The Rings

Summary: Eyes of the same steal blue intensity, clashed dangerously with one another, "I hate you..." Those words that fell from soft lips had no effect on the one they had been directed at, a small smirk forming instead on the recipients own lips, "Oddly enough, I'm fine with that."

Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Prince of Tennis

Pairing: Fuji/Kagome

Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort

Rated: M for Mature Content

-x-x-x-

"Iie,"

"Come on, Echizen, we talked it over with Kags already, just come with. You want to watch out for her just as much as we do, despite not knowing why."

Ryoma glared at Akira, "Iie, I'm not getting involved."

Shinji frowned, "That's a shame, Kagome seemed happy with the thought of the three of us going with her, she wanted to talk more with Ryoma, but I guess he doesn't really care about Kagome. He only wanted to look good in front of her, I bet he secretly has dirty thoughts about her too, despite only knowing her for a day, I bet he's really-"

"FINE!" Ryoma blushed brightly at the muttering blue haired boy.

"Then we will meet here at twelve, she has a date with Fuji at seven, an evening date. Keh~"

Ryoma raised a brow, "Is that bad?"

"An evening date is much more dynamic than that of an afternoon lunch date or a morning breakfast date...an evening date is the romantic dinner date...he's cunning..." Akira glared at the tennis ball lying forgotten on the ground. He and Shinji had walked Kagome back with Ryoma before walking off with the Seigaku Prince. Now standing outside the shrine Ryoma lived at.

"Oi, brat, what the hell are you still doing up, and why are your friends here at this hour?!"

Ryoma turned to see his dad yawning with a rolled up magazine in hand, "If I'd known you were awake, I'd have brought Kagome up to talk to you."

Nanjirou looked at the three boys before the name clicked in his head, "Ah, little Miss. Engaged...Is she okay?" He walked out and immediately noted the blue and red haired boys sulking. "Ah, you both liked her, huh."

"I-Iie! I like Ann..." Akira frowned with a bright flush, "Kagome is like our little sister, she means the world to us, and that we can't do anything to help her, it really sucks."

Nanjirou sighed, "Eh? But isn't being with her when she needs your help enough?"

The three looked at Nanjirou.

"She is scared, and worried, and at the moment, she has every reason to be. However, if you are her friends, and I mean really her friends...you will not only be there for her when she goes out looking for her dress, yes I heard," he said at the surprised looks on all three of their faces, "but also be there to listen to her troubles, and comfort her, but most importantly...you'll be there to support her. Now, all of you, bed! Ah...if you boys want, you can stay the night, just call your families and let them know...we have plenty of room." Nanjirou walked back inside with an annoyed look on his face at the thought of Kagome. He didn't know her all that well, he'd only talked with her for a couple of hours, but from what he saw with his son...who he knew hadn't known Kagome before tonight...she had a way of drawing people around her. She made people want to be there for her, and help her out. He wanted to help her, and protect her...but he was not her father, he couldn't do anything, and that annoyed him most.

Ryoma looked at the two boys and shrugged, "If you want to stay, then follow, I'll get you guys a change of clothes, and a couple futons."

Both looked between one another before following the smaller tennis player, quickly texting their parents that they'd be staying at a friend's.

-x-x-x-

Kagome sighed; it was too early to be messing with this stuff. She was supposed to be meeting with Akira, Shinji...and to her great surprise, Ryoma...around twelve, and she still wasn't ready. She studied the magazine thoroughly. She'd decided on a silhouette, preferring the empire waist or A-line style. She was split between, the Ivory or white colors, even though she thought the champagne was pretty, she knew it had to be traditional in color, or her dad would freak. She did like the color though, she thought of getting a regular silk evening dress in that color; if only to wear it out for special occasions.

"I should go get dressed, I'll deal with this later," Kagome ran upstairs with the highlighter and magazine in hand, placing them both on her desk before running to her closet. She pulled out a simple pair of jeans and a long white sweater; pulling socks and shoes on too before she grabbed her purse, wallet and cell phone. "Alright," She texted Shinji and Akira, letting them both know she was leaving her house. It was eleven thirty, so if she walked, it would take about twenty to twenty-five minutes to get there. She was more than happy to walk though, she enjoyed the fresh air.

"Oi,"

Kagome looked back from her house gates as soon as she'd excited, smiling at Ryoma who was dressed in his tennis wear. "Ryoma, are you heading to the park too?"

He looked down, hand on hat as he covered his eyes a bit, "Hai..."

Kagome laughed a little, "Let's have fun today, kay!"

"Oi, Ryoma!"

Kagome saw both Shinji and Akira running up from behind Ryoma, "Huh? You two don't live that way..."

Shinji looked down at her after he caught up to her and Ryoma, "We were offered a place to stay last night by Nanjirou, Ryoma's father, you know him. He said we could stay, I guess he's a pretty decent guy, though I still don't trust him alone with Kagome, I hardly trust him alone with Ryoma. I figured if you are our little sister, Ryoma is something like a little brother, though I don't like him as much as you, I guess he's cute in his own way, his father is a pervert though, so I'd rather you not depend too much on him, instead, you can call on us when you need someone, or not, if you don't want to, its up to you, though why you wouldn't I don't know, unless you really don't like us, then me and Akira were wrong about you, or maybe you just decid-"

"SHINJI!" Both Kagome and Akira yelled.

Ryoma looked at the blue haired boy and sighed, "Mada Mada Dane."

Kagome laughed, "We met up earlier than I thought, so...what's the plan for today?"

Ryoma frowned, looking curiously at Shinji, who looked at Akira who grinned at Kagome who looked curiously at all three of them.

Akira took Kagome's hand, "You are going to get a makeover, and we are taking you out to do some bridal shopping."

Kagome looked at her red haired friend in shock, "N-no...I'd rather we didn't, and what do you mean "makeover"? I don't understand..."

"You have a date tonight," Shinji said softly in his normal undertone.

Akira growled, "Yes, we are going to make Fuji's body react to your stunning looks, now hurry up." He pulled her hand along with Shinji as Ryoma pocketed his hands and followed behind. He had initially been trying to get away from them, he hadn't thought he was going to run into Kagome in his escape.

-x-x-x-

Kagome frowned, eyeing the dress in Akira's hands. Somehow it had turned out like this, and she was no longer complaining. "I don't like the color, I'm kind of pale, so those soft colors only make me look washed out."

Shinji held her hand to his, "Iie, not pale, you are...the term I believe is, moon kissed."

Kagome looked at him like he'd lost his mind, "Oh...Ryoma...that's cute!" She passed by Shinji and took the dress Ryoma was playing with, he wasn't really looking at things, he just noticed it, and it was soft to the touch, so he had started to run a finger up it. Though, if he thought about how that might look to the women who worked there, he couldn't stop blushing at the realization of what he'd been doing.

"Ah..."

The dress was black, and simple, but pretty. It was a long lace sleeve, slim A-line, scoop neckline cocktail dress that stopped a few inches above her knees. "I wouldn't wear this bare though...dad would freak."

"Yeah, well, what dad doesn't know won't hurt him," Akira bit out in annoyance. "SHOES!"

Kagome frowned, "I feel like your rhythm and mine might be off by a beat."

Akira smirked, "I want him to drool!"

Kagome gave a face that showed her disgust, "Ewe...I don't even want that. Besides...can any of you really picture him drooling?" The three boys looked for a moment in thought, but none of them came up with an image like that. Kagome grinned, "Yeah, I didn't think so."

Shinji and Akira shrugged. Akira grabbed the dress and held it up to her, "Black heels are simple, red heels are saying you aren't taking anything lying down."

Kagome looked at her red-haired friend, "You are starting to seriously scare me, Akira..."

"Ah, go shopping with Ann...it all starts to make sense after three hours of shoes and clothes shopping."

Kagome laughed, "I believe you." She sighed, "I'm already tired, and I haven't even gone out yet...oh, sorry." Kagome moved out of the way of one of the other shoppers.

"RYOMA!"

Kagome felt her ears ring at the yell, turning to see who it was, she looked at the person she'd let pass by and took in her appearance. A girl a little smaller than she was, with brown hair tied up in pigtails.

"...ah," Ryoma moved his hands back into his pocket and away from the heels he and Shinji were eyeing.

"Ryoma, I didn't know you'd be here! I should call Sakuno and let her know!"

Akira laughed, "We are out together as a group, kid; so no inviting others without checking with the others."

Kagome frowned, "Don't be so mean,"

"Nai, Kags, if we aren't mean, then she'll think it's okay to join us when she's not invited, besides, we need to get you prepped for your date tonight, you still need to get your hair done."

Kagome glared, turning to the girl, she bowed apologetically to her before grabbing the dress Ryoma had found and finding her size before walking to the register.

Ryoma looked at the girl for a moment before grabbing the heels and walking off after Kagome.

"He knows her shoe size; Echizen pays more attention than I thought. How should I react to this? I'm not sure how to feel, I don't like it, bastard."

"Oi!" Akira dragged his friend off by the arm; neither gave the pigtailed girl another look.

However, the girl's eyes never left Kagome.

-x-x-x-

Me: Here is chapter...what is this, four? I think, yeah. Chapter four of The Rings! ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL!