InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Hate the Game ❯ "Buttons" on a "Silly Ho" ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the song(s) by the Pussycat Dolls, Snoop Dogg and TLC that I have used for this fic. This story is for entertainment purposes only, sigh. Like this broke-ass heifer ever gets paid…

DON’T HATE THE GAME

A/N - This chapter went completely wack on me. I was going to write it one way, and it ended up going quite another, thanks to a certain review. (Thank you, Chigirl!) I have, of course, added my own twist to it. MWAHAHAHAHA! I love lovely evilnessedness. I also want to say that I’ve switched up more than just the story, but also the songs I was going to use. I am not limiting myself to Ciara’s CD, as I first intended. Anywhatever, thanks for the reviews, they are truly inspiring!

(Fate)

WARNING! NC17 LIME CONTENT! (EDIT ON FFNET)

“Buttons, Remix” by The Pussycat Dolls, featuring Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg:What it do, baby boo?
Hell, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, but did she want it like that? She was complicated, this taijiya, who had already given him more pause than any hot little piece ever had. She seemed all hard edges and sharp angles, but waters ran deep in that one. She couldn’t hide it from him, that she wanted him---though she fought it, and him, as if she were desperate to prove to herself that she could.

But he knew he could win past that caution she had, that hard exterior built up against a world she was so afraid of letting in, afraid as she was that she just might get bit by it.

Like he would ever bite her---well, scratch that. He would absolutely love to bite her---starting with a few sexy little nips up that creamy white throat of hers, interspersed with a few lingering little kisses, and maybe a few tasty nibbles on that sweet little earlobe just peeking out from under the bundled towel on her head, maybe then she would even let him start sucking on---damn!

Couldn’t she see that he would never hurt her? At least, not intentionally. Hell, he was only in it for a good time. Wasn’t that what life was all about? The ride? She should just loosen up a bit and live a little, that‘s all he was asking. He could show her a thing or two to make her beautiful brown eyes widen---if not roll back in her head as she screamed out that passion she kept so tightly held within a hard shield of quick denial…
Yeah, little mama, you looking good.I see you wanna play with a player from the hood.Come holler at me, you got it like that,Big Snoop Dogg, with the lead Pussycat.
Wrapped head to knee in giant white bathrobe, a towel looped up over her wet hair, she looked like a fat little maharajah in a terry turban and far too sexy for such a silly comparison. Hell, she looked cute in anything---even those dreadful granny panties now hanging from the knob on his bathroom door. He hadn’t thought anyone under sixty ever wore those damn things, but she had, and made them sexy as all hell. He wondered what she looked like without them under that double-knotted robe that hid her curves beneath a shapeless bundle of snowy obscurity.

If he angled his right eye just a bit, though, he was actually able to make out the upper curve of her healthy little ass---an ass even J-Lo wouldn’t mind marketing---in the reflective mirror beyond them. His fingers twitched, just itching to get a feel on those firm mounds, and his eyes narrowed speculatively as she just stared at him, her eyes like honeyed cinnamon, almost melting from the heat generated in his glance.

The air was electric between them, and working on impulse, as he always had, Kouga slowly tangled one swinging end of the robe’s thick belt with his fingers, tugging lightly, playfully, leaving the choice hers, wondering if she would take the bait or run screaming...

I show you how it go down, yeah, I wanna throw down---Me and you, one on one, treat it like a showdown.You look at me and I look at you,I'm reaching for your shirt---what you want me to do?
His eyes were compelling, too compelling. Sango shivered, indecision etching icy tendrils down her spine even as her body yearned toward him and what that sexy smirk promised. Gods, she was losing it, big time, to even consider…

She blinked, surprised, as his claws played with the end of one sash, tugging lightly, his come-hither look too damn coaxing, that lop-sided smile slightly challenging. Her eyes flickered at the blatant dare-ya in his, and she bit her lip, uncertain for a moment, but he tugged once more, and that abruptly decided her.
Pussy Cat Dolls:
I’m telling you to loosen up my buttons, babe. (Uh huh)But you keep fronting, (Uh)Say what you gonna do to me, (Uh Huh)But I ain’t seen nothing… (Uh)
Her body, tensed, stiff, spine straight as if she always had a rod shoved right up her ass, suddenly seemed to melt from one moment to the next, her demeanor softening toward him as her eyes turned all dewy and she stared at him with raw hunger, desire making her tremble slightly.

*Gotcha.*

He knew he would, he always did. She had just taken a little longer than he had ever expected, but they all came to him, eventually. He had it like that. Irresistible, was what he was. Damn irresistible. No woman could ever hope to stand up to it, they hadn’t a chance in the world, the lovely little darlings. This one had been more stubborn than most, but he was patience itself, and see what had just come about? Here she was, yet another flower eager for the plucking, and he was going to make damn sure she never forgot how good he---plucked.
I’m telling you to loosen up my buttons, baby. (Uh huh)But you keep fronting me!Saying what you gonna do to me (Uh huh)But I ain’t seen nothing!

She let out a breathy little sigh of anticipation as he slowly drew her closer, pulling her knotted belt in like a fishing line. Her knees shook slightly as she allowed him to reel her in, his claws dancing up to pluck lightly at the doubly-tightened knot she had made at her waist.

She dropped her eyes, a slight blush rising to stain her cheeks as she finally allowed her fingers to reach out and trace the firm contours of his chest as she had longed to do. The rumpled blue T-shirt, a shade darker than his heady gaze, was soft to the touch, the muscles hard and taut beneath it. Lightly feathering the tips of her fingers up his pecs to the defined crease of his collarbone and tanned throat, Sango watched in silent fascination at her own daring as she lightly touched his jaw. A firm, sculpted, stubborn jaw.

How could she have ever thought to resist him? And what the hell for, anyway? It wasn’t as if she had to preserve her virginity or anything. Hell, that had been easy enough to get rid of when last she crossed paths with a sexy, blue-eyed hentai…

Sango slowly stilled, her eyes widening slightly at the sudden reminder.
Typical---Hardly the type I fall for.I like when the physical,Don't leave me asking for more.
Utterly oblivious to the sudden tension that held the taijiya frozen, Kouga hooked his claws in that convenient little knot at her waist and hauled her closer. Bending his head, eyes lowering so that only a tiny gleam of blue triumph shone from beneath his lowered lids, he focused on her parted lips, watching in hot interest as a small, pink tongue lightly laved the suddenly dry surface in nervous anticipation. Gods, he couldn’t wait to put that delightful little tongue to better use…

I’m a sexy mama, (Mama…)Who knows just how to get what I wanna. (Wanna…)What I want to do is spring this on ya, (On ya…)Back up all of the things that I told ya… (Told ya, told ya, told ya…)
“Damn you.”

Her fervent whisper hardly made a dent on his conscious mind, which was swamped by the sudden desire that flooded all his senses, sweeping away everything but the fact that there was a hot---damn hot---and willing woman trembling before him. Instinct alone saved him, for he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his lowered gaze, mouth inches from those tantalizingly sweet lips, and his body reacted before his mind had even caught up with the fact that something had just gone most definitely wack in his universe.

Staring at her in surprise, his claws gripped her clenched fist, which she had just tried to deck him with.

“Stupid youkai. You think I would fall so easily for your shit? I done told you I’m a taijiya, not some silly trick!”

“Silly Ho” by TLC

Whoot Whoot Whoot WhooooWhoot Whoot Whoot WhooooWhoot Whoot Whoot WhooooWhoot Whoot Whoot WhooooWhat the fuck had just happened?

*Silly trick? What the hell?*

She jerked at her balled fist, caught fast in his claws. He glared at her, refusing to let go.

“Are you crazy? Silly trick? Why would I ever think that of you, taijiya?” He spat that last word like an epithet, his eyes flashing ominously as he finally let go of her hand, which she gingerly shook, trying to ease the numb fingers and achy cramps his tight grip had caused as she returned his scowl with one of her own.

I ain’t never been no silly ho,Waiting for your call, Like the other girls want you.I ain’t never been no one to mess With someone else’s mess,That’s not a thing for me to do.

“Taijiya is right, and you should remember that, youkai,” Sango said, furious at both of them for forgetting that simple fact. He was too persuasive for her own good, and although she was angrier with her own body’s stupid reactions to his body’s blatantly sexual appeal, he made too good a target for her fury.

Although her damn mouth said things she had never intended.

“I never asked for your help, demon.”

Sango abruptly shut her mouth, now even more pissed at her stupid self. She had intended to say ‘interest’, not help. *Damn it!*

He raised an eloquent brow, his anger abruptly dissipating as she flushed. Crossing his arms, he regarded her with sardonic appraisal. “No, koi, you just brought it with you when you decided my club was a great spot to take up your little war with Naraku.”

She drew herself up with a sharp breath, a flash in her dark eyes. Summoning what dignity she could wearing a bathrobe and a giant, oversized turban, she bowed formally, her words stiff but truly meant.

“That was unintentional, and I’m sorry.”

He blinked, taken aback by both the sincerity that rung in her stiff words and the fact that her lopsided turban had decided it was fed up with all this shit and that escape was the lesser of two evils. She made an inarticulate noise as she grasped for her sliding towel, and he deftly caught the trailing end of it in his own claws, grinning at the comedy of the situation even as she flushed all the redder, her eyes almost black with annoyance.

“Damn it!” She almost stomped in her fury, though her ankle twinged at her in a sudden reminder just before she made an even bigger ass of herself. That damn youkai just grinned at her, fangs flashing, and she wanted to sit right down and howl. She was a taijiya, damn it, a warrior and a professional, not some inept little klutz who kept putting her foot right in the middle of it! It was all his fault she was acting like a flustered little idiot. It wasn’t her, damn it---calm, cool, collected Sango. She had been accused in the past for having ice for blood in her veins---though that description had hurt at the time, for it had come from someone who could hurt her deeply, and she wasn’t about to ever let that happen again…

I ain’t never been that chickenhead,To wake up in your bedAfter every club or two.Wanna be the one in mini skirts, Always wanna flirt, With every player on the team.
“Are you done?”

She scowled at him, though a thick wet tangle of hair slapped her cheek and made her want to die with the utter humiliation she was feeling right now. Pride stung, she snapped back, “Isn’t that usually my line, wolf?”

He grinned, liking her ire. He liked baiting her, for she flushed and snarled and her pretty brown eyes got all glittery and so chocolate he could just about drown in them. “Maybe I like it.”

Snatching back her towel and winding it back up over her wet hair, she frowned at him with irritated distraction. “What?”

Slightly put out that she wasn’t still bent over putting that turban back on her head---a position ripe with delightful possibilities---he sighed. Gods, she was touchy. “Look, Sango, no matter what your original intentions---you’re here now, and have to suffer my help, because, darling, I’m caught.”

She blinked. “What?”

Wow, she could be dense. Had no one ever even tried to flirt with her ass before? He turned the surprising idea over in his mind, amused at the thought that it might very well be true, that her prickly personality might deter many a lesser man caught up by her pretty face and kicking curves. Well, they weren’t he, and he had always liked a good challenge. He could be damned determined when he wanted to be, and he wanted it---bad.

With a wry smirk, he merely shrugged. She was looking at him as if he had lost his mind, and maybe he had. Oh, well. Fuck it. Caught was caught up---until something else took his passing fancy.

*Not damn likely, if she remains so tantalizingly near and yet so fucking suspicious.*

Whatever.

“Look, koi, how ’bout you get dressed and come back out to the living room, where we can talk about this in better comfort with Kagome and Mutt-face? I ordered Chinese…” He smiled persuasively, knowing there was more than one way to get around a prickly porcupine.

Her eyes flickered toward the two shopping bags he had casually plopped on the counter when he first came into the bathroom and then back to him.

He raised a questioning brow, his blue eyes wicked as he waited for her dismissal.

Crossing her arms, she glared at him when he didn’t immediately leave so she could get dressed in private. She probably thought her silent glare should be enough for him to get the idea, but he pretended to be oblivious. Her eyes darkened ominously, and he waited with toothy delight for the explosion.

“Damn it, wolf, are you going to stand there all fucking afternoon?” Her hands were on her hips now, and he was given a tantalizing view of sweet, creamy skin as her bathrobe parted a bit over her chest.

“Night,” he replied mildly, a trifle distracted as her breasts heaved a little with her exasperation.

“What?” She was crossing her arms over her chest again. Damn.

Lazily raising his glinting blue eyes back to her narrowed brown gaze, he smiled. “It’s night again, koi. You spent an awful long time in my shower. Wish I could have been there; you must have been enjoying yourself.”

She’d finally had enough. “Get. Out.”

Kouga knew when it was wise to retreat. Lifting his hands in a wide, open-palmed shrug, he gave her a nice pouty look that had worked on many another woman. “You sure? I could help you put on those panties I bought for you. I enjoyed shopping for them---I kept imagining just how they would look on you.”

She made a sound that could not be described, though it was sufficiently outraged enough for him to quickly duck back out of the bathroom with a cheeky grin, the door slamming closed behind him with a decided wham.

Smirking, Kouga made his way back to the main room, his step confident and his blue eyes glinting. *Gotcha!*

If you really wanna findSomeone to get some behind, I ain’t the one for you.If you really wanna know, Boy, you need a silly ho,To do whatever you wanna do.


Holy gods, that wolf was the absolute end. Damn pervert. Like she would actually let him watch her get dressed---what the hell was his deal, anyway? It was as if he couldn’t even hear her constant “no way in hell”---that, or he just conveniently chose to ignore it. He couldn’t be that stupid…

Though maybe he just liked the challenge she represented. He was a wolf youkai, after all. A damned arrogant one, too---one used to getting his own way, in all things.

*Not this time, buddy.* Sango glared at the door, the slamming of which hadn’t cooled off any of her futile anger, for it was self-directed and incessant.

*Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I be so damn stupid?* She mentally slapped herself as she let her breath out in a long, growlly sigh that did nothing to expel the anger either. Turning smartly on her good heel, she drew back to the long, unbroken mirror that covered the wall from sink to ceiling. Not that she couldn’t look down into the sink or counter or floor and see her tile-scattered image glaring back up at her. This damn bathroom was as unreal as he was, something designed by Snow White’s Evil Stepmother. *Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?*

Not her, for damn sure. Especially now, with the bruises from last night’s fight still decorating her pallid skin. She didn’t know why he seemed to be so caught up in her. It was probably just because she hadn’t fallen for his shit, and he couldn’t stand by and let someone ignore his game, which he had perfected to an art.

Stupid youkai.

Irritated, Sango pulled the loose towel from her head, allowing the damp tendrils of her long black hair to fall heavily across her back and shoulders. Combing her fingers through the heavy mass, she wondered if that youkai Don Juan had any more feminine gear than what he kept ever-ready in his shower. Pursing her lips, she pulled the first drawer she came to and with sour triumph, pulled out the brush of her preference amid a plethora of such items. The ass even had a hair dryer, curling and flat irons amid all the clutter.

She eyed the hair brush with suspicion, spying a long blonde hair among the bristles. Nice. Real nice. Putting it back with more than a little distaste, Sango pulled out a large pick still stuck in its original package. It’s Neiman-Marcus Frederic Fekkai package. She hadn’t even known Neiman-Marcus sold hair products. She usually got her own feminine implements---the few she used---from the dollar store. It was yet another poignant reminder that she was totally out of her depth here in this opulent palace of youkai depravity, and it would be far better for her peace of mind to get the hell out of here, the sooner the better…

The expensive conditioner she had used helped somewhat in combing out the unwieldy length of her long hair. Sango ran the comb through it, finally tying it back at the nape of her neck in a simple ponytail, not wanting to take the additional time to dry it with the blower. Curiosity finally got the better of her, and she attacked the two shopping bags Kouga had dumped on the counter. Lord knew what that damn wolf had done with her own clothes, and she wasn’t about to climb back into her dirty underwear just out of a perverse need to show that damn youkai she wasn’t one to be bought.

Besides, once she was decently dressed, she could go collect Kagome and get the hell out of here. She’d find some way to repay the ookami for all the trouble she’d put him to and make fast tracks out of New Tokyo. Now that Naraku’s hit men knew where they were, it was imperative she get Kagome out of town as quickly as she could---

Sango gaped in complete and utter shock as she casually reached into the first shopping bag and pulled out a pair of red panties with strange additions never seen on a pair of cotton underwear she had ever worn.

That fucking perv had bought her a pair of red, crotch-less panties. With cute, rosette snaps for thigh-high stockings and a thin strap to go up her butt like a thong.

He was fucking insane.

What next, a matching red bra with holes cut out for her nipples?

Dropping the red nightmare on the counter with a tight-lipped expression, Sango dug back into the bag, expecting something---anything---worse. Grimacing, she felt squishy plastic and pulled. She was back to looking like a stunned fish as she dragged out a package of simple, white, cotton underwear in her size.

“Huh?”

It was the last thing she had expected, especially after that rosette-strung, red example of demonic narcissism. Curious, Sango dug deeper, pulling out a simple ensemble of expensive, casual clothing, all in her exact size. She even had some choice---sports bra or cupped cotton, ankle socks or knee, two pairs of jeans, a few sleeveless undershirts and a long-sleeved sweater in pale blue. He had, of course, also included a dubious-looking nightgown of green satin and a T-shirt that made her laugh, so caught by surprise she couldn’t help herself. Printed across the black cotton in pink letters was “Don’t give me your attitude, I already got my own.”

Okay, she had to give him credit. That was pretty good, and maybe she had earned it. Still, the guy was crazy to think she would ever need all this crap, though she was oddly pleased he had bought it all for her---unless he had a closet full of women’s clothing in various sizes, ready to hand.

With that sour thought, Sango reached for the bag of underwear, slipping free of her damp robe and dropping it on top of her abandoned towel. Feeling as if she was suddenly intruding on the wolf’s kindness, she jerked on a pair of jeans---Apple Bottoms, of course---and the cotton, cupped bra. Ignoring the silly T-shirt, she shrugged her way into the long-sleeved sweater. It was cashmere, of course, and as soft as a caress. The color was pale blue, the color of mild summer skies, and it clung to her body closer than she had anticipated. The deep V of the revealing neckline showed a little too much skin for Sango’s taste, but she wasn’t about to change out of the damn thing now that she had it on. She’d be able to change back into her own clothes once she got back to her shared efficiency on the poorer side of the city. She could put up with it until then.

Unconsciously rubbing the soft, slightly furry fabric of her long sleeves with the tips of her fingers, Sango shrugged, uncomfortable with her odd thoughts, which meandered between uneasy gratitude for the wolf’s generosity and her anxious worry over what the perverted ookami might want in exchange. She wasn’t one to ever rely on anyone else, and she didn’t like being put in the position of owing anyone anything.

*Damn.*

Ah, well, she wasn’t getting anything done standing in here creeping herself out. Might as well go face the lion in his den, and find out just what the hell he intended towards them. He just might be surprised to find she wasn’t one to be so easily bowled over by his funds or his slick, sexy self…

If you really wanna findSomeone to get some behind, I ain’t the one for you.If you really wanna know, Boy, you need a silly ho,To do whatever you wanna do…Oooh oooh.
Kagome sat on the couch, her bare feet propped up on the coffee table and her elbows on her bent knees as she rested her chin on her curled fists and distractedly stared into space, her mind troubled. She wondered how Sango was, and if she would be okay with the fact that the miko had all but agreed to the unspoken help Inuyasha and Kouga were offering them. Sango might very well be upset that Kagome had told them about their situation without consulting her first, but she had owed them the truth at least.

She owed them a whole lot more than that, and Kagome had a sneaking suspicion Sango wouldn’t be too happy being put in the ookami’s debt. But what else could she have done last night than what she had? Well, hell, she probably would have managed something or other---she wasn’t as stupid or helpless as she often felt---but she was grateful that Kouga and Inuyasha had been there to help them out. She didn’t always agree with the taijiya’s borderline paranoia when it came to trusting other people. Sango had an ingrained need to prove that she could handle anything and everything on her own, without help, but Kagome knew that this shit they were in was bigger than either of them, and she was actually grateful that the decision had been taken out of Sango’s hands by circumstance.

Though she just might be making up excuses to cover the fact that she really, really liked having a convenient excuse to continue staying with a certain, silver-haired hanyou. She didn’t know why she had developed such intense feelings for him so suddenly. Almost instantly, it seemed, as she had first laid eyes on him in that club Kouga owned, she had known that she could trust him with more than her life. It was almost scary, when she thought about it, but she had always trusted her instincts, and wasn’t going to start doubting them now. They had saved her from more trouble than even Sango truly knew.

She shivered slightly, remembering that darkly handsome face. Naraku had made her blood run cold as soon as she had laid eyes on him. She knew on a basic level that he was evil incarnate, no matter how pretty the package he presented to the outside world. She could not explain how she knew, for the dark hanyou himself had been a rather mild-mannered gentleman in person, courteous but distant. There was just something in his eyes, a hunger that Kagome knew would reach out to devour her very soul if she so much as gave him the slightest excuse…

*Ugh. Best not to think of him.*

She couldn’t help but think of him, and shivered once more in icy recall.

“You okay?”

Kagome blinked at the golden-amber eyes that suddenly filled her vision.

“You cold or something?” He persisted when she didn’t immediately say anything, dumbfounded that he had even noticed her slight trembling.

“Something,” she said with a shy smile, her blue eyes softening as she looked up at him. He smirked, his amber eyes glowing a bit in the dim, recessed lighting of the sprawling living room. Kouga had thoughtfully turned the lights down, making the room feel cozier by contrast to the brilliant daylight that had lit the vast space earlier.

Inuyasha was juggling a couple of plates in one hand and a couple of cans in the other. Dropping them on the coffee table, he silently offered Kagome her preference of beer or soda. Selecting a diet with a smile of thanks, Kagome looked up as Kouga shut the front door, plastic bags rustling. She’d been sunk so deep into her own thoughts she hadn’t even realized someone had been at the door.

“Dinner is served,” Kouga said with a fanged grin, plopping the bags of Chinese take-out beside Inuyasha’s scattered offering.

“Took ’em long enough,” Inuyasha muttered grudgingly, casually dropping on the couch beside Kagome and taking up quite a bit of room. Dropping her knees, Kagome inched closer to the plushy armrest to give the hanyou more space, which he swallowed up immediately. Leaning forward, Inuyasha riffled through the bags, pulling out various boxes as Kouga separated fine china plates so thin and delicate you could almost see through the eggshell porcelain. They were rimmed in a thin gold line, and Kagome wondered how the ookami could be so callous with the fine flatware, which he held as Inuyasha dumped a mix of this and that across them.

Presenting one to Kagome with a flourish, Kouga winked. “G’on, angel-eyes. There’s plenty.”

“Thanks,” Kagome smiled back, though Inuyasha growled something unintelligible under his breath, his eyes narrowed on the irrepressible wolf as he thrust a pair of chopsticks at her like a dagger.

Taking the proffered weapon, Kagome bit her lip, wondering what had ticked him off so suddenly. Tense silence descended on the small group as she fumbled with her plate, wondering what she had done and uncertain what to do about it.

Kouga, noticing the miko’s agitation, said rather mildly, “Nice move, dumb ass.”

Inuyasha’s ears twitched. He scowled back at the ookami, who smirked. Catching sight of Kagome’s confusion, the hanyou muttered, his mouth full, “Sorry.”

Kagome blinked, the tensed line of her shoulders relaxing as she smiled shyly up at him. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“Feh.” Inuyasha stared broodingly at his plate before spearing another bit of marinated beef, ignoring the steamed broccoli that came with the entrée.

Kouga suddenly looked up and back over his shoulder. Kagome, catching sight of Sango, who hesitated at the opened door to the ookami’s room, cheerfully waved her forward with her chopsticks, trying to swallow a mouthful of rice so she could speak. “Sango-chan, it’s all right. We’ve just started eating.”

Sango actually bit her lip, something that made Kagome blink, and finally crept out, her dark eyes darting around the giant room. A look of surprised chagrin crossed over her features before her gaze finally settled on the black-haired ookami, who had stood up as she drew into the room. Kagome was surprised at how hesitant and nervous the young taijiya seemed, as if she was a bit over-awed by what she saw, and didn’t know what to do about it.

*Wow. Thank God I’m not the only one.* Kagome felt less like an idiot, seeing how nervous Sango actually was. It wasn’t something so obvious to someone who didn’t truly know the slayer, but it was there, in the slight, fidgety movement of her fingers---self-consciously gripping the ends of her long sleeves---and in the slight drag to her graceful stride, as if she was somewhat reluctant to join them.

Kagome smiled, delighted at how pretty the slayer looked in the fuzzy sweater. It softened the hard lines Sango usually seemed to have, as if she was always wearing armor under her unending collection of drab-colored hoodies and tattered, baggy jeans. It was the exact color of Kouga’s eyes, and Kagome blinked as she realized that maybe that wasn’t true---because Kouga’s eyes had darkened slightly on seeing the taijiya, his approval tacit as his eyes wandered slowly over her frame.

“Heh,” Inuyasha made an amused noise, staring at the preoccupied ookami. Sango flushed, and Kagome nudged the hanyou with her knee, her look warning him to keep it down. Kagome knew Sango would already be far too uncomfortable in such a situation. She didn’t need Inuyasha to dig on her like that.

He gave her an unrepentant grin, and sat back on the couch, oozing even closer to her without even appearing to move a muscle. Ignoring him, Kagome smiled tentatively at her friend.

Kouga broke the ice with a casual, “Hungry?”

Sango took the filled plate extended towards her, and gingerly sat on the other side of the couch, keeping a few inches of careful space between her and the hanyou. Inuyasha ignored her to poke at some of the opened boxes on the coffee table, looking for something completely protein and thus edible.

“It’s really good.” Kagome tried to fill in the silence with the banal, giving Sango a few minutes to collect herself. Kouga sank into an easy sprawl on the floor to the left of the taijiya, casually proffering her a pair of chopsticks.

“Thank you.” Sango’s voice was soft, the normally hard edge missing. Kagome stirred uneasily, giving her best friend an anxious look. The taijiya avoided the miko’s searching glance, keeping her eyes on her plate as silence fell and Inuyasha continued to poke at the opened boxes of Chinese food.

“Didn’t you get anything good, wolfie?” The hanyou demanded with irritation, finally settling on an unopened box of chow mein.

“You should eat more veggies, dog-boy. They’re good for you,” Kouga answered, spearing Mongolian beef and ignoring the stewed mushrooms.

“Yes, mommy,” Inuyasha simpered back, pushing his vegetable-laden plate aside so he could chuck noodles right out of the box.

“They are good for you,” Kagome said, a little desperately, for the tension surrounding Sango was almost palpable. The taijiya pushed her food around her plate without tasting anything, and she had her head down, not really paying attention to any of them.

Kouga laid a clawed hand on the girl’s bent knee. “Everything all right, koi? If you don’t really like Chinese, I can get you something else.”

Sango jerked, as if his hand on her knee burned. Amazingly, Kouga kept it there, though she twitched again. Kagome had to give him points for persistence, even if it was rather stupid on his part. Sango didn’t take kindly to being touched too much. She was a past master of evasion.

“You can remove your claws from my leg, youkai.”

Even Kagome was a bit taken aback by the acid in Sango’s voice. She stared, chopsticks arrested in mid-air, waiting to see what Kouga would do.

“Are you sure you want me to, darling?” A single claw lightly traced a spiraling pattern up the taijiya’s thigh, the look in the ookami’s eyes hot enough to scorch.

Sango’s eyes were hotter, and not from desire. “We’re going, Kagome. Now.”

Dropping her plate on the small end-table beside her, Sango swept up the back of the couch, away from where the ookami sprawled on the floor blocking her way, and adroitly slipped over the back. She stood behind the couch, waiting for Kagome to comply with her terse order.

Biting her lip, Kagome avoided the taijiya’s eyes. Catching a glance of Inuyasha, who now waited for what she would do, she took courage from those thoughtful amber eyes, and for the first time ever, put her foot down---though she might come to regret it later.

“No.”

Hell, she might even regret it now, for the look of hurt in Sango’s eyes almost made her change her mind. Almost, but not quite.

“Kagome?” Sango’s voice was soft, a slight note of pleading in the short question.

“Uh…no. Sango, we need help.” Kagome looked up at her friend, hoping for her understanding.

Sango’s expression hardened. “We don’t need help.”

Kagome sighed, frustrated by the taijiya’s stubborn denial of the facts. “Sango-chan, we already had this argument last night…or the night before…whatever…when you tried to talk me out of going looking for Inuyasha, even though Kikyou recommended we seek him out if we were ever in dire straits.”

“We’re not in dire straits,” Sango said mutinously, crossing her arms and taking up her Stubborn Bitch stance.

“You’re not?” Kouga interrupted, his mouth quirked to one side.

“Stay out of this, wolf.” Sango didn’t even spare the ookami a glare. Trying for persuasion, she said coaxingly, “Kagome…”

“Sango, don’t.” Kagome said it a bit too sharply, desperate to keep her mind made up. She didn’t like hurting Sango, but the taijiya would never admit that the situation had grown beyond their ability to handle, and enough was enough. Naraku’s minions had found them too easily this time, and what would happen the next, when there would be no obliging youkai and hanyou to help them out? She lacked---for now---the necessary skills and training to use her spiritual powers, and Sango, though she was a good fighter, was still only one woman against too many to count.

Now was as good a time as any to grow some balls and put her foot down, for both their sakes. Firming her chin, Kagome raised her head and glared back at her best friend, who always thought she knew best, and should know better that she could be just as wrong as anybody else.

Sango didn’t have the answers to everything, damn it, and Kagome was done nursing that prickly pride. She was tired of sitting back and letting Sango make all the decisions just because it was easier, and she was scared. Scared enough to want to freeze like a rabbit and pretend that maybe everything was okay, that her quiet world hadn’t fallen apart, that her family was all right and that Naraku wasn’t after her ass. She wished suddenly, fervently, that she could just go home and pick up the pieces of her life like nothing had ever really happened to shatter it…

But that was sticking her head in the dirt like one of those damn ostriches portrayed on cable cartoons, and Kagome was tired of it. Tired of it all---the terror and the unknown, the constant fear nipping at their heels that Naraku had found them and that this time his filthy fanatics might succeed in taking Sango out and capturing her, meager prize that she was. Kagome, for one, was fed up with running. Perhaps it was time for her to get her head out of the dirt and take a chance to flip the script on that evil little bastard.

This just might be the perfect chance for them to turn the tables on Naraku, and not simply wait for him to catch them up. Maybe it was time for them to take the fight to him, something that twisted little tyrant would never expect them to do…

It was an audacious idea, if she thought hard about it, but Kagome---still scared stiff by the thought of what evil that foul hanyou was capable of, but unwilling to be frozen into inaction anymore by that same fear---was willing to give it a try, if they were willing. Who knew what resources Inuyasha and Kouga could command, or even if they would be willing to use them on their behalf. It wasn’t their fight, after all. Naraku had never shown any particular desire to push past his own borders, once he had fermented the youkai rebellion that had overthrown the old ningen regime that had always governed the isolated city-state of Kyoto in one bloody night of unholy terror that had killed thousands of innocent people, both youkai and human.

But Kagome knew instinctively that Naraku would never be satisfied to have just one quelled city-state under his iron claw. That dark hanyou’s ambitions would soon look to the east and south, where New Tokyo lay nestled in the mountains like a shiny jewel of taunting defiance, its strange democracy and easy mix of both ningen and youkai living side by side and completely happy with that fact too insulting a lure for the hanyou to pass up. Naraku could not go west, for those lands were held by the formidable inu, their Lord, Sesshoumaru, too powerful for Naraku to even consider tangling with. The northlands were a devastated wasteland of starving villages and marauding bands of city exiles, where the old wars that had ripped apart the old nations of Earth in the last century had punched the hardest. The old cities of Tokyo and Kyoto were now only glowing piles of nuclear rubble, hideous testament to the careless ambitions of the continent-spanning nation-states of the past…

She might be able to persuade Kouga and Inuyasha to help them, with that argument. She wasn’t sure, though---especially about Kouga. She couldn’t quite trust him as she could Inuyasha. Harboring a pair of fugitives in his palatial penthouse was one thing; helping them trap a known mob boss and youkai despot was quite another…

I ain’t never been no silly bitch,Waiting to get rich From a man’s bank account.I have always had my own things,Bought my own rings,Not gonna let you catch me out.

She was a grown woman, entitled to make her own decisions.

Really.

It was good Kagome was finally standing up for herself and coming to her own conclusions, voicing her own opinions and making her own decisions. Sango had always wanted her to, feeling the weight of responsibility for both of them as a heavy burden at times on shoulders grown too weary. Part of her wanted to stand up and cheer that Kagome---shy, tentative, sweet and yet sometimes, too innocent Kagome---was finally making a stand, and a firm one at that.

But did she have to do it now?

Of all the times and all the places---and with all the people--damn. Just---damn.

Sango twitched, feeling like an alien in her own skin, and not liking it one bit. It was disgusting how simply being out of her own clothes and her own comfort zone could mess with her confidence so damn much…

You should take a lesson from me,I ain’t the one to be Depending on someone else.I can run a scam before he can.Better than a man,I always keep my game on dis.
Sango didn’t know what to do---something not new, certainly, but something rarely experienced. She didn’t know whether to be mad or hurt that Kagome didn’t trust her skills enough to protect her, and suddenly felt that aching, hollow feeling deep in her chest, a familiar feeling that she wasn’t good enough, would never be good enough…

She hadn’t been able to protect her family and her friends, she had been too weak and too fucking caught up in her own stupid shit over Miroku at the time, and she knew Kagome was right not to trust her, fucked up as she was. She had tried, ever since her father and brother and friends were slaughtered, to prove that she was capable, that she could handle, that she had gotten past it and over it---but it was pathetically obvious that she hadn’t, if she was taking all this crap personally.

Self-recrimination wasn’t getting her anywhere, and Kagome was her best friend. She would be the last person to ever think less of her, and weeping over past fuck-ups wasn’t going to help her deal with what was going on now---which was Kagome going straight off the deep end, thinking a big-pimpin’ hairball of a wolf youkai and a spoiled brat of a dog-eared half-demon were even going to want to help them out.

*Maybe to the door…*

If only it were that easy.

But Kouga had already insinuated that she would have to suffer his help, because she was here, and he was caught up, or whatever stupid crap he said back there in the bathroom. ’Course, he might just be saying that to get inside her pants, perv that he was. He was probably only amusing himself right now, petting that enormous male ego of his that he could rescue the frightened little girlies out of their little old messy-mess and right on their way without too much trouble on his part.

Sango thought sardonically that that particular game would get tiresome right quick for the wayward, ADD-having wolf, and as he probably had the relative attention span of a gnat, he would eventually grow bored when she didn’t give it up to him, and want them gone so he could go looking for easier prey.

Still, it didn’t sit well with her that she would have to play the stupid game and go along with Kagome’s wishes until that damn wolf and that arrogant little hanyou decided they had grown tired of them. Kagome was going to be in a world of hurt once that hanyou tired of her. Sango could see how intent Kags was on the silver-haired mongrel, and if that bratty bastard broke the miko’s innocent little heart, Sango would gut him---with a sharpened spork.

Gods, this whole thing just stunk, and she didn’t like it one bit. But Kags had put her foot down, and Sango wasn’t about to abandon her friend just because she got the damn fool idea in her head that these two players were actually sincere in their offer (or whatever it was) to help them out. Once the shit got deep, those prissy little rich boys would take a flying leap, leaving Kagome hurt and bewildered and Sango would be there to pick up the pieces and do what she had always done, which was deal.

Until then, she just had to grit her teeth and pretend to go along with it. It was a good thing she had always been good at disassembling, and so she could pretend to give in---for now.

Pasting a smile on her face that looked rather like a grimace, right down to the clenched teeth, Sango said brightly, nearly choking, “Okay, Kagome. Whatever you want to do is fine by me. If those big, strong men want to help us poor little weak girls out, than who am I to stand in their way?”
If you really wanna findSomeone to get some behind, I ain’t the one for you.If you really wanna know, Boy, you need a silly ho,To do whatever you wanna do.
They stared at her as if she had just grown a third eye or something right in the middle of her forehead. Sango scowled, before remembering that particular look wouldn’t quite work with the Silly Bitch Needing Help and Loves to Giggle persona she was trying to present. Well, it was not quite Silly Bitch Needing Help and Loves to Giggle. More like Silly Bitch Needing Help and Agrees With Whatever You Say, O Lord and Master…

Forcing a vapid expression on her face, Sango snarled, “What?”

If you really wanna findSomeone to get some behind, I ain’t the one for you.If you really wanna know, Boy, you need a silly ho,To do whatever you wanna do…Oooh oooh.

Kouga didn’t know whether to laugh or howl at the taijiya’s expression. It was pretty funny watching those facial contortions the poor girl was struggling with. She looked rather off---her eyes wide and innocent, even batting her long lashes in classic bewilderment---though the brown depths were dark and glittering with the anger she couldn’t ever hide, bless her beautiful little stupid self. That grimace of a blinding-white smile looked like she would grind the enamel right off her teeth if she kept at it, and---oh gods, was she now trying to shrug helplessly? She looked like she was a puppet jerked about on strings---her back stiff, her spine straight, her shoulders jumping up and down like she was doing the Robot, and flapping her hands in front of her as if she didn’t know what the hell to do with them.

He tried to keep a straight face, but Inuyasha, the fucking dog, did him in. There was a muffled snort, as if Mutt-face didn’t know what the hell to say, and it sent Kagome over the edge, for she let out a high twitter she tried to hide behind her raised hand, her blue eyes blinking back tears as she coughed.

Unable to help himself, Kouga leaned against the couch cushions beside him, closed his eyes, put his head in his hands, and howled for all he was worth. If you really wanna findSomeone to get some behind, I ain’t the one for you.If you really wanna know, Boy, you need a silly ho,To do whatever you wanna do.

Their reaction wasn’t quite what Sango had been aiming for. Dropping the Silly Bitch act without a backward thought, she crossed her arms over her chest and glowered as all three of them fell into a howling fit of the giggles they could not seem to stop, though they tried. They tried in vain, aware that she was getting more irate by the second, but one look at her dark scowl---or even a sidelong glance at each other---would set them all off again.

Kagome was on the couch, hugging her arms around herself as the tears fairly ran down her face. Her funny little snorts had the hanyou rumbling deep in his chest as he banged a clawed fist on the back of the couch, his guffaws growing louder by the minute. Kouga, sprawled on the floor beside them, had his head in his hands, his lithe body shaking as his growlly laugh shook the cushion beneath him.

Sango watched as they continued to laugh at her. Mouth thinning and pride stung, she abruptly spun on her heel---thank the kami, her good one---and exited the room with what dignity she could, spine stiff and nails digging into her upper arms as she stalked off, head raised and expression tight.
If you really wanna findSomeone to get some behind, I ain’t the one for you.If you really wanna know, Boy, you need a silly ho,To do whatever you wanna do…Oooh oooh.
Kouga sat up, his mirth dying as he watched the taijiya stalk from the living room, her spine stiff and her head held high. Pulled up as if by invisible strings, he flowed up to his feet and followed her, the laughter behind him growing muffled and then silent as he lazily strolled back inside his bedroom, where the taijiya had disappeared.

He heard a muffled question of feminine concern behind him and Inuyasha’s muttered deterrent. Kagome, ever sensitive to the feelings of others, would want to come and comfort her friend, offering a thousand and one abject apologizes he knew instinctively that the prickly slayer would not want.

Hell, she probably wouldn’t want him in there either, but that would never stop him.

Closing the door firmly behind him, he casually leaned against it, his arms crossed over his chest and his blue gaze level on the woman who had whirled defensively at the sudden noise.

“What the hell do you want?”

It was hardly the sweetest of greetings, but the question was too broad for him not to take the bait.

Fangs flashing and eyes wicked, he replied lazily, “You.”

She looked ready to kill him. Beautiful, that.
You know you can’t get with this.One night you justGo and must find a ho To give it up.Why you even try your luck?
“ARGH!” Sango felt her anger rising to unbelievable heights, and she wanted to grab that aggravating wolf by the neck and squeeze until his face turned blue. “You are the most aggravating man I have ever met!”

“Not a man,” he reminded her with a nasty grin.

“Gods! Do you ever quit?” Sango wanted to punch something, preferably him. Her fingers curled into fists at her sides as she struggled with the sudden, fierce desire to do just that. Kami, he knew how to get right under her skin and press all her buttons, damn him!

He seemed to consider her question thoughtfully. He even rubbed his jaw, pressing his index finger to his pursed lips. Discomfited, Sango watched him, oddly fascinated as the long, supple finger with its sharp claw swept up and back across the sensual line of his mouth. He actually had sexy lips, almost too pouty to be considered truly masculine.

To be frank, he had better lips than she did, and Sango scowled, not liking the idle comparisons her befuddled mind could hit her with at the most inappropriate times.

“No,” he finally said, smiling faintly as her brow wrinkled in confusion.

“What?”

She had lost the conversation, and could smack herself as he reminded her with a slow, sensual drawl, picking himself up off the door and sauntering towards her with a lazy, panther’s grace, “I never do quit, koi.”

His voice was lowered to a sexy growl and he had come to stand so close to her that she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. She didn’t like the way the position made her feel, as if she were so much smaller and weaker than he.

Stepping back to put some distance between them, Sango snapped irritably, “Probably not, fucked in the head as you are.”

“Darling, why you have to be so mean all the time, eh?” He reached a claw out to lightly touch her shoulder. Sango flinched away, as if shot. “I would never hurt you.”

“Hmph.” Sango rolled her eyes over that obvious lie and beat a hasty retreat around the curving steps of the raised dais, scooting away from the youkai’s overwhelming presence. Trying to appear nonchalant, she slowed her steps as she slid around the wide bed, seeking anything to steer the conversation from rather dangerous territory.

Kouga’s sprawling bedroom was laid in a three-quarter circle, the cut-out abstract designs of hung mirrors lining the flat side, where the doors to the bathroom and the rest of the apartment were located. Thick beige curtains hid the curving outer wall, and Sango laced her hands in the folds of one, trying to draw it aside to see what lay beneath. No telling, with that crazy wolf.

There was a light, mechanical whirr somewhere above her head, and Sango’s outstretched fingers jerked back as the heavy curtains stirred restlessly, the draping folds swinging apart as the automated system designed for the purpose pulled them back. Glancing over her shoulder with some surprise, she saw Kouga’s claws touching a small panel placed into the wall between two of the abstract mirrors, a panel she had taken for a light switch. Which it also was, for she watched him turn the dial down so that the recessed lighting along the ceiling darkened to dim shadows, allowing the light-spangled night beyond the glass windows to burst into life.

Turning her startled attention back to the wide glass wall revealed by the opened drapes, Sango gasped in delighted astonishment. “Oh.”

The circling wall was one wide window, from floor to mirrored ceiling, a small balcony beyond a dark blur of shadowed grey stone below a similar glass expanse of silver railing. The revealed skyline of New Tokyo at night all but took her breath away, for the lights of the city, skyscrapers and elegant spires reaching toward the distant stars of the clear night sky, was something she had never expected when scuffing her way along the dirty grey streets by day. It was…awesome, and awe-inspiring, for it was something that man and youkai had made together, imprinting their hand on the world around them.

“You like?” Kouga had slid up behind her in the shadowy darkness of the inner room. Sango stirred a bit, slightly irritated that he had to intrude on the moment and her wonder. She didn’t like getting caught with her guard down.

“Care to go outside? The view’s better.” His claws curled lightly around her left hip as he casually leaned past her to flick open the complicated locks. His strong bicep brushed her upper arm and right shoulder as he pushed slightly at the seamless glass door, which slid silently along its track. A waft of surprisingly fresh, cold air gently blew inside the opened room, and Sango adroitly slipped out of the youkai’s light embrace to step outside.

She had never been really scared of heights, but she felt a weird sense of vertigo as she stepped out onto the glass-encircled balcony. A thin metal line of simple steel capped the fragile barrier that did nothing to reassure her that anything was there, though the faint lights of the room behind them were dimly reflected in the glassy surface. The stone beneath her socks was slightly uneven and gritty, and definitely chilly after the thick, padded carpet of the inner bedroom. Sango shifted her weight from one foot to the other, uneasily aware that there was nothing but a thin barrier of fragile glass between her and the vast space beyond.

*Great. Now I’m scared of heights? Jeez, I sure am batting a thousand tonight, aren’t I? No wonder they were all laughing at me!*

Jaw growing stubborn, Sango deliberately slid toward the outer railing, her seeking hands curling around the reassuring metal rail, which was icy to the touch and made her shiver involuntarily.

“Cold?” Kouga drew up behind her, his breath a puff of wispy white condensation that clouded out over her left ear. Sango automatically inched closer to the rail, casually trying to appear that she wasn’t by deliberately leaning forward to look over the edge. It was an impressive sight, for the lit street beneath them was far enough down to make the cars and people seem like crawling ants.

“Wow.”

“Quite a sight, ain’t it?” Kouga’s throaty voice whispered somewhere above her head, and Sango stiffened as she felt his broad hands on her hips, his fingers spreading from her ribs to the dip of her low-slung jeans, claws tangling in the fuzzy cashmere of her clingy sweater.

“Can't you stop your shit for one damn minute?” Sango growled back, angry that he would intrude with his silly game and catch her---once again---with her guard down.

He actually leaned forward to lightly nuzzle the side of her neck, his voice a heated whisper against the delicate shell of her ear. “Nope.”

Stuck on silly shit,Boy, you know you need to quit.Ain’t the one for all this---You missed out.
Sango counted to ten. Slowly. It was said to help.

It didn’t do a damn thing.

The fucking wolf was still there, his hot breath chuckling in her ear as she closed her eyes and gamely tried for a hundred.

Only to lose her count somewhere at twenty or so when he lightly kissed her neck, making her shiver for quite another reason than the chilly night air as his claws tightened possessively on her waist. She stiffened, ready to turn and belt him one with the back of her hand, but he cracked through that one as well with his next wicked little whisper.

“You know, taijiya, they call me Mandingo.”

Eyes widening into incredulity, Sango turned her head to stare at him.

He smiled crookedly, a single fang gleaming in the faint light from the bedroom behind them.

Elbowing him sharply in the side---which made him wince and let her go to grab at his aching stomach---Sango whirled on her heel and stomped back into the room, her holler carrying out into the uncaring night, making the ookami chuckle even as he winced as the taut muscles of his stomach pulled at the bruise she had just given them.

“I’m done! I’m so damn done!”
I'm I'm I'm outI'm out I'm out out outI'm I'm I'm out outI'm I'm outI'm out out out…

Not yet, she wasn’t. Because he wasn’t yet done with her.




………………& #8230;…………
Additional A/N: Quick translation, when a guy claims to called Mandingo, he means he’s swinging a big bat…or a long schlong, whichever you prefer. I have to thank my friend LaTausha for that one, and her tormenting coworker. Thanks Whitney! XP

Also, I'm pimping both IYFanguild and Inuyasha-Angel's artwork. She has a sweet touch with IY characters, and I adore this Sango/Bankotsu she drew off an idea of mine. To view her work, go to:

h t t p : / / w w w . d e v i a n t a r t . c o m /deviation/43381045/?qo=5&q=by%3Ainuyasha-angel&qh=sort%3Atime+-in% 3Ascraps

(take the spaces out of the first part)

To join IYFanguild, which awards good Inuyasha fanfiction every quarter, just link to:

h t t p : / / g r o u p s . y a h o o . c o m / g r o u p / i y f a n g u i l d /

(take out the spaces)