Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. There I said it.

Nor do I own any songs from: Firefly, Avril Lavigne, Icon for Hire or the Offspring.

I do own the mug though, it is sitting in my cabinet right now.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Planning

'My head feels like shit' Inuyasha thought to himself as he managed to bring himself slightly out of unconsciousness. Then he heard a squeaking sound of moving metal. The next thing that happened was the shock of ice cold water pouring all over his body. His eyes shot open as soon as the water made contact with his skin. "GAAAHHHH!" Inuyasha yelled as he clambered out of the shower soaking wet and into an unfamiliar bathroom. He then heard the blasting of the radio and Avril Lavigne came on singing 'Bad Reputaion'. The volume hurt his head and the guitar and bass didn't help matters at all. He climbed out of the shower and headed straight over to the toilet and threw up what was left in his stomach, which wasn't much. After that he crawled over to the sink and turned on the faucet to get some water and clean out his mouth.

'I swear if someone doesn't turn off that music I will kill the machine making all of that noise then I will find them and eviscerate them' Inuyasha thought as he hauled himself up off of the floor to the running water of the faucet and rinsed his mouth out from his excursion to the white porcelain bowl.

He looked at himself in the mirror and saw that he looked like shit. His hair was far more unruly than it usually was, he had lipstick stains on his collared shirt and one ear, he had bags under his eyes and he looked pale. Inuyasha then looked around him in the unfamiliar room. Everything was in its place, white tiles with light blue trim, an oval mirror above the sink, a pink and blue flowered shower curtain and toiletries. He opened the built in cabinet in the wall and saw a multitude of hair products, make-up and cleansers. He was either in a woman's house or a very serious cross dresser's home. 'I really hope is a girl because otherwise it is going to be very awkward' Inuyasha thought to himself.

Then the song changed to something else with a lot of guitar and percussion. "Where are the people who accused me? The ones who beat me down and dissed me?" sang a woman's voice form the radio or other music device, but either way it was still hurting Inuyasha's head, a lot.

"Turn off the fucking music!" Inuyasha yelled as loud as he could and hurting his head in the process. Lucky for him the woman yelled a 'Geez!' and then went to turn down the music. Unlucky for him he recognized the voice. In fact he knew that voice very well, some nights he would even hear it in his sleep. Even worse he had very explicit dreams of this woman for a few years after he had found her again and she had come back to Japan. It was Kagome, the one one-night stand he wished he never had to call just a 'one-night stand'.

"Wench" he growled under his breath as he walked from the bathroom and down the short hallway of the apartment where she lived. He walked into the open kitchen and living room of the small apartment and there she was sitting at her desk on her computer with the i-pod and speakers right next to her. She was wearing a white tank top with a pink bra underneath and short green shorts that hugged her round butt and smooth thighs. Her hair was hanging loose and framed her face in a black flowing river of silky strands. Her nails were manicured, but not painted and in one hand she held a mug of coffee that said 'After Monday and Tuesday even the calendar says WTF'.

"If you want coffee the mugs are in the cabinet above the coffee maker" she said as she took a drink of her coffee and looked over something on her computer. Inuyasha walked to the kitchen as he tried to get the image of Kagome in pajamas out of his head.

'I swear she is doing this on purpose' Inuyasha scowled to himself as he grabbed a cup and filled it with coffee and took a large drink of the hot bitter liquid. "What time is it?" Inuyasha asked and was afraid of the answer.

Kagome turned around and scowled at the hanyou in her kitchen. They really couldn't ever have a civilized conversation. "Ahem! Shouldn't you be saying something like 'Thank you' or another form of thanks since I did haul your sorry ass off of the streets and into my apartment so that you wouldn't die on the street? Oh, and it was way past three in the morning by the time I got here and when we got four steps into my home you decided it was a good idea to lose your dinner all over my carpet." She yelled at the hanyou who was currently holding his ears and trying to nurse his aching head.

"Shut up, wench" he ground out as he opened his gold eyes to come face to Kagome standing up scowling at him with her arms crossed. From how many times they had met, which thanks to their friends, happened more than either would have liked. "Thank you for your help. Now, can you answer my fucking question?" he growled out.

"There that wasn't so hard. It is ten past noon and your brother is pissed. He even called me, which is why I gave you a shower earlier. Also you could have grabbed a damn towel because now the floor is soaked" Kagome complained as she grabbed a large, plush blue towel from her bathroom and threw it at Inuyasha. "You know, I don't even wish I could say it was great having you here, because like always it wasn't. The door is that way and you can incinerate that towel when you are done with it" Kagome said as she motioned to the door of her apartment.

"Keh, as if I would ever want to stay with you, and as far as enjoying my company, you didn't say that the first time we met. In fact you sounded like you really enjoyed yourself, especially at the end" he retorted and smirked as he spoke every word. His eyes turning a slightly darker shade of gold the more he thought of their one and only night together.

"I would keep your fantasies in your dreams because you and I both know we were drunk when that happened, not only that, but it was what? Five years ago. To me it sounds like someone needs to let the past go" Kagome said with her hands on her hips. "The door is that way and your wonderful brother will be here in…" Kagome raised her hand and looked at the watch that was there. "Right now" she said as there was a loud rapping at the door.

"Inuyasha! I am having a very hard time restraining myself from killing you. The only reason why you are still alive is because father made me promise not to and the fact that I would have to find another best man for my wedding!" Sesshoumaru yelled outside of the door. In most cases he refrained himself from showing emotion except with Rin, but this time Inuyasha had made Sesshoumaru reschedule an important meeting with some very important investors that had been scheduled for months in advance.

Sesshoumaru was pissed.

Kagome watched as a shiver ran up Inuyasha's spine at his half-brother's threat. He knew it wasn't a joke, especially because he had known and fought his half-brother for close to a century. In that time he had only seen his half-brother show one emotion towards him, anger.

Every time he showed that emotion someone was going to die or Inuyasha was going to get his ass kicked. In this case the only ones there for his fury were Kagome and Inuyasha. And Kagome was a miko as well as Rin's beloved cousin. Which meant she probably wasn't the one who would take the cold fury of Sesshoumaru. That and since Inuyasha was there and it was his fault that Sesshoumaru was so angry… well, let's just say he is in deep shit.

'I am so fucked…' Inuyahsa thought as he took the towel from Kagome, wrapped it around his shoulders and opened the door to come face to with his glaring, yokai swirling half-brother. "What?" Inuyasha asked indignantly even though he was worried about not seeing a day past his half-brother's wedding.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at Inuyasha and simply pulled him into the hallway by his forelocks. As Inuyasha hit the wall Sesshoumaru stepped into Kagome's apartment and closed the door. Then he locked it. "OI! What the fuck was that for?!" Inuyasha screamed and once again hurt his throbbing head, though the hit against the wall didn't help it either. He grabbed the handle, but the door didn't budge. He used all of his might to go and kill his half-brother, but the door still wouldn't budge. Then he saw it, the ward in the middle of the door was in the shape of a sakura blossom with an arrow behind it and it was glowing bright pink. "You fucking wench! You warded your door!" Inuyasha screamed at the door, while ignoring the other inhabitants of the apartment complex. Then he heard the music being turned up and the closing of another door. Apparently Kagome and Sesshoumaru were having a conversation.

Meanwhile inside of Kagome's apartment Sesshoumaru and Kagome were standing in her bedroom having a private conversation.

"Miko, as always your taste in music surprises me" Sesshoumaru said to Kagome as the song changed to Theatre from Icon for Hire in the background. The only one he ever addressed in her family not by their last name was herself, Kikyo and Rin. Rin, well he called her by name, Kikyo he called Priestess and Kagome he called Miko. It was how he always spoke to them on the rare occasion that he did.

Kagome sighed, if Sesshoumaru was going to put off killing his half-brother in order to have a conversation with herself then it had to be serious or Rin was involved. "The music I listen to is simply my choice" Kagome said to Sesshoumaru.

"Indeed" he said back to her and simply stood in her small bedroom.

"What is so important that you would put off killing the dumbass outside of my door?" Kagome asked, still annoyed that she had to deal with Inuyasha at all. At least she got the satisfaction of making him uncomfortable with her outfit, even if it was just simply pajamas with a bra underneath.

"Rin is worried that you two children will rip each other's throats out before the wedding even starts" Sesshoumaru said with his cold and expressionless mask.

"Phew" Kagome sighed as she looked up at Sesshoumaru in relief, at least it wasn't anything too serious. "Geez, I thought that you were going to tell me she was pregnant" Kagome said with a small smile on her face.

"I am not as careless as you and my brother" he stated rather coldly.

Kagome's face blanched, 'just how much does he know? How long has he known? Does Inuyasha know?' she fell onto her bed that was behind her and stared at her shaking hands in disbelief. "How… how do you know?" Kagome asked the question that had been beating in her head for the last few moments.

"I make it my policy to know about the wellbeing of my most influential stock holders, not only that, but you had my little brother in a frenzy trying to find you after you had left" he said in his cold voice, though it wasn't anger or any other emotion that was hidden under his icy mask, simply the knowledge of what had happened years ago between the Miko and his little brother. "I know about everything. Rin does not and neither does my little brother. It is not my place to tell them. It is solely your choice, just as the music you listen to is. Though this secret will not stay as such forever" he said to Kagome who was pale and sweating from the bombshell that Sesshoumaru had just dropped on her head.

"How long have you known?" Kagome asked the stoic youkai.

"I knew after it happened. After you were released from the hospital, and my little brother had calmed down and moved on to be with your sister; I stopped keeping a close eye on you. Your father and grandfather would never have let me rest if I did not see to that much. Not only that, but your problem was also taken care of. Your family has a special existence to my own and I wish to maintain that existence. That is all I wish to tell you on the matter" Sesshoumaru said in far more words than were characteristic of him. He wished to make it clear to Kagome that he knew, but would never say anything. Unless it was a necessity.

"Thank you" Kagome whispered. The only one who knew everything besides herself was Naraku, though now it included Sesshoumaru. Kagome never told Sango what really happened. And no one else knows about the pregnancy, not even Kikyo.

"Moving to the matter at hand. What happened last night?" Sesshoumaru asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well your 'little' brother got drunk, tried to get into my pants in the middle of the street and thought that he should return the 'favor' of what happened five years ago" Kagome summarized what had basically happened the night before. What had caused Inuyasha to drink enough to make him a walking beer keg was completely unknown.

"You have no other information on what transpired last night" Sesshoumaru inquired.

"None, I found him drunk off his ass and wobbling down the street" She said as she regained her normal fire; that every woman in her family seemed to have, only each were different. Kikyo held a cold fire that kept her reserved and mysterious, but also vengeful; Kagome had a blazing hot fire that fueled her anger and spontaneous personality, and Rin held a glowing fire like the warmth of the sun that could melt anything her smile touched. Which is one of the many reasons why Sesshoumaru was marrying the small priestess. She was the only one who could get him to willingly show emotion, which was a feat many deemed impossible. In fact most of the women from the Higurashi line were priestesses.

"Hn" Sesshoumaru said, which most took to mean yes. "Then to the matter of my wedding. You and Inuyasha will have to work together to help plan and arrange everything with Rin and I. You will not destroy my wedding, nor will you make my fiancé cry or become stressed. Do I make myself clear?" Sesshoumaru asked, more like demanded of Kagome.

"That wasn't subtle at all. So I take it you won't be killing your brother anytime soon" Kagome said sarcastically, not liking at all that she had to willingly work with the hanyou that was currently trying to tear down the wall of her apartment.

"Hn" Sesshoumaru said as he walked out of her bedroom and eyes widened at the flashing pink surroundings of the wall shared with the apartment complex's hallway. With every hit that Inuyasha made against the wall or the door it flashed a bright pink and a ward in the shape of a sakura blossom with an arrow behind it would appear in the place that was hit. "Your family is incredibly strong" Sesshoumaru said under his breath. Not many mikos or monks would be able to ward an entire wall, most would have trouble just warding a door.

"Yeah, in fact this whole place is warded against anyone with demon blood that I want to keep out. It is just a shame that it doesn't work on humans" she said to the youkai standing in her living room. "The door is that way, you can see yourself out" Kagome said waving to the door and heading to the kitchen for another cup of coffee, while Sesshoumaru spotted something faint on Kagome's neck.

Just as the door shut and Sesshoumaru had taken care of Inuyasha the song changed from whatever was playing before to 'The Kids Aren't Alright' by the Offspring. Kagome stood and listened to the lyrics of the song as it described the naivety of children and the harshness of reality.

Chances thrown, nothings free

Longing for, used to be

Still it's hard, hard to see.

Fragile lives, shattered dreams.

"Reality is cruel, but we still have to live through it" Kagome said as she drank her coffee and let a single tear run down her face as she remembered what exactly happened almost five years ago. She wouldn't cry because she was done crying for something she couldn't change. The past was the past and she planned to keep it that way.

"What the hell were you thinking?" yelled Sesshoumaru as they were being chauffeured back to their office building in downtown Tokyo. Taisho Corp. to be exact. The leader of medical research in Japan and Tokyo just so happened to be home to its headquarters.

"Oi! My head still hurts like hell! You bastard!" Inuyasha yelled back as he clutched his ears to his head in pain.

"You deserve it Inuyasha. What you have done was stupid and irresponsible" Sesshoumaru ranted about the previous night's activities to let loose some anger before he did something irreversible to his half-brother. "What exactly did happen last night?" Sesshoumaru asked Inuyasha, not entirely looking forward to the answer he was about to receive.

"Well, Miroku and I went to a bar to talk about the shit that you surprised me with yesterday, then he saw a pretty lady and left me with nothing but my bear. After that Bankotsu walked in and challenged me to a drinking game. The one that passes out first loses, needless to say I won. Though by that time I was very drunk, after that I don't remember much except waking up to a cold blast of water and rock music. It was not a night I want to ever live again. Trust me." Inuyasha said as he recounted all of what he could remember about the night before.

"Either way you were an imbecile." Sesshoumaru said and they both spent the rest of the ride to their company in silence. That was until Sesshoumaru remembered what he had seen on Kagome's neck, which even she seemed oblivious to. Either she had a tattoo that no one knew about, or she was a mated woman. The latter of the two would not be good, though would thoroughly explain why Inuyasha was as frantic as he was to find her. Not only that, but if she is his mate then his demon would have known about the pup. Either way, this was a delicate situation and not one he was about to take lightly.

"What the hell are you staring at bastard?" Inuyasha asked irately.

"Nothing, just continuing to think that you are most definitely an idiot, little brother" Sesshoumaru stated as he turned his head to look at the speeding scenery flying past his window. 'Then again, perhaps bluntness would be the better weapon to use' Sesshoumaru thought to himself.

"Keh" Inuyasha scoffed and looked out of the other window. He was expecting him to be far more violent… "You're not cheating on Rin are you?" Inuyasha said without really thinking, like he does most of the time. Which is why he would get into trouble when he was younger, and now. What happened next he really should have seen coming. Yet he didn't. Sesshoumaru looked at him with a look that could vaporize the sun and whipped his fist faster than anyone could see right into Inuyasha's face. Of which was turning by the sudden change of pressure in the car towards his brother's speeding fist, therefore resulting in a direct hit. When Sesshoumaru's fist made contact with Inuyasha's face there was a loud crack from the breaking of his jaw.

"Keep driving, though when you get to Taisho Corp. drive around to the back entrance" Sesshoumaru said to the chauffer before he had a chance to do anything different from his previous course. Sesshoumaru looked over at the now unconscious Inuyasha and sighed. He then took out his cell phone and dialed his secretary. "Tashigi, I would like you to bring down a change of clothes for my brother, two men strong enough to carry and restrain him as well as a first aid kit" on the other side of the line there was a sigh and a question of what had happened this time. Sesshoumaru responded with the simple answer of telling her what had happened. "He insulted my future mate and myself by assuming I was cheating on her with someone else" Sesshoumaru growled. He was far more dignified than that and would never betray his mate. Sesshoumaru hung up his cell phone as he wondered how he was slowly being dragged into the middle of this outrageous situation between his half-brother and the Miko.

"Kago~me" Rin said as she eyed her cousin, who was face down on her counter and unresponsive. "Kago~me… here have a flower!" Rin said cheerily and tried to hand Kagome an orange Gerber daisy.

Kagome looked up from her face down position on Rin's counter to give Rin the most unamused facial expression she could manage. "Rin" she said exasperatedly.

"Yeah" she bubbly replied.

"You own a flower shop" Kagome said bluntly to her ever so cheery cousin.

"I know! Isn't it great?!" Rin cheered as she clapped her hands together and spun around behind the counter of her shop. The shop itself was quite small, but it was profitable for a flower shop. Rin had invested a lot of time and money into building up the small business and keeping a good clientele base. She would have requests for special occasions, such as weddings, New Year's parties, birthdays and the not so fun occasions such as funerals. Often times her business would run out of certain flowers during certain seasons, such as February or December. What made Rin's small shop different from all the rest was that she always made sure that the arrangements reflected the person who were intended to receive them. Each and every arrangement was different from the others and each had its own unique flare.

"Peachy" Kagome said in a sarcastic tone. Her 'rendezvous' with Inuyasha had placed her wonderful day off on one of the worst she had had in a long time. Not only that, but she never got his schedule or his phone number.

"Oh come on! You have been down and dark ever since you came in here. It is really killing my mood" Rin pouted while crossing her arms in front of her. Rin was the youngest of the three 'mikos' in their family, while Kikyo was the oldest and Kagome was stuck in the middle.

"You know, Kikyo should really be in the wedding as well, that way we would have a grand total of three bridesmaids for the wedding. Though you would have to find another guy to walk down the aisle with her" Kagome said, ignoring her cousin's question.

"So how far did you get with Inuyasha this time?" Rin asked with an innocent smile on her face.

Kagome nearly fell over from the shock of what her cousin just asked her, but then found her anger at the question Rin had asked. "Rin! I would never sleep with him again if he was the last fucking man on earth! I would rather fuck a rock!" Kagome screamed at Rin, while clutching her hands in fists at her sides.

"Ah, so you did see him yesterday" Rin said calmly with a smile still on her face as she went about arranging flowers that needed to be delivered in a few hours.

Kagome stood there and opened her mouth to retort then promptly shut it. This was one of the reasons why Sesshoumaru had fallen for her, her ability to read people perfectly every time. Which made lying to her nearly impossible. She was able to find out information simply by the mannerisms that people had; it had also allowed her to understand Sesshoumaru very well, even with his ice mask.

"So, if you hate him so much, then why haven't you 'fucked a rock' or someone else for that matter?" Rin asked nonchalantly as she placed a small yellow sunflower in the middle of the arrangement she was making.

Kagome meanwhile was blushing and clenching her jaw shut, refusing to say a word. Though Rin simply kept on talking, "That is unless you actually like him?" She questioned again as she was watching Kagome's reactions out of the corner of her eye. She saw Kagome go stiff and blanch. 'Jackpot' Rin thought and her smile grew. Now she had to figure out why Kagome wasn't going for it.

"Rin if you are going to simply talk about what you think you know about my nonexistent love life then I am leaving" Kagome said as she reached for her purse sitting on a nearby stool.

"Fine" Rin pouted again. Rin may have had her ways of reading people, but Kagome's threats were always carried out. She would leave at the mere mention of her love life, or lack thereof.

"Like I said earlier, I don't think that we should just make Kikyo a guest. On top of that we need to get you a dress as well as bridesmaid dresses, pick the colors for the wedding, get a photographer, a caterer, get a cake, flowers" Kagome started to list off.

"I got the flowers and the colors are orange, red and light green" Rin interjected.

"We need a guest list, one other groomsman, a DJ for the reception, ring bearer, flower girl, outfits for said people, hotel rooms for the wedding party, seating arrangements, we need to get you registered for gifts"

"What are you going to be able to get the 'Great Sesshoumaru-sama'?" Rin asked while trying to hold her laughter.

"Don't know and don't care, we need venues for the bachelor and bachelorette party," Kagome continued.

"We are combining them and the guest list is already done. We both worked on it last night. Also Sesshoumaru has taken care of the hotel rooms" Rin said as she started to get down to business.

After a long time discussing which flowers would work best for her wedding and planning who would handle what Kagome left Rin's shop 'The Flowers' Spirit' and decided to take a long and relaxing shower before she called Sango to hang out and talk about their day.

A/N: Okay so chapter 2 is now uploaded! Yayy!

For those of you hoping that Naraku is the bad guy, keep dreaming. He is actually good, just a little sneaky at times.

I won't spoil anything else, but the whole secret Kagome is hiding will come out eventually.