"Miss Higurashi, please stay for a moment at the end of class. I would like to have a word with you."

Kagome sighed. "Of course, Professor."

As the other students all filed out, Kagome took her time packing up. Sango and Rin passed her, saying they'd meet her at their favorite lunch spot. She waved them off, taking a swig from her water bottle as the last group of students left.

When they were alone in the studio, Kikyo approached her.

"How are you, sweetie?" Most would have been surprised by the care and concern in the stern teachers voice, but Kagome merely smiled.

"I'm ok, you know you don't have to always worry about me."

Kikyo waved her hand dismissively. "Big sister's prerogative."

Kagome just laughed.

Kikyo eyed her little sister. "So, what was that little dramatic event I walked in on earlier?"

"Ha, oh that. Well," Kagome nervously rubbed the back of her head while she spoke. "Sango and I thought we were going to be late so we were running and I kinda ran into him. I didn't even see him, and I thought I apologized but I guess not, and when he went off on me about it… Well I guess I just sorta lost it."

Kikyo quirked an eyebrow. "I noticed."

"Sorry Sis, I didn't mean to cause a scene but, well…"

"It's ok Kagome, just please don't do it again."

"Oh no, don't worry I won't. I promise." Kagome paused, before asking the question they both knew was coming. "Kikyo, what are we going to do?"

Kikyo didn't answer.

"I mean I tried to get a different professor so we didn't run into this dilemma, but you're the only professor for this course this semester, and I need this course out of the way now since it's a prerequisite for most of the rest of my major."

"Kagome, I already talked to the dean." Kagome nodded, waiting for her to continue. "He said I should just treat you like another student. He understands why this had to be. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried about positive special attention. I'm worried about the opposite, in fact."

"You're worried that I'll be harder on you than the other students because you're my sister."

"Exactly."

"Don't be. I won't go easy on you, but I won't make this semester even harder on you than it already will be."

Kagome gave a nervous laugh.

"Kagome, you know this class is based largely on effort. The Final is choreographing a piece with your assigned partner, and I can't imagine you not passing."

She paused. "This semester might be a challenge. The class is fairly evenly split between Majors and Non-majors. I think what I may end up doing is partnering a Major with a Non-major. That way, it's fair."

Kagome nodded. "Yeah that would make sense."

"In the meantime, little sister, get yourself to lunch before your girls think I murdered you."

Kagome giggled. "Oh geez, so many of the students are so scared of you."

"What can I say, I worked hard for my reputation."

Kagome grabbed her bag, gave her sister a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, and ran out the door laughing.

Kikyo just smiled. "I love you too, Kagome."

Inuyasha wanted to kill something. Preferably Miroku. Or maybe that Kagome girl.

Yeah right. He sighed. He could never hurt a girl. He just couldn't believe she had touched his ears. And worst of all, he had liked it. Something about the way she had rubbed them had been really nice. Still, it irked him that she dared touch him like that. That was something that only a mate was allowed to do. It was just that intimate.

His mind started to turn into some weird moment of pondering what it would be like to have a mate. He let the daydreams flow until he realized he was again picturing Kagome's touch on his ears. Striving to drive that thought train from his head, he returned to the observation he had been pondering throughout most of the class. Why did Kagome and the professor look so alike? True enough, they were also different as could be. Kagome's face was alive and expressive. Kikyo's was stern and set. But they had almost identical features. If the two walked side by side, anyone would have thought they were twins. They even smelled similar.

He jumped about a mile when Miroku crashed into his room. Inuyasha immediately returned to his murderous mood from earlier.

"Inuyasha, your brother called. He said something about some meeting and if you were late, bye-bye internship?"

"Oh crap." Now Inuyasha really needed to kill something. Only now the intended target was his brother. "Miroku I need to borrow your car."

"Why?"

"Because mine is in the shop for servicing and I need to leave now."

"But, my baby!! And with the way you drive-" Inuyasha growled like a creature of hell. "Be gentle, I just got her detailed." He sighed as he held out the keys.

Inuyasha snatched them hopped over the couch, and bounded out the door with a simple "Feh." Miroku sighed again.

Kagome rolled her eyes. Rin was going on and on about this mystery boyfriend of hers. She and Sango privately agreed it was all in her head, or at least they hoped it was. Rin had classically bad luck when it came to picking guys, and she always ended up getting hurt. Plus this guy sounded way too good to be true. There had to be something wrong with him.

But of course, neither were about to tell Rin that.

"And so then, after dinner, we went for a long walk in the park downtown and ate ice cream in this cute little parlor at the edge of the square." Rin let out a contented sigh.

"So Rin, when are we going to meet this dream guy?" Sango asked bemusedly.

"Oh well, he says he doesn't want to go public yet, so we'll just have to wait and see. I really do want you two to meet him though, so I hope soon." Rin glanced at her watch. "And if I don't leave right now I'll miss my Macroeconomics lecture. See you two lovely ladies later!"

As the door slammed, Kagome looked over to where Sango sat, a dark look etched into her stunning and exotic face.

"So, what do you think?"

Sango grunted. "I don't know. Sounds pretty bad though. 'He doesn't want to go public yet?' I mean, how dense is she? That screams either player or married."

"Yeah that's a definite possibility." Kagome shook her head sadly. "I love Rin to death, but she is so blind when it comes to this stuff."

"If this guy is using her, I'll break his neck."

Kagome sighed. "Sango-"

"Oh come on, Kagome! Remember Hakudoshi?"

Kagome shuddered. "Of course I remember that asshole, Sango. I was as much of a shoulder for her as you were."

"And you'll let her hurt herself all over again? Do you remember how we had to coax her to eat anything? She was practically killing herself, Kagome! She wasn't eating, drinking, sleeping, or even talking. Are you really willing to watch her go through that all over again?"

"No Sango, I'm not," Kagome answered quietly. "But for now, we can't just jump to conclusions about this guy."

"Why not?" Sango was practically growling now, which meant Kagome had to stay very calm in order to prevent Sango from seriously blowing her lid.

"Because I honestly think she's afraid to introduce us to him."

"What?" Sango was surprised into momentarily letting go of her anger.

"I hear what you're saying Sango, and I'm by no means saying you're wrong. But I think she might also be afraid of us disapproving. She knows we'll be naturally suspicious and she's afraid we might try to intimidate him. Or pressure her into ending it."

Sango let Kagome's words sink in. "So what should we do in the meantime?"

"Leave her alone about it and let the chips fall where they may. For now."

" I still say we should break his neck if he does anything to hurt her."

"I agree, but for now let's just hang back and see how things work out."

Kagome stared at her ceiling, listening to the radio and replaying the day in her mind. For some reason, she just couldn't get that guy from her dance class out of her head.

He had intrigued her as soon as she turned around to see whom he was yelling at. She had known instantly that he was a Youkai, or at least a Hanyou, but that didn't seem very important. She remembered being instantly stunned by his waist-length silver hair, and his tall, well-toned figure. His face had been alive with passionate, quick anger, which served to let her admire the strong set of his jaw and the way his eyes could pierce right into her soul. She had felt glued to the spot when his eyes met hers. And those eyes… If she could have, she would have melted into them. Like two pools of liquid golden amber, they sparkled with anger, intelligence, and mystery. And just like a cherry on top of a perfect cake, he had dog-ears! Kagome seriously could have died. The furry triangular appendages kept twitching slightly, inspiring an unstoppable urge to touch them.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she'd known he was inspecting her as well.

She still couldn't believe she'd grabbed his ears, though. Her mind was screeching at her to stop, that to touch them was an unspeakable offense among demons, that it was too personal, that she shouldn't incur a demon's wrath, especially an Inu-youkai. But it was as though her hands were drawn magnetically and she couldn't stop them, even if she'd tried. She had been so surprised when she heard a low rumbling in his chest. Only with the noise did awareness return. There she was, standing in the middle of a dance studio, practically groping a demon, and not just any demon, but an Inu demon no less, and he was purring. On top of all this, she was very much the center of attention.

Oops. Unsure of what to do, she broke the moment and managed to cover her actions. But she regretted it. She regretted losing the look in his eyes. It had somehow seemed… right. But of course, hindsight is 20-20, and the past is past. No use mourning it.

She shook her head. This train of thought wasn't helping her study her chemistry chapter. And right now, school was the most reliable thing in her life.