I still don't own these characters and I probably won't ever own them and I doubt that anybody would want me to own them.

Chapter 7

Kikyo wondered what she had done wrong in her life as Naraku sat down next to her on the train. He just had be some kind of punishment from the gods for something that was very bad and she just did not know what. That was the only explanation that she could think of. She was going to have to start listing events through her life to find out what she needed to do penance for if it would only make him go away. Glancing at him, she considered her options. Well, there is always murder … or maybe some sort of blessed item would turn him into dust.

Naraku began talking and Kikyo ignored him as he went on and on, preferring the roar of the train rubbing against the tracks to the sound of his voice. She could not think of a better way to put up with him because nothing else seemed to work. He did not seem to take the hint when she came right out and told him that she did not want to bother with him. She did not know what to do aside from pretend that he did not exist, even though he seemed hell bent on proving that he was right next to her. Suddenly, her cell phone rang and that gave her something else to focus on, which she was thankful for.

Kikyo reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She answered it after looking at the number. "Yes, Momma?" she answered her phone.

"Kikyo, darling, I need you to do me a small favor," her mother replied.

"Pick up Kaede?" the teacher guessed easily. It really would be the only reason that her mother would call her knowing that she was on the train at the moment.

Her mother sighed in relief. "I would greatly appreciate it."

"All right. She is to stay with me?" Kikyo asked.

"Yes, I can pick her up from your apartment tonight if necessary," her mother informed her.

"No, I can keep her tonight."

"All right."

"Bye," Kikyo said and after her mother responded in kind, she disconnected the call. She put her phone away and glanced out of the window, noting that her mother had very good timing. She got up and went to the train doors, preparing to get off at the next stop.

"Kikyo, where are you going?" Naraku asked, as if he had a right to know her whereabouts.

"I have an errand to run, not that it's any of your concern," she answered with some bite in her tone. He was no one to her, except for a pain in the neck anyway, which did not allot him any privileges in knowing what she did on her own time.

"I can assist you," he offered in a polite voice that she knew he was forcing. He was not a kind man, after all and she knew that quite well. Even his smile, which he was currently flashing her, betrayed his slimy nature.

"None is required."

"Allow me," he insisted.

"It is unnecessary," she argued in an even tone. It was bad enough that he knew where she worked, she did not wish for him to know where her sister went to school. She did not trust him with such information.

Kikyo had been avoiding letting Naraku even see what stop she got off on the train when she was heading home. A couple of times, he had stayed on the train, following her to the second train that she rode. He even tried to get off at the stop that she did to go home, but she just got on another train after seeing that he was following her. His actions did not frighten her in any way; his behavior did unnerve her a little, though. It was not pleasant to have a stalker, after all, especially such an obvious one.

The raven-haired woman exited the train when the doors slid open. Naraku trailed behind her much to her dismay. He was like a pesky housefly; he just never went away. She tried to lose him in a crowd that was a couple of blocks away, but he kept pace with her. She sighed; he was going to find out where her little sister went to school because she could not waste anymore time trying to be rid him. She would be late picking up Kaede if she fooled around with him any longer and she was not sure what her little sister might do if she got out of school to see no one waiting for her.

Kikyo marched down the long city blocks to a private school that looked like a mini-castle. She saw a group of people waiting on the sidewalk just outside the gates that separated the backyard of the school and the city street. She joined the group and looked into the large schoolyard, seeing that the children were not there yet.

"What are we doing here?" Naraku inquired.

Kikyo ignored him as she saw a line of uniformed students exiting the building. She did not have to wait long to see her sister's unmistakable face; it was hard to miss a nine-year-old girl proudly wearing an eye patch. Her little sister was talking with another little girl and Kikyo could see why the pair might share a common interest as both girls were carrying skateboards on their backpacks.

"Why does Momma let her bring that thing to school?" Kikyo asked herself, referring to the board.

"Big sister!" Kaede hollered in a joyful tone when she caught sight of Kikyo. She charged her big sister and leaped into Kikyo's waiting arms.

"Sister?' Naraku echoed in a confused tone.

"I didn't know you were coming to get me. Momma didn't say anything," Kaede said while grinning brightly just for the fact that she was with her sister. She was definitely Kikyo's biggest fan.

"I didn't know either. I believe it was rather spur-of-the-moment," Kikyo replied with a small smile of her own. She found it difficult to not smile when her sister was so happy just because she was present.

"Oh! I bet Momma stayed at work because she's trying to get a promotion. She doesn't talk about it a lot, but she has mentioned it a couple of times and she thinks that she's really close. She just needs her boss to see it, so she's probably working late to show him that she's ready to move up," the child reasoned as Kikyo released her from the embrace.

"I suppose," Kikyo replied and then she noticed the girl that her sister had been speaking to; she was standing behind Kaede. The girl was looking around, probably searching for her parents, Kikyo concluded. "Kaede, who is your friend?" the adult woman asked curiously.

"My friend?" Kaede echoed and then she turned around to see the girl behind her. She laughed a bit, embarrassed that she had forgotten that she exited the school with her classmate. "This is Rin. Rin, this is my big sister, Kikyo," she introduced her friend and sister.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Rin greeted the older female politely.

"Oh, please, call me Kikyo," she insisted, friendly warmth lacing her voice, which made Rin smile.

"Hey, Rin, tell my sister about your two-headed lizard. Kikyo, this is just about the coolest thing I ever heard," Kaede reported enthusiastically.

"Two-headed lizard?" Kikyo asked, having the presence of mind to look slightly confused just to egg the girls on.

"Ah and Un. See, Ah and Un are a little monitor lizard that was born with two heads. When I got them, I was told that they probably wouldn't live too long, but they're still going strong. I want to show them to Kaede because she's the only one in our class that believes me about them," Rin explained with an angelic grin.

"Maybe we can go today. Huh, Kikyo?" Kaede requested with a grin that made her eyes shine and made Kikyo give into her demands almost always.

"I would like to take you, but her parents have not been informed and we have a long train ride ahead of us," Kikyo answered.

"What about if I ask my big brother? He's coming to get me today and if I ask him, it'll be okay. He can drive you home. He's nice enough to do it, even if acts like he's not. If I ask him, he's bound to say yes. He's a really good big brother," Rin declared proudly, letting Kikyo know that Rin thought highly of her big brother.

"So, if he agrees, can we please go, Kikyo?" Kaede begged with a cute pout that she knew would make her sister cave in.

"Well, if it's not too much trouble," Kikyo hesitantly conceded. There was no way for her to decisively deny her little sister when she looked like that. Between the pout and the grin, Kaeda has me wrapped around her finger. She sighed.

"And there he is!" Rin pointed at her brother's car as it pulled up. "Big brother!" Rin called with a huge grin.

Kikyo turned to see what the child's brother looked like and she froze like time itself stopped when she saw Sesshomaru get out of the car. Kikyo really wanted to know what gods she had angered in what life because the day was getting worse by the second. Rin charged Sesshomaru and hugged him around his leg as usual.

"Hello, Rin," Sesshomaru greeted her in his usual tone.

"Big brother, I want to show my friend Ah and Un, but she needs a ride home. Could you drive her home after she sees Ah and Un?" Rin requested in a rush because of her excitement.

"Where is this friend?" Sesshomaru asked, focusing more on his little sister than their current surroundings.

"Right there," Rin replied while pointing at Kaede and Kikyo, not to mention Naraku, who was standing near the sisters. Sesshomaru turned to look and he almost gasped, but he remained in control of himself; apparently, the universe had a warped sense of humor.

"Kikyo," Sesshomaru said in a clipped tone. It was not even a greeting. The use of her name was barely an acknowledgement from the sound of his voice. It was like he just wanted to make sure it was her to continue to gaze upon her as if she was worth less than the trash on the street.

"Sesshomaru," she replied in an equally dispassionate tone. She then turned her attention to her little sister. "Kaede, I think that your trip might have to be postponed," she commented. After all, she doubted that Rin's brother would be willing to do them any favors.

"Aw, man," Kaede groaned, utterly disappointed. She kicked at the dust and pouted again.

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance. As long as it is only you and her," Sesshomaru said to Kikyo. His little sister did not have many friends and he did not see the point in making her miserable just because the world enjoyed being ironic.

"Please, sis!" Kaede implored her sibling. "I mean, it's a two-headed lizard. How many chances are we gonna have in life to see a two-headed lizard?" she inquired quite seriously.

"All right, all right," Kikyo agreed with a sigh.

"Just you and her," Sesshomaru repeated for Kikyo to understand that he would not let that flea Naraku in his car.

"You have already said as much. It is only myself and my sister," Kikyo informed him.

"And him?" Sesshomaru asked, nodding toward Naraku. He made sure to keep his tone neutral, even though he wanted to destroy the man just for being near his Kikyo.

"He came on his own. I'm sure he can leave the same way," she answered in a disinterested tone.

"Then let's go," Sesshomaru stated, wanting to get Kikyo away from her co-worker as quickly as possible.

Naraku was about to protest about being left as Kikyo and Kaede started toward Sesshomaru's car, but the silver-haired male glared at him to let him understand that it would be in his best interest to go on his way. Naraku frowned, but he did not challenge Sesshomaru. He turned around and walked away. Kaede looked at Naraku's back as he retreated.

"Who was that, big sister?" Kaede inquired curiously. She had not even noticed him until Sesshomaru drew attention to him.

"Just an annoyance," Kikyo replied in a dismissive tone.

The ladies piled into the car. At first, Kikyo was going to sit in the back with her sister, but Rin beat her to the backseat. Kikyo sat in the passenger seat next to Sesshomaru, who did not as much as glance at her. The ride was spent in a tense silence for Kikyo and Sesshomaru while their sisters kept talking about going to a skate park, not that anyone had agreed to take them to said park and no one was going to allow them to go to the park on their own.

When they came to the manor house, Rin pulled Kaede up to her room. Sesshomaru quietly invited Kikyo into the sitting room with a motion of his hand. She silently accepted the offer and took a seat in an armchair. He sat across from her with his eyes focused everywhere that was not her. They were both certain that they could be respectful toward each other despite the past, if only for their sisters' sake.

"Are your parents not home?" Kikyo asked just because the place was so quiet.

"No," he answered bluntly and for a few seconds everything was silent again. "Why was he there if you weren't with him?" he calmly demanded to know.

Kikyo dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. "He is free to travel where he pleases," she replied, not that she enjoyed that he chose to travel near her.

"Has he been harassing you?" he inquired, even though he knew that answer to that question just for the fact that the man was with her and she obviously did not desire him to be there. He wanted to crush that irksome man for daring to bother his Kikyo.

"His breathing harasses me," she answered in a bored tone.

"I can see how that might be," he conceded and then there was silence once again.

"Did you receive my message?" she finally asked. Part of her hoped, quite foolishly in her opinion, that he did not get the message and that was why he had not returned her call and that he was not totally ignoring her existence, as she was certain he was.

"I did," he confirmed brusquely.

"I see," she muttered for lack of a better thing to say. They were quiet again.

"Were you still dating him when we met?" Sesshomaru asked. It had been plaguing his mind. Was she with Inuyasha back then? Had she agreed to date him while she was still with his little brother?

"No," she answered plainly, yet honestly.

"Then why were you with him at the party?" he inquired.

"He asked me."

"Why you?"

"His girlfriend was studying for a big exam that night. She couldn't go. I was plan B," she informed him.

"And why did you agree?"

"He asked me," she repeated.

"You love him?" he asked, making sure to keep his usual tone. It took a lot of self-control for him to do such a thing considering how he actually feared the possible answer that she could give. He was not ready to hear that she loved or was still in love with his little brother.

"I thought I did."

"And now?"

Kikyo looked away for a moment, not sure if she wanted to respond to that question considering the answers that she could give. Sesshomaru did not change his expression, even when she turned back to look him directly in his golden eyes. He thought that he knew what she was going to say, but she managed to catch him by surprise; she was just about the only woman that could do that.

"I love you," Kikyo informed him in a deliberate, yet nonchalant tone. She made it seem so easy.

"You love me? So, you thought you loved Inuyasha and now you love me. Sounds rather fickle," he commented, although she said the one thing that he was pretty sure that he wanted to hear. He doubted that he would have been able to take any other answer than the one that she gave. Unfortunately, he was not sure he was ready for that answer.

"If you don't want my love, say so. I cannot change the way that I feel, but you can ignore it. I would expect you to do so," she retorted.

"You would expect me to do so?" he echoed as if he did not understand her words.

"It is what your brother did."

"You dare compare me to that imbecile?" Sesshomaru almost growled at her for saying such a thing, and with such ease too.

"I merely know that you are angry with me for loving you."

"What's to keep you from loving me today, but Naraku tomorrow?" he inquired.

"Are you jealous?" she countered.

"Jealousy is beneath me. I am perfection, what have I to be jealous of?"

"There is your answer then," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"If I love perfection, why would I need anything else?" she asked him.

Sesshomaru was left dumbfounded for a moment. She was good with words and logic, maybe as good as he was. He stared at her and considered everything that had happened between them. Did he want to bother with her again?

The golden-eyed male stood up and walked over to Kikyo. She looked at him unafraid as he stared at her with an intense, almost predatory gaze. She considered that he might still be angry with her.

"If you speak the truth, then you are mine and you will always be mine," Sesshomaru informed the raven-haired woman.

"Who would argue being with perfection?" she asked.

Sesshomaru leaned down to kiss Kikyo. He captured her lips in a passionate embrace and almost sighed in relief against her mouth. He had no idea how much he truly missed her and the feel of her soft, delicious lips against his own. How had be survived over two weeks without her? He had no idea.

"Big sister, look!" Kaede yelled as she and Rin charged into the sitting room. Kaede was holding Ah and Un and, sure enough, he had two-heads, but Kikyo did not see them. The two little girls blushed when they noticed their older siblings deeply kissing.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kikyo goes to have dinner with Sesshomaru's family, parents and siblings. It should be all right … right?