Okaa-san by Moriyo

And Introducing. . .

Note: 'Connotes thoughts.'

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Chapter One

And Introducing . . .

"Today's the day, Higurashi," Kagome assured herself. "By the end of this evening, you'll officially be Mrs. Fujiwara Kouga."

She giggled and twirled in front of the mirror, feeling like a giddy schoolgirl again on her first date. Well, she had every reason to be excited: Kouga was going to propose to her tonight . . . at least she was convinced he was going to.

Sango had gladly pointed out that their engagement was imminent. During their discussion at lunch, she informed Kagome that the signs pointed towards tonight as being the night.

"Where's he taking you for dinner?" she had asked as she took a sip of her tea.

Kagome put her chopsticks down for a moment and thought. "I think it's called Le Triangle or something like that." She paused for a moment. "I think it's French. Kouga only said that it was in the Akasaka Prince."

Sango's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "As in the hotel?"

Kagome nodded her head. "Yeah. Why? Do you know the restaurant he's taking me to?

Sango snorted. "Kagome, you are probably the most oblivious person I know." This statement was met by an indignant outcry. "He's taking you to Le Trianon: the most posh, not to mention, most expensive restaurant in all of Japan."

Kagome waved her hand dismissively. "I'm sure you're exaggerating. There's no way Kouga would take me to a place like that."

"Guess again, sweetheart. That place has silverware that is probably worth more than my house." Sango emphatically pronounced, "He is taking you to a very, very expensive restaurant."

Kagome raised her eyebrows. "Just how expensive?" she quietly asked.

"Uh, well when I accompanied some of the execs from the top floor to meet the representatives from America, my salad cost almost 4,000 yen. Imagine what the truffles must cost."

Kagome gasped. "Kami! He's never spent money like that on me before. I wonder why he would start now. I mean, we've been going out for two years now. What makes tonight's date any different?"

"Excuse me a minute, 'Gome." Sango rose from her seat, stepped next to her suddenly fearful counterpart and cracked her knuckles. Without warning, Sango smacked Kagome in the back of her head.

"Ow!" Kagome rubbed her head as she glared at Sango. "What the hell was that for?"

"That," Sango declared while taking her seat, "was to knock some sense into you."

"What do you mean?"

Sango shook her head. "You are oblivious. Don't you see what he's gonna do?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "If I knew then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"He's going to propose!"

"As in marriage?" Kagome inquired.

Sango smacked her forehead. "Oh dear Kami. Of course marriage. What other kind of proposal would he make?"

"Well I don't know," huffed Kagome. "Maybe he's going to ask me to move in with him."

Sango shook her head. "As forward as he is, Kouga is still a traditionalist."

"What makes you say that? I've always gotten the vibe that Kouga could care less about what others think."

Sango smiled deviously. "Well, for one, you're still a virgin." She raised her hand in an attempt to stop Kagome's rebuttal. "Don't deny it. If you had lost it, you would have told me already."

Kagome growled and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "Why do you make it sound like it's such a bad thing?"

"Look, I'm sorry if it comes out like that, but you need to be realistic. You're not sixteen anymore. You're twenty-two, personal assistant to the world's most powerful tycoon, received your MBA from Tokyo U at twenty - something that is damn near impossible to do - and are dating the heir to the Daihatsu car empire. It seems to me, that you should've given it up a long time ago."

Kagome sighed. "It's not that I don't want to, Sango. It's just that, I don't want to be pressured into doing something with somebody who isn't worth my affections. Kouga's been good to me, and he's never pushed for sex."

"If he did, would you do it?"

Kagome stopped to think about it. Was she willing to give her innocence to him? Admittedly, she had never thought much about it before. She never actually figured that she would be with Kouga this long. Although he was ardent in his feelings towards her and she did love him in return, Kagome always felt that his love for her was greater than her love for him. And that scared her.

She didn't want to be stuck in a marriage that she would later regret. Kagome was strong, but her caring nature would never allow her to leave somebody who was willing to give up their lives for her. But she also feared being alone for the rest of her life. Indeed she was a catch, but she never had many dates throughout her life and Kagome took what she could get. Out of all the men she had dated, Kouga was the most perfect. Yes, he did have his flaws, but so did she, and she wasn't willing to throw away a great relationship over a few imperfections.

Sure he was a little too overprotective and yes, he did have an unhealthy fetish for animal furs, but Kagome wouldn't change him for anything. His pitfalls made him the man she loved and his charm outshined any of his other less than perfect attributes. He made her feel safe whenever he held her, called her on a whim while she was at work, and sent her flowers on days when she was feeling subpar.

Suddenly, Kagome realized what she would do.

"Yes, I would. If Kouga wanted to, then I would have sex with him."

Sango smiled. "About damn time. I highly doubt however, that he would want to before getting married. Like I said, he's a traditionalist and his father's a stickler for old-fashioned norms and such. If he found out that you and Kouga did the nasty, he'd probably cut off Kouga's balls."

Kagome winced. "Thanks for the visual."

"Aaaaaand," Sango drawled out, "Miroku told me that he saw Kouga in Tokyo International Mall going into a jewelry store." She laughed at Kagome's gleeful squeal.

"Really?" At Sango's nod she squealed again.

"How about we move on to a different subject then? Like, for instance, what you're going to be wearing tonight."

Kagome blanched. "Well, I was originally just going to wear my emerald blouse with a pair of black slacks, but now that I know where we're going, I don't know what to wear."

Sango smiled mischievously while pulling out her platinum card, eyebrows raised suggestively. "Well, girl, thank Kami you're with me and we're in Ginza, 'cuz now we're going shopping."

And the result from that outing was currently hugging the curves of Kagome's body.

The dress was gorgeous, and Kagome couldn't help but admire the way it looked on her. It was a black Celine halter dress that gathered at the waist and promoted Kagome's Kami-given gifts. It showed a decent amount of cleavage, but not enough to be considered inappropriate, and the cinched waist helped show off her slim figure.

Her back was left exposed while her raven locks were pulled up into a neat twist. It was elegant yet simple and allowed her the freedom from worrying about her hair. She allowed her bangs to remain free as they naturally parted to the side and a sapphire butterfly comb given to her by her grandmother, lay alluringly at the side of her head. The comb was the only piece of jewelry adorning her body.

'Well, hopefully not for long,' she thought to herself as she stared at her ring finger. She really hoped that Sango was right. Honestly, the prospect of marrying Kouga seemed exciting to her. She was more than willing to spend the rest of her life with him.

A sudden knock at her apartment door brought her out of her musings and signaled the arrival of her date. She hurriedly grabbed her clutch and a black shawl, then made her way to the main hallway. Kagome paused at the hall mirror to take a quick look at herself. Assured that nothing was out of place, she opened the door to greet her boyfriend.

"Kouga!"

"Hey, babe." He grinned wolfishly and leaned down for a kiss. Although Kagome was wearing high heels, she was still considerably shorter than her boyfriend. Standing on the tips of her toes, she tilted her head and met his lips in a short yet sweet kiss.

"You look amazing," he complimented as they parted. Kagome blushed as she felt his gaze assessing her.

"Thanks, you do too." And it was true. The young man appeared to have cleaned up quite well for the occasion. His dark blue suit fit nicely across his broad shoulders and the azure tie accentuated his ocean blue eyes. Kouga had slicked back his long brown hair and had it tied at the base of his skull rather than the high ponytail he usually sported. His ever present five o'clock shadow was noticeably lacking and he seemed to be wearing new cologne.

Kagome leaned towards him and inhaled deeply. She nearly choked as the spicy scent rudely invaded her nostrils. It was too strong and smelled oddly enough, a little bit like leather. It reminded her of the smell of a new car.

"You like it?" Kouga's hopeful smile kept her from telling him the truth.

"I love it." Blah! She hated lying, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings either.

"Good. I picked it especially for tonight." He glanced down to see her purse and shawl in her hands. "You ready?"

"Of course." She smiled and gladly slid her arm through his proffered one.

"I'm assuming that there will be no interruptions tonight," Kouga asserted as he pushed the down button for the elevator. He peeked out of the side of his eyes to take in the silent form of his counterpart.

'Shimatta! I forgot about that. I was so excited about this evening that I didn't even consider the possibility that Sesshomaru might call me'. Kagome's dread suddenly changed to anger at the thought of her slave-driving boss. 'That bastard better not ruin this night for me or else I'll purify his ass and throw his ashes out the window.'

"Kagome?" Kouga waved his hand in front of the dazed woman.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She shook her head to rid her thoughts. "I'm sure that Sesshomaru will leave us alone tonight. Besides it's the weekend. He's probably got better things to do."

"More likely people to do," he mumbled underneath his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing," Kouga quickly covered. Several seconds later, the steel elevator doors opened and Kouga ushered his date into the metal box. It wasn't long before their night officially got underway.

And oh, what a night it was going to be.

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This is my first fic so I hope you enjoy.

Please leave reviews and don't worry, I take criticism very well.

Thanks.