Wrote this instead of doing my readings. At least I'm doing something.
Under One Sky
Chapter 3
Kagome woke up to a heavy feeling on her chest. She grunted and opened her eyes to find two green eyes staring back at her intently, and then the creature sneezed.
"Oh god! Gross Bouyo." The cat cocked its head. "Get off you fat cat." The cat looked back at her, yawned and walked away swaying its tail. The setting sun was shining a beam of light into her eyes. Stifling a groan she pulled her arm up to shield her eyes from its assault. She rolled off to sit on the side of her bed. With the heels of her palms she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to make herself aware of her surroundings. Thoughts of what needed to be done came flooding into her mind. Her bed creaked under her weight as she got up.
Exiting her room she noticed that the strange guests from earlier were gone. She shuffled her feet over to the fridge, opened it, and leaned over to scour for food. For a good while she blankly stared at the contents as she got lost in her mind. The fridge's beeping brought her out of her reverie startling her. A laugh resounded through the room.
"Whats on your mind, sexy?" Kagome looked over her shoulder to see Inuyasha sitting at the bar, drinking. She went back to looking for dinner in the fridge.
"Bug off." He lifted his drink to his lips and pointed the index finger of the same hand at her.
"By the way, so not cool how you left me to suffer today." She took out pasta ingredients and made proceeded to start cooking.
"You looked cozy to me."
"Bullshit, you love to see me suffer."
"How did you know." She paused her chopping to stir the pasta. "I'm assuming that was your dad coming to make sure you didn't move in with a bunch of drug addicts."
"Yeah. Me moving out was his idea, but I guess he can't help but be concerned." He poured more Johnny Blue into his glass. "You want some? My asshole brother brought it. He's all fancy that one."
"Not sure if whisky is my thing."
"Only assholes drink it."
"Then I guess you must be one."
"I guess so." He downed his drink and poured himself another. Kagome threw him a sideways glance.
"I never knew you had a brother." Inuyasha laid his arms in front of him on the breakfast bar and put his head on top. His eyes stared intently at the whisky in his glass.
"Unfortunately."
"Oh, I see." Kagome never quite understood sibling relationships that went sour. To her it was so simple and basic to love her brother no matter what he did. On many occasions she has felt like killing her brother, or at least maiming him, but the fact that he was her own and in need of her love and protection never escaped her. Finding this subject a little to deep she decided to drop it. "Hungry?" She asked sliding a plate of Fettuccine Alfredo in front of him.
"Is it your turn to cook tonight?"
"No, Sango was supposed to be making dinner tonight." There was longing in her voice.
"Oh man, sorry, I forgot. Want me to cook instead of you tomorrow?"
"Nah, you get settled in." Kagome spoke with her mouth full. "But that is the last time I'm letting you get away with dereliction of duties."
"Yes mom!"
"Don't mock me young man." The two of them broke into laughter.
Days flew by seamlessly. Inuyasha seemed to fit in almost perfectly into their living arrangement. The amount of time they goofed around increased, but that was to be expected with the ever responsible Sango gone. Her and Miroku still paid occasional visits, but the dynamics of the house were already shifting in a new direction with Inuyasha there. He was insistent that in needing to keep up his image as the party god that everyone knows him for, we allow him to throw a housewarming party.
Kouga had strong reservations about the whole idea. The condo was his baby and we were all simply the people that he trusted enough not to turn that baby into a mess. Inuyasha however convinced him that it could handle only party, oh and that he will have his dad's company invite some of its talent.
Inuyasha's father ran a massive company that dealt with anything entertainment. If you can think of it, he had money invested in it; production and filming of movies, a record label, theater productions, a talent management company, clubs, restaurants, bars, sports teams, and the list went on. What Inuyasha did in the company wasn't exactly clear. Some said that he was the face of the company, representing all the fun and amazing times it stood for. Others said that he took the company's resources and used them to fuel a lifestyle of girls and booze. The reality of it was that he did both. He was officially employed by the public relations branch of the company to promote events that were organized by its many subsidiaries. Despite the dismay it cause his father, the business cards he so loved simply said: Inuyasha Taisho, The Life of The Party.
Many people settled down and gave up their dreams to work at nine to fives for nothing more than chasing the dollar. Kagome had immense respect for Inuyasha because he spent every waking moment living life true to himself. The position that he was in at the moment had not existed until he manifested it out of his desire to live life by his own rules.
When Kagome heard Inuyasha's request for a housewarming she saw it as an opportunity.
"No" She set her trap.
"Aw, come on. I thought we had a thing going. How can you do this to a friend?" She took an apple out of the fruit display.
"Seems like a bother." She took a juicy bite out of her apple.
"I'll take care of it, start to finish." He made puppy dog eyes, little did he know that between her brother and Kouga she became immune to them a long time ago. "You won't need to lift a finger."
"I was thinking more along the lines of hoards of strangers invading my personal space."
"You can invite your friends." He tried tiling his head to the side for added puppy effect.
"I didn't realize that was not a given."
"Please, please, please, I'll make it worthwhile." He took the bait.
"I dunno, still seems like a hassle." She took another bite of her apple and made a show of reading her magazine. All of a sudden it was of top priority to know what Giselle wore in the latest Versace campaign.
"I'll even get that hot-tub you've been talking about installed on the patio." She caught her fish.
"Yeah, and have me stuck taking care of it." The magazine in front of her continued to be of top interest.
"Nonsense, I'll pay to have it maintained." He peeked at her magazine to see what she was finding so interesting.
"I dunno, the party still seems like a bad idea." Kagome had genuine concerns about the party. The last party she remembered Inuyasha hosting, a guy got so drunk that when he saw his girlfriend talking to another guy, he took a sword off the mantle and went guns blazing at the girlfriend. At the end of it the two lovebirds made up and out, but the unlucky guy to have spoken to the girl had to go to the hospital and get his pinkie finger re-attached.
"What else do you want, shoes?" Kagome perked up a little. "I'll get you lots of those, heck you can borrow my card and go crazy at Berneys for all I care." And this was where the fisherman got caught in his own line.
"Fine," Looking up from her reading she said, "That hot-tub better be in there when I come back." She shut her magazine and extended her hand. "Now give me your card."
Inuyasha's face lit up. With a little fumbling he took out his wallet and tossed her a card.
"Now I know I said you can shop all you want, but do consider that I work hard for my money." The two of them shared a laugh. His was a little more on the nervous side. Hers was a little more on the sadistic side.
"Really? I thought you partied hard for your money." Her words delivered a low blow.
"Ha, ha, very funny. I may look like a slacker, but someone does have to write up all the reports and keep the expenses in line." He gave her a blank look. "Do you even know how much of a hassle it is to keep all those raving partying lunatics out of jail? Last week some wannabe rock star decided that it would be a lot of street cred if he drove the mayor's vintage Porsche into the pool. I swear I dunno where Sess finds these retards."
"Really, oh man you gotta share more stories. I bet you got millions of them." She put her arm around him and gave him a gentle squeeze. "But right now I'm off to make damage to this these pockets." She patted his ass and strolled to her room.
"Honestly, I wish I could work Miroku like you worked Inuyasha." Sango decided to tag along with Kagome on her mission to bleed Inuyasha dry. A big pile of homework served as her excuse to initially refuse Kagome's invitation, but an offer of a new pair of shoes changed her mind rather quickly.
"I'm sure all you have to do is ask." Kagome walked back and forth in a pair of Celine wedges. "That guy is head over heels for you, plus this is chump change for a law progeny like him."
"I know, but I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of him." Sango sighed and plopped down in a leather chair. "I can just picture it now, us having a fight over him playing around and justifying it with me having a field day with his money." Kagome turned to her and gave her a pointed stare.
"Dear god woman, how do you come up with these things."
"I just don't want to be a gold-digger."
"My mind can't even imagine you doing that." Kagome raised her voice up an octave. "Miroku honey, I just like totally, oh my god, want this bag. I must like have it." She clasped her arms together and stared Sango in the eyed while blinking rapidly. A quiet stare was exchanged between the two and then they exploded. With a shove from Sango, Kagome went tumbling down in her heels. She lay there on the floor at Barneys as the people around them all stared and whispered to each other about ill mannered youth.
The shop assistant came up to Kagome and extended her hand to help her up.
"Is everything alright over here?" Kagome continued to laugh as Sango looked around in a self-conscious manner.
"We're good."
"We're great!" Kagome added.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" The girl inquired.
"Do you have those Giuseppe Zanotti pumps," She pointed her finger at a display some way away, "In my size?" The girl turned to look at the pumps.
"I will be right back."
"Geez Kags, keep it together girl."
"You have got to admit, you as a gold digger just doesn't work." Kagome made herself comfortable in a chair next to Sango. "School will be over soon and you'll be able to afford all the nice things you couldn't before."
"First come those massive loans I have to pay back."
"I don't know why anyone would want to become a doctor considering all the effort and money it takes to become one. What's worse is that once you become a doctor its even more work."
"Well I like it." Sango huffed and picked up a box of shoes to try on.
"Whatever you say." The shop assistant returned with the shoes Kagome requested earlier.
"Those are hot." Sango said appreciatively.
"Should I add them to the keep pile?" Kagome looked over to the stack of four boxes by her chair. "What's one more or less when you are on a Taisho budget."
"He is going to kill you when he sees the bill."
"I'm sure he won't even notice."
The total damage to Inuyasha's card was a cool five thousand dollars. He was not all too pleased to see the receipt but went on grumbling about girls and useless shoe addictions.
"Oh don't complain. You were the one that offered to feed my habit." Kagome said in a mocking tone.
"And I learned my lesson. Next time I will get you a gift card to Aldo." She reached over to his side of the couch and ruffled his hair. Arms flailing he attempted to stop the assault.
"Don't go sulking now."
"You're almost as bad as my brother." He suddenly exclaimed. "I should lock you both in a room and have you annoy each other. Maybe then I will get a moment of peace." Kagome set go of his hair. Crossing her arms in front she raised an eyebrow. His sudden outburst surprised her.
"What do you mean I'm annoying? Just yesterday you were singing my praise while getting a massage from me. Might I add that I took over breakfast for you two days ago when you were," She lifted her fingers up in mock quotation, "Busy with that blonde."
"Fine, I love you, but I'd still lock you in a room with that bastard just to torture him." She gave his shoulder a shove. "I know you'd find an enjoyable way to make him miserable." The second time around she gave his shoulder a much harder shove. As to not be outdone he returned the shove back at her. What ensued forth was a wrestling match. That is exactly how the two were discovered by Kouga.
"I leave you two alone for a while and look at what I come back to." Kouga gave a low whistle. "Get a room." The two immediately jumped away from one another. A blush stained Inuyasha's face, while Kagome made a beeline for the fridge due to her sudden thirst. Inuyasha let out a small cough.
"How was work?"
"Pretty good, Jell-O is finally looking favorable to let us use their name for a Jell-O shot kit." Kouga might not look it, but he is a genius at what he does. While in college he fell in love with alcohol and that love stuck to him. His passion for it led him to his current job as a research and developer for some alcohol company. Who knew a chemistry degree could get so well used.
"Sounds sweet, cannot wait to test it out." Inuyasha threw a thumbs up. "Now if only someone came up with brownie kits."
"I think that's illegal" Piped in Kagome.
"Who has that ever stopped?" Kouga responded. "I'm sure the government stands to make a lot of money if they legalize and regulate weed."
"Don't they kind of do that already with the medical shit?" Asked Inuyasha.
"Yeah, but right now its like the prohibition. A few rich old white dudes are making all the money. Problem with legalizing it is that not only will the price go down, but the competition will go up."
"Oh stop pushing your conspiracy theories Kouga." Said Kagome, "What you both should be concerned with is that both your dads are rich white guys that run this world. Don't even get me started how the youkai hoard wealth like no tomorrow." With those words she went to pick up the sushi delivery from the door. She brought it back and put it on the table. Inuyasha went rummaging through the delivery bag.
"Aw man, you didn't get any spicy salmon sushi." He shot her a glare. "And what happened to cooking dinner tonight?" Kagome glared back at him.
"I was too tired after spending why whole day off shopping."
"This is why marriage is a lie." Murmured Inuyasha.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch it." asked Kagome in a fake inquisitive tone.
"Nothing." Inuyasha shot back at her and stuffed his face with sashimi.
A little longer. Felt like I needed to set up some basic background info on the characters. Next Chapter will be the two main protagonists finally interacting.
Please read and review.