I don't own these characters.

Before you read this, just picture if you will Kikyo and Sesshomaru at an amusement park together. Just think about it. All right, I'll stop acting silly now.

Chapter 3

It took Sesshomaru almost a week to get into contact with Kikyo again after the party his parents had thrown him as congratulations on winning his first case. He supposed that the simplest thing for him to do would have been to ask his brother for her phone number, but his way was much less gut-wrenching. He preferred to never have to deal with his loud, uncouth brother unless it was absolutely necessary; that usually meant that his parents were forcing him and Inuyasha to be in the same area and there was absolutely nothing either of them could use for distractions. Of course, there were times when Inuyasha did enjoy just getting on his big brother's nerves when they were in close proximity.

Sesshomaru called Kikyo once he did manage to dig up her phone number, but he got her voicemail. It was rather direct in stating her name and requesting that whomever it was trying to get in contact with her leave their name, number, and some explanation for the contact. He decided to leave a message, even though he would have preferred to speak with her directly.

"This is Sesshomaru. I was calling to let you know that I enjoyed our conversation the other night at the party. Perhaps we could get together and discuss existence and essence over dinner sometimes," he said and he left his number for her to call him back. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that was a strange way to make a date. He never offered to discuss philosophy with anyone before.

When Kikyo got the message, she had no idea how to take it. Inuyasha's brother wanted to speak on philosophy with her over dinner? It sounded rather bizarre to her because who spoke about philosophy while dining? Not that she was opposed to doing such a thing, but it still seemed rather peculiar in her opinion. Besides, she was not too certain that she wanted to go out with Sesshomaru.

Kikyo had heard her fair share of "Sesshomaru's a stuck up bastard" rants from Inuyasha to consider that the elder of the brothers might not be a man that she wished to associate with. She did admit that she liked speaking with him for the brief time that they had at the party. Unfortunately, Inuyasha had pulled her away in the middle of a sentence after he came back from having his cigarette and she had not gotten to finish her conversation with his older brother. Sesshomaru did not seem so horrible, not the way that Inuyasha made him out to be anyway. She would not mind being in his company again, as long as they picked another topic of discussion somewhere along the line. Philosophy was interesting, but her mind needed more than just that as a stimulus.

Kikyo returned the call and agreed the next day to go out with Sesshomaru. He informed her that he would pick her up at eight on Friday night, but that was not ideal for her, which he thought was a bit strange. Unless of course, Kikyo had a date that night, but he did not detect any hint in her voice that such a thing was the case. She had told him that Friday was not right with too much ease and no hesitation to suggest that she was going on another date that night. She suggested that they go out on Saturday, which was all right by him. He actually had documents that he was supposed to look over and prepare, so it worked out to where he would be able to get through all of his work and possibly enjoy his weekend.

-8-8-8-8-

On Saturday, Sesshomaru went to pick up Kikyo from her apartment. She lived in some modest, but comfortable looking co-ops. The building complex was clean with a group of seven red-bricked building. She was waiting for him downstairs in the lobby of her building, dressed in what he considered to be business casual attire. He was willing to bet that she was wearing work clothes, but such a thing did not bother him and he did not think less of her if that was the case.

"Shall we go?" Sesshomaru asked as he approached Kikyo, who was also calmly strolling toward him.

"Please," she replied with an almost blank expression on her face, as if she did not care one way or the other, even though that was not the case.

The pair went to Sesshomaru's white sedan. People tended to be shocked about the car that he drove, always expecting some kind of flashy sports' car. Yes, it was a Benz sedan, but people still thought he would have a two-seater and something that went from 0 to 80 in less than a second.

Kikyo did not seem to think about the ride much. She did not look impressed at the sight of it and her eyes only briefly wandered around the interior. She silently noted that the tan leather seat that she was occupying was quite comfortable. The ride to the restaurant was smooth and not very long. They were silent for the trip, mostly studying each other as if they were puzzles to be figured out.

They did not come to any solid conclusions. Kikyo wondered if Sesshomaru was close to what Inuyasha made him out to be while Sesshomaru was trying to understand what about Kikyo endeared her to his brother to the point where Inuyasha even knew her. They were unable to figure those things out before they reached their destination.

Dinner was pleasant enough, but probably looked weird to outsiders. They remained on the safe topic of philosophy, speaking in low, clinical terms to each other. They really did not find out much about each other beyond their metaphysical thoughts, but they discovered that they did not mind the other's presence. It would seem that she was not a half-wit, as Sesshomaru was still considering that she might be until that meal. He was not the cold-hearted bastard that Inuyasha made him out to be, Kikyo noted.

He asked her out again and she accepted, so they went out the next day also. He took her to the boardwalk for a stroll since it was such a lovely day and they attempted to get out of the realm of philosophy in effort to get to know each better in more substantial ways. After all, they might end up going on a third date and by then, they figured that there needed to be something more between them than an interested in philosophy.

"So, how do you like teaching fourth graders? It must be rewarding," Sesshomaru commented, although he did not see how such a thing could be rewarding. He thought that such a thing was probably nerve-wrecking, but he suspected that only someone that could stand such a career would choose to do it.

"It is sometimes. I do like it. I like children," Kikyo answered with a small, almost invisible smile. He enjoyed that about her. She did not wear her emotions on her face from what he could tell and he actually liked that.

"I would suspect as much if you teach nine-year-olds. These are creatures that feel they know everything there is to know about everything," he remarked with a small, knowing smile.

Kikyo smiled warmly. "Most children do see themselves as mini-adults. I try to treat them as they like and they tend to behave. It makes my job easier. What about you? Do you enjoy being a lawyer?"

"Indeed."

Kikyo accepted his one word answer, which was something that Sesshomaru secretly appreciated because he disliked explaining himself. She quickly learned that he was a man of few words, especially when it came to his personal life. She was the same way and he did not press her for more than she offered. Despite the fact that they spoke few words about their lives, they continued to date and they enjoyed each other's company all the more each time that they got together.

-8-8-8-8-

The first month, Sesshomaru and Kikyo only went out on the weekends. One Saturday he ran out of ideas as to where to take Kikyo and decided to be different. He took her to a carnival that he had noticed when driving by the boardwalk one day; they both suspected that they looked odd at the amusement park. After all, they did not appear very amused.

"What should we do first?" Sesshomaru asked while looking around and not enjoying what he saw between all of the people and tons of junk food. He hoped that Kikyo suggested they leave.

"Have you ever been on the Ferris wheel?" she inquired rather curiously, glancing over at him. She could guess the answer to her question, but she would rather that he confirm or deny it.

"No," he replied in his usual tone.

"Let's," she proposed, almost sounding excited about it, but not quite there. She began gently pulling the silver-haired male toward the aforementioned attraction. They took a seat on the ride and they began to go around and around. He failed to see the entertainment value of the ride.

"What is the point of going up and down in a circle on hard, uncomfortable seats that some child has probably defiled with uncontrolled bodily functions?" Sesshomaru had to ask. It seemed rather mindless and dull to him and he was rather stunned that the ebony-haired female wanted to ride such a monotonous attraction.

Kikyo did not bother to respond verbally. She pointed to the car right below them for Sesshomaru to understand the main point for people over the age of twelve to ride the attraction. He directed his golden eyes to where she was pointing and saw a couple kissing. He quickly turned away from the scene.

"Did I need to see that?" he complained, frowning slightly because of his annoyance with the scene that he had had just witnessed.

Kikyo shrugged. "You wanted to know the point," she retorted dully, as if she was not affected by his clear displeasure.

"Is that why you dragged me here?" he inquired, as if he did not care, but he did make the inquiry. He was curious if that was the point of her wanting to get on the ride, even though that did not seem like her.

"Would you think to do such a thing?" she countered.

"I would never lower myself to a public display such as that."

Kikyo nodded. "Then we are agreed."

Sesshomaru nodded too and then wondered why she would pull him onto a ride where the point was to act indecent. He glanced at her and then he believed that he understood why they were there; she was staring out onto the beach, which the carnival was next to. The sun was shining over the breathtaking blue-green water, making for a spectacular sight. The Ferris wheel was a great way to view the pristine beach and clear water as it touched sky. He decided to enjoy the view with her, taking her hand in his while doing so. She glanced down at their hands, but she did not say anything about it and they continued on looking out onto the beach while they could. They both mutely smiled, very tiny expressions, almost unnoticeable.

After that ride, the unenthusiastic couple went into the horror house for lack of a better thing to do. Yet another pointless waste of time, Sesshomaru thought. He doubted that the attractions in the haunted house could scare a four-year-old; Kikyo was inclined to agree. He guessed that the ride was in the dark not to frighten anyone, but to allow more time for revolting public displays. They did not indulge in such a thing, instead allowing the ride to bore them to the point where Sesshomaru was ready to just get out of the small car and walk out of the place. Kikyo would have followed him, but thankfully, the ride ended before they could do such a thing.

After three rides, Sesshomaru was a bit tired of the carnival; he just was not amused and he doubted that he ever would be. Kikyo locked her arm around his and let him know that they were not leaving just yet by tugging him toward a cotton candy stand. The motions kind of made him forget that he wanted to get out of there and he glanced down at her arm in his, deciding that he very much liked the way they were linked together. He bought her a bag of pink, puffy candy upon request and seemed surprised to see her merrily eating it. She noticed that he was looking at her strangely.

"Would you like some?" the chocolate-eyed woman offered.

"No," he answered plainly.

"Have you ever had any before?" she asked.

"I've had the blue kind."

"You don't like it?"

Sesshomaru only looked down at the petite woman on his arm, as if that answered her question. She pulled a small bit of cotton candy from the bag and put it to his lips, which surprised him a bit. Sesshomaru pulled his head back a bit, but he silently accepted the candy since he thought that it would please her. He nipped her fingers with his teeth as she put the sweets in his mouth. She made a startled noise and glanced up at him; he pretended that he had not done anything wrong. She had to fight back a smile.

They wandered the amusement park for a little while longer with nothing really catching their eyes. She did get him to try candied apples and funnel cake; he could not believe that she would eat any of those sticky so-called foods, but she enjoyed them quite a bit. He only tasted them to please her. Then they passed a game stand with a ridiculously large teddy bear as a prize, along with other equally large plush toys. Sesshomaru had noticed many people walking around with stuffed animals. Maybe Kikyo would like one, he considered.

"Shall I win you a prize?" Sesshomaru proposed, as if it was a foregone conclusion that he would get a prize if he played a game.

"If you can," she answered like it did not make a difference to her. She would be quite pleased if he was able to pull off such a feat as it would be a sweet gesture, not that she would ever say such a thing.

"Well, then it shall be done," he commented.

Sesshomaru went to a game stand; it was a shooting game. He had three shots and had to hit a target with just one. The set up was that the target was a playing card; the ace of spades. It was ten yards away and he could not hit any of the white in the card. He took one shot and collected a prize.

"What should we call him?" Kikyo asked as Sesshomaru held a giant, snow-white toy dog, which was the prize he won.

"Call him?" he echoed. Why should they call it anything? It was an inanimate object; it was not like it was going to come running if they named it.

"He looks like a Fluffy," she decided while studying the stuffed animal, delight actually dancing in her chocolate eyes.

"He does?" he inquired in a rather confused tone. It was a toy, how could it look like anything?

"Yes. We'll call him Fluffy," she stated soundly.

"Indeed," he concurred flatly.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Sesshomaru learns a bit more about Kikyo by getting to see what her home is like.