Chapter 12. Wow, I've gotten pretty far... Read and review, please! Thanks

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Once Sango and Kagura left the room and went into the library, they fell into deep discussion. "Do you know what this means, Kagura?" Sango asked. Kagura nodded. "It means that Hojou is the killer. Who else could it be?" They both thought for a bit. "Well..." Sango began, quietly, "It could be that Sesshoma--" "He didn't do it!" Kagura yelled, furiously. "How could you even think that?! He's a nice, person, and--" "Sheesh! Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything." Sango murmured.

Kagura, who had only just realized exactly what she had done, blushed immidiatly. "Um.. sorry about that.." She murmured, embarrasingly. "Kagura," Sango said, warningly, "He may have fooled you by acting nice, but for most of us who aren't head over heels for him agree that he is the number one suspect." She told her. "Sorry," Kagura said, "but I don't think that Sesshomaru is that kind of man."

At this, Sango looked at her quite seriously. "For all you know, he could. People like him are always like that. They have everything that they could ever want, but that's still not enough for them! They need to have more and more, and aren't satisfied until they get it all!" She said, her voice getting louder and angrier as she spoke. "Why else would he choose to stay, hm?" She asked.

"I--" Kagura began, but she couldn't think of a response. "I don't know." She admitted. Why had he stayed? Sango was probably right. Was it true, Sesshomaru?

She let out a heavy sigh. Sango gave her a worried look, and whispered, "I'd watch out if I were you. You could be next." before heading out the door, leaving Kagura frozen in shock. What if she was next? She hadn't told anybody about their date together, and assuming that Sesshomaru hadn't either... Oh no!

"Don't listen to her, Kagura! You know that Sesshomaru would never do such a thing!" A voice in her head told her.
"Of course he would!" Another voice shouted.
"Oh boy..." Kagura murmured, knowing what this was about. And sure enough, Good and Evil Kagura appeared on her shoulders.

"You can trust Sesshomaru, Kagura!" Good Kagura said. Kagura sighed. "Can I?" She asked. "Hell no!" Evil Kagura yelled. "Don't you see? He's going to kill everyone, one by one, untill he gets what he wants!" she continued. Kagura raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you purpose I do?" She asked. "Don't go to the date, and kill him!" She proclaimed. "What? Are you serious? I couldn't do that!" Kagura said.

"Ha! In your face, Evil Kagura!" Good Kagura said tauntingly, then turned to Kagura with a smile. "Kagura, you should go to the date! You know that he wouldn't want to hurt you!" She told her. "Actually, no I don't." Kagura said. "And, if he didn't want the fortune, then why did he stay?" She asked. Good Kagura sweatdropped. "Well... um..." "Ha! You can't think of a reason! Stick with me, Kagura. Don't go to the date." Evil Kagura said.

"Go to the date! You should at least give him a chance!" Good Kagura pleaded. "Hm..." Kagura murmured. "If I go, I'll regret it. If I don't go, I'll regret it. Either way I'll regret it, so I may as well just go." She reasoned. "That's the spirit!" Good Kagura said, and stuck her tounge out at Evil Kagura. Evil Kagura crossed her arms. "Fine, but bring a dagger!" She said.

"A dagger? No way! It could hurt somebody!" Good Kagura protested. "That's the point!" Evil Kagura yelled. "Fine, but not a dagger. A stick, how about?" Good Kagura suggested. "Too wimpy." Evil Kagura pointed out, "How about a chainsaw?" She offered. "Too dangerous!" Good Kagura said, "How about a paperclip?" She stated. Kagura sighed. "We'll compromise at lead pipe. Fine with you guys?" She asked. "Fine." They said in unison, and dissapeared in small puffs of smoke.

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It was five minutes to 8, and both Sesshomaru and Kagome were already at the pool. There was one question that contiguously repeated in Sesshomaru's mind, and it was 'Why am I here?'

He had considered skipping the first two dates, but he'd be here a while, so he'd have to get along with everyone. "Sesshomaru, let's go in the hot tub!" Kagome said, seizing his wrist and pulling him over to the hot tub. They both went in, and sat down. Kagome was getting pretty close to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru decided that now would be the time to tell her that he had no feelings for her. "Kagome, I--" He began, but at the same time Kagome said "I'm" Indicating that she was about to speak as well. She giggled. "You first, Sesshomaru." She said. "No, you." He responded.

"Alright." She said. "I'm so happy that you are going on a date with me. Almost all my life I've dreamed about this." She said, though the 'almost all my life' part was exagurated. "That's all. Now, what were you going to say?" She asked. "Oh, nothing..." He murmured. He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her.

That date went pretty well, though Sesshomaru insisted that he did not feel well at about 8:45, and retreated to his room. There, he quickly dried off and changed into his clothes. He made it down to the dining room just in time, where Shampoo was sitting at a table for two. The room was dark, and the only light source came from many lit candles. Shampoo grinned. "Shampoo just knew that you would come!" She exclaimed.

Sesshomaru smiled as well. "Of course I showed up, Shampoo." He said. Though he didn't have any feelings for Shampoo either, that did not stop him from acting like a gentleman. He sat down across from her, and there were already two plates set down at the table, with spaghetti on them. Shampoo gazed at him with starry eyes. "Shampoo made sure that Ranma cooked his best for Sesshomaru and Shampoo." She told him. Sesshomaru had to resist moaning, because he knew that Ranma would refuse to cook for him anything even mediocre.

He decided to try it, wondering how bad it was. Big surprise--it tasted good! Maybe Ranma didn't suspect him anymore, after all? Or maybe Shampoo just forced him to be nice. That didn't matter to him at the moment, though. He wolfed down his food while Shampoo, on the other hand, barely touched her meal, just continued gazing at Sesshomaru. When Sesshomaru finished, he smiled widely. Maybe this date with Shampoo wouldn't be so bad after all.

The had a friendly conversation with eachother for quite a while, and it didn't go too far. Sesshomaru, using the same method he did previously, insisted that his did not feel well in order to excuse himself. When he got up to his room, he had about 15 minutes to prepare for the date he had actually looked foreward to.

Making sure that he looked good and was well prepared, he took a deep breath. "How do I look, Kouga?" He asked, turing to his roommate, who was watching TV. He glanced over at Sesshomaru. "Why are you asking me?" He asked, scornfully. Sesshomaru put on a sort of 'humph' expression.

"Because you're the only one around for me to talk to, and you know that this is important to me. Now, answer the question!" He demanded. "You look fine." He murmured, turning back to the TV. Sesshomaru stared at Kouga. "Are you sure?" He asked, worriedly. "Yes, I'm sure." Kouga said, rolling his eyes. He knew all about how important this was to Sesshomaru, but... he just didn't care.

"Oh, but that's no good! I can't just looke 'fine,' Kouga! I have to look good! Great! And 'fine' is not 'good' or 'great'! What's wrong, Kouga? What should I do? Is it my hair? My shiny, silver hair? Or what about my outfit? How's that? Or what about--" "Sesshomaru, you look good! Hell, you look great! Now go meet Kagura, and stop worrying! She's probably already out there waiting for you!" He yelled, angrily. Straight, huh? Could've fooled me.

"Okay, you're right." Sesshomaru said, glancing in the mirror once more, then picking up a lovely red rose from a vase. "Wish me luck." He said. "Good luck." Kouga responded. And, withough catching the slight sarcasm in Kouga's voice, headed out the door.