Even just a day ago, Inu Yasha would never have been able to imagine himself at a party with humans, much less enjoying himself as much as he was that evening. He sat at a table with his friends (he found he was comfortable calling them that), drinking and listening to Shunusuke's band. Hisui and Sesshomaru shared a table with Mikoto and Tsurai on the other side of the room, which suited Inu Yasha just fine. He was also cool with Hojo's company, though he'd come to the beach hating the guy's guts and spoiling to fight him for Kagome. Hojo seemed much more interested in Kagome's friend Rei. Good boy. Kagome was getting drowsy (that, or she was trying to drop a hint) and sat beside Inu Yasha with her head on his shoulder and her eyes at half mast as she listened to the conversation around her. Yuki and Miroku were back and way too cozy for Inu Yasha's liking. At least they'd bathed before returning to the party, for which Inu Yasha and his sensitive nose were grateful. He'd never liked the smell of overexerted humans. For two people who had just spent most of the evening having sex, Miroku and Yuki were remarkably perky. Even Sango wasn't sulking anymore. She sat on Inu Yasha's other side, sipping something called a Long Island Tea and looking quite content. She hadn't even made a fuss when Shunusuke had parked himself next to her during his last break. Shunusuke obviously seemed to think he was making progress with the demon hunter, but Inu Yasha had a feeling Sango's drink had more to do with her good humor than Shunusuke's charm.
He watched Yuki and Miroku holding hands and chatting with their faces almost close enough to kiss, their eyes shining and happy. Then he looked at Rei and Hojo, who sat close together (though not as close as Yuki and Miroku), laughing about something some girl at their school had done in gym class. Shippo was getting Myouga soused again by dipping his finger in Sango's drink when she wasn't looking and letting the flea sip the droplet from his fingertip. The little kitsune didn't seem too upset over losing his girl to a human and even seemed to like Hojo. Every once in a while, Shippo would cast a mischievous look at Inu Yasha and Kagome, probably wondering when the pair was going to disappear together, as Yuki and her pet priest had earlier. Well, he was gonna wait a long time, Inu Yasha thought sourly. He didn't think Kagome was that kind of a girl, no matter how much she teased him. He knew she was just being cute (and sexy and exciting and…)
Sigh. Inu Yasha closed his eyes and replayed everything Kagome had said to him or that he'd overheard her say about him that evening.
Inu Yasha Flashback
"You mean you've never thought about doing that with Inu Yasha?!" Rei asked Kagome incredulously as they huddled together by the bar, waiting for Inu Yasha and Hojo to return with fresh drinks.
Kagome blushed. "You mean, what Yuki and Miroku did? Rei!"
They giggled. "You can't tell me you haven't thought about doing something with him, Kagome. You know, like kissing—"
"Done that." Big, happy sigh. They giggled again.
"That good, huh?"
Kagome sighed again. "Very good. It was wonderful!"
Rei squealed with delight. "Did he hold you really close?"
"Very."
"What else did he do?"
"Rei!" Kagome looked around nervously. "What if he can hear us?"
Later…
"Well, ok, I sort of thought about…you know…him kissing me someplace other than my lips…" Kagome confessed to Rei and Sango when she thought Inu Yasha was too occupied talking guy stuff with Hojo and Shippo. Or maybe she was really counting on his radar ears to pick up every word.
Rei and Sango gasped in unison. "Really?" Rei prodded. "Like…where?"
Kagome was in dreamland. "And his hands are so…the way he touches me…"
"Touches you?!" The girls squeaked. "He touches—" Rei began, but Kagome cut her off.
"Not like that!" Kagome scolded her. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Rei!"
Later…
Inu Yasha and Kagome danced to a slow song. By now he was a little muzzy from too much beer (even a demon can overdo it) and was convinced he was in heaven with her body swaying against his, and her head resting against his shoulder. "She's so soft…" he thought as he tangled his fingers in her hair and rested his chin on her head.
She looked up at him, and he gave her a long, deep, warm kiss, ignoring the stares of the other partygoers, who practically stopped everything to watch them. When he finally released her, she sighed and whispered: "You're really good at that."
End of Flashback
Inu Yasha smiled and rested his head against Kagome's, his eyes still contentedly closed. That is, until Shippo noticed what he was doing.
"Now's your chance!" The kitsune hissed at him. "Take her upstairs, Inu Ya—URK!"
Inu Yasha reached around Sango and shut him up with a fist to the stomach. "Don't spoil it, fox."
Shippo peeped an apology.
"Upstairs?" Kagome mumbled with a sly smile. "What kind of a girl do you think I am, Shippo?" She kept her head on Inu Yasha's shoulder and her eyes serenely closed.
Shippo gulped and let go a string of very humble apologies, which were cut off by the necessity of catching Myouga as he passed out and almost tumbled straight off the table. Sango giggled and hiccuped, then her eyes rolled up into her head and she started a slow slide off her chair, and Shippo struggled to rescue her, as well, only to find himself being dragged toward the floor by her superior size and weight.
With an aggravated sigh, Inu Yasha grabbed the back of Sango's dress and hauled her back onto her chair. She immediately started to slip again. "Great," Inu Yasha muttered as he reluctantly got up and hoisted Sango into his arms. "I guess I should take her to the condo, or something." He gave Kagome an apologetic look and said: "I'll be right back. Shippo, gimme Myouga." The kitsune gulped and gently lay Myouga on Sango's belly.
As he passed her, Kagome purred: "I'm kind of tired, so I'll be in my room."
Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa. Inu Yasha grinned a dopey grin and nodded stupidly. "Uh-ok." All of a sudden his mouth was incredibly dry, and he was cold sober. In her room… As he headed out the door with Sango in his arms and Shippo (carrying Myouga) on his shoulder, all Inu Yasha could think about was Kagome's suggestion at the start of the party that maybe she'd dance for him sometime when they were alone. He got a really good picture of that in his mind and once again heard her telling Rei about his nice hands and how she wanted him to kiss her someplace other than her lips. His silly grin got even sillier as he thought happily: "There is a god!"
Hisui watched Inu Yasha go out of the corner of her eye and smiled a clever smile. "Your brother is leaving with the wrong girl, Darling," she commented offhandedly to Sesshomaru, who raised a disinterested eyebrow.
"His friend had too much to drink, and he's taking her home," Sesshomaru shrugged. "Isn't he nice?"
"Charming," Hisui giggled. "I never imagined one of Nishi's boys could be so sweet—oh!" She gave herself a gentle smack on the forehead. "Silly me! She's human, isn't she? Of course Inu Yasha would treat her like a princess!"
Sesshomaru shook his head and chuckled. "All of your children had human fathers, didn't they, Hisui?"
Hisui's jaw shut with a snap.
"I've often wondered why you chose humans to sire your offspring," Sesshomaru continued in a thoughtful voice. He twirled his glass, watching Mikoto shift uncomfortably directly across the table from him. "You could have had me at any time, you know," he sighed, "but you never noticed me until now. I've often wondered about that, as well."
Hisui's jaw dropped back open and she blinked a few times, as if confused. She didn't dare look at Sesshomaru when she asked: "You—you've wanted me…for a long time? How long?"
He shrugged. "A few centuries," then he smiled a little and added: "But I never imagined the great Hisui Oukami could want an whelp like me, so I didn't try to contact you. Anyway," he sighed, "you might have interpreted it as a challenge and fought me. I could never have defeated you in my youth."
She chuckled. "Meaning you think you could defeat me now?" She leaned over and lay her head on his shoulder, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.
"I'll never fight you, Hisui, so your question will simply have to remain unanswered." With that, he gave her a quick peck on the forehead and went back to sipping his Midori and soda.
Mikoto and Tsurai looked like they were going to be sick.
Inu Yasha lay Sango on the bed, then lay Myouga on a pile of tissues on the nightstand beside her. He turned to go but stopped in the doorway and looked back at his friends, an inexplicable feeling of unease in his gut. Maybe he shouldn't leave Sango unguarded with Hisui and her lackeys running loose. In her place, he'd see this as a golden opportunity to strike a blow against him and Kagome. Well, if he was going to stay here instead of meeting Kagome in her hotel room, he should let her know. He grimaced. He'd much rather be alone with Kagome than sit guard on Sango. Hm. Maybe Shunusuke could watch her if he was done playing. The party seemed to be winding down a little when he left, but what did he know about parties? No, Shunusuke might be in cahoots with his relatives, after all. Miroku? Now that Yuki had his attention maybe the priest could be trusted not to take advantage of Sango in her inebriated condition. As soon as he thought of it, Inu Yasha rejected the idea. Miroku would bring Yuki along, and the two of them would spend their time having sex, instead of protecting Sango.
Well, there was nothing for it but to try to convince Kagome to come here, and if anybody else tagged along, he'd just deal with it.
SIGH.
Inu Yasha picked up the phone, then realized he had no earthly idea how to use it to contact Kagome. Shit. Now what? He racked his brains trying to remember the crash course Shunusuke and Keiichi had given him over the weekend. Something about a sequence of numbers being entered—right! Shippo had Kagome's numbers on a piece of paper! But what had the little furball done with that paper?! Shitshitshitshitshit! Inu Yasha rifled through the nightstand drawers, then the dresser drawers, then his own clothes, then went out to the living room to search there. No paper. Kitchen? He looked everywhere, in every drawer, on every counter, even in the spice jars. Nothing.
"SHIPPO!"
Ok, he coached himself, be calm. If he was Shippo, what would he do with that piece of paper? Inu Yasha thought about it for a while, then realized with an angry groan that the kitsune had probably kept it on his person.
"No wait! He gave it me! Fuck! What'd I do with it?!" He ran to the other bedroom and almost choked on the smell. Pinching his nose shut with one hand, he searched every available drawer and pocket with the other and came up dry. Then he checked the bathroom, but it wasn't there, either. Inu Yasha was finally forced to admit that the little piece of paper was nowhere to be found: Not in drawers, clothes, jars or even trash baskets. Where hadn't he looked?
Think. Think. Think. Think. OH! Inu Yasha jumped up off the living room couch and pulled off the cushions, throwing them over his head without a care for what they crashed into. "FUCK!" He turned his attack on the chair in the living room, then the chairs around the kitchen table, then ran into the bathroom and upended the clothes hamper, strewing dirty clothes all over the floor. He fell upon the pile with a vengeance, tossing panties and shorts and bras and T-shirts and briefs all over the place.
"ARGH!"
He sat in the middle of the bathroom floor and panted in absolute frustration with a pair of Yuki's panties hanging off of one of his ears. Pieces of paper didn't just disappear, dammit, where had it gone? He dug around in his pockets once more: Nothing but jewel shards. With an angry snarl he got up to return to Sango's room and think some more then caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze. "Shit." He yanked the panties off his ear with a great, big blush and threw them over his shoulder. "This sucks."
Inu Yasha sat down on the end of the bed to sulk. Maybe if he thought about it hard enough, Shunusuke could hear him with that Jedi mind trick thing he said he had. Feh! Just his luck, Hisui would hear him instead. After a while, he noticed Sango was shivering, so he picked her up, pulled down the coverlet, set her back down and covered her up. The things he did for these feeble humans! It then occurred to him that certain not-so-feeble part-humans had done quite a bit for him, and he'd just trashed their house, so with a weary sigh, he started to clean up his mess.
"Couldn't hurt to try that Jedi thing…"
The feeling that someone badly wanted his presence persisted for a full half hour before Shunusuke decided it wasn't his imagination and wrapped his last set so he could find a quiet spot to figure out who was trying to contact him. Since everybody else who knew about his ability was in the room, he reasoned it must be Inu Yasha. Judging from the anxious feelings he was also receiving, something was wrong. He just hoped it had nothing to do with Sango. He'd seen Inu Yasha carry her out and had assumed she'd just passed out after drinking to much. Well, one way to find out if that was in fact the case. He caught Kagome as she rose to leave.
"What was wrong with Sango?" Shunusuke asked, failing to keep the worry out of his voice.
Kagome picked up on it and frowned. "She had too much to drink. Why?" She couldn't keep her eyes from wandering to where Hisui's party sat. The demon lord was watching her and Shunusuke talk. Great. Kagome drew closer to Shunusuke. "You don't think Hisui did anything to her, do you?"
Shunusuke shook his head. "I don't know. I've been feeling Inu Yasha trying to reach me for the last half hour, and he's anxious about something. Did he go back to the condo?"
Kagome nodded. "He said he'd be back, though." Not if something bad had happened, he wouldn't, or if he feared for Sango. "Do you think something's happened?" Come to think of it, she hadn't seen that freak Shinnai all evening… Kagome's stomach clenched into a chilly knot as the others gathered around her worriedly.
"Kagome, what's wrong?" Miroku demanded cautiously, looking from her to Shunusuke.
"One way to find out," Shunusuke sighed and headed for the door, Kagome, Yuki, Miroku and Shippo right behind him.
Hisui curiously watched them go, reaching out to touch Shunusuke's mind with her own only to find her probe blocked by a surprisingly solid mental wall. Hmph! Cocky pup. She broke the wall but found a complex maze beyond. "Not bad at all," she thought with a pleased smile. It seemed Mikoto had finally produced a child worthy of her name. Too bad he was such a peacenik.
The gang ran as fast as they could down the beach toward the condo, fearing the worst. Shunusuke's worried expression didn't help their collective peace of mind any, especially Kagome, who could easily imagine the kind of trouble Inu Yasha could get into. Even the most innocent situation seemed to turn into the gravest danger with him. Must be his karma, she thought (and hers, too, by association). And here she'd been imagining a romantic night spent all alone with Inu Yasha—sigh—kissing, cuddling, flirting. He might even have been in the mood to bare his soul for once. They could've had a heart-to-heart talk! AUGH! Damn his stupid karma!
By the time they arrived at the condo, all but Shippo were out of breath, but still they charged up the stairs, piled through the front door and into the house to find Inu Yasha standing in the middle of the living room floor with his hands on his hips, his ears laid back and major scowl on his face.
"WHICH OF YOU ASSHOLES HID KAGOME'S PHONE NUMBER?!"
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Kagome's blood boiled. She clenched her fists, her face turned red, her eyes squeezed shut, and she screamed: "THAT'S IT?! THAT'S WHAT YOU BUGGED SHUNUSUKE ABOUT?! MY STUPID PHONE NUMBER?!"
Gulp. "Uh…well, I, um, wanted to tell you, um, that I should stay here and, um, protect—"
"SIT!"
He watched Yuki and Miroku holding hands and chatting with their faces almost close enough to kiss, their eyes shining and happy. Then he looked at Rei and Hojo, who sat close together (though not as close as Yuki and Miroku), laughing about something some girl at their school had done in gym class. Shippo was getting Myouga soused again by dipping his finger in Sango's drink when she wasn't looking and letting the flea sip the droplet from his fingertip. The little kitsune didn't seem too upset over losing his girl to a human and even seemed to like Hojo. Every once in a while, Shippo would cast a mischievous look at Inu Yasha and Kagome, probably wondering when the pair was going to disappear together, as Yuki and her pet priest had earlier. Well, he was gonna wait a long time, Inu Yasha thought sourly. He didn't think Kagome was that kind of a girl, no matter how much she teased him. He knew she was just being cute (and sexy and exciting and…)
Sigh. Inu Yasha closed his eyes and replayed everything Kagome had said to him or that he'd overheard her say about him that evening.
Inu Yasha Flashback
"You mean you've never thought about doing that with Inu Yasha?!" Rei asked Kagome incredulously as they huddled together by the bar, waiting for Inu Yasha and Hojo to return with fresh drinks.
Kagome blushed. "You mean, what Yuki and Miroku did? Rei!"
They giggled. "You can't tell me you haven't thought about doing something with him, Kagome. You know, like kissing—"
"Done that." Big, happy sigh. They giggled again.
"That good, huh?"
Kagome sighed again. "Very good. It was wonderful!"
Rei squealed with delight. "Did he hold you really close?"
"Very."
"What else did he do?"
"Rei!" Kagome looked around nervously. "What if he can hear us?"
Later…
"Well, ok, I sort of thought about…you know…him kissing me someplace other than my lips…" Kagome confessed to Rei and Sango when she thought Inu Yasha was too occupied talking guy stuff with Hojo and Shippo. Or maybe she was really counting on his radar ears to pick up every word.
Rei and Sango gasped in unison. "Really?" Rei prodded. "Like…where?"
Kagome was in dreamland. "And his hands are so…the way he touches me…"
"Touches you?!" The girls squeaked. "He touches—" Rei began, but Kagome cut her off.
"Not like that!" Kagome scolded her. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Rei!"
Later…
Inu Yasha and Kagome danced to a slow song. By now he was a little muzzy from too much beer (even a demon can overdo it) and was convinced he was in heaven with her body swaying against his, and her head resting against his shoulder. "She's so soft…" he thought as he tangled his fingers in her hair and rested his chin on her head.
She looked up at him, and he gave her a long, deep, warm kiss, ignoring the stares of the other partygoers, who practically stopped everything to watch them. When he finally released her, she sighed and whispered: "You're really good at that."
End of Flashback
Inu Yasha smiled and rested his head against Kagome's, his eyes still contentedly closed. That is, until Shippo noticed what he was doing.
"Now's your chance!" The kitsune hissed at him. "Take her upstairs, Inu Ya—URK!"
Inu Yasha reached around Sango and shut him up with a fist to the stomach. "Don't spoil it, fox."
Shippo peeped an apology.
"Upstairs?" Kagome mumbled with a sly smile. "What kind of a girl do you think I am, Shippo?" She kept her head on Inu Yasha's shoulder and her eyes serenely closed.
Shippo gulped and let go a string of very humble apologies, which were cut off by the necessity of catching Myouga as he passed out and almost tumbled straight off the table. Sango giggled and hiccuped, then her eyes rolled up into her head and she started a slow slide off her chair, and Shippo struggled to rescue her, as well, only to find himself being dragged toward the floor by her superior size and weight.
With an aggravated sigh, Inu Yasha grabbed the back of Sango's dress and hauled her back onto her chair. She immediately started to slip again. "Great," Inu Yasha muttered as he reluctantly got up and hoisted Sango into his arms. "I guess I should take her to the condo, or something." He gave Kagome an apologetic look and said: "I'll be right back. Shippo, gimme Myouga." The kitsune gulped and gently lay Myouga on Sango's belly.
As he passed her, Kagome purred: "I'm kind of tired, so I'll be in my room."
Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa. Inu Yasha grinned a dopey grin and nodded stupidly. "Uh-ok." All of a sudden his mouth was incredibly dry, and he was cold sober. In her room… As he headed out the door with Sango in his arms and Shippo (carrying Myouga) on his shoulder, all Inu Yasha could think about was Kagome's suggestion at the start of the party that maybe she'd dance for him sometime when they were alone. He got a really good picture of that in his mind and once again heard her telling Rei about his nice hands and how she wanted him to kiss her someplace other than her lips. His silly grin got even sillier as he thought happily: "There is a god!"
Hisui watched Inu Yasha go out of the corner of her eye and smiled a clever smile. "Your brother is leaving with the wrong girl, Darling," she commented offhandedly to Sesshomaru, who raised a disinterested eyebrow.
"His friend had too much to drink, and he's taking her home," Sesshomaru shrugged. "Isn't he nice?"
"Charming," Hisui giggled. "I never imagined one of Nishi's boys could be so sweet—oh!" She gave herself a gentle smack on the forehead. "Silly me! She's human, isn't she? Of course Inu Yasha would treat her like a princess!"
Sesshomaru shook his head and chuckled. "All of your children had human fathers, didn't they, Hisui?"
Hisui's jaw shut with a snap.
"I've often wondered why you chose humans to sire your offspring," Sesshomaru continued in a thoughtful voice. He twirled his glass, watching Mikoto shift uncomfortably directly across the table from him. "You could have had me at any time, you know," he sighed, "but you never noticed me until now. I've often wondered about that, as well."
Hisui's jaw dropped back open and she blinked a few times, as if confused. She didn't dare look at Sesshomaru when she asked: "You—you've wanted me…for a long time? How long?"
He shrugged. "A few centuries," then he smiled a little and added: "But I never imagined the great Hisui Oukami could want an whelp like me, so I didn't try to contact you. Anyway," he sighed, "you might have interpreted it as a challenge and fought me. I could never have defeated you in my youth."
She chuckled. "Meaning you think you could defeat me now?" She leaned over and lay her head on his shoulder, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.
"I'll never fight you, Hisui, so your question will simply have to remain unanswered." With that, he gave her a quick peck on the forehead and went back to sipping his Midori and soda.
Mikoto and Tsurai looked like they were going to be sick.
Inu Yasha lay Sango on the bed, then lay Myouga on a pile of tissues on the nightstand beside her. He turned to go but stopped in the doorway and looked back at his friends, an inexplicable feeling of unease in his gut. Maybe he shouldn't leave Sango unguarded with Hisui and her lackeys running loose. In her place, he'd see this as a golden opportunity to strike a blow against him and Kagome. Well, if he was going to stay here instead of meeting Kagome in her hotel room, he should let her know. He grimaced. He'd much rather be alone with Kagome than sit guard on Sango. Hm. Maybe Shunusuke could watch her if he was done playing. The party seemed to be winding down a little when he left, but what did he know about parties? No, Shunusuke might be in cahoots with his relatives, after all. Miroku? Now that Yuki had his attention maybe the priest could be trusted not to take advantage of Sango in her inebriated condition. As soon as he thought of it, Inu Yasha rejected the idea. Miroku would bring Yuki along, and the two of them would spend their time having sex, instead of protecting Sango.
Well, there was nothing for it but to try to convince Kagome to come here, and if anybody else tagged along, he'd just deal with it.
SIGH.
Inu Yasha picked up the phone, then realized he had no earthly idea how to use it to contact Kagome. Shit. Now what? He racked his brains trying to remember the crash course Shunusuke and Keiichi had given him over the weekend. Something about a sequence of numbers being entered—right! Shippo had Kagome's numbers on a piece of paper! But what had the little furball done with that paper?! Shitshitshitshitshit! Inu Yasha rifled through the nightstand drawers, then the dresser drawers, then his own clothes, then went out to the living room to search there. No paper. Kitchen? He looked everywhere, in every drawer, on every counter, even in the spice jars. Nothing.
"SHIPPO!"
Ok, he coached himself, be calm. If he was Shippo, what would he do with that piece of paper? Inu Yasha thought about it for a while, then realized with an angry groan that the kitsune had probably kept it on his person.
"No wait! He gave it me! Fuck! What'd I do with it?!" He ran to the other bedroom and almost choked on the smell. Pinching his nose shut with one hand, he searched every available drawer and pocket with the other and came up dry. Then he checked the bathroom, but it wasn't there, either. Inu Yasha was finally forced to admit that the little piece of paper was nowhere to be found: Not in drawers, clothes, jars or even trash baskets. Where hadn't he looked?
Think. Think. Think. Think. OH! Inu Yasha jumped up off the living room couch and pulled off the cushions, throwing them over his head without a care for what they crashed into. "FUCK!" He turned his attack on the chair in the living room, then the chairs around the kitchen table, then ran into the bathroom and upended the clothes hamper, strewing dirty clothes all over the floor. He fell upon the pile with a vengeance, tossing panties and shorts and bras and T-shirts and briefs all over the place.
"ARGH!"
He sat in the middle of the bathroom floor and panted in absolute frustration with a pair of Yuki's panties hanging off of one of his ears. Pieces of paper didn't just disappear, dammit, where had it gone? He dug around in his pockets once more: Nothing but jewel shards. With an angry snarl he got up to return to Sango's room and think some more then caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze. "Shit." He yanked the panties off his ear with a great, big blush and threw them over his shoulder. "This sucks."
Inu Yasha sat down on the end of the bed to sulk. Maybe if he thought about it hard enough, Shunusuke could hear him with that Jedi mind trick thing he said he had. Feh! Just his luck, Hisui would hear him instead. After a while, he noticed Sango was shivering, so he picked her up, pulled down the coverlet, set her back down and covered her up. The things he did for these feeble humans! It then occurred to him that certain not-so-feeble part-humans had done quite a bit for him, and he'd just trashed their house, so with a weary sigh, he started to clean up his mess.
"Couldn't hurt to try that Jedi thing…"
The feeling that someone badly wanted his presence persisted for a full half hour before Shunusuke decided it wasn't his imagination and wrapped his last set so he could find a quiet spot to figure out who was trying to contact him. Since everybody else who knew about his ability was in the room, he reasoned it must be Inu Yasha. Judging from the anxious feelings he was also receiving, something was wrong. He just hoped it had nothing to do with Sango. He'd seen Inu Yasha carry her out and had assumed she'd just passed out after drinking to much. Well, one way to find out if that was in fact the case. He caught Kagome as she rose to leave.
"What was wrong with Sango?" Shunusuke asked, failing to keep the worry out of his voice.
Kagome picked up on it and frowned. "She had too much to drink. Why?" She couldn't keep her eyes from wandering to where Hisui's party sat. The demon lord was watching her and Shunusuke talk. Great. Kagome drew closer to Shunusuke. "You don't think Hisui did anything to her, do you?"
Shunusuke shook his head. "I don't know. I've been feeling Inu Yasha trying to reach me for the last half hour, and he's anxious about something. Did he go back to the condo?"
Kagome nodded. "He said he'd be back, though." Not if something bad had happened, he wouldn't, or if he feared for Sango. "Do you think something's happened?" Come to think of it, she hadn't seen that freak Shinnai all evening… Kagome's stomach clenched into a chilly knot as the others gathered around her worriedly.
"Kagome, what's wrong?" Miroku demanded cautiously, looking from her to Shunusuke.
"One way to find out," Shunusuke sighed and headed for the door, Kagome, Yuki, Miroku and Shippo right behind him.
Hisui curiously watched them go, reaching out to touch Shunusuke's mind with her own only to find her probe blocked by a surprisingly solid mental wall. Hmph! Cocky pup. She broke the wall but found a complex maze beyond. "Not bad at all," she thought with a pleased smile. It seemed Mikoto had finally produced a child worthy of her name. Too bad he was such a peacenik.
The gang ran as fast as they could down the beach toward the condo, fearing the worst. Shunusuke's worried expression didn't help their collective peace of mind any, especially Kagome, who could easily imagine the kind of trouble Inu Yasha could get into. Even the most innocent situation seemed to turn into the gravest danger with him. Must be his karma, she thought (and hers, too, by association). And here she'd been imagining a romantic night spent all alone with Inu Yasha—sigh—kissing, cuddling, flirting. He might even have been in the mood to bare his soul for once. They could've had a heart-to-heart talk! AUGH! Damn his stupid karma!
By the time they arrived at the condo, all but Shippo were out of breath, but still they charged up the stairs, piled through the front door and into the house to find Inu Yasha standing in the middle of the living room floor with his hands on his hips, his ears laid back and major scowl on his face.
"WHICH OF YOU ASSHOLES HID KAGOME'S PHONE NUMBER?!"
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Kagome's blood boiled. She clenched her fists, her face turned red, her eyes squeezed shut, and she screamed: "THAT'S IT?! THAT'S WHAT YOU BUGGED SHUNUSUKE ABOUT?! MY STUPID PHONE NUMBER?!"
Gulp. "Uh…well, I, um, wanted to tell you, um, that I should stay here and, um, protect—"
"SIT!"