I'm back! Sorry for the very long delay on this chapter. You can find out the reason why in my bio. I apologize to everyone especially to LiL:.CaT:.AnImE and Inuyasha-girl1117 who even sent a couple of reviews just to tell me to update. I'm really, a really sorry guys for the long delay. :gets pummeled by pitchforks and rotten vegetables:

On a lighter note, thank you for all the people who reviewed. Two hundred plus reviews on my first fanfic. Thank you very much! I hope this extra long chapter makes up for the long period that I have not updated. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

The Substitute
Chapter 7
'
Stunning Transformation'

Oden. Oden was all around. Kagome could not help looking starry eyed. She was in food heaven. Everything was perfect. Life was—

"Crap." Kagome was jolted awake by her ringing alarm clock. She groaned and covered her head with her blanket. Her right hand snaked beneath her covers and blindly searched for her alarm clock on the bedside table. Locating the clock, she resisted the urge to chuck it out the window and turned the alarm off.

Peeking from her blanket, she realized it was eight in the morning, and it was Saturday, as what she could see from the small calendar beside her clock. Now why did she set the alarm again?

Kagome scowled when she remembered. "Oh yeah. That stupid idiot is taking me somewhere."

Flashback.

"What if I still said no?"

"Then you can kiss that offer goodbye. This time it would be your fault your mother lost that job opportunity." From the tone of his voice, Kagome had the impression he seemed to enjoy blackmailing her.

"I never thought you'd stoop so low, Takahashi," she responded coldly. Her hands were itching to strangle him. She gripped the phone tightly, imagining it to be Inuyasha's neck. "You're a complete bastard for resorting to something so low as blackmailing. "

"Name-calling won't get you anywhere, Higurashi," Inuyasha replied, sounding unaffected by her insults. "Is that a no? Too bad." Kagome heard him sigh. "Don't be surprised if you get a call from Tetsusaiga Corporation canceling the offer due to regrettable circumstances. Goodbye, Higu—"

Kagome was shaking with fury that she did not quickly realize he was actually bidding her goodbye. "Wait!" She yelled, panicking a little. From the dining area, her family eyed her curiously. "Don't you dare put the phone down!"

"Is anything wrong, Kagome?" Her mother asked as she handed Souta a second serving of chocolate cake. "Who are you talking to, dear?"

Kagome, realizing she had unconsciously raised her voice, mentally cursed Inuyasha. Plastering a sunny smile on her face which she hoped was convincing, she waved a hand dismissively. "Everything's fine mama!" She assured. Yeah right. "Just a joke between Sango-chan and me." Pretending to laugh, she pulled the phone as far as it could go away from the dining area into the corner that led to the living room, so she was out of her family's view.

"Oi, Takahashi!" She hissed into the receiver worriedly. "Are you still there?" She prayed to the gods that he had not put the phone down. Kagome's eyes suddenly narrowed. Inuyasha was laughing his head of at the other line. For a moment, she contemplated whether being a murderer wasn't such a bad idea.

"Yeah, I'm still here." Inuyasha suppressed another wave of laughter.

"You jerk! You were bluffing!" She whispered angrily. Kagome's temper was flaring that it could have evaporated mercury. "I wonder how your girlfriend ever put up with a scheming moron like you!"

That struck a chord and Inuyasha instantly stopped snickering. "Watch your mouth, wench!" He snapped. "Or I will seriously call the job offer off. You don't want that now, do you?"

"No," Kagome replied glumly. "I'm not a jerk like you," she added mentally. Something told her Inuyasha was serious this time so she decided to keep her mouth shut. She found it odd though that Inuyasha got touchy whenever she mentioned his girlfriend.

"So what's your answer, Higurashi?" He questioned.

Kagome closed her eyes. "Fine," she sighed, feeling defeated. "I'll do your favor. Like I have a choice anyway. Happy now?"

"Much," Inuyasha answered, sounding pleased. Kagome would have given anything to wipe the smug smirk she knew he was sporting right now. "I'll come by your house at nine am to pick you up. Nice doing business with you, Higurashi."

Before Kagome could ask any more questions, he hung up. Kagome stared at the phone for a moment before returning it to its cradle. She felt like she had just sold her soul to Inuyasha or something, and that left her angry and sad at the same time.

"What are we celebrating again?" She thought, staring at her family happily eating chocolate cake at the dining table.

End of flashback.

Kagome kicked her sheets off and grabbed her glasses from her bedside table. "Wonder what favor Inuyasha wants me to do for him," she thought, looking at her half-awake reflection on her full-length mirror. "And why me of all people?"


Inuyasha whistled as he scanned the shrine grounds. He was twenty minutes early so he decided to take a leisurely walk as he headed to Kagome's house. Glancing at the shed, he noticed Kagome's old pink bike still had flat tires. He snorted when he remembered how he had snuck into the shrine grounds early yesterday morning to punch holes on her bicycle tires with his Swiss knife.

Reaching the house, he removed his sunglasses and slipped them into his dress shirt pocket. "Wonder how she could live in a small house like this," Inuyasha mumbled as he knocked a couple of times before jamming his hands into his khaki pockets. A moment later, a little boy holding a tubby cat answered the door.

"Hey," Inuyasha greeted. He assumed that the boy was Kagome's little brother. The boy put the cat down and eyed him expectantly.

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "Is Higur—Kagome around?" He asked, trying to ignore the cat weaving between his feet. "I'm taking her somewhere."

The boy regarded him curiously for a second. "You're onee-san's boyfriend, aren't you?" He burst out without blinking.

Inuyasha stiffened before keeling over. "What?!" He half-screamed. "Hell n—"

Before he could finish, a woman appeared behind the boy. "Have you fed Buyo yet, Souta?" She asked, cutting Inuyasha's denial off. She turned to face Inuyasha."Can I help you, young man?"

"He's onee-san's boyfriend!" Souta exclaimed excitedly. "He's taking her out for a date!" In the background, Inuyasha shook his head wildly while resisting the urge to stuff the kid's mouth to stop him from exaggerating.

"Really now?" Mrs. Higurashi replied. Inuyasha did not like the weird glint in her eyes. "She never told me all about you. You are?"

"Inuyasha Takahashi," he answered, sweat-dropping. "I'm not—"

"Who's taking my granddaughter out for a date?" Somebody suddenly demanded. Inuyasha whirled around to see Grandpa Higurashi studying him intently and looking like he was about to stick one of the ofudas() he was holding on his forehead.

"Actually, I'm just her classmate. Honest—"

"I believe you, Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi answered with a smile, although her eyes told him she was not really convinced. "I'm a pretty open-minded parent although I wish she had told me before that you were coming. Kagome will be down in a few minutes. She usually takes longer to wake up during weekends."

Inuyasha sweat-dropped. Now why was Kagome's family insisting that he was Kagome's—Inuyasha suppressed the urge to gag—boyfriend? He stared down at his clothes. He looked like he was ready for a business meet with his red dress shirt, neatly pressed khaki pants and well-shined shoes…or he was ready for a date. "Shit."

Inuyasha tried again. "Really. I'm not her—"

"Why don't you join us for breakfast while you're waiting for her, Inu-oniisan?" Souta suddenly invited, tugging his polo.

"Thanks, but I already had—"

Before Inuyasha could decline the offer or deny any relationship with Kagome, Souta linked his arm around his and started pulling him to the dining area while chattering about his favorite video games. Mrs. Higurashi and her father had shuffled on ahead.


Kagome tied her sneakers before looking at her reflection on the mirror. She was wearing a loose white shirt and faded blue jeans. "Well, he didn't say I have to wear a kimono anyway," she thought, rolling her eyes. "Heck, he didn't even tell me where we're going. And like I care what I look like to him."

She suddenly heard her stomach grumble. Deciding to have a quick breakfast before the scheming-blackmailing-bribing-jerk a.k.a Inuyasha Takahashi arrived, Kagome bounded down the stairs and headed to the dining room.

Arriving on the dining area, her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when she recognized the person having breakfast with her family. She could tell that it was him even a mile away.

"What in the world is he doing here?" She demanded, fuming. He was already in her house, happily eating breakfast with her family when he just blackmailed her last night? The nerve of him!

"Ohayo, Kagome!" Her mother greeted cheerfully, oblivious of the menacing dark aura flickering behind her daughter. "You didn't tell me you have such a wonderful boyfriend coming over."

Kagome's eye twitched with disbelief. Wonderful? Inuyasha Takahashi wonderful?! She marched over to her usual seat and froze midstride. Boyfriend?!

"He is NOT my boyfriend!" She said hotly. "Why in the world is everybody thinking that?!" First the traffic police, now her family. She threw a death glare at Inuyasha, who returned an I-didn't-say-I-was-your-boyfriend-don't-look-at-me expression before pouring more maple syrup into his pancakes.

"I thought he was taking you out for a date, onee-san," Souta said as he looked up from his breakfast, slightly confused.

Kagome scowled at her brother. "And he is NOT my date!" She replied, trying to stay calm. "He is just my classmates who—"

Kagome paused. Where was he taking her anyway? She looked at Inuyasha for some help but her mortal enemy was busy helping himself to another serving of pancakes. Just what you'd expect from a jerk like him…Kagome made a mental note to slip poison into his breakfast when she had a chance.

"Yes?" Her mother prodded.

"We're going to the public library to do more research on our History topic about the Bakumatsu no Douran, Mrs. Higurashi," Inuyasha suddenly answered before Kagome could think up anything. "I was just picking her up."

Mrs. Higurashi seemed satisfied with the story and motioned her daughter to sit down and have breakfast. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, dear."

"If he was just here to pick me up, you shouldn't have bothered offering him breakfast," Kagome uttered as she flopped down to her usual seat, which, unluckily for her, was facing Inuyasha. "He's not as wonderful as you think." She shot him another glare that promised excruciating pain and torture after all this was over and done with.

"Now now, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said disapprovingly as she placed a couple of pancakes on her daughter's plate. "He has been nice and polite since he got here."

Kagome's brows shot up. Obviously, Inuyasha had great acting skills to make her mother believe that he was a complete angel. Her eyes turned to slits as she stared him down, a feat that would have sent anybody running for the hills. "I'll get you, you jerk," she mouthed wordlessly. She was so ready to skewer him with her fork.

Inuyasha gave her a cocky look. "Bite me," he returned mutely, stuffing more pancakes into his mouth.


Sango peered out the huge windows from the large Kanzaki private library. She and Miroku had agreed, or rather, she was forced to agree, to come to his house after much prodding from her chichi-ue that Miroku was a "nice young man" and because the Kanzaki library was known to be one of the largest private libraries in Tokyo. If she had it her way though, she would rather go to the public library to spare herself a whole day alone with a perverted playboy.

Fixing her stare at the pool below, he saw a butler approach a sunbathing Miroku, probably to tell him she was already at the library. He saw Miroku nod and get up, only to be stopped by a girl in a skimpy red bikini. Sango watched with a wry smile as the girl draped herself all over Miroku, who gently pried lose from her grip and headed inside, leaving the pouting girl alone beside the pool. Sango could have sworn Miroku's current girl was the lingerie model she had come across on a certain magazine last week.

Sliding her hands on the windowpane, she watched as the model picked up her towel and stomped inside. "Wonder why so many girls fall for him," she mumbled to herself. She remembered Miroku's fan club in school and shook her head. "What do they see in him? Everyone knows he's a player and a lecher. Must be the money..."

"Why did you fall for him before?" A voice inside her asked. "What did you see in him?"

"Because I was naïve, and I was not aware he was a perverted playboy," Sango thought, frowning. "Now shut up." Sheesh, she was arguing with herself… That was not a good thing now, was it?

Deciding to clear her thoughts, she headed for the table where she had put her laptop, skimming through the information about their history topic, the Sengoku Jidai, which she had gathered during the week.

"I can't believe I had a crush on him during tenth grade," Sango mused after a few minutes of scrolling at the screen filled with nothing but History information. "It's too bad he turned out to be a lecher. And a player..." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You look really cute when you're all thoughtful like that."

Sango's eyes widened and she looked up to see Miroku standing before her table, giving her his signature boyish grin that could instantly turn any of his fan girls into Jell-O.

"Whatever, Kanzaki." Sango turned away, trying to hide a blush rising on her cheeks. "Darn it! Why am I blushing now? Stupid blood vessels!"

"And you look even cuter when you blush," Miroku continued, leaning closer that she could actually smell his perfume.

Sango squirmed self-consciously on her seat. "I'm sure," she mumbled, trying to sound uninterested.

If she had not known Miroku was a player, she would have fallen for his charms hook, line and sinker. But Sango knew too well that Miroku was probably being his notoriously playboy self, as she had seen him do this too many times to many other girls.

"Look, Kanzaki," she responded curtly, looking at him in the eye and praying her cheeks were back to their normal color. "I came here to make a draft paper for History, not to be your next girlfriend so I suggest you flirt with somebody else. Like your lingerie model by the pool." She pointed a thumb at the large window that had a nice view of the pool.

Miroku looked taken aback for second. "Don't worry Sango-chan," he replied with a smile. "I'm not planning anything like that. Your father would skin me alive if I did."

Sango looked relieved. "It's good that we have that cleared up." Turning her laptop to his direction, she said, "Check out the draft I made. It still has a couple of things missing but tell me what you think of it so far."

Miroku nodded and pulled a chair. As he browsed through the draft, Sango busied herself by checking out the books on one of the large bookshelves. Pulling out a thick history book from the shelf, she pretended to read it as she watched him browse though her laptop.

"It really is too bad," she thought, looking at him with disappointment. "Miro-chan…"


Kagome eyed Inuyasha suspiciously. The latter was busy laughing his head off at the comedy he was watching on the small television behind the front seat's headrest.

"Where are you taking me this time?" She demanded crossly. Inuyasha burst into anther fit of laughter, making Kagome realize he was paying no attention to her whatsoever.

Leaning on his side of the seat, she switched the small television off. She instantly got Inuyasha's attention, who looked extremely pissed at what she did.

"What did you do that for?" Inuyasha frowned and turned the TV back on.

Kagome tried to stay calm by staring at the scenery that flew past the window. "I was asking you for the umpteenth time where you're taking me. We've been to the ophthalmologist, then to a dress shop to get my measurements and just a minute ago to a shoe store to get my shoe size. What is this all about?"

When Kagome did not receive a reply, she turned around to see Inuyasha laughing hysterically as the character on the show he was watching got his head stuck inside the turkey he was stuffing. Kagome was one step closer to internal bleeding as she popped yet another vein. She leaned over and turned it off.

Inuyasha glared at her darkly and turned the TV back on.

Kagome scowled in return, leaned over and turned it off again.

"Stop doing that, wench!" Inuyasha growled and turned the TV on.

Kagome pouted and turned it off again. "I would if you would just answer me!"

On.

Off.

"You're going to break the TV if you keep turning it off, bitch! Stop pressing the off button, damn it!"

"If you just answered me earlier, then I wouldn't be interrupting your precious little TV time, you psychotic jerk!"

Toutousai, who was seating in front of the SUV, sighed tiredly as he heard them scuffling in the back. Rooling his eyes, he decided he better act soon before the two people actually go for each other's throats. Turning around to give them a quick sermon, he sweat-dropped when he saw Kagome pulling Inuyasha's forelocks, while his master muttered a couple of colorful words as he tried to get his hair free from her grasp.

Hammer materializing on his hand, Toutousai hit Inuyasha on the head. Kagome instantly released his forelocks, looking slightly confused.

"Why did you hit me, jijii?" Inuyasha yelled, rubbing a smoking bump on his head. "She was the one pulling my hair!"

"Because you were being rude to her by not answering her question," the butler replied calmly. "I don't blame her."

"Why you jijii!" Inuyasha started cracking his knuckles. "You're supposed to be on your master's side! You want another wrestling match?"

"We've already been through with this discussion, Master Inuyasha. Hit me and you get grounded for a month," Toutousai threatened coolly. "Your parents' orders."

Inuyasha plopped back on his seat with a huff and turned his TV back on, all the while mumbling something about decapitating butlers. Kagome, who was watching the whole scene, turned to her seatmate and smiled with amusement. After letting Inuyasha cool off for a few minutes, she leaned over. Inuyasha looked at her suspiciously from the corner of his eye.

"So where are we going next, Takahashi?"

As if on cue, the SUV stopped. Inuyasha gave her a smug smile and stepped outside the vehicle. "See for yourself."

Opening her door and stepping outside, Kagome gaped. They were standing in front of The Looking Glass, one of the best and most expensive salon and beauty spas in Japan. "What the heck are we doing here?"

"My mom owns the place," Inuyasha answered nonchalantly. "I'm going to get a facial."

Kagome's eyes slanted. "You get facials?"

"Of course not. Duh." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You're the one who's going to get a facial and loads more of other treatments." He pointed at her.

"WHAT?!" Kagome's jaw dropped and she froze on the spot. "ME?!"

"It's our deal remember?" Inuyasha smirked, enjoying Kagome's horrified expression. "You're supposed to do me a favor." He dragged her to the entrance as Toutousai and Myouga, the driver, looked on from inside the SUV.

"Ah, Inuyasha-sama, how nice to see you again." A lady with long hair tied with a large striped ribbon bowed at the door. "How may I be of service?"

"Hi Kaguya," Inuyasha acknowledged. "Hey, I need you to give this girl the works." He shoved Kagome forward.

"Of course." Kaguya bowed again. She examined Kagome, who took a step backward. "Looks like we've got lots of work to do here."

"What are you trying to pull here, Takahashi?" Kagome demanded, turning to him. Not even in her wildest dreams did she see this coming. "This was not the favor I had in mind!"

Inuyasha chose not to answer the question. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, Higurashi," he said, waving at her before heading for the exit.

Kagome was about to go after him when she realized that the staff was dragging her into one of the rooms of the spa/salon. "Let me go! Takahashi—!"


"The operation going along as planned, huh? That's good." Miroku smiled. He was talking to somebody on his cell phone. "Oh, you're going to get her now? I see... Tell me how everything goes later, okay? Good luck, my friend." He ended the call and walked towards the table where Sango was busy editing their research paper.

"Who was that?" Sango asked as she looked up from her laptop.

"Inuyasha," Miroku answered. "Why?"

Sango's eyes narrowed. "I could have sworn you were talking about Kagome. You and Inuyasha are not planning to bully her, are you? Because if you are…" Sango started cracking her knuckles.

Miroku gulped and waved his hands placatingly. "Of course not, Sango-chan! Why would nice boys like us do that? We were actually talking about Inuyasha's cousin, K-Kotone. You must have heard wrong."

"Nice boys, my butt." Sango shot him a dry look. "You better make sure of that, Kanzaki… Or else." Leaving that threat hanging, she turned her attention back to their research.

At the background, Miroku sighed with relief. That was close.

Violent martial arts girls are scary…especially if the girl you and your best friend were scheming against happened to be that violent girl's best friend.


"Yeah, I'll tell you later. See you around, Miroku." Inuyasha ended the call and stepped out from his black Porsche.

It had been more than four hours since he had dropped Kagome off at The Looking Glass. He had ordered Toutousai and Myouga to handle Kagome when they dropped him off at Tetsusaiga Corporation for his weekly practicum on business administration, which was his father's idea to train him since he was an heir to the family businesses.

"Is she done?" Inuyasha asked as he barged through the glass doors of The Looking Glass.

"Almost, Inuyasha-sama," Myouga answered, bowing. "Kaguya is just fixing her dress a little."

"And jijii?"

"He went to the dressing room to bring Kagome-san her shoes."

Inuyasha looked at his watch. If Kikyo was to judge by, it was probably going to take a while for them to finish fixing Kagome. He sat on one of the sofas near the salon windows and started browsing through the pile of fashion magazines laid neatly on the table.

After a few minutes, he came upon a picture of Miroku's current girlfriend modeling lingerie. "Wonder why Miroku's fan club still chase after him," Inuyasha thought amusedly. "Hardly any of them measure up to his tastes anyway. Oh well, it doesn't hurt to hope…"

"Inuyasha-sama, Kagome-san is here," Myouga announced.

"Good." Inuyasha looked up from the magazine he was reading. His mouth hung open when he saw a beautiful raven-haired girl heading his direction wearing an exquisite sky blue dress that hugged her curves. The dress was knee-length and sleeveless with faint prints of sakura branches, perfectly matching her sky blue sandals. Her shiny black hair was tied back by a silver clip.

This gorgeous girl was Kagome Higurashi? If Miroku ever chanced to see her on the street, Inuyasha was perfectly sure his best friend would not pass the opportunity to ask her out on a date. "I certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass," Inuyasha thought before he slapped himself mentally. Where in the seven hells did that thought come from? This was Higurashi he was talking about…

Inuyasha could have sworn Kagome was Kikyo's twin if it were not for the color of her eyes. It was the first time Inuyasha was seeing her without the large thick glasses. Unlike Kikyo's gray ones, Kagome's orbs were blue. A very beautiful shade of blue.

"Well, Inuyasha-sama," Myouga said as he noticed a blush rising on his master's cheeks. "Isn't Kagome-san just lovely?"


A/N: Aw, Inuyasha blushed. How cute.

Okay, so Inuyasha really is an asshole for blackmailing/bribing Kagome. But don't worry. He'll have redeeming characteristics on the later chapters so some of you won't hate him so much. But right now, he'll be :ahem: a big (scheming) jerk. Oh, and they won't be falling in love with each other. Not yet.

Oh, the show Inu was watching was Mr. Bean. I dunno. That was the first funny show that came to my mind.

"Ofudas" are the strips of paper Miroku uses in the series that has some written incantation. They are also used by Rei Hino on Sailor Moon. As far as I know, these strips of paper are used to ward off evil spirits/entities.

If you're wondering how Inuyasha got his Porsche on the last part, Myouga and Toutousai dropped him off at Tetsusaiga Corporation. On his way back, Inu used one of his cars parked at the company to get back.

Was the chapter good or bad? Did it suck big time? Tell me what you think.