How Did You Know by * n i i k k e e

One-Shot

Sesshoumaru turns towards the radio, ceasing his movements on tying his tie as he listened to the song on his brand new stereo. Memories came flooding to his mind as he paused to reflect on the past three years he had been with his beautiful fiancée, Kagome.

"Hi, I'm Kagome Higurashi! What's your name?" A raven-haired beauty asked, as she sat down beside Sesshoumaru, who, in turn, ignored her.

She's just like all those other girls. Just ignore her, and she'll huff and go away, he thought to himself, indulging in his Law textbook.

Kagome frowned at his attitude. The only reason she had come over was because he looked so lonely sitting by himself, while she was surrounded with all her friends. She grabbed the textbook out of his hands and looked at the contents in the book. Sesshoumaru glared at her and tried to swipe his book back from her small hands; but, just as quickly as she had taken the book from him, she had jumped up from the seat and already a few feet away from him, his textbook still in hand. Sesshoumaru stood up, gathered his books, stuffed them in his bag and walked towards her. Kagome smirked in triumph when the silver-haired man walked towards her. However, she squeaked and bolted into a dead run when she noticed the man use his demon speed to run after her.

Dodging this way and that, she narrowly missed hitting an old lady with mentioned Law textbook as she ran from the campus grounds and into the busy roads of Tokyo. Her 'predator' was close when she finally halted into a stop, causing the silver-haired man to almost collide into her.

"Why did you do that?" Sesshoumaru asked, glaring at the girl before him.

"Well, it depends how you want me to answer that question. 'Why did I stop like I did?', or 'Why did I take your book and run like crazy?'" Kagome said, smiling brightly at Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru continued to glare at Kagome. "I meant the latter of the two." He replied, towering over her small form.

"I was trying to be nice, but, since you were obviously ignoring me, I had to take drastic measures." Kagome explained, beginning to walk at a leisurely pace to the ice cream parlor at the end of the block.

Sesshoumaru glared at the back of her head. If this was any normal situation, he would have just left the book with the female thief and gotten a new book to study from; however, that wasn't the current situation now. He had a huge exam tomorrow and didn't have enough time to get a new textbook and start studying over again, seeing as he left marks on certain pages so that he can refer back to important key points. He followed her down the block and into the ice cream parlor in silence.

"Hi! Welcome to the Rainbow Ice Cream Parlor! My name is Sango! What can I get for you?" A brown-haired waitress asked Kagome, who was seated at a booth by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Sango-chan, what's with the formality and ... preppi-ness??" Kagome asked her long-time best friend.

Sango leaned down so she was close to Kagome's ear and whispered, "Because my new boss is here and I want to impress him. And, plus, I want the promotion bad."

Kagome looked at her with smile. "Sango, you know you can always work at Miroku's, right?" She grinned when Sango's face turned beat read in anger.

"Over my dead body Kagome! If he touches be again, his fingers won't be the only thing I'll be chopping off with a tea spoon." Sango replied in anger.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru had walked up and sat down across from Kagome and watched the two converse in complete boredom.

"Oh come on Sango! Give him a chance. Look, I'll have a talk with him alright?" Kagome suggested, wiggling her eyebrows.

Sango's eyes grew wide. "What?! I didn't even say anything about liking him! And I don't even recall saying I wanted to work for him either!"

Kagome looked at her with thoughtful eyes before smiling at her. "You may not have said it Sango, but I can see it in your eyes every time you two are together."

Sango stared blankly at her before looking at Sesshoumaru then back to her best friend. "Kagome focus on your own love life. Don't be so selfless all the time. You deserve someone too, you know." With those said, she said goodbye and walked off to continue on with her job.

Kagome frowned and turned to Sesshoumaru. "Did I say something wrong?" Kagome asked.

Sesshoumaru stared at her with a blank expression. Kagome only stared back. "Some help you are..." Kagome replied with a sigh.

"May I have my textbook? Unlike some people, I have an exam tomorrow and I do not have enough time to acquire a new one." Sesshoumaru asked with as much politeness as he could muster, which was probably close to the size of a grain of sand.

"Oh alright! As to answer your previous question, I just thought you needed company was all. You seemed so lonely when I saw you." Kagome answered as she handed the textbook back to his awaiting hands. He quickly grabbed it and made to stand up and leave. "Wait! Why don't you have some ice cream with me? You could think of this as a break from all that studying you've been doing. Besides, it looks like you've earned a small delicacy of life!" She suggested as she stared up at him.

Sesshoumaru stared into her doe-like eyes and mentally sighed. She was right. He had pulled countless all-nighters to make sure he got all his facts and other information correct and memorized. He was beyond tired and he had to agree with her that he earned a small break. He nodded to her and sat back down. Kagome smiled and stood up.

"What would you like? I'll go order it since Sango just left without our orders." Kagome asked.

"Vanilla will be just fine, thank you." Sesshoumaru answered. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a twenty-dollar bill but she refused to accept the money.

"The treat's on me." Kagome smiled and walked to the counter as she ordered their ice cream.

Sesshoumaru stared at her in confusion and slight hesitation before slowly returning the bill back in his wallet and the wallet back in his pocket. A couple of minutes later, Kagome came back with the ice cream. Kagome smiled a bright smile and handed him his vanilla ice cream before sitting down and happily munching hers. Sesshoumaru stared at her before taking his time eating his own cone.

She is definitely different from all the other girls, he thought as he observed the raven-haired beauty sitting across from him. Kagome looked up and gave him a radiant smile, one he couldn't possibly ignore or forget.

Sesshoumaru smiled at that particular memory. It was an odd meeting, but never the less, cute. When they had first met, it felt like she knew him for ages. She would help him study at random times of the day, making sure he ate and had enough sleep, but did not abandon her friends while she was at it. She would get him small treats and keep him company. She even helped him escape from his personal fan club.

And when she wasn't there with him, he felt empty. It was like she was his anchor in the ocean. She was his strength. She was his light. She was his heart.

In his family, it was always work, work, work. To achieve is to persevere. Just like his father, he worked to be the very top of his school. He was the number one student in the top-three, he became valedictorian, and he was also the most sought-out bachelor.

While in Kagome's family, it was always, 'Just do your best. It's ok if you don't succeed. It's better to know you failed but you tried, than to know you failed because you didn't think to do anything about it.' They had real family moments, unlike he and his own family. His father was too busy with work; and his mother died when he was a young boy. His stepmother, Izayoi, was the typical Japanese housewife. And his half-brother, Inuyasha, well, there wasn't much to say. As much as he was family, he was an uncouth child who had no manners and always acted before thinking. He was carefree, while he, himself, wasn't. Inuyasha didn't carry the burdens of holding the family legacy. Inuyasha didn't carry the burden of continuing the Taisho line. Inuyasha didn't carry the burden of becoming the best of anything. That's why he envied his half-brother. He didn't carry a burden, period.

A knock came from his bedroom door. "Hey, Sess? You OK in there? Did you die of lack of air, or what?" A male voice sounded from behind the Mahogany wood.

Leave it to Inuyasha to ask the stupidest questions. "I'm alright, Inuyasha. Thank you for your ... concern." Sesshoumaru replied, loud enough for Inuyasha to hear without straining his head. Might cause him a migraine, Sesshoumaru thought sardonically.

"Alright, then. Just hurry up with whatever you're doing in there. Dad's getting real impatient downstairs and he looks like he wants to chew someone's head off. And I don't want that head to be mine!" Inuyasha stated before walking away.

Sesshoumaru didn't have to strain his demon hearing to listen to the rest of his half-brother's comments. "Jeez, you'd think he was the one getting married." Inuyasha muttered, his thoughts passing through about an irate father, who was currently pacing the hardwood floor on the family room in a maddening pace.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes before smiling a small smile. Even if he and his family didn't get to spend as much time together, they still had their rare moments.

His thoughts immediately went back to Kagome when he focused back on the song being played on the radio. He smiled when he remembered complaining to her about the 'girly' songs she always played when she cooked. Those songs are the kind where the girl confesses their love for the guy as they pour their heart out into the beautiful melody. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really complain. The songs were truly heartfelt, especially when a loved one sang them to you.

She made his world brighter and easier to live through, especially with the stress and emotional strain he had to go through.

It was just an ordinary day when she appeared into his life. And he couldn't be any more thankful for that. He didn't know who he made amends with, but he couldn't be anymore thankful and grateful for what the Gods have given him.

And today, he is going to marry her.