A/N: Yes, another chapter for you, my beloved fans. Before you pelt me with rotten food and angry reviews, let me beg forgiveness on the delay. I've been so busy with the end of school, and working, and college crap that I'm just dying. DYING! But summer is just about here (I graduate on Monday, yay!) and I'm quitting my job in the next few weeks, so I'll have more time to write. Scout's Honor!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I own nothing, which makes me very sad. But soon, very soon, I will have enough to buy my laptop, and then I will own something!

Unexpected

Chapter 8

With the tentative bond being formed,

Kagura and the Frog Prince grow closer,

But as time grows shorter,

One bond might not have the strength to break another…

There was only one week left.

One week until do-or-die time.

One week before Naraku was in her grasp, or lost to her forever.

This was what pounded inside Kagura's head from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to sleep, and it was starting to get to her. Little by little.

She still hadn't found a dress, and the only one she even remotely liked had been bought already by the time she came back with the money. The loss of it was just another sign that the universe was against her. And that God hated her. It didn't do much to raise her spirits.

The funny thing was that the happiest moments she had found herself having were when she was around Sango and Kagome, who were always trying to cheer her up with their antics, or when she was talking politics and philosophy with Sesshomaru during the time she was supposed to be working on her article. The article she still hadn't started. A few ideas had fleetingly inspired her, but nothing good enough. Nothing nearly good enough. Yet.

Currently, Kagura sat on the hood of her car, her legs folded beneath her in a pose of meditation. The sun beat down on her from above, but it was growing colder out now and the light only warmed her slightly. A few other students lingered around this late after school, but none of them gave her more than a passing glance. Normally she would have gone, but she was playing the part of chauffeur again, and was waiting for Sango.

"Well, you look like you're communing with the spirits." Kagura cracked one ruby eye and looked to the side. Naraku was leaning against the side of her car, elbows braced on the hood.

She grinned a little, closing her eyes again. She felt a little jump in her heartbeat. This was a good thing—it meant that the little flux in her sanity around Sesshomaru wasn't a lasting effect. Naraku was still her objective, still her crush, and still within her grasp.

"Just waiting for a little magic," was her sassy reply. "It's really quite interesting."

"As long as it's not a newspaper assignment from Herr Editor, I'm game." Was it normal to suddenly feel a rush of defensive annoyance, and for Sesshomaru no less? Either way, she suppressed it as fast as it had come.

"Kagura!" a voice called from behind. Sango.

"Maybe next time," Kagura told her crush as she slid down her hood and landed on the pavement. Sango rounded the back of the car and came to a stop beside her stepsister, panting and streaked with grease.

"I am so pumped right now!" Sango announced, before she caught sight of Naraku. "Hi," was all she could muster.

"Hey," he responded, looking her up and down. Kagura didn't notice, but Sango did. It made her bristle slightly. "You look a little worse for wear," he said with a smirk.

"Auto shop ran over," was the clipped reply.

"Ah! It's nice to find a girl with a skill," he laughed.

Sango narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth for one of her patented pro-feminist retorts, when another panting student came up beside her.

"San," Miroku rasped. "You left your jacket."

"Thank you, Demon," she said, taking it from his hands. "You didn't have to run all the way here, though."

"I need the exercise," he grinned. "My steady diet of Wendy's and KFC only packs on the pounds, if you get what I mean."

"I know the demands of looking good," Sango nodded. "But I think Grimm will love you, even with the love handles."

"You really think—wait a second… What love handles!" Miroku quickly began looking at himself and Sango was reduced to a fit of giggles.

"Interesting friends you've got here," Naraku commented to Kagura, looking at them with a bit of superiority.

"My stepsister," Kagura replied, though she felt guilt gnawing at her stomach for such a write off as that. "She's a free spirit."

"I'll say." He coughed a little, ran a hand through his hair, and winked one dark eye at Kagura. "I'll see ya later, sweetheart."

"Bye," she said with a wave. Once he was out of earshot, she clamped a hand to her chest and fell backwards across the hood of her car. "I'm pathetic."

"Not really," Sango commented from beside her, smiling with understanding. Miroku waved his goodbye and headed back to the shop. Sango watched with a look of longing and reserve in her eyes. "People do stupid things when they're infatuated."

"I thought the line was 'People do crazy things when they're in love'?"

"I wouldn't say you're in love," Sango combated.

"And you?"

"What about me?"

Kagura sat up and fixed a grin at her stepsister. "The look you just gave that guy would melt a hole through solid rock. You're telling me that's not love?"

"That's lust," Sango commented idly. "I'd totally jump him on the hood of a car if I had the courage."

"Wow," Kagura laughed, sliding off the hood and headed to the driver's side door. "I never thought I'd hear you comment about raping a boy."

"What are you talking about?" Sango retorted. "I want to have my way with guys all the time. Have we forgotten the timeless poem 'Roses are red, Violets are blue, Cillian Murphy, I want to ravish you?'"

"Yeah, but there is a major difference between your Christian Bale fetish and an actual crush on a boy from school." They headed for home, Kagura enjoying this little turn of events with Sango brooding beside her. "I think it's great."

"Yeah well, don't go inviting him over for tea. And no telling the idiot sisters. I have enough to worry about."

"I won't tell Kanna or Yura, scout's honor."

Sango sighed a little, running a finger over the glass of her window. "Nothing will come of it anyway."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "It's too complicated to explain."

"Cliff notes version."

"Getting close to a person is exposing yourself, your weaknesses and your vulnerabilities. I'm not ready for that, not with him, not with anyone."

Kagura glanced over at Sango for a moment, looking at her stepsister in a new light. She shouldn't have been surprised really, Sango did have the soul of a musician. "I thought you couldn't control love."

"That applies to the people who have the luxury of love," Sango commented, arching her back until she heard the satisfying crack. "For the unlovable, it's just another instance of letting someone down."

"I don't think that's true…"

"Eyes on the road, Kagura," Sango said with a smile, her usual attitude returning. "Don't kill us now. You have a date tomorrow, after all."

Kagura scoffed slightly. "I'm just going to his house. It's not a national emergency."

"Tell that to Grimm," Sango snickered. "He nearly died."

Kagome was laying on the bottom bleacher, face upturned to the blue sky, with her hands pillowing her head. One of her legs dangled to the side, swishing back and forth with all the enthusiasm of a three-toed sloth. She really hated the waiting game, but that was all she seemed to be playing anymore.

She'd come to see Hojo but he'd be busy. Hojo would come to see her but she'd be working. It was just… becoming a mess.

A puffy white cloud passed by overhead. With a snort, she thought it looked a lot like a bunny. It made her think of her first date with Hojo, back when she had been a cheerleader and he was second string on the freshmen football team. He'd been so shy, blushing horribly when he first asked her. She had been just as shy and twice as nervous about accepting, but she had stars in her eyes back then.

That had been when he was a scrawny, acne-riddled fourteen-year-old and she was a flat-chested post-pubescent.

Their first date had been to a carnival. His father had a limo take them and bring her home, before her ten o'clock curfew, of course. Hojo won her a huge stuffed rabbit at the ring toss. It was a hideous shade of pink. She still had it in her room. Dr. Cornwallace was what she named it. Now, thinking about how innocent and happy they were made her stomach ache.

No one thought they would make it for more than a few months, not even Kagome herself. But they had been comfortable with each other, and Kagome really liked Hojo. He understood her life, conformed to it. It had only been in recent months that his jealousy and impatience had gotten the better of him.

"You look like a girl with a lot on her mind," a male voice commented from above her. A handsome face appeared in her line of vision, and Kagome smiled.

"Hi, Kouga," she greeted, sitting up with a sigh. "I was just cloud-gazing."

"See anything good?" The former football player whipped out a Slim Jim from his backpack and ripped the top open with his teeth.

"Not really," she lied, leaning back against the bleachers. "Do you think Hojo will be out soon?"

"Who can say?" Kouga shrugged, chewing happily on his meat stick. "He and the others are in the locker room measuring themselves and having a great laugh at the Towel Boy."

Kagome giggled a little. "You used to be one of them, you know."

"If my arm hadn't given out, I'd still be one of them," he nodded. "But things happen for a reason."

"I suppose." Kagome lost herself in musings for a moment, before she remembered something important she needed to address. "Before I forget, could I ask you a favor?"

"Moi?" Kouga asked, turning blue eyes to her with feigned innocence. Then he gave her his signature wolfish grin, the kind that made most female knees weaken. "What can I do you for?"

"You're still single, right?"

Kouga arched a brow. "Jock-boy not fulfilling all your womanly needs?"

Kagome blushed dully. "That's not what I meant."

"Aw, so no extra somethin' on the side for Kagome?"

"Kagome is happy with her boyfriend, thanks."

Kouga looked crestfallen, and sighed. "Oh well, another crushing defeat." It had been a great joke that Kouga was smitten with Kagome, and had been for years. Kagome felt a little bad for him and knew that, had he asked her first, she would have been Kouga's girlfriend before Hojo's. Still, she would give him the next best thing.

"I was wondering if I persuade you to go out with a friend of mine," Kagome commented, twiddling her thumbs innocently.

Kouga perked, looking at her with suspicion. "Friend?"

"Her name is Ayame," Kagome nodded. "I work with her. She goes to St. Catharine's school for girls on the other side of town."

"A Catholic school girl? You know what they say about those girls! Pent up sexual frustration and the like. I swear, Kagome, you want me to get molested!"

She only smiled at his mock outrage. "She's a really great person, always cheerful and fun. But quite hotheaded and opinionated. It costs her many a men folk." After a pause of thought, Kagome grinned at him. "She's a lot like you, actually. And I do think you'd like her."

"I dunno," he said with a sigh. "You'd owe me a favor."

"Wait until after you meet her," Kagome laughed. "Then we'll see who owes who a favor."

He shook his head, tucking black hair behind his ear. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Good!" Kagome clapped her hands together, delighted.

"Kagome!" Turning, she saw Hojo standing at the bottom of the bleachers, equipment bag over his shoulder and a sour expression on his face. His eyes were on Kouga, not her. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she said, trying her best to act like the perfect girlfriend. "I'll talk to you more later, Kouga."

"Have fun, you crazy kids!" Kouga waved, leaning back and enjoying the rest of his meat.

Kagome scampered down the last of the stairs and surprised her boyfriend by being the first to kiss him. "Practice went well," she praised when she broke from him. "You guys are in great form."

"You didn't think Bankotsu was lagging?"

"Not at all!" They walked arm in arm to his car, something they hadn't done in ages.

"What were you talking to Kouga about? He seemed enthralled."

Kagome was careful about checking him on his jealousy, and decided to let it slide. If she wanted things to work, she had to keep her feathers unruffled. "I wanted to know if he wanted to meet my friend Ayame, from work. I think they'd make a cute couple."

"Playing matchmaker Kagome?"

"I've been known to, in my spare time," she laughed.

Hojo tossed his bag in the trunk of his car, and opened Kagome's door for her. All gallantry and politeness. "It's nice to see you acting more like your old self."

She smiled. "I'm glad to be more like my old self."

"Do you want to go to our spot?" The old walnut tree, just off the back road of town.

Kagome looked at the clock. "Alright," she agreed. "As long as we're home by eight."

"Two hours," Hojo grinned as he turned the key in the ignition. "Plenty of time."

Kagura wasn't surprised by Sesshomaru's house, though it was more of a mansion than a house. She had known he came from money, a lot of money, so it wasn't a great shock. Still, she was impressed.

Her father and stepmother both made a generous amount of money, which always kept their family well taken care of. They had a good sized home, and everything a reasonable teenager could want. But her world paled in comparison to his, and it left her feeling slightly sick.

She parked in the long driveway and made her way toward the frosted glass front doors, ringing the bell with a sweaty hand. When the door opened, she wasn't faced with either of the Reaper brothers, but a small black-haired girl. She blinked owlishly up at Kagura with dark eyes.

"Hello," Kagura said with a little smile. "I'm here to see Sesshomaru."

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, opening the door wider. "You're Kagura, right?" Kagura nodded. "He's been expecting you. He's in his office, come on!" After closing the door, the girl grabbed Kagura's hand and began tugging her toward a room at the end of a long hallway.

"Sesshomaru!" the girl yelled, pushing open a door. "Your girlfriend is here!"

Sesshomaru sat behind a large mahogany desk, his glasses perched on the very bridge of his nose as he looked up at them. "She's not my girlfriend, Rin," was his reply before looking back down at what he had been reading. Kagura felt slightly disappointed by that, but it was masked with annoyance.

"She's not?" Rin blinked. "Then Inuyasha is right?"

"Right?" Sesshomaru asked, still not looking up.

"That you really are gay," his little sister said with a sigh before leaving.

Kagura snorted, then quickly covered her mouth with her hands to keep from laughing. Sesshomaru looked up slowly, zeroing in on her with a narrowed and dangerous gaze. "Sorry," she blurted when she could.

"I'm sure you are," Sesshomaru nodded, getting up. He placed his glasses on the desk and moved to the doorway. "Excuse me a moment."

Kagura watched him leave, heard a few raised but muffled voices from down the hall, then the crack and holler of someone being pummeled. He returned a moment later, adjusting the buttons on the cuffs of his shirt. "Everything ok?" she asked him.

"Perfectly fine," he told her. "We'll be getting refreshments in a moment. The house boy is just cleaning himself up."

"Oh," was her witty reply. "So, um, what are we doing tonight?"

"Kagome told me that you don't know how to dance," Sesshomaru commented, moving around the room. He moved a leather couch against the wall, a few antique chairs into the corner of the room, then went to fiddle with the small stereo that was rigged up in his wall unit. "I thought we'd start there."

"We really don't have to—"

"We are attending a dance," he commented with his usual amount of forceful patience. "It would be wise to at least attempt one dance, unless of course you are afraid of making physical contact with me in public."

Kagura narrowed her eyes, body going taut as a bowstring. "I'm not afraid, Mr. Know-it-all. I just happened to… have no rhythm, at all."

"That is why we practice," he said with a nod, clicking the stereo on to a classical music station. Beethoven filled the air and Kagura felt herself become a little more nervous.

Thankfully, she was saved from making the next move when there was a knock at the door. It opened without permission and Inuyasha Reaper walked in. He muttered under his breath and looked rather rumpled, and more than a little disgruntled. There was a silver tray in his hands. On it was an open ream of Ritz crackers and a can of cheese whiz. Sesshomaru fixed his brother with a hard glare.

"It's all we had," Inuyasha growled. "It's either this, or caviar. And frankly, I don't think Kagura is ready for fish embryos."

"He's right," she nodded. "I'm good with the cheese whiz."

"If it's satisfactory to you," Sesshomaru told her. Then he looked back at Inuyasha. "You're dismissed, house boy."

"Don't call me that, you fucking bastard!"

"Then stop being an idiot. Go watch Rin and make yourself useful."

"One of these days," Inuyasha vowed. "I'll—"

"You'll what? Learn manners and kill me from shock?" Inuyasha only sputtered with rage at that, so Sesshomaru took the opportunity to usher him out and close the door.

"There is no way the two of you are related," Kagura commented when it was safe.

"What do you mean?"

"You're such opposites," she laughed. "You're cool and collected, and he's totally an on-the-fly guy."

"I like to think that I got the better end of the deal."

"True," Kagura nodded, grabbing a cracker from the tray on the desk. "Shall we begin?"

"Very well." Sesshomaru led Kagura to the center of the floor, then positioned her hands, one on his shoulder and the other in his own. He placed his other hand on her waist, successfully flustering her all the more. "The first step is to not look at your feet," he commented when all she could do was stare at her boots.

"Then how do I know where to step?" she retorted.

"You feel it," he tutored. "It goes with the rhythm, and it always moves in a three-step pattern." He moved her back one step, to the right one step, and then forward again. "Half a box for each repetition, then you just repeat it. As long as you have the basic step, you can turn and circle with ease."

"This is very embarrassing," she said, more to herself than to him.

"Once you learn it, things will be easier."

Kagura looked up and realized just how close together they were when they danced like this. She could make out the exact shade of amber that was his eyes. "Where did you learn to dance?" she heard herself ask. A meaningless, impertinent question.

"My mother," he answered. "She likes to dance very much, and since my father has two left feet, I was the next best thing."

"Do you like it?"

"Sometimes," was his airy response. It was the first time Kagura ever heard him sound so… normal. Not indifferent, not annoyed or deadpan. There was life in his voice then, and life in him. She could feel it when she was this close. His eyes widened just the slightest amount when he realized she was leaning into him.

And suddenly, she was even closer.

Maybe she could blame it on the music, which had moved into a very romantic violin solo. Maybe she could blame in on the dancing and the mood. She could blame anything she wanted, but before she could stop herself, she was a breath away from his lips. A heartbeat away from kissing him. And the scary thing was that every fiber of her was screaming for her to do it.

"I forgot the drinks," Inuyasha announced, pushing himself through the doors with a juice box in each hand. He stormed through, placed them on the tray, and then left without giving them a second glance. It was enough of an interruption that forced Kagura to jump back from Sesshomaru, and the spell of the dance was broken.

Shaken by what she had almost done, she tried to hide her embarrassment. "Oh look, Juicy Juice."

"Inuyasha…" Sesshomaru growled under his breath, vowing eternal pain and suffering upon his little brother. When he turned back to look at Kagura, she was spraying a glob of cheese on to a cracker and nibbling on it like a rabbit with lettuce.

"Do you always eat your food like a rodent?" he asked. An excellent icebreaker.

Ruby eyes met him with a look of cool amusement. "Do I look like Mickey Mouse to you?"

"If you wore red, you might pass for Minnie," was his reply.

"Sesshomaru?"

"Yes?"

"Suck cheese!" Kagura whipped the can of cheese whiz in front of her and before he could react, she had pressed down on the cap, dosing him with a sticky, cheesy string of orange-yellow dairy product.

When the can was empty, and he was generously covered, Kagura grinned up at him. Sesshomaru only looked at her calmly. "I hope you're prepared to pay for the dry cleaning of this shirt," he said.

Kagura smiled, then giggled, then dropped the can so she could laugh fully. That statement struck her as just so undeniably Sesshomaru. Something he would have said back in the fourth grade even. Without even knowing it, she realized how well she actually knew him. Better than all the ferreted information Kagome and Sango could ever dig up. And that filled her with a comfort she hadn't known she could feel.

Though, her feelings became less fuzzy and more bent on revenge when Sesshomaru wiped a large smear of cheese bi-product across the side of her face.

Dancing was not attempted again that night. And by the time Kagura left, Sesshomaru was sure his office would smell like cheese whiz until the day he died.

Kagome adjusted the hanger one more time. The finished dress that hung on the closet door was tailored to fit one size. If she went over or under, it would never fit. She had to be precise and perfect. Which was what she always was. She was just that good.

The slinky black fabric had been tricky to work with, since it bunched if she wasn't careful, but she had surged the edges with the same blood red as the dragon running along the side to make sure there would be no frays or snags. The design was actually pretty simple. A Chinese cheongsam, but with a flare of lace and a more free-flowing skirt.

For a moment, Kagome just leaned back to admire her handiwork, but then she yawned and decided it was time to head back. She pulled out a small index card from her sewing basket and pinned it to the dress. She headed out the backdoor, the way she had come in, and hopped the fence. She rubbed her blurry eyes as she made her way back into the house.

Sango watched from her window, making sure Kagome didn't pass out in the backyard on her way home. Once she was sure that Kagome was gone, she ran to Kagura's room to inspect the results. Kagome had talked of no other design but this dress since she had decided. And looking at it, Sango knew Kagura would love it. It was just perfect enough. It was just… classic Kagura in every way.

Sango was just a bit jealous. She was usually the only model for Kagome's high fashion risks, but as long as it was for Kagura, she could overlook it. Just this once. Sango ran her fingers through her hair—which was streaked with blue this week—and smiled to herself. This dress was almost enough to make her start believing in faerie tales again.

The headlights of the Sundance pierced the hallway window, signaling Kagura's arrival home. Sango scampered out of the room and waited. She was surprised to see Kagura come walking in, covered in goo and smelling like salty cheese.

"Did you go to a keg party or something?"

"Food fight," Kagura yawned. "Must shower. Too much cheese."

"Before you pass out, you should check out what's hanging on your closet," Sango advised.

"What is it?"

"You'll see," was her stepsister's cryptic reply.

Kagura walked into her room, clicking on the light and looked at the closet. On the door hung her dress. Not just any dress, it was her dress. The kind of dress you can only find in a dream because it's just too perfect for you. But there was her dream dress, in silk and thread glory.

She was afraid to touch it, for fear of it becoming branded with cheese, but she did pluck off the index card.

Happy Homecoming! –K

Maybe, just maybe, there could be a happy ending this time.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I really did. I had a totally different beginning for the chapter that was standing for about two months, but then—about two days ago—I came and deleted it all and built the chapter from scratch. Yes, enjoy the fruits of two days of labor. Two days of nothing but my computer and a Mary Poppins DVD.