I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.

In honor of April 25, the perfect date, I wanted to bring you Chapter 2 of Miss Shikon Jewel!

The next day, at 1pm, Inuyasha was right back at the auditorium with Rin. This time, he had been a little more prepared, and Rin was already wearing her first dress for the interview section.

He had thought that it would be less chaotic, given there were fewer contestants. The moment he walked in the door, though, that hope was destroyed.

Even with narrowing the group from 65 to 30, there was still chaos everywhere, and the overwhelming scent of hairspray and Febreeze on clothes hastily prepared for a second day of wear.

He was suddenly glad that Rin was human and didn't have an Inu Yokai's sense of smell. She was already a bundle of excited nerves; she didn't need anything else causing her any discomfort.

"Is Papa going to be here?" Rin asked again, her hand clutching Inuyasha's.

"He said he would be here for the evening to escort you; he wouldn't miss this for the world."

Inuyasha had been surprised at first when Sesshomaru had worked overnight to resolve the emergency before dumping it on his second-in-command, ordering the private jet ready for a trip back immediately, but then again… it was Rin, and Rin came first. If Rin wanted her father there, then her father would be there.

A familiar head of ebony hair caught Inuyasha's eye; Kagome was standing in the corner, talking to a woman with straight black hair cut in a bob and a tall man with brown hair tied up in a top knot with periwinkle makeup accenting his cheeks. He took a moment to just watch Kagome as she laughed at something that was said when the other woman lifted a strand of Kagome's hair up.

"KAGOME!" Rin cried as soon as she saw the older woman, her grip on Inuyasha easing.

Kagome's face turned and a grin breaking out as she saw who had called her and beckoned them over.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Kagome said, bending down to hug Rin when she drew close.

"I made the top five for my division!" Rin exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"That's fantastic! I'm so happy for you!" Kagome ran her hand down Rin's hair as the girl danced with excitement.

"Oh girl, you've been holding out on us." The woman standing with Kagome smirked, eying Inuyasha.

Kagome laughed as she straightened, shaking her head.

"You never change, Yura…" Kagome smirked. "Inuyasha, this is Yura, my hair and makeup artist, and Jakotsu, my stylist. Yura and Jakotsu, this is Inuyasha, and his niece, Rin."

"Ohh, his niece!" Jakotsu exclaimed, clasping his hands together and shooting Kagome a look. Inuyasha had to hold back a chuckle at Kagome's responding glare at the man.

"If you need any help getting Rin ready today, just let me know," Kagome said, turning to ignore her two friends. "If I can't, I will send Yura to help."

"Thanks, we really appreciate it."

"Uncle Inu, I see Miss Sango, let's go say hi!" Rin tugged his hand, pulling him away and he shot a rueful smile back at Kagome as he followed Rin.

"Is that the girl you were talking about yesterday?" Inuyasha heard Yura ask and his ear flicked towards them, trying to hear more.

"Yeah, she's a sweetheart, isn't she?"

"She's adorable, but girl… that uncle is seriously hot!" Inuyasha's face flushed red at Jakotsu's words. Just what he needed…

"He really is, isn't he." Inuyasha's ears perked straight up at Kagome's sighed response.

She thought he was… Kagome thought he was hot? He fought the urge to look back at her; first, he didn't want to give away that he had been able to hear them, and second… there was no way someone as smart and sweet as Kagome was single. Her boyfriend would likely be escorting her that evening for beauty, so there was no point in getting his hopes up that she would be interested in learning more about him.

Sango's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and pulled his attention back to Rin and her timeline. He was glad he had left her other stuff in the car; once she was done with interview, Rin would have a break until 6:00, when they needed to be back for the final competition.

He wasn't quite sure who was more nervous: Rin… or him. A quick glance at Rin sitting with her group, chatting away with the other four girls, told him his answer…

Him. He was definitely more nervous.

He watched as Rin reached out to take the hand of the girl sitting next to her, taking in the girl's light silver hair and violet eyes against her tanned skin. Rin was… being Rin, drawing the girl out of her shell. Inuyasha smiled as he watched the girl smile, her eyes lighting up at something Rin had said.

"Your Rin's father, right?" a woman asked him.

"Uncle," he responded, turning his head toward the woman.

"Uncle. I'm Shizu; my daughter Shiori is in Rin's division. I wanted to say thank you; meeting Rin has been the best part of this for my daughter. Most other girls aren't as accepting as hanyo's as Rin is."

Inuyasha felt his chest swell with pride. "Yeah, she's great like that. Rin doesn't care if you are human, yokai or hanyo—she treats everyone the same."

When Rin's name was called, Shiori threw her arms around Rin, and Inuyasha heard her soft "good luck" before Rin disappeared into the interview room.

"And now the wait begins," Shizu said, knowing her daughter was next.

"Is this her first time?" Inuyasha asked, his gaze turning to the woman beside her.

"Yeah; you?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, placing his hands in his pocket.

Inuyasha had not realized just how long three minutes felt until that moment. The wait for Rin to come out, to see her expression, and to gauge her reaction, felt like eternity.

He heard his niece's laughter through the door and let out a breath. A moment later, she came bounding out of the room to dash to Shiori and give her a hug before the other girl's number was called.

"You've got this!" Rin told her, holding Shiori's hand as Shiori made her way towards Sango. With a last look back and squeeze of Rin's hand, Shiori entered her interview.

Rin looked around and the moment her eyes found Inuyasha she launched herself at him, her arms squeezing his waist.

"So I'm going to guess it was terrible and traumatizing…" Inuyasha said, deadpan as he looked down at Rin's smiling face.

"It was horrible and terrible," she giggled, "I was absolutely terrified that they were going to eat me."

"Well, I'm glad you escaped," he teased, ruffling her hair.

"UNCLE INU!" Rin shrieked. "If you mess up my hair, you have to do it again!"

"Shi… uh… Shoot, forgot about that." Rin shot him a frosty stare that was almost worthy of her father. Inuyasha looked at his watch, it was around 2:00, they had four hours until they had to be back at the school for the final stage of the competition. Sesshomaru was supposed to get in around 4, so they still had a few hours until they needed to be at the airport. "Ya hungry baby girl?"

Rin's frown gave way to a giant smile. "Could we get pizza with lots of toppings?" Inuyasha chuckled as he nodded. "And can we invite Kagome?"

Inuyasha paused… hell, he would love to invite Kagome, but he wasn't sure he could handle finding out she had a boyfr…

"KAGOME!" Rin cried, running towards the familiar dark haired woman as she came through the door to the stage. "Uncle Inu and I are going to get pizza, wanna come? Please please please?"

Kagome's eyes softened as she took Rin's hand. "Wish I could, but we have rehearsal until 4 for my division. We are learning the opening number, and trust me, I would much rather be having pizza."

"Awww." Rin's face fell as she looked back at her approaching Uncle. "She can't join us, Uncle Inu?"

"Yeah, baby girl, I heard." Inuyasha's hand came to Rin's shoulder as he looked at Kagome. Would you like us to bring you back something?"

Kagome smiled, and Inuyasha felt most of his brain cells melt.

"I should be good; I brought snacks to get me through the day, but thanks, that's the first time someone has offered to bring me food at one of these."

"You should have more than snacks; you are going to be here until what, 10? It's only 2..." Inuyasha frowned. "I'm surprised your boyfriend isn't bringing you something."

Inuyasha's ears lowered as he realized how stupid the question was… fuck, now she would think he was hitting on her. Well, he was, or wanted to, but if she was with someone, it was a dick thing to do…

"Funny thing about having a boyfriend bring you food; first, you have to have a boyfriend." Kagome's eyes sparkled as Inuyasha's ears shot straight up, quivering as he tried not to meet her gaze. Her tongue rested against her cheek when he finally dared to look up, a faint flush over his cheeks. His mouth opened as if he was going to ask something…

"Uncle Inu… Can I ask Shiori if she wants to come with us?" Rin's tugging on his sleeve broke the moment.

"Umm.. yeah… yeah, let's go ask her mother." Inuyasha shook his head to clear it, his golden eyes meeting dancing gray as Rin began to drag him down the hall towards Shiori.

"Seriously, that man is gorgeous," Yura sighed as she handed a bottle of water and a package of peanut butter crackers to Kagome.

"Yeah…" Kagome agreed as she pulled out a cracker, nibbling at it as she watched Inuyasha talking to Shizu while the two young girls' begging echoed down the hall. It was clear his niece adored him, and she had always been a sucker for guys who were good with kids. She knew the moment Shizu had agreed; the girls' excitement was contagious, making everyone around them smile or laugh.

"I think he likes you." Yura nudged Kagome with her elbow and raised a brow.

"Oh come on; he's being polite cause I was nice to his niece."

"I'm serious, Kagome. There are some major vibes there."

Kagome took a long drink of water as Rin and Shiori dragged their adults out the door, chattering excitedly. She watched Inuyasha's ears as they lowered from the noise and had the urge to pet them, soothing them from the abuse they were likely going through.

"As cute as he is, I need to focus today Yura, you know that," Kagome groaned, finishing off her crackers.

"Yeah… but after the pageant's over, you never know, he could go a long way to helping console you or make the celebration better."

Kagome shot her friend a glance. "You have a one track mind, woman."

"Hello, did you SEE him?"

"Yeah…" Kagome sighed, letting her mind wander for a moment before shaking her head to clear it. She needed to focus, and not on adorable ears the color of moonlight.

Four hours, three glasses of soda, two boxes of pizza and one adopted father later, Inuyasha and crew unloaded at the school. Inuyasha had been prepared to hand over Rin duties to her father, but Rin wanted Sesshomaru in the audience to watch her for the first half before coming to escort her. She insisted that she needed Uncle Inu backstage to help her since he already knew what outfit she needed and what went with which look (Inuyasha had shot Sesshomaru a panicked look at that because no, he had no clue, that had all been Kagome) but what Rin wanted, Rin got.

Inuyasha left his suit in the car; he would try and change after he got Rin ready for the evening gown portion and sneak out to watch. He wanted to try and see her onstage if he could.

Although, he thought, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, especially if it meant he got to see Kagome a little more.

A single Kagome with no boyfriend…

Rin… he needed to focus on Rin, and not on a certain raven-haired vixen with stormy gray eyes.

"...ut you had promised you were going to be here!"

Inuyasha's ears turned at said raven-haired vixen's angry outburst.

"Sota… you've known about this for weeks
… Well bring Hitomi here!
Sota, we have to have someone to esco…
You are the worst brother ever.
Love you too, you jerk, just not happy with you right now."

Kagome sighed, her phone dropping to her side as she groaned, slumping against the wall.

"You ok?" Inuyasha asked, he had left Rin with Sesshomaru, Shiori and Shizu to check on her.

"My brother is an ass."

"I think that's par for the course with brothers," Inuyasha chuckled.

"This one takes the cake, though. He was supposed to be my escort onstage tonight, but he forgot about it and made plans with his girlfriend and friends out of town and won't get back here in time."

"Would your friend...what was his name Jake… Jaku…"

"Jakotsu?"

"Yeah."

"No," Kagome chuckled, "he gets on stage and he's likely to want to compete, rather than escort me."

"What sections do you need an escort for?"

"Just evening gown," Kagome sighed, "same as the younger divisions. So I don't really know if I will need one because they haven't announced top 5 yet, but…"

"But you would rather know it was taken care of before then so you weren't stressing about it."

"Yeah." Kagome laughed as her head dropped back against the wall. "It's no big deal, I guess; they usually have someone on standby in case an escort can't make it."

"I could escort you." Kagome's head snapped forward, her stormy eyes wide as they met gold, not sure she had heard right. "I mean, if you would be ok with that."

"What… what about Rin?"

"Keh, her father's here to escort her." Inuyasha began to rub his neck with his hand, his nerves showing in the twitching of his ears. "I mean, I'll already be back here getting Rin ready, so if you wanted, that is…, well I…"

"I would be honored," Kagome smiled, pushing herself off the wall to close the distance between them. Her hand reached out for his. "I mean it, I would really appreciate that."

A shy grin formed on Inuyasha's lips.

"Just let me know when you want me…" Inuyasha flushed as he realized how his words sounded and his ears drooped. "I mean need me… I mean, oh hell. just tell me when you want me to be ready."

"I'll be able to let you know after they announce top 5," Kagome giggled, squeezing his hand in hers before her face went serious. "Thank you. I really, really mean it."

"Kagome?" Jakotsu stood off to the side, a garment bag on his hand as his eyes slid appreciatively over Inuyasha. "Sorry to break the moment, but you need to get ready for opening."

"I'll be right there, Jak." Kagome reluctantly released Inuyasha's hand with a small smile. "I'll come find you after the announcements?"

Inuyasha just nodded. Kagome shot him another smile before running after Jakotsu down the hall.

"Kagome, don't run, god the last thing we need is for you to get sweaty, girl."

"Jakotsu, I'm going to get sweaty on stage in the lights anyway."

"Doesn't mean you have to get a head start on i…"

Their voices faded as they disappeared around a corner, leaving Inuyasha standing there, dazed.

"Did you just volunteer to escort her?" Sesshomaru's cold voice snapped Inuyasha back to reality.

"Keh, what of it?"

"I take it that was the Miss Kagome that Rin has been talking about?" Inuyasha just glared at his brother and stalked back to the car to grab Rin's bags.

"Don't you need to go find a seat?" Inuyasha growled.

"The doors aren't open yet."

"Damnit."

"UNCLE INU!" Rin's voice was stern as she placed her hand on his arm with a disapproving glare worthy of her father. "That's not a nice word."

Inuyasha's ears fell as Sesshomaru began to chuckle.

"Sorry, Rin."

Rin's lips twitched as she struggled to hold her frown, but she wasn't able to hold back her laughter.

"She has you wrapped around her finger, little brother." Sesshomaru's voice was soft, just loud enough for Inuyasha, but not Rin, to hear.

"Keep talking Mr. I-worked-all-night-to-get-back-to-town-because-my-daughter-told-me-to-be-here," Inuyasha responded just as softly, smirking when he saw Sesshomaru's eye twitch.

Rin gave an exaggerated sigh, her eyes darting between her father and her uncle.

"Uncle Inu, we need to go. Daddy, you need to go get a good seat so you can watch me."

Sesshomaru bent down to wrap Rin in his arms, his eyes softening when she threw hers around him. Inuyasha watched with a small smile; no matter how much they ribbed on each other, Sesshomaru really was a good father. Rin had softened him, had brought him out of his shell just as much as he had helped her out of hers. Inuyasha hated to break up the moment, but he was noticing the crowd of parents starting to disappear into the school.

"Come on, kid, let's go get you ready." Inuyasha knelt down and laid his hand on Rin's back, smiling as she squeezed Sesshomaru one more time before taking Inuyasha's hand. "Don't worry, Sess, she'll be alright. Go get a seat and I'll come get you at the intermission."

Thirty minutes later, Inuyasha had Rin dressed for the opening number and introduction in her interview dress and Sango was corralling the younger contestants towards the stage.

"So what happens now?" Inuyasha asked as Shizu walked past him.

"The younger contestants wait backstage for the Miss division to finish the opening number." Shizu's eyes were puzzled. "Don't you remember from Orientation?" Inuyasha's eyes went wide before they lowered to the ground. Shizu tilted her head and smiled. "Oh, I didn't realize you weren't there for that. The Miss contestants do their opening number, then they bring all the finalists onstage while they announce the top five for the Miss Division. Then they have each finalist step forward and introduce themselves, so if you want to go watch the first part, we have time."

Inuyasha's right ear began to twitch; on one hand, he wanted to go watch Kagome and Rin and see if Kagome made top 5, but he also wanted to be backstage for Rin if she needed him.

"Most of us are going out front to watch for a bit. It's the only time we will be able to tonight; you want to come with us?" Shizu nodded towards the stage door, and Inuyasha found himself following her out to the auditorium, standing against the wall as the lights in the audience lowered.

The lights on the stage rose, revealing the 15 Miss contestants in black cocktail dresses. Inuyasha's gaze slid across the stage, recognizing the red-haired wolf who had nearly run him over the day before, only to stop when he found Kagome.

She shone.

There really was no other word for it. Everyone else on the stage disappeared as he watched her smile and wave as she moved across the floor. Her blue-black hair shone in the light as she spun, laughter on her lips, with the music. It seemed only a moment, yet he was sure it had been several minutes before they all came to a stop, a hand on a hip, and the younger contestants filed onto the stage.

Inuyasha's heart warmed as he turned his gaze to Rin, standing hand-in-hand with Shiori behind Kagome, the two girls so different in appearance, yet already the fastest of friends. Rin's smile was infectious; he had never seen her looking so happy, so confident. No matter what happened today, he would be grateful she had gone through this experience just to see that.

A man stepped out, clad in a tuxedo with a purple vest, his black hair pulled back into a small tail at the nape of his neck and a microphone in his hand.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the 2021 Miss Shikon Jewel Pageant!" the man said and the crowd erupted into applause.

"That's Miroku Hoshi, Sango's husband," Shizu whispered, and Inuyasha's ear flicked, telling her he had heard.

He let the man's voice fade as he continued to watch Rin and Kagome as Rin leaned over to bump her shoulder into Shiori's, making the silver-haired girl giggle. Kagome's head shifted to the side as her smile grew warmer, and Inuyasha knew she had heard the giggle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of the other Miss contestants suddenly throw their hands to their face or their chest or step forward: the red-haired wolf, a woman with short black hair and magenta eyes, a girl with shoulder length wavy dark hair, and one with short brown hair. Kagome's smile started to look forced, and Inuyasha realized that they were calling the top five… and there was only one name left.

"And the last contestant moving on to the final competition, Miss Kagome Higurashi!" Miroku called out and Kagome's eyes closed in relief, her head dropping forward for a moment as other contestants reached out to take her hand. Her head snapped up with a brilliant smile as she squeezed their hands back or hugged them as she stepped forward to join the other four, waving as she walked.

"Come on, we need to get backstage. They will be off soon and we need to get them into sportswear," Inuyasha heard Shizu say as if from a distance, his gaze still on Kagome until the words sunk through.

Sportswear… right…

Oh god, now he needed to remember which outfit that was.

The scene backstage was even more chaotic than when they had arrived, something Inuyasha would not have thought possible given ten of the contestants were now packing up and going out to watch in the audience. Yet it seemed there was even more of a buzz of activity as outfits were thrown around, and each of the final five Miss contestants were swarmed with hair, makeup and stylists making sure they were 'perfect' to go out. He saw Kagome for a moment as she raced backstage in skyscraper heels, her face glowing. She stopped for a moment when she saw him, her smile growing wider.

"I need you." Inuyasha felt his heart stutter as he pushed back all the thoughts those words could mean, and he saw the moment that she realized it when her cheeks flushed and she looked up, embarrassed. "I mean I will need to borrow you, if that's still alright."

"Yeah…" Inuyasha choked out as Yura and Jakotsu appeared to spirit Kagome away. His eyes followed her down the hall, smiling as she turned back to look at him, her friends expertly keeping her from running into anything or anyone.

The linebacker formerly known as his niece Rin chose that moment to tackle his waist, and Inuyasha stumbled, thrown off guard by the sudden weight. She instantly launched into a commentary of what had happened backstage, one of the contestants… Momiji something or other, had started crying and they had tried to cheer her up and then Miss Sango had come to help and brought her a sucker and sat with her while Rin had given her a hug and…

Inuyasha smiled as Rin continued on while he pulled out her jean outfit for sportswear and walked her to Shiori and Shizu, trusting her with Shizu to get changed. She was still talking away when she came back out, arm-in-arm with Shiori, Shizu standing behind them with a smile, shaking her head as she brought Rin back to Inuyasha.

"I would kill for a fraction of her energy," Shizu chuckled as Rin grabbed her sparkly sneakers (sneakers that she had made Inuyasha go and find for her the day before because she HAD to have sparkly sneakers for the stage and he just couldn't tell her no).

"Keh, tell me about it," Inuyasha agreed, watching the bundle of energy that bounced around the hall, unable to stay still in her excitement.

He had to finally rein her in to bring her backstage again for her next round of competition, watching as she started dancing with Shiori to the music as the others were modeling. When it was her turn Rin burst onto the stage, her smile huge. He bit back his laughter as he watched her almost run out, searching for the X. As soon as she hit it, she posed, hand on hip and jerked her head up before running to the next X. She didn't have the smooth polish some of the girls before her had shown, but she was genuine, excited…

She was just Rin.

Shiori was standing backstage, her clasped hands trembling slightly as she waited for Rin to finish the routine and come back. Applause followed Rin as she darted back behind the curtains, but instead of going to Inuyasha to get ready for evening gown she threw her arms around Shiori in a big hug and whispered in the girl's ear. Whatever she had said made Shiori smile and giggle as her hands relaxed.

"Come on, baby girl, let's go get you ready," Inuyasha whispered, only for Rin to shake her head and take his hand, keeping him with her.

"I wanna wait for Shiori."

He crouched down, taking his hand out of Rin's grasp to wrap his arm around her shoulders as they watched Shiori. The silver haired girl with the wide lavender eyes floated across the stage in her in a white day dress with a lavender ribbon, her face calm and happy, and Inuyasha knew that the girls would be friends for life.

Rin squealed when Shiori came off the stage, launching towards the girl as they hugged each other and jumped around.

"Girls, come on, we need to get you changed," Shizu chuckled, herding them towards the door.

Inuyasha followed a few steps behind, a small smile on his face as he watched his niece.

The scent of vanilla and roses was his only warning, and he stopped quickly, just avoiding a collision with Kagome as she sprinted down the hall, skidding to a stop to pant heavily, a hand on the wall to support her.

"You ok?" he asked, crossing to crouch in front of her, concerned.

"Yeah… just… don't want to be late," she panted, waving a hand at him as she stood and took a deep breath.

"Dammit, Kagome…" Yura rushed up next to her, "you're going to ruin your makeup."

"Please." Kagome rolled her eyes as she tried to calm her breathing. "You used enough setting spray that it's probably permanent."

Inuyasha took the moment to run his eyes over Kagome, noting her simple, yet elegant, royal blue jumpsuit, the top covered in beading, two panels of chiffon swirling around her legs over the pants, giving the illusion of it being a skirt. Jakotsu sauntered up the hallway at a slower pace, holding a violin case in his hand.

"Didn't you forget something, Kagome?" Jakotsu teased as he passed her the case. "You can't go on to talent without… you know… your talent."

"Talent…?" Inuyasha asked, starting to panic… shit was there another part of the competition… oh god, he had fucked up, and now Rin wouldn't be ready and…

"Hey, hey hey…" Kagome pushed away from the wall, setting her free hand on his arm over his jacket, drawing his attention back to her. She gave him a knowing smile as she tried to calm him down. "Talent's only for the Miss division, in place of sportswear. You aren't missing anything for Rin."

Inuyasha sighed in relief, his hand coming to his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw Jakotsu nudge Yura with an elbow as he glanced at her sideways, a smug look on his face as he tilted his head towards them, and Yura raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry for making you panic," Kagome apologized as she tipped her head back, her gray eyes meeting his. Whatever Yura had done, her eyes seemed bigger, more luminous,and Inuyasha felt himself falling into them.

"K...keh." His cheeks flushed as he forced himself to look away, but not before he saw the answering flush on Kagome's cheeks.

The backstage door opened and the pre-teen finalists came tumbling out the door, running towards the dressing room. Kagome's eyes went wide and she spun to her friends, her hand dropping off of Inuyasha's arm and he found himself missing its heat and pressure.

"You told me that the Miss contestants were on." Kagome pointed at Jakotsu, who managed to look both innocent and guilty at the same time, his eyes wide but twinkling with mischief.

"Opps, did I get Miss and Little Miss confused? I'm so sorry."

Jakotsu sounded anything but sorry; Kagome rolled her eyes and turned back to Inuyasha with a huff.

"Sorry for nearly running you over; I thought I was late, but instead I just had some idio…"

When Kagome turned to glare at Jakotsu, she found he and Yura had both vanished, seemingly into thin air.

"I'm going to kill them," she mumbled, and Inuyasha had to fight his grin. He glanced down the hall, seeing Shizu helping Rin and Shiori get ready, and zeroed in on two pairs of eyes peeking around a corner, watching him with Kagome and had to chuckle.

"So… anyway…" Kagome's cheeks flushed again as she looked up at him. "If the offer still stands, I would…"

"I'd love to," Inuyasha interrupted, his ears focused on her and, unbeknownst to him, quivering in excitement, and Kagome again felt the deep need to stroke them, to feel if they were as soft as they looked.

"Oh… umm, thank you." Her eyes dropped, focusing on the violin case in her hand.

The sudden sour scent of nerves started to creep into her vanilla and rose scent, making Inuyasha's nose itch with how just… wrong it smelled. It made him want to growl, to promise her that nothing would ever hurt her again, he wouldn't let it.

"Say, Kagome." Her eyes slowly lifted, framed by impossibly long, beautifully deep lashes to meet his intense golden gaze. "I… I was wondering if af…"

The door to the stage flew open as the teen contestants stepped back into the hall, giggling at the two adults standing against the wall. Sango followed behind them with a clipboard in her hand. The moment she saw Kagome, she tilted her head back, and called out for the other Miss contestants. Kagome's smile was shy now as she turned back to Inuyasha.

"I gotta go, but… what was it you wanted to ask?"

"Keh, don't worry about it. I can always talk to you later."

"Oh...o..okay." There was a flash of disappointment in her eyes as Kagome lifted her violin case, cradling it against her chest, before turning to the door.

"Hey Kagome?" Inuyasha called out, smirking when she turned back. "Good luck out there."

Kagome started to shake her head, a smile teasing the edge of her lips.

"You don't say 'good luck' when someone's about to perform, Dog-Boy. You say 'break a leg'."

"Well, go do that then." He smiled back, his ears wiggling, making her giggle as she disappeared into the darkness of the backstage area.

Inuyasha waited a few moments before turning back up the hallway to help Shizu finish getting Rin and Shiori ready. When he passed the corner where Yura and Jakotsu were trying to hide he paused, raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

"And what was that?"

"An honest mistake?" Jakotsu had the cheek to try and bat his eyes at Inuyasha, only to receive a scowl in return. "Just… trying to help a friend?" Jakotsu tried again, relaxing when Inuyasha let out a scoff and rolled his eyes. "What we are… There's life after this competition, and Kagome needs to not bury herself in school. Girl needs to live a little, try dati..."

"And I'm gonna stop you there," Yura hissed, slapping her hand over Jakotsu's mouth before looking back at Inuyasha. "Please forgive the idiot; he always goes stupid around hot men."

"K..Keh…" Inuyasha's cheeks flamed red, his ears flattening against his scalp.

"You going to behave?" she asked Jakotsu, who nodded. Yura lifted her hand away to reveal his pout, and she sighed. "Go do something useful, like get her dress ready or something," she told him, gently shoving him towards Kagome's area, watching as he flounced away in a huff. "Sorry about that. We don't let him out much."

"Y..yeah, I'm gonna, I gotta…"

"Kagome's going to be about 20 minutes for all the talent to be done, and she's last. Can I come help with your niece's hair as an apology?" Yura offered, her face serious.

Inuyasha was torn… on one hand he didn't want strangers near Rin, but on the other, this was Kagome's friend and stylist… and he really was shit with hair…

"Uncle Inu?" Rin called out, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You gotta do my hair, I wanna look pretty for daddy."

Inuyasha looked down at her smiling face and knew he would leave it to her.

"Baby Girl, Miss Yura has offered to help with your hair, what do you say?"

Rin tilted her head, looking at the woman in front of her.

"Would you also help Shiori?"

Yura chuckled. "Yeah, I'll help your friend too."

"Okay!" Rin beamed then ran back to Shiori to tell her.

"You have a great niece there, you know that right?" Yura said as she walked towards the two girls.

"Yeah… I do." Inuyasha smiled.