Chapter 14

Inuyasha waited impatiently inside the coffee shop, at a booth he and Kagome used to sit at when they were regulars in high school. Every time there was a jingle at the door, he looked over anxiously to see her, mentally groaning each time it wasn't her. He kept thinking about the picture in the newspaper, and the fact that Kagome, his ex, the girl whom he once loved, had something to do with it. Why would she do that to him? Was it out of spite? A retaliation for what he did to her. Why would she wait so long to do this? He was furious at first but the longer he sat there, he thought perhaps she still harbored feelings for him. After all, would anyone bother being vindictive toward someone they no longer cared about?

"Well, you haven't changed a bit." he heard Kagome's voice behind him. It sent a pang to his chest and he jumped in his seat as he turned to her. He stood up, wondering if he should hug her and refrained when she watched him warily as she slipped into her seat.

"Hey..." he said. His voice hoarse from not speaking the whole day. He couldn't get his eyes off of her as she sat down and avoided eyes with him. She looked at the waitress and nodded her head for her to come over.

" Yes?" said the waitress as she took out her notepad and a pen out of her hair.

" Can I get an espresso, please?" Kagome cleared her throat feeling uncomfortable from Inuyasha's glare.

" Sure, honey." said the waitress as she left to go get it.

"Espressos?" Inuyasha snorted. "Since when? You said they were too strong. No more caramel macchiatos?"

"Nope, not anymore." She answered curtly. "So... what was so important that we had to meet so suddenly?" She couldn't bring herself to look at him. It had been so long and for some reason, being right there with him triggered all these memories and familiarities they shared. In high school, this was their spot. They'd come to get coffee in the morning, go to school, Inuyasha would go to band practice and then meet her again at the coffee shop after practice. Kagome's eyes widened when he slipped the picture towards her side of the table. She shot a startled glance at him and looked back down at the picture.

"Can you tell me what that's about?" Inuyasha asked calmly. "Who's the guy in the picture, Kagome?"

Kagome stared at the picture of Sesshomaru and the drag queens and shrugged " I-uh-don't..."

"Don't tell me you don't know...because this is your picture. The girls at the photo department told me your name."

Shit, Kagome thought. What to do? Ok, just own it. What can he do anyway?

"It is mine, yes..." she said, rubbing her hands together under the table. "The guy..uh...he's just someone I hired to do the pose."

"Who is he?" Inuyasha asked again. "What's his name?"

"Just some guy I paid to wear a wig to look like you. He's innocent, just a guy…doing it for money."

"Why would you do this to me, Kagome? You have any idea what this picture has done? My career is shot. If this picture is yours then you must have had something to do with that whole Broadway drama, the hotel and drag queen joint!" Inuyasha spat. "I had to pay the hotel several grand for damages, and people are giving me shit for that kid who tried to commit suicide. I mean, Kagome, I get it, I messed up and you deserve revenge but shit…I mean, this is some ultimate revenge. I ruined your trust, you ruined my life."

"You ruined my life too, Inuyasha." Her voice cracked and suddenly a torrent of tears came out and there was no stopping it. She was surprised that she still harbored such pain. "I was about to be evicted if it weren't for—" she stopped. "anyway, it started out as a joke and got out of hand, okay? I'm sorry. I should go now."

"No, wait, don't. Come on! Let's talk. You obviously need to let out everything and I'm here. Get it off your chest."

She kept quiet until the waitress came back with her espresso. The waitress smiled and set her espresso down and left. Kagome grabbed multiple packs of sugar and started to pour all of them into her cup. She didn't even like that much sugar in it, but her fingers wouldn't stop fidgeting.

"Why can't you look at me?" he said as he grabbed her hand. She pulled away as if he had scorched her.

"Don't touch me, Inuyasha." A low growl escaped her chest. "You think, because months passed by that I've forgotten all about you cheating on me, by the way, how are you and Kikyo?" she spat.

Inuyasha sat up straight and sighed. "Kagome, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I was stupid. Kikyo and I, we're just…I made a mistake, Kagome. I wish I could take it back. I didn't realize how good you and I had it."

Kagome stared at him saddened and looked out of the coffee shop window. This was a huge mistake. What if Sesshomaru saw them? Panic started to rise. No, wait, Sesshomaru was not her boyfriend. She wasn't doing anything wrong by sitting down with Inuyasha. She ran a palm through her hair but why did it feel wrong?

"Well, what's done is done. There is nothing we can do."

"Yes, there is, Kagome. I still love you." Inuyasha said reaching his hand out to grab her hand but then refrained. How he missed the days when he could just grab her hand and hold her, kiss her.

"No, Inuyasha. You don't and besides, even if you supposedly did, I don't care." she said as she stirred her espresso. The sugar conglomerated in with the coffee and made it hard to stir. It was porridge at this point and she pushed it away from her.

"You're telling me you don't miss us?" he said.

"Stop..." she began to cry. Why was she crying? "You ruined us, don't make it seem like this is my fault. Shit, why, Inuyasha? How could you do this to me? How can you sit there and make it seem like you loved and cared for me and then do what you did?"

" I don't know..." he looked out of the window. "I can't take back what I did like I wish I could. Not enough apologies can make it better, I know this...but maybe we can just become friends again and see where it goes from there?" he looked at her pleadingly. "Kagome, please, can't you try and find a way to forgive me? I was stupid."

Kagome scanned the coffee shop not having been there in months. Everything was different. New people worked behind the counter, they repainted the walls from green to white, she didn't recognize any of the customers. Could she start over? No, stop it! He was confusing her. She didn't have feelings anymore for him. She hadn't thought about him in a while. Besides what she had with Sesshomaru…

"I gotta go…" she stood up.

"Why? You just got here." Inuyasha frowned. "Don't go...it's not like you have a curfew. Unless you have a boyfriend or somethin'?" he chuckled but then went quiet when she didn't say anything. " Do you?" his smile faded.

She didn't know what to say and faltered saying anything at all. " Um...I really have to go...I'm sorry about the picture...I didn't mean for it to ruin your fame..." she turned around and then shot back. " No, actually, I'm sorry. That is a lie, I did it with every intention of ruining your fame." she stared at him bitterly.

"I understand" he bit his lips. "But Kagome, please sit back down. If you do have a boyfriend, I'll respect that. I'm just trying to hang with you here and see how you've been, that's all..." he gestured toward the seat.

Kagome bowed her head and gulped. She felt this was very wrong, but she found herself doing the exact opposite of what she felt she should have done. She sat back down.

"There, see?" Inuyasha grinned. "just stay a little bit longer. Order another coffee since that one is…undrinkable."

Kagome bit her lip and kept her head down. A thousand emotions were running through her. She kept cursing and arguing with herself. She wasn't doing anything wrong, right? She was only sitting down, having coffee and discussing matters like adults. It wasn't like she was going to sleep with him.

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Sesshomaru glanced at his watch as he sat at the bar. It was getting late and he needed Kikyo's information to wire her the money but she tended to her customers and was purposely trying to ignore him. Kagome would probably wonder where he was. Should he tell her he went to see Kikyo? The meeting was harmless. However, she had told him that Inuyasha called even though it made him angry but she was honest with him. He felt an ounce of guilt that he always accused her of lying when she gave him no reason. She was always truthful. Yet, he was the one lying. He was disgusted by his hypocrisy.

Kikyo grew annoyed that he was still there and stormed over to him.

"Why are you still here? If you're not going to drink anything, leave."

"I need your information so I can wire you the money. I'll take a merlot."

"We don't have it. " she dismissed and he looked over at the bar behind her.

"I'm looking at it right now." he pointed at the bottle of wine on the bar display.

Kikyo didn't look back and rolled her eyes as she went to retrieve the bottle. She brought down a wine glass from the hovering wine glass case and poured him the wine.

"Fifteen dollars." She said, writing her bank account info on a piece of napkin. "There, can you go now?"

She continued to glower at him as he sipped his wine. He chuckled into his glass and his amber eyes flashed at her with amusement. He pulled out a twenty and waved it at her

"I don't understand why you are looking at me in such a way, as if I am the one who did you wrong."

She snatched it and forced a grin. " You know what I find funny?"

"Enlighten me..." he took a sip of his wine.

"That you're not the least bit curious about why I accused you of always wanting her."

"You seem so adamant about telling me." he sighed. "Please, if you must get it off your chest, by all means, get on your soapbox." He turned around. "Should I play the violin for you for added effect?"

Kikyo scoffed. "I first noticed it when you'd come to my house. You were never interested in staying in my room. You always wanted to be in the living room because Kagome would be there. When Inuyasha showed up, you would get angry out of nowhere. I couldn't touch you and I caught you looking at them every now and then. Then you read her articles, like, all of them and every time she and I got into a fight, you always took her side."

Sesshomaru finished his wine. "You done? This is the supposed evidence to your accusation?" he snorted. "Kikyo, please..."

"You know I'm right. Then again, we both know you'd never admit it." She scoffed. "You know, the truth is, Inuyasha and I didn't mean to do what we did but you guys pushed us to do it."

"Oh, so now it is our fault?" Sesshomaru chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He glanced at his watch, he should get going.

"Let me finish, damn it." she scolded.

Sesshomaru smirked and waved his hand calmly for her to continue.

"Kagome was always studying and trying to save money to move out and you were always in the office or some meeting to even pay any attention to me. I know it is a stupid reason, but Inuyasha and I were lonely and then…"

Sesshomaru tightened his jaw in anger. " Spare me, please. Quit trying to exclude any situations which accuses you of just simply whoring around. I've not come to hear your little sob fest to win absolution that would clear you of any remorse. If you simply feel sinful, go vent to a priest or someone that actually cares. "

"Jesus, Sesshomaru. Do you not realize how hard it is to be with someone like you? A robot has more feelings. You were never good at expressing yourself and that shit gets old! I was just trying to explain to you because I thought, after almost five years of being together, you deserved to know why!"

"Well your timing is a bit off and those privileges have longed been revoked."

"I feel sorry for the next girl." She scoffed and he scowled at her. "Hopefully she won't feel worthless like you made me feel or undesired. Or constantly hoping you would tell her how you felt. I hope she never feels lonely." She said, her eyes welling up with tears and he looked into her eyes and was surprised to feel remorse.

Customers were accumulating at the bar by the minute.

"Hey!" shouted a man.

"Just a second!" Kikyo shouted back.

"Lady, can we get some service, damn it!"

"She said one second." Sesshomaru looked to the side at the man and glared.

The guy frowned and looked at his friends. "Did pretty boy just tell me to be quiet?" His friends instigated with a taunting nod making him shoved his money back into his pockets and march toward them.

"I want to know more about Naruto." Said Sesshomaru.

"Ok, can we meet somewhere else. I'm working! Please."

Sesshomaru sighed as she told him where they could meet when the disgruntled patron attempted to blindside Sesshomaru with a swing to the temple. Sesshomaru caught it midair and with one tight grasp, crushed the bones in his hands. He turned to the man and his friends, his face barely twitching with any reaction.

"You're going to get me fired." Kikyo whispered tersely. "Please leave now!"

Sesshomaru tightened his grasp once more receiving a whimper from the guy as he collapsed to his knees. He cried, begging for him to stop and with a deep sigh, he let him go. Everyone watched as he stood up from the bar stool, pressed a wrinkle on his pants and casually walked out of the bar.

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After an hour, Kagome and Inuyasha were strolling down the streets making small talk. Kagome looked at her watch. Thirty minutes had passed and she didn't want Sesshomaru to be upset she got home late.

"So...tell me about this guy of yours, is he treating you well?" Inuyasha asked, noticing she was looking at her watch.

Kagome blushed. Sesshomaru did treat her well. He was always concerned about her and making sure she was happy. Yes, he criticized her at times but he always made up for it afterward. It seemed it was habit he was trying to get out of and he was genuinely interested in her thoughts, always wanting to know what she was thinking.

"Yeah...he does..." she replied.

"I'd like to meet him..." he forced a grin. She could tell Inuyasha was uncomfortable with the idea. She couldn't imagine how he'd feel knowing it was Sesshomaru.

"No.." she laughed. " That's nuts. How am I going to introduce you to the guy I'm dating?" she cocked a brow and then looked away. How could she say she was dating Sesshomaru when they never established a title? Right now, they were just friends with benefits but how it pained her to think that's all it was.

"Alright fine." he said. " Hey, how about I take you to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Inuyasha…" Kagome started walking faster. " That doesn't sound like a good idea. It sounds like a date and that's not going to happen with us."

"No, no, it won't be, I promise." he sped up his pace to catch up with her. "We can just eat at whatever place you choose. I promise, I'll behave, I won't come on to you." he raised his hands and smirked. " Just so we can talk more since it is getting late now and you should be going home." he said. "You keep looking at your watch."

She gazed skyward in deep thought. Perhaps this could be the closure that she'd been seeking. Having dinner tomorrow with Inuyasha might close things off completely and she could really move on with her life without doubt. Her life with...Sesshomaru, she hoped.

"Alright..." she grinned unsurely. "Let's do…seven in the evening."

"Perfect!" he smiled. "I'll pick you up."

"No!" Kagome spat. " I mean..." she cleared her throat. " No, that's not a good idea, how about I meet you?"

"Why don't you want me to pick you up?" Inuyasha frowned.

" because...that seems too much like a date?" Kagome lied. "and um...it's just not right, you know, you coming around the house."

"I understand.." he muttered. " Alright then, we'll meet tomorrow at the sushi place." he said. He walked her to her car and watched her get in.

"See you tomorrow then." She said, powering down her windows.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kagome." he leaned in and kissed her cheek which made her jerk back into her seat. Before he could do anything else, she pulled out of her parking spot and drove away.

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Sesshomaru circled the block several times as he searched for parking. He had too much on his mind to be annoyed by the lack of parking spots. He thought about his father, his business, Inuyasha, Kikyo and Kagome. Mostly Kagome and what was going to happen between them.

His father's words seeped into his mind, when did he become so vindictive to engage in such foolish rivalries? Then he began to think about business, did he even like it? He bought the company when he was still in his last year of high school. In high school, all he wanted was his own company, now that he had it, he didn't feel the accomplishment he had set out for and thought the company would bring him. Kikyo's accusation popped into his mind and he had begun to think if there was some sort of sense or truth to it. Did Kikyo see something he didn't? He and Kagome barely uttered any words to each other. When she was at his house to visit Inuyasha, they'd pass each other with a nod, barely saying hi. The same went for when he had visited Kikyo. Their younger brother, Sota, would follow him around the house trying to act like him when Kagome was stuck babysitting and Kikyo was nowhere to be found. As a matter of fact, he could never recall not even engaging in any conversation for Kikyo to conjure up such theory.

Kikyo was the first human girl he had ever dated and the only reason he even considered dating her was because Inuyasha kept annoying him, trying to hook them up. There was never any common ground between him and Kikyo. It was more like...they were stuck together? He tried ending it with her several times, but she always found a way to make him feel bad and then he would retract his intentions, giving it one more try.

His thoughts drifted towards Kagome. Kagome. He sighed as he shook his head and thought about everything they went through in the last few months. Ever since they lived together, he'd experienced so much than he had in his entire lifetime. She was the only one who could get him to do things that he'd never do otherwise. He thought about Broadway, the drag queen club and although it was very degrading, he couldn't help crack a grin. The arguments and embarrassing moments they've gone through, hanging with her simpleton friends, especially Koga, that pestering vermin. Though annoying, he liked Koga.

Then there was the arguing. No one dared argue with him but Kagome never hesitated showing any attitude, as a roommate nor as an employee and it was what intrigued him about her. His money, his status meant nothing to her.

He finally found parking but an old lady beat him to it.

"I saw it first!" she growled as she gave him the finger. Fortunately another space opened up just a few cars down.

He noticed Kagome's car across the street and felt at ease that she was home. He didn't like when she was out especially after being attacked a few weeks ago by Naruto's thugs. He made it toward the building and went up the stairs avoiding the scowl from the old lady who was in her car.

He gripped his keys and let them hang off his fingers once he was nearby the door and inserted the key. A smile formed on his face. Kagome finally locked the door. Walking inside, he frowned at how quiet it was. Kagome would usually be watching TV waiting for him to come home but the living room light was off and so was the television. She wasn't in the bathroom and he opened her bedroom door and she wasn't in there either.

Sesshomaru inhaled deeply as he pulled out his cellphone and called her but her phone vibrated on the kitchen table. Sesshomaru frowned as he cursed under his tongue and looked at the time. It was midnight. He went towards his room to find Koga's application he still had in his documents to find the number to his cellphone to see if he'd seen Kagome but eased when he looked at his bed and saw her wrapped underneath the covers. He didn't think she'd be in his bed waiting for him. His frown faded as he craned his neck to see her sleeping soundly. He took off his boots and removed his shirt. Sitting at the edge of the bed, he unclasped his watch and set it onto the nightstand. It was so silent in the room aside from Kagome's light snoring. After removing his jeans, he settled back and threw his arms behind his head, not wanting to wake Kagome but she rustled about and turned over. Throwing her arm over his chest, she snuggled closer and he buried his nose into her hair, her scent, as usual, relaxed him. Her hair was still damp from the shower.

"Mmwhwere'd you go?" Kagome murmured into his chest.

Sesshomaru pressed his lips tight, darting his eyes around the room debating what to tell her.

"I...had some things to discuss with my father." he said.

"Mmm.." she yawned and dug her nose in his neck. "you guys are on good terms, no fighting?"

"Yes... no fighting..." his jaw tightened. He hated this, why was he lying? He never lied. Ever. There was never a reason for him to. But he just didn't know how Kagome would handle him having had seen Kikyo. Of course, he'd tell her, but not right now. Right now he just wanted to enjoy having her in his arms.

Kagome turned around on her side and Sesshomaru spooned her from behind, wrapping a firm arm around her waist. Should she tell him she had seen Inuyasha? She could already feel what would happen if she did, he'd have a fit but she didn't want to keep it from him. She'd tell him after tomorrow, after seeing Inuyasha again. She didn't want to get into an argument now and then having to see Inuyasha tomorrow and get into another argument tomorrow. Yeah, better one big argument she reasoned. She rolled her eyes and exhaled deeply. Lying was such a bad feeling. She and Sesshomaru both were victims of it and here she was doing it to him. She wasn't lying, no, she was withholding information for a later time. That was what she told herself so she could go to sleep.

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Koga scratched his chest as he slumped down the steps for a midnight snack and overheard Miroku and Sango arguing in the kitchen. A small price to pay living with them, he had to hear every argument they went through.

Sango shot a scowl at Koga as he entered the kitchen.

"Whoa...ease up on the eyes, I'm just gettin' milk, I'll be out of your way in a sec.." Koga raised his arms as he pointed to the fridge.

" Sango, just leave it alone. Why are you worried about it anyway? Kagome's a big girl." Miroku retorted.

Koga rolled his eyes as he opened the carton of milk and guzzled it down. "You guys aren't talkin' about earlier, are you?" he said wiping his milk mustache and sucked his teeth after downing half of the milk.

"Koga, I told you many times, use a cup!" Sango pointed to the cupboard. "Yes, we're talking about earlier."

"Sango, seriously, it's 1:00am, " Koga looked at the time on the microwave. "You shouldn't be worrying about Kagome and Sesshomaru."

"You knew about them, didn't you?"

"Yeah so? I mean, it's kind of obvious when you're paying attention." Koga shrugged as he placed the milk back in the fridge and searched for something to eat.

" We need to do something about it." Sango insisted.

"Yeah, stay away." Koga peered at her incredulously.

"Seriously, he's going to hurt her feelings." Sango snapped.

"No, he's not. He likes her" Koga protested then realizing he was now in the conversation. Damn it. "He really likes her, trust me on that."

"Don't be so stupid, he's related to that asshole!" Sango glowered.

Miroku rested his head on the table sleepily. He was tired and had work in a few hours but when Sango needed to talk, she needed to talk.

" You can't say that, Sango because Kagome is related to Kikyo and she isn't anything like her."

Sango remained quiet and tightened her jaw.

"Ah, yeah, you see, you know I speaketh the truth." Koga shook his head as he searched for cookies, chips, anything at this point.

" No, he's a guy!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miroku and Koga turned to her at the same time.

" Guys don't know how to keep it in their pants and when some girl throws themselves onto them, they don't know how to control themselves."

"Really, Sango?" Koga rubbed his face.

Koga frowned for a moment wondering what was up with Sango lately. She wasn't always like this. She was bitchier than usual and everything bothered her. When she wasn't screaming at Miroku for no reason, she was on Kagome's case. She'd yell at Koga if he chewed a certain way or every time he poked her face every time he got her to turn around. She used to laugh and fight back but now, she was just angry all of the time.

"Sango, you need to relax. Kagome is happy. We should be happy too?" Koga grunted as he jumped up on top of the counter and looked over the cupboards and found a bag of chips. " You guys are slick, you thought I wouldn't find these, huh?" he opened the bag and began to devour them.

" Kagome doesn't know any better. Kagome is blind to what is obvious."

"and what is the obvious, Sango, tell us." Koga mocked her as he looked at Miroku who already passed out on the table.

"That he is using her."

"Using her?" Koga cackled. "For what?"

"I don't know. Why did he move in with her, doesn't anyone think about that? This is Sesshomaru, you know, 'my shit doesn't stink', Sesshomaru. 'I'm too good to eat at school or hang with anyone', Sesshomaru. He could easily afford an apartment or better yet, a mansion, why the hell, out of all the places, he chose to move in with Kagome? I'm sorry if I'm the only friend trying to look out for her!"

" I understand that, Sango but I'm sure he has his reasons. Let's look at the facts. Kagome was a mess before he came. No job, the place was a mess, she was severely depressed and didn't go out and now that he is there, she is always in somewhat of a good mood...and although I never really knew Sesshomaru like that, he's kind of different too." Koga turned to leave the kitchen but Sango stopped him with another protest.

"I'm telling you that-"

"Look..." Koga growled. "Sango, no offense, but just mind your business." he snapped slightly waking up Miroku. Sango opened her eyes wide at him.

Koga sighed and lowered his tone. "Kagome is happy. That's all there is to it. Leave it alone. I know you are worried about her and probably feel guilty not knowing about Inuyasha. We all feel guilty that we didn't know and couldn't do anything about it...but take my word for it, she's fine. Go to sleep, relax or something, get a hobby for crying out loud..." Koga muttered as he left the kitchen leaving Sango in the kitchen with a sleepy Miroku.

She didn't know what to say and had thought for a moment on how she was reacting. Miroku looked up and knew what was going through her mind and put his arm around her. She looked at him for a moment with glossy eyes and rested her head on his chest. Koga was right, she did feel guilty about not doing anything or knowing about Inuyasha. She felt as a friend, she failed and didn't want to again. She just couldn't trust Sesshomaru. She cried softly on Miroku's chest. He kissed her head and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Come on, let's go to bed." he whispered as he wrapped his arm around her waist and lead her up the steps.

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Shurran grimaced as the sun hit her shades. Her skin unusually pale. What a horrible idea to drink the night before work. What a hangover. She sighed as she sipped her hot black coffee and waited for Naraku to pick her up. She looked at her watch and gazed up at the skyscrapers. The streets were completely quiet and desolate. It was six in the morning, what did she expect? Today, everyone had to be at work at 9. Since traffic was a bitch, everyone had to leave their house three hours in advance. She saw Naraku's black BMW turn the corner of her block and stopped the car in front of her. He opened the door with a devilish smirk which caused her to lower her shades and peer at him with a cocked brow.

"What's with the smile?" she grunted as she got in. Naraku didn't even wait for her to get in completely before peeling out of there. "Uh...relax? I'm trying to keep whatever's left of my stomach in."

" Rough night?" he smirked.

"You haven't the slightest. Anyway, are you going to explain the mystery behind this smile you have on so early in the day or are you going to be cruel and let me guess?"

" Oh, nothing really. Just things going according to plan."

"Ah, and what plan would that be?" she glared at him through her shades.

His smile grew wide and she jerked her head back.

"Oh god, don't tell me…is it about overthrowing him? Stop with the foolish notion, please."

"But it isn't so foolish once you hear about how I am going to do it."

"Ok. Entertain me then. I'm in the mood for a good laugh." she sipped her coffee and grimaced when it awakened her nausea.

"So I'm at the Velvet Dreams last night and guess who I see?"

"Didn't I tell you it was cruel to make me guess?" she groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Our beloved employer himself."

"What?" she dropped her mouth. " What was he doing at a club? For god's sake, it's not in his area of interest."

" Well, it was definitely personal. The girl he was talking to was in tears and she resembled a great deal of Kagome."

"Oh, Kikyo?" Shurran said. "She's still working there? Jeez, so sad."

"I never met her. Anyway, that is not important. He also gets into a fight with a customer."

"A bar fight? Now you're really pulling my leg here." she shook her head in disbelief.

"I promise you I am not." he raised his brows with a grin. "So, anyway after he leaves, someone tells me the girl, Kikyo, has a reputation for doing…certain favors for free, especially if you do business with Naruto. She was playing hard to get, at first but once I threatened her that I would tell Naruto she was being difficult, well, she was putty in my hands."

Shurran gasped. " Naruto?"

"Yes, anyway, I am putting in a favor. It's going to cost me a penny, but she got me a meeting with Naruto."

"I don't know about this...perhaps this is going too far..." she took off her shades revealing her turquoise eyes. "Tell me you didn't hire a hit on our employer."

"Not necessarily." Naraku cleared his throat. "but Naruto and I made a deal. It turns out Naruto doesn't fancy the arrogant rich boy either."

"Jesus, the plot thickens...what a fuckin' soap opera." she spat as she lit her cigarette.

" Indeed..." Naraku grinned.

" So, what's the deal?"

" Whatever it takes for Sesshomaru to hand over the company..."

" No one is going to get hurt, are they?"

"Since when do you care?" Naraku looked at her and she smiled. "Put it this way, Kagome won't be a problem for you anymore."

Shurran cast him a sultry glance. "My hero."

But involving Naruto was always bad news. Her mother always warned her to never make a pact with a devil, after all, she was in her situation because of it. She shrugged, Naraku was a big boy, he could handle his own problems. All that mattered was Sesshomaru would soon be hers.

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The alarm blared and Sesshomaru reached over the nightstand to turn off his phone. Rubbing his face, he lightly caressed Kagome on the shoulder to wake up. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head. He tapped her again and she rolled around in the blanket a few times until she was inside a cocoon.

"Leave me alone, I'm hibernating." she mumbled.

"Hibernate tomorrow, today is an important day." he rasped.

"What's going on?" she tried to uncover herself but struggled just to open a peek hole. "What is so important about today?" she peeked at the clock. "Ugh, and why so early?"

"I received a notification last night on street closures. Traffic is going to get bad. We need to leave by 7 to get a head start. We have a meeting today with Youkai entertainment." he said as he helped her uncover herself out of the twisted blankets.

"A meeting, for what? You didn't tell me about any meeting."

"Yes, I did."

"Uh, no you didn't" Kagome fixed her hair as she sat up. "I think I'd remember." she got out of the bed and went towards the mirror. She opened her eyes wide seeing her hair all over the place and shot towards Sesshomaru to see if he had seen her like that. She pulled back her hair into a loose bun and followed him out of the room into the kitchen.

"Then let me remind you, the hosts of the black and white are trying to emerge with Crescent Corp." he turned on the espresso machine.

"I thought you didn't want that..." she leaned against the counter.

"I don't..." he said.

"So...um...then why are you-"

"I'm thinking of selling the company."

"What?" Kagome's mouth dropped. Did this mean she would lose her job? "When did this happen and why didn't I know about this, I'm your secretary!" she looked at him but he didn't meet her gaze. Damn, did she look that bad, she thought.

"I apologize if I failed to notify you. I received the invite the day my father showed up so I may have forgotten."

"but why are you selling the company, you've had it for a while and does this mean I have to look for another job?"

"You are exaggerating the term 'a while'. I've only had it for about three and a half years. Everyone tends to be confused since I've been a silent partner for six years but I bought everyone out after high school and you should be fine. I'll put it in writing that current employees may not be terminated if you insist on staying there. You… should get dressed..." he said, still not looking at her.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine." he replied without hesitation.

"You're just...not looking at me."

"Is that a crime?" he then looked at her purposely trying to show he had nothing to hide but it only lasted a moment.

"Did anything happen last night with your father?"

"My father, what do you mean?"

" You said you went to see your father, did anything happen?"

" N-no…nothing...happened" he looked away and realized he stammered. He cleared his throat and went about paying attention to the coffee machine. Wow, he never lied before to know that he wasn't good at it. He couldn't believe he was about to be caught. He caught Kagome's scrutinizing gaze and saw that she was frowning. Had she noticed?

" Alright, well…I guess I'll go get ready."

Shit, he mentally cursed.

Half an hour later, Kagome was ready in her long knee length black skirt that clung at her hips with a white blouse. Her hair was put back into a neat bun with loose hairs and small crystal earrings that dangled on her ears. They had a few minutes to spare and decided to sit at the table and enjoy their coffee.

Sesshomaru periodically looked at Kagome from his laptop. She was nibbling her bear claw, her mind clearly occupied with thoughts.

"Hey, you know what I was thinking?" she looked at him and was surprised to see he was already staring.

"Mm?" he said, looking back at his computer screen.

"Maybe you should give the company over to Naraku." she said.

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows and closed the screen of his laptop.

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"Why not?"

"He can be careless. He's quite the gambler. I foresee him running the company to the ground. Not the best businessman."

"but I mean, he's like your head chairperson?" Kagome scoffed.

"He does the job if supervised but letting him make his own decisions…." Sesshomaru shook his head.

"He always goes around thinking he runs the place anyway so why not make his dreams come true?" she shrugged. "I don't know, it was just a thought.

"I suppose I'll consider it..." he said. "Did you do anything else last night?"

"Hmm?" Kagome coughed slightly and took a sip of her coffee. What did he mean by that? Did he know something?

"Last night…" he frowned. "Did you do anything else?"

"Nope, just stopped for coffee to kill some time."

"You said you had to return something." he took note on how her fingers fidgeted around her cup.

"Yeah, a sweater." She said.

"Mm." he said, still studying her.

Oh god, Kagome thought. She hated lying to him, it was such an awful feeling, especially with the look he was giving her. She should probably tell him but then they would get into a fight and she was afraid of that.

"There's something I want to discuss with you…" he said and she looked at him. He settled his gaze into hers as he leaned forward in his seat.

Oh my god, this is it. He was going to call her out on her lies! "Sure...about?"

"about...us." he said, his gaze falling away from hers, the subject was obviously causing him discomfort.

" What...about...us?" she said slowly, trying to control her breathing.

Sesshomaru's eyes darted from side to side trying to figure how to construct his statement. You fool, he thought. Perhaps you should have thought about what you were going to say before saying you needed to talk, he mentally scolded himself. His lips were moving but nothing was coming out of his mouth. He then forced himself to meet her eyes. Her soft welcoming gray eyes filled with expectation. What was she expecting him to say? What was he even going to say? He just started to speak and didn't even know what he was going to blurt out and then he just decided to come out with it, there really was no beating around the bush anymore and it felt like things were becoming serious. This conversation could no longer be avoided.

But before he started, he had to ask first:

"What do you think about...us?" he hesitated before shooting a sideways glance at her.

Kagome dropped her head and opened her eyes wide not expecting him to ask her that question.

"Um." she droned, ignoring the fact that it felt like they were middle school kids passing notes across the table asking, 'Do you like me? Circle 'yes' or 'no'.

"Well, what do you mean exactly?" she tittered. She needed to make sure. She didn't want to answer that she desperately wanted them to become official when he was probably asking if their living arrangements met each other's requirements.

"I'm talking about what's going on here..." he waved his hand between the two of them in an agitated manner. "I know I said that…we shouldn't and we have been…well," he balled his hand into a fist and looked down at his lap. "Should we—"

" I..."

"What I'm trying to say, Kagome...is..." he cleared his throat and cursed at himself for cowering at getting to the point. "What's happening here? What do you want?" Ok that was too many questions at once. Calm down, he told himself. "because to be honest, this ambiguity is making me unsure of—"

"Unsure of what?" she asked, her eyes showing hurt.

"Let me rephrase that, I-" Sesshomaru was interrupted with a knock at the door.

Kagome inwardly groaned. " Hold that thought!" she demanded as she got up and went to answer it.

"Dude, traffic is no joke out there." Koga said as he entered. " Oh yeah, and hi..." he forcefully waved as he went to the kitchen.

Koga entered the kitchen and observed the both of them quietly.

"Did...I interrupt something?" he asked as he darted his eyes between them.

"No, we were about to leave." Sesshomaru said.

"Cool." Koga shrugged. " I would 'a taken the train but I figured it was easy if I carpooled with you guys."

Kagome sighed, disappointed that her conversation with Sesshomaru was cut short. "Oh?" she cleared her throat. "What's going on anyway?"

"Free concert." Koga rolled his eyes. "Inuyasha's opening for some band." Koga cackled. "I guess he's trying to gain back his recognition. Anyway, that's why they're closing all the streets, hence the bad traffic, we should start leaving, cars are piling up at the bumper as we speak."

"Hmph..." Sesshomaru scoffed as he grabbed his keys and sighed. " Let us be on our way then.." he muttered.

Damn it, damn it, damn it. The conversation she'd been waiting for and she still didn't get any answers. Was he trying to make it official? Was he trying to end it? The anxiety was killing her. Why did she just tell him how she felt instead of blushing like a schoolgirl? Maybe they would have established something instead of now going on another day not knowing where they stood. She felt pathetic telling Inuyasha she had a boyfriend because she didn't even know what she had. She just needed that title so badly, for assurance. She didn't want something temporary, she wanted to be in a relationship with Sesshomaru. The next time he'd bring the subject up, she wouldn't waste any time. She would definitely tell him she wanted them to become official, she was tired of this.

" Dude, I'm so hungry, can we get Mc'griddles or somethin'?" Koga rubbed his stomach as he followed them out of the apartment.

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