Big thanks to the wonderful editor of this chapter: Maria Valenzuela - AKA -Photographing Poetry

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters

Overtime

Chapter 10

Kagome woke up and yawned. Today was Saturday —the day of their company's Christmas party dinner, and she had special plans for such an occasion. She got out of bed and went straight to the shower, taking a quick glance at the corner of the room where her dress lay on a chair.

After showering, eating, and throwing on some clothes, she went straight to her pedicure appointment. Usually, she wouldn't waste her money on such luxuries, but she wanted tonight to be special.

Two hours later she came out of her hair appointment and looked for a nice place to settle down for lunch. The first place that caught her eye was a small coffee shop across the street.

'Ooh! Maybe they have sandwiches.'

Kagome looked both ways and then jogged across the road. The warm air hit her face as soon as she entered. It was a large contrast from the cold outside.

She ordered a wrap and a chai tea before taking her place in a booth, unaware of the bickering couple sitting behind her…that is until she recognized that one of the voices belonged to Naraku. She immediately slumped further down in the booth in an attempt to keep her presence discreet. Not like it mattered anyway, the two seemed to not even notice anyone else in the place but themselves. Kagome listened curiously to their conversation.

'I'm not eves dropping, I'm…um…investigating for my own personal reasons!'

"Why are you doing this?" Naraku's voice was nothing but a frustrated whisper, sounding forced through his teeth.

"Because I'm sick of you always hanging around that Kagura or whatever her name is, I know you two have got something." The woman sounded equally upset.

"Kikyo, she's my secretary," he pleaded.

'Kikyo?' Kagome thought. 'Oh my god!' She put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. She'd never heard Naraku sound so pathetically desperate to anyone.

She took a sip of her tea before slowly leaning back again to listen.

"Is this really what you're so upset about?" She heard Naraku shuffle in his seat as he leaned across the table. "Is there some hidden reason?"

Kikyo remained silent. She heard Naraku shift, returning to his serious self.

Kikyo finally snapped, "It's because you always leave the goddamn toilet seat up at home and you never bother taking two seconds to put it down and be considerate of the other people in the house!"

"Ha!" Kagome burst out laughing, stealing the attention of the lovers' spat.

"Huh?" They both turned around.

"Shit!" Kagome crawled under the table in a flash. Naraku and Kikyo turned around to find a steaming tea and a half eaten wrap abandoned on the table. They shrugged it off and turned back around, giving Kagome just enough time to sneak out the other side of the booth and slip out of the coffee shops door, trying her best to ignore the crazy stares and the guy who whispered, "Does she think she's a ninja or somethin'?"

"Phew!" Kagome let out a sigh of relief once back inside the comfort of her car. "That was way too close."

7:00pm rolled around in no time. She touched up her hair, checked her dress in the mirror and then sped out the door. The parking lot of the Holiday Inn was nearly full, and she could hear the music playing from the front entrance. She stepped inside, her heels clicking on the tiled floor of the main lobby. She walked straight inside the open doors of a large decorated hall.

"Wow," She breathed, scanning the room, "it's beautiful in here…"

Circular tables with white table cloths decorated the sides of the dance floor, each of them with carefully placed roses in glass vases. The lights where on the dimmer side, and the whole mood seemed warm and festive.

"Hey beautiful."

Kouga's voice surprised her, but before she could greet him she felt him gently press his lips against her own in a quick kiss. She backed up.

"What the hell are you—"

Kouga pointed a finger in the air and she looked up to find mistletoe. She was still standing in the doorway. 'Nice one Kagome …'

"Oh…aheh…" She looked around some more, noticing all the little mistletoes hanging from the ceiling scattered throughout the room. "God..."

There had to be at least 20 of them.

"I know," Kouga said taking her hand. "Come on, the others are over here; we saved a spot for you at our table."

She let him lead her over to a table on the far side of the room where Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, and another girl were seated. The girl looked extremely familiar.

Kagome took her seat, saying hello to Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha.

"This is Ayame," Kouga said waving a lazy hand in her direction.

'That's how I know her; I've seen her in the store before!'

"Hi, nice to meet you." Ayame extended her hand for a shake.

"You as well." Kagome did the same. It was quiet at the table for a moment.

"Well, I'm going to get a drink, be right back," Ayame got up and walked away.

"Kouga, you two timer!" Inuyasha was the first to speak up after Ayame was out of sight. Everyone looked at him in confusion except Kouga.

"What's wrong with you? I don't even know what you're talking about." Kouga turned up his nose at Inuyasha's accusation.

"Is that so?" Inuyasha clearly was in a mood, "then let me clue you in. I just saw you kissing Kagome under the mistletoe, so why do you keep leading this Ayame girl on if everyone knows you like someone—"

"—It's not my fault alright!" Kouga uncrossed his arms. "She insisted on coming with me."

"Heh," Inuyasha took a sip of his drink before continuing, "you're pathetic."

"I wouldn't talk!"

Before they could continue bickering Kagome cut in. "Has anyone noticed all the mistletoe here? They are absolutely everywhere, aren't they Sango? Excessive, yes?"

She turned her cheery face to Sango who nervously responded, "Uh...yeah! They are! Quite excessive."

"Heh, you're right Kagome," Kouga said as he looked up at the ceiling and noticed all the plants.

"Hmm…" was all Miroku said as he grinned and memorized the locations of all of the small plants on the ceiling.

"It is a Christmas party, it wouldn't take a genius to notice mistletoe," Inuyasha wondered why everyone was so surprised.

"Umm, I'm going to go get Ayame." Kagome said, getting up from her seat.

"Take your time, " Inuyasha said after her. She ignored him.

She walked over to the punch bowl, only to find Ayame chatting with another woman. She couldn't see her face from far way but nodded in her direction before going up to speak to Ayame. "Hey," Kagome said, "we're missing you back at the table."

"Oh yeah!" she said, "This is my friend Kikyo. Kikyo, this is Kagome. She works at the store, as well with Kouga and the others. "

'Kikyo…' Kagome tensed up as Kikyo slowly turned to face her. Trying to be polite, she smiled. "Hello, nice to meet you."

Yep. This was definitely that Kikyo. 'She looks exactly like me…creepy…'

"Good evening," Kikyo responded, narrowing her eyes at Kagome. Kikyo couldn't help but notice her soft yellow strapless dress. Loose fabric flowed freely from the center of it and a matching flower was pinned elegantly in her hair. She felt like tearing it out and crushing it in her fingers.

'So this is the little whore Naraku has been telling me about.' Kikyo immediately disliked her.

"Um…" Kagome scratched the back of her head nervously. Kikyo's gaze was getting unnaturally intense.

"Let's go Kagome. Bye Kikyo!" Ayame saved the day, grabbing Kagome's arm and pulling her in the direction of their table.

'No wonder Inuyasha is in such a pissy mood. Because his crazy, mad ex-girlfriend is here!' She looked back at Kikyo who continued to glare at her until Naraku came and whisked her off for a dance.

Kagome bit her lip. 'Ouch, and with the boss! I feel his pain.'

"Kouga…" Ayame said as they arrived at their table.

"Yes Ayame?" he asked, feeling a bit weird by the way she said his name.

"Wanna go for a walk with me?" She looked at the floor. "All I want to do is talk," she added quietly.

"That sounds fine," He said, getting up and following Ayame away. "See you guys later then, I guess." They waved good-bye to the two.

"They would make a cute couple…" Sango commented, looking at their retreating forms. Miroku nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah," Kagome added. Inuyasha had no comment.

Shortly after they got back to their seats they were greeted by Kikyo. Kagome looked away.

"Hello Inuyasha." She made a point to look only at him.

Inuyasha stared straight ahead, "Can I help you?"

"Don't be so cold Inuyasha! Would you like to dance?"

"I don't dance."

"Hmm." Kikyo completely ignored everyone at the table. "Too bad, it wasn't a question, so get up!" She reached out to grab his arm but then noticeably went out of her way to knock over his drink so it would spill right onto Kagome's lap.

"Oh!" Kagome jumped up, trying to brush away the spritzer.

'She is so lucky that wasn't punch or I would have had it in for her!' Sango thought, eying Kikyo wearily.

"Oops." Kikyo looked away, feigning innocence.

"It's...fine." Kagome forced out. Before the young girl could even say anything more, Kikyo pulled Inuyasha away to the dance floor.

"No!" he protested. "Let go of me!"

"Just this once! Please, it will be like old times!" Kikyo continued to pull him away.

"Ugh!"

Five minutes later they were dancing and Kagome re-entered the room after cleaning off her dress in the bathroom. ' I knew she did that on purpose!' Kagome took a deep breath and started back to the table, summoning her bravery. She tried her best to ignore Inuyasha and Kikyo sharing a slow dance on the floor. Inuyasha had clearly relaxed, and for a moment they almost looked comfortable together. Something unpleasant in her stirred at the sight of them.

She was nearly back at her table when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "Care for a dance?" Naraku asked, spinning her around to face him.

'Oh no!' Kagome thought. She was always the worst at turning people down.

"Um," She was considering making up some kind of lie when he said: "I'll take that as a yes," and proceeded to escort her to the dance floor.

They danced right beside Inuyasha and Kikyo, much to Kagome's irritation. Inuyasha's back was to her and Kikyo was glaring straight at her, looking extremely pissed that she was dancing with her man. Kagome found it strange and unsettling that Kikyo had the guts to dislike her so openly.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no…I have to get out of this situation and fast! The boss! Naraku? Why me?...Wait I have an idea!'

Kagome then pretended to move her feet over a bit to turn the two of them around in the song but then 'accidentally' jabbed the heel of her stilletto into the center of Naraku's foot.

"Arg!" He bit his lip in pain and winced. Kagome hid her smile. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I'm such a bad dancer." She shook her head.

"It's fine," He continued dancing with her.

"No it's not, hahah!" She forced a laugh, or it would have sounded funny. 'That wasn't good enough.' Kagome planned her next attack. This time she deliberately kicked his foot.

"Shoot!" she shook her head some more, giving her an excuse to back away and look at his leg, but Naraku's arm was uncomfortably tight around her so she couldn't move as far as she wanted to.

"That's alright," he said, turning away to wince at the sharp pain in his left foot without her noticing. "I'm fine."

"Damnit." Kagome would have snapped her fingers if she had a free hand.

"What was that?" Naraku stopped dancing and looked at her.

"Oh!" 'I said that out loud?' "I meant damnit I suck at this." She laughed nervously.

"Oh, I see." Naraku brushed off her comment.

'I'm not hurting him badly enough…he leaves me no choice.'

"Can can!" she yelled excitedly.

"Huh? Ow my GOD!" Naraku released Kagome and curled over in pain when she kneed him straight in the balls.

"Oh my god!" she put her hands on her face to make it look like a horrible accident. "Here, let me bring you back to your seat." Kagome smiled slyly at him and sat him down at his table. "Thanks for the dance!" she said, and waved bye.

"You won this time…" he mumbled.

"Oh my," Sango said when Kagome came and slumped in her chair beside her. "What happened to you?" Miroku added.

"Naraku happened." She sighed and rubbed her temples, massaging away the beginning of a headache. A small wave from far off caught Kagome's eye and she turned around to see Inuyasha waving frantically at her. Kikyo's back was now to her and he was mouthing the words "help me" like a mad man. This made her smile.

The three at the table all began to laugh at him. Sango and Kagome shook their heads, finally getting the chance to use something against him.

Inuyasha looked really desperate so after a while Kagome got up and walked over to Kikyo and Inuyasha. "Can I steal him away for a dance?" Kagome asked her almost-twin, raising an eyebrow. Even if Kikyo said 'no' it's not like it mattered, but she had to be polite.

Kikyo began. "Actually, n—"

"I'd love to Kagome." Inuyasha grabbed Kagome, then smiled at Kikyo who stormed off the dance floor to go sit with Naraku. Inuyasha wrapped his arms lightly around Kagome's waist and she put hers behind his neck as a slow song began to play.

Sango and Miroku shook their heads at Naraku and Kikyo who looked quite upset sitting at their table. Naraku had an ice-pack in between his legs and Kikyo sat slouched on the table.

Kagome and Inuyasha were too caught up in their own thing to notice.

"You owe me," Kagome laughed lightly. This was much better.

"Yeah, I guess I do, thanks again." He said casually.

"No problem, it's better than dancing with Naraku…blah!" she stuck out her tongue at the thought.

"I'm glad you think so." He said quietly to her. Kagome smiled and leaned her head closer into his chest. Inuyasha noticed Miroku over at their table waving him down and motioning him to look up. He looked up to find mistletoe right above them, in the center of the dance floor.

He took a deep breath and backed up the slightest bit from her. "Look," he said, pointing to the ceiling. Kagome looked down and blushed. She brought her eyes up to meet his. "It's tradition." She said with a small smile.

"Fine with me," he whispered, inches from her.

'Just a peck.' Was both of their thoughts. Inuyasha held one of Kagome's hands over his chest, while her other one was resting lightly on her back.

She went on her tip-toes and leaned up, closing the distance between them in a slow, soft kiss. They both believed they were enjoying it more than they should be. They were going to have to break it off sometime but neither of then wanted to pull away. The seconds dragged on. Kagome felt that Inuyasha was telling her more with a kiss like this than he ever had with words. Their lips finally parted and she pitched back an inch to stare into his eyes.

Nothing mattered at that moment but the two of them. Not even the fuming Naraku and Kikyo at their table.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered to her, his breath ghosting her flushed cheeks.

"Merry Christmas to you too." She smiled warmly at him, wishing they could stay like this forever.

Kagome was still smiling when she got home and snuggled into her bed.

"This was the best night ever."

She stared up at the ceiling, feeling a sense of accomplishment. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

'God bless Mistletoe.'

End chapter ten