Blurb: The Challenge posed by Kagome's three modern girlfriends: Go on a date, with someone other than Hojo! Have they come to their senses? Has Kagome lost hers? Surely she will not implement their plan… with Sesshoumaru?

Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my problem.

Author's Note: CHAPTER 1 HAS BEEN EDITED... I'm shortening chapters and removing some Japanese words, since this story is YEARS old and very long.

Chapter 1: Modern Girls

"Osuwari!" she shouted as she stormed away, crunching dead leaves beneath her feet. The well was only a few feet away, and without further adieu she tossed herself over the side and beheld the blue magic swirling around her, taking her home at last.

Kagome was really steamed. Really, really pissed off! Of course this was not unusual after one of her fights with Inuyasha, but somehow it seemed worse today than normal. But then every argument seemed worse than the last one – perhaps her memory was just bad.

She knew he didn't mean any harm, yet when he called her weak and defenseless, it made her become exactly that. When he implied that she was merely a shard detector, it made her feel useless. And what she felt, she was. Kagome was a very emotional person. Why couldn't he understand her side for once?

Holding her breath, she counted to ten before she opened the door to her house and greeted her family. They didn't deserve the brunt of her anger, nor did they need to know of her troubles in the past. It was enough that they covered for her every day in school, patiently waiting for her quest to end. The loving hearts of her friends and family were what made her days worthwhile.

At the door to the kitchen, her mother greeted her with surprise. "Kagome!" exclaimed her mother happily. "You're back so soon! Would you like some dinner?"

Kagome smiled thinly and shook her head. It would not be fair to force her mom to cook an extra plate of food when the meal was almost finished. That, plus the fact that she could not stomach anything in her current upset state caused her answer. "I ate already in the village," she lied. "It's okay. I'm just going to rest for a while, I think."

Her mother nodded sympathetically and watched her depart with sad eyes. The girl thought she was hiding her pain well, but the situation was obvious from the way she carried herself. Inuyasha must have troubled her again. Hopefully he would visit soon to smooth over any difficulties they might have had.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A shrill piercing noise woke her from her doze. "Kagome! Phone for you!" her mother called from downstairs. With a sigh, she dragged herself out of bed and shuffled toward the hallway phone. At least her mother did not forget when she was actually at home and continue to make up strange medical illnesses, whenever it was avoidable. Grandfather, on the other hand, she had to fight for the phone.

The bright voice from the other end of the line buoyed her spirits tremendously though. It was Ayumi, the quietest and nicest one of her schoolmates. "Kagome! You're there! Hey do you want to go grab something to eat? Your mother said something about missing dinner."

Tilting her head to the side, Kagome twirled the telephone line between her fingers. Part of her did not want to associate with anyone until she had calmed down, but part of her … was damn hungry. As if in reply, her stomach grumbled.

"Sure Ayumi, let me change my shoes, and I'll meet you at WacDonalds. Is that okay?" There was no way she would wear her worn and ruined traveling shoes out in public. For someone as sick as she was supposed to be, her deranged loafers from the Sengoku Jidai would raise many questions about her activities.

"You read my mind!" Ayumi agreed immediately. Cheap places to eat were all teenagers could afford. "We'll meet you there in ten!"

We? Kagome pondered as she hung up the receiver. I was sort of hoping it would be just Ayumi. Oh well.

Running a brush through her hair, quickly checking her teeth and changing her shoes, Kagome slipped out the door and ran down the lonely shrine stairs.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The bubbling conversation between Eri, Yuka and Ayumi continued without interruption and without her for the most part. Kagome merely smiled and nodded occasionally, as she ate her fries. It was so pleasant to relax into the everyday worries of a modern teenage girl, to be normal for once.

"So what about you Kagome?" Eri added suddenly. "Any new guys in your life? Hojo asked about you again!" At the mere thought of the handsome Hojo, Yuka sighed in contentment and her eyes glazed over slightly.

Oh no, not this conversation again. Kagome cringed into the bench seat, nervously nibbling a french fry, hoping that if her mouth was full she could put off having to answer right away.

Sensing her reluctance, Ayumi frowned. She hated the way Kagome had grown away from them in past years, and she held Kagome's best interests close to heart. As delicately as possible, Ayumi asked, "You're not still seeing that one guy are you?"

Sadly, the fry had now been consumed and Kagome could not lift up another one without looking rude. Eri jumped on the bandwagon too. "What? The violent insensitive cheating jerk?"

Wincing at Eri's quite vocal pronouncement, Kagome wondered why she had ever admitted anything to them at all about the nature of her relationship with Inuyasha. Okay, so her friends were nosy, and she had thought that telling them she was dating would keep them from setting her up with Hojo. In the end though, she had forgotten to take into account what a terrible, terrible liar she was. And how even half-truths were far too much when the subject of choice was a stubborn hanyou from another time period.

With a tiny, tentative nod, she quickly grabbed another french fry, busying her mouth once more. It didn't work naturally. Distracting three of her most tenacious friends by eating in from of them was not a realistic plan. Although, she noted absently, it sometimes works on Inuyasha and Sango.

"What?! Kagome, you've got to stop seeing that guy!" Eri shrieked. "He's just so…"

"Not Hojo?" Yuka threw in for good measure.

"Exactly!" Eri concluded with a flourish. The two girls turned to look at each other in firm agreement.

Sighing, Kagome realized she had to put a stop to this before it got out of control. When would her friends grasp that she didn't like Hojo? She only went on dates with him because she had a hard time saying 'no' to someone whose self-esteem was obviously so fragile. Funny how a few months spent in the Warring States era had made her think of her modern acquaintances as frail and helpless beings. It was exactly what Inuyasha thought of her. And just like that, her depression returned. She pushed the food around on her tray, listening to her friends with only one ear, until she heard the most amazing thing she had ever witnessed in the present era.

"Kagome doesn't have to date Hojo if she doesn't want to," Ayumi replied suddenly. The others stopped and considered this before glancing at Kagome, their astonishment so evident that she almost laughed.

"Sure, that's true, but why wouldn't she want to?" Yuka murmured in both assent and confusion.

"Hey, I'm still here you know," Kagome groused, a little bit perturbed that they were speaking about her in the third person. (She got the impression they did this a lot while she was gone.)

Ayumi turned to face her directly then. "Well, it's true isn't it? You wouldn't keep dating this Inuyasha guy, if he didn't have something that Hojo doesn't."

At once shocked that Ayumi had remembered his name from their one conversation about it, and pleasantly surprised that one of her friends finally seemed to understand her, Kagome found herself at a loss for words. While Yuka protested the idea that Hojo could possibly be lacking in any department, Ayumi kept her eyes on Kagome, carefully studying her reaction. Perhaps her friend had not given this the thought it deserved yet, and with her logical mind she could help Kagome analyze the matter.

"So what is it that you like about this guy, that you don't like about Hojo?" Ayumi continued.

The others fell silent, awaiting her response with baited breath. Kagome bit her lip. "Um… he's very…"

"Rude, overbearing and jealous?" Eri snickered, echoing Kagome's sentiments from a past occasion. Frowning across the table, Ayumi motioned Kagome to finish before any further snide comments were made.

"He cares about me," she decided. There, that sounded good. It was true too, although the white haired half-demon had trouble showing it. "He has sacrificed a lot… to be with me."

"Like what?" Eri inquired, while Yuka added blithely, "Hojo cares about you too!"

Like his plans for the Shikon no Tama, his dreams, his life… like true love. Like Kikyou. It was almost enough to make her start crying right there at the table. Her very existence denied Kikyou's and proved that the couple's fate had been sealed over 50 years ago. Yet in other ways, she was Inuyasha's second chance, if he would only take her seriously. How did one explain something like this to a bystander, in ten words or less?

"It's complicated," she mumbled miserably, twiddling her fingers.

"Complicated because he cheats on you with his ex, who happens to look like you? Kagome, that's not complex, that's just sad." Venting her pent up frustration in a lower tone of voice, Eri looked cross.

Ayumi was not to be dissuaded though. She took Kagome's hands and pulled her forward, until they faced each other, side by side on the bench. "Well, if you can't define what you like about Inuyasha, then what don't you like about Hojo?"

She sputtered for a moment, pulling back, embarrassed. "I like lots of things about Inuyasha. And it's not that I don't like Hojo, he's very nice, he is always giving me things…"

"Name the first thing that comes to mind."

Seeing no way out, Kagome flushed with annoyance and tugged her hands out of Ayumi's hold. They wanted to hear her opinion on Hojo? Fine then. It was about time. "He's boring," she announced bluntly.

Yuka gasped in horror and Eri chuckled into her hand, while Ayumi finally saw the light. Privately, she had always felt the same way about Hojo. Still she had hoped that he could draw her shy friend out of her shell. It seemed they would have to try something else.

"So… if Hojo is boring, and this other guy is… complicated," she summarized slowly, "Then what you really enjoy is the amount of work you have to invest in a relationship?"

By this time, Eri was laughing openly. "You like the fact that he doesn't like you?"

Yuka chimed in mercilessly, "She likes the chase!"

Without missing a beat, Eri looked to Yuka and continued, "The challenge! Kind of like a girl who dates a gay guy, thinking she will convert him. She needs a formidable task."

The giggling girls were beginning to draw attention from the other restaurant goers. It was the last straw for Kagome. In a huff, she threw down her napkin and stood abruptly, stalking to the restroom to regain her cool. The bathroom was cold and sterile, with bland white tiles and buzzing fluorescent lights, covered in the smell of cleaner. She began to breathe again. Splashing some water on her face, she wondered why she had come at all. I could be sleeping right now, she thought with chagrin. But they are my friends; I have to face them eventually. Even if it is hard to balance my two separate lives, I don't want to give up either one.

One deep breath and one paper towel later, her face and mind were clear. Returning to the table, she saw the calm, abashed faces of her friends. She slid into place and eyed Eri's fries with envy. Her own food was gone, and although with her current sleek physique, she could probably eat about 1,000 french fries without gaining a pound, her modern day sensibilities would not allow her such a luxury.

"Okay, here's the deal," Ayumi began hesitantly. "We weren't making fun of you. It's just that this guy sounds like a jerk, and you seem unhappy with him sometimes. You don't have to date Hojo, but you should explore your options. I know you miss a lot of school, and you're sick all the time – but Kagome! You're still smart, and one of the prettiest girls I know! Respect yourself more, maybe this guy isn't the right fit for you…"

Here Eri interrupted. "What Ayumi is trying to say is this: If it is a challenge you want, it's a challenge you get. We have a proposition for you." She winked mischievously and nodded to Yuka-chan.

Grinning like a mad jester, Yuka pulled out a piece of notebook paper on which she had scrawled the following words:

The Challenge - Go on a date!

"It's simple really," she continued. "As long as you go out with… well not Hojo, he's too easy since he already wants to date you… and not this other fellow, he IS dating you, so that won't work… Then tell us about it and you're done!"

Eri rolled her eyes and interrupted. "It has to be a challenge. Someone who wants to date you, or is already doing so, won't fulfill our requirements. The task is to find a guy who knows you, but has not dated you before, and get him to ask you out. By someone 'challenging' I don't mean a married man, or a guy so old he has no libido, or a macho-prick with so many spikes on his leather that he is a danger to himself and others. Merely someone new. Not too hard, right?"

Kagome blinked, stupefied. She had only been gone a few minutes – how had they come up with this crazy scheme? A plot to make her date a total stranger! For a modern girl, she was woefully behind the times and as bashful as a typical medieval lady. She blushed at the mere idea of it.

Undaunted, Eri gestured toward the main room. "For example, out of the guys in here, which one would be the least likely to say 'Take me, I'm yours' when you ask him out?"

Kagome could feel her ears turning red. "I can't ask out a complete stranger."

"You don't have to!" Eri reassured her quickly, "Anyone except Hojo or Inuyasha is fine." With trepidation she probed, "You do know other guys right?"

"Of course I do!" Kagome protested strongly, her mortification flaring up at the suggestion that she did not have male friends, and then blazing at the realization that she did, in fact, have many of them. Oh, but what she wouldn't give to see Eri's face upon meeting Kouga! That would teach her to make assumptions. "Besides, I could always make something up," she pouted.

With a merry chuckle Eri replied, "Trust me, I'll know. You always do this little thing with your lip when you are lying…"

"Do not!" cried Kagome, aghast. Did that mean Inuyasha could tell when she lied too? Probably. Shucks. "What makes you think I'll do this at all?"

And that was when they dropped the real bomb on her. Yuka and Eri practically glowered with a sickening, knowing look as Ayumi tapped her on the shoulder. "If you don't go on at least one date by the time we see you again, then I won't give you any more homework or class notes."

Kagome's eyes went wide with horror. She needed those notes to survive! Her grades were failing! "You wouldn't!" she pleaded with her friend.

Resolutely, Ayumi nodded. "It must be done. For your own good!"

"And if you persist in resisting us," Eri smiled wickedly, "Yuka and I will write love letters to Hojo, and sign your name."