I can't begin to thank you wonderful readers and reviewers, enough! Thank you, again and again . I hope you have enjoyed the story. I apologize for the endless delays in publication.

No Such Thing As Free Lunch

Epilogue:

The next day, before class, he asked her out. As usual, Kagome turned the situation in her favor. "What makes you think I would want to go out with you?" she protested.

He almost laughed, since it was the opposite of what anyone else would say. Even more strange, he had been so worried about the idea that she might turn him down. Yet despite her words, he knew she was only joking, and he didn't mind at all.

"You don't have to," he offered her a chance to refuse. "You see, you might not want to date me, because I have to leave for college soon. Next year, you might . . ."

"Oh, hush." Kagome cut him off with a smile. "Don't worry about trivial things. I like you."

His heart felt lighter - more free - like it had been released from a cage which he hadn't even known was there. "Alternatively, " he continued happily, "You might not want to spend time with someone who studies so much. . . "

"Good grades are important."

"Some people say I'm 'cold' and 'distant'."

She hummed displeasure in the back of her throat. "Do you want to go out with me or not?" Then, she poked him in the chest. "You asked, after all."

"Where should we go?" he inquired, next. It was traditional for a guy to plan the date, but then, she already knew his idea of a 'perfect date' and she had laughed at it. So, he decided to let her pick the activities. Kagome came up with much more fun ideas than he did.

Even their retaliation war had been fun, looking back on it. It was fun to relax a little, since he tended to live a life of constant effort and control. Pulling pranks on someone had been oddly enjoyable.

They walked toward her homeroom together. As they approached, he saw Sango elbow her boyfriend in the chest from inside the classroom. The violet-eyed boy just rolled his eyes in amusement. Fine. All right. Those two had been expecting this, before Kagome and Sesshoumaru even figured it out. Let them deal with the fallout when his half-brother learned the truth.

"A meal at the shop where Inuyasha is working," she suggested, "Make him wait on your table. It would bother him?"

With a snort, Sesshoumaru shook his head. Although he liked the sneaky way she thought, he didn't feel the need to bring his brother into this. They had nothing to prove to Inuyasha. An absence of jealousy was very different for him. Sesshoumaru felt almost fond of the little idiot at the moment. If Inuyasha hadn't been such a 'bad' boyfriend, then Kagome wouldn't have moved on to greener pastures. In the end, Inuyasha had done him a favor.

"Okay, okay." She surrendered the battle. "Museum – so that we don't get a sunburn," she giggled.

"Besides, my grandfather would love some of the exhibits."

"We're bringing your grandfather along?" asked the third-year student, hesitantly. It was hard to tell if she was joking, this time.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

They hadn't spent very long at the museum. Sesshoumaru had spent most of the time gazing at his companion instead of the exhibits, and when she suggested an alternate venue, he consented easily enough. Now, they were sitting on the swings, in a park near the art center.

Only one swing was making any noise, however. Kagome swayed back and forth, clearly enjoying herself. Sesshoumaru sat perfectly still, unable to look away from her legs. He thought he had never seen such lovely legs, in all his life. There were lovely little dimples on the edge of each of her knees, and they looked smooth, and he kept imagining how the skin would feel if he could only touch it.

Not that he would do anything physically affectionate on a first date. No. Touching her knee would be way over the limit, right? Holding hands was about as far as they could go. Of course, he had never really been on a date. If he had, then he might have been more prepared for the fact that his brain would turn into mush at the sight of a girl that he liked.

She had worn another cute dress, carried a matching purse, and even her toenails had little daubs of polish on them. In fact, this dress was even better than the last one that he remembered seeing on her, because it was shorter. Luckily for him, she was brave enough to suggest playing on a swing-set while wearing a short skirt. It came down to her knees, but still . . . he couldn't seem to move his eyes.

At this rate, she would think he was a licentious, unrefined, boorish idiot, interested in her for all the wrong reasons. Tearing his gaze away, he looked at the sky instead. Little fluffy clouds. There. That was better.

"When I was young," Kagome informed him, "I used to pretend that I was a warrior-priestess, with a flying nekomata, who attacked evil demons. Every time the swing would reach the top, I would kick the bad-guys away, and then pretend I had fallen off my mount, and the cat would have to dive and catch me before I fell to the earth."

Surprised, Sesshoumaru didn't know exactly how to reply to this. It seemed like such an elaborate fantasy. What could he offer in response? "I can't attest to any such grand ambitions, when I was younger," he said almost sadly. It sounded like her childhood was more fun than his. "I just wanted to be the best."

"At what?"

"Everything." With a touch of shame, he realized he was staring at her legs again. Her skirt fluttered in the breeze, enticingly, every time the swing carried her forward. He blushed and returned to staring at the sky.

"Why?" she asked, curious. Her tone of voice seemed to imply this was an interesting topic. He felt unreasonably flattered, since he knew it wasn't.

"I don't know," he began. But then, he altered his choice of words. Lying and hiding things was not a productive beginning to a stable relationship. Even if he did feel ashamed to admit the truth in front of her, he should. "Because it made me feel like my parents were proud of me," he started again, "Even when they weren't."

Digging her feet into the gravel, Kagome dragged her swing to a stop. "Hey!" she protested. "Of course they are proud of you. Every parent is proud of. . ." Then, slowly, she halted. He watched the realization dawn over her face – his father had remarried a lot, which meant his mother had died, long ago.

"Maybe so," he acknowledged with a shrug, "But I couldn't see it. So, I settled on being proud of myself."

Rising from the seat of her swing, Kagome stepped closer to him. A mischievous spark flared in her eyes. "The Best, huh?" she repeated. He could actually hear the capital letters she was using, while she emphasized the words. "At Everything."

Before he knew what had happened, she was in front of him, leaning forward to catch his attention. And indeed, her figure was riveting, although not for the reason she probably expected. The truth was, when she bent over like that it allowed others to see. . . Well, it was a rather low-cut, v-neck shirt.

Surely, she wasn't doing this on purpose, was she? Such torture would be unlike the sweet first-year girl he had gotten to know. Tilting his head to the side, he wondered if that color would be considered carnation pink, or pink like cherry blossoms, or pink like cotton candy . . .

"Which means, you are the best at giving kisses, too?" she finished.

His eyes flew up to meet hers, and he flinched slightly. Okay, so she had been doing that pose on purpose. And he had been squarely caught in the act of ogling her undergarments. The redness on his cheeks, which had only just started to fade, flared up again.

"Ah?" Wondering when exactly his senses had left him, Sesshoumaru found himself at a loss for words.

Kagome merely shook her head and stood upright again. "Oh, come on, I gave you the perfect opportunity."

"That subject isn't taught in school," he complained. When he said he was going to be 'best' , he meant at the normal curriculum.

"I'm the expert here?" She sounded surprised.

With a slight frown, he did not answer, since it didn't sound like a question. Still, what did that mean? She was no expert on this subject either. Girls that took the lead and kissed tons of boys, that kind of girl dressed and acted differently, right? A trace of worry showed itself on his forehead.

"Only two," she waved one hand dismissively. Evidently, she could tell the direction of his thoughts. "Hojo was a total idiot, and . . ."

He should have inquired further, perhaps, but he was selfish. Even in his own mind, he wanted her for himself. He would not share this day with the memory of another person intruding into the center of it.

Quickly, he rose from his seat and drew her forward, cutting off her words. And suddenly, they were close enough that he could feel her breath on his chin. The color of her eyes was breathtaking, and almost as wonderful as the surprised look on her face. So, she wanted him to take the initiative? He could do that.

He carefully leaned in, until his nose was beside hers. Warmth bloomed in his chest. She smelled superb – clean and fresh, no perfume, and yet he could sense a hint of mint and flowers.

When she exhaled, her breath feathered against his cheek. It seemed like she wasn't sure whether to pull back or to snuggle into his chest. Then, decision made, she was pulling his body against her own.

It began with a touch. Then, a lingering slide of her lips against his own. Finally, he stopped worrying about what on earth he was doing, whether he was doing it properly, and he relaxed. With the tip of his tongue he tasted her, gently. The lip balm was what made that delightful minty smell, but she didn't taste like anything except Warm and Smooth, and maybe a little bit of Fantastic.

Before he knew it, she had locked both arms around his neck. She had one palm on his hair, pulling his head down slightly. Her lips were far more demanding than his own. In the end, she was the one who advanced the kiss past the preliminary stages. Her tongue touched his lips, then his teeth, then his own tongue, and then his brain stopped thinking entirely.

It could have been one minute or ten minutes, (who knew?), before another voice intruded upon their moment of heaven. "For heaven's sake!" the voice insisted, "This is a playground!"

He stepped away from Kagome, but his hands didn't seem to be on the same page with the rest of his body, since they refused to let go. Standing there, holding her at arms length, his palms fisted into the material at the back of her shirt, he spared a glance for the person who interrupted them (older woman, grocery bag). But then, without even meaning to, he was gazing at Kagome once more.

Her eyes looked wide, when she was startled. And they were the most lovely, dark blue shade at that moment, instead of their normal light-blue. A dusting of pink colored her cheeks.

Then, she smiled. It was mesmerizing. The smile started slowly, because her upper teeth were pressing into her lower lip, but before long, that luscious, delicious tasting, wonderful lower lip emerged from her mouth and formed a beautiful grin.

Sesshoumaru caught himself leaning forward to try and taste her lower lip again. After all, it looked even more enticing than before, slightly puffy and bright red from their first kiss. And the stranger who intruded upon their earlier kiss had disappeared, while they were gazing at one another. So, obviously, they should pick up where they had left off.

Unfortunately, she wasn't on the same page as he was. Just before his lips could catch hers, Kagome hid her face in the fabric of his shirt.

"Okay, fine," she giggled. "You are the best at everything."

Ah, well. If that wasn't the perfect salve for his wounded dignity, he didn't know what would be. His arms involuntarily tightened around her. For a few moments, they didn't move, enjoying the sunlight and the presence of the other person. Finally, his heart began to slow down, and Sesshoumaru could think again, like a normal human being.

Although the subject of his thoughts didn't change that much. "When I walk you home," he asked happily, "Do I get to have another kiss on your doorstep?"

"Agh!" she protested. "Not if my mother is home! Besides, who says our date is over?"

Sesshoumaru smiled, sincerely. For what felt like the first time, he realized he didn't care about how other people perceived him. And he wasn't worried about the future. He was simply content – right here, right now – it was a relaxing, marvelous day. Kagome was good for him, in that way.

It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.