When they reached her apartment building, Kagome stood on the bottommost step to say her goodbyes to Sesshoumaru. She had her purse clutched behind her back, and standing as she was she came up just high enough to look him straight in the eye. She rocked on her heels and smiled, and for a few moments nothing was said. Sesshoumaru gave a quick nod turned away to walk the short distance to his own apartment building, but Kagome caught him by the shoulder and reeled him back to face her. She was just about to ask him if he would like to join her for dinner again the following day when she was pulled sharply backwards, nearly losing her balance. A shrill cry rang in her ears and Kagome dropped her purse on the ground in order to pry Yuka's arms from their death grip around her throat.

"Yuka!" Kagome yelled, as best as she could with her air supply nearly choked off.

Yuka placed her head on Kagome's shoulder and peered at Sesshoumaru, who was looking at the two women with an eyebrow raised and his head cocked to one side, his cigarette hanging loosely from the corner of his mouth. Kagome could feel a blush rising up in her cheeks. She elbowed Yuka in the side, but still her friend did not let her go.

"So you're Katsuo! I've been asking Kagome to let me meet you! Why don't you come up the apartment for a while and chat?"

Yuka did not give Sesshouamru much choice, as she immediately spun Kagome around and dragged her up the stairs and into the building. Sesshoumaru picked up Kagome's purse and followed them through the door. Kagome somehow managed to wriggle out of Yuka's grasp and walked on her own power to the elevator, which was an awkward, but thankfully short ride to the eleventh floor.

"So, you two met on the train a few months ago, right?" Yuka asked as the elevator doors closed.

"We met long before that," Sesshoumaru said quietly, thrusting Kagome's purse at her.

"What do you mean?" Yuka asked.

Kagome yanked her purse out of Sesshoumaru's hand and wrapped her arms around one of his before he could say anything more. He looked down at her with a confused expression. "Yeah, we met once before that. A long time ago, when we were younger. Funny, huh?"

"You never mentioned that before," Yuka said as the doors opened. Kagome dragged Sesshoumaru out into the hallway without answering.

Kagome found that the door to their apartment was already unlocked, so she shoved Sessoumaru inside and closed the door behind her even before Yuka was halfway down the hall.

"I'm really sorry, Sesshoumaru. She means well. But she thinks that you and I…well, that we're…" Kagome tried to explain as they made their way into the kitchen. Her face was uncomfortably hot at this point and she struggled to find the words to string together. She hunched over the sink and hung her head in exasperation.

"Kagome!" said a familiar voice from behind her.

Kagome whirled around to find Sesshoumaru seated in the living room opposite to Hiroshi Kimura, Yuka's boyfriend. The two had been dating since high school, but with Yuka working such crazy hours and with Hiroshi still in university, he rarely stopped by the apartment to visit. Kagome began to feel a nervous sweat break out upon her brow as Yuka finally entered the apartment.

"Kagome, can I talk to you for minute?" Yuka said. Her cheerful tone had changed into a very serious one, and Kagome was so exasperated by the situation that she didn't struggle as Yuka wrested her into the bedroom and shut the door behind them. Kgome sat down on her bed with her purse in her lap. She glared at Yuka, but Yuka didn't seem to notice.

"Did something happen between you two?" Yuka asked.

"Yuka, we were never-" Kagome began, but not to her surprise she was unable to finish the sentence.

"The way he almost threw your purse at you, and how he was looking at you! His expression was so intense…"

"He always looks like that," Kagome said under her breath. Yuka remained oblivious to Kagome's input.

"Are you two having a rough patch?"

"Yuka, once and for all Katsuo and I are not a-!"

"I know just what you two need! Come on!"

Kagome let out a little yelp as Yuka grabbed her by the hand and threw open the bedroom almost simultaneously. She tried to stand her ground, but when Yuka was like this there was almost no way of stopping her. Even with her heels dug steadfastly into the carpet, Kagome found herself being easily dragged back out into kitchen. Yuka almost forced her to crash into Hiroshi, who was standing by the stove preparing a pot of tea. Sesshoumaru was still seated in the same spot they had left him, though his expression was growing darker by the moment.

"Hiroshi, I have something to ask you," Yuka said sweetly to her boyfriend as he pulled some tea cups out of the cupboard.

"What is it? Katsuo, you sure you don't want any tea?" Hiroshi said.

"No thank you," Sesshoumaru said disinterestedly. He caught Kagome's eyes and she could see that he was less than pleased at the entire situation.

"Would you mind if Kagome and Katsuo joined us next weekend? It'll be fun, like a double date!"

Kagome looked at Yuka with a horrified expression which somehow escaped the both of them. Hiroshi simply shrugged his shoulders and continued rummaging in the cabinets.

"Sure, I don't see why not," he said.

"What? Next weekend? What's next weekend?" Kagome asked, coming out of her stupor just enough to pull her wrist from Yuka's grip.

"Hiroshi and I booked at room at an inn near Lake Kawaguchi for the weekend! It'll be fun! There's hot springs and hiking, and there's a theme park not too far away! You guys should come with us!"

Kagome's mouth dropped open. If she never got any closer to Mount Fuji for the rest of her life it would have been perfectly fine with her. Their trip to Aokigahara a few months before had sated any interest she might have had in exploring the area ever again. And besides that, spending an entire weekend at some tourist retreat with the three of them might in fact be the death of her. Yes, Sesshoumaru would probably take off that ring of his and put his poison claws right through her eye rather than be subjected to an entire miserable weekend at a theme park.

"What do you think, Katsuo?" Yuka asked, and just as she did Sesshoumaru stood up and started walking towards the door.

"I believe is it time for me to take my leave," he said.

Kagome watched, unable to move as Yuka bounded across the room, reaching Sesshoumaru before he was able to reach the door. She put her hands on his shoulders, somehow effectively stopping him in his tracks. For a moment Kagome foresaw oncoming disaster, with Sesshoumaru pulling away and Yuka roughly face-planting into the carpet. But instead of pulling out of Yuka's hold Sesshoumaru simply held his position and listened to her. Kagome's horror slowly softened into a smile. There was no forcing the Youkai Lord of the West to do anything he truly didn't want to do. Perhaps he wasn't as hard to figure out as she had once thought.

You want him to come with us, don't you Kagome?" Yuka cooed.

"Yes," Kagome said happily, and Sesshoumaru sighed heavily.