"Why can't you pick it up yourself?" Kagome asked, fishing through her purse for her keys.
"Because the caterer has lost his mind and is trying to convince me that I should be serving fried chicken with maple syrup," Sango groused.
"Since when do you eat fried chicken?"
"That's precisely my point!" Her best friend was getting married in a month, and up until a week ago, everything had fallen into place. She'd found her dress, the venue and caterer were booked, the flowers and decorations were confirmed—everything seemed to be going swimmingly.
Until they weren't.
First, the seamstress had mixed up the bridesmaid dresses and altered the wrong ones, leaving Kagome to believe she'd gained ten pounds in a week. Then the venue suddenly put a cap on the number of guests allowed inside the ceremony hall. And now the caterer was trying to make last-minute changes to the menu. Kagome was surprised Sango hadn't decapitated anyone yet.
"Please? You're the only one I know who wears the same ring size as me. I need to know they're going to fit."
Kagome sighed, checking her watch. "You're lucky I'm only on-call today."
"I love you!"
"Prove it by threatening the seamstress, so I'm not showing off my ass on the day of the wedding," she said, wincing at the memory of her last fitting.
"Already on it," Sango replied. "Your mother is really scary when she's angry, by the way." The women shared a laugh; Sango's parents had died when she was ten, and Mrs. Higurashi had taken it upon herself to become a surrogate parent to Sango and her younger brother Kohaku, bringing the two of them to live at the shrine, despite already having two children of her own.
They'd all been a blubbering mess when Sango had asked her to walk her down the aisle.
"All I have to do is pick up the rings?" Kagome asked, unlocking her car.
"That's it! They're all paid for. Just make sure they fit and put them in the box."
She sighed as she slid into the driver's seat. "Fine. But I'm grabbing donuts on the way back."
"You're a lifesaver!" Sango said, relief evident in her voice.
"I know. I'm the best, what would you do without me, you'll find a way to repay me, and all that, right? Now go yell at the caterer. I'm not wearing purple silk and eating fried chicken at your wedding."
Kagome was blasted with a wave of cool air as she stepped into the jewellery store, the soft lights reflecting off various diamonds and gems in display cases. She'd never really been interested in these sorts of things—they'd been too cumbersome, and she'd always been worried that they'd get lost or wrecked.
Idly thumbing the only piece of jewellery she did own, a simple silver pendant in the shape of a crescent moon, she walked straight towards the cash register, not even bothering to browse.
"Hello! I'm here to pick up a set of rings for Mukai," she said.
The woman perked up, giving her a curt nod. "Ah yes, she phoned ahead and let us know you were coming. Let me just grab them."
Silently thanking Sango for being efficient even while dealing with a million other things, Kagome leaned against the counter, the woman returning within a few minutes.
"She mentioned she wished for you to try them on to test the size?" Kagome nodded, and the woman unclipped a sizing tool from her belt, quickly confirming that she was the same size as the bride, then opened the box.
Kagome had gushed over the ring when Sango first showed it to her, but the large solitaire wasn't her style. Even as she slipped it onto her finger, she couldn't hide the grimace from pinching her features. But Sango loved it, constantly showing it off whenever she got the chance as if she hadn't been dating Miroku since high school and hadn't known the proposal was coming.
The woman praised the cut and quality, then left to gather the rest of the paperwork, and Kagome quickly removed it, placing it back in its case.
"It does not suit you."
She jumped, not having realized anyone else was near her. Looking up, she struggled not to gape at the gorgeous individual standing before her. Youkai and humans intermingled all the time, the growing hanyou population proving it, but it wasn't often that she came across a pureblood of his calibre.
Magenta stripes adorned chiselled cheekbones, pale bangs parted to show off the indigo moon on his brow, while the rest of his silver hair was pulled back into an intricate knot on the side of his head. A few whisps had fallen loose, and he tucked one behind a pointed ear as he continued to look at her.
"I'm sorry?" she said, her mind going blank.
"The solitaire. It does not suit you," he repeated, motioning to the box on the counter. Kagome looked down, barely managing to pull her eyes away.
"Oh, I agree. It's not—"
"Come." Lithe fingers wrapped around her wrist, barely giving her time to pocket Sango's rings before being dragged off to another part of the store.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her skin tingling under his claws.
"Finding you something better." His voice was sinful, the deep baritone icy and decadent, and she shivered before finally processing his words.
"Wait, I don't need—"
"You should be proud of your intended's choice," he said, cutting her off. "The piece must bring a smile to your face and something you gaze upon regularly."
"But I'm not—"
He finally let her go, slipping behind another counter and pulling out a set of intricately cut rings, each one more dazzling than the next. "You strike me as the 'cluster' type, though the band should be significant as well."
Thoroughly distracted, Kagome looked down at his selection, gasping softly at the detailing on the side of each ring. Whereas Sango's had been a plain band with a single gem, these looked like metal and diamonds had been woven together, the sides of the bands taking on various shapes.
"They're gorgeous."
"Naturally." He picked up the first one, sliding it easily onto her finger, the middle diamond hugged by two smaller ones on either side. "One is not enough for you."
She blushed, his tone belying a deeper meaning, then shook her head. "This looks like something out of a movie."
He sniffed, deftly removing it. "Perhaps you are right. Something a little more subtle may be to your tastes." He quickly replaced it with a princess cut, the main gems surrounded by a trail of smaller ones lining the band.
"This is subtle?" she asked, unable to stop herself from laughing.
"Indeed." He captured her hand, twisting it side to side. "Notice the lack of detailing on the sides. Your focus is brought to the diamonds themselves." Still not convinced, she raised an eyebrow at him. His own rose in mimicry, fangs flashing as his lips pulled up into a seductive smirk.
"Ah, you are one of them," he mused, replacing the second ring and completely ignoring the third as he put his selection away.
Kagome bristled. "One of who?" she asked, suddenly on edge. He'd turned away from her, disappearing behind a curtain.
"A believer in true love," came his muffled reply. "Your ring must be as significant as your partner, feelings translated into metal and gemstone."
"Isn't everyone in here like that?" A low chuckle was his only reply, and she worried her bottom lip, shifting her weight as she gazed around the shop and each couple therein.
Was it wrong that even though she was almost thirty, she still believed in love at first sight? At the thought of one day being swept off her feet by someone who couldn't bear to live without her? Of finding her happily ever after?
Sango claimed her standards were too high, her excuse for never having had a serious relationship, but Kagome was waiting for a spark—something or someone to walk into her life and make a complete mess of things before she finally realized they'd been made for her. Her other half.
Her friend had told her to start kissing frogs.
Sighing, Kagome ran a hand through her hair. "Look, mister, this has been fun, but I need to—" He suddenly reappeared, golden eyes glinting as he placed a blue box in front of her.
"This is the one for you." He sounded so confident that she couldn't stop herself from opening it, gasping at what lay inside.
A single diamond sat in the centre, held aloft by intricate platinum, woven into teardrop patterns between smaller diamonds down the band. But it was the crescent moons filled with dark sapphires laying perpendicular to the solitaire that caught her eye, like a secret held only by the wearer, as it wasn't part of the main design.
The youkai plucked it out of the box, lifting her hand to slide it onto her finger, his touch lingering as the band brushed each knuckle. Kagome raised her hand, the iridescent gems catching the light, rainbows shimmering around her.
"Do you like it?" he asked, tone hopeful.
"It's beautiful," she breathed. For a moment, she forgot that she was there to pick up Sango's rings, images of her own wedding flashing through her mind.
"Your fiancé should know you better than to buy you anything but what your heart desires," he said, bringing her out of her fantasies and back into the harsh glare of reality.
She let out a pained chuckle. "I tried to tell you before, I'm not here for me. I'm just picking up the rings for a friend."
Instead of being disappointed he wouldn't be making a sale, the youkai seemed pleased, although still surprised. "You are unattached?"
She nodded. "No true love for me yet. So I don't have a reason to buy the ring." She went to remove it when his hand covered hers, looking at the ring before bringing her fingers to his lips.
"Perhaps you will still wear it in the future," he said, breath wafting over her skin.
Kagome swallowed thickly, struggling to find her voice. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Please do." It was a moment before he released her hand, another still before she remembered to take the ring off, her heart clenching as she placed it back in the box.
"Hopefully I find them soon." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Otherwise, the ring might be gone," she clarified.
A knowing smile tugged at his lips. "It is unlikely."
Kagome frowned, not getting the chance to question him, as the woman she'd been dealing with before returned with the remaining paperwork, allowing the salesman to be pulled away by another customer.
Her business finally concluded, Kagome walked towards the door, rubbing the area where the ring had sat—where the feel of his lips still lingered on her skin. She cast one last glance at the salesman, her hand automatically going to her pendant before she left the shop.
The final ring he'd shown her had borne a striking resemblance to the crescent moon around her neck.
A/N - Before you revoke my 'Team Happy Ending' badge, this WILL have a sequel! It's already planned out! So no pitchforks please.