-Chapter 29-

continued

AN: Well I guess this is what happens when you dont have a beta. Alright, so some initial repsonses turned out that there were some loose ends still. Hopefully this will be a bit more of a closure. BTW, your favorite character Kikyo makes a come back.

"What the hell do you want from me?" she screamed at her cellphone in annoyance.

It was Saturday morning and she was desperately trying to catch up on some sleep. Ever since her court date and the kiss, she and Inuyasha were pretty much inseperable. Even Sango was complaining from lack of her attention suddenly, but ultimately both she and Miroku were relieved that they were finally together.

Initially the whole 'relationship' that they were developing felt surreal. From pretty much mortal enemies to...

"What are we?" she would ask herself sometimes.

It was hard to dispute though; despite some hesitation, she found herself entirely enveloped by his aura. She'd never had to depend on anyone in her life, especially not a guy; but she was slowly learning Inuyasha wasn't just another guy.

She brought the phone to her ear; her eyes still unable to cope with the daylight as they remained shut.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Kagome Higurashi?" came a distantly familiar voice.

Her eyes snapped open, her mind came to life suddenly as panic once again set in, "SHIT!" she thought.

"Um, yea? Who is this?" she replied. Even the pit of her stomach knew who it was, what a useless question.

"This is Brian from ARS Collection Services, how are you?" he replied in his usual tone.

"Like you care," she initially thought, but decided against repeating it aloud. "Ah, I'm fine, you?"

"I'm doing well," he replied.

An gap of silence filled the connection as she held her breath. "Come on another law suit?" she thought.

"Ms. Higurashi I just wanted to call and confirm with you that we received the consolidation paperwork from your counselor at the University. Since it's an education related debt, we can add it on with the larger loan and consolidate everything under one interest rate. I just wanted to let you know that everything was in order with the paperwork. You'll receive a notice in the mail within a few business days indicating this and you can keep that for your records," he finished.

She sat up in bed, rubbed at her eyes and was a bit taken aback by the news. It was good! Surprisingly.

"Um," she stammared, "does that mean that I'm good with everything? No court? No sueing me?"

"Well as far as this is concerned, yes," he answered.

"Wow, well thanks," she smiled.

"You're welcome and good luck," he replied before hanging up.

She snapped her phone shut and looked up completely in disbelief, for all the right reasons.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" she cried aloud happily!

It never ocurred to her that the short visit with her finance counselor at school would result in this. They various paperwork and procedures and her mind was so preoccupied with other issues at the time, she never thought all this could result in something so positive. She was not sure if she would qualify for the loan, and was far from depending on it, but in the end, it worked out for the best.

He laughed in high spirits as the young woman before him gushed with the good news.

The two sat in a comfortable restaurant for a lunch break from work.

"So all's well with the collection guy then?" he smiled.

"God yes!" she replied, "No more 'hello is this Kagome Higurashi?' I was getting so annoyed with that to the point where I was afraid of answering the phone."

"I'm glad," he answered.

"You have no idea how much of a relief this is! I can finally get on track with my bills and all this other nonsense" she took a bit of her food.

"Actually, its written all over your face and I'm really happy for it," he smiled.

"Well I guess the promotion at work will help too," she replied. "I can't believe that they are giving me so much responsibility. Assistant Director of the project."

He nodded, "Well the old man is confident everything with this project is in capable hands. Besides, you did a great job with the presentation. I'm still geting good feedback from that. What do you say, will you be able to put up with me?"

"You think we'll be able to work together?" she grinned.

"Actually, you should ask if we'll be able to get much work done when we're together," he replied

She smiled, and promptly turned a lovely shade of red. Casually she looked around trying hard not to meet his mischevious eyes.

Her gaze caught sight of another striking young woman seated a few tables away; she looked uncomfortably familiar. Kagome couldnt help but try to figure out who she was. Eventually, it came to her.

"Oh my god, its her!" she thought.

Kikyo.

The woman looked around as well and met Kagome's gaze with her own icy-death stare. She continued to look at her as if she wanted Kagome to drop dead right then and there.

Inuyasha's back as towards her, so Kagome realized he hadn't noticed her yet.

She gave him her attention again, careful to make sure Kikyo could clearly see her face still.

"Inuyasha, there's something I need to ask you."

He looked up at her serious tone from his meal, "Sure."

She cleared her throat, "Um, well actually a few things."

He chuckled, "Okay, fire away."

"Alright," she paused and mustered up her courage. "Do you still talk to you Kikyo?" she asked bluntly.

He looked at her in confusion and then straight in the eyes as he replied, "No. The last time was the day with the incident with Hojo the asshole."

She accepted that answer as honest and nodded simply.

"And, what," she cleared her throat, "Um, what was your relationship with her?"

He looked at her as if trying to figure out how their light-hearted conversation had turned to this, "Kagome, what's the matter? Why all these questions now?"

"I just need to know. Please." she replied seriously.

"Okay," he continued cautiously. He set down his eating utencils and met her eyes once more, "It started out with an infatuation, then a boyfriend/girlfriend thing and then I don't know where it fell apart. She was always jealous and demanding, to the point where I felt like more a trained dog than supposedly her soul mate. It turned unhealthy for a while with her able to manipulate me without me even realizing."

He paused for a moment and then continued.

"The whole episode in the bookstore with me and you, it was her idea and I was dumb enough to go along with it. Even though I felt instantly guilty for doing that to you."

His smoldering gaze burned into her and he reach his hand to cover hers as if to hold onto her in any way possible.

"I know," she smiled encouragingly. She looked at the woman towards the far right once more. They still had her attention.

Kagome turned to him once more. "And now?"

"Now?" he repeated.

"Yes, what-um, what are we now?" she reiterated.

His hand massaged hers lovingly, "Your mine and I'm yours. Is there anything else to say? If you want a label, then we're boyfriend/girlfriend although I really do hate the 'high school' ring to that. Honsetly, I am was tired to meaningless relationships. Kikyo was a toxic as they came and it was nice to be on my own for a while. But then, you came along. Completely different, a bit of a rude awakening at first, very unexpected, but then I realized that's what I was looking for this whole time."

She was more than elated with his answers. Her hesitations were slowly unraveling. It was hard to believe initially someone like him was capable of having a relationship, but she realized he had been hurt badly as well. He wasn't a roaming casanova that she thought, in fact, he was deep and full of as much emotion as her. Initially it was unsettling to see him vulnerable, for him to open to up her but she realized that that was her problem too. And now she was beginning to trust him more and more as she realized they were so much alike.

She sighed heavily and looked down and took her glass into hand.

"What was that sigh for?" he asked softly.

"Nothing," she looked up again at him, "I feel like for once everything is falling into place correctly. We just need to take it slow I guess."

"So I guees living together is out of the question" he replied.

She nearly choked on her sparkling water; she looked up at him, eyes wide open.

"You know, it'll help out with bills and expenses, I mean we're either at your place all the time or out, so might as well right?" he replied casually.

"Ah, well, I don't think-" she started

He errupted into laughter, "Okay," he chuckled, "I couldn't keep it in any longer. I'm joking Kagome."

She sighed with relief and laughed, "Oh my god, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"You set the pace Kagome, I'll always be here. I know what I have now, but if you need more time, I'm more than willing to give you that" he answered.

They smiled at each other as the waiter returned with their bill. Inuyasha paid and they rose from their seats.

She happened to catch the other woman's gaze as they were still standing by their table. Inuyasha bent down to grab his suit jacket and as he rose, Kagome neared him.

He was surprised at her display of affection suddenly, but welcomed it.

Smiling at him she reached up and placed a long, gentle kiss on his lips. He held her close and accepted as the two garnered the attention of other restaurant patrons.

They parted a few moments later, "Where did that come from?" he smiled.

She smiled back, "Something that I've been wanting to do for a while."

With one last glance at the now seething Kikyo, Kagome smiled in her direction and slipped her hand into Inuyasha's as they strolled out of the restaurant.

Alright people so wanted some closure - and this is about as much as I can give at the moment. Chapter 29 is a major pain! lol..like I always say, most of my fics are based on events that I either go through or witness directly. And in all honestly, there's never any real closure. Bills will always be there, just handle it and keep on living your life. Relationships, well, I don't think I'm in a good mental state to discuss that in much detail - they take work and are always evolving. With parents, siblings, significant others, etc. I initially even wrote a lemon for this fic, but it never seemed right to integrate it at any point so far. And if that's the case, you'll have to wait even more chapters for that. She can't fall into bed with him yet...it's not her nature and I think he's in a different place in his life as well. Anyway, people will either love this chap or hate it and I guess its in our nature to want a nice cookie-cutter ending...I'm beginning to really think there is no such thing.

So if at the end of the day, you really want more...just put it in your reviews. I'd be happy to keep writing, but not at the expense of loosing the quality of the story. Some of you stated, what else can she go through..lol..you'd be surprised.

So...let's hear it...remember...i still haven't put a The End anywhere.

chao