#i spend too long on bgs i need to learn to turn my brain off & just do them

[red-dyed-sarumane]

one of these days i should go thru my landscapes tag and actually use them as refs as intended. just brain off try to paint all that. & add a little anime girl for my own joy

[sugarless-suki-writes]

Big God

Fandom: Inuyasha Rating: M Word Count: 2,845 Chapters: 4 of ?

Read on FF||Ao3

Support me on Ko-Fi!

Chapter Four

Kagome let out a groan as her alarm started blaring at her. She whined, keeping her face buried in her pillow as her hand reached for her phone. She put it on snooze and grumbled into her pillow. She didn’t want to go to work...

It was 5 am and she was really not feeling up for anything. She wasn’t human yet. However, as her alarm started blaring at her once again, she grumbled and turned it off, slowly getting into a sitting position. She ran her hands over her face, rubbing into her eyes, and then brushed her bangs out of her face. She would need to get them trimmed soon....

She yawned and threw her blankets off of herself and stepped out of bed. A chill ran up her spine as her bare feet hit the cold hardwood floors. She quickly made her way to her bathroom, her arms crossed over her chest. Once she was in, she turned on the light, closed the door, and started the water for her shower. She usually bathed at night.. but after her.... activity last night, she felt it would be best to wash up before she went in.

She pulled her shirt over her head and peeled off her underwear and stepped towards the tub. She ran her hand under the water. Satisfied with the heat, she pulled back the curtain more, allowing herself room to step in, then closed it and started to wash up.

She would’ve loved to have stayed under the warm water for at least 30 minutes, but she had a job she needed to get to. So, she was quick to bathe and dry off. She hung up her towel and walked out of the bathroom and to her room. She closed the door behind herself and started looking around for clothes. She didn’t have many options, all she really had to do was decide what color scrubs she wanted to wear today, really.

She decided on maroon for the day and once she was dressed, she reached for her phone. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she saw she had a message from Kouga.. from 10 minutes ago. She unlocked her phone and read what he sent her.

[ Good morning, doc. Sleep well? ]

She quirked an eyebrow and tapped out a quick reply.

[ Morning. I slept alright... what are you doing up? ]

She slipped her phone into her pocket and made her way back to the bathroom. She pulled her hair up into a bun and then set to brushing her teeth. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth out. She then pulled the device out of her pocket and read the message he sent her.

[ I’m a youkai, I don’t sleep ]

Her brain tried to put this in a way different context than what she was sure he intended. She blushed fiercely at her own dirty thoughts and did her best to push last night far out of her mind.

[ But how did you know I’d be up to get your message? ]

[ Lucky guess ]

She chuckled at how quick he had answered her. She went to reply, but he sent another message.

[ And hope (^_-) ]

The blush staining her cheeks darkened, but she rolled her eyes, trying to play it off.

[ Well, I hope you know I might not be able to talk much. It gets really busy at a hospital ]

She put her phone back in her pocket and gathered her things. She then made her way to the door, slipping on her shoes, and left her apartment. She put her keys in her purse, then adjusted the strap as she made her way down the stairs and out into the street. Her phone vibrated again and she pulled it out as she entered the alleyway. The same one she had found him in.

[ That’s fine, as long as we get to talk at least a little ]

Kagome felt her heart stutter in her chest. Gods... she really couldn’t handle this right now... She bit her lip and considered her reply. It took her a bit longer than she’d like to admit... but her head was muddied.

[ Well, it’s definitely going to be a little. But I can try to talk to you in between saving lives all day ^_−☆ ]

[ That’s all I could hope for (^з^)-☆ ]

She locked her phone and put it back in her pocket. No no no no no no no no no! She could not start her day like this.. all... blushy and distracted. Her head was not in a good place for work right now.. She needed to calm down..

She sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out before going into the ER. She made her way to her station and clocked in and put her things away. She then grabbed her coat, putting it on, along with hanging a stethoscope around her neck. She picked up her pager, attaching it to her waistband, and stepped out into the fray.

-BG-

Kagome plopped down into the chair in the cafeteria, holding her head in her hands for a moment. It had been about 4 hours and she finally had a break long enough to sit down and eat. She had three days off and was immediately thrown into a 12-hour shift. She was going to die. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out. It was Kouga. Right, she had never replied to him this morning.

[ Hey, how are you holding up in there? ]

She smiled and tapped out a quick reply.

[ I’m.. something, haha. It’s crazy. I’m just now sitting down to eat ]

She set her phone down on the table next to her and opened up her salad. She poured the dressing on and then mixed it. Her phone vibrated again.

[ Oh wow.. Well, milk it for all you can... by talking to me ]

She snorted and shoved a bite of her salad into her mouth.

[ And what’s so great about you that I should spend my very short break talking to you? ]

[ Where should I start? ]

She shook her head, chuckling to herself.

[ I dunno, you tell me ]

[ Alright, I will ]

[ For one, I’m pretty funny ]

[ Oh really now? ]

[ Definitely. And I’ve been told I’m highly attractive ]

[ By who? Yourself? ]

[ By you, yesterday ]

Her cheeks flared and she had to set her phone down for a moment. She didn’t know why she thought that maybe, maybe he hadn’t noticed her ogling him. Of course he had, he was a youkai, and she wasn’t very good at hiding her ogling yesterday... She took a sip of her water and picked her phone back up to reply.

[ I don’t believe I said anything remotely like that ]

[ You didn’t have to ]

[ Oh really now? ]

[ Yeah, your staring told me everything I need to know ]

Alright.. two could play at this game..

[ And what about you, huh? If I recall correctly, I’m pretty sure you were staring at me too ]

[ I couldn’t help myself. Can you really blame me though? ]

She stilled for a moment, trying her best to will her cheeks to cool and not melt off her face.

[ And why’s that? ]

[ Have you never looked in a mirror? ]

This was it, this is how she would die. Gods....

[ What’s your point? ]

[ You’re also highly attractive ]

[ You’re not even trying to hide your flirting now, are you? ]

[ And you are? ]

Was she being obvious? She knew her staring had been but....

She stuck her tongue in her cheek. She didn’t have to put up with this. She wasn’t... She didn’t have the time for all this! She furiously typed out a message to him.

[ Aren’t you supposed to be causing trouble somewhere? ]

Ah yes, avoidance. The best card she had in her hand.

[ Nah, we did enough of that last night ]

[ Oh? ]

[ Yeah, it was a full moon last night. That’s when the wolves come out. I thought you knew ☆〜（ゝ。∂）]

She rolled her eyes, trying to ignore any innuendo her brain tried to tell her was hidden in the message.

[ I didn’t know youkai followed the rules of werewolf legends, let alone a group of delinquent youkai ]

[ Where do you think those legends came from? ]

[ And even delinquents follow some rules ]

[ Guess I never thought of that ]

Before she could get a reply back, her pager started going off. Kagome let out a sigh and locked her phone, slipping it back into her pocket. Thankfully she had managed to finish her salad while she had been texting. She got up from her seat and tossed the container in the recycling bin and set back to work.

-BG-

Kagome let out a sigh as she stepped out of the hospital. She ended up staying back an extra 2 ½ hours after her shift was supposed to be over. She had gotten a last-minute patient that needed immediate surgery, surgery that required her skills. There were a lot of complications, not to mention she had Kaede shadowing her so she could see firsthand how using reiki in the field worked. Sure, they learned a lot of stuff in hypotheticals and ran drills, but it was nothing like practicing these skills in a real-life situation with real life stakes at hand.

The miko ran a hand through her bangs, momentarily lifting them from her face before letting them flop back down.  It was around 8:30 and so the sun was set and the moon was working its way up into the sky. She couldn’t see it as of right now, as it was hiding behind the buildings. Not that it really mattered; there was enough light for her to see and feel safe.

She started her walk home, pulling her phone out of her pocket and unlocking it, finding it opened to her messages with Kouga. Right....

[ Too busy thinking about me to consider others? ]

She snorted.

[ Someone’s confident, aren’t they? I’ll have you know, I was able to do a lot of work today without thinking of you once ]

It was a lie and she knew it, but he didn’t have to know that.

[ Ouch... Not only are you late to reply, but you hurt me on top of it? Not cool, Kags. I thought you were all about saving lives, not damaging them ]

She quirked an eyebrow at the nickname.

[ I hadn’t realized we were close enough to give each other nicknames ]

[ I thought we were with how you were staring at me ]

She blushed and pulled her lip in between her teeth, gnawing on it for a couple seconds.

[ So what are you up to? ]

She knew she could only get so far with dodging the subject, but she would milk it while she could.

[ Nothing too much. How about you? Still at work? ]

She let out a small breath of relief. At least he was letting her change the subject, she had to give him points for that.

[ Nah, just got off. You wouldn’t BELIEVE the day I’ve had ]

[ Well, tell me about it ]

She really didn’t know what to do or say... but it seemed like her fingers did, as she began to type up a storm. She, of course, left out the names of her patients and certain details, as there was Patient/Doctor confidentiality, but she went off about her day, giving the youkai what details she could. She ended up breaking her rant into five messages, the fifth one being quite a bit shorter than the rest. Her rant had really made time cut down though, as when she looked up she was face to face with her complex. She let out a sigh, grateful to be home, and started making her way up the steps. Her phone vibrated in her hand.

[ Oh wow.. that does sound really hectic ]

[ Yeah.. it really was.. (◞‸◟) ]

Kagome was about to put her phone in her pocket so she could grab her keys for her door, but stopped short. There was a basket in front of her door, a basket full of food. A large basket of food.... She stepped closer, cautious. Crouching down, she inspected it more closely. It was full of fruits: mandarins, apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. As she looked further, she found a small card that was tucked behind an apple. She pulled it out, looking at the small scrap of paper and holding it closer to the light so she could read it.

-From Kouga

Her eyebrows furrowed together and she stood back up. She backed away slightly, just enough to be able to snap a good picture of the basket. Before the wolf had the chance to reply to her previous message, she sent him the photo and asked:

[ What’s this? ]

There was a bit of a pause before he replied

[ It’s food ]

[ I can see that, but why is it here? In front of my door? With your name on it? ]

[ I told you I could bring you food ]

She.... What?

[ I thought you were joking ]

[ I thought you were challenging me ]

Kagome was honestly, wholly and truly, at a loss for words. She had been joking but... had he really been serious about feeding her? She stood there, mouth slightly agape as she tried to process the situation at hand.

Her experience with youkai was limited; she knew how to heal them with reiki without purifying them, she knew how to take them down if necessary, and customs-wise... she really only knew about inus, and even that was severely limited. Was this... something wolf youkai did? She would need to ask Sango....

Her phone vibrated in her hand.

[ Are you going to take it? ]

Her head instinctively whipped around, trying to see if she could spot him, if he was here or not. She would’ve pulsed her reiki out, but she was tired, and she didn’t have much to work with.... She didn’t see him.. Of course she didn’t, he wasn’t here... She let out a huff and replied.

[ Yeah, thank you. You didn’t have to though... ]

[ Well I beg to differ. I have to prove myself somehow ]

[ Yeah, alright ]

She rolled her eyes, shoving her phone in her pocket, unlocking the door, and picking up the basket and stepping inside. She closed the door behind her, using her foot, and then toed off her shoes. She carried the basket further into the apartment, setting it on the counter before going back to the door and locking it. With that done, she walked back into the living area and pulled her phone back out of her pocket.

[ So what do you think of it? ]

[ It’s really nice. Why so big though? ]

[ I told you I would feed you ]

[ Again, I thought you were joking ]

[ Again, I thought you were challenging me ]

She rolled her eyes, going over to the couch and plopping down on it.

[ Well, it’s night now. Shouldn’t you be going out and wreaking havoc? ]

[ I’d rather talk to you ]

Her cheeks burned fiercely.

[ Well, I won’t be up for much longer. I’ve got another shift tomorrow and I need to get some form of sleep in ]

[ Well in that case, I won’t keep you. Need you to get your beauty sleep, even though you’re already quite beautiful ]

[ Don’t get stabbed again ]

[ I won’t ]

[ Unless that’s the only way I’ll get to see you ]

[ Goodnight ]

[ Goodnight, Kagome ]

She held her phone tightly in her hand, trying hard to squash her ever growing feelings. She couldn’t do this... not right now... She was too busy. She was a doctor. He was in the yakuza.... There was no way this could ever work....

But maybe it could....

She shook her head, furiously. No no no no no no no! She was not doing this! She was... This was... His blue eyes flashed in her mind, along with his muscles and his fangs and claws and she felt this heat pool in her abdomen, causing her to squeeze her legs together. She was so fucking screwed....