"Nice nails" the voice that made it's way to her ears was so snobby and condescending that more than a few heads in the isles next to them whipped around to watch the inevitable cat fight. In front of her cash register stood a tall, almost unnaturally skinny girl with the straightest, blackest hair and the most bored look on her extremely beautiful face. Confused, Kagome looked at her nails, noting the poorly done, chipped polish on four of her left fingers, the thumb having been nervously picked clean during her archeology class, and her right nails completely bare except for one seriously ill fitting nail wrap she had been wearing for probably close to two months now. She sighed. Her skills of fitting in with the modern girls were less than impressive.

Looking her attacker right in the eyes she smiled as warmly as she could, not feeling one ounce of it, but knowing no one would ever be able to tell.

"Why thank you! I do them myself, one of these days I'll get around to fixing them up!" She let out a laugh, keeping her rosy smile plastered to her face as she finished checking out the girl in front of her.

"That'll be $51.78!".

With a huff, the girl in front of her paid and grabbed her bags.

"See you in school, loser" she growled as her little posse of friends followed after her giggling.

Kagome sighed again. Mae was the schools popular girl, and Kagome hadn't even been aware that was a thing in college.

The next person to come through her line made her heart stop cold in her chest. His tall, broad shoulders and long silver hair was hard to mistake.

"Professor Tashio, good evening!" She chirped, trying to not sound too nervous. In front of her was the reason for her nervous picking on her nails: her archeology professor, Sesshomaru Tashio. The silver haired demon of both her nightmares and her dreams.

"Hnn." was his only reply. Kagome found herself smiling softly at something that she found so familiar. He never let on if he remembered her, though once or twice she would catch him giving her a puzzled look. Of course, she understood why, it'd been 500 years, how could he think she'd be the same human he knew back then? But she burned with questions every time she saw him and it was getting harder and harder to focus around him. Did he know it was her? What happened to Rin? To Inuyasha and her friends? How did he end up teaching humans?

A pair of long, delicate pale fingers snapped in front of her face, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry professor!" She mumbled, realizing she had already scanned all of his items. His face remained impassive, like it always had been, something that seemed to have not changed with the ages.

"Kagome" Her name from his lips snapped her gaze to his. She had never heard him call her by her name before, only by the term miko, or human wench in their early days. He'd never addressed her before at school, and with a class of almost 150 students she couldn't blame him for not knowing who she was.

"You may call me Sesshomaru when we are not in school"

"Oh, no! I couldn't!"

"Is that not what friends do?" She was getting dizzy from staring into his mesmerizing honey eyes, an effect of him being a demon she knew, but she couldn't break the gaze.

"Of course Sesshomaru. That is what friends do" Hearing the great Sesshomaru call her his friend made a smile light up her face, without her even realizing it. Not only did he remember her, but he was being nice to her. His lips curved up softly at the slight blush on her face, 500 years and he found he still enjoyed making her cheeks heat up. His phone buzzing in his pocket broke the spell and they both looked away, him reaching for the phone, her fumbling with the register.

"Hello sweetheart" his smooth voice seemed softer than normal "I'm just checking out now." He swiped his credit card and gathered up his bags as Kagome handed him his receipt. Instead of taking the receipt from her, his hand latched unexpectedly onto her wrist.

"We will talk later. I'm sure you have many questions" his phone was tucked into his chest so whoever was on the other line couldn't hear. Kagome caught herself wondering who it could possibly be to warrant the use of nicknames and such a warm tone. Looking around the store, Kagome was glad she took the late shift tonight and there was almost no one around to witness her blushed face.

What is going on with you Kagome? I know he's hot! But he's an arrogant, asshole demon who hates humans! Her internal screaming was drowning out the fact that her wrist still burned where the demon had touched her.