Disclaimer: I only own Kaori and Suzume.

Notes: Sorry I haven't updated in a while; I had writer's block. :(

Sesshomaru woke up in the morning confused. Why had he been so happy the the day before? He certainly wouldn't have tolerated that kind of behavior towards him back in his own time. 'Maybe,' he reasoned, 'I'm just getting used to the fact that I have my best friend back.'

Those words sounded strange to him, even coming from the depths of his own mind. Never had he actually referred to someone as his friend, not since Kaori disappeared and his father wouldn't tell him what happened. He didn't know what had changed, other than the fact that she was gone, that would make him so cold and uncaring. He thought himself too important for friends, too important for emotions, both of which he considered a weakness.

Sesshomaru looked down as he sat up and didn't see Rin, then he looked out his window and saw her playing with a dog outside. Hearing a knock on his door, Sesshoumaru got up and opened it to see a bright and happy-looking Kaori. "Did you see our puppy?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're keeping it?"

"Of course," Kaori said, the smile gone, "Why wouldn't we?" -It was back again.- "She just kinda showed up out of nowhere, lost and shaking. I couldn't turn her away,"

Sesshomaru shrugged and walked with her outside to Rin, who was laying on the ground on her back, the puppy standing on her chest and licking her face. "We named her Maemi." Suzume said from her spot in the shade of a large maple tree, "Cute, isn't she, Sesshomaru?"

He just stared at the dog in answer. Maemi was now chasing Rin, nipping playfully at the hem of her pants and bare feet. Kaori put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, she won't hurt Rin." She paused a moment before also saying, "Hey, what do you say 'bout taking her to the local park?"

Rin sat up from her laying position once more and said, "What's that?"

"It's a place where people take their children and dogs to play and walk around. They even have this forest trail that people can walk down that is said to be really romatic and calms nerves." Suzume answered.

"Let's go, then!" Rin exclaimed, standing up and taking the golden retriever mix into her arms and carrying her into the house.

Sesshomaru followed, Kaori right beside him. "You know," she said pointedly, "You need to get dressed if you're coming with us."

He gave her a weird look.

"Out of your PJ's, I mean," she corrected herself, blushing a light shade of pink.

"I'll take a shower first," he said, smirking at her and starting to walk away.

"Okay, but can I brush your hair?"

Not turning around, he sighed. "Might as well, but I refuse to use that little pink bottle of 'conditioner.' It smells funny."

Kaori laughed and sat on the couch, thinking, 'I'm almost afraid to believe that he's back... And I always thought that that picture I painted looked familiar. I can tell that he's changed a lot since we last met, but he's still the same person, right?' she thought.

Suzume, as if reading her sister's mind, saw the dazed and distant look on her baby sister's face and sat next to her. "You know," she began, "It may take a while for Sesshomaru to get used to things. We have been gone for a long time, even by demon standards,"

Kaori nodded in understanding, tracing the one of the pink stripes on her face with and index finger. "You always said that these were scars from the crash that killed our parents... But I never really did believe you." She laughed slightly. "But... What did kill our parents, Sis?"

Suzume sighed. "Sesshomaru and I will tell you everything that you need to know soon enough, but until then... Just think of Sesshomaru's reaction when he find out that he has to go to school tomorrow,"

Kaori laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot that tomorrow's Monday! I think I'd prefer to tell him when we walk down that path that's supposed to calm people, though..."

When Sesshomaru got out of the shower and got dressed into his new clothes, as promised, Kaori was waiting for him in her room with brush in hand and a smile on her face. He sat down in front of her, and, as she began at the bottom and worked her way up, he asked, "Why do you enjoy brushing my hair? It can't be that pleasant to get wet from it,"

Kaori shrugged. "The wetness doesn't bother me. And I like to brush it because it's long and pretty, and because you purr. I find that sorta funny, considering that you're a dog demon and all."

Sesshomaru was about to argue that it was not a purr, but more of a pleasured growl when he realized how wrong it sounded when speaking to a female that, supposedly, he wasn't in love with. So, instead, he said, "It's a growl. Not a purr."

He told the truth, but it truly did sound like a purr, as he found after a while. After a quiet giggle, Kaori braided his hair down his back again and stood to admire her work. "Hmmm..." she said, giving Sesshomaru and inspecting gaze, "Yep, your hair definitely works with that outfit, and the style, too..."

"I'm not some kind of model, you know," he retorted.

Kaori blushed again, finding herself imagining if he was a model. She shook her head and insisted, "No. No, of course not... I was just thinking out loud -- You know, voicing my thoughts." She laughed nervously, making Sesshomaru lift an eyebrow in question of her actions.

"Why do you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Why do you make your face turn pink?"

Kaori was at a loss for what to say. How could she explain it without embarrassing herself further? She decided that she'd risk him asking her another question. "It's a way to...Um... Show embarrassment."

Sesshomaru looked at her questioningly, and, to Kaori's relief, he didn't ask what she was embarrassed about. Instead, he said, "I see." and got up, walking into the living room where Suzume and Rin sat on the couch watching TV. "Are you two ready to go?"

They nodded and got Maemi's new collar and leash and put them on her. While walking down the street, they passed a house with a huge tree in the backyard and a shrine right beside it. They all recognized the house and stopped. "Hey, guys, let's see if Kagome wants to come!"

Without warning, she latched on to Sesshomaru's arm and dragged him with her. From the front door, he recognized his half-brother yelp after the "Osuwari" command and smirked, but Kaori didn't seem to notice, as if these noises were normal around there and there was nothing to worry about.

An old man answered the door and said that Kagome was sick with "cat-scratch fever." Kaori shook her head and sighed. "It's okay, Gramps, I know that Kagome travels into the past and I swear I won't tell a soul. I just came to ask if she wanted to come to the park with us."

Kagome's grandfather was smiling and was about to reply, but then his eyes slowly traveled up to Sesshomaru's face. "Away, demon!! You have no business here!!! I will be forced to use my sutras on you and purify-"

"Silence. Let me speak." said Sesshomaru simply, interrupting the man. "I am here only to protect Kaori, and for no other reason. If it weren't for my father I wouldn't be here at all."

Those words stung Kaori, and she looked solemn for a moment, but said nothing to him. Instead, she took to looking down in a furious attempt to ignore his words that were silently playing over and over again in her head. Gramps gave him one last inspecting glance and led them both to the shrine, leaving after saying, "It might not be a good time to go in there."

Still without looking at Sesshomaru, Kaori slid open the door and fell to her knees in shock at what she saw. There was Kagome, pushed up against a wall with a man with long white hair in a red kimono making out with her passionately. One of his white doggy ears twitched and he regretfully detached his lips from Kagome's, turning slowly to look at them.

An awkward silence fell in the time it took each individual to let sink in what just happened. "Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha said, "What the hell are you wearing? And why are you here?!"

"I'm here because I am nowhere else, and I'm wearing clothes because most people do." he answered, trying to irritate his infuriating little brother.

Inuyasha growled and Kagome and Kaori were still both in shock by what just happened. Kaori recovered first and helped Kagome up off the ground where she had slid down the wall when Inuyasha let go of her, while he and Sesshomaru continued their death-glare contest. Sesshomaru, of course was winning with his calm, cool, indifferent stare. In the end, Inuyasha had to look away.

"So, uh... Why're you guys here?" he asked, standing over by Kagome, who still hadn't spoken.

"We wanted to know if Kagome wanted to come with us to the park, but you can come too, if you like. Just tell us who you are first." Kaori said kindly, though not as enthusiastically as she usually would.

"He's Inuyasha. My half-brother." Sesshomaru answered for him, earning himself a growl from his brother.

"Oh, okay, well... do you guys want to come? Assuming that Kagome gets her voice back soon."

Inuyasha tapped her gently on the shoulder and it seemed like she came back to life. "Huh?" she said, her eyes wide. "Oh, yeah, I guess we'll come."

"Cool," Kaori said, smiling at her.

Everyone followed Sesshomaru back to where Suzume and Rin were waiting, and, after being introduced, they all walked to the park. Kagome and Kaori lagged behind all the others, talking. "Well... he said that the only reason the he was here was to protect me, and he wouldn't even be here if his father hadn't forced him to come." Kaori said sadly.

Kagome thought for a moment before trying to comfort her friend. "I think that you need to confront him about it. Ask him why he said it, and build on the conversation from his answer,"

Kaori nodded and continued to stare at the ground. "We were just such good friends back then, and he seemed to have a good time last night when we wet to the amusement park. I just don't know what's happened to him over the years."

"Kaori," Kagome began, "Ever since I met Sesshomaru, he's been a cold hearted person. He even pretended to bring Inuyasha's mother back from the grave once and used her against him. The only thing that's changed him since then was Rin. She took care of him when he was hurt from Inuyasha's wind scar, then he found her dead and revived her with Tenseiga. After that, he kinda just let her tag along,"

By the time they arrived at the park, Maemi, Rin, and Suzume were playing amongst other dogs and Inuyasha watched them with mild interest. Sesshomaru stood watching them also, but with an unreadable face. With Kagome's encouragement, Kaori walked up to him, said something, and the two walked into the forest and onto the path.

After a few minutes, Kaori felt slightly better, but the sting of his words still remained. She still would not look at him, and it was beginning to get to him. Finally, he couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Are you angry with me?" he asked quietly.

Kaori shook her head, but then said, "Actually, I don't know. I feel angry, but I'm confused because it's not something I should be angry about... Ugh, I just don't know!"

He stayed silent for a few seconds. "Then, what's bothering you?"

She paused, wondering if she should tell him, but, trusting Kagome's advice, she explained it to him. "It's... You said something that... That made me sort of upset." Feeling a curious gaze upon her, she continued. "You said that you were only here to protect me, and that you wouldn't be here if your father hadn't told you to come."

Realizing what was wrong at last, Sesshomaru stopped walking, followed by Kaori. "And those words hurt, Sesshomaru," Kaori said, her voice cracking, and turning to look him in the eyes, "Because it made me feel like you didn't even care about me or our friendship, and you were only here because you were forced,"

Doing the only thing he could think of to comfort her, he walked up to her and held her close. "I don't know why I said it, Kaori, but I lied. And I do care about you. I'm sorry if what I said upset you."

She cried quietly into his chest for a while before nodding, saying, "Thank you,"

Kaori pulled away and let him wipe away her tears, sniffing occasionally but smiling. As they began walking back to the others, she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and ran to join Kagome, Maemi, Rin, and Suzume.

Sesshomaru just stood there in question, frozen where he stood. "What's the matter, Sesshomaru? Never been kissed before?" Inuyasha said teasingly, Sesshomaru growling at him.

Wow, long chapter! Please review!