Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha

A/N: Sorry it took so long! Thanks to all of those who reviewed!

The Dog and the Dog Walker

Ch. 3: First Date Blues

OK. She just needed to calm down. Perhaps she should light some scented candles? Or perhaps a bubble bath? Or some Yoga, well ok maybe she didn't exactlyknow yoga but it didn't look that difficult.

Oh, who was she kidding, this whole blind date business was driving her crazy. She had never really been on a blind date 'Unless I count that guy with the glass eye…ok that wasn't funny'; in fact she'd only told Sango that she had so that it would make her look spontaneous. Plus she could just see Sango's face shouting "Really? Never?"

It wouldn't be so bad if she knew the basic 411 on this guy. But she didn't even know his name, or his eye-color or more importantly, if he had bad breath or was missing any body parts. With Sango you never could tell. What she did know didn't exactly make her feel better, considering that her date was the brother of cross-dresser who had groped Miroku.

Kami, no matter how many times she said it in her head, it still sounded just as ridiculous. Why had Sango invited the guy to lunch in the first place? Normal people just didn't invite guys wearing dresses to lunch, especially those that grope your boyfriend.

Kagome groaned as she imagined how the conversation must have went: "Hi my name is Sango and by the way I have a really desperate friend who needs a man pronto!"

Kagome jumped a bit as she heard a knock on her door. 'Her ear must have itched, knowing I'm thinking bad thoughts about her…'

"Kagome? Open up I want to see what you're going to wear!" Sango barged into the room with a couple of outfits resting on her arm. Just in case Kagome was having trouble of course.

Kagome shot Sango a 'what's-the-point-of-knocking' glare as she still sat on her bed in her pink towel.

"Well if you're going to go like that I think you're going to send the wrong message," Sango chuckled, seeing as her friend was not sharing in her humor, "Anyway…I think you should wear the pale blue dress, it says sophisticated and sexy, but still innocent and conservative."

"Really?" Kagome said with mock enthusiasm, "Could you find me an outfit that says 'I'm-not-desperate-I-just-have-a-crazy-roommate'?"

"Very funny, you don't have to be nervous you know. I have a sixth sense about these things." Sango said trying to sound dignified.

Kagome giggled, she knew deep down that Sango did really care about her, even if it was in her own demented way. And anyway the blue dress did actually sound like a good choice. She made her way to her closet and tugged at the silky dress, causing it to fall into her hands.

"What shoes do you think I should wear?" Kagome asked, to be honest she was fashionably handicap. But in her defense, style wasn't exactly a requirement in being a single dog-walker.

"Well I'll let you borrow my silver ones if you promise not to leave them at his place afterward," Sango winked mischievously.

"You're sick"

"Hey! I'm speaking from experience!"

"So Sesshoumaru should we go over the birds and the bees before you go on your first date," A young hanyou teased. His golden eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Out," Sesshoumaru responded with as much hatred that could be filled in a one word sentence. Why was the filthy half-breed in his presence anyway? Oh right…it brought him some twisted sort of pleasure. 'Insolent filth'

"Oh come on, stop being such a downer. Father says this chick is hot, an Olympic skier in fact. Aren't you even a bit curious?" Inuyasha poked his head into Sesshoumaru's line of vision grinning wildly.

"What is your purpose here Inuyasha?" he snarled, smoothing out the wrinkles in his tailored suit. Sesshoumaru hated wrinkles; unfortunately the biggest wrinkle in his seemingly perfect life just would not go away…in fact it was now picking up his Business Man of the Year award and trying to see if it had chocolate in it…

"Keh, I just wanted to tease you a bit. Father said you guys were going to one of the restaurants we own and I just thought it was bad idea."

Sesshoumaru raised a questioning brow, "Not that your opinion matters-"

Inuyasha continued, he knew that his brother wanted to know why, even though he wouldn't say it, "I mean it's kind of conceited isn't it? Taking her to a restaurant that you own, it's like saying 'look how rich and powerful I am, now sleep with me'-" Inuyasha grinned at the last part, watching as his elder brother's face crinkled in disgust, This is just too much fun.

"My dinner plans are none of your business," Sesshoumaru stated coolly, picking up his briefcase he mentally prepared himself for his upcoming date. He would go in and tell her his genius plan, she would squeal in delight and that would be the end of it. The company would be his, and he'd send her packing. Perfect.

"Well you're not going to get laid I'll tell you that much!" Inuyasha shouted back at him.

Sesshoumaru shot him a death glare as he slammed the door to his office leaving behind a smirking Inuyasha.

Inuyasha sighed as he reclined his chair placing his legs up on Sesshoumaru's immaculate desk, "I always knew he was gay,"

RING

Kagome nervously ran out of the bathroom as she heard Sango followed by a deep masculine voice. She couldn't go through with this, she'd just go out there and tell Sango that she had suddenly come down with the bird flu…it didn't matter that she didn't know exactly what the bird flu was, it sounded serious enough.

No Sango would never go for that. Maybe she could escape through the window… She could tie all her sheets together like in the movies and climb down skillfully like one of Charlie's angels. No, that wouldn't work; she'd failed rope climbing in gym class, she had never thought it would come in handy until now.

"Kagome! Come outside and meet your date!" Sango shouted loudly.

Great. Now there was no chance of escape. Not that she'd had a plan or anything, but she was a girl who enjoyed options for Kami's sake!

Nervously biting her lip she made her way into the kitchen. Her eyes slowly focused on the tall man in front of her. She was quite taken aback really, he was actually extremely handsome. He had piercing blue eyes and his dark hair was tied rather ruggedly in a pony tail. Kagome felt a slight blush as she saw how his khaki shirt rippled in all the right places over his muscular physique.

Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad? If all else failed she could just tune him out and look at his handsome face. It was actually a pretty good Plan B…Plan A being that she would actually enjoy his company and start a conversation.

"Hey, name's Bankotsu, you ready?" he shot her a genuine smile as he reached for her hand.

Ok, so those weren't exactly the first words she imagined her prince saying as he carried her off into the night. But they would do.

"Kagome," she returned a small smile as she placed her hand in his and began to walk out the door, noticing Sango who had the look of a proud mother who had just married off a daughter with a big fat mole on her forehead.

As they made their way into the elevator Kagome couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement. Perhaps she had been overreacting a bit. Especially when she had told Sango that he could turn out to be part of the Mafia, which was pretty stupid now that she thought about it.

"Come," he said smiling down her, "I want you to see my baby"

Baby? He had a baby? And he brought it on their date? Ok, she'd heard of proud father's but—wait a minute…he had a baby! Kagome's mind began to go haywire as red sirens began going off in her head 'Abort Mission. Code Red. Abort. Abort. Abort.'

Kagome tried to wiggle her way out of his grasp and run back up to her apartment but to no avail. What was she going to do? Did he want her to be its mommy? She couldn't even get Souta to behave and he was 17!

"This is my baby Banryuu," Bankotsu grinned widely. He shot his date a confused look as he saw her face buried in her hands.

Peeking through the cracks of her fingers, she expected to see a baby but instead saw a flash of dark blue. Lifting her face away from her hands she gasped as she stood in front of a midnight blue sports car, shining in the moonlight.

"That's?" She was completely and utterly speechless, "I thought…" God she was so stupid, "So let's go to dinner, I'm starved!" smiling widely she pulled Bankotsu to the car, praying that he wouldn't ask…

She was just being dramatic. This night was going to be wonderful.

"So I won Juniors at 15, Nationals at 16 and the Olympics since I was 17…I'm also extremely skilled with the bow and arrow, martial arts, and ancient writings…"

Sesshoumaru suppressed a yawn as the wintry voice of the young skier began to lull him into an arctic slumber. A whole half an hour he had wasted, and he was becoming extremely irritable not to mention doubtful, and if there was every a feeling that Sesshoumaru Taisho hated it was doubt…

He charged colossal business ventures head-on without a second thought; never had he flinched or blinked before an opponent…no matter what the odds were. Sesshoumaru had always believed that confidence was man's most primal weapon…in a fight between two men, no weapons, no clever tricks…it was the man who had the confidence to put himself above the other and attack first knowing that he would not fail, that was the man who would win…and Sesshoumaru was that man.

But as he continued to watch the sullen woman sit perfectly erect in her chair, her face desolate and her eyes vacant, he realized that if he wanted a robot he could've built one himself.

This may have just been a ploy to ensure his business dynasty, but he had high standards, and he lowered the bar for no one.

It was a cold day in hell…literally.

Across the crowded room, Kagome and her date had just been seated. Kagome's eyes were starry as she was finally getting the chance to eat at the Tetsussaiga Grill, a place that her stomach dreamed of, but her wallet couldn't afford. She couldn't help but admire the ambiance, which seemed to radiate the feeling of being at backyard grill…yet still live up to its five star reviews. The lighting was perfect, the music just right, and everyone seemed genuinely comfortable.

Thus it wasn't long before the pair found themselves quite engrossed in their own conversation…to bad the topic of discussion was something that Kagome really could've cared less about.

"So I was going 130 on the expressway and trying to sneak up and go pass the guy right…"

Bankotsu was one of those guys who told a story with his hands, no matter how unnecessary and inappropriate it was. And although Kagome plastered a tight smile on her face, she couldn't help but pray that he didn't order anything that would require him to use a knife…that could prove dangerous.

"Uh huh…" she nodded her head slowly, trying her best to stay awake and figure out what in the world he was talking about. She was not going to be girl who 'put no effort into making it work', a title that Sango had bestowed upon her.

"Well he heard my muffler and started off, didn't stand a chance," he pounded his fists on the table, "So I installed a silencer, and now I ride stealth…"

"Like Batman?" she chirped, realizing that she had just sounded like a complete idiot. But honestly…what did she know about cars? She used the two-leg express for crying out loud. She didn't even have a license, because first of all, she didn't need it. Secondly, she'd run over the test administrator's toes at the DMV, which she found out was an automatic fail. It was totally unfair in her opinion, he should've known not to stand so close to tires…

She sighed mentally in relief as a soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"I like you," he blurted out frankly, "You're funny…so tell me, how long have you been living in Tokyo?"

"All my life…I grew up here, my family owns a shrine on the outsides of town. Not the most glamorous childhood, but I wouldn't trade it for the world." She shot him a soft smile, this was…nice. Feelings of intimidation and nervousness seemed to wearing down as she was relieved that the conversation was taking a turn for the better.

"I moved here from America, but I was born here." Taking a sip of his water he continued, "My mother and father were divorced, so me and brother got separated, we kept in touch though. That's why I moved back, someone needed to look after him,"

Kagome's mind flashed to the transvestite who had seemingly groped Miroku, yep…someone definitely needed to look after him, "I have a brother too, he's in high school right now, and you know how they are at that age, he's only got on thing on his mind-"

"Girls?" Bankotsu smiled at her sheepishly, "That was my favorite hobby too."

Kagome chewed on her bottom lip as a feeling of contentment washed over her body. Now that she and Bankotsu had been talking for a while she felt completely and utterly stupid. All that fuss and whining that she had done had been completely unjustified…not to mention immature.

He could still be a serial killer…they always start off nice…But as she stared into his light blue eyes admiring his chiseled face she quickly shook the thought out of her head. There I go again…too much Law and Order SVU…

"So what do you do for a living?" he asked as their dinner was placed before them, watching as she smiled blissfully with her eyes closed at the rich aromas.

"I'm a dog walker," This time a frown marred her features as he began to laugh heartily, "What?" she snapped, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"You're a real jokester aren't ya?" he gently patted her hand only to have her pull it right back, "No seriously, what do you do?"

Kagome simply shook her head, her mouth agape in disbelief. Was the 'Fast and the Furious' reject condescending her because she was a dog walker? "I was serious the first time," she restrained herself from adding 'moron', "But on my spare time I'm currently developing plans for condos on Mars and making cameo appearances on 'Girls Gone Wild'," her voice dripping with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. It was going so well…

Bankotsu held up his hands signaling a truce, "Look I didn't mean that it's not a respectable profession," he looked in her eyes sincerely, "I just meant that it sounds kind of boring. I like to live life in the fast lane you know? I couldn't imagine having to walk dogs every of my life and pick up their crap,"

And I couldn't imagine having 2 brain cells and a demented hyena for a personality…"It's not boring," she assured him viciously, "It's therapeutic," She needed to get of there, this was turning ugly fast, real fast…"Excuse me while I go use the restroom,"

Pushing in her chair she snapped up her purse and stalked towards the bathroom. What a nerve…Okay, so maybe her profession wasn't glamorous, and maybe she didn't cure sick kids or travel the world first class…but she paid her bills, and she was independent…everything that she had was because she had went out and got it.

So what if she walked dogs? Weren't they man's best friend? She should've been praised for taking care of such prestigious creatures, not spit upon like she was nothing more than a pooper scooper.

I've always said that guys with a nice car were compensating for something…personality in his case. I can't believe that-

Kagome took in a sharp gasp as she felt her body collide into what seemed like a brick wall, "Ouch…" she whimpered a bit as she came face to face with a towering figure, her vision somehow distorted, she waited for an apology of some sorts…but when none came she figured that this place was just crawling with jerks, "Suffering from a manners deficiency are we?"

Golden eyes danced with fire, "Miss. Shikon please remove yourself from my presence…I've decided that I have no need of your services, our dinner is officially over…"

Stormy blue eyes still remained blurry as the words reached her ears, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Sesshoumaru took another look at the girl, his nose sensing unfamiliar scents of lavender and honey. This was not that woman Kikyo…a growl rumbled in his throat, he hated being wrong, "You're not her,"

Kagome threw her head back in frustration, this was not her night, and optimism go screw itself for all she cared.

"Thanks for noticing…men," she sighed, "You are all insufferable jerks…every last one of you…"

She lifted up her head and like a fire to a fuse, tenacious blue met deadly amber…