Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, any resemblance to any already published story is purely coincidental

So the next chapter is up. I love this one, it has it's moments, the next chapter is going to be boring though, so please bear with me.

In Love

"Goodnight then" Sesshomarou's remark caught her tongue tied.

"Goodnight" she somehow stammered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Next Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sun rose, with it perhaps rose the hopes and aspirations of a million residents, Kagura was no different. She got up, and found Sesshomarou still on the couch. 'How could the man sleep so tight on an uncomfortable couch' she inwardly thought, the entire couch couldn't contain his massive frame and a portion of his legs were sticking out, he was wearing no shirt, just the previous days pants and a vest. Kagura suddenly realized that due to yesterday's activities she had barely had a chance to examine him properly, even though she didn't want to, still she had to admit that the way he maintained himself was quite impressive, possibly the sun revealed some of his hidden features like the long faint magenta stripes on his cheeks. He had a peaceful expression on his face but as Kagura tried to lean close to him to examine his markings he unconsciously pulled up his hand, pointing to the fact that his senses were well alert. 'It's better not to wake him, he must be tired' Kagura thought as she revised his previous day's actions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After half an hour~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sesshomarou woke up, eyed his surroundings.

"So, you are finally awake." snorted Kagura from the kitchen, where she was preparing breakfast.

"Yup."

"Come and have breakfast."

"You seem to be in a good mood today!" Sesshomarou remarked, eying Kagura at the dining table.

"Well, we have a shikhon-no-tama; we are on the verge of getting rich, why shouldn't I be happy."

"Well, for starters, you have a broken fuse, say, it seems you tidied up the place." Sesshomarou said as he examined the surroundings, the heaps of clothes scattered here and there had disappeared, and the piles of magazines were stacked up properly.

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you I've called an electrician who will be coming by shortly, I have some martial arts lessons to give so I wont be home, so please receive him."

"Ok, but lets get to the point, when are we going to meet Naraku, for the jewel?"

"Stop rushing things, I will call my moderator and I'm sure she will be able to stage a meeting, sooner rather than later."

"Moderator?" Sesshomarou gasped.

"Well my job is to steal; the moderators are the ones who sets up the deals."

"You mean we won't be able to meet Naraku?"

"Ofcourse we will meet him if the situation demands it, why the fuck are you so hell bent on meeting Naraku, he your long lost lover or something?" Kagura grunted out.

"Well lets just say I have an old score to settle with the guy."

"I am getting late, if I don't reach my school in time the children will get restless, bye."

"And what am I supposed to do once you are away? You asked me to maintain as low a profile as I can but surely you don't expect me to stay in the apartment all day long!"

"You'll manage!" and with that Kagura rushed out the door. Sesshomarou paced towards the window only to see a black car driving away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After a while~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ding Dong, the doorbell rang.

"You must be the electrician", said Sesshomarou as he led the man to the fuse.

"Who are you, and wheres Kagura?" asked the other guy, who looked quite aged and experienced.

Sesshomarou was rather taken aback by the question, but still he managed to retain his expression, "I am a friend of hers. May I ask your identity?"

"Well I am the neighborhood's electrician; my name is Myoga, I've known Kagura since she was a toddler."

"Well I guess that explains your inquisitive nature." Sesshomarou ended with a bit of arrogance in his voice, he wasn't used to answering random questions made by anyone, but still he figured that this guy must be very close to Kagura so he tried his best not to cross him. "So, you must be very familiar with the neighbors and surroundings, I came just last night so it would be nice if you fill me up with some info."

"Didn't hear a please!"

'Look at the nerve of the old man, if she wasn't so close to Kagura I swear to god I would have broken some of his bones' he thought in his mind, but tried to maintain some decency in his speech, "Please." He somehow uttered.

"Well, as you are being so nice I might as well fill you in, this is a quite neighborhood, the people are very friendly……………"

"Say something that is more useful." Myoga's words were cut off by Sesshomarou.

Myoga was a little irritated but decided against pushing Sesshomarou too far, "Kagura's parents came here when she was just one year old, after her father died a few years ago her mother went back to live at their ancestral home in Europe, as for Kagura, she was too attached to the place to leave, so she stayed, some say that her father was killed over some property dispute …………"

"I think I better not peek into others personal matters, so anything about the neighborhood?"

"Well it's a great neighborhood, no crime here for decades, the people are really nice, say, you haven't filled me up with your info, Kagura isn't like the woman who is much into dating and all that, and now she brings home her boyfriend! That IS a surprise, and a very pleasant one, our little Kagura has finally grown up! "

"Well sorry to break your 'pleasant surprise' but we are not together."

"Yeah, yeah all young couples say that, besides at my age it takes just a glance to know the relationship between a young boy and a girl."

"And still now you haven't taken a glance of us together, so don't jump to conclusions." He put Myoga off in a stern voice, and with that turned to one of the magazines.

Myoga was a little shaken by the quick sharp answers' coming out from the man in front of him, perhaps that was the reason why no conversation followed.

"It's all fixed." exclaimed Myoga, admiring his handiwork.

"How much?"

"Nah you don't have to pay, I missed Kagura's birthday last week so tell her that this is her gift!"

"OK then, goodbye." said Sesshomarou as he held out the door.

"No parting coffee, lad?"

Sesshomarou wasn't used to being called a lad, it was true that the age difference between them justified Myoga's sentence but still he had worked his way up from a penniless wench to a multi millionaire, so he was naturally a little proud of himself and demanded respect. Still he also had some sort of respect for elders, for he offered to visit the nearest coffee shop with Myoga, whether it was to hide his inability to cook, or to get a feel of the neighborhood none knew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the shop~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So we are here." said Myoga as he got himself a seat.

Sesshomarou did the same as he eyed the surroundings; it was the time of the day when he would usually have his evening tea, sitting besides his personal pool. It was quite a new experience to him, he had visited coffee shops before, but that was a long time ago, as of late he had been a regular at five star hotels and restaurants.

"May I have your order please?" a waitress came up and asked, "So Myoga, who is your new friend?"

"Surprise, surprise, he isn't my friend, guess what, she is Kagura's new boyfriend!" No sooner did Myoga finish his statement than Sesshomarou realized that almost all eyes in the shop had turned to him. Some had the look of disbelief on their faces while others were ecstatic about the announcement. It seemed that there was some unwritten law of the neighborhood which stated that Kagura couldn't have a boyfriend!

"Really? Kagura has finally found a boyfriend?" said the waitress staring at Sesshomarou, "And Myoga, let me correct you, he isn't Kagura's new boyfriend, he is her first boyfriend!"

"Yeah, that's right I guess! Come on lad let me introduce you to the rest of the neighbors!"

Sesshomarou wasn't prepared for such a reception, for the first time in life he was at a loss of words. As Myoga made the rounds around the coffee shop introducing him to everyone all Sesshomarou could do was stammer. 'Kagura is certainly not going to like this' he inwardly thought but for some strange reason he didn't want to break the expectations of so many happy people in front of him! 'This day can't get any worse' he thought. But sadly for him god had made other plans! Just then a black car screeched to a halt outside the shop. "Look who has dropped by!" exclaimed Myoga in excitement, whereas for the first time in his life Sesshomarou felt nervous.

Kagura had been a regular visitor at the coffee shop herself, and like any other day she entered the shop. As soon as he placed one foot inside all the eyes turned from Sesshomarou to her, she at once noticed that something was out of place, she took a moment to read the expression on everyone's faces, but she couldn't make neither head nor tail out of it. Once she caught a glimpse of Sesshomarou and Myoga together, a startling thought crossed her mind. Still she tried to act normal, "So, what are you two doing here?" she asked looking over at Sesshomarou.

"Your father figure here wanted to have some coffee, so I brought him here."

"Oh look! She is blushing." An unknown voice from the crowd muttered.

"Who is blushing?" Kagura stated, looking around for the source of the comment.

"Don try to act innocent my dear, guilty pleasures after all!" cried the waitress from before, staring at Kagura.

Kagura narrowed her eyes, the expression on Sesshomarou's face wasn't easing her curiosity one bit, she had already made out that whatever it was involved her and Sesshomarou but couldn't or rather didn't want to put her finger on it. "Can you guys excuse us for a minute?" she declared at the swelling throng, "Sesshomarou, will you come with me please!"

"No problem my girl, we can even excuse you for an hour." chirped Myoga. Kagura put on a faint smile of approval at Myoga before dragging Sesshomarou to the back of her car.

"Whats going on in there?"

"Well, it's a long story." Sesshmarou answered.

"I am not in a hurry."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After some rigorous explaining~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What? Why didn't you tell Myoga that we are not together?" retorted an annoyed Kagura.

"I tried but he wouldn't listen."

"I leave you to yourself for half a day and you do this? I thought I asked you to maintain a low profile!"

"I was doing pretty well before this Myoga came along!"

"That's it! I am going in and telling the truth."

"And tell them that we are thieves?"

"No just that we are not together." replied Kagura.

"Go ahead then, that's exactly I was about to do!"

"And you are going to come with me, and corroborate my statement." With that Kagura pulled Sesshomarou with her as she entered the shop.

"So what did you two do in the car?" exclaimed another waiter.

"Perhaps they kissed!" again came an unknown voice.

"Kagura I know how lonely you were for the past few years, I am really glad that you found your man. This calls for a celebration. My Kagura has finally found her spouse!" cried Myoga.

"Well, I am sorry to disappo……." Kagura's words were cut off by a stray voice among the crowd, and a well built man, perhaps the same age as Kagura, stepped forward, with him came a red headed woman, clinging to his shoulder.

"Kouga! The last person I wanted to meet today!" sighed Kagura.

"So what did you do to seduce him Kagura? Drugged him?" snapped Kouga.

"Shut up Kouga, I don't want to start anything now!" retorted an angry Kagura. Uptill now Kagura's expression was that of embarrassment mixed with annoyance, but everyone could sense that she wasn't angry, but all that suddenly changed, the expression on her face told that she was ready for anything including a bloodbath. Ofcourse uptill now she had given various threats to Sesshomarou but the fact that they were just a way for her to talk was understood by everyone, but this time she seemed dead serious.

"Kouga is right Kagura, the only way someone could fall for you is by mistake, or if your boyfriend is impotent." The girl beside Kouga snapped out.

"Shut up Ayame!"

"Getting angry Kagura? You know Ayame is telling the truth, besides everyone knows that he is gonna fuck you, and then dump you within six months, and then you can mother a bastard child."

Kagura was containing her emotions till then but in one instant everything bottled inside her boiled over! Kouga had always been a hottie with the girls, but Kagura never paid any attention to him, he had always gotten under her nerves and had always insulted Kagura over her lack of feminity. And what was worse was that she couldn't ever give out a proper answer to his insults, but all that was about to end, in the heat of the moment she let out a devilish grin, "Well Kouga, I have to tell you that you are wrong, me and Sesshomarou have been together for quite some time now, so you can just fuck off, oh yeah, and Ayame, I know you are a little pissed about the fact that my boyfriend is more handsome and a hell lot more stronger than Kouga, but no use unleashing your frustrations on me dear, I am sure god will be kind enough to bestow you with atleast one baby, inspite of yours and Kouga's semi-fertile condition."

Half the customers left anticipating the certain fisting that was about to follow, others stayed to watch the fun. Myoga tried to act moderator, "Come now guys, cool it down!" he said to both the parties.

"Shut up old man, I am gonna rid Kagura of her sarcasm once and for all." And with that Kouga proceeded towards Kagura, who was ready with one of her fighting stances, but as Kouga's first blow arrived, before Kagura could dodge it another hand came in between, catching it in an iron grip.

Kagura looked up and saw Sesshomarou who was atleast 6 inches taller than Kouga towering over him, holding Kouga's fist while he tried desperately to free it. "Myoga told you to leave politely, I promise, that I wont be so gentle." He said in a voice, stern yet devoid of any emotions. Everyone was amazed at his display of strength, no one before had stopped a punch from Kouga in mid air like that, and the way Sesshomarou did it, it seemed that he had enough power to repel almost five hundred of such fists together. Kouga himself was taken aback at his amazing feat. He took a few steps back in alarm as Sesshomarou let go of his hand.

"Kagura, so you even started to hide behind men, I thought you were the independent type, never knew you would chicken out." Returned an angry Kouga.

Before Kagura could let out a proper reply, Sesshomarou's voice was heard loud and clear, "If you haven't noticed, she isn't hiding behind me, it is I who is standing in front of her, and by the way, you are boring me out, so if you are just going to talk then we might as well leave." With that Sesshomarou grabbed Kagura's hand and led her out to her car.

"What happened? Running away?" Kouga snorted, acting tough.

"Yes, running away from sheer boredom." came the ice cold reply from Sesshomarou which left Kouga at a loss of words, as he watched Sesshomarou drive home with Kagura.

Author's Notes: Quite an impressive display of strength from Sesshomarou there! I hope you like it as much as I do. Really a sharp twist Eh? Anyways please R&R and let me know your views. By the way I am having some serious doubts about the next chapter; actually I have developed two storylines completely different from one another, and am not sure which one would be best. Do you think I should post both letting you all to decide?

"Yes, running away from sheer boredom.": It's a quote from the anime that I borrowed. I thought I should let you all know.