His Money's Worth

"That jerk!" her inner voice screamed-no, shrieked-at her as she tore down the crowded streets of Shibuya, which were alive with its inhabitants seeking an exciting nightlife. She was positive she looked as if she fit perfectly within the world of fashionable teenagers, college students, and young people having a good time with their friends and significant others on that warm, Saturday night. But, of course, that would have been if she hadn't been bawling her eyes.

"Sorry, Kagome..." his words echoed clearly in the recesses of her memory. "But why the hell should I buy what I can get for free?"

Blinded by the tears and fueled by her desire to get as far away from the nightclub as possible, she didn't notice the group of guys she plowed into until experienced the "running-into-a-brick-wall" sensation that sent her flying backwards onto the sidewalk, and a gruff voice yelling something along the lines of, "Watch where you're going, you bitch!"

Kagome looked up in time for one of the five boys she'd crashed into to break into a startled blush. When she'd first run into him, he thought she was some stupid, ugly chick not paying attention. But as she laid there, picking herself up, he couldn't have been more wrong. One: ugly chicks didn't have amazing, long hair that was slightly curly. They didn't have mirror-colored eyes, either. Of course, he thought with a smirk, they also didn't wear black, denim mini-skirts that were currently hiked up around her thighs and showing her pure, white panties, either. She stood up quickly-finding a little trouble in balancing herself on the four-inch high platform sandals Sango had lent her-and pulled down her skirt before adjusting the white halter top.

"I-I'm really sorry," she mumbled out. It was hard to bring her voice up any further when all of the guys looked as if they wanted to fuck her right then and there on the spot. Plus, she was positive she looked like an idiot for crying. "I have to go."

She tried to make a hasty retreat, but when one of the guys grabbed her hand and asked what her rush was, Kagome knew her retreat wasn't going to be as hasty as it had hoped. The guy touching her hand looked like a no-account delinquent who had probably been expelled from whatever school more times than he had teeth in his mouth. His friends weren't exactly all that attractive either. Plastering a fake smile to his face, he slipped his arm around her shoulder.

"Aww, what's the matter, baby, did you and your man have a fight?"

"Yeah," another of his friends chuckled in a nasty sort of way. "You should come with us. We'll make you feel better!"

With a small groan of disgust, Kagome tried to pull away from the group of creepers, but she couldn't risk making a scene in the middle of downtown Shibuya. Who knew what might happen? God, could this night have gotten any worse? Her boyfriend was a complete dick, she'd publicly embarrassed herself, and now, she was probably going to be dragged to some sleezy hotel...

Scratch that; it would probably an alley. These guys didn't look like the type who would throw down money for a hotel.

Clearly, someone hated upstairs hated her.

"Hey!" a sharp and hard voice yelled out. "What the fuck do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?"

Kagome and her new male "friends" could see a tall, dark-haired man skulking towards them. He looked like he could be in their group-or at least a biker gang of his own-what with his long, black hair streaked with noticeable red highlights; a pair of jeans, a black top, and wearing a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off. Actions spoke louder than words; all he did was walking to Kagome, grab her hand, and yank her away from the crowd of boys before storming off with her. Kagome, shocked by seeing him of all people, could do nothing but he dragged along. When they finally stopped, it was in front of a park bench slightly away from the hustle and bustle of the city. He turned around and looked at her. She'd obviously been crying, and who could blame her? Kagome stared down at her toes and bit back a whimper as more tears began slowly welling up in her eyes.

"Y-you didn't...have to do that."

He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned his head away from her with a sigh. She was probably mad at every, single man on this planet even if they'd never done anything to her. Even he was innocent-it was that bastard boyfriend that had made her cry at the Date Auction.

"Besides," she hiccupped a little. "My boyfriend wouldn't ever come after me. I'm not worth it, remember?"

At this, he turned and stared at her incredulously. Before he could tell her just how fucking wrong she was, she sat down on the bench and cried more. He sat next beside her, stunned when she turned and buried her face into his chest. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her and allowed her to cry just as loudly or as messily as she wanted. Well, maybe not loudly-after all, he didn't want passerby's to give him credit for what was another man's work. The had both been at the date auction thrown by their university's Gay Pride organization-and the only reason he had gone to a gay date auction in the first place because word around campus was that Jakotsu, the president of said affiliation, had managed to get a single Ally to be in the date auction-and the ally happened to be a young, attractive and completely straight first year student. Word on campus was that she also had a boyfriend, but details-shmetails. Jakotsu had been twisting his arm all week to attend; he was worried that no one would bid of his "little Kagome" because she was straight. Except maybe lesbians, but even then, Kagome tried getting it across that she wouldn't be comfortable with it. So, he ended up going. He had to admit, the club was pretty amazing, with two floors of stocked bars, dancing, music, and sporadic lights. He'd managed to drag his roommate with him-hell, if anything, Miroku would serve as his "boyfriend", and as a warning sign to keep other gay men away from him.

"I'd much rather be hitting on some of these women in here. Sad that lesbians gave up dick so soon, huh? I wonder how many of them I could turn..."

Inuyasha ignored his comment as they made their way through the club and to the bar, where Jakotsu was setting up. The place had a stage, but Jakotsu insisted on holding the auction on top of the bar where the auctioneers could use the bar as a runway of sorts. Jakotsu caught sight of the six-three sexgod-and his lesser, lecherous friend-and threw his arms around Inuyasha.

"Darling! I'm so glad you made it! Aren't you excited?"

Inuyasha returned the hug for a brief moment before Jakotsu released him and whirled around to show off his outfit: a tight, red blouse unbuttoned at the throat and a black, leather mini-skirt.

"Don't I just look stunning?" he asked as he stretched out one of his knee-high, boot-clad legs. "Check the footwear-only sixty dollars in Bakuro!"

"You look great," Inuyasha scanned the room for someone who fit Kagome's description, but came up short. "So, where's this ally of yours? When does the bidding begin?"

Jakotsu walked back over to the bar and grabbed a clipboard. After thumbing through a few pages, he found Kagome's name. She was in the last group of people being auctioned off.

"She's the second-to-last in the final group. Don't worry-hopefully the bidding will go quickly!"

He could only hope so. The rest of the night followed smoothly-when guys tried hitting on him, Miroku would play up his role of "fauxfriend", and scare off most of Inuyasha's suitors. Inuyasha, of course, did the same for any men who came sniffing after Miroku, but he didn't do anything to keep Miroku from hitting on a few girls there. There were only a handful of straight women-and Miroku counted bisexual as straight-that were willing to even give Miroku the time of day. Inuyasha chose to hang back by the bar. When the first half of the bidding was over, the bar became flooded with college students and their won dates. So far, the highest bid was for Jakotsu himself-he raked in close to a grand. No one would be able to top that, and so far, hadn't even tried. Inuyasha turned around in his seat at the bar to see a girl sitting a barstool away from him. His eyes roved over every inch of her, from her long, wavy hair, to her stunning eyes, and trailed down her nice little body. In his mind, she wasn't even wearing the white halter-top that snuggly held her breasts, or the denim mini-skirt that greatly complimented her legs that looked longer thanks to her platform heels. No, she was completely naked. So far, she was the only girl that had managed to grab his attention all night. Who knows? Maybe she was one of the straight ones. She rubbed her temples in something of a soothing way, and quickly found his conversation starter.

"I don't know what's wrong, but it looks like your drink isn't even close to being strong enough."

She looked at him, then looked down at her drink. He was right about that-a mojito just wasn't doing it for her. Still, he was the only guy, aside from her asshole boyfriend, and any of the gay men, that had even bothered to speak with her that night. She turned around to face him and crossed one of her legs over the other.

"Well, if you're offering to buy me something stronger, I'll take it."

Seeing his opening, he moved one seat over and sat directly next to her. He called the bartender over by flashing a twenty and ordered his new friend a long island iced-tea while he decided to order a refill of his jack and coke. She held up her glass to his.

"To something stronger," she managed with a smile.

"To a pretty new face."

She seemed startled by his compliment, but took it nonetheless. She began slowly sipping on her sweet drink, all the while waiting for the rest of the contest to start. After he finished his drink and sat his glass back down on the bar, he asked her why she was so down, to which she responded with a shake of her head.

"Boyfriend issues."

Damn. Well, at least she was straight. If not straight, then at least bisexual. He was only glad Miroku's heat-seeking pheromones had missed her. Deciding to play the "shoulder to cry on", he asked her what was happening with him.

"Well, it's just..."

"Okay, everyone!" Jakotsu's called out over the microphone. "It's time to start our last round of bidding! So far, we've raised over two thousand dollars!"

Everyone, including Inuyasha and his new friend, cheered. For the next ten minutes, their conversation was put on hold by the remaining five people who had to be auctioned off. He couldn't help but notice how tense she was getting as things were winding down. Only when Jakotsu called out:

"And finally, for all of you straight men-and those in the closet-our only straight person of the night: Kagome Higurashi!"

Inuyasha finally understood when Jakotsu pulled her onto the bar. She broke into a smile and began walking back and forth while Jakotsu read off her bio.

"Kagome-chan here is a first-year student in the animal sciences program, she's an Aquarius, and she enjoys long, moonlit motorcycle rides! She enjoys swimming, dancing, karaoke, and shopping!"

People clapped for her, including Miroku, who had wandered back upon hear the word: "straight" to describe Kagome. He planted himself next to Inuyasha with a grin on his face.

"Finally! Man, I've been waiting for this all night!"

So, his best friend was now his bidding rival, huh? Once Jakotsu was done with her bio, he opened up the floor.

"Okay, everyone! Let's start the bidding at..."

"Ten dollars!" a gruff voice yelled from the crowd.

Inuyasha and Kagome wore almost the same look of disgust as they scanned the crowd for whatever loser had said that. Surely, she was worth so much more. Even Jakotsu seemed disgusted when he saw Kouga waving a ten-dollar bill back and forth. Apparently, he didn't think anyone was going to outbid him. Jakotsu cleared his throat and shot Inuyasha something of a look.

"Okay! The bidding starts at ten, apparently. Anyone want to raise the stakes?"

"Eighty!" Miroku yelled out, startling Inuyasha further.

Inuyasha gauged the ten-dollar bidder's look. He was glaring hardcore at Miroku, who didn't seem to mind or care. He looked up at Kagome, who was giving the ten-dollar bidder an all-suffering look. Slowly, the gears started to turn in Inuyasha's head, but just to make sure...

"One-fifty."

Kagome audibly gasped when she saw Inuyasha raise his hand and make a bid. She looked back at Kouga who was growling low in his throat. She could just tell, even if she couldn't hear him. Wasn't he going to raise his bid?

"Two-hundred." Miroku said, blatently challenging Inuyasha. He had a lot of love for his kindergarten playmate-turned college roommate, but Kagome was by far, the prettiest piece of straight ass he'd seen all night. Inuyasha stood up and walked in front of Kagome.

"Three-hundred."

"Four-fifty." Miroku said as he rose to Inuyasha's challenge. The crowd began to gasp excitedly-save, for Kouga, of course. What the hell did those two fuck-offs think they were doing bidding on his woman?

"Five-hundred." Inuyasha maintained.

It was all Jakotsu could do to keep from creaming himself. So far, the future of the Gay Pride organization on campus seemed so secure. Of course, he was furious at Kagome's boyfriend not raising the bid-God knows the little brat had all the money in the damn world. Or, at least his parents did. With the crowd's excitement growing, Jakotsu looked to Miroku.

"So far Inuyasha's in the lead! Well, Miroku? Are you dropping out?"

"Hell no! Seven hundred dollars for Kagome!"

"Eight." Inuyasha replied smugly.

Miroku reached into his coat pocket, wrapped his hand around his wallet, and pulled it out. Everyone watched excitedly as he thumb through nine, one-hundred dollar bills and slammed them down on the bar.

"Nine-hundred dollars! Final offer." He turned to his friend. "Top that, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha let out a long-suffering sigh and looked up at Kagome, who wasn't sure what to think. Why did they want to bid so high for her? She expected at minimum for someone to bid around fifty dollars. Miroku's bid would put her at the second highest bid of the night. It seemed as if the entire club had held it's breath to wait to see what Inuyasha would do. Jakotsu broke the tension for a moment.

"Now, you do know that all she is doing is going on one date with you guys, right? Nothing else is happening!"

Inuyasha waved Jakotsu down and he took the microphone.

"I think a date with Kagome," he smiled up at her. "Is worth at least two-thousand dollars. She's definitely worth more, but that's all I brought with me. Final offer."

The crowd broke into cheers, screaming, and sounds of shock and amazement. Jakotsu practically shrieked "SOLD" as she pointed at Inuyasha. He counted out twenty hundred dollar bills, put it on the bar next to Jakotsu, and extended his hand upwards to help Kagome down. She seemed hesitant about taking his hand. Why? Why would anyone pay that much money for her company? And someone she'd never even met before tonight, nonetheless. She placed her fingers attentively on his before giving her whole hand to him. He held her tight so she wouldn't fall and break her ankles in those expensive heels of hers. Miroku walked over to the couple and cuffed Inuyasha's shoulder in a playful way.

"Hey, I know when I'm beat." He took Kagome's hand and kissed it softly. "Maybe next time, beautiful."

Kagome could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. Did guys like this really exist? Before she could even ask Inuyasha why he'd spend such an absurd amount of money, Kouga stormed over.

"There isn't going to be a next time," he said in response to Miroku's earlier statement. "Come on, Kagome. We're going home."

Already, Inuyasha knew he didn't like this asshole. Jakotsu jumped down from the bar and stood in between Kagome and Kouga.

"Um, no, she may not go home. She owes Inuyasha a date. He did bid the highest, after all." He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Kouga in a way that sent disgusting chills down his spine. "Unlike some people who only bid ten dollars for his girlfriend."

Kouga snorted dismissively, unaware of Kagome's growing rage. The straw that broke the camel's back came when Kouga whirled on Kagome with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why the hell should I pay for something I get free every night?"

If Jakotsu hadn't beaten him to it, Inuyasha would have clocked the cocky motherfucker in his mouth. Kouga recovered, prepared to beat the little fag into the ground, but was intercepted by Inuyasha delivering a bone-shattering punch to the other side of his jaw. Miroku yanked Kagome back just as it erupted into a full-blown fistfight in between the two. Of course, it wasn't as if she were going to stay the entire fight to see the end result.

Now, an hour later, here she and Inuyasha were, sitting on a park bench some blocks away from the club. Inuyasha would try and sugarcoat things by telling her that everything would be fine, but if it would make her feel better...

"Look, Kagome..."

She turned her shimmering eyes on him and cut him off. "Why did you do it, Inuyasha?"

"Do what?" he asked, inclining his head to look at her once more. "Lie to those guys back there and say you were my girlfriend? Well, because..."

"No, not that. Why did you bid so much for me in the first place? I would have been fine with a lesbian bidding or something on me. I mean, at least Kouga bid at all, right?" she was fully aware she was making excuses for her lame boyfriend, but...she should have been grateful he bid at all. Even if it was just a measly ten dollars.

As he watched Kagome mentally and emotionally destroy herself, he realized she wore the same look of overwhelming sadness on her face that she was wearing when they had met at the bar earlier that night.

"Kagome."

She looked at Inuyasha as he turned a hard stare on her. For a minute, she could have sworn he was scowling at her. Was she really that pathetic?

"I bid that much money on you because you were worth it. Ten dollars!" he snorted in disgust at Kouga's insultingly low bid. "I can get a fucking hooker for ten dollars. But, you know, since a kabillion isn't a real number, I could only do the next best thing and pay every, single last cent I had on me tonight."

She looked more than surprised at his admission. Was he even blushing a tiny bit? True, she didn't know the first thing about him, but he certainly made her feel as if she were worth so much more than ten stupid dollars. Boldly, she reached up and ran her finger across the nasty cut he'd received from his fight with Kouga. It didn't matter where he was right now-he could be dead in a ditch for all she cared. He wrapped his hand around hers and smiled.

"And no, I didn't just buy you for sex. Don't think that, either. You're nobody's damn hooker, Kagome. I paid for a date. A little bit of your time. Nothing more."

There was a small silence that stretched between him before she scooted closer to him on the bench and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm not much of a date, Inuyasha. I'm hardly worth the price you paid for me, but..."

"Shut up already," he sighed as he put his arm around her shoulder. "Jeez. You're worth every dime. Feel better about yourself for chrissakes."

He could feel her nod slowly as they continued to sit there on the park bench. Kagome may not have been enjoying herself, but even in complete silence, Inuyasha felt like he was getting his money's worth.