A/N: Muhahaha! Working hard on my trilogy. Been working on my cover shots (check my bio for very awesome fan art by my wonderful editor!). Anyway, the Olympics have inspired me—I'm writing again! Thanks to my new friend MoonlightShadow4 (read her work!) for encouraging me!

I would not like to thank the phone company for shutting off my phones for the last 5 days, or the American gymnastics team for forcing me to watch them every night. (Forgive me, but for 16 days every two years, my brain shuts off and I can do nothing but sit on the couch with my brother, eating tacos and watching sports!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything by Edgar Allen Poe. I admire them both, and one day I just might be rich enough to touch one of them… (This is with the knowledge that one is a dead poet and the other is fictional…)

Unexpected

Chapter 5

Kagome and Sango had convinced him,

The Frog Prince they hoped would be their answer,

But Kagura was not at all pleased,

So the two maidens schemed of love once more...

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."

For some reason, those were the first words to pierce her brain as she stood there.

Kagura Hart had never been a woman to quake before any man. She had never been afraid of any male—nervousness not included—and she vowed that she would never be. And yet, when Sango pointed Sesshomaru Reaper out as the man she would be attending a High School dance with, a cold shiver of fear knifed down her spine in half an instant.

It took her that long to realize that she was going to kill Sango and Kagome, and to wonder just how far it was to the nearest women's bathroom. That was where she hoped to hide for the next few months—just until graduation. But by then it was too late. He had spotted the three of them and was walking over.

Kagura didn't know whether the pensive look on his face was an insult or a compliment. All she knew was that it meant trouble if she ever wanted his respect enough to run her articles.

"Good morning," he commented to all three of them at once, but his eyes never left her.

"Hi, Sesshomaru," Kagome said in a friendly tone. It made Kagura wonder how her neighbor girl knew him so well.

"Hello," Sango said noncommittally. The stepsister had no opinion of the newspaper editor, she only had assumptions formed on the words of others.

"Morning," Kagura finally said for herself, surprised by how dry her throat had become and how small her voice sounded. It disgusted her. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door; only this, and nothing more." This statement was chanted in the back of her brain. A metaphor for her life. He was merely the editor, another student; there was no reason to be so suddenly nervous. He was taking her to a dance. He was merely visiting her world, not staying, just like everyone else. It was just a show of good faith.

Nothing more.

But if it was nothing more, why were her palms suddenly sweating, and why was her face suddenly getting so hot? Holy shit, she was blushing!

Kagura quickly looked down, then up, then to the sides. Anywhere but at him. It was too humiliating. Couldn't Sango and Kagome have found someone else? Anyone else! Why did it have to be the one person whose respect mattered to her! This was her editor, one person who openly liked her work. Now he'd realize she was just some pathetic little girl who couldn't get herself a date because she was too busy pinning over a guy who'd never noticed her before.

Could this day get any worse?!

Naturally, thinking this only made the day get worse...

"Well, I'll leave you two to work out the details of your date," Sango said with a yawn, trudging over to Kagome and grabbing her by the arm.

"I guess I'm going too," she laughed. "See you two later!" Kagome and Sango disappeared down the hall towards the auto shop. Kagura glared after them, the fires of a thousand hells flaring to life in her ruby eyes. Oh, how she would enjoy killing them...

"I must say that I was surprised," Sesshomaru commented lightly, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.

"What?" Kagura asked, blinking and looking up at him in confusion.

"I was surprised," he repeated. "When Jakotsu and Bankotsu told me that they had arranged a date for me to Homecoming via your two friends."

"Two very dead friends," she growled, still staring in the direction they had gone. Then, aware of how bad that sounded, she quickly turned to him. "Not that you're not a good guy. I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of girls who'd love to go to Homecoming with you—"

"Just not you," he filled in, a smirk turning up the corners of his mouth.

That annoyed her. "I never said that! It's just that… you're my editor and it's kind of awkward."

"Why is it awkward?" he asked, raising one eyebrow in question. "It's not like I pay you or anything. It's a school newspaper, and I don't think it's against the rules for us to socialize outside of the office."

Kagura opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't find her voice. Was he saying that he wanted to go out with her? Sesshomaru Reaper wanted to go out with her? She made a few attempts at speech, but they died in her throat. That only served to make him smirk again.

"Whatever is the matter, Kagura? Cat got your tongue?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Shove it, Reaper," she snapped.

"Ah, good. For a moment there, I thought you were going to faint."

"Haha," she laughed falsely. "Your wit astounds me."

"And you cut me with your words." Naturally, she did no such thing and they both knew it. What was really surprising was that they were having a rational conversation. It was something they had never truly taken the time to do before. And what was even more, it was actually… nice.

"So, you'd actually go to Homecoming?" Kagura asked, finally getting them back on to the subject at hand.

"I wasn't planning on it," he said casually. "I'm not one for social events."

"What a surprise," she injected.

Sesshomaru gave her a leveled golden gaze. "If you're just going to insult me, perhaps you should find yourself another escort."

Kagura snorted. "As if you'd take offense by anything that I'd say."

Sesshomaru shrugged one shoulder. "Criticism is one thing, but out and out insults are another."

"We're digressing again," Kagura pointed out, a smile touching her mouth.

"So I noticed."

"Then let me skip to the point before we get off track again," Kagura said while running a hand through her bangs. "You'd seriously go to Homecoming with me?"

"If you want me to," was his reply.

"You seem as good as anyone," Kagura commented with the sweetest smile she could muster. Sesshomaru only raised one brow before rolling his eyes. Okay, so maybe the day wasn't getting worse.

"The dance is two weeks from Friday," he commented.

"So?"

"We should get coffee after school sometime next week and plan what we're going to do," he said logically. "I'm not much for school dances, so you'll have to help me prepare for what will probably be a very uneventful and embarrassing evening."

"This is like the blind leading the blind," Kagura scoffed. "I'm not exactly Susie High School."

"Then we'll just have to ask someone more experienced," Sesshomaru said rationally.

"And who, may I ask, would that be?"

"Kagome."

Maybe she should have just quit when she was ahead.

Sesshomaru got home earlier that afternoon than he had in a while. That was because it was the first time in weeks he hadn't stayed after for the newspaper. He just had too much on his mind and not enough energy to put that into writing. So, naturally, he did what most other teenagers would do—he went home to watch television.

There were eight televisions in the house. One in the living room, one in the family room, one in Rin's play room, one in their father's den, one in their parent's master bedroom, and the other three in the guest rooms. Sesshomaru only liked the large wide screen television in the den, mostly for the black leather couch he so enjoyed to lounge on. Unfortunately, the wide screen television was occupied already when he got in.

Inuyasha was sprawled over the couch, one foot hanging over the armrest and the other hanging over the side to the floor. His head was hanging over the side so that he was staring at the screen upside down. All the while, he was attempting to play Soul Caliber II—and failing miserably.

"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru voiced from the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"I play my best with the blood rushing to my head," was all he said.

Sesshomaru merely closed his eyes, willing himself to believe this to be a rational answer, then turned to leave. "I'm going to pool," he said with a sigh. "If anyone calls, take a message."

"Who'd call you?" Inuyasha called back. "And I'm not your goddamned secretary!"

Sesshomaru neither heard nor cared. He simply climbed the large marble stairs to the second story of the house to drop of his things and change so he could get use out of the family's very large heated pool. It was cleaned and cared for by a pool cleaning service every week, but the pool itself was rarely used.

As he was walking back down and heading out back, Sesshomaru didn't stop to examine his surroundings. He barely noticed the luxury in which he lived. It was just how he always had. His parents were very wealthy, both from wealthy families, and both with lucrative jobs. That was simply how things were, and he was neither smug about it, nor miserable. Sesshomaru had grown to be rather indifferent to such things as wealth.

"Sesshomaru!" a voice called him.

Pausing as he was about to open the sliding door in the kitchen, he turned partially to see the large frost glass doors were open, and a small girl was entering the house. Small in size, with a head of brown-black hair that fell layered to her shoulders apart from a small ponytail on the top of her head. She was attempting to tug her backpack—which had gotten caught between the doors—while balancing a large model volcano in her free arm.

"Help!" she squeaked. Sesshomaru tossed his towel to the counter and walked over, taking the model from the girl's arms and opening one of the doors so that she could free her backpack and stumble inside. "Thanks," she said with a toothy grin.

"You should be more careful, Rin," he commented with a small smile in return. "I don't think Mother and Father would be happy if you got volcano all over the Persian carpet."

The young girl blushed dully. "Sorry."

"Come on," he said with authority. "We'll put this in the kitchen." He headed in that direction, Rin at his heels.

"I got third place in the science fair," she chirped. "My volcano was a big hit because it was the only one that actually imprisoned the tiny army men in baking soda ash to imitate the affects of Pompeii."

Sesshomaru placed the volcano on the small kitchen table, then turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Inuyasha helped you with that, didn't he?"

Rin smiled and nodded. "He gave me the army men and everything!"

Sesshomaru lowered himself into a crouching position so that he could look her in the eye, gold to chocolate brown. "Why didn't you ask me to help you Rin?"

"Because you helped me with my book report and helped me study for my math test and you helped me make the collage for history. I figured I could squeeze a science project out of Inuyasha."

Sesshomaru smirked and patted his little sister on the head. "You're a smart kid," he complimented.

"It's because I hang out with you too much," she said with another smile.

"Flattery will get you no where," he reminded her, getting to his feet. "Go bother Inuyasha. He's in Father's study playing a video game."

"Yay!" Rin cheered, tossing her backpack next to the volcano before racing off to annoy her other brother. Sesshomaru shook his head, picked up his towel, and headed back outside to the poolside. He didn't hear the phone ring.

Rin, who had since wrestled the controller from Inuyasha and was riveted to the screen in a video game induced coma, would be no help in zoning out long enough to answer a phone. Thus, a grudging Inuyasha had to answer. He grumbled as he got up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen, since their father had refused to have a phone installed in his den.

Grabbing the receiver, Inuyasha gave his customary greeting. "What do you want?"

"Is Sesshomaru there?" a female voice asked casually. It sounded like she was doing something else at the moment and was only giving half of her attention to the phone.

Inuyasha, who was rather disgruntled at the moment, took that to be a personal insult. "He's busy, so call back another time!" With that, he slammed the receiver down and turned to stomp back into the den. This time he would regain the power of his PS2 controller.

The phone rang again before he even got out of the room. Eye twitching in annoyance, he picked it up. "What?!"

"I would like to speak with Sesshomaru," the voice said. Now her entire attention was on the phone call.

"I told you, he's busy!"

He was about to hang up again, but she stopped him. "Well then I'll leave a message!"

"I'm not his secretary, sweetheart," Inuyasha drawled. "You'll just have to call again later."

"You're a very unhappy little man, aren't you?" the girl said with a sigh. "That's too bad."

Inuyasha bristled. "Listen wench, I don't know who you think you are—"

"I'm just a friend of Sesshomaru's trying to get in touch with him who somehow managed to get routed to you. I am sorry to inconvenience you, sir. I'm sure you're busy trying to hide your insecurities, but save it for Oprah, okay?"

"You… y-y-ou bitch!"

"I'll call Sesshomaru later. Maybe then I won't have to go through his bitch. Have a nice day." With that, she hung up. Inuyasha stared at the phone, sputtering in anger. He had half a mind to call that bitch back up and chew her out—until he remembered that he had no idea who she was, let alone what her number could be. Instead, he slammed the phone down.

"DAMMIT!" he howled. That was when the phone rang again. Inuyasha lunged for it, grabbing it off of the receiver and growling venomously. "You fucking bitch, if you ever call this number again I'll fucking kill you!"

"Inuyasha…"

He winced. "Hi, Mom…"

Kagome tossed the cordless phone on to her bed with a disgusted sigh. "What a jerk," she fumed, but was content she got the last word. Whoever that idiot was, she was glad she'd gotten one up with him. Hopefully when she called later, Sesshomaru would be in his study and she wouldn't have to call the house number again.

With a small huff, she collapsed on to her seat at the windowsill again, facing the side of the house. It was flung open, allowing a warm breeze to filter into the small attic room she lovingly called home. It was a very small room, just enough room for her bed and her dresser and her desk, but Kagome decorated it in her unique style and made it feel homey. Kagome wouldn't be considered a neat-freak, but her room was uncommonly tidy. Considering the house was filled with three unruly young boys, she figured one room should look habitable.

From her seat, she placed her sketchpad in her lap and looked over the final results of her latest sketch. With a satisfied smile, she set it aside and pulled over a large paper bag full of cloth material. Digging through, she started looking for the perfect material in which to make her newest design.

"Kagome!" Someone called her from below. Turning around to look toward the backwards, she could see Sango sitting on the top of the old picnic table in her backyard. Her guitar case was beside her, but she held her violin in her hands. It was ritual to play outside if the weather was nice enough. Sango never really enjoyed being indoors.

Kagome waved down. "Hi, Sango!"

"Come down and play with me!" Sango yelled up. A few summers ago, Sango had taken it upon herself to teach Kagome to play the keyboard. That Christmas, she had even given her keyboard to her best friend.

"I'm busy! And Hojo's picking me up in half an hour!"

"Whhhhhhhhhhhhyy?" Sango whined.

"Because I have a date with him, that's why."

"Come on, Kag! Just for a few minutes!?"

Relenting before Sango hurt her throat by screaming, Kagome grabbed her material bag and headed down the stairs towards her backyard. In her effort to pass through the house, she went to the second floor where her little brothers' bedrooms were. Souta and Shippou shared a room, where as Kohaku—the oldest of the three—had his own. The room at the end of the hall was their mother's. All three boys were currently in Kohaku's room, fighting over who would played first on Game cube.

Kagome smiled to herself and shut the door so that their arguing wouldn't wake their mother. Then she continued outside to her usually seat, on the top rung of the fence next to Sango's picnic table.

"No keyboard?" Sango asked with a slight frown. Her hair was free of the green now. She had just finished scrubbing it out, and let the long fall of damp hair air dry free down her back.

"I'm working on a new project, and I'd much rather listen to you anyway."

Sango plucked at a few of her violin's strings. "What are you working on?"

"I'll tell you if I get it done in time," Kagome said with a wave of her hand. "But I did just finish my Homecoming/Prom dress today."

"Really?" Sango said, an excited look in her eye. Now, Sango was not the kind of girl who normally put much stock in fashion, but she held much love for Kagome's designs and a lot of respect for the other girl's work.

"Yeah, I'll show it to you tomorrow," the other girl promised. "I'm afraid it's not as good as some of my other designs, but I can't pull off too intricate of a design."

"I think that's a double-edged statement," Sango said thoughtfully, putting her instrument under her chin and poising her bow over the strings.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, eyes trained on the fabric in her hand.

"What I mean is, you put your work in very high esteem, but yourself in less."

"Some of us aren't as gifted as you are, dearest," Kagome laughed. "You'd be so much more beautiful if you'd come out from under that layer of grease."

Sango rolled her eyes as she began playing a tune on her violin. "I have no time or patience for beauty," Sango explained as she had a million times. "You, my friend, are much more beautiful then you realize. Where as I hide behind grease and a bad attitude, you hide behind old clothing and intellect."

"I don't need to hide," Kagome countered. "I already have a boyfriend."

"Hojo's a shield," Sango observed even though her eyes were closed and her fingers moved over her polished instrument. "He's to protect you from falling in love. Basically, it's all issues that go back to your father."

Kagome stiffened, her fingers balling into fists even though material was still clutched between them. "Can we not go there please?" she asked with forced politeness.

"Suit yourself, but it won't make the fact go away," Sango said with Freudian sincerity.

Kagome only grunted and was spared from further comment when Kagura strolled into the backyard. She held an air of annoyance, though she had a smile plastered on to her face. As soon as they saw her, Kagome and Sango became afraid.

"Hey, Kagura," Sango said with a shaky smile. "What's the matter?"

"Did you know that there are over 3400 students in our school?" she asked casually, leaning against the fence that separated the two yards.

"Yeah, so?" Kagome prompted.

"And out of those 3400, you can safely assume that half of them are male. Correct?"

"Yes?" Sango answered, not sure if she should agree or simply run.

"Then, out of 1700 boys, why in God's name did you pick him?!?!" Kagura dropped the fake smile and raged, stomping back and forth in front of the picnic table. "I would have gone with a freshmen over Sesshomaru! Okay, well, maybe not a freshmen, but definitely a sophomore! Why did you do this to me?" Kagura stopped her fit by slumping down on to the picnic table, her head in her hands.

"We did it because we love you," Sango said easily.

"Sesshomaru is a good guy!" Kagome said suddenly. "Maybe he's not 'The Ladies Man' like Naraku, but he's serious and sincere. He's a real person; he's genuine. Naraku is all about showing off, not about depth. We wanted you to go with a real man before you decide that Naraku is the epitome of male perfection."

"But he's Sesshomaru!" Kagura protested. "He's two steps above a pocket protector! With the glasses and the newspaper and the Nazi behavior… He's nothing like Naraku."

"Hello! That's the point!" Sango interrupted. "He's a nice guy, whereas Naraku is a playboy asshole. And, hate to break it to you, Sis, but you're a newspaper geek too."

Kagura huffed. "I am not a newspaper geek."

"How would you describe newspaper geek?" Kagome asked with interest. Then she answered her own question. "Someone who works for the newspaper, who tries their all to make it respected and worth while, someone who takes it seriously and devotes a good portion of their life to it. That's you, Kagura."

Kagura leaned forward enough so that she fell off of the bench and sprawled to the ground. "I'm a paper geek," she sighed. "And I'm going to a dance with Sesshomaru Reaper."

"Oh how the proud hath fallen," Sango smirked.

"Suck it up," Kagome said with a smile. "It won't be that bad."

"Yes it will!" Kagura insisted. "Neither of us have any idea what to do at a dance. I still don't have a dress. I can't even dance! This has 'disaster' written all over it!"

"I'll just have to help you, then," Kagome said easily. "Sesshomaru called earlier and left me a message. He probably wanted me to set up a "leisure" date."

"A what?" both Kagura and Sango asked, looking at her strangely.

"A "leisure" date," Kagome repeated. "Where you and he can work out the kinks of your plan. Just the basic coordination of things, and so you two can become slightly more comfortable in one another's presence. That way, I can help you."

"You'd do that?" Kagura asked, not really sure.

"Oh course," Kagome said easily. "Just as long as I don't have to miss work."

Sango smiled and began playing a new song on her violin. Maybe this plan might work after all. That's when she heard a car door slam out from and looked through the gap in between Kagome's house and her own. She caught sight of a silver car. Hojo had arrived. That made her frown.

Kagome caught sight as well. "There's my cue. Bye girls!" She stuffed her material back in the back and hopped from her seat on the fence. Hojo came around the side of the house, following the music.

"Hi, Hojo!" Kagome greeted. He greeted her with his customary assault on her mouth.

"Hey, babe," he said after. "Ready to go?"

"Let me just toss this inside and grab my backpack."

"Sure thing." Kagome scampered off, leaving Hojo standing in the side lawn with Kagura and Sango staring at him. "Hey," he said slightly awkwardly.

"Hey," Kagura said. Sango was silent, her knuckles turning white around her bow. Oh how she hated that boy. It wasn't a jealousy reaction, like he was taking Kagome away from her or something, it was just some kind of instinct that told her something was wrong with this one. He acted too innocent, played Kagome too well without knowing her at all.

"Ok," Kagome said, coming around the corner with a backpack slung over her shoulder. "Just remember that I have to get to the store by six."

Hojo sighed, annoyed. "Why do you always have to work?"

"Because I have a job," she said easily. "Why do you always get so annoyed that I work?"

"Because you shouldn't be spending so much time behind a desk. You should be spending more time doing things that normal girls do." It went unsaid that he really wanted her to spend more time with him. That was the real reason. Mostly, it was a sexual thing. They'd been going out for four years and had yet to consummate the relationship, a fact that annoyed Hojo to no end and Kagome knew it.

"That just proves that I'm not a normal girl," Kagome said with her usual amount of sass. Then she turned to Sango and Kagura. "I'll talk to you two later. And Sango, do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Call Sesshomaru for me? This real jerk picked up the phone so I had to tell him off, and I think calling back might jeopardize my position as Rin's carpool driver."

"Heaven forbid you yelling at a dimwit would make Sesshomaru forbid you from driving his sister to Karate with your brothers," Kagura said while rolling her eyes.

"You never know," Kagome said with a shrug and a smile. "You know how much Kohaku likes Rin though. I wouldn't want to do anything to disrupt puppy love."

"Can we go now?" Hojo asked, growing impatient.

"Yes," Kagome said, grabbing his arm and steering him toward his car. "Bye, girls."

"Bye!" they called back in unison, before Sango erupted into laughter.

"What's the matter with you?" Kagura asked with a raised brow.

"She talked to Grimm, I just know it!" Sango cackled. "He's the only one in that house who would work Kagome up enough to force such language as jerk."

Kagura only shook her head slightly. "It's a good thing they've never met then. They might end up killing each other."

"But Kagura!" Sango protested. "That's the entire point!"

A/N: Okay, ending Author's note. I kept forgetting to address a question I got in a review—I think it was for the first chapter actually… Ahh!

Drake220: I actually know a limited amount of mechanics. My brother has taken auto shop and I ask routine questions. The rest comes from research done on the internet.

That's all. Anyway, please review and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next one will be out after I update Curse of the Gypsy!