly agitated. Kagome's only a little bit worried and when the line moves up, she tries to give him more space.

There's a gentle tap on her shoulder, a quick 1-2-3 that has her turning around before she can think better of it. The attractive guy is looking at her, face pinched like he's about to face his absolute nightmare. Kagome has no idea what's happening.

"I am…" The guy rolls his eyes to the ceiling, his head going with the motion like the upwards direction has all the answers. He growls a little – and Kagome does not think it's in any way hot – and then exhales loudly. "I am really sorry, but I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend for like five minutes so my best friend doesn't pity me."

Kagome blinks. It takes a few seconds to process. "Wh–"

"Inuyasha! Fancy meeting you here!" Some guy suddenly makes his way around the line, looking really excited. He, too, is disturbingly attractive. His hair is jet black but his eyes are a bright blue, practically sparkling as he makes his way over. The guy in the line beside her goes incredibly tense and looks back up at the ceiling. Is he praying, or something?

"Why are you here, Miroku?" the guy beside her demands, sounding aggravated. "I told you–"

"You were meeting your girlfriend, yeah, I know!" Miroku throws his hands up in the air. "Like I wasn't going to be interested at all in this turn of events. I told you, you don't need a date to our wedding! So what if you're the only groomsman that doesn't have a date? It's not a big deal."

The guy beside her groans again, burying his face in his hands. Kagome can't help but look at the dejected line of his shoulders, and are his ears flattening? Oh god. Before she even knows what she's doing, Kagome pats at his shoulder consolingly. "He really didn't believe you, huh?" she asks. Kagome steps in even closer, until the front of her body is pressing against his arm.

The guy – silver hair, cute ears, big golden eyes – just looks at her for a second. There's a moment of shocked silence before he sighs and rolls his eyes again. It seems to be a trademark move. "He's kind of a dick."

"Hey!" Miroku throws a hand to his heart, looking wounded. "You can't blame me, Inuyasha. One day you're single and completely upset about the fact that everyone has a girlfriend but you… And the next day you're suddenly very much involved. What am I supposed to believe?"

Inuyasha. The guy standing beside her, so close they were touching, is named Inuyasha. He's currently growling again, the vibration of it going straight to her. "Uh, that I wouldn't make up a girlfriend?"

"How convenient," Miroku drawls, crossing his arms. His blue eyes narrow on Kagome suddenly and she knows, without a doubt, he believes nothing. "Are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?"

"Do you even deserve to know?" Inuyasha shoots back, petulant.

Kagome chokes on a laugh. "I'm Kagome. It's nice to meet you. You're Miroku, right? Inuyasha's told me so much about you."

"Oh yeah?" Miroku replies. He leans back on his hip and smiles at her, smug. "Like what?"

"That you're kind of a dick." Kagome grins and then tugs on Inuyasha's arm. "Come on, it's our turn next and you promised to buy me my coffee."

"I did?" Inuyasha whispers, letting himself be dragged. His face frowns but it isn't the heavy set one from earlier, derived from desperation and frustration. She doesn't know him well enough to say what exactly is going through his mind, but it doesn't seem bad. He's sticking close after all, selling the scheme.

The Starbucks barista flicks back her bright red hair, green eyes heavily amused. Kagome's pretty sure she's been watching the whole thing unfold since the get-go. "And what can I get for you two?" she asks, a tiny smile curving at her lips.

"Grande dark, please," Kagome replies, nudging the silver-haired guy by her side.

"Same," he mumbles. He holds his phone out to the scanner to pay and Kagome smiles at him, ever the doting girlfriend. Inuyasha looks at her, and those eyes are seriously something else. "Thanks," he says suddenly, looking away a moment later.

Before she can answer, the red-haired barista is handing them their coffees. Kagome thanks her and heads toward the counter with the milk and sugars. She puts cream in her own and watches as Inuyasha adds only a splash of milk. When she turns around, ready and wondering how soon this is going to end so she can go home and start the whole papers-thesis-counting thing, she nearly runs into Miroku.

The disbelieving friend.

His arms are still crossed but he's smiling at her, far too friendly.

"Well, since you're dating my best friend," Miroku says sweetly, "why don't we sit down and talk for a bit? I'd love to learn more about the girl who stole my best friend's heart."

"No," Inuyasha groans, shaking his head. "You make everything so weird. No."

But it doesn't end up mattering. Before Kagome has a chance to escape – with Inuyasha in tow or not, whatever – the best friend steps right up to her and cups his hands around hers.

And that's…really odd?

"You're Kagome, right?" Miroku asks, eyes wide and earnest. "I'm terribly sorry for how I've treated you so far. It's been a bit of a shock, is all." He looks at Inuyasha, and Kagome can't read the expression but something strange passes between them. She tries to get a glimpse of the silver-haired guy but Miroku steals back her attention with a smile and a batting of his blue eyes. "Please, just five minutes. I just want to get to know you and then you both can go, okay? I don't want to ruin your date."

"Uh." Kagome is still having her hands cradled by him, which is super weird. What is happening? She desperately looks over at Inuyasha, and he's clearly in over his head too because he's looking at her with something akin to horror. Or regret.

Kagome kind of hopes it's both.

"Excellent!" Miroku cheers, letting go of her hands. "Come on, I have a booth saved and everything. This is honestly so great."

"I actually–"

"You have to be something special to capture this guy's attention," Miroku continues on, grinning at her disarmingly before smacking Inuyasha in the shoulder hard. "I mean, he's a work of art. I can see it, you can see it. You've probably seen more of it."

Kagome has the terrible, unbidden thought of Inuyasha naked, with his long silvery hair and intense golden eyes. He fills out his t-shirt so nicely with those big shoulders and he looks like he's one of those guys with the V cut that dips down–

"Ah." Miroku's voice interrupts her thoughts and oh dear god, she's blushing. She can feel it, the heat pulsing on her face. The realization is horrific enough that when Miroku steps closer she instantly slides into the booth, scooting towards the window. Oh god, she's probably as red as a tomato. How embarrassing! "I take it from that reaction you haven't seen more. Inuyasha, you are far more gentlemanly than I thought. Which is honestly saying something."

"Fuck off," Inuyasha snaps, speaking for the first time in ages, what the hell? Kagome has the urge to glare at him, but at this point she's honestly just hoping five minutes goes by quickly and with minimal embarrassment. Then she can go back to her apartment and back to her super normal, kind-of boring life. "Do I need to remind you of your life pre-Sango?"

"I'm a changed man," Miroku replies easily, grinning. He pushes Inuyasha into the booth and soon Kagome can feel him pressed up against her side. She glares out the window into the parking lot. This cannot be happening. What did she get herself into?

His thighs are really, really firm.

He could definitely do things with them.

"So…" The word is drawled out, incredibly smug and Kagome looks back towards the best friend. He's smiling, but it looks like he's trying to suppress it. A self-satisfied look without being one outright. The guy knows – of course he knows. This Miroku guy is just playing along to try and catch Inuyasha out.

For a second, Kagome remembers the desperate look the demon had shot up to the ceiling.

Yeah, no. Miroku can't win this one.

As strange as it is, Kagome is going to be the best damn five-minute girlfriend a guy could ask for.

Ignoring his thighs – so strong – she cuddles up into his side. She smiles at Miroku, sweetly. Inuyasha tenses beside her and she wills him to chill out, to relax. He picked her after all. He can play along with this charade he created.

It takes him a long few seconds, but slowly the demon relaxes and tosses an arm around the back of the booth, hand grazing at her shoulder. Ah yes, what a cute picture they make.

Miroku's grin doesn't even falter. "How did you two meet?"

"Funny story," Kagome replies instantly, rapid fire. "It was actually right here. I was coming back from teaching and wanted some Starbucks before grading papers. We met in line. You've seen his face," she goes on, throwing his words back at him. "I flirted with him while we wanted."

"Inuyasha hates being flirted with," Miroku says back. "He gets mean."

"Oh, he got mean," Kagome replies back airily. She tilts to the side and looks up at his face, trying to embody a girl who's incredibly fond of her boyfriend. She hasn't dated in so long it's a bit awful to think about. Her PhD has kept her busy, between her thesis and the classes and the grading and the TA hours and everything else. "But he was also blushing a little so I figured I had a shot."

"Hey, your pick-up line was terrible," Inuyasha says. He makes a face at her and the way his nose scrunches up is not cute at all. It's actually not, he kind of looks ridiculous. Kagome laughs at him and shoves at his chest playfully.

Bad idea. Bad idea.

His chest is so defined. Even a brief feel is like touching marble.

He probably looks like a god under those clothes.

"It worked, didn't it?" she asks, proud that her voice is only a little bit strangled.

"Aren't you a little young to be a professor?" Miroku demands suddenly, bringing himself back into the conversation.

Kagome shakes her head. "PhD candidate, not a professor. But I have teaching assignments under my advisor."

"You always told me I needed to date smarter girls," Inuyasha states.

Miroku smiles then, and it turns borderline evil. "But how smart can it be to date someone that looks exactly like your ex?"

Kagome blinks and tries to hide her shock. She doesn't actually care because they're not actually dating, but wow. That was a bomb the best friend just dropped. Clearly, there was something going on between them that she didn't want to get in the middle of. How many more minutes were there even left?

"She does not," Inuyasha replies, but it sounds weak even to her own ears.

Shrugging, Kagome bluffs her way through it, just like everything else. "I already know about her and we don't look that much alike. Why are you even bringing her up? I thought you were trying to learn about me?"

Miroku snorts but puts his hands up, pacifying. "Look, I'm sorry. But I have to watch out for him, you know? You weren't there to pick up that mess."

"Fair enough," she replies, picking up her coffee and taking a sip.

"She's not Kikyo," Inuyasha says quietly. It's the least aggressive thing he's said the whole ten minutes she's known him. Kagome shifts to look at him, but he's pointedly staring at his friend. "And we've just started dating so give her a break. I was a lot nicer about Sango."

His friend seems to pause at that. His blue eyes are focused only on Inuyasha until he suddenly relents, nodding. "Yeah, okay." He looks at Kagome then and this time there's no smug smile or hidden glee. He's just looking at her and holds out his hand. "I'm Miroku, by the way. Let's try for a proper introduction. I'm Inuyasha's asshole friend, like you said."

Kagome hesitates for only a second before taking it, shaking once. "No more interrogation?"

"Well, not right now," Miroku replies, shaking his head. He slides out of the booth and stands up, checking his watch. "I'm technically late meeting my fiancée for a wedding appointment. I may get killed but this was still totally worth it." His lips quirk upwards, the barest hint of a smile. "Oh, and good luck meeting Izayoi. You may need it."

Puzzled, Kagome plays along and tries to pass it off. "Thanks."

"No worries." He does that half-smile again before he salutes towards Inuyasha. "See you later?"

"Yeah," the demon replies gruffly. Miroku makes some hand gesture Kagome doesn't understand – nothing rude, she doesn't think – but Inuyasha rolls his eyes.

Miroku leaves Starbucks and the two of them sit there in the booth, quiet. Kagome's recovering from the shock of the last bit, sipping on her coffee and debating if the whole thing was worth escaping the boredom of her apartment. Her mother's voice rings in her head then, a tidbit from their last conversation.

I'm worried about you. You've always had so many people around you and you're alone up there.

Kagome wasn't alone, per se. But her friends from university had moved on already, two of them exiting with bachelor's and the other happy to stop at a master's degree. Kagome was the only one that stayed. She loves her campus and her school. Her advisor is great and while the work is a lot, she makes it by. She socializes with co-workers every once and a while but none of them were her friends and that was…that.

"Uh, sorry about him."

Kagome blinks and looks over at the demon, who is pointedly not looking at her. He's staring kind of intently at the table. A pang of sympathy hits her and Kagome goes for broke. "It wasn't that bad," she replies. Her hand pats his knee under the table.

Wait.

Kagome looks down at where they're pressed together – because they were pressed together to trick his friend – but her hand somehow made its way onto the guy's knee. Dear god. She jerks away, trying not to be overly obvious, but then something is brushing against her neck and it's Inuyasha's hand. Because his arm is still around her.

Right.

"We should–" Kagome starts but Inuyasha is already scrambling up and out of the booth, pulling himself away. He's still not looking at her, and for some reason it's now become irritating. She just pretended to fake date him and got hounded by his so-called friend who did it all to catch Inuyasha in the act of lying. The least she deserved was some kind of eye contact.

She stands up and crosses her arms. "At least I can say something exciting happened today."

Inuyasha snorts and rubs at his face with a hand. The guy looks straight-up defeated. "He definitely didn't believe any of it."

"Well obviously not," Kagome replies. She tries to sound gentle and mostly succeeds. "To be fair though, he was clearly out for blood. I hope he's not like that with every girl you meet."

"Eh." Inuyasha makes a seesawing motion with his hands. "Recently, yeah."

"Since the whole wedding thing?" Kagome guesses.

The golden-eyed man exhales loudly. "Before. He's like a goddamn mother hen. It drives me nuts."

And he truly does look exasperated. Kagome can't help but laugh a little at that. "Well, I guess it's good you have friends that care about you, right?"

"Maybe," the guy answers back darkly and Kagome shakes her head, amused.

"Thanks for the coffee," she says casually. She really should be trying to exit as fast as possible, to go back to her apartment and do all the work she desperately needed to do. She takes a step and he does too, heading towards the door. Whatever, they can leave together.

"It's kind of the least I could do," Inuyasha replies, easy enough. "Sorry he went all crazy on you."

Kagome steps outside into the warm, autumn air. The summer seems to refuse to leave but she can't be bothered to complain about it. It makes walking to campus so much easier. "How did he even find you? You seemed pissed as hell before he even walked in." It makes her pause, and frown. "How did you know he was coming?"

Inuyasha points to his ears. "Half-demon, I could hear him talking to Sango on his cell phone outside. He kept going on and on about catching me."

"So, he stalked you to meet your girlfriend?"

Inuyasha winces. "Two weeks ago, Miroku and Sango – my friend and his fiancée – announced this big weekend getaway thing they wanted to do with the whole party. It's not big but I'm the only one without a date. Again." He rolls his eyes like he doesn't care, but the way he crosses his arms defensively tells another story. "And in a moment of frustration I lied and told him I had a girlfriend, and that I'd need the plus one."

"But you didn't."

Inuyasha makes a face at her.

Kagome laughs again and holds her hands up in surrender. "I'm just trying to get the full picture!"

"Whatever," he mumbles. He shoves his hands into his jean pockets, all of a sudden a little awkward.

For some reason, the slump of his shoulders seems to get to her – just like back in the coffee shop, and by now she should know better – so Kagome pushes at him playfully. She purposefully hits his shoulder, because she doesn't need to feel his chest again, thank you very much. "It was nice meeting you," Kagome says, the first words that come to her mind. They're not exactly a lie. "I have to go this way though so…" She gestures behind her and Inuyasha makes yet another face.

"Yeah, me too."

"Oh." Well, whatever. They can walk together. It's not like she'll lead him to her apartment or anything. "Sure, where are you going?"

"The Central Library," he responds. He starts to move forward and Kagome's helpless but to spin around and walk with him, keeping pace. He's not really walking all that fast, so either he's shortening his strides or it's just wishful thinking.

Kagome bites the inside of her cheek. What a stupid thought.

She tries to focus on something else – anything else – and then the sentence hits her. The library? She looks at him again, but the guy doesn't seem that young. He can't be a student, no way. Maybe another candidate like her? "Are you still in school?" she asks, hesitantly.

Inuyasha spares her a quick glance before shaking his head. "Yeah, definitely not. Got out of there as fast as I could. My mom works at the library so I go and have lunch with her."

That's adorable.

The thought blindsides her, completely unwanted and Kagome has to glare at the sidewalk to get her head on straight. "That's…really nice," she answers. Her voice comes out mostly level, so she'll chalk it up to a win. That must have been the Izayoi that Miroku was referring to, before he left Starbucks. "Is Izayoi your mom?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha replies. "I told Miroku that I was going to take you to see her. Or, well– Not you, but–" He groans, aggravated. "You know what I mean. He was trying to annoy me with the fact I didn't have a girlfriend, so I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. Too bad I've known Miroku my entire life. He knew I'd go to Starbucks first, like I always do before I see her."

"And so he followed you to meet the so-called girlfriend," Kagome concludes. "He's persistent, I'll give him that."

"He had to be to get Sango to notice him as anything other than a playboy."

Kagome hums in response. "Bringing up your ex seemed like a really shitty thing to do, though."

Inuyasha winces but shakes his head. "Not really. He actually– It's kind of a long story."

Shrugging, Kagome leaves it at that. She doesn't actually know the guy and making claims about how good his friends are isn't really something she can rightfully judge. Miroku had suggested he was the one to take care of Inuyasha after whatever happened between him and his ex. If the break-up was bad enough, Miroku may have had every right.

Inuyasha seems really tense at the subject, so Kagome blurts out the first thing the comes to her mind. "I can't really talk because my last ex-boyfriend was like, six years ago. So."

This gets the silver-haired half-demon to stare at her. If she isn't mistaken, she's pretty sure that's disbelief in his eyes. "What?"

Kagome shrugs. "What?" she presses back. "I've been busy."

"That busy?" Inuyasha asks, and yeah, that's definitely incredulousness. "I don't even really like people and I've dated…more than that. Barely, but Miroku likes to play Dr. Phil and says I have massive trust issues."

From your ex-girlfriend? She doesn't say it, but the thought flits through her mind. She shrugs again, trying for indifference. "There's always a lot to do. Between completing my thesis project and working under my advisor, and the teaching and grading, and travelling back and forth to see my family… It hasn't really come up?" And no guy has really caught her attention, not since her ex from undergrad.

"Huh." Inuyasha gazes at her for a moment longer before turning his attention back to the sidewalk. His expression is strange, but nothing she can decipher. Kagome's irritated to realize that she wants to figure out what that looks means. She pushes the thought aside.

"So where do you work?" she asks, trying to sound casual. It's not a gentle probe to learn more about the guy, it's not.

Inuyasha freezes for one second before relaxing, looking almost embarrassed. "Uh, I teach youth programs. Self-defence, sports, that kind of thing. And I do personal training on the side. Another friend of mine owns a gym, so… He lets me take clients there if I need to."

"That's really cool," Kagome tells him, honestly. "The kids must love it."

Inuyasha exhales loudly, sounding almost exasperated, but there's a tiny quirk of his lip that suggests he's fond of the idea. "They're a pain in the ass."

"Then why teach them?" she pushes, weirdly desperate to know. The guy doesn't look like someone who loves kids hanging off of him all day every day. He seems closed-off, and a little mouthy. She can't imagine him teaching a six-year-old how to play baseball.

Inuyasha shrugs, playing indifference. Kagome doesn't buy it for a second. "I spent a lot of time there, when I was kid. Single mom, working… I had a lot of energy and my mom's human so she could barely keep up with me most days. She'd take me to the rec centre while she had to work. I kind of grew up there."

That–

Kagome pointedly looks ahead, completely at a loss for what to say. She knows admittedly nothing about the guy but all of this conversation just… Kind of blew expectations out of the water.

She wants to know more. Really wants a chance to know more.

It surprises her just how much she wants that, since she hasn't felt the need for it in a long, long time.

He nudges her shoulder then, an innocent gesture that feels far too familiar. He's smirking at her a little and Kagome is fully distracted. "So you're getting your PhD?"

"Hopefully," Kagome answers. "If the work doesn't kill me first. I never honestly thought I'd stay in school for this long."

"How much longer until you're done?" Inuyasha asks. For a moment, he steps a little bit closer to avoid something lying on the sidewalk, and Kagome remembers a flash of when they were pressed up together in the booth.

"Two more years, as long as I don't mess up." Kagome gives him a rueful look. "But I have so much to do I rather not think about school right now."

"Then what about…the weather?"

"Really?"

Inuyasha makes a face. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"The weather is a great topic."

"Thought so."

Kagome waits but the half-demon doesn't say anything and so the two of them just walk, side-by-side. Up ahead is the intersection she needs to cross, and she realizes then that time is almost up. She honestly can't believe all of this started from some stupid fake dating charade.

Kagome changes her mind, refusing to look back. Maybe the whole charade had been worth it. Before she can lose her nerve, she grabs her phone from her pocket. "What's your number?" she asks, hoping she sounds confident. She's pretty sure it doesn't but tries to bluff her way through again, just like earlier.

Inuyasha stares at her for a second, blankly. She has no idea what's going through his mind. Maybe, if he takes her up on it, she can figure that out too. "Here," he says finally, and takes the phone from her. It's only a moment before she hears the sound of a quick vibrate, likely his own phone he sent a text message to. Kagome hides her smile.

"Now you can tell me how it goes when you admit to your friends we weren't actually dating." Kagome takes her phone back and stops at the intersection, waiting for the lights to change. If Inuyasha is actually going to the public library, then he needs to continue on straight while she veers to the right. She ignores the part of her that's secretly glad for the wait.

Inuyasha shrugs at her but then a slow smirk covers his face. He's not looking at her when he asks, "What if we actually go out on a date? Then I wasn't really lying, right?"

Kagome takes a deep breath. A date. Yeah, she really wants to do that. "I guess not," she replies, easily enough.

At that, the golden-eyed man does look at her. His gaze is as intense as ever and Kagome really, really wants to see what it would be like to keep that attention on her. "Then I guess I'll call you."

The light changes and Kagome gives in to the smile. She waves at him and steps onto the road. "Then I guess it's a date." She takes in one last picture of him, because damn that boy is attractive. She's not exactly sure how things are going to go. If this moment, right here, is the most perfect one they're going to get and the dates go terribly, horribly wrong.

But it feels good, strangely enough.

She turns around and refuses to glance back, to see if he's still watching her. She makes it back to her apartment, the walk almost a haze of everything that's happened. Tossing her bag on the floor and her cell phone on the kitchen counter, she heads towards her bedroom to change.

When she gets back, her phone is lit up with a text message. The name reads Inuyasha Taisho.

Tomorrow?

Kagome looks towards her bag, overstuffed with papers to grade and a laptop that contains her building thesis project. There's so much to do, and so little time.

But.

Where and when?

If her smile is a little bigger than usual, then well… No one's around to see it anyways.

The End

I'm going to need a miracle to finish out these 12 days, you have no idea.

Feedback, as always, is love.