A/N: I wanted to get this one out, so it is a bit short. --;; Sorry. But at least you can be happy--this is where I get down to the actual plot and start explaining what's going on with Inu Yasha. Enjoy!

"What do you mean, fiancé?!" Koga roared again. It was all he could say, at this point. Koga was confused by the situation and that always made him irritable. He liked to be in control—it was part of his charm that he was always confident.

But everything was going wrong. Just a few days before, he had found the woman. She was perfect—even if she was just human—he had decided. Then the woman he chose is abducted by the filthy half-breed. That was enough to send him into a rage. But when Sango had informed him that Kagome, that was his woman's name, was in fact engaged to someone else altogether… well, it definitely changed things. It didn't change his feelings towards Kagome, but only stirred his competitive nature.

Sango took a deep breath and tried again. "Look. You aren't listening to me. The letter doesn't say anything specific, but there's nothing else it could be about. And Kagome never mentioned this guy before—there is something weird going on here!"

At the panic in her voice Koga checked his whirling thoughts. The smell of distress on a female may be attractive to some sickos, but he thought of himself as a gentleman. He tried to calm both of them down. "Okay. We need some answers. Let's have a look at this letter, first of all. And food. Food would be good." His stomach growled with enthusiasm.

Sango laughed—Koga was surprised at how delicate it sounded. "Well, if you don't mind reheating, I had made some yakisoba…"

Before she could finish or explain further, his ears twitched and Koga nodded fervently. "Yes. Food. Good." When she laughed again, he rewarded her with a dashing smile.

…

The silent treatment sucks. Not only is it wholly unsatisfying to leave your thoughts unspoken, but it can be really boring when there are only two people in the car and one of them will not speak to you.

Inu Yasha couldn't remember the last time he'd had his ears pinned for so long. Okay, so he screwed up. He knew that—and even admitted it! But she would not budge. At first, when they got back into the car, he wasn't sure what to do next. Should he take her back to New York? People would be waiting for him, there. Take her with him? He shuddered at the thought of dealing with this amount of bitching on a daily basis. This chick was so sensitive—he couldn't do anything right!

But she wasn't speaking to him right now and it was driving him nutty. It was already morning, for crying out loud! He drove all night with no sleep for lack of anything better to do. He couldn't be sure if she had slept at all, though. Once again, Inu Yasha found that in a fight between his patience and his curiosity, patience didn't stand a chance.

"Oi. Listen. I told you: at least I came back, right?" From the icy silence he guessed that wasn't the right response. Dammit. Maybe… shit. Maybe I should just tell her and let her choose what she wants…

…

…

It wasn't that Kagome wouldn't listen to him—oh, she heard every word that came out of his mouth. She was thinking. Inu Yasha had left her. He left and drove off in a car that wasn't even Kagome's much less his. He'd left her in the middle of nowhere in a really dangerous situation. And while he did show up just in the nick of time to save her, that didn't mean that she could trust him.

So while he dug himself deeper and deeper, Kagome was thinking of what would happen next.

It's obvious he wants to ditch me. He says he's being followed but hasn't said why or where we are going. The next time I leave his side, I may be totally stranded. My cell phone batteries are nearly dead and I still can't get a signal to call Sango.

Kagome sighed deeply, causing the hanyou to twitch violently at the unexpected noise. She took a deep breath to steady herself and took the plunge.

"Inu Yasha. What is going on?"

That was all she said. The ball was in his court now. Let's see what he's got.

…

…

Hojo woke bleary eyed and confused. It took a moment for him to get his bearings straight. He wasn't anywhere familiar… When he tried to stretch out the crick firmly lodged in his neck, however, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

A little boy was sleeping next to him. Well, to be more accurate, the kid was sleeping on him. While this may have been cute in a smarmy Hallmark short of way, the string of drool between the child's mouth and his shoulder was a bit hard to handle first thing in the morning.

Ever the gentleman, though, Hojo curtailed his disgust and gently woke the boy. "Excuse me? Little boy? You seem to be… um, that is… would you mind… ah… please wake up."

Two green eyes peered irritably out from beneath the boy's long bangs. They held Hojo's uncomfortable gaze for a moment before the boy muttered, "Mfph. Sleep," and snuggled back down into Hojo's shoulder.

Sighing in defeat, Hojo turned his thoughts to the more imperative: like where was Higurashi-san? He wished he had brought that letter with him, so he could check again where they were supposed to meet.

As if in answer to his silent prayer, his cell phone chimed brightly. He had thought about trying to call Higurashi-san with his cell phone, but it would be an international call and he didn't want her to spend that kind of money. The sleeping boy paid him no heed as Hojo shifted his weight to see who was calling him.

He nearly wept when he recognized the number as Kagome's mother.

"Moshi moshi?" Hojo politely answered.

"Hello?"

"Moshi moshi! Hojo-san desuka?" Kagome's mother brightly responded, following Japanese protocol.

"Yes, Is this Hojo?"

"Ah. Soudesu ne. Ohaiyougozaimasu."

"Yes, good morning."

"Hojo-san…" there was a chiding note to her voice. "Doko desuka? Kagome no apato ni imasuka?"

"Hojo… where are you? Kagome's apartment?"

Hojo felt his face burn in embarrassment. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to call Kagome's mother when they met up. Before he could answer, though, Kagome's mother continued.

"Nyu-Yoku Shi-chi mada ni imasuka?"

"Are you in New York City yet?"

"Ah… are? Nyu-Yoku desuka? Chigau. Bosuton, ne?"

"Wha… What? New York? Don't you mean Boston?"

There was a long pause and a deep sigh on the other end. When she spoke again, it was slowly.

"…Hojo-san wa… Bosuton in imasuka?"

"…You're in… Boston?"

"Hai. Soudesu ne."

"Yes, ma'am."

"…Nyu-Yoku ni nan ji ni itte imasuka?"

"…when are you going to New York?"

"… Nani? Kagome-san wa Bosuton ni aimasenka?"

"…What? Am I not meeting Kagome in Boston?"

This time the pause was very long indeed. Hojo felt beads of sweat building at his brow. This might explain why she hasn't come yet.

…

…

Well, now. She's quite the cook! Sango had brought Koga back to the apartment to eat and help her search for clues in the mysterious letter. He was on his third helping already and still moaned appreciatively with every bite. It had been a long time since he'd had authentic Japanese food.

After eating and cleaning up their mess, Sango and Koga got down to business. It was snooping time.

…

…

Kagome considered herself to be a pretty laid-back kind of girl. Sure, she had a bit of a temper, but at least she knew it. She found herself more than a little strained, though, at the pathetic yarn Inu Yasha was feeding her now. She glanced again at the back seat, a little frightened that she hadn't noticed the long parcel Inu Yasha had brought with them.

They were sitting at a moderately clean truck stop, stretching their legs and enjoying some fresh air. They had scrounged between the seats and found enough change to buy a newspaper for Kagome to read. Kagome sighed and put the paper down. "So. Clean slate. Try again."

Inu Yasha took a deep breath, trying to keep his temper. "Okay… For the last time. That," he said, gesturing to the black object in the back seat, "is what's going on. It is a sword. A very pretty, powerful and mother-trucking old sword. With me so far?"

"Basically. Pretty sword. Got it." Kagome nodded for him to continue. Her brow was actually furrowed in concentration as she listened to his story once more.

"Good. So this sword belonged to my father. My father died. My older half-brother expected to get it along with the rest of my father's money and assets. Surprise, surprise: I got Tetsusaiga and Fluffy got the other sword, Tensaiga." As Kagome opened her mouth to ask, Inu Yasha beat her to the punch. "Don't. This is confusing enough as it is. I'll explain it to you when you're older."

Kagome folded her arms in a half-hearted pout.

"So. I have Tetsusaiga. But Fluffy wants it—" Kagome couldn't help interrupting.

"By 'Fluffy', you mean your brother?"

Inu Yasha sighed, as if it pained him to actually admit it. "Yes."

Kagome's look of skepticism returned. "Right. Your brother, the most successful demon model of the last 100 years, Sesshoumaru. Gotcha." She shot him a look and smirk indicating he was losing credibility fast.

"Do you want to hear the story or not? Look, I don't like him, he doesn't like me. We only have the same father—other than that, we have nothing in common."

Kagome stuck up a protesting finger, "Uh-uh!" She took in a sensuous breath and sighed, "…your hair!" As Inu Yasha half-heartedly sent a clawed hand in her direction he only caught a trail of giggles. He growled in his most masculine tone to cover his embarrassment.

"ANY-way… I have Tetsusaiga, Fluffy wants it—"

"So why do you call him 'Fluffy'?"

"Wench! I think I liked it better when you weren't talking at all!" Inu Yasha was so impressed with his own comment that he failed to notice Kagome had rolled up the newspaper and was holding it much like a baseball bat. "Keh. Tha—OOOW!"

…

…

Sango woke to the sound of knocking. As she willed herself awake, she found that sitting up wasn't an option.

Her sleep-riddled mind processed slowly the situation. Mm. Can't move. Her hand groped for the lamp that should have been within her reach; only to find her arm flailing in empty air and falling limp against the edge of the couch. Couch? Wha…

And then it came back. She had brought that demon—Koga—with her when she went to the airport to look for Kagome and Hojo. But they hadn't found either of them. So they went back to her apartment to look for clues. They ate… he was smiling a lot… Sango vaguely remembered the sake coming out… and nothing after that came to mind.

Her eyes flew open to see if her surroundings would offer some insight. Unfortunately, her eyes stopped when they reached the half-naked demon draped across her legs and hanging half-way off the couch.

She turned so quickly that her head nearly flew off when there was another knock at the door. Her eyes flew to the clock in the kitchen. She had completely missed her morning shift at work. She was supposed to go out with Miroku in the afternoon, so she had swit—OH SHIT.

Sango threw her feet off the couch, sending Koga's inert form flying across the floor. She looked down to see what kind of a state she was in. Oh god, where are my pants?!

The knocking was becoming more intense. She had to hurry. WHERE.ARE. MY. PANTS. Her eyes searched the room furiously for anything to cover herself. In her haste, she tripped over Koga and nearly broke the floor lamp with her shin.

From the door she heard her boyfriend's voice. "My love? Whither thou be-ith?" His cheerful and sing-song tone only added to the pain.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!

…

…

Inu Yasha gathered the remnants of his wounded pride as best he could and continued with his story. "So I had the sword after my father died. Yes 'had'. My" he spit the word, "brother… sent some of his lackeys to steal it from me."

This time, in her silence Kagome seemed to feel his suffering. It was really unsettling to feel like he was being understood. Nobody understood Inu Yasha, but he knows this chick for a week and her heart starts bleeding at the drop of a hat? Not cool. "That was nearly a year ago. I've been tailing my brother around the fu— uh, damn world trying to find an opening to get my sword back." Inu Yasha saw 'that look' on Kagome's face at his choice of language and quickly revised.

Kagome nodded and picked up the story. "That was why you had to go on Wednesday, right? You had a chance to get the sword back."

"Right. But I almost got there too late, no thanks to a certain some—"

"Don't even blame that on me, Mr. I-can't-remember-all-my-paperwork!" Kagome was laughing again. Maybe that was why he didn't take her back to New York immediately last night. Even if she was a serious pain in his ass her laugh always affected him…

"—ANY-way! I got my sword back yesterday but I needed my driver's license so that I could drive my baby to Las Vegas. Remember: I have a motorcycle, yes, and a license for that. BUT that is a completely different license from driving a big boy car. I needed to be sure I could keep Tetsusaiga safe—not just strapped against my back with nothing but a leather case to protect it."

Kagome nodded sagely. "So… you need to go to Las Vegas… I'm sorry, but you lost me at that part—I mean, the mafia?"

He suppressed a growl. "Look. I told you, I didn't know she ran the Las Vegas mafia when we met. A lot of shit went down and we split on good terms. …considering. Anyway, the only person on the planet that is scarier than my brother is Kikyo's lawyer. I'm serious, the guy is spawn of Satan."

Kagome sighed. "Okay, fine. So we've got to get to the protection of the mafia—which is run by your ex-girlfriend—"

A thought came to Inu Yasha and he interrupted her. "You know you kinda look like her. Huh. Freaky."

His interjection had frozen the girl beside him. Her eyes bored into the side of his skull as he refused to make eye contact or admit that he maybe should have kept that to himself.

Kagome continued icily. "Right. So we're heading to Las Vegas." She ticked off on her fingers, "…you have no license, no real money, and oh, no cell phone, right?"

Inu Yasha considered these seriously for a moment before responding, "Yup."

A/N: Yeah, I know it's short. But my hands are cold and we got a lot covered, right? Right. Toodles.