InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Movie House Hanyou ❯ Land of 10,000 Loopholes ( Chapter 23 )

"I swear," Kagome muttered, almost with a growl, "if this happens to me one more time, those managers are going to hear from my mother. They can't legally keep me there so late." She huffed and continued to drive as she vented her frustrations both verbally and silently. The bottoms of my feet ache from standing in one spot for so long during today's rushes, I feel like my knees are about to lock up if I straighten them too much. I'm too exhausted to want to deal with all this, this crap. "Stupid cops took Naraku's side when I told them he wouldn't let me leave early enough to be safe from curfew," she continued to grumble. "Aren't they supposed to be making sure he DOESN'T pull stuff like this on minors?!" Her nostrils flared as she squinted into the darkness to see where she was driving. It was her first time driving on such dark roads.

Her passenger, who was also the owner of the vehicle, commented dryly, "Yes, they're supposed to, but that doesn't mean these ones do. Remember, these cops work for Naraku. Their paychecks come from Pierce Theaters; I've seen 'em in the paycheck piles when I hand them out on Thursdays sometimes. And, of course, I already have my own assumptions about one of them in particular, but I already told you about that."

Kagome nodded silently, remembering being told long ago of how he had seen the way Kagura would repeatedly flirt with one of the Sergeants, often making the concession stand employees give him free nachos and cheese or small bags of popcorn. She had been in the place of such an employee more than once.

"I feel like biting off his head or something, you know?" she continued in a low voice, a rare scowl on her face. "He's really starting to piss me off." Like he hasn't already done so numerous times since my first day of work, she mumbled to herself, smacking the steering wheel in frustration. "I'm so glad school hasn't started yet."

"Yup." Rolling his eyes up toward the ceiling of the Saturn, Inuyasha continued, "Well, at least this provides an excuse for getting in some nighttime driving practice. And, this wouldn't have happened," his eyes went forward and he gestured with a pointed finger, "if Naraku hadn't been closing tonight. All you can really do right now is complain to Merle the next time you work with her."

Kagome stole a tense glance at him just in time to see his upper lip twitch in agitation. "Like that would help any."

"Not saying Naraku'll necessarily listen to her," he countered, "but he's more likely to take Merle seriously than anyone in a red shirt, like you or me. I have next to no power, and you may as well be a slave." A sarcastic 'keh' followed his statement.

"So, what really happened last Thursday?" she asked after a long pause. Her eyes had long since returned to the dark road.

Inuyasha sighed. "Clint was pocketing money. Not much else to it," he succinctly replied with a shoulder shrug. "Put the left turn signal on and turn at the corner." When she didn't immediately do so, he softly ordered, "Put the damn signal on, right now."

She eyed him but ignored the tone in his comment, lighting up the left turn signal as requested. She wasn't in the mood to argue over something trivial; he was like that a lot, and not exclusively to her. "But how did he get caught? I was downstairs when I heard yelling going on, and then some of the officers and Naraku paraded Clint off in cuffs."

The car approached the intersection, and she made a left turn onto 38th Street. She was thankful the traffic was light. This neighborhood was still fairly unfamiliar to her; she only drove where Inuyasha told her to, as she trusted he knew his way around the city well enough. She still felt like a tourist visiting Minneapolis while on vacation.

"It had to do with him being on this one register at the end."

She nodded in acknowledgement. "Number two, or number seven?"

"Two. His drawer's had mysterious shortages in the past whenever he was on that register." Inuyasha gave her a strange look. "Anyway, apparently he snuck money into his pocket on occasion. The register being in a corner made it easy. They just happened to catch him in the act the other week during the 7 o'clock rush. That's all."

Kagome was quiet for a while, concentrating on the road. She felt partially blind trying to maneuver his car in such terrible lighting conditions. The neighborhood was a quiet, albeit bad residential one with very little lighting anywhere and narrow streets with many parked cars, and the headlights didn't really help much. "But he actually did it, right? He wasn't set up?"

"Nope, he did it," he answered. "Not that I care. He wasn't even a good employee. I'm glad he's gone."

Kagome made a right turn onto Park Avenue. "Where are we, right now?"

"Miroku's neighborhood," he replied. "Not the best part of the city, but there are places much worse than this."

"Okay." The was another long pause. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"What do you know about those rentals?" She stopped the car at a red light, then turned in her seat to give him a serious look.

"Uh, basically next to nothing." His tone bordered on baffling. "The old GMs never did anything like that except for big stars, like Cher."

"Cher was here before?"

"No. Just an example of the kind of people who did rentals before Naraku was the GM."

"Ah, okay," Kagome replied, a hint of curiosity still apparent.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I just wondered if it was something common, something suspicious, something…" she trailed off as she scrambled for some other descriptive word, waving her right hand around in the air as she spoke.

"Well, I never thought about that before, but who knows?" Inuyasha gave a low laugh that contained little humor. "The light's green." She nodded and pressed the gas pedal.

As they continued to drive around southern Minneapolis for no reason other than the practice and to delay her inevitable return home, they engaged in chitchat over several harmless topics while primarily thinking about more unsettling ones, namely work related things. Finally, Inuyasha had her drive homeward.

After she had parked his car in front of her townhouse, the two stood at the bottom of the steps with their arms around each other's waist. "You vented enough?"

"No," she firmly replied, a frown marring her features. "It's gonna take a lot more to get me outta this bad mood."

"You know," he said knowingly, "I coulda sworn I heard you growling earlier."

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "So?"

"I think you're cute when you do that. You're so cute when you're pissed off." He made to lean down to kiss her lips, taking joy in her surprised and flustered expression, but paused when he noticed the light in the window by the front door go on. He opted for a peck on her forehead, much to her obvious disappointment and confusion, just as the front door opened.

An eerily backlit Mrs. Higurashi wearing nothing but a nightgown, a bathrobe and slippers stood in the doorway, looking displeased and a little bit frazzled. Kagome pulled back slightly from the embrace and chuckled nervously. "Uh, hi, Mom." Greaaaaaaaat. Damnit.

"It's 1am. You two called half an hour ago. It took you that long to get here from work why?" her mother questioned sternly as she eyed her daughter and Inuyasha.

"Well, um...."

"She wanted to practice nighttime driving," he quickly interrupted, glad he didn't have to lie about anything this time, "and I was happy to oblige. Sorry for not letting you know about that last minute decision."

Kagome thanked him for the save in a very low whisper only he could hear. She hated the feeling of being put on the spot. "Yeah, Mom, we, uh, we didn't think you'd stay up waiting for me." A feeling of embarrassment slowly creeped up on her, as if she had been caught doing something forbidden.

Her mother yawned, making Kagome wonder just how tired her mother really was and why she had stayed up. Didn't her mother have to work the next morning?

"Well, just remember to call next time, Kagome," she explained in a tired voice. "You know I want to give you as much space and freedom as you want, but I do ask for a few things in return. I ask so little of you, you know." Kagome nodded submissively, then noticed her arms were still around Inuyasha's waist. She pulled her hands back quickly, her face flushed. Inuyasha removed his hands from their spot just as quickly. "Inuyasha?"

He grew a bit tense; she still looked a bit peeved. Was she going to chastise him for keeping Kagome out so late without properly notifying her? Would she forbid him from spending so much out of work time with her daughter because of this? He mentally cringed at the thought of her next words once he answered. "Yeah?" He kept his voice respectful sounding yet neutral.

Her mother gave him a warm though tired smile and yawned again. "If you want to come in for a little something before you go home--"

"Sounds good." His eyes lit up, as did Kagome's.

Inside, Kagome sat at the kitchen table continually pouring herself glasses of juice while Inuyasha eagerly went through the cupboards. Mrs. Higurashi had told him he could stay for a little bit and help himself to whatever food he could find in the kitchen. Within moments and after some help from both Higurashi women with locating things, he started filling a small, black-handled pot with tap water.

Mrs. Higurashi looked at him strangely when he immediately dumped the contents of a package of instant ramen into the cold water, then quirked her brow when she saw him place it on a stove burner and crank the heat up to medium.

"Inuyasha, how long did you live in Japan?" she questioned him, her brow furrowing as she moved next to him. She'd never seen anyone cook ramen that way.

He looked confused for a moment, then answered, "Until 1995. Why?"

"Don't you know you're supposed to wait until the water is boiling before you add the noodles?" She frowned at the oddity of it all. "You're going to make them all soggy."

Obviously having overheard, Kagome turned from her spot behind them and interjected, "Well, the ramen he made for me that one morning was really good, Mom. Remember, I told you about it? Made from scratch, too." Though I gotta admit, what he's doing right now does seem a bit weird.

Facing both women, Inuyasha shrugged dramatically, his eyes narrowed but his face otherwise expressionless. Leaning his back against the counter, he picked up the empty plastic ramen wrapper and held it front of him where both of them could see. A clawed finger silently pointed at the label, 'Maruchan Instant Ramen.'

When he felt he had their undivided attention and curiosity, his lips curved into a smile. "All instant ramen," he began, "tastes like shit anyway--"

Kagome covered her face with her hand and groaned. Why in front of MOM?!

"--so it's not really gonna matter to me if the noodles aren't exactly as firm as spaghetti. That, and I'm not looking to have to gnaw on the damn noodles," he finished off, reveling in her mother's surprised expression at his bluntness.

"Besides, I'm lazy, and it's instant ramen. It's already gonna take time for the water to boil, so why wait for it to boil to add them?" he replied defensively as he set the wrapper back onto the counter, though trying not to sound too gruff. This was, after all, Kagome's mother.

"Anyway, if it matters any," he went on before either female could speak, "back in Japan the ramen I usually ate wasn't instant. Lots and lots of ramen shop owners knew me by sight and name, and as Kagome already knows, I make damn good ramen from scratch." He grinned smugly.

As a bemused look on her face slowly replaced her previous state of flabbergastedness, Chiho laughed long and hard, much to Inuyasha's and her daughter's surprise. Her eyes threatening to water, she finally managed to breathe out, "All right, all right. I was just wondering." She tried to hold back another yawn, but she failed.

After Inuyasha's ramen was done and he began to devour it as if he hadn't eaten in days, Kagome's mother disappeared downstairs for a while. She returned to the upper main floor some while later to find the kitchen empty.

Entering the next room, the TV room, she found Inuyasha stretched out on the couch under a blanket with his cap pulled slightly lower on his forehead that she remembered it being, his back against the armrest and his legs extended. Her daughter lay on her side in front of him, direly in danger of falling off the couch. It looked like she was asleep. Inuyasha silently looked up at the older woman in the midst of absentmindedly playing with dark tendrils of her daughter's hair.

He raised a finger to his lips. "She fell asleep a few minutes ago," he quietly explained.

Mrs. Higurashi seated herself in an overstuffed armchair at the opposite end of the couch from him as she nodded wordlessly. She curiously watched him try to ignore her presence for a while as he continued to lavish attention on the unsuspecting, sleeping girl. Then he clammed up; she assumed it was the pressure of being watched that finally got to him. He glanced back up at her apologetically and looked nervously around the room.

"If you want me to leave, I will," he finally said in a low voice, squeezing Kagome's shoulder gently; the girl shifted in her light sleep under the movement. Her mother could tell he felt uncomfortable, so she waved off his comment.

"Why would I ask you to?" she questioned, her tone playful but her words serious as she smiled. She hoped to put his obvious apprehension at ease; the young man seemed to grow on her a little bit more each time they met. "I turned one of our unused rooms into a guest room, so you wouldn't be a burden--"

"Ah, no thank you, Mrs. Higurashi," he quickly replied with a shake of his head. "I simply thought--"

"It's okay. Just remember you're always welcome here," she interjected with a chuckle, though she was just the slightest bit surprised at his overall refusal. "Don't ever feel uneasy in my home, please."

The young man nodded in silent agreement, feeling that, for the most part, he understood her feelings on the matter. After another silence, they broke into light, soft conversation, hoping not to wake her daughter.

A while later, Inuyasha's cell phone went off, and he answered it as her mother stood up and made to leave the room for a short while. "Hello?"

He didn't recognize the number, and when the voice answered, he didn't recognize it either. As he listened, he stiffened at the speaker's expressed reason for calling.

"What about him?" he replied defensively, a scowl on his face. Great, who the fuck else knows?! But as the woman on the other line continued, a self-satisfactory grin slowly grew over his previous scowl. His eyebrows vanished behind his bangs as they heightened dramatically at what he heard.

"Really... now this is intriguing," he drawled out, suppressing the urge to laugh maniacally. "I would be happy to stop by and speak with you on this matter. I can be there in a matter of minutes, actually. This won't take long, will it?"

Inuyasha's free hand slowly traveled along Kagome's body as he continued to listen, further down, until he couldn't reach any further. He lightly cupped the area where her waist began to dip and teasingly stroked it with his thumb through the fabric. Kagome shivered from his touch but did not stir. He licked his lips and then spoke again as the woman on the other line finished. "Oh, and I don't owe any backpay because he was an idiot for not charging me, do I?"

"Just give us a statement on everything he did that invaded our general policies, and I will make sure that you are kept in the clear," spoke the angry woman on the other line. The hanyou could tell she was having trouble not blowing up at him over the matter, so he thanked her simply and shortly before hanging up, still unable to wipe that smug grin off his face. Not that he wanted to, of course.

Oh, he would get complete and final retribution after all, and he was ecstatic about it. He glanced down at the sleeping girl and whispered to her a promise that all would be finally taken care of. Her pain would finally send karma back to the one other than himself who had caused it.

---

Jakotsu wondered to himself about the strange message he'd found on his answering machine from Ground Zero the day before. Normally he was never called in for performance reviews except toward the very end of the calendar year. As he strolled up to the door of the manager's office, his thoughts were everywhere as he racked his brain, trying to figure out just why exactly he'd been told to come straight to her office as soon as his shift was supposed to start.

Yeah, about that. Supposed to start? What was with that wording, anyway? Why hadn't she just said, "Meet me in my office before your shift starts"? What was with the "supposed to" phrasing? But, he shrugged his shoulders and hoped for the best.

He was wrong to have any hope at all, as he soon found out.

A fisted hand came up and knocked on the door. "Get your ass in here, Jakotsu," came an angry, feminine voice from the other side, instantly filling him with unease. He swallowed nervously before turning the knob and entering the office, closing the door behind him.

His boss, and the owner of Ground Zero, sat behind a large, fancy wooden desk with a dark coat of staining. Her fiery green eyes tracked his approach until he sat down in one of two generic, uncomfortable chairs in front of the desk, at which point she dropped her gaze to a stack of papers piled in a far corner of the desk. Grabbing for them, she started paging through the items on top, pulling out documents here and there and forming a new, smaller pile in the middle of the desktop.

All the while, Jakotsu silently wondered just what the hell was going on. The stretching silence began to feel very tedious, and after a while he ahemed to get her attention. He immediately received it, along with a penetrating glare that made him feel vulnerable and stripped to the core.

"I need you to read these two documents and tell me if their contents are true," she muttered, handing him a photocopy of something handwritten and a stapled together packet of several sheets of printed text. Puzzled, Jakotsu immediately took both and started reading the single sheet photocopy.

Halfway through his skimming, he began to realize just what kind of performance review this was, and that he would not be faring well at all. His face went pale, and without finishing the first document he wordlessly set it back down on the desktop and started reading through the other one. He finally took to words when he began whispering "Oh shit" to himself in a constant repeat.

His dark eyes met Anita's piercing green ones as he set the other document down upon finishing, keeping it on his lap. "Um, I can explai--"

"Really, can you really explain this? Can you explain it better than these two witness statements I have here? Judging by your reaction," she sneered, "these documents are very fucking damn truthful. Your coworker Tammy was--"

"Tammy what?" Jakotsu blinked in disbelief.

Anita pointed an angry finger at him. "Do NOT interrupt me. Tammy is the one who initially revealed this to me. Turns out she was hesitant to turn you in--"

Jakotsu paled even more, if he was possible. Anita was scary when she was angry.

"--and that's why it took so long for her to approach me. But I sure as fuck am glad she did." She narrowed her eyes. "And this Mr. Uhmayzoo--"

"Umezu," Jakotsu corrected her, already cringing at the inevitable continuation of yelling she would undoubtedly string for him for interrupting her yet again. Anita was the only person other than Inuyasha who could ever hope to intimidate him, and she didn't have superhuman strength and powerful claws and fangs.

"--Umezu, whatever. He was more than happy to provide the management with information galore on your misbehavior," she went on. "Jakotsu." She sighed and covered her face with her hand for a moment in suppressed but not completely hidden annoyance. "You are a professional. Or, at least, you're supposed to be," she went on with her rant. "Professionals are supposed to be responsible. You, however, were far from this. You put the club in jeopardy. You broke your client's confidentiality contract. According to this client, your actions have caused him severe problems in his personal life. Hell," she paused for a breather, taking notice of her employee's visible wincing, "you shouldn't have even accepted the session offers in the first place! You know the damn rules, right?"

Jakotsu nodded silently.

"And they are?"

"Safe, sane, and consensual," he answered meekly.

"Sessions are for safely exploring fantasies in a sane manner with a consensual partner, Jakotsu. Now, the issue of consent is debatable as he is the one who approached you on this. However, as a professional dom, you should have had the sense to have turned down his request, as it was neither safe NOR sane." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and continued to glare at him. "Telling him he ought to have sought a therapist was not good enough. Do you understand?!" She smiled eerily at his positive acknowledgement.

"Now, not only did you accept to physically abuse him," she continued, highly emphasizing two certain words, "but you also violated several other policies as well. One of them is the matter of the confidentiality contract. After speaking with your client, or perhaps I should refer to him as your victim--"

Jakotsu grimaced and began to silently fidget in his seat.

"--it seems you shared information about his sessions with at least two different people, and on more than one occasion. You violated several of his personal limits as well, as is properly mentioned in his statement on page 4," she practically seethed at him. "In addition, you are in no position to offer anyone, even your own boyfriend, free sessions. You are being paid for your work here as a dom. Under no circumstances are you allowed to give free sessions to any customers while we're paying your hourly wages. Do you understand?" Her eyes flared with an even brighter burst of anger.

"I do now," he managed to squeak out without his voice cracking on him too much. It took all his self-restraint to keep from banging his head upon the surface of Anita's desk repeatedly until the skin on his forehead were to split open.

"And let's not forget one big, unwritten, unspoken rule that anyone with half a brain could figure out," his boss went on for a final condescending bullet of her lecture. "Trust. Why this Inuyasha guy was willing to bottom for someone for whom he had no problem voicing his personal hatred, I can't say. That was his main act of idiocy, aside from wanting to use something respectable like a safe BDSM session for self-abuse. However, that is all said, done, and in the past. He has agreed never to seek BDSM session services here again, due to the circumstances. Tell me, if you were in his spot, would you have trusted a dom you hated? Would you have willingly bottomed for someone you didn't trust?" Her calculating gaze and powerful words drilled through his defense, destroying Jakotsu's final resolve.

His voice was soft and quiet as, at long last, he answered, "No, I would not. Trust is very important. Trust is necessary for a dom and a sub to be able to work together in a safe and sane environment."

Anita had hammered the final nail of her argument into his thick, unbreathable skull.

"Now, in regards to your status of employment here at Ground Zero," the tall redheaded woman finally segued, the topic immediately drawing the broken man's attention.

"Yes?" His entire face drooped in apprehension. He did not want to hear her answer.

"You're fired, and you will be blacklisted. You are a disgrace to Ground Zero and to the BDSM community," she hissed. "Jakotsu Komodo will never find employment in this line of work ever again. I shall see to it. You will also hereafter be considered trespassing should you ever set foot in Ground Zero or The Front ever again in the next ten years, or longer, if I still own this place longer than that."

"Yes, Anita." Jakotsu hung his head and slowly stood up. Placing the documents on the seat of the other chair, he turned and left the office.

"Your final paycheck shall be mailed to you," the now happy sounding woman called out to him as he pulled the door shut behind him.

---

At the beginning of September on a Friday when nothing good had come out, Kagome found herself in an unpleasant situation at work. The computer systems went out in the box office.

Right in the middle of ringing up one of her customers, the screen had locked up before the customer's ticket had printed up and the purchase could be registered. Her coworkers also noted the same frustration with the computers. Finally, not a single computer was working; they had all tried signing into the remaining monitors down there and gotten nothing but error messages. And, there were long, long lines. Kagome phoned the manager upstairs while Zara held off the complaints.

While the supervisor and other box office employees fervently and politely continued to handle and hold off the customers, letting them know the managers were being contacted and that the problem would be fixed as soon as possible, Kagome spoke with Kagura on the computer problems.

Upstairs, as Kagura dealt with the box office on the phone, Naraku paged the projection booth on another line. Kanna picked up.

"Projection booth."

Naraku smiled and leaned back in his swivel chair. "Can you sign onto the TIMSBOOT database and check some data for me? The sales program on the box office computers is acting up, and--"

"Yes, sir," she replied, recognizing the hidden code words 'check some data.' She listened to Naraku give her more explicit instructions on the specifics of the operation before hanging up and going off to her personal office. Within minutes she hacked into the computer's database and brought up a rarely needed or used window, rewrote some of the coding, hit a few more keys to save the data, and then closed everything down before rebooting the entire computer. This will be interesting, she thought to herself, proud at her accomplishments so far. It will be difficult for most computer elites to trace everything.

Kanna stood up. Now to get those rolls of emergency use paper tickets in the storage room.

Half an hour later downstairs, Kagome felt perplexed as she warded off yet another annoyed customer's wrath. The computer system couldn't be fixed until repairmen came by on short notice? In the meantime they'd have to just sell generic, teeny green admit-one emergency pass tickets for cash and passes? No credit card usage, gift certificate sales, or reserved ticket pick-up? What about having a computer record of what gets sold and for which price and what movie and how many tickets? She fretted greatly over the implications. This would be a real test of her sanity.

Every other customer questioned the temporary solution just as much as she did, so she knew it wasn't just an overreaction to be expected of any employee caught in such a dilemna. Thank goodness the cash drawer could be opened at any time and was not dictated by the whims and permission of the computer, or she knew they would have had to shut down the entire box office until everything was working again. She huffed to herself before turning to the next customer in line and greeting the tall, dark haired woman.

"Welcome to Pierce Theaters. How may I help you?" she politely greeted her customer.

"Two for The Order." The woman had a strangely pleased look on her face.

Zara, who was taskfree for the moment and had overheard the customer's movie choice, turned and immediately halted Kagome's interaction. "Whoa, that movie is not all that good, ma'am. The only reason to see it is for Heath Ledger. I'd suggest just about every movie we have other than that one," she broke in, trying to steer the woman away from a bad movie choice.

"What are you doing?" Kagome whispered to Zara through gritted teeth, her eyes still on her customer and her customer-friendly smile still on her face.

The respective customer set her brow and replied, "Well, that's why I was gonna see it. Is it really that bad?"

Zara nodded her head profusely, ignoring Kagome. "I saw the first show of it today. It's basically a cross between Stigmata and The Exorcist, except really, really bad. The script writers musta been on crack when they wrote it. Trust me. I saw it for free, and I want my money back."

With a laugh, the woman replied, much to Kagome's surprise, "All right, then, I'll trust your judgment. Two for Pirates…."

Kagome went through the same rehearsed explanation and apology as soon as her customer warily eyed the narrow, inch long green ticket with the auditorium number and showtime scribbled on it in pen, charming yet another uneasy mind. She went through droves of customers at a frightening pace that strangely put her more experienced coworkers to shame, enough so that Kagura, who had stopped by to observe for any troubles, kept her eyes trained primarily on the short, black-haired girl down at the far end.

From her inconspicuous spot at a table on the other side of the stairs and escalator, Kagura studied the way Kagome had more ease than the others in magically converting grumpy customers into more understanding and cheerful ones. Where she sat gave her the perfect view of all the employees on registers. She couldn't really hear anything the employees said due to the distance, but she could tell a lot just by watching. That, and several times some customers had been directed straight to Kagura herself, claiming that "a box office employee named Kagome" had been unable to solve their problems due to uncertainty in procedure or whatever and had thus pointed her out as a manager and one who may be of more help.

What startled Kagura the most aside from having been noticed by the box office employees in the first place --had she been that easy to spot? She wasn't even dressed in managerial apparel, having chosen to go casual today-- was the mature way in which Kagome had been spoken of by these customers. To top it off, their demeanor when speaking to her, a manager, was drastically polite compared to the disgruntledness and high-strung annoyance she was accustomed to seeing in complaining customers, no matter which low-level employee had referred them.

But, should she attribute it to Kagome, Kagura wondered, or a stroke of luck? She pondered this greatly in between the spurts of higher-power-help-seekers, as she often referred to them. They didn't necessarily need referrals to managers, she knew. They simply preferred to take more heed to things they were told were the words spoken by someone on a higher rung. If Kagome were a manager, or even a supervisor, they would have been more likely to take her seriously. To touch on it all, Kagura recalled that, excepting the one customer months ago over whom Kagome had been publicly chastised, Kagome's dealings overall with customers were strangely and overwhelmingly positive. The girl had a certain charm, a way with people.

"Vault to Harmon, do you copy?" came a fuzzy voice from the two way radio sitting atop Kagura's table, jolting her out of her absorbing thoughts.

She rolled her eyes and held the radio up to her face, holding down the talk button. "Copy."

"How's the box office faring?"

"It's going well. Few customer complaints. Most are being handled by the cashiers very well," she reported blandly.

"Sounds good. The computers will be out for another half hour down there," came the reply. She set the radio back onto the tabletop.

Kagura felt like she could almost hear Naraku's smile slither through the fuzzy radio waves just so she could see it. She shook her head, hoping to make the disturbing visual dissipate from her mind. Again, she wondered why she still worked there, and with him. To herself she quietly whispered, "For the extra money, you idiot. That's why you are still here. You may hate his guts, but you can't lie about it. Because of him, only half of what you make comes from your salaried paycheck. And tonight, there will be more cash to line your pocket."

Kagura continued to watch the crowds dwindle, taking particular note in how Kagome's line moved faster than the others. Even with Zara overseeing everything right behind them, Kagome seemed to command things better than the others. Her coworkers seemed influenced by her as well, though they still lagged behind greatly.

The short woman stood up, the radio on her belt, and went over to Cold Stone Creamery to buy a small cone with a single scoop. She refrained from leaving a tip; she was not in the mood to hear the servers sing out their thanks. They sang so loudly, concession stand employees could hear them from upstairs. Moving closer to the box office until she stood halfway between the stairwell and the box office's red half-gate, Kagura continued watching the red-shirted employees exchange cash for the teeny little green tickets across the smooth red counter, licking her ice cream all the while.

She felt it strange that she hadn't noticed until now. The other employees seemed to listen to Kagome more than to Zara, especially tonight due to their little "crisis." Perhaps it was because the supervisor wasn't on a register and directly involved with the dealings that night, and because Kagome was able to lead the others, showing them the surest, fastest way to handle whatever came at them without constantly yelling for the supervisor's help. Perhaps, and this was just Kagura's opinion, but maybe this all came naturally to Kagome. Kagome got along with everyone. Even those she did not care for, she still cheerfully tolerated as coworkers.

Kagura finished her ice cream cone and crumpled up the sticky wrapper, keeping it in her fisted hand. She made her way upstairs, tossing the wrapper into a garbage bin near #13 as she passed it on her way to the GMO. Inside she seated herself at her own, smaller desk in the far corner, a desk she'd only just recently acquired. The office was empty, so she paged Naraku to meet her there.

When he arrived, she gave him her full thoughts on the situation and what she had in mind. She suppressed the urge to crince when he laughed at her suggestion, nodding the entire time.

"I think it's about time we did so. She's more useful than Zara. I think I'll move Little Miss Brooding to the floor and have her overlook the ushers, and Kagome can take over as prime box office supervisor," Naraku crooned out, a wicked smile on his face. "Zara is going to hate me for this."

---

At the end of the night, Kagome immediately approached the managers concerning her need to leave early. Strangely, Naraku and Kagura simply invited her into the GMO right away, leaving Kagome to wonder. He seemed more jovial than usual.

"Actually, Kagome," he began after all three of them were seated, the managers at their respective desks, "I'd be willing to make you a deal." His tone made her feel the slightest ounce of unease.

"About what?" she asked.

"If I promise you'll never be held at work later than legal curfew ever again...." He paused, waiting to judge her initial interest.

Kagome did not answer immediately, instantly suspicious of what he might be suggesting. "You shouldn't have to make a deal with me to promise something like this," she countered, her brow set.

"Hear me out," he went on. Kagura remained silent. "If I promise you this, will you accept a promotion to box office supervisor?"

The floor staff employee stared at him with incredulity. "Why did you think I wouldn't accept the promotion in the first place?" she questioned him warily.

"Oh, I don't know." His devious smile grew. "Thought maybe you had given up on becoming one, or lost interest, or--"

"I'll take it," she interrupted, not wanting him to retract the offer, suspicious or not.

"Good," he replied as he turned to glance at his underling manager, who still sat silently at her desk. "Kagura." The woman's eyes flitted from the pages of her open book over to him, annoyance oozing through the air. "How much of a raise should we give her?"

A raise? Kagome wondered. As simple, obvious, and expected as it should have been, she had never even thought, or cared, about the possibility of getting a raise. But, she remained silent and watched them closely, deciding to let them choose whatever they wished, so long as her pay didn't go down.

"Have her make $8.50 an hour," Kagura replied without so much as a care before returning her attention to her book, flipping to the next page.

"Well, then," Naraku broke in before Kagome could comment, "as long as it sounds good to you, Kagome, I think it's settled. There's that staff meeting Saturday morning. Not tomorrow, but the next one." Kagome nodded, remembering having seen the notice on the messageboard in the break room several days earlier. "You'll be introduced as the new supervisor then. Now, clock out and go home."

---

As Inuyasha pulled out his wallet to pay for the meal, Kagome quickly finished up the last scrap of toast, though it had gotten cold from sitting on the plate for so long. After all was done and paid for, they left Hell's Kitchen, this time in plenty of time to walk the entire way and not be late for the staff meeting. Upon arrival at the box office, both employees, who were now both supervisors, were surprised to find a crowd of other Pierce employees settled at the bottom of the stairs in two small groups.

"Aren't the gates on the third floor open yet?" Inuyasha asked to no one in particular. He'd checked his cell phone earlier when he'd first entered the building, and the time was nearly 9am, when the meeting was supposed to start.

Callie turned around to answer but stopped short when she saw Inuyasha. "Dude, look at those two!" She ecstatically shook her twin sister by the shoulder, forcing her to turn around in annoyance.

"What?!"

Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other in confusion. Just what was so interesting about them that people had to get excited about?

"They're holding hands! I told you Inuyasha had the hots for Kagome," Callie told her sister Cory, pointing. Several other employees turned to gawk.

Kagome groaned inwardly but did not unthread her fingers from Inuyasha's. They just don't know yet. As soon as they find out I'm their superior now, they're not gonna be like that. Nope, not at all.

Inuyasha merely raised an eyebrow. So the staff really had been talking about them, just like Christonn had said.

Cory's eyes lit up with a devilish gleam. "Ooooooh, Inuyasha, you're gonna get demoted if the managers find out," she cooed, no doubt secretly threatening to be the one to tell the managers in the first place.

"Actually, Miss Britney Shit Between the Ears," Inuyasha began.

"What did you call me?!"

He smirked at her snarling reaction. "You heard me." He ignored the death glare she sent his way. "Anyway, don't you know Kagome's been promoted?"

"WHAT?!" Nearly every single employee gathered at the stairs joined Cory disharmonically, some in annoyance and others in surprise and interest. Additional comments filtered in after the initial outburst.

"Er, I hadn't told anyone other than Mom and you," Kagome explained, finally letting go of his hand.

He quirked a brow at her but refrained from commenting further on the subject. "So, the gates," he said, hoping someone would explain. No one said anything right away. He checked his cell phone again; it was five minutes past. "Is the gate locked?"

"If it was open, would we all be standing down here?" answered some newer employee Kagome didn't really know yet.

"So, when were we going to find out about Kagome's promotion?" someone else asked, another newer employee, an usher.

Christonn, who stood next to her, told the new employee, "Probably today at the meeting. I only know cuz Inuyasha told me."

The small crowds of employees divided into small cliques and continued to chatter half-nonsensically among themselves. They argued over the lateness of the managers, talked about their new supervisor, complained about whether or not Naraku would reinstate the yearly evaluations so older employees could get raises they felt they deserved, and so on. Inuyasha and Kagome mostly stood apart from the rest and listened in, contributing very little to the on-going discussions.

9:15am came and went, and there was still no sign of the senior managers. All of the junior managers were there, but none of them had the keys necessary to unlock the gates or the third floor access for the elevators; they were as stuck as everyone else. The mall security guard came by, but even she couldn't get them upstairs. The chatter mostly died down to a trickle.

A few people started asking Inuyasha and Kagome about if they were really a couple. Unsure if he would be willing to refer to her as his girlfriend rather than just his girlfriend-in-training or something else of less seriousness, Kagome remained silent. In addition to what he might consider her, she wondered if he would consider the two of them an actual couple in the first place. It barely niggled at her, but it did. Was being a supervisor enough to make him ease up in front of others?

While he did not outright answer in a yes, he did wrap his arm around her shoulder, a gesture that made Kagome feel warm deep down inside, a smile spreading across her face. She felt such an emotional high, she almost didn't hear his verbal response.

"Well, I'm not sure I'd say that, but I'd hump her leg if she let me."

Hump my... "You what?!" Her eyes widened. Where had that come from?!

He turned his head to look at her, a grin plastered across his face. "You heard me."

"Wait just a sec there," she retorted as she shook her head, her tone scoffing and incredulous. "You, hump someone's leg? Uh huh, right...." It would be beneath him to resort to such obvious canine behavio--

"Don't believe me?" he joked, interrupting her train of thought.

He's just being a provocative dork. "I dare you to," she called his bluff, an amused look on her face.

Of course, Kagome was shocked to find that he was, indeed, serious. In several quick motions he turned to face her right side, wrapped his arms around her shoulders and threaded his fingers together, slouched down a bit and clamped his right leg around hers from the front. All during this, she was so surprised that she didn't think to stop him. By the time her brain started properly registering anything, he had already made several exaggerated pelvic thrusts against her upper thigh before unlocking his leg from hers, looking smug as ever.

And, to top it all off, several of her coworkers had been watching with obvious amusement and were currently laughing themselves into stomach aches.

Her face currently pink from embarrassment and her eyes wide, Kagome fisted her right hand and landed a powerful hammerfist right into his gut just as he was completely letting go of her, earning a muted oof from him as he bent over, stumbled shakily, and clutched the previously targeted body zone. The laughter escalated with hoots and hollers, and Kagome joined in.

When Inuyasha recovered and stared at her, asking for an explanation, she simply replied, "Just because I dared you to doesn't mean I don't get to hit you for doing it."

"What the hell is going on here?"

Everyone turned to see the senior managers headed straight toward them. A series of complaints about their lateness arose from nearly everyone who had been waiting for them. Inuyasha checked the time on his cell phone again; it was almost 9:20am. What the hell were their excuses?

Ignoring everyone's less than happy tones, Naraku explained, "Didn't you guys see the last minute bulletin I put up yesterday afternoon that said the meeting would start at 9:30 instead? Although, it is nice to see so many people early." Oblivious to a number of mutterings and glares directed his way, he slithered his way through the massive group of disgruntled employees and began climbing the stairs, a set of keys jangling from his hand. At the top, everyone behind him, he unlocked the tall curtain-like metal gates and pushed them a few feet apart as he walked through.

Kagome felt like she was one of many prisoners being led into a jail cell as big as the main lobby. All that were missing were leg-irons and their matching chains.

---

A felt tip pen halfheartedly circled yet another promising ad in the Employment section of the Star Tribune's Sunday paper from yesterday. The outside light had grown dimmer over the past few hours, enough so that he had to squint now. Sighing in frustration, he leaned over and turned on his desk lamp, his newspaper sections suddenly becoming readable again with the instant flood of light.

He circled another ad, then thought better of it and scribbled over the text he'd just circled. He didn't have the credentials to get hired. It would be useless and a waste of time to try there. He mulled over his situation yet again, losing himself in deep thought. Turn another page, scan, circle a few items, junk the rest, turn another page, repeat cycle.

Feeling some strain in his back and shoulders from leaning over for so long, Jakotsu sat up and stretched, trying to pull all the kinks from his muscles. The front door in the next room opened with the scraping of a lock, and he turned in the direction, hoping to get a good view of his boyfriend once he entered the kitchen. He managed to hide his gloomy look for the time being. Moping would not be productive and wouldn't speed up his job hunting.

"Hey, Jakotsu, I'm home!"

"I'm in here."

The door slammed shut, and the lock scraped again with the turn of keys. Jakotsu turned his attention back to the newspaper section, startling himself just slightly when he felt a pair of arms encircle his neck from behind and a chin atop his head. "It's so dark in here. How can you concentrate with just a desk lamp on? You're gonna kill your eyes or something, man."

"I just haven't moved from this spot for hours," Jakotsu countered, suddenly feeling tired.

Bankotsu let go of his grip on him and walked over to the wall, hitting the light switch and bathing the room with a more sufficient amount of light. On his trip back to the kitchen table he dug around inside his shoulderbag for a thin pile of papers, dropping them on the tabletop on an empty area.

"What are those?" Jakotsu asked, curious, as he reached for the top sheet.

"Applications. I asked around at work, but nothing's open with credentials you meet, especially educational ones, so I stopped around at a few places in Downtown after I got off of work today," Bankotsu answered as he circled the far side of the table and seated himself in a chair just to his boyfriend's left. He rested his head upon his arms and shut his eyes in exhaustion. "Goddamn, today was just... gah." Choppy bangs half covered his forehead, spilling onto his arms. He blew at them with a big puff.

Jakotsu had to smile, at least at that. "Thanks," he whispered.

Bankotsu slit one eye open to half-stare at him for a moment before shutting it again and groaning. "No need to thank me. However, all I will do for you is get you applications. You're the one who has to fill them out, turn them in, and deal with the stupid interviews and shit. This is your responsibility. You got yourself fired, and while I will help you a bit, you will get yourself your new job. You are a 30 year old man, Jakotsu. Please start acting like one."

During his entire, longwinded speech, Bankotsu felt like he was about to fall asleep right there on the table. Instead, just his arm did. When he noticed, he immediately sat up and started trying to shmooze the feeling back into it. Jakotsu did not notice; he had taken it upon himself to start filling out each and every single application in the pile that his boyfriend had brought home for him. All of his attention was centered on leaving nothing blank.

"Ban?"

"What?" Bankotsu asked, sounding half-asleep.

"Do you think I can list Inuyasha as a reference?"

There was a deep sigh and an almost drunken sounding groan. "You'd be an idiot to do that, just as much of one if you were to apply at Pierce Theaters," he retorted.

"I was kidding, you know."

"Right. Sure you were." Bankotsu huffed his bangs away from his forehead again.

Jakotsu ignored his sarcasm-saturated comment and completed the entire pile of applications. Some of the places Bankotsu had picked up applications from were nowhere that he would normally think even once about working at. However, his job as a dom at Ground Zero had been the only one he'd had in the last six years or so, despite the low income due to few weekly shifts. Some of these places he normally wouldn't consider would definitely offer more hours. Sighing as he finished the last one, he turned to see that Bankotsu was napping. Man, I wonder what's made him so tired, he mused.

Later that night, he occupied himself with video games until Bankotsu was awake again. "Hey, short-stuff, you're alive again," he said from his spot on the floor, his eyes never leaving the TV screen. "You were royally zonked out."

"Lots of paperwork. Enough to drown in." Bankotsu seated himself next to Jakotsu but didn't take up the currently unused controller. "That, and getting all those apps for you and shit."

Jakotsu wasn't sure if he should be hurt or awed. To be safe, he facially feigned hurt. "Aw, Ban, you didn't have to do that for me. You already said I got myself into this mess. It's only right I dig myself out of it." He put his game on pause, then turned to meet Bankotsu's gaze, his eyes serious for once.

"Yeah, well," Bankotsu moved his outstretched legs into cross-legged style for better comfort, "no one says I can't help my best friend for as long as I can remember." He grinned widely, then grabbed Jakotsu around the neck to pull him closer, planting a light kiss on his cheek. "That's what friends are for, right?" At Jakotsu's subsequent nod, he continued, "Now, if you want, we can go out to Hard Mondays and get plastered, or," he paused to tug lightly on Jakotsu's high ponytail, his grin becoming mischievous and smirksome, "we stay home, and you can be on t--"

"Hard Mondays is so passe," Jakotsu interrupted him with a wicked grin, his funk vanishing for the time being.

---

Fisting her hands into the back of Inuyasha's particularly loose shirt, Kagome tugged the cloth upward. "Someone's a little forward today," he commented, amused.

She shook her head. "I just want to see your back, is all," she negated.

He sighed indignantly. "It's been completely healed for forever and a day. There's nothing to see there. You'd never be able to tell--"

"But I like your back," she countered, pouting, "just like you seem to really like my waist."

"Keh, says who?"

Hands on her hips, she set her brow and answered, "If your hands are anywhere, they're on my waist." Keeping a straight face was becoming difficult, but she struggled. "Not my ass, or my boobs--"

"Both of those are overrated," he interjected, his tone as deadpan as his facial expression.

The corner of her forced pout twitched. She eventually caved in, her cheeks tightening up as a snickering grin broke through. "See?"

Inuyasha flashed a twisted smirk her way. "Fine, fine." He didn't really mind, though; just the fact that she liked him and was touching him was enough. Within moments his shirt lay crumpled on the floor, and he was stretched out on his bed, belly down, feet by the pillow, his head resting upon his hands. Kagome hmphed as she swept his long hair off to the side, shutting her eyes for a moment before gazing upon what she'd hoped would be nothing but smooth skin.

After a deep breath, she opened them. Smooth, defined skin, all of it. Skin that begged to be touched. It was just as she remembered when she saw him dancing at the outdoor concert.

Even with his reassurances, she, at the very least, had expected to see some hint of scarring, or discoloration. When flesh heals, it leaves a scar, doesn't it? she thought to herself. Desiring a closer inspection and a better position for scrutiny, and hoping Inuyasha didn't mind, she climbed up onto the mattress and straddled the back of his waist.

Just as she was about to palm his shoulderblade, he suggestively asked, "Back rub?" It caught her off-guard.

"Um, sure, I guess." She drew her hand back. "But I'm not good at them."

"I don't care." With a carefree sigh, he relaxed into the mattress even more. His muscles shifted beneath his skin as he settled and stretched himself out beneath her. She knew he was intently paying attention to her; he'd rotated his ears back to face her. She wondered how long it would take before he sensed her apprehension; it was beginning to rise, and she couldn't figure out why.

I don't even know why I feel like this, she told herself, trying to calm her breathing. She didn't want to alarm him. She studied his slender back, seeing how his form almost disappeared between her thighs. Leaning forward, she held herself up with one hand and trailed the fingertips of the other along the length of his spine. She made sure to use enough pressure so it wouldn't feel ticklish but to keep her touch relatively light.

His skin felt warm and smooth. Too smooth to have ever been torn up and mended, she felt, and the skin tone too even and free from blemishes. The concentration of her thoughts drifted with worrisome wonder. What she had felt and seen once before. Its subsequent transformation into what she currently felt and saw. All of it quickly drove her into mad obsession, trying to dominate her and drive away all other thoughts.

Despite the plague that spread throughout her mind, she continued with the back rub. First a light massage of the muscles in his shoulders using the heel and palm of her hand, then a light dancing of her fingers in pressing motions, all of it making him squirm ever so slightly beneath her touch with pleased sighs and mutterings. The fluid scraping of her fingernails from shoulderblade to lower back made Inuyasha shudder from the sensations with deep sighs and mumblings. Yet, Kagome's thoughts continued to drift. She didn't want them to return to the visions of those half-healed scars, but they were damn persistent.

He said he didn't enjoy it because Jakotsu was the one inflicting it. But, would he have enjoyed it if someone else had done it? Maybe even me? she asked herself, worrying her lip all the while. Would he ever want to do something like that to me? Similar questions floated around in her mind, refusing to leave her alone for once.

"Damnit, Kagome, the hell are you thinking about?" Inuyasha muttered in an strange sounding mix of concern and annoyance. His ears flattened themselves against his head. Kagome's hand immediately froze.

"Huh?" Damnit! "I don't know what you're--"

A huff resounded, and he shifted in place to get her attention. "Look, I'm not deaf. Your breathing changed. You sound upset."

"And you sound half asleep," she replied in a cover up.

"I am half asleep," he confirmed. While she couldn't see his face from her position, Kagome imagined him having raised an eyebrow when he'd said that. "Good back rubs do that to you. Sometimes they're better than sex."

"Er." That was blunt. Her eyes widened. He's just saying that, right? Damn, what am I thinking?! I'm straddling his waist while we're on his bed. Of course he'd say something like th--

"So, what's on your mind?" he asked before she could make an intelligent reply.

It took her a moment to answer, but he was quiet and patient. "I just feel a bit weird straddling you like this, when we're on your bed, and, um...."

"Kagome, I never fuck on this bed," he mumbled, sounding relieved. "Nothing to worry about. I have no intention of--"

"No, it's not that I feel uneasy about your intentions," she countered, glad for his affirmation. "It just... reminds me of, uh, of Kouga's party, a little too much." He made a sound that wasn't quite a scoff, but not quite a 'keh.' "Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"Can I... ask you something?" She started tracing little patterns on the sensitive skin of his lower back, just below his rib cage.

"Maybe," he teased. "What about?" He sounded thoroughly distracted now; it made her smile, that she had this effect on him. His skin shivered beneath her touch. She tightened her thighs around his waist, making herself more comfrotable.

"Well," she took a deep breath, "you said you don't use this bed for--"

"I have a bed in another room," he answered before she could finish. "I keep all my toys in there, too."

Er, toys? "Like your riding crop?" She lightly poked him in the side.

Instead of answering right away, he curled upward, holding himself up with his elbows, and gave her a quick over the shoulder glance, winking. He smirked as he shook her off of his waist and turned onto his side. "Yeah, like that. All sorts of stuff. Restraints, too. You really seemed to like the ones I put you in at the par--" He frowned as he cut himself off. "Kagome?"

Kagome, sitting back, had dropped her gaze to the mattress, suddenly finding it interesting. At hearing her name called, her head shot back up to meet his confused gaze. "Hmm?"

"Kaaaaaaagome..." he muttered, disgruntled. "What... the fuck... is goin--"

She swallowed a tightness that had formed in his throat. "It's nothing!" she snapped at him.

His nostrils flared as he narrowed his eyes; it wasn't 'nothing.' "Then why are you acting like that? Was it something I s--"

"No!"

"Then what is it? Tell!" he snapped right back at her, furious. What the hell brought on this sudden mood change?

She shut her eyes tightly but didn't answer right away. When she did, her voice was small. "Is pain something you enjoy?"

After an excruciatingly long pause --she didn't dare peek to see his reaction-- she felt the mattress shift under his weight. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her onto his lap. She felt the light brushing of his lips against her ear, then heard him calmly ask, "Is this about Jakotsu again?" She nodded her head wordlessly, and he sighed. "Looks like I need to clear up some of your misconceptions."

"Yeah," Kagome whispered, opening her eyes to send a mindless stare across the room.

"Okay, first of all, even if someone else had done those things to me, it would have made no difference," Inuyasha began. "Yes, I do like some kinds of pain. However, I really don't like bloodshed, whether it's myself or someone else who's bleeding. You have no idea how much blood can start to reek if there's a lot of it, and all dried up and disgusting." He made a gagging sound and shuddered. "Yuck." He was about to continue when he heard Kagome snicker for just a moment. Not amused, he firmly grabbed her chin and turned her face toward him. "And what's so funny?"

Kagome desperately tried to suppress her amusement at just how put out he looked... and failed miserably. It must have been his eyes and the way he'd flattened his ears against his hair that made him look all annoyed. Annoyed, and downright wrongfully cute. She felt bad for laughing in his face, but hell, it was his fault. She grinned sheepishly. Well, at least she felt a bit more uplifted now, she told herself. "Just the thought of you having a weakness to strong smells," she confessed.

"You really like picking on me, don't you?"

"Look who's talking," she scoffed.

"I don't pick on you."

"Yes, you do. Inuyasha, you are just," she shook her head in disbelief, "just, unbelievable. What do you call humping my leg in front of everyone?"

"I call that Operation--"

"Operation: Pick on Kagome, is what I call it."

"Keh. You're just easy to embarrass. That's all." This time, Inuyasha was the one to grin, with no trace of sheepishness or shame. Kagome responded by sticking her tongue out at him. "Don't stick that out unless you intend to use it." She retracted it. "Now, back to the pain stuff. Remember when I was swatting your thighs with the riding crop?" After an expressionless nod of acknowledgement, he asked, "Did you ever feel like I was hitting too hard with it?"

Kagome contemplated the question for a moment, then answered, "Not really. It smarted a little," she frowned, "but I knew you weren't using full strength."

"Did you trust me?"

"Well, I didn't think you would do anything to deliberately hurt me, if that's what you mean," she replied, feeling a little confused. "It was like, all you were doing was teasing me."

He smirked. "That's exactly what I was doing. Sure, I did it cuz you wouldn't leave the car with me, but if I had wanted it to hurt," he paused, and Kagome looked at him attentively, "trust me, it woulda hurt like a fucking bitch, and you'd have been whimpering and in tears. Instead, I used just enough force to make you attentive, just enough so it'd feel warm and tingly--"

Stunned and still staring at him, she cut him off. "So is that what you mean?" At his silence and wary look, she clarified what she meant. "About the trust thing."

He nodded. "The kind of pain I find erotic is when it's controlled, with someone I trust, and not too brutal. Something teasing and playful. Something that easily gives me a rush of endorphins and puts me on a high. So, it's not really the pain itself I enjoy, but the high I get," Inuyasha solemnly finished.

Well, that's really understandable, she thought to herself. Now, only one thing continued to eat away at her. "What about you um, administering it?"

"I still get a rush, but it's more of a mental thing," he replied, "and only if it's consentual. My partner would have to want it, and I would have to be comfortable doing it. Now," he paused, "is your mind at ease, or do you still feel uncomfortable or confused about anything?"

A grin spread upon Kagome's face. "Naw, that was about it."

"You know..." Inuyasha trailed off.

"What?"

"You never answered me."

"About what?"

With a sharp intake of breath and his eyes meeting hers, he softly asked, "Do you trust me?"

She licked her lips and swallowed her spit. "...Yes."

---

Toward the end of her last class, Kohaku approached Kagome's desk from the back of the room and sat down in a nearby chair. "Hey, are you busy this afternoon?" He was cheerful, drumming the fingers of one hand upon the attached desktop.

"Well, I work tonight, but I have a couple hours to spare," she replied. "What did you have in mind?"

His face fell. "Oh, uh, just some studying and maybe going to a restaurant... um..." he trailed off nervously, suddenly looking off to the side somewhere.

Oh, great. He basically did everything but ask me out. Blushing, she cleared her throat and tried to put on a friendly smile. "I'm going to be in the computer lab doing research for my history paper. Maybe another day, though I'm not too keen on the restaurant thing."

He looked a bit apprehensive, but he shrugged it off. "Uh, yeah--"

"Kohaku," she firmly interrupted, "I like you as a friend, but that's it. Plus, I'm kinda... seeing Inuyasha." He blinked in surprise. Well, surprise or shock. One of the two, she figured. "Maybe next week, or...." She blanked out for a moment and then heard someone approach her from behind. The silent and slightly crestfallen boy's gaze went straight for whoever now stood behind Kagome.

The unknown figure spoke before Kagome could turn around and see who it was. "Actually, I'm not busy this afternoon, Kohaku." She immediately recognized the voice.

Kohaku beat her to the punch, though. "Sure, Rin."

Rin was an angel, saving her from an already awkward moment. With an apologetic glance at her male friend and a silent thank you to her new-found female friend, Kagome was up and making her way out of the classroom, waving and smiling at both of them with a "See ya guys later." Then she headed straight toward the computer lab.

About an hour into her online research, Kagome randomly stumbled upon a website that made her give a double take. She almost didn't believe it at first sight. Instead, she squinted her eyes and thoroughly read everything, scrolling through the entire document.It couldn't be, she thought at first. Then, a mischievous grin broke out. It was real. It was authentic. And only then did she allow herself to begin whistling in amusement as she moved the cursor up to the taskbar to select the print option.

---

At the end of her shift that night, Kagome worked as quickly as possible to get all her tasks and overseeing done long before she'd have to worry about curfew. Even with the GM's promise, she still didn't want to risk anything. This night, though, she had nothing to worry about. It was a very slow night, slower than usual for a Wednesday in late September. Unfortunately, she'd felt distractingly antsy ever since earlier that afternoon, and it wasn't getting any better.

Just as she clocked out and gathered her things, she glanced at the time displayed on the LCD screen of the time-clock. It was only quarter till 11. Is he done in the stand yet? she wondered. She left the break room and sighted the 'he' in question leaving the main lobby.

Breaking out into a smile and huddling into her light jacket despite not feeling cold, she immediately asked him, "Would you take me home?" Apprehension lightly pricked at her; would he think strangely of her request? Suspect anything?

He chuckled, and her apprehension began to melt away. "Yeah. I'm done for the night. Lemme swipe my time card first. Meet me by the elevator, okay?" She nodded and kept on walking as Inuyasha passed her. As she waited by the elevator, short of a wait as it was, she couldn't help shifting her feet anxiously. Waiting normally was nothing for her, but tonight she felt too impatient for her own good. Just another minute or so, and then a trip down the elevator, and to the parking garage, and--

Kagome looked up, lost in her thoughts, and saw her coworker, her co-supervisor, just strides away. "Come on," he said as he came up alongside her, his trademark self-amused smirk on proud display. She wondered what he looked so stoked about, then chided herself. She was probably just projecting her own suppressed giddiness onto him, she figured.

The elevator ride was quiet. When they reached level P2, Kagome shouldered her school bag and followed Inuyasha out of the elevator and into the underground lot, weaving through the partial maze of cars until Fungus came into view. Her nerves started to get worked up as the reached the Saturn, and when Inuyasha turned to ask her if she wanted to drive, the butterflies in her stomach had her wanting to sit down. He was so unsuspecting.

Gathering her courage, she set her bag upon the floor. "Inuyasha?" Shakily, she gripped the sleeves of his work shirt and drew herself up close against him before wrapping her arms around his waist. She hoped she was sending him the right signals. She didn't want to mess this up. He'd be so happy. She knew he would.

His warm, golden eyes studied her for a moment before he spoke. "Um, did you want to drive, or is there something else on your mind?" He grinned deviously.

Not trusting her voice at the moment, Kagome opted to get straight to the point. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her lips to the exposed part of his neck just below his jaw. Don't think about it. Just do it.

It was just a single, solitary kiss, her soft, moist lips lingering upon the warm skin.Within seconds he tipped his head and intercepted the next kiss, his hands coming up to cup her face as his own lips teased hers. Hot breath shot into her mouth as the tip of his tongue seeked entrance; she promptly complied. The sensations upon her skin were like a heated rush, making her arms and legs feel rubbery. She whimpered into his mouth, then slid her hands from behind his waist to the front, following the path of his belt.

Inuyasha willed himself not to harden with arousal from the intense kiss. The heavy breathing he could handle. The irresistible tugging and nipping he could manage. But he didn't expect to feel her hands working at his belt buckle, fumbling blindly. His eyes shot open, and he pulled away, ending the kiss as abruptly as he had initiated it. His senses were on overload. Not only could he hear her increased heart rate as her blood raced... he could smell just how damn aroused she was.

"Kagome, what the fuck are your hands doing with my belt?" he growled, narrowing his eyes at her as he batted her hands away. They'd been way too close to his crotch to make him feel comfortable, and that had supplied the extra oomph needed for him to go hard at the thought of their proximity. What in the hell was she thinking?! They were in the middle of a parking ramp. What was she trying to do, give him a handjob or something?! He didn't care how much he wanted it. Kagome was crossing a very obvious line.

She shrank under her gaze, her expression growing worrisome. "What I said earlier... I don't think you understood what I meant." She shifted uneasily. "I, um, I didn't ask if you would give me a ride home."

He snorted. "I am not deaf. I know what you said."

Here goes nothing. She inhaled deeply, then spoke. "I asked you to take me home with you."

"You gotta be kidding me! There is no fucking way you are spending the night at my place," he warned her in a dangerous tone. "Have you forgotten I won't sleep with jailbait?!"

"I'm not jailbait, you idiot!" Kagome snapped, fisting both of her hands and whacking him on the chest on the final word.

"What is your problem? And-- and hey, what do you mean you're not jailbait?" Now he just felt stunned and confused.

Kagome reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out some papers folded up together. "I'm sorry I yelled at you and hit you," she apologized with downcast eyes as she unfolded them, flipped to a certain page before handing everything to him. "Read the top page, and this page." The stun Inuyasha had felt still had much presence; for a moment he just stared at the paper she'd shoved at him. "Read it. Trust me." Her subsequent smile knocked him back into proper functioning, and he took the paper from her.

"Really, Kagome," he stared at her like she was an alien, "I don't see what the hell you could have fo-- HOLY SHIT THE LEGAL AGE OF SEXUAL CONSENT IN MINNESOTA IS 16?!"

---

A/N: sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. first of all, yes, i already have known for quite some time that Kagome was legal. i won't lie and say i knew it from the first conception of chapter 1. to be honest, i found out by accident sometime in late June when DelKaidin was helping me do online research for statutory rape. we came across the following website: http :// www .avert. org/ aofconsent .htm and were shocked to find that, indeed, the legal age of consent in Minnesota is 16. thus was born the obvious idea for a PLOT TWIST. bwahahahaha. anyway, since then, i've had no less than three people try to correct me on my so-called error. sorry, guys, but i was and still am WAY ahead of you. and before you start thinking that things are falling too easily into place... think again. ::evil smirk:: anyway, review away, and thank you for being so patient ::huggles:: also, one more thing... on ff(dot)net, i no longer accept anonymous reviews. i'm sorry, but i keep getting harassed by unknown persons, and i'd rather not have to deal with that. i can still received unsigned reviews on MMO and AFF, though.