InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Club Shikon ❯ Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: ::huggles plushie:: of course I own Inuyasha! Unfortunately, though I have unlimited ear-tweaking powers, I don't have the rights to the anime… O.o yet…

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She grinned as she surveyed the layout of her club. The walls were black and adorned with authentic stained glass windows that she had ordered in from Italy and England's old Cathedrals.

The bar was polished cherry maple, accenting the red velvet upholstery of the chairs and the edges of the circular tables. Several thick shelves were lined with bottles that she had hand-selected, verifying that they were mild enough to prevent anyone from killing themselves in her club.

The dance floor was polished cherry wood as well, making for an easy cleanup. All the other accessories, like chairs and tables, were polished silver and red velvet upholstery. But her favorite place in the club was the stage, where local and famous bands would perform nightly in Club Shikon.

The name had come from an old legend that her grandmother had told her as a child. Growing up, she had seen many pictures of the Shikon Jewel. That was why most of the hanging lights in the club were either large sparkling jewels, or little shards of the same glass. The stained glass windows along the walls glowed, giving the room an eerie sort of medieval feel.

And opening night was tonight…

The door opened behind her and she spun around, grinning.

"Sango, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously. "You know that we're not opening for another few hours."

"Yeah. I came to see if you needed any help, Kag," the singer replied. "And…I wanted to warm up. You know, get prepared and all?"

"Sure," Kagome shrugged. "Do whatever you want. I'm opening the doors. We'll probably have a small crowd tonight."

Sango nodded. "I invited a couple of friends,"

"You paid for half this place. Do whatever it is you want," Kagome replied, shrugging.

"…Kagome," Sango said nervously, shifting from foot to foot. "My friends helped get me the money. Is it okay if they come in free?"

"Sure, but only once," Kagome replied. "We do need profit,"

Sango nodded. She turned quickly, the beads on her dress flashing. It was dark purple and covered in black beads and sequins. A common style of the era, she had paid a bundle of money for it. Kagome wasn't entirely sure where her best friend got her funds, but she wasn't going to muse over it now.

Her staff had arrived only moments ago. All women of high standings, they had been meeting with her for the past month to review policies and make suggestions about her club. It would be the only place in the entire city ran entirely by women, the only place where the drinks were mild and the entertainment was decent, and also the only place that did not allow firearms. Kagome was sure that it would appeal to the working families of the area, the standards repelling the lowlife gangsters that she was so afraid of.

Living on your own in the big city was hard enough, no matter who you were. Being a woman, and a miko at that, was even tougher. But no matter what anyone had told her, Kagome refused to follow the social standards of the city. She lived in her own apartment above a bakery owned by a sweet old women she had known as a child. Her family still lived at their shrine in the country, writing her at least once a week to hear how she was going. With her small fortune, the money left to her by her deceased father and much-loved grandmother, she had decided to become an entrepreneur in her city. She was living a dream.

"Kag-chan?" Sango asked softly. "You zoned out for a minute there."

"Mm? Oh, sorry." Kagome grinned and turned to her best friend. "I can't believe it's already opening night! I'm so excited!"

Sango's grin was slightly less cheery. "You look excited," she commented.

"Really?" Kagome nervously smoothed her plain black dress. It was modestly cut, reaching the tops of her knees. A tasteful amount of beads was scattered across the material. Kagome was unable to afford something as extravagant as the getup Sango was sporting, but didn't want to look shabby on the opening night of her club either. She had been forced to borrow money from her elderly landowner, Kaede. Her first profits went to paying the women back, however.

Kagome looked at the clock again. It was next to the mirrored bar, large enough to be seen across the dance floor and the eating area. Ten minutes until the doors opened.

She had no doubt that their first night would be an incredible success. Rumors about Club Shikon had been spreading almost before the renovations on the building had begun. Par usual, Kagome's club had been a club in its earlier years. Abandoned by its owners, it had decayed for nearly ten years before Kagome acquired the deeds.

The miko had a secret that only Sango knew about. She was a complete sucker for card games, gambling everything she was worth on a game of chance. Kagome had won the deeds and a lot of money just by playing cards for a few months when she had arrived in the city. She was a frequent face in many other clubs simply because of her hopeless gambling addiction.

But now…now, she was accomplishing something. She would be known in the world, people would flock to her. Kagome would be something important, no longer a miko from the countryside. The thoughts made her feel proud and helped with her nervousness.

The only problems that she had faced in setting up her club were bodyguards. She wanted the place to be mostly run by hardworking women. Kagome knew how hard it was to find a job in the city with good honest income. She wanted to help other people like her. But women would do no good as bouncers. Kagome was all too aware of the gangs that ran the streets.

She had heard whispers of a mafia. They had their hands in every business that was still floating on the economy. Kagome had taken great measures to keep from getting involved with them, borrowing money only from people that she was close with. She thought that this would keep her club clean.

When she looked at the clock again, she jumped to see that it was time. She turned and caught sight of her door bouncer, giving him a sharp nod. Kagome and Sango grinned at each other and moved towards the door to greet guests as they entered.

The door opened.

In streamed a line of people. Men, to be more specific. Kagome couldn't place it, but it seemed that they were all uniform in a way. They looked like a singular unit.

Next to Kagome, Sango was grinning sheepishly and giving her friend an apologetic look as Kagome realized what the uniformity meant.

"Sango!" she hissed. "Your friends?"

"Yeah," Sango replied.

"Sango, they look like a gang."

"Well…they are,"

"What?"

"Oh come on Kagome. It's not really that bad. Better to be friends than enemies, like I always say."

"You always…what the hell? Sango, I want to be able to choose my friends and enemies for myself! And right now, I'm thinking that the mafia is my enemy!"

"Enchanting. I would hope that we were not, since that could turn out bad for you, Miss Kagome."

Kagome spun on her heel to address the voice that had spoken behind her.

Carmel eyes met melted amber. Kagome's line of sight proceeded from the amber eyes to the silver hair that came with them. And then she registered the neatly tailored suit and the fine material. That was when she knew that she was in trouble.

"Inuyasha! I'm so glad that you could make it. I was just telling Kagome about you. You'll have to excuse her manners; she's from out of town. Kagome doesn't like the idea of a mafia," Sango said cheerily, giving said Inuyasha a friendly embrace.

"The idea is mutual, I assure you. The mafia is unpleasant, but…necessary." Inuyasha ventured. "I assume that you have not yet informed your stunning partner of our financial contributions?"

Kagome paled. "Your financial contributions? Sango!"

"Ah. Well, maybe now is a bad time. I'll be seeing you later, Miss Kagome." Inuyasha said, turning and walking towards the bar.

If looks could have killed, Sango would have been ashes.

Kagome's dreams had come crashing back to reality as soon as she had heard the word `contributions' leave Inuyasha's mouth. Now, she was angrier than she had ever been before and slightly embarrassed. This was her club, after all. She was supposed to know everything that happened involving it. And just now, it seemed like Kagome was the bottom one on the chain of information.

Exactly a half an hour later, when the stream of people steadied, one smoldering miko and one apologetic chorus dancer turned to face each other.

"What did you want me to do, Kagome? I'm not made of money." Sango explained flatly. "Listen, I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner, but you would have been angry. We'll pay them back and get them out of here as soon as we do, okay?"

"Sango…I'm not angry that you did it. I'm upset that you didn't at least mention it before I met their leader."

Sango smiled slightly. "I get it. You liked Inuyasha, huh?"

Kagome blushed. "What? I never said anything like that!"

"Sure you do. You think he's cute."

"Where the hell is this coming from? Listen, he's part of the mafia Sango. I don't think he's cute. I don't support him, and I don't even want to know his name." Kagome paused. "Okay, he has a nice butt. But there is no other cute part on him!"

Sango smirked. "Liar. Let's go get some seats before the show starts, okay?"

Kagome allowed Sango to pull her towards their little stage. "Well…maybe he has cute ears," she allowed. "But that's it!"

"Kagome, I never knew you could be so outgoing. When you look for men, you look at their ears and their butts. No wonder you're pining after every male you see,"

"Sango!" Kagome whined.

Before her friend could smirk at her some more, however, the lights dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd. The small curtains parted, and out walked…

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yep, this chapter is done. Bet I'm killing you. And since I don't know when I'll update next…the suspense should efficiently wring me a few death threats, I suppose. (cackles). Sorry that this has been so long in coming, concept mapping is a bitch and I'm deeply engrossed in meeting place at the moment. Thought I'd freshen up this idea, though. (smirks) update later, bye!