A/N: Ack, I couldn't resist writing another chapter of this story. You gotta go where the inspiration is, right? I have high hopes for this series. (I know everyone wants me to get to the Inu/Kag goodness, but this is a good story too!) I have a soft spot in my heart for Kagura and Sesshomaru stories. They are fun to mess with! Anyway, here is the next chapter, enjoy!
Unexpected
Chapter 2
Once upon a time not so long ago,
In a kingdom not so very far away,
There lived a fair maiden named Kagura,
Who desperately wanted to find her Prince Charming...
"You want us to find you what?" Sango yelped from the backseat as the three girls pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home.
"I want you two to help me find a date for Homecoming," Kagura said evenly. Her ruby eyes glinted with determination and, try as she might, the look of feminine pride wouldn't leave her lips.
"And you can't find your own date because…?" Sango asked with her get-outta-here-you've-got-to-be-kidding-me tone.
"I have an image to uphold," Kagura said with reproach. Sango just stared at her blankly as Kagome giggled a little from the driver's seat. "Okay," the poet sighed. "Any guy I ask would think I liked him or something--"
"Which you don't," Sango added.
"And I don't want to use anyone--"
"Which you will," Kagome mentioned, though not unkindly.
"I just need someone who will go to the dance with me and not expect anything else. Is that so much to ask?" Kagura said with exasperation.
"Depends," Kagome said thoughtfully. "Basically you just want an escort. Why not just call one of those services and pay a guy to take you?"
Kagura blinked, then blushed as red as her eyes. "Are you kidding?" she squeaked. "I can't pay a guy to take me out! That would make me look desperate!"
"Well aren't you?" Sango asked. "I mean, you are asking us to find you a date."
"And what's so wrong with asking you?"
Sango grinned wolfishly. "I tend to abstain from the male gender and Kagome's had a steady boyfriend since freshman year."
"She's right," Kagome added. "I'm not very up to date on the whole singles scene."
Kagura sighed, leaning back in her seat with a click of her tongue. "I just need a date for one stupid dance; is that so much to ask?"
"Why are you so desperate for a date?" Sango asked with narrowed purple eyes. "You've never been much of a date machine yourself, Kagura."
Said girl remained silent and opted for looking out the window instead.
"I hope this has nothing to do with Naraku," Kagome commented as they entered their neighborhood.
"So what if it does?" Kagura pouted defensively.
"Whoa!" Sango said, holding up her hands in a 'T' shape. "Time out. Let me get this straight. You want us to find you a date for Homecoming because you want to make Naraku jealous?"
"Something like that," Kagura admitted. "I heard him saying that he's going to the dance to try and pick up a date."
"So why not go alone?" Sango asked with a puzzled expression. They pulled up in Kagome's driveway and she hopped out to go inside and get ready for work while Sango fixed her stepsister's car.
"Because he wants to steal a date," Kagura said, growing increasingly embarrassed as she explained. "If I'm with a guy, it will make me more appealing. Get it?"
"All I get is that Naraku is a serial dating creep…" Sango said with a frown.
"That's only because he's never dated a number like me," Kagura said with a grin.
Kagome immerged from her house, changed from her skirt and blouse to a red tee shirt, complete with nametag, and black pants. Her mother, Mrs. Sonya Higurashi, followed her out. Kagome and her mother had similar looks, facial features and the same smile, but Kagome's hair and eyes were from her father-- a fact she did not revel in.
"Hello, girls," Mrs. Higurashi called with a wave.
"Hey, Mrs. H!" Sango called with a wave.
"Hello, Mrs. Higurashi," Kagura greeted with a smile.
"Be quick, Kagome," he mother said with a nod. "I have to be at the diner in fifteen minutes."
"Sure thing, Mom." Kagome scurried to the fence and hopped over it. "I've got to get going, but, Kagura, I think that San and I can help you out."
"You can?" Kagura asked hopefully, a smile blooming on her face.
"We can?" Sango questioned, a new streak of grease adorning her nose.
"Yes," Kagome said with a nod. "We'll find you the perfect date." Sango was about to protest when Kagome cleared her throat. "Sango, could you come over here for a minute. I have to talk to you about watching the boys."
Sango was confused as she walked over, but Kagome's smirk banished her thoughts. "Why did you tell her we'd do it? I don't want to find her a date--"
"Don't worry," Kagome said with a feral grin. "I have the perfect guy in mind."
"You do?" Sango asked, her eyes lighting up. "You gonna tell me?"
Mrs. Higurashi honked the car horn and made a waving motion at Kagome. Her daughter nodded, turning back to her friend. "I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise."
Sango sighed heavily. "I hate you sometimes."
Kagome grinned. "The boys are inside watching TV. Just check on them every once in a while. Make sure Shippou is in bed by eight thirty because he's had a cold. And make sure Souta and Kohaku are in bed by nine. I'll be back by eleven. You know the drill."
"Yeah, yeah, just go already, before your mother has a coronary."
Kagome laughed as she got into the car beside her mother and they pulled out of the driveway. Sango walked back over to Kagura's car and lifted the hood once more. Kagura was pleasantly happy the rest of the afternoon, even sticking around to attempt at helping Sango repair the car. But after she gave Sango the wrong size wrench for the third time, the irate stepsister chased her off the front lawn.
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The next morning saw the Hart house in a flurry of activity.
Mr. Jarod Hart, a successful executive-- or what Sango called a 'Suit'-- was up, grabbing his morning coffee, and leaving before any of the girls had come down from the second-floor bathroom. Mrs. Aya Hart, a successful 'Suit' in her own right, was on her way out the door as she screamed at the girls again to get a move on.
Kanna, always the early riser, bound down the stairs while trying to keep her knit hat firmly over her head of bleach-blond hair. Her natural color was brown-- the same brown as her eyes-- but she spent half of her weekly allowance of hair color to maintain the look of a bleach beach-bunny. She was small, only about five feet tall, with a trim figure and the attention span of a goldfish.
"Good morning, Mom," she greeted Aya as she walked into the kitchen in the pursuit of breakfast.
"Good morning, sweetie," Aya said with a smile. "Your cereal is in the top cabinet. I picked some up on my way home yesterday."
Kanna skipped over and hugged her stepmother before grabbing her sugar-coated breakfast. That was when Yura sprinted into the kitchen and made her way to the cereal as well. Yura, about two inches taller than her twin, was able to wrestle the box from her hands. The taller twin had her natural hair color, which was a brownish-black, and fell around her chin in an angled cut. Her eyes were the same medium brown that Kanna's were.
"Get off, Yura!" Kanna squealed. "I got it first."
"In your dreams, Kanna," Yura argued. "Mom got this cereal for me!"
"She got it for me!"
"Me!"
"ME!"
"Girls, girls!" Aya yelled, getting between them. "I have another box," she explained, grabbing the second box and handing it to Kanna.
"Another crisis averted," Kagura commented as she walked into the room. "Good morning, Aya."
"Good morning, Kagura," Aya greeted with a slight frown. Kagura had never warmed to her stepmother as her younger sisters had. Kagura, nearly two years older, held scattered memories of her real mother and could never relinquish the title to any other woman, no matter how nice she might be.
"Well, I'm going to be late." With a sigh, Aya looked at the stairs leading upstairs and then walked out the door. "Bye, girls."
"Bye!" the three of them chirped.
Kanna, who was munching on her Coco Puffs, looked up and wrinkled her nose. "Kagura, can't you ever wear something normal?"
"How do you define normal?" Kagura asked, not really caring. She went over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup, black, like she did every morning.
"Something that matches, for starters," Yura laughed.
"I am not as comfortable with showing my breasts as you are, sisters dear," Kagura commented as she drank. "Or should I say, lack there of."
The twin girls huffed. "You know, it's annoying to explain to our friends that our big sister is just some…" Yura trailed off, looking to Kanna for help.
"Paper geek," Kanna filled in.
"Yeah, that she's a paper geek. I mean, think of what that does to our reputations! At least with Sango it doesn't matter 'cuz she's only a stepsister, but still…"
Kagura smiled as she placed her mug in the dishwasher. "I'm sorry I don't fit to your mold of popularity, girls."
"You could try dressing in something brand name," Kanna suggested. "And not… Dad's old jacket and black jeans."
"When you find a brand that sells army jackets and black jeans, I'm so there," Kagura assured them. "But until them, I'll continue being a paper geek, as you so eloquently put it."
"You're almost as bad as Sango," Yura muttered.
"I think I heard my name!" Sango announced as she bounded down the stairs two at a time, and landed after a graceful leap. Yura and Kanna would have rolled their eyes, but they widened them instead. Sango's nearly hip length brown hair was in two thick braids and streaked with green dye. Her tank top was the same lime green color, beneath her worn leather jacket. "Did my mom leave yet?" Sango asked Kagura.
"Yeah, just a second ago. Why?"
Sango shook her head. "Nothing."
"You're not actually leaving the house like that, are you?" Yura said, nearly choking on her cereal.
"Why not?" Sango blinked, looking at herself. "Is there grease on my jacket again?"
"You look fine," Kagura said. "They're just campaigning for Abercrombie again. You ready?"
"Let's make that baby purr," Sango grinned. Together they made for the door.
"Kagura!" Kanna yelled. "Will you drive us to school too?"
Sango turned to Kagura with wide eyes. Kagura looked back at her sadly. She couldn't refuse and Sango knew it. "Yeah, hurry up."
"What about Kagome?" Sango asked. "Can't we just stuff one of them in the truck or something?" Kagura held back a snicker as Yura and Kanna walked past them and outside.
"It's times like this that I wish your mother hadn't sold that motorcycle," Kagura commented as she locked the door behind them.
"You and me both," Sango agreed. "I'll go get Kagome."
"I'm sure she can squeeze into the back seat with those two. She's small enough." Sango snickered as she hopped the small wood fence and sauntered up to the front door. Just as she got there, however, the door flew open.
Kagome nearly walked into Sango. "Oh! Sango," Kagome squeaked, dropping the armload of books she had been carrying. "I'm sorry."
"Let me help you," Sango said with a frown, helping her friend pick up all the papers and books that suddenly littered her front lawn. Kagome was disorganized, which she never was, and there were dark circles under her eyes, which made Sango think she hadn't gotten the sleep that she should have.
"Thanks," Kagome smiled. She brushed out her wrinkled skirt and ran a free hand through her tangled black hair with a sigh. Then she looked to the other driveway and frowned. "They're coming with us?"
"Sadly," Sango agreed. Suddenly, a fiendish light came into Sango's eye as she turned to look at her friend. "You gonna tell me who Kagura's perfect date is yet?"
"I'll tell you at school. There is stuff to explain, and I can't do it while they're around." Sango huffed, but Kagome grinned. "By the way, I love your hair."
Sango returned the grin. "Thanks. It's a tribute to the football team. They have a game tonight, after all. Will we be attending?"
"I think so," Kagome said with a nod, linking arms with Sango and strolling casually across the lawn.
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After an uncharacteristic silence on the ride to school, Kagura took her normal parking space and everyone piled out. Immediately, Kanna and Yura met up with their friends and took off without a word of thanks or goodbye. No one was surprised.
"Well, my darling girls," Kagura announced with a level of sweetness most unbecoming of her character. "I'm off to first period. I expect to have a list of potential dates by the end of the day."
Her business-like tone made Sango and Kagome laughed before walking on ahead. "We'll let you know how the hunt goes," Sango said with a wave.
"You better!" Kagura retorted, shaking her fist in mock anger. She grinned as they walked on. Pulling the strap of her bag over her head, Kagura headed toward her first class with a small smile. Mentally, she was making a 'To Do' list.
Number 1: Let Kagome and Sango find a date. When you wanted to find a date, then the only people apart from yourself you'd get to do it would be those you trust. Though she wouldn't say that Sango and Kagome were her 'friends', they were the only people she trusted enough with something that important.
Number 2: Go to the first official Newspaper meeting after school and pitch her first article idea to Sesshomaru. As cultural reporter, Kagura had to get all of her topics approved by the editor before going into research. Somehow, she doubted Sesshomaru would have any objections to what she had in mind.
Number 3: Get Sango and Kagome to go to the mall with her sometime that week to pick out a dress for the Homecoming dance. It was a formal dance after all, and there was not a dress to be found in Kagura's closet. An army jacket and jeans wasn't fit for the occasion.
Number 4: Last, but not least, try and think of something witty to say to Naraku at the meeting. If he knew who she was, partly at least, before the dance, it would be more likely that he'd pick up on her when there.
Satisfied with herself, Kagura jammed her hands into the loose pockets of her jacket and continued on her way.
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"You have me drooling here Kagome!" Sango whined as they reached Kagome's locker. Sango slumped against the others, giving Kagome her famous pouting face.
Kagome smiled. It was not very often that anyone had power over Sango. The girl was self-assured and very much in control of herself, but every once in a while, Kagome would find her angle. There was a sadistic side to the normally calm, quiet Kagome. Sango always managed to bring out that side of her.
"So I take it that you really want to know, huh?" her friend laughed.
"You're a fudging genius!" Sango gasped in mock stun.
Kagome looked at her with a half-smile. "Since when have you ever abstained from swearing?"
Sango shrugged. "We're in school."
"Come on, San," Kagome laughed. "When you're with family, go for the gold."
"Fine, then you're a fucking genius!"
"I know!" Kagome laughed. "But I'll tell you."
Sango leaned forward eagerly. "So who is this perfect guy for Kagura?"
Kagome looked around to make sure that no one was in hearing range, then she leaned toward Sango's ear. "Sesshomaru Reaper," she whispered.
Sango stood up so straight she almost knocked her head into Kagome's. "Him?" Kagome nodded with a tiny, secretive smile. "Why him?"
"God, you say it like he's a bad guy or something!" Kagome scolded. "I admit he's a little stiff, but he's got a lot of character. And he really is just perfect for Kagura."
"What makes you say that?" Sango asked with a puzzled look. "I mean, he's uptight and deadpan. He's got no sense of humor, no life to him. What's there?"
"I'm not trying to set him up with you," Kagome laughed. "He's stable, which is something Kagura needs." She listed the reasons while ticking them off on her fingers. "He has a lot of similar interests with her. He respects her and he'd treat her right, unlike that creep Naraku who's only on the search for a new fuck."
"Kagome!" Sango said, placing a hand to her chest. "Did you swear?"
"Damn straight," Kagome nodded. "Just trust me on this, okay Sango?"
"Okay," Sango said with a sigh. "I just hope I know what you're doing."
"I do," Kagome said with a grin. "I mean, you're always saying how Naraku isn't good enough for Kagura."
"It's because he's a man whore," Sango said rationally, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well, Sesshomaru is like the anti-Naraku. He'll take care of her and she'll lighten him up." Suddenly Kagome giggled and smiled brightly. "I mean, who can resist Kagura's charms?"
Sango laughed too. "Definitely. So how are you going to get him to do it? Got out with Kagura I mean."
"I've got a middle-man I can talk to. And so do you, if I'm not mistaken," Kagome pointed out, poking her friend in the shoulder. "You can talk to his brother."
Sango nearly choked on her reply. "Grimm?" she said brokenly. "Like I could ever ask him to do anything. You know that the Reaper brothers are famously at odds with one another!"
"Okay, don't ask him. Just make a few subtle hints and fish information for me, okay?"
"Sure, sure," Sango nodded, then looked up. "Who's your middle man?"
"You know who Sesshomaru's friends are?"
Sango shook her head. "Apart from the rest of the paper squad, who Kagura says doesn't like him that much anyway, no. I didn't think he had any!"
"He has two," Kagome said with a brilliant smile. "Bankotsu and Jakotsu."
Sango blanched. "You mean that really punkish guy and his very feminine boyfriend that sat at our lunch table last year?"
Kagome nodded. "That would be them."
"Sesshomaru is friends with them?" Again Kagome nodded. "Are you sure he's straight?"
Kagome laughed then and nodded while trying to control herself. "I'm sure. Jakotsu and I have the same clothing design and sewing classes. He's told me time and again about how, before Bankotsu that is, he 'put the moves' on Sesshomaru. But alas, he still likes women."
"That is your middle-man?" Sango asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't be such a homophobe," Kagome laughed. "Not everyone can change oil as fast as you can, Mechanic Girl."
"Sorry, I left my cape in my other jacket," Sango replied dryly. Then she shook her head and smiled. "I'll catch up with you at lunch. We'll talk more."
"Relax, San," Kagome reassured her as she headed in the opposite direction down the hall. "Everything will be fine."
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Everything was not fine. Everything was not fine at all.
"What do you mean it's not good enough!?" Kagura growled loudly. Half of the newspaper staff turned to look at her. She paid them no mind and just glared heatedly at the editor of the paper. Sesshomaru paid her little attention as he went back and forth between workers, checking their progress and voicing comments on improvement.
"It lacks vision," he said when he looked up at her between workers. "You need to put some more thought into this."
"Sesshomaru, I put thought into it. Lots of thought! That's why I picked it as my first article!" Kagura insisted, lagging on his heels. "How can you shoot it down?"
"Easily," he muttered, turning to grab the small pad from her hands. "High school social groups," he read, flipping through a couple papers of notes. "Sports classes. Respect issues. Privacy rights." He paused to take the glasses off his nose and shake his head. "We've all read articles on these topics. I want something fresh."
Kagura grabbed her notebook back and glared at him with flaming ruby eyes. "They haven't been done by me so they haven't been done good enough."
Half the staff held their breath as they watched the display of power. Kagura was a known and respected journalist on the paper. Many of the staff liked the work she did, and liked her well enough. Sesshomaru was known to be hard and unrelenting when it came to his work. Both were well matched when it came to stubbornness, so the result of this scuffle was indeterminable.
"Kagura," Sesshomaru said slowly, with the monotone patience he always displayed. "You get me a human rights topic that hasn't had an editorial in this paper before, and I'll give you free range on the rest of your articles for the entire year."
"Deal!" Kagura said, jumping on the chance. She held out her hand, which he reluctantly took. "I'm going to dazzle you, Paper-boy," she teased.
"You'd better," he said warningly. Taking back his hand, he went back to his rounds. Kagura watched him go with a smirk, holding her notebook firmly. Oh, she'd get him a topic all right. And she would make sure it blew him away.
That was when Naraku walked in-- more like swaggered. Sesshomaru looked up and frowned slightly. "You're late," he commented.
"I had a pressing appointment," Naraku said with an easy grin. Sesshomaru was not impressed.
"You'd better start coming on time, or I'll cut you from this paper," he said seriously. "And wipe the lipstick off of your face. The shade does nothing for your complexion."
There were a few chuckles as Naraku glared daggers at Sesshomaru, who paid him no further mind. Kagura seized her chance, grabbing a tissue and walking up to Naraku. "Here," she offered to him.
Naraku took it with a grin and wiped the lipstick that had clung to the side of his mouth. "Thanks a lot."
"No problem," Kagura said with a sassy grin.
"Kagura, right?" Naraku asked, as if only just realizing who she was.
"That's me," she said with a nod. "Don't let Sesshomaru get to you," she added. "He's only trying to make the paper the best it came be, even if that means turning into a fascist dictator."
Naraku chuckled. "Yeah, right." He tossed the tissue into a nearby wastebasket, mimicking a hot-shot basketball player.
"Two points," Kagura laughed when he got it in. "See you around."
"Definitely," Naraku said with a nod, eyeing her slightly before moving on.
All right, now everything was fine.
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"Okay, now," the teacher said happily. "I've reviewed all of your new designs and I love every idea. Today, we'll get started on the first part of our project. Picking the fabric!"
Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The clothing design teachers always had some kind of ADD disorder, or thought the class was in the elementary school range. It didn't matter really, since that just meant Kagome was in the class good enough to practically teach themselves.
Her design classes, three in all, were the only non-college level courses that she was taking in her senior year. Her stress relievers, and her ticket to a good design school. If she could manage a scholarship, that is.
Today her mind didn't dwell on fashion design. Today she waited until the teacher was busy explaining the difference between crushed velvet and normal velvet. Then she turned to the boy who sat in the desk beside her--the only boy in the class.
"Psst, Jakotsu," she whispered. He was too enthralled in the discussion to actually hear her. "Jakotsu!" Kagome hissed. He looked up, then turned in her direction.
Dressed as he normally did, in a tight multi-colored shirt and his favorite pair of 'huggy' jeans, Jakotsu was a very pretty guy. His dark hair was held back in a simple loop and his equally dark eyes sparkled with some inner fire.
Jakotsu normally didn't get along well with females, something about hormones or the like, but he and Kagome got along well enough. He was known to be a little overzealous, and she was mellow enough to keep them balanced, which was why they often worked together on projects. They shared a similar taste in clothes, and oddly enough, in men.
"What, Kagome?" he asked under his breath. "I've never known this much about velvet fabric before!"
"I need to ask you a favor," Kagome whispered. "It's romantic and I am lost without you."
After three years of long discussions of men and clothes, Kagome knew exactly what buttons to push in order to make the romantic in Jakotsu putty in her hands. "Romantic, you say?" he asked. Yes, his attention was all hers now. "And just what does this entail?"
"I want to set Sesshomaru up with my neighbor," Kagome explained. "Do you think you could help me out?"
"Is your neighbor a guy or a girl?"
"She's a girl, but she acts like a guy," Kagome said with a half-smile.
"Oh, I guess that's okay," Jakotsu said after a moment of thought. "Give me more details after class."
And so Kagome waited for him outside after the bell. When Jakotsu swaggered out to join her, he indicated that she should walk with him through the quad. "Dish, girl," he said once they were outside.
"My neighbor, her name is Kagura Hart, has got bad fashion sense, which I very much hope to remedy," she told him, knowing just the right things to say. "She needs a date for the Homecoming dance. She works on the paper with Sesshomaru, and you're always saying how you wish he had a significant other."
"Why do you want to set her up with him though?" Jakotsu asked, wrinkling his nose slightly. "His brother is cuter, just as straight though." He frowned slightly, then perked up. "I guess I could give it a try. We'll have to talk to Bankotsu about it, though. He and Sesshomaru are all buddy-buddy."
"Okay," Kagome said with a smile. "We can talk after the game tonight. That is, assuming Bankotsu is still able to play after you wear him out."
Jakotsu winked. "Let's hope I leave him with a little energy."
Kagome laughed and took her leave. She was sure the football player would agree to help them. Both of Sesshomaru's friends wanted to see him happy as much as Sango and Kagome wanted Kagura. Pieces were starting to fall into place.
A/N: Muhahahaha! I couldn't resist! The next chapter will be out soon too, so stick around! Thanks to all those who have so far reviewer this story. Stick around, it's going to be great! Please remember to review though, because it's always fun to hear what you think.