When both parties arrived at the diner, conveniently at the almost the same time, they got out of their cars and slammed the doors behind them. Sesshoumaru hid behind a car for a moment to regain his infamous poise, while Kagome just stalked to the eatery's front door, glaring furiously. She still hadn't calmed down.

"Are you coming or not?" She asked, watching her visible breath escape in the cold air. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes in disgust, and briskly walked over to where she was standing. He took hold of her shoulder, and glared down at her.

"Discontinue your incessant screeching, woman, or I will abandon you right here," he hissed.

This was not a particularly smart move on the part Sesshoumaru, as he soon found himself to be the recipient of a rather forceful slap connecting with his face. He looked at the woman standing in front of him, and stared in complete shock.

She dared to slap him? Who did she think she was?

Kagome was glaring at the stunned man, absolutely furious.

"First off, Mr. Tashio, you have NO right to treat me like that. Secondly, shut your mouth: you look like a fish."

Sesshoumaru snapped his mouth shut and clenched his jaw. He began telling himself multiple times in his head that it was not a good idea to kill her here, and that there were too many witnesses.

Kagome turned on her heel and marched into the diner, a smirk on her face.

She was stopped by Sesshoumaru's hand yet again on her shoulder, twirling her around. A vein was clearly visible on his head as he grimaced.

"Miss Higurashi, are you aware of you attire?"

"Ehhh….?" Was Kagome's intelligent reply. She looked down, fearing the worst.

And she got it.

She was still in her boxer shorts, complete with matching slippers, and her fancy top. Today was soooo not her day, she surmised. Kagome brought her hand up to her head and slapped her forehead as she slumped over in defeat.

"Drive through?" she suggested meekly, her head hanging down.

"I think that is an excellent suggestion," Sesshoumaru said as the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Come, we will go in my vehicle, and once we have finished, I will drive you back to yours."

He sauntered over to his "vehicle" with Kagome obediently in tow, but she stopped short when she saw what he drove. She thought for sure it would be a fast, expensive convertible similar to the one that had hit her earlier, but no. And by the look of his smirk on his face while she was gawking, he immensely enjoyed throwing her for a loop.

The car before her looked even crappier that her own.

It seemed to be sagging on its pathetic looking wheels, almost as if it had abandoned all hope a long time ago at ever being good. The dry blue paint was giving up as well, flaking off the car near the bottom, and there was at least one visible crack in the rear windshield.

"You're joking."

That was the only solution, even though the thought of Mr. Icicle-Shoved-Up-Butt kidding was a wild stretch. Sesshoumaru simply unlocked his car, ducked into it, and leaned over to unlock her side.

"I assure, I do not jest," he said irritably. The wench's initial reaction had been amusing, but now it was making him annoyed. If she didn't get in the car, he couldn't pay for her dinner, and if he didn't pay for her dinner, he would be going against his word.

And this Sesshoumaru never went against his word. It was contrary to his honor.

Kagome was taken aback by the well-dressed man getting into the tired old car, but quickly got over it. She took a precarious step into his choice of transport and waited for the floorboard to crumble. When it didn't, she allowed the rest of her body to follow. She buckled her seatbelt and twiddled her fingers nervously. Hadn't her mother once told her to never get in the car with a stranger?

The man seated next to her backed out of his parking place with a scowl. Was his car really that bad? His father had been pestering him about getting a new one, but he had never given it that much thought before.

---

Kagome looked over at the mighty corporate leader that made thousands bow to his will each and every day.

He was sulking.

Their only conversation had consisted of clipped tones, and in a few short sentences, they had decided to stop at a nearby fast-food place. But now, she was curiously sneaking peeks at her impromptu driver.

And he was pouting in the most adorable way.

He was obviously still upset about her reaction to his car. Kagome had to resist the sudden urge to squish the man in a hug. She thought to herself, 'He almost looks like an abandoned puppy,' and had to control her squeal over the cuteness over it all.

"Is there something amiss, or do you always twitch uncontrollably in other people's cars," Sasshoumaru said contemptuously.

Ok, all thoughts of fluffiness were officially gone.

"I'm fine!" Kagome snapped, being brought back to earth from her musings.

Sesshoumaru raised a disbelieving eyebrow as he pulled into the drive through. A crackling voice came on the speaker, grating against their ears.

"May I help you?"

The white-haired man gazed at Kagome expectantly. She sighed and leaned over the center console, yelling her order to the speaker.

Once said process of food-ordering was complete, they drove around to collect her meal at the window, only to find an all-too-familiar face.

"Inuyasha?!" Kagome said disbelievingly, "Since when did you work here?"

"Kagome?!" Inuyasha retorted with just as much disbelief, "When did you start going out with my brother? I thought his hormones had gone completely dormant…"

Kagome turned a lovely shade of crimson and denied it, but then something Inuyasha had said struck her.

"…Brother?" she asked.

"HALF brother," Sesshoumaru quickly corrected her. Kagome pointed back and forth between the two, a dumbstruck look clearly written on her features, and all she managed to get out was a,

"No way."

Inuyasha laughed, and explained.

"Yes way," he said, "I was just never one to follow in people's footsteps, so I broke away from the family tradition, thereby not seeing my family much, and thus you not seeing my family much."

Way to leave out the details, Inuyasha. But, he never was one to fully explain things, so she sighed and left it at that.

Inuyasha looked in the car, and seeing Kagome's state of dress, just had to comment.

"Cute shorts," he said jokingly with a wink.

"Oh, shut up," Kagome pouted and crossed her arms.

"You forgot to change and ran out of the house again, didn't you?" Inuyasha said teasingly.

"Maybe…" she mumbled. Sesshoumaru had watched this exchange in silence, then spoke up in the lull of the conversation.

"I am rather of the opinion that they resemble Jaken," he said in a dead-serious voice. Kagome looked at him horrified. "What? Do you not like me speaking of my subordinates in such a manner?" He asked curiously.

"No, that's not it," Kagome sputtered. "Well, I guess that too… But," she continued," My shorts are way cuter than Jaken!"

Inuyasha shook his head and laughed, while Sesshoumaru simply stared, completely baffled at the girl's strange behavior.

"Well, if you two aren't going out, what are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked, going back to their previous discussion and holding out their bag of food that had been finally delivered to the take-out man.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome blankly looked at each other.

Why were they here again?

"Something about…an upset stomach…?" Kagome supplied. This train of thought, however, was interrupted by a series of honks coming from the drive through lane behind them, informing them they should get a move on. In response, Sesshoumaru simply snatched the bag from his younger brother's hand, and sped off.

Well, as much as a decrepit old car could speed off.

---

When Sesshoumaru came back to the office from his venture, and Jaken saw the slight smile on his boss's face, he was absolutely certain of one thing:

The world was coming to an end.

---

When Kagome walked through her front door and began getting ready for work that night, she was utterly positive on one thing:

There wasn't a more arrogant jerk in the world as Sesshoumaru.

No, he hadn't tried anything, (personally, she was much of the same opinion as Inuyasha that his hormones were in permanent hibernation) but the whole car ride home, he made every snide comment he could. All in all, she was ecstatic that she hadn't gotten the nonexistent job.

She changed into her work outfit, a white button down shirt with a red tie and black slacks, and headed out the front door and off towards the French Dove.

When she arrived, she was barreled over in a giant hug.

"You're here!" her attacker cried joyously, "It's been so boring without you!" Kagome laughed and pushed the small boy off of her.

"It's good to see you too, Shippou," Kagome told the boy of about sixteen or so with a shock of orange hair. "You have no idea how horrible my day's been."

Shippou was the host at the restaurant, the one who greeted you and took your name down on the list, but he was hoping to become a waiter soon, like Kagome. She was the one who had gotten him the job in the first place, and he looked up to her like a big sister.

Shippou grimaced visibly. "Well, it's not going to get any better. Guess who the head chef is tonight?"

"Oh, no, please don't tell me…" Kagome said with dread. Shippou nodded his head gravely.

"Kouga," they said simultaneously. A yelp was heard from the direction of the kitchen, and soon a dark-haired man sprinted over to them.

"Did someone say my nam– Oh, my woman is here!" he cried enthusiastically, grabbing Kagome's hands with his own.

Kagome tuned Kouga out, as he was no doubt telling her how she would be his, and she tried to keep the pained expression off of her face. Shippou came to her rescue however, and Kouga's marriage demand, yes, demand, not proposal, was interrupted.

"C'mon Kags, you've to check in," Shippou said while forcibly pulling said girl from the man with a wolfish grin on his face. Kagome brightened at the supply of an excuse to get away, and finished prying her hands out of Kouga's.

"That's right, if I don't, they'll count me late," she said while skipping off with Shippou.

---

Kagome slumped down into her car. The rest of the night had gone similarly, attempting to do her job while dodging Kouga, but he seemed to be everywhere. He was in rare form that night, rushing around and popping up when she least expected it.

She drove to a nearby gas station and picked up some snacks for what she was about to do. With this task done, she drove towards the mall, and when she arrived at her destination, she went trunk-diving (c'mon, you know you've done it too) and pulled out a folding lawn chair.

Souta would be really disappointed if he didn't get what he wanted.

She set up camp at the end of the line outside the electronic store she had visited earlier in the day. She looked down the queue, counting in her head. Good, only eight people in front of her; maybe she actually had a shot at nabbing one.

A man that looked slightly younger than her and dressed in a Link costume turned from his position on his inflatable green chair to offer her some chips. She happily accepted and munched away while striking up a conversation.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. How could you not love a cute friendly man in tights?

---

Kagome left early in the morning, a smile on her face, a Wii in hand (they had given out exactly ten), and the cute guy's number. She whistled a tune as she drove home, eagerly anticipating a nice, long, uninterrupted sleep. It was now 6:30 in the morning, and Kagome was of the firm opinion that no human being should be awake at this hour. She sleepily parked her car in the driveway and got out. She shuffled through the powder snow on the ground and opened her door, locking it behind her (did she mention the unavoidable panty-fiesta if she didn't?). She walked like the dead to her room, and flopped down on her bed, still fully clothed, shoes and all.

She was just about to fall into dreaming bliss when the phone rang. Did it have some grudge against her getting any sleep?

She sluggishly attempted to get up to answer it, but her body wouldn't obey her brain, and she stayed planted where she was. She was vaguely aware as she drifted off of the answering machine coming on and an all-too-chipper voice emanating from it.

---

Can anyone guess who it is on the phone? It's a tricky one… Pie to whoever gets it right!

Oh, and right, I've run out of male characters, so I need some help in coming up with someone to be the Link guy. Anyone got any ideas? I may just end up making him an OC…

Hahaha, I'm looking over the chapter right now, and I love the way Sesshy talks; it's just so much fun making him be all proper and such!

Ok people, I'm really sorry, I meant to have the timeline in this story mirror real life, but due to circumstances I can not change, I have been super busy lately. So, what I'm trying to say is that Christmas in the story will come after Christmas in real life. Meh very sorry…

Please review! I feel like Kagome; I stayed up writing this and I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboard…