Wish I Were You

Sakura's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I loved opening my email to see them waiting for me. This week, all three stories will be updated. Hopefully, this will be how it is from now on, depending on my school workload. On Mondays and Tuesdays I will work on Mission Completed, Tuesday and Wednesdays Wish I Were You, and Wednesdays and Thursdays Thief of Hearts.

To answer a few quick questions:

1) No, Sesshoumaru still has silver/white hair, as does Inuyasha. It briefly mentions Inuyasha's hair color in the first chapter, but many of you might have not noticed.

2) I can't say what role many of the characters will play in this story without ruining the plot, so please be patient. But, I can say that there will be Miroku/Sango fluff, as well as a few other of my favorite Inuyasha couples.

I think that's it for now, if you have any questions just put them in your reviews. Also, if you want me to give you a personal response don't forget to leave your email address if you aren't registered with ff . net.

Onto chapter three.

.-..-.

Chapter 3: First Impressions

.-..-.

As far as she knew, no one had the slightest idea of who won the contest. The press was no doubt prying through everything they could get their hands on to find out, of course. They always managed to find out somehow.

Kagome would never outright say she hated the paparazzi with a fiery passion, because that would be mean. She wasn't a mean person by nature; someone had to release her inner animal for her to get rude and brutally outspoken. But, she was finding it incredibly easy nowadays to be un-caged.

With a final sweep on the room, Kagome fell onto her bed with a sigh of fatigue.

It was eleven o'clock eastern standard time.

She hadn't even the slightest idea if she would be in the same time zone by morning. They had mentioned the winner's name, but not much more than that. The switch wasn't going to be televised; so all the secrecy was completely unnecessary.

Kagome groped around her down comforter for the familiar shape of her TV remote. Once she found it, the young heiress turned on the television.

"There is still no news on which lucky girl has won the 'contest of a lifetime' sponsored by the Urashi Corporation. It is said that tomorrow the young woman and the multibillion dollar heiress will switch places." The news anchor straightened the small stack of papers in front of her and looked back up at the screen. "Drugs found in baby formula, details when we get back."

Kagome gave a look of disgust. "Figures they'd put a celebrity before the general public's safety..."

There was a knock on her door. After she muttered her permission -- still engulfed in the problems of today's society -- the door opened and her father stepped in. He clapped his hands, and rubbed them together. "Ready for tomorrow?"

"I guess so." She gave a ghost of a smile and changed the channel.

"Well I brought you something to pack your stuff in." Mr. Higurashi pressed. He looked a bit unsure of himself.

Kagome tucked a stray lock of midnight hair behind her ear. "Thanks dad, but I've already packed." She gestured to the five bags sitting in a neat row by her bed and returned her eyes to the television.

Her father laughed. "Oh, princess, you think you can take all of that with you?" He shook his head, "You're living a normal life, Kagome. Normal people don't pack that much luggage."

"Of course they do!" Kagome stood up and made a mental survey of television families that had gone on vacations.

"Not with the kind of stuff you have packed in them." Her father argued lightly. "There's a difference between the necessities for a holiday and bringing a portable curling iron and mini sauna."

"Who said I was bringing a curling iron?" Kagome asked, her voice dodgy.

Before she could react a bag a shade lighter than a school bus was thrust in her face. "Here, princess, pack what you're going to bring in here."

Kagome hesitantly looked down at the gift her father had given her. It was an immensely large yellow backpack with about a dozen zipped pockets. She looked at the luggage by her bed, then back at the bag in her hand with a questioning look. "This is supposed to last me three months?"

"You don't expect to have a different outfit for every day, do you?"

"Oh, no! Of course not! I guess I'll just have to... Squish some stuff in." She scrunched up her nose and tossed one of her suitcases on the bed.

"That's my girl." He walked to the door and stopped. For a moment he just stood there, then he was gone.

Kagome unzipped the first bag and spilled out its contents. "Somehow I thought packing would be so much easier."

.-..-.

Inuyasha pushed his paycheck into his jacket pocket and exited the movie theater. It was eleven thirty, yet Wayne Avenue was still congested. It would be until at least midnight. Pedestrians still crossed over to The Majestic or the restaurants across the street.

He'd worked for six straight hours and still couldn't believe Sango had won. Tomorrow he would be living with a stranger. A rich stranger. A rich, obnoxious, snobby, spoiled, dimwit stranger. How else could she be? The heiress was an heiress after all; everything she had ever wanted was probably handed to her on a silver platter.

By the time he got home the only light was coming from Sango's room. He could make out her silhouette hurrying around her room.

"Inuyasha."

The white-haired teen jumped, "Miroku? What're you doing standing out here?"

Miroku rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing, really. Just waiting for you."

"I'm flattered." Inuyasha drawled, "But I'm tired, so I'll talk to you tomorrow." He reached into his pocket for his keys.

"Oh, by the way, when's Sango leaving tomorrow?"

"Six." Inuyasha frowned, "They're making us get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday."

"That's harsh." Miroku admitted, cringing inwardly. "Well, I better go get some sleep, Mushin will be on my case until I do."

"Yeah, alright." Inuyasha yawned, waving a lazy goodbye and trailing into the house. He needed sleep. Bad.

.-..-.

"Inuyasha! Sis is leaving!" Kohaku barged into the room, ignoring the fact that he hadn't been invited in.

"What time is it?" Inuyasha grunted. He rolled over and was blinded by light. With a yelp he dived under his pillow. "Kohaku, are you crazy?!"

Kohaku turned off his flashlight and the room darkened. "But--"

"I just got off a six hour shift."

"That was a while ago." Kohaku pointed out, throwing Inuyasha's pillow onto the floor. "Did you forget Sango's leaving today?"

"Well obviously..." He ground out, checking his clock. "It is five forty-five in the morning."

"Yeah."

Inuyasha sighed, "Alright, I'm coming." The annoyed teen was still only half awake. "And if you ever wake me up this early again, I'll kill you."

"I'm glad I woke you up so early too, 'Yash." Kohaku called from the doorway.

"I taught him too well." Inuyasha shook his head wearily.

Five minutes later Inuyasha traipsed downstairs and into the living room. Sango spotted him first.

"Nice of you to see me off." Sango folded her arms and smiled. "Excited about being rid of me for three months?"

Inuyasha smirked, "Maybe."

Sango engulfed him in a bear hug, "I know you'll miss me." As an afterthought, she added, "I'll bring you back something."

Her brother raised a skeptic eyebrow. "Sango, are you feeling alright?"

"I don't really know." She laughed as there was a knock on the door. "That's my limo."

"No, it's just me." Kagura announced from the door. "I came to see you off, Sango. Even though I about passed out from exhaustion on my way over." She gave the fifteen year old a hug. "Congratulations! The odds are amazing, even my little sister Kanna entered."

Sango looked behind Kagura out the open door. Two men dressed in black were coming up the walkway. "They're here!"

One of the men knocked on the side of the door, "We've been sent by Mr. Higurashi to bring the winner, Sango Dawson." He smiled as Sango stepped forward. "Congratulations, Miss Dawson. We'll take your bags to the limo."

She quickly gave another round of hugs, grabbing Sesshoumaru and Kagura in a hurried embrace before doing the same to her two other brothers. "I'll call you guys tonight! Bye!"

There was a chorus of byes before she disappeared out the door, waving good byes the whole distance to the car.

Kagura gave a light chuckle. "She is one lucky girl."

.-..-.

Miroku saw Sango leave the house waving. He'd been calmly waiting at the door for the past ten minutes. With a yawn he casually walked outside, heading out to get the morning paper. "Sango?"

The girl looked away from her transport, "Miroku? What're you doing up so early?"

"Just getting the paper for Mushin."

"But you're never up this early on Saturdays..."

"Of course I am!" Miroku laughed nervously, bending over to grab the paper. He looked back up at her, "I just can't believe you were leaving without saying goodbye."

Sango blushed, "I didn't want to wake you..."

"As you can see I'm already awake."

She laughed, "Yeah, I can." The two Urashi workers patiently waited as Sango made her way through her dew-covered lawn to the fence. "You won't have to put up with me for three months, monk."

Miroku smirked at the nickname. Ever since he played a priest in a school play she'd insisted on calling him that. "You make it sound like that's a good thing."

Their eyes met for a moment before one of the two men in suits coughed. "I better get going. See ya, Miroku." In the spur of the moment she stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Tell Mushin I said bye!"

The second chauffer held open the limousine door as Sango climbed inside. "Enjoy your ride to your private jet, Miss Dawson."

Before she could respond, the door closed.

In the silence, Sango noted she could hear the faint sound of music coming from the massive speakers behind her. She recognized the song, but couldn't remember the name for the life of her. "Good bye normal life. Don't be offended if I don't miss you."

.-..-.

"Come on, you're already late as it is!" A maid quickly shooed Kagome down the steps. "My word, your father really did give you some restrictions..."

Kagome gave a distracted smile as she concentrated on carrying her overstuffed bag down the steps. She'd been able to convince her father for one more suitcase, but it didn't help much. The backpack he'd supplied her with the night before was still ridiculously large with the pockets bulging at the seams.

"Here, let me help you." She could tell that Charles, one of the butlers, was the one offering her help.

"Thanks, Charles, you're a lifesaver!" She let out a large puff of air as she felt half the weight disappear.

He sounded surprised. "You remembered my name!"

"Well duh, you've been working here for three weeks already!" She gave a small laugh once she reached level ground.

"Wonderful day for the elevator to get stuck, hm?" The maid mused aloud. She hurried out the door into the early morning sunshine carrying Kagome's one and only suitcase.

"It's probably Eri and the sauna boy again..." Another maid blathered. "I swear, it must be the sixth time this month!"

Kagome allowed another of her father's workers to relieve her of the heavy load of carrying the yellow bag down to the car. She looked around earnestly. "Oh, Monique, have you seen my father?"

The maid who had been gossiping about the romances of the Urashi Corporation stopped bustling around with her duster. Her voice was apologetic, "Last I heard he was stuck in a meeting."

The young heiress nodded, "Oh, ok then. Guess I should hit the road, then, huh?"

"I'm sure he wanted to be here," Monique consoled, patting Kagome's shoulder.

"Of course he did," another employee concurred soothingly. "He sends you his love. Mr. Higurashi can't help having such a busy schedule."

Kagome smiled, "You guys are so sweet. Thank you for being here." She took the time to hug all of them. "Be sure to treat the winner as nice as you treat me!"

Since she was going to live like a normal high school girl they would be driving her down in a good ol' family Suburban. It was a four hour trip to her destination. Her father's slimy assistant Mr. Webb had told her late the night before she would be traveling to Maryland.

As soon as she was securely buckled into the minivan, they pulled out of the parking garage onto the busy New York streets.

.-..-.

"Welcome to Urashi 1, Miss Dawson." The flight attendant dressed in Urashi colors ushered her onto the jet. "Flight to New York City, Urashi Headquarters."

Sango nodded mechanically, walking hesitantly onto the plush green carpet of the Urashi Co. private jet. "Thanks."

"If you need anything be sure to tell me or one of the other attendants. By the way, my name's Stacy. I'll tell the pilot to prepare for take off." She disappeared into the cockpit.

Her two drivers followed her into the plane and sat in the far back quietly, opting to read the Wall Street Journal.

There was a static crackle and then the pilot's voice over the intercom. "Congratulations and welcome aboard Urashi 1: Purity. Today's in-flight movie will be Jurassic Park III. Enjoy your flight. We will arrive at our destination at six thirty a.m."

How they knew that Jurassic Park III was one of her favorite movies, Sango had a feeling she would never know. As the plane took off her giddiness disappeared. Was it just her, or had she left her stomach down on the runway?

The roars of the Dinosaurs were drowned out as the plane ascended. Suddenly, statistics started to fill her head. The one thought that stuck, though, made her nauseous.

One in every one million airplanes crash.

.-..-.

Kagome looked out the Suburban's window for the umpteenth time since they reached the interstate. She'd never been on an interstate, although she'd been to twenty of the fifty states and five of the seven continents. Who knew that interstates were only interesting for five minutes before they kinda got... dull?

With a yawn, Kagome unzipped the largest compartment of her yellow backpack (which occupied a whole seat next to her) and shuffled through it. "CD player, CD player, CD player... Where are you?" The minivan hit a bump and she jerked forward. "Ow!"

"Sorry, Ms. Higurashi, it gets a little bumpy here!" Her driver resumed humming along to the Beach Boys up front.

After successfully finding the illusive CD player, Kagome began to search for her pack of CDs.

The worst part of settling on two bags was that she could not bring all her CDs with her. Out of the three hundred or so albums she had, the heiress only had enough space for about twenty of them.

She sifted through the small CD case, looking over the varied selection she had brought. She froze when she realized something was missing. "We have to go back!"

Her driver smiled knowingly into the rearview mirror, "Having second thoughts about all of this?"

"No, it's--"

"Well, we're already a good ways along." He continued, "We have a schedule to keep."

Kagome took a few deep breaths. "It's not that. I left my favorite CD back at home!"

He laughed. "Is that all? Don't worry about it, I'll get it for you at the next Walmart that shows up. My treat."

"You can't get it at a Walmart!" Kagome argued, "Please, we have to go back and get it. We can't be that far along..."

"We're already too close to Pennsylvania." He answered sternly. "Sorry, but we aren't going back."

With a dejected sigh Kagome nodded, "Alright... I guess I can live without it for a few months."

"That's the spirit!" He was already cheerful again, back humming along to Surfin' In the USA.

Kagome looked down at her CD holder, double checking that it was indeed gone. "How could I forget it?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure someone can send it down to you." He looked a little worried now. "It's only a CD, after all."

The heiress laughed hollowly, "Yeah, only a CD." Only my mom's CD...

.-..-.

"We've reached our destination. Welcome to New York City, winner of the Swap Lives with Hotel Heiress Higurashi." The intercom cut off and the movie paused just when the Pterodactyl was about to carry off the boy.

Sango breathed out with relief, "Finally..."

She'd barely been able to enjoy the view with mini airplanes crashing on mini mountains in her mind. Of course, there were no mountains that high in Pennsylvania or New York. The thoughts still taunted her, though.

.-..-.

"Oh, come on!" Kagome leaned forward excitedly, the cutest pout she could muster on her face. "I'm almost sixteen."

"And too young to drive on Maryland's beltway!" The driver chided gently.

"But it looks so easy!" Kagome pleaded, pointing to the wheel. "Come on, I should be learning to drive already!"

"Your father would kill me if he ever found out. Not to mention you'd probably kill us." He took a left turn, exiting the busy highway.

"Ok, we're not on it anymore, riiight?" Kagome winked, "Just between you and me."

"Not a chance."

Kagome huffed. "I could so drive this thing." She crossed her arms and checked her watch. "How much farther is it?"

Happy for a change in subject, her father's employee read the road sign. "About fifteen more minutes. You're going to be here for a while, so why don't you start memorizing where things are."

She had nothing better to do..."Okay." Butterflies were starting to fill up her stomach.

Whoever she ended up staying with, they better be nice. And, they better not have any snakes.

.-..-.

Kohaku was at soccer practice with Rin, Sesshoumaru was off somewhere working on something, and Kagura had left around eleven. That left a very bored Inuyasha lounging in the living room. Either Sango or Kohaku had always played the two player games with him, and he was too bored to get into any RPG they had.

Before Kagura had left, she'd suggested to her boyfriend that maybe he and Inuyasha should have some bonding time.

He wasn't totally offended when Sesshoumaru had just ignored that statement. Because, well, he'd ignored it too.

The doorbell rang.

Inuyasha rolled off the couch, looking around the extremely clean house. Sesshoumaru had made everyone pick a room and clean it before "Her Majesty the Heiress" arrived. The sixteen-year-old took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Hi. My name is Satsuki, I'm from the Community Center. Would you like to buy some cookies to help us raise money?" Behind her was a wagon half full of cookies with the center's name taped to the back.

"Sorry, kid. We've got tons of cookies already." Satsuki looked disappointed, but he was broke enough as it was. Inuyasha began to close the door. "Try next door."

He headed back to the living room, but before he could reach the couch the doorbell rang...again. With an impatient sigh he trotted back over to the door. "What is it--"

Satsuki stood there. And she did not look happy.

"You need to buy some cookies." Her sweet voice was completely different, with a hint of threat in it. "They're for a good cause."

"I already told you, I don't want any cookies." Inuyasha growled. "You shouldn't force people. For all you know I could be an escaped convict that eats little children."

"You're not an escaped convict; you're only in high school." She glared. "Buy some, now!"

Inuyasha knew little kids her age were not allowed to go door-to-door alone; her mother had to be around here somewhere. "Look, where's your mother kid? I know she doesn't let you go around terrorizing the neighborhood like this. Where is she?"

Satsuki's eyes widened and she dashed off, nearly overturning her wagon on the sidewalk.

"Annoying little ankle biter..." He muttered, closing the door. He walked over to the couch, waited a beat to make sure nothing else would happen, and sat down. "Tries to make me buy some cookies... Fundraiser, hah!"

The doorbell rang.

"THAT'S IT!" Inuyasha roared, jumping up from the couch. "This time... She'll regret it." Without any more menacing words he threw open the door.

A girl with the same color hair as that annoying kid's stood there, holding a box of cookies in her hands.

Inuyasha lost it. "Look, lady, like I told your little sister; I don't want any of your stinkin', stupid cookies! You got that? So why don't you just mosey on along and get the heck outta my--"

Sesshoumaru entered the room with a look of disinterest on his face. As he neared the door he gave a small, amused, smile. "Ah, Welcome to our home Ms. Higurashi."