Kagome rubbed Inuyasha's broad back as he sat on the couch leaned over with head hanging down. His long white hair fell over the sides of his face hiding his tormented features from her. Sesshoumaru stood in front of him looking down at him with what could only be known as sympathy. Kagome was surprised at this change in Sesshoumaru, he never showed his feelings. It was Rin's idea to tell Inuyasha when she learned what happened. She stood beside Sesshoumaru holding his hand and looking up at him curiously wondering what he would say next. There was a long moment of silence between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru and the girls didn't quite know what to say to make either one of their men feel better.

"I'm sorry," Sesshoumaru finally spoke, surprising everyone with his admittance.

Inuyasha looked up at Sesshoumaru to see if he meant it. It seemed he did. Inuyasha knew how his father had died, but he hadn't known the entire truth. The fire had always been a mystery since no one knew how it had really started. There were rumors that his father was murdered, but he had never imagined Sesshoumaru's mother murdered him cold heartedly.

"All this time, I hated you and your mother," Sesshoumaru continued as he stared down at Inuyasha. " I blamed her for our father's death. Had he not been with her that night, he would have never been killed by the fire, he would have never risked his life to save her. And you, you were a reminder of the life my father had lost. How dare you live and he didn't. This hatred I carried around with me for years, letting my mother fill my head with her lies and support my anger towards all humans not just you and your mother, all except Rin." He looked at Rin and tenderly caressed her cheek. "Rin, I could not resist, but even then I felt somewhat guilty and ashamed that I was following in my father's footsteps which is why I kept her at first. I never knew how much I would come to love her."

"You've mated with Rin," Kagome said. She had noticed the change in Rin when she saw her beautiful silver eyes and the gold and purple streaks on her cheeks.

Rin turned from Sesshoumaru and gave Kagome a big smile exposing two delicate but sharp looking fangs. Kagome shivered. Rin looked like an angel, all delicate and sweet until she showed the fangs. Then, she looked dangerous.

"So it was your mother all along," Inuyasha said suddenly looking tired. "You could have picked another time to tell me this shit, not when my emotions are running high after mating with Kagome. Now I just want to go out and kill somebody, anybody will do."

"This was not easy for me, either," Sesshoumaru said. "I learned a few minutes after mating with Rin."

"Well at least the old bitch is behind bars," Inuyasha said. He glanced at Kagome and pulled her into his arms. "If she had tried to pull that crap on Kagome. I would have been in prison right now for murder. And, I would have never been able to be with Kagome which would have killed me. You are a lot more rational about this than I am, Sesshoumaru. I'm glad it was you who dealt with her and not me."

" I haven't been a big brother to you as I should because of the hate I had for you all those years At least, I got to know our father, you never had the chance because of my own mother's jealousy, for that I'm sorry. You should have had a male in your life to teach you the ways of a youkai instead of learning from a human who knows little about our kind. I know father is disappointed in me, but I hope to make him proud by asking your forgiveness and starting over our relationship."

"You're just feeling guilty now that you know your mother was the cause of our suffering," Inuyasha looked at him suspiciously. "You don't really want to know me."

"I know enough about you, Inuyasha. I am asking if we can start over as brothers. My mother's terrible deeds have caused the opposite affect in my life. It caused me to finally make Rin my mate, which I should have done a long time ago and it opened my eyes to see how stupid I've been to my own brother. I was not there when you needed me the most, but I will be there for you now," Sesshoumaru held out his hand to Inuyasha.

Kagome gasped as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. Rin also looked tearful. She couldn't believe that Sesshoumaru was actually reaching out to his younger brother. She had always wanted the two to get along. This event was phenomenal. Rin stared at Inuyasha who was looking up at Sesshoumaru with distrust in his eyes. She held her breath.' Please shake his hand', she thought to herself. 'This is a once in a lifetime moment.' She watched as Inuyasha's expression changed from distrust to uncertainty as Sesshoumaru continued to quietly hold his hand out. Inuyasha hesitated for a moment, then looked as if he'd made up his mind and quickly shook Sesshoumaru's hand.

Kagome grinned happily. Rin gasped in delight and hugged Inuyasha. "I'm so happy, that you two are going to be friends now," she said.

Inuyasha grinned and hugged her back.

"Rin!" She stiffened at the sound of Sesshoumaru's angry voice. Then felt two large hands grab her waist and pull her away from Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru held Rin possessively against him.

"You will not touch what is mine," he glared at Inuyasha.

"Hey, she hugged me, perhaps you should keep your woman on a tighter lease!" Inuyasha yelled.

Rin winced.

"Umm guys," Kagome said hesitantly.

"Fool!" Sesshoumaru said.

"Idiot!" Inuyasha retorted.

Sesshoumaru dragged Rin out of Inuyasha's room. She gave Kagome and Inuyasha an embarrassed smile. Well, maybe they weren't friends yet, perhaps they needed more time. Old habits are hard to break.

A week passed by before Kagome knew it. So much had happened in that short time. Inuyasha moved her stuff in his apartment. It was big enough for two people and to hold all her things, but she scolded him for doing it without her permission. After all, he should have asked instead of doing it while she was in class. As much as Kagome loved Inuyasha, she was not ready to move in with him completely. They had their first big fight. And Kagome, reminded him that he had promised to take it slow with her. She was already his mate, but she still had to adjust to everything. She still wanted her independence to come and go as she pleased and hang out in her own room, after all, it was already paid for. He made her promise she could keep her room if she spent every night in his bed instead of hers. She agreed. This inspired Rin and Sango to also stay in their rooms to Miroku and Sesshoumaru's dismay. The girls wanted to be close to each other. They had been through so much together since Kagome arrived that they felt very close to her, almost like a sister. Their youkai men gave them the rest of their junior year to use their rooms, but senior year they were moving in together. Sesshoumaru was thinking about moving Rin off campus to his apartment in the city her senior year since he'd be graduating soon. He sure as hell wasn't going to let Rin live on campus without him.

When people learned that all three of the girls, Kagome, Rin and Sango were mated to the campus most eligible bachelors, there were mixed reactions, mostly from the girls since the three most famous men were now taken. The students had to quickly learn to accept the youkai mates or suffer the consequences. Kagome's mother found out when Kagome brought Inuyasha over for dinner. The woman practically skipped around the dining room yelling "we're rich!"and congratulated herself for her well devised plan. Kagome could only sit there in embarrassment as Inuyasha watched the woman. He wasn't insulted or surprised, he had a feeling she had brought Kagome to the university for another reason other than her education when he met her for the first time in Kagome's room. He couldn't be angry at the woman, after all if it wasn't for Kagome's mother, he would have never met Kagome and for that he'd always be grateful to the gold digging woman. When Inuyasha told his mother he had finally made Kagome his mate, she immediately started planning their wedding. Kagome's face was on fire when she told her she wasn't ready for an actual wedding yet. She looked very disappointed until Inuyasha pointed out he'd marry Kagome after they graduated. She smiled happily and hugged them both and told Kagome that she was free to visit her anytime she wanted. Shippou nearly died of happiness when he learned Kagome was finally mated to Inuyasha. She was the only girl that Inuyasha dated that Shippou actually liked and felt close to. Koga nearly died from grief when he learned. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he still thought he had a chance with Kagome, but now he knew there was no way in hell. However, it still didn't stop him from wanting her. He was doomed.

Kagome sat outside the student union in the patio area enjoying lunch with Rin and Sango. They had a terrific view of the campus from the second floor. She remembered when Inuyasha brought her here for the first time to discuss the rules of being "kept". Funny, how she had went from being "kept" to his girlfriend and now his mate in a very short amount of time. Speaking of the devil, she saw him pass by with a group of his football buddies. She knew he would immediately spot her, he always knew where she was at, now that they were connected. She smiled and waved at him as he looked up. He stopped and stared up at her, a broad grin spread across his face before being replaced with a heated look that promised her another long night of passionate lovemaking. Kagome blushed and quickly looked away. She could hear him chuckling inside her head.

"Whoa, I thought he was going to burn you alive," Sango said feeling the sexual tension between Kagome and Inuyasha.

Rin giggled. "We all know what that look means."

"Oh gosh," Kagome said. "It never ends! Every chance he gets, he's on me."

Sango and Rin burst out laughing.

"It's the same with me! Don't they ever get tired?" Rin asked.

"I'm beginning to think I should stay in my own room during the weekday, Inuyasha keeps me up most of the night and I'm so tired the next morning I can hardly make it to class."

"I never get tired, " Sango said.

"Of course you don't. You're a succubus," Kagome said.

"Show off," Rin teased her.

"I'm happy you've learned to control your instincts, now," Kagome said. "I was beginning to think we could never hang out again."

"Me too, although I think it will take Miroku some time to get use to me not being stuck to his side like a shadow," Sango suddenly shivered.

"Hmm, Miroku checking in?" Kagome asked.

"You know it," Sango said. "You see what I mean? He has to know where I'm at every 15 minutes."

"It freaks me out when they do that," Rin said. "There's no warning. You just feel this sudden caress throughout your entire body and you automatically know it's them because it's like they've entered your soul and left their impression on you."

"I know, it's rather erotic," Sango said.

"Yeah, it is," Kagome said laughing. "I remember the first time Inuyasha did that to me. I was in class demonstrating how to put icing on a cake and Inuyasha just decides to invade my body to see where I'm at and I almost knocked over the entire cake in front of everyone. My teacher thought I was having a seizure." Kagome sighed shaking her head.

"They have no problems adjusting to the changes. It's natural to them, instinctive, but we're still human girls that was transformed, they should be more understanding," Rin said.

"Understanding? That is not a word in their vocabulary. It's all about being the big male Alpha now. Do this, do that, or I'll punish you which usually just gives them another excuse to pound us into eternity by their intense lovemaking," Kagome said remembering how bossy Inuyasha could get and how crazy he got when he wanted her to submit to him.

Rin blushed at that. "Sesshoumaru does tend to lose control at times. It's a good thing I'm not completely human anymore or I think he would have killed me by now. "

"Miroku loves to punish me," Sango said. "I like being a bad girl."

The girls laughed.

"Seriously, every since they've mated us, their arrogance and possessive have gotten out of hand," Kagome said.

"Ahh, but then again, you have to admit, it's a huge turn on when they get that way," Rin said.

The girls looked at each other and giggled.

"Yeah, but we won't let them know it. It'll be our secret." Kagome said.

"Besides, they only act that way because they love us so much, so much it's scary actually," Rin said.

Kagome and Sango nodded in agreement.

"I've never been loved this way," Sango admitted.

"It's a little overwhelming," Kagome said.

Rin sighed romantically. "What are we going to do with them?"

"Love them back just as hard," Kagome said softly.

The End

A/N: Like I promised, there will be a sequel and I'll be posting the newest chapter next week. The name of the sequel "The Importance of Being A Youkai's Mate" hehe. This story tells more about Kagome and the others gradually adjusting to their new lives as a youkai's mate. And there will be more about their lives on campus and dealing with family and friends.

In "The Importance of Being Kept" I felt like I rushed through the story and didn't give it time to grow. Kagome was actually suppose to be Inuyasha's" kept" woman for a long time before she became his girlfriend. And then, she was suppose to be his girlfriend for a long time before she became his mate. There was also suppose to be more descriptions about campus life, but at least I got the basics over with and that's all that matters. Hopefully, I can take my time in the next story and not get so excited and rush through it, but you know sometimes the story writes itself and there's nothing I can do about it. LOL

As for all my fans. I love you all! Thanks for giving me over a thousand reviews. Writing this story has been a very enjoyable experience because I had all of you to share it with. Sometimes I go back and just read my reviews, they are just as entertaining as the story. LOL So thanks again everyone and I hope that you will be here to read the sequel!