A/N: Hello everyone! A little more on this fic. I know it has been ages since I've updated, so thank you all for your patience!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

3. The Best Way to Break the Ice

Kagome sighed happily over her ice cream. Double chocolate chip fudge swirl smothered in a warm chocolate topping. Life just didn't get much better than that. She leaned back, the plastic cushions molding themselves to her body, and closed her eyes.

"Mmmm," she said with a smile.

Miroku watched her with his mouth open. "I almost feel like we should leave," he muttered just loud enough for Inuyasha to hear. "I've never seen anyone have such a...physical response to ice cream."

"No kidding," replied Inuyasha, his eyes fixed on the oblivious girl's face. "Hey Kagome," he said loudly.

Kagome's eyes snapped open. "Huh?" she said.

"Maybe you and your little treat there should get a room..."

"Hmmm," said Kagome, not really listening. There was the perfect bite if she could just dig up that one stubborn chip. Then she could have a little bit of each of the elements, all in the perfect proportions.

Miroku's eyes got even wider as the tip of a pink tongue emerged from between her lips. "Oh man," he said.

Sango looked around the table. Kagome, as always when she got near chocolate, was in her own little world. The two boys appeared to be fascinated by her behavior, their eyes fixated on her and unblinking.

"Oh for," Sango rolled her eyes. "Kagome," she said loudly, emphasizing her words with a sharp poke of her elbow.

"Yes? What? Yes? I agree. Ummm, what?" Kagome's words were quick and scattered as she was jolted out of her chocolate-induced haze. "What is it?"

The boys shot Sango a disappointed glance. She shook her head at them and then placed her hand on the table. The top was slightly sticky where someone had spilled soda. Distracted, Sango reached for a napkin.

At that moment, Miroku's purple eyes grew large. "Hey Inu," he spoke, "don't look now, but it's Sessumaru."

"Where?" demanded Inuyasha. Shooting out of the booth, he skidded in the direction that Miroku was facing.

Miroku chuckled and helped himself to Inuyasha's now-unguarded ice cream. "Works every time," he grinned.

"Who's Sessumaru?" Sango asked. Miroku was in the middle of explaining Inuyasha's family history when the boy himself came back to the table.

"Miroku," he growled. Further discussion was postponed as the girls watched Miroku attempt to scramble away from the irate teenager. Inuyasha, in an impressive demonstration of the powerful leaps that Kikyo had suspected him of earlier, cleared the booth and reached out for the rapidly retreating boy.

A few minutes later, the casual passerby would have seen four teenagers pile out the door of a faded old ice cream parlor.

"Jeez," said the boy with the yellow eyes, "They need to lighten up in there."

"Yeah," the others agreed.

There's nothing quite like being thrown out of a place together to help break the ice and cement a common bond. As the four walked back towards the studio, they were chattering and bantering as if they had known each other for all of their lives.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey Inuyasha, nice tights," Kagome called. It was the next Monday. They had been in the ballet class for a week already now, and Inuyasha was still sensitive about the macho-ness, or lack thereof, of his attire.

"Keh," Inuyasha ignored her.

Kagome turned back to the barre. Inuyasha, despite his self-consciousness, looked great; there was a certain strength and surety about his moves. In the three classes they'd had so far, he had proven himself to be a natural dancer.

"Hey beautiful," a silky voice whispered in her ear. Kagome jumped and blushed. Then she cursed herself for blushing; after all, it was only Miroku behaving in his usual lecherous manner. At least this time he hadn't tried to grope her.

The dark-haired boy was still in his purple tights, much to the chagrin of Inuyasha. As he stretched one leg out in front of himself, Kagome couldn't help but notice that he too was unusually graceful. Although he lacked the raw power of Inuyasha, his moves contained a smoothness that the other boy's lacked.

"How's it going, Miroku?" Kagome answered. As she turned away her eyes fell upon Sango, who was demonstrating a pas de chat in the middle of the room. That girl's a natural, Kagome thought to herself. She sighed.

It wasn't that she was jealous of her friends' talent, it was just that she wished she shared a little more of it herself. Although she was not as sore as she had been last week, neither was she any more flexible. At that moment, as if to emphasize her own inner feelings of inferiority, Kaede walked by.

"Watch your turn-out, Kagome. And keep your shoulders down." Kagome sighed again, and tried to force her shoulders even lower.

Across the room, Inuyasha's eyes softened. He could see the frustration written in the lines of Kagome's body. Her back was stiffer than usual; her chin was tilted just a little too high. She didn't seem to realize how far she had come in just a week. Not her clothes, of course. She was still wearing the leopard print, although today's tights were fluorescent green. Sango had mentioned that she had had to forcibly stop Kagome from buying some rainbow-colored legwarmers over the weekend too. Inuyasha smiled to himself at the thought of it.

His small smile did not go unnoticed. From her corner, Kikyo's eyes narrowed. She had not been able to corner the long-haired boy after any of their classes last week since he was always surrounded by the other new students.

"Well, we'll see how long they last," Kikyo grasped her ankle and extended her leg behind her. After all, soon the class would start thinning out for the recital.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Okay, class. Enough warm-ups. Everyone gather round, because there is something I want to discuss with you," Kaede shut off the music, her voice booming in the sudden silence.

The class formed a semi-circle around the teacher, the students sitting cross-legged on the polished hardwood floor. Kagome dropped down next to Inuyasha, only to find herself pushed aside.

"Excuse me," said Kikyo, coolly interjecting her own body in between the two of them.

Kagome glared. How rude. The other girl had spent all last week being calmly discourteous to her too. Kagome turned to Sango.

"I don't know what her problem is," she complained in a loud whisper. "She acts like we're competing or something. Which we're not." She wasn't even after the dogboy, as Miroku called him. ("It's a play on his name," he had explained last week, "Inu means dog.") Annoyed, Kagome focused back in on Kaede's words.

"Now, I don't know if all of you know, but it is a tradition of this class to put on a recital during the festival at the end of the summer. That's in two monthsk, people," Kaede looked around pointedly.

Next to Kagome, Sango suddenly stiffened in outrage. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but you'd better move that hand really quick buster," she said out of the corner of her mouth.

Kagome smothered a smile. Sounded like Miroku was up to his old tricks. By the time she had sneaked a peek, though, the boy was sitting with both hands in his lap and a sublimely innocent expression on his face. Seeing Kagome's glance, he winked at her. He was incorrigible; Kagome grinned back.

"Only the best students get in to the recital," unconscious of her unruly students, Kaede continued. "Those that are in it will be expected to devote much more time to dance. You must try out to be in the performance. Remember that competition is fierce, ok?"

As the class listened, some more respectfully then others, Kaede finished outlining the rules and traditions associated with the end-of-summer recital. When she finished, she dismissed class.

"Wow," said Sango, "It sounds like a really big deal."

"It is," said Kikyo, surprising them all. She had never willingly spoken to any of them other than Inuyasha. "Only the best students get in. And all those who participate are judged during the end-of-summer festival. The top student has a chance to win a fairly substantial grant."

"Fairly substantial?" repeated Kagome.

"Yeah," said Kikyo. "This year I hear it's up to five thousand dollars."

That certainly put a different spin on things, as far as Kagome was concerned. She had wondered why anyone would bother putting so much time and effort into something like a recital. But a cash reward now... Money had been tight in her family lately, five thousand dollars would sure help out the household.

"Hmm," said Kagome.

"I wouldn't worry about it though, if I were you, Kagome," Kikyo continued. "There's no way you'll make it past auditions."

Kagome's hands fisted at her side. Why that little... Before Kagome had a chance to do something she would later regret, Kikyo got gracefully to her feet. "See you around, Inuyasha," she said, walking towards the door.

"That's it," said Kagome. "I'm going to be in that recital if it's the last thing I do."