Kagome was already there by the time Kikyo got to the cafe.

The slightly older woman raised a thin eyebrow at seeing the young woman already at the table with a cup of tea in front of her. Wow. He must've really pissed her off this time - and that was surprising, considering how often those two got into fights.

Kikyo went over and set down her purse. "I'll go order something and then I'll be back to listen to whatever he did."

"Don't, this tea is yours. I brought a thermos." Kagome pushed the tea over, pulling out a huge thermos filled with tea that was clearly a pair thermos - hers was a bright red with a bow and arrows on it. Kikyo raised an eyebrow at the girl, and heat rushed to her cheeks.

"Shut up," Kagome mumbled, even though Kikyo hadn't said anything. The woman's lips flickered upwards, which just made Kagome turn redder. "It's a good thermos."

"A bright red thermos," Kikyo mused. "That shade of red reminds me of someone's obnoxious jacket."

"Kikyo!" Kagome complained. "I don't want to think about how much I love him right now, I just want to complain about what an asshole he is!"

"I can do that." Kikyo took a dainty sip of her cup. "What did he do this time?"

"He's just…so insensitive!" Kagome huffed. "He has no tact, is far too honest about what he thinks, and doesn't have a filter whatsoever! He cursed me out for giving him my opinion on his art, Kikyo! My opinion!"

"He's very sensitive towards his art," Kikyo pointed out. "And, to be completely honest, Kagome, you failed Art in high school for a reason."

"Kikyo," Kagome whined, emphasizing the last part of her name. "Stop defending him, you're supposed to be on my side! You dated him too, you know how much of an asshole he is!"

"I do know how much of an asshole he is." Kikyo visibly shuddered as she remembered it clearly. "Very demanding is how I remember it. He would lean his full weight against my back while I was studying and telling me I wouldn't be able to move until I made him some food."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. "He still does that sometimes, but usually it just takes a glare and a yell in his ear to make him stop. And he keeps telling me that my archery skills sucks and that I should stop being a historian if I keep getting things wrong! It's not my fault that Ancient Japanese is nearly as complicated as modern Japanese! It's hard to translate something that is so similar yet so different," she huffed.

"He's still going on about your archery skills? You've improved immensely from high school," Kikyo protested, aghast. "And he can barely keep his own age straight, much less the history of Japan. You're doing a fine job as an historian."

"Thank you!" Kagome threw her hands up in the air. "I don't get what his deal is - the simplest thing can piss him off. And he always gets so jealous when Koga is around, can you believe that?"

"Well…" Kikyo hesitated.

"What." Kagome's voice was deadpanned, her face blank, but Kikyo didn't need to look at her face to tell what Kagome was thinking - no, it was the eyes that you had to concentrate on. As hard as Kagome tried not to, her eyes conveyed everything that she felt. The saying, "eyes are the windows to the soul"? That was made just for Kagome.

And Kagome's soul was warning Kikyo to not go to where Inuyasha went to every time Koga was mentioned, but Kikyo wasn't scared of Kagome. Especially knowing that it infuriated Kagome every time she proved to be smarter than Inuyasha.

"You have to admit, Koga is a rather…harmless, oblivious idiot." Asshole would describe him better, but Kikyo didn't feel like getting into an argument with Kagome and accidentally telling her about how Koga's actions hurt Rin and her family. "You might think you're making it obvious that you aren't interested, but you really…aren't."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Kagome protested, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

"It means that being nice and trying to let him down easy while giving him things out of the kindness of your heart isn't getting your point across," Kikyo shot back, raising her shoulders helplessly. "I'm sorry but it's true. Koga is a hundred percent sure that you're in love with him, and your actions really don't help you."

"Unbelievable! You sound exactly like Inuyasha!" Kagome threw her hands up in the air. "You, especially! Considering that entire fiasco with Naraku—"

"Onigumo was a stalker and actually tried to harm Inuyasha and I," Kikyo immediately argued, frowning. "Koga is relatively harmless."

"Whatever - at least I didn't nurse Koga back to health!"

Kikyo stared at the girl blankly, not knowing whether to face-palm or to pat Kagome's head. She stared at her until Kagome's eyes lit up in realization, and smirked when Kagome began to slide down her seat.

"Okay, so I might've, kind of, sort of, maybe…nursed Koga back to health a few times," she mumbled, hiding her face in her sweater.

"I only acted like a nurse to Onigumo once. You've done it multiple times for Koga." Kikyo took great pleasure in seeing Kagome squirm. "Well, you did do one thing better than me and actually told Inuyasha what you were doing. My mistake was not trusting him enough." She smiled bitterly.

"Kikyo?" Kagome sat back up, holding onto her chair as she searched Kikyo's face. "Do you…do you miss being with him?"

Kikyo wanted to laugh at the look of insecurity in Kagome's eyes. After all of this time, after everything, Kagome still felt insecure about Kikyo's previous relationship with Inuyasha? Inuyasha loves Kagome more than anything in the world! He would die for her if the situation called for it, so the insecurity shouldn't be there. Kikyo leaned over and pat Kagome's cheek.

"I do not miss being in a relationship with Inuyasha," Kikyo answered gently. "However, I do regret many of the actions I committed while being with him. He was my first true relationship, and I couldn't fully trust him - and it was his first relationship, as well. You know he didn't trust me as much as he trusts you now. That was our downfall, and I regret that it had to be that. But I don't miss being with him. He's yours, and he's much happier with you than he ever was with me."

Kagome blushed, a small smile appearing on her face. "Yeah…you know, I kinda forgot what he did to piss me off." She rubbed the back of her head, laughing nervously.

Kikyo sighed, rolling her eyes. Typical - while Inuyasha and her had always remembered every bad thing the other committed against them, Kagome and Inuyasha would forget within a few hours unless it was serious.

"Well, you got your frustrations out." Kikyo tapped her spoon against her tea cup, smiling.

"Hanging out with you to rant about whatever he does always makes me feel better." Kagome finished the tea in her thermos, small pale hands contrasting with the bright red of her thermos. "You just…you get what it's like, being with him."

"Same to you. It's because of you that Inuyasha and I are still friends." Kikyo hid her smile by finishing her tea. Even though her relationship with Inuyasha didn't work out, she had never wanted to lose him. He was her first real friend - she didn't want to imagine what her life would be without his brutal honesty, or the stubbornness to keep her from doing something idiotic.

"Your break up wasn't that bad," Kagome dismissed - modest as usual, Kikyo mused, before shaking her head.

"Kagome, we didn't talk to each other for a solid year. It was bad, and I can't thank you enough for making both of our eyes open up to what happened." Kikyo leaned over and gripped Kagome's free hand, smiling. "Thank you, Kagome."

Kagome's face nearly matched her thermos, but her smile reached her ears and her eyes sparkled and she perked up in her chair. Just like a child, Kikyo thought fondly.

"Keh. Kagome, you left your coat when you stormed out."

Kagome looked up and her face lit up even more so at seeing her dog-eared boyfriend. Inuyasha was shifting around uncomfortably, in his worn (obnoxiously bright) red jacket and Kagome's coat under one arm. His free hand held a bright green thermos with a giant, fang-sword printed on the side.

"Hello to you too, Inuyasha." Kikyo mentally rolled her eyes at seeing the way Inuyasha stared down at Kagome as if she was the only girl in the room - actually, in his mind, that was probably true. "Tell me, are all of your jackets, sweatshirts, and shirts that particular shade of red?"

"Keh. Hi, Kikyo. And so what if they are?" Inuyasha put the thermos down on the table and then covered Kagome's face with her coat. "Here ya go, wench."

"Ugh, Inuyasha-!" Kagome pulled the coat off her face and onto her lap, glaring up at the hanyou. "You're so infuriating- wait, isn't that the necklace I gave you?"

Inuyasha's clawed hand immediately went to grip the beaded necklace that Kagome had gotten him years ago. "Yeah…"

"I thought you took it off!"

"To take a shower. I ain't getting this wet, it'll get all rusty or the paint will come off."

"I thought that you—"

"Lemme guess, you thought it was a sign that I don't actually love you and that I actually consider you Kikyo's replacement," Inuyasha said blankly, raising an eyebrow and exchanging looks with Kikyo that said, She's so unbelievable.

Heat rushed to Kagome's cheeks, and she began to snap back, before Kikyo's phone let out a ding. Digging it out, she checked the text message that she received and smiled.

"Well, that's my cue to leave. I'll see you both some other time." Kikyo stood up and smiled at them before she left, not missing how Inuyasha immediately took her seat and started his friendly banter with Kagome. They were truly perfect for each other.

As soon as she stepped out of the shop, her doctor of a boyfriend immediately cuddled up to her, and Kikyo laughed at how affectionate he was being. It was once in every blue moon that Kikyo didn't mind his snuggling in public - if she told him to stop he would do so immediately - so he immediately buried his face into her neck.

"I wasn't with her for that long, Suikotsu." She turned her head to the side to kiss his temple.

"It felt like forever." Suikotsu nuzzled her hair. "Everything okay?"

Kikyo put her hand over his, leaning her forehead against his. "Everything's wonderful."

And that was the simple truth.