Help! My world is upside down!

Thank you all for your warm reviews. You rock!!! Here you have chapter 11. Hope you enjoy!

Chap 11. Preparing for the Party

Sesshomaru woke up early; he had a very important appointment in the morning. He had made up his mind. Kagome would not be another Rin; he couldn’t allow himself to get too attached to her, and to make matters worse, his basic instincts didn’t see her as a pack daughter as Rin had been, but as a future mate. His inu was getting too attached to the girl. What happened in the swimming pool was proof of that; his inu had enjoyed the closeness of the woman too much.

So, he had decided to go to the marriage arranger sooner than planned, the feelings the human onna presented him with had to be eradicated, no matter how drastic that may sound; he had to find a suitable mate, someone obedient, who knew her place. If the agency was as good as he had been told he would soon find his mate-to-be. Today he was going to the first interview; he had already made a list of the things he fancied in a mate, apart of being obedient she should be beautiful, elegant and charming, with the ability to carry a nice conversation; she should be able to move around youkai society smoothly because he needed someone to mix with his client’s wives. Perhaps she shouldn’t be too beautiful because it was common knowledge that females tended to mistrust ones more beautiful than they. He went through the list again, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. He had been so focused on power in the past, he hadn’t thought of finding a mate, but now, with all his goals accomplished, he believed it was time.


Kagome was having breakfast; she had just taken a shower and was wearing a robe, her wet hair cascaded down her shoulders, still dripping. She was reading the newspaper and munching on a piece of toast when a very elegantly dressed Sesshomaru entered the kitchen. He seemed to be concentrating on his own thoughts.

He was pouring himself a cup of coffee when a clean, wonderful and familiar scent hit his nose. With the cup of coffee firmly held in his right hand, he turned around to see Kagome eating her breakfast and looking at him. She made a wonderful sight, her clean face free of make up was what he liked most; he didn’t know why women would care to put so much make up on, it only masked their true scent and their natural beauty. Her fresh scent assaulting his nostrils was about to make his inu emerge and do something he would regret later, so he held the mug of coffee to his nose to mask her scent, thus keeping a tight hold on his basic instinct.

Kagome was staring at Sesshomaru; he had dressed very elegantly for a Sunday. She couldn’t hold her tongue; she had to ask, “You look very elegant today, Sesshomaru. Do you have a date?” Her only answer was the narrowing of his eyes and a short, “Hn”. He then turned around, carefully placed his mug in the sink and left the kitchen.

Kagome was astonished, what was today, a full moon? That guy was a lunatic! She resumed eating her breakfast and reading the newspaper. What did she care about him, anyway? What happened yesterday in the swimming pool obviously meant nothing to him. Well, that was fine with her; she didn’t care either! She had more important things to focus on now; she was going out with her friends in the afternoon, and she had to get herself a nice dress for the party next Friday.

Kagome was certain Sango was going to enjoy their shopping afternoon; Toga had given her a credit card, and told her she had no spending limit. She wasn’t a conceited girl, but she enjoyed shopping and liked nice clothes. Besides, she needed to give a good first impression to the youkai society, and being that she was going to be Inuyasha’s partner, she wanted him to be in the same league as the rest; she wanted to be the perfect partner for the occasion, and, if possible, show them that a ningen and a hanyou could make their jaws hang open in admiration. Ok, maybe that was a little too conceited, but dreaming was easy! The point is that she wanted Inuyasha to be proud; she wished to make up for all the times throughout his life he had been scorned. The avenger, Kagome, was ready to kick their conceited asses and teach everyone a lesson in humility.

Inuyasha found her, moments later, still mentally berating herself for sounding so conceited, even if it was only within the confines of her own mind. However, he never noticed the state she was in and began a one way conversation with his monosyllabic partner. It wasn’t until much later that he was able to get her to agree to go to the swimming pool.

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Sesshomaru had just parked his car. With a look of bewilderment, he read the piece of paper firmly gripped in his hand. Yes, the address was correct. He was in front of the house he was looking for; however, it was not as he expected it to be. He had been told the woman was the best marriage arranger in town; all the wealthy youkai families went to her to find their siblings the best matches so that their power and wealth would not diminish, so he expected her to live in a big mansion and not a traditional wooden house.

He exited the car and stood there, in the middle of the street, looking at the house in front of him. It was worst than he expected; not only was it a very old and traditional house, it was also poorly kept. The windows needed some fixing and the outside wooden porch needed some polishing and painting. The house needed serious maintenance.

When he was about to turn around and make his leave, a voice called him.

“Sesshomaru-sama.”

He stopped and turned around, before him stood and old youkai female. She looked regal in her traditional three layered kimono, her white hair was in a tidy bun and everything in her screamed aristocracy. The woman bowed, so did Sesshomaru.

“Katsumi-sama, I suppose.” The woman nodded.

“I suppose you are intrigued as to why I made you come to a place like this.” She waited until he nodded. “This belonged to my family a long time ago. We used to be the wealthiest family in Japan, but that made us the target of many envious people, especially Naraku. He didn’t stop until we lost everything we possessed; however, that never broke our pride or our spirit. My father worked hard until he recovered our lost status. At that time, I used our influence and my ability to find matching people to help him. That is how all this started. The couples I united worked together wonderfully. Of course, I didn’t always make the right choices, but many soul mates came from me. However, I keep this house as a memory that wealth and power are ephemeral. One day you are on the top, but the next one you can be at the bottom; this is the lesson I learned.”

The woman looked at Sesshomaru’s bored expression and chuckled. “Come in, Sesshomaru-sama. Have you brought the list?” He nodded and followed her inside.

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“Well, you have quite a long list, if I may say, Sesshomaru-sama.” The old lady was going through the list Sesshomaru had given her and reading some files at the same time. “If you are too selective it will be harder to find a suitable mate, you know?”

“Hn. I don’t want to waste my time with worthless females. If you think you don’t have the mate I need I’ll go somewhere else.”

The woman sighed in exasperation. Pups were always so impatient. “I never said I couldn’t find you a suitable mate; I just said that it will be harder for me to find her.” She went through the list again. “Does she have to be full youkai, because I have some very…”A growl stopped her speech; she lifted her eyes from the piece of paper to face a very enraged youkai.

“I will not accept a female that is not youkai, nothing else will do! Tell me if you have what I want, or if I’m wasting my time!”

Katsumi shrugged her shoulders. “I have some women that could fit in most of the things you want, some of the other ones you will have to find out.” He nodded. “Good, I think we could start with this one. Here you have a description of her and her character. As you will understand, to reserve her privacy I don’t have her picture, but if you agree to meet her I’ll get in touch with her and tell her about you. What do you think?”

Sesshomaru kept reading about the girl, she didn’t sound too bad. She was youkai and about his age, apparently she would be good for him. “I’d like to meet this one. What’s her name?”

“I can’t tell you yet, for the sake of privacy. I’ll tell her about you, and if she agrees to meet you, I’ll give her you cell number, and she will get in touch with you.”

“Alright, what if she doesn’t want to meet me?”

“In that case, I’ll contact you. Don’t worry; you will soon have an answer.”

With a nod, Sesshomaru stood up and left the house. There was nothing else he could do but wait. He was a very practical being, so he decided to spend the rest of the day training and meditating.

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“Good morning Kagome!”

“Hey Koga!”

“How was your weekend?”

“Just great! You know, I loved going out with you, Ayame and Inuyasha the other day, it was just like we used to do!”

“Yeah, we both enjoyed it too. You know Ayame really likes you.”

“And I like her too. You know, Koga, she may be a bit pushy, but she is perfect for Koga, and she is very understanding.”

Koga gave her a questioning look.

“What do you mean?” Kagome smiled lightly

“We never told you, but… after we broke up, and you started to date Ayame, she came to me one day and told me that she knew I loved you, and you loved me back, and that she was sorry things had to turn out the way they had to be. She told me you had to give me up for mine and your family’s safety. She explained everything to me…” Koga turned around and run his fingers through his hair looking at the ceiling “I can’t believe she told you!”

Kagome reached her hand and rubbed his shoulder. “Don’t blame her. I will always thank her for telling me, it helped me understand your rejection because that is how it affected me at first. I was about to go to another college, so I would never have see you again. I thought you had chosen Ayame over me because I wasn’t worthy…” He silenced her with a finger on her lips and a loving gaze. He then hugged her tight, holding her for some time and smelling her wonderful scent.

“I’m sorry, Kagome. I loved you so much, but we were being threatened, even your life was…”

“I know, Koga. Ayame told me everything. There is no need to apologize. I forgave you a long time ago, and you have been a wonderful friend. Ayame has been wonderful too, she always understood our friendship, and she has trusted you all this time. She gave me her support when I felt so bad over your rejection.”

“Well, I wouldn’t change her now for anything, but at that time it was hard for me to have you close and not kiss you and hold you tight.”

“She is a wonderful person, Koga, no wonder you love her so much.”

“Yes, I’m glad she stood by you, and I’m sorry I had to keep it all secret from you.”

She waved her hand in front of his face.

“Oh, it’s all over and forgotten now, and I’ve earned another very good friend! So… when are you going to give me a “niece” or a “nephew?” I’m getting old you know!” She pinched his arm, startling him.

Koga rubbed the back of his head and laughed. “You know, Ayame says the same! Well… I guess we will soon be having little wolves running around.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the clearing of a throat. They turned around to find a scowling Sesshomaru, throwing daggers at them. “Don’t you have work to do?”

They parted ways with sad, apologetic looks on their faces. Kagome sat down by her desk resting her arms on the table and her head on her arms. Why did Sesshomaru always find her in the most embarrassing situations?

She lifted her head.

Why did she care? If Toga and Shoja hadn’t met her, he would never stop to giver her the time of the day. He was out of her reach, so she better stop trying to get in his good graces…

Not that she was trying…

Was she?

The ring of her phone brought her out of her musings.

“Higurashi.”

“Kagome! Are you ready for today?”

“Sango?”

“Have you got your visa ready? Because today it will have smoke coming out of it, my dear friend!” She laughed like an old witch.

Kagome laughed. Yeah, after work she was going shopping with Sango. She had some posh youkai to impress in a few days.

“I hope you are wearing comfortable shoes today, my dear Sango!” she gave a spooky laugh.