Disclaimer: I do not own 'Inuyasha' or any of its characters.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading the story so far.

Here the new chapter, a little shorter this time, but I promise you the next one is eventful.

Chapter Eight: Of Challenges and Rage

Five minutes later Kagome was at her desk still trying to regain her breath. The kisses had been amazing, and Inuyasha had been right when he had said that in a certain way she wanted him too. She was a young woman well able to appreciate one's beauty, she has her urges too; she may have been inexperienced but that only made her felt more unsatisfied. That, however, didn't mean she was going to give it away to the first man who came along, or in this case, the first man who made her blood boil with desire. Yes, those kisses had triggered something in her that the ones she'd exchanged so far with Bankotsu hadn't been able to, and she'd reciprocated with pleasure lost in the moment. But thankfully each time she had come to her senses, she had no intention of becoming prey to his tricks or fulfilling a fantasy of his.

Control, that's what she needed it around the half-demon, because she knew, oh, she knew, he would likely try another of his tricks next time. The prick was convinced he could have her with a couple of hot kisses and an excuse. Fat chance! Kagome would show him that she was different from the girls he was used to dealing with.

Her mind came back to his last words, the way Inuyasha had seemed enraged because she had told him she wasn't going to become another notch on his belt, and for a moment considered it.

"Was he serious? He seemed really bothered by the fact that I accused him of wanting just one thing from him. But what else could I think given his typical attitude?" she pondered. From the moment she had started working at Taisho Tech. Inuyasha had continuously commented on how sexy she was or something similar, how could she think that her body wasn't the only thing he was interested in? In what else then? She wouldn't believe that someone like him would be interested in a poor unlucky girl like her.

Why being outraged by her comment then? What other idea could she have of a person who did nothing but give her dirty comments and lewd looks? It was obvious then that Kagome thought he was used to changing women as much as underwear. If he was trying to prove her wrong then maybe he needed to rethink his technique because his plan was falling apart.

Not to mention, then, that she was still dating Bankotsu.

"Oh, God, Bankotsu. How in the hell I am going to look him in the face and lie to him seeing that nothing happened with Inuyasha?" from the way he had acted just because the half-demon had looked at her the wrong way in front of him, she didn't want to imagine the outburst something like this would cause. She was still a little irked by his behaviour, of course, and they had just exchanged a pair of texts since then, but Kagome hadn't acted better kissing someone else while still seeing him. Even if they were still going slow, it didn't mean she should have kissed Inuyasha or let him kiss her.

Kagome groaned, when had her life become so sentimentally complicated? As if she didn't already have more important problems. That's why she hadn't wanted to start something with Bankotsu, that was what could go wrong! Why did life like to make fun of her? It also liked to increase her headache, apparently.

Another important problem was what to tell Sango. She knew her best friend was likely going to give her the third degree just to know what happened when Inuyasha brought her home, if she were to tell Sango that they had kissed not once, but twice, she would never be able to shake her off. Sango was already convinced that the hanyou was interested in her, these events would only solidify her beliefs and press her some more. But at the same time, she considered, if she didn't tell her anything or just wait for it and Sango found out through Miroku - men talked about these things right? Inuyasha would probably tell his best friend and Miroku would tell his wife; Sango would be disappointed in her and hold such a grudge.

Could Sango really blame her? Ok, best friends hold no secrets, but she was being so overbearing lately, and to say that she was the one who had invited Bankotsu that night! She was likely going to drive Kagome crazy too and she didn't want to commit a murder. Because cranky Kagome developed insane homicidal manias that showed in the disturbing doodles she promptly sent her best friend; she had once told her that it was actually her plan she would have carried out to kill Sango if she had not stopped it immediately. The older woman had also complimented her for the perfect plan, not that she was dying to see if she could actually succeed without getting caught. And that happened during mid-term exams back then, Sango knew very well how to irk Kagome and when to recognize the telltale signs; she hoped her friend would head the signals this time too because Sango was pulling the strings a little too much.

Yes, she had her reasons not to tell her about the kisses yet. She only had to hope Inuyasha didn't tell Miroku anything.

"What to do? What to do?"

At that moment her phone rang, she just got a message from Bankotsu, it said: I am around Taisho Tech at lunchtime, want to grab something to eat together and talk about what happened the other day?

She'd better pull off the band-aid and deal with him. That didn't mean she would tell him Inuyasha had kissed her twice but at least they could discuss what happened last Saturday.

Kagome quickly wrote back: Ok, there's a little Chinese restaurant at the corner. It's comfy and not overcrowded. See you there at 1 p.m.

Then she dialled Sango number and wrote another one to her: We'll talk tonight, Sango-chan, I'm going to lunch with Bankotsu during my break. Love ya.

Not even a couple of seconds later she received two messages back.

Bankotsu: See you there then, I won't be late.

Sango: Ok, just this time I'll forgive you for ditching me. Maybe I'll ask Yash out for lunch. This way I'll get the juicy gossip from him ;)

Yeah, sure, because Inuyasha was the type of guy who would gossip and spill his beans to a woman.

As a second thought, Inuyasha definitely deserved the third degree he was about to undergo.

At 1 p.m. Bankotsu reached her outside the restaurant and greeted her spontaneously with a light peck on the lips and then they took a seat in a more secluded area to speak out of other guest's earshot. Kagome had carefully arranged her scarf so that Bankotsu wouldn't accidentally notice the hickey Inuyasha had left her the night before. Also, this morning she had dressed precisely so that it wouldn't clash with her attire. It would have been hard to explain something like that.

"The hickey, uh! Another reason to hate the pompous-ass. What the hell he believed? That he could mark me as his propriety?"

Once they had ordered and give back the menu, Bankotsu immediately spoke up, "Ehi, I'm sorry for the way I acted the other night, I really am. I wasn't implying that I don't trust your judgement or your abilities, because I do. I know you've been caring of everything since the day your mother died, Sango explained a bit when I asked her about you back then and when you'll ready to talk about it, I'll be here to listen. I got caught up in jealousy and didn't use reasoning. I saw the way he looked at you and it's obvious he likes you. But I know you're capable of taking very good care of yourself."

"Thanks, Bankotsu," she replied, reaching for his hand on the other side of the table and squeezing it, "I know also that I may have overreacted a little bit, but you have to put yourself in my shoes. That's the way I've been raised and add to the fact that there was never a male figure in my life to tell me what to do. My Grampa may have helped my mother to raise me, but she was the one to decide for me when I still wasn't old enough. So listening to a man telling me that I should reconsider going somewhere because he was inexplicably jealous? No, not happening, I'm sorry," Kagome told him sternly. "I'm making myself clear because these are my terms. I care deeply about my independence and don't want a jealous man commanding my life." She gave him a pointed look and then added, "Besides, don't bother yourself too much about my boss. He did that just to irk you and you feel for it."

Well, it wasn't like Bankotsu was wrong, actually, but her plan now was to try and move his focus elsewhere. No Inuyasha, more about his behaviour if they really wanted to go somewhere.

Bankotsu nodded, realizing that even if she saw his point she would never really excuse his behaviour; he would have to deal with Taisho himself. As if he could really believe he was just acting!

"Why don't you tell me how yesterday went?" he asked while their appetizer arrived, trying to change the subject because keep going would only mean fight again and he didn't want to.

Kagome proceeded to tell him everything they did and Bankotsu refrained himself from asking her if Inuyasha had acted well. She was careful to avoid the half-demon's name while she was retelling what happened that night, instead, she focused more on the event itself, highlighting how going there had been good for appearances. If important people started noticing her as the secretary of a major tech company it certainly couldn't hurt, quite the contrary.

In Bankotsu had actually asked her about Inuyasha's behaviour, she could have answered truthfully, telling him he had been the perfect gentleman because indeed he had been. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to collect his prize: some hot steamy kisses. But he didn't and Kagome breathed out a sigh of relief inwardly. She even told him that since they all had dined at the Tashio's family table he would probably see her on the magazine that talked about their last lunch, that's it if he wanted the dress she was wearing yesterday evening. Her date replied that he would, but internally he was wondering if he would have found some pictures of Inuyasha and Kagome's alone and what magazines were writing about them.

They were, after all, suckers for gossip and they liked to tell their readers well-constructed falsehood. Would they ever pass up the chance to pair a beautiful young woman with Toga Taisho's recently single son? Bankotsu clenched his hand hard around the chopsticks and tried to ignore the surge of jealousy he was currently feeling. Ok, so? Maybe Kagome was right, he was a little bit jealous, that didn't mean, however, he should have made a show of himself.

Kagome noticed he had a bit his head on the clouds, the way he was stiff and called out his attention. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry, I spaced out," he replied.

Yes, he really had some jealousy issues, but then, who could blame him? He had waited so long to date Kagome and when finally had her he didn't want some rich bastard to ruin his dreams. "How do you think about going out tomorrow evening? That movie that you told me you wanted to see so much is out, we could go together," he proposed.

She grimaced, tomorrow she was going to have dinner at the Taisho's, he wouldn't have taken it well. It was evident that he was very much jealous of Inuyasha and that it had made her tense for the whole lunch. Was this going to go on forever? With her always having to be careful about naming her job for fear of a jealous outburst?

"Straight your back and tell him, Kagome. You just told him he had to control himself, he won't cause a scene, he would have to suck it up."

"Bankotsu, I'm sorry, but I was already invited to dinner with Grampa and Sota," she explained.

"Oh, don't worry, we can take a rain check," he replied cooly. "What are you going to do?"

"An old family's friend has invited us to dinner. She had been asking me for years, but since I've always had night or afternoon shifts it was impossible for me to accept. She had scheduled the date with Grampa the other day," she explained leaving out that this family friend was Inuyasha's mother and that he would probably be there too.

As a second thought, he didn't need to know it. Apparently, there was going to be a pattern in their relationship from now on.

Later when they parted, he kissed her passionately before leaving, but his kisses seemed dull in confront of the ones she had shared with Inuyasha. She reciprocated with as much enthusiasm she could, but her mind kept going back to this morning kisses from the half-demon. None of the two noticed the same half-demon watching the scene from his office's window above.

Inuyasha was clenching his fists hard, not in the least satisfied by the fact that Rapunzel was kissing Kagome after he had claimed those same lips for himself. He turned over and for the rest of the day, no one dared to approach his office sensing his raging aura.

It was almost time to clock out for most of the employees - and they surely would fly away as soon as they could today because of Inuyasha's fantastic mood - when the half-demon received a guest.

Sesshomaru didn't even knock before entering his brother's office and taking a seat in front of his desk nonchalantly. He was also lightly smirking, almost enjoying the layer of rage covering Inuyasha's aura, as if he knew exactly what made him blow up or who.

"What do you want?" Inuyasha asked rudely and terse, not even bothering to raise his head from the reports Kagome had brought him earlier. The encounter hadn't gone well, he had almost bitten her head off and she hadn't dared to come into his office again since he hadn't taken too well the fact she had even had the guts to ask him what was wrong. As if he couldn't smell the stench coating her now, as if he wanted her to taint the pure air in his office too. If he focused a lot he could still smell her, the way he had held her closely this morning had assured traces of her scent to pass on his clothes too and he intended to savour it. He had inhaled deeply, almost as a starving man in the desert when she left trying to regain his control.

Yes, the scene he had assisted to, plus the fact that Rapunzel's stench now covered her natural one, had sent him into a full-rage mood and Inuyasha hadn't even cared if he was rude or a bastard to her too.

She had deserved it.

Kagome was the one who was challenging him and was pushing too hard. And sure as hell, he was so in for it.

Yes, he was also losing it.

"What are you doing, little brother?"

"I'm working, Sessho, can't you see?" he asked back, head still buried in the papers not really understanding any of it since his mind kept going back to that early afternoon.

"I see you are handling some reports. However..." his clawed fingers started drumming on the desk more to irk his brother than else, "what you are really doing is a whole different affair."

This time Inuyasha raised his eyes and sent a menacing glare to his brother, leaving the file in his hand to hastily grab his brother's writs and let him stop the damn noise. Sesshomaru easily showed him off but didn't resume his previous activity since he had now Inuyasha's whole attention.

"I was completely focused on my work before you came here to be such a pain in the ass. If you don't mind..." the half-demon pointed rudely at the door to suggest Sesshomaru leaving his office before he lost his temper even more and directly told him to bugger off.

"I do mind, indeed."

"Sesshomaru..." Inuyasha clenched his jaw and intensified his blazing glare.

"Yes? Are you actually going to answer my question, little brother?" the dog demon jibbed. It was so much fun pissing Inuyasha off, sometimes his father and he liked to bet on how much Inuyasha would resist without being angered or sending someone to graciously go to hell.

"I'm not answering any bullshit of yours, Sesshomaru! What do you really want? I've already had enough today and certainly, I don't need your stuck-up gay ass to ruin my peace further."

"I assure you, Inuyasha, that my wife is mostly pleased with my very straight ass. You, on the other hand, may want to find a way to blew off so steam very soon if your current mood is a sign. Has Miss Higurashi refused your gentle offer?"

By now Inuyasha was shaking in rage and was thinking about how much crap he would have to deal with his father if he was to kick Sesshomaru's ass while in the building. Last time they did something similar Toga hadn't been pleased in the least, not to mention his mother could be as well scary when enraged. And then they even complained about him being hot-tempered! As if both of them weren't the same, of course, Inuyasha had come out like that.

"Leave," he whispered through gritted teeth.

"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru started harshly now, "I came here to tell you that if you're going to be a ticking time bomb every time you saw your love interest kissing some other man then I suggest you seriously find some other way to release your pent-up anger. Unless, of course, you don't succeed charming Miss Higurashi away... which I highly doubt seen your courting manners. Your raging aura was all over the place this afternoon and employees cannot work this way. Fix your problem," he finished before definitely leaving his livid brother behind.

"FUCK YOU SESSHOMARU!" was the scream that reverberated through the whole building a moment later.

"Did you choose the movie?" Toga asked his mate while coming into the leaving room with a bowl of popcorn and a couple of drinks. He took a seat next to her, put the snacks on the tea table and an arm around the woman's shoulders who immediately snuggled up against him.

"Yes, I decided for a Back to the Future marathon." Izayoi clapped her hands excitedly and presented him with the three Blue-Rays.

Toga groaned, "Seriously? You knew it by heart and you usually fall asleep by the end of the first movie anyway. Maybe we could see something new instead." He tried. His mate fixed him with beady eyes and he immediately backed off. Ok, Great Dog Demon and all, but he could really do without certain glances. Toga Taisho huffed, "As you wishes, koishi," he complied by now resigned to the idea of having to witness every trouble Marty McFly gets himself into after having been called a chicken.

They had just started the second movie and incredibly Izayoi hadn't dozen off yet when a whisper reached his pointed ears. "You know... we could ask Yashie to pick the Higurashi up tomorrow evening. After all, Inuyasha and Kagome should clock out at the same time circa."

"You shouldn't meddle too much, koi. You know Inuyasha doesn't like it when you do that," he told her gently.

"Oh, shush, did you see the chemistry there was between the two of them? They are clearly a match made in heaven!" she raised her gleaming eyes up to him.

The dog demon shook his head amused, "I only see some trouble for both of them if you and Rin are going to join forces against them."

"You can bet on it! Kagome only needs a little nudge and then we could start planning the wedding. You know..." she started, a faraway look and a hand on his chest, "I really think they could be the first to give us a grandchild," she mused. "If we have to wait for Sesshomaru and Rin I'll get old."

"It would take you hundreds and hundreds of years to reach that level of old, Izayoi."

"That's my point!" the woman exclaimed, "I want some pups to cuddle and coo over, so the reason of my mission."

"I really think you are exaggerating, koishi. You only risk scaring the poor girl. I don't believe she would appreciate your plan so much," Toga tried again to dissuade her, but to no avail.

"Oh, don't worry, Toga. I know Ichiro will love everything about it, I'm sure he won't mind some other grandchildren. You'll see, my love, you'll see."

"The two of them don't even remotely know what's in store for them. Or rather, Miss Higurashi really has no idea what she unknowingly consented to when she agreed to come over for dinner." The dai-youkai thought just before he resumed the rewatch of the trilogy and his wife fell asleep without even seeing Marty from the future being fired.

A/N: In the next chapter, the Higurashi family will be guests at the Taisho's mansion.

I do not encourage this kind of behaviour, meaning Kagome lying to Bankotsu and Inuyasha acting (basically) like a spoiled child who had been robbed of his favourite toy. Everything has been written for the purpose of the story.

Oh, and I completely approve of a rewatch of Back to the Future every time is possible, the first one is one of my favourites so the movie choice wasn't casual.