Kagome was in the backyard working on her garden when she heard Hojo call her name. She looked up and saw him walking towards her with a smile on his face. She smiled in return as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her hands. "Hi, Hojo. What brings you over today?"
"Well, I had a hankering for some ice cream, and was hoping if you weren't busy you would join me."
Kagome looked into his friendly, pleading eyes. "That sounds like a lot of fun. Let me put this stuff away and wash my hands. I'll be ready to go in just a minute. Why don't you go into the house and get yourself something to drink?" She picked up the tools and walked towards the house to clean up a little bit.
Hojo followed Kagome into the house and grabbed a cup from the cupboard she pointed out to him. He opened the fridge and poured himself some water from the pitcher. He sat down at the table and waited for Kagome to return. As Hojo was sitting there waiting for Kagome, he was startled by a voice behind him.
"Hojo, what are you doing here? I didn't think Kagome had plans with you tonight."
Hojo turned around to see Miroku looking at him. "We didn't have plans. I just came over hoping she might be available. It was just a spur of the moment thing. What are you doing here? I thought Kagome only had female roommates."
"She does. I'm going out with Sango, one of her roommates. Of course, that's not why I'm here. Kagome has been a long-time friend of mine. I live on the other side. I just came over to see what people's plans are for the night."
"Oh, I didn't hear you knocking. I apologize for ignoring you."
Miroku smirked at that. "I didn't knock. I told you, Kagome and I are long-time friends. She considers me a part of her family. Inuyasha and I don't knock when we come over here, and Kagome, Rin and Sango don't knock when they come over to our side. We would probably have gotten just one place and not a duplex if Kagome hadn't felt that Sango and I would need our own place soon. She wants us to stay close and this was the best way."
Hojo's eyes dimmed a little bit at hearing those words. He had seen the five friends together a lot. He figured they were close, but he didn't realize they were all that close. He didn't mind the closeness with Miroku if he was as serious with his girlfriend as he says, but what about this Inuyasha? Maybe Inuyasha and Rin was also an item.
"Miroku, what's going on?" Hojo looked up when he heard Kagome address her friend. His eyes brightened at the sight of her.
"I just came over to see what you were doing tonight. We were thinking about having a barbeque and doing some studying tonight. Sango's stressing about some of the work she needs to get done. But, I guess you're busy tonight."
"Oh" Kagome's eyes looked at Hojo before quickly looking away again. "That sounds like fun, and I definitely need to study some extra, but Hojo invited me out tonight."
"I don't want to keep you from your studies Kagome. If you need to study maybe we could go for ice cream another night. I could probably use some more study time myself. I did want to spend some time with you though."
Kagome looked at Hojo's crestfallen face. She couldn't bear to disappoint him. "Why don't you join us? It will be a lot of fun. You can meet all my friends, and Inuyasha is really good at helping with our studies. He is really smart."
"Really? That would be great. Why don't I go get my books and I'll bring some ice cream for everyone when I come back?"
"That sounds wonderful. It will be a lot of fun!"
Miroku stared at Kagome aghast at her invitation. Before Hojo or she could see his face, he turned around and walked out of the house. He was not looking forward to telling the others this new twist.
A/N I'm on a roll! The words are really starting to flow. As a reward for dealing with my waaay too long hiatus enjoy another chapter. Just remember it's not going to be a chapter a day. I'm just really happy with how the story is going so far, and I'm excited to get it out there to you. I'm hoping to restore everyone's faith in me too. Is it working yet?