Hi there! I made it a little earlier this time around.

I hope you guys are doing fine in these crazy times, the apocalypse seemingly closer to us each passing day. And in the middle of this insanity, the news of an Inuyasha sequel, how about that? I am so excited about it. A little scared too, to be honest. We´ll just have to wait and see what comes out of it.

DISCLAIMER: I don´t own Inuyasha. If I did the sequel would have come much earlier.

Chapter 22: Jealous?

The world seemed to have frozen the moment she heard his voice, that voice she had believed belonged only in her past.

Kagome stood bowing her head a little longer than necessary, taking a few deep breaths. She was well aware of demons' power to sense distress so she forced herself to remain calm, one hand turning into a fist, the other tightly wound around the champagne flute while she composed her face in a blank mask.

When she finally met his gaze, she was looking as cool as a leaf in the breeze. Still, her tongue was refusing to obey her brain´s orders.

"Come on Kagome, don´t tell me you don´t remember me."

The wolf youkai was looking impressive in a 3-piece navy blue suit with a burgundy tie. A whiskey tumbler dangling from his right hand, his hair was tied in a high ponytail and a cocky smile adorning his lips.

"Wear your clothes like a suit of armor."

Inuyasha´s words were ringing in her mind and once again she found herself thankful, she had listened to him. She didn´t look like a naive college girl anymore, time to act the part too.

"Kouga-kun, of course. Sorry about that, you caught me by surprise." She smiled politely at the grinning demon and nodded her head to his partners. "I don´t think I met your colleagues before, though."

"You´ll have plenty of time to get acquainted, or reacquainted, with them." Sesshomaru´s voice startled her; she had completely blocked the daiyokai from her mind. "You'll have to work with them closely in the following weeks. Dr. Ikeda´s project is the main priority for SNT right now"

"Nice to meet you, Higurashi-sama." Both males bowed politely, and Kagome returned the gesture.

"Oh, speaking of the devil, the doctor has just arrived." Sesshomaru mentioned casually.

Glad that at last, all eyes were not on her, Kagome looked for Inuyasha across the room. He was still with the elder youkais and he seemed to be enjoying himself. It was a rare sight, he always seemed tense whenever his brother was involved. He must have felt her stare on him, he looked right into her eyes and smiled at her. It was like he had lifted a heavyweight from her shoulders, she just sighed and smiled back at him.

"Ah, Sesshomaru, good evening." Dr. Ikeda greeted his host and Kagome´s attention was again on the people in front of her. There was a small party surrounding the old man, Kagome recognized his assistant, Kagura and one of his secretaries, Kana, and of course, she couldn´t miss the gorgeous young woman on his arm, Kikyo.

Gods, this party was trying.

Kikyo looked like a damn model, donned in a long ivory organza dress, the bodice embedded with sparkling rhinestone and a side parting showing off one long, slender leg ending on a delicate foot clad in a silver stiletto. She was already tall enough, why she needed to wear such high heels was something beyond Kagome´s comprehension. It made her as tall as Inuyasha.

Why did she even have to think of the two of them together?

Kagome gulped down the rest of her champagne before facing the newcomers. She bowed politely to all of them and plastered a smile on her lips. She waited for all the guests to engage in conversation with their host before excusing herself and finding her way back to Inuyasha´s side.

He had sensed Kagome´s discomfort from the other side of the room. Fortunately, she composed herself after a moment. Inuyasha was glad he hadn´t rushed to her rescue, Kagome could take his brother and his partners easily.

"Tell me, dear," Totosai asked as soon as he could get Kagome´s attention, "would you consider painting a portrait of my late wife? I can´t get over how exquisite your painting of Rin-chan is. Of course, she is already a lovely creature, it is hardly a challenge."

Inuyasha´s laughter told Kagome more about the late Mrs. Kajiya than he could have done using words. She sent him a stern glance before he dared make fun of a spirit and he just coughed it off.

"I´d be happy to try. Unfortunately, I have little spare time at the moment. But after the board decides on the future of the project, I think I will have plenty of time."

"That´s great news!" The bulged eyed demon moved to look for something in his inside pocket and extended both hands, his business card presented for her to take.

"Thank you, Mr. Kajiya, I´ll make sure to get in touch with you as soon as my schedule clears."

"You can call me Totosai child, Inuyasha already does."

They kept chatting idly for a while, Kagome relaxing again and enjoying the company of the elders when she felt Inuyasha tense by her side.

He had been so focused on Kagome that he completely missed Kikyo´s presence.

"Inuyasha son, it´s so good to see you." Dr. Ikeda was already trying to hug the hanyo when he gave a step forward and engulfed the old man in his arms.

"I was telling Kikyo that it had been a while since the two of you had coincided in any social events."

"I am glad Kikyo has decided to join us tonight." Inuyasha smiled at the woman and she smiled back at him. Kagome could tell it was a genuine gesture, they were actually glad to see each other. She had to grab another flute of champagne and swallow the content in big gulps. Her back was becoming too rigid and she felt the need to change her empty glass for a new one filled to the brim.

Inuyasha was looking so good in his black suit and red tie. He and Kikyo would certainly make a gorgeous couple. She kept drinking trying to suppress a

the pang of jealousy gripping her insides.

"Kagome, here you go." Kouga had found the way to sneak to her side and was offering her his business card. "Can I have yours, please? You know, we´ll need to work together a lot in the future."

"I´m sorry, I haven´t had mine made yet."

"You can have mine. Here you go." Inuyasha interrupted their interaction and handed the wolf his own card. "Miss Higurashi works in close proximity with me."

"Thank you, Takahashi-san." Kouga bowed and retreated to the side where his colleagues were standing.

Thank goodness for Rin´s eagerness, Kagome thought. The girl was oblivious of her father turning her party into a work meeting, she was as happy as a puppy. Rin was eager to blow her candles and make a wish. Soon they were happily singing her happy birthday forgetting all about the exes in the same room as Inuyasha and her.

"Let´s get out of here," Inuyasha whispered in her ear. "I can´t wait to get that dress off your body."

"I´m sorry, I´m not feeling that well. Do you think you can take me home instead?"

The hanyo was a little disappointed but he wouldn´t let Kagome know. Her well being would always come first.

"Of course, do you need to get some medicine? Maybe we can stop on a drugstore..."

"No, it´s not that bad. I just need to go to bed and have a good night´s sleep."

It was useless.

She just tossed and turned on her futon all night. By sunrise, Kagome decided she needed to get out. She had told her mother she wouldn´t go home this weekend but it seemed that it was the only way to escape her treacherous mind. She kept replaying her encounter with Kouga over and over. She had no idea how they would be able to work together after the way her nerves got on edge being around the guy for just one night.

She took the first train home and was already sitting in her mother´s table in time to have breakfast with her. Only then did she remember she had left her cell phone home.

"I´ll have to call Inuyasha or he´ll freak out." she reminded herself.

"Kagome dear, you look too pale. Would you like to lay down for a while? I´ll wake you up when Souta is here. I told him to pick up grandpa on his way home. He is feeling so much better these days, I thought it would be good to have a family meal since you are all here."

Nodding her approval, Kagome dragged herself to her old bedroom and collapsed on the bed.

She was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Behind her eyes, darkness surrounded her, backing her in the only lit corner she found. A dense fog started gathering, creeping her even more than the darkness. She could feel cold fingers licking the skin of her arms and legs. She wanted to scream but no sounds came out of her mouth.

Red eyes, shining like a beacon in the foggy darkness, stared at her. Kagome crouched down and covered her face, desperately crying for help when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She didn´t want to look up. The red eyes were watching her closely, she feared if she looked into those eyes, they would burn her soul.

"Kagome, wake up!"

When she finally opened her eyes, she met a pair of golden orbs looking down at her, concern plain in their depths.

"You are shaking and drenched in cold sweat woman."

"Inuyasha?" She blinked in confusion, "Am I still dreaming?"

"No, you´re not dreaming. I´m here."

Before she could register what was going on Inuyasha was sitting on her bed and dragging her still shaking body into his lap, his arms closing around her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked while taking comfort in his warmth.

"I called you. I was worried about you."

"But how did you know I was here?" She looked up at him from the crook between his arms. "I left my phone. I was going to call you; I was just feeling so tired."

"Shhh. I know. Don´t worry about it." He stroked her hair softly as if she was a scared child. "I went to your place and when I didn´t find you I called Sango. She said you might be here."

"Oh, Sango gave you the address then." She sighed contentedly. "Did my mom let you in my bedroom?" She was a little surprised he was allowed inside while she was sleeping.

"Actually, I climbed in through the window. I followed your scent; I could feel you were in distress and didn´t even think about knocking. I´m sorry."

"Oh, dear." Kagome tensed once again in his arms. We have to go down right now."

"Wait, I think we need to talk before that. I want to clean the air between us."

It was fair. She knew she needed to come clean and tell Inuyasha who Kouga really was. There was no way she could hide this from him.

"I should have known something was wrong. You were acting weird last night."

"I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to keep it from you."

"You are jealous."

"Wait, what?"

"You were so tense when Kikyo and Onigumo arrived"

"I´m not jealous!"

"You don´t have to be. There´s nothing between me and Kikyo." He felt Kagome stiffening and trying to escape his embrace. "I mean, I am happy to see her doing okay."

"You were happy to see her?" She wasn´t jealous, Kagome kept repeating in her mind. She wasn´t jealous, was she?

"Yes, I was glad to see her. But I promise there are no romantic feelings involved." He loosened his grip on her enough so they could look into each other´s eyes.

"You know, I couldn´t sleep last night. I think I drank too much champagne. I was wide awake looking at the ceiling and I thought..." She paused and looked down at her hands. " I googled you."

"Me? Why?"

"Not just you. You and Kikyo. Together. I wanted to see what you guys were like when you were a couple."

"Why would you even want to see that?"

"Are you kidding me? You two are like supermodels. I kept picturing it in my mind."

"Well, what did you find?" Inuyasha didn´t seem too eager to talk about that.

"I found... exactly what I suspected. You too together, looking gorgeous."

"Let´s see." Inuyasha took out his cell phone, opening the app and typing his and Kikyo´s names.

"Oh, you´re right, we do look good." Kagome nudged him on the ribs immediately. "Ouch! What? I just want to see what made you come running to hide behind your mother."

"You´re just making fun of me."

"No, I´m not. He tapped on a picture to make it bigger and showed it to her. "You think we look happy? Look at the picture Kagome."

Begrudgingly, Kagome looked up and tried to focus on the picture.

"I didn´t know it at the time but look at Kikyo´s eyes. She was just a shell, she looked like a soulless doll. You saw her yourself last night. Her smile was genuine. She´s finally looking like a real human being."

"I guess you are right."

"Kagome," He put his hand under her chin to force her to make eye contact with him. "I can´t be in love with Kikyo when I´m..."

"Don´t!" She stopped him before he could say anything else. She didn´t want him to say something he would regret later.

"Kagome, dear. Are you awake? Souta and grampa are here!"

"Shit!" Kagome almost jumped to her feet, suddenly remembering her family downstairs. "You have to go now."

"I´m not going anywhere. We are not children Kagome, and we weren´t doing anything wrong."

"I can´t let my mother see you coming out of my bedroom!" She was starting to panic. "Get out the window, quickly!"

"I told you, I won´t leave." Inuyasha stood in the middle of her bedroom, his arms stubbornly crossed over his broad chest.

"Ok, you don´t have to leave. Just get out of the window and give me a few minutes to look presentable. Then you can knock on the front door."

He still didn´t move.

"Please, Inuyasha. I don´t want my mom to get the wrong idea. I will introduce you to my family, properly."

He uncrossed his arms and let them hang by his sides, his ears relaxing on top of his head. He supposed he could do that without being noticed. He was a stealthy hanyo after all.

"Fine. I´ll go through the front door. And I´m letting your family know we are dating."

Kagome smiled, frozen in her spot.

"You really want to do that?"

"Absolutely."

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"So, Mr. Takahashi..."

"You can call me Inuyasha, Souta."

"Inuyasha," Souta tried it and it felt natural. He was sticking to it now. "You are Kagome´s boss? On SNT?"

"Well, yes. I am the CTO of the company and she is working on a project with my team right now. But my brother, Sesshomaru, is the CEO of the company, that makes him the boss."

"You are the CTO? Were you responsible for developing the Feudal Adventures games?"

"I wrote part of the code, so yes."

"Get out! It´s my favorite game dude! You have to play with me. Mom, where are my videogames?"

Mrs. Higurashi came out of the kitchen with a tray on her hands. A porcelain tea set on display on top of it.

"Everything is in your bedroom, dear."

Souta almost jumped up the stairs leaving Inuyasha and Kagome on the couch, grampa on the armchair in front of them and his mother pouring the tea kneeling by the coffee table.

"Takahashi-san, I´m so glad Kagome invited you to lunch with us."

"Inuyasha, please." He insisted. He wasn´t a big fan of formalities, he avoided them as often as he could.

"Sure, Inuyasha. I have been meaning to thank you for what you did when grandpa was hospitalized. We are forever in your debt."

"Oh, please, there´s no need to thank me. Kagome´s policy should cover everyone in her family." Inuyasha scooted to the edge of the seat and cleared his throat. "It´s me who needed to talk to you. I want to ask for your blessing..." He looked at Kagome and she slid her small hand in his, squeezing it gently for support. "I know how important her family is for Kagome so I would like to have your permission to date your daughter."

He suddenly felt like a schoolboy again, standing nervous in front of the principal for the first time.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled softly.

"Kagome, do you want to go out with Inuyasha?"

Kagome just nodded, blushing profusely and unable to articulate any words.

"Then, I have nothing to say. If my daughter is happy, I can only give you my blessing."

"Nonsense!" The croaky voice of her grandfather resonated in the silent living room.

"Gramps!" Kagome almost shouted.

"My granddaughter is a powerful priestess! She shouldn´t get mixed with the likes you."

"Inuyasha is half-human grandpa!" Kagome exclaimed. "And I am not a priestess!"

"You have the blood of great priests and priestesses running in your veins. Your reiki is already very powerful as it is, if you only let me train you, it would be even more so."

"I´m sorry that you don´t approve, old man. But if Kagome and her mother accept me, I will date her. So, get used to seeing me around."

"Hah! You have some nerve in you, demon!"

"I found it!" Souta came back down the stairs, his arms full of his gaming gear, inadvertently breaking the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Get ready to have your ass kicked Inuyasha!"

"Keh! Bring it on, kid!"

They spent hours playing, Inuyasha looked comfortable around her family and her grandfather´s harsh words completely forgotten. By the time Inuyasha left her at her apartment's door, Kagome had completely forgotten about Kouga and Kikyo.

Unfortunately, it didn´t last. As soon as she settled in her bed to call Sango everything came rushing back. Sango was the voice of awareness in the back of her mind, like Jiminy cricket, she thought with a playful giggle.

"How can that even be possible? What sin have you committed to be getting such bad karma?"

"I don´t know." Kagome sighed on her phone. "Maybe nothing bad comes out of it. Maybe I just need to face my past before moving forward with Inuyasha."

"And how did he react when you told him?"

"I didn´t exactly tell him. I was going to, I just got distracted."

"You have to tell him, Kags. You can´t let Kouga break the news to him. It has to be you."

"I know. And I will. It´s just..." She sighed again. "He asked my mom for her blessing; he wants us to be officially dating."

"That´s great news!"

"And I think he was going to say the L-word."

"WHAT?"

"He was mumbling something about Kikyo and me being jealous. I just didn´t want him to say it in that context."

"But what about you? How do you feel about him?"

"I can´t say it out loud, you know it´s too hard for me."

"But you know it´s true, Kagome. You can´t lie to yourself. "

"Oh Sango, please, I need to see you. I know you can find a way out of this mess."

"Sorry Kags. This week is already busy. I have to make up for all the lessons I skipped while my ankle recovered, plus I have to go back to the hospital for a follow-up."

"Oh, I need to go to the hospital this week too. Would you like to accompany me to donate blood?"

"Argh, Kagome your dating game is so gross."

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The next day arriving early and being alone in the office, Sango´s words were still present in Kagome´s mind.

"Is it true?"

She didn´t dare even think about it.

After everyone else had arrived and they started going over the schedule for the week, Shiori came into the conference room to announce their first meeting was about to start. The legal team was there.

And just like that, the three lawyers were standing in front of them, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Miroku shaking hands with them.

Kagome just felt she was being dragged back to that dark corner, the cold fog gathering at her feet.

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A/N: What do you guys think? Was Kagome acting like a jealous Jane? I was trying to make it subtle, only Inuyasha has a very sensitive nose, lol.

I know some of you were expecting Inuyasha to beat the crap out of Kouga, I just feel like Kagome has to fight her own battles sometimes. We still have to see more of the trio interacting in the next chapters, so stick around.

As usual it´s lovely to hear from you. Take care.

Love,

ALP