Chapter 30: Explorations

Three days later

"Come on Inuyasha, move your ass!"

"What do you think I'm doing wench!"

"Kagome's right Inuyasha, there's no way we should be able to beat you," Kikyo called over her shoulder, continuing to climb the massive staircase.

Panting heavily, the disguised demon only managed to puff out a, "Oh shut up!" before nearly losing his balance and sliding off the ice covered steps.

Happily scaling the last of the shrine's stairs, Kagome, and Kikyo both stopped and turned to look at the red faced half breed who was weighed down under the multiple suitcases he was carrying, only one actually belonging to him.

"I don't know why you insisted on carrying all of them at once," Kikyo said as her mate finally joined them at the top, desperately trying to catch his breath. Taking pity on the poor winded man, she delicately grabbed her small duffle bag with wheels and set it beside her to carry herself. "You would have been better off taking a couple of trips."

"And waste all that time in this weather!" Inuyasha shouted, still hunched over in pain. "Plus I wouldn't have had so much to carry if you and princess over here didn't insist on bringing half the house with you!"

Kagome crossed her arms defensively. "We're supposed to be here for three days, of course, we needed to pack accordingly."

"It's winter. All you need are underwear, a coat, and maybe two t-shirts. As a matter of fact, you probably don't even need the underwear, you can always reuse the same pair if you're not going out that much."

Kikyo made a disgusted face. "That's grotesque Inuyasha…."

"And unsanitary." Kagome added, mirroring Kikyo's facial expression. "Are you telling me you only packed one pair of underwear?"

"Keh. That's none of your business."

"Well, it's definitely mine." Kikyo retorted, looking horrified. "I'm the one who has to sleep with you at night."

Blushing Inuyasha suddenly blurted out. "Keh, You never said anything before!"

"Wait...this isn't the first time you've done this?"

"It's a waste of money!"

"Oh my god…." Kikyo said, shaking in disgust.

"Hey, it's not that big of a deal!"

"Not that big a deal?" Kagome said, eyeing him like he was insane. "You wear the same damn underwear for days at a time, how the hell can you bathe and then put on the same….wait, do you even bathe every day?"

"Keh of course I do!"

"Inuyasha, this is the modern era, do you have any idea how primitive you sound right now!"

And so began Kikyo's lecture on the finer points of hygiene, which Inuyasha fought back against every time she took a moment to breathe. Kagome meanwhile decided to leave them to their discussion, and instead marched the few steps to the guest house they would be calling home for the next few days using the key she had been given to gain entrance.

The flight to Hiroshima had been uneventful, Sesshomaru haven given them permission to use his private jet instead of procuring tickets. Recalling the ever stoic way he had informed her of his choice not to join her in Hiroshima to see the pages of Kokumajutsu, Kagome shook her head when she realized he would probably never warm up to her so long as she couldn't remember anything.

The inside was decently sized by Japanese standards, immediately to the left upon entering the house sat the cubbies where shoes were to be placed before crossing over into the threshold of the house. Taking a moment to pull off her boots, Kagome padded through the house and was immediately connected to the living room which held a large glass panel door that had been framed with a beautiful white bamboo design, currently wide open so that she could see the view outside. Mesmerized, the demoness once more ventured outside onto the patio deck which held a breathtaking view of the shrine and floating Torii gates in the distance.

Feeling her phone vibrate, Kagome dug it out from under her winter poncho and sighed when she saw not only a couple of text messages but yet another calendar reminder for her to write a monthly check to the Higurashi shrine. Deciding to check her messages first, the demoness snorted when she saw the first was from none other than Mr. Stoic himself while the second was from Naraku.

Opening Sesshomaru's first, it only contained a brief three-word question. 'Have you arrived?'

Sighing Kagome quickly responded with a short answer of her own. 'Yes.' She was about to open Naraku's when her phone vibrated a second time with a response from Sesshomaru. Flipping back to it, she briefly heard the argument of Inuyasha and Kikyo making it's way into the house but ignored it in order to read what he had to say next.

'Make sure you take pictures of the pages and send them to me ASAP.'

'What are you going to do with them?'

'That is none of your concern. Just do as I say without question.'

'You know this whole demanding attitude of yours is getting old fast.'

He didn't respond and after a few minutes of waiting Kagome gave up and returned to Naraku's message. This one was also brief, but it did raise some questions as to just how much this man knew about her. 'Hello Beautiful, hope all is well. I also hope you did not forget my proposal?'

The first thing that came to mind was that night at the shrine, but she quickly realized he meant the architecture job in Hiroshima. 'I didn't forget but I am out of town right now.'

'Pity. I was hoping to see you again before the holiday, especially since we were so….rudely interrupted last time.'

'Sorry. I agree that was completely unexpected.'

'It matters not my dear. However I would appreciate the chance to repeat our meeting in a situation less….populated.'

She thought a moment before replying. 'Um….I would have to let you know, but it could defiantely be done again without all the distractions….Your interest in my company is greatly appreciated.' Kagome purposely put in the last part, hoping he would get the hint that this was strictly business. He must have taken it because a few seconds later he sent the cordial response.

'Very well Abigail-san. I look forward to receiving a call from you when you return to Tokyo.'

A cold wind blew through as she read his last text message and Kagome couldn't stop the wave that involuntarily passed. Not that she was agreeing with Sesshomaru or anything, but now that she wasn't around him personally she could definitely see why the dog demon was wary of the spider youkai.

"Ojisan!" Ume yelled out, entering her uncle's private study. Pausing when she saw the man staring intently at his phone, she patiently waited for him to finish what he was doing. When he finally looked up at her, Ume returned to calling for him happily and hopped up onto the edge of his desk. "Ojisan!"

"What is it Ume?"

"It's almost New Years!" she said as though he had no idea what day it was. He responded nonetheless.

"I am well aware of that."

"So…."

"So what?"

"You have to have a New Year's kiss!"

"A what?"

"A New Year's kiss!" she repeated, holding up a magazine.

It was a cheesy human teen issue that apparently Ume had picked up from a nearby grocery store. The article she spoke of was describing New Year's traditions in other countries specifically one's in America. At the top of the ad, two models were currently engaged in a kiss with the fireworks of the New Year going off in the background.

"Ridiculous." was all he said, placing his hands in his lap.

"But it's good luck!" Ume went on to say, glancing back over the article. "It says here it's a tradition in America for a couple, rather old or new to kiss just as the clock strikes midnight!"

"I don't need a kiss for luck."

"But it's a tradition!"

"An American one."

"But a good one!" Ume argued, waving the magazine around for emphasis.

"Why are you telling me this?" Sesshomaru asked, amazed that he was having this conversation at all.

"Because Kagome-chan's gonna be your mate soon, and you two need to kiss for good luck on New Year's Eve!"

"What?"

Later that night while the girls went out shopping, Inuyasha kept busy talking down his enraged brother who had been screaming at him for the last half-hour. "Wait and then Ume said what now?"

"That I should go ahead and take her as my mate now rather than later! She recommended which position to use! What twelve-year-old girl knows ANYTHING about courtship and mating rituals?"

"Ume's fourteen in human years Sesshomaru."

"It matters not. She is still underage! That conversation was Ludacris! When I asked her who the hell told her this she said she heard you and Kikyo talking about it the other night!"

"Oh…." His ears dropped at that one. It was true, him and Kikyo had talked about their relationship the other night, long after they thought their daughters had gone to bed and were having a typical pillow talk conversation. "Well, I'll talk to Ume about sticking her nose in adult matters, but honestly I think she was just trying to help."

"By explaining to me in detail a traditional mating ritual?"

"Woah!" Inuyasha pulled the phone back a bit to stare at it oddly. "I don't know where she got that from but…."

"As much as you Kikyo rut I'm surprised she doesn't know more!"

"Hey!"

"You forget so easily Inuyasha." Sesshomaru drawled on a bit uncharacteristically. "The time I forgot my phone in the limo during the seasonal gala event? Just what did I open the door on that nearly blinded me for life?"

"I already apologized for that!"

"And yet that did nothing to stop you from making the same moronic choice two months later at the opera house."

"You know what, maybe if you bothered to get laid more often you would understand sometimes you just can't help it!"

"I have more self-control than you little brother."

"Bullshit, that's just what people say when they don't get any regularly and don't want to admit it's them and not the world!"

"You are missing the point of this conversation."

"The hell I'm not. Ume is just like the rest of us and sees how anal retentive you've become since Kagome started being an actual part of our lives. You should be happy your niece cares enough to want to help you out!"

"But what does a New Year's kiss have to do with anything?"

"Come on Sesshomaru, even you know the answer to that," Inuyasha said, snickering when Sesshomaru's breath hitched in his throat over the phone.

"Do you honestly think I would stoop so low as to use a holiday as an excuse to propel a relationship?"

"Keh. I once made Kikyo trip and fall into my arms just so that I could have an excuse to hold her. Look where we are now."

And with that, the half-demon disconnected the call. Leaving his brother to contemplate what he had just told him.

A/N: Yea they had a little brotherly moment. So now Kikyo, Inuyasha, and Kagome are in Hiroshima about to go see these pages that Hojo's family fears so much, they pray over it every day. I know you can't believe this but we only have six chapters left in this story! Of course, they will be appropriately very long. Your reviews keep me going so Please Please Please review! -Theores

P.S. the fact that Sango and Inuyasha share the same view of passion making you do stupid things like have sex in the most inappropriate of places will be acknowledged in a later chapter. Lol. I was trying to show both Sesshomaru and Kagome and how others perceive them as being really sexually repressed. Also, I wondered if I should do another lemon scene? It might be nice. Lol, I'm blathering own, but please review once more!