InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Eat You Alive ❯ Chapter Blah ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and Rumiko T's creations all in a row.

 

Chapter 8: I can't think of a good title, so I name this chapter, Chapter Blah.

 

They gaped at the old man.

 

“An actual house?” Miroku recovered first. “That they're actually letting us use?”

 

“Yes.” Totosai laughed. “You didn't think they'd make you stay in this hellhole the whole time did you?”

 

“The thought had crossed my mind.” He said dryly.

 

“Well, fear not. For there is a big house on Vegan Drive just waiting for you. It has a clear pool, perfect for swimming, a fully stocked chef's kitchen, so you can have good food, clean and mold-free bathrooms, and your own bedrooms.”

 

The entire band had huge shiny eyes. “Really?” They asked in various tones of disbelief and elation.

 

“Yes. I take care of my kids.” Totosai sniffed. “How could you think anything else?”

 

Inuyasha snorted.

 

“Okay, hurry up and pack. We don't have all day.” He got out his cell phone. “Did I mention there was a studio in the basement? So there's no excuse for you not to have that record out on time.” He dialed the cab company and walked out the door.

 

“Shit.” Inuyasha sat heavily on the bed. “All that for us?”

 

“Guess they finally realized how valuable we are.” Sango said. “Ahh! My room's a mess!” She ran across the hall to pack everything back up.

 

The boys watched her run off and slowly started picking up their own stuff.

 

“How long do you think it will be before Kagome talks to me again?” Inuyasha asked Miroku.

 

The monk looked over. “How should I know? I was unconscious most of the time.” He took off his pajamas and picked up his clothes. “Why didn't I just put on jeans when I got out of the shower?” He mumbled.

 

“Hey guys!” Sango burst into the room. “Guess what I found!”

 

“Sango.” Miroku held his jeans strategically over his trouser snake. “Do you mind?”

 

“Ew. You go commando?!”

 

“So?”

 

“At least you get the covered view.” Inuyasha grumbled from behind the man, where he was oddly absorbed in his packing.

 

“Yeak!” Sango turned around and heard cloth rustling.

 

“Okay. You can look now.”

 

“Thank you.” She peaked to make sure he was serious. He was, thank God.

 

“So what were you saying?” Miroku asked.

 

“Look what I found when I was cleaning my room.” She held up a small camera phone.

 

“Not mine.” Inuyasha grunted.

 

“Well duh. It's none of ours.” She grinned like a loon. “Who was the only person in my room besides us?”

 

Inuyasha gasped and leapt across the room. “It's Kagome's?”

 

“Gotta be.” Sango flipped it open and smirked maliciously. “Shall we see what she has saved in here?”

 

The hanyou ripped it from her hands. “Come on. You're always going on about privacy, but you'd invade hers? Hypocrite.”

 

Sango raised a brow and whistled. “Harsh. How'd you get so overprotective?”

 

“I'm not overprotective.” He tried to defend himself. Too bad his eloquence was limited to music. “I'm just, you know, defending her, uh, pri…..va…..cy.” His brows creased together.

 

`That was such a lame excuse.'

 

He sighed. `Shut up you.'

 

`Feh.'

 

Sango laughed. She couldn't help it. He was trying so hard to deny his feelings, but he just kept proving them.

 

“Shut up Sango.” He threw himself back into packing.

 

Miroku shook his head. “Isn't she going to be looking for that?”

 

“Finally! Thank you Captain Obvious!” Sango marched over to her thick friend and tapped on his thick skull. “Her phone is her life. So, essentially, you have her life in your back pocket.” She walked back to her room. “Don't blow it this time.”

 

“Keh.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Other parts of LA*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Kagome drove back to Kikyo's mansion. Past Silicon Street, around MCD Boulevard, and up Vegan Avenue. (AN: I know these are most likely NOT streets found in LA, but I've never been there. I have to be creative about most things in this story. Continuing on.)

 

She pulled up to the twenty foot gates and leaned over to the intercom. “It's me, Jinengi.”

 

“Miss Kagome.” He opened the gates. “Where were you last night? Miss Kikyo was going crazy trying to find you.”

 

“Great.” She mumbled. “How is she this morning?”

 

“Better. Not as loud.” The guard leaned closer to the intercom and whispered. “But watch out. She's pacing.”

 

Kagome cringed. Kikyo only paced when she was extremely ticked, which wasn't very often. Praise God. “Thanks for the heads up.” She pulled through. The circular drive spit rocks up, making an almost comforting crunch under her tires.

 

She parked in the massive garage and walked in through the kitchen.

 

“Where is she?” She asked the cook.

 

“Lookin' for you miss.” The cook looked around the corners, sniffing delicately. “She's been throwin' a ragin' fit since last night. Right blew her gasket, she did. Pacin' `round the front entrance now like a tiger, she is. Waitin' for ya.” She began pushing Kagome towards the servants hallway. “Best find yo'self a hidin' place. I suggest the attic.”

 

“I am not going to hide like some coward.” Kagome shrugged off the cook's hands. “I am going in there and telling her what's what.”

 

“Sure ya're. And I'm a famous country singer, miss.”

 

Kagome smiled. “Really?”

 

“Oh hush you.” The tubby raccoon youkai walked to the butcher's block. “Be careful then. The hag wants her Beef Wellington `promptly this time'. So you must be excusin' me.”

 

“Bye Ms. Kline.”

 

“Oh hush.”

 

Kagome walked out of the kitchen and into the lion's den. She took a deep breath and walked to the foyer. “Hello Kikyo.” She smiled. “Lovely day don't you think?”

 

Kikyo was taken off guard by Kagome's appearance behind her. “You've got to be kidding me.” She looked at the front door one last time before staring at the younger girl. “Where have you been all day and night? I've needed you.”

 

“Couldn't find your lucky bra again, huh?”

 

“Kagome.” The woman whined. “You know you're more important to me than my bra finder.”

 

“Ah yes. How could I forget?” She hit herself on the head. “You needed a pedicure too, right?”

 

Kikyo pouted in what could be considered a sexy way. But Kagome was used to her tricks after twelve years of living around her. “Kagome dearest. I was really in need of your excellent guidance.”

 

Kagome shook her head. `I'm such a sucker. Or, rather, a doormat.' “What did you need?”

 

The model perked up considerably. “Ku-kun needs a birthday present by tomorrow and I can't think of one at all! He has so many things already. What could I possibly give him?”

 

`Your faithfulness and compassion.' Kagome grumbled obscenities under her breath. “I don't know Kikyo. A tie?”

 

“Kagome!” She laughed. “You know how many ties he has. I mean, you used to go over there all the time.” She said innocently, though her eyes betrayed her.

 

`Salt in a half-open wound.' The girl steeled herself for any crying that might come. “Look, Kikyo. I am your assistant and part time manager. I don't have time to even think of Naraku's birthday present. Let alone look for one.”

 

“You will?!” Kikyo hugged her. '”Oh, thank you so much.”

 

“What?” She dislodged the model from her neck. “No. I said-”

 

“You're the best Kagome.” She ran down the hall.

 

She glared at the woman's back. “I hate her. With the fire of a thousand suns. Oh, how I loathe that woman.” Her fingers clawed, begging to wrap around that bitch's slim neck, and she fought the urge with all the will she could muster. They slowly uncurled and she sighed.

 

“I guess she can just get him a snow globe. He always had a weird fascination with round things.”

 

The only place that she could think of having snow globes at this time of year was `Hachi's Fine Collectables'. She reached for her phone to see if they had any in stock. But her hand came up empty.

 

“What the hell?” The last place she had it was- “Oh no.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Somewhere Else*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Inuyasha took the phone from his chest pocket. This had to have been the thirtieth time he looked at it in the last hour. `Kagome's life?' Somehow, that thought wasn't so bad. Like it was only natural that he held her life in his hands. And he wasn't thinking about her phone. What would it be like to be the only one she turned to for comfort and protection? Would it be as enthralling in reality as he found it in his thoughts?

 

Probably not.

 

He looked back at the miracle of modern technology. `What should I do?'

 

`Duh. You call her to return it.'

 

`You again?'

 

`Yeah. And I'll keep popping up until you take what's ours. Why are letting her run away from us?'

 

`What are you talking about?'

 

`She belongs to us. We need her. Only she can make us happy.'

 

`So, you're referring to yourself in the third person now?'

 

`No moron. You and me. We need her.'

 

`Who are you anyway?'

 

`I'm you. The side of you that you never listen to. And I'm telling you to go after her. So scoot.'

 

`What makes you think I'll listen to you now if I never listened to you before?'

 

`Because of this.'

 

He felt a significant surge of power. It was a sex charged, raging desire from deep within himself. He immediately recognized it as the youkai wanting to get out and claim what it thought was his.

 

“My God.”

 

`You can say that again.' The voice smirked.

 

“Inuyasha?” Miroku heard his mutter in the cramped cab. “Something wrong?”

 

“It's nothing.” He cracked his neck.

 

Totosai looked up from his date book. “Almost there.”

 

“Good.” Inuyasha mumbled. He needed a stretch.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Back at Kikyo's House*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Oh no. Not good. Oh, notgoodnotgoodnotgood.” Kagome was pacing again. That phone had everything in it. Kikyo's schedule, snapshots of her family, her favorite songs, all of her contacts, business and personal. What was she going to do?

 

She'd just gotten off the phone with the hotel she'd stayed at the night before. The desk clerk said the band had checked out almost twenty minutes ago, the old man wasn't answering his phone and she had no other numbers for them.

 

And it had to be with them. She distinctly remembered turning the phone off at the club because Kikyo wouldn't stop calling her. Then she saw it when she looked in her purse for her keys the first time she'd tried to stomp out that morning.

 

The only thought that was keeping her from weeping was that the old man had to contact her soon. She was the band's escort and manager of their cover girl. He had to. Right?

 

She whimpered. “How could this happen?”

 

“How could what happen?” A deep voice asked behind her.

 

She knew without turning who it was. But what was he doing out here?

 

“I lost my phone Kouga.” She turned around, eyes wet. “I'm in shit so deep right now, it'll take a million years to dig me out.”

 

“I'm sure your exaggerating.” His concern for her shone through his eyes as he stepped forward and embraced her. “But it's okay. We'll find…..it.”

 

He sniffed deeply. It was faint, but he could definitely smell that hanyou. And he was horny. How did she get the disturbing scents, hanyou and horny, so deeply imprinted on her skin? Kagome stiffened in his arms and the wolf let her go, but kept hold of her hands so she wouldn't run from him. She had a bizarre tendency to do that when she got mad.

 

“Kagome?”

 

The girl cringed. She heard the growl and felt him sniffing her and had a bad feeling about what he was going to say next. “Look Kouga. It's not what you think.”

 

His brows knit. Could she know about…..? No way. Maybe. “What are you talking about?”

 

Kagome looked up at him. “I know you can smell it.”

 

His blue eyes shot wide open. “You do?”

 

“Yes. I know what you are.”

 

He growled. Damn hanyou. Kagome was supposed to be told by him and him alone about all that. And what did that pup think he was doing? Getting so friendly with his woman. He should kill the mutt. The wolf flexed his claws. The intent claim was on her last he'd seen her and he could still make it out faintly, though it was masked by Dog-Shit's scent.

 

His disguise fell and Kagome saw for the first time who she'd really been kissing for the last six months. No doubt, he was still handsome. Even more so, actually. But this just cemented her former resolve. She had to let him go. She felt nothing for him aside from friendship, even in this form. Kissing him had become a chore. Like mowing the lawn. You dread it but know it has to be done. And if she couldn't even kiss him, how did he expect her to have sex with him?

 

“K-Kouga.” She faltered. “I. I can't see you anymore.”

 

The blood froze in his veins, from racing heat to a sluggish cold. Did she just say what he thought she said? His heart slammed against his ribs, trying to move the icy liquid. `She couldn't have. I love her and she loves me. Right?'

 

“Kagome.” He reached for her. She pulled away. His heart was breaking in his chest. It hurt. So much. “What is it? Why-?” He tried to look into her down-turned face. “Is it because I'm youkai?”

 

“No!” She shouted and looked up at him. “No. I just don't feel that way about you anymore.” Her feet suddenly became more interesting than his face.

 

His head swam. “Don't…..feel…..anymore?” He couldn't quite process this. “Was it that hanyou bastard that had the nerve to touch you? Did he do something to you?!”

 

“No. He didn't do anything.” She fidgeted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “I haven't felt that way about you for some time Kouga. I need space, and you're suffocating me.”

 

“I'm what?” He said quietly. His eyes burned. “But. I love you, Kagome. You can't leave me.” A mysterious liquid was forming but would not fall. She looked hauntingly beautiful through his blurred vision.

 

“That's what I'm talking about. You're always telling me what to do and who to see and trying to get into my pants. Kouga, that's not how things work with humans.” Kagome finally looked up.

 

And immediately regretted it.

 

His face was scrunched and sadder than she'd ever seen it. She'd never seen him cry. She realized she'd never even seen him sad. Angry, happy, arrogant, and horny, of course. These were emotions she could deal with. She almost wished he'd get mad just to stop his tears and get her out of this situation.

 

His chin started to quiver and he turned away from the questing brown eyes that he loved so much. She was really leaving him. And he couldn't understand why. Hadn't he done all the right things? Said all the right things? Laid off on the mating until she understood and was ready? Why was this happening? He was Kouga! Leader of the wolf-demon tribe and lead singer for Ookami, a band he started only after hearing her say how much she enjoyed rock music. This wasn't supposed to happen to him. Things like this did not happen to him. The tears dried quickly as the denial and anger overcame him.

 

“What do you want from me Kagome?” He turned on his heel and took a step towards her. “Do you want me completely out of your life? Are you going to run back to him the minute I leave?”

 

She backed up a step. “What? No.” He continued his advance and she continued her retreat. She didn't like that look in his eyes. “I don't even like him like that.” `I think. I shouldn't.' She remembered his kisses. `I'm so confused.'

 

“LIAR!” Kouga had backed her into the wall. “I can smell it. You're thinking about him, aren't you?”

 

“Why would you say something stupid like that?” Kagome growled. “And back off. You're squashing me.”

 

He grinned predatorily. “I don't think so, my dear Kagome. I can smell your desire. And I know you aren't thinking of me. I'm right in front of you, but you're eyes are far away. Admit it.”

 

Kagome tried to push on his chest, but he wouldn't budge. It occurred to her what strength he really had. The strength he was hiding from her for so long. “So what if I am? It's not like it means anything to you now, does it?”

 

He growled at her and stuck his nose in her hair. But even that had been tainted for him. “Dog-Breath has his scent all over you.”

 

“What?” Kagome whispered.

 

“I didn't think you were that kind of girl Kagome. Stringing along two men like that. I feel sorry for the poor bastard that marries you.” His bangs hid his weeping face from her view. If he kept telling himself that he hated her, maybe he would one day believe it.

 

Her hand flew of it's own volition. The connection with his tense jaw jolted her to the core. His piercing blue eyes rose to her with a fire that could consume her. He grasped her wrists and pulled her to him. `One last kiss.' Was all he was thinking. `Then I'll leave her forever.'

 

Kagome watched as his eyes went completely lifeless. Like he didn't care about living anymore. Then they closed and his mouth descended on hers. It was insistent and hard. She couldn't breathe, but she could cry. He could smell the salt stinging the air. Slowly, the sapphire orbs opened and he could see clearly. For the first time in a long time, he put two and two together. Kagome's behavior lately, the annoyance, her avoiding him and not returning his calls, even seeming to not want to be in the same room as him. She really had stopped loving him.

 

He pulled away. “You're crying.” He wiped a tear from her smooth cheek with the pad of his thumb. “I made you cry?” She nodded. “I never want you to cry, Kagome. Never.” He let her go completely and turned for the door. “I'll be leaving now.” His voice broke. “Goodbye. My heart.”

 

She watched him go, feeling worse than she had in years. She didn't think it would be this hard. Where was that arrogant man she'd fallen for? Did she really reduce him to a simpering pile of man-flesh? It shouldn't have surprised her. He was extremely devoted to her. She just didn't realize how deep it went. Maybe they could still be friends. At least then they'd keep in touch.

 

But that would be cruel. If she ever did find someone, and he was there to watch her, and she was happy….. She couldn't let herself think about it. It was better this way. She sighed and reached for her phone. She needed to talk to her mother.

 

“Damnit.” She hissed.

 

(AN: You have no idea how much I wanted to end it right here.)

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Back at the Cab*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Totosai pointed out the house to the cab driver. It was stately. Not overly large, but big enough. The band stepped out of the car and walked up to the porch. In reality, it was a wrap around terrace and seemed to go for miles. Except that it stopped about twenty feet along. They trudged through the doors. Looks could be deceiving, and after staying at that hotel, not to mention five months on a bus with no relief, they'd started to lose faith in their record company's sincerity.

 

Miraculously, this time, those idiots got something right. The house was amazing. Eight HUGE bedrooms, all furnished with comfortable beds and clean sheets. Not a hint of any bodily fluids ever touching them. The kitchen really was stocked full of yummy foods and tons of ramen. All the silverware and utensils were there as well as a chrome stove, refrigerator/freezer, appliances on the black marble counters, and a dishwasher. It even had a breakfast bar, complete with cherry wood stools. There were six bathrooms. One for each of them and the others for guests. All of them had their own theme, which matched the bedrooms, and seemed to suit each of the members particular taste dead on.

 

Inuyasha's bedroom was a deep red with black trim going all the way around the floorboards and the ceiling border. The ceiling itself was left white. The theme continued into his bathroom. His towels were red and the shower curtain was red with deadly looking black spikes intermingling in a seemingly random order. It looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd seen it before.

 

`Oh, hell yeah!' He thought. `This is awesome!'

 

Miroku's was black, purple, and blue. Purple being the dominant color as it was his favorite. In the bathroom, the shower curtain was nowhere to be found. Instead there was a glass door, tempered to a slightly foggy haze.

 

`I can most definitely see myself using this.'

 

Sango's was pink and deep green. Her shower curtain had a calming forest scene on it. The towels were fluffy and green and the walls were a mild pink with small pine trees and roses dotting it.

 

`Funny that mine is the least gloomy of all.' She shrugged. `Girly even. But I love it.'

 

The gang gaped at the perfection of the house after they'd had their little tour. Aside from the multitude of rooms and bathrooms and an awesome kitchen, there was also the recording studio in the basement, balconies outside every room, a seven-foot-long cherry wood kitchen table that converted into a pool table, and imperial staircases descending almost from the vaulted ceilings themselves. There was a hot tub flowing into an Olympic pool in the backyard and there was still enough room to play football without having to jump a fence after every throw.

 

They couldn't believe their luck.

 

“Wow.” Sango breathed. “You've outdone yourself jijii.”

 

The old man blushed. “Well, I did try my best.”

 

“Do they have someone that comes in to cook for us or clean or mix the recordings?”

 

Totosai looked around.

 

Inuyasha snarled. “I knew there was a catch. Were you going to leave us to wallow in filth for a few months wondering where the maid was?”

 

“No.” He backed up a few steps.

 

“Then when were you going to tell us?” Inuyasha grabbed the front of the youkai's gray jacket, holding him over his head by the lapels.

 

“Soon. Very soon. Extremely soon.” He started choking. “Put me down.”

 

Inuyasha dropped him to the floor and stalked off to his new room, growling incomprehensibly the whole way.

 

The three left behind watched him go.

 

“What is wrong with him now?” Totosai looked at the two youngsters.

 

They shrugged.

 

“Woman problems.” Miroku blurted.

 

“Male PMS.” Sango said.

 

They looked at each other and laughed. “Oh my god! We actually managed to say something different for a change.” Sango gasped.

 

Miroku watched Totosai edge out the door. “You are so sexy when you laugh.”

 

Sango sat up from where her giggling had placed her on the floor. “What?”

 

“N-nothing.” He said nervously and ran for his room.

 

Sango was left blinking at his back. `He thinks I'm sexy.' She sighed. `Should I be taking that as a compliment?'

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Upstairs*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Inuyasha paced his room. What was he doing? The old man didn't warrant that kind of reaction. He could've gotten off with a mild glare. There was something going on with the youkai inside. And he was going to find out what it was, even if it took him to the depths of Hell itself.

 

He picked up his phone. The line rang once. “Hello. Sesshomaru?”

 

(AN: This is the second place I was going to end it. But it was still missing something.)

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*An hour later*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Inuyasha and his brother had never gotten along very well. But if one needed help, the other was there to provide it. It was like a love/hate relationship. Mostly hate. So when Inuyasha called up inquiring about what his brother's own youkai did and why it was telling him all this stuff, Sesshomaru gave him all the knowledge he had. Albeit grudgingly.

 

“So,” Inuyasha tried to understand what he'd just been told. “what you're saying is, the youkai inside me is trying to break free to claim our destined mate and won't stop until it does.”

 

“In a nutshell, yes.” His smooth voice affirmed.

 

“How do I subdue it?” Inuyasha questioned. “Every time I get around this girl, he just goes wild.”

 

“Stop seeing the girl.”

 

“What?! I can't do that!”

 

“Why? She's human. She's not worthy of our bloodline.”

 

“My mother was human.” Inuyasha growled.

 

“I know.”

 

The growl deepened. “She raised you like her own son.”

 

“I was already grown when father mated her.”

 

“Bullshit! You're never too old to need your mother. And yours is dead.”

 

“And so is yours.” Sesshomaru sighed. “Inuyasha, we've been having this same fight for almost forty years. Can you please drop it?”

 

“Not until you admit that a human mate is not a bad thing.”

 

“Humans are useful.” He glared at the phone, willing it to disintegrate. “But a human mate is unacceptable. I would never defile our heritage by adding that filth to this Sesshomaru's line.”

 

Inuyasha growled and hung up. “Jackass. Just watch, you self-righteous prick. I hope your words bite you on your pompous ass.”

 

He slid down the banister and into the kitchen. The ramen was next to the macaroni and he made a big, steaming bowl. Miroku burst into the kitchen.

 

“Hello!” He said brightly. A little too brightly.

 

“What'd you do?” Inuyasha asked while sucking up the noodles.

 

“What makes you think I did something?” He laughed nervously, gauging the width and length of the butcher's block in the middle of the kitchen as compared to the space under the table.

 

Inuyasha snorted. “Look at yourself.”

 

Miroku sighed and settled for opening one of the cabinets. “I may have walked in on something I was never supposed to see.”

 

“So.” He slurped. “You do that all the time.”

 

Miroku smirked meaningfully at Inuyasha.

 

“She left the door unlocked, huh?”

 

“Oh yeah.”

 

The hanyou just shook his head while the monk crammed himself into the lower shelf. Sango came charging around the corner, face red and eyes blazing.

 

“Damn pervert.” She stopped at the breakfast bar where Inuyasha was eating. “Where'd he go?”

 

“What'd he do?”

 

“He peeked! On me!” She stomped her foot. “And I want to beat him up for it.”

 

“What did he see that's got you so mad?” He lazily sucked up some broth.

 

Sango's blush deepened. “MYOB!”

 

The hanyou sighed. He looked down at the counter in front of her, hinting at the cabinet beneath. He thought it was blaringly obvious what he was looking at. Sango couldn't figure it out. Then she got a glint in her eye. `This should draw him out. Hehehe.'

 

“Pervert!” She yelled at the hanyou. “Why are you trying to look down my shirt?”

 

Inuyasha's eyes went wide. “What?! I-” His mouth opened in a silent `oh' when he caught her look.

 

Miroku sprang from the cabinet. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!” He looked over at the smirking girl. “Damn.”

 

Sango grabbed his arm and kept him from huddling back into the cupboard. “Come on letch. You must pay for what you have done.”

 

“With pleasure.” He joked. She dinged his skull.

 

“Children.” Inuyasha muttered. He pulled Kagome's phone from his pocket again. “Sango, should I call Kagome's house?”

 

She stopped walking, “Sure. Why not?”

 

“Just nervous.” He scanned the numbers for one indicating home or work. “Got it.” He took a steadying breath. “Here goes nothing.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Hello my fans! Nice to see you again so soon. Evil cliffy huh? But you had to have seen it coming from how many times I thought of ending the chapter. And you know I won't leave you hanging for long. Well, life has gotten better, I finally found another job. Just took me a week…..mumble mumble. Granted it's at a Sonic Drive-In and I will probably gain thirty pounds from free food and not be able to pay my rent because they're most likely going to pay me six bucks an hour (we're negotiating), but it's something. Maybe now I can get gas money. *shrugs*

 

I don't like this chapter. I think it was hardly funny at all and more informative than anything. And if you didn't completely understand that last bit, don't worry. I kept it purposefully vague.

 

So, here's some shout-outs and `thank you's for my love-er-ly reviewers:

 

Amanda Trinh: Sorry about your birthday. And thank you. I hope the breakup lived up to your expectations.

 

Inuyashababe44: Thank you. Glad it's a good one for ya! ;)

 

Kikyo's Basher 4eva: Thank you. Your excitement is contagious.

 

Misteryukimura: Excellent suggestions. I trust you got my e-mail reply? Thank you so much for them. And I will put them into practice in the next few chapters.

 

Lyn: You are such a tease. :P

 

Rain: Told you so. But I don't think it was as gruesome as you were expecting. I couldn't just have Kagome wail on him about being overprotective and smothering and a complete and total idiot. She's not that kind of girl. Even if she's been hurt before (Damn you, Naraku!), I just don't see her doing it to others. Then again, I put in my e-mail address as my pen name the first time I registered. XD

 

LoneWolfLink: Aww. You shouldn't have. I love cake with cookies in it! Especially Oreo cheesecake. Woooo-wee! I could get in trouble if that was the only thing to eat. Imagine me at 500 pounds. *shudder* Ew. Let's not.

 

Jlanimeluvr: Now I have to go and check out your fic. n.n (that's a big smile by the way)

 

Adam: Thank you so much. You're such a sweetheart. And `De nada por el kudos' was my sad, sad attempt at saying `You're welcome for the props' in Spanish. I told you my grasp of the language sucked.

 

Tawdry Lassie: I'm glad I am. That would be kind of weird if people told you that, what, four months in advance all the time? And thank you. You're always the first one to review. It is a good song, isn't it?

 

Only one on MM.

 

Katt_jam: Thank you for being the first one to review since February on this site. It let me know that at least one person still likes it.

 

I'm really starting to think they hate me on MM. This story is good, right? I dunno. Maybe I'm just setting myself up for a fall. *sob* And I put all my lemons over there too!!

 

Okay, I'm over it.

 

Just a thought: Why do you think they call them lemons? I mean, isn't that like sour and not desirable for every day consumption? Whereas limes, which are slightly sweeter in my book, are the less, uh, well, you get the idea. I do love me some lemons! ;)

 

Thanks so much to foxcat for editing during her busy schedule. It means so much to me that she would take time out to fix my punctuation and grammar mistakes. She's such a sweetie.

 

As always, R&R!

 

Thank you so much!