Here we go! Time to write this really long chapter I promised you guys! *cracks knuckles as she leans over the computer* -_- I got nothing. need caffeine. *eats chocolate and feels ready to write* Magic stuff. ^.^

I just gave you guys more stuff to be confused about. I'm sorry. I plan
to clear that up. And as a side note, I set up their dining room as an
American one because I am clueless with Japanese customs. =.=

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Inu Yasha gaped as he searched for the right yet honest answer.
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow and remarked, "So I see. You need to
organize your feelings before we can truly become rivals for Kagome. I
will give you a week to prepare and then we will have a match, with
Kagome as the prize. It is the only fair way to go. As any good trophy, I
vow for her to be untainted." He grinned was suggestively before he
nodded and left the room. Inu Yasha growled as soon as he left and fell
to his knees, smashing his fist against the floor. Why? Why was this so
difficult? Sesshoumaru seemed to have no problems with voicing his
feelings but the words caught in Inu Yasha's throat. He could not
possibly mean them unless he was completely faithful, as there was always
the topic of Kikyo. He had to resolve the situation. He stood and
straightened his shoulders, picking up his sword on the way out.

Kagome wordlessly embraced Sesshoumaru as soon as she saw him, burying
her face into his shoulder. Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and
held her tightly, as if never intending to release her from that
position. Inu Yasha's gaze was haughty to conceal his inner hurt as he
walked past them. Kagome stepped back slightly and pressed the neatly
folded trench coat into Sesshoumaru's hands, and saying, "Thank you." She
looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. Sesshoumaru smiled back
at her and pressed both hands to the back of her head as he embraced her
gently. They were both content with simple embraces for now as Kagome
slipped her hand into Sesshoumaru's, being careful of his claws.

Sesshoumaru looked grim as he said, "Kagome, I shall truly be worthy of
you in one week. I am staying at a hotel not too far away and I shall
visit as often as possible." Kagome shook her head as she whispered,
"Please. don't go yet. Maybe later, just don't leave me alone just now."
She bowed her head, slightly embarrassed at the shy request. Sesshoumaru
nodded as Kagome's mother entered, looking slightly shocked at the white-
haired, golden-eyed demon standing in her dining room. She cleared her
throat at the embrace and raised one eyebrow as she asked Kagome, "Honey,
who is this?" Kagome blinked as she turned to face her mother.
Sesshoumaru looked faintly amused at Kagome before smiling and nodding at
her mother.

Her mother smiled tightly and nodded back, still waiting expectantly for
an introduction. Kagome bit her lip, trying to think of an introduction.
Enemy or Lover? Friend or Suitor? Sesshoumaru chuckled at Kagome's
struggling with it and met Kagome's mother straight in the eyes as he
said, "I am Sesshoumaru. I know you have already met my half brother."
Kagome's mother could not help but pout at the lack of ears to touch
before she regained her composure and asked, "Will you be staying for
dinner?"

"Yes." Kagome firmly stated, stepping back from Sesshoumaru and holding
his hand as she led him to his seat. "I have too many questions for you
to let you go to some hotel." Kagome's mother looked up at that and
asked, "Really? Where are you staying?" She preferred not to struggle
over the length of his name before she had a chance to roll it over in
her mind a few times. Sesshoumaru shrugged and said, "Riverside Inn."
Kagome's mother's brow furrowed in concern but she felt that she should
know the demon better before she suggested anything.

Kagome started to sit down in her chair and Sesshoumaru quickly stood up,
pushing the chair in behind her. She smiled in thanks as Sesshoumaru
quickly sat down into his own chair again. Kagome's brother and
grandfather stumbled in, her grandfather muttering about Inu Yasha's
bluntness. They both sat down, if slightly grudgingly as Kagome's mother
bought in the food and set it onto the table. Kagome struggled to be
polite but she could not pass up this opportunity to ask Sesshoumaru some
questions. "What happened to the marks on your face and what happened to
your tail?" Sesshoumaru chuckled as he dipped two fingers into his glass
of water and ran them down his left cheek. Two purple stripes appeared
where he trailed the water. "I still have my tail. But where I hid it is
a little bit more private." His eyes twinkled suggestively, causing
Kagome's face to redden, and then grow angry at her self for reddening.

"What about your arm?" The memory of the armless Sesshoumaru from Feudal
Japan entered her memory. Sesshoumaru smiled at that and said, "I am
particularly proud of that. I mastered the sword my father left me and
grew able to regenerate as well as revive. So I just grew a new one." He
waved his right arm and smirked at it triumphantly. Kagome paused before
asking the next question, biting her lip. "Why are you here?"

Sesshoumaru looked confused before the full impact of the question hit
him. "We fell in love in Feudal Japan the night before your sixteenth
birthday. I planned to propose to you exactly one year past that date.
Oddly enough, it was that exact night that the well closed up and I never
got the chance. So I waited. I waited hundreds of years until I reached
your own era. I knew the exact day you were born but decided to wait
until you discovered the well. Now, I'm here. I wanted you to know about
this before you finished collecting the Shikon shard and Inu Yasha made
his wish."

Kagome blinked before considering the complexity of what he said and
thoroughly confusing herself. Still working on the problem in one side of
her mind, she asked, "So you know? What Inu Yasha wishes for?"
Sesshoumaru nodded, and he said, "He becomes a full human and brings
Kikyo back. I thought it was sort of pointless since I could have just
used my sword and revived Kikyo, but he seemed quite confident in the
jewel." Kagome only heard the first sentence, the words repeating over
and over in her mind: He brings Kikyo back.

Tears stung her eyes as the final blow hit: He wanted Kikyo, not her.
Sesshoumaru reached out and touched her shoulder as he said gently, "You
finished collecting the jewel a month before we fell in love. Inu Yasha
kept the jewel and thought about it and waited a full year for you after
you stopped coming before he used it. What other choice did he have? Did
you want him to stop living his life?"

Kagome shook her head as tears silently ran down her cheeks. Sesshoumaru
leaned in and hugged her tenderly, whispering soothing sounds as she
cried in his shoulder. He looked over her head as he asked Kagome's
mother, "May we be excused?" Sesshoumaru barely waited for her nod before
standing up and leading Kagome to the couch, still embracing her the
whole time. He sat her onto the first couch he found, holding her hands
as he gauged her emotions, wondering if she was capable of grasping the
story of their meeting each other. He could not suppress a small smirk at
the memory. Kagome squinted through her tears, and erupted into a fresh
burst of tears, thinking he was amused by her crying her eyes out.

Sesshoumaru winced as he realized his error and placed his hands on
either side of her face. He lifted her head so that their eyes met and
wiped away the tears with his thumbs. "Please don't cry. As you may have
noticed, we demons get uncomfortable when their companions and friends
burst out in tears. Besides, your mother will think I said something
truly terrible if you never stop crying." He winced again as Kagome broke
out in a shaky smile.

Sesshoumaru grinned encouragingly and Kagome's smile widened slightly.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and said, "I
suppose it must seem silly, huh? Crying over something that hasn't
happened yet?"

He grasped her hands tightly, his gaze suddenly intent and serious as he
said, "It doesn't have to happen. You can change it."

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There! That's a long enough chapter for all you fans, hopefully! 3 pages
of writing, right there! *collapses* -_- Now to e-mail all you faithful
reviewers and let you know about the update. I want to thank all you guys
for the positive response, I was nervous putting my work out there. I
know this sounds like a farewell speech, but it isn't. I still have plans
for this little love triangle of mine! Next chapter: We go back to Inu
Yasha after he's been reunited with the rest of the group! *plays
dramatic music as hands out pocky in thanks for reading the story and the
boring note at the end*

Oh, and one more thing: After this next chapter, I plan to alternate the
writing, with one scene with Sess/Kago and the other with Inu Yasha and
the group. There'll probably be two days a chapter and possibly three,
depending on how sore my fingers are. _