Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha . . .

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"I have some bad news."

Kagome looked up from the rim of the cup, her hand stopping in midair. "What is it, Jii-san?"

Seiji sighed, running a hand through his sparse hair. He had called his granddaughter to his office, after recieving an important call from his associates at Narita. The old man had immediately dialed Kagome's cell phone, and hearing the urgency in her grandfather's voice, rushed over with the hanyou in a matter of minutes.

"There have been some . . . problems," he said exhaustedly, taking a long swig of his coffee. "The Bone Eater's Well sits on someone's property."

The heiress raised an eyebrow, setting the cup back down on the table. "Then why don't we just buy it from them?"

"It's not that easy, Kagome. The actual owners are dead, and the woman who was left to care for the land . . . well, she won't give it up."

There was silence in the air as the two Higurashi's debated on what to do. The heiress glanced towards the door, where Inuyasha stood, leaning against the frame. "Who . . . exactly is this woman?"

The old man began to rustle through the pile of papers on this desk, hurridly searching for something. "Here we are!" he announced, pulling out a particular sheet. "Her name is . . . Kaede Yoshizawa. She's an old priestess that lives in a hut near the old well. She claims that the late owners of the land gave her specific orders to hold it until their heir comes to claim it."

Kagome crossed her arms across her chest. "Any clues on who the heir is?"

Shaking his head sadly, Seiji looked out the window. "As I said, the owners of the land, previously called Musashi, died. They had been husband and wife, as I was told. The woman passed away 17 years ago, while the man managed to outlive his spouse by seven years. They were very discreet in their records, and no one knows the identity of the couple, save the old woman. It is known, however, they they did have a child, and that child is the heir to Musashi."

"I have some of my associates working out the legal things," Mr. Higurashi continued, "But I need someone to go to the old woman and try to bargin with her." He turned to his granddaughter, his exhausted face holding a hint of mischeviousness. "You leave tonight, Kagome."

"Wha-what?" The woman stammered, gaping at the old man. "I'm going?!?"

Ignoring his granddaughter reaction, Seiji replied, "Your flight is at 7:15. It's 3:30 right now, so I suggest you go home and pack. You'll be there for a few days."

Turning to the hanyou in his doorway, he continued, "I expect that you'll keep her safe at all times, Inuyasha," he said seriously. "I have told no one of Kagome's trip in hopes of giving her a break from those assasinations."

Inuyasha snorted. "Of course, old man, didn't we talk about this last night?"

The young man watched as his charge whipped around in her chair. "You knew about this?" she asked suspciously, glancing back and forth between him and her grandfather. "What are you two up to?"

Seiji sighed. "Inuyasha had told me a couple of nights ago that you were spending too much time on that scroll searching. Really, Kagome, I told you to study them, not write a book."

"Bu-"

"So, your grandfather thought it would be a good idea to send you instead of some stuck up business man," the body guard cut off, looking intently at the girl. "Well, c'mon. Knowing you, it'll take you forever to pack."

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Kagome snapped, glaring at the smirking hanyou.

"Almost two months and you two are still at it," Mr. Higurashi chuckled. "You two are really quite made for ea--"

"NO, WE'RE NOT!" the two yelled in unison, each turning the same shade of bright red.

Grinning, the old man shook his head in amusement. "Whatever you say, you two . . . now," he glanced at the clock, "Go on, get out of here!"

He watched as the slightly embarrassed couple shuffled out of the door, Kagome muttering a quiet "goodbye" and Inuyasha grumbling curses under his breath.

Kids these days . . . can't see love even when it's dancing right in front of them . . .

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"Stupid wench."

"What was that?" Kagome turned and glared, dangerously slapping her passport against her open palm.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, too tired to have another fight with the over-energetic woman. "Nothing."

The heiress sent him another warning glance before scanning the parking lot before her. They had just arrived in Narita half an hour earlier, and the driver that was assigned to pick them up was late. Glancing down at her watch, she realized it was close to 9:00 p.m.

"Where could they be?" she wondered, scratching her head. A sudden thump of luggage catching her attention, she glanced backwards just as the hanyou dropped all her baggage. "Hey!"

The body guard glared at her. "Hey what, wench?" he asked, extremely irritated. He had felt sorry for the heiress, dragging about five bags the size of her small body when they left the baggage claim. His soft side kicking in, he offered to carry her bags, and was rewarded with Kagome dumping all her luggage in his arms. "Thanks!" she said, and zipped off towards the parking lot.

Shifting one her bags on his back, he winced as he felt something poke him in the back. "What do you have in here?"

Kagome thought a moment. "Well, clothes, makeup, toiletries--"

"Anything sharp?" Inuyasha prodded, feeling the same object stab him in the back repeatedly. The woman glanced at the bag for a moment, before a sheepish grin crept on her face. "Oh . . . that's my shoe bag."

"Shoe bag? Keh, you have a bag for your shoes?!" he growled, and was about to pounce on the heiress when a loud honk caught their attention.

A black Lexus rolled up on the sidewalk beside them, the passenger side window rolling down as the driver blurted out apolgies. "There was traffic," he explained.

Kagome flashed him a sympathetic smile, and waving off his lateness, began to help Inuyasha pile the luggage into the trunk. The two then slipped into the back seat, each exhausted with the day's events.

"How long to Musashi?" Inuyasha asked a few minutes into the trip, noticing the heiress' drooping eyelids.

"About two hours, Otashi-san," the driver responded. The hanyou groaned, the idea of being stuck in a car for hours not very appealing to him. This is going to be one hell of a night . . .

He leaned his forehead against the cool window, staring out into the darkness of night--

"Inuyasha?"

The body guard turned, coming face to face with a very sleepy Kagome. "What?" he snapped, still a little irritated of being her bell boy.

The woman didn't even notice the hanyou's bitter behavior, her vision blurring as she fought to stay awake. "Could I lay in yow lap? I'm weaally sweepy . . ." she trailed off into a yawn.

The young man began to protest when his golden eyes locked with her beautiful, hazy eyes. Sighing, he grumbled, "Fine, wench, but no drooling."

Kagome let out a small squeal of glee as she quickly nestled her head in his lap. "Thanks, Iuwasha," she murmured, burying her face in his lap.

Inuyasha blushed slightly, and glanced up to see the driver smiling back at him from the rear view mirror.

"Now I know what Higurashi-san was talking about," he remarked, smiling.

"Feh," Inuyasha responded, turning his head away. He was reminded, however, about the sleeping beauty in his lap when she sighed in content, stirring slightly. She gripped an armful of his shirt in her hand, before her breathing steadied once more.

The hanyou looked down at her, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of warmth inside.

This is going to be one hell of a night . . .

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AU: I'm so sorry it took awhile for this to come out! I finished this a couple of nights ago and was about to post it when the site said that the servers were overloaded or something. so I check the main page and there's construction being done! I'm sorry!!

back to the story . . . OoOoO! in comes Kaede! what can our two friends find at Musashi?

thanks for the reviews! stay tuned!