I do not own the anime this fanfic is based off of. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for taking so long to update. We shut off our internet so we could save money to move from one state to another. And since moving I haven't had the time to write until now. So here you go! Hope you like it.

On Monday Kagome was rushing to catch up on all the paperwork that had been filed last minute on Friday. She was glad that Sesshoumaru had helped her out with the apartment but now she sorely wished they had only taken off early rather than taking the whole day. Kyo was scheduled to show up at any minute so Sesshoumaru was shuffling through papers and carefully reviewing the purchase deal to make sure everything was prepared. Just at that moment the door opened to reveal the man in question. Kyo look absolutely giddy as he made his way up to Sesshoumaru's desk.

"Good morning Taisho! Doesn't it seem like a fabulous day to relieve oneself of a burden?" He sat down in front of Sesshoumaru's desk and crossed his legs in a way that made Kagome wonder why nobody had questioned his tastes.

"Yes well this is the deal I drew up you can read it and let me know about any changes you feel necessary." Sesshoumaru slid the papers across the desk to Kyo who gave them an annoyed glare.

"Just tell me does this basically say you are relieving me of all responsibilities but keeping my company the same and putting your name on it?" Sesshoumaru looked surprised for a moment.

"Well yes."

"Then I don't need to read anything." Kyo signed the papers without another word and slid them back over to Sesshoumaru. "I'm just glad to finally be able to be myself again." Kyo stood and ran over to Kagome. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sesshoumaru shoot to his feet as the edges of his eyes turned red around his contacts. "OMG Kagome thank you, thank you, thank you!" When he threw his arms around her she hugged him back so she could mouth the words calm down to Sesshoumaru. His demeanor relaxed and his eyes turned their normal color but he was still glaring agitatedly at the other male.

"Don't mention it Kyo." He finally stepped back and held her at arm's length.

"No Kagome, you really have no idea what sort of impact you've had on my life. I've been forced to hide who I really was and now I just feel free. My partner is going to be so thrilled not to have to hide and sneak around anymore. Make sure you keep in contact girl, I want to know about every promotion you carve out for yourself." Kagome smiled and nodded as she tried to keep herself from laughing at Sesshoumaru's sudden look of shock.

"Mrs. Higarashi needs to get back to her work." Kyo pouted at Sesshoumaru but said his goodbyes anyway. As soon as the elevator doors closed Kagome burst out laughing. "And what exactly do you think is so funny?"

"Your face when you finally realized he was gay." Sesshoumaru snorted and they both started to get back to work.

"Yes well I've been meeting with that young man since he was old enough for his father to bring him to work and I never caught on. Forgive me for being a bit shocked that he managed to hide it so well from even a demon."

"Well you finally have the company you've been trying so hard to buy out so are we going to go out and celebrate?" Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and started shuffling about.

"Actually the celebration plans have already been made." Kagome crossed her arms and glared at him as he continued to avoid looking at her.

"And what exactly are those plans?" Sesshoumaru blew out a long breath and finally looked up at her from his desk.

"The others want to see you. Inuyasha is especially hurt by your continued absence. I know they have changed but they really do still care. Therefore the celebration plans are that we are going out to that club they like so much." Kagome cringed visibly as she continued to file away papers. She wasn't at all sure that she wanted to go out with them after how terribly the last time had gone. So far every time she had gone out with her old friends it had gone badly.

"Sesshoumaru I'm not sure that's such a great idea."

"Why not? I'll be there to make sure you don't get lost again if you choose to drink at all. The others really miss you and want a chance to make you see that they're still the same people." Kagome hesitated for a moment before she turned to Sesshoumaru.

"Can you promise me that tonight won't go terribly wrong and I won't end up hurt?"

"What happens tonight between you and the others will most likely be the jumping off point for whatever relationship you are meant to have with each of them. I cannot promise that it won't hurt. On the other hand I can promise that nothing bad will physically happen to you and that I will be there for you if you need me." Wow I can't believe how much he cares. I'll simply have to suck it up and put on my big girl pants. For Sesshoumaru, Kagome thought as she nodded and offered him her best smile.

"Well I guess if you're there it will be ok." Sesshoumaru immediately gave her the most award winning smile she'd seen on his face so far and her heart melted.

"That's the Miko I know. Now get to work so we can get out of here on time to go change before the celebration."

The rest of the day went uneventful for the two as they worked through the office paperwork. The later it got the more dread Kagome felt about going out. Around five she was still pretending to type almost thirty minutes after Sesshoumaru had stopped working. She pretended not to notice as he slowly made his way over. He glanced at her screen and it didn't take him long to realize she wasn't working anymore. Sesshoumaru used a single finger to slowly close the computer and Kagome folded her hands in her lap nervously. When she looked up he simply shrugged and made his way toward the elevator.

"We could always not go, if you're scared that is." Something about his tone fired her up instantly. She gathered her things quickly and joined him in the elevator.

"I'm not scared of a damn thing you mutt." She had muttered it under her breath but it was obvious by his smirk that his sensitive ears had heard her. When they reached the apartment Sesshoumaru walked her to her door and then left to go change. As soon as she closed her door all her confidence seemed to have left her and she had a tough time making herself get ready. She eventually chose a form-fitting Chinese style dress with a high neck line and buttons that went down her left side all the way down to the hem line which stopped just above her knee. The material was a shimmery turquoise color. She put her hair up in a simple bun and shoved two decorative blue chopsticks through her hair, they had black tassels attached to the ends. She added some black platform heals that had tiny leather straps crisscrossing from her toes to her ankles. She didn't bother with any make-up because she didn't believe she needed it. After about an hour there was a light knock on the door and she knew Sesshoumaru was ready. When she opened the door Sesshoumaru was leaning against the door frame looking almost like a god. He had his hair up in a high ponytail and appeared fully demon with bright golden eyes, stripes, pointed ears and all. He was wearing a plain black long sleeved button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone. The shirt was tucked into a pair of black dress pants. When Sesshoumaru cleared his throat Kagome jumped and blushed brightly as she realized she had been checking him out.

"You're going in your demon form?" Sesshoumaru chuckled and tucked her hand in the crook of his arm.

"Technically this is my humanoid form, but yes. Fortunately humans dress so oddly in clubs that I don't have to hide who I am. They tend to be a sensory overload but it's nice to get away with not covering up my own face." Kagome nodded understandingly as he explained his reasons. It must be hard for him to pretend to be something he hated for so long. Sesshoumaru opened her door for her and then helped her into the car before joining her. "We're meeting them at the club in my car so if you decide your absolutely ready to leave we can." Kagome watched the building pass until they reached the familiar club. As Sesshoumaru pulled into the parking lot she could see her old friends leaning against their cars. They all waved as Sesshoumaru parked the car and before Kagome could think about worrying Inuyasha appeared beside her door to help her out of the car. She hesitantly took his hand and he pulled her into a hug.

"Geez Kagz you have no idea how bad you worried me. I was afraid you'd say no to this outing." He threw an arm around her shoulder and started to lead her to the others. When he noticed the frown on her face he poked her in the side to make her laugh. "There ya go woman. Cheer up, this night will go far better than the last time because it's all about you." At Inuyasha's comforting words she smiled a genuine smile and prepared to have fun. The two girls that had taken her out the last time spent the first several minutes apologizing profusely for letting Kagome get lost until Kagome held up a hand to quiet them.

"Let's just go with the whole forgive and forget thing." The two girls squealed and hooked their arms with Kagome's and started chatting about what had been going on with their lives. Kagome glanced behind her to see Sesshoumaru talking with Inuyasha, Koga, and Shippo. When he noticed her looking he gave her a discrete thumbs up that the other guys didn't seem to notice. Kagome smiled and joined into the conversation with the other girls. Ayame told her about her pups and how all six of them had grown into wonderful adults. While Kikyou told her about how Inuyasha had finally gained his dream of becoming a full-fledged demon. They went inside and the girls starting dancing with each other on the dance floor. Kagome made sure to keep Sesshoumaru within eye sight but the night went much better since she was not drinking. She was actually having a really good time with her friends now that she had loosened up a bit. When she finally got thirsty she leaned over and yelled to the other girls that she was going to get a soda. She made her way through the crowd and ordered a sealed bottle of Mt. Dew which the bartender handed to her shortly.

"Are you the designated driver tonight?" Kagome opened the bottle and drank deeply from it before she sealed it and answered the man's question.

"Nope, just don't like alcohol." The man smiled and nodded and then shook his head when she tried to hand him the money for her soda.

"It's on the house kid, enjoy your night. If you run out just come get another." Kagome smiled brightly and turned to lean her back against the bar so she could see her friends.

"Thanks." After a couple minutes Koga showed up at her side.

"Hey." He said with a small smile. Kagome hesitated to answer for a moment before she settled on just nodding. Koga sighed and threw his arm around her. "You know you're still my woman right?" Kagome couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter at his comment.

"You and I both know that's not the case." Koga laughed with her before turning serious.

"I'm sorry for making an ass of myself. I guess I was holding a grudge against you for being gone so long even though I knew it wasn't your fault. We still friends?" Koga held out his hand and Kagome slapped it away as if it offended her before she threw her arms around his neck.

"Always." Kagome couldn't believe just how well this night had been going. She really did owe Sesshoumaru a big thank you. With that in mind she decided to go find her demon in shining armor. "I'm going to go find Sesshoumaru I need to tell him something."

"Alright don't be a stranger." Kagome started to make her way through the crowd with her Mt. Dew bottle in tow, searching for Sesshoumaru. After a bit of maneuvering through the crowd she spotted him sitting at the table alone and started to run toward him. He stood as soon as he saw her with a worried look on his face most likely wondering why she was running. When she was close enough she jumped and threw her arms around him laughing as he caught her around the waist and spun her.

"Thank you so much for making me come I haven't had this much fun in ages." Sesshoumaru placed her on the ground carefully and smiled down at her.

"You are very welcome Ms. Higurashi." Kagome grinned up at him and then blushed and stepped away when she realized just how close they were.

"Um… Where are the other guys?" Sesshoumaru nodded his head in the direction of the dance floor and when she followed his line of sight she spotted Inuyasha dancing with Kikyou and Koga dancing with Ayame as a slow song played.

"As for the kit I'm not sure where he's gone." Kagome rose an eyebrow at him and frowned.

"He's not that young anymore you know." Sesshoumaru nodded his head sagely.

"I'm well aware of that, but for his species he's still young." Kagome frowned and watched Kikyou dance with Inuyasha. There had once been a time when she thought she would be the one dancing in his arms. Back when she had been young and hadn't truly understood her feelings for him. Now she knew she felt more of a family bond toward Inuyasha which left her in an odd place in life. Men of her time simply didn't attract her they didn't have the same spirit that the men of the feudal era. She believed that spending her impressionable years in the feudal era had tailored her tastes to a point that she probably wouldn't find a man that she was truly happy with. Sesshoumaru was drop dead sexy but she knew better than to even entertain the idea that he would ever be truly interested in her. The only reason they had even become friends was that he had nobody else. As her thoughts turned to said demon she looked over at him to see he was looking at her. He rose one silver brow at her before a smirk spread over his face. "Can you dance?" Kagome blinked at him in confusion for a moment before answering him.

"Well yes, I actually took lessons when I was younger. Why do you ask?" The music changed over to Alive by Krewella as Sesshoumaru shrugged at her.

"Think you could keep up with me?" Kagome blinked at him in confusion for a moment. Did he just ask me to dance with him? Before she could say anything about it he grabbed her hand and quickly led her to the middle of the crowd. He spun her around quickly and she easily fell into step with him to the beat of the music. The volume of the music seemed to increase as the two of them caught the attention of the crowd and DJ. They ended in a low dip with Kagome panting and Sesshoumaru smirking down at her. Her eyes locked with his and the gap between them seemed to be getting smaller until a voice over the intercom caught their attention.

"Let's give it up for the beautiful couple!" Sesshoumaru helped her stand upright as they noticed their audience. Kagome blushed ten shades of red as Sesshoumaru simply put his hands in his pockets and looked uninterested. Kagome found that her friends were at the front of the crowd cheering for them. At least all of them except one. When her eyes landed on Shippo he had his arms crossed and was glaring at Sesshoumaru hatefully. As soon as his eyes met Kagome's he narrowed his eyes and turned his back to shove his way out of the crowd. Kagome had the sudden realization that she had somehow hurt Shippo's feelings by dancing with Sesshoumaru.

"Oh no." Sesshoumaru looked at her when she spoke but before he could say anything to her about it Kagome started running to try to catch up with Shippo. By the time she had made it through the crowd everyone had returned to enjoying the night. She spotted Shippo easily sitting at the bar and sulking. She walked up beside him and took the seat next to him. The bartender offered her a new Mt. Dew and since she had left her other at the table she took it.

"Kagome, how do see me?" Kagome took a drink from her bottle before setting it on the counter and replacing the cap.

"What do you mean how do I see you?" Shippo growled and smacked the table.

"How do you see me as a person? What am I in your eyes?" His anger confused her and caused her to hesitate.

"Shippo I see you as a sweet young man who I thought was a good friend of mine. Right now though, you are scaring me." Shippo seemed to deflate at her words.

"Right, friends. Sorry for scaring you." He muttered before taking a swig from the brown bottle in his hand. It was obvious to Kagome now that he'd wanted to be something far more than that to her. She hated that she had hurt him but part of her really wanted to try to talk it out with him.

"It's alright Shippo. Look I'm going to go to the bathroom. Watch my soda and when I get back we'll talk about what you want me to see that I obviously am not seeing." Shippo smirked at her and lifted his glass as if he was toasting her.

"Hurry back." She rushed off to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror for a few moments as she prepared to have a conversation that she absolutely didn't want to have. Deep down she knew if she didn't at least try to talk to Shippo about it their friendship would never be able to pull through.

"You can do this Kagome. Shippo deserves to be told the truth. I just hope he doesn't hate me forever." She gave herself a pep talk in the mirror and then went to talk to the fox demon that she had practically raised.