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It was late and they really should have been asleep an hour ago, but instead they were up and watching what Kagome called a "rom-com". The future was always thinking up these weird compound words trying to make things more complicated than they needed to be. In his time there were two kinds of plays- Noh and kyogen- and everyone got on just fine. Just because you could watch a play whenever you wanted instead of waiting for a festival there was a sudden need for fifteen different types? It was stupid. The future was stupid. And this play was even stupider.
They were getting to Kagome's favorite part: the bold declaration. Human courting was so ... intricate. Demons were much simpler. Head of an enemy. Supply of winter meat. Blood for blood. Direct. Simple. Although he would say he was impressed with the "apartment key" concept. Sharing a den made sense, and since people in Kagome's time seemed to live alone it was an obvious sign of protection and providing. But this one seemed... unimpressive. All the guy had done was empty a drawer. He had a whole home to himself, a giant futon, a fridge full of food… and all he gave his intended was a dresser drawer?
"I don't get it."
"Don't get what, Inuyasha?"
"Why is she so excited? It's a drawer. The last time you made me watch this shit it atleast made sense when they shared a house. This is just making a big deal out of nothing."
She twisted on the couch to face him, her brows drawn together in concentration.
"Well, they aren't ready for that yet, not with all the craziness in their lives. Moving in together is a big step- not as big as it used to be because they aren't automatically married- but it's still a huge change. Clearing out the drawer for her says he still wants her to be there as much as possible and even stay the night, so she'd need spare clothes and a toothbrush. It's not moving in together but it's something."
Hmph. It still didn't seem like a lot, but he didn't argue. Kagome turned back to the tv with a yawn, letting her head lull to the side and rest against Inuyasha's shoulder. She'd been doing that a lot lately. While he wasn't completely sure what it was supposed to mean he did know he'd rather have Sesshaumaru's hand through his guts again than stop her.
By the time the play ended Kagome was sound asleep, a small bit of drool threatening to fall out of her mouth and onto his suikan any second. He turned off the TV and scooped her up, his belly filling with butterflies when she unconsciously nuzzled her face into his chest. He slowly carried her up the stairs and placed her on the bed, setting her sleeping form on the side closest to the wall.
Up until recently he would have put her right in the middle and then taken his own rest under the window. But as he spent more time in Kagome's era she'd insisted he share the bed with her. He'd refused, saying it wasn't proper. But then she reminded him they'd done it before when he fell asleep accidentally and nothing bad had happened - her mother had even walked in on them and said nothing. The future was weird, but the bed was really comfortable.
Sliding off his suikan and kosode he took the three steps to cross the room and opened the top drawer of Kagome's dresser. He ran his hand through the contents. It wasn't much - a pair of dark grey slacks, a green t-shirt, his red hoodie, some pajamas for when he was washing his hakama, and a baseball cap. There was even a fundoshi made out of a bright blue modern fabric. Sota kept trying to convince him to try something called "boxers" ever since the first time he went out in modern garb. He'd borrowed clothes from both Sota and Gramps, but neither was actually his size. While it was one thing to borrow their clothes he was not going to borrow their underwear, so his fundoshi remained firmly in place. He saw no reason to change that now.
He claimed the tshirt - not being comfortable with the idea of sleeping in just his skin in Kagome’s bed - and took a quick sniff of the thin fabric. It smelled like a mix of both him and Kagome.
It smelled like home.
The sudden realization smacked him in the face. Here he was, staring at a drawer filled with his own set of clothes - clothes that smelled like home . And they were his. It wasn’t his like he had his side of the bed or his favorite cup in the cabinet. --Although, now that he thought about it, when had those things entered his life?-- But these weren’t borrowed, or shared, or handed down. These were just his. He’d never had something that was just his own before and now he had enough to fill a drawer. His drawer.
He remembered what Kagome had told him earlier and started thinking. Maybe they were just like the couple in the play. As much as he might want it, now was not the time to ask Kagome about starting a life with him. There was too much they still needed to do; too many people depending on them. But even still, Kagome had made it clear she wanted him around as much as possible.
Was this… was Kagome courting him? Had he been oblivious this whole time? In his era it was the man’s responsibility to court the woman, and in all the modern plays he’d seen it was the same. The man gave the woman a drawer. Or a key. Or a … or clothes.
Holy fuck.
He stood there, still shirtless, in the middle of the room staring wide eyed at the half-occupied bed. She’d said sharing the bed was pragmatic. Her mother had seen them sharing. Did her mother know about the drawer? Stupid question, she’d seen him in the clothes half a dozen times. So… did that mean Mama approved?
Holy fuck.
Slowly, Inuyasha pulled the shirt over his head and walked over to the bed. Pulling back the covers on his side - a blush splashed across his cheeks at the newfound implications of that concept - he settled into the mattress. His weight never seemed to move the bed the way Kagome’s did, and he was able to slide in without waking her. Emboldened by his new realization, he draped his arm across her waist, nuzzling his nose into the crown of her hair. He took a deep, slow breath through his nose letting his brain completely cloud over with her scent. The future was definitely weird, but in that moment it mostly just felt like home.