A/N: Extra long chapter ahead, so enjoy! Thanks so much Boobie-chan, Ember Reverie, Lalidra102 and Kagura's #1 fan for the reviews.

Part 6: Sloth: "Why Can't We Be Friends played on a Boom box that Kagome, Kohaku, Rin, Sango, etc. are all holding under her window"

After her row with her sister, no way was Kagura going to trek back to Kanna's place to spend the night. She would not be able to stand the 'I told you so' lecture her baby sister was sure to give her. Hakudoushi lived with three other roommates in a dormitory so that was not an option. She had just started reconstituting her finances, and she really did not want to splurge on a hotel; particularly when she did not know how long her homeless status would continue for. She was weary and wrung out and just wanted to take a few hours to rest and think before she took her next step. Sesshoumaru knowing about her past was a pill that was just too bitter to swallow right now.

Resigned, Kagura decided to do something she had not done in close to 30 years: spend the night in a car. She remembered a time long before the twins were born when it was only her mom and her. They had been kicked out from the couch of one of her mother's friends. Her mom, tears streaming down her cheeks had promised her it was temporary and that soon they would find a warm place to spend the night. Kagura had not minded sleeping outside in the car, it had been like an adventure. Since her mom was there, she had not even been that scared. What she had missed most was not being able to soak in a bathtub. That had been their ritual. Her mom no matter how busy always made sure to give her daughter a long bath every evening. That was their fun time. Ever since then a nice large tub had been one of her major requirements when home hunting. Looking back, she now realized how terrified her mother must have been, but just as with the situation with the stolen fan, she had never let on anything about her pain or her fear.

Unbidden, a tear fell from her crimson eye. She had stationed her car in the parking lot of a closed shopping center so at least there would be no witness to her meltdown. She allowed herself to have a good long cry as she was away from prying eyes. She cried for her mom and regretted not telling her how much she loved her and how grateful she was for all the sacrifices she had made for her children. In that moment she missed her mother so much that if felt like her heart was being squeezed. What would she think if she could see her eldest child now? Kagura was sad to think that her mom, who had been such a fighter up until her death would probably be disappointed if she could see her now. No. Enough was enough. Kagura finally managed to compose herself. She needed to keep making her mother proud. She couldn't stay there. Some security guard was sure to come upon her at some point and wonder what a woman was doing alone in her car at this hour. She just needed to figure out where to go. Despite how much she was already missing him, she would die before she came crawling back to Sesshoumaru.

Kanna might have had a point. Not only about her relationship with Sesshoumaru, but also about her life. The check her sister had given her would be enough to cover Hakudoushi's next tuition payment leaving her much breathing room financially for the end of the year. Without making any extravagant purchases she could live off the money she had earned these past few months and take the time to figure out what the hell she wanted to do with her life.

For years dancing had been her whole life, then raising the twins had consumed every single part of her. It was hard to accept that maybe they indeed did not need her anymore, at least not as they had before. She had been a little lost living alone in their too big apartment and maybe Kanna was right and that to fill the void she had gone overboard with the jewelry, the purses and the shoes. Did that explain why she so whole-heartedly jumped headfirst when Rin and Sesshoumaru entered her life? She had not thought about her actions and their consequences only about how fun it was to care for Rin and how good it was to be with Sesshoumaru. Being with them had been a nice distraction from the fact that her life was… empty. She needed to stop hiding and face her problems… tomorrow. For tonight she just needed to find a place to rest.

Her mind heavy with thoughts of what she needed to do with her life the wind sorceress found a quiet residential street not far from where her previous apartment was and settled in for the night.

She needed to get up and go wash up. Maybe a bath would help settle her stomach. Who knew mixing ice cream and bargain price wine could make one so sick? Clearly Kagura had gotten too used to the good stuff while living with Sesshoumaru. Thoughts of that jerk made her take another large spoonful from her cherry ice cream carton and stuff it in her mouth. To hell with her tummy ache.

In the end she had only spent one night in her car. After going to a nearby sauna to wash up and set herself to rights, she had marched over to her former landlord's place. She had intended to use her legendary charm to have him rent her a place to live. She was in luck. Her former apartment was still free as the next tenant was only moving the following month. The landlord agreed to let her stay there for free in exchange of help doing some menial handiwork around the building. She wasn't that handy, but her brother was. She would get the brat to come do some painting and plumbing fixes for free. It was high time she put Hakudoushi to work. This kind of exchange of favors instead of money had been one of their mom's specialty. One of the many skills she had taught her kids.

This agreement gave Kagura four weeks to find a place to live and a job and figure out how she would afford a moving service to get her stuff from Sesshoumaru's house and from the storage space. She had so much to do, but at the moment all she wanted to do was eat junk food, drink wine and sleep. There were too many thoughts swirling in her head and she was tired. All she had managed to do in the past two days had been to go pick up her mattress, some clothes and essentials from the storage space and buy some toiletries and most importantly ice cream and wine. She had not had enough energy or drive to get more, nor had she had the strength to arrange her living area. She had placed the mattress on the living room floor and used it as a sleeping space and living space. She was still upset about her mom, Sesshoumaru and the ugly scene that had gone down in his office. She just wanted to keep eating her ice cream, drinking her wine and lounge on her mattress.

How the proudful mighty had fallen. She missed her bedroom, the SUV and the beautiful kitchen. She would miss the nice paycheck too. She was a cold heart bitch who only cared about money, wasn't she? She tried to justify her bout of melancholy with the sudden lack of access to worldly goods… but then why was she wondering if Rin had turned in her math homework or if Sesshoumaru had dinner. She hated to admit it, but she was missing the brother and sister duo.

Damn she felt really shitty about storming out without seeing the little girl. One did not abandon an orphan child like that. At the time the only thing she had cared about was getting the hell away from Sesshoumaru. She would have called the house phone to check in on Rin was she not sure that Jaken would pick up the phone. Just the thought of hearing the kappa's voice made her see red.

Loud music suddenly came blaring from outside her window. She lived on the third floor, but she could hear it loud as if it was playing inside her living room. She put down her spoon and dragged herself to her feet, fully intending to give her annoying neighbors an earful about disturbing the peace with obnoxious music at four in the afternoon in the middle of the workweek. Her eyes were greeted with the most surprising sight.

Kagome, Inuyasha, a small kitsune who she guessed to be Shippou, and a bunch of humans were all standing under her window. In the middle of them all was a jumping Rin. What the hell? This is when she noticed that the offending music was coming from a boombox standing on the shoulders of the scowling Inuyasha. Clearly this little display was for her benefit. Great.

Looking down made her nausea flare up again, but she was so glad to look at Rin that it immediately made her feel better. She chuckled when the child did the cutest pirouette as the finale of the song 'why can't we be friends' resonated. As she didn't quite know what the musical committee had planned, Kagura slipped into shoes and rushed down. She fully intended to put an end to their little concert before they launched into another song performance.

"Miss Kagura!" The little girl launched herself at the wind sorceress as soon as she was within reach.

"What's all this mess?" Even as she tried to look annoyed, Kagura ran a tender hand over Rin's head.

"We made a special concert for you. I asked Inuyasha and my friends to help."

"Keh! How did I get roped into this?" Inuyasha grumbled. He seemed just glad he could put down the damn stereo.

Kagura had a feeling that his love for his little sister played a role in his presence. Her heart gave a small pinch when she realized that one of Rin's older brother had clearly not joined in on the celebration. She pushed thoughts about the unsupportive jerk to the side.

"I know I followed the beautiful Sango, who followed her dear brother Kohaku, who followed his friend Rin. Something tells me you followed your dear Kagome and Shippou." A purple-eyed human turned towards Kagura to flash her a smile. "Had my buddy Inuyasha told me we were going to serenade a woman as beautiful as you, I would have come up with a lovely playlist. My name is Miroku, charmed to make your acquaintance."

He was stopped in his progression towards Kagura when an unknown woman stepped into his path. "Not one more step if you don't want to be castrated."

"Dear Sango, no need to threaten violence if you want to come close to a particular part of my anatomy. All you have to do is ask, and access will be granted." He retorted, earning himself a well-deserved slap from the woman he had addressed. Kagura had not showered in two days, her hair was a mess, she had red cherry ice cream stains on her sweatshirt and she was still a mix of buzzed and hungover. In her opinion she was sure Sango had no reason to worry that her man would find her attractive.

"Let's not forget we have children present." Kagome cleared her throat loudly. "Rin, I believe you wanted to talk to Kagura."

"Miss Kagura tomorrow is the full moon and next week is Halloween, I don't want Jaken to do my hair, so you have to come back home."

Rin had bombarded her with two requests in one, but Kagura got the message. The kid wanted her around for her night of transformation and for the stupid Halloween day at her school. The former surprised her as in all the months she had taken care of her, never had Rin requested her presence. She did not even know that the girl was aware that Sesshoumaru had told her that she was a hanyou. When it came to the latter, Kagura was not surprised. How could boring stupid Jaken turn Rin in a fabulous ballet-dancing witch?

Despite all that she wanted to say no. She really did not want to see Sesshoumaru nor deal with Jaken. She tried to form the words, but she saw the tears welling in Rin's eyes, and the kid had gone to such trouble to put up this little display, she could not let her down.

"Alright, I'll be around for you tomorrow and until Halloween, after that I'm off."

Upon arriving at Inuyasha's place Kagura made the mental note to grill Kagome about what her boyfriend did for a living. He had an isolated cabin style house in the middle of the forest on the outskirts of town. Before they parted ways the day before, the hanyou had texted her all the details about the meeting point. She had been surprised that they convened at his place for the full moon, but upon seeing it, she had to agreed that it was best to keep Rin safe and away from prying eyes. Inuyasha did not have any neighbors for miles.

"Welcome. Do you want a drink?"

Kagura was surprised once again as she was greeted by none other than Kagome once she rung the bell to Inuyasha's house. Had she missed the memo? Was this a dinner party?

"No thanks." After her binge of ice cream and wine for days, her stomach still had yet to settle completely. As much as she would enjoy raiding Inuyasha's cellar, she decided to keep things as light as possible.

"The old bastard's… friend has arrived." The master of the house commented as he too came into the hallway.

Kagome smacked her boyfriend on the arm. "Everyone deserves love. Don't make them feel bad about it. As if they needed that to make their way back to each other."

"No one said anything about love!" Kagura sputtered. Was everyone aware of her private life?

"Keh! Frankly I don't care if you're sleeping with Sesshoumaru." The hanyou's face suddenly took on a grave look. "The only one I care about is Rin. Not many people know about her. The information getting out could get her killed. Not all members of our family are as accepting of a hanyou." Kagome laced her arm around her lover in a sweet embrace, giving him her strength and comfort. She knew some of his pain. "It's better for the world to think that Sesshoumaru is a weird eccentric inu youkai who's raising a random human girl."

Kagura felt insulted by Inuyasha's unnecessary warning. She loved Rin and would never do anything to put her in jeopardy. Just as she had this revelation about her feelings for the kid none other than Sesshoumaru stepped into the foyer.

"The sun has set, things will start moving along soon."

Following his announcement, he turned to go back to where he came from. The wind sorceress was peeved that he had not even spared her a glance or a hello. What an asshole. To think that barely a week ago they had been making love in his bed. His indifference hurt. A lot. Not that she would let the jerk know. Tonight was all about Rin after all.

They followed Sesshoumaru into a bare room in the basement that only contained a bed on which Rin was lying down. She was pale and clammy. Worry gnawing at her heart, Kagura instinctively headed towards the child. Before she made it Sesshoumaru grabbed her by the arm. She wanted to protest but swallowed her words when she saw the torment in his own eyes. Grim faced Kagome and Inuyasha fanned around the bed. The four of them waited in silence as Rin's body transformed.

As the full moon slowly rose into the sky, the child's body changed. Her hair switched from dark brown to silver white, claws grew at the tip of her fingers and two furry ears sprouted at the top of her head. Jagged marks appeared on both of her cheeks and when she opened her eyes, they were completely red.

"Is she in pain?" Kagura whispered.

"Yes." Sesshoumaru finally answered her question after a long silence.

His hand trailed off her arm until it reached hers, he then gently unclenched her fist. It was only then that she realized she had been clutching her fist so tight that she had been hurting her hand. They held hands in silence for what felt like hours as they waited for Rin to finish her transformation. When she did, it was terrifying. Gone was the sweet little girl with a gap in her teeth. An inu hanyou with sharp claws and large canines who was lost in its blood lust was left behind. The hanyou sprung up and crouched on all fours, its blood red eyes looking at each of the four people surrounding it, assessing on who to pounce first.

"Come on kiddo, I know you're still there. Come back to us, you can do it." Inuyasha spoke on a sweet tone that Kagura was not even aware he could conjure. An angry hiss was the response he got.

"You got this honey, you can come back to yourself." Kagome encouraged. This time the creature snarled.

"Rin, control your blood." Sesshoumaru commanded.

Kagura got the gist of what was going on. Maybe, just maybe, their encouragement would help Rin take come back. She refused to believe her little girl was lost in that monster. "Honey. Just come back to us." She too called out.

The small inu hanyou threw her head back and growled fiercely. Just when Kagura feared Rin was too far gone, the creature fell back on its back, convulsing so strongly that the entire bed frame started shaking. A blood-curling scream escaped her throat. Soon her hair was changing back, her claws retracting and the red rescinding from her eyes. Not soon enough to the wind sorceress's taste, all traces of the bloodthirsty half-demon were gone, leaving an exhausted and shivering Rin on the bed.

"Did I do good?" The uncertainty in her still feverish eyes tore at Kagura's heart. Before anyone else she rushed to the bed and hugged the little girl.

"You did great honey." She gently caressed the sweaty bangs out of the child's eyes. "You were lack a badass werewolf." Kagura did not know who was trembling more between her and the child. She had been overwhelmed by the scene she had witnessed.

"Good. Maybe next year I can be a werewolf ballerina for Halloween." Rin mumbled, burying her face in the wind sorceress's chest. After getting some comfort she rose her head to look at the person whose opinion mattered the most to her.

"You did well." Sesshoumaru answered her silent question. "You have drastically reduced the time it takes you to control your blood." Her eldest brother agreed. His rare praise made Rin grin wide.

"Come on, let's go give you a much-needed bath." Kagome headed to the bed to go fetch the clammy child. They were used to this ritual. The warm water would soothe any of her residual aches and chase away some of her tiredness.

"And I'll go make our favorite dinner." Inuyasha informed her.

"Chicken instant ramen?" Rin grinned at her half-brother.

"Yep, and I got onion flavored potato chips to go with it." Inuyasha agreed as Kagome and Rin headed towards the bathroom upstairs. The half-demon followed closely behind his two favorite girls.

They conveniently left Kagura and Sesshoumaru alone in the basement.

Despite his cold mask, the wind sorceress could tell he too was shaken up.

"Is it always like this?" She wiped a hand over her face, trying to hide the tears that had gathered at the corner of her eyes.

"For now yes. She is getting better. We hope that eventually she will be able to rid herself of the blood lust before it completely takes her over. We will keep training and she will achieve it."

His answer made her think about something. "Is this where you come every Sunday?"

"Indeed, Inuyasha and I want to ensure that both Shippou and Rin know how to fight. We spar with them weekly and for Rin we help her learn how to master her youkai half. Just because it is dormant most of the month does not mean it is inexistent. Once she achieves mastery of herself she will not have to suffer like this every month. Our goal is to make sure she is able to defend herself, even from herself."

"I'm sure she will with you guys teaching her."

"It is my hope."

Kagura was struggling reconciling this caring man with the lover who had treated her so callously.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

He arched an eyebrow at her unexpected question.

"First you accuse me of theft, then you act as if nothing happened."

"This Sesshoumaru did no such thing." He stared her straight in the eyes. "Jaken made up this nonsensical accusation."

Oh, so now he acknowledged that Jaken had been telling lies about her.

"Then why didn't you speak up for me?!"

"I did not realize you needed defending."

She did not. Fine. Whatever. She had struggled to make her own way in the world and fight her own battles. What was one more? She could forgive him for that, but not for another injury to her pride.

"I can't believe you went and found out all about my past." She was still too ashamed to think about all that he now must know about her.

"I only did it upon first employing you as a precaution to ensure Rin would be safe. When it comes to your past, know that what you have gone through has made you into who you are today, and that is all that matters. Not your childhood, not who your parents were, nor your financial situation. This Sesshoumaru would never ask you to stay. You are free Kagura. You may go away if you so wish." He paused briefly as if he was thinking carefully over his next words. "However it would please us if you stayed."

Her anger deflated. He was really making it hard to remain mad indeed. She had intended to rant and rave and maybe send a wind blade his way, but how could she when he was opening up in way she did not even know he was capable of.

"Us?" She echoed.

"Rin and I. Do not be fooled by her smiles, she is in truth shy. That is why her circle of friends is limited to members of the family. She has never invited someone to remain by her side during the night of the full moon."

That to Kagura felt like an arrow straight to the heart.

"What about Kagome?" She asked once she recovered.

"My brother's miko is… family. Rin has known her for most of her life. We first included her in these evenings as her spiritual powers came in handy to neutralize Rin's powers when the youkai blood took her over. It was easier and less painful than restraining her."

Kagura knew she would not be able to get out of her head the image of Rin being restrained to a bed while her body went through a transformation. She wondered how scared the child must have been and how in pain Sesshoumaru surely had been as he powerlessly witnessed such a gruesome scene. Her heart broke for both of them.

"Things have been going better now." He closed his eyes briefly and breathed deep. Before she realized it, she was running a comforting hand over his back.

"I'll come back home." Kagura murmured. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could help it, not that she wanted to take them back. "I promised Rin I would help her get ready for Halloween. Plus I'm a lazy sloth by nature and I really got used to this maid service business. Thinking of having to mop my floors again is exhausting." She still had a bit of pride left and she would not admit out loud how much she had missed both he and Rin.

"But, I don't want to be your employee anymore." She had had the chance to think over the last few days, and she realized that Kanna had been right. Sleeping with Sesshoumaru while he paid her to look after Rin was just wrong. "I still want to be around for Rin and to be with you but not like that."

"What do you propose then?" The note of doubt in his voice was endearing. Guess she had not been the only one affected by their separation.

"I want to move back in, but I want to be financially independent. I'll still look after Rin while you find another nanny, but I want to get another job." While they found proper childcare options, Kagura was sure she could balance job hunting and looking after Rin. The child spent her days at the academy and her afternoon at dance class, leaving the wind sorceress more than enough time to send job applications and go to interviews.

"That can be arranged."

Kagura felt Sesshoumaru's shoulders instantly relax against her hand. She was glad to see that she was not the only relieved one.

"Let's go join the others. Rin is usually ravenous after an episode."

They went upstairs in silence and met up with the rest of the family in the kitchen. As soon as she saw them Rin swallowed her mouthful of ramen and grinned.

"Miss Kagura, I have to show you my training room. Inuyasha built it himself it's really big and beautiful and made in all wood from the forest." Kagura was glad to see that Rin still had her same energy. She had dark bruises under her eyes, but to her nanny's relief other than tiredness she looked fine.

"Sesshoumaru was telling me all about your training." She pretended to think long and deep. "I do have a suggestion. I saw there's a pond in the forest. You guys might want to add swimming lessons this summer for Rin." Her quip made the little girl giggle and Sesshoumaru smirk.

"Keh! The old bastard is smiling. Creepy as hell."

"I don't think I've ever seen uncle Sesshoumaru smile." Shippou, hand deep into a box of pocky agreed with his father. While Inuyasha did not allow him to witness Rin's transformation, he was of course always included in the dinner they had together afterwards.

"Sounds to me like there's a good story there, isn't there Rin?" Kagome agreed.

"Yes, we went to the park and I fell in the water and Miss Kagura fell and Sesshoumaru-sama rescued us…"

While she excitedly told her story, Kagura and Sesshoumaru exchanged a look. The two lovers were recalling another occurrence that involved the two of them and a body of water, in that case, a hot tub.

Kagura was indeed looking forward to going back home and to spend more time with Rin and Sesshoumaru. There was just something she needed to do before reclaiming her righteous place: murder a kappa. She had not quite forgotten the stunt Jaken had pulled nor his accusations about her mom. Halloween was going to come early for the toad.

To be continued…

A/N: They made up (for now) and Kagura is starting to have more confidence in their budding relationship. Will Jaken survive her return to the house? Find out tomorrow in the chapter aptly named Wrath.