Author Notes: Merry Christmas! Hope you guys are having a fun holiday season, not matter your faith or beliefs. I've been in the holiday spirit with this little fic, and I apologize. I know my readers are waiting for another installment of System Compatibility, but I promise I am working on that one as well. This is the next chapter for E&B, and it's actually really fun to get these out. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: The Inuyasha world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Takahashi Rumiko.

Let it Snow

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Sitting back comfortably on his couch, Inuyasha casually accepted the beer his friend, Miroku, handed him -or at least as casually as he could muster.

It was halftime of the big game and their team was up by fifteen points and there really wasn't much to worry about. Instead, Inuyasha was trying to bring up a certain topic as casually as possible. He wracked his brain on how casual worked. Was he always this awkward?

"So how do you know Kouga?" Miroku asked as he took the other end of the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table.

Inuyasha appreciated his friend initiating the conversation, he could steer this one to his advantage. "Remember how I told you about that douche in my software coding class in college?"

"The one who left school before graduating because he successfully launched some big internet thing from his studio apartment?" Miroku guessed and took a swig of his beer.

"Yeah, well, that's Kouga." He grumbled thinking about of his rival of sorts.

Inuyasha and Kouga had spent the better part of a decade in a tense rivalry. With the same major in college and having hit on the same girl on the same night at a bar once, they were doomed to hate each other. Maybe if the circumstances were different, they might have actually gotten along.

"How have I never met this guy?" Miroku questioned.

Inuyasha frowned at his friend's question. "Because I'm not friends with him."

"But he invited you to a party." He pointed out.

"He invites me to all his parties." Inuyasha shrugged.

"Why?" Miroku was genuinely intrigued. There was little he thought he didn't know about his friend, but he was obviously being proven wrong. While Inuyasha occasionally griped about the elusive asshole from his coding course, Miroku had always been under the impression they were constantly at each other's throats. But from what he had witnessed the night before, they were perfectly civil.

"Because he invites the rich and famous." Inuyasha said with an eye roll.

"And you fit the first description." Miroku concluded for him. "Then you two seemed to get along fine last night."

Visibly perking at the opportunity to get the conversation on the topic he wanted, Inuyasha tried to keep his voice casual. "That's because your date was there. It got ugly right after you left with her."

"How gentlemanly of you." He responded and turned back to the TV, done with his own questions.

But Inuyasha had his set and he was itching to fire off. "So," he began nonchalantly, "You're dating this girl?"

Glancing at his friend, Miroku played along. "Who? Kagome?"

Inuyasha turned the name over in his head and wondered why it sounded so familiar. In the end, he had never found out her name and Kouga wasn't much help in that department. Ever since the night before, he had speculated as to why Miroku hadn't come clean about this girl he was dating but maybe he had. If the name sounded familiar, it was likely Miroku had mentioned it at least in passing.

"Yeah," Inuyasha nodded. "You were going to see her family? I never pegged you one to get tied down."

"She is special." Miroku admitted vaguely.

Thinking back to the previous night, Inuyasha frowned at his friend's description. "She told Kouga you weren't her boyfriend."

He wasn't sure why he told Miroku this piece of information. He hoped it was because he had an inherent need to protect his friend from a girl who was fishing for her next boyfriend. But instead, he thought maybe he was being spiteful and cruel. Inuyasha couldn't exactly explain why, but he didn't want Miroku dating this girl.

A knowing smirk tugged on Miroku's lips as he decided to put his friend out of his misery. "Because I'm not." He chuckled at the confused and hopeful look on Inuyasha's face. "Kagome is my cousin."

At hearing the clarification, Inuyasha frowned. "You're dating your cousin?"

"No, I'm not dating my cousin. I went with her last night because she wanted the company." Miroku shot him an incredulous look. "You didn't think it was weird that I didn't tell you about a girl I was seriously dating?"

"A little." Inuyasha shrugged. "But I figured you were embarrassed or something."

Before Miroku could question his friend as to why he would be embarrassed by something like that, Inuyasha's cell phone started to ring. Gesturing to Miroku to hold his thought, Inuyasha dug out his phone from his pocket. "Hello?"

"Oh," the woman on the other line sounded confused. "Sorry. Wrong number." The line went dead before he could respond.

"Who was that?" Miroku asked as Inuyasha stared at his phone.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Wrong number I guess." But as he went to put the phone away, it started ringing again. Exchanging a look with his friend, Inuyasha answered again. "Hello?"

There was light grumble from the other line. "Again? Is this phone number ending in 6465?"

"Yeah." He responded, already bored with the conversation.

"Poor guy." She mumbled under her breath. "Sorry, again, I thought this was Mirei's number."

"Wait, Mirei?" The name triggered an alarm in his head. "You got the right phone then."

"Oh, good. Is she there?" She asked tentatively.

Inuyasha let out a tired sigh. "Look, I'm sure you're a nice girl. But she's not interested." He could hear her attempt to say something, but he interrupted her. "She's also not gay, so you're barking up the wrong tree."

"But-" she started.

"This is the number she passes out when a guy won't stop bothering her for her number. This is her human attended rejection hotline." He continued. "So why don't you run off to the closest lesbian bar and pick up a nice girl."

With that, Inuyasha ended the call and slid his phone onto the coffee table. When he didn't address it and only went back to his beer, Miroku shot him a speculative look but Inuyasha only shrugged in response.

"What was that about?" Miroku asked as Inuyasha didn't relinquish any information.

"Sango has a habit of giving my phone number out instead of hers when there are overly desperate guys on the prowl." He explained. "My cue is when a guy asks for Mirei. But apparently she's sending out some lady-loving vibes, because this time it was a chick."

In the next short minute Miroku's phone was the one that went off. He glanced at it momentarily and set it down, only for it to alert again. Picking up the phone again, he distractedly asked his friend. "You're not interested in my cousin or anything, are you?"

With the sudden topic change, Inuyasha was thrown off. Slightly panicked, Inuyasha shook his head vehemently and scoffed. "No. Absolutely not."

"Really?" Miroku asked with a smirk. "Because I thought maybe you had a thing for her."

"What makes you say that?" Inuyasha was good at many things, but acting smooth about a prospective female was not one of them.

"From what she told me about last night, you looked for her to apologize." Miroku pointed out with a waggle of his eyebrows. "And you never say you're sorry unless you have something to be gained."

Inuyasha frowned at the suggestive look from his friend. "So you're suggesting I'm trying to nail your cousin."

It was Miroku's turn to frown. "You couldn't have phrased that a little differently? She is my baby cousin."

"You're the one who waggled your eyebrows." He motioned to his friend's face. "And I'm not trying to gain anything with her."

"You sure about that? You don't want to get on her good side?" Miroku asked.

"It's really not on my list of concerns." He reiterated a little too intensely. "I'm probably never going to see her again."

Miroku nodded and handed his phone over to his friend. "Good, because you just chewed out my cousin over the phone."

Inuyasha took the phone skeptically and looked down at the message screen. The name at the top said 'Kagome' and he could feel cold sweat starting. The first message on the list was one from Miroku to Kagome with the name Mirei and Inuyasha's phone number.

The message back said, "Sorry, no go. Fake number. :("

The second message was the one he zeroed in on. "Some asshole picked up the phone and went on this homophobic rant. I think it was her boyfriend. He sounded weirdly familiar though."

"Kagome hit on Sango?" Inuyasha was genuninely surprised.

"No, that was me. I suspected a fake number and asked her to make the call."

"So you're a coward." Inuyasha tossed the phone back to his friend. "Also, it was not a homophobic rant."

"No, but you told her to run off to a lesbian bar and you sounded really annoyed." Miroku maneuvered the phone. "Don't worry, I'll set her straight."

"Wait, you're going to tell her it was me?" Inuyasha sat up.

"Of course. This is a perfect case of small world. I mean seriously, what are the odds?" He smirked as he poised to type. "I ran into you at a party that I wasn't even invited to. And then I hit on a girl that you came with. Then, I had the cousin who you insulted at the very same party and call the girl instead of me, and it ended up being you."

Just as Miroku was about to type up a message to Kagome, Inuyasha grabbed the phone away. "You don't have to go out of your way to soil my name."

"Why do you care? You're never going to see her again, right?" Miroku smirked at his friend, knowing very well what he was hinting at.

"Yeah." He tried keeping cool. "But she's your cousin and you're my best friend. I might eventually run into her again."

"Oh, so you have plans of seeing her again." Miroku grinned.

"What? No. She's a book snob." He was sounding more indignant than he wanted, but again, he was not great at playing the game. "She's probably all high and mighty."

Miroku frowned at his friend. "You do realize that's my cousin you're talking about right?"

"Okay, too far." He admitted. "But I'm probably never going to see her again."

It wasn't until a little later that Inuyasha would realize he would eat his words.

xXx

Kagome readjusted the strap of the overnight bag she slung on her shoulders. The pack wasn't particularly heavy, but walking the fifteen blocks she lugged the thing was wearing on her. First, she got an odd text from her cousin's phone about how he needed a change of clothes and his toothbrush. There wasn't much else to the text, no explanation as to why but with a street address and apartment number. She vaguely knew which neighborhood it was in, but was unfamiliar with the address.

Aside from the foreign address, the text was also uncharacteristically curt. She couldn't accuse her cousin of being lengthy with his text messages, but there was usually at least an explanation. But being the good cousin that she was, she dragged herself out of her warm comfortable apartment and trekked over to his. Thankfully, it wasn't far because of a stipulation her mother had when she moved into the city and away from the suburbs. Her mother had worried about her only daughter going into the bustling center of town, but was smoothly talked into it by Miroku. He reasoned that if Kagome was within a four block radius from his apartment, he could be there in the case of an emergency. What Kagome's mother didn't realize was that Kagome would be doing most of the emergency rescues.

And this was such a case. While Miroku's apartment wasn't far, the address she was texted was a bit of a walk. So after shoving some clothes into the empty gym bag she found in Miroku's closet and fetching his toothbrush, she began her journey.

The main thing Kagome noticed on her walk with the bag was that the streets progressively got nicer the closer she reached the address. She and Miroku didn't live in a bad neighborhood, but it wasn't a ritzy. The shops and restaurants were zooming straight out of her budget range with each passing step.

When she finally reached the apartment building, a friendly doorman greeted her at the door. When she told him the apartment number, he gave a cheerful smile and gestured her toward the elevator. Walking past the luxurious lobby, Kagome suddenly felt severely underdressed. She wondered if the building was black tie only. Stepping into the elevator, she was relieved to not find an elevator attendant. At least she didn't have feel nervous and awkward on the climb up.

How her cousin had ended up at this particular residence was a mystery. The mystery only grew when she realized that her destination was the penthouse apartment of a ridiculously upscale building in the high class neighborhood.

The elevator finally reached its destination and she stepped out into a small foyer area with a single door. Whoever owned this place was wealthier than even Kouga to be able to afford a penthouse apartment in the most expensive city in the country.

Glancing down at her dark wash skinny jeans, black leather ankle boots and her winter parka, she felt underdressed. She could only mentally pat herself on the back for taking a shower that morning. At least she was clean and presentable.

Ringing the doorbell, she waited and readjusted the bag on her shoulder. When the door finally opened, her reaction slipped out of her before she could help it. "Wow."

The woman who opened the door was familiar, being as Kagome had sized her up with Miroku only the night before. The girl with the blazer and sparkly dress from the party was the one to open the door for her. Granted, she wasn't wearing her sparkly dress and instead was in more casual clothes. Kagome let out a mental sigh of relief at seeing the other girl in jeans too. Okay, so she wasn't as underdressed as she thought.

"Thanks for the compliment." The girl smiled and motioned for her to come in. "You must be Kagome."

Kagome gave a sheepish smile and stepped through. "Sorry, I just didn't think Miroku had a chance. Mirei, right?"

"Oh, no. Your cousin has no chance." She clarified and shut the door behind Kagome as she entered. "And it's Sango. Mirei is a fake name."

"Figured. Your boyfriend wasn't exactly subtle about your disinterest." Kagome followed Sango through the hallway and into the living room. "So what am I doing here? Miroku wasn't explicit in his text."

"That wasn't your cousin." She said as she led Kagome up a set of stairs.

Kagome followed obediently behind the woman, who she was labeling as possibly the coolest girl she'd ever met. Kagome could only wonder as to what she did for a living to pay for not only a penthouse apartment but a duplex. Sango exuded confidence that Kagome could only hope to have one day. No wonder Miroku chased after her. With her train of thought, Kagome wondered if maybe she was developing a girl crush on Sango.

"And that wasn't my boyfriend." Sango explained as she reached a guestroom door.

Frowning at Sango's last offhanded comment, Kagome followed her into the room. Once inside she was only momentarily mesmerized by the skyline visible from the window, but her attention was immediately drawn to her cousin. Miroku was propped up in the bed with the covers up to his waist. His eyes brightened and he shot her a goofy grin. "Kagome!"

She groaned at seeing her cousin. "What happened this time?"

"He has a concussion." A male voice clarified from a corner she couldn't see.

When she stepped further into the room and saw the owner of the voice to be Inuyasha, Kagome's expression went from upset to annoyed. Of course. Where else would her cousin end up if not to the side of her new arch nemesis? Okay, so that may have been exaggerating the situation a bit.

"What did you do to my cousin?" Kagome asked accusingly at the man.

"I didn't do anything." He contended and motioned toward Miroku. "He's the one who got a plastic tub and used it to slide down the stairs like a drunken bobsledder."

Kagome shook her head and approached her cousin. "You okay in there?" She searched Miroku's mildly lucid eyes. "So whose idea was it to slide down the stairs?"

"Inuyasha." Miroku said with laugh. "He said he's done it before and slid all the way across the living room and a little bit down the hall. So, challenge accepted."

Thinking back on the format of the apartment downstairs, Kagome sighed. "And let me guess, you hit the wall instead of the clearing the hallway."

"Bingo!" He exclaimed and laughed. He paused momentarily, and suddenly said in a serious voice. "Kagome, the weather outside is frightful. But the fire, it's so delightful. And since we've got no place to go..."

Seeing the expectant look from her cousin, Kagome sighed and finished off the lyrics. "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." Kagome furrowed her brows and looked toward the other two occupants of the room. "Are you guys sure he's not just drunk?"

"He's still a little drunk, but he also has a mild concussion. He just needs to be monitored for the next several hours, but he'll be fine by tomorrow." Sango explained with a sigh. "I wasn't actually here for the stupid act. I got called in after the fact."

"Sango is a doctor." Inuyasha added as an aside.

Another point tallied toward Sango's coolness factor. Kagome wondered if there was any hope for a girl like her if girls like Sango walked among them. While Kagome could only track down a rare book, Sango saved lives. Yup, definitely girl crush.

"Small world." Kagome commented.

"That's what Miroku said." Inuyasha pointed out, realizing that these two cousins were closer than even he previously thought.

"Who would have thought that you knew Inuyasha and he knows Miroku and he would hit on you at Kouga's party..." Kagome's words trailed off as her mind clicked and she shot Inuyasha a glare. "You."

He feigned innocence. "What?"

"You're the bigot on the phone!" She accused.

Sango sighed and turned toward her friend. "What did you say this time?"

"I thought it was another loser who hit on you." Inuyasha tried reasoning.

Sango glanced at Kagome, then to Miroku. "You didn't even have the guts to call me yourself?"

Miroku, who was distracted by the geometric pattern of the duvet, didn't respond. Kagome shrugged and attempted defending her cousin. "He really is a nice guy underneath it all."

Sango decided not to comment. It really wasn't polite to speak badly of someone's family in front of the said family member.

"Well, it seems like you guys have it under control." Kagome set the bag on the ground. "And this has been a weird encounter, I'm going to get going."

Inuyasha stepped forward. "Whoa, wait a minute. You're not leaving him here."

Kagome stood up and crossed her arms. "You need to keep him awake. I doubt you need help with that."

"He's your family. Take him with you." He argued.

"He's your best friend." She retaliated. "And if you wanted to pawn him off onto me, why did you want me to bring his change of clothes and a toothbrush?"

"He threw up all over his clothes." Inuyasha explained, to which Kagome finally noticed that Miroku was dressed in only an undershirt despite the winter weather.

"You couldn't lend him anything?" Kagome frowned.

He shrugged. "He refused. He kept saying my clothes weren't good enough for him."

"He also kept asking for you." Sango offered as a reason.

"Because she's my favorite cousin." Miroku declared with a goofy grin.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Don't let Souta hear you say that." She then turned back to Inuyasha and shot him a stern look. "If he gets hurt under your watch, then he has to recover under your watch."

Sango nodded. "Sounds fair."

Inuyasha glared at her. "Whose side are you on?"

"Also," Kagome added. "If he needs to stay awake, why is he in bed?"

"Actually that was Miroku's idea." Sango dodged a waggle of eyebrows from Miroku. "He said he was sick and needed to be tucked in."

Sighing Kagome crouched down by her cousin. "Does he have brain damage or something?"

"No, that's just the alcohol talking." Sango clarified. "That should be wearing off soon."

"Then he'll be back to his lecherous self?" Kagome asked while indicating for Miroku to take her hands.

"He might slur his words and have a headache." Sango explained as she watched Kagome struggle to get Miroku onto his feet.

"Come on big guy." She hefted her cousin by his arms and tugged up and back. When Miroku balanced on his feet, she discovered he severely lacked pants. "Why are you only in your underpants?"

"Don't be ridiculous Gome." Miroku chuckled while using a newly minted nickname for his cousin. "I have a t-shirt on." He indicated his shirt like a game show girl.

Grabbing the bag that she lugged through the city with her she set it on the bed. "You. Clothes." Kagome turned and went toward the door. "And that's my cue."

"You're not leaving him here." Inuyasha followed her out with Sango at his heels.

"Why do you care?" Kagome asked just outside the guestroom door. "It's not even your apartment."

Inuyasha shot her a confused frown. "Yes, it is."

Kagome shot him the same confused look, then faced Sango. "You two are married then?" Had she just stepped into a weird swinging open marriage? Is that why Miroku kept on wanting to introduce her to her friends? Wait, no, her cousin wouldn't do that to her. Would he?

"Oh God no." Sango was adamantly. "I'm just a friend. I got a call from this idiot about your cousin slamming into the wall."

"Wait, this isn't your place?" Kagome started seeing the apartment with new eyes. While she had previously been under the impression that Sango was cool enough that she could pull off a very masculine looking house, she now realized that it was a little to masculine. There was no sign of feminine life in this place. She gave a side-eyed glance at Inuyasha. "This is your place, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He answered, sounding slightly embarrassed for some reason. "So I need you to collect Miroku."

Kagome shook her head. "No. I'm not escorting a drunk and concussed Miroku through the city just because you want him out of your hair."

"I'd call a cab for you." He reasoned. "Look, I wouldn't mind watching the guy -trust me, it wouldn't be the first time. But he won't stop asking for you."

"That's actually true." Sango added. "He kept on talking about how great a person you are. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was in love with you."

Kagome groaned, she knew better. Miroku was one to brag about friends and family, but he only laid it on thick when he was trying to play matchmaker. He no doubt thought he was being supremely subtle, but when Miroku crossed the line from sober to drunk he also crossed the line of decorum.

And with the only male perspective within hearing distance being Inuyasha, her cousin was no doubt trying to fix her up with his rude friend. Kagome could think at least twenty-five things she'd rather do than deal with Miroku trying to fix her up... again.

"He's just drunk." Kagome wrote off, not wanting to explain that Miroku was trying to get her and Inuyasha together. "Anyways, you need to go check if he's still awake."

"You go check on him." Inuyasha stood his ground and kept his eyes on her.

"No. You had the fun that got him into this situation, so you need to watch him." Kagome was also firm. "I love the guy, but he gets really needy when he's sick."

"Lucky for you, he's not sick. He's injured." He corrected.

"Under your watch." She rebutted.

"Someone really should check on him." Sango said while glancing back at the room.

"You." Kagome asserted.

Inuyasha raised a brow and shook his head. "You."

"Send in the cute one!" Miroku hollered from the room.

Inuyasha smirked. "I'm guessing that's not me."

"You sure with all that pretty boy hair?" Kagome mocked.

Inuyasha exchanged a look with his friend before Miroku interrupted with another yell. "I meant Sango!"

Kagome shared a look with Inuyasha and grinned. She turned toward Sango, "You're up."

Letting out a sigh, Sango relented and headed toward the room. "Just don't kill each other while I'm gone. I don't want to deal with any more injuries."

Kagome turned her eyes to Inuyasha. "I can't promise anything."