A/N: Another story? What is going on. Listen guys, I tried to get tumblr to stop me, but they didn't. So here we are. Thank you to Nikki my boo for the title. I cried about not knowing what to name it. Hm, I've talked about this story a bit on my tumblr. So hm, for some, it's a surprise, for others it isn't.

I know I have a million stories going on - but I mean, it's keeping me going. I've been pretty good at updating so... I SHALL NOT BE STOPPED. But you can all boycott me at any time, it's fine, I'll live alone in my lala land of KogKag. ALSO YO. October, Kogkag week, on tumblr. Don't miss it. I don't intend on letting life ruin it for me this year. So.

Okay, I shut up now. This is part very old and part very new. Chapter 2 should be more consistent.

OKAY OKAY. I shut up now for realz.

Changing Seasons

Part 1

Long frosted shiny crystals covered tree branches, weighing them down, while snow shimmered down from the dark blue, starry sky. Laughters filled the air as the sounds of skates digging into the ice echoed through the quiet vicinity. A rainbow of colors swirled together while children and adults covered in puffy coats and colorful scarfs spun around and twirled in amusement, filling everyone's ears with the joyful sound of laughter. It was the perfect winter scene, never to be ruined, and nothing infuriated her more.

Kagome was sitting on a creaking, long, cold wooden bench, her hands tucked near her body in a foolish attempt to conserve some warmth. There was probably nothing she despised more than the season of winter. Her body simply could not tolerate the slightest drop of degree. Even now, though her fingers were comfortably hidden in light blue mittens, they were threatening to turn blue from the freezing weather. Also, it hard to ignore the constant sniffles she had to go through simply to prevent her nose from dripping like a broken faucet. As a matter of fact, the only enjoyable activity during the winter time was to remain wrapped in a blanket in front of a warm fire.

Since she despised the cold so much, there could only be one question: what in the world was she doing at an outside rink in the middle of nowhere?

To put it simply, she was dragged and forced while her kicks and screams were ignored.

Miroku and Sango loved ice-skating, probably because they were so good at it unlike her who was not gifted with balance and grace. Work forced her away from her friends which was how they managed to guilt her into coming to this awful place. She did try to tell them there was no way in hell she was going to skate but… they would not hear it. They even pulled out the breakup card. They kept rambling on about how worried they were, and how she needed to go out and discover the world after her horrible break up. Apparently it was not healthy to stay locked up in your own apartment for hours and hours. After thirty minutes of them begging, she finally gave up and now she was sitting alone on a bench. At least they were having fun.

Although this painful nightmare did not end at the ice rink. No, the nightmare would last a whole weekend; a weekend with friends in a rented cottage. In the middle of nowhere.

Selfish bastards.

There she was, sitting by herself, watching as plenty of couples, including her friends, had smiles on their faces. They all happily enjoyed the glacial breeze as though it was not rattling through their bones, threatening to crush them to death.

She hated couples. She hated their happy faces. It was not true - she liked couples, she loved her friends and she still did believe in love. It was a beautiful thing. Except - it was not a beautiful thing that was meant for her. Life was made up for fleeting moments and they best one could do was enjoy them and realize that they would never last. It was also why she was happy that she had her work. It was something stable and she could count on it. It was all she needed.

Kagome rubbed together her mittens covered hands and tried to bring herself some warmth as the powerful effect of the cold could be felt throughout her body. A chill went down her spine and her annoyance grew to another level which she expressed with a growl. It was during that moment of desperation that something on the ground caught her attention and brought hope and heat into her heart. An empty, nearly crushed, hot chocolate cup. It could be ignored, but her freezing body just could not bring itself to do that. Suddenly an idea and craving formed in her icy, numbed out mind.

Hot Chocolate.

Her eyes gazed the horizon until they landed on the answer to her problems; a cute, little coffee shop. Without another thought, she rose to her feet and dashed for it. Instead of regular walking, and in an attempt to warm herself, she hopped all the way there and ignored the strange glances people threw her way. Not that she really mind or cared since she had done much worse than that in the past. Over the years, she had become an expert at embarrassing herself in public. She had long given up on feeling shame.

The counter came in view and a vibe of excitement filled her as she approached; there was no annoying lineup. Of course not. They were all busy freezing to death on the ice rink. She grabbed the edge of the honey, wooden counter and jumped from one leg to the other, her black boots kicking the snow, while she thought her options through. She was never that great at making decisions. Then again, what sane person could expect her to make a choice when they were so many options?

"Good Evening Miss, What can I do for you?" asked a brown haired young man who, according to his name tag, was called Hojo. He wiped his hands on his burgundy apron and offered her his best smile.

Kagome glued her pink lips together and pondered the issue carefully. She could not possibly only get a normal hot chocolate - at least not anymore. It was all that darn advertising; right now there were too many pictures of rainbows and colors surrounding her and it was influencing her choice… not that it was hard to influence her in the first place. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually made up her mind and settled on something. Oh wait, no not that. Okay, now her mind was made up... although cherry sounded like a very good idea… No, no she should really stick to cacao and nothing else. She did not want to be up all night from a sugar rush.

"I'll have a large hot chocolate, with an extra of whipped cream, some sprinkles and chocolate chips, all on top of it," she finally answered while slightly licking her lips.

She offered the poor boy a huge smile, hoping it would ease the shock, but he remained surprised by her choice. Nonetheless, he nodded before beginning her order.

A few seconds later, Hojo put her sweet treat in front of her before tossing a kind smile her way. "It will be 538 yen."

She nodded and then reached out in the pocket of her black coat only to find out that her wallet was… not in there. Then she remembered and it was as if her whole world came crashing down around her. Like a distracted idiot she left her purse inside Sango's car, thinking that she would not need it. She felt like smacking herself on the forehead. How could she be this stupid? Immediately, her face turned three different shades of red and she lowered her head.

Well, this was awkward. What was she supposed to do now? Run away with the delicious treat or calmly describe the situation and walk away without her precious hot chocolate? Could she even run away when her legs were frozen in place?

"Well, I- hm, I seemed to hmm –" she stuttered not knowing how to explain. Oh yes, this was going fucking humiliating. Idiot, idiot, idiot.

Before she could form a decent explanation, an arm appeared beside her and handed a 1, 000 yen bill to the boy. Kagome's blue eyes widened slightly before she tilted her head to the side to catch a glimpse of her apparent prince in shining armor.

"This should cover it," the man said, avoiding her face while she stared intensively at him.

He was tall, nearly two heads taller than her - not that she was much a reference with her short size. He had beautiful long, brown hair, which looked silky has it shun lighter through the soft moonlight. It was pulled into a high ponytail, swiping across his left shoulder. While she inspected every inch of him, his two piercing blue eyes were focused on Hojo as he slowly took the money from him. He had a strong built, a square jaw and a strong scent of shaving cream surrounded him. Not that she was creepily smelling him but he was the only scent she could make out through her frozen sense of smell.

He watched her from the corner of his eyes, a tiny ghost of a smirk on his face and amusement shaking through his body. The girl's pink lips were slightly parted as she breathed heavily perhaps because of the cold and her blue eyes were locked on his person with an intense fascination. He let his eyes swipe her from up to down, an eyebrow arched. Her current attire was interesting to say the least; she looked like someone who was preparing for a blizzard or even a foreigner not used to winter but certainly not like someone who was ice skating. All he knew was that she looked in desperate need of that hot chocolate - if the sugary treat could even qualify as such. He was fairly certain that it was just diabetes in a cup.

Once he received his change back, he turned his head in her direction and waited to see if she would speak, or if she was simply an ice statue. It took Kagome a few seconds to realize that his piercing eyes were on her but when she did she blushed, the action bringing color to her pale, cold skin. Playing with the rim of her cup, she chastised herself and she offered him a smile. She was not a child.

"Thank you," she finally managed to say. "You didn't have to." At first, his blue eyes had mesmerized her, but now that she could get a better look at his face she noticed the small wrinkles pooling at the corner of his eyes. He was older than her.

"I'm always here to help a damsel in distress," was his response before he winked. His glance lingered on her for a beat and then, he began to walk away.

Kagome blinked, completely abashed; did he walk away from her? What the heck. Clearly he was free to do as he wished and perhaps he only paid for her hot chocolate out of pity, but Kagome could not bring her body to listen to her. She was not the kind to receive a favor and not return it. Her mother had raised her better than that. And on top of that, he winked at her. Who winked at people and walked away? And what did that wink even mean? Was it like a gentleman's way of saying good day? She was not one to get involved in any kind of interactions, especially these days but she refused to own him anything. She did not want to owe a man something. Kagome decided she had to repay him for his gesture and began to walk after him.

Gosh, she did not even know his name.

"Wait," she called out since she had no better option.

He did indeed stop in his tracks, but he did not turn around to face her. She cringed a bit, since she could imagine how annoyed he might be that a crazy hot chocolate girl was chasing after him. She ignored the blush that warmed up her cheeks and she kept walking in his direction until she caught up to him. Slightly breathless, and carefully holding her cup as to not spill it, she frowned at him. She had to be a little intimidating if she did not want him to walk away from her again.

"You can't leave," she stated as though it was a fact of the universe.

He arched an eyebrow. "And why is that?" he inquired slightly amused. It was becoming harder to hold back a smirk at her actions.

She lifted her cup. "You bought me hot chocolate."

And now she made even less sense.

"I have to re-pay you," she added when he remained silent and confused.

Although, she had no idea how she was going to do that. Maybe she could walk back to the car and get her purse? Surely, she could not let him leave like that with nothing in return. "Let me get my wallet."

As she blew her bangs away from her face to clear her line of sight, he decided he found her fascinating. "No," he said before backing away until the back of his knees hit the bench behind him. Then, he sat down, his eyes focused on the action happening in front of him, rather than her. "It's fine really. I don't want anything back." He was a gentleman and he was not about to let her run into the dark cold simply to repay him a cheap hot chocolate. He was raised on better values than that.

This man was a walking mystery; one second he felt like her presence did not matter and the next he was winking. Would leaving him alone be the actually way to pay him back? As she scrambled her brain for an answer, she began to notice the little details. He was sitting on the bench; he was not drinking anything and he certainly did not have any skates laying around. Yes, he was watching other people skate. Did that mean he was like her and that he could not skate? Maybe he was also dragged against his will and he was simply unhappy - just as she was. She could not possibly the only person who hated this.

That was when an idea hatched in her mind. "You're not skating?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"You're just waiting?" she added, hoping she was not wrong and was not the only one who despised ice-skating.

"You could say that," he said with a smile.

He was mostly watching his daughter while she was on a date. She was ice-skating with their neighbour's son - who was older than his daughter. They were friends who were skating together. Friends. Buddies. At least, it was his daughter's claim. But he still qualified it as a date. If he had to be there acting as a chaperone, it was a date. Although, his daughter did insist that they were fine without his presence but he knew better. No boy was going to alone with his daughter. Nevertheless, it could be categorized as him waiting since he could not leave until she had her fun. Even if he wanted to tie that boy to a chair and never let him close to his daughter.

A smile beamed on her face as her plan came to fruition. "I'll keep you company." He arched an eyebrow. "It's my way of repaying you; I'll wait here with you."

Without even giving him a chance to reply, she sat down on the bench. She misjudged the distance and plopped down quite close to him, their legs brushing because of the nearness. He could barely hold in a chuckle at her actions. This was the first time he met such a woman. Not only was she clearly insane cheerful and filled with energy, but she was determined and apparently did as she pleased. He had to admit, he liked that in a woman. It had been a while since someone was able to surprise him like that. Then again, it might have been the reason why he offered to pay for her hot chocolate in the first place. What kind of adult ordered such a sweet treat?

He had two options; he could talk or he could watch her squirm under the silence, a situation that obviously bothered her. It was best to simply wait and watch; he had feeling she would give in soon and begin speaking. He watched her from the corner of his eyes, amusement dancing in his blue orbs. She was mesmerizing.

As her feet twitched she could not help but glance at the ice rink. Kagome tried to follow his earlier gaze and figure out who he was with - or who he was watching. Nearly everyone came in pair, leaving no room for a girlfriend or wife to be skating alone. At her own thoughts, she found herself blushing. She was only repaying his kindness! Why was she wondering if he was taken or not? No, she only wondered because she did not want his hypothetical wife or girlfriend to get the wrong idea about what she was doing.

"So- hm, I don't know your name," she said before tilting her head to the side gently.

"Kouga."

She smiled. "I'm Kagome, nice to meet you."

She replied before he even had a chance to ask which tore a chortle from his throat.

"I am also not skating - because I have two left feet." And she feared she might die if she dropped on the cold ice.

A tiny sigh escaped her lips before she brought to cup to her lips. Kagome took a long sip before putting it down, her top lip covered in whipped cream. Without thinking about it twice, she ran her tongue over her lip, smiling the whole time. Nothing could beat sugar; just one sip was enough to make her forget about the cold and unbearable weather that surrounded her. She did not need coffee to live; she simply needed sugar. It was a habit she had developed prior to the break up, but it might have gotten slightly out of control since then. Unfortunately for her, the rush of sugar did nothing to help with the uncomfortable silence that settled between them.

Kagome began making circles with her left foot, disturbing the perfect snow at her feet, and waited for some sort of conversation to begin. Was she not supposed to keep him company? If so, then why was he being so quiet? Perhaps her initial assumption had been right; she was indeed bothering him. Unless, he was a quiet person? It didn't feel like it. Even the silence between them was not bad per say. It annoyed her, but she did not sense a bad vide coming from him. She could be quite the chatterbox, but for some reason, she wanted him to talk to her - which was probably the silliest idea. Had the cold frozen her brain?

She cringed; she had to talk. "I'm here with my friends. They're a couple," she said nodding before pointing at them. They were swirling around the ice, Sango's purple scarf drifting into the small breeze. "They hate me because I haven't been spending enough time with them. See I dislike skating. Actually, dislike is not the right word. I despise skating. This is their idea of getting back at me. Guess it's working." It was best to leave out the break up part of it.

A small silence came between them once she stopped talking and she took a deep breath.

It took him a few minutes to process all the words she had just said. Apparently it was a bad idea to tease her and torture her with silence. There was a risk she might explode and so he decided to spare her slightly. Also, he was afraid that if he let go on another word rampage she might forget to breathe again and die. "I'm here with my daughter," he casually answered while knowing very well that it would bring forth a million questions. Now, if that wasn't a conversation starter he did not know what was. He pinched his lips together, holding back the smirk that was coming.

Her lips parted and an oh slipped her. His daughter? It seemed her deduction skills were not on point and she was wrong about the whole not married thing. Or the whole alone thing. Although, she was not doing anything wrong. This was a hot chocolate repayment and it had nothing to do with flirting. She was simply chatting - and not flirting - with a man who happened to be married and have a daughter. People had conversations every day. Plus, he seemed like a good father who enjoyed spending time with his daughter. It was sweet actually. Male figures had not been quite presence in her life, and she did enjoy a good daughter-father bonding. His daughter was lucky.

Though once again, nobody was skating alone… so who was his daughter skating with?

"She's on a date," he explained as he finally decided to end her torture. Her face went through quite a few emotions and he knew it was best to explain.

Kagome could not help the smile that reached her lips. He was a protective father who was watching along as his daughter went on a date; it was adorable. She began searching the ice rink for someone who looked young enough to be his daughter. He looked to be what? 30? His kid should be quite young. Then again, wasn't ten years old a little young to be going on a date?

"She's the one with the yellow hat," he said as he noticed what she was trying to do.

It took Kagome a few seconds, but she finally spotted her. Long wavy red hair and a yellow hat. She looked older than 10 years old, that was for sure. "They look adorable," she said, knowing full well that Kouga probably would not agree with her.

A grunt was all he gave her for as an answer. The boy would remain adorable as long as he kept his hands away from his daughter. As a matter of fact, he would look better if he kept a whole continent between him and his daughter.

"You worry about her, it's normal. How does her mother feel about this date?" Perhaps it was a very not subtle way to inquire about his relationship status. Though she was not doing it out of interest; it was pure curiosity.

"She died during childbirth."

Ah crap.

For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, the smile on his face faded. In the past, he did not say anything about his wife. When people asked, he would derivate from the question or barely give an answer. As the years passed he learned to deal with it properly. He loved his wife and she did not need to be a secret he kept to himself. She used to be in his life and now she no longer was. There was nothing to hide or no reason to feel shame. It had been a long process, but he had moved on a long time ago now. He no longer carried that shadow or that weight with him and it was natural to mention what happened to her.

Kagome's heart squeezed as guilt took hold of her. For once, she should have kept her mouth shut. He looked full of life, his laughter rich and deep that she could not believe he went through such a tragedy. And he looked so young… "I'm so-"

"Sorry?" he finished.

She chuckled. "I guess you've heard that one before."

"Thank you," he said while still looking ahead at the ice rink.

"It must be hard - being a single dad," she said truthfully. "My dad died when I was very young and my mom raised me and my brother alone. She always made it look easy with a smile on her face, but I knew it was hard for her."

And there it was; she had done it again. She had babbled without thinking and said details about her life he probably cared nothing about. She pinched her lips together, hoping it would prevent her from talking; she needed to stop before she made it any worse. It was hard for her to remain in complete silent, but Kouga seemed to enjoy the quietness. This was her way of re-paying him and if silence was what he wanted, silence he would have. Especially since she had accidentally brought up a difficult topic of conversation. So much for repaying his kindness.

"Sometimes it is. Mostly when she asks about her." Despite how he had learned to accept the situation, he had never been ready to explain it to his daughter. She had many questions for him and he did not always have all of the answers. He wished she could have met her mother.

"How old is she?"

"14."

"Oh, so it's those dates," she said with a giggle, suddenly changing the mood.

He groaned, smacking his hand over his face. Why, why, why. "I'm not sure I want to know what those dates are." He did not even want it to be a date.

"They are very harmless, I promise," she added before sipping her hot chocolate. A quick laugh past her lips and she stole a glance at him.

Kouga joined her in laughter and shook his head softly. He leaned back against the bench, his bare hand gripping at the wood. He found it difficult to look away from her since the joy radiating from her was awfully contagious. Single dads attracted a lot of attention. He avoided parents meetings and anything else that attracted crazy women. It was not as though he was closed to the idea of a relationship, but no one ever struck his fancy. So, he spent most of his time turning down women and hanging out with his daughter. This was a rare happening.

"Kagome?"

At the sound of her name, Kagome turned her head around only to see Miroku and Sango standing a bit behind her and looking quite confused. Apparently they were done. She sighed a bit before refocusing her attention upon Kouga.

"I guess that's my cue," she said, a hint of disappointment in her voice. For a moment, she lingered. There was nothing else to say but goodbye and yet she hesitated before speaking. "It was nice meeting you Kouga."

He beamed a smile, his gesture enough to bring a similar reaction to her face. "It was nice meeting you too, Kagome."

She grinned before turning around with her head tilted to the side. As she walked away, she raised one hand in the air, shaking her hot chocolate. "I'll repay you one day," she promised. And then she did exactly as he did when he bought her the hot chocolate; she walked away without looking back. It was a silly promise, one she could not keep, but it did make him smile.

Kouga watched her walk away, amused while he shook his head softly. She was interesting to say the least. He would never see her again and they both knew that. Yet, somehow, he had a feeling she meant it and he did not mind at all. It did offer him a small distraction from what was happening and he welcomed it. Before paying for her hot chocolate he had been ready to split the wooden bench in half. Her presence had allowed him to push aside all of his fatherly concerns. And she had called it a harmless date. It had been a good chat. Plus, he did always have a soft spot for the weird ones. And Kagome, well she seemed to be something new entirely.

A small distance from him and the ice rink, Sango was eyeing Kagome, her lips burning with questions she had yet to ask. Kagome had noticed her friend's growing impatience but she pretended that she had not. After all, Sango would ask a million questions and she did not have the answers.

"So."

And so it began.

"So what?"

"Who was that?"

"Some guy."

"Some guy?"

"Kouga. Are ya happy now?"

"Oh I haven't even begun."

Miroku laughed as he remained a few steps behind the girls. He had dated Sango long enough to know what that look in her eyes meant. It was about to be girl talk and he was not quite sure he wanted to be part of it. Though it was rather nice to see Kagome mingle with men. Ever since her last relationship, she had avoided the whole dating scene. He knew it had nothing to do with Inuyasha but still. Burying herself in her work was not going to help. She needed to get back out there and try again; one failed relationship did not mean she needed a break. Plus, they had been quite worried about her after the initial shock. She had locked herself away, refusing to speak to anyone. It had taken her weeks - nearly months before she joined the real world again.

"What else?"

"There's nothing else."

"What does he do for a living?"

"I don't know."

"Is he single?"

"Yes."

"What was he doing here then?"

"His daughter is on a date."

Sango winced. "Daughter?"

"He has a fourteen years old daughter."

"Alright, maybe he's not such a good prospect then." She could have sworn he was fairly young. Although the word daughter threw the reality out of the window. "How old is he?"

She did want Kagome out there in the world, but she was not quite convinced that seeing an older man would do it for her. Then again, perhaps she needed someone that was the complete opposite of Inuyasha. He was nothing but a child, immature about his feelings. A man usually knew what he wanted and he was serious when it came to life choices - especially if he had a daughter to think about. But. It was messy. No, they needed to find Kagome a nice single guy around her age. There would be others.

"I didn't ask." Kagome sighed. "Sango, he wasn't hitting on me, and I wasn't hitting on him. We were just chatting while we waited."

Except chatting with strangers was not something Kagome did. Yes, she was social and friendly but Sango could not recall really seeing her sitting down with a man she did not know and chatting him up. It was a big step for her to come out of her shell and to dare something - even if it did not lead to anything. However, she could tell that it was best not to push the issue further. She resigned herself to silence.

"So how was ice skating?"

"Fun, except Miroku cannot skate to save his life."

"Hey."

"You made us fall twice."

"That's because I tried to gro-"

"Miroku!"

He smirked. "I do believe Kagome is familiar with my habits by now."

"And that is more than what I need to know," Kagome said with a blush on her cheeks.

Miroku was slightly perverted but he was a good man who cared for Sango - that was all that mattered. Although they were sometimes loud so she did cringe about the idea of spending two nights in a row with them. Hopefully she would be able to catch some sleep.

As they walked forward she could not help but finally glance behind. From this distance she could no longer see him but she smiled nonetheless.

Maybe winter was not all that bad.

-C-