Kagome shifted in the seat, clearly uncomfortable.

'It couldn't be the same Taisho could it?'

She licked her lips and looked over at Sesshoumaru. She REALLY hoped it wasn't the same one, because if so then he was teasing her back in the restaurant. She was wishing she had a phonebook to look through all the Taisho's right now.

"Say… How many Taisho's are there in the city?"

Yeah, she sounded lame to her too. But she had to know, and why put it off? I mean, the chances of him being the same Taisho were like a zillion to one… right?

"There is my half-brother and myself. That is all."

His voice was smooth and deep. Just like the Taisho on the phone.

"Does… does your brother have the same voice as you?" Kagome said, looking at Sesshoumaru. When he turned and looked at her she saw slight coldness in their depths.

'Touchy subject…'

"Why, do you ask?"

She turned away and held on to her seatbelt, staring out the window into the moving streets and people.

"No reason."

She said it quickly. Perhaps… too quickly. She heard him give a 'Hmm' and then turn back to the road. She gave a silent sigh of thanks before turning back to the window.

Sometimes, she got dizzy looking outside. On hot days like this one that is. And sometimes it made her sick, and she had to close her eyes and ears to make it go away. A bit childish yes, but effective. She was thanking God today wasn't one of those times. The leather seats were getting quite uncomfortable and she found the sweat collecting under her thighs annoying. She didn't want to wipe it off because she would cause attention to herself, so she sat there, semi-bearably uncomfortable, staring out of the window of a car with a man she just met, but could possibly be someone she'd talked to before. The thoughts were giving her a headache.

'When I get home, I'm going straight to bed. No wait… ice-cream a movie and then bed!'

She smiled, satisfied with her decisions and gave a sigh of content. Only when the sweat started to pool on the seats did she remember where she was.

'Oh my God, how embarrassing! Maybe… if I'm really nice, he'll turn on the air conditioning or roll down a window!'

She licked her lips and turned to Sesshoumaru again.

"Um…"

Sesshoumaru turned and looked at her again, pinning her with those eyes. Those really gorgeous golden eyes. What was she going to say again? Oh yeah!

"It's um… kind of hot. Don't you think?"

He smiled slightly, not a real one, she noticed. But it was a smile that seemed so practiced. As if it were only there because the moment called for one. Was every smile of his like that?

"Yes… I suppose it is warm."

She watched as he slowly began to make his way to the air conditioner.

'Damn he's taking a long time!'

She decided her time was best spent looking out of the window, so she turned back to it. Oh how she hated those damn skyscrapers! She hated the city, but it's where she was from, and as much as she hated it, she'd miss it if she moved. She was so caught up in her thoughts that when the soft breath of cold air came swirling through her hair she gasped. She looked, once again, at Sesshoumaru who was looking at her with his hand still on the air conditioner. He turned back to the road and dragged his hand back over to his side, slightly brushing her knee.

'Oh my God…'

Kagome blushed and sucked in her bottom lip before shivering involuntarily. She mentally scolded herself for her hentai thoughts.

'He probably didn't even notice he did it! Bad Kagome!'

Sesshoumaru gripped the steering wheel tightly, forcing himself to think of the road ahead of him, and not the beautiful girl sitting next to him. Why did he offer to drive her again? Oh yeah, he didn't want her riding the bus, with god knows who or what.

'Damn, she's gorgeous. Too bad...'

After today, he wouldn't see her anymore. He wouldn't let himself like her. She'd ruin him. He was suddenly feeling empty. Something was missing, and he knew no matter how hard he looked he'd never find it. So he tried his best to ignore it.

'Inuyasha…'

Damn brat! Got everything he wanted, while Sesshoumaru got nothing. It's not like he cared either way, but Inuyasha deserved nothing. He was an ungrateful whelp. The thought of Kagome ever meeting him made his blood boil. He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

'Bastard…'

Inuyasha… he… Oh well. That was a story for another time. He would ponder on the thoughts when he was alone. He looked over at his 'companion' who was humming silently to herself. He felt the corners of his mouth twitch on their own.

'Maybe she's not so bad.'

Kagome hummed to herself a song that she had heard on the radio earlier. Malice Mizer's Au Revoir came floating into her ears and she couldn't help but let it float out through her mouth also. She tapped her fingers to the beat inside her head and bobbed her head back and forth. She was totally off key, but she liked the feeling anyways. Humming was calming. She suddenly remembered where she was, and with who, and became very, very embarrassed. She wasn't exactly the most silent hummer around when she got going and hoped she didn't knock his eardrums out or something. She felt her cheeks flare as he looked at her, noticing the sound was gone.

"I'm… sorry, for disturbing you. I hope I didn't make you mad."

Sesshoumaru gave a sniff and just stared ahead again. Kagome felt her cheeks redden slightly more at that. She must have offended him, somehow.

"I didn't mean to offe-"

"It's alright…"

"Huh?"

"I said, it's alright. I didn't mind. I was enjoying it."

Kagome felt her eyes widen slightly. She felt something thumping against her throat, and vaguely realized it was her traitorous heart. She closed her eyes and wished the traitor to be silent, for she was sure it could be heard. The loudness of it was deafening and she felt as if her throat were closing. What was wrong with her? Maybe… if she hummed again it would be all right. So she did, the sound came out strangled at first, a bit too forced. And she blushed at it, but continued anyways, and soon found herself lost once more in the song. Never once did she look over to see that her companion was smiling slightly closing his eyes every now and then, enjoying the presence of another for once.

She was off key, lacked the rhythm and style the song possessed but still he enjoyed listening to her. He was pleased that she felt comfortable around him. She didn't try and make herself appear perfect. She literally voiced them out. He smiled as she hit a particular note. He didn't know why but he felt like laughing. But the thought was humorous in itself in the fact that he never laughed. He smiled, yes. But laughing is different. While smiling is done by everyone, laughing is reserved for being happy. And Sesshoumaru couldn't be happy! It wasn't allowed. Not for him. He was destined to be alone, and miserable.

'Why?'

He didn't know why, but he could feel it were so. He didn't mind being alone. He preferred it. But he was thankful he never got lonely. There's a difference you know. Being alone was usually by choice. But sometimes, certain people are always alone. He was one of those people. He was trapped in a glass bubble, forced to look at everyone from the inside. But lonely, he couldn't handle lonely. Lonely was the feeling of dread. Lonely was the feeling of a child horrendous nightmare coming back to them as an adult and grabbing them by the neck choking them until their breath was cut off, gone. It was an indescribable fear, which haunted everyone. Yes, he'd been lonely before, and he tried to surround himself with people but the damn glass bubble that made him always alone got in the way. It seemed, that even as fragile as glass was, nobody could muster the strength to break it. Or maybe nobody cared to break it. Let him be alone. The thought alone made lonely sound more frightening. He realized somewhere in the cavern of his mind that someone was speaking to him.

"…My stop."

He slowed to a stop and looked at her.

"What?"

"I said… this is my stop."

She tilted her head at him, and gave him that lopsided smile he already associated with her. She waved at him and opened his door before stepping out into the street. He watched as she stuck her face back in the door and said, "Thanks! See you around huh?"

"Perhaps…"

Then she shut the door, and walked away. He wouldn't see her again, he knew this. He was destined to be surrounded by his glass bubble. Always staring at someone from the inside. He drove away and couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed. He didn't know why, the piece that was empty threatened to consume his entire being, and he was laughing. Beautiful…

'Yes, she isn't so bad.'