April 5th, Magnolia City Park, 3:12 PM

Kagome stared up at the trees arcing overhead, their branches finally looking more awake than they had in weeks, with fresh sprays of green buds and tiny leaves. She frowned at them, still feeling stuck in her own sort of winter that no amount of faintly warm, lightly perfumed air could unfreeze. Finally, she looked back at Sango, who was waiting patiently for the answer to her question as they strolled on one of the park's many concrete paths.

"I suppose I don't really want to see him," Kagome confessed.

Sango's eyes took on a knowing expression, and Kagome couldn't hold her gaze. She looked back at the greening trees, who wouldn't judge her.

"But not so much that you want to end things with him, am I right?"

Kagome sighed. "I can't just break up with him because I like Inuyasha."

"That seems like a stellar reason, if you ask me," Sango countered. "Apart from all of the other things Kouga's done to treat you less than great."

Kagome's lips thinned. "You know, I thought about what Inuyasha said, how he didn't want me to break up with Kouga because of him. He's right. It would just make him a rebound guy."

"Well at least you're not denying that you like Inuyasha anymore. Ms. 'I-just-want-to-fuck-him.'"

"Well that's how it was!" Kagome sputtered. "At— at first."

"Uh-huh. Well anyway, you still need to decide what to do about Kouga. You can't ignore his email for much longer or he'll get suspicious."

Kagome was once again very interested in the trees and refusing to look Sango in the eye. "Um, I— I suppose I can tell him I have a client coming in town, and that we have to wine-and-dine them after the meeting…"

Sango rolled her eyes.

Kagome scowled. "I can even make sure I do have a client scheduled to come in that day, so I won't be lying. We're in the very early stages of getting a new contract, and the negotiations will be around the end of May so that there's enough time to get things signed and start work by the beginning of their fiscal year on July first."

"Whatever makes you happy, Kaggie."