Kagome opened her apartment door and smiled at the young fox demon standing bashfully before her. In his tiny hands he held a box of chocolates and when she knelt to look at him she glanced at his mother standing in her door across the hall. She gave a small wave and then turned her attention back to the little kitsune.

"What've got there Shippou-koi?" The boy blushed harder and held the chocolates out to the miko. "Are these for me?"

"Happy Valentine's day Miss Kagome." Taking the box from him Kagome leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. Shippou gave a squeak and scurried away into his apartment.

"Hey Kagome." His mother said from the door. The miko stood up and looked over the box of chocolates with a giggle. "He adores you, I've never seen him take such an interest in school until he got into your class this year."

"He probably just needed a different learning style. I don't teach like my colleagues." Kagome glanced down the hall as the man in apartment 1C closed his door and set the boltlock. He tipped his head and grinned before heading down the stairs. "I hear that man with all kinds of women."

"He just hasn't found the woman for him is all." The Kitsune hummed. "My Koaru was a flirty man until he met me. I hear he slept with countless women before I came into his life and straightened him up."

"He's lucky to have you, Niako." The phone in her apartment began to ring and Kagome headed inside closing the door as Niako went into her own apartment. Picking up the receiver she pressed the phone to her ear and chirped a friendly, "Hello?"

"Kagome, can I come over..." The shattered voice of Sango bounced around Kagome'r brain for a second before the miko confirmed the invitation. "I have Kohaku and Kirara with me. See you in five." Kagome opened the door and waited for her friend to come up the three flights of stairs and into her home. She was sitting fresh cups of tea on the coffee table when they arrived.

The martial arts students dropped onto the couch and held one another as the miko closed the door. Opening the carrier Kagome watched her best friend's neko-mata creep around the apartment sniffing the new surroundings. Kagome perched on the cushion beside Sango and waited as they stared at the coffee table blindly.

"What's wrong Sango?"

"Mama and Dad were killed in a car wreck." Kohaku whispered for his sister.