Author Note: I have successfully posted the first few chapters to AO3 and Wattpad. Now, I've been reading fanfic on AO3 for years now and due to its filters for story searching it is my preferred site at this point. Wattpad is new to me and while its reading layout is my favorite out of the three, its search abilities and filters are frustrating. I'm also having trouble finding something to read that is up to my writing standards. I'm not trying to be mean, after all everyone is at a different level of writing and I am a firm believer in improvement over time. Its just that when I find a fanfic that has potential for a great plot but also has witting mistakes in every sentence, my brain tends to panic and hyper focus on said mistakes. Its not fun to have your head screaming because of grammar and sentence structure. Now with my little ramble out of the way, onto the next chapter!

Dressing the Part

(Meanwhile in the Mirror world...)

"Is all of this really necessary Shippo?" Kagome stood on a platform in the center of Sota's old hut surrounded by her friends and a trio of kitsune women who were flitting about her as they worked to change her clothes, her hair, and paint her face.

"Absolutely," he nodded gravely. "We are declaring our intent in front of both courts, so we must play the part to the fullest, otherwise they will grow suspicious."

"The devil's in the details, I guess..." Kagome muttered as one of the kitsune gingerly raised her arms to drape a lavish kimono around them.

Shippo raised a brow at her comment, but decided not to question it. "It will already be challenging enough to trick a clan full of tricksters, let alone the leader of said tricksters." Shippo shuddered. "Convincing my grandmother will be the hardest, and quite possibly impossible. So, our only hope is to trick everyone else around her so she will be backed into a corner."

"Ah, I think I understand your plan," Miroku nodded sagely. "Ukitake-sama wouldn't be able to speak out against you if the rest of the court accept your intent. It would be considered rude and disrespectful to outright challenge them."

"Exactly!" Shippo smiled impishly.

"I don't know about this..." Sango glanced at Kagome with a worried look. "Surely she will find a way to retaliate. I'm worried you're putting Kagome in more danger than you realize."

Shippo waved off her concerns. "Not to worry. She will be completely safe with me. You have my word." Shippo put a fist to his heart and bowed his head before he resumed his relaxed stance and graced the miko with a smile. "Besides, my grandmother loves Kagome! And doing anything to her would put her in real trouble with Sesshomaru."

Hearing the hanyou's name instantly made Kagome sick. She had no idea how she was going to explain any of this to Sesshomaru!

He's going to kill us both...He'll take one look at us and that's it. Bam! We're dead! We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!

Kagome let out a despairing little hum as her lips formed into a perfect pout. One of the kitsune immediately swooped in and began painting said lips a lovely shade of red.

"Haha! He's going to be soooo mad when he gets back!" Koga pipped up cheekily, falling over himself as he laughed.

"The kid's got a point..." Sango sighed.

"And that is why we are here," Miroku smiled. "We will make sure to keep Sesshomaru distracted for as long as we can."

"Yeah for all of five minutes," Sango muttered.

"You guys are not helping!" Kagome huffed. She glared at Shippo, "I hope you have some kind of plan for explaining things to him."

Shippo ducked his head sheepishly. "I'm sure we'll figure something out." He cleared his throat, "For now, we need to focus on the courts."

The three kitsune stopped their fiddling and stepped back to inspect their work. "She is ready my lord," one of the women said and smiled at Shippo.

Shippo instantly brightened and stepped forward to admire their handywork. Kagome turned to face her friends.

A chorus of gasps sounded around her as they took in her appearance. She was dressed in a lavish kimono of fading shades of red with sparkling golden flowers that trailed down its length. The obi knotted around her midriff was a dazzling green, the same color as Shippo's eyes; a detail that did not go unnoticed. Her face was covered in a light powder and gold accented the corners of her eyes. Her hair was looped into a low bun with curling tendrils entwined around it. A tsubaki flower was tucked above the curls and a golden hair ornament of dangling fall leaves was pinned in the bun.

Everyone had varying levels of awe written on their faces. Miroku was the first to snap out of his daze and immediately rushed to her, grabbing her hands.

"You are an absolute vision my lady. Would you consider bearing my—"

Sango smacked him hard with the butt of her sword, causing him to instantly fall back with a dizzy look on his face.

"Hmph! Serves you right, taijya," she muttered, before turning to Kagome with a smile. "You look beautiful, Kagome."

Sota sniffled and wiped tears from his eyes, but he was grinning like the proudest brother.

Shippo was practically speechless. He opened his mouth several times, but the only words he could manage were, " You look—you're — I can't — wow..."

Kagome blushed from all the praise. Sure, this wasn't the first time she had gotten all dolled up. She'd attended festivals wearing beautiful summer yukatas, but nothing ever this extravagant. Still, while she appreciated being able to look nice in front of her friends, there was someone else she would much rather show this side of her to.

I wish Sesshomaru were here to see me like this. Why couldn't he be the one I'm pretending to be engaged to? Kagome sighed dreamily picturing Sesshomaru in formal wear while presenting her as his intended.

Her happy train of thought was soon interrupted when Shippo finally collected himself and cleared his throat. "This will do. Just one more thing to make things more...official."

Shippo took a step towards Kagome and reached for her hand. Turning her palm over to expose her wrist, he carefully raised it to his lips and pressed a light kiss there.

Kagome immediately jerked her hand away and Sango quickly dashed in front of her.

"What are you doing?!" Kagome exclaimed, clutching her hand to her chest.

Shippo grimaced before bringing his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry, but yokai are sensitive to smell. Touch is a very important part of courting and the court need to smell my scent on you."

"Couldn't you have just held my hand?!" Kagome huffed indignantly, rubbing the spot where his lips touched.

Shippo sighed before backing away. "Unfortunately that would not fool the court well enough. I need to show you at least some affection for this to be believable."

Sango gently held Kagome's hand and asked, "Are you sure you still want to do this?" Kagome held her gaze a moment before turning to glare at Shippo. She gritted her teeth, "Let's just get this over with."

Her friends looked worried but accepted her decision. It was decided that Sango would accompany Shippo and Kagome to the kitsune clan, while Miroku, Koga and Sota would stay behind in case Sesshomaru came back early.

Kagome had a bad feeling about all this. She had agreed to help Shippo, but how far was he planning on taking this scheme of his? Regardless of what happened, she knew she had some major explaining to do when Sesshomaru returned. She was decidedly not looking forward to that conversation.

XXX

Sesshomaru had diligently patrolled around the area surrounding Kikyou's school, but had found nothing amiss. He did not particularly enjoy walking around the modern era in broad daylight due to the amount of attention he garnered from passing humans. Most people were too intimidated to approach him, but that did not stop the ogling. While his ears were hidden under a scarf that tied around his hair, there was no hiding his markings or the imposing picture of eloquence he held himself with. Suffice it to say, Sesshomaru was striking, and everybody noticed...

He let out a soft sight as he passed a group of young girls who were huddled together cooing over his looks as he walked by. While their conversation was meant to be private, his sharp ears easily overheard every word.

What indecent thoughts do women have in this era nowadays? If he was a lesser man, he would have cringed from the comments, but Sesshomaru did not cringe.

If I was not in this infernal time I could have just flown back. Sesshomaru thought bitterly.

The first time he had visited Kikyou's era, she had laid out very clear ground rules that he was absolutely never to break. Dashing, leaping, and flying were completely out of the question, unfortunately.

Nonetheless, Sesshomaru picked up the pace as he headed back to the Higurashi shrine, so he could enjoy the rest of the day in relative peace as he waited for Kikyou to come home.

Upon entering the house, he immediately knew something was wrong. The smell of fear permeated the room and he could hear Mrs. Higurashi talking frantically on the phone to someone.

"Are you sure you checked everywhere?" she asked, panic clear in her voice. "What do you mean she vanished?! Children don't just vanish!" Tears began to stream down her face as she turned to Sesshomaru. "Kaede's gone missing! No one from the school can find her anywhere!" Her voice broke as she cupped her face in her hands.

"I'll find her," Sesshomaru swore. "Tell Kikyou to meet me at her sister's school," and with that he turned and dashed out of the house as quick as lightning.

Other Author Note: This story has been lacking in the action department as of late. Let's remedy that! :D