A/N: Alright, this isa good thing, right? Getting out a chapter the next day? What can I say, I had nothing to do in class.

Alright, so I was going to say this yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to. I seem to be getting pretty angsty with my last few chapters, eh? Do you think that's a little much? Ah well, I feel like this story needs a bit of darkness. It's been a little too happy-go-lucky until now, so it's time for a little change in tone. Just a bit; it'll get better towards the very end.

Okay, so I don't have any Youko/Suuichi convo's in this chapter. Why? Because I don't want to write him. For future reference, I don't plan on concentrating on Yuuki a lot for the next chapter or two. Mostly it's going to be Kagome and her situation.

Alright, so anyone want to guess on how this is going to end? I'd like to know what you people think, if you're willing to share. You never know, it may spark an idea for me.

Okay, last thing again is thanks to my reviewers. I appreciate it, and I probably should've waited for other people to have a chance at reviewing before I turned out this chapter. Ah well, I want it up. I'm sure you guys do, too.

Now, on with the chapter!

Kagome sighed and stretched lazily. She cracked open an eye slightly, was nearly blinded by the sunlight flooding her room, and quickly shut it again. She snuggled back into her soft, warm bed, refusing to wake up and face the day quite yet. She pulled her comforter tighter around her shoulders and sighed as she burrowed deeper into her pillow...then shot upright and nearly screamed.

"How in the world did I get back here?" she said to no one in particular. "The last thing I remember was falling asleep in the tree..." she trailed off, recalling that she had fallen asleep against a demon in the middle of the park. Her cheeks flushed as she thought about the fox, and she quickly shook her head. Her mind would not linger on the demon. Even if that demon was hot, adorable, had the cutest ears...

Kagome practically slapped herself. "And I thought I was already seeing someone," she muttered. Now that she was fully awake and wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, Kagome slowly got out of her bed and noticed she was still fully dressed. "Great, now I get to do ironing later." She glared at the offending cloth before moving to her dresser to change.

Minutes later, she was pulling her hair back into a makeshift bun at the base of her neck. She made her way down to the living room and noticed Yuuki was still asleep. "Lucky fox, able to fall asleep and stay asleep..." She sighed.

Walking to the kitchen, she began to fix a quick breakfast. She was lucky that each night she had been visited by a good looking guy (-or demon, she reminded herself) it was a weekend night or one of her days off. She didn't think she would be able to keep hold of her job if she had met them otherwise.

Kagome began to rummage through the cupboards and various nooks where she had horded food. Nothing looked particularly interesting to her, so she slammed the last door shut with annoyance.

Turning back to the couch with its sleeping occupant, she walked over to it. Standing over Yuuki, her hands on her hips, she waited for him to wake up. When he didn't, she poked him.

He jumped awake and Kagome swore he was glaring at her. He seemed to say 'I don't like being poked, go away'. Kagome stood her ground, however, knowing the way to get herself on his good side again. "Alright, you. We're going out to eat for lunch today. There's absolutely nothing to eat here and I'm hungry, so if you want to go, you had better be by the door by the time I'm ready to leave."

Yuuki stared at her a moment more before picking himself up. Stretching in a very adorable manner, he leapt down from the couch and picked his way delicately to the door. During the process, Kagome couldn't help but think he looked more like a cat than any canine. She hid a smile behind her hand.

She followed her companion to the door and grabbed his leash. She was amazed when he waited patiently for her to attach it to his collar; usually they had a little war over getting the leash hooked to him. Shrugging it off as both parties lacking sleep, Kagome opened the door and walked out.

Neither parties noticed themselves being watched.

The rest of Kagome's day off of work was spent window shopping with Yuuki. She hadn't felt like doing anything that day, so she wandered around as long as possible before both were to tired to hold themselves up. After a quick nap for the two in the park -Kagome had unconciously picked the tree where she had been sleeping the night before- she had bought them take-out Chinese for dinner. They ate in a comfortable silence before retiring for the night.

Now, Kagome was once again at work. She had just finished her session with Aki, and was waiting with Himitsu for her next patient. Himitsu was chattering away, allowing Kagome to space out her co-worker.

Yuuki sat in her lap, curled up in a small, furry white ball. He had been acting unnaturally behaved for the past thirty-six hours, and Kagome was wondering if he might be ill.

Himitsu's voice stopped short, and Kagome blinked. "What, sorry? I wasn't paying attention."

Himitsu looked pointedly at her friend. "You haven't been listening at all today. What's on your mind? You're almost never this preoccupied at work. Usually I'm the one who has to tell you to take a breather."

Kagome sighed. She seemed to be doing that quite often lately. "It's nothing, really. A stupid thing. Not a big deal."

"It is a big deal if you're this worked up about it." Himi's stare told Kagome that she wouldn't get out of telling so easily. "Talk."

Kagome fidgeted slightly. "Alright, but you can't tell anyone yet." Himitsu nodded. "Okay, you remember Suuichi, right?" Another nod. "Well, I like him. A lot. He's really fun, we have a lot in common, he's so sweet..."

"So what's the problem?"

The raven-haired girl worried her bottom lip slightly. "The problem is, I feel the same way about another person I've met. I've seen him more than Suuichi, but Suuichi has left me notes and roses when I've had a bad day. Then again, this other guy is almost god-like in his actions, and he did come back to see me. I haven't seen Suuichi since our date." Her posture slouched slightly. "I'm worried that I've got two guys that I like, and I can't choose between them. It's stupid that I'm acting like this when I've only seen either of them once or twice, but I always get this feeling that I know them. That they're closer than I think they are. Stupid, right?" She laughed nervously and looked at her friend.

Himitsu's face was uncharacteristically serious. "You know, Kag, I've never met a guy where I've felt like that. I don't think I will for a long time, but it seems to me like it's love at first sight."

Kagome laughed. "Yeah, right. Can you even imagine me acting like that? I mean, my friends have been trying to hook me up with guys ever since high school. I've hardly ever been on dates, either; I just don't have the time for the kind of commitment it takes to keep a relationship going."

Himitsu put an arm around Kagome's shoulders and she smiled. "Kags, girl, you're falling head over heels for both of these men. And because you basically met them on your own, there's a factor in there you're not considering. It's the fact that you chose to date Suuichi, you chose to date this mystery guy. And that, my friend, is a bigger factor than anything else in a relationship. That and getting along with them, of course."

Kagome shook her head. "Right, that still doesn't explain how I'm going to choose between them."

Himitsu's face became serious again. "Who says you have to choose?"

Kagome elbowed Himi before joining her friend in laughing. "Himi, that's exactly what I'd expect from you."

"Of course it is. But really, all you have to do is wait and see which one makes a mistake first. Then dump him and go for the other one completely."

"Whatever you say, Doctor."

"And don't you forget it!"

Neither girls noticed that Yuuki had been hanging onto every one of their words.

Kagome had been worried when Shippo didn't appear for his appointment, but her fears were pushed aside when Himitsu informed her that his guardian had canceled the sessions. "He's apparently spending too much time here and not enough time with his family," Himitsu had informed her. It didn't completely put aside a nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong, but Kagome ignored it until she could find sufficiant proof something was wrong.

The door to her home was opened that night with a tired hand. As soon as he had gotten outside, Yuuki had began to make trouble for Kagome again. She had to chase him over half of the town before she caught up to him. By then, it was nearly supper time, and so she had stopped and picked up dinner for the two. After that, Yuuki had gotten away from her yet again and Kagome was taken on an impromptu tour of the city once more.

Kagome stepped inside her house and closed the door behind her. She knelt down to unlatch Yuuki's leash, and then proceeded to put her things away. She hadn't taken more than a step towards the living room before she was stopped by a growl.

Looking at Yuuki, with his hackles raised in a feral snarl, Kagome raised her eyebrow. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" She followed his line of sight to the living room. Her eyes widened considerably.

Nothing was out of place. Rather, what got her attention was the neat package sitting on the table at the end of the couch. Walking over to pick it up, and ignoring Yuuki's warning, Kagome scooped it into her hands and examined the object. There was no address to her or from the mystery person, and only her name was written on the front in a very feminine hand. She proceeded to open the large envelope.

She felt a small disk and pulled it out. A sheet of paper fell to the floor and she bent to pick that up as well. Opening the note, she read the simple sentence.

Enjoy the show, Kagome.

That was it. No signature, no ending. Just the note.

Her feelings of dread came back full force as she walked to her DVD player and inserted the disk. After pressing play and backing up to get a better view, Kagome's sight was filled with a picture of Naraku. Kagome sat down on the couch, hard.

"Hello Kagome. You may already be wondering what is going on. Why did you get this little message? Well, let me tell you."

"I am here representing the interest of both myself and my esteemed partner. Our interest, as you might or might not have guessed, is you. Body, mind and soul. Now, normally I would try one of my normal advances to get you to be mine. You know what I'm talking about."

"Well, my partner convinced me to take an alternate route in our aquiring of yourself. So, here I am, giving you our invitation. We will be at the warehouse across the street from our working place. We will be waiting for you at ten o' clock, sharp. We expect you there."

"I'm sure that you are now thinking we are crazy to try and get you to meet us. You are probably considering going to the police. Don't." Naraku's face took on a dangerous glint. "If you tell anyone about this message, or don't meet us...well, we have a little insurance."

Kagome nearly cried when the camera turned to the innocent boy in the room. She immediately recognized Shippo by his red hair; it was the only way she could, due to how injured he was. She could hardly keep her eyes on him. Only the thought that he was suffering because of her kept her gaze on the screen.

The scene switched back to Naraku. "We look forward to meeting you." The screen went blank.

End Chapter

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