Late

Sesshoumaru stood outside the building of the doctor and frowned, glancing down at his watch. Her appointment was supposed to have started 10 minutes ago and yet she had not yet arrived. He was this close to calling her but then he remembered she'd given him back the phone Kikyo had given her. He would have to rectify that; there was no way he was going to allow her to gallivant around the city without some form of communication available to her.

Even as he decided to go into the building and reschedule her appointment, he saw an old, bright blue car pull into the lot. He couldn't tell what make it was, except that it was old and dinged up and…ugly. Horribly so. There was no telling how many accidents the monstrosity had been through. Even as the thought crossed his mind, he realized it was Higurashi behind the wheel. He nearly winced as she fell climbing out of the car and could do naught be stare as she tripped stepping off the curb on her way to him. And again, over her own feet; he wondered how she'd managed to survive this far into life. "You're late," he said finally, scanning her disheveled appearance and holding back an impatient sigh.

Kagome grinned unrepentantly. "I'm sorry. I had car trouble," she offered, glancing back at the blue monstrosity in the lot.

Sesshoumaru raised a brow as he too studied the machine. "Indeed." Without another word, he carefully took her arm and led her into the building. Once inside and they had removed their coats, he followed her to the receptionist desk.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Machiko," the miko offered as she pulled out her insurance card. "My appointment was ten minutes ago." She smiled, a peace offering, and held out the card.

Machiko, a brown eyed, skinny, tall beauty, grinned. "No problem Kagome. You're actually right on time. I know you, so I told you a different time than it actually was."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes at that tidbit of information even as the miko looked over her shoulder at the pristine Daiyoukai. "I'm not that good with time," she admitted, a sheepish smile on her face. At his impassive look, she tried for another smile and amended, "I'm always a little late."

o.O.o

Word Count: 384