Summary: By nature, Kagome was anything but cruel. She was kind, compassionate, and friendly, so how in the world did she ever achieve the title of strongest girl in Japan? It was something she certainly didn't boast about. Instead, Takemichi couldn't help but notice how she seemed to regard such a thing as a burden, but why…?

Pairing: Undecided

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Seventeen

Despite not needing a new kimono for the festival, she still ended up getting one with enough insistence on Emma's side. She'd settled on a light blue one with a pink and lavender flower pattern along the left side. The material was light and comfortable, and as she put it on, she was reminded of just how long it'd been since she'd worn one.

"Man, time really flies…" she mused softly as she looked herself over in the mirror, turning a bit so she could make sure everything was smoothed out in the back. She braided her hair in a single braid over her shoulder and fixed a few small blue and white flower clips along it to pin down any loose hairs. She noticed a few split ends, and she pursed her lips in a mild pout. "I really need to get a trim, huh?" she muttered to herself when she took note of the state of her hair. She hadn't cut it in a while, either, so it was long overdue.

After a moment of looking herself over in the mirror, she turned and stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway where a familiar face was waiting. Blue eyes met a pair of gold, and her smile brightened some.

She hadn't expected Inuyasha to turn up an hour or two after both Sesshomaru and Shippo left, but she wasn't exactly upset by it. She dreaded having to spend days on her own, and she'd gladly take the companionship he offered. She knew why he was coming around more often, but she tried not to think too much about it.

After all, if she was going to die in the future, there was no point in dwelling on it if she didn't know what to do to make it change. She'd just use the time she had now to the fullest. She emerged from her own thoughts as she came to a halt in front of her friend.

"So? What do you think?" she asked, holding her hands out at her sides as she turned some to offer a full view of her. "It's nothing special, but I think it looks nice."

"Huh? Yeah, it suits you," Inuyasha commented, arms folded across his chest. Her smile brightened a bit more at his complimenting words. To others it might not have sounded like much, but she was fluent in his speech and mannerisms, so she knew when he was offering praise. "I'm kinda curious about meetin' this kid you've got a date with," he eventually said, a scowl appearing on his face as he said those words. "Better hope he don't-"

"It's not a date," she cut him off with a faint huff. Despite that, a flush of pink had seeped into her cheeks at the thought his words stirred. "We're friends and going as friends. You don't have to be a couple to go to the festival, after all." She knew she was right, but the implication wasn't lost on her. Just because others were going on dates didn't mean anything!

Inuyasha looked at her with an expression that conveyed just how little he bought her claim. "Uh-huh, so why're you getting so flushed?" he asked in a flat tone. Kagome bristled a bit and folded her arms across her chest, turning her head away to jut her nose up in the air.

"That's none of your business," she huffed.

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched a few times in blatant annoyance at her huffy attitude. Frankly, it didn't matter to him how she phrased it. If he didn't like the guy, then he wasn't gonna just let things slide. Once her protector, always her protector. At least, in his eyes.

Her phone rang and it caught her attention. She went to pick it up and she answered it upon realizing it was Mikey.

"Hey," she said, her smile seeping into her tone as she spoke. "I'm all ready to go when you are."

"Ah… about that…-" He started, only to trail off. A wave of confusion flowed through her as she craned her head to the side.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" she asked, confusion appearing on her face.

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it," he said. Somewhere beneath the confusion, she felt a pang of sadness as a small frown peppered her face. "Sorry about it… Just there's something I gotta do."

Ditching her with such short notice wasn't something he wanted to do. She could hear it in his voice when he spoke. She couldn't find it in her to be angry, even though she was a bit saddened by the fact. After a moment, she shook her head, despite knowing that he couldn't see the gesture, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Don't apologize," she said, hoping that she managed to mask how she felt about it when she spoke. She got the feeling it didn't sound as genuine as she wanted it to. "I was originally planning on going on my own, so it's okay."

A few more words were exchanged before she hung up and set her phone back down on the table. After a moment, a sigh fell from her lips as her shoulders slumped, her faux cheerfulness fading in the aftermath. She felt Inuyasha watching her, but she ignored him for the time being.

Talk about embarrassing…-

It wasn't even a date in the first place, so why did she feel like she'd been rejected? After a moment, she shook her head to clear her mind.

"Y'know, now that I'm thinking about it, it all kinda sounds dumb," she muttered. "I haven't gone to a festival in forever. It probably won't even be fun."

Her comment made him crane his head to the side, arching a brow. "You gonna just change your mind like that?" he asked in a flat tone. She didn't have to repeat the conversation, not when she knew he'd been able to hear every word exchanged. "Nothing's stopping you from going."

She held her silence for a moment before she shrugged. She brought her hands up to toy with the ends of her braid, twisting the ends around her fingers. "It's just different going alone," she confessed. "I always used to go with Mama, Souta, and Gramps. I thought going with Mikey might make it a bit easier, but…-" She sighed as she trailed off. "I really didn't want to go alone." She still didn't want to go alone, but explaining why wasn't really something she wanted to do, either.

"Keh…" Inuyasha buried a hand in his hair, rubbing the back of his neck as he listened to her explanation. After a moment, he turned and motioned for her to come with him. "You're already dressed up for it, there's no point in you not going," he scoffed. Kagome looked at him, confusion returning to her face as she craned her head to the side.

"It's fine, really," she tried to say, but she wasn't able to finish her sentence before he cut her off with a scoff.

"I'm not gonna hear it," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "If you don't wanna go by yourself, then fine. I'll go with you instead."

For a moment, she stood frozen in place as she processed his statement. It was automatic, the way moisture formed in her eyes. The salty scent hovering in the air around her made him whirl around quickly, wide eyes landing on her face.

"H-Hey! What do you think your doin'?!" he huffed, the ears on the top of his head flattening down some. "What's wrong?"

His reaction caused a faint laugh to spill forth from her. She brought a hand up to wipe her cheeks dry, her smile more genuine than it'd been in a while. "Nothing, it's nothing," she said in between her laughs. She closed the gap between them, linking her arm around his own, taking the initiative to lead them on their way. "I'm just… really happy right now."

She really was. It might've seemed like it wasn't a big deal, but to her…

It mattered a lot more than she could articulate.

"It's going to be a lot of fun!" she exclaimed, an excited sparkle lingering in her bold, blue eyes. Inuyasha was quiet for a few seconds before he nodded, falling into step with her as she led him along with her.

"Uh… yeah, you're right…-"

"Oh, wow, everything looks so pretty…" Kagome mused softly once they'd reached the last step of the temple grounds hosting the festival. Bright lanterns lit up what was originally a dark walkway, and several game and food stalls were set up and already crowded with patrons. "There's so much to do… It's hard to choose where to go first," she murmured thoughtfully. After a second, she glanced up at Inuyasha. "Do you have any preferences?" she asked.

"I don't care where we go," he stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "Doesn't matter because I'm going where you go."

A faint smile lingered on her face as she nodded. "Right…" Those words were comforting. She didn't say it out loud, but it was impossible to ignore the patch of warmth that had formed within her. "Oh, why don't we-"

"Kagome!"

A familiar voice calling out to her cut her off mid-sentence, and she turned to glance over her shoulder. Over the distance, her eyes met those of Hina. A second later, a smile bloomed a bit brighter on her face as she held up her other hand in a wave. With her was Takemichi.

"Hey, you two!" Kagome called back, turning fully as she waited for them to catch up. Before long, they'd closed the gap. Kagome could feel the confusion plaguing Inuyasha's aura, and she decided to offer a bit of insight. "This is Inuyasha," she said, once more tightening her arm on his own. "He's my best friend."

There was no point in her beating around the bush when it came to him, after all. There was no other title she could bestow to him. She saw the glimmer of recognition flash through Takemichi's eyes, and she recalled him telling her how he'd crossed paths with the half-demon in the future.

"That's Takemichi, and she's Hinata," Kagome said, clarifying each of them to her silver-haired companion. "They're some of my newer friends you haven't met yet," she said, glancing up at him. If he couldn't meet Mikey, then this made up for it a bit.

"It's nice to meet you!" Hina exclaimed before sending Kagome a curious look, her head tilting to the side.

"U-Uh, yeah," Takemichi said. It was sorta imposing standing in front of him knowing what he knew in the future. He looked gruff and was intimidating. Despite that, Kagome clung so easily to his arm. It should've made him look more approachable, but… it didn't really have that effect. Despite knowing he wasn't so abrasive when they met in the future, it was hard not to be unnerved by his presence.

"Huh? What gives?" Hina asked, stepping a bit closer. She put her hand up by her mouth in an attempt to block out what she was about to say from the figure at her side. It didn't do anything, but she didn't know that. "I thought you were going with Mikey…?"

Wasn't that what she and Emma had talked about during their shopping trip?

Upon catching on to that, Takemichi looked at her with a surprised look. "Huh? She was?" he asked, glancing back at Kagome for confirmation. "You and Mikey?" He noticed the faint patch of pink staining her cheeks at the question, and Hina quickly covered her mouth when Kagome sent her a mild glare for saying it out loud. "How come I didn't know?" he asked, glancing at Hina.

"Because it wasn't a big deal," Kagome responded flatly before Hina could. In response, the girl sent her an apologetic smile, mouthing a silent apology.

"No, seriously," Takemichi said, crossing his arms over his chest as a thoughtful look lingered on his face. "Thinking about it, that makes sense," he muttered. After all, Mikey had taken a lot of interest in her, hadn't he? It was hard to say for sure, but was it possible for him to have a crush on her? Kagome arched her brow, an unamused look passing over her face as she regarded his thoughtful expression. "Wait… but if you were going with Mikey, where is he?" Takemichi asked, craning his head to the side.

Kagome shook her head to dismiss the topic altogether. "Something came up and plans changed," she said. "He couldn't make it. It's not a big deal."

It really wasn't. She didn't need other people making it into one, either.

"Something came up?" Takemichi asked. Kagome glanced at him with a shrug of her shoulders.

"He didn't say much, and I didn't ask, either," she said. "I figured if it was something serious, then we'd hear about it sooner or later."

"Well, let's not worry about it," Hina said, clasping her hands together. "Let's just have a fun night!"

Kagome nodded and smiled. "I have the same sentiment, Hina." She sent Takemichi a faint smile meant to encourage him. "After all, a little fun here and there doesn't hurt anything. I've learned to trust my senses when it comes to things like this.

"Right," Takemichi said with a nod of his head. He caught the meaning behind the look Kagome had sent him, as well as the meaning lurking in her words.

She was ready for anything if something were to happen. It was a little reassuring to have her around.

000

It wasn't even a full hour later before it began to rain. Most people fled under what they could to take shelter from the rain. Along with the rain, Kagome couldn't help but pick up on the shift in the air.

Something felt… off.

She came to a halt next to a stall selling some brightly colored fans as she idly searched the surrounding area. The rain had no impact on her, her kimono swiftly drenching through. A few of her hairpins fell from her hair and blew away with the wind. She didn't have to use her eyes when she relied so heavily on her senses. She let her senses search over the entire festival grounds, feeling for anything that felt off.

Inuyasha glanced at her, sending her a confused look when he noticed that she'd come to a halt. He knew what she was doing, and at once, he was put on a defensive edge just in case she'd felt a threat he wasn't able to pick up on.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice gruff as he came to stand beside her. As he did, he lifted an arm to offer her some shelter from the rain with his sleeve. It didn't do much to block it out, but it prevented some of the rain from hitting her.

Her frown deepened as she opened her eyes, lifting her gaze to look up at him. "There's something wrong…" she murmured, glancing behind her to the source she could feel. In the distance, she could feel, very faintly, the familiar auras of Draken and Emma, but with Emma's… -

Was she distressed?

She turned fully as she finally placed the emotion she could feel plaguing the younger girl's aura.

There was no mistaking it, not when she knew what she was feeling.

"Something's very wrong..." she murmured. A second later, she took off in a sprint in the direction she could feel the two. With the two, she could feel several others. The moment she took off, Inuyasha wasted no time following after her.

Auroua-chan: Ending this chapter here!

So, something came up that prevented Mikey from going with her, but at least Inuyasha was there to go with her (and he totally wasn't there just to size Mikey up. Not at all…)

Anyway, in the next chapter, Hanma will return. Kagome won't be happy to see him. After all, she got such a bad feeling from him the first time they met.

There's a faint implication that Mikey may like Kagome quite a bit, which isn't unlikely… If anything, it makes the next few chapters kinda sweeter. After all, Kagome's a very comforting individual. She's just the person Mikey needs to lean on.

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review, Favorite, and Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~