Disclaimer: Do you think this part of the chapter would change? Honestly? Like I could put anything else here...kidding. :D But honestly...

Author's Note: The thank-you-s:

gillian-raine: Thank you very much! ;D I'm glad you like how I write and I'm hoping you'll let me know when I'm starting to veer off in a direction you don't like. :D Enjoy the next chapter. :D

jenfrog: I like how they argue too. :D Thanks, and please let me know what you think of this chapter. :D

demonpriestess07: Thanks! ;D I hope this chapter is worth the wait—I was planning to make it longer, but time constraints—you know how it goes. :D

moonwicca staralinga: Thank you. ;D I hope your opinion of this will progress after this chapter. :D

Nomadgirl66: Okay, here's the update. :D Do I get to hear what you think of this story now? Hehe...kidding. :D

Kawaii-CherryWolf: Here's the update, and thanks! ;D Well, you'll see what his being a cheat has to do with anything later, so don't worry, hehe. :D Hope you enjoy this chapter. ;D

aya-kun: Thanks! ;D Wait 'til you see how they fight later on. :D

death: Thank you very much! ;D I hope you'll read and enjoy this chapter as well. ;D

iNuYaShAsweet: Thanks, haha! ;D I know, isn't he? ;D Though I do wonder...you said, "He's so arrogant...and I" and left me hanging! ;D Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter! ;D

Now, onto the story:D This has a second part, so if you find it too short don't wonder. :D Hehe...hope you guys enjoy this one. :D Whether you do or don't, I hope you'll let me know, but please—be nice. ;D

Chapter 4

Toxic Niceness And Its Casualties

"What's the occasion?" Sango asked curiously as Kagome turned aside from their usual route and approached the nearest flower shop to the university.

"There is none, actually," Kagome answered, giving her an apologetic smile after a glance at her watch. It was half past five already, and Sango had a date in less than an hour. It went without saying that one hour was not enough for her to get glamorous—which she wanted to be for that instance, given that her date was "someone's" cousin and Sango was dead set on impressing Cuz so much that "someone" would hear about it. "I just wanted to bring home some carnations for my mother. She's been really busy lately since she got into that charity org and flowers always make her feel wonderful."

"Tough job running a temple, raising kids, and doing charity," Sango murmured admiringly, though she stopped behind Kagome and stared into the flower shop with a wary expression. "Uh—Kagome—do you think maybe we could but from the other shop? The one a few blocks from here?"

"Why? That one's even more out of the way than this and you're already short on time. Don't you want to look great for your big date?"

"Yes," Sango admitted, though the discomfort did not leave her face, "but I know that old lady at the counter. She was on the same bus with me yesterday and she's got an evil temper. It's so ironic that she's running a flower shop."

Kagome turned and eyed the woman through the clean glass. She was looking at them through narrowed, unfriendly eyes, as though bidding them to go away rather than encouraging them to come in. She checked her watch again.

"It's all right, Sango," she said reassuringly, deciding that the little old lady's hostility wasn't her problem and wasn't worth walking a single block further over. "I'm buying flowers, after all, not her, so her disposition doesn't really matter. We'll just be five minutes."

Before Sango could utter another protest Kagome walked in, not approaching the counter and asking for help as she had originally planned to. The way the old woman was scrutinizing them, they may as well have been aphids on the roses she sold. Instead, she moved about the space, trying to sort through the splashes of color for the pink her mother loved.

"These are really expensive," Sango muttered, casting a disgruntled look at a small board announcing the outrageous price for the chrysanthemums. "National flower or not..."

"I can't find them," Kagome said softly, casting another look over the shop in general.

"I told you we should've gone over to the other shop."

"Sango, don't start. Maybe I just missed them."

"Listen, why don't we just go over to the other shop right now?"

"No. It's too inconvenient."

"Kagome, let's go."

"N—"

"Is there something I can help you with?"

They flushed instantly at the sharp tone and they turned to meet the old lady's glare. If she had been hostile before, now it appeared as though the only thing keeping her from doing them bodily harm was her own physical frailty.

"Well—ah—do you have any carnations, ma'am?" Kagome said as respectfully as she could manage when a part of her wanted to give the awful woman the nastiness she deserved.

"Out of stock," the old woman said briskly.

Well at least we won't be filling your pockets, you old hag, Sango thought with a stroke of satisfaction. She turned to leave when the old lady's voice filled their ears.

"You're not buying anything?" she snapped. "After tramping around so long?"

"Sorry, we lost interes—" Sango grated out angrily, but Kagome's awkward laugh cut her off.

"Ah—well—how much are these pink roses? There isn't any sign." She kept the smile determinedly on her face even as the lady's scowl deepened at the mention of no sign.

"800 per stem."

"That's outrage—"

"What do you think, Sango? Pink is pretty but red is so much more dramatic. I think I might lift the Phantom of the Opera idea and pick up a black ribbon to tie around the stem. White's too solemn and yellow's too—sad."

"I think we should lea—"

"Or maybe lady's slipper?"

Sango glared at Kagome. "No."

"You're right—too exotic for now. I think I'll settle on the rose. 800 per stem and I'm short on the weekly allowance, so I guess I'll have to miss out on the bouquet I had in mind." She reached to pluck a perfect bud that had yet to bloom from the red roses when the hag's voice made her freeze.

"Who told you it was 800 per stem?" she snapped.

"Why—you did," Kagome said, her brows furrowing.

"You were asking for the price of the pink roses. Those are different. They're 1000 per stem. You didn't ask how much they were. Try asking first before you start plucking."

"Oh—well—ah—one red rose then."

Sango grit her teeth and walked out, slamming the glass door so hard that it quivered dangerously in its frame. Sighing as the old woman began to screech, Kagome put her money on the counter and picked up the unwrapped rose, joining her friend outside. Sango simply stood there and glared at the old woman, her arms crossed over her chest as she mocked the old lady's shuffling, furious but slow advance from behind the counter.

"Sango, you didn't have to—" Kagome began, but Sango gave her a sharp look that cut her off just as effectively as her next words.

"You don't deserve that treatment and she deserves everything she got from me," she said without remorse, giving the old lady the finger and kicking the glass door shut in her face.

"Sango!"

"Come on, I'm going to be late for my date already!"

Grabbing Kagome's arm, she half-dragged her down the street, heedless of the passers-by who were giving her scandalized, censorious, or approving looks.

"So what if she's old?" she raved furiously. "It doesn't give her any excuse, hormones or not! And her pricing! If she'd stop being such a bitch she wouldn't have to kick her prices up so much to make up for no customers!" She threw the rose in Kagome's hand a derogatory look. "It's not even wrapped! No angel's breath at all! It's not even the one you wanted!"

"Sango—"

"Ooh, she'd better be glad she's old! If she were a few decades younger, I'd have—"

"Sango, my arm!"

She stopped in the middle of a pedestrian lane, noticed for the first time that she had left an angry red imprint on Kagome's right forearm.

"Sorry," she said at once, dropping her hold as her temper cooled and she was filled guilt and concern. "I didn't mean to. I was just so angry and you were being so nice it was driving me insane."

Kagome laughed, rubbing her arm and giving Sango a kiss on the cheek. "I know. Don't worry about it."

"Look, Miroku, girl on girl!"

The two girls turned to see the two people they least wanted to see standing on the other side of the pedestrian lane, hands shoved in their pockets and faces twisted into identical expressions of amusement and an unidentifiable something that made both of them uncomfortable. Right next to them was a sleek silver Jag that one of them (guess who?) had parked pretentiously in blatant disregard of the "No Parking" sign right next to it.

"In the middle of the street, too!" Inuyasha continued. His golden eyes bored into Kagome's as he licked his lips and added, "That's so hot."

"Don't you ladies know better than to stand in the middle of the street?" Miroku asked soberly, though his eyes were fixed on Sango.

"Care to go back the way we came?" Sango muttered under her breath.

"What, and run into your best friend from the flower shop?" Kagome muttered back. "No, I think we can handle these pests."

"Ugh, fine." Crossing her arms Sango faced Miroku. "What?"

"I heard you're going out with my cousin," Miroku said evenly, denying Sango the furious accusation she was hoping he would make.

Screwing up her dignity despite her disappointment, Sango managed a shrug. "He did ask me out. Since you two are cousins, I couldn't see how I could refuse without him going to you for help. Since you and I are partners in our majors class, I can't risk complicating our professional relationship."

"Why are you girls so long-winded?" Inuyasha complained, distracted from his original plan to tease Kagome. "I mean, just say, 'You're my partner and he's your cousin. What else could I say?' instead of—"

"You really can't leave things undefined with boys like you," Kagome interrupted. "You misinterpret everything."

"Oh, sure. We're the ones that agonize over every single thing our crushes say and give them all sorts of analyses. Ooh, what does, 'I'll call you soon' mean? Is that like, I'll call you tomorrow, next week, or not at all?"

Miroku gave Inuyasha a quelling look and narrowed the conversation down to Sango and himself once more by stepping closer so only he could fill her vision. Automatically, Sango took a step back. With equally quick reflexes, Inuyasha and Kagome stepped towards them, ears straining.

Like I'm going to miss this? Dream on! Sango spent weeks flirting with Miroku's cousin so that he would ask her out! And it wasn't easy, considering the fact that things just kept spoiling the mood! Kagome stepped sideways, pretending to be checking the street behind Sango.

The Titanic will float before I miss this! Miroku's spent weeks sabotaging Ingo's little tête-à-têtes with Sango only for those two to hook up now! Inuyasha pretended to drop a coin and bent down, ears twitching.

"Sango, I appreciate you very much for thinking about us when you agreed to go out with Ingo," Miroku murmured huskily, causing Sango's mouth to go dry on the word "us." "And while I don't think I'd have cared if you'd said no to Ingo, saying yes to him because you didn't want to displease me is very sweet."

Oh, Miroku, Kagome thought sadly, sighing and stepping back. Every time things are perfect, you just have to stick your darn foot in your mouth.

So much for winning her away from him, Inuyasha thought in disgust, straightening up.

"Right," Sango said in a voice loud enough for them to hear without moving closer. "Fine. Is that all you wanted to ask me? I'm going to have to go meet him now, so do you mind?"

Before Miroku could as much as utter a syllable she was striding past him.

"Sango, wait," Miroku said hastily, taking her arm. "There's more."

"Save it," Sango said curtly. "Kagome, could we go now please? I don't want to keep Ingo waiting."

"Okay," Kagome replied immediately, though inwardly she doubted if Sango would be in the mood to see Ingo after seeing Miroku. And if she did the atmosphere wouldn't be right regardless.

"Let go of me," Sango hissed at Miroku.

"What's up with the two of you?" Inuyasha asked Kagome, sensing that the female brick walls were even more solid than usual.

Giving Inuyasha a cool stare, she didn't reply and proceeded to move past him, but he just stepped backwards and stretched his arm out to block her, his claw settling right over her soft belly. She froze as she felt the power there—the heat that was more than just from being alive slipping through her clothes and pooling between her legs.

"You look like a sales lady who's just taken a lot of shit from a customer," he commented dryly.

"Maybe because I'm just as harassed," Kagome shot back, giving him a pointed stare.

" 'Harassment—persistently causing anybody any form of discomfort.' " He began rotating his thumb with just the right amount of pressure to make her vision hazy. One corner of his mouth lifted into a characteristic smirk. "So just how much discomfort am I causing you and how often?"

Slapping his hand away, Kagome took a step back and brought out the big guns.

"You do know the words so well," she ground out. "Isn't that what Kikyo slapped onto your criminal record?"

Miroku and Sango froze.

"She didn't," they whispered at the same time.

---

"Excuse me, Mr. Takahashi, sir, but you have a phone call."

"Put him on hold," Sesshomaru murmured softly, without lifting his eyes or his hand from the agreements he was signing. His mind wasn't even completely on them. A hundred other business interests were crying for attention as it was, and he was itching to give it to them. Not out of pressure or necessity, as most people would. He hardly felt there was a real need for much in life, and the pressure he had come to know he enjoyed. The fact of the matter was he loved his work. It was as simple as that. It was probably the only thing in the world—apart from the youkai powers he cultivated—that he truly devoted himself to.

"But sir, it's Miss Rin."

The pen paused as he dotted the "i" on his last name. Rin was hardly a thing, but he was not prepared to admit that she was the only person in the world who could claim that Sesshomaru had devoted himself to her. He had taken her in, given her his last name, and without lavish ceremony had become her guardian. He had raised her, pampered her, and protected her, though why he did it so personally had remained a question. His father had been ready to adopt her even without the strong encouragement he got from Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother, but something about Rin had Sesshomaru brushing aside his offer.

She was not his sister. She was not his daughter. Her role in his life he did not want to consider as important, yet she was something more than his ward. Whatever it was, it filled him with infinite dread and anticipation, and no matter how he had braced himself for it when the first tendrils of—well, whatever it was—had started crumbling his walls, he had not been—and still was not—prepared for it.

"Rin."

Leagues away, a slender young woman shivered as the deep voice carried over from the other line. She hugged the pillow she had cradled against her chest and curled her toes helplessly as heat slid from her chest to the apex of her thighs.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she sighed, trying to keep the aching out of her voice and attempting to make herself sound tired instead of homesick and depressed.

"Is something the matter?" he asked gently, though he himself hardly detected the softening of his tone. His mind was shifting even as he struggled to understand the brief terms he had been breezing through but moments before. Already the business interests were being pushed aside by a concern that had roots in places he did not want to consider.

"No, not at all," she said immediately wishing she'd come up with some excuse that would make him want to talk to her longer. He would probably get impatient with her for calling when there was no real reason.

Except—

I miss you.

Giving up as he sensed something beneath her light, reassuring tone, he put down his pen and reclined into the luxury of his chair.

"How is Paris?" he asked absently.

"Oh, wonderful." Awful when you're not with me.

"Hmmm. And school?"

"My professors think I should take a few advanced classes in painting and sculpture. They recommended Italy in particular for the sculpting." They also think I need more joyful inspiration since all I seem to be good at is depressing people with my art.

"Really? So you won't be coming home next month for break?"

Do you want me to? She hesitated—biting her lip and then berating herself. Since when had she thought to hide anything from him? Since when had she been so guarded? And if it was because she feared his characteristic blunt dismissal of her importance to him, since when had it begun to sting?

"I—ah, well," she cleared her throat, flushing at the way he didn't prod. He never prodded. Like it didn't matter what she said. "Will I be missing anything at home?" Except you, of course.

Besides me? "Not much," he replied. "Jaken misses you though."

"I miss him too," Rin laughed, though a tear slipped down her cheek despite herself. He misses me—but you don't? "You will tell him that, won't you, my lord?"

"I will," he assented readily, though he felt a ridiculous pang of resentment towards Jaken even as he said it. "Jaken will know that you miss him." Tiring of the unwanted intensity that was building beneath that phrase, he cleared his throat. "Is that all, Rin?"

She bit her lip, unable to protect herself from the pain of the dismissal.

"Yes, my lord," she said softly. "I'm going to bed now."

"Sweet dreams." He hung up at once, picking up his pen and doing his best not to think of Rin in her bed in Paris.