A/N: thank you for all your kind words! Every single one of you. I wish I could bake cookies and send them to you, but alas, I would probably end up burning down my house. So instead, please accept this slightly longer than usual chapter!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. I do, however, own too many stuffed animals for a 17 year old.

Chapter 3

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We've now reached our cruising altitude, and will reach New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport sooner or later. For now, flight attendants will be serving cold beverages. Snacks will be on sale and the menu is in one of the ridiculous amount of magazines in your seat back pocket. Don't ask me which one, I don't know. Thanks for not ditching us, and enjoy the rest of your flight."

"That's our cue!" Kagome said brightly to Sango, who was still a brilliant shade of crimson from her encounter with Miroku. She really couldn't get his face out of her mind. His smile, his eyes… he must be fun to be around. He even seemed like a gentleman…

"Come on, Sango," Kagome teased. "Don't tell me you're too afraid to meet your true love?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," Sango shot at her best friend, her face still red but determined. She grabbed her drink cart and gracefully maneuvered it out of the small, cramped space in the back, and began heading towards first class seating. Kagome grinned when she realized Sango had chosen the aisle that would eventually lead her to Miroku. Kagome grinned; she knew Sango couldn't resist choosing that aisle. Her grin widened even more when she realized that if Sango took the aisle to Miroku, then she had the aisle to the rude yet extremely attractive man.

"Don't forget to use the boomerang!" Kagome called after her colleague, earning her a terrifying but still friendly (hopefully) death glare.

Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

Grabbing her drink cart, Kagome also maneuvered (not as smoothly as Sango did but she got the cart out eventually) out of the tiny room. She smiled pleasantly as she passed all the passengers in economy class. Ah, poor souls, she thought to herself. Although she would never admit it to anyone (not even Sango!) Kagome always felt that the airlines were cheating on their passengers. "Good service" and "leg room" were only buzzwords that brought in more money. Kagome herself had measured the difference between a regular seat and a "Shikon no Tama special" seat. 2 inches. People paid extra money for 2 extra inches of legroom. The only reason it seemed like more was because the "special" seats were more slim, giving the impression of more room.

By the time Kagome had finished brooding, she had already arrived in first class. She put on a friendly smile and began offering complimentary beverages and snacks to the passengers.

"Hi! How are you today? Would you like something to drink? Yes, we do have some red wine! No, no, it's free for you! Oh, don't worry about it! I'm happy to help!"

Inuyasha rolled his amber eyes (surprisingly, they stayed in their sockets this time). How could she stay so happy all the damn time? It was like she was made of sunshine or something. Inuyasha wouldn't have been surprised if he saw a unicorn following her around. She was just so damn happy.

"Anything for you, darling?" Kagome's voice dripped with sarcasm as she pulled her cart to a halt next to his seat. She smiled sweetly (dangerously?) at Inuyasha while gesturing towards her loaded cart.

"Sake."

"Figures."

Without another word, Kagome poured a glass full and offered it to Inuyasha. For some reason, when he grabbed the delicate glass from her hands, he felt a jolt go through his body. And, even worse, he blushed furiously.

"Thanks," he said, his voice gruff. Goosebumps appeared on Kagome's arm, even though the plane was quite warm. Something about his voice sent a tingle down her spine. Inuyasha heard the blood rushing through her veins, her heartbeat picking up a bit.

"My pleasure," Kagome responded, hanging him a napkin and a small bag of pretzels. Inuyasha stiffened, and blushed even more. Kagome raised a single eyebrow, but said nothing before walking away and offering the next passenger a drink. She didn't notice the way his eyes followed her all the way back.

"Ha!"

Inuyasha nearly jumped out of his seat. Miroku was grinning at him like a maniac.

"You really aren't gay!"

"I could've told you that," Inuyasha retorted hotly.

"But you couldn't have proved it until now! You have a thing for Kagome, I can tell. Look! You're blushing red! Oh, this is great! When I first saw you, I thought you were one of those guys who didn't show any emotion —granted, you really don't— but turns out you're actually… aww! You're blushing so hard right now— hey! What're you doing? Get off of me—don't slap me! Ow! Hey! What was that for? I didn't even say anything weird this time!"

By the time the plane was halfway to its destination, Kagome and Sango had turned off the cabin lights so the passengers could get some sleep. Flying from Tokyo to New York meant a hell of a lot of jet lag.

Kagome patrolled through the entire length of the ginormous plane, making sure everyone was comfortable. So far, everything was going well. Some passengers were snoozing, others were watching movies or playing games on the screens in front of them. Near the middle of the plane, she had run into two people making out next to the lavatories— it was awkward, to say the least.

Brushing aside the curtain separating economy from first class, Kagome continued walking along the much wider and much more spacious first class aisles. First class seats were individualized, with one on each side of the plane. Each seat was encased by a short "fence" and door, and a curtain hung above the seat if the passenger wanted complete privacy. Long story short, first class was amazing. Free food, free drinks, unlimited access to movies, and internet at a discounted rate. Despite the ludicrous ticket price, Kagome would highly recommend first class to anyone who asked about it.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was thinking only about the weird flight attendant. First, she'd threatened him for insulting her friend, Sango. Then, she'd been nice to him. Didn't she hate his guts? Most women tended to. He noticed her walking through the plane, offering distracted smiles to the passengers who were still awake. She was beautiful, of course. All flight attendants were pretty in one way or another. But no one could look a good as she did in that uniform. She walked closer, and brushed past the curtain separating the normal people from the peasants (although no one understands why Inuyasha thinks he belongs in the "normal people" category).

"Shouldn't you be doing something productive? Or yelling at someone for using their freedom of speech?"

Kagome stopped, and shivers ran down her spine again. It was, of course, the man who had called Sango a wench. She turned to him and smiled, her teeth flashing in the dim lighting of the cabin.

"Of course I'm doing something productive," she said, imitating a fake happy tone, "I'm making sure Sango doesn't kill you!"

The man scoffed. "Keh, as if she could kill me. Woman, I have claws and fangs. What could a human do to hurt me? Especially a human woman. Ha!"

"Excuse me?" Kagome stuck her hands on her hips and glared at the man. How dare he? Sango was so bad-ass, he had no idea. Just the thought of letting a mere woman attack the rude man was enough to curve her lips into an evil smirk. "Just so you know, Sango worked as a demon exterminator before she came to work here. I'd be careful with what you say, if I were you."

"A demon exterminator, you say?" a voice behind Kagome asked. When she turned, she found herself face to face with the purple shirt man whom Sango had been ogling earlier. He extended a hand at her confused face, and smiled. "I'm Miroku."

"Kagome," Kagome introduced, grasping his firm hand (she nearly swooned) for a handshake.

"Lady Kagome, it is a distinct pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman like you," Miroku said sincerely, looking her straight in the eyes. "In fact, I must ask you… will you bear my children?"

"…you're joking, right? Oh, I hope you are," Kagome said, slowly prying off Mirk's hold on her hand and backing away. She laughed nervously as her eyes scanned the situation for an escape route. Unfortunately, the only idea Kagome's flustered brain could think of was to jump out of the emergency exit, but something told her she probably shouldn't do that.

"You're disgusting," the rude man said to Miroku.

"Don't mind him," Miroku said as he gestured to the silver haired man. "Inuyasha's a grumpy one."

"Hey!"

"It's true, Inuyasha. Even you can't deny it."

Kagome gave Inuyasha a quick glance. Grumpy? Definitely. It seemed as if the scowl never left his face. Then again, Kagome couldn't really imagine Inuyasha with a smile. Not that smiling wasn't good; he just wouldn't look as mysterious (or sexy). But he was fit, alright. His suit was crisp, his hair neatly combed (how did he keep his hair in such good condition? What shampoo did he use? She reminded herself to ask him later), and his amber eyes… oh, so dreamy.

"Well, then you're the perverted one!" Inuyasha retorted after a minute. He sat back, arms crossed on his chest, looking pleased that he'd managed to come up with a comeback within 3 minutes of the initial insult.

"I won't deny it," Miroku admitted, putting his hands in the air as if surrendering. "But at least I'm manly enough to not be afraid of who I am."

"Who says I'm afraid of who I am?" Inuyasha sputtered.

"I mean, you refuse to believe you're grumpy. Kagome," Miroku turned to the poor flight attendant caught between a furious tennis match of blazing words, "would you agree that our dear friend Inuyasha here is a bit of a grump?"

"Uh," Kagome mumbled. On one hand, she did agree with Miroku. She completely agreed with Miroku— Inuyasha's scowl hadn't left his face since she first saw him. But at the same time, he looked so handsome… "he looks a little constipated, honestly."

Miroku nearly fell off his seat with laughter while Inuyasha just looked disgusted. He glared at Kagome.

"Really?"

"Really," Kagome said, holding back her own giggles. Granted, Kagome was not that good at performing under pressure. She was already very proud of herself for not accidentally dropping anything or cursing anyone.

"You two are both idiots," Inuyasha growled. He turned around and threw a blanket over his head.

Miroku smiled at Kagome. Kagome smiled back, though somewhat uneasily. He didn't seem to notice how Kagome kept her hands behind her back, lest he ask her to bear his children again.

"That other flight attendant, the one whom Inuyasha insulted, what was her name?"

"That was Sango. She's my best friend, and we've been working together since forever."

"Can you tell me a bit about her? Is she single?"

"She's single and ready to mingle. She's a kind person but doesn't trust a lot of people. She also isn't very good with words. She's more of a "just do it" kind of girl."

"Ah," Miroku sighed. "She sounds wonderful. If I asked her for her number, do you think she'd give it to me?"

Kagome pretended to think long and hard about the question.

"I'd give it a shot, if I were you," she replied with a wink. "I have to get back. Maybe I'll make Sango do the next round."

As soon as Kagome disappeared from view, Miroku poked the lump of annoyed Inuyasha curled up in his seat.

"Psst!"

"Leave me along, you bastard."

"I have a bet for you," Miroku whined, rubbing his arm where Inuyasha had punched it. It was definitely going to bruise. Ow.

Inyasha's ears poked out of the blankets, and his eyes soon followed. "What bet?"

"I bet that I can get the lovely Sango's number faster than you can get Kagome's!"

"Keh. I doubt you'd be able to get anything except maybe a slap on the head," Inuyasha retorted.

"Then it's on? I'll buy you whatever you want. But it has to be reasonable," Miroku added hastily as he noticed a greedy sparkle in Inuyasha's eye.

"Define reasonable."

"Preferably nothing too expensive, and something that I can actually buy somewhere. Which

"What do you want?"

"Ah," Miroku murmured. "I'm not sure. You know what, just give me $200 and all it a day. I'll buy my own stuff."

Inuyasha pulled out his wallet and sifted through the multiple currencies he'd stashed inside. Two 100 dollar bills— perfect.

"Have you decided what you want, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's mind raced. Anything he wanted! Wow. What about a dog, he asked himself. No, Sesshoumaru would kill him if he showed up late to his meeting, holding a dog. Flipping through a few options, he finally settled for something he knew he'd love forever.

"How would you feel if I made you buy me enough ramen to last a year?"