Chapter 3

The first two weeks of the term passed quickly with everyone busy trying to settle into their routines. Except, of course, for Inuyasha who flew through his classes like a breeze. It really wasn't fair to the other students, having a hanyou be graded on the same level as humans for fitness, but that was the way their college worked.

Kagome was busy in all her classes. Bio had picked up and she spent hours pouring over her book and studying with Kurama in the few hours she had between her morning classes and her afternoon pottery. Once she was done at six, she came home, made a quick dinner and then spent the rest of the night studying for Myths and Legends.

It was by far the hardest class she had ever taken. Professor Takahashi wasn't allowing them any room to slack off. Every week he had a new lesson for them and he expected them to take thorough notes. The youkai didn't give them exams or quizzes, he just graded them on their ability to answer his questions both in class and in essays. Kagome had just turned in her first paper and was eagerly anticipating the results.

The four roommates hadn't been spending that much time together since they were so busy, but they had plans to hang out, just the four of them, on the weekend. Kagome was telling Kurama that as they dissected a fetal pig in Bio and labeled the parts.

He grinned at her. "I quite understand. My friends are not very pleased with me either. They say that I am constantly allowing my studies to get in the way of the parties that we could be having. Of course they forget that I have never been one to…party."

The way he said the word made Kagome laugh. "Me either." she admitted. "But my roommates love them. I don't know if you were here two years ago, but they threw one at our place and every cop in the area had to come and shut it down."

Kurama winced. "That was at your home? Ouch." He remembered that one. Several youkai had shown up and they pissed off Inuyasha. It ended up turning into an all out brawl and the police had to be called to break it up.

"Yep." Kagome replied. "That was when I put my foot down. I don't care how many parties they go to, but no more at our apartment."

The two of them worked quickly together and finished the lab before anyone else. They handed in their write ups and bundled up for the walk to the history building. The class filled up and then their youkai instructor walked in.

Kagome was always awed when he entered. Sesshomaru Takahashi managed to look like some ethereal being, and like he belonged there all at the same time. Today he was wearing dark jeans that fit him well and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Magenta stripes graced each of his wrists and Kagome had to wonder where else he had them.

The class had undergone some changes in the past two weeks. Most of the drooling girls had transferred out when they realized how hard the class was. There were a few who stayed, and it appeared that they actually had brains in their heads, since they could keep up with the conversations and class discussions.

As always, Sesshomaru came into the room and sat on the desk. He had a thick folder of papers in his clawed hands. "As you can see," he began. "I have graded your papers. I must say that I was…surprised. While these were not impressive in the least, they were not as abysmal as I was expecting them to be. For that you should be proud." He stood and began handing out the papers.

Kurama got his before Kagome did and she couldn't resist glancing over to see what he had gotten. A large B sat atop the title page and the girl sighed. That was actually a pretty low score for the redhead, who made As in everything else. Her hopes of a high grade flew out the window. She gasped when she realized that the professor was standing right in front of her.

A silvery eyebrow was raised and a smirk played on his face. "Miss Higurashi." the youkai said. "I have your paper graded, but I would like to speak with you about it, after class. You will accompany me to my office."

"Uh…sure." the girl squeaked out.

Kurama was reading Sesshomaru's comments with an amused look and offered her no help, so Kagome had to have a freak out by herself. She didn't know what frightened her more, the fact that she had probably done horribly on her paper, or the prospect of being alone with the gorgeous demon.

The class went by quickly. The girl managed to take notes on the lecture, but couldn't find the courage to answer any of Professor Takahashi's questions. Too soon, it was over and the class was packing up.

Kurama placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Don't worry." he soothed. "He isn't really all that scary." The girl looked less than convinced. "Think about it this way. Inuyasha seems like a total jerk when you first meet him, but you know that there is more to him than that, right?"

Kagome had to agree.

"Sess is just like that. There's more to him than you think." He didn't bother to keep his voice down and the youkai shot him a dirty look. Kurama returned it with a wave and left the room.

"Follow me, Miss Higurashi." Sesshomaru said.

The young miko hurried to do so. Even without his demonic speed, the professor was nearly a foot taller than her and took long strides. As such they quickly reached his office. Sesshomaru unlocked the door and motioned for the girl to have a seat.

"Tea?" he offered.

Kagome had yet to find her voice so she just nodded. While Sesshomaru busied himself with the electric kettle, the girl looked around his office. It was sparsely furnished with three chairs, his desk, a bookshelf, and a filing cabinet. The walls were bare except for two pictures. One was of him and, to Kagome's surprise, Kurama. The kitsune had a mischievous look on his face and Sesshomaru was glaring at him bemusedly. The other was a black and white image of an adorable little girl.

Before she could get a good look, Sesshomaru was placing a cup of steaming tea in front of her and settling into the chair on the other side of the desk.

"I asked you here to discuss your paper Miss Higurashi, but I must confess that there was another reason as well. On the first day of class, you answered my question on supposed mythological beings. Youkai and miko. One of the two I know much about. The other, is a mystery."

Kagome swallowed. "Did…did I do badly on the paper?"

A smirk graced the youkai's face. "Hardly. In fact, you received the highest mark in the class."

"Higher than Kurama!?" she blurted before she could stop herself.

"Yes. Higher than the kitsune. He needs to remember that he actually has to study what I teach him. Not just use his memory of certain events as evidence. Here." he handed Kagome her paper. "You should be pleased, that is the only A I've given since becoming a professor. Granted that was only two weeks ago, but be proud nonetheless."

Kagome was stunned. She had put a lot of effort into this paper, but she wasn't expecting this.

Sesshomaru could see it in her face. "Rest assured this grade is deserved. I asked you to give me the detailed account on the myth of the moon maiden Kaguya. That is what you did."

"But…I didn't just give one account." Kagome protested. "I cited several different versions…"

"Precisely. There is no one account to the story, Since it is a myth, or supposedly is one, there can never be one correct story. You traced all the speculations on the maiden and her tale, tying them together and making them relevant than each other. That is what I was looking for."

"Wow." She flipped through the paper, reading the comments that Sesshomaru had made.

"I remember you now." the demon said after a few minutes had passed. "Inuyasha begged and pleaded with our father for him to pay for someone named Kags to fly 500 miles to be there for his birthday. Of course Father could deny him nothing, and the day before the hanyou's party, there was a knock on the door."

Kagome gasped. She remembered that. It was Inuyasha's fifteenth birthday and it had been two years since she had seen him. A fair amount of begging and pleading on her end went into getting her mother to allow her fly by herself. Eventually though, she had been allowed to go and showed up at the Taisho mansion giddy with excitement.

"I saw silver hair and just pounced." she said to Sesshomaru, her cheeks flushing with the memory. The youkai had answered the door when she rang the bell and in her haste to see her best friend, Kagome hadn't waited to see who it was, just leaped upon them squealing.

Inuyasha had come down the stairs then. "Uh Kags," he'd asked. "Why are you mauling my brother?"

Sesshomaru chuckled at the memory. "At that time I was appalled that you would have the audacity to touch my person. In retrospect I imagine there are worse things than having a pretty girl attack you."

Kagome blushed harder and looked away from Inuyasha's brother, whom she had to firmly remind herself, was also her professor. In doing so, she caught a glimpse at the clock. It was nearly noon! "Sess- um Professor Takahashi, I have to go. Kurama and I have a standing lunch date and I am so about to be late!"

"Of course." Sesshomaru said.

The girl leapt to her feet and hurried towards the door. She was halfway out when the youkai's voice stopped her. "Have dinner with me."

Kagome froze and turned to stare at him. "What?"

"I wish to speak with you about the ways of the miko. I do not know that much about them and I do have to teach on the subject. Any help you could give me would be wonderful."

"Well…sure. But…dinner?"

Sesshomaru shrugged. "You and I both are occupied during the day, your lunches are taken by the kitsune, so I propose dinner. If you are uncomfortable with the idea…"

"No. No, dinner is fine." Kagome responded. "Um when?"

"Sunday at six? I live not far from here and I could prepare something."

The girl nodded. "Alright, Sunday. See you then Professor."

"Miss Higurashi, I am the elder brother to your best friend. I think you can address me as such when we are outside of the classroom."

The blush returned. "See you then, Sesshomaru."

For the first time in their long acquaintance, Sesshomaru had invited Kurama over. Usually the kitsune just showed up and forced his friend to deal with it. But this time, the inuyoukai had ordered take out and was actually anticipating the visit.

Kurama came in the door without knocking, even though Sesshomaru could have sworn that it had been locked. But in reality there was no lock that the former thief couldn't pick. "Do you want to get fired?" the fox demon demanded when he had entered.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow in response.

Kurama glared at him. "You go from dating no one to dating your students and you didn't tell me?"

"I am still dating no one."

"Right." the redhead made his way to the table and helped himself to some of the Indian food. "So you didn't ask Kagome on a date then?"

"No, I did not. I thought I made that clear to her."

"Oh she didn't say it was a date. In fact, she rather vehemently informed me that it wasn't."

"Then what on earth are you babbling about?" Sesshomaru wanted to know.

"You don't even see it." Kurama applied himself to his food and said nothing else. Sesshomaru tried to mask his curiosity, but he was curious as to what his friend meant.

Minutes passed in silence, until finally he could stand it no longer. "I do not see what?"

Amusement flared in Kurama's emerald eyes. "That you two are perfect for each other."

"And what of the two of you?" Sesshomaru queried. "Does she not have lunch dates with you daily?"

Now Kurama smiled full on. "Oh Sess you know that I haven't been interested in a female, human or otherwise, in ages."

"How is your…friend, Hiei?"

"As he always is. But we are not talking about me. I told you, Sess, you need some companionship. Kagome is perfect for you. She's friends with Inuyasha for crying out loud, of course she can handle you."

Sesshomaru frowned. He didn't like the idea of anyone 'handling' him. He was not a child, or anything like the idiotic half breed. "I would get fired if anyone found out." he murmured.

Kurama was surprised that he hadn't shot the idea down point blank. "Only if someone finds out. You always did like a challenge."

That was certainly true. And as an added bonus he would get to take something from his brother. Sesshomaru thought it over. The miko was certainly quite lovely and he had seen the way she admired him in class. "I will…consider it." he said finally.

Kurama shrugged. "It's up to you." He popped a piece of chicken in his mouth with a wry grin. He really was a genius.

A/N: Okay let me address a few things here. One: Thanks so much for all the reviews. I'm so glad people enjoy this story, even in it's early stages. Two: Someone pointed out to me that Kagome had blue eyes. Well in the anime she has brown eyes and that's how I know Kagome best, so I'm going with that. Thanks for pointing it out though. Three: I know some people don't like Kurama/Hiei slash. There won't be very much of it here. I may not even have Hiei in the story except for a few mentions. This isn't a crossover, Kurama is just a supporting character. Four: Sess might seem a little OOC but I like him this way. It's an AU story so I think I can take a few liberties with his personality. Again, thank you for the feedback! I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this chapter.