Standard disclaimers apply.

A/N: Thank you for all the very encouraging reviews! I was very motivated by the number of positive reviews, and your encouragement and support has earned you this chapter! I hope you guys wouldn't mind that it'd become a longer story, instead of two chapters. Enjoy!

Rumor has it

"You've got to be kidding," Kagome groaned in exasperation and discomfort. "This is beyond crazy. Please tell me this is a bad joke."

"Oh my god." Inuyasha breathed, staring at his friend in disbelief upon her emergence from the bathroom.

Kagome stared back at him, wondering what it was that could elicit such a response from her usually boisterous friend. Everyone present was silent as they stared. Was it because she was looking really…good? Was she looking every part like the sex bomb she sometimes imagined herself to be?

She allowed herself to indulge in that lovely little thought, while subconsciously holding her breath and sucking her tummy in. She even tried to stand an inch taller, and make those boobs look more-

All hell broke loose.

Hell, in the form of raucous, uncontrollable, hilarious laughter that left four pairs of eyes glistening with tears, and four mouths gaping for much-needed air and a flurry of high fives and thigh-slapping.

"Oh my god…this is…" Sango's remaining words never did make it out of her mind, for she released a high-pitched squeal and resumed laughing. She was laughing so hard; it got Miroku, Inuyasha and even Shippo, shrieking along in renewed laughter.

Darn it. They were dumbfounded not because she looked good. Rather, they were amused. Alright, judging from the way they were laughing, 'amused' was an understatement. Kagome was quite amazed they hadn't dropped dead from all that seemingly-interminable laughter.

"Okay, this is clearly stupid. I'm so going to change out of it." She fumed, turning around to go back into the bathroom where she could get out of the ridiculous costume she was in.

Words like 'ridiculous' were usually subjective, with definitions differing from individual to individual.

But using 'ridiculous' to describe what she was in would actually be considered a universally-acceptable description.

In case you're wondering, she was wearing an impossibly tight red satin lace-up corset with a santa baby garter skirt and a santarina cap, courtesy of supposedly-best-friend Sango. To top it off, she had been given a –God forbid- black feather boa to drape all over herself with.

If that was not considered ridiculous, Kagome had no idea what constituted the adjective.

Why had she gotten herself into this amazing mess? One'd never be able to imagine all the crap she went through since she stupidly took the dare up.

For one, they had made her rehearse the most cringe-worthy lines of seduction over and over again to ensure the dare goes smoothly. Talk about embarrassment; she was seriously starting to suspect if it was a let's-all-make-Kagome-look-stupid ploy.

Secondly, they were contemplating either rushing into Sesshoumaru's room to take pictures or snapping pictures the instant the door was opened.

"I'm so done with this insanity, guys!" She announced in a huff, trying to rip the stupid black feather boa off herself.

"Wait, wait!" Inuyasha called out weakly, clutching his obviously aching side while beckoning for Kagome to stop in her tracks.

"What?" She grumbled, casting him a sideward glance, before subconsciously tugging one side of the corset up. Why did it have to reveal so much of her cleavage?

"I think it looks fantastic." He tried to say with a straight face. "I mean, Sesshoumaru would really have to be gay to resist this!"

"Hello? Anyone with a correctly functioning brain and an ounce of moral ethics can resist this…" She stared down at her outfit, before looking up at Inuyasha with what she hoped were eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Can we please don't do this?"

"After we've come so far?" Miroku asked incredulously. "I don't usually agree with Inuyasha but I have to say, dearest Kagome, you look absolutely amazing! I thought it looked good on Sango-"

"Er-hem." Sango coughed warningly.

"-who looks absolutely perfect in it," Miroku was quick to change his choice of words upon seeing his girlfriend's face. "This would be the vital step to proving my cousin's sexuality."

"But…this is seriously embarrassing!" Kagome retorted, trying to cover more of herself up. "Whatever would Sesshoumaru think of me?"

"Oh, don't you worry," Inuyasha claimed confidently. "These gay boys are BFF with girls like you. You guys can relax and have a laugh once it is all over and you can go shopping with him on weekends sometimes. You know, to buy skincare products and those totes which they are so fond of carrying. Plus, you can totally visit those fancy, girly patisseries with him and eat little caramel cupcakes with those tiny forks."

The idea of Sesshoumaru eating a tiny cupcake with pink icing on top and sipping tea from porcelain ware was rather…unsettling.

"What's BFF?" Miroku asked in confusion, before Shippo tapped him on the shoulder.

"It means 'Best friends forever', stupid." The young boy announced with a roll of his eyes.

Sango had to bite back a laugh when she saw Miroku's dead-pan expression at having been labeled 'stupid' by an eleven year-old, before she turned to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, don't you think you're stereotyping gay men? Not all of them are like that."

"Feh! Whatever…I thought some girls always claim how 'every girl needs a best gay friend'? Sesshoumaru can be Kagome's gay best friend once he comes out of his closet homosexual status."

Kagome was almost dying from the heat on her cheeks by now. "But this is Sesshoumaru we're talking about! Sesshoumaru!"

"What about him?" Inuyasha asked, clearly confused by Kagome's outburst. All eyes once again zoomed in on her, while she stood clad in that small scrap of cloth that couldn't even cover her essential areas properly.

"He's my…oh, whatever! He's like, my greatest crush since two years ago! I mean, he's totally hot and all-" Kagome cried out, watching four sets of jaws answer gravity's call and fell to the ground.

"What the hell? He is gay, Kagome. You can dig your heart out, pass it to him, and he'd just throw it back in your face." Inuyasha replied, mimicking the actions of passing a heart back and forth.

Kagome let the comment slide. "I've spent an entire year silently hoping he would ask me out, but no! He only talked to me occasionally, and by the end of that year, I was pretty convinced he was not interested in me romantically-"

"See my point?" Inuyasha asked the remaining of the gang, while heads nodded knowingly in agreement.

Kagome gripped Inuyasha's arm, causing the latter to wince. "But still! It's Sesshoumaru! I can't do this in front of him. I'm serious, this is insane. Oh my god he's so going to think of me as a crazy bimbo. He is going to judge me. He'll be so mad at all of us. I'll never be able to live this down!"

Miroku regarded her silently for three seconds before his boyishly handsome face contorted with pent-up amusement, while Shippo tried to say something again.

"But I really think Sesshoumaru likes-"

"He won't be mad for too long, Kagome dear." Miroku interrupted, cutting Shippo's smaller voice off.

"Kagome, this is going to be so funny! It's something you can tell your future grandchildren, and they'll think of their grandma as the coolest grandma around." Sango added in an entirely not-helpful manner, before flashing her best friend a thumbs-up sign.

"But-"

Kagome was about to retort. Then she realized how difficult it was for others to take you seriously when you are prancing in front of them agitatedly in a Santarina skirt the size of a stamp, complete with white fluff and dramatic black feather boa.

Lesson Three: People cannot take you seriously when you are dressed to look like a red and black ostrich.

"C'mon, just do it! What's there to be afraid of? We'll all be waiting for you outside his door, and you can just go in there, and do your hot seduction act. After all, he'd have no response or whatsoever to your advances on him, and it wouldn't be soon before you get kicked out of his room!" Sango said with a wide grin, licking the candy cane she was holding. "And voila! You've completed your dare. There's no chickening out! You know I love you, Kagome. I'll be rooting for you!"

Kagome managed a weak smile.

"You care for Ice King, don't you, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, his eyebrows waggling. "He has been so emotionless for so long; an occasional fluctuation in blood pressure might actually do his body some good. You're doing him a grand favor."

She gulped.

To be continued…