Disclaimer: Inu Yasha is NOT MINE!!!!!!!! He belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

P.S. I HAVE NO $$$$$ SO DON'T SUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

A/N: I wanted to thank the few of you who reviewed my story in a special way, so I decided to incorporate your names into the story. I got four of you this time around, but keep reading, they may be hidden between the lines. I hope you like it.

Through the Rose Colored Lenses

CH. 3

By Sailor Scribe

Kagome was relieved to be able to get about an hour's worth of sleep on the way to the shoot. Inu Yasha was uncharacteristically quiet during the bumpy ride out of Tokyo, and Miroku seemed preoccupied with smiling at all the pretty drivers on the road. They made good time, partially because there is little traffic at five a.m. in any city, and partially because Miroku turned into a speed demon the minute they got on the mountain roads.

She yawned lazily as a young girl brought her two cups of coffee. Kagome smiled at the young assistant. One day, she would be producing Hollywood movies, but until she was done with school, she would have to settle in keeping the photographers happy, which, in her case, meant keeping Kagome and Inu Yasha as far away from each other. "Thanks, L.B."

"Don't mention it." The young girl replied. "P.S. The cup on the right is for Inu Yasha…AND ONLY INU YASHA!"

"I don't know why you are so keen into taking such care with his cup, he always complains, and says it's awful."

"I know." L.B. replied with a smirk and a wink. Kagome could not help but laugh. "So, do you want to know what's going on behind the scenes?" Kagome raised an eyebrow as she sized the girl up. Her brown wavy hair was pinned back in a low pony tail, and her warm honey brown eyes were accentuated with red eye shadow. She proudly wore a black Limp Biskit t-shirt and had her thumbs tucked into her jean jacket.

"On the D.L.?" L.B. nodded. "Fill me in."

"Ok, see the blonde looking bimbo Yasha is taking to?"

"The one that had the obvious silicon breasts?"

"Yeah, that's his flavor of the week. Unfortunately, she isn't an air head."

"So he won't be able to seduce her?"

"Nope, she is going down easy, that way she can sell it latter to the tabloids for a load of money, because an overnight success and marry her true love, the lighting guy."

"You're joking, right?"

"Nope, but it gets better. The lighting guy has the hots for Sango, who doesn't know he exists, and the only reason he is talking to blondie over there is so Sango will notice."

"Sounds like a morning soap."

"That's nothing. Miroku has had the hots for Sango since day one. According to anonymous sources, after the first time she slapped him, he went right out and bought an engagement ring for her. He has been trying to romance her ever since."

"That sounds too drastic…how reliable is your source."

"Not one hundred percent, because I know personally that Sango's first slap landed Miroku in the hospital, but, lets not forget that there is a beautiful little jewelry store in front of the hospital that specializes in engagement rings." L.B. smirked.

"He got her a ring."

"Yup."

"You were there?"

"I blamed it on the concussion at the time, but the more I see the two together, I know it's love…unfortunately, Miroku can't keep his hands to himself, and always manages to spoil their moments by groping her."

"Then, how can you tell it's true love?"

"He hasn't groped another girl but Sango since that day."

"What about Inu Yasha? Any model or person on the set I should be wary of?"

"All the models…he goes through models like Sesshomaru goes through glares…speaking of which, you might want to be aware that he is secretly married to his assistant, Kagura. No one but the family knows."

"Then how do you know?"

"Simple, I take his royal highness his coffee every morning, whether or not he is yelling at his brother over his cell phone. I happen to have good ears." Kagome smiled she took another sip of her coffee.

"Any gossip about Shippo?"

"Not really, except that he…"

"Is my coffee ready yet?" Inu Yasha growled at the two women as he came up to them. Kagome, too shocked to process the request stared at him raising her cup to him.

"No Kag, that's your cup. Inu hates Sweet and Low." L.B. replied before Inu took the cup.

"Trying to fool me?" Inu Yasha took a sip of his coffee and nearly coughed it up. "This thing tastes worst cold! What did you do, use cigarette grinds instead of coffee? If it wasn't cuz you're too damn efficient and for some strange reason my brother loves your coffees I would have fired you long ago!"

"Like all dogs, his bark is so much worse than his bite." L.B. whispered to Kagome. She held her giggle but Inu Yasha's sensitive ears caught the comment.

"Come'n wench! We don't have all day!"

"My name is not wench!"

"I know, wench is prettier!" Inu Yasha could not help but smirk as Kagome's face turned a lovely shade of red.

"Does that mean I can call you Inu Kuro instead?" She tried to smile innocently, but her anger shown through. His jaw dropped in surprise, and before he could recover, Kagome walked towards the set. "Well, I don't want to be here all day either."

Kagome had spent her morning arguing with Inu Yasha between rolls of film. He couldn't understand why she refused to switch cameras instead of reloading her own, and Kagome could not understand why Inu Yasha insisted on the girls getting smaller bikinis. She was about to give Inu Yasha a piece of her mind when Miroku showed up with lunch. Her last meal having been at seven the previous night made her lose interest in the hanyou completely.

"You were so busy ah…how do you say…having creative differences with Inu Yasha that I wasn't able to get your order for lunch." Miroku explained. "So I got you the same thing Yasha ordered." Kagome looked at her ten-course lunch. Even as hungry as she was, she could not picture eating this much food.

"Does Inu Yasha have lobster for lunch every day?"

"Only if his brother forks over the bill. Sesshomaru hates unneeded expenses."

"So he is going to hate you springing for two lobster lunches."

"Actually three. He is planning to join us latter on today."

"Still won't forgive the expense." Kagome finally found the melted butter.

"Yes he will, as long as I tell a really good story about how Yasha got pissed that you got the same lunch as he did, and you ended up out witting him again. I told him the Inu Kuro line…I think I got that extra vacation week I wanted." Miroku laughed remembering the hanyou's face. Kagome took a bite into her lobster. It was heavenly.

"Hey, that's my lunch!"

"No it isn't, Yasha. Your lobster is half a pound smaller."

"What?"

"Hey, I need more food! My body is totally out of whack since I got no sleep last night!" Kagome protested.

"Hey, just cuz you decided to stay out all night and party…."

"I didn't stay out all night and party!"

"Then you stayed in with your man and partied…"

"Kami no, Inu Yasha!"

"So you left your boyfriend out of this one? Poor guy!"

"Inu Yasha!" Kagome lost it. It was an effect Inu Yasha seemed to have on her. "If you must know, I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Wonder why?" She threw a piece of bread at his head. He caught it effortlessly, which caused her to boil over with more anger. "They why were you out all night?"

"I was working!" She replied through clench teeth.

"That's a lie. My brother wouldn't send you on an assignment the night before a major shoot."

"Your brother isn't my only boss, Inu Yasha! Some of us have to pay our own bills!"

"Still gibberish!"

"You know what that word means? I'm shocked." Sango interrupted as she joined the group. "Lettuce, lettuce, and more lettuce…what am I a rabbit?" she asked eying her lunch. Inu Yasha ignored her and continued his interrogation of Kagome.

"I'm sure my brother is paying you more than you're worth!"

"May be, but that doesn't change the fact that I am only part time!"

"And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"

"Everything! Part time means no benefits. No benefits means no health insurance. No health insurance means big almost impossible bills to pay when you are raising a twelve year old boy!"

"Huh?"

"Do you have any idea how many vaccines, broken bones, sprained ankles, fevers, strange illness and cavities a boy that age gets?"

"Uhhhh?"

"Allot!" Both Sango and Kagome spoke in unison.

"I know every week is something new with Kohaku! Last week he cut himself playing soccer…I think that one took seven stitches. This week he needed vaccines, and he has a dental appointment next week."

"These things are nowhere near affordable, much less cheap, Inu Yasha! By working full time at the shop I get some medical insurance. It isn't the greatest, but at least its help!" Without blinking, Kagome smacked Sango's hand with her chopsticks as she tried to steal a bit of lobster. "Sorry girl, you know what they say, 'one calorie and it shows!'"

"But it looks so good!"

"That is nothing compared to the seven layered chocolate cake that I am having for desert."

"Seven layers?" Sango whimpered.

"Does my brother know you work nights?" Inu Yasha interrupted

"I don't work nights!"

"You did last night!"

"Last night was overtime.

"Keh, so does he?"

"If he read my file, yes. I remember mentioning that I had another full time position elsewhere, but it was not photography related."

"There is no way my brother will allow his newest prodigy girl to work nights!" Inu Yasha protested.

"First of all, I am not his newest prodigy girl; second, There is nothing, I repeat, nothing wrong with working nights!"

"Do you know how many psychos are out at night?" He began to stand up as he voice caught momentum.

"Probably the same as during the day…Inu Yasha, please sit down. I get a ride to…" Kagome's comment was caught in her throat as the rosary began to glow and yanked Inu Yasha with it to the ground. Miroku and Sango stared incredulously at the hanyou trying to figure out why he was eating dirt, specially since his lunch looked nothing like Sango's. "Inu Yasha, why do you take me so seriously when I ask you to sit?" The rosary glowed again as the crater became larger. "A way for mikos to subdue their demons…Kaede how did you know?" Kagome thought as Inu Yasha crawled out of his hole.

"I asked you before," his eyes were turning crimson, "how did you get such a rare rosary."

"And I told you, my friend…well actually she is also my other boss gave it to me…in case you got out of line!"

"Then, you knew what this was all along, bitch?" Inu Yasha was panting with anger.

"No, but thank you for helping me understand. Oh, by the way, my name isn't bitch; it's Kagome, and if you don't start calling me by it, I will be force to call you SIT!" Inu Yasha came crashing down to her feet, while she just stood up and left. It was a good five minutes until Inu Yasha managed to get out of his little hole, only to find his lunch gone.

"What happened to my food?" Sango let out a very unlady-like burp. "Sango?"

"Sorry, I thought you would be full on dirt, so I didn't think you would mind." Inu Yasha glared at her dangerously. Miroku quickly got in front of Sango and reminded the hanyou,

"She is the star of this shoot! Without her, Calvin will leave us! You can't eat her!"

"Boring…Boring….More boring!" Inu Yasha complained as he and Kagome thought of different ways to position the girls.

"Well, at least I am trying!" Miroku protested. Sesshomaru looked at Kagome, who seemed to be staring out into space with a dreamy look. He could tell the woman knew what she wanted to photograph, but for some strange reason was keeping it to herself.

"I told you this whole mountain bikini theme wasn't working…and whose idea was it to put Shippo in a lion cloth?" Inu Yasha complained.

"I think he looks totally adorable." Kagome sighed, and Inu Yasha turned to face her. For the first time since he met her he was able to see how tired and drain she looked: almost as if a gust of wind could knock her of her feet. He stopped his hand before it went to her forehead. She was sick. Her scent told him that. She was most likely suffering from exhaustion. "He reminds me of Tarzan…swinging from vine to vine with Sango."

"Except he is too small to carry Sango." Miroku protested.

"So have him perched on Sango's shoulder." She continued in a half whisper. "But I guess it would be difficult to get parental consent for that one."

"Why?" Inu Yasha lowered his tone to match hers. For the first time he seemed to be speaking to her in a non threatening voice.

"I don't know many parents that would like to put their children at risk."

"Don't forget, Shippo is full youkai and my son."

"What? What kind of joke is that?"

"No joke," Inu Yasha continued indignantly. "I adopted Shippo about five years ago, when his parents died. I thought you were debriefed by L.B."

"But you treat him so horribly."

"Got to toughen his skin. It's common youkai practice." Kagome raised an eyebrow to Sesshomaru in question.

"My brother raises the kit quite well, though he is not very nurturing, but then again, he isn't female, so it can't be expected of him. But I like the idea. Run with it." He turned and got ready to leave. There was something wrong with the girl. Why was she so tired?

"I'll get Shippo ready." Kagome got up and left the men.

"Damn, we'll be lucky if she lasts another week." Inu Yasha half whispered to himself.

"Don't worry, she won't fail you." Sango replied as she and her agent approached them. "Yasha you remember my agent, Laura Lillacks."

"Yeah, you wanted to talk about representing Shippo." Inu Yasha examined the leggy blonde. Her green eyes sparkled with a keen wit, and her curls made her look elegant, yet sexy. Yup, she was definitely a former model.

"Yes I do. As you know children are my specialty."

"I am not sure if I would like to continue a professional career for Shippo, but first thing is first: he has to approve of you. Shall we." As they walked towards Shippo, Inu Yasha turned to Sango. "Why are you so sure she won't knock over after a week?"

"Because she has been through so much worse."

"What do you mean? Does it have something to do with the twelve year old boy she is raising?"

"It has everything to do with her brother. Kagome's father died when Souta was a about a year old. Things were hard at the shrine, and she learned responsibility at an early age, but everything changed right after graduation."

"High school?"

"Yes. Kagome wasn't really going to go to college or anything. She was going to work for a year or so until she knew what she wanted to do with her life, but her mom and grandfather died in a car accident soon afterwards. She was left alone with a six year old boy to raise. She decided she had to make them proud. Went to College, worked full time, took care of the family shrine and raised Souta. Kaede was a great help."

"Kaede?"

"Her other boss. She took care of Souta during the day so Kagome could go to school. She even took Kagome on full time to be able to give her health insurance. She has been taking care of them like they were her family. Kagome somehow managed to pay for school, her masters and Souta's needs. Probably why she sold her soul to Sesshomaru…all those loans are coming back to haunt her."

"I was wondering how she got the rosary." Inu Yasha thought. "Kaede, I would never have guessed you would have been involved with this girl, but somehow I am not surprised."

"Inu Yasha!" A high pitch squeak rushed to his shoulder. "I am so glad you decided to let me be in the shoot. You'll see, I'll be the next big child star after Mary Kate and Ashley." Inu Yasha picked the kit up by his tail and dropped him to the ground.

"Keh! Keep dreaming. This is Ms. Lillacks; she would like to talk to you."

"How could you be so mean to the poor boy?" Kagome asked folding her arms in front of her. He gave her a long hard look as he noticed how well she hid her fatigue. He shrugged and responded.

"We need to set up."

"Inu, Ms. Lillacks thinks I can be big too! I like her! Can she be my agent?"

"We'll talk about it at home."

"Well, I have a three o'clock. I should be going."

"I'll walk you to your car." Kagome offered as Sango left. She had been first met her when Sango was in high school; out of all the agents Sango went to, Laura was the only one Kagome had trusted enough to let her friend hire.

"Kagome, I said it when I first met you, and I will say it again: you got great bone structure, if you are willing to lose ten pound, you could hit it big as a cover model."

"No thanks." Kagome laughed. "I can't give up chocolate like Sango did. I don't have that kind of discipline."

"I know you have more than you give yourself credit for. I know life has been hard for you…Do you remember my car?"

"It was your husband's, wasn't it?"

"Yes. He bought it the same year I picked up Sango. It was his baby, his Mercedes Benz. He called it Meche…short for Mercedes in Spanish. A few years passed, instead of trading up the car, he wanted to trade me in for a newer model. He forgot whom he married…now, I have the car, money and a successful business. He has nothing. You are not the only one against the tides…it will be fine. They will shift and you will be on dry land once again."

"Thank you Laura-chan." The two hugged and Kagome brushed some unshed tears away. Somehow she had found her support group again. She was no longer alone facing the world. She stood a chance.

"Inu Yasha, you don't have to carry me up the shrine steps!" Kagome almost screamed as he tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Keh, you've been a zombie all day. Bet you would fall and hurt yourself, and my brother would blame me for it." In two hops he reached the top and dropped her on her but.

"It would be…the way you drive…why didn't Miroku drive again?"

"He drove Sango home in her car since she said she was sleepy." He replied in his 'if you believe that bull' tone.

"Ah, well thanks for the ride."

"Keh, don't mention it. Just be ready tomorrow at five!"

"I will be."

"That means no night shift."

"Inu Yasha!"

"Kagome, you're home!" Souta rushed to his sister's side and glared at the hanyou. She guided him up the steps and turned to say her final good bye to Inu Yasha. Souta dropped his soccer ball, which rolled over to Inu Yasha. He kicked it back up and a surprised out of wind Souta caught it when it made contact with his chest.

"Not bad kid. You could be a goalie."

"That's what I tell them, but they say I'm to short."

"If you're agile enough, height isn't an issue. Here, let me show you a few tricks." Souta looked at his sister for guidance.

"Just stay out of the garden." Kagome smiled and walked into the house. She started dinner and peeped at the boys through the window. They failed to stay out of the garden. She sighed quietly, realizing she knew they would. Through the open kitchen window she could hear the soulful laughter that had been missing for so long from their shrine. She could not help but stare at her brother idolizing every move the hanyou made as if that hanyou was his older brother or even father. Even from the kitchen, Kagome could see a new sparkle in Souta's eyes. Perhaps Kaede was right; may be, just may be, Souta needed a father. May be she should find him one. Someone who could bring out that light in Souta's eyes, just like the hanyou did…but without Inu Yasha's foul mouth. Someone that her mother would have chosen as Souta's role model…may be even some she could someday grow to love.

"Oh shit, Inu Yasha, the window!" Souta screamed as the ball flew towards the window.

"Fuck!" Inu Yasha dove and caught it before it broke the glass.

"Definitely someone with a cleaner mouth." Kagome concluded as she set the table. She walked outside to be greeted by two muddy males. "I don't know how you got that dirty…It hasn't rained in weeks, but one thing is for sure." She picked up the hose. "You are not coming into my clean kitchen in that state."

"Sis…not that…anything but that!" Souta began to back away slowly.

"What? Don't run away! Show her who is the man!" Inu Yasha protested.

"Inu Yasha."

"Yes." A spray of cold water met his face as Kagome proceeded to hose him down. She quickly switched targets and attacked her baby brother. Normally this wasn't a difficult task, but today, Souta had someone to hide behind. Before she could realize his intentions. Inu Yasha caught Kagome from behind and wrapped his arms above hers, pinning her to him. Souta quickly caught on, and stole the hose away. "Hurry Souta, before she gets lose."

"You wouldn't dare….Ahhhh!" Souta gave her a devilish smile.

"Payback is sweet." Kagome struggled in the hanyou's grip only managaing to turn herself around and face him. He gave her one of his classic smirks as she looked up to him a light blush sprayed on her cheeks, glassy blue eyes and her hair straighter due to the weight of the water.

"Kikyo." He thought as he finally realized who she reminded him of.

"Fine, you win, though two against one isn't fair." Kagome's step back from him caused him to come back to reality. "I guess I have no choice but to let you into my kitchen now." She sighed. "I was hoping I didn't have to mop today." They followed her into the house and she threw towels at her two traitors. "Inu Yasha, since it's late, and you are soaked, would you like to stay for dinner." Souta looked up hopefully.

"What are you having?"

"Pasta stir fry."

"Ramen?"

"No real food."

"Ramen is real food. I live off the stuff, I'll have you know." He took one look at the pot. "Looks close enough to Ramen…yeah, I'll stay."

"Sit down." Inu Yasha fell to the floor.

"Oh sorry, cancel that."

"I whish I could." He slowly got up and headed towards the table. "Four?" he asked as he notice there was four places on the table.

"Yeah, I am having a friend over for dinner. That should be him." She finished as the doorbell rang. She hurried and opened the door to reveal a man on one knee holding an eight carrot solitaire. As the light hit it, it became a prism, and Kagome's breath was caught in her throat. "Oh my Kami! Koga…it's perfect."