InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Palm of Your Hand ❯ Something to Talk About ( Chapter 16 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, not me. I'm just having fun and making no money doing it.

Something To Talk About

"...and he said 'ONE...TWO...THREE!' and snatched the phone out of her hand, and launched it out the window as hard as he could."

Everyone at the table burst out in a round of laughter.

"Well, I'd already given her two warnings to put down the damn phone while she was driving... she was gonna run somebody over!" InuYasha defended himself. He had forgotten to take into consideration the fact that his daughter could tell all kinds of embarrassing stories about him. "You kids have no respect..." he said shaking his head.

"Back in my day, kids got beat with bamboo canes for disobeying their parents. And all we had to play with was a rock and a stick!" Ru mocked him in an 'old man' voice.

There was another round of raucous laughter that included everyone but InuYasha.

This night had turned out to be much less nerve-racking for Kagome than she had anticipated. She was grateful that Ru had come. Despite all of his talk about her letting go of him as her security blanket, he was proving to be a nice buffer in this particular situation. He never allowed for any uncomfortable lulls in the conversation.

When they arrived she had been introduced to InuYasha's daughter, Izumi. Despite being old enough to be Kagome's mother, she looked and acted very young. Her long black hair was in a loose braid down her back, and Kagome couldn't help but wonder if it would still be black if she weren't wearing her concealment charm. While she was wearing several articles of what appeared to be handmade jewelry, Kagome could sense a very slight aura coming from a bracelet of small, red coral beads woven between two thin, brown leather strands. She didn't wear any makeup, not that she needed to; her skin was as flawless as a fine porcelain tea cup. Clearly her mostly human blood didn't do a whole lot to dilute her quarter-youkai genetics. Kagome couldn't help but feel a little jealous of that.

She was wearing a busily patterned, high waisted, olive green and tan maxi skirt, and a long, loosely crocheted, ecru vest over a tan halter top that exposed several inches of her midriff. Kagome was reminded of InuYasha's description of her. That she was 'into peace and love and harmony, and all that crap'. She could see now that that was probably his roundabout way of saying that she was sort of a modern day hippie.

Kagome initially worried that they would have nothing in common; and while that still may be true, it didn't seem to matter. They were hitting it off swimmingly.

"I can't even imagine what growing up with InuYasha for a dad must have been like." Kagome said, still chuckling.

"Have you ever seen the cartoon 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'?" Ru asked.

"Uh, yeah." Kagome said nodding.

"Well, it was pretty much exactly like that, minus all the singing." he finished.

Kagome giggled.

"There was some singing, wasn't there, Dad?" Izumi interjected.

"No!" InuYasha said quickly, his face turning red.

"Yes there was!" Izumi argued, failing to read her father's obvious embarrassment. "Remember bedtime songs?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Izzy." he said flatly.

"Sure you do. We would take turns singing until we fell asleep, and you never remembered the words so you'd make them up. Let's see..." she said, tapping her chin in contemplation. "Oh! I remember one! If little girls don't go to sleeeeep, ghosts will come and pull their teeeeeth!" she sang to the tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'.

"I did no such thing!" InuYasha defended.

Kagome slapped his arm. "InuYasha! You tried to scare them!?" she scolded him.

"Trust me, Kagome. Nothing scared them." he said shaking his head. "And I never sang...she's making it up."

Izumi rolled her eyes at him. "Sure. Okay. Whatever you say Dad…"

"Why don't we talk about someone else for a change?" InuYasha grumped.

"Yes," Ru drawled as he turned toward Kagome. "Why don't we talk about someone else?"

"No." Kagome said sternly.

"Say, Kagome," Ru said tauntingly.

"No!"

"Do you remember that time…"

"NO! Whatever it is it, he's lying!" she yelled.

Ru burst out in a fit of giggles. "Okay, okay. I won't embarrass you… I'll wait till you go to the bathroom to tell the stories."

Kagome balled up her napkin and threw it at his face, bouncing off of his forehead and landing perfectly into his glass of water.

"So, Kagome," Izumi said, changing the subject. "Dad's been telling me all about how you two met. The well, and the jewel...it's really incredible... "

Kagome nodded. "I sometimes find it hard to believe myself, and I was there." she said, smiling.

"So, how did you come to be friends with Ru, then?" Izumi asked.

"Well, after I moved here I met him at an art gallery." Kagome said.

"Yeah," Ru interjected. "she insulted my painting, and somehow we became friends after that." he chuckled. "I guess there's just something about Kagome...even her insults are endearing."

Kagome rolled her eyes at him.

"Wow. Small world, huh?" Izumi said, raising her eyebrows.

"No." InuYasha said, shaking his head. "That would imply that it was a coincidence and I know better than that. There's no way in hell that any of this could be a coincidence." He smiled slightly at Kagome as he clasped her hand under the table.

Ru and Izumi nodded in silent agreement.

"Have you told your mom about any of this yet?" Ru asked Kagome.

"No, I haven't. I didn't want to excite her until I knew I uhh...ya know...that everything was gonna work out or whatever." she fumbled her words when she realized she had accidentally breached a topic she did not want to discuss in this setting. "She's gonna be so happy to see you, InuYasha." she added.

InuYasha smiled. Was Kagome implying that she would be going back home with him? He wasn't entirely sure, but it sounded promising.

"Well," Kagome said, looking at the time. "It's getting kind of late. I guess we should probably get going." she said before standing from the table. "It was really nice to meet you Izzy."

"It was nice to meet you too. We should have lunch while I'm here." Izumi offered.

"Yeah, that would be great." Kagome smiled and nodded.

InuYasha walked to the door with Ru and Kagome as they said their goodbyes. When Kagome started to walk out the door behind Ru, she sudden felt strong arms snake around her waist before she was pulled back into a hard chest. "Stay with me." InuYasha whispered against her ear.

"I don't want to impose..."

"I don't want to be away from you anymore." he said. InuYasha had been quite used to sleeping alone, but after having her in his arms just one night… it had made the last ten nights without her feel like torture.

Kagome leaned her head back against his shoulder. "I don't know…"

InuYasha let out a little whine as he nuzzled his face into the side of her neck. "Please." He was begging like a pathetic pup and he couldn't even bring himself to care.

Just then, Izumi came up behind them. "Hey Ru, what are you doing tonight?" she called past them, out the door.

Kagome jumped in surprise before pulling away from InuYasha, uncomfortable with his daughter seeing their display of affection.

Ru turned back to the door from the elevators. "Anything." he said.

"Let's go out and do something then."

"Okay." he shrugged. "Are you staying here, Kagome, or do you want me to walk you home?" he asked, knowing she wouldn't want to go out with them.

"She's staying here." InuYasha interjected.

Ru nodded.

"Bye, Dad." Izzy said, as she slipped on her braided canvas sandals. "Don't wait up. I'll use the super-secret hidden key to let myself in." she said facetiously before grabbing her purse.

"Bye. Be good." he said to her back as she bounced out the door.

No sooner did the door latch click shut, than InuYasha had his arms around Kagome's legs. Throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her toward the bedroom.

"InuYasha! Put me down!" she squeaked as she punched and kicked playfully.

She was silenced by the feeling of his fangs gently nipping her thigh through the thin material of her skirt.

"Stop that!" she giggled and squirmed.

"You wouldn't happen to be ticklish would you, Kagome?" he said mischievously, as he squeezed one of her kneecaps with his free hand.

She let out a little scream as her leg jerked involuntarily. "You'll stop right now if you know what's good for you!"

"Oh yeah?" he teased. "And what are you gonna do about it?"

"Nothing. I'm not going to do anything if you keep tickling me!" she said cryptically.

He paused. "Oh." he said seriously, getting her implication.

Needless to say, he didn't tickle her any more that night.

<<>>

"So...what do you think?" Ru said curiously as he took a sip of his beer.

"About what?" Izumi turned to look at him from her seat next to him at the bar, tilting her head and furrowing her brow in legitimate confusion.

"About Kagome, of course. Gods, you're such an airhead."

"Oh!" she chirped. "I like her. I mean, I don't really know her yet, but if Dad's this crazy about her she must be really special."

"She is." Ru said simply.

Izumi narrowed her eyes and looked him up and down suspiciously.

"What?" he questioned her upon noticing her scrutiny.

"Ru…" she said, shaking her head slowly. "you're not…"

"No." he said, anticipating her question. "But she's my closest friend. I mean, I love her, but I don't have romantic feelings for her if that's what you're getting at."

Izumi nodded in understanding. "He seems...really happy for once." she said as her fingers slowly twirled her wine glass by the stem.

"Yeah, it's kind of unsettling isn't it." Ru joked.

She giggled. "I don't know if I'd say that. It's definitely different, though..."

"You think it's different?! You have no idea!" he shook his head and shuddered dramatically.

"You should hear some of the fucked up things they say to each other when they're..."

"Ewww!!" she cut him off by slapping a hand over his mouth. "Gods Ru! That's my dad you're talking about!"

"Oh...right." Ru chuckled, as he pried her hand away from his mouth. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget how squeamish you human types are."

She rolled her eyes at him before taking a more serious tone. "I do hope it works out though...I know he's been lonely since me and Shima moved out...and since you moved away…" she shot him a sideways glance.

"It's gonna work out." Ru asserted.

"Miss," Both heads turned toward the bartender, who had interrupted them as she sat a glass of wine in front of Izumi. "Another glass of merlot, compliments of the gentleman in the black shirt." She nodded towards a handsome young man on the other side of the bar, across from them.

"The nerve of that guy!" Ru said, indignantly. "What kind of smug fucker sends a drink to a girl that is clearly with someone? I should kick his ass up between his shoulders!"

Izumi let out a giggle. "Calm down, Ru." she said stroking his arm soothingly. "It's no big deal. Maybe he just thinks we are siblings or, you know, cousins."

Ru rolled his eyes. "He doesn't know that. He's challenging me Iz. For all he knows, you're my girlfriend, and he has the nerve to hit on you right in front of me. I'm not just gonna sit here like a chump." he said as he stood from his stool, grabbing the glass of wine and making his way to the other side of the bar.

Izzy watched the confrontation curiously. Unable to decipher exactly what Ru was saying to the man over the many jumbled voices in the room. Judging by the look on the guy's face, it wasn't friendly chit-chat. She saw Ru slowly lift the glass of wine over the man's head, fairly certain of what he was going to do next. "Oh, no, no, no. Don't do it, Ru…" she mumbled under her breath. She covered her eyes with her hands, she just couldn't bear to watch. A few seconds later she peeked through her fingers, only to be greeted with the sight her admirer, frozen in shock. His wine drenched hair plastered to his head. A look of disbelief painted across his face.

Ru rounded the bar and casually slid back onto the stool next to her.

"What did you say to him?!" Izumi asked.

"I just told him what a lucky guy he is."

"Lucky? How?"

"Lucky I only ruined his shirt and not his face."

"Ru, you didn't!" she scolded him.

"Excuse me, Sir." the bartender said sheepishly as she approached Ru. "I'm sorry Sir, but we've had some complaints. We're going to have to ask you to leave." she said as she placed the bill on the bar in front of Ru.

"Complaints?" Ru said, feigning innocence as he removed his wallet from his back pocket. "Well, I can't imagine who would have complained."

"Ru stop it!" Izumi said, her face burning with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. He was dropped on his head as a baby." she apologized to the bartender.

The tender just smiled and shook her head as she took the cash from Ru's hand.

"So where do you want to go next?" Ru said, hooking his arm with hers and leading her out of the bar.

"No where. You've proven that you are not fit to be out in public." she said flatly.

"Oh, come on Izzy! We're having fun. You need to live a little."

"I've lived enough for one night."

"Wanna go back to my apartment, get drunk and play Black Ops, then?"

"Play Black Ops?" she furrowed her brow. "That isn't like...code for drugs or anything is it?" she asked.

Ru snorted. "It's a video game, stupid!"

"Oh, okay then!" she chirped.

<<>>

The next morning InuYasha walked Kagome back to her apartment building before heading to work. Izumi had decided to stay the night at Ru's, and was still there when Kagome arrived. The two cousins were sitting in front of the television, looking like a couple of zombies when Kagome entered the apartment. Izumi was wearing her clothes from the previous night, and Ru, always the exhibitionist, was wearing nothing but a pair of white boxer briefs that left very little to the imagination. They were both without their concealment charms, and Kagome finally got to see what Izumi really looked like. She had all of InuYasha's youkai features. Silver hair, golden eyes, claws, fangs, and of course, canine ears. Actually, she reminded Kagome a lot of a much younger InuYasha, like the way he had looked when they first met. Well, a more feminine version of him anyway. Looking at her now, Kagome was surprised she hadn't realized exactly who she was when she had first seen her the previous day. She realized she was staring and shook herself from her reverie.

"Good morning!" Kagome greeted cheerily as she removed her shoes.

"Good morning." Ru and Izumi croaked simultaneously.

"Geez, what did you guys do last night?" Kagome asked.

"Drank." they mumbled, again in unison.

Kagome couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, it looks like I need to make some coffee. Would you like some, Izzy?" Kagome offered.

"No thanks." she declined.

"Izzy doesn't drink coffee...unsustainable farming practices…" Ru turned his head away from his cousin to stealthily roll his eyes at Kagome.

"Hey! I saw that!" Izumi shouted.

"There is no way that you saw that, Iz." Ru argued.

"Well, your voice sounded like you were rolling your eyes."

"How can someone's voice sound like they're rolling their eyes?"

"Were you rolling your eyes?" she asked.

"Yes, but that's not that point." he argued weakly.

"Actually Ru," Kagome interjected, placing her hands on her hips. "isn't it kind of exactly the point?"

"Et tu, Kagome?" Ru said, theatrically clutching at his heart as if it had been pierced.

"I rest my case." Izumi said.

Ru huffed. "She's only siding with you 'cause she's nailin' your dad."

"RU!" Kagome screamed, lunging at him almost instinctually, landing on her knees in his lap. "DO. YOU. HAVE. NO. FILTER?!" she ground out, each word punctuated with a hard punch to his chest. This launched Ru into a giggling fit that only served to further infuriate her.

"What? I was just stating the obvious." he said innocently.

"Well, some things are meant to be kept private!" she whispered forcefully.

"Oh, you mean things like these?" he said as he grabbed her forearms, bending them upward to expose the angry red abrasions on her elbows.

Kagome let out a little shriek as she jerked her arms from his grasp and slapped her hands over the burns. "I fell!" she defended weakly as her face almost glowed red in absolute mortification. Immediately she began to have murderous thoughts about her boyfriend, whom she was just certain had noticed the rug burns, but had chosen to send her into her apartment unawares. 'Probably some male dominance thing I don't understand...' she silently mused.

Izumi just sat watching the scene unfold with amusement.

Ru cackled on as Kagome continued her assault on him, grabbing both of his exposed nipples and twisting them as hard as she could. "Not so funny now is it, you little bit-OWW!" she cried as she suddenly cringed in pain, grabbing her jaw.

"What?! I didn't even touch you!" Ru defended himself, while his voice took on a tone of concern.

"No, I bit something…I think I may have broken a tooth..." Kagome mumbled.

"Is it a bone?" Izumi asked.

"How can it be a bone if she isn't eating anything?" Ru said condescendingly.

Using her tongue, Kagome pushed the hard object forward in her mouth and pulled it out with her fingers. It was a small, shiny silver chunk of dental amalgam. "Oh, damn." Kagome cursed under her breath.

"What is that?" Ru asked her, furrowing his brow as he leaned in to inspect the object.

"I lost a filling." she huffed. "Great...just what I need right now..." She ran her tongue across her teeth, trying to feel the location of the missing filling. She didn't find the damaged tooth, but what she did find was yet another very loose filling. "Shit!" she said, balling her fists in anger.

Izumi and Ru sat silently, watching with interest as Kagome reached into her mouth and easily pried out the second loose filling with her fingernail.

"Great. Another one..." she said in a worried tone. "What are the chances of that? Damn...I wonder how much this is gonna cost to fix…"

"Let me see." Ru said as he grabbed her chin. "Open." he commanded. She opened her mouth and Ru tilted her head back, then forward, doing a thorough visual inspection of her teeth. "You won't have to get them fixed," Ru corrected her as he released her jaw. "they're growing back. That's why the fillings are pushing out."

Kagome rolled her eyes. She honestly thought he was messing with her. Afterall, this was the same person who once told her that black peppercorns were the dried abdomens of 'black pepper spiders'.

"Ru, I'm human, they don't grow back."

"They do if you're the mate of a youkai." he said casually. "Or a hanyou, in your case."

Kagome sat stunned. "Mate?" she repeated as she lowered herself from her knees to sit in a cross-legged position. "but we aren't even married or anything..."

"That doesn't matter," he shook his head. "clearly, as far as his youki is concerned, you're his mate."

Kagome just sat there, looking in wonder at the fillings she held between her fingers. 'His mate…'

"Whoa…" Kagome said quietly. "Do you think he knows?" she asked Ru.

"Oh yeah," Ru said as he and Izumi shared an amused glance, chuckling as if there were some inside joke taking place that Kagome wasn't a part of. "He definitely knows. Having your youki accept your mate is a pretty big deal. He would have felt it immediately. It must have just happened too...seeing as how those rugs burns didn't have time to heal all the way."

Kagome blushed red, but otherwise ignored him. "I wonder why he didn't mention it to me..." she said dejectedly.

"He was probably afraid you'd freak out and try to launch yourself into outer space or something." Ru said candidly.

"I'm not that bad!" Kagome argued.

Ru said nothing, he only looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Okay, fine. I'm a little bit crazy…but still...this is a big deal…I can't believe he didn't say anything."

'So much for not keeping anything from each other...' she thought to herself, absentmindedly rolling the dental fillings around in her hand. They were going to have a long talk. 'He has a lot of explaining to do…'.

When she looked up from her musings she found both Ru and Izzy looking at her expectantly. An uncomfortably long amount of time had passed since anyone had said anything. 'Izzy probably thinks her dad has lost his marbles being with someone like me.' she thought. 'I really need to try to make a better first impression...' It was at that moment that she realized she was sitting on Ru's bare lap with his hands resting on her knees. "Oh." she said sheepishly, shooting Izumi a sideways glance as she quickly shoved his hands away and slid off of his lap onto her feet.

"Umm...I'll make that coffee now." she mumbled awkwardly as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Say, Kagome," Izumi called out over her shoulder. "I was thinking about doing some shopping today. I'd love for you to come with me if you're free."

"Umm…" the question caught Kagome off guard. "Yeah, that sounds like fun." She nodded.

"Hey, what about me?" Ru said in mock offense.

"What about you?" Izumi played dumb.

Kagome had a sinking feeling in her stomach upon realizing that Izumi was obviously trying to get her alone.

"Hmph! Fine. I don't shop with women anyway... They think too much." Ru defended, crossing his arms in a huff. "It shouldn't take half an hour to decide whether or not to buy a shirt."

"That's easy for you to say. You're rich... The decision's a lot harder when you can only afford one shirt." Kagome said as she scooped the coffee grounds. "Besides, I know you have your Mommy buy all your clothes for you." She didn't really know, but she suspected it, since all his clothing came by mail.

"Yash runs his mouth too much." Ru said flatly.

"He wasn't the one who told me, you just did." Kagome giggled triumphantly. If she didn't know any better she would think he was slightly embarrassed.

"Well, you don't have to worry about money anymore." he said. "Yash has got a ton of money. All he's ever done is work and he lives like a hobo."

"I'm not going to spend his money, Ru!" Kagome protested.

"So you're just gonna reject him?" Ru said as he turned on the sofa, hopping onto his knees, looking over the back into the kitchen.

"No, I'm just not going to be a freeloader." she said pointedly.

"He'll see it as rejection." Ru said, ignoring her veiled insult.

"Are you seriously starting in on this again, Ru? Why are you trying to pick a fight with me right now?" Kagome hissed, she noticed Izzy shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Ru lifted his hands in surrender.

"You need to mind your own business...and go put some damn clothes on!" she scolded him.

"Oh," he looked down at himself, then back at Kagome with a sly grin. "I'm sorry Kagome, am I distracting you?" he teased.

"No, you're disturbing me. When I first walked in I thought some kind of giant albino lizard had hatched out in the apartment."

Izumi snickered at Kagome's insult.

"It appears I've been outnumbered." Ru said defeatedly.

"Well," Izumi interjected as she stood. "I need to shower and get changed. How about I meet you back here around noon and we can go out to lunch." she called to Kagome.

"Sounds great." Kagome nodded sharply in affirmation.

"Okay, I'll see you then." Izumi said before slipping on her shoes and exiting.

<<>>

Later that afternoon, Kagome learned that when Izumi says she will be somewhere 'around' a certain time, she is using the term quite loosely. It was a quarter after one when she finally arrived back at the apartment, and she didn't even act as though she were a minute late. That was fine with Kagome, as it gave her plenty of time to prepare her answers to the questions she anticipated Izumi would be asking.

The two women got to know each other better over lunch. Izumi chose a vegan restaurant and also requested to sit outdoors. Both were choices that Kagome would never have made herself, but she decided it was sort of refreshing to branch out of her comfort zone.

Kagome decided to take the opportunity to ask Izumi more about herself, since the topic of their dinner conversation the night before had never steered in her direction. As it turned out, she was quite the interesting person, and she was nothing like InuYasha. She currently lived in something called an ecovillage, which from the description sounded to Kagome an awful lot like a hippie commune. Izumi described it as a community of about thirty people who grow their own vegetables, make their own clothes and share ownership of most of their belongings.

"So, is it like a religious thing?" Kagome asked. She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, as they seemed to imply that she was asking if it were some sort of cult. Thankfully, Izumi didn't appear to take any offense to the question.

"No, not really." Izumi shook her head. "Some of them are sort of spiritual I guess you could say, into pagan rituals and that sort of thing, but I wouldn't say they're religious."

Kagome nodded. "You will eventually have to leave though, right? Since you don't age as fast as the humans…"

"Yes. That's sort of the hanyou curse, really. You can't have long term relationships with humans that don't know about youkai...which is essentially all humans. And a lot of youkai want to keep their bloodline pure, so they aren't interested in a hanyou mate. Things would certainly be better for us few hanyou if the youkai would just reveal themselves to humans and try to reintegrate, but I don't know if that will ever happen in my lifetime."

'I guess some things never change.' Kagome thought sadly. "But if you met a human you wanted to marry, couldn't you tell them?"

Izumi shook her head in the negative. "Nope. It's against the law. I mean, technically you can, but it's a huge risk. If the person you told were to tell anyone...they call it 'exposure' and it's like the youkai equivalent of treason. If you're found guilty you'd be in serious trouble. You could even be executed, depending on the severity. I don't think I could ever trust anyone enough to take that risk."

Kagome shook her head. "It's not fair..."

"No, it's not really fair, but if you think about it it makes sense. They aren't doing it to punish anyone, just to keep order." Izumi said.

Kagome nodded as she pushed her food around on her plate, suddenly not feeling very hungry.

"So, do any of your cousins have mates?"

Izumi nodded. "Sesshomaru and Rin's two oldest daughters have mates. Both inu-youkai, of course. But with them being so 'high status', hanyou or not, they had their pick of youkai suitors."

"What about your sister?"

"Shima has been dating...well...more like courting a guy for close to a year now. It's been a major point of contention between her and Dad."

"Really?" Kagome said. "He doesn't like the guy?"

Izumi shook her head. "He can't stand him. But I personally think the reason Dad doesn't like him is that they're too much alike." she chuckled. "I'd never tell him that, though. He is convinced she's just doing it to spite him. I don't think he's going to accept that it's real until she comes home mated to the guy."

"Is he inu-youkai too?" Kagome asked.

"Yes." Izumi nodded. "Well, ookami technically..." she added.

"Ah…" Kagome said in realization. "Well, that makes a lot of sense."

"How so?" Izumi asked.

Kagome chuckled. "Back in the feudal era...there was an ookami youkai that Inu...that your dad didn't really get along with. They were sort of like...rival allies if that makes any sense... Kouga was always trying to claim that I was his, and it made InuYasha so jealous." Kagome giggled at the memory.

"So you know Kouga, then?" Izumi asked smiling.

"Umm...yeah." Kagome furrowed her brow. Just as surprised that Izumi knew Kouga also. "You do too?" she asked.

"Of course! My sister is dating his youngest son." Izumi said laughing.

Kagome laughed along with her. "Well, now it really all makes sense." she said. "And Koga doesn't have a problem with it?"

Izumi shook her head. "He has eleven sons. His bloodline isn't in any danger of ending." she chuckled. "Plus, he loves rubbing it in Dad's face."

Kagome snorted. "I bet he does…" she shook her head. "So what about you? Are you seeing anyone?" she asked.

Izumi shook her head in the negative. "To tell you the truth, I can't ever picture myself being with a youkai. I really prefer the company of humans."

Kagome nodded. The thought of introducing Izumi to her brother crossed her mind, then she wondered if maybe that would be a little too weird. 'InuYasha probably wouldn't like the idea.' she thought. Then she realized that they were obviously going to meet eventually anyway, so it really wasn't up to him. If they got together, that would make Izumi both her sister-in-law and her...step-daughter? Maybe that was a little too weird... The thought that this woman was technically her step-daughter was mind boggling enough in and of itself.

"Umm...Kagome…" Izumi said, breaking Kagome from her mental match-making. "There's...something important I wanted to talk to you about."

Kagome swallowed hard. "Okay..." she said nervously.

"Well, first off I want to say that I really like you. I really think that we could be good friends, but…"

'Oh god. Here it comes…' Kagome thought.

"I just need to know that you're sure. That you're sure you aren't going to...change your mind. I'm only asking you this because I love my dad, and I love my family… if there is even the slightest chance that you would consider choosing Ru over him...then I think you should just walk away right now." she said with a slight quiver in her voice.

Kagome felt like crying. She had expected that this was what Izumi would say, but it still landed like a punch to the gut. She couldn't let herself be offended, though. Izumi had every right to be concerned. Fortunately, Kagome had been thinking over what she was going to say all morning.

"Izzy… I know that you don't really know me, so my word probably doesn't mean all that much to you… but, I love your dad. I love him more than anything, and I promise you I'm not going to do anything to hurt him. Ru and I are close friends, but InuYasha is my best friend. I know I need to start setting some boundaries with Ru, and I promise you I'm going to make a conscious effort to work on that..."

Izumi smiled and nodded. "That's all I needed to hear."

Kagome blinked slowly. "So you trust me, then? Just like that?" she asked, awestruck by Izumi's trusting nature.

"I always trust a person until they give me a reason not to." Izumi replied sincerely.

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Fair enough. If I ever do anything to hurt him, I give you permission to kill me." she half-joked.

"Don't worry, I would never kill anyone...I can't guarantee that my sister wouldn't though." Izumi teased.

Kagome suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights.

"I'm only kidding!" Izumi giggled. "The look on your face was priceless, though... So, you still up for some shopping?" she asked, grabbing her purse.

"Sure. I'm always up for shopping." Kagome replied. Both girls giggled as they stood from the table.

"Kagome!" A male voice called from across the street.

Kagome's smile quickly faded when she turned to see Sam, waving to her as he galloped across several lanes of gridlocked traffic. "Oh god. No. no. no. no." she chanted under her breath.

"Hey, Sam!" she drawled, the artificiality of her friendly tone obvious to anyone who knew her.

"Hi, Kagome. It's good to see you again!" he said brightly as he bounced up onto the sidewalk.

"Yeah, uhh, you too." Kagome said uncomfortably.

"I'm glad I ran into you. I've been meaning to call you. Umm...I was thinking maybe we could go out again sometime." he said.

'Ugh! Of all the times for this to happen!' "Oh." Kagome responded. "About that, umm... I'm flattered....but...I'm actually seeing someone now."

"Oh…" Sam said, visibly deflating.

"Yeah," Izumi cut in abruptly, sensing Kagome's distress. "She's with me." she said as she wrapped her arms around Kagome's waist from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder.

"Oh... I see." he said slowly. "I didn't realize…"

"Yep!" Kagome joined in the ruse. "Neither did I." she chuckled awkwardly as she rested her hands on Izumi's arms.

"Okay, uhh...well, I guess I'll see you around then." Sam said.

"Yeah...okay. See ya." Kagome returned as he turned to cross back to the other side of the street, the bounce robbed from his step.

As soon a he was out of earshot, Izumi released Kagome and the two of them broke out in a fit of laughter.

"Thank you!" Kagome said through her giggles. "That was amazing."

Izumi shot her a wide smile. "What are friends for?" she chirped.

<<>>
A/N:

Abrupt ending. Had to cut it off somewhere...

Sorry this chapter took a little longer than usual. These long ones take a lot out of me.

Thanks for reading.

Have a glorious day,

P.S. I just want to explicitly state that I definitely WAS NOT implying anything romantic between Ru and Izumi. I hope it didn't come off that way. (Because eww... No. Just no...)