The perfect date

by lmgurl92

Inuyasha Takashi has it all, he's handsome, smart, rich, and charming, everything Kagome needs to make her perfect older sister completely green with jealousy. He'd be the perfect date to her sister's wedding, but there's only one catch He's her boss...

29. And the Winning team is

Chapter 29: The Winning team is...

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

INU POV

29

29

29

"Sango…Really!" Kagome screamed out as they made their way quickly to the front yard. There were a few people socializing but for the most part the area was reserved for old model cars, pickups, and to Inuyasha's surprise actual horses and wagons. Sango zipped past most of the cars going to an old vintage model buggy. It was rusted but it looked like it had been painted a nice bright red in its heyday.

"No, I'm over all of this. I really only came to see if the rumors were true about you…" Sango scoffed as she ducked between an old model pick up and pulled the door to her car open. He stopped in his spot, watching the exchange, he knew better than to say anything or make any sudden movements. There was a shaky line between his Kagome now and the one from her past. He could see that in the reactions of the people in her town and especially in Sango's reactions. They were subtle differences, but differences none the less. He didn't know yet if Sango was upset or delighted by Kagome's change, and he was 100 % sure that Sango didn't know herself. She ducked into the driver's side of her buggy, obviously a lot angrier than what was merited.

So what Kikyo had insulted her attire? Why was she so upset by that? In his opinion he found Sango exceptionally attractive, not in Kagome's sister's way or even the three girls that he had seen earlier. She was more clear cut, what you saw was what you got. She didn't wear much make up, her face was naturally attractive, and her hair wasn't drastically altered, just simply parted and tucked under an ear. She was sporty yet feminine, and she obviously knew how to dress for her body shape. She was the simplest of attractive, but she obviously didn't know that. This whole town didn't know it, but being from where he was, he appreciated that type of beauty far more.

Kagome bobbed her way through the guest's cars going to Sango's buggy before she could attempt to pull out from the overly crowded driveway. Inuyasha still didn't understand how she'd be able to pull that off. "Sango wait…" Kagome panted going towards the passenger seat. "You can't just leave…you're letting her get the upper hand…why?"

"I don't care." She mumbled "this isn't high school Kagome…" The vintage bug roared to life telling them both she wasn't going to sit there and listen to reason for much longer.

"Fine…I'll just call you later…"

"Save it. I don't want to stop you from enjoying your engagement party and the rest of your new life." She mocked with a roll of her eyes. Kagome seemed slightly taken aback by that because she attempted to get in the passenger seat by pulling on the door, but it was locked. "Kagome please go. I know how busy you've been. I haven't talked to you in months, and before that I hadn't seen you in years. So you can stop trying to pretend as if my feelings matter."

"I'm sorry Sango…I was just trying to avoid everything…I was trying to avoid this. But you mean a lot to me." She shook her head pushing the car from park to drive. "Sango, can we at least talk about it, tomorrow maybe?"

"Tomorrow is my only day off and I have things I have to do." She lied, and Kagome knew this. Not too long ago Sango had hoped they could hang out for a bit in town tomorrow, but all of a sudden, she was changing tunes on something that Kagome couldn't even control. It wasn't her fault Kikyo was still a grade A bitch. "Besides you have a lot going on, and it's been awhile people change and they grow apart." She shrugged slightly reaching to the side to pull up her windows. Kagome didn't respond to that, she just watched as Sango pulled up rather close to an old pick up in front of her then reversed exceptionally close to an old oak tree, then with little effort she pulled down the adjacent trails leading back into town.

Kagome stood there for a while, just watching the car descend before sighing deeply and turning to head back to the party. She spotted him staring her way instantly and that made her halt only for a moment. "You okay?" He called and she just shrugged her mind trying to process what had just happened. All she could think of was her need to medicate. It had been far too long since she had taken her medication and all the added stress of the evening was weighing down on her. He walked forward meeting her in the middle. He opened his arms slightly just in case she needed a hug, but to his surprise she didn't. She just stood in front of him playing with the buttons of his shirt adorably. "Is everything ok?"

"I'm tired…" She whispered, and he couldn't help but laugh slightly at that. She had every right to be. She had been through a lot, thrown out of her comfort zone more times than not all day, and now this happened. She deserved a nap.

"Maybe you can go in for a while…"

"Yeah right, my mom's not having it. But I do need to go in to grab something." She said and he grew slightly suspicious but only slightly.

"You want me to run up there and grab it for you?"

"No…no…I'll get it." He just nodded as she peered up at him eyeing him delicately. Her way of asking for some form of affection, he had no problem with giving it. He reached down kissing her passionately on the lips.

"Come back quick, I don't want to be left alone down here anymore than you do." He joked and she laughed flippantly first until his words truly sank in. It took a moment but when it hit she cocked her head back and laughed loudly. "Like that one" he asked teasingly, and she softened her laugh to a smile.

"I'll be back…" He nodded watching her turn her slight form and head up towards the front door of her home. He noticed then how exceptionally good she was at walking in heels. He wouldn't have guessed it, but she never ceased to amaze him. He pushed two hands into his slack pockets and started back towards the party. He walked slowly but it didn't take too long for him to end back into the center of things. Kagome's sister was at it again, the center of attention as she spoke to the standing crowd near her hummer. Everyone seemed so engrossed in what she was saying, and he hesitated for a half a second before curiosity got the best of him. What the hell could she be saying that had their town on pins and needles for her? He walked closer to the back of the home and within seconds he was lost in the crowd. Kagome's mother was sitting on the deck with a few women gossiping about irrelevant things and their grandfather was on the patio with Souta and a few other men. He walked a bit closer but not close enough to catch their eye.

"We didn't know what we wanted…" Kikyo giggled making most of the crowd do the same. She was positioned oddly on top of the gigantic hummer limo once again with a huge smile on her face. The three women that had followed her in before were sitting in the back of the limo with the door opened just peering up at her. It was all so odd, but he crossed his arms anyway readying himself to listen to the show. "So of course, we had to go back and reorder the cake because off white just isn't white enough…" The town laughed again and Inuyasha just shook his head. "We also got a few designers to fly in from Milan to help with both the decorations, and they didn't think the color palette was going to match. I hope some of you guys will swing by before the wedding so you can meet some of them. They're going to turn the lake into a sight for sore eyes!"

"When are they flying down?" A woman in the crowd asked. She had her arm slightly up so Kikyo could identify her. It was all so ridiculous, what was this a Q&A? Was Kikyo a celebrity to these people?

"Really soon, once the bachelor parties are all arranged and the wedding approaches then they should be here. I've already spoken to them for the most part, so I know how the set up will be. It's all about turning everything into reality." The town started buzzing with the new found information and he rolled his eyes. This is what had them all so preoccupied? He was about to weave his way out of the crowd once again till he noticed eyes staring his way. It was Kikyo's fiancé, what was his name again...He smiled when their eyes met waving a hand to get his attention. He honestly didn't want to speak with him. He looked around quickly for a possible escape, and although there were several, if he just ducked away it would be extremely obvious he was trying to avoid him. So instead he tucked hands into slacks and gave him one of those 'howdy neighbor' head bobs.

"Inuyasha Takashi" Suikotsu shouted from the other side of the crowd. It had people turning to stare at him and murmur loudly. He put one hand up as a silent greeting as Suikotsu weaved through the dispersing crowd. Kagome's sister stopped talking entirely watching the exchange in front of her. When he finally made it to him, he passed a cold beer his way telling Inuyasha that he had been plotting the exchange for a while.

"Thanks…" He mumbled and Suikotsu only smiled with a slight head nod. He pushed a hand in his slacks looking for something to say.

"Whoops…" He said pulling out a bottle opener. "You're going to need this." Inuyasha had already popped the cap open with his teeth and took his first swing. "Wow…" He exclaimed impressed, a huge smile on his face. "That's a neat party trick…can you show me how?" Inuyasha just stared passed him thinking it was a joke, but he pushed his bottle forward wanting a quick demonstration again. Inuyasha thought the move was a bit odd but he grabbed his bottle and swiftly twisted the cap open. "Must be a youkai thing…huh? He asked swinging his own bottle.

"You can say that…thanks for the beer. I didn't know there were any?" Inuyasha said as politely as possible. Suikotsu just nodded. They stood in silence for a full minute awkwardly. Inuyasha quickly looked through the yard, no Kagome. She'd be the most potent to him and he didn't sense her either. What was taking her so long? "So… soccer tonight…I heard you were good?"

"Fantastic actually..." He stated, there was a pause and Inuyasha patiently waited for him to continue but he never did. He had at that moment arrived on his opinion of Kagome's sister's fiancé. He didn't like him. It didn't take him too long to realize when he didn't favor people. What was the point of crossing the yard just too awkwardly sip beers with him? He was making the already annoying exchange completely unbearable.

"I heard you played in college?"

"Of course, grade school, high school…I was first string always." Suikotsu nodded taking a slight sip. "But the Higurashi's huh…can you believe in a few months we will be brothers. Crazy how things go full circle like that, small world huh?" Inuyasha just nodded. He was starting to realize something; Suikotsu thought they were closer than what was really merited. He couldn't even recall where he knew him from. Absolutely nothing was familiar about him. He analyzed him quickly. He was tall; they stood about the same height, his hair was slightly long probably to the nape of his neck. He gelled it back, fully clean shaven, he seemed standard for most guys around their age, but was totally unmemorable in Inuyasha's opinion. Maybe they had gone to the same school…there was no way that he was expecting him to hold any familiarity over their father's business dealings…. surely not.

"Yeah…I guess…. brothers in law…" Inuyasha corrected and he nodded.

"I had no idea you were engaged to Kikyo's younger sister until she told me. Crazy not too long ago I attended one of your father's personal parties... you were with another woman…I think." He said and Inuyasha widened his eyes as Suikotsu looked over at him. "I'm not sure… this is my first time meeting Kagome, but I think I would have remembered her…" He stated sipping casually at his beer. Inuyasha tried to seem as casual as possible as well but inside he was frantically skimming his mind for an excuse. Then his last few words caught him off guard. What did he mean by he 'would have remembered Kagome?' He thought through that for a moment…it seemed harmless enough.

"Very short engagement…the wedding won't be for a while." He said and Suikotsu nodded as if he agreed.

"Must have been a short relationship too... right? I think your father's party was this time last year. I don't know if you recall me. I came up said hi…it was awhile ago. My apologies for not making it to the annual dinner this year, things have been so crazy because of the wedding…"

"Oh, it's fine really. Wasn't that good of a turnout…" he lied. He realized suddenly why Suikotsu was so overly familiar. His family must have made it a mission to come to every Takashi Corporation event. He did know him, probably said hi a million and one times, and he pretended to remember him but really didn't. He wasn't sure yet if his comments on Kagome and his relationship were supposed to be sly or not. He seemed innocent enough, but whatever he already knew Inuyasha was one hundred percent sure that Kikyo knew too, so this was the moment to create a believable lie. Something to cover bases. He looked forward towards Kagome's sister she was staring directly at them and when their eyes met, she looked away quickly. Yup she knew and of course it was her job as queen bitch to debunk her sister's accomplishments, and apparently in this family their engagement was a huge one.

"Yeah well you know how those events are." He said. "You gotta show up with someone, Kagome was busy at the time." He lied, and he wondered if he had seen Kikyo there as well. This was a perfect time for his memory to kick in, so he wasn't putting his foot in his mouth.

That statement seemed to interest Suikotsu because he turned to eye Inuyasha quickly. "Yeah but I thought that Kagome worked for you?" He asked provokingly. He paused for a minute not knowing exactly what to say to that. "Couldn't you have just given her the day off?"

"She was busy with other things…it was personal. It was such a while back I can't remember…" Inuyasha fumbled. And he could see a confused look go through his face. "So… um…. how is um…the company?" He stuttered and the change of topic obviously peaked his interest because he turned completely forward ready to engage in conversation.

"It's doing well; it's been up for the last few quarters now. I'm sure you're aware… We're no Takashi industries but we're doing solid. I'm sure you've seen our numbers." Inuyasha just nodded, he had in fact seen their numbers, vaguely, but they weren't doing that well. Not well enough for him to commit stats too memory. "Now that we're practically family we should work on some sort of business deal…" He joked and Inuyasha laughed sarcastically as he sipped his beer. "So, you met your Higurashi at work…? What's the little story there?" He asked, it was a more organic question not one solely meant to gain insight.

"I don't really know." Inuyasha mumbled and obviously that wasn't the right thing to say because Suikotsu seemed taken aback by the sentiment. "You know how those things are…they're such a big deal to the women…" He said quickly taking a couple quick swings from his beer. "I uh remember seeing her for the first time…" He mumbled and it really had him thinking back to the first time he saw Kagome…really saw her. In his mind there were two separate occasions. It was in the conference room, she was the old Kagome, hair up, glasses, fresh face and innocent, better yet it was in the elevator. He smiled slightly at the memory. She was so adorably awkward. Then there was this Kagome, walking towards him in the diner, it reminded him of how complex he found her. She was like an open book, yet at times it was like the words were in another language entirely, it was hard for him to translate it so he could never really fully understand.

"Wow it must have been amazing. She's very beautiful if I might add. The family resemblance is impeccable aye?" That woke Inuyasha up from his day dream and he nodded slightly but disagreed entirely. Yes of course he was very aware that Kagome was gorgeous, but she didn't look too much like the rest of her family.

"Thanks, and yeah…" He looked around for her immediately, still not spotting her anywhere. How long did it take to run in and grab something? He wanted an excuse to leave this conversation. but he couldn't find a way out of it. He checked his watch; it was now 3 going on 4. Sun down wouldn't be for over an hour. He looked up slightly glimpsing over at Souta who was talking to a few men, soccer ball in hand. That was his getaway; he could pretend to need to speak with him. "You know…I just remembered something…I have to run over and ask Souta about the game this evening."

"Oh yes, nice plan. I need to get ready myself. I'll join you, I also have questions." Inuyasha paused momentarily. This honestly couldn't be happening, but maybe it wasn't too bad. The other men could act as a buffer, Suikotsu could converse with them, allowing him to sneak back into the house to check on Kagome. Maybe even elude the party until the game. He started across the yard when a loud familiar voice rang through the air. He turned around the music shutting off immediately. On top of the balcony was Kagome's mother again. She had a wine glass in her hand and a smile on her lips.

"Sorry to interrupt the festivities again. I just wanted Kagome to have a chance to open all of your wonderful gifts. So if everyone wants to gather around the patio." She took a few steps back and emerged with Kagome by her side. As soon as she appeared the mumbling began again. "She will meet everyone down on the patio in a minute." Kagome had made an outfit change, and he could tell it was one of her own ensembles just by how comfortable she looked beside her mother. It was a white waisted flair skirt that ended mid-thigh. She had on a matching silk pearl button down blouse, it was tucked in at the very small of her waist. Three buttons remained open at the top. It complemented her body perfectly; her hair was also completely down and straight, parted down the middle. She didn't seem as nervous at all to be wearing it. She quickly bypassed her mother making his eyes follow her. She was a vision in white, it was beautiful against her skin and the contrast with her midnight hair was spectacular. She had one hand on the railing and the other behind her back as she made her way to the patio. "Kagome sweetie don't you want to say anything…" Her mother said quickly. It was a bit over a whisper but Inuyasha picked it up. Kagome ultimately ignored her and took a seat in one of the patio chairs.

Her older sister seemed in a trance watching her little sister make her way towards the patio. She had that same look that she sported earlier. It was a mixture of shock and something like resentment. Hate was too harsh right? Her audience slowly dispersed to meet Kagome at the patio. She was holding a soft magenta box, not yet opened. Her mother quickly went down the stairs to meet her. "Don't open anything till Inuyasha gets up here." She said loudly. "If anyone has seen Mr. Takashi, if you could just tell him he's wanted up here." The crowd animatedly glimpsed around, it was the first time he was actually happy to be scoped out by Mrs. Higurashi.

He placed a hand on Suikotsu's shoulder. "I'll see you at the game later…" He said politely happy to be avoiding more awkward conversation with him. He nodded as a response; he wasn't able to do anything else really. And with that Inuyasha rolled out of his way. The crowd parted some ways to make room for him. And there was Kikyo's eyes following him intensely. It was odd but he was getting used to it, she really thought she was something. Sitting on top of that hummer reigning over her little town. When he got to the patio, he was greeted with a gorgeous smile from Kagome the magenta box still in her hand, "Take a seat please Mr. Takashi…"

"Inuyasha…" he corrected for the umpteenth time. He left it at that taking a seat next to his gorgeous girlfriend. "Should I make a costume change…or…" He joked and she gently elbowed him.

"My mom made me. She said it was custom…" He rolled his eyes and she laughed at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. She was a lot calmer…he saw that immediately; he thought maybe it was because she felt more comfortable in her new clothes. Unbeknownst to him it was her medication that seemed to work wonders immediately. After all the panic caused by today it took her 0.1 seconds to realize that most of the damage was done. She had met her sister, faced her town, and now it was time to open presents. She never felt better.

"Well you look beautiful as always. Where did you find this get up?" He joked playing with the slight flare of her skirt. She blushed gently and he just waited. He normally wouldn't care, but he was curious. He had a feeling she put this outfit together. It was so her new sense of style. She was into innocence meets quiet sexuality. Instead of her old frumpy office attire, which he was realizing he remembered a lot better lately. All her clothes now were very flattering, almost tailored fit to her petite form.

"Some boutique" she shrugged, and he smiled knowingly. She lifted the magenta box to her ear shaking it gently. "I wonder what this is?" He only smiled. "You want to open the first gift?" She passed it towards him grabbing a much smaller box beside her. The patio was filled with gifts but there were a lot more inside the house, she had seen it while passing through. She was hoping her mother wouldn't force her to open all of them.

"Sure…" he said slicing it open easily. Kagome turned quickly eyes opened wide. Her mother running down the stairs more gifts in hand.

"Don't open yet…we have plenty of gifts in the house. I was looking for your brother to bring them down for us." She set them behind Kagome's chair.

"Mom…" Kagome hissed. And Inuyasha shocked himself, set the gift aside. "There's no way we will be able to open all these gifts before sun down…" Her mom seemed to want to argue, but something made her reconsider.

"Well everyone come closer…we'll get through what we can before the game." She took a seat across from the couple as the crowd came in. Some bringing various chairs from around the yard to sit and watch, it was awkward how her town was so quick to follow and stare absent mindlessly at what she literally felt was lackluster at its best. She took only a slight moment to look up at her town and their smiling faces before peering up at her sister. She was still on top of the hummer the clones sitting in the rear legs dangling staring at her from her spectacular view. She had turned legs on the windshield of the limo now.

"Can I open now?" Inuyasha asked waking her up from her slight day dream.

"Yes of course…don't forget to read the card so everyone can hear…" Mrs. Higurashi said loudly making him mentally roll his eyes. He tore through the wrapper impressively quick.

"It's a coffee maker…from the Suzuki family…" He said trying to make his voice sound as enthusiastic as possible but it didn't work. It was one of those standard coffee makers that almost everyone had or had thrown out for the more advanced latte makers or one time use portions. He hadn't seen this type of coffee maker since he was younger. "Thank you…" He set the box down as Kagome passed him the smaller orange box. She herself grabbed hold of a deep gold box instead. He waited for her to read the card.

"Our best wishes, from auntie Kaede…?" She said loudly turning to see her mother's older cousin. She raised a wine glass and Kagome smiled half halfheartedly as she opened the wrapping. There was another small indentation on top of the box; resulting in a small tag. "P.S… visit more…" The crowd laughed and Kagome joined in dryly before opening the wrapper fully, revealing boxed wine. Inuyasha generally laughed for the first time, full-heatedly since his arrival to Kagome's town. He was in awe and shock and Kagome couldn't help but laugh as well. She placed a hand to her mouth. She surveyed the box slightly trying to sum up how to eloquently give a description of the gift. She turned to her mother who didn't find the gift funny at all. She was trying to appear as elegant as possible, especially with both Inuyasha and Suikotsu visiting, and the whole town was supposed to be on their best behavior to make them appear as more than small town hicks, and her own cousin would gift something so tacky.

"Thank you, Kaede for the Merlot." Her mother said quickly grabbing the box from Kagome's lap and placing it out of sight. She surveyed the gifts reading various tags quickly before landing on a large lavender box. She smiled after reading it. "Oh, from your sister Kaggy perfect." Kagome widened her eyes looking up once more at her sisters staring face. Her expression wasn't giving away anything making Kagome feel as if she could maybe let her guard down. Her mother passed Inuyasha a gift as well. "This is from your grandfather to you, go on Inuyasha."

He nodded happy to hear her using his first name. "To Kaggy and Mr. Takashi, set it somewhere nice wink." He read feeling out of place opening the indigo wrapping paper. He tore into it anyway resulting in a small cardboard box. He opened it once again seeing yet another box, but this one was soft suede and burgundy. It looked like a jewelry box. He handed it to Kagome quickly, feeling it was meant for her exclusively. She opened the delicate latches and in the box was one of the handmade dolls her grandfather sold. It was small and very delicately stitched a beautiful woman and a man dressed in a tux and a white wedding gown. Kagome smiled looking up for her grandfather. He was sitting on the stairs smiling.

"I took some time out to make it, like old times. You can put it on top of the cake." He said and Kagome lifted the dolls so everyone could see, and the mumbling of praises were heard around.

"Well I love it, it's awesome." She said moving the arms gently. She did get a slight feeling of guilt, knowing that this ornament would never sit on top of her cake. Not anytime soon, and not the cake her grandfather intended it to. She set the attached dolls back in the jewelry box gently before setting it aside to open her sister's gift. She didn't think twice as she whipped it open. Her mind was still on the ornaments. She slid off the paper and cut through the cardboard box under.

"Kagome read the card…" Her mom reminded her loudly. She hesitated grabbing the card sitting beside it.

"To Kag from Kikyo and Suikotsu, a trip down memory lane…" She bit her lip and a nauseous feeling took over. She all of a sudden didn't want to open the box. She hesitated for several seconds. If it weren't for the loud mumbles coming from the crowd, she would have stayed frozen longer.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked from beside her knocking her fully out of her trance. She cleared her throat and smiled. She didn't allow herself to think or overreact. She dipped her hand into the box getting a large board suitable for thumb tacking pictures and reminders. It was brightly decorated with a lavender boarder and small hearts of every shade of red. She gulped suddenly as she untied a small thin delicate string covering the front of the board. She did this so slowly that anticipation had the crowd and Inuyasha on the edge of their seats. She pulled open the lavender flaps on either side revealing a board filled with old pictures of her from when she was younger and painfully awkward. She closed her eyes as embarrassment came over her. Inuyasha saw it all from her winning the science fair in eighth grade completed with an ill fitted school uniform, reading glasses, and braces. To her prom night disaster of a dress, it was entirely too baggy and puffy, as if it wasn't obvious she had no date, beside the photo Kikyo included her own perfect picture with Hojo at her side. Everything about the board was completely and ridiculously heinous. And beside almost every embarrassing picture of her there was Kikyo around the same time looking considerably better. It was the type of embarrassment that only someone evil and tormented could pull off, she wanted to at that very moment get up and run, but she wouldn't.

Instead she took a deep breath counted to three slowly. "Kagome…" Inuyasha mumbled taking in the board. He didn't quite see as many flaws as Kagome. He was more stuck on all her accomplishments, the ribbons she had gotten for riding horses, the medals for science fairs, honor rolls, her valedictorian cap and gown. Sango was in almost every photo showing how close they must have been. Yeah so she had glasses, her hair was almost always up, and her clothes a little ill fitted, but it was no surprise to him. She was still quietly beautiful like always.

"Kagome show the beautiful board your sister made you. It took a lot of time." Her mother instructed loudly. It didn't take Kagome too long to realize that her mother was in on it. She was probably the one that sent the photos to Kikyo, thinking how sweet it was that her daughters were finally getting along.

She gulped slightly and faked a smile before peering up at a satisfied Kikyo. The look on her sister's face alone pissed her off to no ends. How dare she make her feel like this again! For what, just so she could continue to be the pretty one to a town of hicks!? It just didn't make sense, why did her sister always have to be the one on top!? So many things ran through her head at that moment and pure anger blinded her thought process, instead of being completely embarrassed by the board she decided to show it off. There was no way in hell she'd let her sister win, for her to go through the trouble of creating such a gift must have meant she was doing something right, she must have been ahead in this little game they were playing, and there was no way she was going to lose her position. She got up from her spot on the patio, and strutted board in hand to the crowd ahead. "Look what my sister made!" She shouted pulling it up for everyone to see. "Isn't this sweet…all these pictures of when we were little. Thanks Kikyo!" She shouted and the crowd chorused an "AWWW" Kagome threw a glance upwards towards Kikyo who seemed a little shock. "This is awesome I'll hang it!" She turned at that wanting to get back to her seat. Inuyasha scanned her face. It was no big surprise to him, Souta, and their mother that there was clear animosity between both sisters. The smiles were as fake as could be.

"You look so different!" Kikyo called from behind her. Make sure Inuyasha sees how different you looked." The clones laughed from behind as Kikyo snorted herself.

"I'll be sure too…" Kagome shouted back from her seat. She closed the board and rather rudely flung it on the patio's stone floor.

"Where's your glasses…I didn't think you'd be able to read any of the little captions under the pictures without them." Kikyo added, obviously she didn't want to drop the conversation. That gift was supposed to enact much more embarrassment than that. And she wouldn't quit until it did. She gracefully slid off the hummer and Kagome rolled her eyes and picked up another gift. The crowd parted for Kikyo quickly. "You should let me read the captions for everyone..."

"Kikyo..." Her mother intervened sensing the obvious hostility. "Kagome has to open a lot of gifts before the game honey. Maybe after she'll have time to read..."

"Mom, she can keep opening while I read off the captions... I spent a lot of time working on it."

"Kagome..." Their mother whispered asking silently if that was alright. Kagome rolled her eyes while fingering the ribbon on her newest gift. Inuyasha watched the exchange and felt the overwhelming urge to intervene, but he restrained it. He didn't want to come off as rude. "Honey is it alright?" She asked, and Kagome still didn't reply she just kept her eyes trained on the newest gift sitting on her lap. It only made Inuyasha want to speak up that much more, but he hadn't yet mastered a nicer way to combat someone yet. It wasn't something he had much practice on. If he felt as if he needed to speak up, he was used to being overtly blunt to get his point across. "Kagome..."

"Mom..." Souta said loudly from his place on the far right of the patio. He was still with a few of the other men in town. Their mother turned quickly to face her son. Kagome looked up too. It was clear that Souta was trying to stop the exchange because it obviously made Kagome uneasy. "Uh...why don't I uh...I'll read it." He stuttered. Kagome rolled her eyes once again looking back down at the gift she had sitting square on her lap. She must have reasoned that Souta wanted in on the embarrassing act of reading the descriptions on Kikyo's gift. But Inuyasha understood that he was only trying to save Kagome from anymore torment. It was probably the nicest thing he had ever done for her, even though it was a weird way of going about it.

"It's my gift I should do it..." Kikyo quickly interjected. Their mom took a moment to think things over before Inuyasha quickly picked up the board and opened it widely for the whole town to see. Kagome widened her eyes as he rose from his seat. All eyes shifted on him. He wasn't 100% sure what he was doing, but he felt like it was sort of his duty to do something. If he couldn't spat anything insulting then this had to be the second best thing.

"Alright..." He announced feeling absolutely no notion of nervousness at all. He never really did... large crowds didn't emotionally move him. "I'll go ahead and read over the caption so we can all move on with the party." The town laughed suddenly easing the tension naturally. "OK so the first is Kagome winning the science fair..." he said. "I think she was in eighth grade... The second picture looks like some horse riding medals...I didn't even know she rode...so..." There was a subtle chuckle, and instantly although unsure Kagome knew exactly what he was doing. "I think right here is her winning a spelling bee...I guess she was perfect at everything...I'm not surprised." He pushed hands into his slacks handsomely as the crowd laughed once more. He didn't spend too much time on the pictures, he didn't even bother to really read the descriptions. They were filled with needless condescending facts. He made sure to highlight all her achievements and it was then her feelings about Inuyasha shifted completely. Yeah, she still loved him, but it was more than that now...She felt more at ease by him, accepted. As if he was really on her side, she never really had to worry that someone would just sweep him away. Could it be he was actually for her...? She stared at him admiringly as he finished up. When he was done their town clapped watching as he set the board aside and Kagome stole a side look at a very unsatisfied Kikyo. He ended the presentation with a joke about how 'Kagome should have saved some of the awards for her sister' it got the laughs it needed to and left the impression it needed as well. And not once did he mention what she had been wearing, what she looked like, or what Kikyo looked like in comparison. It was so sweet, so selfless...it just made her love him so much more.

"Thank you Inuyasha..." Kagome's mother said quickly. "On to the next gifts now...Kagome you first." She had to break her ear to ear grin as Inuyasha took his seat. She hesitated a moment looking at him as he reached for a random gift beside him.

"Thank you so much..." She whispered

"It's what I'm here for..." He replied and her smile returned instantly.

!

!

!

!

(moments later)

Kagome sat at the edge of the bed just watching as he loosened up his tie. She had so much going on in her head at the moment. But she kept most of it to herself. She couldn't keep thanking him, that she was sure of. He turned slightly to face her for a moment, and she had to search her mind for something to say. "Uh...so um...are you nervous?" She blurted and he quickly tugged the silk tie, ripping it from the collar and carelessly dropping it on the floor. It made Kagome wince a bit, but she stayed seated on the edge of the bed waiting for his answer.

"Uh I don't know...should I be?" He asked turning a little to open the closet. Honestly he wasn't nervous at all. He was a bit uneasy though. He felt as if her grandfather and brother relied on him so heavily to succeed in a game played by men who had either went to school for it specifically or played their whole lives. And he couldn't rely on an abundance of men being older, or out of shape. Everyone on both sides were only a bit older if not the same age and in the best shape of their lives. It was so apparent how seriously they took the game. Winning was really his only option if he was playing the part of perfect fiancé. So he did feel pressure...and perhaps he was slightly nervous. A feeling he didn't get often at all.

"Really..." She said and he turned to face her slightly. She had a coy smile on her face looking away lazily. "You look a little nervous..." She whispered and he widened his eyes. Was it actually apparent? He paused slightly and she looked forward facing him, her smile widening. "I'm only kidding..." He relaxed unbuttoning the top of his button down. Realization struck her at that very moment. Was he actually...could it be that he was actually nervous? "You know it actually doesn't matter if you win or lose?" She reassured. He turned away not saying anything which was definitely uncharacteristic of him. This was the first time they'd been alone since the morning and it wasn't like how she imagined it at all. She rose from her spot slowly making it to him near the closet. He tensed feeling her from behind. "I wouldn't care if you won or lost..." She mumbled and he turned to face her smiling slightly. He knew she was being honest, but then again she really didn't know what she was saying. She needed the advantage of him winning, and apparently with the wages put on the game her grandfather needed it too. Then there was the simple fact that he could easily make somewhat of a fool of himself playing with so many expert men. But that was the least of his worries. "What's wrong?" She asked pushing his hands gently away and unbuttoning his shirt absentmindedly. "You seem out of it."

"I'm fine really...I'm just tired. It's been a long day." He pushed his hands into the pockets of his slacks allowing her to undress him. She nodded, she was a little exhausted herself, but after the game they didn't have much longer...they'd be done for the night. That butterfly feeling took over in the pit of her stomach. She was actually a little excited, she wasn't sure if anything would be different, but she loved the idea of being alone with him.

"Well I'm sure you'll do fine..." She said allowing him to pull the collar shirt from his slacks. He unbuttoned the last of it and pulled it off. Revealing his sculpted arms, he still had an undershirt on that he easily pulled off and dropped to the floor. She stared at his chest as he reached for his belt. Her mind going somewhere else entirely and a warm feeling igniting at the pit of her stomach.

He was about to respond to her when he realized her staring. He just smiled stepping in close and putting a gentle hand to her chin forcing her to look up. He reached down wanting to kiss her, her eyes fluttered close immediately telling him she wanted the same. The action made him smile and he wasted no time pressing his lips to hers. She seemed so eager for more, deepening it immediately her hands touching, caressing his chest. He allowed it for a moment longer then parted. He pulled off his belt and turned towards the dresser to the right. "Where did you put my casual shirts?" He asked and she had to pull herself out of an immense daze in order to even answer his question.

"Uh...the top...the top left." He nodded reaching in for a red t-shirt. He searched for a moment finding his black track pants. He pulled the shirt on effortlessly then unbuttoned his slacks. She backed up taking a seat back on the bed just watching him get undressed then dressed when a sharp knock interrupted. He glanced up at it.

"It's your brother..." He said sensing Souta immediately. She nodded heading towards the door. She opened it a crack and there he was fully dressed in a red t shirt of his own and black shorts.

"What..." She barked.

Souta ignored her tone looking around for Inuyasha in the small crack she allowed. "Did Inuyasha find a red t-shirt...I have an extra...also what size does he wear. I have extra cleats..." He said eagerly holding them up.

"He's all set on the shirt." She said pulling the cleats in. "Okay well we are going to start at around 5 if that's ok with him." Kagome peered over at him. He had already pulled on the black track pants and was tying the slight string in the front. She answered for him. "That's fine..." Souta nodded.

"He remembers the plays right?" Kagome nodded and Souta did the same but still lingered. She waited for him to go... "Can I just speak to him please...I just want to make sure he's ready you know?"

"Souta...it's just a game...relax."

"Yeah but..."

"But nothing...go drink an energy drink and relax, it's not the end of the world." She closed the door on him gently locking it and turning to face her fake fiancé. He smiled slightly. "You are ready right?" She asked. And he just nodded, there were occasions where Kagome was so bold and brash. It made it so apparent that she wasn't fully herself with him. That relieved him to no ends, because he knew he was holding back aspects of his personality too. "Good..."

He walked over to her as she made her way to the bed. "So, what are you going to change into for the game? Do you have some old cheerleader uniform you haven't yet told me about?" He asked and she laughed loudly as he lowered himself beside her sitting form. He had both his arms resting on the bed on either side of her.

"No, not at all..." She said, and she felt free saying so, knowing that although he had seen all of those embarrassing pictures of her, he still seemed so unbothered. It was extremely reassuring. She felt like some weight had been lifted and she could take some steps towards being herself entirely with him. She wrapped an arm around his, casually rubbing the flexed muscle with her index finger and thumb gently. He took it as his cue to move in, kissing the nape of her neck and slowly moving up. She let her arms crawl up to enclose around his shoulders deepening the kiss. When their lips parted for air he let his forehead rest on hers. She smiled up at him before falling back in bed completely. The move shocked him, but he didn't want to lose a second over thinking. He quickly checked the time before making his move. It was about 20 minutes to 5 and he knew he couldn't start up anything too heavy.

He slipped his form down low letting his hands caress her waist as his kisses trailed up to her lips. She returned every kiss so passionately. He let his hands slip into her now untucked shirt and under her bra. She never tensed up or moved away, each kiss was just met with more fire. Things seemed very different, and he wondered how far she'd let him go now. Was her guard finally down? He was so excited to find out. He lowered himself on top of her entirely and she felt his erection at the top of her thigh. The idea unsettled her a little and she did feel anxious, but the feeling wasn't anywhere near as intense as it had been in prior nights. His fingers toyed around with her hard nipples causing her to moan at the touch.

"Is this alright..." He whispered huskily she nodded and just her approval seemed to stimulate something in him. It was a feeling he had never felt with another woman before, but he didn't need to pause and contemplate anything. Kagome was different, she always had been. He let his kisses trail down her neck and to her chest lifting both the bra and undoing the buttons of her blouse. He gently kissed the right mound before putting a hardened nipple in his mouth and flicking his tongue lightly making her eyes close and her face turn so serene and beautiful. He hesitated for a moment, realizing if he continued he'd want more, and although they had the time. He didn't want the first time with her to be rushed. He paused for a second going back to her lips. She pushed forward returning his kiss with so much vigor. For a second he thought to ask, 'what had he done?' What did he do to deserve this type of openness with her? He was beginning to believe he'd never get this far and here she was allowing so much

He contemplated the question for a moment, because whatever he had done today that opened her up to this extent, he wanted to ensure he could do it again.

"What's wrong...?" She whispered and it instantly took him out of his daze. His kisses had lost some of their momentum as his mind began spinning. He looked down at her concerned face, smiling reassuringly.

"I guess I am a little nervous about this game?" He lied, he pushed upwards from her and her body distinctly followed. She was so eager for more. He wasn't entirely sure what 'more' meant for Kagome? He could play this soccer game and sweep her back to bed and be surprised that more was just a little bit more than what they had done previous nights. But he understood he had to be ok with that. She was different, but she seemed a little more willing today, and that in itself was an accomplishment.

"Don't be...it's just a game." She reassured again. She was playing aimlessly with his red t-shirt. Twisting the cotton like fabric around her fingers. It was an innocent act, although she could easily gain his attention by trying to remove the shirt completely. He cupped her hands gently getting her to set her wide midnight eyes up at him. He smiled slightly at the look of her.

"Yeah I know..." He whispered kissing her hands then gently slipping his shirt out from between them. "I...guess..." He mumbled while walking away from her. He reached for the cleats her brother had brought and sat them at the edge of the bed. He decided that he'd actually be honest with her, since she seemed so open now. "I guess I just don't want to rush anything with you..." He admitted and the gesture alone shocked her. "I mean if you are willing to..." he hesitated... "you know...I don't think twenty minutes before this soccer game would be the right time." There was a break between his words, almost as if he wanted her to interject at some point. She didn't though, she didn't say a word. Instead there was a soft movement from behind him, she had gotten up. He sensed her approaching slowly and before he knew it he felt her arms wrap tightly around his shoulder. She laid her head gently on his back giving him an innocent hug.

"The time will come..." She whispered so lightly that he almost thought it wasn't meant for his ears. He rested a hand on the frame of her face before releasing. He felt like admitting a few other things. Like the money being put on the game by her grandfather, but of course he wouldn't. There was something about her that was so overly sincere. If he was smart he'd count his blessings and never give up on her. She obviously respected honesty but more importantly he was realizing she just liked the idea of feeling accepted by him. Although that was something that he thought he had already expressed he was, but evidently not enough. She released him and moved slightly over to take a seat beside him as he strapped his cleats. "I'm so happy today is just about over." She said and he had never heard her utter truer words.

"Just this game and the nights over..." He said pleased, echoing her own thoughts. They were both looking forward to the end of the day, there was something to be said about that. Although he couldn't help but think tomorrow would probably be just as torturous. There was always something when it came to her family. But he knew in the end he'd always grin and bear it. Especially for moments like these. He checked the clock on the wall adjacent to the door. It was just about time for this game. He was so weirdly agitated. He could feel a light sensation of butterflies erupting in his lower belly. He knew he was only slightly nervous because of her...even though they're relationship was very much real, he still needed to play a part. He had to be somewhat perfect, he had to make everyone believe he was some skilled soccer player, and as a sudden horrific twist of faith it seemed like the balance of her family's finances also relied on him winning. A lesser person would have buckled under the pressure, but he spent most of his life being impervious to these types of situations. It was a bit odd that he felt a little emotionally unstable now, but he was no stranger to feeling odd in the face of Kagome.

"You're so tense." She stated floating him back to reality. She was lightly massaging his shoulders and he'd been so consumed in thought he barely felt it. "You might have to head down early and stretch before the game." He only nodded rising up suddenly from her grasp. He moved his neck to the side cracking some of the tension away before giving her a slight smile. "You know you don't have to play if you don't want to...They will manage..." She reassured and he allowed the corner of his mouth to widen into a perfectly handsome smirk.

"I want to..." he lied. "It's been awhile, it should be fun." She nodded as he bent over kissing her gently on the lips. He lingered for a moment wanting badly to stay, but he turned towards the door. "I'll see you out there..." She only nodded watching him go.

!

!

!

29

RIN (POV) 2 hours prior

"Ayame..." Rin said letting out a sigh of relief while opening one of Sesshomaru's double doors. Her voice was barely audible as she peered over at her best friend. She was standing on the other side with a brown bag filled with take out. She also had to rush to pick it up, so she was wearing an oversize red sweater and jeans. "You know better than to wear that shade of red Ayame. It clashes with your coloring..." Rin mumbled reaching out and grabbing the bag from her hands. It had the word. 'It's from Scratch' written on it.

"I think the words you're looking for are Thank you dearest beautiful Ayame for rushing two hours over here to pick up takeout!" She scoffed. And Rin just threw her a wide grin before stepping out and handing Ayame Kagome's apartment key. She had made excellent time coming over and she only waited a bit over an hour. "You really think Sesshomaru is going to fall for this?" She mumbled grabbing the key.

"He should, I told him I was baking chicken, so he wasn't too curious about how long it was taking and then he got a conference call, so he hasn't come down." Ayame nodded taking a step forward as if she wanted to come in. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to see where you've been captive for the last few days..." She said and Rin shook her head as if that wasn't possible. "It's super fancy...it took me fifteen minutes to convince the front desk to let me personally deliver the food."

"Well you can't just come in." Rin hissed pushing her back. "What if he senses you with the food or something..." Ayame was bending to the side to sneak a peek inside as Rin blocked her access.

"It doesn't work like that..." She said and Rin just shrugged obviously not caring about her youkai ignorance.

"I don't know how it works but I know he'll know you were here. I'll tell you when you can come over. Just hang out at Kagome's." She pushed Ayame one last time before closing the door behind her. She peered around the apartment hoping Sesshomaru hadn't heard anything and decided to come down. When the coast was clear she brought the food to the kitchen to rest on the island. "Okay Rin...how to make it seem like you just cooked this..." She mumbled to herself before turning around. She looked around the spacious kitchen going through cabinets for pots and pans. She grabbed a couple and placed it in the sink. She went over to the oven and grabbed some spices leaving them out. "Okay now plates..." She reached up to the cabinets ahead and grabbed some plates. Ayame had gotten her an entire baked chicken and a side salad. She transferred the chicken to a plate and the salad to a giant bowel. In order to hide the backs and trays they came in she hid them deep in his trash before cutting a section of the chicken and giving a portion of the salad. She did the same for herself then made her way upstairs.

Sesshomaru was in his room when she arrived upstairs. She was a bit shocked at that, he was so busy working last time she checked on him. He must have been ready to come down soon, she was just lucky he hadn't made his way down yet. She walked in with her hands coyly behind her back. She forced away the light fluttering of butterflies that zoomed around her belly. "Hey..." She whispered, he was facing her slightly with a textbook opened on his lap. He was sitting near a small study in the corner of his gigantic room looking for a specific business term he needed to apply to a contract. He looked up as soon as the door opened taking her in. She still had just his sweater on and nothing else fidgeting with the over-sized sleeves.

"Hey to you too... how's lunch going..." He hesitated, pulling his wrist upwards to examine the silver watch at his wrist. "Hopefully you're about done...it'll be time for our dinner reservation soon enough." He closed the text book and placed it back on his desk and turned to give her his total excessively handsome attention. She actually briefly froze under his stare but only for a moment before stepping forward.

"I'm all done." She said while smiling meekly. And he surveyed her adorably perfect form for just a moment longer before rising quickly and in just a few strides meeting her at the door. He quickly lifted her playfully from her spot and whisked her easily over her shoulder. She laughed immediately shocked at how fast she was seamlessly whisked from the floor.

"So let's see what you've made for us..." He said carrying her down the stairs. He had a convenient hand resting on her bottom. He was tempted to lift the sweater up, as it had lifted up revealing the very top of her thighs. He loved the slight heaving of her chest as she giggled incessantly. He jogged easily down his double staircase and as he reached the kitchen he dropped her by the island and surveyed the food placed nicely on his wide brim plates. He had to actually bite the corner of his lip to keep himself from laughing. It was extremely evident that she had bought the food.

The pots and pans had cleverly been placed into the sink, there was no smell to indicate an entire chicken had been baked. Nothing to indicate she had chopped an entire salad and its contents. He decided he'd play along though, was it entirely ridiculous that he found the scheme so insufferably adorable. He turned to glance over at her. She was surveying him in total scrutiny one arm crossed and one sleeved hand to her mouth presumably biting at her nails nervously, silently hoping he wouldn't figure anything was amiss. "Well...?" She asked and he just nodded slightly before wrapping his arms around her.

"Well it looks great...you've out done yourself..." He said kissing her gently on the forehead. He could feel the sigh of relief she released immediately. It caused him to laugh just slightly. She looked up wondering why and he did that confusing gesture. Just a slight cupping of her chin, and then he moved over to one of his stools. He pulled it out for her, and she just smiled taking a seat. He pushed it in and went over to a small wine rack sitting on his marble counter top. "Do you have a wine preference?" He asked turning back to peer at her. She was fixated on the counter tops, rubbing the granite with the sleeve of his sweater. He smiled... "Rin..." She looked up immediately. "A wine preference?"

"Oh no... anything you want." She said with a bright smile. He returned it, grabbing a Merlot and going to his cabinet to grab a couple of wine glasses. She watched for a while before deciding to speak. "So what restaurant are we going to tonight?" She asked. He paused slightly at the question. He had reservations but he still wasn't entirely thrilled at the idea of her leaving tonight or dropping her off to get dressed, although he knew he wasn't being rational at all. Things were much to recent with her to be feeling this way.

"Yeah...I meant to um..." He uncharacteristically stuttered slightly. "You still were interested on eating out tonight?"

"Well I had a dress picked out...I'm excited." She reminded him. He poured her a glass of wine and walked over setting it in front of her.

"Then we will go." He said and he left it at that putting a fork in his salad. "I'll drop you off after lunch so you can get dressed. The reservation was at six but since we're eating lunch a bit later then I'll move it to 8...how does that sound?" She nodded happily and he smiled at her happiness. They began eating in silence for a moment longer before she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'll sleep over tonight." She whispered. He hesitated a bit surprise that she read his emotions so clearly. "Maybe I'll pack a bag and I can stay a bit longer."

"Only if you'd like Rin..." He said kissing her on the top of her head. He had eaten his food quickly. She was hardly done, he was still a bit hungry, but he didn't want to ruin his dinner by eating another serving. He lowered himself from his stool.

"Well Ayame is in town so you don't really have to send anyone up to water Kagome's plants...she can do that." He nodded.

"I'll call and let them know."

"And then in a couple of weeks it'll be time to go down to Kagome's sister's wedding..." He was reminded immediately he had said yes to that. He nodded once more and went to the trash to throw away some scraps from his plate. Rin smiled happily as she watched him. He looked so effortlessly handsome. He still had slacks on no belt and just a black undershirt. His perfect body was on display, his biceps were so well defined it made the pit of her stomach warm up in anticipation. I'd like to spend as much time with you as possible..." She said and that made him look up. He had opened the drawer that his kitchen trash sat in. She was smiling beautifully over at him and he returned her grin. She let her eyes linger seeing the bags from the restaurant Kagome had referred them too. Her already rounded eyes widened immediately, and she dropped quickly from the stool rushing over.

"What's wrong?" He asked and she quickly grabbed his plate and closed the drawer.

"Oh, it's nothing...I should do this. I cooked so..." She smiled widely although he could tell she was hiding something.

"It's because you cooked I should clean." He said with a grin. He leaned down almost as if he would kiss her and like always her eyes flashed closed and she stepped partially forward on her tippy toes ready and waiting. He smiled slightly, she had a habit of doing that. He found it extremely endearing but instead of meeting her lips he grabbed the plate from behind her. He had almost forgotten to pester her on her little cooking charade. He found the whole thing to be extremely comical. "I forgot to tell you how amazing I thought your meal was, really..." He said and she just blushed slightly her brow in slight worry. "I'm happy you made so much, I'll have left overs for some time." He gently pushed her to the side to open the trash once more. "I'm happy you can cook, it would be nice..." He hesitated while watching her grab her plate and quickly begin dumping her food, she wasn't even halfway done. "Were you not hungry?"

"I was...I am...but gotta fit nicely in my dress before dinner, totally forgot." She said quickly and he furrowed his eyebrows looking down. She was attempting to cover something with her food. He grinned knowingly as she did. Once she was done she set her plate to the side and went for his. She dumped his as well while pushing the bag down with her hand partially. He allowed this and crossing his arms. He could see the bags she was trying so feverishly to hide. Once she was satisfied with her work she closed the trash and turned to look at him allowing her eyes to roam up his figure landing on his face. He had such a knowing look on his overly handsome face. They stared at each other silently for a moment before she sighed dramatically, rolled her eyes, and turned towards the sink.

"So, what I can't cook... doesn't make me pretentious...I'm good at other things..." She said moving the clean pots and pans to the side to replace it with their plates. "How long have you known?" She asked.

"Known what..." He said as he followed her to the sink. She had turned the faucet and was letting the water run as she reached over for a sponge.

"You know...that I bought the food?" She asked, she should have felt embarrassment but for some reason she was relieved. Now she didn't have to pretend that she could cook in the future. He didn't answer her. He instead wrapped his arms around her form as she cleaned their plates.

"Well I had my guesses. But you know you don't have to prove anything to me." He told her. And she let a small smile turn the corner of her lips up. She seemed slightly aggravated which took the fun from mocking her. He let his hands roll off her arms encompassing her completely.

!

!

!

29

KAG POV

She spent longer then she had anticipated in her room. She sat in the middle of the bed and watched some cooking competition for a moment then changed once again to a pair of low rise white jeans and a thin sky blue sweater. She took longer than usual getting herself ready, realizing that she was entirely comfortable being away from her town and alone. She pulled her long straight hair into a high pony tail, examining herself for a moment longer before rising up from her spot. The only thing that urged her to actually go down was knowing that Inuyasha was down there alone with her crazy town and her even crazier sister. She couldn't do that to him, he was already sacrificing so much for her.

She quietly slipped out of her room and continued to the kitchen. She was expecting her mother to pop out at some point. She was actually a bit surprised that she hadn't made her way to their bedroom to scold her into rejoining the party. That was uncharacteristic of her, and even weirder she wasn't in the kitchen. The double balcony doors were opened though, and she didn't hesitate to go out. The sun was going down but there were bright lights coming from much further down the yard. She already knew someone in town brought field lights so they could see the soccer game in its entirety. She leaned on the railing at the top of their small deck. The entire town it seemed were all the way out near the stables and the lake. No one lingered near the house. She couldn't make out the game, but she could hear the rumbling of cheering from where she stood. She stayed up there for a moment longer before jogging down the stairs and on to the patio. Kikyo's hummer limo was still parked askew on the yard almost as if it would hit the house, but no one sat in it or on top of it like earlier this afternoon. She had her reservations about going back into the masses of her town. She had had her fill of their gawking and more than enough of her sister. Especially after her little gift prank. She could never understand why her sister made it her complete duty to try and ruin her life.

She sucked up the reclusive urge to hide out the rest of the terrible day. She put two hands into her jeans embracing the slight chill of the night and walking slowly over to the stables. She angled herself to the side and away from the masses all crowding the middle of the field. When she made it to the front she took in some of her town sitting in portable chairs, it made her roll her eyes, they were truly making a spectacle out of this simple game. Her grandfather was in the front partially on the part of the field adjacent from the lake ushering the game. She glanced from him to the game going on. Souta was playing center aggressively although Suikotsu's team had the ball, besides that she had no idea who was in the lead. She searched the field for Inuyasha, she found her sister first instead. She and the clones were in their old cheerleader uniforms doing a cheer currently that had nothing to do with what was going on in the game. A few men in town were sitting up close just trying to take them in close up, it all seemed like old times, she shifted her eyes away, continuing her search for Inuyasha.

She found him immediately, he was a midfielder and was running towards Kohaku trying to block Suikotsu's team from scoring. She let an abrupt smile take over and all her worries were gone immediately. He looked so ridiculously handsome and so up to par physically in his red shirt that had tightened over his body with sweat. He had accurately guessed the upcoming move and he blocked the launching of the ball before Kohaku as goal keeper even could. "YES!" Her grandfather screamed as a part of the crowd stood up to cheer. He led the ball to the other side of the field and passed it over to Souta, the entire game took notice and they all started racing to the other side of the field. She easily walked the length of the field subconsciously wanting to see the game in its entirety. She had no idea Inuyasha could play. What was it that he couldn't do? She was halfway out the field when she felt someone yank at her sweater, she turned.

"Kagome, what are you wearing!" Her mother hissed. "You are abrasively under dressed for the occasion. This is your party..." She turned immediately to face her mother, she was surrounded by a few of the older women. They had set up chairs and a small blanket down on the field to watch the game.

"Well the party is done...isn't it?" Kagome asked, one hand out gesturing the game. Her mother shook her head, not agreeing at all. She went to her hair wanting to take it out of its ponytail.

"Honey go put on a dress..." She whispered and Kagome quickly dodged any effort her mother had in trying to doll her up.

"I will..." She lied making the fussing stop. She put a hand to the top of her head smoothing her immaculate pony tail. Her mom was happy to hear that her daughter was heeding her direction and went back to take her seat. Kagome watched her for a second longer then continued down the field making sure to dodge her sister and her clones. She had recruited some of the current cheerleaders as well and they were doing some ridiculous cheer about defense which had absolutely nothing to do with what was going on in the slightest. She continued walking and as soon as she passed them she decided to get away from her town and out of the crowd completely, she could feel their gawking eyes as she walked. She decided instead to stand with her grandfather. He was making his way to her as Suikotsu's team had the ball once more. She followed the game as well watching Inuyasha as he jogged the length of the field, she was almost in a daze staring at him effortlessly pass her in a sprint. She met her grandfather who was screaming for them to steal the ball once more.

"Who's in the lead?" She asked and her grandfather tore his eyes from the game to look towards her.

"Unfortunately, Suikotsu, but that will all change in a moment." He said almost as if he knew this to be a fact. "Your brother let them score early on...didn't have his mind in the game" He shook his head and Kagome just nodded.

They stood silently for a second just watching. "How's Inuyasha doing?" She asked meekly. Waiting patiently as her grandfather cursed and shook his head at something going on on the field.

"Surprisingly well... I'm about to switch him over to center."

"You can't..." Kagome said immediately. He looked down at her. "That will devastate Souta...it's just a game who cares if they lose." She didn't want Souta to have a reason to dislike Inuyasha more than he already did. Soccer was very important to him, she was staring at the game. She didn't notice her grandfather staring down at her. It was of course not just a game. He had the most money that he had ever bet at one time on this game in particular and they were already a point down.

"Well it will be good for him. Force him to take how he's playing into consideration if he loses, it'll be the second time he's lost to Suikotsu. He won't keep 1st string at school playing like this." His grandfather scolded, Suikotsu's team had the ball once more and this time they almost scored causing the crowd to howl, luckily Kohaku had intercepted the ball before it could get through the net. Her grandfather walked into the middle of the field and put his hand up to signify a 'Time out.'

The group of men stopped suddenly. Kagome could hear distant groans from them immediately as they departed, the men in blue went over to the right of the field as the red team made their way towards her.

Inuyasha stared at their grandfather as he turned around and headed towards the left of the crowd. He was more than annoyed he was stopping the game once again. This was the third time he called time out in order to prolong the inevitable. The game was ending at ten and all of the constant halting just made it feel longer. He followed the rest of the men to the left and he sensed her before he saw her. She was off to the left alone, two hands tucked into the pockets of her white jeans. It seemed to cling to her shapely legs perfectly. He could feel his heart begin thudding rapidly almost instantly. She had on a small thin woven sweater that was slightly off one shoulder, it was a sky blue, and he imagined if he was closer it would bring out her eyes, magnifying their gorgeous midnight blue shade. She was looking around, hopefully looking for him. Her hair was swept in a high ponytail and as she wondered around looking for him he could see that it fell at the very top of her waist, it looked impossibly thick in its straight form. He paused behind the rest of the team wanting to go over to her instead. He was about to head that way when she looked towards him. He smiled hoping she'd return it and she did. He could see how brilliantly her face shifted to accommodate her gorgeous smile, but in only a moment it was gone, her grin dropped as she looked passed him towards something else.

He furrowed his brows shifting to see what was behind him, he sensed a woman immediately and he turned to see Kagome's sister with a sickly beautiful smile on her face. Nothing like her younger sisters, it lacked the authenticity. She was still in her cheerleader's uniform. A small cute green concoction with a flared skirt that ended so high up on the thigh sometimes when she jumped the green of her bloomers showed. The top of the uniform wasn't much better, it ended on her waist revealing her toned abdomen. She had a couple of towels on her arm and two water bottles. "Hey Mr. Takashi!" She said happily and he took a step back from her immediately. She had a habit of standing much too close to him when they spoke. "I got you some water, and here's your towel from earlier."

"It's Inuyasha..." He reflexively said, "And thank you..." He grabbed the bottle from her. Every time her grandfather called a time out she was always there trying to attend to him, as if he couldn't do that himself. The other girls did the same for the other players, but this wasn't a high school game... she confused him slightly, always acting so sickly nice.

"You're doing so well out there...I didn't know you played soccer..." She said taking that moment to close the space between them once more. He backed up again and he just started towards the left away from her and towards her sister.

"Yeah um...I've dabbled in it. Thanks for the water." He said and she seemed as if she wanted to follow but she took a look forward, spotting Kagome and she hesitated backing up immediately. She didn't let her disposition change though. She just took her spare water bottle and towel over to her own fiancé.

Kagome watched her skip away taking in how ridiculously fit she was now. Obviously she worked out often and it helped to make her cheering uniform look even more scandalous now. She felt so overwhelmingly jealous all of a sudden, she wondered what she told Inuyasha, and what they had discussed about before she even got down to the field. She was so stupid spending all that time in the room. She was so consumed with worry she didn't even react when Inuyasha finally made his way to her. He had the towel resting behind his neck.

"Hey..." He said forcing her to wake up from her daze. She focused her eyes at his handsome form.

"Oh...Hi..." She stuttered, his grin slipped immediately.

"What's wrong..." He put his hands on her shoulder. He wanted to do so much more than that, but he was sweaty at the moment, and he didn't know with her OCD if she'd feel comfortable being held.

"Nothing... she said and his slight smile returned but only partially.

"Well you look beautiful." He said and he subconsciously gripped the end of her very long pony tail, that immediately brought her spirits up. He was fiddling with it before putting his hands on her hip. She smiled upwards and his smile widened. "Did you just come down?"

She just nodded. He was so sweaty, and he had this scent about him but for some reason she loved it. It smelled like salty fresh cut grass and the way his shirt clinged to his abdomen. His muscular chest and ridges of his abdominal showing, it made the bottom of her belly tingle. She automatically put a hand to his wet stomach rubbing upwards and he stared down at her for a moment. He had just asked her something along the lines of what had she been doing upstairs, but she was so preoccupied with touching his chest it went right over her.

"Kagome..." He repeated and she looked up immediately he just smiled knowingly. Her face turned a light shade of pink and he didn't hesitate to lower himself to capture her lips and she didn't coil away from his embrace surprisingly. Instead she leaned upwards deepening the kiss feverishly reminding him of the kiss they shared upstairs, she never once stopped, it made him think maybe she was finally ready. He could hear his heart thumping in his chest as they parted. "So, what did you do upstairs?" He asked again.

"Oh nothing, I watched some cooking competition, I was going to come down, but I got really wrapped in it." He nodded smiling loving that another piece of the puzzle was falling into place. So she liked cooking shows...made sense.

"Well you didn't miss much anyway. We're getting our ass kicked."

She furrowed her brows looking off to the side at her grandfather scolding Souta. She looked back up. He was looking at the same thing. "Is it because of Souta?" She asked and he looked down.

"Nah... he's good...great actually. It's just the defense fucking sucks so I can't concentrate on trying to get the ball." He said and Kagome realized automatically that Inuyasha was very into this game. It wasn't something he was doing just to come up on top in her family's eyes. It had started like that, but he was extremely competitive and losing was never an option for him.

"Well grandpa wants you as center." Kagome said and interest lit his golden eyes.

"That would actually be the best idea he's had all night." He mumbled and Kagome just stared at him. He kept looking off to the side at her grandfather and Souta.

Kagome crossed her arms. "So… what you think you could be center over my brother... you know he's 1st string at his college right?"

"Yeah.. I know..." He parted from her slightly walking towards her grandfather. Kagome followed behind. "Hey, so what's this time out for exactly?" Inuyasha asked. "Are you making any position changes because I have some ideas. The guy you have as defense is total shit... switch him out.."

"Inuyasha" Kagome said grabbing his arm from behind. She sounded a bit surprised at the outburst. He easily ignored her, but he brought the same arm she held around her waist to bring her closer.

"He's absolutely trash, we can't protect our ends well enough, there has to be someone you can switch him out with?" He asked rudely and Kagome squeezed his arm wanting him to be nicer. He was reminding her of Inuyasha her boss, the one who shouted out orders at work and intimidated everyone in a mile radius.

"I hear you Inuyasha..." Her grandfather said putting a hand out so he could cease. He walked around to Inuyasha's other side to begin speaking. "I had Souta as center I was thinking of moving you there." Kagome looked up at his perfect profile. He seemed to really like that idea, Suikotsu was playing striker on his own team as well. "We'll move Souta over to defense for a while hopefully this can earn you guys a goal before the night is over."

"Grandpa..." Kagome said not liking that idea. "How about we keep Souta at center forward and we move Inuyasha to defense. Souta knows the game. Inuyasha doesn't really play."

Inuyasha gave her a slight look but he didn't argue. It was slightly true he wasn't entirely that skilled at soccer, but he was extremely athletic, that was one of his talents. So he just needed a brushing up on the game and he jumped in without a hitch. He didn't expect to be better than anyone. Although he didn't believe he was better than Souta, but Souta was a bit frazzled, Kagome wasn't the only one that felt the overwhelming pressure of trying to be perfect in their hometown.

"Kagome your fiancé has been absolutely astonishing, if it weren't for him we'd be two points down. It doesn't hurt to have him try to score in our favor. If it doesn't work out we'll move Souta back." Her grandfather gave Inuyasha a slap on the back. "hydrate yourself we'll be back in in five." Her grandfather walked away and went to speak to another man. He passed Souta who was sitting with his head down and pouring a water bottle over his hair and face. She wondered how he felt about the decision.

"You should have said no." She whispered and Inuyasha looked down at her. He didn't know how he felt about Kagome declaring she thought he wasn't skilled at soccer. It was true, but it was obviously important to her town, and he was playing the role of the perfect fiancé so he needed to be good at it. But more importantly he sort of wanted her to think he was good at it. It was weird because honestly it went against everything he had told himself earlier. He wanted to pop the perfect bubble Kagome had around him but apparently now he wanted to reinforce it. What did the praise from her family or her town matter if she didn't feel the same?

"Why is that..." He asked and although they were close to the center of the field where her entire town could see them he didn't hesitate to put his arms around her once again and stun her with that remarkable smile of his.

"Because Soccer is really important to my brother." She whispered and he knew that.

"I know but he'll still be in the game." He said with a shrug. "Your brother is amazing, but you know that saying, if you want something done you have to do it yourself. I just want to even out the score then your brother can play whatever position he'd like." He said and honestly if Kagome didn't want him playing center, he should have agreed because he was doing this for her, but he was so damn competitive, and he couldn't just lose. He kissed her on the forehead, and she allowed it. "I'm going to get ready to play again, but I'll check on your brother..." She nodded as he walked off towards a few men and began talking, he stopped suddenly at Souta muttering something. They exchanged words for a while then Inuyasha helped him up and they started walking out into the field together. She was relieved that Souta didn't seem too upset but she still for some reason felt at odds. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she figured it had to do with Inuyasha's enthusiasm about the game, or perhaps it was his enthusiasm period...

She turned away from the guys to head back towards the crowd. She was going to make it back to the sidelines, a bit away from everyone when she caught a staring Kikyo. She was surrounded by the rest of the clones and recruited cheerleaders, and although they were conversing happily, she was just standing in her spot and staring. As soon as she spotted Kagome looking her way she turned around suddenly. It was so weird, her facial expression had an eerie quality to it, and it reminded her of the exchange she had had with Inuyasha just moments ago. She felt all of a sudden the need to know the nature of it, but she felt at odds about confronting Inuyasha about something that could so easily be innocent.

She halted for a second then continued to the other side of the field. The game started and within ten minutes of the position change Inuyasha had scored. She wasn't as taken aback at the idea of it though as everyone in town seemed to be, and after a few minutes of watching the game she made her way back into the house...

!

!

!

28

(A bit later)

When he returned back to the house it was a bit past midnight. The game went into a forced overtime for about an hour and when it was all done he went in search for her, but between the town people wanting to all leave at one time while simultaneously trying to speak to him, he really couldn't get a hold of her scent. It took him an hour to get out of all of the fuss and when he did he decided to wait for her in the room, but to his surprise she was already there. Under the sheets, sleeping it seemed. The TV was on some home improvement channel and the lights were off. He stared at the back of her head, her hair in its normal pristine bun, he wondered how long she had been up here for? Was it stupid that he was a bit disappointed that she didn't stay to watch the game in its entirety?

He hesitated feeling at odds for a moment longer before heading into the bathroom. As soon as the water began running she woke up. She reflexively took a look at the alarm clock near her. It was about thirty minutes passed twelve. The game must have ran long. She sat up suddenly turning her bedside light on. She had a few questions that kept spinning around in her mind, and she felt the overwhelming need to ask them. Although she told herself it wasn't all that important. She lied down flatly in bed just staring up until the bathroom door opened. Inuyasha came out in a black T-shirt and blue boxers, he only peered her way for a second before walking over to the drawer where she had unpacked all of her things. She rose up watching him put his dirty clothes carelessly on top of his suitcase. It made her wince and she had to literally tell herself she'd wash and put away his dirty clothes tomorrow to keep from rising up in that moment. He turned around looking over at her, to his surprise she was sitting up and staring at him. Her face was void of makeup and her hair was in its classic bun. He found it odd that she was just sitting and staring at him, she had just a normal tank top on and if he had to guess one of her silk pajama bottoms on as well.

"Hey sleepy head." He said with a smile and she returned it too. He walked over to her stealing a quick kiss before wondering over to his side. "I didn't wake you up did I?" He asked and she just shook her head although he did, but she had just fallen asleep not too long ago.

"How was the game...who won?" She asked suddenly and it just confirmed that she in fact hadn't stayed for the entire thing. Why was he so offended by that? He kept telling himself he was just annoyed since the reason he even played was for her.

"It was the craziest thing," He said as he took a hold of the remote control lying on the middle of the bed. "You're not still watching this right?" He asked referring to the home improvement show. She just shook her head. She was surprised at how much anticipation boiled in her belly just waiting to hear the results of the game. She knew it shouldn't have been this big of a deal, but it was significant to her family and more importantly her older sister.

"Really..."

"Yeah, so we were tied for a majority of the game, 1 to 1 all the way till ten..."

"alright..." She interrupted and at that moment he was surfing through the channels looking for something to watch. "I saw you score... you're pretty good." She said and it did somewhat ease him knowing she had seen part of the game. But he dropped the weird emotion all together, it was far too petty to hold on to, and honestly very uncharacteristic of him.

"Yeah...I'm decent, but your grandfather called time out again right after, I told him to switch Souta back to striker." She seemed slightly shocked at that, but she tried not to show it on her face.

"That was nice of you..."

"Yeah...well you said it was really important to him." She just nodded staring at his profile as he flipped through channels. "Did you want to see a movie or were you ready to go back to sleep?"

"No, we can watch something." She mumbled watching him switch to the 'on demand' option. "So… it was a tie?" He was focused on the television, so he didn't answer her straight away. "So basically, putting Souta back as center made you guys tie instead of win..." She guessed, she didn't know why she was offended slightly about that. She really didn't understand why she was feeling at odds at all. She was usually in awe that Inuyasha was so clever and perfect but for some reason it was a bit sickly so that he could waltz in and be better at something that her brother obsessed about since grade school.

"No...no not at all. He scored. We won because of him." He said and she widened her eyes and clapped her hands letting a silent screech leave her lips. He was shocked by that and turned around. She put a hand on her lips to try to hide her excitement. "I didn't know you cared so much?" He asked smiling himself. It made him wonder why she had left the game early? "So… what happened to you ...I mean during the game... where were you? I looked for you during one of your grandfather's many time outs... I didn't see you anywhere."

"I went back up after some time of watching. I wasn't feeling too well." She lied. She really didn't know why she left. Or she didn't know how to voice why she left accurately, not even to herself. He nodded at her declaration and there was a pause as he went back to choosing a film. She leaned close to him gripping his forearm gently. "I feel a lot better now...I think it really was my mom. She was bothering me about something." She for some reason felt the need to give him a well thought out excuse, she was supposed to be supporting of him right? I mean that's what role Kikyo played...she hesitated for a moment realizing that the question she had at the tip of her tongue had in fact involved her sister. She cleared her throat wanting to at some point work up the confidence to ask it.

"What are you in the mood to watch?" He asked and he was surprised at how curious he was to know the answer to his question. He had absolutely no idea what films she liked to watch or any of her preferences really.

"Anything you want..." She shrugged and he nodded, it figured. What else did he expect Kagome to choose? "So… um..." He turned to look down her. She was absentmindedly drawing on his forearm gently with her finger, staring down at her invisible art. Sometimes the most subtle of things she did were unbelievably adorable. "You spoke to my um...my sister I see. You know during the game?".

He thought about her question for a moment. He didn't see anything wrong with it initially but after awhile of flipping through movie titles he realized that there was something odd in the tone of her voice. He looked back down at her and she avoided his glance ever so slightly. "Yeah… uh I did…" He said. "She and her cheer squad were very helpful."

She gulped silently seeing the corners of his lips rise ever so slightly. Why was he so amused by the question? What had she missed and more importantly what did Kikyo say? Her stomach was flipping ever so slightly, and she was even more eager to hear his opinion of her sister. "Oh, so she was nice?" He looked down at her trying to read her features, but she was looking back down at his forearm gripping it ever so gently again and he knew something was wrong. "I mean so they all were nice?"

"What's up Kagome?" He asked and she looked up as if she was taken aback by the question, but he knew better. "You seem off?"

"No…I just wanted to know how things went when I left…" She lied and he knew it. He didn't know if he should be annoyed because here she was yet again hiding something from him, not letting him in completely. But he understood that this was a bit different, something that might be harder to just outwardly explain, so instead of showing his frustrations he decided to take a different approach.

"Everyone was really nice…some of the men that were rooting for your sister's fiancé's team were a little upset." He didn't emphasize much more than that. But some of the men wouldn't even speak to him after the game, they stayed at their side looking noticeably a lot less excited by the win as everyone else. It made sense when he found out the types of money people had put on the game. It was well in the thousands and it was even more of a shocker considering how small he figured her town was. He felt bad knowing he'd be collecting so much of their money. She nodded at his answer, but he knew he hadn't given her the answer she was looking for. "Everyone else though, ridiculously nice, especially your sister." She looked up at that and he knew he had hit the nail on the head with the mentioning of her sister.

From Kagome's position on the bed she deduced that Inuyasha didn't seem too affected by the mentioning of her sister. He partially looked at her focusing more on the television. That was a good thing but still she needed to know what he was thinking. "I'm glad she was nice…" She lingered, and he only nodded.

He some what had an idea of what she was hinting at. He did however understand that there was a weird dynamic between her sister and her, a weird dynamic between her entire family actually, and a rivalry between her sister. He understood it was important he gave Kagome the upper hand, but he had to still remain likable, so perhaps she was ensuring that Kikyo still liked him. "Yeah…but I get it that your sister and you don't have the best relationship." The slight subconscious stroking, she was doing to his forearm froze and he looked down. She had tensed up, apparently shocked. He stopped looking for a film and put the remote down. "Kagome, I wish you could just come out with what's on your mind. I'm a bit rusty at reading minds." He joked smiling handsomely. He went back to the remote deciding on a comedy instead of a drama. "Besides I don't have the best relationship with my own brother so I think I understand a lot more than you could imagine." He mumbled.

With that declaration she dropped her hands from his forearm, but he didn't seem to notice or mind. He hadn't had an opportunity to just relax for a while and although he was exhausted he wasn't drained like his days at her grandfather's shop. She watched his profile for a moment longer as the film started realizing something instantly, there was no tip toeing around this situation with Kikyo. She silently took a deep breath and decided she'd just come out with it. He was right, he knew exactly what she was going through, she was entirely sure her situation with Kikyo was far worse than his with Sesshomaru. It went beyond stealing relationships and sibling rivalry. Kikyo hated her for some reason, since they were young, and she could never figure out why! Kikyo had everything growing up and still could not let Kagome have anything. "You're right…" She declared after some time. He nodded looking down at her for a half second. She watched him watch the film for a moment before slipping a hand over his. He had the remote in it and he released it thinking she wanted to hold hands but instead she grabbed the remote and paused the film. It was a shocking and out of character act on her part and he couldn't hide the surprise on his face. He turned to give her his full attention. "You're right… But it's even worse than that. I guess what I'm trying to say..."

"Worse than what?" He asked.

"Your situation with Sesshomaru…" He seemed confused and she just sighed. "I know your brother asking me to the dinner was bad… but Kikyo isn't trying to get on your good side to succeed at work… she's doing it to get at me...Sesshomaru just saw me as an asset…a way to get ahead …my sister hates me, and I don't really know why." She admitted and he realized the gravity of this declaration. Kagome was letting him in further. It reminded him that earlier he had sensed a change in her, as if he was finally making ground. Although he should have been focusing on what she was saying now, that nagging feeling somewhere south came back, he could remember so clearly her eagerness earlier when he was getting ready for the game. He had wondered if she was finally ready to go all the way. It made him want to try but just the thought brought guilt, here he was once again putting far too much importance on sex. He should have liked that she felt comfortable revealing more about her family for the benefits it would bring to their relationship, not the likelihood he'd get to have sex with her soon. "You get what I'm saying?"

She asked and he realized instantly he hadn't been listening. He had placed his focus directly on her perfect form. She was sitting up, her face bare of make up and a pristine bun sitting on top of her head. She looked exceptionally youthful and a bit like the old Kagome but for some reason not quite. She paused taking in his face waiting for his response that didn't come. He noticed the lingering look and he searched for something to say, what had she just said? Something about Kikyo being worse than Sesshomaru, he hadn't thought to compare them but when she did, it helped him understand the dynamics of their relationship even better. This was something he should have been paying close attention to. She was trying to explain something that would help shape the rest of their time here. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, and she looked away just a flash of annoyance going through her features.

"You weren't listening?" She stated obviously disappointed. He was surprised at how quickly the guilt returned. He got so swept up in just looking at her, additionally his thoughts were consumed with her too, but he had completely tuned her out. "I just…I feel like my sister is going to try to steal you…" She openly admitted.

He was surprised by that, but he was good at hiding his emotions. Never did his face show his shock. "Kagome…"

"I know" she interrupted turning away from him and focusing on the television. She watched the flashing images for a while. "You're going to tell me I'm crazy and that would never happen, but that isn't the point. The point is she is going to try. And she's going to try a lot of other things. That's just how she is…she has always hated me."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you…" He interrupted but he wasn't at all sure of that. Especially with the antics she pulled today. He didn't really understand what Kikyo's motives were. Apparently Kagome was never well regarded in her family or even her town's eyes but for some reason, when they were younger, Kikyo still felt the need to bring her down. He thought about that then a thought ignited, and inadvertently connected the dots. Ok so perhaps Kagome was on to something, the way her sister acted on the field, her strange closeness and her eagerness to help. He wasn't a stranger to a woman trying to advance on him. Kagome wasn't trying to figure out if Kikyo liked him she was trying figure out if Kikyo had tried anything with him.

"Well she isn't exactly pouring out love…" She muttered "and she's always been like this, but she's even worst now…for obvious reasons."

"Well I barely spoke to your sister today…" He reassured and she looked up, this was what she wanted to hear the whole time. "Her and the cheer squad..." He muttered mockingly, his comment relieved her. She was glad that he thought her sister's little cheer performance was as ridiculous as she did. "...brought the players waters and towels… we didn't talk beyond that." She nodded and he smiled. "So, you can relax now…no stealing was going on" He joked.

She nodded, he could tell she was happy to hear it. He grabbed the remote control again, but he had to admit he wasn't exactly in the mood to watch movies anymore. He understood that tonight was probably not the one to try anything, and he really should have been ok with that. She didn't seem in a frisky mood by any means. And perhaps he should've initiated something when he first got out of the shower. He could wait...try again tomorrow. Although, he was a little scared that come tomorrow she wouldn't be as eager as she was today...what if he missed his opportunity? He thought of ways to make the transition from light conversation to something more intimate. The bed sheets ruffled as she got back under the covers, lying back down. Obviously she wasn't in the mood, she had complained about being tired earlier and honestly after running up and down that field for over five hours he was exhausted himself.

But, she was actually wide awake, staring at the film while her mind was deep in thought. She still had so much more to say, but she was so pleased that she was able to get out what she had. So now all she was left with was her mind moving a mile a minute. She couldn't even begin to focus on the film going on ahead. So, she knew for a fact Kikyo had tried to get Inuyasha's attention, she saw it with her own eyes, but she understood now that Inuyasha wasn't interested in her, and that was enough to steady her nerves. But what if she could get his attention later on? And why wasn't he into Kikyo? How did he feel about everything? By now he had to have realized that both her town and family were obsessed with appearance. What was his opinion on that? Did he feel like an accessory...? She bit down on her lip feeling the need to both apologize and ask these questions. She turned quickly to face him and to her surprise he had nodded off. She smiled slightly, taking the remote from his hands. She shut the TV off and the lights laying back down and hoping to fall asleep just as easily.

!

!

!

29

For the first time he was the one to wake up before the sun. He was afraid of this, after a week of waking up at the crack of dawn he had become acclimated. He turned quickly as his senses flooded back. He was happy to see Kagome sleeping beside him, apparently waking up before the sun had not become a routine for her. She was facing him on her side, but he was slightly disappointed he wasn't waking up with her on top like their first few nights in her family's home. He looked to his right checking the time. It was past 5, odd that no one had come to wake them. He wasn't going to question his good fortune though, he quickly slumped back down, falling back asleep rather quickly.

When he awoke again, it was from rather loud murmuring. His senses awoke before him and he could hear that the whispering was actually arguing. "I really don't want to do that today ma…" A woman sighed, and it didn't take him long to identify it as Kagome. She seemed defeated. He knew the other person was her mother, his senses confirmed this.

"Well, I think it will be nice of you to spend the quality time with your sister. Besides, this is a maid of honor's duty…If its that important to you ask her if she'd like to come…"

"You know she's going to say no…" He shuffled ever so slightly, and the conversation died down automatically. There was just ruffling around for a while. And with that he decided to just get up all together. He rose in bed and he wasn't at all surprise to see Kagome standing in front of him. She was fully dressed in dark jeans and a simple burgundy halter top. It was snug fitting to her form, and over top she wore a lighter denim jacket. Her hair was in its signature bun, but she had her bangs out framing her face. Her arms were crossed around a deep orange fabric. She looked beyond annoyed but even so, still ridiculously gorgeous. When she noticed him looking she fixed herself ever so slightly finger combing her bangs and switching her stance. He thought the move was adorable but he could tell her mother didn't feel the same way.

"Kagome, please get dressed." She said obviously aggravated… I will call Sango for you." Kagome's eyes widened as if she hated the sentiment. She was about to say something, but her mother had already turned to give Inuyasha her undivided attention. She was fully dressed as well in a casual brown high waisted pencil leg pant and a tan button down blouse, which she wore tucked in. Her short hair was in its natural straight style and she had on her hands what looked like gardening gloves. He was confused by that but a little more confused as to why everyone was fully dressed, arguing in the middle of the room. He checked the time on the alarm clock near him. It was 7 a.m. why was he allowed to sleep for this long? The sun was clearly up. "Mr. Tak…Inuyasha Good morning, I'm glad you're awake."

"Good Morning" He said confusion evident on his face, but Kagome just noticed how extremely handsome he still was even after just waking.

"If you don't mind getting up for the day, you guys will be taking a trip into the city…"

"Mom…" Kagome interrupted, forcing her mother's eyes from him. The aggravation was very apparent on her face, but she tried to hide it with a forced smile.

"Enough Kagome," she snapped, and it shut her daughter right up. She backed up towards the desk wanting to fade into the decor of the room. "I've made breakfast when you're ready. Kagome get dressed please." She left quickly after that, closing the door for them. Kagome stared after her putting two hands on her face. She seemed more annoyed than usual, but she didn't fight it, instead she went for the discarded orange garment on the floor.

"What's going on?" He asked. and she turned to give him her attention. Like usual he was surprised just how beautiful she could be in the simplest of ways. She didn't have much make up on. Just mascara and light eyeliner around her eyes, bringing out the blue hue of them.

She pushed the bangs away from her face forcing them to frame it instead. "My sister and Suikotsu want us to help pick out the venue and help organize their bachelor parties." She took a defeated seat at the desk across from him.

"Us?" He asked, and he managed to look even more confused than he was when he first awoke. She smiled slightly although there was nothing to be happy about. "Isn't that a job for the best man?"

"Yeah…well his brother is his best man, and he is out of the country as of now…" The confusion never left his face. So, what his best man wasn't here…what did that have to do with him? Why was he assuming the duties?

"Is the shop closed?" He asked, confused as to why he hadn't been asked to work today. He would have much preferred it over a day with Kagome's sister's fiancé. For some reason Suikotsu rubbed him the wrong way, and truth be told he was warming up to Souta, he was pretty cool when he wasn't being a brat.

"It's always closed on Sundays…" She said and he nodded. She rose from her spot going for the bathroom. "I'm going to change… and then I'll see you in the kitchen for breakfast." She said. And he gave her a smile getting one in return. She stumbled over to the bathroom lying the orange polka dotted dress down on the sink. There wasn't much wrong with the dress, but she was annoyed to have to be forced into wearing it at her mother's request. It was a deep burnt orange wrap dress with white polka dots throughout, it was above the knee with a slit going up the left thigh. She didn't waste much more time, she quickly began taking off her clothes, pulling it on after. It was something her mom had picked out for her, but it was her dress, she had bought it with Rin a few weeks back. She didn't take the time out to examine her body in it. She had tried it on before buying it. She took her hair out of the bun letting it fall, it wasn't nearly as straight as it was yesterday, but not as wavy as it usually was. She parted it down the middle meticulously, down to the bang as well, separating them on either side of her forehead. She combed them through with her fingers and carelessly walked out of the bathroom looking first at the bed for Inuyasha, but he was no longer lying in it.

She looked around finding him by the drawers looking for something to wear for the day. When he saw her his heart did that pesky fast pace palpitating it did when he saw her. She was even more beautiful…if that was even possible? He just sort of stared, the cinch at the waist the dress's wrap ties did made her already small waist look even smaller. She pulled on the ties tying them into a perfect bow. Her hair was down and falling well past her waist and grazing the top of her bottom in its somewhat straight state. She didn't seem to notice how amazing she looked as she went towards the closet wanting to get a pair of shoes that matched. He grabbed her arm stopping her…she looked up remembering other incidents of him doing the same.

"You look incredible in that dress" He said and she rewarded him with one of her gorgeous smiles as a response. He would have reached down and met her lips with his, but he hadn't brushed his teeth yet. She waited for it though, lifting her chin in anticipation but he only let her arm go gently. She was disappointed but didn't show it. She went for the closet and he watched her taking her in from the behind. She pulled out two shoes, a strappy white heel and a closed toe black ankle boot. She paused for a second choosing the strappy pair instead. She took them to the bed to put them on. "So… what's the itinerary for the day? He asked jokingly as he carelessly picked some clothes from Kagome's perfectly ordered drawers.

She was finishing up placing her shoes on. "It takes awhile to get to the city…" she said resting her feet down. The slit on the side of her dress had a slight ruffle to it, but it was still surprisingly deep. He could see up her thigh, and it warmed the pit of his stomach. He found his eyes glancing down when he should have been looking directly at her. "So, I guess we'll be there for the day…" She shrugged and he could see how much she hated the idea, and she wasn't the only one. He finally had off from the shop to spend a day with her and he was tasked to show face with what he regarded as the two worst members of her family. "I'm really sorry… Suikotsu seems to be very familiar with you…" She said and now it was his turn to shrug. She knew Inuyasha really didn't regard Suikotsu as a friend, yet he seemed to be overly friendly and familiar with Inuyasha. She sort of wanted to know more about the history they had with one another, but Kagome knew, there wasn't much to tell on Inuyasha's part. He grabbed a few things he set on the desk and headed to the bathroom not saying much more. She just watched and sighed. It was times like this, when he was forced to work at the shop or do something that she knew he didn't want to, that she deeply regretted allowing him to come on this trip. It was supposed to allow them to spend extra time with one another, but it seemed like more work than anything else. She stared at the closed bathroom door for a moment longer, then left to head to the door.

She was still lost in her own thoughts, feeling a little down when she rounded the corner to the kitchen. As if she wasn't feeling terrible enough, she was met full on by her sister and Suikotsu in the kitchen, without her mother, grandfather, or even Souta as a buffer. She hesitated wanting to perhaps go back to the room, comeback later with Inuyasha. She thought about it for a second longer but Kikyo had already looked up from her phone. As soon as she took in Kagome she was first shocked then annoyed. She very noticeably rolled her eyes then set her phone down crossing her arms and rising up from her seat.

She was wearing a white wrap blouse, it had a plunging 'V' but she wore no camisole, she allowed her cleavage to show and the very top of her navel. The top closed at the waist with a tie not unlike Kagome's dress. She didn't bother making it into a perfect bow though, she had it tied tightly at the waist and the rest of her toned stomach showed carelessly. Below she wore a black mini leather skirt, its zipper was down the middle. Her heels were tall black ankle booties, she looked amazing. The white of the top complimented her sun kissed skin so well, and the brown of her hair. The skirt although short was high waisted and cut the amount of belly shown considerably well. It made Kagome want to change yet again, but she knew that would have been ridiculous. "Good morning Kaggy," her sister sung, and she gave her a half smile as Suikotsu turned around to greet her too. He smiled ear to ear taking her in completely.

"Good morning Kagome, you look radiant." He said and she returned his greeting with a good morning of her own.

Her sister had crossed the room to the island sitting adjacent from their breakfast nook. "Mom told you we were going into the city right?" She asked while pouring herself something green and lumpy from the blender. She looked up at her for a moment, taking in her slick red lip as she spoke. "I booked a place already for my bachelorette party, so today we're going to go over how I want it set up…" she went on about that for a while longer before coming back around to her seat with her glass. For breakfast their mom cooked home made banana waffles, eggs, sausage. and bacon. Her plate had one singular waffle a slice of bacon and the smallest portion of eggs she had ever seen. She sighed grabbing her fork. Inuyasha's untouched plate was piled high with food and she couldn't be more envious. Kikyo however had the same portion of food as she did but she pushed her plate aside opting to drink whatever mushy concoction she had in her glass. "Kaggy, you should drink my smoothie, it's super good. It'll help you tone up and lose some baby fat." She said, and Kagome tore her eyes from her plate looking up at her sister. She had a conniving grin on her face. She held in an eye roll and pushed a fork down at her eggs eating it in silence. She decided ignoring her sister was the best option. She pushed her food in her mouth but paused when she felt eyes staring at her. She looked across at her sister's fiancé. He was just eyeing her, he looked away when she noticed. It was then that she felt the need to speak. Perhaps she was being rude to him, he hadn't done anything to her.

"So, I'm sure you're happy to be going back home." She said, her mouth partially full of food. He looked back up. Smiling slightly, she knew that Suikotsu lived in Shikon Valley, and this was one of the reasons why they couldn't have their parties here in town. He probably had a lot of people in mind he wanted to invite, people that weren't from her dinky hometown. She knew her sister must have felt the same way. The thought made her think of the wedding… and instantly Rin came to mind making her eyes widened.

"Yeah, but I haven't been home for a while." He said as he put a fork in his almost finish plate of food. All he had left were some eggs and a waffle. "Your sister and I have traveled quite a bit." She nodded in response grabbing a napkin and turning towards Kikyo.

"Hey, I meant to ask you, you wouldn't mind if a few of my friends came to the party and wedding?" She asked, she felt like Rin and Ayame could be the buffer she needed, her sister would have the clones and she'd have back up too. Especially for this bachelorette party that she had the weirdest feeling would be worst than the wedding. Maybe they could even come up earlier, Kaede her mother's cousin ran the inn, she could get them a deal.

"Kagome chew your food before you speak." She said in the most condescending tone. She was looking at a bridal magazine, flipping carelessly through the pages. "And I really don't think so. I don't need weird business executives crowding my wedding photos and dampening my bachelorette party." Kagome frowned and it just made her sister's conniving smile return.

"They aren't executives they don't even work with me…"

"No Kagome, both Tycoon magazine and Glamour are coming to document the wedding, it needs to be up to par…"

"Yeah, but these are just guest…" She argued "Why would they be in the photos at all…I mean

"The answer is no," her sister snapped, and Kagome could tell she was loving dashing all her hopes, just for the sure fun of it. She was going to give up all together when she realized something. She eyed the magazine in her sister's hands then the clutch hand bang hanging on the side of her chair…her sister was really into designer things…Rin was a designer…what was the chances her sister knew of her?

"Well that's too bad, I really wanted your wedding dress to be on Weekly…" She mumbled. Weekly was a magazine her sister obsessed over when they were younger. Kagome knew it must have been the first magazine her sister asked to come down to document their wedding, but they probably said no. Tycoon was a business oriented magazine and Glamour was fashion focused, but Weekly was a fashion magazine that focused on celebrities…her sister's wedding would have been really under the radar for them. Suikotsu's family's business wasn't big enough to bring him that status of notoriety.

"Yeah…ok and your friends could get Weekly to come out here… I have a friend that writes for them. They're completely booked, and even if they did come down they could only give me a half a page focusing exclusively on the dress…" She mumbled. She flipped through a couple pages realizing something. If Inuyasha would be at the wedding…that could be the celebrity guest status she needed to get Weekly and some other publications on board. She turned over to her fiancé.

"Yeah but I have a friend I met through Inuyasha, her mother owns a few brands…one of them is called tempted to touch…" Kikyo tore her eyes from Suikotsu…

"Stop lying you don't know Rin Saito…"

Kagome hesitated, she felt slightly bad all of a sudden for name dropping, she had avoided saying Rin's name just for that reason exactly she realized.

"No, you don't… stop being a bratty lying bitch…" she snarled, and Kagome felt the name calling was entirely uncalled for.

"I'm not lying Kikyo, she's a close family friend of Inuyasha's…" She was going to continue on, but she could see her sister believed her. She of course knew that the Takashis were close to the Saitos, but she didn't know what that had to do with her inept little sister? Were they in the twilight zone? First she comes home dressed as if she spent the last 6 years getting a clue, then to add insult to injury she had an entire Takashi on her arm... that was really the most completely unbelievable aspect of it all... she hadn't read in any publications that one of the Takashi sons were engaged…especially not to her dorky little sister. Now all of a sudden she was besties with one of the greatest fashion designers of their generation's daughter!? What the hell was going on? She narrowed her eyes taking in her sister… whatever was going on she hated it. It made her blood boil, and there had to be away to restore order!

"So… you can get her to come to the wedding?" Kagome just nodded making her long bangs shake. "Fine I guess your little friends can come, give me their addresses…I'll get mom to send out the invitations. She saw the smile spread on her sister's face and it literally pained her. If Weekly would come down for Inuyasha she knew a few fashion mags that would show up for Rin…but she had to be entirely sure her sister wasn't lying. She was about to pry further when she sensed slight movement ahead of her. She looked up, that condescending sneer on her face disappearing instantly. Instead she flashed one of the sweetest smiles she could muster. Kagome watched silently as her sister quickly fixed her straight hair to sit forward on her shoulders.

At first she didn't know what caused the shift in her sister's demeanor...she followed her stare upwards and like always her heart sped up when she took him in. He had on a long sleeve polo shirt in a gray blue. The sleeves were pushed up, and the shirt sat squarely on his broad shoulders so nicely. His pants were a perfect fitting dark jean and when he entered the kitchen he looked around taking everyone in, when his golden eyes rested on her he smiled handsomely. He didn't hesitate at all to walk around the table towards her. But Suikotsu had other plans evidently, and when he saw Inuyasha walk in he rose from his seat.

"Ah…Inuyasha good morning…great game yesterday you were exceptional." He crooned and Inuyasha nodded awkwardly. They exchanged a rushed hand shake. "I hope I'm not asking too much of you this morning." He said referring to their trip into the city.

"Not at all...it will be good to get out a bit..." He lied and Kagome scoffed, laughing ever so lightly. The idea that she found Suikotsu's awkward eagerness as ridiculous as he did made his fake smile turn just a bit more genuine.

"I'm happy to hear it...afterwards we can perhaps grab a beer in one of my favorite pubs. We can go over some of your impressive technique from last night...How regular do you play..."

"Wow Suikotsu why don't you fuck him while you're down there kissing his ass…?" Kikyo asked casually. Everyone turned to face her. She was literally sitting pretty not a care in the world as she flipped through her magazine. She didn't see anything wrong with what she had just said. "Any way…good morning Mr. Takashi." She looked up with a big grin on her face. When she noticed everyone staring her smile faltered a bit. "What?"

"Uh…it's Inuyasha…" he clarified, and she nodded just looking him over. He kissed Kagome lightly on her forehead then took his seat by her going for his silverware, He was starving, and grateful to Kagome's sister for her abrupt interjection, although it was a bit vulgar it got her fiance to shut up finally.

"Kagome was just telling me how she's become such close friends with your friends..." She said and he looked up at that...He noticed the double meaning in her words, took in the smirk on her face, and glanced down at Kagome. She was currently staring incredulously at her sister.

"Not all of his friends..." She looked up at him. "Just Rin..." He nodded agreeing, then went back to cutting his waffles.

"Yeah…" he answered… carelessly, "Rin practically lives with her…" the smirk on Kikyo's face turned instantly into a frown, but it was only a flicker. The smile returned just as soon as it left. So… her sister wasn't lying. The idea was simultaneously good and bad, she would have to change that.

"Well I can't wait to meet her Kaggy, I hope she can come down earlier." Her sister exclaimed and Kagome was surprise to see an actual earnest smile on Kikyo's face. "Anyway…Suikotsu was just saying how he'd like Inuyasha to be his bet man."

Inuyasha stopped moving his fork in midair, Suikotsu himself seemed shocked as well and not at all like he agreed. "Honey…" he said quickly, "I thought we agreed my brother would be the best man and Inuyasha would just help look at some venues today." Kikyo threw him a look that clearly was meant to quiet him, but he wasn't having it this time. Obviously he didn't like the idea of Inuyasha taking the place of his brother as best man and that was completely understandable. "I honestly think we should talk about this a little later…no offense Inuyasha it's just that…"

"No offense here…I understand, we hardly know each other…and its your brother." Inuyasha interjected, "I would have to decline the offer entirely…" Kikyo seemed shocked at that declaration and she obviously didn't like the idea. She wanted Inuyasha to be in the wedding party, it would give her a larger spread on Weekly, she knew she could get Suikotsu to change his mind eventually, but she had no solution to Mr. Takashi declining the role.

"Well I'm sure you have a place for him amongst the groomsmen" she said, and still Suikotsu seemed to hate that idea too. He was about to voice that as politely as he could when the back door opened. They all looked up, Inuyasha pleased that something was interrupting this dumpster fire of a conversation. Standing at the double doors was their mother. She still wore what she had on earlier, but those gardening gloves were noticeably filled with grime. She pulled them off and intentionally scuffed her boots on the rug to get some dirt off of them. "Well… I've managed to replant all my spring lilies your hummer ran through yesterday." She announced. "I still have a few other things to attend too, but it looks like I might get a break this Sunday for once." She said while making her way to the fridge. "Kagome…" She said while grabbing a pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade. She poured herself a glass turning towards her youngest daughter. Her eyes got side track taking in Inuyasha first. "Are you liking your breakfast?" She asked, looking directly at him instead.

He nodded… "It's delicious as always." His charm level was at a ten and Kagome bit her cheek to stop herself from smiling. She had this lingering need to mock him as well…and she had no idea if it came from a place of envy or love.

"I'm so pleased to hear it…I'll leave Kagome the recipe for the banana waffles so she can make it when you guys go back home."

"Or maybe you can leave him the recipe so he can make it himself." She mumbled, the words came out on their own and when they did she slapped a hand over her mouth. All eyes turned on her and she looked down at her empty plate. Inuyasha's face broke into a wide smile, he found the exchange hilarious.

"I'd love the recipe…" he said saving the conversation with his perfect repartee. "I actually like cooking…so…" Kagome seemed shocked at that and she turned to face him wanting to hear more. Kikyo took in the exchange, and it wasn't lost on her that her sister seemed surprised about such a basic skill her fiancé had…shouldn't that have been a thing she knew already?

"Well I don't think you should have to be cooking…let my daughter handle that type of work…" their mother interrupted.

"So…Kagome," Kikyo said putting herself into the conversation. She had that dangerously gorgeous grin on her face and Kagome already knew she would spat something rude. "How long have you guys been engaged for?" She asked simply and she was first taken aback at how simple the question was and also lost as to what to say. She turned to look towards Inuyasha who picked that moment to push a comically large amount of food into his mouth. She turned to look at Kikyo about to make up something that sounded plausible enough when by the grace of all that was holy the doorbell rang breaking everyone's' attention.

"Oh yeah that reminds me…" Her mother sung earning her everyone's attention. "I called Sango for you sweetie, she's going to tag along with you guys into the city. Her mother needs a few things, so this was a perfect opportunity."

"MOM" both of her daughters chorused together while simultaneously getting up from their spots. Both their fiancés looked up to take them in, shocked evident on their faces. Both women looked at each other as well for a moment, then like clones they took off in unison taking the same strides forward to follow their mother down the hall.

"I cannot believe you called Sango…she was NOT invited…" Kikyo whined as her mother jogged the short steps to the main floor of the hall.

"Yeah mom…I told you I didn't want you calling her... I wanted to be the one to do it."

"Hush you two… this is a great opportunity for Sango to get things for the store in the city…and whatever disagreement you're having with her is foolish Kagome. You guys have been friends for as long as I can remember, you can patch it up on the way over there."

"Yeah but…ma" She halted as the door opened suddenly revealing Sango. She had a slight smile on her face but when she took in Kagome and Kikyo it fell ever so slightly. She wore a denim mini skirt with an asymmetrical olive green top. Over it was an oversized black light pleather jacket, unzipped, her hands were sitting in the pockets. She walked in as her mother glided to the side to allow her access.

"Good morning Sango…I'm so happy you could come." Their mother said. Kikyo looked aggravated yet bored standing in the back. Her arms crossed in annoyance.

"If I knew Sango was coming I would have invited Ayumi, Eri, and Yurka…"

"What's stopping you." Their mother said and Kikyo just rolled her eyes. That was something she obviously didn't want to do, and they all knew it. All four of them walked up the steps and Kagome intentionally hung back hoping to get a quick word with Sango.

"So, I see your getting your mom to fight your battles for you…" Sango muttered, and Kagome widened her eyes.

"Not even…I was going to call you first, but she wouldn't take no for an answer… I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday. My sister was completely out of line and I should have defended you like you've always defended me." She stopped at the top of the steps just staring at her best friend. "I've been such a terrible friend…I wish I could make it up to you."

Sango halted as well and to Kagome's surprise she smiled. "It's fine…you know I don't hold grudges. And you can make it up to me…" Kagome nodded relief going through her instantly. "You can help me get your sister back today." Sango smiled connivingly and Kagome just stared shock very apparent on her face.

"Wait…how am I supposed to do that!" She exclaimed in a whisper.

Sango only shrugged. "I don't know yet, but I was thinking something along the lines of laxatives in her bottle of water...maybe cut her hair when she isn't looking…better yet we sabotage that little bachelorette party you're throwing for her…" Kagome's mouth fell open and Sango seemed pleased with her reaction. "I don't know yet…but we'll improvise something." She turned with that heading into the kitchen to say her hellos.

!

!

!

Hi guys! Happy Holidays! long time no see… the POV in this chapter is all over the place I apologize for that. I will go back to separating them in the next few chapters. Also, in Chapter 28 I made a mistake and referred to Suikotsu's family's corporation as Round industries. That is incorrect, it is the Hirata industries. Thank you so much for reading and as always sorry for keeping you waiting.