InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Of Strings and Kevlar ❯ Cymbalism ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

A/N: I'm sorry this is late. I meant to post by Friday, but there was a death in my family last week, and it's been a rough few days. Prayers are appreciated if you're so inclined.

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He got his answer when they pushed the doors open and stopped just inside. Inuyasha's jaw flapped in the air-conditioned breeze as his eyes fell upon the person who was currently playing cymbals with a shocking amount of skill… for a cellist, anyway.

“Holy fucking hell! What is she doing here?!”

Miroku scratched his chin, feigning innocence. “Oh, didn't I tell you? Uh, yeah, Kagome plays cymbals in marching band. Gosh, I don't know how that could have slipped my mind.”

He blinked out of his stupor and favored Miroku with a threatening glare. “Slipped your mind, huh? Fuck, you could have told me that wench was auditioning for drumline! If she makes it, that means I'm going to have to put up with her all fucking season!”

“Oh, she'll make it. She's been section leader the past two years.”

Inuyasha gaped at him before turning to spy on the girl again. Completely flabbergasted at the entire situation, he could do nothing but watch as Kagome hit every crash perfectly, observing that she had pretty good rhythm as well. `Damn. If she makes section leader, then she'll be my cymbal.'

Miroku noticed the hanyou's appreciation of Kagome's skill. “What's the matter, Inuyasha? Are you nervous about the cute girl you might be playing across from for the next few months?”

“Fuck you!”

“Excuse me,” a grad assistant called out, holding a hand up to halt Kagome. “This is a closed audition. Please leave.”

“Sorry, dude,” Miroku answered back as he grabbed Inuyasha by the arm and dragged him out of the Percussion Annex. Inuyasha stumbled a bit as he kept his eyes on Kagome, watching as she turned to see who had interrupted her audition. It was only about two seconds, but their eyes were locked on each other, and it was in that very brief amount of time, and for the first time, that he saw something swirling in that brown besides anger. Something that, for reasons he couldn't understand and wouldn't acknowledge, made him grin stupidly.

He saw interest.

A blast of humid heat blew the hanyou's hair forward as Miroku hauled him outside, and he blinked as the door clanged shut in front of him, cutting off his view of the girl. Suddenly confused and not sure why, he looked at Miroku, who was giving him a genuinely concerned look.

“Hey, man, are you all right?”

Inuyasha looked at him a moment, mildly aware that he had been asked a question as he envisioned Kagome's angry yet curious eyes watching him leave. “Uh, am I… am I what?”

Miroku smiled a little, clearly amused. “I asked if you were all right, but I think you just answered my question. Is it just me, or were you totally checking out Kagome just now?”

That brought him to his senses. He scoffed indignantly and waved his hand. “What the fuck are you talking about? I saw her for, like, a second before you dragged my ass out here!”

“Oh, I think you saw her for longer than that, because you weren't looking at me just now. You were looking in my direction, but all you saw was a feisty cellist who just happens to also be a cymbal player, and who handed you your ass yesterday. And that's just got your panties all twisted up in knots, doesn't it?” Miroku crossed his arms over his chest and smirked triumphantly.

Inuyasha felt his face heat up, and he turned away. “Fuck off,” he muttered.

He laughed. “Struck a chord, have I? Well, isn't that sweet? It seems as though Inuyasha has a little crush - ”

“Who?”

Inuyasha turned toward the unfamiliar female voice to see a girl approaching them. Her long ponytail of brown hair swished over her shoulders as she threw her arm around Miroku's waist, kissing his cheek. “Who has a crush on who?”

Miroku draped his arm over her shoulders. “Sango, this is Inuyasha. He's a transfer percussionist from Tokyo. Inuyasha, this is Sango, also a percussionist. And darling, it's `Who has a crush on whom,' not `who.'”

Sango twisted out of his hold, rolling her eyes. “I love it when you correct my grammar, Miroku, especially in front of people I don't know.”

Relieved the attention was off of him, Inuyasha nodded toward her. “Nice to meet you,” he mumbled.

“You, too!” she smiled warmly. “I'm originally from Kyoto. When did you move here?”

Inuyasha nodded, recognizing the accent, and relaxed a little. “About a month ago.”

“Well, welcome to Baton Rouge!” she said, shaking his hand western style. “My parents and I moved here about eight years ago. My dad is does legal stuff for the governor here, so I guess you could say he stays pretty busy,” she said, laughing.

Unsure as to why that was funny, Inuyasha simply nodded again. Miroku, however, scowled and added, “He's the Director of Legislative Affairs, which is super important and official, don't you know.” Miroku sneered, not even trying to hide his contempt.

Sango patted him soothingly on the chest, smiling at Inuyasha. “Otou-san isn't Miroku's biggest fan,” she said.

“Yeah, I picked up on that,” Inuyasha replied, filing that away for future torment. “So the rest of your family is back home then?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, everybody else is still back in Japan, mostly in Kyoto. Except for Kagome, of course.”

Stop. Hold the phone. What the fuck. “Did—did you say Kagome?” he stammered.

Sango smiled. “Yeah, she's my cousin. Have you met her?”

Miroku barked out a terse laugh as Inuyasha's eye twitched involuntarily. “Yes, my dear, Inuyasha has definitely met Kagome.”

Sango frowned, looking back and forth between the two. “Okay, what does that mean?”

“Not a damn thing.” Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked toward the parking lot, irritated the conversation was back on him and that damned infuriating female.

“Oh, don't be so shy, Inuyasha,” Miroku chided sickeningly, causing a low growl to rise in Inuyasha's throat. “Sango, it simply means that…well, our new friend here made the mistake of walking in on Kagome's practice last night -”

“Oi! I didn't walk in on shit!” Inuyasha faced the two again, noticing now both of them were chuckling at his expense. “I heard a halfway decent cello, looked in the room to see who was playing, and the bitch flipped out. Went fucking ape shit. That's what happened!”

At this point, Miroku was doubled over in laughter, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. Sango was also laughing hysterically, her hand braced on Miroku's back as she struggled to keep her balance. The girl composed herself enough to speak before he did, and she wiped the tears from her eyes as she fought for coherent words. “Inuyasha… oh, damn, I can't believe you walked away alive!”

Miroku nodded weakly as he continued laughing. “That's - that's what I said!”

Finding none of this amusing whatsoever, Inuyasha huffed and stared at the laughing pair. “Feh! I'm checking to see if they posted the line yet. Whenever you two decide you're finished, I'm going to cash in on that lunch you owe me, Miroku.” Leaving the two, he shook his head in disgust and stomped into the band hall just in time to see the grad assistant hanging up a sheet of paper on the bulletin board, a group of anxious students crowded around him.

`That's gotta be it.' Pushing his way through the crowd as they emitted a mixture of varying cheers and curses, Inuyasha scanned the names under SNARE LINE:

Center: Inuyasha Taisho

2: Miroku Shizuma

…and a bunch of names he neither recognized nor cared about at the moment.

`Fuckin' right!' Inuyasha grinned as he skimmed over the rest of the roster, noticing a Sango Higurashi was the top bass drummer. That was okay; she seemed cool enough, unlike her cousin.

“Fuck!”

Inuyasha smirked victoriously at the sound of Miroku's outburst, turning around just in time to see the look of disappointment on his face as Sango rubbed his shoulders consolingly. “What's the matter? Can't decide where to take me for lunch? Don't worry, I already said I wanted pizza.”

Miroku recovered rather quickly and grinned humbly, admitting defeat. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go. You coming, Babycakes?”

Inuyasha froze where he stood, suppressing the bile in his throat. “`Babycakes?' Are you serious?”

“Hey, I like it,” Sango said, sticking up for her boyfriend as they turned toward the double doors. “Just as long as nobody else is called that, right, Babe?”

Dropping his jaw, his expression changed to one of hurt. “My love, you should know by now yours is the only honey pot I want to eat.”

She gasped and punched his shoulder. “Hentai!” she exclaimed in her native tongue, which brought a chuckle out of the hanyou.

Miroku rubbed his aching shoulder, her punch apparently having more kick than love, and beseeched the furiously blushing girl. “Sango, I wish you'd stop speaking Japanese around me. You know I don't understand it!”

Sango sighed before explaining to Inuyasha. “His parents are Japanese, but he was born and raised in Sacramento.”

“Ah.” Inuyasha nodded, shouldering his stick bag as they made it out the doors. “Isn't that the gay capital of the nation or something?”

“You're thinking of San Francisco, dip shit,” Miroku shot back heatedly, suddenly irate.

Inuyasha tilted his head to the side and smirked. “Struck a chord, have I? What's wrong? Are we a little insecure in our masculinity?”

“Fuck off! I hate people saying that shit! Even if I was from San Francisco—which I'm not—that wouldn't automatically mean I like sucking dick! Fuck, dude, give me a break!”

Taking his turn to laugh, Inuyasha shook his head. “Chill out, man. I'm just joking.”

Sango rolled her eyes at the both of them. “Cymbal auditions should be over by now. I'm going to see if Kagome wants to join us.”

`Shit,' he thought. “You know what, I'll catch that lunch another time. I should really go practice before rehearsal this afternoon.”

Miroku grinned, seizing the opportunity before him. “Oh? Are you scared to go to lunch with Kagome, Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha stopped walking and thought about the question. As sarcastic as it was intended to be, it actually got him to thinking. Why was he so nervous? Why was he avoiding that wench like she was the plague? Why should he have to change his plans just because she might be around? Did he really find her that repulsive? At least he knew that answer to the last question: yes. She really was awful to be around, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep any food down if she was in the same room with her bitchy attitude stinking up the place.

`Liar,' he argued with himself. `That's not it at all. You're attracted to her and are afraid of trying to start something up. That slut back in Tokyo ruined all bitches for you, at least for now.'

“Inuyasha?”

Looking at Miroku again, Inuyasha set himself with determination. So what if the crazy wench was going to be there? He couldn't let that ruin his afternoon. In fact, this could be a valuable opportunity to get under her skin a little.

“Hello, Inuyasha?!” Miroku repeated, waving his hand in front of his face. “Are you coming or not?”

“Yeah.” He dug in his pockets for his keys and followed him out down the walkway, smirking evilly. “I'm coming.”

***

Sango jumped into the passenger seat of Kagome's Camry as she started the ignition. “I still don't know why we couldn't ride with Miroku.”

“Because that jerk is riding with him, and I'd rather not have to see him anymore than I have to.” Kagome buckled her seat belt and pulled out of her parking spot, falling behind Miroku's car to follow him. “Jeez, I can't believe you talked me into going to lunch with them.”

“Oh, lighten up. What's your problem with Inuyasha? He seemed nice enough -”

“He's an ass!” she exclaimed, tightening her grip on the wheel. “Not only does he think he's the gods' gift to music, but I get the distinct impression he has a similar opinion of himself in regards to women. That guy's ego is so inflated, he's…” She floundered for an appropriate quip. “He's emitting carbon dioxide!”

Sango eyed her cousin critically. “Okay, first of all, that last part didn't make any sense. Man, he's really got you twisted! I've never seen you so flustered about a guy before.”

Kagome's eyes widened to anime proportions. “F-flustered? I - I'm not flustered! I'm…I'm just…I'm just….”

Cocking an eyebrow, Sango leaned in. “Flustered?”

She growled and pushed her away with her elbow. “Shut up!”

Giggling at the crimson staining her cousin's cheeks, Sango sat back in her seat and watched the scenery pass by. “Well, I get the impression the feeling is mutual. In his defense, you do tend to get a little psycho when you're practicing. I'm sure you made a stellar first impression with him.”

“I give zero fucks what that asshat thinks of me,” Kagome snapped, turning on her blinker.

“Regardless, you're going to have to get used to seeing him, Miss Section Leader. He made center snare.”

`Dammit!' “Well… whatever. That doesn't mean I have to like him.” Kagome parked behind Miroku in front of Rotolo's Pizza.

Sango froze in her seat, her hand on the door handle. She turned toward Kagome, a slow, sinister grin sliding across her lips. Kagome watched her with dreaded interest, recognizing that look and knowing she wasn't going to like whatever she was about to say. “You like him!” she blurted out.

“What?!” Kagome hissed in shock, looking around to make sure nobody had heard her cousin's loony accusation. “I `like' him? Are you nuts?”

Sango squealed, laughing and clapping her hands like a maniac. “Oh, God, you do! You like him! Oh, this is rich. You have a crush on Inu-”

“Sango, I swear to all that is holy, if you even think of finishing that sentence, I will personally see to it that you never play again!” Kagome leveled a menacing finger at her, growing more panicked with each word.

“Pfft.” Sango waved off her threat. “Whatever. I'm not scared of you. Come on, let's go inside so you can become more acquainted with your new love interest.” But before she could climb out, she paused, then turned and regarded Kagome much more seriously. “Wait. What about -”

Kagome panicked. “Seriously, Sango! Can we drop it?” she pleaded, desperate to change the topic. She looked up and noticed Miroku and Inuyasha were standing outside the restaurant. The hanyou had a look of supreme distaste on his face, his arms crossed defensively, mirroring exactly how she felt at the moment. Shaking her head, she looked back at Sango. “Look, they're waiting for us. Let's just go.” Kagome opened the door but was stopped by Sango's firm grip on her forearm.

“Kagome,” she started, concern marring her features. “Is there something wrong? Did something happen?”

“No!” she answered truthfully. “Nothing happened.” `Yet.' “Let's go, all right?” Shaking her arm free from Sango's grip, she climbed out of the car and shut the door, noticing with no small amount of discomfort that Sango was still eyeing her carefully. She sighed. `Please, just drop it, Sango. I can't talk about it right now.'

“My two favorite ladies!” Miroku stepped forward between Sango and Kagome and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders, quelling the discomfort between the two. “How I've missed you both. Kagome, congratulations on making section leader once again. This should be quite an interesting year!” He jibed as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

She gave him a dramatic eye roll and pushed out of his arms, but smiled at his compliment, choosing to ignore his hidden meaning. “Thanks, Miroku.”

“And you, my beautiful flower.” He wrapped his now free arm around Sango's waist, pulling her flush against his body. “I'm always happy to see you, as I'm sure you can tell right now.”

Sango blushed and wiggled an arm free to bop him on the top of his head. “Hentai,” she muttered.

Rubbing the growing lump on his head, he frowned as he followed her inside the restaurant. “Seriously, Sango, what does that mean?”

Kagome giggled and watched the two disappear inside the door until she realized Inuyasha was watching her distrustfully. She narrowed her eyes at him and was about to ask what the hell he was looking at when he spoke a single word. “Wench.”

“Ass.”

He smirked at her quick reply, but said nothing more before pulling and holding the door open for her, watching her expectantly. She scoffed and crossed her arms. “You think I'm falling for that? You'd probably trip me as I passed.”

Inuyasha sneered. “As if I'd waste my energy on you.”

“Then why are you holding the door open for me to begin with?”

He blinked, and then frowned tiredly. “Look, it's fucking hot out here. Are you going in or not?”

“Yes. After you.”

Shaking his head, he mumbled something under his breath about stubborn bitches before walking inside. Kagome ground her teeth and followed him, resisting the urge to put her foot up his ass as the much cooler air inside kissed her sweat-dampened skin, giving her a chill. They approached a booth in the back where Miroku and Sango were sitting—across from each other, thank God—and holding hands across the table. Kagome noticed Inuyasha's gag reflex seemed to kick in at the image of the lovebirds, but he slid in next to Miroku nonetheless. Realizing she would now have to sit across from him, she bit back a gag of her own as she sat next to Sango.

`How could Sango possibly think I like him?' She scowled and picked up a menu, deliberately holding it up in front of her face to avoid his glare.

“Is pepperoni cool with everyone?” Miroku asked, a tint of mischief to his voice.

Kagome rolled her eyes behind her menu, wondering just what he was up to now. “Fine with me,” she mumbled.

“Inuyasha? Pepperoni?”

Kagome pretended to be absorbed in reading the menu, but when Miroku's question went unanswered, she caved into her curiosity and lowered it just enough to peek over the top. When she saw intense amber eyes piercing her own, she gasped and slapped the menu onto the checkered tabletop, more in surprise than anything else. But when the amused smirk appeared on his lips, she nearly snarled in frustration at being caught off-guard. By him. Again.

“Yeah, whatever,” he finally answered, never taking his eyes off her heated face.

“Alrighty!” Miroku sang, clearly entertained by the interaction playing out in front of him. He grabbed the red pepper shaker and twirled it around on the tabletop. “Well, my lovely Sango,” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, “what is your opinion of these two here? Don't you think they would make the best of friends?”

Sango took pity on her and refused to breech the topic. She cleared her throat and grabbed the shaker out of Miroku's hand, eyeing him threateningly as she set it out of his reach. “So, Inuyasha, why did you transfer here from Tokyo?” she asked.

The atmosphere suddenly became even more tense, and had Kagome been more keen on her miko training that she had abandoned as a young child, she would have clearly picked up on the sparking energy flowing through Inuyasha's aura. But as it was, Kagome only noticed a sudden awkwardness radiating from him, causing her to momentarily forget her anger and wonder why he had become so uncomfortable at Sango's question.

After about a minute of awkward silence, Inuyasha finally muttered what was clearly meant to be the end of the conversation. “Personal reasons.”

And more awkward silence ensued.

Thankfully, a server finally appeared at the table with a boisterous demand for drink orders. After four Cokes and a large pepperoni pizza were requested, the older woman retreated into the kitchen without another word, leaving the group to helplessly chuckle at her predictable behavior. Miroku made the offhand comment that people didn't go to Rotolo's for the service, and the tension dissipated.

Once their drinks arrived a few minutes later, Miroku fell into conversation with nobody in particular about how the line was looking to be fairly decent this year despite him not being center snare. Kagome watched as Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the slight, and she was shocked to find herself suppressing a smile at Miroku's ruffled ego. Fortunately, she was able to maintain her indifferent scowl, although she had to admit that once his attention was off her, his company wasn't completely unbearable to endure. She took a sip of her soda, wondering if perhaps this season wouldn't be so bad after all.

“So, wench. Does anything come out of your mouth other than `nag-nag-nag,'” he mimicked in a whiny voice, “or is your attitude stuck on `Bitch'?”

Kagome choked on her drink. So much for wishful thinking. “Oh, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings yesterday, asshole. Please forgive me if my bitchy attitude was offensive to your oh-so-dignified character,” she snapped.

“Feh. Don't worry about it. It's not as if I'd let some stuck-up wench get to me. I'd be pissy, too, if I couldn't play worth shit.” He smirked challengingly.

“As if I'm worried about what you think about me. I have more important things to focus on than the worthless opinions of two-bit drummers like you.” `Check, asshole.'

“I think your life would be a whole lot easier if you just got some dick. Clearly nobody's giving it to you lately.”

Kagome gasped, her face reddening furiously. “Jerk.”

“Wench.”

“Ass!”

“Skank!”

“Baka!”

“Kono ama!”

“Hey, hey, hey, guys!” Miroku threw his arm in front of Inuyasha to restrain him. “Calm down, please! In case you haven't noticed, we're in a restaurant. Surrounded by people!” He sighed dramatically and lowered his voice. “Now, I must insist that if you're going to verbally rip each other to shreds, that you do it in English, please? I don't want to have to invest in a Japanese dictionary in order to keep up.”

Ignoring him, Kagome clenched her jaw and clutched the edge of the table with a white-knuckled grip, positively seething in her seat as she stared down the infuriating man across from her.

“Down, girl,” Sango mumbled quietly, placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder. She shook it off and tore her eyes away from his, blinking away tears. `How dare he,' she fumed to herself.

Taking advantage of another awkward moment, Miroku cleared his throat and dispelled the tension in classic Miroku fashion. “All right, obviously a change in subject is in order. Let's see…. Inuyasha, did you know that Sango is a monster mallet player?”

The girl blushed, but smiled, still rubbing Kagome's shoulder in a vain attempt to placate her. “At least I have an excuse as to why I never made the snare line in all four years. Not sure if you noticed, but I'm top bass. Again.”

Miroku reached for her hand, grasping it in both of his and gazing into her eyes. “My love, you need not worry about that. Your expertise on mallet instruments far outweighs your miniscule shortcomings on snare. I could only dream of playing marimba at your caliber.”

Sango's face turned a deeper shade of pink, from the compliment or Miroku's attentions, Kagome wasn't sure, but she was grateful for the distraction nonetheless. As he continued bragging of his girlfriend's abilities, Kagome sniffled once to completely curb her emotions and chanced a glance across the table. Inuyasha was still watching her, but with a different look than he'd had before. Quickly looking down at her soda before her anger returned full-force, she picked up the cup and took a long drink before tilting her eyes in his direction once more to see if he was still staring at her.

He was looking down now, distractedly observing the movements of the salt grains in the shaker he was rotating on the tabletop. He appeared to be contemplating something. Regretful, even. His eyes were half lidded and glazed over, his lips were in a tight line, but his expression was soft, yet intense. She watched him for a moment longer, wondering about his sudden change in behavior, before the pizza arrived and interrupted her musings.

The server dropped the pizza on the table with a clatter, slapping some extra napkins down in front of Inuyasha, startling him out of his reverie. Miroku took a deep whiff of the pie with his eyes closed and sighed. “Everything looks wonderful, Gladys. And might I say, you look absolutely breathtaking today. The bright, florescent lighting really brings out your—”

“Stuff it, loverboy. Here's the check. If you need something, yell for Mimi. I'm on break.” She dropped the bill on the table before untying her apron and heading toward the back once again.

Miroku raised his hand in salute to her retreating form. “Always a pleasure!” Sango and Kagome stifled their giggles, and even Inuyasha managed a chuckle at the boy's antics, and they dug into the mouth-watering lunch. Conversation took on a lighter tone as they enjoyed their last meal before the grueling two weeks of band camp would begin that afternoon, but neither Inuyasha nor Kagome spoke much, adding bits of dialogue when it felt appropriate. He seemed to be as deep in thought as she was, and though she did her best to forget about him and his fat mouth for now, she couldn't stop herself from wondering about his pensive expression from before.

***

After lunch, they returned to campus to join the rest of the drumline for their first rehearsal. After the graduate assistant warmed them up, he broke them off into sections to work on various issues, including showing the freshmen and transfers the various customs unique to the school. Though he wasn't center snare this year, Miroku remained the undisputed section leader since Inuyasha was new, so he led the snare sectional in the Greek Theatre.

Once the day was over and the instruments had been hauled back to the Percussion Annex, Inuyasha sat alone on the steps outside, drinking his water and thinking about his exchange with Kagome over lunch. The girl had been embarrassed and horrified when he made his crack about her needing to get laid, which of course he had expected, or else he wouldn't have said it. What he didn't expect, however, was the look of complete defeat in her eyes, and if Sango's dirty look was any indication, he had apparently crossed a line. Upon seeing Kagome's reaction, he had immediately regretted saying it, though he couldn't explain why her feelings mattered to him. However, the most disturbing reaction of all, he admitted to himself, was the overwhelming urge to see to it she never carried that look of defeat again. He would be hard pressed to come up with a reason for this sense of protectiveness he had suddenly developed for her, and if he was being completely honest with himself, he didn't like it.

Inuyasha took another swig of water, resigning himself to forget about it for the time being, and looked over some of the music they would need to learn for the first football game in a few weeks. He noticed that one piece in particular called for suspended cymbals, and he smirked, recognizing another opportunity for fun. `Whatever her baggage is, it isn't my problem,' he tried to convince himself, ignoring the jabbing of his conscience. `Just makes her more fun to fuck with.'

He looked up and noticed Miroku and Sango talking under one of the huge magnolia trees nearby, and grinned evilly. “Hey, Babycakes!” he hollered, screwing the cap back on his bottle.

Miroku's eye twitched at his new nickname, but he shook his head and kissed her cheek, smacking her on the butt when she turned away. She shot back a threat as she jogged toward the parking lot, her ponytail swinging behind her. Taking a moment to appreciatively watch her leave, he finally came over and dropped on the steps next to the hanyou with a loud sigh. “Man, I'm tired already, and it's just the first day. What's up?”

“Can we run through this piece first thing tomorrow? I want to see what we need to work on.” He handed the music to Miroku, leaning back on his elbows.

He looked over it and smiled, obviously catching on to Inuyasha's train of thought. “Yeah, okay. I suppose you'll want to work this section with suspended cymbals very thoroughly, won't you? You're not slick, you know.”

Inuyasha was about to respond with when a male voice from the parking lot caught his attention.

“Kagome, over here!”

Inuyasha looked up and saw Kagome hitch her bookbag over her shoulder and toss her car key to Sango, who waved goodbye to her. Kagome headed toward the black Mustang convertible from which the voice had called to her, with a slight hesitance to her step, Inuyasha noticed. Shifting his gaze toward the car, he stifled a low and completely irrational growl as he noticed a male wolf youkai sitting in the driver's seat with a big shit-eating grin on his face. Kagome smiled and got into the passenger seat of the car, throwing her bookbag in the backseat. She leaned over and kissed the youkai on the cheek before the two of them drove off, leaving Inuyasha to wonder who he was and why he even gave a damn.

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