I've been working on this story.

So I'd rather you shove that disrespectful comment about me not being able to update my lame ass back down your throat because frankly, I won't appreciate it. Not today.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Relish

- Chapter 1

The softest sound of leather slipped on a pale foot. "Why am I doing this?"

Lips turned down thinly as deft fingers zipped up a shimmering skirt from behind. "This cannot be good for me."

Black, silk locks unraveled as they were freed from the confines of curlers. "How did I let her talk me into this mess?"

The undulation of her hair bounced gaily in response as a white tank top was pulled over and onto her torso. "Not…too bad." Boot-clad feet shifted as a girl's critical eyes examined the woman reflected back at her. No make-up, no fancy design, just—

"Kagome?" The door was pushed open after a brief knock. "It's almost time to go." The girl practically skipped into the room, twirling for Kagome to see the complete outfit. Giggling at herself, she whispered coyly, "Do you think…?" At the last minute, she averted her gaze to her shoes and poised one delicately to the side.

Kagome huffed, "I think Miroku will love it, Sango." Taking note of the halter she was wearing, the other woman inferred that the lecher would absolutely love seeing more of Sango's skin.

With brown hair swishing in its high ponytail, her head snapped up and the girl had the decency to blush, stuttering, "Oh! Kagome…th-that's not what I meant…I…"

Chuckling at her friend's embarrassment, she waved it off, sarcastically indifferent, "Whatever, Sango." Kagome brushed passed her into the bathroom. Leaning on the door, she said, "We all know he's head over heels for you." The black-haired girl grinned at the astounded expression she got in return, and slammed the bathroom door before Sango could pick up her pride and come raging after her.

Fists pounded on the wood, "I will get you for that, you fiend!"

Kagome burst out laughing, propping her arm on the counter if she should keel over and die from lack of air. Sure, Sango was her best friend, but didn't that actually give her permission to make fun of the girl? After all, they were both 28. Only mature things go on with them.

"…for the love of Kami, I'll stuff your underwear in a peanut butter jar and then leave them outside for the raccoons to have at it!"

Sort of.

"Oh, Kami. Sango…" Kagome muffled the rest of her sentence in her hands as she bowed her head toward the dashboard.

"What was that, darling?" The woman parked the car and pulled up the parking break with a cheeky grin.

Kagome took a deep breath from between her hands and forced it back out in a groan, "Don't make me do this…"

Sango sighed in a depressed way and patted the other girl's back. "Come on, Kagome, we both know if you really didn't want to go, you wouldn't have. Plus, you need this. You've been so stressed lately that I didn't know what to do with myself." She bit her lip when there was no response. "Kagome…please don't back out now. You haven't had any fun since you came back. And…we're already here."

The woman slid back up to lean on the car seat behind her. "I know…but…" The neon club sign blazed into her eyes and reopened something deep down. She winced, whispering, "I haven't been here in so long…"

Sango gave Kagome a sympathetic look and squeezed her shoulder.

It was the summer of '98. Kagome had turned eighteen not too long ago and was looking for something fresh and new in her life. She needed something to make her feel alive again.

Well, let's rewind a bit.

Hojo, a boy who had promises in the medical field, was still pining after her (and she after him) when they graduated from high school. They had been together as boyfriend and girlfriend for 5 years, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go to medical school and getting his desired degree. So with a promise to return from college in America with a wedding ring, Hojo left Japan with many tears in his wake.

"Four years…" she would say to herself, "just four more years." Even that seemed a little too much on the fairy-tale side, but Kagome wouldn't have it.

For days after his departure, the girl and Hojo's family waited patiently for the call that would ensure his safe landing. But no call came.

One Monday evening in early summer, Kagome picked up her ringing phone. It was Hojo's mother.

"Akitoki-san! How are you?" Since seeing her last Friday, Kagome had not heard from her. "This is very odd coming from Akitoki-san…" Usually, the woman and girl had closer communication than talking every couple days. Her backstage mind told her something was up. But Kagome immediate squelched the idea and tried to pay attention to the elder woman on the other line.

"Kagome-chan, dear…I'm so very afraid. Something terrible has happened and I would rather that you come over for the news. Will you please come for tea?" The mother's voice wavered and Kagome took note on how she quietly cleared her throat and delicately sniffed.

The young girl's mind did a hiccup in its logic and automatically assumed the worst. "Someone died." Kagome swallowed and did not bother to sooth the idea away. "Y-yes…yes, Akitoki-san. I'll be right over."

After the women hung up their respective phones, the black-haired girl twisted her tresses into a bun, grabbed her car keys, and raced her legs to her car. Urgency pounded through Kagome's veins; she couldn't get there fast enough.

"The plane never landed."

Tea in hand, Kagome's face paled considerably. The older woman became distraught, "They…" she took a long drag of her tea and shakily refilled it as Kagome met her watery gaze. "They're trying to find something…anything…"

Still in shock, Kagome's cup of tea fell to the carpeted floor and rolled in a circle shaped way, spreading the dark liquid in a ring. "Hojo?" She squeaked, breathless. "Our…our Hojo?" Kagome moved her eyes blindly to a wall, refusing to look at the woman before her as she cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks and pooled in her upturned palms like fat, unwanted regrets. "Oh…Kami…" she whispered. Gasping, Kagome released a sob and threw her hands up to her eyes, as if she could shield them from what had happened. "Hojo!"

"Kagome…Kagome dear, please." The girl felt a sag in the seat next to her on the couch and a gentle hand on her shoulder, "P-please, dear." The older woman made a choking noise in the back of her throat as two tears slipped daintily from her eyes. "Stop crying, dear. They'll find him." Kagome then turned to the woman and nodded with sad, brown eyes. And falling into her embrace, the young girl began to experience one of the deepest sorrow's she has felt in a long time.

"They'll find him."

Kagome almost didn't make it back to her apartment that night. Salt water blinded her down the road and she found herself swerving to stay on the road. Akitoki-san had offered for her to stay the night, but the girl politely refused, just wanting to curl up in bed with her cat Buyo.

Walking to her room, Kagome proceeded to throw her keys on the counter, which promptly slipped of to the floor, and shakily rip off her coat. Taking off her tennis shoes, the girl fell onto the comforter (that wasn't comforting at all) and piled the blankets high around her.

Time slowly ticked by on her blue digital alarm clock, and in the passing of every second, every minute, Kagome felt a heartbreaking sort of loneliness creep into her bones.

Her family? Where were they? Her father: dead. Protecting a child from a bullet. That's what he did. He was a police officer. He protected people. Her mother? Dead. Cancer a year ago. Her bother? Foster care. She hadn't seen him since last year. The girl let the killing sense of alone take over.

She was numb. She felt sick with no symptoms, drowsy but not able to go asleep, filled with a disease only one person could cure.

In the morning, Kagome had to throw out all of her bed dressings.

They smelled too much of the sadness she didn't want to be reminded of.

End Chapter 1

Don't worry, Inuyasha comes in soon.

This isn't rated M for nothing!

-CV-