"So, you're not seeing the movie with us, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as he drove. The truck was indeed a pickup, but it was clean and looked like at least an '06 model, so it wasn't too bad.

"Nope. No time for it."

"Liar—you've got plenty time!" Kouhaku accused.

"Look Kouhaku, I got a full agenda. I gotta finish hoeing, then plant the seeds, then fertilize the field and plant those seeds. Then I gotta come back in the hosue, take a shower, and fix my mama's dinner." He listed effortlessly. "I ain't got the time for movies. Maybe some other time, though." Kouhaku sighed, shaking his head.

"Whatever..."

"So...how is she?" Inuyasha asked after a long time. "Sango, I mean." Kagome's eyes darted towards him. That was never a good sign. Was Inuyasha taken? By Sango, of all people? He was obviously chauvinist, but maybe only towards girls he viewed as weak...Sango was definitely stronger than she...

"Still all bitched out as per usual. She didn't make that great an impression on our cousin here."

"Those are some real pretty clothes you got on." Inuyasha said off-handedly.

"Thanks." Kagome grinned. At least he could see past the plow.

"You must be not from here."

"No, I'm from Kochi."

"City girl." The boys pronounced together, startling Kagome.

"There's your reason." Inuyasha chuckled. "City people really grind Go-chan's gears." Kagome frowned a little at the affection with which he spoke of her.

"More like Doku-chan, if you ask me." She muttered, calling Sango poisonous.

"Well, I tell you what: if you want Sango to like you, you gotta ditch the prissy clothes. Hell, that might be in your best interest as well, if you're planning to get some work in this summer."

"I don't." Kagome huffed. "No offense, guys, but I didn't wanna be here."

"We can understand that." Kouhaku said.

"Your sister sure couldn't."

"That's 'cause no one ever plucked her from the warm bosom of security and dumped her off somewhere she'd never been." Kouhaku elaborated.

"Ah. If the shoe were on the other foot, huh?" Kagome rolled her eyes, and looked out the window. Talk about a one-road town—every single building was packed together in a circle, and only one road seemed to lead out of town. It resembled a cul-de-sac.

Damn, this place is tiny! She thought despairingly, as Inuyasha stopped the truck.

"All right, out you go."

"Rude." Kouhaku smirked, opening his car door, but when Kagome was about to open hers, Inuyasha looked back at her with a smile.

"Awful nice to meet you, Kagome. I never been to the city before, but it's comfortin' to think the girls there are all as pretty as you." Kagome pinked, smiling back at him.

"Well, they're not, but thanks anyway." She got out of the car and followed Kouhaku across the pavement to the movie theater, where a few people stood, apparently waiting for Kouhaku. They looked around Kagome's age, and briefly Kagome wondered just how Kouhaku managed to have such older friends.

"Hey, guys." Kouhaku greeted, and now that Kagome was close, she saw that they wore dollar shore t-shirts and unlabeled jeans, as well as off-brand sneakers, and she couldn't help a slight grimace. To add to their unappealing look, their clothes were rather dirty, justified by what the girl said.

"Ma's got me plowing already." She complained, flipping her hair out of her face. "Woke me up at four this mornin'."

"Sorry for you, June." Kouhaku grinned. "Guys, this is Kagome, my cousin. She just came here this afternoon. Kagome, this is Juniko, Masahara, and Kenichi."

"How come your face is all scrunched up?" Masahara squinted his eyes at her, and Kagome blushed at being caught looking down on them.

"She must've caught a whiff of you, Masahara." Kouhaku joked, and they all laughed. Kagome sniffed subtly and almost gagged—he stunk of manure! How in the world would they be let in the movie theater like that?!

"Hey, the only thing I smell like is a long day's work." Masahara grinned proudly. "I had to spade the 'nure early this mornin', so I guess I feel June's pain."

"At least somebody does." Juniko nudged him playfully, then looked at Kagome curiously. "You got on some powerful nice clothes there, Kagome." She tried her best not to grimace this time at the southern drawl with which Juniko pronounced her name. "Your farm must not've started workin' yet."

"Uh..."

"Kagome's not from here, guys." Kouhaku quickly filled in for Kagome's uneasy hesitating. "She's, uh, from Kochi, in Shikoku." Their eyes went wide, then Juniko's narrowed a little.

"City girl, huh?" Juniko pursed her lips, looking contemptibly at Kagome. "No wonder those clothes are so nice." Kagome scowled. These country females definitely had a problem.

"Aw, hush up, June." Masahara waved her off. "I think it's right impressive! We never had a city girl come around here. What's it like in Kochi, Kagome?"

"Uh..."

"Let's not bother Kagome with a bunch of questions, huh, people?" Kouhaku chuckled. "We should get into the theater, before we miss the movie."

"Actually, Kouhaku...I think I'll catch the movie another time. Maybe I'll look around this...quaint town."

"Sure." Kouhaku shrugged, and he, Masahara, and Kenichi went into the theater, but Juniko lagged behind, sneering at Kagome.

"You might think you're better than us 'cause of your fancy clothes and your makeup and your plastic nails, city chicken, but you're not. You might've fooled Masahara and Kouhaku, but I got my eye on you. Try anything funny and you'll be on your be-hind on the next dirt road back to Shikoku."

"Look, bitch, I never said anything to you!" Kagome growled, clenching her fists. "I never said anything to anybody! I didn't even fucking wanna come here! And whores like you are the reason why!" She impetuously shoved Juniko, and the girl's eyes flashed with anger, signaling retaliation, but before she could, Kouhaku called her name from inside the theater.

"You're lucky. The next time I catch you around, you won't be so lucky."

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my Gucci." Kagome mocked, and walked away from Juniko. She couldn't believe it! How dare that— Kagome was actually too pissed for words. She'd barely been there a day—the plane arrived at 9:27 that morning. Now, here it was, barely half past four, and already she'd made enemies with a cousin she'd never truly known and some stupid girl with an apparent death wish.

She was feeling homesick.

Kagome withdrew her phone from her purse and dialed Kikyou, wandering aimlessly around the rather oversized cul-de-sac.

"Moshi." Kikyou's cool voice answered, and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kik, darling, I'm so glad to have a voice of reason in my ears." She smiled wearily.

"Kagome? I'm surprised you get any signal at all!"

"So am I...but I'm so homesick, I'm nearly physically sick."

"So hop the next plane and come back."

"It's really not that simple, Kik, but I do appreciate your simplified view."

"Aside from the obvious, why are things so bad?"

"It seems my cousin Sango, who I've yet to see in six years, harbors some kind of hate for me, as well as all "city girls"."

"That's typical." Kikyou reasoned. "They think our lives are easier than theirs, so they hate what they're completely ignorant of."

"Kik, I've only been here some eight hours or so, and from the looks of things, our lives are easier. Much easier. But there was nothing wrong with that! I don't want to...toil in the hot sun! I'll sweat out my perm!" Kagome whined.

"I completely understand." Her best friend sympathized. "Believe me, I love a good tan as much as the next girl, but that blazing Kyushu sun is certainly nothing to dawdle beneath, I can tell you that."

"I wish I were going to the Virgin Islands with you."

"So do I, sweetums, but you're not, and it's all the sadder. But don't worry—I'll be on line for you throughout the entire summer, here to console you if need be."

"Kik, you're the best."

"I know." Kagome was amused at the image of Kikyou's smirk that she knew was there. "So...what are their malls like?"

"I've yet to see one. I doubt there are any. But their fashion sense alone is too atrocious for any mall to handle."

"Oh?"

"Unlabeled pants, off-brand shoes that read "Nikko" instead of "Nike"--"

Kikyou laughed, hard, on the other line, and Kagome chuckled a little herself. "It's pretty bad, isn't it?"

"Definitely!"

"I'm just glad I brought my own clothes...but when I run out, it seems I'll have to send for some. Mother knows I have exclusive tastes."

"Nikko!" Kikyou was almost breathless with laughter, and Kagome snickered.

"Jeez, girl, calm down." She gave her hysterically laughing friend a few more moments to chill out.

"Okay...it's all gone now." Kikyou sighed, still giggling.

"You thought that was funny, you'll think this is hilarious."

"No, wait, I can't take any more...my intestines are knotting!"

"They actually expect me to do farm work!"

"...Oh, God, that's not funny. That's not funny at all. That's tragic." Kikyou murmured.

"You're right, it is."

"What do things look like there?"

"Why don't you come down and see for yourself?" Kagome smirked.

"I think I'd rather rely on your word as evidence, thank you."

"It's like...from my cousin's house there's a long dirt road. There are a lot of houses along the road, and when the houses stop, you come into town. I have to tell you, Kikyou..." Kagome looked around pitifully at her surroundings. "It is nothing to be cracked up about, even by their standards."

"I can believe that. Wholeheartedly, in fact."

"It's like, there's a big circular spot of pavement with nothing in the middle, and a bunch of small buildings surround the pavement. It's like a dead-end street here! Except there's a street leading out of town, but I dare not go that way; I might get lost."

"That's...wow. Are there even any streetlights?"

"I don't think so. I guess they believe in that light pollution junk."

"I don't need to see any stars, nor do I want to." Kikyou declared flatly.

"Let me see...it looks like a candy store, a flower shop, a little theater, a clothing store—no mall, I remind you—a grocery store, a butcher's shop..." Kagome retched as she saw the dead animals hanging in the window.

"My God!" Kikyou groaned, her voice filled with disgust. "That's just...grotesque! Can you see the--"

"Yes, I can see the butchered animals, Kikyou. I'm just as grossed out as you."

"What else is there?"

"Looks like a bakery, and drug store. It's...it's really piss-poor, Kik, I swear."

"Like I said...I believe you completely. Hey, take a picture and send it to me. But try and edit the butcher shop out of the shop. I'm on the vegan thing now." Kagome rolled her eyes, then snapped a shot of the small area, sending it to Kikyou.

"Do you see it?"

"..."

"Kikyou?"

"You can't be serious. This is no town. This isn't even a village. This is a damn tiny community of rabbits, and it should be torn down."

"Don't I know it." Kagome smirked, and saw Inuyasha leaving the flower shop, his presence striking her as peculiar. Come to think, she didn't remember ever seeing him leave, but his truck was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Kik, I'll call you back later, okay, babe?"

"I guess so. Make the best of things, Kagome." Kagome flipped her phone shut and called his name. He looked over at her, startled.

"Kagome?"

"Hey." She jogged over to him with a small smile. Even if he were sexist, Kagome was sure he could be persuaded to think otherwise. "I, uh, thought you said you had to go plant some seeds for your mom."

"I thought you were gonna go watch a movie with Kouhaku and the guys."

"Eh, I turned them down. Juniko didn't really strike my fancy."

"Ah. She's kinda irritating to me, too. The reason I came back is 'cause my mom wanted camellias, not wisterias..." Inuyasha blew a sigh that betrayed his slight annoyance at his mother, and Kagome grinned.

"What's the difference? I'm a little ignorant when it comes to flowers."

"Camellias are white or pink, but wisterias are pink to mauve or violet-blue. That's all I know. My mother prefers the white camellias and mauve wisterias." Inuyasha shrugged. "Hey, wanna come help me plant 'em?"

"Uh..." Kagome hesitated, obviously averse to the thought of raw dirt in her nails. But the mere thought of one-upping Sango, if only in taking her (ex-)boyfriend, then a little grime could be suffered. Just this once. "Sure, I-I guess." She smiled shakily, hoping this would be worth it.

Black Ice: Hmm. (muses) This chapter was particularly long, wasn't it? I like the way this story is going, though, unlike many others we've done...which I hated...mm.

Blood Rain: (mutters) Like your opinion's important.

Black Ice: What did you say?

Blood Rain: (loudly) Like your opinion is important.

Black Ice: Oh. That's what I thought you said.