Author's Note: I just realized this must be longer than 45 chapters– there is an essential three-word chapter-introduction that I forgot to use. It must be used for the epilogue. Also, I didn't leave enough time for a lemony moment, and the story-rating is T… not K. They've only kissed ONCE so far, in the written text. ^_^

A Distant Promise – Mini-Chapter # 44

"Satoshi!" hissed Shippo.

Unfortunately, the dog-demon was temporarily paralyzed and could not reply. Never one to allow silence to deter him from speaking, the kitsune continued in a whisper, "I gave you my credit card number to purchase the airline ticket, right?"

"I didn't write it down!" protested the teen, under his breath.

"You do realize that I told you my credit card number, for a reason?" Shippo growled. "He checks your account for large purchases. Like airplane tickets."

"I thought it wouldn't matter, because I'll be home in a week, and I'll just take the bill out of the mail!"

"Oh! As if that would work!" Shippo returned. "He would still notice the extra 300 thousand yen that you spent this semester."

Head turning back and forth to follow the dialogue, Kagome watched her friends argue. As they argued, the volume of their voices steadily increased. It was outright bizarre how the kitsune could nitpick Satoshi for table-manners or stupidity in an almost paternal way, yet he could switch directions abruptly, acting like a giant child when dealing with Kagome or Sesshoumaru.

His current behavior would be a perfect example, in fact. Her adoptive son was behaving like a five-year old. A crafty, devious, sneaky five-year old, but a five-year old nonetheless. It began the moment that Sesshoumaru stepped onto the scene.

Frowning at Shippo, she pushed him out of the way and focused on Sesshoumaru's son. "Satoshi!" Kagome exclaimed, "I thought it was your summer break, already! If you still have finals to take, what are you doing here?"

The young inu-youkai fell silent. He was accustomed to arguing with the kitsune, but not with her. Having a human (who he only met that winter) chastise him – it was truly unusual.

In the background, Sesshoumaru seemed amused by her response. Kagome didn't notice. School was important in her mind. She had fought with Inuyasha more about this one subject, than anything else. It was appalling to think that she had somehow caused this child to miss some of his classes.

"And you, Shippo!" admonished the priestess. "How dare you lie to me?"

"I didn't…" he began, but Kagome cut him off.

"Yes, you did," she told him firmly. "You said that we could bring Satoshi to the inn, today. But he isn't supposed to be in the country!"

Narrowing her eyes, she gave her son a ferocious glare. Shippo shivered under the onslaught. Apparently, he was even less accustomed to dealing with Kagome's wrath than Satoshi was. Or perhaps it simply meant more, when criticism came from one of his past-caretakers.

The taiyoukai redirected her fury, smothering it with icy calm. "Actually, I often know more than they suspect," he stated smoothly. "For instance, when I learned that Inuyasha lived here, I hired a private investigator to give periodic reports on his behavior. The boy was unwilling to speak with me directly, and I did not trust the fox to remain objective in this matter."

Deflating slightly, Shippo grimaced. This meant that no one had appreciated all his hard work. No one had needed the help. Not Kagome, not Inuyasha, not Sesshoumaru… Such news was very discouraging to a fox-demon who enjoyed meddling in other people's affairs.

But the taiyoukai ignored the kitsune. Instead, he was watching Kagome carefully, treating everyone else like a spectator while they were the main actors on stage. "Which is why I know," Sesshoumaru informed her, "That he is not, in fact, dating anyone. At this time."

Kagome's heartbeat increased, under his gaze. Why would Inuyasha's older brother tell her something like this? Not to mention the embarrassment factor this provided. Obviously, Sesshoumaru had overheard plenty of their conversation. She wondered if he also learned about the kiss. There had not been anyone in that hallway, until the other half-demon appeared. And it did not seem like Sesshoumaru's style to skulk about in corridors, waiting to spy on people. But then, Shippo had been there – and she hadn't noticed him while she kissed Inuyasha.

His expression remained studiously blank, not giving her a hint at the purpose behind his statement. What did he think that she would do, upon hearing this news? Run back into Inuyasha's arms?

Finally, she realized that was exactly what he feared. This was a test. Trial and error – what would her response be? It wasn't that he doubted her, but he definitely wanted to know, ahead of time.

Feeling a blush work its way across her cheeks, and then over her nose, Kagome shook her head vigorously. "Oh! No, we're not…" she sputtered, attempting to answer the question that he hadn't asked. "I'm not interested in dating Inuyasha."

"If spending time with a man, alone, is not a 'date'," pushed the taiyoukai, eyes almost seeming to glimmer gold behind the glamour spell that concealed his true appearance, "Then what is?"

By now, her heart was racing. Maybe he had seen more than she hoped. Maybe he was jealous. Or was that anger? Intense interest in a particular subject? There should be laws against someone being this hard to read!

"You're not dating someone, if you just spend time with him!" asserted Kagome. "Girls can have male friends, without dating them."

"For example, what would you call dinner, followed by a walk through a park?" countered the taiyoukai, refusing to let her drop the subject.

The blush was going to cause her permanent damage, Kagome decided, unless she could control it. Suddenly, it did not seem like they were talking about Inuyasha, at all. It seemed a little bit like they were speaking of each other. Sesshoumaru had taken her out for dinner (and lunch, and coffee), and they had visited various nice places together… Not to mention their trip to Kyoto, which had been beyond fabulous.

But those hadn't been dates, because the idea of Sesshoumaru being interested in a human girl like herself – it was ridiculous. At least this was what she had instructed herself, firmly, before traveling to Kyoto with him. The old Sesshoumaru and the new one, they were similar, and she had gladly attached her prior knowledge of him to her current understanding of the situation.

Still, it would be a lie to say the taiyoukai had not changed in the past 500 years. Evidently, she was wrong about him. Making unwarranted assumptions about people – this always caused trouble.

"Dating requires steps that one doesn't normally take with a friend," she announced uncertainly, "At the end of the date?"

A tiny ghost of a smile lifted one corner of his mouth. "I see. So, we have been on only one date."

Feeling distinctly hopeful, Kagome managed to squeak out a reply against all odds. "Either that, or you are lagging behind by fifty-four good-night kisses." Yes, she had counted.

Lifting her chin with one finger, he leaned forward and kissed her, quite thoroughly. Entwining her arms around his neck, Kagome decided it sounded a bit like one of them might be purring. But she could not hazard a guess which one of them it might be.

Behind them, Shippo rapidly snuck around to Satoshi's side and began to tug on the youngster's arm. Obviously, it would be beneficial to depart (flee), while the taiyoukai was distracted by Kagome. Unfortunately though, the young inu-youkai was not prepared to leave. Staring at his father in morbid fascination, he could not seem to shut his jaw. After an especially large pull on his arm, Satoshi sprawled face-first onto the tile in the lobby.

Finally pulling back from the kiss and looking down at the nearby disaster, Kagome giggled happily. "It seems your son missed the floor, while walking," she noted.

Inside her chest, tiny bubbles of delight had exploded, drifting toward the surface of her heart without any warning. It was making everything around her seem absolutely wonderful, even though the outcome probably did not seem so hilarious to Satoshi. This kiss definitely won, hands-down, against the bland, non-existence of passion in her kiss with Inuyasha earlier that day.

With a hopeful look, the young dog-demon stared at his father still cuddling the miko close to his chest. "So, does this mean that I…"

"No," Sesshoumaru answered immediately, returning his attention to the priestess in his arms. In his opinion, this was a far more rewarding view.

"You've never even met her!" protested Satoshi.

The taiyoukai agreed solemnly. "That is my point entirely."