InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Laying Down the Law: Abuna i Dansu ❯ Ghost Dance Part II ( Chapter 5 )

Here is the second installment of Ghost Dance; much love.

 

9191919

 

Mizumi Tousen couldn't remember the last time she'd weathered such a difficult day; it was one thing to feel sore from stress, but to be sore from physical abuse was a separate matter entirely. Dance that day had been almost precisely like the day before, though the weaker dancers had been transferred to more suited classes. As the rankings currently stood, Mizumi was the youngest dancer in South Tokyo history to ever make the advanced dance class and, while this was of course an honor, Shitora had decided almost immediately that it warranted more "special attention."

 

Mizumi could still remember the feeling of the bar in her lower back as Shitora "bumped" her into the wall "on accident."

 

The entire lesson had been rather tense because of Poly-sensei's failure to announce the dance captains for the year. She had said rather airily that her students would know their captains by the end of the day, but the girls were rather skeptical; dance was the last class as it was and it seemed as though Poly-sensei was enjoying withholding the names.

 

Mizumi walked rather stiffly into the locker room, holding her back tentatively as she began to attempt her locker combination. It was then that the final bell gave a loud ring and she groaned; she'd hoped to make it out before the other classes released, but apparently her back had kept her slow enough to ruin such a chance. Girls began pouring in, talking and laughing loudly amongst themselves.

 

Gan noticed Mizumi standing gingerly by her locker as she set down her books and furrowed her brow. "Mizumi? Is everything all right?"

 

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Mizumi replied with false cheerfulness, concealing a wince as she tried to focus on her lock. She could still feel Gan's violet stare on her back.

"Are you sure? You look like your in pain," Gan pressed.

 

"Just an accident in dance, I fell into the bar. Nothing to worry about; it'll be healed by morning," Mizumi lied marginally; while the scars on her face were barely even visible now due to her demon healing, Ryuukoytsusei had been rather suspicious about this so called "dancing accident." If she came home with another one, he might begin to ask even more frightening questions than he had the night before.

 

Gan raised her blonde eyebrows skeptically. "You fell into the bar you said?"

 

"Yeah, I'm kind of clumsy," Mizumi laughed.

 

"Funny," Gan murmured softly, crossing her arms. "I wouldn't peg the school's youngest up and coming dancer for 'clumsy.'"

 

Mizumi looked pointedly away as she managed to stand up straight, feigning painlessness. She continued turning her lock and managed to get it open on the fourth try, all of this under Gan's careful scrutiny.

 

"Hey Gan, Mizumi!" came a bright voice as Shale limped happily towards her locker, blonde hair falling in sheets around her pretty face. "How were your days?"

 

"Good, I suppose," Gan mumbled, adding as a bitter afterthought, "Except that Kayo is the French teacher from hell."

 

"Oh," Shale replied understandingly as she took a seat on the bench, rolling her blue eyes to the ceiling. "My history teacher gave me tons of work and I don't even know Japanese History; I'm completely doomed."

 

Mizumi sat gently down on the bench and began removing her slippers as she asked interestedly, "That's right, you're from America, aren't you? Me too; isn't it strange here?"

 

At this information, Shale's eyes grew wide and her grin seemed to expand, if this were possible. "You're from America, Mizumi? No way! Where?"

 

"Boston," Mizumi replied, smile flickering ever so slightly, "I lived there with my dad, but he sent me here to live with Ryuu a few days ago. What about you? Where are you from?"

 

"I'm from Texas originally, but I just moved here from New York," Shale said; her smile also rippled just as a stone might upset a pond before she continued almost weakly, "I can't say I miss it much; it's so nice here."

 

"In Tokyo?" Gan asked incredulously, shaking her blonde head in disbelief. "I was under the impression that we all lived in a rat infested shit hole."

 

This provoked a snorting laugh from Shale, who retorted, "Now New York; those are some rats. The biggest rat I ever saw was on the subway somewhere in Queens; it was this long," she said, holding up he hands and holding them about nine inches apart. "And that was minus the tail."

 

Mizumi shuddered visibly, shaking her head at the thought of such a creature; as she continued tugging down her knee socks in a rather ginger manner, Gan caught sight of something white in the corner of her eye. Reaching over towards Mizumi's locker, she tugged a message of the door front.

 

"Looks like you've got a note, Mizumi," Gan said rather curiously, holding out the paper for Mizumi to grasp.

 

Gan and Shale watched interestedly as Mizumi slowly unfolded the paper and scanned its contents, crimson eyes growing momentarily wide with excitement before they squeezed tightly shut with fear. "Oh no," she whispered, too horrified to raise the volume of her reaction any louder. She gently placed the note beside her on the bench and covered her face with her hands, shaking her green head sadly.

 

Blinking, Shale reached over and tentatively picked the note up in one of her slender hands, unfolding it and staring at the neatly handwritten words it bore:

 

Dear Mizumi,

 

Congratulations! I've chosen you as one of the Dance Captains for this school year; I know you're new but don't worry, we're all behind you one hundred percent. I would like you to meet me at 6:00 p.m tonight in the studio to begin preparations for the upcoming year; your fellow captain, Shitora Taisho, will be there as well. See you soon!

 

Poly-sensei

 

"Mizumi, this is great news!" Shale exclaimed, smiling widely. "Your captain, that's wonderful!"

 

Shale absently passed the note towards Gan as she continued praising her young friend; Gan scanned the note and shrugged. "I don't see anything so bad about this. Why do you look so upset?"

 

"Shitora. She hates me," Mizumi mumbled thickly through her hands, shaking her head sadly. Mizumi had been barely entertaining the thought of getting through the year with all her limbs intact; she didn't even want to think about being forced to spend even more time with a girl who obviously wanted her dead in a ditch. She had a feeling that Shitora would be relatively furious about Mizumi's appointment, especially since it practically declared them as equals.

 

"She hates everyone," Gan replied, unfettered. Grabbing her bag from her locker, she slammed it shut and gave Mizumi a reassuring smile. "Maybe in time, she'll learn to hate you less; then she'll like you about as well as she likes the rest of us."

 

"She doesn't seem like she hates everyone," Mizumi protested. Her crimson eyes were wide with what Gan realized was fear; the dragon demon was obviously incredibly frightened of the hanyou. "I see her talking and laughing with a bunch of people and she looks like she likes them a lot. So what's wrong with me?"

 

"You're competition," Shale said quietly, blue eyes downcast. The other two turned to face her in surprise; she'd yet to say anything even remotely depressing, but her sad smile was revealing a bit more than she might've intended. "People will do anything to weed out competition; I learned that the hard way."

 

The blonde stood unsteadily and managed to gain her balance, even with the obvious limp in her left leg. Her bright smile suddenly replaced her small one and she declared happily, "You can do it, Mizumi, just show her how serious you are! I bet you guys will become friends someday! I have to go, but I'll see you two tomorrow!"

 

Mizumi and Gan watched her go, wondering what her mysterious words could've meant. Gan's eyes drifted unconsciously to the girl's lame leg; perhaps there was more to that disability than met the eye.

 

"Shale is right," the violet eyed girl said finally. She shouldered her bag and prepared to leave, saying simply, "Show her you're serious and it should turn out fine. See you tomorrow." And with this, Gan walked tightly out the door, forever straight-laced and serious in all that she did.

 

Mizumi sighed and stared down at her shoes, ever mindful of the terrible pain in her back; that pain was a constant reminder that no matter how serious she was, Shitora Taisho would do anything to be the best. No matter what the cost.

 

On the other side of the locker room, Kagome slipped off her shoes slowly as she sat on the edge of the bench, watching girls filtering out the door in giggling groups. She felt no hurry as she gathered her things, finding herself in a seemingly empty locker room; there was something satisfying about silence in a normally crowded place. With a sigh, she shouldered her bag and prepared to head towards the exit when her ears caught the faint remains of a conversation.

 

"...knows she'll come. Kagura said she can't stay away because she has to prove herself, you know?"

 

"Yeah. I mean, she'd look like a total coward."

 

Kagome stilled and furrowed her brow, craning her ear towards the sound; the girls were obviously human and oblivious to any and all presences but their own. They continued blithely, never even entertaining the thought that a curious listener might be lingering around the corner; I guess Rin was right. Vixens are like boys with boobs: all they can think about is sex and it ruins the rest of their mind, Kagome thought with a wry roll of her eyes. She listened to the rest of the conversation intently.

 

"So when are we meeting Kagura again?"

 

"She said the warehouse at 6:30 so that we can all get ready in time. Oh and she said that if you don't have a gun, we can borrow from the old Spider hut. I'm thinking about just taking that shit, though; you know, selling some of it?"

 

"Good idea; I hear Naraku had an old...Thrift's and Weslom? I dunno what it's called...but it's supposed to be really expensive, like collector's shit."

 

Smith's and Wesson. Dear sweet Lord...Kagome practically whined aloud to herself.

 

"Yeah, whatever, we'll grab that one. But don't be late, you know how Kagura gets. She said first one to shoot Higurashi's tit gets 60,000 yen."

 

What kind of offer is that? Shoot me in the boob? From one woman to another, that's totally uncalled for!

 

"Wow, that much? But that'll be kinda hard, her tits are pretty small."

 

Pretty small?! Why I oughta...

 

"Wherever we shoot her, we have to be there at 6:30. So tell Bokoru he'll have to wait 'til later for a fuck; compared to 60,000 yen, what's 12,000 anyway?"

 

"Yeah, but...I dunno, he pays pretty good compared to a bunch of em. I mean, do you know Juuroumaru only paid 1000? What a skive."

 

I knew they weren't just sluts; they're getting paid. God, I knew it; who would whore themselves like that? Especially to jerks like Juuroumaru and the rest of them. Well, most of them are dead anyway...I think.

 

"Let's catch dinner before we go; I'm fucking starved."

 

"Yeah, sure."

 

The girls gathered their things and gossiped their way out the door, talking about who was doing who and what was in style until their voices disappeared down the hallway. Kagome waited a safe amount of time before letting go of her breath, sighing to herself as she worked her way around benches and lockers towards the door. She was certainly glad that she hadn't taken Kagura up on her offer. Who knew what might've happened if she'd gone?

 

9191919

 

"Okay, question 14. At what's temperature, in Kelvin units, do most elements come upon their natural states?"

 

Knight stared at the question blankly, turning her eye towards Katia, who looked likewise confused by their chemistry worksheet. They were sitting at a table in the Fangs warehouse with their fellow core members, shirts unbuttoned in the stifling heat as the hum of fans made a gentle noise in the background; several mechanics worked busily behind them, adjusting gauges and fixing broken parts, while the present leaders carried on a rather quiet conversation in the lounge. While the Fang, Reikon and Cobra leaders were slaving away at football practice, the other members of the Southern leaders' council were busy working out the monthly finance allowances.

 

Back at the homework table, Knight and Katia had yet to stumble upon an answer.

 

"Hey, does anyone know the answer to 14 on the chem sheet?" Knight asked the rest of Kagome's Nakama, flipping her purple hair moodily over her shoulder; tensions were still high from that morning.

 

"Isn't that question theoretically something that students in the AP chemistry class should know the answer to?" Nana asked boredly, barely even sparing the girls a feral crimson glance before returning to her math homework.

 

Knight scowled angry, making as thought to rise. "Do you really want to start something with me, outcast?"

 

"As if I would stop what I was doing to fight someone so unworth my time," Nana replied boredly; the way her eyes remained transfixed on her work just proved to further Knight's anger.

 

The tiger demon narrowed her eyes dangerously and let out her claws with a carnal, metallic chink. "That's it, I've had just about enough of you!"

 

In the back of the warehouse, Akago adjusted his spectacles as he stared blankly at the finance allowance spreadsheet. "We're siphoning far too much into renovations when we should focus on repairs. Dress up comes after fix up."

 

Rin pouted her cherry red lips irritatedly and flipped her hair over her shoulder with practiced ease. "Aw, c'mon Akago. My convertible has chipped paint on the bumper!"

 

This caused Ayame to snort and her green eyes flickered visibly. "Rin, that's not a big deal. I'll fix that for free."

 

"And that's about seventy dollars less on the renovations budget," Akago said swiftly, marking down the correction with his fountain pen.

 

Gan made a strange sound in the back of her throat, as though she were about to comment on the ridiculousness of most of the budget allowances, but a ruckus near the front of the warehouse drew attention away from the plethora of spreadsheets on the lounge table. In one gaze, Akago analyzed the situation between Knight and Nana.

 

"Gan, if you could see to that," he said simply, before returning his crimson eyes to the papers at hand.

 

With a deep sigh, Gan rose and began walking curtly towards the table, blonde ponytail swinging behind her. She thought many mutinous things to herself as she neared the warring core, muttering about respect and restraint before she finally found herself standing at the table's head, violet eyes sweeping the scene before her.

 

"What's going on here?" she asked shortly, mustering up her stern's leader's gaze.

 

Knight barred her teeth at Nana, as though oblivious to Gan's presence, but the shadow demon merely put on a plastic smirk. "Nothing, Gan-dono; Knight's just professing her love for me."

 

"Burn in hell!"

 

"Watch out tiger, your cowardice is showing."

 

"Stop this, both of you!" Gan ordered immediately, shifting her stare from one girl to the other. "Conduct yourselves appropriately; this is not a daycare, it's a working facility. Your making fools of yourselves."

 

There was a pregnant silence, during which Nana and Knight never broke eye contact; while some girls were observing the confrontation, most were continuing obliviously with their homework. Dissention was so normal these days that escalated voices were hardly cause for alarm.

 

Finally, Knight quailed under Gan's eyes and murmured, "Yes, Gan-dono."

 

Nana likewise nodded, though her smirk was rather light and triumphant; Gan narrowed her eyes briefly before nodding and turning to return to her meeting with the other leaders.

 

Katia, however, raised her head and asked curiously, "Gan-dono, what's the Kelvin temperature at which most elements come upon their natural states?"

 

Without stopping in her retreat, Gan replied flatly, "298 degrees."

 

"How did you know that off the top of your head?" Knight asked bewilderly.

 

"Memorization," came Gan's faraway reply.

 

At that moment, the sound of a smooth and well running engine drew every eye in the warehouse towards the gravel parkway outside; a silver corvette was rolling towards building and it sounded like a very expensive machine. Knight narrowed her blue eyes curiously, but they widened suddenly as she recognized the driver.

 

"Holy crap, that's Kei Sasuga!"

 

Murmurs immediately broke out amongst the other, who had all seen the ex-Fang leader at one point or another but still revered him like a god. The silver corvette parked and the engine cut, causing several of the mechanics to sigh in longing, before Kei stepped out of the driver's side, looking sharp in his black business suit with his blonde hair in a stately ponytail at the nape of his neck. His forest green eye swept the forefront of the warehouse and he waved to several of the mechanics he knew by name. Before the teenagers had time to get over the arrival of their hero, the backseat doors and passenger door opened as well, revealing none other than Shippo, Souten and, most surprisingly, Kagome.

 

Shippo and Souten, wearing the black and red middle school uniforms, thanked Kei briefly before hurrying towards the warehouse to work on this afternoon's broken car. Kagome smiled at Kei and thanked him for the ride before reshouldering her bag and walking calmly towards the homework table. Kei entered the warehouse as well but made a direct bee line towards the back table, greeting the leaders before taking a seat next to Akago.

 

Kagome set down her bag at the table and smiled at the girls. "Hey. Any life threatening brawls in my absence?"

 

"No, Kijo," Katia replied, smiling in a way which made her leopard facial marks contort. "We've just been studying."

 

Kagome glanced at Knight, who couldn't seem to meet her gaze, and Nana, who met her gaze all too readily. "Mhmm," Kagome replied, cocking her eyebrows but saying nothing more on the matter.

 

Kagome took a seat in between Morioka and Seila, both of whom greeted her respectfully before returning to their work. Kagome was just digging out her French homework when she addressed the nagging feeling in the back of her mind; something was missing. After a moment, she realized that the table was plagued with a sense of loss; Kagome's eyes fell upon every face and every book before she furrowed her brow.

 

"I knew something was missing; no one's called me a bitch traitor yet. Where's Enju at?"

 

To Kagome's surprise, not a single pair of eyes raised to meet her questioning gaze. Several pens stopped flourishing and a few pages stopped in mid-turn, but none of her followers made a single attempt to address her question. Kagome's eyes gazed around the circle, finally stopping on Nana. The shadow demon was quietly continuing on with her homework, as though oblivious to Kagome's presence, though their leader knew better.

 

"Why were you riding with Kei, Kijo?" Katia asked, as though trying to distract her superior from Nana's carnality.

 

Kagome's eyes never left Nana, however, as she replied tightly, "I was a little late to the parking lot and Rin took off without me. Now where's Enju? Nana? Any ideas?"

 

The shadow demon put down her pen calmly before balancing her chin on her palms, smiling as though her lips were made of twisted tree branches rather than skin. Her strange white bangs did little to hide the sparkle in her crimson eyes as she replied almost teasingly, "How would I know...Kijo?"

 

She said the word "Kijo" as though it were a joke in her mouth and Kagome furrowed her dark brow stiffly. "Nana, I won't ask again; where's Enju?"

 

"Oh, you won't ask again, will you?" Nana patronized further, standing from her seat in a rather confrontational manner. "Maybe you're afraid that I'll actually respond."

 

Seila immediately stood and narrowed her eyes coldly, saying in her rich voice, "Don't touch her, bakemono."

 

Instead of taking offence at Seila's name-calling, Nana threw back her head suddenly and let loose a blood curdling laugh, one which echoed off the rafters and sent shivers down the back of everyone present. "A monster? You think I'm a monster, wolf? Well, I'm not the boogie man, I'm just your everyday anti-hero." With this, she took a step nearer to Kagome and Seila.

 

Seila let out her claws and Kagome instinctively reached towards her belt only to find the thin waistband of her school uniform at her fingertips. Her face must've paled considerably because Nana smirked, an action which revealed the pointed tip of one pearly white fang. "And look at this; Kagome-dono doesn't have her precious trump card on hand. Where's your pistol, Kijo? Where's your bargaining chip?"

 

"Must've left it in my responsible state of mind," Kagome murmured, half to herself; what had she been thinking, walking into the warehouse unarmed? She knew that complications were bound to arise where her Nakama was concerned, so why hadn't she picked up her gun? Maybe the thought of holding it to one of her follower's foreheads was growing less appealing the more she got to know them. Maybe her first day of school had simply been enjoyable enough that she'd forgotten to care about safety. Maybe she was getting too comfortable.

 

"Afraid to fight me now, Kijo?" Nana whispered almost seductively, releasing her claws and licking them one by one; by this time, her eyes were a dark and frightening carmine, causing her blood colored lips to seem even more violent against her white face.

 

Now Kagome had seen her fair share of claws in these past four months, but Nana's were the first in a brand new category; instead of the normal white, they were a steely black, almost like marble. The way they shone so dully made something in Kagome's stomach wary and frightened, though she daren't show it lest she lose her life by these claws.

 

Nana followed her gaze quickly and laughed another one of her startlingly loud laughs. "Oh, my claws? You've never seen kagekane before, have you?"

 

"Kagekane?" Kagome asked quietly, as though raising her voice would provoke Nana's unpredictable temper.

 

"Shadow metal; we're the only species of demon in the world who can wield them. It's the strongest known material in this world; isn't that interesting?" Nana held her claws towards the light, allowing the others to watch the warehouse light sparkling off the strange sable razors.

 

Seila grew steely-eyed. "Our elders call it iwashouten. Death rock. They say that anyone who dies at the hand of iwashouten bypasses the judgment of the gods and goes straight to makai."

 

At the mention of "makai," meaning "hell," Kagome's lips tightened visibly. She said bravely, however, "Whatever your claws are made of is not my main concern. I just want to know where Enju is, okay? This isn't about you, Nana, it's about her."

 

This idea seemed neither to irritate or please her and Nana just shrugged, gaze level. "I think the real question here, Kijo, is why you care so much."

 

"Because she's one of ours; she may not like me, but Enju is still part of my core and I want to make sure she's safe," came Kagome's immediate response.

 

The other girls exchanged confused glances, as though they couldn't understand why Kagome would care about such a thing. Nana asked dully, "You want to protect the one who likes you the least? Quite a strategy, Kijo."

 

"I don't care whether or not she likes me, Nana. It's not my job to be liked. I'm supposed to make sure that my Wildcats are safe; that's my job."

 

The conviction in Kagome's voice struck a chord in every chest around the table and several pairs of eyes widened visibly. Kagome continued staring fearlessly at Nana, who had by this time retracted her claws. Nana met Kagome's brown gaze with her red ones and the air was tense and silent before Nana said airily, "She's standing in for you at the Vixen challenge."

 

The blank look in Kagome's eyes caused the room to still as her mouth fell slightly agape; for a single moment, Kagome nearly forgot who she was out of sheer surprise. She hadn't even thought to lower her voice when talking with Kagura that day and now she was paying the price.

 

"She went? Like, she's already gone?"

Nana shrugged blankly at her leader as she replied, "She left right after school, so I can only assume."

 

Kagome let out a frustrated sound and bent over at the waist, grabbing her hair by the handfuls as she muttered curse after curse. "Will that stupid girl never learn?!" she screamed, stomping her feet out of sheer desperation.

 

Katia and Knight exchanged glances while Morioka raised her eyebrows, tentatively rising to approach her Kijo. "Um...Kagome-dono? Is there something about this meeting that we don't know?"

 

"It's a trap! I knew it was from the get-go, but some of Kagura's girls were talking about it in the locker room after school, all about how the entire gang is gonna be there and how the first person to shoot my tit gets 60,000 yen! They're getting their freaking guns from Naraku's old stash, for Christ's sake!" Kagome yelled hotly, face contorted with a sort of furious fear. "Dear sweet Jesus! That girl is fucking ridiculous!"

 

Without another word, Kagome began jogging towards the leader's table, calling out, "Rin, I need the keys!"

 

Rin glanced up from the planner's meeting, raising her eyebrows at Kagome as the others did the same. "What for?"

 

"I have to go chase down one of my stupid girls who decided that running into a Vixen trap was a good idea!" Kagome replied shortly.

 

Kei furrowed his handsome brow and lazily unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. "Who is it exactly who's gone charging off?"

 

"Enju," Kagome replied angrily as she grabbed the keys from Rin's reluctantly outstretched palm. "Without discussion, without thought and, most importantly, without my permission, she has gone running into Vixen territory to take a 'challenge' that Kagura offered me."

 

Kei seemed to deliberate this point for a moment, leaf green eyes narrowed in thought as he templed his fingers. Finally he murmured, "Impudent little thing, isn't she?"

 

"The most impudent," Kagome replied irritably, rolling her brown eyes as she prepared to leave. "And now, I have to go fish her ass out of perhaps the most thought-out trap the Vixens have ever stopped fucking long enough to plan; she's such an idiot! She could get herself killed!"

 

With this, Kagome turned on her heels and began running rather quickly towards Rin's convertible, thoughts running busily through her mind as she ignored the frantic calls of her other Nakama members, who were growing more confused by the moment. Kagome checked her watch habitually as she unlocked the car and ducked into the driver's seat; it was already 6:00. The Vixen's new lair was at least half an hour away and, by that time, Kagura and her girls would be arriving at the Vixen house to begin their formation for attack. Kagome growled in frustration and started the engine, ignoring the purr of the beautiful engine beneath her hands as she maneuvered it skillfully out of the gravel parkway. Counting in the traffic on the regular roads, she would have to take the country highway to make it anyway in a reasonable time; Enju had honestly picked the worst time of Kagome's day to cause suck a ruckus. Despite her outward irritation, Kagome was a twisted mess of knots and worries on the inside.

 

She could only hope that she arrived in time.

 

9191919

 

Enju removed her helmet and shook her brown mane loose, blinking as the Tokyo sunset glared off the metal roofing of the Vixen house. Since Naraku's fall, they'd taken up lodging in a small abandoned apartment building near the old Spider warehouse. Enju observed the place with her callous yellow eyes and allowed them to sweep the premises freely; she surmised that the place might've once been low budget housing, later abandoned by the failing project development companies. It had been a rather popular trend in Tokyo's early nineties for the government to set up project housing but deem it unfit for living only months later due to poor upkeep. Enju guessed that this building was one of thousands which had served as home to squatters since then

 

For a moment, the wolf demon wondered if she'd read the address correctly; the smeared ink instructions on her left palm proved rather unhelpful and she simply let out a ragged sigh, turning her eyes to the front door sternly. Enju turned up her pert little nose and held her chin up high; as the elders of her clan always said, "Pride before the fall, but the fall before victory." She wouldn't let her gang be dishonored by her incompetent leader's insufficient knowledge of the gangs' interworkings. If Kagome wouldn't stand up for her girls, then Enju would do it in her stead.

 

The wolf demon allowed her fingers to drift lazily to the gun on her hip, savoring the feel of the cold metal against the cool leather of her pants. After careful deliberation, she had decided that wearing her school uniform to a show down was unacceptable and she changed into black leather pants, a black shirt and her Wildcats jacket; she needed to remind those Vixens who they were getting beaten by.

 

There was a rancid smell around the place, almost akin to the stench which arises when too many perfumes are mixed in a small space. Enju wrinkled her nose and placed a piece of hair demurely behind her ear, approaching the door cautiously. After a few moments of motionless, Enju steadied herself in her boots and kicked open the door with a mighty crash, withdrawing her gun threateningly.

 

Though there was little sound and even less light, Enju could make out the presences of an entire horde of Vixens before her and she frowned; Kagura hadn't mentioned such a number in her challenge to Kagome. As her demon eyes adjusted to the light, Enju was able to see the faces and bodies off at least 30 girls, if not more; each of them was holding a firearm. The wolf demon tightened her grip on the gun in her hands, trying to ignore the sweat as it leaked onto her palms. She gritted her teeth almost unconsciously, fangs digging into her lip as she bit it backwards; judging by the now audible rustling of clothes and chinking of chains; nearly the entirety of the Vixen gang was standing in the room with her right at that moment.

 

"You're not Kagome Higurashi."

 

The lights flashes on and Enju blinked at the sudden light, withholding a gasp as the girls seem to materialize before her. Maybe 40, if not more, she realized, were standing with the barrels of the guns pointed directly at her head. Kagura was standing boldly in front, arms crossed over her scantily clad chest as he blood red lips curled into a deadly smile.

 

"And since you're not Kagome Higurashi, killing you is pointless."

 

Enju said nothing, though she released a breath of relief. This caused Kagura to laugh a cold laugh, which brought mirth to the face of every short-skirted teen in the room.

 

"But that doesn't mean we won't do it."

 

Enju's eyes widened momentarily, though she barely even had time to think as the army of guns before her cocked back, preparing to fire. Before Enju could even contemplate the idea of her own untimely death, the door behind her burst open for the second time and the wolf demon was pushed brutally to the side, whereupon she landed painfully on the cold floor.

 

"You're fight is with me, Kagura, not her."

 

Kagome stepped boldly into the room, pistols in each hand as she stared down the Vixen leader stiffly; Kagura's crimson eyes flashed with delight as he prey finally arrived and she switched her hips saucily to the side. "I didn't think you'd show, Higurashi."

 

"Then why have this big party?" Kagome fired back.

 

The Vixen leader deliberated the question for a moment, walking forward slowly on her black stiletto heels. "Well," she purred finally, "I guess it all came down to who I wanted to get; in the end it wanted to get you. And as far as I can tell, the best way to get you is to hurt everyone else around you. So I decided that, if you brought back-up or sent some of your girls, then I would remind you exactly who owns this block...by sending back their heads."

 

Kagome hid her disgust and replied levelly, "That's pretty Naraku of you, Kagura."

 

"What can I say, I learned from the best," Kagura cooed in reply.

 

Kagome and Kagura stared at one another for a lengthy period of time before the former finally broke the silence. "Let Enju leave and we'll settle this ourselves."

 

Kagura narrowed her crimson eyes and allowed them to drift from Kagome to Enju, who was kneeling on the ground exactly where Kagome had left her mere moments before. The wolf's amber eyes were alight with fear, worry and an entire accumulation of emotions which not even she could identify. When Kagome made this proposition, Enju hesitated a glance up at her leader and a new emotion joined her twisted insides. Could it perhaps be...admiration?

 

The Vixen leader replied flippantly, "Oh, I don't think so. Two is better than one, after all. Girls, at the ready." The other Vixens exchanged glances, confused by the order, and Kagura rolled her eyes. "That means get your guns ready, you stupid bitches."

 

There were muffled murmurs of "oh" as the army of barely dressed girls readjusted their guns, ignoring the aching in their arms; they'd been holding the guns for five straight minutes now.

 

Kagome glanced down at Enju and muttered through gritted teeth, "Go get help. Now."

 

Enju nodded frantically and was scrambling up to lunge for the door when Kagura roared, "Don't move or we'll shoot!"

 

The wolf demon froze, brown hair falling in wisps across her face as she stared at the Vixens cautiously. By this time, she was standing next to Kagome, who just murmured a curse and tightened her grip on the gun in her hands. Her eyes swept the place habitually, trying to look for a way out; the entirety of the lower floor was covered in drapes of pink and red, making the building seem like a clandestine gypsy hideaway; the broken down stairs led up towards a mysterious second floor, though Kagome doubted that they could make it up fast enough to actually make an escape. The entire Vixen house screamed "lost childhood," but Kagome couldn't spare any time to feel sympathetic for her enemies. At the current time, her one and only desire was to escape from this situation alive. Sympathy could happen later.

 

Now Kagome couldn't be sure, but she was almost positive that backup would arrive rather soon whether she wanted it to or not. Judging by the look on Rin's face when her cousin ran off with the car keys, she wasn't about to let Kagome go in alone and find herself outnumbered, which she now was. Theoretically, if she could put her faith in Rin and the other Wildcats, then all she had to do for the next few minutes was stall for time.

 

"Or how about this," Kagome began confidently. "I shoot you, Kagura. You don't look like you have a gun or anything."

 

Kagura frowned and clenched her weaponless fists. "I don't need one, human. I'm a walking gun."

 

"Really?" Kagome asked with mock confusion. "Cause I don't remember seeing you, like, fight or anything before. I mean, do you fight? Can you fight?"

 

"You don't want to find out, trust me," Kagura whispered, crimson eyes narrowed dangerously.

 

Besides Kagome, Enju stiffened slightly as she listened to Kagome taunting the Vixen leader; why didn't she simply shoot her already? Enju glanced at Kagome, who seemed not to notice her; was her leader really so cowardly that she wouldn't stand up to the very woman who'd summoned her there? Though the wolf demon might've been showing slight forgiveness before, Kagome's new infraction was rekindling her previous disdain and anger. Without a second thought, Enju reached out and grabbed the gun from Kagome, ignoring the shouts of surprise as she pulled the trigger.

 

The shot rang off the walls of the dingy building and several Vixens ducked for cover as the wayward bullet hit the ceiling, causing plaster to rain down upon the carpeted floor. Kagura screamed with anger and her crimson eyes began to glow ominously; as the Vixen leader came at Enju with demon speed at her aid, Kagome barely had time to think.

 

She threw herself in Kagura's way at the very last moment.

 

Kagura's outstretched claws, already in mid-swing, tore across Kagome's shoulder and back, causing the girl to cry out in pain. Tears began leaking from Kagome's eyes and she let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a scream as she crumpled to the ground, blood staining her school shirt and the dirty ground beneath her. Enju's yellow eyes were wide with horror as her leader spasmed at her feet, normally kind brown eyes tightly shut and pretty cheeks pale like marble. The wolf demon's mouth opened, as though she were about to say something or scream in distress, but no sound issued from between her lips.

 

Though mildly surprised by the mishap, Kagura merely shrugged her shoulders and turned her eyes to Enju. "I missed. But all the same to me; now I'm going to kill you for ruining my rug."

 

Enju's eyes barely strayed to the plaster on the oriental rug back towards the right; she was mostly preoccupied with Kagura as she continually took steps forward, preparing to do away with Enju just as she had Kagome.

 

Her claws had just raised when a quick "zip" interrupted the calm air; a small dart seemed to grow from Kagura's neck and she frowned, reaching up to touch it just as her eyes rolled back and she sank to the ground unconscious. Enju, who's legs were trembling rather badly at this point, hesitated a glance at the stairs; standing on the landing were Gan the Gun and Akago Tsume, both still in their school uniforms and looking angry enough to kill. Gan's famous pistol was upraised, no doubt the source of Kagura's tranquilizer dart, and Akago's rapier hilt was just visible at his belt line. It took Enju a moment to come into herself and realize that the building was completely surrounded by Southerners; they were saved.

 

A gun in the living room cocked suddenly, but Gan's barrel immediately found the Vixen in question, who seemed ready to jump on the ball and take out a Southern leader to become a Northern hero. Finding Gan's gun sight set on her, the girl dropped her gun immediately and raised her hands to the air.

 

"If anyone moves, I'll shoot you dead where you stand," Gan said frostily, walking a few steps down the grayish stairs, which creaked and groaned beneath her weight. Her violet eyes were flashing so violently that Enju almost expected to find the gun pointed at her. Gan the Gun was in a murderous rage and the wolf couldn't figure out why.

 

Kagome whimpered at Enju's feet, coughing slightly as blood bubbled at her lips; Akago hurriedly followed his second in command at a brisk jog, bending down to place his fingers at Kagome's neck.

 

"Alive, but barely," Akago reported. "Enju, go outside this instant and find Rin, don't leave her sight or I'll kill you myself." His crimson eyes were a dull blood red and his silver braid shone strangely in the dim apartment lights; Enju couldn't remember seeing the normally playful man seem so serious and she wasn't about to test him.

 

The wolf demon nodded shakily and scrambled out the door, bursting into evening sun to savor the fresh air. It was a nice change from the musty interior of the Vixen house, but her eyes protested the outside light fiercely. She shielded her brow but was still able to make out several familiar cars and motorcycles parked on the street, along with several familiar faces lined up outside with their weapons on-hand. The wolf could just make out Rin standing tensely at the edge of the curb, lips tight and eyes worried; without another though, Enju ran down the steps towards her leader, standing stiffly at her side; Rin said nothing to Enju and only continued to stare at the doorway through which her cousin was currently being carried.

 

Gan glanced inside, saying to the confused and frightened Vixens, "If any of you try anything like this again, I will most certainly come to your houses and kill you all while you sleep. Good day." Her violet eyes sparkled dangerously as she allowed Akago to carry Kagome safely through the doorway just before she slammed the door behind her.

 

The Vixens dropped their guns immediately and several of them began to cry; a small girl with silver hair dashed forward, eyes dry, to attend to Kagura. The small girl glanced at the door through which the Southerners had just left and sighed. It seemed her brother had crossed over for good after all. Kanna examined the dart embedded in Kagura's neck and rolled her eyes; a tranquilizer. How merciful.

 

As one of the girls let out a particularly obnoxious sob, Kanna turned and snapped angrily, "Shut up, you hear me? You're lucky Higurashi didn't know that most of your guns weren't loaded or you'd all be dead! Grow a back bone!"

 

"You could've at least taught us how to shoot before throwing us out there! Leader was just supposed to shoot her in the arm as a warning and let her leave while we shot blanks!" the sobbing girl declared in an accusatory voice, glaring at Kanna bitterly.

 

Kanna simply sighed and turned back to Kagura, talking to the unconscious girl quietly. "This didn't exactly turn out the way you planned; of course, none of your plans ever do, do they Toumoku?"

 

Outside, Akago had barely made it through the door when he found his arms relieved of Kagome's nearly non-existent weight; Inuyasha had arrived on the scene mere second ago and was furious to find out the details he'd been so sketchily told on the phone by Gan.

 

He'd been dressing in the locker room after practice when Sesshomaru received a phone call, which was then followed by cursing, Inuyasha stealing the phone, and even more cursing. Inuyasha couldn't quite remember how many gods he'd cursed, though he was quite sure than none of them were his. The remaining Southern core members had hurried from the locker room, grabbing the dancers on their way before driving immediately to the Vixen house which was, unsurprisingly, not a secret location at this point. Inuyasha had expected Kagome to come walking calmly outside, reprimanding Enju for her foolishness. Never in his mind had he actually expected the normally bimbo Vixens to get violent. Like the other Southern leaders, who were quiet and still with surprise at Kagome's condition, he hadn't thought them capable of it.

 

"She's losing a lot of blood," Gan declared aloud as they jogged down the front steps, addressing the Nakama members and leaders before him. "We'll have to hurry back and stitch her up, or she'll bleed out."

 

Rin sighed stiffly, sounding more angry than anything, as she muttered through gritted teeth, "Then take her." The leader rounded on Enju and snarled hatefully, "And you, you stupid little bitch, I don't know what was going on in your brain when you decided to endanger the entire South, but you can guarantee that you won't get away with it!"

 

As Rin continued reprimanding Enju, Ayame and Sango stood quietly nearby. They had accompanied their leader, expecting to find a rather bad situation that was fixable with a show of force, but apparently Kagura had already done her damage. Like Inuyasha, they hadn't expected the Vixens to actually get violent, especially when it might anger the South and reignite the recent hatred from the war. Sango bit her lip as her fists clenched; she was doing her best not to watch Kagome as she spasmed with pain and gasped at the sensation of cold air on her open flesh. Ayame placed a calming hand on Sango's shoulder, green eyes glistening with what might've been tears, but most assuredly would never fall; neither of them could stand to see their docile friend hurting so badly.

 

Sesshomaru stood nearby with his core behind him, all save Inuyasha who was placing Kagome gently in the backseat of his Lamborghini, trying not to jar her body in any way that might cause her more pain. Kouga and Miroku were standing tight lipped behind their leader, both looking ready to charge into Vixen headquarters and dismember anyone who might be lingering near the doorway, female or otherwise. Sesshomaru was busy wondering what would scare the Vixens so badly that they might risk inciting the entire South's rage over a little girl like Kagome. What had frightened them so badly?

 

Shitora stood behind her leader and brother as well, still in her dance leotard, short and tights; she'd barely had time to even grab her things on the way out, so her Pointe shoes were hanging dismally from her pale hands, leaving her bare feet to face the concrete on their own. She glanced at Ranbou, who was standing nearby with his arms crossed; Hakkaku and Ginta flanked him on either side, all three looking unaffected by Kagome's wounds. It was sometimes hard for Shitora to remember that, when the time called for it, her boyfriend could easily become a ruthless killer; he'd probably seen things like this a thousand times over. The hanyou gulped, aiming her amber eyes at the ground; Ranbou might not have been affected by Kagome's pained face, but Shitora certainly was.

 

Bankotsu, Hiten, Suikotsu and Jakotsu were talking in hushed voices in a huddle nearby, occasionally sending glances in Enju's direction as Rin continued to berate her. Hiten, who's relationship with Kagome was rather close to begin with, looked even more furious than his friends, who looked angry enough by themselves. Shitora was trying to make out their conversation with her demon hearing, but they were simply talking too quietly. Sighing, she gave up on this attempt and refocused her attention on Kagome, who had now disappeared in the backseat of Inuyasha's car.

 

"Alright, let's hurry, we don't have much time," Akago said commandingly, jogging towards his blue Ferrari with a heat in his step, Gan at his heels.

 

The others moved at this order and began piling into their own cars as others mounted their motorcycles; the Southern caravan took off down the back roads, trying to avoid major thoroughfares and potential run-ins with the law as they drove rather speedily towards the warehouse, hoping they would make it in time. For Kagome's sake.

 

9191919

 

Akago sat silently in a nearby chair, arms folded over the back of it as he watched Gan work. They were carrying on their affairs in the warehouse's back room, the same one in which Akago had discovered his second in command's dearest secret those few weeks ago. It was a plain room with nothing but a long table and a few chairs in its dusty confines, but it would always represent so much more than a simple recovering place to Akago. His crimson eyes followed Gan's every movement as she pulled the needle in and out, in and out of Kagome's flesh. It should've looked gruesome, though Akago simply couldn't find such graceful movements ugly. Perhaps it was simply the way in which Gan performed them that looked so remarkable.

 

Gan's violet eyes never left her work as her pale, slender hands moved nimbly back and forth, watching grimly as she performed her task. Her lips were constricted in a rather polite looking frown and pieces of blonde hair seemed to continually find their way before her eyes; she would push them away, habitually, with impatient little motions. Her posture was perfect, as it had always been, and if Akago squinted, he could see boy Gan standing there in the very same room with him. The only problem was that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't relate to her or see her as a boy anymore. It might've been easier, had she been ugly, but that was the problem; Gan was incredibly lovely. It was strange to look at someone whom he'd seen as a man for those three and a half some-odd years and finding a woman, not only that, but a pleasing one. Akago wondered to himself, but how didn't I see it? She looks completely feminine now; how did I look at that face and see a man? Is it her hair? That's certainly a factor, yes, but was it something else? Her voice? Her mannerisms?

 

But he soon realized that, brains being built as they were, he met her and automatically assumed that she was a boy. Thereafter he had regarded her as such without doubt simply because he had been trained to see a boy and that was precisely what he saw. Strangely enough, as he looked at her now, the same personality remained yet in an entirely different body. Where her baggy clothes had once hidden her feminine curves, they were now unintentionally accentuated in his school uniform and practically anything she wore. While her hair had always been hidden beneath her cabbie hat, it was now long and flowing. Her voice, once deeper and harsher, was now light and round, almost soft. All of this complete with Gan's tack-like personality and Akago was getting very confused. The real question is this: if I'm attracted to her, does that make me gay?

 

"Done."

 

Akago refocused his eyes as Gan finished her last stitch and looked up, sighing slightly. "I can't say I like the fact that Kagome, who's already tired and stressed enough as it is, has three huge gashes on her back, but it's as good as it's going to get."

 

The Shark leader carefully untangled himself from the chair and approached the table, allowing his eyes to drift over the neat stitching on Kagome's back. "You've done a fine job, Gan. She'll be thanking you when she wakes up."

 

As if hearing Akago's words, Kagome twitched on the table and her eyes fluttered open. She felt the now dull pain on her back, the feeling of freshly numbed flesh and the tingling of whatever hurting might follow the disappearance of said numbness. Kagome could remember several things about her attempted rescue mission, none of them good; when she finally came into her mind enough to recognize Gan and Akago standing near the table, she spoke clearly.

 

"Where's my bra?"

 

Akago chuckled. "I'm afraid it got the same treatment as your back," the white haired man reported amusedly, holding up the shredded remains of what might've been her bra at one time.

 

Kagome groaned and rested her chin on the cold metal of the table, remaining still lest she either hurt her back or inadvertently flash her two friends. "I'm going to have to go bra shopping now; Kagura is in such trouble. That's my least favorite thing to do, bra shopping. Where's my shirt then?"

 

Sighing slightly, Gan reached over and picked up Kagome's white school shirt, stained with dried black blood stains, between her thumb and forefinger rather gingerly.

 

"Here."

 

"Well, if you two would turn around, I'm going to put it on," Kagome said wearily, trying to ignore the reluctance in Gan's eyes. "Come on, Gan, I've got work to do. You know how it is."

 

Finally, Gan turned until her back was facing Kagome; Akago did the same, hiding his amused smile at Gan's concern for her friend. It was rare that Gan ever showed worry and even rarer that she showed affection, so this entire experience just made him smile.

 

Kagome picked up the shirt, laying next to her on the table, and managed to rise into a sitting position with a good deal of wincing and grunting involved. Knowing that she couldn't stretch what she now identified as stitches, she moved slowly and steadily as she raised her smarting shoulders into the arm holes. Buttoning her shirt was a painful experience, but the girl simply bit her lip and continued until she was fully clothed. She knew part of her back was visible through the torn holes, but she doubted that the gashes looked as bad as they had. Maybe seeing them stitched would reassure her friends.

 

The Wildcat core leader swung her legs gently over the table's edge and pushed herself into a standing position; it was perhaps the only position that didn't hurt her.

 

"Is Enju okay?"

 

Gan and Akago turned slowly around and regarded Kagome with equally dry looks. "Is she serious?" Gan murmured, cocking one of her blonde eyebrows smoothly.

 

"She's fine, Kagome. Completely unhurt," Akago replied with a note of disdain in his voice. "She's outside getting an earful from the others."

 

Nodding slightly, a motion which upset her now blood dipped black hair, Kagome said softly, "Thank you both for helping me. I have to do something now. Something not very nice. I would be really thankful if one of you could give me a ride home after this; Rin won't be staying."

 

Without another word, Kagome walked proudly, albeit stiffly, towards the door to the inner warehouse and opened it slowly, relishing in the familiar smell of grease and cigarettes. It was dark outside, she could see, meaning that it was already past 8:30; the gravel way was littered with cars and the soft night breeze was blowing in through the hangar door. Despite the late hour, the lounge area of the warehouse was full. All of the leaders and their Nakama members were present, she could see, most of them smoking cigarettes and talking quietly amongst themselves. For a moment, she wondered why they were talking in such hushed tones; the answer came to her as her ear honed in on the sound of yelling and arguing.

 

Kagome turned slightly and took in the sight of her core, which was situated at the table where they'd been so diligently attending their homework those few hours ago; funny how the time seemed so distant now. From what Kagome could see, Enju was standing before the table, left arm dangling limply at her side while her right hand grasped it tightly. From the back, she looked embarrassed and nervous, if not completely devastated, but Kagome turned her attention away from Enju and towards her core.

 

Knight was out of her seat, screaming rather violent things at Enju, who in turn said nothing. Katia seemed as though she were adding something in every few words, content to let her rageful friend go for the moment, while Seila was nodding briskly at everything Knight said. Morioka's doll-like face was stained with tear tracks, making her look desolate and tarnished, while the others were sitting silently in their seats. Lea was biting her lip, fingers templed stiffly, while Nana had her hands folded placidly on the table. Mixmatch's strange and tick-like tendencies seemed to have transformed and were now nervous and fidgety. Mae'ora simply stared off into space.

 

Kagome nearly cried out, startled, when Inuyasha practically appeared in her line of vision, handsome face worried and drawn. "Kagome," he said quietly, sounding as though a simple sound might break her.

 

Instead of saying something in return, Kagome simple pulled him into a gentle hug, murmuring softly, "I'm fine, Inuyasha. It looks a lot scarier than it is."

 

Inuyasha said nothing, merely returning his hug by putting his hands on her waist to avoid her injuries; he closed his eyes, burying his face in her hair and taking in her scent. That normally beautiful and pure scent of wildflowers was tainted with blood and grime, not to mention the lingering scent of sex which always seemed to accompany the Vixens and their dealings.

 

Kagome finally drew away from the hug, cupping his face in her soft hands. Brown eyes met amber as she said confidently, "I love you Inuyasha."

 

Without a thought, Inuyasha replied with a small smile, "I love you too, Kagome."

 

"Now I have to do something," Kagome said, face losing all traces of gentleness.

 

Inuyasha nodded, biting back a sigh as Kagome's hands left his face and she turned, walking tightly towards her Nakama. Her footsteps were strong and commanding, almost that of a brigadier general, and her face was stony, cold. Knight paused in her harsh words as Katia tugged her sleeve and the table turned in unison to face their approaching leader; Enju, however, simply began to shake.

 

Rin watched intently from where she sat on the couch, observing the straightness in Kagome's injured back and the fire in her stare. After exchanging a glance with Sesshomaru, Rin's suspicions were confirmed; Kagome had definitely undergone a change since that morning.

 

Kagome came to a stop mere feet behind Enju, completely still and unmoving as her eyes drilled holes in the back of Enju's skull. The voice with which Kagome spoke her next words resonated so loudly through the warehouse that everything inside it seemed to freeze in time. It wasn't the volume, for she talked very quietly, but the sheer power which it held.

 

"Enju, take a seat. All of us need to have a talk."

 

The raven-haired girl turned to glance over her shoulder, addressing the other leaders and cores as they sat, watching, in the back. "I need to talk to my core alone, please."

 

The gang members in the lounge were motionless until Sesshomaru stood and brushed himself off demurely, unpocketing his keys as he walked calmly towards the front of the warehouse. The others followed his example and stood in a rush, gathering their things and holding onto their loved ones as they hurried to exit the warehouse, eager to be free of the tense atmosphere.

 

Almost as an afterthought, Miroku called out to Kagome, "Can we close the hangar door?"

 

"Sure," Kagome said quietly, never removing her eyes from her Nakama. "We're going to be a while."

 

Miroku nodded, face tense, as he and Kouga worked the mechanism near the door; the hangar wall began to close, grinding it's way down its gears and strings until it settled with a boom on the floor, an ominous sound which echoed in the frantic minds of every Wildcat inside. As the feet of their leaders disappeared behind the door, the remaining girls drew in tight breaths; for the first time during her reign, as Kagome stood there, motionless, eyes half hooded and mouth tight, the Wildcats were afraid of their core leader. It was perhaps the right step in the right direction. Gan and Akago settled down quietly in the lounge, observing Kagome and her core intently as they began their meeting.

 

Kagome began walking forward once more, steps loud and abrasive in the silent warehouse, until her hands were resting on the table's edge. She looked out at her girls, meeting eyes with each and every one of them until she finally came to Enju, who was seated directly at her right. The wolf demon was shaking so badly that she might've fallen over in a dead faint or at least into hysterics, though she did neither. Her amber eyes remained downcast on the table and she never found herself able to meet Kagome's gaze.

 

"When Rin told me that she was in a gang, I remember what I thought," Kagome began, voice strong but slow. "I thought, 'only weak people need gangs; gangs steal and rape and cause good people problems. Only weak people would do something like that because they're not strong enough to stand alone and be assholes by themselves.' I thought that for about the first week that I was here, that everyone here was weak and pathetic. I'll admit it, I thought Rin was the same. It took a lot of time for me to realize that every person here was strong and resilient by themselves, that they didn't thrive completely on crime like I thought they did. It took even more time for me to realize that needing others doesn't make a person weak, but actually makes them strong. I can't explain in words why that is; you just have to live it and find out. But I finally came to the conclusion that everyone here was loyal, smart and naturally good inside."

 

Kagome was silent for a moment, staring into the faces of her Nakama members, until she took a deep breath and began once more. "Time and time again, I've watched the other cores sacrificing for each other, sacrificing their pride, their belongings, their bodies. They give and give, never taking, and I always wondered how they could do it so easily without even thinking. I couldn't understand what could make a person want to give so badly that they never asked for anything in return. Not until now, anyway."

 

This time, Kagome closed her eyes for a moment, as though silently praying, before she opened them quietly and regarded her core with a piercing, soul searching look in her gaze. "I am responsible for all of you. You are mine and I am yours. We're a team, a family, and even after two days, I would give anything for any of you. After the things that have happened I should be hating you right now. I should hate how you judged me without knowing me, but I don't. I should hate how you distrust me without reason, but I don't. I should hate so many things, but I just can't. I don't hate any of you. Not a single one of you. The only thing I hate about this entire situation is the fact that you hate me."

 

Turning her head slightly, Kagome caught Enju's unsuspecting and fearful eyes in her own. "I hate that you would hate me enough to want me dead."

 

The wolf demon's mouth opened slightly as her eyes glittered with tears and she just frantically shook her head, looking unable to form any coherent words. Kagome watched her for a moment before returning her eyes to the table. "I'm sorry that you could never love me the way I loved you, but I guess it's just the way it was supposed to be. I'm afraid that this is all that I can give. So, I resign. I wish you all the greatest happiness."

 

With this, Kagome gave the table a grim nod and began walking solemnly towards the small corner door; in the back of the room, Gan and Akago rose to follow.

 

The table of Wildcats seemed struck with this news and they exchanged numerous stunned glances while tears spilled down Enju's cheeks. Knight's mouth was agape and her blue eyes wide with hurt as she looked confusedly at Katia, who looked completely numb. Morioka's head was down as she cried quietly, Lea rubbing her back absently as she stewed in her own thoughts, which were muddled at best. Nyx, who had been quietly musing to herself this entire time, blinked her silver eyes blindly as she ran a clawed hand through her blonde and black hair; she hadn't expected this. Sasha and Mixmatch were both fidgeting distractedly, bouncing their legs and twiddling their thumbs as their eyes twitched with anxiousness. Mae'ora was the picture of calmnity, though her blue eyes were thrumming like a turbulent ocean. Seila looked as though she wanted to cry but couldn't remember how. The entire table was silent as Kagome's footsteps grew quieter with the growing distance between them.

 

"I don't accept your resignation."

 

All eyes in the room turned to face the speaker, who turned out to be none other than Nana. She had risen from her seat and was standing erect, oil and blood eyes fixed on Kagome's back. The shadow demon placed her hand gently on the back of her chair, staring through her snow white bangs at the girl whom she'd been thought to despise. Kagome blinked and turned, facing Nana with restraint and contentment pure in her face.

 

Kagome took in a deep breath. "Why not?"

 

Nana shrugged slightly before replying, "I refuse to serve another."

 

The two girls met eyes and Kagome caught sight of what she thought might be respect in Nana's strange ones before the shadow demon turned to address the table of confused girls.

"Never once in her time here did Kikyo ever risk her life for one of us and it wasn't like she didn't have the chance. Half the time, she wasn't even here for us period. I don't know about you, but I will willingly serve a leader who respects us enough to die for us. Who respects us enough to take our shit and never even say a word about it. Kagome-dono has earned my loyalty. What about you?"

 

When the table remained still and silent, Knight rose to her feet and said clearly, "Kagome is my Kijo."

 

"And mine," Katia agreed, leopard-marked face smiling as she looked strongly at her leader.

 

"Mine too," Morioka agreed, nodding her doll face placidly.

 

Seila stood tall and declared robustly, "I swear my loyalty to Kagome-dono."

 

Smiling her crafty smile, Nyx Hattori rose from her seat as her silver eyes twinkled curiously. "As do I."

 

When Mae'ora stood and gave a nod of her silver head, obviously agreeing with the rest of the core, Mixmatch followed suit and Sasha soon after. Lea glanced around the table, seeming genuinely unimpressed with this display of allegiance. Her dog ears twitched like satellites atop her head as she murmured disdainfully, "Risking her life for one person doesn't make her a hero; it makes her in the right place at the right time. I don't follow fledglings."

 

There was a long silence as the girls exchanged uneasy glances; after Nana's startling pledge, they hadn't expected another to object. Nana was, after all, thought to be the primary objector to Kagome's reign. It wasn't until Enju unfolded herself shakily from her seat, yellow eyes still fresh with tears, that Lea's unshakeable focus on Kagome dwindled.

 

The wolf demon braced herself thickly on the edge of the table, shaking her head at Morioka's kindly offered hand. Taking in a deep breath, she finally said, "Kagome-dono saved my life, and I'm thankful. But that isn't the part that I'll always remember. I'll always remember that, no matter how bad it looked, Kijo wasn't afraid. Not at all."

 

There was a long and pregnant silence between the girls, a silence during which Kagome felt her heart beat in sporadic intervals and her blood run rather freezing in her tense veins. All eyes unconsciously turned to Lea, who finally cleared her throat and rose with her head bowed, a motion which caused her golden blonde hair to spill over her shoulders like a waterfall. When she looked up, her sparkling gold gaze caught Kagome's intense brown one.

 

"I don't follow fledglings...but I don't follow cowards either. We'll see just how much of a veteran you are, Kijo."

 

Kagome nodded slightly, smiling knowingly in Lea's direction before she dared approach the table a second time, her now standing core members watching her every movement intently. Kagome couldn't seem to stop smiling as she murmured, "Thank you all. Now that we're a family, I guess we'll have to start acting like one, huh?"

 

There was a bit of chuckling and giggling from her Nakama, along with some sheepish smiles, before Kagome clasped her hands genially. "It's been a long day, so everyone go home and get some sleep; I'll see you here bright and early tomorrow morning."

 

There was a smattering of clapping as they all gathered their things and began chatting idly, talking about their work or about what troubles they might face the next day. Gan and Akago rose serenely from the lounge area and walked calmly towards Kagome, who gave them a nod before joining them in their journey out the door. The night air was cool and soft on Kagome's heated skin; she suspected that she might be running a bit of a fever from her wounds. Akago unlocked his Ferrari and Gan immediately headed for the passenger's seat before she seemed to think twice.

 

"You can ride shotgun, Kagome, there's more room," she said.

 

Kagome smiled slightly, murmuring, "Don't worry about it, Gan, the back is fine," before reshouldering her schoolbag stiffly.

 

Akago noticed her discomfort and relieved her of the bag, murmuring in a rather stunned voice, "Good lord, Kagome, did you put rocks in here? This weighs a ton!"

 

Shrugging, the girl blushed slightly as she laughed, "Eh, my history books and my math books weigh a shitload."

 

Despite Kagome's protests, Gan flipped the front seat forward and piled into the back, which was a good deal less comfortable than the passenger's seat. With everyone's bags carefully situated in the trunk, Akago started the engine and they rolled off into the night, headlights mingling with streetlights as they turned the familiar path towards Rin's mansion.

 

"It seems you've made some headway," Akago said conversationally, crimson eyes twinkling behind his glasses; Kagome noticed that, when reading or driving, he never failed to wear them.

 

"I guess so," Kagome muttered in reply, staring amusedly out the window. "I mean, I thought it would take a little more than getting hurt for one of them to make them trust me, but whatever. I'll take what I can get."

 

"You don't understand what it was like for them under Kikyo," Gan said ruefully from the backseat. "We weren't in the South then, but I still remember; she treated them like drinking buddies and while they liked it to some extent, she wasn't a leader at all. I felt for them, really."

 

"Kikyo never struck me like that," Kagome confessed, shaking her raven black head. "I thought she was really aloof and eccentric."

 

"She was," Akago agreed, turning the wheel confidently under his albino white palms. "She was also a whore, a drunkard and a drug addict. Less of the aloof and more of the eccentric."

 

Kagome sighed and rested her head against the window, careful not to smudge it in any way. She wasn't necessarily surprised to hear this, but it destroyed part of the almost holy image she'd developed for Kikyo in her mind. During all of their epic talks, she'd tried to recreate the woman Kikyo might've been those many months or years ago. Somehow, she always came across a picture something like Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield in her subconscious. Then again, these famous women had died of drug overdose and decapitation, so their lives hadn't exactly worked out in the ideal manner either. Kagome hoped in her heart of hearts that Kikyo was meant for more than an unfortunate death by self-deprecation.

 

When the car finally stopped in front of Rin's magnificent gates, Kagome snapped out of her daze and murmured, "Press 6-9-7-3."

 

Akago dialed in the combination on the keypad and the gates swung obligingly open, allowing the Ferrari to maneuver along the path until it pulled around the fountain to the doorstep. Kagome stepped tiredly out of the car and retrieved her things from the back, leaning down and saying brightly, "Thanks for the ride; I'll see you guys in French tomorrow."

 

As she said this, all three seemed to remember their 3 hours of French homework and they groaned simultaneously. "Oh shit," Kagome murmured, rubbing her forehead.

 

"So is the life of a senior," Akago sighed. "See you tomorrow Kagome."

 

With this, Gan switched to the front seat and Akago drove the blue Ferrari down the path and onto the road as the gates closed behind him. Kagome watched until the car had disappeared and blew out a stream of frustrated air before walking inside the magnificent house in which she would never feel at home. The lights were still home, for the maids and waiting staff waited until both girls had entered the house in the evenings before turning out the welcome lights. Kagome was about to make her way up the stairs when the stately butler, Jeeves, came walking sternly in from the kitchen.

 

"Miss Kagome," he greeted in his reserved voice, bowing slightly.

 

"Hey Jeeves," Kagome replied easily; she was always quite casual with the man in hopes that he might grow warmer towards her. No luck as of yet, but she continued to try. Jeeves was simply a very formal man.

 

"Miss Rin has instructed me to tell you that she will be spending the night at Master Sesshomaru's house and that Master Inuyasha asked that you telephone when you arrived."

 

Sighing a little at Jeeve's normally dull demeanor, Kagome nodded her thanks and began walking rather laboriously up the marble staircase. It took her a good five minutes at the pace she was going and, at one point, she thought she saw Jeeves watching her suspiciously, but he soon disappeared back into the kitchen. Every step twisted Kagome's back uncomfortably because the twin staircases themselves were curved and going up in a straight path was impossible. When Kagome finally made it upstairs, she trudged down to her room and threw her bag down inside the door, staring around at her walls. Rin had insisted that Kagome make the room her own and, the day they'd come back from Race Wars, some of the maids had painted Kagome's room a light pink and put mint green borders around the top. Incredibly thankful, she had then made an honest effort to put up a bulletin board and keep her things clean. The room looked almost lived in, if you really squinted.

 

As Kagome began taking off her ratty, torn shirt, she realized that Jeeves must've been wondering exactly what had transpired during her first day at school. He'd gotten a clear view of her shirt and probably even her stitches. Figuring that Jeeves might've seen far worse than this in his days as Rin's butler, Kagome simply stripped off her clothing and wriggled her way slowly into a white wife beater and shorts; even as she did her mundane tasks, Kagome's mind was on her Nakama, her homework, her new life. Just when her mind was buzzing with task lists, she happened to catch sight of the bulletin board and she smiled; pictures of her friends covered every inch of it from top to bottom. She smiled as she ran her fingers lightly over the many photographs and memories of the summer past.

 

Sesshomaru giving Rin a piggyback ride as she laughed over his shoulder.

 

Sango yelling hotly at Miroku as he merely smiled lovingly in return (Kagome thought this might've been taken before their relationship started, perhaps after a grope.)

 

Ranbou and Shitora singing something ridiculous as they worked on an engine, both covered in grease.

 

Ayame and Kouga hugging tightly as they prepared to go home for the day.

 

Inuyasha grinned wickedly as he flipped off the camera.

 

With a start, Kagome remembered that she had a phone call to make. Obligingly picking up her new room phone, Kagome dialed the familiar number of the Taisho household and waiting as the rings sounded.

 

"Hello?"

 

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, having recognized the calm voice easily. "Is Inuyasha around?"

 

"Oh, Kagome," he greeted. "'Around' is a relative word, I have no idea where he is." Kagome could hear Sesshomaru's claws clicking on the receiver as he covered it politely. When he yelled "Yash, phone!" Kagome could still hear ringing in her ears.

 

Inuyasha's footsteps were rather loud coming down the stairs, Kagome noted, but his voice was gentle when he answered. "Yeah?"

 

"Hey, it's me."

 

"Oh, hey baby. How was the meeting?"

 

Kagome bit her lip, unable to keep from smiling. "It went surprisingly well; I'll tell you the details tomorrow. But, suffice it to say, my core isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

 

"That's good," Inuyasha replied, sounding proud of her. "I knew you could do it; you just gotta smack em around a little."

 

Kagome laughed. "Oh yeah, I smacked them around, shot someone in the leg; it was all worth it. They'll be listening to me a little more closely from now on."

 

Inuyasha laughed slightly and Kagome could dimly make out the sounds of murmured talking in the background. "Who's with you?" she asked.

 

"Don't worry, no girls that are actually hot," he replied, earning two outraged yells from somewhere in the room.

 

"Shitora and Rin?" Kagome asked understandingly.

 

"Yeah," Inuyasha replied, obviously smiling. "Them and Bo and Shomo are all doing homework at the table."

 

"Ugh, don't say that word; I have three hours of French homework to do and I don't even want to think about it."

 

"Hah. I already finished mine; I just had English reading."

 

"Did you do our math homework, Inuyasha?"

 

"Uh...we had math homework?"

 

"Yes, like an hour's worth. I'm pretty sure it's review from last year, but I don't really remember; I wasn't exactly a Pre-cal genius at my old school."

 

Inuyasha snorted. "It sounds like you were pretty much a genius everything."

 

Kagome walked casually into her bathroom, looking around for her face cloth. "Hardy har ha-ow!" As she searched for the cloth, Kagome twisted to the side, forgetting about her back, and hissed with pain. She managed to grab on to the marble counter top and she gripped the edge with her hands, trying to ride out the waves of pain as her nails pressed painfully against the stone.

 

"Kagome? Are you okay?" Inuyasha worried voice came through the phone.

 

When the searing hurting had finally reduced to a dull throbbing, Kagome replied shakily, "Yeah, I just twisted my back funny, nothing serious. Dammit, I'm never gonna get to sleep at this rate; I turn over, like, constantly in my sleep."

 

"Oh no, you are not ripping out all your stitches, no way!" Inuyasha said heatedly, barring his teeth despite the fact that Kagome couldn't see him.

 

"Believe me, dog-boy, that's the last thing I want to do," Kagome insisted, smiling slightly besides the aching which still covered her muscles and bones.

 

"I bet," Inuyasha growled, "But that's that; I don't want you turnin' over in yer sleep and hurting yerself. Come over, stay the night here."

 

"Inuyasha, I've got homew-"

 

"And I don't? Besides, all your little French buddies are over here anyway; I'm not gonna pin you up against the refrigerator and ravish you, you know."

 

"Oh, thank you, that's very reassuring."

 

"Kagome, please."

 

The girl sighed and twisted the phone cord idly around her finger, angling her brown eyes dismally up at the bathroom ceiling; it was rare that Inuyasha said "please," and dishonoring one of these rare occurrences just didn't seem right. Finally, after deciding that it couldn't hurt anything any worse, she agreed, "Yeah, alright. I'll go downstairs and get the Triumph started."

 

"The Triumph? Oh no. You stay put, I'll come get you; yer not drivin' the Triumph anymore. I'll be there in five."

 

And with this, Inuyasha hung-up the phone before Kagome could even utter a word in protest. The girl sighed heavily and rubbed at her eyes; they always burned when her day had been long and arduous. Frankly, she couldn't remember a longer or more arduous day in all her life, except for maybe the day of the battle. She shuffled into her room and pulled together her books, dumping them in her backpack before she added a clean uniform for the morning; it was at this precise moment that she realized what she'd agreed to.

 

Kagome's eyes went wide; oh no. She'd agreed to spend the night in Inuyasha's house, with Inuyasha in his bed....Okay, she hadn't promised anything bed-wise, but it was practically implied; Inuyasha wanted to keep her from rolling over and twisting her stitches out, right? So, he wanted to be with her in the bed. Okay. Well...did that mean sex? Surely not, since he'd made that comment about not ravishing her against the refrigerator. But...this was still bad, wasn't it? So...why was she kind of excited?

 

Gathering her things distractedly, Kagome turned off her lights and walked carefully down the stairs, clinging madly to the banister as she approached the glittering ground floor. While the second floor was more lived in, the first floor was all glamour and glitz due to Mr. Takeyama's rather frequent winter parties. Kagome's footsteps, clad in old sandals, clapped noisily on the marble and she frowned; she felt so out of place here, even after three months.

 

"Going somewhere, Miss Kagome?"

 

At the sound of Jeeves's dry voice, Kagome whipped around and spotted the man standing sternly in the entrance to the kitchen. He raised his slender white eyebrow questioningly and seemed to expect a justified response.

 

"Well, yes, as of five minutes ago. I'm going to the Taishos' house," Kagome explained, trying to steer attention away from the meat of the subject by settling for "Taisho" rather than "Inuyasha."

 

"I see," Jeeves replied in clipped tone. "Well, the house maids have been informed of your injury and are currently gathering together the necessary medicines to aid in your recovery. Would you like us to gather together an overnight kit so that you can avoid pain in the morning?"

 

Kagome bit her lip; so Jeeves had noticed her back after all. She fingered her bag strap lightly as she replied in a guilty tone, "Um...sure, that would be great. Thanks a lot."

 

"Yes, Miss," Jeeves replied, voice full of stiffness and starch.

 

As he turned to retrieve the package of medicines from the kitchen, Kagome winced slightly, though not out of physical pain. She felt rather guilty for darting inside and then leaving almost immediately, especially when they'd been making her medicine in the kitchen this whole time. It was then that the doorbell rang and Kagome sighed, opening it to reveal Inuyasha standing boredly on the doorstep, his Lamborghini at the curb of the steps. He was wearing a simply white t-shirt and sweatpants, more casual than Kagome had ever seen him; she rather liked it.

 

"Hey," he murmured, smiling in the way only Kagome seemed to inspire. His amber eyes sparkled as he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips.

 

Kagome felt that familiar warmth spread through her as she settled into his presence; he always made her feel safe and somehow at home. "Hey; Jeeves is getting me medicine from the kitchen, then we can go."

 

Inuyasha nodded slightly, concealing a scowl as he remembered the butler with whom he'd gotten into many fights as a child. When he would tag along with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha always ended up somehow making a mess in the Takeyama household, be it overturned vase or fishing from the private pond outside. Jeeves had no trouble dropping his stiff demeanor to scold Inuyasha, who he disliked intensely. Come to think of it, Inuyasha wasn't sure that the old man was informed about his current dating situation with Kagome.

 

"Ah...Master Inuyasha. What a pleasure," came a familiar drawl, though this time with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

 

Jeeves came marching in from the kitchen with a white paper bag in hand, which he gave officiously to Kagome. The girl clutched the bag tightly, nodding a thank you, as she watched the look passing between the two men.

 

Inuyasha grinned garrulously, giving Jeeves a bold punch to the arm. "Hey, Jeeves, how ya doin?"

 

Jeeves ruffled visibly at the brotherly hit and massaged his shoulder tersely. "Oh, fabulous Master. Might I inquire as to what you're doing in the entrance hall?"

 

"Picking up my girlfriend, old man," Inuyasha replied triumphantly, grinning as he wrapped his arm protectively around Kagome's waist, careful of her wounds.

 

Jeeves pursed his lips and gave Kagome a slightly disapproving glance before he muttered. "Very good, sir. Miss Kagome, might I suggest considering a day off tomorrow, in light of your injuries?"

 

Kagome was about to open her mouth to protest when Inuyasha merely said, "Don't worry, old man, she won't be going anywhere but bed tomorrow. Later, homes."

 

With this, Inuyasha pulled Kagome gently yet rather insistently out the door, taking her bag and medicine graciously for her as he slammed the expensive door behind him. Jeeves frowned and rolled his eyes to the ceiling; perhaps his father was right. He should've been a weather forecaster.

 

9191919

 

Kagome shifted uneasily against the back of her chair, which wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, but nevertheless painful. Though her eyes were focused on her French book and her ears were trained on Sesshomaru as he trained to explain something about question 13, the rest of her was completely preoccupied with the now insistent hurting in her back. Wherein the wounds hadn't hurt much after Gan's stitching, the numbness of the antiseptic had begun to wear off and she was now feeling the effects of her injuries.

 

"...so theoretically, we should be using the subjunctive," Sesshomaru concluded, peering down at his work through his spectacles.

 

Ranbou squinted confusedly and shrugged his tan shoulders. "Yeah, but it's a command, ain't it? So shouldn't it be imperative?"

 

Currently, Rin, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Ranbou, Shitora and Kagome were sitting around the Taisho family table in the kitchen, scratching their heads over homework and sipping on Kaede's home made lemonade. Kaede was standing at the counter nearby, preparing pancake batter for the morning while listening to her surrogate children studying. It had become a standard rule in the Taisho household that, while Kaede was learned in every subject, asking her for help on assignments was a last resort. Not until the Taisho children had endured several hours of agonizing struggle did they ask after Kaede for her help. From where she was stirring the batter inconspicuously, the elderly woman was observing the table of teenagers with interest.

 

Sesshomaru, forever stoic, was discussing question 13 with Ranbou, adjusting his spectacles ever so often in a nervous habit. He looked rather dwarfed by his white wife beater and sweatpants, which now made his skinny body seemed incredibly small. Kaede was worried about her eldest boy, but she knew it would take Sesshomaru overcoming a guilt within himself before he could ever eat the same way again.

 

Beside Sesshomaru, Rin was contentedly writing her English essay, running her left hand absently through Sesshomaru's glossy silver ponytail. She looked happy and almost matronly as she sat there, dressed in one of Sesshomaru's old dress shirts with her hair in a messy bun; Kaede had always surmised Rin would make an excellent mother, what with the way she cared unequivocally for everyone. The girl had become like Kaede's daughter during her nearly constant stay in the Taisho house. It was a well known fact that Sesshomaru and Rin were always true to one another and Kaede knew that they would one day marry; it was only a matter of time.

 

Shitora and Ranbou, who were sitting with their backs to the housekeeper, were working diligently on French with Sesshomaru and Kagome, writing down the many answers to what Kaede considered to be an inappropriate amount of homework. Since Ranbou was left handed and Shitora right handed, they were able to hold hands while they slaved away and they'd been doing so for the past hour or so. Kaede would occasionally see Ranbou's thumb move of the back of Shitora's hand, as though reassuring her when she got tetchy about her work. Though the others had been surprised when the two started dating, Kaede had seen it coming since they were wee children. As they sat there in wife beaters and sweatpants or, in Shitora's case, shortie shorts, they looked more comfortable and casual than couples twice their age.

 

Inuyasha was doing his math homework boredly, scratching his nose periodically as his ears twitched like satellites. His golden eyes were still large and emotional like they had been as a child, though Kaede had noticed a marked improvement in Inuyasha's normally terrible temper as of late. While his hand wrote instinctively, Inuyasha gave a sideways glance in Kagome's direction, as though to make sure she was alright, before continuing with his work.

 

As far as Kagome went, Kaede could put a single word to her current state: pained. For the past hour or so, Kaede had been watching Kagome shift in her chair while trying to focus on the myriad of papers before her and it was becoming increasingly difficult for the girl. Every minute or so, Kagome would wince lightly with pain and alter her position before trying to wipe the distraught look from her pretty features; Kaede was trying to hide a smile at the girl's resilience but finding it increasingly difficult.

 

"No, the first verb is imperative but the second one is subjunctive," Shitora was saying, shaking her white head. "What do you think, Kags?"

 

Kagome didn't look up for a moment before she finally recognized the sound of her name. "Hm? Oh, uh...indicative." She shifted in her chair once more, arching her back and rolling her shoulders.

 

Ranbou and Shitora let out sounds of understanding while Sesshomaru merely nodded. "You could be right Kagome," he murmured.

 

Rin furrowed her brow cutely before she looked up, asking, "What's another word for 'returned?' Like, as in love or something? It's on the tip of my tongue, but..."

 

"Requited, Koi," Sesshomaru replied demurely, smiling at his girlfriend as she beamed thankfully back at him.

 

"Right, requited. Thanks, Sesshy," she said brightly.

 

"I should be getting to my History homework," Shitora mumbled, putting down her pencil and rubbing her eyes with her closed fist fretfully.

 

Ranbou smiled slightly and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. "Yeah, go ahead. You can copy some of my French, eh?"

 

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Kaede said with a sigh from the kitchen. She glanced up and gave Ranbou a warning eye before concealing a smile and returning to her batter mixing.

 

Kaede allowed her eye to stray momentarily to Kagome and she frowned; the girl was looking slightly flushed in the face, if not feverish. Judging by the increasing frequency with which she winced, the pain from her wounds was increasing. When Kagome accidentally dropped her pencil and shook her head as though to clear it, Kaede decided it was time to interfere.

 

"Kagome, I think ye should be gettin' to bed," the woman said kindly, looking honestly at Kagome through her one uncovered eye.

 

The entire table looked up at the sound of this comment and Inuyasha furrowed his brow before turning to his girlfriend. "You alright, baby?"

 

Kagome looked torn, as though she wanted to desperately take a rest but didn't want to share her pain with the quizzical teens at the table. As they fixed her with concerned gazed, Kagome blushed even more and murmured, "I'm fine."

 

"Seeing as though ye won't be going to school tomorrow, I think a rest would be precisely what ye need," Kaede reasoned, not at all put off by Kagome's desire to remain secret.

 

After a brief silence, Kagome sighed and nodded. "I guess that's a good idea."

 

She attempted to stand, gripping the edge of the table to steady herself, but she soon grimaced and nearly fell; Inuyasha grabbed her by the arms quickly and frowned. Aiming a glance up at Kaede, the boy said seriously, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea too."

 

Ignoring his not-quite-finished math homework, Inuyasha quickly coaxed Kagome onto his back for a piggy-back ride up the stairs. "I'm gonna help her out, so I'll finish that shit in the morning. Night everybody."

 

The other murmured goodnights, after offering to help but being graciously turned away, and reluctantly continuing their work. Rin watched uneasily as Inuyasha carried her cousin upstairs, but Sesshomaru soon began to rub soothing circles on her lower back. Rin smiled thankfully at him before returning to her work, knowing that Inuyasha would stay with Kagome through the night without fail; it was simply a Taisho mechanism, after all. Dogs were loyal to a fault and the Taishos were no different.

 

As they disappeared up the stairs, Rin turned to Shitora and asked happily, "So, how was the dance meeting?"

 

Shitora shrugged and smirked rather rudely. "Fine; I'm still on top, even if there are two of us. I'm like the leader."

 

Sesshomaru glanced upwards through his spectacles, asking boredly, "Aren't the dance captains supposed to be equals?"

 

When Shitora just smiled mysteriously, Rin and Sesshomaru simply shrugged before returning to their work. Ranbou, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel suspicious; he knew Shitora tended to get a little competitive, so he hesitated to wonder what exactly she was doing to her fellow captain. It might be better if he didn't know anyway.

 

9191919

 

Mizumi sat dejectedly on the couch, crimson eyes staring at the grungy floor of her almost barren apartment. Every once and a while, she would reach up her slender hand to massage the bruises on her shoulders; Shitora gripped hard when she was trying to get her point across. I don't care if she made you captain, this is my block, got it? Mizumi winced at the memory and drew up her legs to her chest, hugging them close as she realized that her legs were her ticket to a job, to life. You step out of line, you upstage me, I break your feet. The dragon demon shuddered and shook her green head fretfully; would Shitora really go through with her threats?

"Eat somethin'."

 

At the sound of her brother's voice, Mizumi glanced up from the couch into the kitchen, where Ryuukoytsusei had been stirring some vegetables and beef in a pan on the stove. It was a simple meal, good for the body, but Mizumi couldn't think of anything she'd willingly eat at that moment; the thought of food made her ill.

 

"No thanks," she mumbled, rubbing one of her crimson eyes with her closed fist. "I'm not hungry."

 

Ryuu glanced over the bar at his sister, who had been quiet since her meeting with Shitora and the dance instructor. She was curled up on the couch in her overlarge sweater and shorts, nursing her injured pride and body. Ryuu wasn't sure what was going on in that dance class, but he was becoming increasingly suspicious of it. Narrowing his crimson eyes, the burly man spooned some vegetable and beef into a noodle bowl before setting it pointedly on the counter.

 

"Nice try, I don't buy it. Eat," he ordered again.

 

Mizumi wrinkled her little nose cutely before shaking her head. "Really, I'm not hungry."

 

Ryuu paused for a moment before he reached forward and withdrew the offered bowl, setting it next to the stove and turning off the burner. He set the used pan in the sink before taking his own bowl of food in hand and crossing into the living room. Mizumi bobbed slightly as her brother took a seat beside her and put his bare feet up on the table.

 

"I'm eating," he said simply.

 

Mizumi nodded and smiled faintly. "Well, you're always hungry, so that's good for you."

 

In reply, Ryuu reached up and cuffed her lightly on the cheek, causing Mizumi to giggle; Ryuu hid whatever smile he might've wore into his vegetables and beef. There was a brief silence between the brother and sister before Mizumi twisted her entire body around, landing so that she was facing Ryuu's haughty profile.

 

"What do you think of Shitora Taisho?"

 

The larger dragon froze, chopsticks halfway to his mouth, full of beef and vegetables. His eyes, unfocused, landed on a stray thread in the carpet as he remembered saving the girl in question two, or maybe three, times. The parting of her lips, the fire in her golden eyes, so shimmering and magnificent, like the colors of the sunset on ocean waters. The rippling of her hair, the spice of her scent...it was all so potent in Ryuukoytsusei's mind. Beautiful; that was a word to describe her.

 

"I don't know," he replied nonetheless, managing to get the vegetables and beef into his mouth without further incident.

 

Mizumi had seen his pause however and furrowed her emerald green brow. "Do you, like, talk to her a lot?"

 

"Fuck no," Ryuu replied disdainfully, rolling his crimson eyes. "Talk to Taisho's sister? I'd rather get a lobotomy."

 

The small girl watched him carefully, noting the sparkle in his eyes and the uncertainty in the movement of his hands, before she pressed, "Is she...violent? Like, does she hurt people?"

 

"I've seen her do enough damage, yeah," Ryuu replied, squinting sideways as though he were growing suspicious. "Why do you care?"

"I don't," Mizumi said flippantly, shrugging her thing shoulders. "I was just wondering." There was a brief silence between the two before Mizumi began to bite her lip anxiously; she had another question. "Hey, Ryuu? I've kinda been meaning to ask this for a while, but...you know..."

 

Ryuukoytsusei glanced at his sister, who looked three years younger than he knew her to be; she looked practically pre-school age when she bit her lip like that. Finally, he realized that she wouldn't continue without a reassuring word. "Yeah?"

 

Mizumi took a deep breath and blurted out, "Why don't you like all the people in the other gangs?"

 

After a momentary silence, Ryuu asked blankly, "Who?"

 

"Like...I dunno, like the Taishos. The people in the gangs that aren't the Dragons or the Vixens."

 

It took Ryuu a moment to realize that Mizumi meant the South. Drawing in a sharp breath, he narrowed his eyes and rose abruptly from the couch; just the thought of them made his blood boil. He practically threw down his dirty bowl in the sink as he wiped his hands rather clippedly on a nearby towel. Mizumi watched her brother nervously, nails digging into the couch; she hadn't meant to make him angry, but just about anything set off his temper these days.

 

"Don't talk to them. Ever," Ryuu growled, turning only to point at Mizumi with his great clawed hand before the fuming Dragon turned to exit into his room.

 

"Why not?" Mizumi called after him, standing rather boldly from the couch. Something about his insistent coddling made her angry.

 

Ryuu shook visibly as he turned in a stiff sort of way. "Because I said so."

 

"I'm not six and your not my dad, so that answer doesn't work," Mizumi protested, taking several daring steps forward. She set her little chin determinedly and crossed her arms. "Why can't I talk to them?"

 

Ryuukoytsusei seemed to pause for a moment, as though he were trying to decide whether to hit her or ponder her question; finally, he murmured angrily, "They're scum, they're killers, and you can't talk to them."

 

The look on Mizumi's face was pinched and angry, her pretty little face contorted with dislike and near hatred. Her crimson eyes bled a rather dark burgundy as she mumbled, "So are you."

 

Brother and sister stared unfazedly at one another, fists clenched and teeth gritted inside tight lips. A strange attitude came over Ryuukoytsusei, causing his shoulders to shake and his eyes to burn. Mizumi wanted to take a step backwards, though she knew it would only lead to trouble; she couldn't lose her face, especially in front of her brother. After being dumped on his doorstep and called weak by her father in front of him, she couldn't possibly prove it all true. Mizumi Tousen was not weak and she would willingly stand down a furious Ryuukoytsusei just to prove it.

 

"I am nothing like them!" Ryuu screamed, voice inflected with the slightest hint of a dragon's call; it made it harsh and grating, causing Mizumi to wince slightly.

 

Without warning, Ryuu's fist tensed and Mizumi thought, if only for a moment, that he was going to strike her; at the last moment, Ryuu roared and redirected his enraged hit towards the nearest thing to him. The wall.

 

As the dragon's fist hit the wall, it penetrated and shattered the plaster and wood with startling force; dust erupted in a cloud as broken parts of wall fell to the carpeted floor. Mizumi shied away from the shrapnel as Ryuu disappeared in a tunnel of brown powder. When the noise had died and the smoke had cleared, Mizumi opened her eyes to find Ryuu still poised in punching position, arm almost all the way through the wall and eyes simmering with orange wrath.

 

Ryuu stared at the damage he'd inflicted, face unreadable, before he straightened up and pulled his hand back through the head sized hole he'd created. He stared at it with a new found calmnity.

 

"It's not that bad," Mizumi said finally, shrugging her small shoulders.

 

Without warning, a crack began spreading down from the hole until it hit the bottom of the floor and, as if on cue, the wall began to crumble piece by piece, bringing with it another cloud and deafening sound. Ryuu and Mizumi both shielded themselves, blinking against the dirt and dust; the hole widened considerably and more plaster collided with the already growing piles on the floor.

 

When Ryuu and Mizumi opened their eyes, a hole about the size of a card table was staring them in the face, large and gaping, beginning about two feet above the floor and ending one foot shy of the ceiling. Mizumi gaped at the hole while Ryuu seemed to simply wince to himself; his landlord wasn't going to like this. At least no one lived next door.

 

"Um...hello?"

 

Or at least he hadn't thought so.

 

Ryuu blinked his crimson eyes confusedly and exchanged glances with Mizumi, who had by this time crept up beside him; both squinted their eyes through the slightly foggy dust cloud, wondering who'd spoken on the other side of the broken wall.

 

As if in answer, a pair of sky blue eyes appeared in the haze, looking quite confused; a recognizably pretty face and sheets of white blonde hair followed soon after, making the newcomer's identity surprisingly obvious. Mizumi stared through the hole, almost unable to register the sight before her.

 

"Shale? Are you our...neighbor?"

 

9191919

 

As M. Night Shyamalan would say, what a twist! Watch Robot Chicken to understand that beloved reference. Sorry it's been so long with this chapter; I started school and between my 4 APs, the Improv Troupe, major roles in the play and musical, boxing, college apps and 3 hour long piano practices, I've been a little busy. It's calming down now that I'm getting into the swing of everything, but it was hectic for a while; ya'll know how it is, so I don't have to tell you. But updates might be a little more regular now. A little. This chapter was long, though. Compensation, anyone?

 

KOLU