InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Divine Interventions ❯ The Sign ( Chapter 6 )

Author's notes: This is a warning to song-fic haters: This is not primarily a song-fic, but there are some songs (not a whole lot, but enough) in several places throughout this story, including this chapter. Songs quoted here include “The Sign,” by Ace of Base, “Follow Your Heart,” by Jewel, and “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles.

 

PS: I'm re-editing these chapters as I post to mediaminer, and while I don't expect the content to change drastically, it may vary slightly from the fanfiction.net versions. I'm trying to get these chapters out quickly so the story will be up to date, but please be patient, this story is already almost 30 chapters long and growing. If you have questions/comments, please post a review or email me directly at lablancabruja@hotmail.com. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6 The Sign

He walked with her into the dark room. With music blaring from all directions, he felt the beat reverberate through his chest. Strange lights swirled on the black ceiling, criss-crossed with large, metal tubes. The lights flashed and spun and small spheres of silver glass sent myriads of white light-points floating in circles around the walls and floor. To Inuyasha, the effect was cloying, making him feel claustrophobic. Chloe moved him with ease past people standing, holding drinks, and making out. She guided him past a flat, wooded surface where people seemed to be in pairs, groups, and alone, moving their bodies to the music they heard. From what he knew of things Kagome had told him, this was dancing in her time. He was taken aback by the foreignness of it, and his sense of smell was accosted by the stench of too many bodies packed in too close. Sweat, perfumes, and the smell of hundreds of half-naked humans was making him dizzy. He stopped to look for Kagome in the maze of people, but he couldn't see her or even smell her in this mess.

Chloe seemed to notice he was having trouble walking and held his arm a little tighter.

“I know! It's crazy here on Friday nights!” she shouted in toward his ear. “Tonight's even worse because of Kagome's surprise! Don't worry Inuyasha, were almost there!” She guided him to a small table in a corner with three black chairs. “Here you go. Miranda will be around soon to take your drink order. All drinks are on the house tonight and no-one's carding, so have fun and enjoy the show!”

Inuyasha looked up at her and, holding his tender ear, did his best to nod a thank-you. He had no idea what she had just said to him, but decided it didn't matter. He sat and watched the crowd move around him, feeling like he was trapped in a hive of buzzing bees. “The only person I know who would like this is Miroku. So many women, so little clothing.” He snorted at this thought and was aware of a thin, young woman standing over him.

“Yeah? What do you want?”

“Uh, your drink order sir?

“Tea.”

The woman stood there, dumbfounded. She would have laughed, but something about this guy gave her the creeps.

“Sir-“

“Yes?”

“We don't serve tea.”

Inuyasha thought this was very strange. “How about sake? Do you serve sake?”

“Yes, yes, right away.” The woman wrote something down on a small piece of paper and rushed away into the crowd.

Sake wasn't his favorite drink, but it was fine. He really didn't care what he drank or if he drank. He was getting frustrated at still not seeing or sensing Kagome. “Maybe she's actually telling the truth about something; maybe her work is boring. “

With that thought he began to wonder what kind of “work” Kagome did. She never actually mentioned it; she only bragged that she was good at it.

Did she bring drinks to people like the skinny girl? He didn't think so because he hadn't seen her yet. At that moment, something pricked at the edges of his senses and his right ear twitched and swiveled in the direction of a familiar voice.

Kagome was so upset she wanted to pull out Chloe's hair, one by one. “He's HERE!? You let him in HERE!?”

“Kagome calm down. What was I supposed to do? He was at the door with Jake and Ricky and he didn't look like he was going to take `no' for an answer, so yeah, I seated him at our regular table.

Kagome looked white and green at the same time.

“Hey! It's alright,” Chloe soothed, “I mean, come on, you said he was an old friend of yours, right?”

“Yes, he is a friend. A very dead friend. This isn't good Clo.”

“Oh Kagome, how bad can it be? It's your party tonight, so maybe he wanted to be a part of it. Personally, I think you should cut the guy a little slack. He's kind-of cute, not goth, but edgy. What does he look like out-of-character?”

Kagome ignored her last friends remark and walked out of the dressing room and up on the stage. She lifted back a corner of the heavy stage curtain and looked to the left corner of the room with dread.

“Shit, shit, shit! Of all things, why this!”

“I can't believe that big jerk lied to me! Oh Inuyasha, you're in so much trouble with me!”

It was all he needed to home-in. Her anger was undeniable. Inuyasha gave a hearty laugh and scared the young woman who was in the act of pouring a cup of sake and setting it before him. She was so frightened; she spilled some on the table. She almost cried when she said “sorry,” and quickly left.

He didn't care or notice the spilled drink, he was feeling expectant, his blood thrumming through his veins, just thinking about the fear her scent must carry now. He didn't normally like the idea of Kagome being afraid, especially of him, but tonight, tonight was a special case.

“You think I've lied to you? Is that how it is? Ha! you're in trouble and you know it, don't you wench!”

Kagome stepped back and let the curtain drop, sobbing. Chloe heard her and gave her a hug from behind. “Hey! It's going to be alright! You're just having a case of the nerves, birthday girl!”

Kagome didn't want to smear her make-up and was upset with herself for getting so un-nerved. “I'm going out there and talking to him.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“Probably not, but if I can get him to leave somehow, it'll be worth it.”

Not giving herself time for second thoughts or to acknowledge the flight response that was building in her stomach, Kagome marched out the door that lead to the side of the dance floor and the club front.

She didn't care if she was rude as she pushed past people; she needed to get to Inuyasha, now.

There were too many humans for him to get a fix on her scent, but he felt her approach before she even got close.

When she was almost at the table, he looked down, pretending to be engrossed in his cup of sake.

“Inuyasha!” She stood directly in front of him, looking down at his seated figure.

He glanced up slowly. “Hi Kagome, so this is your work? It's loud.”

She stood above him, taking deep, angry breaths. She glared down at him, her hands tightly fisted at her sides. Inuyasha saw all of this, knew what it meant, and refused to look back up at her. His gaze was focused downward on the sake in his cup, which he made swirl in a circle as he gently shook it.

Kagome sat down in the chair next to him quickly. He supposed she meant to startle him. He didn't respond.

“Inuyasha!” she growled through her clenched teeth, “I thought we'd agreed you'd wait back at the apartment for me!”

“I changed my mind.”

“WHY! Why are you here when I asked you to stay and wait!?”

“I wanted to see where you worked. I wanted to see your birthday `surprise' and be here with you to celebrate. That's alright, isn't it?”

“Just when in hell did he get so good at manipulation?”

“Inuyasha. It was thoughtful, even sweet of you to want to be with me on my birthday, but look, this is kind of a problem. I have to talk to someone before we leave.”

“So talk to whoever you want to, I don't care.”

“Inuyasha,” she said, her voice an exasperated sigh, “I want you to go back to my apartment now and wait.”

“No thanks, I'm already here. I'll stay.”

“Inuyasha PLEASE go now! If you go now, I'll give you lots of ramen, you like the chicken flavored kind, right?”

Inuyasha took in and let out a deep breath. “Tempting . . . . but I'm staying.”

“No, you're not! YOUR LEAVING RIGHT NOW!

“Kagome, get a hold of yourself. Do you want people to think you're crazy?”

“I want you to leave Inuyasha, I mean it.”

“Okay, okay, just calm down. We can leave right now.”

He started to stand up and take her arm.

“INUYASHA SIT!”

It was a reflex, said without thinking.

Inuyasha gave a wide, deep, smile, every tooth and fang showing. “Kagome,” he said, his voice a full-register lower than usual, “Unless you leave with me now, I'm not going anywhere.”

Kagome slumped in her chair, defeated. Angry tears threatened her eyes as she glared at him, hotly.

“Okay, so things are not going your way today. Has ANY of this day gone the way you thought it would when you woke up this morning? Calm down, Higurashi, and just handle this.”

Kagome pulled something slender from her back pocket. Inuyasha could see it was another “phone,” but this one was smaller and flatter than any of the others he had seen. It seemed to have a small screen like the televisions he had seen in her time on the top half of it, with buttons below.

Kagome looked at the phone and dialed. She put it up to her ear, and, not taking her angry stare off Inuyasha, began speaking:

“I need you now. Can you come?”

Inuyasha couldn't hear the words coming through the tiny microphone by Kagome's ear over the blare of the music, but he could hear from the pitch and timbre of the far-off voice that it was male. The voice said something that made Kagome respond in a most unusual way. As she sat there, still staring at him, a furious blush crept up her face and neck, causing her eyes to widen in a startled expression.

Kagome listened to the man's response: “Relax, love. I know you need me, but you know there's a limit to what I even I can do. Maybe what you need is a nice, cold shower.”

“That's not what I meant and you know it!” Kagome hissed into the phone. “I know I'm not supposed to see you until later, but this really can't wait. Can you come now?”

“I'll be with you shortly love, so hang on.”

Kagome returned her phone to her back pocket and her attention to Inuyasha.

He didn't know what the man had said to her to make her blush so intently, but he didn't like it. He suppressed the growl that was ready to roll through his chest. There was no way he was leaving without her, no way in hell.

“I'm asking you one more time, as my friend who I haven't seen in years, to please honor my request and leave.”

“No.”

“Inuyasha, you are a real jerk, you know that!”

At that moment, the loud music and swirling lights around them stopped. People left the dance floor and moved off to booths and tables scattered around the club. The main lights came up, instantly and drastically altering the atmosphere. It was like awakening in sunlight from a startling dream.

A man stepped out onto the dance floor alone, carrying a thin metal object with a cord hanging from it. When he spoke into the object, and his voice gained unexpected volume that made it painful to Inuyasha's ears. “Hell,” he thought, “Why is he using that thing-we can all hear the damn fool fine without it—“

“Good evening American Rock!”

This was greeted by hoots, whistles, and loud clapping all around him.

“I'm Steve Osan, club owner and your host!”

More claps, hoots, and whistles.

“Tonight we have something very special planned. At least two live performances by local and very talented groups. First the Tokyo Travelers, and then Angel Blue!”

Again, more claps, whistles, and Kagome's heart rate?? She wasn't looking at him, but focused on the man on stage, a tight smile on her lips. Her heart was beating way, way too fast. In spite of his earlier anger, he was getting concerned about her now.

“Whatever her secret is, it can't be that bad if I know, can it? Why is she doing this to herself? . . .”

“Make yourselves comfortable, please order more drinks on me, and enjoy the show. Without further delay, here's the Tokyo Travelers!”

There was more applause as the man left the dance floor and the ceiling lights once again dimmed drastically. Black curtains behind the dance floor parted and a group of four young men and a woman were sitting and standing on the stage. A spotlight came on the young man in the center, holding a stringed instrument. As soon as the light hit him, the audience clapped and cheered, even Kagome.

“That's Eric,” she said, leaning in and speaking to Inuyasha for the first time in minutes. “He's really good.”

Inuyasha didn't know what she meant, but before he could ask, “Eric” was speaking.

His voice was softer than the other man's and it didn't hurt Inuyasha's ears as badly when he spoke into the metal stick. “Hey everyone, this song's for a chick who knows how to rock, a fellow partner in crime, Kagome.” Eric looked up and smiled, and again, there was a round of heavy applause.

In the darkened room, Inuysahsa could tell Kagome had blushed again, but also that she was smiling a little too.

Watching her blush, his eyes narrowed. “Is he the `someone' she needs to talk to?. . . .”

The music started, and Eric sang a song Kagome and everyone else seemed to like a lot. She smiled again and clapped with everyone else when it was over. Kagome waved up at him and, taking her hand to her mouth, blew Eric a “kiss.” Inuyasha wasn't sure what the gesture, was, and made a face and snorted at Kagome when she did this. But, to tell the truth, Inuyasha thought it didn't sound that bad for this kind of music. At least Kagome seems to be relaxing and her breathing is better, he thought, relieved.

The Tokyo Travelers played three more songs. Kagome was very touched by the first song Eric chose, and actually enjoyed just listening to him for a few minutes. He was a great guy, and she had gotten to know him and the other members of his band during the last six months. Now, however, she was getting anxious again.

“After this song, I have to go get ready. Oh God! I wish I wasn't doing this. I wish a hole would open and swallow me up right now. I could say I felt sick, and it wouldn't be lying. . . .Shit! If only it wasn't my birthday and so many of my friends were here. What am I going to do?”

“Inuyasha-“She said in a timid whisper.

“Yeah?”

“I have to go get ready to work now. I'll see you later.”

“Kagome, I told you, I'm staying with you, so, no, you won't see me later, you'll see me now.”

“No Inuyasha. I have to go backstage and get ready and you can't come with me, no one is allowed back there except-“

He looked at her now with a shocked, wide grin on his face. “Except for the musicians?” he finished her sentence. So this was Kagome's work? She was in a band? Oh, this was too, too funny. He didn't think she could sing, so what did she do, play the drums? Inuyasha couldn't help it. Picturing Kagome making a fool of herself on stage, he burst out laughing. “That's it, isn't it? You're in the next group!”

“Yes Inuyasha! I'm in Angle Blue and I have to go get ready to perform, so please stop being such a jackass, and giving me a hard time about it. I told you-I have to work tonight!”

Tears were brimming in Kagome's eyes and her body was shaking with anger and embarrassment. He could feel the blood rushing not just to her face, but to every surface of her skin. It was just too fun to see her this way, and besides, she deserved it for trying to keep it all secret anyway.

“Yes, yes, by all means,” Inuyasha managed to say between snorts of laugher. “Go get ready for your WORK!”

She shot up out of her chair and ran past him, hot tears threatening to burst at any second.

“Why does he have to be such a damn asshole? I forgot about THIS Inuyasha! How can I do this?, I just can't! . . .”

She ran backstage and straight into Chloe and Mika, who were checking out each other's clothes one last time before the show. “Hey!” Chloe said when Kagome almost knocked her down, “What the hell's the-“She stopped when she saw her friends face.

“Oh Kagome honey, what's wrong?”

“Chloe, I can't do it! I can't sing tonight!”

“What do you mean you can't sing?” said Mika, who also was standing by her, showing concern. “Kagome are you sick?”

“No, she's not sick,” Chloe answered for her, “but she is upset. Kagome, what's wrong? Tell us.”

“I can't sing in front of him!” She sobbed and hid her face in her hands.

“Inuyasha? Is he what's got you so upset?”

Kagome nodded but kept her hands buried in her face to hide her tears.

Chloe put her arms around her and hugged her for a moment. “Sshh. It's alright Kagome. Of course you can sing. You know you're great and you'll be great tonight. “I could just kill that guy for showing up tonight and ruining this for her!” Chloe thought.

“Now you listen to me, I don't care what kind of a past you had with that jerk, but you need to pull yourself together. You've gotten past way, way too much this past year to let a stupid boy shatter you like this, you understand me Kagome?!” Chloe was holding Kagome by the shoulders, forcing her to look up at her sunglass-covered eyes.

“She's right and you know it,” Mika added, coming up and patting Kagome on the shoulders from behind. Men are all dicks anyway, you know.” Then, in a decent imitation of a mafia gangster, she added “You want I should hex him?”

This made Kagome laugh a little, and sniffling, she nodded in the negative to Mika and said, “You are right, both of you. I'm sorry. It's just that Inuyasha always gets the best of me.”

It was true, he had always been able to make her doubt her own self-worth, making her feel weak or foolish with just a withering glance.

“Not anymore Inuyasha. I'm going to show you-no, show myself, that things really have changed.”

“I'll go change.”

“Come on, I'll help you,” Chloe said, “We're on in five.”

Chloe and Mika helped Kagome dress and quickly fix her hair. “Oh here, Mika said, “I almost forgot, we're all wearing these tonight.” Mika handed her a pair of sunglasses.

“Clo, I meant to ask you earlier, what's with the shades tonight?”

“Uuh, well, I thought it would be kind of a cool look for tonight, you know, nineties-retro.”

“Yeah,” Mika added “Very nineties, cool”

Kagome looked at her friends skeptically. “I'm not sure I want to sing in shades you guys. I think they may bother me on stage.”

Chloe and Mika exchanged nervous glances and Kagome caught their “look.”

“Okay, you two, what's really up?”

“Nothing!” Mika said. “It's Steve's idea. He thought it would be a good look for us and he wants us to wear them so we are.”

It was a terrible lie. As long as Kagome had known Steve, for the year that she had been regularly performing at his club, he had never once tried to manage their group or give even the slightest suggestion about their music or showmanship. Now she was supposed to believe this was his idea?

“Clo,” Kagome said gently but firmly, “What's up.”

Defeated, Chloe pulled down her sunglasses to reveal a nasty, blue-black bruise spreading from her right-eye orbit and across the bridge of her small nose.

Kagome gasped in shock. “What the hell-“

“Brad got some really bad news at work, and he, well, he just . . . .”

“The lying dick started drinking again and knocked the shit out of her this afternoon, that's what!” Mika answered, her own anger flared.

“Oh Chloe, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'm gonna kill the bastard with my bear hands!”

“Kagome no! Stop it-both of you! It was a mistake, okay? He said he was sorry. It was the first time, the only time that anything like this has happened in over a year. It won't ever happen again.

“And just how do you know that Chloe? You TRUST him?” She didn't like kicking Chloe when she was down, but she was so angry--

He even sent me these roses, see-“Chloe gestured to the vase full of red roses on the small table.

Kagome didn't glance at the roses. She was already seeing red. “Chloe, please tell me you're not still going through with the wedding?” It was a plea, a prayer, and if she could have made it so, a command.

“Kagome. . . . We don't have time for this now. Yes, I am still marrying Brad and in two weeks I am still expecting you, my best friend, to sing at my shower. Come on, you guys, you're both making WAY too much of this. Brad and I put it behind us, and now I need you to do the same, for me. I mean it. Please Kagome can you do this for me and not make things any harder?”

Kagome's heart was breaking for her friend. Oh, she was angry, angry at Brad for hurting her again, and angry at Chloe for her blindness and self- destructive behavior.

“Okay, Clo,” she said weakly. “I won't make it worse.”

Chloe gave Kagome another quick hug.

The applause was being given for the Tokyo Travelers last song. It was time. “Give me the damn glasses and let's do this,” Kagome said, trying to smile but not succeeding.

Kagome was struggling with a surge of anger-induced adrenaline. She couldn't believe how self-absorbed she had been earlier. Sure, Inuyasha was out there, enjoying himself at her expense, laughing at her even now. Frankly, she didn't give a damn about that anymore. Chloe had comforted her, given her strength even when she was caught in her own hell. Well, to hell with Inuyasha, and to the bottom layer of hell with Brad. She would definitely do something about him, but it would have to wait.

As the three girls took their places on the stage and readied for the curtains to part, Kagome no longer felt fear. Her face was set with determination. “I'm gonna sing tonight alright,” she thought. “Hey, you remember the first song we played together? I want to open with it.”

Mika shrugged from behind the two sets of keyboards. “Okay Kagome, “The Sign” it is.”

The curtains opened and there was a long round of applause, along with several shouts

“Yeah Kagome!”

“Happy Birthday Kagome!”

Kagome smiled. From where she stood she had a clear view of Inuyasha. He was standing by the table, actually clapping along with the crowd. His beautiful white hair took on a silver-blue glow in her dark glasses. If she didn't know that little smile was actually a smirk and that he was laughing at her, she could have allowed herself to admit that he was devastatingly handsome, but she pushed those thoughts back before they barely had time to flicker across her mind.

“Thank you.” Kagome said sweetly, in husky whisper. “This one's for an old friend.”

As the music started, Kagome gripped the microphone tightly with her right hand and closed her eyes.

“Focus Kagome, focus now.”

She purposefully slowed her breathing and allowed herself to feel all the pain and anger that had built inside her over the course of the day, allowed it to flow to the surface, where in her mind, she caught it, and tethering the energy, the power of the feelings, she let the emotions flow over her like hot water over a stone.

She opened her eyes under her dark glasses and lifted her head to the audience. A shot of intense, white-blue light rolled through her the center of her eyes. If anyone had noticed, it would have looked like a flash from a disco balls reflecting off her glasses, but no one did. In an instant, it was gone.

Kagome smiled, she was ready to sing now.

Inuyasha watched her as the curtains came up, at first very amused and thinking of the many days and ways he could torture her for this. Then she spoke. Her voice was . . . different. Soft, yet she commanded attention. Maybe that was just the way the entire room hushed around her. He was musing this as he took in her clothing. He stopped smiling. Her skirt was black and lacy, shorter than those school skirts she used to wear. His eyes moved down to her legs. Her legs. Oh, her legs looked different. They were not the same, spindly legs he remembered, but long, shapely with muscular definition and smooth, all the way down to her delicate ankles and red toenails peeking out from three-inch spike-heeled shoes. He noticed how her skin seemed to glisten under the lights with a soft sheen. His eyes moved upward. Her top half was covered by an insignificant black piece of clothing he remembered she called a “bra.” Normally this was worn under her uniform. This one she wore under a “shirt” too, if it could be called that. It was nothing more than a transparent, red, netted material that seemed to serve no other purpose than to draw eyes back to her brassier. Her glossy hair was pulled back, accentuating her creamy, perfect neck, and her lips were painted red to match the almost-invisible top, a luscious cherry.

Even after adjusting to the changes in her today, he stared at her and felt something stir inside him, his heart-rate rose with his heat that seemed to be building in the air around him. Inuyasha was speechless, couldn't even think. He had to get closer, he wanted her down off that stage, away from the hundreds of other people who had no right to look at her as he was looking at her now. As he began moving toward the stage, she began singing:
I,
I've got a new life,
You would hardly recognize me, I'm so glad,
How could a person
Like me jump for you?
Why, why do I bother, when you're not the one for me?---
It enough to know that
I saw the sign,
And I opened up my eyes I saw the sign,
Life is demanding,
The rhythm understanding,
I saw the sign,
And I opened up my eyes, I saw the sign,
No one's gonna drag you out,
To get into the light where you belong,
But where do you belong? . . .

Under the pale moon,
For so many years I wondered who you are,
How could a person,
Like you bring me joy?
Under the pale moon,
Where I see a lot of stars, . . .
It's enough to know,
I saw the sign,
And I opened up my eyes, I saw the sign,
Life is demanding,
The rhythm understanding,
I saw the sign,
And I opened up my eyes I saw the sign,
No one's gonna drag you out, to get into the light where you belong,
But where do you belong?

Kagome had watched as Inuyasha make his way from the back table to standing with a crowd of others at the foot of the stage. When she sang “I saw the sign, and I opened up my eyes, I saw the sign” the second time, she took off her glasses. When she reached the line “But where do you belong?” She bent with precision at the knees. Without missing a beat, she sang the question staring directly into Inuyasha's orange eyes.

She watched as he gaped at her, unable to close his mouth or hide his shock.

“Good,” she thought as she stood back up, “I'm starting to feel better.”

Inuyasha was stunned. When she bent down, so very close to his face, singing this to him, he couldn't breathe. He had to admit it, her voice, everything about her was incredible.

“How did she do it? How did she turn it around on me so quickly? I was hunting her, and now--now I feel powerless.”

He didn't want to think these things, to feel this way, but there was no denying it. Kagome was in charge. A part of him wanted to grab her, wrap her in his long, red, coat, and carry her out of there, away from everyone else but him. Another part, the part that was deciding now, wanted to hear her sing, watch her, drink her in. He stood there, frozen, as she sang on:

I saw the sign,
And it opened up my mind,
And I am happy now living without you,
I left you, oh-o-oh-ooh,
I saw the sign,
And it opened up my eyes,
I saw the sign,
No one's gonna drag you out, to get into the light where you belong,
But where do you belong?

When she sang these words, she walked over to Chloe, who was playing the guitar and singing back-up and looked directly at her, Kagome's expression almost defiant. Inuyasha had never felt such strong emotions coming from Kagome before. As she sang these lines, he was relieved beyond reason that she was not looking at him. He felt sure if she sang those words to him, he would somehow be utterly destroyed. But why did he feel so much anger coming from her? It seemed to be rolling off her now, crashing down on Chloe like a silken knife. Inuyasha was finally able to move his eyes off of her as she finished the song. Looking at the people in the audience, he knew that he was not the only one being affected by her.

“Kagome, what are you doing? The only other times I've felt anything close to what I'm feeling from you now you were using your miko powers. . . But that can't be what you're doing now, can it?”

His thoughts were interrupted by the long round of applause. Kagome and the band waited, and then she said in her sultry voice, “Thank you. This song's for a new friend.”

With mounting frustration, Inuysahsa noticed that for several minutes Kagome hadn't looked at him at all. And now, as she said “this song's for a new friend,” she smiled warmly, almost purring the words, without even a glance in his direction. He watched her eyes and tracked their gaze to the back of the room, to the table where he had been sitting earlier. In the shadows, a man sat at the table and Kagome was looking at him, smiling for him.

Angle Blue played “Follow Your Heart” by Jewel. Kagome loved this song, it's post-modern humor and flirty, teasing lyrics. She gave the song all she had, moving her body with her singing's cadence and rhythm. She knew how and when to strike a pose to accentuate the song's meaning, to deliver an invitation no man alive could resist.

At one point she glanced down to where Inuyasha was standing, just to see if he would show any reaction to her at all. He was gone, she noted, but it didn't matter. She'd deal with him later. Now she was singing, releasing, giving in to so much feeling, so much expression, and it felt too good to stop.

Before Kagome had begun the song, Inuyasha had barreled his way to the table at the back of the room. He watched the man. He sat there, smiling, at ease. He picked up Inuyasha's discarded sake jug and poured himself a cup. He downed it with a smile.

“Son of a bitch! Who is this asshole?”

Inuyasha glared at him. He took in the man's long, open coat, similar to his own, except in color, black like his boots. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans under the coat. His posture spoke for him, told the world he was in control, at ease, amused.

“I'm gonna wipe that damn smile off his cocky face.”

Inuyasha looked at his features. Tosseled, light-brown hair framed his face in soft curls. His hair wasn't as long as Inuyasha's, but longer than most men's. The man's face was tanned, rugged. He was definitely older than Inuyasha in human years, but how old he couldn't determine. He guessed twenty-five. His nose was prominent, but not overly large. It was straight and well-formed. Most striking were his eyes. Inuyasha watched his eyes watch Kagome. They were shockingly blue, pale blue. Inuyasha had never seen eyes like this before. He was startled when the man suddenly looked up directly at him, smiled and said,

“She's bloody brilliant, isn't she?”

Inuyasha didn't know exactly what “bloody brilliant” meant , but he knew he meant Kagome.

“She's with me!” Inuyasha growled from deep in his throat, instinctively reaching toward his sword.

“Is she now?” the man responded with a wide grin. “And here I thought I was watching her sing. She's with you, you say?”

“I don't know who you are, but YES, Kagome's mine. So is the sake.”

The man stood up and looked at Inuyasha with twinkling eyes. “Is it? Then, I have been careless. Your woman. Your sake! Well, I wouldn't want to be angering you further. My apologies.”

This said, the man walked passed Inuyasha and left. But while walking past, he met Inuyasha's eyes with his own intense gaze. From this angle, the man's eyes appeared not so pale blue, as a stormy, swirling gray. This time there was no humor in his stare. Inuyasha snorted. The intruder was gone.

The audience began clapping again, even louder than before. Inuyasha could feel the collective sexual energy that was gathering around him, a storm with Kagome at the center. Thinking about her now, the pressure in his chest was getting too intense. He had never had feelings like this before, at least never allowed them to surface. Even when he had become full demon, these feelings were under control. Now Kagome was ripping his control to shreds. This was dangerous. He needed her to stop singing. He wanted to go, but wasn't about to leave without her.

The memory of holding her, smelling her, “even tasting her kiss for gods' sake!” kept resurfacing in his mind. “Hell, this is definitely not good.”

Kagome began singing again, this time “Black Velvet.” When she began, he knew he was lost. “This has to be a spell. . . .it's not just me. . . . “

He was hot, so hot he wanted to take of his coat, his shirt. He didn't dare. He felt like a marionette, like an idiot, to allow her to continue to play this game. She didn't have the rosary anymore, so what was stopping him from stopping her?

Kagome sang the lines:

. . . . A new religion,
To bring her to your knees,
Black Velvet, if you please . . . .

As she sang these lines, she dropped down to her knees on stage, legs slightly parted, her flimsy skirt straining against her taut thighs. Her eyes were closed and she held the microphone so close to her mouth. . . .

Inuyasha thought he would explode! He was angry. He was excited. He was hurting and hopeless and he was going to make her stop it, now.

As he moved back to the stage, he heard the thunderous applause. Kagome was standing up again. “Thank the merciful gods,” he thought.

She said “Thank you, goodnight!” She was done. No more singing. Oh, she was going to have a lot to answer for now, but he wanted to wait long enough to re- gain his composure first. Just a few minutes to cool down before marching her out of here.

He watched as Kagome and the other women took a second and third bow. The other two women left the stage, and Kagome was turning to leave. Just then, the intruder walked on the stage and was beside her. He took her in his arms, and the audience cheered wildly. Kagome didn't expect this, and gasped when he embraced her.

Inuyasha's lips curled back in a snarl as he watched the man bent his head to her ear and, stroking the other side of her neck with his hand, begin an intimate conversation with her in front of hundreds of witnesses. He whispered in her ear something no human in the room could hear. Inuyasha heard every word.

“Just what the hell are you thinking, love?”

“Michael, I'm sorry-I've had a really, really rough day.”

“You know Kay, you can't go using your energy this way. It's not what it's meant for.”

“I know, I just couldn't help it.”

“It's okay love. I'm here now, and I'm going to make it all better, okay?”

“Okay Michael,” she whispered back. Inuyasha was stunned. He watched her give him a small smile and lean into him further.

“Now it's time for your surprise.”

With that, the man faced the audience and picked up the microphone.

“Ladies and gents, many of you know me and you all know this lovely lady, my Kay. We have a few surprises for her tonight, to honor her grand old age.”

There was a collective laugh.

“That goddamned, fucking, SON OF A BITCH!”

Inuyasha knew Kagome had been doing something when she was singing, but it pissed him off beyond belief that this bastard knew it too, that he understood what was going on and now acting like he had a right to chastise her for it.

Inuyasha knew his chance to leave with her over. Oh, he still could have taken her out of there, by extreme force if necessary, and he wouldn't have minded causing even a very destructive scene in the process. But it was just too damn late. This man, “Michael” was Kagome's “somebody, “her secret. Was he her lover? Her mate?

“No, at least not yet.”

He would definitely have known if she had been with a man, any man ever in that way. He would have smelled it on her, sensed the mark of another, and it wasn't there. If not lover then what? Whatever it was, they were close, closer than he was to her. Inuyasha could feel his anger rising again and with it a piercing stab of betrayal.

“How could you Kagome?! You belong to me and you know it!”

“Did she? . . . Does she belong to me?”

He remembered with a fresh rush of pain: “It hasn't been four weeks for her, it's been two years!

“Did you really think she would never care about anyone but you? And what about you? How do you feel about her? Do you even have a clue? Did you already forget you're not free to care about her even if you wanted to? Is it so easy for you to forget about your promise, about Kikyo, after only one day?”

He felt lost in a haze anger and confusion. No, there was no way he could take Kagome away now even if he wanted to. He had to know what this man was to Kagome. He had to re-gain his control and maintain some distance from her.

“Kikyo,” he thought.” I need to think about my promise to Kikyo now, not Kagome. . . .”

Inuyasha tried. He tried terribly hard. He tried to close his mind and aching heart to the enticing, beautiful woman standing in front of him with another man. He tried to think about Kikyo.

“Like leaving the warmth of a fire for a walk in the snow.”