A/N: Okay my readers. Here is chapter 6 of Breaking the Rules. I am actually really bummed because I had this chapter written out a few days ago, but my disk ate the file and I had to write it over again. I was very upset... but I shall endure! Thanks to all my readers because this story has received over 200 reviews! I am so happy I could cry-- but I won't. I really hope you guys will read my other AU Inuyasha stories-- I have the two out now and then the series I am planning for the future!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters used in this story. I am only responsible for how I manipulate them to my will.

Breaking the Rules

Chapter 6: Tell No Lies

--Kagome's PoV--

First impressions mean a lot in life. We, as a race of beings, are always trying to impress each other into a certain point of view that society deems to be what we should look for. In our world, women have to be beautiful and thin if they want to be noticed. In our world, men have to be gorgeous and rich if they want a relationship. But for the other 98% of us that fit into neither category, we kind of float along through life.

I do not blame my problems on society. I blame myself for my disasters-- namely Hojo and Kouga.

Fitting myself into a set category never worked out for me. I tried to be everything everyone wanted of me, and all the time ignoring that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. For Hojo, I tried to be the perfect girl, brilliant and flawless and obedient. The kind of girl a smart, to-be-successful man would bring home to his parents and eventually marry. Of course, I couldn't fulfill this vision. My heart was broken for a while.

The second time, I tried to fit myself into this bad-ass image, where I hated the world and everything in it. That's how I met Kouga, and fell in love for the second time. That relationship was a whirlwind of anger and passion and tears. It was everything I was taught that a good romance was, steamy and painful and emotional. But in the end, the flame that had burned so brightly between us burnt out.

After that, after the pain of broken heart number two, I closed myself off to the world. I stopped trying to fit the mold of anyone's dream girl and just started to be who I was. I stopped caring about how the world saw me and started focusing more on how I saw myself. I guess that's why everyone went on this crusade to find me a boyfriend.

I didn't want a man in my life because I had leaned something from my bad experiences. When you love someone, you come to depend on them. You lean on them for support. You turn to them for help. You want them there, and when they can't be there, it hurts. I didn't want that. I had family and friends who I knew I could depend on. The only thing I really needed a man for was sex, but I could live without that anyway.

In my quest to protect myself from being hurt, I hid myself away. I didn't want to have to keep up impressions and assure men that I was perfect in every way they wanted me to be. I didn't want to learn to depend on someone and then have them go away.

Maybe that's why I was starting to like Inuyasha as much as I did. I didn't have to keep up the charade with him. I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't to keep him from leaving me. I could just be myself because what we were wasn't anything real. We weren't going to the prom, or to a dinner party, or to any star-studded event and have to play at being the perfect couple. We could just play around with one another, just have fun, and that was all.

Maybe my downfall was that I started to think that he liked me, even though I was just being my normal self. Or maybe it was that I was starting to like him even when he was dead tired, or playing with his dog. When you don't have to keep up impressions, half the stress of a relationship is gone.

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Kagura sat in her favorite easy chair in her almost always empty apartment. There was a half-drunk bottle of whiskey in one hand and an empty glass in the other. Half way between her second and third glass, Kagura had deemed it too long a wait to fill the glass and had skipped to drinking right from the bottle. The Gods would allow it this once; she'd had a bad day.

It was the first time ever that Kagura Nitao had called in sick from work-- and was positive there would be a million versions of why when she went back in on Monday. Maybe a few of them would actually be right. As it was, she tried not to think about it.

How could a woman who graduated top in her class from a good school and ran an efficient, successful business be so unrelentingly stupid when it came to a man? Kagura never had been the type who would get caught up in a man. Men were not something that could distract her from the greater good. Then suddenly, Sesshomaru had become the focus of her life. Even now, after so long, she could hardly control herself in his presence.

She had thrown herself at a man... something she had never done. Something she had vowed never to do again, but doubted her treacherous heart would comply. Kagura had, for the briefest of moments, felt that old comfort when she was with him. Relaxation... no... relief. The kind of feeling a person gets when they know they don't have to face the bad things all alone, when they know someone else can be there to pick them up when they fall and hold them when they cry. Once, she felt that with Sesshomaru. When they had been together the night before, she had felt some of that again.

The phone was ringing again and she flinched at the sound. It was probably him again, calling to see if she was alright after she had stormed out of his apartment that morning... or rather, that afternoon.

"God," she cried to herself. "How could I be so retarded?!" Desperately, she brought the bottle to her lips and took a draught, wincing a little as the heated alcohol burned its way down her throat. It made her mind foggy, just what she needed to drown out the thoughts and, more importantly, the feelings.

Her answering machine kicked on the background, but it wasn't who she thought it would be. "Kagura, this is Sango." Kagura would have gone to the phone, but she didn't want the publicist to question her from the earlier call. She didn't want anyone to see or hear her this way, wallowing in misery and weeping like a helpless female. "Listen, something was brought to my attention that I think you should see. I sent over a few file transfers to your e-mail. When you're feeling up to it, take a look at them." There was a second pause where Kagura heard another voice in the background and Sango laughing. "Well, we're heading down to Kagome's early tomorrow, I'll see you on Monday. Wish you could come with."

"Me too," Kagura grumbled, taking another swig of her bottle.

Sango hung up and a loud beep echoed through the apartment. Kagura shifted in her chair, finding a comfortable spot, cradling the bottle of whiskey on her lap. He would call again, of that she was sure. He'd already called four times that afternoon, and she ignored them all. Kagura would not be drawn back into a vulnerable place; she wouldn't go back to that ever again.

She had made a decision. She would never see Sesshomaru Saishi again.

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Sango, Miroku, and the three college boys arrived at the Higurashi home around ten the next morning to be met with a very well-rested Inuyasha and Kagome.

"I see the parents haven't killed you yet," Miroku commented to Inuyasha upon welcome.

"No, I think her Mom likes me," he said with a sheepish smile. "Though her grandfather looks like he wants to fillet me with a large hunting knife."

"Not to mention being left to bleed in the moonlight," Kagome added as she took Sango by the arm and led her toward where Grandpa and Mrs. Higurashi were waiting.

As always, the two senior Higurashis welcomed Sango and Kohaku into the house with warm hugs and parental questioning. Shippou, an orphan in his own right, was also looked upon by the Higurashi family as an adopted child once removed. When Miroku was introduced, Grandpa gave him a once over and deemed that he didn't like him. Mrs. Higurashi was more polite. Inuyasha only smirked at him, offering no help.

After about half an hour of idle chatting and tea, Grandpa decided it time to ready the Shrine for important company. He took the trio, Miroku, and Inuyasha with him. All five of them were grumbling as the old man set them each to an important task in making their home look presentable.

Kagome, who looked at the clock and nearly flipped out, began rushing around to make sure everything looked presentable. Mrs. Higurashi finally had to banish her upstairs to make herself presentable. Sango went with, in case Kagome had a heart attack from stress and needed someone to administer CPR.

"They are going to rip my family to shreds," Kagome told Sango once they were upstairs in her old room. It was tidy as always, plain as ever, but still screamed Kagome in every way. Sango took a seat on the bed and looked levelly at her best friend.

"Dude, your family is so much stronger than you give them credit for. They will all do fine." Kagome nodded, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to work out the stress.

"You're right. They can do this. I can do this. Everything will be fine."

"Yes, it will," Sango coached. "Let's just get you into something clean and casual. They want you in a laid-back environment, but we can't have you wearing that old rum hat." Kagome grumbled, but smiled as Sango rifled through her closet and picked out some of her more presentable clothes. "I think this will do."

"If you say so."

Kagome changed before Sango began doing her hair-- reminiscent of their trip to Atlantic City. As Sango brushed and braided, she attempted conversation with her friend. "Tell me, how are things with you and Inuyasha?"

"How are things with you and Miroku?" Kagome countered.

Sango flushed and chuckled a little. "We're very good, thanks. Your turn."

"Fine," Kagome said with a little shrug. "We get along pretty well, apart from the fact that he's annoying and I'm obnoxious."

"I see you two are sharing a room," Sango said idly. "Does that imply a physical relationship?"

"If you remember correctly, we already did the deed the night we got married," Kagome said flatly, not really wanting to address her sex life-- even if it was with Sango.

"True, but you were drunk and the situation was different. Now you know him better."

"I don't fuck guys just because they're hot," Kagome pointed out. "I haven't even had sex since I left Kouga, before Inuyasha that is."

"Which is a shame," Sango injected. "You're wasting your beautiful body."

Kagome sighed, but allowed herself a tiny, wry smile. "I wasn't wasting it last night."

Sango's eyes widened as she leaned over to look Kagome in the face. "With your mother and grandfather just down the hall?" Kagome nodded and smirked. "You are so bad!"

"It's not like it's illegal or immoral," Kagome defended. "We are married."

"You like him, don't you?"

"I won't go so far as to say that," the writer said doubtfully. "It's just a physical thing."

"Really?"

Kagome reached out and grabbed Sango's face in her hand. "You get too nosey sometimes. And yes, it's just about the sex."

"That's a shame," Sango frowned. "I think he likes you."

"That's one girl's opinion."

Sango shrugged and finished Kagome's hair. "What are you going to do once we get the endorsement?"

"I try not to think about it," Kagome admitted.

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted them. "Kagome," Inuyasha called through the door. "They're here." Quickly, both women leapt from the bed and scrambled down the stairs to get outside.

Sure enough, Naraku and Kanna were making their way up the stairs and toward the Shrine. Naraku carried a small notebook in which he was jotting down a few notes. Kanna carried her laptop, some lighting equipment, and camera supplies. Kagome shook her head at Naraku-- who was not paying attention to her in the least-- and helped Kanna. Kohaku, Shippou, and Souta helped as well.

"Miss Higurashi, this is a lovely home you have here," Naraku called after her when she began leading Kanna toward the house.

"Thank you," Mrs. Higurashi responded, waving Kagome on her way. "It's been in our family nearly one hundred years."

"I see." Naraku finally looked around at the family assembled and wrinkled his nose slightly. "Extended family?" he asked, zeroing in on Sango and Miroku.

"Friends considered family," Mrs. Higurashi said politely. "Won't you come inside? We are much better suited for taking care of company in the house then the courtyard."

"Thank you," Naraku responded, following where Kagome, the trio, and Kanna had went. Once catching up with them, he began explaining things to Kagome. "Kanna and I will interview each member of your family individually before we finish with you. Then we'd like to get some photographs of the property, and the family, for our investors."

"Of course."

"We'll speak with your mother first."

----------Taken from the interview with Mrs. Higurashi----------

"Mrs. Higurashi, would you please tell us in your own words how you would describe your daughter?"

Naraku and Kanna had taken control of the living room and closed the doors so that no one waiting to be questioned could overhear what was going on. The lighting was set up and Kanna had snapped off a few photographs before sitting with her laptop and recording the actual interview. Naraku sat in Kagome's father's chair, an old wooden rocker he had built himself as a teenager. Seeing this man in her husband's beloved chair made Mrs. Higurashi uneasy, and more importantly, annoyed.

"Kagome is determined and honest," Mrs. Higurashi said after a split-second of thought. "She's always had a wonderful imagination and she cares very much about others. I would say that my daughter is free-spirited and very good-hearted."

"Free-spirited?" Naraku asked. "Would you say she was a troublesome child?"

"No more so than other teenagers," Kagome's mother said evenly.

"So you're saying all teenagers are arrested for DUI when they're seventeen?"

Mrs. Higurashi flustered. "I'm not saying that Kagome hasn't made mistakes, but she had paid for them. What she did when she was seventeen years old does not affect the good work she does now."

"Indeed."

----------Taken from the interview with Mr. Higurashi----------

"Mr. Higurashi," Naraku said with a humoring smile. Grandpa Higurashi sniffed and looked back at him with a measure of distaste. "How do you like living here?"

"I've lived here since I was a boy of six years," Grandpa commented haughtily. "This is a place of spiritual worship and comfort to many people. I would never live anywhere else."

"Do you think your granddaughter likes it here?" Naraku asked, looking down into his notebook.

"Of course."

"Can you explain to me then, if she likes it here so much, that Kagome has not returned here in over eight years?"

Grandpa glared at Naraku with all the indignant injustice that is bestowed upon a grandfather to use in the defense of his much loved granddaughter. "Kagome was going through difficult times when she was a girl. Since she finished with school, she has been very busy."

"Too busy to come home?"

"Too busy caring about other people's problems and not enough about her own," Grandpa said. "Kagome misses her father. This place reminds her of things that are painful for her."

"I see."

-----------Taken from the interview with Souta Higurashi----------

"Souta, you are six years younger than your sister, correct?" Naraku asked for confirmation.

"That's right," Souta replied, settling into his chair across from Naraku. Right off, the boy didn't like the man interviewing him. There was something not right with him.

"Are you close with your sister, Souta?"

"I'd like to think we are," he replied honestly. "We didn't get along well when we were growing up, but that's only to be expected between older sisters and little brothers. Now, we talk more and we hang out almost every weekend."

"What type of things do you do together?"

"Well, Kagome usually invites me and my roommates over to her apartment on Saturdays and we'll watch whatever action movie that's new out on DVD or we'll order pay-per-view wrestling. Stuff like that."

"So you'd say your sister acts like... one of the guys?" Naraku asked, biting on the top of his pen.

"I guess," Souta said with a shrug. "She's been a tomboy most of her life, but she has her girl-points."

"I'm sure she does," Naraku commented, looking down into his notebook and smirking. "One more question." Souta nodded, confused by this line of questioning about his sister. What did her weekend activities have to do with how well she could write? "Is it true that your sister was born out of wedlock?"

Souta only blinked. How did he...? "No," he said while shaking his head. "Our parents were married before Kagome was born."

"But isn't it true that your mother was pregnant with your sister before she was married?"

"… Yes… But they were engaged before that, so it wasn't like they got married because of Kagome--"

"Thank you very much."

----------Taken from the interview with Sango Rae---------

"How long have you known Miss Higurashi, Miss Rae?"

Sango sat up straight, the picture of public relations and the epitome of calm, cool, and collected. She always did interview well, and it helped that she could talk her way out of a paper bag. "Four years now, since Kagome was hired on as a writer for The Winds."

"You became friends right away?"

"Yes," Sango admitted. "She was a hard worker but fresh out of college so I was asked to look after her while she found her feet. We just hit it off well."

"So you'd say she is one of your closest friends?"

"Yes."

"But she didn't invite you to her wedding?"

Sango inwardly winced. She had expected to be asked about the marriage in this interview, but he had snuck up on her and that never sat well with Sango. "They eloped, but I'm sure the invitation was just lost in the mail." Kanna stifled a laugh and was earned a glare from Naraku.

"Were you on that trip to Atlantic City with Miss Higurashi?"

"I was."

"So couldn't she have simply come to your room and asked you to come down to the chapel?"

Sango crackled the knuckles on her left hand, then her right, as she spoke. "As I understand, it was a spur of the moment decision that they get married. I was unavailable at the time either way."

"Unavailable?"

She tried to ignore the heat that came rushing unbidden to her face. "I was having dinner with a friend."

Naraku scribbled something in his notebook, smirking to himself.

----------Taken from the interview with Kohaku Rae----------

"State your name please."

"Kohaku Rae."

"How do you know Miss Higurashi?"

"I first met her through my sister, Sango Rae. The two of them were friends at work. I also know her because I have attended the same college with her brother, Souta, for the past two years and we share an apartment."

"Would you say you know Miss Higurashi well, Mr. Rae?"

"I suppose I do," Kohaku agreed, twiddling his thumbs. He was as good with people as Sango was, but he was also a little shier.

"When did you find out she was married?"

"Uh, I think it was three days later. The Monday following. She called and told Souta, who in turn told me and Shippou."

"So Miss Higurashi didn't tell you herself?"

"No."

"Do you think she's ashamed of her marriage?"

"No," Kohaku said with a frown. "I think she was just a little overwhelmed."

"I'm sure she was."

----------Taken from the interview with Inuyasha Saishi----------

"Mr. Saishi, you're a hard man to get an interview with," Naraku commented before getting to his questions.

Inuyasha kept a level gaze, but there was a condescending smile spreading across his face. "Well, that would undoubtedly be my brother's doing, not mine."

"Tell me how your marriage goes."

"It's still... new," Inuyasha explained, leaning back in his chair. This was a man who had lived in an ER for the past two years of his life, and had seen many horrific sights. An interview with this conniving little man didn't scare him in the least. "We're still adjusting to one another."

"I take it your relationship wasn't very serious before you married?"

"We had a spur of the moment marriage. It wasn't planned, it should have been, but it wasn't. Now we're still dealing with the repercussions. So far, it's been pretty good."

"Does it bother you that your wife hasn't taken your name?"

Inuyasha snorted. "I'm not the kind of guy who wants to repress her individuality. I think it's great that she wants to keep her own name and her identity. I wouldn't want her to change because of me."

"Do you think this marriage will last?"

"It will last as long as it's meant to last," Inuyasha said thoughtfully. "I can't tell the future any more than you can."

"True." Naraku nodded, thumbing through his notebook. "I hear this is your first time meeting the Higurashi family, how does that fair?"

"I met Souta prior to my coming here, but yes, this is my first time meeting Kagome's mother and grandfather. I think they like me well enough. Her mother is a dream and her grandfather... is like most grandfathers, I would assume."

"So you would say you've been accepted into the family?"

"I would go as far as to say that, yes."

"What about your brother, has he approved of your wife?"

Inuyasha paused, not entirely sure what his answer should be. Then he gave Naraku a lazy smile. "My brother has not yet given me his blessing, but then again, I wouldn't know what to do with it were he to give it to me."

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Naraku and Kanna left at around six that evening, after having Grandpa Higurashi take them on a tour of the grounds so Kanna could snap off a few rolls of film. Once they were gone, everyone was in a sullen mood. They ate dinner, held some conversation, but most were whispering grimly to one another about how their interviews went. Kagome shut her ears to the talk, preferring not to know about anything that anyone said.

Her own interview had gone the same direction most of the others had. They spoke of her expertise, her qualifications, and her family life. Naraku seemed to focus most of his questions on her father-- which left her feeling drained and angry-- and her past relationships, especially her previous failed engagement.

At around eight, when everyone was crashing and headed in their perspective rooms to watch television-- or to do whatever it was that they did-- Kagome took hold of her husband and dragged him off with her, out of the house and across the grounds.

"Where are you taking me?" Inuyasha complained for the third time.

"It's not much farther, I promise," Kagome said, tugging him by the arm. "Just over the hill."

The sun had set nearly two hours ago casting the Shrine and all the surrounding property into a measure of darkness that would have baffled anyone unfamiliar with the territory. Still, after so many years, Kagome could navigate the land with her eyes closed.

"I'm taking you to my favorite place on the grounds," Kagome said with a smirk. "And no, it's not as corny as it sounds."

"I'll believe you when we get there," Inuyasha replied, smirking at her happily. Kagome rolled her eyes and kept an iron grip on his wrist.

Stumbling only once in her eagerness, Kagome led Inuyasha over the final hill surround the house, and looked down. Sitting in the middle of an almost valley-like crevasse, was a hug tree. Branches wide and flowing lightly in the evening breeze, lit up by the surrounding fire flies, it looked like something out of a fairy tale.

"Wow," was all he could muster. It was a humbling sight, the massive tree.

"One would never believe that Grandpa brought this tree over in his pocket when he and his family came here from Japan."

"In his pocket?" Inuyasha asked, blinking in surprise.

Kagome smiled brilliantly. "Yep. He took a small twig from the original Shrine in Japan and brought it across the ocean with him. When the Higurashi family settled here for the Shrine, Grandpa planted the tree and it's been here ever since."

"Wow," he repeated, in even more awe.

"If you like this one, you should see the one it came from in Japan."

Inuyasha looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "I take it you have?"

"Oh sure," Kagome said, with no trace of bragging in her voice. It was simply stating a fact as she grabbed his hand in her own and led him down toward it. "I went there when I was fourteen. My grandfather's sister and her family still live there, and my parents kept saying Souta and I should experience something of our heritage. Especially Dad; he was big on roots and history."

"Your dad one of those traditional Japanese men?" Inuyasha questioned, thinking of his own father and his sense of pride. He never wanted Inuyasha or Sesshomaru to forget where they came from, or what blood was in their veins.

Kagome laughed a little. When Inuyasha gave her a confused look, she smiled apologetically. "My dad wasn't traditional anything. He wasn't Japanese; he was Romanian."

"Romanian?"

"At least, that's what he thought he was." She smiled at him wistfully. "Dad was fascinated by different cultures mostly because he never knew where he came from. He was an orphan, you see, but he never knew his family or his real heritage. He didn't even have a last name."

"That's why you're…"

"I'm a Higurashi, like Mom and Grandpa and Souta. When my parents got married, Dad became a Higurashi." Kagome stuck her hands in her pockets as they walked beneath the huge tree. She looked up, catching sight of stars through the branches and watching the fireflies. "He tried so hard to learn everything about Japanese culture, and to raise me and Souta to always know where we came from."

Inuyasha listened, a frown etched upon his face. She had this sad look about her when she talked of her father, even when she was smiling. It made sense to him, as he watched her walk, sense as to why her skin was so fair, why her eyes were so blue. She looked a lot like her mother, but there was her father's blood in her too.

"You never told me what happened," Inuyasha said quietly.

"Happened?"

"To your father."

Kagome was silent, looking at him for a long moment before shaking her head. "When I was fifteen, I went ice skating with Souta and a few of my friends. Dad drove us, but spent most of his time on shore building a snowman and waiting to pelt us with snowballs when we came back." She paused a little to give a small chuckle before sitting down, back pressed to the tree. "The ice was thin on the far side of the lake. I told Souta not to go near it, but he was only nine and very inquisitive. While I was skating with my friends, he went to the far side. I heard the ice crack and saw him go in…"

Kagome shivered. Inuyasha settled in beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You went in after him?"

"I dove," she said with a sigh. "My friends were screaming, but I grabbed Souta by the collar and pulled him out. They grabbed him and pulled him away, but the ice cracked under me and I fell. Dad came in for me, and he saved my life." Kagome felt the sensations of tears prickling the back of her eyes, and even then her heart began to hurt. "It wasn't until a few hours later that he got sick and we took him to the hospital. The water got into his lungs and he developed pneumonia. Two weeks later he died."

She sniffled, trying not to cry. It was a long time ago, but it still hurt like a fresh wound. Inuyasha pressed a kiss to her temple. "It's okay, sweetheart." Kagome nodded, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into him for comfort. Inside, Kagome was laughing at herself. It was so easy to preach self-reliance, but so much harder to live it.

"I was very close to my father," Kagome whispered. "I miss him a lot, even after so long."

"I know how that feels," Inuyasha conceded, leaning back so he could look at her. With a smile, he brushed a stray piece of hair from her face. "My mother was the kindest person I ever knew, and I loved her more than I ever loved anything. But she had cancer and was sick most of the time when I was a little kid, until she died when I was eight. It was because of her I decided to be a doctor."

"To save other little boys' mothers," Kagome smiled. "Such a softy."

He kissed her, just a short, gentle kiss. It put both their minds at ease. "I guess I am a softy."

"I like softies," Kagome sighed, snuggling closer to him. "I don't think I've ever been with a softy."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh really, and what kind of men were you with before you struck gold?"

Kagome scoffed. "Confidence in abundance," she laughed. "Dare I think that you, oh great Inuyasha, might be jealous of my past conquests?"

"It depends on those conquests, my lady Kagome. And you'd better give me details now or else I may just have to enact my worst punishment."

"Oh, I quiver at the thought of what it could be," Kagome taunted, sitting up so that she was leaning her forehead against his.

"I'll deny you sex," he threatened, trying so very hard not to smile.

"You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine," she said with a nod, standing firm.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Not much to tell really. Dated some in high school and early in college, but nothing serious. I've only ever had one real girlfriend. Her name was Kikyo and we went to med school together. We were together for… maybe four years, on and off. I wanted to go on to study emergency medicine, but she wanted a private practice. 'That's where the real money is' she said to me. Well I said 'later, bitch' and that's where I've been for about two years now. Miroku trying desperately for me to get laid, and me trying desperately to beat the women away with a stick."

Kagome stifled a laugh and he only grinned. "Your turn, sweetheart, and I refuse bullshit answers."

She smiled and shook her head. "Okay, I'll tell you. A deal is a deal." For a moment, she paused to collect her thoughts. "I dated a little in high school, but mostly I was really messed up during those first two years after Dad died. In my senior year, I started dating a guy named Hojo. He was this well-rounded, sweet albeit naive, stable guy. Everything that I wasn't back in those days. I thought, if I could be with a guy like Hojo, someone so together and perfect--"

"You mean dull?" he offered.

"Yes, he was dull," she laughed. "But he was kind. I thought I was in love… maybe I was, I can't really tell. When he went to college, I followed. We lived together for a while, and he proposed. No date was set or anything, I just wore the ring on my finger."

"Hm." Inuyasha took her hand in his and looked at the small gold band she wore on her finger. "I should get you a ring, you know, to make it look authentic."

"You digress a lot, don't you?"

Inuyasha laughed a little. "That's why I never get anything done."

She giggled and shook her head. "Shall I continue?"

"Please do."

"It was after we had been together a little over three years that my mother told me that I should break off the engagement. Everyone was telling me to do it, actually, but it was Mom I listened to. Hojo was, little by little, trying to force me into this mold of the perfect housewife who cooked and cleaned and would raise the 2.5 children in the house with the white picket fence… It just wasn't me. I was miserable really… but I just couldn't bring myself to admit that I could have a better life than I could with Hojo."

"I love your mother," Inuyasha said fervently.

Kagome laughed then, really laughed and hugged him. "She was right of course, so I left. Hojo didn't follow. I actually saw him about two years ago, married with two kids in that picket fence house. I wish him a lot of luck, I really do."

"So your biggest relationship failure was Hojo the housewife-maker?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Nope," Kagome said with a shake of her head. "After Hojo is when I met Kouga. Now if there was one man who was the opposite of Hojo, it was Kouga. Hojo was organized and passive and planned while Kouga was chaotic and aggressive and dangerous. He drove a motorcycle, had a sexy leather jacket, treated me like shit and did it with a smile. And I loved him with all my heart for as long as I could stand him."

"Wow," her husband commented with a frown. "You like bikers?"

"I liked him," she said. "I wanted someone the total polar opposite of Hojo. I figured… if I couldn't be Susie Homemaker, then maybe I could be some sexy biker chick. If I wasn't a good girl, then I had to be a bad girl, so I found the badest guy that would take me."

"Idiot," Inuyasha scolded. "You aren't good or bad. You are the perfect mix of both."

Kagome smiled up at him. "You really can charm a girl, you know that?"

"Of course," he said smugly. "I'm a player."

She laughed again, leaning up just enough to kiss him once more. "It took me two years to realize what you just said," Kagome explained when she pulled back. "That's when I left Kouga, graduated college, and started working for Kagura."

"Let me guess, he didn't follow either," Inuyasha finished for her.

"No," she said sadly. "I never saw him again."

"More fools they are," he said with a grin. "I get you all to myself now."

"You'd better treat me right," she warned with a lazy smile.

"On my honor as a gentleman," he offered.

"You're not a gentleman," Kagome said with a smirk.

Inuyasha moved and before she could resist, he had her pinned to the ground on her back. "You're right, I'm not."

Kagome bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Inuyasha leaned down and nibbled it himself. "I'll treat you better than those other fools, that I promise you."

"I'll hold you to that, Inuyasha," Kagome sighed.

"You won't have to, Kagome."