InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Siren ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.28.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.9K | Visits: 556 | Status: Completed
Umm...Will 'I'm terribly sorry and this chapter is like 23 pages' keep you from killing me? I know I took forever, but my dad was sick, then I was sick, now my grandmother's sick, and a month's worth of make-up work is a bitch... Oh, and someone mentioned that there wasn't really any personal life going on...Well, there isn't a whit of music in this one except for random mentions of songs and Kag's Mariah-demo. And for some reason, I'm really proud of this one description of Kagome...See if you can spot it.
Disclaimer: Anything that is recognized by anyone as belonging to anyone but me is hereby disclaimed and shall not be used in any lawsuits what so ever...Glances at her Lawyer/Father Happy now?
“You’re going to have two very dead stylists on your hands,” a very angry, very restrained voice whispered over the telephone line.
“Good afternoon to you, too, Kagome!” Inuyasha grinned. “We would have sent Suikotsu and Renkotsu after you, but they’re busy.”
“I’m going to kill these two,” the singer whispered again from her corner in the lobby.
“What’d they do?” Miroku asked.
Ah, the wonders of speakerphone.
“They dragged me out of TJMaxx, for one thing,” she shot an angry glare at the two stylists flipping through magazines. “And now I’m sitting in this Patchouli-scented lobby, waiting for some wacko named ‘Manuel’!”
“That’s gonna be fun,” Kouga chimed.
“Friend of yours?” Inuyasha turned to the bassist.
“No!” the wolf backtracked quickly. “They had a late-night special on him. I was too tired to change the channel!”
“Uh-huh, sure,” Inuyasha turned back to the phone. “Look, it could be worse.”
“How?” Kagome hissed, trying not to alert the topics of the conversation.
“You could be a guy,” Miroku pointed out.
Sparing a quick glance at the cooing pair, the woman grimaced, “Point taken.”
“Jakky-baby!” a high-pitched squeal came from her left.
“Ew,” she muttered, “Magenta leather.”
There was riotous laughter from her cell phone.
“Manny! Darling!” Jakotsu returned.
After air-kisses, the little group began discussing.
“What did you bring me?” Manuel clapped his hands together gleefully.
“Another project, of course!”
Bankotsu moved to Kagome, “Just ignore them.”
The singer’s cell was forgotten in her limp hand, her eyes fixated on the magenta pants and snakeskin shirt that made up the new arrival’s wardrobe. “I am not staying here.”
“Manny only does hair,” Bankotsu reassured. “You won’t come out of this looking like him.”
“Why couldn’t I use my own hairdresser?”
“Jakotsu trusts Manny,” the man shrugged.
“Good luck, Kaggie-kins!” there was a sudden dial tone.
“Remind me again why we’re doing all of this today,” Kagome watched the manicurist work with her hands.
“The shoot is in three days,” Jakotsu chirped from his own station.
“And?” the frustrated singer turned to Bankotsu.
“He doesn’t like the ‘just done’ look for promo shoots,” the other stylist smiled apologetically.
“Why are we doing promo shoots before the album’s even finished?” the singer glanced down just in time to see the manicurist open a bottle of deep, wine colored nail polish.
“Because by the time the album’s done, you’ll be touring, der,” Jakotsu rolled his eyes. “Dead Right? Ten-Year Anniversary Tour? Year long? Ring a bell?”
“I got it,” she shook her head. “I have no clue as to what’s going on, but I got it.”
“Ya think we should tell her we’re just doing the ‘black pants, odd shirt’ thing?” Kouga tilted his head, watching the singer be dragged off by a horde of stylists, designers, hairdressers, and make-up artists.
“Nah,” Miroku shook his head. “They’ve got something planned. Best leave them to it.”
“Ok,” Inuyasha poked his head into the room. He’d been hiding from Jakotsu. “We’ve got about two hours. Who’s up for Playstation?”
Naraku shrugged and started walking towards where the hanyou had disappeared.
Almost exactly two hours later, a laconic voice cut into their game. “Perfect. I’m being tortured by metrosexuals with grooming equipment, and you guys are playing Halo.”
Any repartees that the men may have come up with were stifled once they saw what stood in the doorway.
All of her hair was pulled away from her face and into a curled, braided, twisted bun of an updo on the back of her head. Her azure eyes glinted dangerously behind dark, smudged kohl and silver shadow, full crimson lips pursed angrily. Arms covered in blue-black, flowing chiffon crossed over a navy-blue and silver brocaded corset, which led down into matte black leather pants. Four-inch spike-heeled boots finished the ensemble.
“Keep staring,” the singer challenged. “As soon as this shoot’s over, I’m back in flannel.”
Smirking, Inuyasha gestured for her to twirl around. It wasn’t that he wanted to see the whole outfit; he just wanted to see if she’d fall over in those boots.
Surprisingly, she didn’t. “Can we go now?” completing the turn, Kagome pouted, drumming her wine-colored nails on her arm.
“Ladies first,” the hanyou waved her off. “We’ll catch up.”
“Up! Chin up!” the photographer demanded.
The five, none sure of who he was talking to, all complied.
“Not you!”
Five heads dropped. The photographer sighed, lowering his camera. “Look,” he began, marching over to his subjects. “You each have a look that works. Use it!”
Kagome arched an eyebrow, an amused smirk on her face.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” the standoffish man whirled to point at her. “Inviting and ‘I’ll kill you’ work for you!”
From her pose in the chair, the singer craned her neck back to look at the rest of the band. “Combinations are not his strong suit,” she remarked.
“I can see your cleavage,” Inuyasha tilted his head, smirking mischievously.
“Perfect!” the camera was raised again.
“You pervert,” Kagome leaned forward, now facing the camera again.
“You called?” Miroku gave an innocent smile.
“Excellent!” more photos were snapped.
‘I wonder if Kikyou’s working tonight,’ Naraku mused, looking to a corner in the room. ‘Kanna’s been begging to see her again.’
‘She’s going to slaughter him,’ Kouga eyed his bandmates, a smirk beginning to form. ‘And I’m going to laugh.’
“Brilliant!”
Twenty minutes and two ‘I can see your cleavage’s later, the now openly grinning photographer scampered off to look at the results of his work.
“That guy,” Kagome cracked her jaw. “He makes my head hurt.”
“I think that’s your hair,” Kouga eyed the overgrown bun on her head.
“And then there’s Mr. I-can-see-your-cleavage back there!”
Inuyasha smiled innocently while Miroku exclaimed, “So he’s the pervert!”
Approximately three weeks later, after finishing recording three tracks, including Walking In the Air, Tero kept the band late in order to get their input on the mixing.
Kagome, who was already slightly annoyed with her cousin’s penchant for recording all the vocals three times, ‘for security’ had been his reason, squeezed herself in between Inuyasha and Kouga on the small couch in the studio.
“I’m running on three hours of sleep and a ton of caffeine,” she glared at the oblivious Tero. “This better be good.”
Kouga inched away from the singer. Naraku, who was on his right, gave him a silently questioning glance.
The wolf youkai answered him in an undertone, “She’s going to crash really hard, really soon and I need to be able to leave.”
Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes of answering questions like ‘Do the guitars sound better slightly in front of the keys?’ Inuyasha found his arm being used as a pillow. He was perfectly content to ignore it and not draw anyone’s attention to the fact that the only woman in the room was currently nuzzling his triceps in an attempt to get comfortable.
Miroku on the other hand…”Awww, Kodak moment!”
Growling lowly, Inuyasha slid down slightly on the couch, an action with the added effect of allowing the singer to rest her head on his shoulder.
“God, finally!” Tero reached for the camera on the desk. “I thought she’d never fall asleep.”
Raising the camera to his eye, he chirped, “Smile!”
Flipping the Finn off, Inuyasha stated, “I hate all of you.”
His answer was a flash.
“I remember this,” Kagome murmured. The clean air, green grass, the lake in the distance; all of it told her this was her grandfather’s property in Kitee. She watched as her grandfather and grandmother set about trying to get younger versions of her parents, herself, and Tero to join in a ‘humppa’, a quick Finnish social dance. They weren’t having much luck.
“Tony!” Grandmamma Lahja laughed, trying to gain her son’s attention. She continued in a rapid string of Finnish that left Kagome struggling to keep up. “Tony, you’re supposed to set example! Look at my granddaughter’s hair! You let her do this? Or you use her for Easter Egg?”
Kagome’s eyes darted to her younger self. ‘Oh, yeah,’ she cringed. ‘Metallic blue with red hi-lites. The ‘Bitch’ Year.’
How many times had she run away that year? Five? She couldn’t remember now. Glancing back at her mother, she mused, ‘She handled it so well.’
“Whaddaya want, Brat?” her own annoyed drawl drew her attention.
Souta was tugging at her younger-self’s sleeve and pointing to the forest. He’d wanted to go for a walk. And she’d refused to take him. He’d been lost until after supper when the family had gone out to search for him. God, he’d been so scared; he had nightmares about it for years.
He was walking towards her now, head down, shoulders sagging. All action in the background slowed as he approached. By the time he reached her, everything was still.
The young boy raised his head to look at her, a soft smile playing about his lips. “Onee-chan,” a teasing voice sounded in her head. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
“But you-“ she paused. “You can’t.”
“Sis,” he rolled his eyes. “Stop trying to make sense of everything. The world doesn’t work that way.”
Letting out a small sob, she impulsively hugged the child, wanting reassurance. “I miss you,” she held him tighter. “I miss you.”
“Can’t breathe, Sis,” he remarked dryly. “Air is good.”
She let him go, but knelt eye-level with him, as though making sure he wouldn’t run away.
“Thanks,” Souta offered her another grin. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be all cryptic and ‘You are the hand’ and stuff, but I really don’t want to-“ he began chattering a mile a minute, talking about how weird it was living in her head, and how ‘that Monique-girl’ was kinda strange, and how ‘Inu-nii-chan’ was the coolest of the cool, and did she know that that opera stuff was kinda boring?
Kagome let him ramble, relishing the never-heard tones of her brother’s voice. Eventually he ran out of steam.
“So, yeah,” he winced slightly. “Now I have to give you the ‘Oooh- Spooky’ statement.”
The woman leaned forward; wanting to hear the kind of advice a twelve-year old living in her mind could give her.
“Sing what you can’t say,” he shrugged. “That’s all I can tell you, ‘cause it’s time for you to wake up now.”
“Souta,” she breathed, her eyes snapping open.
“Uh, no. Inuyasha,” a voice to her left reminded her. “You fell asleep.”
Unheeding, she murmured, “Sing what you can’t say.”
“You really aren’t listening are you?” the hanyou was tempted to wave a hand in front of her face.
“Sing what you can’t-“ her brow furrowed and she raised a hand to rub her eyes, surprised to find tears. “Sing what you- What the hell kind of advice is that!” she shrieked suddenly, glaring at the ceiling, causing Inuyasha to jump away and pin his ears to his head. “You’ve been in my goddamn head, and all you can tell me is to sing? What do you think I’ve been doing for the past six years! Laundry!”
Tero watched, fascinated, as his cousin’s hands began to clench and twitch impulsively. “Get her bag,” he ordered the hanyou, jerking his head towards the corner it was resting in.
“Leave the bag,” the singer countered.
“Seija,” Tero put on his best ‘authority’ tone. “You need the-“
“I’m not taking the fucking pills, Tero,” she ground out, willing her hands to be still. “I’m not seeing things.”
A safe distance away from both, Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. This was new.
“Right,” Tero drew the word out. “And you weren’t seeing things when you ‘followed Souta’ into the forest last summer.”
“Tero.”
“Or, what about when that girl ‘made’ you follow her to the cemetery?”
“Tero,” her voice was cracking.
“And last week?” angry now, the Finn strode to the bag to retrieve the pills himself. “The boy pinned to the tree that wasn’t there?”
“Enough!” she stood suddenly, glared at her cousin, whispered, “I’m not crazy!” and stormed out.
“I think you fucked up there,” Inuyasha observed.
“If she weren’t so damn stubborn,” he wasn’t angry anymore; he seemed beaten.
“You’re both pretty fuckin’ stubborn.”
The Finn narrowed his eyes, muttered something Inuyasha couldn’t understand, then said, “Would you mind tracking her down? She’s liable to kill me on sight.”
“Sure, whatever, make me the bloodhound,” the hanyou rolled his eyes and headed for the door. He got within ten feet of the rapidly walking singer before she snapped at him.
“I don’t need pity, I don’t need help, and I don’t need a ride home.”
“I wasn’t offering,” he pointed out.
“I’m not going to spaz out and start raving about something that doesn’t exist,” she warned.
“As interesting as that would be, don’t care.”
“Then why the hell are you following me?” she turned to face him, obviously angry.
He shrugged, a teasing smile emerging, “Got bored.”
“Perfect, a stalker,” she grimaced, then turned and continued to walk.
Inuyasha continued to follow her until, finally, she spoke again.
“I’m not crazy.”
“I heard you the first time,” he watched, grinning, as she started to fidget.
After several moments of silence, she asked again, “Why are you following me?”
He was about to answer when another voice cut him off. “Hey, baby! Come with me! I’ll give you Coke and a smile!”
“That’s exactly why,” Inuyasha muttered.
Kagome rolled her eyes and flipped the random weirdo off.
“I wasn’t talking to you, bitch!”
“I need a drink,” a suddenly pale Inuyasha passed her up.
“I’ve got NyQuil at the house,” she offered.
“Green Death or Cherry?”
“There’s a difference?”
It was a rather long, uneventful walk back to Kagome’s place…Unless you count that bit at the light where some chick had Within Temptation blaring and Kagome thought it was a good idea to sing ‘Angels’ at the top of her lungs…Which was pretty damn loud.
Now, armed with his cell, and the lines “No remorse ‘cos I still remember, The smile when you tore me apart” stuck in his head, Inuyasha was fully ready to swipe some Nyquil and crash on the couch.
“Could have been, Forever,” Kagome was still singing, but under her breath now. “Now we have, Reached the end.”
She unlocked the door and strode in, ignoring Tero’s taunting call of “Bringing the new boyfriend home to meet the parents?”
“Boyfriend?” Shippou, just scampering into the room, slid to a halt. Looking up at Kagome, he gave the most adorable ‘puppy eyes’ he could manage. “You aren’t dating the meanie, are you?”
Scooping the kit up, Kagome smiled. “No, Sweetie. I’m not dating anyone.”
“Gag me,” Inuyasha muttered, noting the obvious innocent act the kid was using.
“So,” Tero grinned. “Taking the fold-out? Or did you have,” he waggled his eyebrows, “other plans?”
“I’m not even going to answer that.”
Fifteen minutes later, the fold-out was ready, the NyQuil had been taken, and a few house rules were being laid down.
“First off,” Tero raised a finger, trying to look authoritative. “No sneaking into Seija’s-“
A pillow cut him off.
Tony simply shook his head, “If you need anything, the bathrooms are down that hall,” he pointed. “You already know where the kitchen is.”
The hanyou nodded, feeling a bit like a five-year-old at a sleep-over.
Kagome spoke up, “If something comes up, leave a note. I’ve got dibs on the bathroom at 7 AM, and Tero sleepwalks.”
“You fix breakfast in your underwear!” the Finn sputtered.
“I do not!” four sets of eyes stared at her: two daring her to deny it again, one thoroughly confused, the other highly amused. “Fine! But it was just that one time!”
Pouting in her room, Kagome stared at her wall. An unfinished song stared back.
“Fiiiniiiish meee!” it called.
The singer rolled over. The clock blinked at her.
“It’s 2:01,” it reminded. “D’you know where your mind is?”
“It was in the gutter,” she muttered.
‘Was not,’ a petulant voice answered. ‘S’not my fault.’
“Just shut up, would you?”
‘What?’ the voice snorted. ‘I can’t help it that he’s right there!’
“I don’t have time for this!” Kagome swung out of bed and strode down the hall.
‘Yes!’ the voice was cheering now. ‘Finally! I was beginning to think…you’d…never…Where are you going? He’s right there!’
Ignoring it as best she could, Kagome set about making a mug of tea. Soon, she had her hands wrapped around a steaming mug and was curling up in her favorite thinking spot: the overstuffed chair in the living room.
‘Moonlight hits his hair perfectly, huh?’ the voice was back.
Kagome shot a glance at the sleeping hanyou. “It’d be better if his hair weren’t trying to go up his nose.”
‘Where’s your sense of romance?’
“He’s an arrogant asshole.”
‘I seem to remember telling you the same thing about Hiten…’
“Shut up,” setting her mug on the small table next to the chair, Kagome rose and walked over to the side of the fold-out.
‘Perfect!’ the voice squealed. ‘Now all you have to do is climb in…’
Shaking her head, Kagome brushed a section of hair from Inuyasha’s face.
“Y’know,” he mumbled, still half asleep. “I could probably sue you for that.”
“Sorry,” she moved back to lean against the wall. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he flapped a hand. “Kit did that already.”
“Shippou?”
“Mm-hmm,” he pointed to a small lump. “Something about ‘protecting Momma’.”
“Well, you get back to sleep,” Kagome smiled slightly. “I’ll take him and get out of your way.”
“S’ok,” a rather undignified yawn punctuated the statement. “Leave him. He’s fine.”
“If you’re sure,” she turned to leave. “Just remember, that final’s next week.”
“Yeah, about that,” he cracked an eye open to look at her. “That song scares me.”
“Good night,” she called over her shoulder.
It was obviously morning. Birds were chirping, someone had made coffee, HIM was blaring…And Tero’s face was three inches from his own.
“Good morning!” the other man chimed. “Pancakes or toast?”
“Would you not lean over me when you’ve just eaten bacon?” Inuyasha tried to wave the smell out of his face.
“Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Tero shook his head and walked back to the kitchen. “You can get your own breakfast then!”
“I see you’ve managed to get Tero annoyed,” Kagome was smirking from her place in the doorway.
“Doesn’t seem too hard,” the hanyou was very tempted to roll over and go back to sleep.
“Look,” the singer shoved away from the doorframe. “I’ve got to be to the Municipal in about two hours. You have somewhere you need to be?”
“What time is it?” he asked only to seem like he cared. Truthfully, if he felt like it, he could call the school and say he wouldn’t be there; he'd been subbing for so long while Elizondo recuperated after his knee surgery, he was bound to have at least a day of vacation.
“7:15,” Kagome smiled; he was acting like a five-year-old.
Inuyasha did roll over then. “Too early,” he mumbled.
Saying nothing, the woman walked into the kitchen, retrieved an oversized glass, filled it with ice water, and walked back into the living room.
Five seconds later, in the garage, Tony heard a scream that sounded something like “Damnit, Bitch! That’s cold!”
“Bye, ‘Gome!” Shippou called as he bounded out of the car. “Bye, Meanie!”
Before Kagome could reprimand the kit, the still very cranky hanyou let out a low growl that sent him scampering.
“Grumpy butt,” she shot him a sideways glance.
“That shit was not funny,” he continued staring straight ahead. His left ear flicked intermittently, trying to rid itself of the stubborn droplets that had trickled into it.
“No,” the singer smiled. “It was hilarious.”
Inuyasha’s only response was another low growl.
The school bus in front of the car turned on its flashers and stuck out its ‘STOP’ sign. Rolling her eyes, Kagome put the car in ‘park’ and decided to try to patch things over with the sulking hanyou.
“I’m sorry,” she was determined not to smile, or grin, or even smirk…Until his ear flicked again. After that, she couldn’t help the slight laugh.
“Nice try, Bitch,” he didn’t even glance at her. Instead, he looked down. Perfect, his damn wet hair was making his damn shirt wet. Damn bitch.
He heard the woman sigh and then felt something warm and heavy rest on his shoulder, her head. A quick glance told him she was trying to pull off the ‘doe-eyed’ look.
“No,” he turned to look out the window, not missing the puzzled look that came over her features.
“No?” there was an odd whine to her voice.
“No,” Inuyasha repeated, staring intently out the window. “It’s not going to work.”
“Not even if I offer lunch?”
He paused for a moment, considering, before replying, “No.”
Frowning, Kagome straightened, her head leaving his shoulder. “I didn’t-“ she stopped, phrasing her next sentence carefully. “If- if I hurt you…I didn’t mean to.”
The hanyou turned from the window to level a calculating stare at her.
The car was completely silent for a moment before…
“The bus is moving, Kagome.”
The singer smiled all too brightly for the comment. “Thank you.”
“I thought you burned that shirt,” Miroku frowned at his long-time friend.
“Rin intervened,” the hanyou scowled, picking at one of the buttons. “Stupid bitch.”
“Don’t let Sess hear you say that.”
“Not her,” Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “The other bitch.”
“Alright,” the human racked his brains to try to decipher that statement. “You lost me.”
“She fell asleep in the studio yesterday,” deciding that the annoying button would only be more annoying if it came off, he stopped picking at it.
“That helps how?” Miroku gestured for him to continue.
The hanyou flicked him off. “Anyway, when she woke up she started muttering some stuff I didn’t get and then screaming at the ceiling. Tero mentioned something about her bag and she told him that she ‘wouldn’t take the pills’…Don’t ask, I don’t know. They had a spat, she stormed out, he sent me after her, I followed her, got hit on by some psycho asshole, took some NyQuil and spent the night on her couch,” when Miroku raised an eyebrow suggestively, Inuyasha spat, “You fucking lecher! Get your mind out of the gutter!”
“Nothing happened,” a voice from the door made Miroku jump. “Well, I dumped freezing cold water on his head, but, y’know he’s really hard to wake up.”
“Bracelet, off.”
When she complied, he sniffed the air. “What the fuck are you wearing?”
“A suit that’s been in my car for a week and some really good smelling Bath & Body Works spray,” Kagome walked to one of the stools by the window. Setting down her guitar case, she took the jacket of the suit off.
“I think that’s the least amount of clothing I’ve ever seen you wear,” Miroku smiled.
“Mm-mee ‘lone,” the singer tried to talk around the pick in her mouth.
“Didn’t quite catch that.”
“Leave me alone,” she repeated, adding, “And don’t think I don’t know why you like ‘Wishmaster’ so much.”
“And why’s that?” Inuyasha piped up from his own corner.
“He completely misheard the chorus,” her voice was flat.
The violet-eyed lech smiled innocently, “But I like my version so much better.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” the hanyou frowned slightly. “But what did he hear?”
Kagome’s face burned red, “Master, Apprentice, Hard porn, Seamen seeker,” she mumbled.
“Well,” Miroku grinned. “I’m not the one keeping a sauna warm for a gnome.”
“You’re evil and I hate you,” the singer sniffed and turned her attention to the window.
Golden eyes darted between the room’s other two occupants, “I don’t get it.”
Inutaisho glanced at the ceiling of his classroom for the umpteenth time. It was quiet up there. Too quiet.
Sure there’d been scattered spurts of electrics and someone fudging the melody line to Stairway to Heaven, but it had been deathly silent for about twenty minutes now. It was quite worrisome… Especially considering that it was his son up there.
Shoving his grading aside, the elder youkai decided to satisfy his curiosity. He was midway up the stairs when an odd yell of “No!” caused him to run up the remaining flights.
He threw open the door, expecting to find some horrible scene, and was surprised to find three amazingly bored young adults.
“Still don’t know why ‘Truth or Dare’ is out,” Miroku sulked near the center of the room.
“One, you suggested it,” Kagome raised a finger. “Two, there are two of you, one of me, and you’ve already cheated at poker. Three, I hate that damn game.”
“Why’s that?” Inuyasha, half-asleep, spun around in his chair again.
“I always get the really weird dares!” the singer began to tick off various examples. “Seven Minutes in Heaven with a stuffed animal, Killer Shrew, Hop on one foot and sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot’, Karaoke to an Ywngie Malmsteen song-“
“Is that possible?” the hanyou stopped mid-spin.
“If you have absolutely no shame and the added bonus of a whistle register, sometimes,” she shrugged. “You look like an idiot anyway.”
“Whistle register?” Miroku tilted his head.
“Above E6.”
“E-What now?”
The singer narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to make me sing it, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” he smiled brilliantly.
Throwing up her hands, Kagome cried out, “Fine! Whatever! Cover your ears!”
Inuyasha could only guess that the last bit was directed at him. He barely managed to pin his ears back when she opened her mouth and let out a piercing sound.
It wasn’t a scream, it was far too controlled, but she wasn’t exactly singing either, the sound was just… there.
It continued for about three seconds before she shut her mouth. Fixing Miroku with a glare, she spoke again, “Whistle register.”
“I’ve got a dare for all of you,” Tai broke in, leaning against the door. “Do something productive.”
“I like that one,” Miroku had a very odd smirk.
“Productive,” Inuyasha threw whatever happened to be in front of him at the lech. “Not reproductive.”
Ignoring the minor melodrama, Tai addressed the singer, “Did you get a chance to work on that thing I talked with you about?”
“Candide?” she asked.
He nodded.
“I’ve been working on it,” a hand ran through her hair. “But that number’s a pain in the ass without staging.”
The musical theatre sponsor snorted, “It’s supposed to be.”
The singer stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t know why you want me to do it, anyway.”
“Cause he’s sadistic,” Inuyasha’s eyes were closed again.
Miroku turned to the history professor, “I’d ground him.”
At that moment, an annoyingly cheerful chime rang through the room, followed by the announcement, “Teachers, please release the seniors and juniors to the assembly hall. Seniors and juniors to the assembly hall.”
“Prom meeting?” Kagome guessed.
The Final Fantasy villain’s theme began to float through the air. Miroku began looking for the source of the sound while Tai and Inuyasha turned to Kagome.
“What?” the singer shrank back slightly, already fishing the phone from her bag. “I’m a dork!”
The chime rang again. “Freshmen and sophomores to the assembly hall. Freshmen and sophomores to the assembly hall.”
“Hello?” Kagome had finally found her cell.
“There some sort of party we don’t know about?” Inuyasha asked his father, whose only reply was a shrug.
The color began to drain from Kagome’s face. “And when was this?”
“Ok, not a party.”
The chime came for a third time. “Would the following teachers please report to the lounge: Aredan, Brishell, Loderson, Mamoru-“
Neither father nor son moved, instead they simply glanced up at the intercom.
“-Sorry. ‘I’ Mamoru and….’I’ Mamoru…Odd…Orten, Quinn, Steffen, and Vorton. Again, would those teachers please report to the lounge.”
“I’ll be there in forty minutes,” she disconnected the call, threw the phone into her bag, clenched her hands into fists, and screamed, “That bitch!”
“Do you even know where it is?” a still visibly fuming Kagome glared at the back of the hanyou’s head.
“Of course I know where it is!” he shot her a matching glare in the rearview. “These fuckers won’t move!”
Sure enough, there were only brake lights ahead.
“I don’t have time for this,” the singer mumbled before snapping out, “Get back here! I’m driving!”
Deciding, for once, not to argue, Inuyasha undid his seatbelt and, rolling his eyes, sneered, “Yes, your Highness.”
Tai craned his neck to exchange weary glances with Miroku. If the situation weren’t so urgent, the Inu-youkai would probably have told the two to calm down. As it was…Well…When dealing with a mother figure, the first rule of survival was to never threaten her young. Simply put, Tai was hoping Ms. Winslow would get every bit of what was coming to her.
Centripetal force cut off his line of thought as the SUV made a sharp, and probably illegal, turn. After several other, similar maneuvers, Tai found himself missing his son’s driving.
A haphazard and high-speed navigation of back roads had them at the day-care/Elementary school within twenty minutes.
Not really caring about proper parking etiquette, Kagome swerved into a nearby street, slammed on the brakes, threw the vehicle into park, and turned off the engine. She was about to leap from the SUV when a quick glance in the rearview made her do a double take.
Not one, but two violet-eyed, black-haired humans looked back at her. The one on the right was obviously Miroku; the placid expression was a dead giveaway. The other, however, looked annoyed.
She shot a glance to her old History professor. Blue eyes and gunmetal-gray hair met her gaze.
Shaking her head to clear it, she muttered, “Warn me next time.”
The scene was actually better than expected. A large crowd, perhaps two hundred but probably less, was crowded around the bullhorn armed Ms. Winslow.
“…Would have us believe that these ‘children’ are innocent!” she was yelling. “Harmless! I ask you: is any creature whose forefathers have slaughtered innocent humans innocent!”
A resounding ‘No!’ answered her.
“She’s been at it for about thirty minutes now,” an observing voice announced once the small group had reached the perimeter of the school. “She does the same speech at any ‘rally’.”
Inuyasha glanced skeptically at the newcomer. ‘Great,’ he thought. ‘A reporter.’
Aloud, he said, “Why the hell are you over here? Nothing’s happening.”
Andrew Vaughn sighed. Tucking his pen behind his ear, he spoke, “That’s not the story. That’s a show put on for the news crews. The story is inside that building, with those kids who are probably too young to understand what’s going on but are terrified anyway.”
“Speaking of ‘those kids’,” another new voice joined the group. “I’d like to get mine out of there.”
“Naraku, Kikyou,” Kagome smiled absently, eyes darting to the pair before returning to the still screaming figure of Ms. Winslow. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Ignore her,” Inuyasha frowned. “She’s not all there today.”
Tai snorted. “Anyway,” he turned to Naraku. “You were saying?”
Naraku’s eyes darted from one face to the other. He was confused but he shook it off and continued, “I’d like to get my daughter out of there.”
Kikyou spoke calmly, staring at the building, assessing the situation, “We could get in through one of those windows. But to get over there without any trouble, we’d need-“
Kagome cut her off, “A distraction. I’m on it.”
Kikyou, very confused, looked from Kagome’s retreating figure back to Naraku, “I wasn’t thinking distraction…Were you thinking distraction?”
“I was thinking ‘shield’,” he admitted.
Tai shrugged, “Like he said, she’s not all there.”
“Where’d she get distraction from?” Miroku turned to Inuyasha, who was watching Kagome intently.
“Oh shit,” the hanyou remarked dully. Then, he began a very odd chant of, “Bad idea, bad idea, very bad idea!”
They were just about to ask him what the hell he was talking about when Kagome’s voice rang out.
“Hey! Hitler-bitch! Remember me?”
Hands on her hips, Kagome had climbed on top of a car to ensure that she’d be seen.
Winslow, her lip curling in a sneer, spoke without the bullhorn, “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Aww!” Kagome smiled and shrugged her shoulders cutely. “I’m so delighted!” Then her voice took on a ‘Valley-girl’ tone, “Anyway, what is up with you? Still pretending to be a leader?”
Winslow’s eyes became slits, “Still pretending to be respectable?”
“Ouch,” the smile became a pout. “That one hurt.”
Massaging his temples, Inuyasha spoke to the rest of the group, “Get inside, I’ll make sure she doesn’t get her ass killed.”
“Just a question,” Kagome’s voice broke in, innocent and birdlike. “You do know that you’re protesting kids who can’t even tie their shoes yet, right?”
“A tiger cannot hunt alone for the first period of its life,” the imperial blonde sounded bored. “Does that make it any less of a killer later? Darling,” she took on a falsely mothering tone. “The thing you need to learn is that corruption knows no boundaries, whether age or class.”
“I can tell,” Kagome answered flatly. Gesturing to people in the crowd, she continued, “There’s like a three-year-old over there and I think this guy’s on City Council.”
“That was not what I meant.”
“Look,” Kagome completely dropped the act. She was pissed and showing it. “I don’t give a damn what you meant! You’ve terrified children who have no idea what’s going on! Your ‘right to free speech’ ends where their safety begins and, so help me God, if any one of them is hurt in any way, I will make sure your ass is sued so fast you won’t know what hit you! And you can stop with this little ‘power rally’ right now! You wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for the-“
She never got to finish that sentence. Three things happened simultaneously, a black-haired blur knocked her off of the car, a loud ‘crack’ sounded, and a strange wave of heat passed by her ear.
Kagome barely had time to react before Inuyasha was on his feet, slinging her over his shoulder and taking off running.
“What the hell is your problem!” she began pounding insistently on his back. “Put me down!”
A growl rumbled through him and she found herself unceremoniously dumped on the ground. “As you wish.”
Rubbing her bruised backside, she glared at the hanyou, who looked equally pissed off, “I really don’t know what your problem is, but I swear you are wearing on my last nerve!”
He raised an eyebrow at that. “I’m on your last nerve?” he scoffed. “You stupid, selfish bit-“
“There they are!” apparently, fifty of the mob had been angry enough to give chase.
Rising, Kagome glanced at the mob, then turned to Inuyasha, a hopeful expression on her face, “Run now? Fight later?”
In response, he grabbed her hand and began running, not really caring where he was headed. That was working out fine…Until he led them into a dead end alley.
Kagome stared at him blankly, “Now what, genius?”
The mob was about three hundred feet away.
“This is entirely your fault!” Inuyasha exploded.
“My fault?” Kagome yanked her hand away from him, her back to the mob.
“Yeah,” he turned and glared down at her. “If you’d just listen for once-“
Two hundred feet.
“I did! They needed to get in the building! To get in they needed-“
“A shield!” he cut her off. “A shield! Not some suicidal moron jumping on a car!”
“So…What?” they were nearly nose to nose and the mob was only about a hundred feet away. “You think I can just fling my arm out,” she threw an arm out towards the oncoming mob, “and create a shield!”
Peering over the top of her head, Inuyasha allowed a small smirk. The mob was now encased in a shimmering pink bubble. Even better, every time one of them pounded on it, they got a jolt.
“As a matter of fact,” he looked back down at the singer. “I do.”
“Good,” she smiled. “’Cause I can. Head back?”
“Yeah, only, let’s try going in the back?”
“Sounds good.”
“Have a nice run?” Tai asked the two climbing in the broken window.
His son ever-so-eloquently flipped him off, while Kagome merely smiled brightly, saying, “Uh-huh! And how are you guys?”
“Been better,” the professor shrugged.
Turning serious, the singer asked, “How are the kids?”
“Scared,” Tai swallowed. “Very, very scared.”
“Kikyou’s helping them?”
He nodded.
“Can we move?” Inuyasha’s very annoyed voice reached them.
Kagome gave him a slight glare, then turned back to Tai. “Do you have an ‘arrogant jerk’ personality buried somewhere? ‘Cause I know that did not come from his mother.”
Tai’s analysis of ‘very, very scared’ wasn’t quite accurate. The children, over a hundred in number, huddled together in one corner of the gym next to their teachers, Vaughn, Kikyou, Miroku, and Naraku (who made a rather cute picture holding his daughter), screamed when three other adults entered the room.
Then, realizing who it was, Shippo squirmed away from the group and bounded into Kagome’s arms. Lip quivering, he announced, “I don’t like this one, Momma.”
Holding him close, she murmured, “Sweetie, it’s only the second day…This is just a really bad day for everyone.”
The four finally made their way over to the other adults in the room.
“I’m merely curious,” Miroku raised his hands in a placating gesture. “But what did you mean by ‘remember me’?”
“We’ve met,” Kagome answered shortly.
A strict-but-kindly-looking woman spoke up, “Now that your friends have arrived, why don’t we work out a system?” Her voice had a downward inflection that proved calming. “We’ll need two to bring something back from the kitchen; the children will be calmer if they have something to eat. They,” she gestured to Kikyou and Naraku, “are already keeping them in one area. And we’ll need to set up a watch on the roof, to tell us if they leave or decide to ‘storm’ the school.”
“I can do that,” Kagome offered, still holding Shippou.
“Not alone,” Inuyasha snapped immediately. “You’d find some way to get yourself hurt.”
“What?” she whirled on him. “You don’t thi-“
“He’s right,” the other woman cut her off. “It would be best if two went.” She smiled now, “And since you two volunteered: through the double doors there’s a concession area, the stairway on the right leads to the roof.”
The fifty morons were probably hopelessly lost; they hadn’t come back yet. Winslow was still posturing, but she seemed to have lost some of her steam. The news crews, however, were still eating up every word.
Kagome, sitting on the gravel covering the rooftop, rolled her eyes. “Pain in the ass neo-nazis…”
The hanyou, crouched next to her, snorted.
The two stayed quiet for a moment before Inuyasha asked a question that had been bothering him.
“What the hell did you mean ‘I know he didn’t get that from his mother’?”
“I said it to get you to shut up. End of story.”
“And why did I see her when-“ he broke off.
“When that drunk jumped onstage?”
“Yeah.”
“It was a glamour,” she explained. “A way to keep me from being recognized. Some people saw a woman they loved dearly, others saw a woman they felt needed to forgive them,” she shrugged, then smiled gently. “Her death wasn’t your fault.”
He turned suddenly and fixed her with a hard glare, “You know jack shit about my mother.”
Still softly smiling, she answered, “I know that she loved you and wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”
He ‘keh’d and turned away, “If I hear one more person say that, I’ll rip their fucking throat out.”
“Hey, at least your mother remembered you!” she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.
Kagome expected him to call her on it and start a conversation that she really did not want started, but instead he asked, “Who’s Souta?”
“What?”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. “You said his name, and then Tero said you ‘followed’ him into the forest. Who is he?”
“He was my brother,” she said softly. “He died in a car accident.”
“Alright,” he nodded slowly. “Now I’m confused.”
“How do you follow someone who’s dead?” Kagome ventured.
“Exactly.”
“It’s a miko thing.”
“Explain.”
“Kikyou sees energies, emotions,” she started. “She can sense when someone is disturbed and she can calm them. It’s almost like they’re meditating. I see shades, memories. I can make them disappear, but it’s only temporary…Really temporary. Two weeks at most.”
Inuyasha was completely lost. “So, you’re more powerful than Kikyou?”
“No!” she said quickly. “God, no. She- she can do things I could never do if I trained for a million years. She’s been able to crystallize her power, she can tell what others are thinking just by looking at them, she can form this- this blanket that, well, I have no clue what the hell it does, but it’s kept so many fights from starting, it’s unreal.”
“Hero worship?” he grinned slightly.
“No,” she gave a small, sad smile that, for some reason, bothered him. “I just know that she’s better than I am.”
Then the self-pitying look was gone and she was cheerful again, “Hey! They’re leaving!”
Well, they're getting along...Trust me, the whole not-quite-a-heart-to-heart convo deal will play in...What else are two semi-claustrophobic/mild-insomniacs going to do on a tourbus late at night? Perverts need not answer.
Oh and as for the mention of Hiten...I rather like making him a villain...But at the same time, I pity Manten...I'm very, very weird...I'm also very, very tired and my meds are beginning to make me loopy...er...So, goodnight all, and review please!