Kagome felt faint as she sat down to dinner, and she could feel Kaiya's expectant stare on her, waiting for answers to the questions that were obviously rolling through her head now. She couldn't manage to eat much more than a few bites, and she was so nervous, that she could barely look anyone, even Sesshomaru, in the eyes. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, in fact, Kagome swore she could taste it, heavy and bitter on her tongue. It tasted like hurt, betrayal, and regret, and Kagome had thoroughly lost her appetite.

Sesshomaru noticed his mate drawing further and further into herself, and was glad that Rin was having dinner in the kitchen with one of his family's only servants, Jaken. Honestly, he was furious at his mother for not a least warning him of her plan. Having an honest talk with Kaiya would probably help, but springing this on her had shocked Kagome's system so bad, he wasn't sure she would be able to rally enough strength to explain anything. Especially considering her emotional state when she was just relating her story to him. In their own home. In an attempt to come to Kagome's rescue, he started the discourse by making an inquiry of Kaiya.

"So, Mrs. Hijiri, your daughter told you that Kagome abandoned her for the "popular" crowd in Jr. High? Is that correct?"

Kaiya diverted her attention from Kagome long enough to answer Sesshomaru in the affirmative.

"And you knew Kagome for some time before that."

"Yes. She was like a second daughter to me. She made the loss of my dear Kaede easier to bear."

"Did you not think this behavior extremely out of character for Kagome?"

Kaiya frowned. "Of course I did! I called her phone and she refused to pick up! I went to her home! Nobody answered the door. I tried for weeks to make contact, to get an explanation. I had to assume it was true. Even if it broke my heart."

Sesshomaru almost spoke up in his mate's defense, but Kagome's hand on his stopped him.

"I wanted to explain what happened..."

"Then why didn't you!?" Kaiya sounded angry.

"I... I couldn't tell you. I-"

"Couldn't tell me what? Huh!? That You abandoned my daughter? My Kikyo!"

"That Kikyo had turned on me!" It left her mouth so fast, Kagome hadn't even realized she had said it until it was too late. There was no turning back now.

"What...?"

"She told everyone in school about my father. She twisted my words. used my secrets against me. She made sure everyone in our class hated me. She made sure Inuyasha was disgusted by my crush on him, and then she made sure the rest of the school hated me. I couldn't tell you something like that. Who would you believe? Me? Or your own flesh and blood?"

Kaiya looked shell-shocked.

Kagome could have stopped there, but she found that once the words started coming, they didn't want to stop. She explained the avoidance in the halls, loss of physical contact, the teasing, she even blurted out all of the things Kikyo had put online about her on the hate site made just for her, which even Sesshomaru had not heard yet. She was on a roll, and she didn't stop until she came to the part of her story where she had tried to end it. By that point, she was so emotional that not another word would come out. The balloon of information had deflated, and she was drained.

The table was silent. The mood turned suddenly from tense to somber, Kagome turned to her mate for comfort and energy, and she ended up enveloped in his Moko-Moko with her face in the crook of his neck and his arm around her shoulders.

Sesshomaru stared Kaiya dead in the eyes. "I found her in an abandoned apartment building in the Akihabara district. There was so much blood. I didn't think I would be able to save her."

Kaiya looked at Izayoi. "You knew all this when you invited me to dinner didn't you."

Izayoi had the good sense to look at least a little ashamed. "in my own defense, I had no idea that you and Kagome knew each other before, and it really wasn't my story to tell you. Although in hindsight, I ought to have assumed you had met at least once, considering..."

"I had no Idea that Kikyo had been so spiteful. This seems out of character for her too..."

"Do you doubt my mate's honesty?" Sesshomaru fought to keep his cool. "She certainly has the scars to prove her story."

Kagome lightly slapped Sesshomaru's arm. "I wish you'd stop talking like I'm not in the room..."

Sesshomaru peered down at her apologetically. "I apologize, mate. I do not mean to be insensitive."

"It's okay. You spoke in my defense, and I understand your protectiveness. But, I can speak for myself." Kagome smiled playfully up at her Mate.

Toga beamed at the couple fondly before breaking the tender atmosphere. "Perhaps we should take dessert in the gardens. Izayoi's chrysanthemums are especially vibrant this year. And the fresh air ought to do us all a world of good, while we work this out."

Kagome's countenance immediately brightened. "Fresh air sounds wonderful!"

And with that, they stood from the table, and Kaiya offered to help Izayoi clear the dishes and bring dessert out to everyone.

In the kitchen, Kaiya Pulled Izayoi aside. "Thank you. I... I find it hard to believe, that my daughter could be the cause of so much pain... for anyone... but I am glad to find out that Kagome is not, in fact, the mean-spirited girl that Kikyo made her out to be."

Izayoi gave a weak smile. "I only hope that I have not irrevocably broken trust with her."

Kaiya put a reassuring hand on Izayoi's arm. "I am sure she will forgive you. The Kagome I knew could never hold a grudge for very long."

The two women hugged each other before gathering up the strawberry and green tea mochi from the freezer and taking it outside to the rest of the group.

Outside in the garden, Rin sat in the lawn making daisy chains and adorning poor Jaken in them, while Sesshomaru and Kagome shared a white woven love seat with floral cushions. Despite the disaster that was dinner, now that the biggest misunderstanding was out of the way, Kaiya and Kagome spent most of the time catching up on the good things that had been going on. Kagome couldn't help bragging about her new mate, at least a little bit, and Kaiya avoided all topics having to do with Kikyo. The atmosphere was awkward, but not altogether unpleasant. Kagome was glad to have her almost-second-mother back, even though she knew she would eventually have to actually face down Kikyo and Inuyasha.

Kagome took courage in the fact that, at least this time, she had some more people on her side to support her.

Kaiya wondered in the back of her mind, however, how she had missed something so huge about her own daughter. She refused to believe it was all over some boy. Even if that boy was Inuyasha Taisho.

AN. I know, I know. I'm Late. I am awful at actually keeping up an update schedule. And I have had a rough month... first my car got totaled, then the only "new" car I was able to find that was within my non-existent budget needs a bunch of repairs, and then my phone died. Like, it actually died. The motherboard is fried. Ironically, that was the replacement phone for the one that couldn't hold a battery charge. Like at all. I ordered a new phone, but apparently, it got held on suspicion of fraud because the address I wanted it shipped to isn't my home address. I work as a live-in nanny so of course, I wanted the phone shipped to the house I work for. I'm here literally 99.99999% of the time... *Deep Breath* Please have patience with me as I work all of this out...

In other news, one of you guys pointed out to me that I accidentally said her dad "died" rather than left. That was my bad. Kagome's father left them. I have fixed the error if you want to go have a look. :)