February 23rd, Two Years Ago, 6:33 PM, Kagome's Apartment
Kagome twirled in front of the mirror, admiring the way the shirt of her deep navy raw silk dress swooshed and fluttered. Light gray sweater tights covered her legs in anticipation of the icy February wind, and a pair of black suede peep-toe booties finished off the look. It was lucky there was no snow on the ground at the moment, or her choice of footwear would have been even more impractical. As it was, her whole outfit had much more panache than was usual for her, but she loved it.
The guy she'd met at Kikyou's housewarming party over the weekend was picking her up for a date any minute. Giving herself one more once-over, she picked up her purse and went hunting for her black pea-coat and a scarf. The pea-coat she found in relatively short order, laying over the arm of her sofa. Her scarf on the other hand…
The doorbell rang.
Crap, he's here! She thought nervously.
Kagome went to the door and peered through peephole. The distorted image of a man with tanned skin and a long dark ponytail greeted her. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Hi, Kouga," she greeted, a grin practically leaping off of her face. Damn, he's gorgeous.
He smiled back at her, flashing a set of perfect white teeth and slightly feral fangs. In his black dress pants, crisp, wintry blue shirt, and silver tie that offset his dark skin, he cut a rather dashing figure.
"Kagome," he said, bringing her hand to his lips for a soft kiss.
Oh—. Kagome flushed faintly. "Um, why don't you come in for a minute? I still need to find my scarf…" She mumbled awkwardly.
Kouga chuckled. "Of course."
He followed her inside and sat waiting on the couch in the living room while she rifled through the pile of clothes on her bedroom floor. Finally, her black pashmina scarf made its appearance. Swiping it off the carpeted floor, she went back to the living room, wrapping it around her neck as she went.
She noticed Kouga's eyes follow her as she picked her coat off the arm of the sofa and shrugged it on, buttoning it closed.
"You look beautiful tonight," Kouga commented, eyeing the way her heeled booties lifted and shaped her calves, the set of her mouth as she concentrated on a particularly stubborn button, and her sleek black hair that she'd pulled up into some sort of twist.
Kagome paused mid-button. "Um— thanks." She looked up at him for a moment. "Uh, so do you." Flustered, she went back to that final coat button.
Kouga laughed. "Beautiful, huh? How about handsome instead?"
Kagome was confused for a moment before she realized what he meant. "That too," she allowed, picking up her purse. "Shall we?"
He nodded and rose from the couch, throwing his dark gray coat on as he did so. He opened the front door and gestured her to go ahead. "Ladies first."
Feeling a little odd that he was letting her out of her own apartment, she obliged him anyway, shuffling past. He closed the door behind them, and Kagome pulled her keys out of her black beaded purse and turned a silver key in the deadbolt.
He held out his arm for her, and she took it as they made their way down the building stairs and out into the frigid evening.
Later that night, in the park down the street from the restaurant, Kouga would kiss her under the clear, cold sky, the stars and waning crescent moon hidden in the city street lamps' harsh wash of light.