"He still hasn't given up, huh?"

Doing her best to ignore the shrill sound of her phone, Kagome sighed and shook her head. "No. My mom told me he's been to the shrine twice. Once late yesterday afternoon, and once today."

Sango, pausing what she was doing, slowly turned her head, looking at Kagome with a cocked brow. "And... you're still going to ignore him?"

Kagome just shrugged. "He'll give up eventually, right?"

Sitting back on her hunches, grabbing the side of the coffee table and drumming her nails on the glass top, Sango grunted. "Is that what you really want? Because, if it is, you're an idiot."

Jolting back from the statement and pressing herself further into the couch she was sitting on, Kagome blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Sango looked her dead in the eyes. "You put way too much stock into what someone else said."

Crossing her arms with a huff, Kagome once again shook her head. "I knew Kyokotsu was right before he said a fucking word to me."

Even knowing how depressed she had been since that altercation with Kyokotsu the day before, Sango wasn't having anything part of Kagome thinking that douche canoe was right about her. "His brother's opinion doesn't fucking matter, Babes. His does, and clearly he does not agree with the sentiment of you not being good enough, whatever the hell that means, or being worth his time. Look at shit from an outsider's perspective."

Waiting a moment to make sure she had Kagome's attention, she ticked off her points with her fingers. "He took care of you when you had too much to drink on his birthday. He nursed you through the worst hangover you've ever had. He left his house in the middle of the night to pick you up from work because you fell asleep in the office. He took you to his house because he lives closer than you do so you could sleep later. Twice now, according to your mom, he has made a two hour round trip to the shrine on the off chance you might be there. Yeah, Kagome you're absolutely right. You aren't worth his time he has literally gone out of his way to spend with you since the night he met you."

Cringing as shit was laid out for her like that, Kagome's face puckered slightly. "Ouch."

Sango just shrugged in a way as to say 'so what' without actually saying the words. Instead, she said something else. "Sometimes the truth hurts, and here is some more for you. He might have a brother who's an overstepping dick, but you're being an overreaching bitch, and that's worse."

Starting at the statement, Kagome scoffed. "No, I'm not. We are worlds apart, and I don't fit into his."

Sango, having reached the end of her tolerance for stupidity, finally raised her voice, figuring it was the only thing that would finally get the hard headed bitch to pay attention. "He doesn't fit into his own fucking world!" When Kagome went to open her mouth again, Sango beat her to it. "You act like I don't know who Bankotsu Akasaki is. I might not have met him in person, but I've read enough about him to know he doesn't give a rat's ass about social status, and the only one that does here is you. So he has a dick of a brother. So do I. Hell, Kagome, so do you. The beauty of Bankotsu is, if you don't like one, he has five more to fucking choose from."

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Sango licked her lips and shook her head. "Look, Kags, if you don't want to be with him, that's one thing, and perfectly acceptable. What's not is you acting like a child and ignoring him in hopes he goes away. You're an adult. Pull up your big girl panties and tell him to his face if that's the case."

She hated getting mad at her friends, but at that point, Kagome's blood was nearly boiling. Now glaring at Sango, Kagome snipped. "Or, you can stay the fuck out of it."

Sango leaned closer to her over the table, not taking Kagome's shit. "You brought me into it when you decided to hide from him at my house. Grow up already and answer the fucking phone, or I will, and I'll tell him exactly where to find you and hold your stubborn ass hostage until he gets here. Fucking test me."

It was almost on cue her phone rang again, drawing a grunt from Kagome and an 'I dare you' look from Sango.

With a hard sigh, Kagome picked up her phone, but blinked at the name on the screen. "It's Ayame." Eyes going wide, she muttered a 'shit' and answered her phone. "Oh, Kami, please don't be going into labor."

The voice that came through the line was cracked and hitched. "I wish, with everything, that's why I've trying to call you."

Stomach tightening, more from the voice than the words, Kagome lightly cleared her throat. "Then why are you?"

"You need to come to the hospital."

Those words brought everything in Kagome's world crashing down around her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she couldn't swallow the lump that formed. Hard, short breathes slipped past her lips as eyes went distant. Her voice was rough, and that caught Sango's immediate attention, though she stayed quiet while Kagome was on the phone. "What happened?"

A sniffle proceeded the answer. "There was a bleed in his brain... and..."

Closing her eye to fight back the tears, Kagome shook her head hard, like if she didn't believe it, it wouldn't be real, and cut the girl off. "Don't... don't you dare."

There was a whimper in her ear. "Kagome, I am so, so sorry."

When the first tear broke from the corner of her eye, Kagome stood up. She didn't say anything else as she hung up her phone, her actions becoming clumsy and frantic as she looked around for her purse. She didn't look at Sango as she set her phone down on the kitchen counter next to her purse, digging for her keys, and speaking with heartbreak in her voice. "I have to go. I... I have to go." Finding her keys, she snagged her purse and jogged through the apartment to the door, ignoring Sango as she called after her, not even getting the front door closed all the way as she then darted down the hall to the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator.

Sango, who tired to go after her, called down the hall. "Your phone!" Though she held the device up, Kagome didn't turn back, and Sango sighed as she dropped her arm when the door to the stairwell slammed shut. "Damn it." Scratching her head, she paused, bringing Kagome's phone back into her line of sight. Clicking her tongue, she began to walk backwards, her lips pursed in thought. Lightly closing her door, she pressed the side button, and finding out there wasn't a password to get into the phone, she grinned as she turned and made her way to her living room. "Alright, Mr. Akasaki. Let's see what she really means to you."

She wasn't stupid. With the part of the conversation she heard, she had a pretty good idea what happened. She also knew how close Kagome was to that entire family. More than that, she knew Kagome well enough to know she would be so focused on trying to be strong for Kouga and Hakkaku, she would hold everything she was feeling inside until she knew they were okay, which was absolutely unhealthy. If she wanted to be there for them, fine. What Sango wanted to know was...

Would Bankotsu be there for her?

Scrolling through Kagome's missed calls since that would be the fasted way to get his number, she didn't even switch phones, just hit send and put Kagome's phone to her ear, waiting through the rings. This would be his only chance, and if he wanted to play games and do something as stupid as not answer in some ridiculous attempt to teach Kagome a lesson, Sango would take back everything she said in his defense and keep Kagome hidden from him as long as it took for the calls to stop.

Just when she thought his voice mail was going to pick up, a gruff sounding voice came through the line. It wasn't a pissed off gruffness; more like the one you hear when you wake someone up. "Hey there."

Pressing her lips together, Sango cleared her throat. "Hey there, yourself."

A voice that was once covered in sleep was now colored in confusion. "You're not Kagome."

Trying very hard to bite back the chuckle, Sango cleared her throat. "No, I'm not. This is her friend Sango. She left her phone here when she took off a minute ago, and I figured the decent thing to do would be for someone to return one of your calls."

The confusion in his voice did not lessen. "I haven't called since this morning."

Jaw going lax, Sango's eyes widened, and her voice was under her breath. "Oh, no... was that her this whole time?"

It might have been quiet, but Bankotsu heard her nonetheless. "What are you talking about?"

Hand over her mouth, Sango took a moment to digest Kagome had been ignoring Ayame's calls all afternoon before she dropped her hand, licked her lips, and let out a breath. "I'm going to fill you in on a few things. What you do with the information is up to you."

And that's exactly what she did. For ten minutes, she explained the relationship between Kagome and the Shun family; how they had all known each other damn near all their lives, and how she was as much a part of their family as she was part of her own.

While Bankotsu wasn't at all a fan of finding out Kagome had in fact had some kind of relationship with Kouga for a short time while they were in high school, what got a raised brow out of him was also hearing it wasn't quote, unquote dating. What it was, was Kouga finding out some asshole tried to cross a line with Kagome she didn't want to cross, so he stepped into the role of 'boyfriend' long enough to get the guy to leave her alone. That was literally the long and the short of anything happening between them.

Sango stressed hard the fact neither one of them ever saw the other in a romantic sort of way, having met as toddlers, but if someone didn't know their history, Sango also conceded to the fact it did look like something it wasn't. However, though Kouga was very protective of Kagome, he was very much in love with his girlfriend.

Once she imparted that to him, she moved on and took a shortcut to more recent events. "Her friendship with Kouga led to her meeting his cousins Ginta and Hakkaku, and for the last twenty years, the four of them have been extremely close. Over that time, she's basically become the little sister none of them ever had. Having said all of that, Monday afternoon, Ginta was in a... horrific car accident. Someone ran a red light and t-boned the driver's side of his car, and... well, he survived the impact, but... um... Anyway, right before I called you, Kagome got a call from Ayame, and she took off out of here like bat out of hell, and left her phone behind. I don't know what was said to her, but I do know Ginta's chances of pulling through with the injuries he has were never very high."

There was a minute or so of silence before a much clearer voice came through the line. "What hospital?"

Sango wasn't able to say anything more than "General" before there was a click in her ear, leaving her to stare at the phone in her hand. After a moment, she grinned again, tossing Kagome's phone on her coffee table and picking up her TV remote. "Well... guess that answers that."

*X*

It had taken Kagome twenty minutes to get to the hospital, not realizing she didn't have her phone until she was almost there. Being pointless to go back for it, she pulled into the valet line, taking the ticket, and running inside, bypassing the front desk and heading straight for the elevator. This being the hospital her grandfather had been taken to, she knew where she was going, and seriously contemplated taking the stairs. The only reason she didn't was the there were people getting on it as she got near, she frantically yelled for them to hold it, panting for breath as she slipped inside.

Asking for the fourth floor, Kagome tried to settle her breathing so that she could pull herself together. She had cried on the drive, but now was the time she had to knock it off. Her friends needed her strength more than she needed to cry, and by the time the doors opened on her floor, she was able to dry her cheeks, but there was little she could do about her bloodshot eyes.

Stepping off the elevator, Kagome took a split second to take another breath before she was off again, darting down the hall to the ICU, weaving through the people that didn't move out of the way and completely ignoring everyone who told her to slow down. She didn't run into anyone, so they could fuck themselves with their slow downs.

Shoulder checking the door when she reached it, she came to a slightly sliding stop on the waxed floor, looking around the waiting room, a breathless "Ayame" falling from her lips when she saw her red hair pulled up in their normal pigtails.

Turning her own tear streaked face to the voice, Ayame, set her hand on her bulging belly, slowly standing up as Kagome approached her. She didn't make a move to hug her, Kagome's stance one that clearly said she didn't want to be touched. Instead, she swallowed hard, and waited to answer the expected question.

Waiting until she was closer so as to not to disturb the handful of others in the room, Kagome gulped down the clog in her throat. "He was... when?"

Licking her lips and letting out a breath, Ayame rubbed her belly where she was kicked. "This morning. They tried, there just... it was too late and there was nothing they could do."

Digging her nails into her arm to try and keep herself grounded, Kagome's voice hitched slightly. "Did they miss it?"

Ayame slightly lifted a shoulder. "They couldn't see it. The neurologist said it was small and hidden by the swelling. This morning, Ginta wasn't responding to stimuli anymore, so they did an MRI. Dr. Cruz said by the time the swelling went down enough to find it, his brain had been bleeding since Monday, and I am so sorry, Kagome."

Wincing as she removed her nails from her skin, Kagome took a moment before she took a hard breath and nodded. "Where are they?"

Ayame nodded to the doors that separated them from the waiting room and patient room. "They're with him. Mrs. Shun already filled out the paperwork for you. Just tell them who you are at the desk and they'll tell you where to go. There's a little bit of time left until they... um..."

Kagome finished the statement. "Declare him dead." When Ayame gave a few shallow nods, Kagome looked to the desk, then the doors, then back to Ayame. "Aren't you coming?"

Ayame, however, shook her head. "No. This time is for family. Besides, I'm late for an appointment with my OB. I just wanted to wait for you to get here."

As Kagome and Ayame were parting ways, in a different part of the hospital, Bankotsu was walking toward his brother, calling out to him once the nurse he was talking to left. "Hey, Suikotsu."

Turning to the sound of his baby brother's voice, Suikotsu grinned as he crossed his arms. "Well, look what the cat dragged in. Oh, and by the way, thanks for leaving me to clean up your mess with Kyokotsu." Pointing at him, "you know you broke his nose and four of his fingers, right?"

Bankotsu waved a dismissive hand. "Send me the bill. I need to talk to you about something."

Looking around him, Suikotsu pointed to an empty room. "Sure, I have a few minutes. We can talk in here." Closing the door after Bankotsu was inside, he looked at his brother. "What's going on?"

Leaning back against the exam table, Bankotsu clicked his tongue and looked at his brother. "What do you know about Ginta Shun?"

Face dropping, Suikotsu sighed hard as he took a seat in the parent's chair. "Horrible what happened to that kid. Something so small, and so easy to fix. Cruz is going to beat himself up over this for years if it's not the case that leads to him ending his career."

Flicking his eyes to Bankotsu's he shook his head. "I shouldn't be telling you anything about this, so keep your mouth shut. He came in Monday afternoon. He's a little older than my normal patients, but I was available, and he needed help right then. This kid was messed up from his hair to his toes. He was hit by a truck, and it all but crushed his entire left side. We have no idea how he didn't die in the crash, or how he didn't die in the ambulance. There is no medical explanation for how he survived those kind of injuries. They aren't something you live through long enough to get help.

"We did triogue. We did the scans. We did the surgeries. We did everything we knew we had to do with the information we had at the time, Cruz performing a craniotomy so beautiful the neuro-gods themselves would have weeped had they seen it, and this kid lived through it all. I passed him off to the ICU staff because he's not a pediatric, but Cruz stayed on as Neuro. He seemed to doing well under the circumstances. He was responding to stimuli during every neurocheck, so there was brain function. He was urinating, so there was body functions. He was beating every odd there was against him. The only thing was he wouldn't wake up, and that was due to the swelling of his brain. Cruz was confident though, in that once it went down, Shun would wake up. There would be no way to know what if any lasting damage he would have from it, but there was hope for him. What no one could have known at the time, was it was that beautiful craniotomy that would be what ended up killing him.

"This morning, he wasn't responding to anything. Even the most painful stimuli we do to coma patients wasn't doing anything. He was taken down for new scans, and that's when it was discovered. The kid had a brain bleed that was hidden by the swelling that had gone undiagnosed, therefore untreated, since the collision. It was the pressure of the brain against the skull that was keeping the bleeding to a minimum, but it was also the swelling that hid it.

"Cruz ordered an emergency EEG and it showed no brain function. He had to then start the process of declaring brain death because there was absolutely nothing he could do. There had never, at any point, been anything he could do. Like I said, no one survives those injuries. One of them was going to be the reason he died." Lifting the cuff of his white coat, Suikotsu sighed. "Now, the poor kid is just about out of time on the death clock."

During Suikotsu's recount, Bankotsu had pulled himself up to sit on the exam table, and had his fingers wrapped around the edge. When his brother was done, Bankotsu's head tilted slightly. "Death clock?"

Pressing his fingertips into his temple, Suikotsu nodded as he tsked. "At least six hours have to pass after discovery of no brain function before we can delcare legal brain death. It takes two specialized neuro tests, six hours apart, with the same results. Any variation whatsoever restarts it once another EEG confirms zero function. Once brain death is called, the family is then told, and they make their decision when to turn off the life support their loved one will never come off of. It's horrible trying to explain to family members their son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, or father are not going to wake up; that the only thing keeping their hearts beating is a machine. If it's bad for us, I don't ever want to know what it's like on the other side, and as bad as it sounds, it makes me glad Mom and Dad died on impact." Then he looked at Bankotsu with a serious look. "He's in the fourth floor ICU. If you hurry, you might get there in time to say goodbye to your friend."

Clearing his throat with a rough cough at the mention of how their parents died, Bankotsu shook his head. "He's not my friend." Turning his eyes to his brother, "I've never even met him."

Brows drawing down, Suikotsu's lip curled high. "Then what the fuck, Bank?"

Scrubbing his face with his hands, be then rubbed his palms together before crossing his arms. "He's been Kagome's friend for twenty years."

It was like Suikotsu melted in his chair as he stared at Bankotsu for a moment before he groaned, closing his eyes, dropping his arms to hang over the side, and propped his head back on the wall behind him. "Christ." Opening his eyes, he slanted them to Bankotsu. "He's only twenty-two."

Bankotsu just shrugged a little, having nothing to say back to that.

After a moment of silence between them, Suikotsu slapped his hands against his knees and hoisted himself to his feet. "Come on, Bank. I'll walk you up."

Bankotsu just shook his head as he hopped off the bed. "She doesn't even know I'm here."

Smiling at his little brother, he then clamped his hand on Bankotsu's shoulder. "But you are here." Giving him a meaningful look, he opened the door with his free hand and shoved Bankotsu back into the hall. Keeping his hold on his brother until he did what he wanted him to, Suikotsu slipped his hands into his pockets and looked down at his brother. "Out of curiosity... if Kagome isn't talking to you right now, how did you know about Shun? We don't have to involve Ginkotsu for your legal protection do we, you little stalker?"

Bankotsu shook his head as he slipped his own hands into his pockets. "No, nothing like that. Another one of her friends called and told me."

Filing away a reminder to have a word with their brother over whether or not Bankotsu was crossing any legal lines, Suikotsu nodded just the same to the explanation. "Have you figured out what you're going to say when you see her?"

Looking at the floor, Bankotsu made a face and shook his head. "Not a clue."

Turned out, Suikotsu was wrong, and by the time they finished their conversation and made the trek from the pediatrics surgical wing to the other side of the hospital, Ginta had his last neurocheck, been pronounced brain dead, removed from life supports, and had time of death announced. Ginta's mother had held off having the second check done until Kagome arrived, and everything happened very quickly after she gave Dr. Cruz the go ahead.

Before Suikotsu could do more than open the door to the ICU waiting room, Kouga was throwing open the set that led to the patient rooms, tears blocking his vision he refused to allow to fall, and Kagome was hot on his heals, calling after him to wait.

Ducking under his still outstretched arm, Kagome blocked his path, holding her own arms out as she held off her own tears. "Where do you think you're going?"

Kouga, his voice louder than he ever spoke to her, yelled in her face as he pointed to some place behind her head. "I'm gonna go find the son of a bitch that killed my cousin."

Kagome, not knowing people were witnesses to this, shook her head. "No, you're not. You need to calm down."

It was like his mouth wasn't his, the sneer settling on his lips something in his right mind wouldn't be given to her. Kouga also would have never snapped at her, either. "Oh, fuck you and your calm down."

There was no conceivable time span between Kouga's words and the palm of Kagome's hand cracking across Kouga's cheek. Glare set firmly place, her voice shook with the tears in her own eyes as she spoke. "You don't get to talk to me like that. I lost him, too."

Kouga squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his lips tightly together as he used the sting on his face to ground himself, using it as something else to focus on for just a moment. His breathing was hard through his nose, his hands fisted at his sides. Lowering his head, he licked his lips, a thick swallow nearly choked him when it got stuck in his throat. Slowly, he shook his head, his teeth showing from behind slightly pulled back lips. "I know, I... I'm..."

Kagome watched as his hands came up, threading into his hair as a tear broke from his eye. Reaching up herself, she wrapped her arms tight around his neck, pulling him down to her level and squeezing, holding him tighter when his arms wrapped around her waist, his body shaking with the effort he was putting into not breaking down. She was on her toes because she was short than he was, but she just closed her own eyes, waiting for him to pull back.

Burying his face in Kagome's neck, Kouga actually pulled her closer, selfish enough in that moment to soak up every ounce of comfort she had to offer.

Caught off guard, Kagome actually let out a gruff grunt when Kouga's knees bent, taking them both the floor, she she shook off the pain in her knees from how hard she hit as best she could. Instead, she whispered in his ear the same empty words he told her when her grandfather died. She never understood why people lied about things being okay when they were forever changed, but that didn't stop her from making quiet shushing noises and telling him it would be alright.

It took several minutes before she realized he wasn't letting her go anytime soon, so instead, she slowly loosened her grip on him, sliding her hands along his shoulders until they were in position to push him back enough to look at him. Biting into the skin of her lip, she waited until Kouga opened his eyes, locking hers on them when he did so.

Clearing her voice, she ran the tip of her tongue along her upper lip before she spoke. "You want to get drunk, don't you?" She wasn't surprised when he nodded, and she did so in return. "Okay, that's fine. Um..." Looking over his shoulder for a moment, she then looked back at him. "I'm going to go check on Mama Shun and Hakkaku. Stay here, okay? I'll be right back."

Before she went back to Ginta's room, she picked Kouga up off the floor and set him in a chair, but didn't take long. She offered to take Hakkaku too, but he declined, opting to stay with his mother for as long as she wanted to stay with Ginta, and told her he would make sure Ayame got home safe.

It wasn't until she walked back in the waiting room she saw Bankotsu, Suikotsu leaving him there alone when he was paged. They looked at each other for a moment before she worked up the nerve to go over to him. Stopping first to tell Kouga she would be right back, she played with her fingers as she walked across the room, looking at the floor as she did so.

Bankotsu gave her all the time she needed, just leaning against the wall with his arms loosely crossed over his chest. He could see she was toeing the line of the same breakdown Kouga just had, but he didn't say anything as she lifted her eyes to look at him. He just looked back, a soft expression on his face.

Kagome, a knot in her gut, glanced away before she sighed, looking back at him. "Sango?" That was the only explanation because that was where she left her phone. When he gave her one languish nod, she let out a breath as she shook her head. "I... I don't know what to say, but, um..." Slipping her fingers into her hair and scratching at her scalp, she gave a helpless shrug, lowering her head and looking back at the floor.

Bankotsu, however, uncrossed his arms, used one hand to crook a finger under her chin, lifting it back up and looking her in the eyes when she allowed him to. His voice was as soft as his expression. "I'm sorry about your friend."

Pressing her lips together, she forced half of them to turn upwards as high as she could, but really, it just looked like a grimace. "Thank you." Lowering her eyes again for a second, she flicked them back to his. "I'm sorry, Bankotsu." Pulling her chin free, she turned her head to face the wall, not sure she could look at him as she said what came to mind. "I shouldn't have avoided you like did, I just... I..."

Bankotsu shook his head, cutting in when she started tripping over her words. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out later. For now, are you alright?"

Kagome just shrugged. "I'm trying to be. Kouga needs me to be strong for him more than I need to cry."

Lips puckering, Bankotsu nodded slowly as he made a noise in his throat. "Uh huh. So... while you're taking care of him, who's taking care of you?"

Shaking her head, Kagome crossed her arms. "That's not fair. Ginta was his family."

Bankotsu clicked his tongue. "From what I was told, he may as well have been yours, too, but Baby Girl, that's not what I meant. I apologize if that's how it sounded, but I really didn't mean any disrespect. I guess what I should have said was, if you're giving your strength to him, who's giving theirs to you?" When she shook her head slowly and lifted her shoulders slightly, Bankotsu shifted his eyes from her to Kouga, seeing him sitting where she left him, sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

After a moment, he sighed to himself and looked back at Kagome. From what he saw before, Sango was right about the two of them being a package deal, so if he was going to take care of Kagome, he would have to swallow the fact he would have to deal with Kouga as well.

Licking his lips, he set his hands on Kagome's hips, actually somewhat surprised when she didn't move away. "Why don't you two come to my house tonight?" Watching her blink, he clicked his tongue. "I heard you ask him if he wanted to get drunk, I saw him nod, so I know that's your plan. But, you're both upset and alcohol isn't going to lead to anything but a bar fight if someone says the wrong thing. I lived through this with my brothers when my parents died. At my place, you two can drink as much as you want, he can fuck up whatever he wants, I really don't care. Just..." tightening his fingers, "...don't make me worry about you tonight."

Her face was almost a cringe as she looked over her shoulder at Kouga, already shaking her head as she turned back. "I don't know, Bankotsu."

Not above begging, Bankotsu released her hips and cupped her face with both hands, locking their eyes. "Please, Pretty Girl. Go get your friend and come home with me tonight." He watched as her thoughts flashed through her deep eyes, and knew when she made her decision.

With short, fast nods with her jaw still in his hands, Kagome acquiesced to the request. "Alright, as long as you're sure about this."

Leaning closer to her, Bankotsu lowered his voice. "I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life." Holding her eyes for a moment longer, hoping she caught the double meaning in his words, he pressed his lips to her forehead and let her go, watching as she went back over to Kouga to try and convince him Bankotsu's plan was good idea.

Kouga, cutting his eyes to the man, narrowed them slightly before looking back at Kagome. "I still don't like him."

Lifting a brow, Kagome tsked. "Why, exactly?"

Kouga, lowering his voice, whispered in her ear. "Because he's not good enough for you." Pulling back, he saw her flat expression and sighed. "But... if you like him, I suppose I can give him a chance."

Smiling slightly, Kagome stood up, grabbed his wrists, and pulled Kouga to his feet. "He's giving you free liquor. That should be reason enough to give him a chance."

Shaking his head as he tossed his arm around Kagome's shoulder, he pulled her into his side. "No... that's the reason I don't hate him."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned her head against the side of his chest. "I'll take it."