Title: It Had to Be You

Author: Nicluv1787
Rating: M

Prompt: Mrs. Higurashi, Love triangle

Characters: Kagome, Inuyasha, Mrs. Higurashi

Words: 994

Summary: He was the last person she expected.

Warnings: Cougarism?- sorta?

A/N: Just for convenience, I named Mrs. Higurashi, Akiko, so I wouldn't have to refer to her as Mrs. Higurashi.

The porcelain gleamed, the flatware sparkled. Akiko stepped back to admire he perfectly arranged dinner table. She'd been working for days to get the house to its spotless cleanliness it now possessed. All for her only daughter, who was bringing home her fiancée, to meet the family for the first time. She admired the table setting and she noticed something was missing.

"I forgot the wine glasses," She scolded herself and headed off to the kitchen. She remembered leaving them in the cupboard above the fridge. Dragging a kitchen chair over to the fridge she cracked open the cupboard. There on the very top shelf just barely out of reach were the wine glasses. When they had used them last Christmas Akiko had, had Souta put them away. The boy, now nearly seventeen was much taller than the petite woman, and inconveniently he was away at a friend's at the moment. Akiko decided to reach for the glasses herself. She stood on tip toes, her hands nearly brushing the box full of delicate glass, when the front door swung open.

"Momma we're here!" Kagome called from the front room.

"I'm in the kitchen dear, I'll be out in a second," With one last stretch she reached the box, one hand firmly planted on each side of the box. She pulled it from its shelf. Behind her Kagome and her fiancée, came into the kitchen.

"Hey momma, wants some help?" Kagome said walking over to her.

Looking over her shoulder to reply, Akiko got her first look at Kagome's fiancée, golden eyes long silvery, hair. 'It couldn't be,' she thought in disbelief. The chair wobbled beneath her and before she could catch herself her and the box of glasses tumbled to the floor with a crash. Kagome and her fiancée rushed to her side.

"Mom, are you okay?" Kagome said inspecting her mother up and down.

"I'm fine," She stammered, her eyes were locked on a pair of golden orbs. He was the last person she'd expected to see in her kitchen, of all the people her daughter could have met and fallen in love with it had to be him?

A few years back, Akiko had been in a slump. Kagome had just left for college, and Souta was becoming more independent all the time. She was starting to feel like she was tending an empty nest. Some friends suggested getting out of town to visit exotic places, so that's what she'd done. She went on a trip to a resort, where she'd met an attractive pool boy with golden eyes and silvery hair. It had started out innocent enough, some playful flirting poolside, a casual brush of the wrist when he brought her a towel.

Then it had turned into so much more, she'd taken a chance and asked him back to her room one night, and what a night it was. Akiko couldn't remember the last time she'd felt that much pleasure. They spent a week tangled up in one another in her room. But in the end she'd left him, she couldn't really continue a relationship with him. He was around her daughter's age. Give or take a few years. And she was a mother of two with responsibilities. It was fun for what it was and when it ended, she intended to put it all behind her. But this had to be the biggest shock of her life.

"Are you alright Mrs. Higurashi?" He said slowly, she could see the unspoken words behind his eyes, the recognition, the hurt, the betrayal.

"Thank you I'm fine," She said kindly, she motioned to stand and he surged forward to help her up, his hands lingering a little too long on her waist, his gaze holding hers a few seconds longer than necessary. This was going to get complicated, if she didn't stop it. "I'm going to clean up this mess, Kagome be a dear and get your grandfather tell him dinner's nearly ready."

"Sure mom," She replied, she leaned over to Inuyasha giving him a peck on the cheek, "I'll be right back," she said into his ear. Akiko could see the love for him shining through, she needed to make this quick.

Kagome walked out of the kitchen and down the hall. Inuyasha's eyes never left Akiko's. They heard a door open upstairs and Kagome having a muffled conversation with her grandfather.

Inuyasha surged forward, pinning Akiko to the kitchen counter, his lips hovering over hers.

"Why…" he breathed.

Akiko sighed, resting her hands on the young man's shoulders, pushing back slightly to meet his gaze. "Like I said in the letter, I had fun, but I had to get back to my life."

"But Akiko, I lo…" she stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"You thought you loved me, you're young you have your whole life, you're going to marry my daughter."

"If I had known I would see you again, I never would've asked Kagome to marry me," he pleaded.

Akiko shook her head. "Don't say that, she loves you; like I never would have been able to."

Inuyasha looked down stricken, "How can I go on knowing…"

"If you care for me like you say you do, then what you can do for me is love my daughter," Akiko replied.

Inuyasha looked away, removing his grip on Akiko, just as Kagome walked in. She looked between the two of them confusion playing on her face.

"You have a wonderful man here," Akiko said interrupting an awkward question she was sure was forming. "I slipped on some of the broken glass and Inuyasha caught me." Akiko said jovially.

Kagome beamed up at Inuyasha, pride in her features.

That had been close, if Kagome had walked in a few moments earlier the truth would have come out. Hopefully Inuyasha and she could put the past behind them, and she could only hope to not ruin her daughter's happiness.