InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Novus Lux ❯ Invitations & Information ( Chapter 4 )

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

þÿSo, I'm really sorry I missed my usual update on Tuesday, but I had (actually still have) a TON of stuff going on right now. Add to that the fact that this chapter is longer than previous chapters have been... And just a heads up, I will probably miss this Tuesday's update as well. I guess for being overwhelmed with things at the moment, one chapter a week isn't too bad. Anyway:

Definition time!
A quick reminder note for industry vocab in case you forgot:

A mock-up is a preliminary version of a design that is shown to the client before the final version is made or printed. The client may request several rounds of changes, and thus a designer will likely execute several mock-ups throughout the execution of a project.

html is a web programming language. But you probably knew that one already.

And a lastly, a disease, for those who don't know:

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by scar tissue and other nasty stuff, leading to loss of liver function. Cirrhosis is most commonly caused by and associated with alcoholism, but it has many other causes, some of which are still unknown.

Chapter 9: Invitations and Information

Inuyasha dashed down the back stairs of his apartment building. The meeting with Kosha was scheduled for 8 am, and he'd agreed to be there half an hour early to help set up. Of course, he'd overslept, and it was just now 7. If he was lucky, he'd make it barely in time to give Sango a hand with the projector. He opened his trunk to toss in the files he was carrying.

He felt a sudden, powerful pulse of youki and nearly dropped the folders.

Looking toward the back of the trunk, Inuyasha saw the bundle of cloth that his brother had left for him yesterday afternoon. He'd completely forgotten about it. The feel of the youki emanating from the cloth told him exactly what was wrapped in it. Tessaiga. His father's sword. Inuyasha was amazed that Sesshoumaru had simply given it to him, particularly since Tenseiga had been destroyed in the battle against Naraku 200 years ago. He could only assume that his brother had come to possess the third of their father's swords, Sounga, the blade of the underworld. But that was ridiculous. Nobody except Inutaisho had ever been able to handle that blade successfully. Then again, if Sesshoumaru could so casually give Tessaiga to Inuyasha, then perhaps his brother had changed in ways over the last two centuries that he hadn't thought possible. He's also got a wife, Inuyasha reminded himself. That should be evidence enough by itself that things are different.

Inuyasha dropped the files in the trunk. He reached out with his demon senses as much as his charm would allow, looking, listening, and sniffing for anyone who might be watching. He extended his youki a little to see if any demons were nearby. Satisfied that the only life forms present were a few bedraggled looking birds and an extremely fat squirrel, he reached into the back of the trunk and pulled out the cloth bundle. He slammed the lid shut and made a beeline for the stairs, dashing up six flights to his apartment. He fumbled for a second with the lock, finally heard the telltale click, and shoved the door open. He stood for a moment in the doorway, framed by grayish morning light.

Somewhere to hide this...somewhere to hide...

Making up his mind, he strode quickly to his bedroom, unwrapping the sword as he went. It looked like its usual battered self, seemingly unremarkable to anyone who was unaware of its true power. Inuyasha shoved it a little unceremoniously under his bed. He knew it wasn't a very creative hiding place, but he was already running late. Under the bed would do for now. Satisfied, he got to his feet and sprinted out the door.

...

Sango was getting worried. It was already a quarter till 8, and Inuyasha still hadn't shown up. She had set up the projector by herself, and everything else was in place except for the stack of files that Inuyasha was supposed to bring. With nothing left to do but wait, she decided to try to make herself a look a little less like death warmed over. She hadn't slept well at all after Inuyasha's phone call. It had taken her another hour simply to fall asleep, and once there, it had been fitful, full of confused dreams about missing deadlines, AdHOC being firebombed, and the cries of the Manicci's young son, who she'd met only once.

Fishing in her bag, she found a mirror and a concealer stick, with which she proceeded to dab under her eyes. She had foregone her usual purple eyeshadow this morning since she figured her face already had enough shadows from lack of sleep.

Inuyasha arrived just as she tossed the concealer back in her bag.

"Sorry I'm late," he puffed.

Sango looked at him askance. He had a small bead of sweat trailing down the side of his forehead. "Did you run up all those stairs or something?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Yeah," he said, breathing returning to normal. "It was faster than waiting around for the elevator."

"But we're on the 8th- never mind." He's a demon. Running up eight flights would be faster for him, even with a charm on. "Do you have the files?"

"Right here." He handed them to her.

"And go wash your face. Bank and Jak don't need to see you all sweaty."

"Keh," he huffed, but he left to go to the men's room anyway. If anything, being sweaty would likely induce Jak to flirt with him, and he didn't really feel like dealing with that this morning. His plan was to sit in the background and let Sango do as much of the talking as possible. She wasn't great at diplomacy either, but she was definitely better than he was. This morning's meeting was likely to require quite a bit of it, if the last meeting was any indication.

...

"I'm telling you," snapped Bankotsu, as he punched the call button on the elevator, "They're going to want us to get rid of all that text on the back of the pasta package."

"But it needs to be there," Jak argued. "People need to understand that this is so much more authentic than any other brand."

"Look, I know this is your pet project and all, and you developed this product yourself, but you have to learn where to draw the line."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The two strode inside and Jak pressed the button for the 8th floor.

"Bank, I do know where to draw the line, and I don't think I'm crossing it with this." Jak leaned against the elevator wall and crossed his arms.

Bankotsu sighed. "Just wait. You'll see."

"I'm sure they figured out how to make it work. They are professionals. It's why we hired this firm in the first place."

Bankotsu rolled his eyes, but chose not to comment. Yes, they were professionals. Professionals who knew when the ridiculous gushing on the back of a package had gone too far.

The elevator came to a halt and they got out, heading to meeting room 800 down the hall.

...

Sango and Inuyasha had just finished laying out the various sheets of paper with ad and packaging mock-ups when the figures of Jak and Bankotsu swept by the glass windows and through the propped door.

"Good morning!" Sango said as cheerily as she could manage. She shook each of their hands in turn, Inuyasha following suit.

"So, shall we start with the easy stuff or the difficult stuff?" she asked, as the two newcomers put their briefcases down and got settled.

Bankotsu and Jak shared a glance.

"Let's start with the easy stuff," said Bank.

"Alright," Sango began, "First, we have these two ads you requested for the Lexie brand plastic serve-ware. Last time, you said you wanted to try to rid Lexie of its "grandma" image, as you put it, so you can compete better with the Solo brand. We've got a few concepts here, one that puts you in more direct competition with Solo, which shows a college party..."

Inuyasha was leaning against the wall, having completely tuned out the conversation. His mind was back at his apartment under the bed with Tessaiga. Despite the speed with which he had left that morning, leaving the sword lying there without even drawing it out of its scabbard once had been difficult. He had felt the sword's youki calling his own, demanding that he draw the blade. The last time he had seen the sword was 150 years ago when he'd been compelled to visit the shrine where his mother and father lay buried. It had lain on small dais under a seal, preventing anyone from touching it. However, following the compulsion of his youki and that of the sword, he'd simply reached through the barrier and removed it. Totosai, Inuyasha's godfather, had arrived quite literally moments later and whisked it off, saying it needed "work." The old demon was a master swordsmith, so Inuyasha trusted his opinion, but he'd thought it a little odd that Totosai hadn't returned it. The demon was eccentric and definitely prone to significant memory lapses, so it was entirely possible that he'd done whatever work the sword needed, and then promptly forgotten it in the clutter of his lair. But why he'd then give it to Sesshoumaru of all people-

"-sha. Inuyasha!" Sango's voice cut sharply through his thoughts.

"What?"

"You're spacing out! We're in a meeting for Christ's sake!"

"Keh," he muttered, barely audible. Then, "What is it you want?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "We wanted your opinion on whether you think the college party ad or the family barbecue ad would be better in the newspapers and cooking magazines."

"Umm," Inuyasha leaned over the table, silvery hair falling over his shoulders. Beside him, Jak licked his lips. Inuyasha continued, "Since it's the newspaper and cooking mags, I think the barbecue ad would be better. College students don't read either of those. They get practically everything online these days."

Jak looked triumphantly at Bankotsu. "See? He agrees with Sango and me."

"Oh alright. We do need to do something about the college-age market though," Bankotsu acquiesced.

"Try doing a promotion on some college campuses. Give out some free stuff," Inuyasha suggested. "Though you should make sure you serve free food along with it, otherwise none of the students will pay any attention."

"True that," Bank agreed. "Well perhaps we'll add that to the list of projects, but we'll have to discuss it with the Lexie vice president first."

"Of course," Sango smiled. Good job, Inuyasha, she thought sincerely, despite his having zoned out earlier, Way to get them into another possible project. She'd have to compliment him later. "Shall we move on to the second set of ads?"

...

Kagome was in her office, fussing with a bit of html for a page of the AdHOC website. They'd picked up a few new clients recently, and they needed to ad the work to the firm's portfolio on the website. There was an error somewhere that was causing the entire page not to work properly, and she had yet to find it. She had her nose practically pasted against her computer screen, looking line by line for the mistake.

Miroku breezed in, all smiles, despite the late night. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully.

"Hmm..." was Kagome's distracted reply.

"Whatcha workin' on?" He asked, coming to lean over her shoulder.

"...Page for th' firm site..." she mumbled.

"Got a problem? Your face is awfully close to that screen. It's bad for your eyes, you know."

Kagome blinked and sat up straight in her chair. "There's an error somewhere that's causing the page not to work, and for the life of me, I can't find it." She rubbed her eyes. "I think I'm just too tired. I didn't get much sleep last night." Despite feeling safe in her new barrier, thoughts and worries about the night's events had chased each other through her head until the wee hours of the morning.

"Ah. Want me to take a quick look?"

"Sure," she said, scooting her chair out of the way.

"Let's see...you're missing a carrot here-" he entered the symbol and scrolled further down the page "-and you've dropped the quotes around this link-" he added them in "aaaannnd...oh, here's another spot you need a carrot."

"Thanks," Kagome said a little sheepishly. Those were elementary mistakes, and she should have been able to find them and correct them without a problem. Actually, she shouldn't have made those errors in the first place, but that's what happened when she tried to code too quickly on 2 hours of sleep.

"You're quite welcome," he said. "Now let's preview it and see if we got everything."

Kagome complied, and the page popped up with its appropriate images, running perfectly.

"Excellent!" Miroku exclaimed.

Kagome gave a small smile. "Miroku, you are entirely too perky for this hour of the morning."

He grinned. "Well, I slept like a log last night. I was quite tired after all that exertion." He winked at her.

"Miroku! That's inappropriate! And besides," she hissed, "we shouldn't be talking about those-things-" she waved her gold ankh necklace at him "-while we're at work!"

He raised his hands in supplication. "Alright, alright."

Kagome glared at him. "So you obviously didn't come in here to torment me for my inept coding this morning," she said, changing the subject.

"Oh, but what if I did?" Miroku grinned at her.

Kagome rolled her eyes in response.

"Well," he continued, "I was actually going to make a request of you."

"'Kay..."

"You know that conversation we had in the car on the way to Fujiwara, about your...unique skills?"

"Yes?" Kagome wasn't sure she liked where this was going. She'd asked Miroku not to mention her hacker past, and now here he was, talking about it at work.

"Well, you see, our security system is a bit out of date, and I know this isn't exactly in your job description, but I was wondering if you'd be able to poke around a bit and see if there are any holes or weaknesses that need fixing."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, well if that's all you need..."

"It's not exactly a small job. I was hoping you'd be able to help fix it up as well."

"Oh. Well, do you have a specific deadline in mind? I do have quite a few projects on the table right now..."

Miroku shrugged. "Not really. If you could just do it when you have the time and keep me posted on your progress, that would be great."

"Sure, I guess. But why aren't you hiring someone to do it? Aren't there companies that specialize in this sort of thing?"

"Well yes, but there's two reasons not to. One, you're here, we're already paying you, and hiring a company would be expensive. Two, the CEO is a bit of conspiracy theorist, and would be a lot happier doing this sort of thing in-house if we can."

"Makes sense. Though I didn't realize Mr. Big Shot upstairs was afraid that world is out to get him."

"Not so much him as the company. He's convinced that New Light Communications is trying to steal our clients, among other things. It's why he personally requested the security system overhaul."

Kagome's mind flashed back to Kali and Inuyasha's argument the night before. She had mentioned something about some Naraku person taking over New Light...

"Well...are they?"

Miroku shifted uncomfortably. "To be honest, I really don't know. AdHOC has had some troubles with losing clients recently, and New Light seems to snap them up... but there's no direct evidence. And anyway, it's the company's choice which firm they use, so there's nothing we can really do about it."

Kagome frowned. "But this page I'm working on is for some new clients' work."

"We've picked up some new clients, but not enough to make up for the ones we've lost."

"Oh. So I guess that's why Sango was freaking out so much about the meeting with Kosha," Kagome conjectured.

"Yeah. They've always been a big client, but they've never been anywhere near the 40% of our business that they are now."

"I see...I hope the meeting goes well, then."

"Me too," said Miroku, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Kagome called.

Miroku turned. "Yes?"

"Uh, you didn't tell the CEO about-about-" she stammered.

"Oh, no. I simply told him that you had prior experience with security systems, and we might be able to ask you to handle this."

"Oh. Good. Um, thanks."

"Not a problem." He cracked a conspiratorial grin and whisked himself out of the office.

...

"Look!" Exclaimed Jak, "I knew they would be able to get all of the text I wanted onto the package."

"Except now it's so small no one's ever going to read it, Jak," Bankotsu snapped. "Why can't you just be reasonable about this, and drop the two middle sentences like Inuyasha suggested?"

"Because they're important. The use of the Italian there is what tells the customers-"

"It's not going to tell the customers anything if they need a magnifying glass to read it!"

"Oh, come on, anyone with a decent pair of eyes can read this!"

"...And for those of us who wear glasses?" Bankotsu raised an eyebrow.

"Well that's what your damned glasses are for aren't they? What's the use of wearing them if you still can't read anything?"

"This isn't just anything, Jak, it's tiny lettering that's all squished together into one giant paragraph because there's no room to-"

"Well then why don't we just redesign the package to be bigger?"

Bankotsu buried his forehead in his hand.

Sango and Inuyasha stood elbow to elbow a few feet away, watching the exchange unfold. All it had taken was Inuyasha's suggestion of dropping the middle sentences to set the two of them off. Bankotsu was busily arguing their case for them, and they were more than happy to let him do it.

"Because, Jak, that would take another month to finish, and then it won't be out on time, and all that money we've spent on promotions will be wasted!"

"No it won't. We can just tweak the dimensions a little and-"

"No. Just drop the two damned middle sentences."

"But the Italian-"

"No. This might be your pet project, but I am the Chief Marketing Officer for Kosha, and what I say goes."

Jak looked at him, wide-eyed. "How dare you pull rank on me!" Jak nearly shrieked, "This is my project-"

"Why do you think they're having me come to these meetings with you? They know you don't know where to draw the line when you get excited, and I'm the only one who can pull rank so you don't do anything stupid!"

Jak gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Well! If that is the case then I might just take this project to-"

"You won't take the project anywhere. You might be the head of this project, but Kosha owns it."

"Fine! Take those lines out! Re-do the fonts! Take away the authenticity! But don't come crying to me when it doesn't perform according to sales projections!" Jak picked up his briefcase. "You can take a cab back to the office!" He stormed out of the room.

Sango and Inuyasha were a little stunned. They'd expected an argument, certainly, but not the tantrum that Jak threw.

"God, he is such a drama queen," Bankotsu muttered.

"Um, do you want us to go forward with the changes or...?" Sango trailed off.

"Yes, do everything we talked about, including dropping the middle two phrases." Seeing her expression, he added, "Don't worry. Jak will get over it eventually."

"If you're sure."

"Positive. Jak's difficult to work with, but when it comes to product innovation, he's brilliant. So we keep him around."

"I see." Sango knew what that could be like. Fortunately, Inuyasha's fits had always been reserved for the privacy of the office when no clients were around to see. She suspected he had learned the hard way at some point along the line that those sorts of things ought to have as few witnesses as possible.

"Well, I should get going. At least we got everything done. And I'm glad we did the easy stuff first."

"Me too. The receptionist can call a cab for you."

"That would be great. Thanks." Bankotsu shook her hand and then Inuyasha's. "Take care." He picked up his briefcase and strode purposefully from the room.

"Well that was certainly interesting," Inuyasha commented.

"Indeed."

Silence reigned for a minute.

"Um, you mentioned that you wanted to talk about something when I called last night?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah. Let's go back to my office though. This is a little more public than I would like."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he gathered up the files. Sango picked up the last few, and they left the meeting room.

...

The bell signaling the end of English class finally rang after what seemed like an eternity. Kohaku jumped up from his chair, throwing the novel they had been discussing in his backpack, and rushed out the door. He was hoping to catch Rin before she ensconced herself in the library for the duration of study hall. He shoved his way through the masses in the hallway, craning to look over the other students toward the library entrance. He spotted Rin just as she was about to go in, but he was still a good twenty feet away and hidden by the torrent of students exiting their classrooms.

"Rin!" He shouted over the din. She didn't seem to hear him. "Rin!" He tried louder this time.

She turned, looking around to see who had called her name.

"Rin!" He yelled again, as he finally managed to break through the crowd to get to her.

"Kohaku!" She exclaimed, her face breaking into a smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," he said as he reached her side. "I have a question for you, but we should wait until everyone's cleared out so we can actually hear ourselves think," he said loudly over the chatter.

"Sure." They retreated out of the crowd to stand next to a line of lockers.

Finally, the swarm of students dissipated, and they were left standing alone in the quiet hallway.

"So, what's your question?" she asked.

"Uh, well-" Kohaku's throat was suddenly very dry.

"Is something wrong?" She frowned at him. "You look a little pale."

"No, no, I'm fine..." She's just your friend, he reminded himself. You guys hang out after school and study together all the time. This is no big deal. "Um, well, you know that math test we just got back?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I-I got an 'A,' and Sango said she would take me out to dinner to celebrate tonight. And-and, well, I thought since it was you that helped me get that grade, maybe you'd want to come with us?" Kohaku licked his lips nervously.

"I-I don't know..." Rin said softly. Kohaku's face fell. "No! I don't mean I don't want to go! I do! I just, well, Sessh would probably let me, but I don't think Kagura would want me to go."

"Oh. Well, do you think you could call him then? If he says yes, Kagura wouldn't say no..." he wheedled.

Rin smiled. "You know, you're a bad influence, asking me to manipulate my foster-parents like that. I know you don't like Kagura-"

"Neither do you," he interjected, "And how do you expect me to like her after what she's-"

"Not here!" Rin hissed.

"Sorry," he muttered. "It's just that..."

Rin stepped forward and put a quieting hand on his arm. She looked up into his deep brown eyes. "I know. But there's nothing you or I can do about it right now. So try not to worry too much okay?" She gave him a small smile, which he tentatively returned.

He sighed. "I'll try." He would try anything to see a smile in her eyes. Right now, though the corners of her lips turned upward, her eyes still carried that familiar pain.

"I'll call Sessh and ask him, okay?" Rin said, removing her hand from Kohaku's arm so she could dig her phone out of her backpack.

Kohaku's smile became a little more genuine. "Okay."

...

"Hey, Sango, I'm gonna stop in Kagome's office real quick. I forgot to ask her yesterday about dinner tonight with my brother."

A smirk settled across Sango's features, but Inuyasha didn't see it. "Sure that's fine. I'll see you in my office in a few minutes...and good luck," she added amusedly.

"Keh." Inuyasha ducked into Kagome's office and Sango continued down the hall.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting.

"Hmmm..." Kagome's face was glued to her screen, and her fingers pecked the keyboard occasionally.

"Oi, Kagome! You in there?"

"What? Oh, it's you," she said, straightening up and looking a little annoyed. She was in a bad mood due to her continued coding troubles. "What do you want?"

"To ask you to dinner-" Kagome nearly fell off her chair in shock "-with my brother and I."

"Oh." She recovered herself. "You have a brother?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"And he wants me to come to dinner?"

"Yes."

"That's just creepy."

"Huh?"

"I didn't even know you had a brother, and yet he somehow knows of me and wants me to come to dinner. How is that not creepy?"

"Well he's Youkai, so he senses things and-"

"Shh! What if someone's listening?"

Inuyasha scowled. "There's no one listening. I'd know."

"But your charm-"

"Isn't as strong as others. Notice how my hair's still white?"

"Whatever."

"Anyway, he felt your powers, or one of his contacts must have anyway."

"...Contacts?" This brother of his was starting to sound more like "Big Brother."

"There are other demons around. They stay concealed, but they do talk to each other. There's probably someone here at the firm who's a demon who noticed and word got around."

Kagome regarded him skeptically for a moment. "Wouldn't you know all of the demons here?"

"Not necessarily. If their charm is really strong, it would cover up the feel of their youki."

"But wouldn't they have noticed yours and sought you out?"

"Am I an approachable person?"

Silence greeted his question.

"My point exactly," said Inuyasha.

"...I suppose you could have told your brother and you're just not telling me..." Kagome mused.

"Me? Keh! Yesterday was the first time I'd seen the bastard in 65 years!"

"But didn't you notice the change?"

"Nah, don't pay enough attention. Human auras do weird things every now and then anyway, and when it's distorted by a charm..."

"So another demon-?"

"Would have to have taken his or her charm off to tell."

"And you didn't because-?"

"I'm busy and don't usually care."

Kagome snorted. "Ain't that a fact."

"Keh. So can you come to dinner tonight?"

"Let me get this straight," said Kagome. "Your brother wants to have dinner with us because some demon or another told him that I have crazy Spiritual powers that could possibly go haywire at any moment and fry him?"

"That pretty much sums it up, though with your charm now, you're not likely to fry anyone unless you take it off."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied a little sarcastically. "So your brother just expects me to come? Is he nuts?"

"Yes, and yes."

"I see. Well tell him thank you for the invitation, but I won't be coming."

"Kagome! You don't understand. You really do have to come."

"Do you do everything your brother tells you to, Inuyasha?" She sneered. She'd really heard enough from him and needed to get back to work.

Inuyasha's cheeks pinked in sudden anger. "How dare you-!" He started, and then seemed to realize someone might hear the shout. He stepped over to her, placing his hands on the armrests of her chair, and stuck his face in hers.

"Don't you ever say that again. Don't ever imply that I am subservient to my brother. This could be a matter of life and death for you, if Naraku has anything to say about it-" His face was two inches from hers now, and she had pushed her head as far back into the headrest as she could "-as you should already know from what happened last night." His nose was almost touching hers now, and his golden eyes bored into her brown ones. "So you will come tonight so I don't have to watch Naraku kill someone else-!" Inuyasha sounded like he was going to add something after the "someone else," but he cut off whatever it was.

Kagome stared at him, surprised by his intensity. His nose was still extremely close to hers, and she grew uncomfortable as she noticed his breath ghosting across her mouth.

"Well?" He said harshly, eyes still locked with hers.

"I-" Anything to get him to move. He was way too close. "Alright, fine. I'll come."

He straightened up, finally giving her the breathing room she desired. "Good. 8 o'clock at Alinea. Wear something fancy."

"There better be a lot of explanations and free drinks," she snapped at him.

"There will be plenty of both. Sessh is buying," Inuyasha replied, still fuming. He strode out of her office.

Kagome watched his white hair flick around the corner of the doorframe. Sheesh, you'd think I called his mother a whore or something, she thought. And, though his stare had been angry, she thought she might have detected something else there too. Something like fear had danced in the back of his eyes behind the anger. This Naraku character must be more serious than she thought. Whether it was fear of Naraku directly, or fear for her because of Naraku, she couldn't be sure. A part of her that she didn't want to acknowledge was hoping for the latter. Kagome shook her head. It wasn't even lunchtime yet, and here she was, already distracted from her work. She pushed aside her speculations and turned back to her computer screen.

...

"So what did you want to talk about?" Inuyasha asked from his seat at the desk opposite Sango. He'd managed to put a calm face on after the incident with Kagome, though his mind had yet to be so. Bitch, he thought, I am not at my brother's beck and call. She's gonna end up dead or worse if we're not careful, just like-

"Well, there's something you should know about me, if you haven't already figured it out."

Inuyasha looked at Sango blankly, jarred back to reality by her voice.

"I'm-" She started and stopped as she saw Miroku walk by her door for the third time. Sango scowled. "Close the door first."

Inuyasha complied, wondering what on earth she could possibly need to say that required such privacy.

"You don't think there's anyone listening, do you?" She asked lowly.

"I don't think so." Inuyasha was sure that Miroku had given up for the moment. His senses told him the hallway beyond the closed door was empty for the time being.

"Good. I'll just come out and say this, and save us any beating around the bush. I'm a Slayer."

Inuyasha stared at her.

"What? As in the Slayers? Demon Slayers?"

"Bingo."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Prove it."

Knowing he would probably demand such a thing, she rolled up her sleeve and proffered her forearm. Inuyasha inspected the mark for a minute before pressing it lightly with his finger. Suddenly, the claw on that finger appeared. He withdrew his hand abruptly, and his claw once more looked like a normal fingernail.

"You are really a Slayer."

Sango rolled her sleeve back down. "Yes."

"So why the fuck didn't you tell me sooner, since I assume you already know what I am!"

"You're a demon of the dog variety, correct?"

"Half-demon," he spat.

"Frankly, it doesn't matter to me. You have demon blood. You have demon senses and abilities. And I didn't tell you because I didn't know how you'd react. Not all demons have a good relationship with the Slayers, for obvious reasons."

"Keh! So, what, you thought I'd go on a rampage or something if I found out?"

"No, I just didn't know you well enough."

"And now you do, suddenly?"

"Well before there wasn't a reason to tell anyone anything! It's not like the Slayers run around advertising their existence to the world, you know."

"I still deserved to know! I have to work with you every day, for god's sake! It would have been nice to know that my boss is-" He stopped.

"Is what?" Sango dared him to finish the sentence.

"Well-"

"A threat? A killer?" Her eyes flashed.

"No, just-"

"Just what, Inuyasha?"

"Just-you should have told me! That's all!"

"Well I'm telling you now. Take it or leave it."

"Keh."

"Look, the fact that I'm a Slayer isn't even the most important thing right now. What is important, though, is that family that owned FoxBox are demons."

"You can't be serious." That might mean that Naraku-

"I'm completely serious."

"They must have had strong charms, cause I sure as hell didn't notice." Inuyasha was gradually getting over his shock, which was being replaced by fear that his theories might be correct. It made sense, her being a Slayer. In the two years he'd worked with her, she'd never questioned any of his antics, such as sprinting up several flights of stairs or carrying many more boxes of paper than a normal person his size ought to be able to. She'd simply smiled and thanked him for his efficiency. He now realized that must have been a knowing smile.

"Very. Strong to the point of also trying to hide from other demons it seems, or at least that's what the Slayer Council told me when I asked about it. Their charms were enough to throw my counter charm for a bit of a loop, though I could still tell what they were."

"But why on earth any demon would want a charm that strong...That would just be obnoxious," Inuyasha said, thinking about how much he hated his own charm.

"That's exactly the thing that's making this suspicious to me. First, they have really strong charms and talk to no one from the local demon community. They live in isolation like that for years. And then, their shop explodes and they're dead."

"So why aren't you just taking this to the Slayer Council? Why tell me?" He was still a little stuck on the fact that she'd waited so long to say anything.

"Because the demon community needs to be warned if someone's targeting them, and they're not going to listen to what the Slayer Council says. Well, some of them might, but there are a lot of them that would point the finger at us, saying that we're trying to stage a cover-up."

"So you want me to tell them? Surely I'm not the only demon here?"

"You're not the only one, but...you're the one I trust. I've worked with you the longest of anyone here."

Inuyasha didn't know what to say, particularly in light of what he'd implied about Sango when she told him her status as a Slayer. He couldn't remember the last time anyone said they trusted him with anything, and that included Kikyo, who he'd dated for almost 4 years. A touch of guilt nibbled at his conscience.

"I-well, I guess I could let Sesshoumaru know at dinner tonight."

"That's your brother?"

"Yeah, his network of demons is pretty extensive, and he has connections to the Youkai Courts, so he should be able to get a message out."

"Good. Thank you so much."

"Keh," he mumbled awkwardly.

"Is there anything else you know that the Slayer Council might want to know about this whole thing?"

Inuyasha thought for a minute. "Well, they did say on the news last night that there was a whole outbreak of deadly fires-and most of the victims were apparently shot and didn't die in the fires, according to the initial report."

Sango's eyes widened a touch. "Well, if it was in the news already, I'm sure they know, but it still wouldn't hurt to run this by them."

"Yeah. I'll tell Sessh what you said. I've also got some theories, but I want to talk to him first."

"That's fine."

"If what I'm thinking is correct, we may have to try to get the Slayer Council to work with the Youkai Council..."

Sango groaned. "I hope not. That would be one hell of a chore."

"Yeah, well. Who knows, maybe this will all just be a false alarm."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Me too," Inuyasha agreed. "Well, it's almost noon, so I'm gonna go get some lunch."

"Mk, see you later," Sango replied, turning back to her computer.

Inuyasha opened the door, walked out, and collided with Miroku, who had just rounded the corner next to Sango's office.

"Oof!"

"Could ya be a little less clumsy when you stalk Sango?" Inuyasha said, rubbing his shoulder. "I swear, you are always running into everyone. Sometimes I think you do it on purpose, just to be annoying."

"Does it work?" Miroku asked impishly.

"Keh," Inuyasha muttered. "I'm going to lunch."

"You do that," Miroku said, waving him off.

Miroku waltzed into Sango's office and planted himself right next to her, where he couldn't be ignored.

Sango looked up from her work. "Can I help you?"

"Why yes you can. You can come and have lunch with me for once instead of working through your break." He grinned down at her.

"Miroku, I have way too much work to do after that meeting this morning-"

"Nonsense! Everyone needs to take a break sometime. Come and eat something with me."

"Miroku, I don't really think it's appropriate..."

"Sango, since when did having lunch with your colleague become inappropriate? It's not like I've asked you on a dinner date. What were you thinking?" He winked at her.

"Oh, well, uh, nothing like that. I just, well, I really do have a lot of work to do," she finished lamely.

Miroku put his hand on her desk and leaned over her a little. "Sango," he said softly, sincerely, "You always work really hard. Please, just come down and take a break with me in the cafeteria. 20 minutes is all."

Sango sighed. She didn't like to admit it, but she really did want a break from dealing with all the stuff for Kosha. Her discussion with Inuyasha had hardly counted as it only served to stress her out further.

"Alright."

"Excellent!" Beamed Miroku.

...

Rin stood in the hallway with Kohaku, phone to her ear. It was on the fifth ring, and Sesshoumaru still hadn't picked up. It wasn't going to voicemail, so she knew he must be on the line with someone else. She waited.

"Hello, Rin," Sesshoumaru's voice finally came over the receiver.

"Hi, Sessh, sorry for calling you in the middle of the day, but I had a question for you."

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"It's study hall. Anyway, I was wondering if it would be alright if I went out to dinner with Kohaku and his family tonight. They're celebrating since he did well on the math test, and I helped him study, so he invited me to come..."

"What did Kagura say?"

"I-I haven't asked her."

"Hn."

"Pleeeeaase Shesshy?"

"I have a business dinner tonight, so that would leave Kagura alone if you also are out."

Shit. If Sessh is also out, then I really don't want to be at home for dinner... "Please, Sessh. It would really mean a lot to Kohaku and his family if I came." And to me too.

She heard him sigh. "I will expect you home no later than 10 pm."

"Thank you, Sessh! Thank you so much!"

"Hn."

"Okay, well, um, I need to get back to study hall, so I'll see you later." She hung up. Rin turned to Kohaku, a huge grin on her face. "He said yes! He said yes!" And she leapt at Kohaku, wrapping her arms around him.

Kohaku's eyes went wide for a second, and then he returned the hug, unconsciously burying his face in her hair. He had hugged her plenty of times for comfort, but this was the first time he had done so for a happy reason. It felt wonderful. He pulled his nose out of her hair so he could look at her.

"I'm so glad you can come," he said sincerely.

Rin looked up at him with smiling eyes. Their faces were only a few inches apart. "Me too." She held his gaze. She could get lost there. He's your best friend. Don't do anything stupid to mess it up, she thought, even as her chin seemed to tilt of its own accord. Besides, if Kagura found out, she might try to use him against you-

Kohaku's heart was pounding hard in his chest. The look Rin was giving him, it was-it was-Don't kiss her. Do. Not. Kiss. You're in the hallway at school. Someone could- He found himself closing the distance anyway, and he registered vaguely that she was doing the same-

"Students!" Barked a hall monitor, just before their lips met.

They sprang apart, turning red as a pair of cherries.

The hall monitor approached. A large and tall woman in her mid-fifties, she cut an imposing figure. Rin and Kohaku stood a couple feet apart, guilt, embarrassment, and nervousness written clearly across their faces.

"Skipping class are we?" She boomed.

"Um, actually, we have study hall-" Rin said timidly.

"You are still in the hallway without a pass, engaging in prohibited bodily contact."

If it was possible, Rin and Kohaku turned even redder. "Uh, sorry?" Kohaku said hopefully.

"Sorry indeed. Since you're not technically skipping class, and I'm feeling charitable, I won't write you up. However, if I catch you again, you will each get a detention. Off to the library with both of you."

"Yes, ma'am," Kohaku said, ducking his head at her.

"Thank you ma'am," Rin added.

They scurried into the library.

...

"Where do you want to eat?" Miroku asked as they entered the food court. There were several options, a Panda Express, Wendy's, Starbuck's, Subway, and a few others lined three of the walls.

"Subway, the line there is shortest."

"You're really trying to cut this as short as possible, aren't you, you workaholic?" He winked at her.

"You said 20 minutes. A shorter line means more time to eat and talk." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "That's what you wanted, right?"

For once, Miroku was at a loss for words, so he simply nodded and started over to the Subway. He suddenly realized that Sango wasn't following him and turned around. Sango stood rooted to the spot, staring in the direction of Starbuck's. She then seemed to look around for something, and dashed over to the Panda Express. Miroku was left amidst the sea of tables, extremely confused.

Inuyasha had just finished paying for his lo mein when Sango grabbed him.

"Come with me!" She hissed at him, dragging him by his shirt.

He shook her off. "Sango, what the hell?"

"Just come on," she insisted, regaining her grip on his sleeve.

"You're going to make me drop my food!" He snapped.

She let go of his sleeve. "Well then come over to that corner with me now. I need to ask you something important."

"Can't you ask me here?"

"No!" She moved to grab his sleeve again and he dodged out of the way.

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!"

Sango hustled them to the corner she had pointed out and made sure that Inuyasha was the one with his back to the wall so he couldn't escape.

"Sango, what the fuck is this about?"

"Kagome!"

"What?"

"Kagome!"

"For Christ's sake, woman, what about Kagome?"

"She's a Spiritualist all of a sudden! A really really powerful one! I mean, her aura's been a little weird lately, but-"

"I know." Inuyasha shrugged.

"What do you mean, you know? You always wear your charm, so how-?"

"Long story. Basically, she was attacked last night by demons, her powers woke up, and Miroku took her to Fujiwara to get a charm, where I met up with them."

"Kagome was attacked?" Sango asked in disbelief. "But she didn't say anything about-"

"Do you really think she would? It's not like she knows what you are."

"So what? I would have thought she'd have said something at least basic. Come to think of it, she hasn't come by my office at all today."

"She's having coding problems I think," he said. Which would explain her bitchiness earlier.

"Whatever, that's off the subject. Is she alright?"

"She's here, isn't she?"

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean-they-they didn't rape her or anything...did they?" Sango finished in a small voice.

"As powerful as she is? No, she barbecued them. And blew up a transformer in the process according to the cop I ran into last night."

Sango went wide-eyed. "Well shit."

"Shit indeed. Can I go eat my lunch now?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, I was just surprised."

"Keh, I suppose you would be. I wasn't expecting you to be down here or I would have mentioned it."

"Yeah, Miroku dragged me down to eat something."

"And I think that's him over there," said Inuyasha, gesturing at a table over Sango's shoulder.

"Oh, right! I just left him there, didn't I?"

"Yup. Good job there, Sango," he said sarcastically.

"Shut it," she snapped, and hurried away.

Inuyasha shook his head and went to find a table to sit at alone, where he could think.

...

"Sorry about that," Sango said when she arrived at Miroku's table. He had decided just to go ahead and get his food when Sango had dashed off, figuring she would explain when she got back.

"That's alright," he replied, putting his sandwich down. "Was there a problem of some sort?"

"Um, sort of, but it's fine now," she said vaguely.

"Not going to share?"

"It's not important..."

"It seemed pretty important. Unless you've suddenly taken a fancy to Inuyasha? I can see the appeal-long white hair, the broad shoulders-"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd taken a fancy to him. I'm going to get food." She turned walked to the line, chuckling to herself.

Miroku shook his head. Trust me to lose my usual edge now...

Sango ordered her sandwich, and when she returned to the table, Miroku was on the phone. She waited politely for him to finish.

"-Yes, yes, that's fine. Let the nurses know I'll be there tomorrow afternoon to visit-no, I won't bring any flowers this time-sorry about that, I didn't mean to discomfit the other person sharing the room-Yes, thank you, I'm aware-Alright, well, thank you for the update-you too. Bye."

"Your uncle again?" Sango surmised.

Miroku sighed. "Yeah, he's been in and out of the hospital lately. He's getting old, and he drinks too much. They're saying he's got cirrhosis."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said.

"It's alright. He's had chronic liver disease for a while, and I haven't been able to get him to stop drinking. He says he's old now, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"That's...depressing."

"No kidding." The man who had raised Miroku to enjoy some of the finer things in life was now slowly killing himself. Miroku sighed. "I think he misses my aunt, even after all these years."

"Have you taken him to see a therapist at all?"

"He went for a while, but he says it's a waste of money. He'd rather a bottle be his therapy."

"I see..."

Miroku chewed his lip in the ensuing silence.

"Do you mind if we talk about something else?" He asked.

"That's fine, I just, well, I hope things get better for you and him."

"Thanks...So, uh, do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"I do actually. Kohaku did well on his math test, so we're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. A friend of his may even come with us."

"That's great! Where are you going?"

"It's a new Greek place downtown he wanted to try. I don't remember what it's called at the moment."

"Well, I hope you have a good time."

"Thanks."

Silence reigned again, broken up by the sounds of chewing.

"You know," Sango began, "you don't have to put on a happy face for me."

"Yeah. But I don't want to get bogged down in the negative stuff."

"Well, if you ever need to talk about anything..."

"Even with your schedule?" Miroku joked.

Sango cracked a small smile. "Even with my schedule."

So, I just want to say that the idea of Tessaiga the sword being in the trunk of Tesaiga the car made me chuckle. And both are a little rickety on the outside and awesome on the inside. A perfect pair! :D Also, this chapter was a long one for me. And except for the first few paragraphs, it's almost entirely dialogue. Those character interactions were especially for you, Eien-no-Basho; I decided to honor your request for more interaction, so there ya go: a whole chapter of dialogue! :P Since this chapter is so long, there might be some typos, cause I've mostly been proof-reading in sections. If you find any errors, please let me know so I can fix 'em. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
-ebj