A/N: I can't believe I have over 100 reviews on this story! You guys are awesome! I added a lot more SessKag interaction in this chapter than I initially planned, because I realized (with hints from some reviewers) that the last couple chapters have been a little light on the Sesshoumaru. And that's a sad thing.

Disclaimer: if I owned it, Sesshoumaru would have a LOT more page space/screen time.

Interruptions

Kagome carefully balanced a stack of dishes as she walked down the hall - her heart threatened to stop at every jostle and she winced at every sound of porcelain rubbing against porcelain.

The Higurashi Shrine had a few pieces of nice porcelain in its collection of art and artifacts – which was the only reason she recognized the plates they'd been eating off of as Nabeshima ware. In addition her mother had some Imari reproduction plates and bowls that she used for fancy dinner parties, but Kagome suspected that these were originals.

She shook her head a bit in wonder –they'd just breakfasted on plates that could very well be worth hundreds of thousands of yen*. These things should be in a museum, or at least on display somewhere out of reach of little hands. Not covered in bits of grilled fish and pickle remnants*. Maybe, when you had lived so long and had so much opportunity to acquire material goods, the value of everyday things, no matter how antique or fine, became less significant.

As she neared the kitchen Inuyasha's exasperated tones carried to her. He'd been so calm and comfortable over the past couple days that the quality of his voice made her slow in her approach. What could be making him upset?

"Look, just be nice to her, okay? That's all it takes with Kagome. Stop being such a hardass and things will go from there."

There was a low, irritated mummer, clearly distinguishable as Sesshoumaru, but too muffled to be intelligible. She slowed her steps even more. Why were they talking about her?

While 'nice' and 'polite' were different behaviors – she thought that Sesshoumaru had been more than polite to her lately (she didn't know if she could fathom him actually being nice). Although, come to think of it, he had seemed a little more distant here in the North with Inuyasha and Rin than the times they had met up in Tokyo. Which was odd actually; shouldn't he be more comfortable around friends and family then in a huge city in which he was ill at ease?

In any case she understood Inuyasha wanting his brother to get along with her, but really, the strongest feeling she had regarding the matter was that her old friend should butt out. Especially since the way he was talking about her made it sound like, like, …well, it made him sound like her Mother sounded when she was talking up the qualities of certain boys and young men that Kagome then somehow conveniently found herself alone in awkward situations with.

Although it was far more likely that she'd simply inadvertently offended or angered the daiyoukai than Inuyasha was trying to set them up Kagome still resented that Inuyasha felt that he needed (or that he had the right) to meddle in her association with Sesshoumaru. They'd been managing just fine in Tokyo without his interference.

"Look. Rin and I will do what we can -" Kagome's eyebrows shot up at that, "- and don't give me that look, with your personality you're going to need all the help you can get."

Sesshoumaru's answering unhappy growl caused a flare of guilt at eavesdropping that overcame her curiosity to keep listening. Steeling herself, Kagome pushed into the kitchen.

"Hey hon I - Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaimed on seeing her, just a touch too loudly, "I thought you were Rin." Panicky-guilt flashed across his face, almost too fast to see. But she still knew him pretty well; he had grown and changed a lot in the past 500 years, but in some ways he would always be same boy she'd freed from the goshinboku.

"What are you plotting Inuyasha?"

"Plotting? Me? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh-huh. You know even after all this time you're still a crummy liar." The twitch of his ears gave away his discomfort, "Rin was looking for you."

"Oh, okay, sure thing." He gave his brother a pointed look before he left.

With the sound of Inuyasha's footsteps fading down the hall silence descended on the room and Kagome hazarded a glance at Sesshoumaru. Thankfully it seemed the glare aimed in her direction was rather absent-minded, as if he were perhaps glaring in general and not at her in particular. Well, she certainly hoped he wasn't glaring at her in particular. Even if she had somehow offended him, she couldn't possibly have done anything that would really piss him off. Like Rin had said, Sesshoumaru was uncomfortable socializing and Inuyasha and Rin were probably just trying to smooth things out.

Right.

Because this was nothing at all like those situations where she found herself alone and in awkward situations with single men.

She took a deep breath and forced a wry smile, "I don't suppose anyone is going to offer me any insight into what all that was about?"

His gaze focused to her face, "What did you hear?"

"Well, Inuyasha is sort of loud," she hedged, wondering whether she should pretend ignorance, or address the matter head-on, "But, well, I thought that we've been getting along fine. Or am I missing something?" There. Ball was in his court. Maybe she could get a hint about what was going on from his response.

He huffed and an unhappy scowl twitched at his mouth before he glanced to her hands, "Do you require assistance?"

Damn it. Stupid evasive JERK. Maybe he was upset about something.

"What, you're going to help me wash dishes?" she rolled her eyes as she brushed past him on her way to the sink careful, as always, that they didn't touch. But this time she shivered a little as she passed. Trying to regain her composure she dropped a sardonic, "Like you've ever washed a plate in your life."

He silently appeared at her side, "It does not follow that I am unable to wash one." He eyed the food remnants and soapy water with restrained distaste.

She giggled and plunged her hands in the sink to fish out a sponge and start washing, "Much as I appreciate the offer, and relish the thought of the great Lord of the West up to his elbows in dishwater, I think I can handle it." She glanced down, "Even if it does make me a little nervous to be washing a sink full of dishes worth more than I am."

With a disdainful sniff Sesshoumaru leaned a hip against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, "Humans are so preoccupied with material goods. Simply because a thing survives time it is afforded value, and the more time it survives the more value it seems to accrue."

Kagome snorted, amusement dispelling her concerns about offending him, "By that reasoning you're worth way more than anything else in this house."

His eyes flashed up to hers quickly and, although it didn't appear that he moved closer, all the sudden it felt like he was looming. His voice was a quiet rumble when he responded, "What I intended, of course, was to point out the absurdity of comparing your worth to a piece of old pottery."

It almost sounded like he was complimenting her.

Her chest felt tight and her heart gave a funny little twitch as she felt her face heat with the force of her blush. The scant inch of space that separated her shoulder from his arm suddenly felt like a tangible thing. Why was he so close?

Golden eyes flickered and he shifted and opened his mouth to speak –

"OJI-SAMA!"

The twins burst into the kitchen hollering and Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin – jerking back from Sesshoumaru and the sink with a yelp and flinging an arc of soapsuds right into his face. Sesshoumaru shifted away from the counter and at once the kitchen felt a whole lot bigger and a whole lot less intimate. How did he do that? Kagome wished for a moment that she could completely change the atmosphere of a room simply by shifting her weight around.

Well, if he wasn't irritated with me before, he is now, Kagome thought as he stiffly reached up to wipe his face. This was mortifying. The twins, on the other hand, found it hilarious; Kagome blanched when she heard one of them mention "what a kick tou-san" would get out of it. The briefest flash of utter exasperation crossed Sesshoumaru's face before all his attention shifted to Kazuki and Kiyoshi who had started whinging in a manner they could have only learned from their father.

"Come ON oji-sama – you said that you'd run through some katas with us.*"

And to compound her confusion, Sesshoumaru followed the twins out without sparing her another glance.

-TBC-

Anyone who has tried to get their flirt on with kids around knows that this situation is quite true to life. Kids have a 6th sense that leads them to instinctively interrupt potentially romantic moments.

*Nabeshima ware – Top-quality enamelware porcelain made for the upper classes in Japan- produced in Arita by the Nabeshima clan from the late 17th-mid 18th centuries. It's lovely stuff, quite quintessentially 'Japanese' in aesthetics. According to Christie's online auction records Nabeshima ware, depending on quality and attractiveness of the piece, sell from a couple of thousand to tens of thousands of $USD. With current conversion rates that would translate to hundreds of thousands of Japanese Yen ¥.

*grilled fish and pickled vegetables are common components of a traditional Japanese breakfast.

*Kata (型 or 形,) is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs. Kata are used in many traditional Japanese arts such as theater forms like kabuki and schools of tea ceremony (chadō), but are most commonly known for the presence in the martial arts. (thanks Wikipedia!)

Next time: Let the games begin!

*Peace y'all*