InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fade and Flare ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 20 )

Fade and Flare

Chapter 18

Inuyasha (at least the anime, anyway) is copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Yomiuri Terebi, and Sunrise 2000.

Hello! Long time no see. I'll tell you what happened afterward, but here's a warning: nongraphic sexual content in this chapter.

Why was it this difficult? The claws from his bare feet clicked against a bamboo hardwood floor, and Inuyasha stalked over to the patio door, pushing it open a crack while resisting the urge to hurl his notebook computer into the rooftop garden. He screamed into his bluetooth headset.

"What the fuck do you mean, she's blacklisted? Do these fucking assholes know how much money they're gonna make? Two top 10 artists. A fucking rock icon. A fucking pop icon?! Their surprise shows are hotter than anything else going on in the music industry and we can't find a single venue in the area that holds over five thousand people? Literally nobody is willing to walk up to us and take this huge pile of money? I can't fucking-"

"Shut up! I'm handling it." The voice on the other line seemed a little distracted, but her shrill tone made Inuyasha's ears flatten against his head.

"Why the fuck are you handling it? Why is the goddamned stylist handling it and not that letch of a manager Miroku? Didja' finally cut out that annoying silver tongue of his, or is he busy using it on you these days?"

He was not at all shocked at the string of obscenities that came shrieking into his earpiece. When she calmed down, Sango still yelled. "Only I can handle this now, you ass! When are you coming out of hiding?"

Inuyasha stammered. "I am not in hiding! I stepped down! I'm not a professional, I ruined everything-"

"Oh, fucking spare me your man-pain. Granted, we're making good money from these surprise shows right now, and the record company is only okay with this because they're the hottest thing on every social network I can think of, but... you have no idea what's happened to her heart, Inuyasha."

"Keh! Like I don't know."

"If you really knew, you wouldn't have left her alone! Who else is going to stop her from doing something impulsive? Who's gonna be there?"

"Keh! Kagome is a grownup! Besides, she's obviously gone crying to Takarai. There's nobody who's known her longer, nobody who knows her better, and nobody else she respects as much. If he weren't already taken I'd arrange a marriage!"

"INUYASHA. You don't know anything, it's like you don't know that-"

"She's got you, she's got her mentor, and she's got her mother and friends." His eyes went to a desk drawer for a moment, before a digital chime echoed near the door. "I gotta go. Thanks for helping her."

"You stupid... puppy! All of us together couldn't make up for-" Inuyasha ended the call before Sango could finish her sentence, tossing his earpiece next to another phone in a drawer. The chime rang again, as Inuyasha wordlessly answered the door.

"Sesshoumaru-sama? I brought over what you asked... for..."

Later on he would say he tripped over a shoe, but Inuyasha wavered into a table near the open door. He thought he would never see her again. A familiar pair of eyes met with his, and his stare flickered downward, taking in anything but her face: Pale skin. Long, straight hair as dark as midnight. He used to bury his face in it; his eyes moved away. Delicate shoulders he used to kiss. No good, no good. He trailed down her arms, stopping at a soft hand that once used to hold his. The woman's other hand was now frozen in a tote bag, about to retrieve a bulging manila envelope.

"Kikyou?"

"Please call if you need me at some point tonight, Kagome."

On the phone she promised she would, as Shippou dropped off his van full of rock stars and miscellaneous groupies at Hideto's high-rise apartment. A couple of Kouhaku's men were stationed at the entrance to the garage.

In Hideto's kitchen he paraded out some bottles of imported beer, while gesturing to a few stacks of cans behind him. The band members, familiar with his home, retrieved snacks to set out, while Kagome turned on the karaoke machine, an unknown German craft beer already in hand. Turning down offers of cigarettes, she passed out ash trays in sympathy towards her host's housekeepers tomorrow, but was soon standing on his coffee table anyway, holding a microphone, one beer already finished.

When she was on her fourth beer, she coaxed a cute brunette girl with short hair and a short skirt up on the table with her. The pair sang seventies pop songs by people like Yamaguchi Momoe, Pink Lady, and Candies, to start. The lights in Hideto's living room were dimmed, and the women were backlit by karaoke B-roll footage on the TV as they did their best impersonations.

Akio was at their feet, shaking a tambourine while balancing a whiskey glass on his head (two girls were applauding), and in the background clothes were already coming off while a small group played Jenga. Somebody offered mushrooms- Kagome politely declined.

Hideto, grinning as he watched them, laughing occassionally as Kagome would lock eyes with him during a phrase in a song. Eventually he joined the women standing on his coffee table, selecting a song (he opted to repeat a Wham! cover he'd once performed on Fuji TV- Careless Whisper). Kagome and the short-haired brunette sang backup, the brunette holding the microphone while Hideto rested a hand on each woman's hip. When he hit the song's final high note Kagome had finished her sixth beer, but Hideto was unable to stand up straight, nearly slipping off the table, both arms around the short-haired girl's waist.

Even the rhythm of nights like this were well-practiced by now. Kagome had already curled up on her end of the couch, slowly resigning to the heaviness of her eyelids as the karaoke machine continued to drone in the background, meshing with the laughter of groupies and the clatter of empty aluminum cans. Hideto, a little muddled at this stage, moved one hand up the short-haired brunette's leg, and Kagome tried to fall asleep before she could feel too lonely, now that her bandmates were all occupied.

"Kagome..."

A little confused and half-asleep she began to reply, but stopped once her name was repeated.

"Kagome," Hideto sighed, as he kissed the brunette.

"Do you want her to join us?" giggled the brunette. "I think she's asleep."

"Shh... just pretend... be her," he murmured, and Kagome jolted upright at that, scooting off of the couch, right into the living room lamp.

The lightbulb cracked and sparked as it fell against the coffee table. Now only lit by the television the young woman stood, swayed a little, and managed to hold a gaze with Hideto for a moment. Everyone else stopped at the noise, all eyes on her as she suddenly grabbed the arm of the couch for support.

"S-sorry," Kagome managed, bowing in apology to everyone. "Please continue."

In a moment of clarity Hideto's eyes widened, realizing what he'd said aloud, but before he could push the brunette off of him, Kagome staggered out through the front door. He clamored after her, hands against the hallway walls for support.

"Wait!"

He found her around a corner, leaning against an elevator panel, face hidden beneath a mess of tangled, inky hair. Her eyebrows knit together as he approached. Cursing under her breath as the elevator approached much too slowly, she turned her head away from her friend.

The focus he'd exerted to catch her was wavering, but he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't," breathed Kagome, who couldn't find any words at the moment. The halogen hall lights burned her eyes.

He answered slowly, not quite slurring, but clearly making the effort not to. "I'm sorry. Lonely. Crossed a line. I'm so sorry."

She didn't want to nod. She didn't look at him, or even move.

"Tonight you were so charming... Beautiful. Reminded me of all the things we never did." He toiled at the words, squatting on the floor for a moment with his head in his hands. "Not your fault. My fault. I'm sorry."

"It felt like old times," Kagome finally offered, sighing beneath her hair. "Except I'm not seventeen, and you're not the only man I've kissed."

"Felt like old times," he agreed, standing again. She finally pulled away from the wall, curling up against him in a hug. Beneath the weight he staggered a little, resting his forehead on her shoulder. The elevator dinged, and he herded them inside, pushing the button for the lobby. He pulled her with him, to lean against a wall. "Back when we loved each other."

"Of course I'll always love you," the young woman sighed. "But that doesn't mean I want to be-"

Hideto stopped her. "I know." Still buzzed, he tried to speak in a more jovial tone. "Maybe next lifetime."

A smiled curled on her lips, and they stood in sobering silence until the elevator stopped at the lobby.

"Sorry I never got to sing you to sleep. In person, I mean."

As she stepped out of the elevator, she turned to smile at him, combing a few fingers through her hair. "You've already given me a million nights to remember."

Still standing in the elevator, he laughed at that. "Do you need a cab?"

With a glance to night sky outside, Kagome shook her head. "Call me when you want to hit the studio. I'll call when we get a real tour sorted out. And call your son in the morning."

A doorman opened the door, bowing as the pop star stepped outside. She noticed Kohaku's subordinates near the exit to the building's parking garage and staggered quietly in the opposite direction. The young woman glanced up at the stars above, acknowledging Myouken as she walked.

"Please, don't shout!" Ignoring her tears, Yuka collected her purse. "I'm going now; I'm going."

"I wouldn't shout if you'd just do as I asked!" Hojo towered over her, uncharacteristically hot-headed on yet another night, pointing to the door. He shadowed his manager, watching as she hurriedly collected her paperwork.

"I do everything you ask," she replied softly, looking for her pencil case. "Every day, when I come here, all I do is what you want."

"And yet you completely ignore the fact that being around you is painful! Why can't you go back to your office? Here." Not knowing what they were for, Hojo grabbed a stack of papers from a desk and shoved them into the first empty tote bag he could locate. "Why don't you just take all of this stuff and just work from there?"

"Because you're not doing well... emotionally, I mean. You won't talk to anyone!" Yuka tried to take the bag from Hojo, but was blocked.

"I never really talked to anyone in the first place! Not besides you and Kagome!" As his ex-fiancee's name crossed his lips he was yelling again, shoveling any object from the table into the bag.

"I'm sorry," Yuka said. "I'm sorry she didn't love you! I really, truly am!"

He managed to thrust the bulging bag into his manager's hands, before crumpling onto the cleared desk, head down on his folded arms. "She'd still love me if you hadn't interfered!"

"You'd still think she loved you if I hadn't shown you how fragile your relationship was!"

With an inhuman shriek, Hojo knocked the bag out of his manager's hands. "Anything can be broken if you try as hard as you did!"

When the young man raised his head from the desk, Yuka immediately flinched when she saw tears in his eyes. She bent to pick up the bag. "Not everything! Somebody had to show you. Somebody had to break it."

"It wasn't yours to break."

"I have always put you first! You need somebody who doesn't treat you like just one more thing to pencil into a calendar, Hojo! Please stop trying to hurt me! I'm here for you!" Breaking out into a full sob, she threw herself onto Hojo's sagging form, and he first tried to push her away. "I can't help it. I love you, and I can't help it, and I always have!"

"Then I guess it's only right to reward you." After a quiet moment, he took Yuka by the shoulders, ushering her aside, making room to stand. After an angry swipe at his tears he kissed her. There were no closed eyes, or stars- no blushing or fluttering hearts. His expression remained antagonistic, lips rough against hers as he pressed her into the desk, moving down to her neck. His large hands slid to her cardigan, peeling it off of her shoulders. For a moment he paused, searching her eyes for a reaction.

Stunned, the young woman closed her eyes and nodded, tears forming again as she urged him to continue. "You do need me. I always knew you did."

"That's really all you wanted, isn't it?" Hojo replied flatly. "To decide what I need."

"What I want is everything for you." With damp eyes she removed her shirt, dropping it on the ground to join her cardigan. She sat on the desk, pulling him to her for another kiss, fingers pulling at buttons to open his shirt.

She thought a walk would clear her head, but after some time out in the empty streets, stewing in the events of the night, Kagome found herself passing the entrance to her apartment high-rise. Her gut trembled, avoiding entry each time. The trains were out for the night. There were few signs of life in the streets- nobody to fixate on, nobody else to think about, and it made the lonely young woman's urge for a beer only grow. Passing through a section of sidewalk where the streetlights had died, her footfalls echoed around the street, and the muggy night air sat heavily on her face. At a street corner ahead stood a burning beacon of light: a familiar convenience store.

It was the last public place she'd been with Inuyasha, on their last night together. This time, there was no boyfriend to keep secret. Noting a couple of patrons inside as the young pop star approached the automatic sliding doors, she decided to be noticed.

She braced herself, aligning her shoulders over her hips, taking wide, commanding strides while entering, still in her stage clothes from earlier that night. Posing subtly in black leather pants and boots, chains dangling from multiple belts around her waist, and a t-shirt with the collar and sleeves cut off, one hand on her hip as the doors parted to the sides, a gust of air blasted her as she entered. In an automatic reaction, her free hand bent to flip her massive black mane of hair away from her face. It fell dramatically behind her while she moved straight towards the beer aisle.

"W-welcome," babbled a young woman of a storeclerk, as Kagome passed. One patron, a middle-aged salaryman out late, was curious at the sound of jingling metal that quickly approached him. He turned to look for the source, and stumbled a little as he recognized Kagome barreling past him.

When she reached the refrigerator door she couldn't hold her smirk back. Quickly, the high wore off, however, once she had to decide between the different types of canned beer, sake, and chuuhai. When a minute or so passed she grabbed two beers, thought better, and also picked up a bottle of water and some strawberry jam flavored bread.

Straightening away from the aisles, she strode back to the cash register, secretly watching the people who watched her, trying to avoid a giggle at the way the salaryman so openly gaped at her. The clerk bagged her items with a pair of napkins, and Kagome was a little surprised that the salaryman decided to approach her.

"Higurashi Kagome-san? Are you her?" His voice was oddly deep. He held a magazine from the racks in his hand and pulled a pen from his jacket pocket. "My wife is a big fan... would it be okay to have an autograph? Sorry to bother you."

"Sure."

She'd deposited an empty can in a recycling bin, still out in the dark. She'd mostly sat to drink the beer, but now enjoyed the way her clcking boots reverberated in the street. Maybe her original buzz hadn't worn off, because by the time she'd finished the first can, the young woman felt a little warm in the cheeks again.

She passed by the kouban that she had scaled while on Inuyasha's back, and passed by a few other skyscrapers, taking her time to look at the area. The last time she'd really been able to wander around in Shibuya was after graduating high school, finally affording time between band practices and her part-time job to shop, back then.

Ayumi used to call excitedly, on Saturday nights after her part-time job. "Leave Hojo at home and hang out with me in 'Buya, Kagome!" They clubbed sometimes. They shopped, or spent hours listening to new music in HMV (back when it was still there- it was now a Forever 21). Kagome grinned at her old stomping grounds, but reached a familiar high-rise from more recent memories... She hadn't been back here since her last night with Inuyasha, as well.

There was a deep, masculine voice. "Higurashi Kagome-san?"

Turning slowly, she jumped at the voice recorder pointed to her face.

"You are Higurashi Kagome-san! I'm Yamamoto Naoki with Shukan Shincho. I almost didn't think it was you, because you'd passed your apartment building! Is it true that you and Hayashi Yuka have been love rivals for five years?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it, opting to turn and run. She flung the bag with the remainder of her convenience store purchase, using the weight of the drinks to stun him as she dashed away. The reporter let out a strangled yell, stumbling backwards onto the ground. Tripping at first, Kagome cursed at the fact that nothing was open- there were no large stores to lose a person in, not that she felt particularly apt to run for too long.

When she ran in an arc instead of a straight line, Kagome openly swore... her head felt heavy as she ran, still buzzed from the alcohol. Still hearing foosteps behind her, she spotted the high-rise she'd had her eyes on at and shot into the building's entrance.

It had open-air shopping areas and small rooftop gardens in its lower levels. Really, she'd wanted to live in this building because of that. Noticing the reporter out of the corner of her eye as she dashed through the empty shopping area, she recalled where the elevators to the garden areas were, grabbing the wall to turn a corner.

The first one she reached was sitting open. Sticking her arm in quickly, she pressed the button for a few floors before hitting the "door close" button.

"The doors are closing," echoed an electronic voice as Kagome hurried away, around yet another corner. Her head was spinning even worse now, and every couple of meters she'd press a hand against the wall for support until she reached another elevator. She stumbled in, heading towards the highest floor the public could access- her favorite garden in the building.

As the door closed behind her, she leaned heavily on a bar, breathing loudly as the car ascended. With no warning, in seemingly no time, a feminine yet electronic voice shocked her back into attention. "Twentieth floor." The doors parted, and cautiously, Kagome stepped out of them, scanning the area for any movement.

When she was satisfied she rushed over to a fountain, sinking onto the ground next to it. Its calm waters splashed softly, and she leaned over its cement barrier admiring the lights glowing at the bottom of the fountain.

There were no other noises except the fountain's running water, and the rustling of leaves in potted trees. She stared out at the sky through an archway, frowning at the loss of her bottled water and bread. "I'm so out of shape," she sighed, having a hard time recalling the last time she'd used a treadmill.

For a moment Kagome thought she'd heard footsteps and froze for a few minutes, lowering her head behind the fountain. When she was sure she was still alone, she moved closer to a wall, sitting on the ground behind a small tree, with a clear view of the elevator and other walkways.

There was also a view of some upper level patios afforded from where Kagome sat. She studied them, and then glanced in the direction of the building's penthouse, where Inuyasha had once taken her.

Who lived there? She frowned, eventually looking back towards the upper level patios. All the higher floors needed to be accessed with a key card, which she didn't have, but her curiousity about who lived in the penthouse wouldn't go away.

Her knees were a little shaky as she stood, but the young woman moved up onto her toes, trying to get a better look at the upper patio. It looked nice over there...

She didn't live far from him, and because of this wouldn't let herself get too sad that Hojo didn't want her to spend the night. He hadn't kissed her again during their joining, hadn't looked into her eyes, or even smiled. Yet, Yuka recalled how tightly he gripped her hips, and how he pressed his forehead to her shoulder as the desk rocked violently under the weight of their act. When he turned her over, the frantic roll of his hips gave her shivers. She'd climaxed sooner than she'd have liked to, and when he reached completion Yuka gasped as his fists slammed down against the desktop on either side of her. She wondered if he'd ever been like this with Kagome.

It doesn't matter. You're closer to him now.

That's what she repeated to herself, catching her reflection in the windows of closed shops and bars in Ikebukuro, clutching the tote bag her boss had filled earlier. When Yuka sat in his entryway, putting her shoes on to leave, Hojo asked her to work in her office for the rest of the week.

What did you expect? Give it time.

In the years she'd worked with him, she'd sat on the sidelines, trying to keep focus on her job while watching a woman in denial squander the affections of a kind-hearted man who didn't know better. When Kagome and Hojo kissed, there was something that didn't sit well with Yuka, who simply chalked it up to her own jealousy. With every sabotaged date, Yuka immediately felt remorse when Hojo sulked like a sad puppy, but respected him that much more when he'd put his sadness into his work.

Before meeting Kagome's manager Yuka felt an odd kinship with Inuyasha, and when they first met in Cebu her heart thumped for a moment at his exotic, handsome features... until she first saw the way Kagome talked to him. That was when everything clicked. She could have returned the engagement ring in time for Hojo to present it, but was glad to have withheld it. Convincing Hojo to return to Japan for half of their trip was painfully easy after that, and despite that third wheel of a stylist being around, getting Inuyasha and Kagome time alone together on a beach resort had paid back.

Higurashi Kagome's prolonged denial made everything worse than it could have been. The night that despicable pop star left Hojo teary-eyed and humiliated backstage at the MTV Asia Awards, in front of so many colleagues and friends, was the night Yuka decided she'd do everything she could to help him save face.

Kagome had hurt him for lying so long. One humiliation deserved another, so when Yuka saw that fateful issue of Shukan Shicho in a book store, plastered with photos that only proved to humiliate Hojo even further, Yuka found leverage.

Stopping at a Uniqlo storefront, she spotted a billboard of Hojo, larger than life, wearing a bright yellow polo shirt. This promotion shoot wrapped a few months ago, right before their Philippines trip. His smile stretched so easily over his face. He'll see how much you really love him.

"I'll admit, he's a fairly handsome guy." The sound of another female voice startled her, but she was also searching for why she recognized it. There was no mystery once Yuka turned to face its source. Her heart thumped frantically in recognition.

The stylist... what-

Sango, arms crossed, regarded the other woman with a cold stare as she walked up beside her. Yuka, unsure of what to do, tried to continue home again, before Sango began to pace her. "Going home for the night?"

They were quickly joined by a few tall men, who silently encircled the women as they continued through the shopping district, and the picture was fairly clear to Yuka. She glared at Sango, anger slowly building.

"You think you can just do as you please to people? I'm not afraid of you. You can do whatever you want to me, and I won't be afraid. You can't hurt me, you need me to make things right!"

Sango's face twitched in reaction, but didn't answer her directly. "Hirai." Her voice was almost a whisper as the small entourage continued down the street. The man Sango addressed pulled Yuka's tote bags easily from her hands.

"Allow me to carry this, Nee-chan." Yuka glared in protest, but thought better of lunging at the man, whose tattoos were visible from beneath the tank top he wore.

Meanwhile Sango's voice was even and soft, but with an edge that Yuka couldn't help but notice. "Believe it or not I hate doing this. I got a job to avoid the family business."

Yuka rolled her eyes. "Poor little thug princess. The problem with rich people is how hard you think you have things. It's absolutely disgusting when you try to conjure up a sob story!"

"Don't talk like you're exempt from that statement." Sango whirled, pulling the other woman into a headlock. Her long ponytail trailed behind her as she yanked Yuka into an alley, and planted the woman's face down into the ground. Towering over the other woman, Sango's voice and demeanor had calmed as she watched Yuka right herself, remaining on the ground. "And, actually, I was about to say how good it felt to have family who will be there for you. Nice reach, though." Kohaku walked up to stand behind Sango, and the siblings exchanged a smirk.

The short-haired woman glared up at the lot of them.

"You'd know all about counting on family. I thought it was a little odd that we couldn't book Kagome and Takarai-san at a venue in or anywhere near this prefecture. But your father is friends with so many influential property owners."

"So what? Do you think you're gonna rough me up a little so I go crying to Daddy? Do you think, even for a second, I'm gonna make everything normal again? You think he won't make things worse if anything happens to me?"

"In short, yes." Removing her coat, Sango began to crack her knuckles and spat. Exchanging a look with Kouhaku, she grinned, picking up Yuka by the neck.

"Look, Hayashi-san, I'm not a scheming mastermind like you. I'm pretty straightforward. I left my family to come to the city, and became part of Kagome's family." she continued, "If you'd like to talk about the problems with rich people, though, what I can't stand about your kind of rich people is that you have no concept of actual pain." Tightening her grip, she watched Yuka choke out some noises, unable to properly move her jaw. The short-haired woman's toes brushed the ground as she struggled to breathe. "You put other people through it, same as us, but haven't really felt it to understand what you're doing.

"Why do I know that? Well, let's look at what you told me: I could do what I want and you wouldn't be afraid." Sango released her, but not without a punch to the gut on the way down. More than winded, Yuka fell back into the ground, hacking loudly into the night air. "See, I've been strangled. I take punches. I know how you're feeling right now. Kagome probably hasn't been punched, but she's struggled for what she's got, and that's why she's not out to fucking destroy Hojo. She knows the punishment she can dish out, knows what it feels like. Unlike you and me, though, she can't run back to Daddy like we can when things go wrong.

"And this is what really pisses me off about you... See, I really don't think it's my job to teach a big girl like you the meaning of pain, but... you obviously need to be in it. If you were just a civilian this would all be different... but since you're like me, since you're as safe as me, since her mama's not rich like our dads, you don't get to fuck with her. You don't get to fuck with my new family!" Sango dove onto Yuka's prone form, knee-first into the small of her back. The victim's moans were forced out with her exhales, but she managed a few words.

"You... stay out... of this..." Winded, Yuka still attempted to crawl away, tears betraying the pain she was trying to hide from her aggressors. "She isn't... shit to you..."

"YOU DON'T FUCK WITH MY FAMILY, HAYASHI." Sango grinded her knee into Yuka's back, watching her writhe. "Don't throw your fucking daddy's influence around because some boy doesn't love you."

"Fuck you-"

"You spoiled little child." Sango pressed her knee in further, eliciting a yelp from Yuka. "I'll have your dad taken out. I'll make it so your mom and older brother will have to flee the fucking country. And you can sure as hell know that I'll even have Hojo taken out, if it comes to that. My daddy will mail you Hojo's little head. Kagome will cry, and she wouldn't forgive me, but she'll be safe from you.

"Remember what I said: I hate doing this. Which is why I'm so beyond pissed right now, because I'd rather be sewing and trying out new makeup instead of taking out trash!"

There was too much pain in her back- as much as Yuka tried to say anything, all she could do was breathe, and listen.

"You wanna flaunt what your daddy can do? My daddy has more money, more connections, and more friends than your daddy. Compared to a Yamaguchi, your family may as well be some nouveau-riche little hicks."

The pain in her back eased, and from the ground Yuka watched Sango walk away. She gulped the air as if she'd spent hours without it, barely able to hold in her sobs.

Sango's voice had returned to its casual tone. "If you and I ever have to speak to each other again- if you go to the media, if I hear a word of this little incident from Kagome, if you try to go to the cops, if you try anything that doesn't involve getting your father to back off... well, I've already spelled out the future for you." She walked away from the alley, past the men who stood with her. Kohaku remained for a moment, before gesturing towards two men.

"Hone-kun? Take her home. Patch her up if you have to, same as usual. Hirai-kun. Carry her things."

Exhaling loudly, Sango stretched her legs as she left the alley, crossing the street and turning a few corners, hoping to distract herself in a manga cafe for the night. Trembling at the adrenaline rush, she located a bench and sat, breathing evenly to calm her nerves.

"Sango? I'm sorry."

On guard again for a moment, she relaxed at the source of the voice. "Sorry for what, Miroku?"

He joined her on the bench. "You said to stay home, but I had to come. I wanted to see-"

"Oh no," she interrupted. "No! I didn't want you to see me like that... it's horrible, it's dark. We can destroy a person so utterly, and all for-"

"You did it for Kagome." He drew her into his arms, half-expecting to be hit but decided to continue for as long as possible, before the inevitable slap to the face. When she did not attack, he rest his head against hers. "You really care about her, so much so that you'd destroy your friendship."

"She was the only one who gave me a chance, when I came out to live here." A tear escaped, rolling down Sango's cheek, and ignoring the instinct to hold back, Miroku cupped her face, tipping it up to kiss the tear away. "I don't plan on killing anyone... I just wanted to scare that unholy bitch. I even had to stop Father from doing anything without my consent!"

She leaned into her companion's hands, mouth parted, and heart pounding in her ears as he moved closer.

"Is it wrong," he whispered, hovering over her lips, "that your violent side really turns me on?"

Incredulous, Sango's eyes bulged angrily, and she groaned out loud into the empty shopping plaza. She stood, tearing herself from his grasp to throw both arms in the air, and she groaned again, continuing down a corridor towards the cafe. Under a streetlight she paused.

"Come on. You're buying me tea."

Bewildered, he sprinted to catch up.

If she stopped, she knew she'd panic, so Kagome continued to rush up along a drainage pipe, toes stepping on large, industrial-sized steel bolts for leverage until she finally flung her upper body over the rail of the upper patio. She scrambled, crawling with her hands, the complete opposite of grace, as she finally reached the garden.

It had similar plants as the lower level, and she even noted a few rose bushes (glad she didn't crawl into those). She stepped over the metal cover for a drain, and paused. In the cast iron was the cute caricature of a dog sitting in the sun's rays. She smiled a little, but kept walking, eyeing the roof of the building.

"Looks like ten floors up." She'd counted twice. Her eyes fixed on a sign: "Stairs." An elevator dinged below, at the twentieth floor garden. She ducked towards a shadow, watching the reporter she'd encountered come dashing out. Glad she'd left the floor, Kagome tiptoed towards the sign, quickly locating a corresponding door.

Maybe she could have at least checked for an elevator, but ran up nine flights of stairs, worried that the reporter might somehow be following, or could see her. The stairs only went up nine floors, so when Kagome reached the top, she wondered if she miscounted the floors.

She'd exited the stairway into a hallway- this was definitely a residential floor. There were name plates on every door as she passed by; at the opposite end of the hall was where the elevator was found.

There was only one call button, going down, but she pressed it anyway, peering inside once it arrived and the doors were open. No buttons corresponded with any higher floor, but Kagome spotted a blank button next to a pin pad, and hopped in as she heard the elevator warn, "The doors are closing."

She squinted, searching the pin pad for fingerprints or smudges, but frowned when there were none to find. Shrugging, Kagome punched in any sequence of numbers that came to her: Inuyasha's birthday, her own birthday, one through three, five, nine, and finally the code for an old security system that Inuyasha once had installed at home (it went off too many times, and was forcibly removed with his claws).

Pressing the blank elevator button after that final code, she jumped when the car began to move... down! Kagome began to press other floor numbers, but the car did not stop, finally passing below the ground level floor into the lowest basement.

"Basement three," an electronic voice cheerfully recited. As Kagome folded her arms in annoyance, she watched the doors part to reveal a man with flowing, white hair.

Youkai! A dog youkai!

Her heart jumped, but only for a moment. The young woman raised her gaze to meet a pair of almond-shaped, golden eyes she'd never seen before. She eyed the fine features of his face, feeling heat creeping along her cheeks.

With a neutral expression the youkai sized up Kagome. Silently, he entered the elevator, barely acknowledging her presence, and as he stepped towards the elevator's console the bewildered woman moved quickly out of his way.

She watched him cover the number pad with his hand, punching a sequence with the other, before pressing the blank button, and her heart pounded once the car moved.

They stood silently together, until the car stopped, doors opening again. Without speaking, the youkai placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, startling her for a moment until she was herded outside of the elevator.

Looking up expectantly for an explanation, she was not rewarded with one, but his hand remained on her shoulder as they reached a large mahogany door, and when she was walked to an entryway (with a crooked table, Kagome noted) the young woman removed her shoes when her companion did as well.

She was ushered around a corner, recognizing the elegant living room.

When she spotted a familiar pair of hanyou ears, her chest began to hurt. When she saw her boyfriend sitting a couch, hugging a dark-haired woman, Kagome's legs stopped working, and she slid to the ground, unable to speak.

The youkai she'd met in the elevator finally spoke. "Inuyasha. Handle your business."

And once Inuyasha turned to face her, he froze.

Notes:

It's totally corny and maybe ridiculous in Japanese but I did it anyway- The kanji for "Hirai" and "Hone" (Sango's henchmen in this chapter) reads as "hiraikotsu" when put together. I thought about translating those names to "Flyer" and "Bone" but haven't translated any other names in this story. Impractical nicknames, woo! Also, "bones" is an oooold word that people used to associate with doctors in general (in the western world) so that's why I had Hone take Yuka home and patch her up.

Also, I still haven't had time to elaborate but the Yamaguchi family is one of the biggest crime families in the Tokyo area, IIRC.

So... still plodding through this story. Soon after I posted the last chapter, I was still miserable with life. Back then I applied to art school for closure (didn't think I could afford it, so I'd give up forever after this), but then I got in with a scholarship, and ditched my tech career. My husband and I gave up, well, pretty much everything for me to go, and now it's the last summer of my life as an undergrad and I'm about to finish up my illustration degree in December. Art school ate my life. (The average American art student spends more time in class/outside of class working on schoolwork, than the average American law student. It FEELS as true as it sounds.) But, I managed to get to Japan last summer (we had a class there!), and Pixar is doing a series of summer lectures at my school right now (just did a story workshop), and I have a little bit of time for this, which is why I picked up this story before school starts up again.

Still in love with Tokyo after all this time. 8) A bunch of the places I'd written about in this story aren't there anymore/are a little different now... well, what can you expect when you write a story over the course of eleven years? We don't use the same sort of cell phones now as when I first wrote this, but at least I still saw a few (bigger) flip phones in Tokyo last time. In the year this story was posted, in the flashbacks (when Kagome was trying to get a record deal) it was still the late 90s. She would have used cassettes for demo tapes and VHS for amateur video, and now it's all about sites like SoundCloud or YouTube/etc. if you're an indie musician.

Oh well. If you're new to the story I hope you can let that stuff slide. I was a bit younger than Kagome when this story was first written. She'll be 23/24 forever here, ha ha ha. This story takes place five years after Kagome left high school, which, to be fair, is a long time in the music industry.

I've always known all the major events in this story, so the ending was already decided when I started writing it. The ending will remain the same unless something better comes along.

P.S. I'm fairly active on Tumblr, and post fanart the most, so if you're into that kind of thing look up user name pinkuchama at tumblr. Also added an unfinished sketch from chapter 17 up at the Fade and Flare site... which this site won't let me even write out anymore, so please check earlier author's notes for the address. Ugh.

Until next time!