After Kagome and the girls left the coffee shop they mostly just wandered around the mall for several minutes before Ayame caught sight of a clothing outlet that she liked. Grinning like a mad woman she zipped off in the direction of the entry, leaving the other three girls to wade through the veritable flood of human bodies that filled the walkways of the mall.

When they finally managed to break free of the mob of people and stumble into the outlet, they found Ayame standing there impatiently tapping her foot. "You guys are so slow."

Sango glared at her indignantly, "Humans!" Sango exclaimed as she gestures to herself and the other two woman standing and panting from the effort of getting there unscathed.

Ayame had the good sense to look at least a little sheepish. "Right. Sorry, I forgot."

Izayoi chuckled. "Just because I mated a demon and acquired his lifespan, doesn't mean I acquired his speed. Or any of his other wonderful demonic abilities."

Ayame again apologized, and they all moved on to roaming the little outlet. As they made their way through, combing every rack and shelf they slowly built up a mountain of clothes. Most of them were for Kagome to try on, but the girls picked out things that they liked as well. When they had finally made their way through the whole store, they went into the changing rooms and staked out two changing rooms. Izayoi insisted on being in the changing room with Kagome, while Sango and Ayame shared a room, and slowly, Kagome modeled every article of clothing for them, and slowly, they narrowed her mountain down to about 20 articles of clothing collectively, containing a few shirts, a few pairs of shorts, jeans, and even a couple skirts.

Kagome felt immensely awkward modeling for her little audience, especially since Ayame insisted she catwalk all the way down the hall and all the way back, including poses, in every single outfit. After the first few outfits though, Kagome began to enjoy it, despite herself. Her smile grew genuine, she added a little pep in her "catwalk", she even made a few jokes with the girls.

When they had fully narrowed their selection down to some clothing the girls insisted on, and some that Kagome insisted on, they made their way to the register. Kagome was completely prepared to carry a few of her bags, however, Izayoi told the cashier to have the clothing sent directly to Sesshomaru's apartment building, and handed the guy a card with the address on it. This was a novelty to Kagome, she left the outlet stunned that Izayoi could just have it sent straight home. She was grateful for not having to carry the bags, but she still couldn't quite believe it. It would seem Kagome would be getting used to having money as well as being a demon's Mate.

The women repeated this routine with every store they went into; hunt, try on, eliminate, check out. By the time Kagome thought she had everything she could need Ayame grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her towards a lingerie shop.

"Oh no. can we not? Please? come on have mercy!" Kagome begged.

"You do need underwear Kags," Sango remarked with a chuckle.

Kagome gave one of the mannequins an incredulous look. "That," she said indicating a red mannequin garbed in a lacy top without so much as an underwire and what looked like a lacy garter belt. "Is not underwear, that is a glorified piece of leftover lace with some leather."

Ayame just laughed. "You don't have to get that one... yet..."

Izayoi chose this moment to step in, "We're just going to pick you out some panties and a couple bras. As comfortable as the one you're wearing may be, you need variety." she explained as though Kagome were a 3-year-old child.

Without any other words from any of them, they once again began their skilled search, Kagome reluctantly railing behind. They did have a pint, but seriously, why couldn't they just get a couple packs of those fruit of the loom panties at Walmart?

When Kagome was forced to do her little fashion show, this time around, Izayoi had to practically shove Kagome out of the changing stall. Up until then, the clothes she had been modeling had at least covered her midriff and thighs. Standing there in the lacy bra and thin panties set, she felt way too exposed. It had been several weeks since she had last cut herself, and the only noticeable scars left were from her attempt, and would probably be there for the rest of her life, but even though she knew they wouldn't be able to see the evidence on her abdomen or inner thighs, she knew there was no way to hide the long raged pink lines running up both of her forearms.

"C'mon Kags, pose! you know the drill by now, its only been 2 hours..." Ayame encouraged.

Kagome struck a half-hearted pose, and shrink back when she heard the girls collective gasp. Izayoi, of course, had already seen them, but for Sango and Ayame, the marks were a shock. Izayoi ushered a now teary Kagome back into the changing stall, and invited the other two to follow, so as to avoid any prying eyes.

Sango reached out to Kagome and pulled her into a warm hug. "What happened sweety?"

Kagome just sniffled.

"Can I tell them?" Izayoi requested gently.

After a moment of hesitation, Kagome nodded her head which was currently burrowed into Sango's chest.

After the explanation, Ayame and Sango were silent. Sango continued rhythmically stroking Kagome's hair. She had only just met this girl today, but already the shy, caring, sweet young woman felt like a little sister to Sango and the fact that this girl had been pushed to the point of trying to end her life made Sango want to track down and slowly, painfully, murder whoever had made Kagome feel so helpless.

Ayame, on the other hand, was shocked for a different reason. Don't get me wrong, she had also fallen in love with the young human in the short time she had known her, and Ayame had a distinct feeling that there was a spice and a fire in the girl somewhere. However, Ayame, being a demoness herself, couldn't fathom what it must have been like for Sesshomaru, finally finding his mate, and finding her on the verge of death, at her own hands. She couldn't live without her mate Koga, and all she could visualize at the moment was how it would feel to find her mate trying to end his life. Ayame couldn't shake the depressing feeling, and Izayoi had to practically shake her out of her funk.

When the new information had settled, and Kagome had calmed down, Ayame insisted that the fitting continue. "You don't have to go outside, but you will try on ALL of these," Ayame said, in a no-nonsense tone, indicating the pile of lingerie on the bench in their little family changing room.

Kagome let out a shaky laugh. "Yes ma'am"

"That's the spirit," encouraged Sango.

The girls made their way through that pile and moved on. By the end of their time together, Kagome had two new best friends, and a fully stocked wardrobe consisting of everyday wear, house wear, Underwear, PJs, Formal clothing, Fancy clothing, two or three swimsuits with covers, shoes for all occasions, and a shimmery poison green and snow white cocktail dress that Ayame was particularly proud of finding. They had stopped by a salon to get Kagome pampered, and her hair trimmed, at which they also bought her the appropriate hair care products. They had also stopped by a grocery store to pick up the necessary feminine sanitary products, but I won't go into detail there...

Kagome was dropped off at the apartment she now shared with Sesshomaru still riding the high that spending time with other females, and being pampered and paid attention to, had brought on.

Sesshomaru met her in the lobby and bid farewell to his stepmother before walking his still beaming mate up to their apartment. Looking his little mate up and down, he decided that letting her go without him had been a good choice. She had needed the opportunity to get up on her own without using him as a crutch and he was proud of her for making it through the day without incident.

"You had fun today I see."

"Yeah..." Kagome sighed, "The girls were great, and I did manage to enjoy the process, even if I think I would have been fine with just half of what they bought. No woman needs three different swimsuits, it's ridiculous..."

Sesshomaru arched a brow at her. Having lived surrounded by the rich and powerful of both their races for so many years, most of the women he knew owned twice what his mother had sent to their apartment today. He supposed the difference did make sense considering she had grown up where having so many clothes were a luxury, but she almost seemed indignant at the waste of money on such frivolous things. Sesshomaru opted not to reply to her comment, however. She was his mate now, and he would spoil her whether she liked it or not.

"...And the underwear they made me get! Some of those shouldn't even count as underwear..." Kagome stopped mid-rant realizing who she was talking to, and blushed profusely. She had been so excited that she let her filter go and now she was ranting about underwear to her poor mate who was already restraining himself as it is. "Sorry, I'll shut up now."

Sesshomaru let out a deep chuckle. "I don't mind. This one is glad that you enjoyed your day." In truth, his Beast was straining against the confines of his cage just to touch the young woman before him, but until she was ready, he couldn't risk losing control.

When they entered the apartment, Kagome walked to the cabinet and grabbed a cup for water. Suddenly she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and immediately felt herself relax into them. Sesshomaru buried his nose in her hair and pulled her close.

"I missed you today." He mumbled.

Kagome's heart fluttered and she smiled closing her eyes and allowing herself to enjoy his presence. "Me too."

There was a low thrum deep in Sesshomaru's chest, almost like a cat purring.

Kagome giggled. "I thought you were supposed to be a dog demon... whats with that purring?" she reached a hand up and ran her fingers through his long silky locks of hair.

The purr turned into a playful growl. "This Sesshomaru does not purr," he stated indignantly.

"mmhmm..." she hummed dismissively before untangling herself and filling the cup. Once said cup had been filled Kagome turned to face her mate and took a sip of the water. "I've made a decision."

He arched a brow in response.

"I'm going to stay."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened. "Stay?"

"With you. I'm going to stay here, with you and Rin. I want to be your Mate. I'm not ready to...um..." Kagome blushed and coughed slightly. "Consummate... yet, but I want to stay... I mean If you still want me too..." Sesshomaru cut her off by grabbing her around the waist and kissing her, effectively shutting her up and answering her declaration. He was elated. She wanted to stay. She wanted to stay, and by extension was choosing to live, she wouldn't leave.

Kagome, on the other hand, was so shocked by his sudden response that she dropped the cup she had been drinking out of, spilling water all over both of them and all over the Kitchen floor. To further her surprise, she found herself responding to his kiss, resting her hands on his biceps and tilting her head upwards to meet him fully.

The kiss was over as suddenly as it had started, and left Kagome flushed and gasping for air. For a moment, neither of them said anything, just tried to catch their breath.

"Wow," Kagome sighed, "That is quite a response... Did not expect that..."

Sesshomaru just smirked then said, "Sorry, should have asked first, was that okay...?"

Kagome gave him a dreamy smile, "You may kiss me like that anytime..."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Exactly at that moment, Rin walked into the Kitchen to find the two standing there still in each other's arms. "Ew! Were you guys kissing? Gross! I'm going to bed!"

Kagome couldn't help herself, she laughed, hard. "Kids just say the darndest things don't they?"

Sesshomaru huffed.

"Let's go get her tucked in then." Kagome extracted herself from his embrace and headed for Rin's room with a slightly offended dog demon trailing on her heals. It was a good day.

AN. Hey! I know this is late, I am so sorry! I just started working a new job and it's a night shift, the change in schedule is totally screwing with my body. No worries though, I'll try and get back on schedule this week. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We finally got a kiss. Yay!

Thanks again to all of my wonderful readers who have stuck with the story so far, I love reading your comments and thoughts. Please stay tuned for the next chapter which will be up hopefully by Monday this time.

~Cassiopeia