Summary: It seemed like a simple request. Manage the school's basketball team, and help him coach the boys in the club. At the time she didn't consider the trouble it would be. Weeks later she realized.
"Is it too late to back out?" Kagome asked the demon sitting next to her.
"Yes."

Pairing: Rakuzan x Kagome.

Disclaimer: I don't own either series.

Chapter One

Standing so close to the team of players, Kagome could see why some people at school were intimidated by them. While they had friendly enough auras, for the most part, at first look they were… well, some looked the opposite, to say the least.

She could feel their attention on her, and she let her gaze sweep over the small crowd of faces. She could see a few that her friends would gush about due to their attractiveness. A dawning second passed, and she realized then that once her friends learned of this, she'd never get away from that.

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek as she turned to Sesshoumaru again. He started to walk away, and she followed, not knowing what to do. While she was knowledgeable in many things, basketball wasn't one of them. Demons, archery, cursed jewels- sure, but not basketball.

As if picking up on her confused mindset, Sesshoumaru turned and placed something he'd retrieved into her waiting hands. It was a clipboard, a blue ink pen clipped under the clasp.

"Typically, the manager will handle equipment, handle laundry, and you will tend to the players. Make sure they are well, help keep them in top condition, and assist in aligning them into a consistent unit."

"So I'm basically the team mom?" Kagome asked.

"You will keep track of time, and you will track the team's statistics," Sesshoumaru said, ignoring her question for the time, and he led her back to the group of waiting boys. Kagome pouted and fell in step behind him.

"Got it, got it," she said, securing the clipboard against her chest as they came to a halt. "Seems easy enough," she added on a second later.

"It's a relief to hear that," he said and waved her attention to the court, where the team was still waiting in a crowd. "Now, take your time to analyze them and get a firm grasp for them."

Kagome swapped her attention from him to the boys near her age, and she tilted her head to the side as she let her eyes slowly go over each of them.

The basketball team of Rakuzan was a unique bunch, to say the least. After a few moments of standing there, trying to get a clean feel for their individual auras, Kagome grew frustrated. It was difficult to get a good feel when they were all together. Their auras melded together.

She stepped forward, finally choosing to approach them in order to get a solid feel for them. She wasn't questioned by them, thankfully, and they all stood still as she passed in front of each of them. She remained by any one of them for only a few seconds before she continued forward down the line. There were a few who flinched when she set a gentle palm on their arm, and she tried to ignore it when it happened.

Some of them felt so nervous, and it nearly made her giggle.

After she had finished her examination of the males there she stepped back and turned to face Sesshoumaru. Kagome closed her eyes and gave a quiet hum as she got to the end of the line, clasping her hands together behind her back.

"Yup! I can handle this," she said confidently. Kagome smiled and walked back over to join Sesshoumaru. This was not something she was used to, managing a basketball team, and he knew that. However, he had come to her on the matter, and she could understand why he had. If there was something she could do, then she'd do it.

"Good."

His response was accompanied by a small smile, one that made her feel a little on the uncomfortable side.

Since when had Sesshoumaru learned to smile so genuinely…? Genuine or not, it looked bizarre on his face, and she nearly shivered in unease.

Kagome settled into her role of being the team's coach fairly easily. Since she usually got all her school work finished up, she often had lots of free time left over. Since she no longer had to worry about hopping back and forth through the well, she was able to dedicate that free time to her boys.

Speaking of them, the guys of them were nice enough to her. Most of them, well, really all of them complied easily with her. They listened to her suggestions and requests. Some of them seemed to heed the warning Sesshoumaru issued, and a few were still cautious of stepping on her toes and getting her angry.

She still didn't know why Sesshoumaru decided to give them a warning on handling her. She wasn't an angry person, and she was more than often in a cheerful mood. After dealing with Inuyasha, it took a lot to get on her bad side nowadays.

The other parts of the job were pretty easy, too, so she had no complaints there, either.

A practice match had been requested by her today, and she remained on the sidelines as she watched them play. Blue eyes followed the movements on the court intently, and every now and again she would swap which player she was following after making a few notes on them upon the paper fastened to the clipboard she held secure in her arms. The game soon ended, and she had gotten most of the information she had needed for now. She offered a few of the players heading over to her water bottles and towels as the passed by her before returning her eyes to what she had been writing, adding on a few more notes as she did.

"You are such a dear, Kag-chan~"

She blinked at the voice, and she looked from her clipboard. Kagome tilted her head to the side as she looked to meet the gaze of the speaker. "Huh?" she let out a quiet noise as blue met green briefly before she looked back down really quick to finish what she had been scribbling down. "Did you need something Reo-senpai?" she asked as she focused on him once more.

Practice was close to ending for the day, and now most of the men on the court were heading over to where she was. She set the clipboard down and went to hand them a drink.

Sesshoumaru made his way over to where she had originally been and picked up the clipboard she had set down, looking closely at what she had been writing. She had been making notes on each of the boy's key skills and capabilities. He set what he had picked up back in its spot before walking off.

He had to admit to the fact that she was serious about this, and that only made him that much more proud his assessment of her and this role was right. It went on better seeing as the males of the team were able to get along with her without much of a hindrance. He had been glad to give them the warning of crossing her and getting her angry.

While his brother must have been born for the role, him being so naturally capable of stepping on the Miko's nerves, Sesshoumaru had used all of the mistakes that fool had made to know what he should avoid.

Still, he was glad to see her adapting quickly. She had only been there for a few days so far, and she had already found herself in the swing of everything. He found it a bit on the humorous side when a few of the players attempted to get on her good side out of unease of what should the seemingly nurturing girl do when provoked by the first fool to do so.

The only thing that would be able to help them, in that case, would be to stay far away from her and the one at fault. She had, regrettably, picked up a few negative traits from Inuyasha and others during her time in the past.

"Ah!"

Gold eyes darted up when the feminine yelp was heard. Others did the same out of a mix of curiosity and concern. He was worried a small bit.

Don't tell him she'd already managed to get herself hurt.

A sigh left him when he saw her get caught by one of the players before she could stumble forward onto the gym floor, and he tuned them out once again.

"You shouldn't do that to her," Reo frowned as he pulled their small manager closer to his chest, holding her securely there, as he lectured the muscular man responsible for her near tumble. "Yours hurt enough as it is. She could have gotten hurt."

Kagome pulled herself from his arms and waved a hand. The other went to her suddenly sore shoulder, where just seconds ago she had been given a slap of praise. It was common for them to do on the court, but she wasn't positive she was fond of it. "It's fine, Reo-senpai," she said, turning her head up some and offering him a smile. The pain faded as soon as it came, and she clipped her pen into the clasp of the clipboard. "It startled me more than anything." It was embarrassing to admit it, but it was true. She had been so engrossed in the task she had been given that she hadn't taken notice of the large man, even when he greeted her. Kagome huffed and turned on her heel. She looked back and gave him a confident grin. "Don't think it'll happen again though, Eikichi-senpai."

With those words, she excused herself from the others and went to join Sesshoumaru. "Wasn't exactly easy, but I got the list set up for you."

"Good," Sesshoumaru said. "I want you to have everything organized by tomorrow's practice. Then we'll go from there."

"Okay!"

Kagome fixed her hair into a neat ponytail before heading over to the group of men still relaxing at the end of their practice.

"It was a good day," she said as she walked past them to make sure no one needed her assistance. "You all make for a good team, but after watching the practice match you had I'm able to track and map out a good training regimen for you all that will be beneficial. I'm assuming that Coach will want to start tomorrow, but I don't know what he has planned. For now, expect that it'll start tomorrow." She looked at her clipboard and tapped her finger next to a note she had jotted down in a hurry near the end of practice. "Don't attempt to hide any muscular pain from me. I will know, and I'll take care of it. If you need my help or anything you guys have my number so do not hesitate in calling if it's important." Kagome looked back up at them and let her arms hang at her side. "Unless anyone has something to add on, or if I'm needed, then that's it for today." When she was met with silence, Kagome nodded. "Good," she said before turning. "Then remember what I've told you. Head home when you can and get some proper rest tonight. Call if you need me for whatever reason. With that, I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

As she gathered up her stuff and left the gym, Kagome realized just how tired she was. Watching and keeping track of the men on the team had made her exhausted. Kagome shook her head and hummed as she walked. She didn't have time to worry about much other than what Sesshoumaru had asked her to do. She thought back to her notes she had taken and closed her eyes. If she wanted to get everything in order for tomorrow she'd better hurry and get started on it all.

C.R: Probably a long-awaited update for this one. Sorry it took so long! An update for Gingerly Guessing is up next on my list.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed!

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Bye for now~