Back by popular demand…an update. I have nothing else to say right now so let's get right to it.

At Night Chapter VII:

Interlude and First Snow

Kagome walked hurriedly through the increasingly familiar streets of New York. Her shoes clacked repetitively on the concrete sidewalk as she headed towards her apartment after an extremely long and difficult Monday. In actuality, it had been fine initially. The conversation with Sango, her mother, Miroku's help later on, lunch, all had been fine until the meeting at two that day. She had met not with her own supervisor, but with the CEO of her entire company. Kagome had, but only briefly met him, when she had initially been hired, but did not truly work under him, so when she had received the notification she had been surprised. She gripped her coat around her tighter, the pale pink, duller as the winds picked up and grey skies rolled overhead. A storm was coming, that was undoubted, snow by the predictions of the weatherman, and while the prospect of the year's first snow would usually have brought happiness and happy memories of childhood to the young woman, today this expectation only brought the frown tugging at the corners of her usually happy grin to fruition. A particularly nasty gust of wind whipped down the street causing Kagome to shiver involuntarily and close her eyes to block out the worst of the draft.

She remembered the meeting with the CEO briefly, but quickly shut out the thoughts. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to ever think about it. She just wanted to be home and pour herself a glass of wine to forget about it. She turned into her building and offered the doorman a half smile. She shouldered her bag and pushed the button for her floor. She tapped her foot waiting impatiently for the doors to open. She couldn't get in her apartment fast enough. She closed the door quickly behind her and called out into the apartment. "Inuyasha?" she called tentatively. She turned on the lights and looked in his usual favorite spots, his room, the kitchen, the living room, but he was nowhere. Kagome sighed, that meant she had the apartment to herself for awhile. And with that she let out a frustrated shriek, although slightly contained; she did after all have neighbors. She threw her briefcase on the floor and hung her coat in the closet, proceeding straight to the kitchen for a glass of wine. She poured herself a glass and taking a sip and bringing it with her as she headed upstairs to change. Throwing off her work clothes, she opted for some comfortable sweats and a t-shirt. She proceeded back down the staircase and plopped down on the couch. She faced the windows and watched the grey overcast skies overhead, making the grey concrete of the city look dead. She took another sip of her wine and pulled her legs into her chest, giving herself a hug.

The little light shining through the clouds cast eerie shadows across her apartment, making Kagome feel for the first time since moving here a little bit… alone in her big empty apartment. Her eyes watered and a few stray tears ran down her cheeks, but Kagome made no move to wipe them away. Part of her felt extremely silly. She guessed it was just stress and frustration and the demands that she was placing on herself, but still. She reached onto her coffee table and grasped the remote to her sound system in her apartment. She had paid a pretty penny for some guys to come and set up this ridiculous thing, but it was well worth it. She had speakers installed in every room of her apartment so she could listen no matter where she was. She hit the play button and after a few moments the opening notes of the overture of the opera 'Pagliacci' began to emanate from the speakers. The familiar melodies brought the briefest of smiles to her face. Her roommates at college had poked fun at her for listening to it, but it was just her taste in music. She couldn't help it. There was just something so wonderfully grand and eloquent about it that she loved, so intricate, so complex. She had tried on multiple occasions to explain this to her roommates, but they had just chuckled at her musing about why she liked that 'stuff'. It didn't matter, to her it was beautiful and right now it was exactly what she needed. Sipping at the wine again she tried to block this afternoon's events from creeping into her thoughts, but could not help, but replay the tape with Luciano Pavarotti ringing in her ears.

Earlier…

Kagome had arrived back from lunch with some time to spare before her meeting which she spent the first part of trying to get more work done which was followed by her double checking her appearance to make sure she was presentable for Mr. Whytecrosse. She had no idea exactly why he had called her in for an appointment as she did not directly work for him, but that was no matter, she wanted to make sure she made a good impression.

Leaving her office Kagome made her way to the elevator which would bring her to the top floor and subsequently the offices of Mr. Whytecrosse himself. She had only met him briefly when she had first been hired, but only on the rarest of occasions did she even glimpse him in the office at all. She was determined to make a good impression for whatever this was.

She had exited the elevator on the top floor of the building and spoke to Mr. Whytecrosse's personal secretary. "Hi, I'm Kagome Higurashi; I have an appointment with Mr. Whytecrosse at two o clock?

The young secretary looked up and smiled, "Ah, yes Ms. Higurashi, please go inside, Mr. Whytecrosse is expecting you".

Kagome smiled and nodded treading slowly over the carpet to the large double oak doors ahead of her, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She knocked politely on the door, hearing the sound echo into the large expanse of the outer and inner office. "Enter" a voice boomed from the other side of the door.

Kagome pulled the door open slowly listening to the creaking of the door, enhanced by the high vaulted ceilings of the room. Stepping inside the office, she could see the view of the New York skyline from the mirrors where sunlight streamed inside lighting the room. A few plants lined a walkway of carpet leading to the desk of a man who was seated at a large desk made of a dark oak wood. It seemed very old, stained deep, giving off a rich smell. Behind the desk sat Mr. Whytecrosse, imposing against the New York skyline. Also in the room was the entirety of the Board of Directors. They were all sitting in chairs near Mr. Whytecrosse's desk "Ms. Higurashi, sit" he stated indicating a chair in front of his desk his voice powerful and authoritative and doing nothing to alleviate the tension building in the pit of Kagome's stomach. She had no idea that there were going to be other people here.

She did as she was beckoned and sat in the only available chair to face the man in charge of her corporation. She squinted as she realized she couldn't see him at all. The sun streaming into the office came from his back, causing sun to shine into her eyes and Mr. Whytecrosse to be an amorphous blob of black sitting in front of her, his appearance cast in shadow, much like the face of the moon during a solar eclipse. Kagome had the sneaking suspicion that this was intentional. It certainly worked, it was quite imposing. She sat there quietly for a few moments, unconsciously smoothing out the folds of her skirt while she waited for Mr. Whytecrosse to acknowledge her further in some way, but at present he was speaking to one of them about buying out some smaller company from Oregon. Minutes stretched by in an uncomfortable silence for Kagome as she sat in the chair, feeling smaller and smaller in this intimidating presence as well as the scrutiny of those around her, and he had only spoken two words to her. She had the distinct feeling and memory of sitting in her school principal's office back in grade school again. Finally, unable to stand the silence any further, Kagome spoke up.

"Sir, if this is an inconvenient time, I could come back later, I know you're very busy" Kagome said politely trying to speak distinctly, lest her words become sped up and jumbled, speech taken over by her nerves.

"No, just sit there, Ms. Higurashi. Or do you think that I am unable to schedule meetings when I am not… busy" Mr. Whytecrosse asked with an air of almost uncaring simplicity.

"Oh, no sir, I was just…" Kagome started indicating the board members only to be interrupted.

"Please, Kagome, no need to call me sir. Mr. Whytecrosse should suffice" He said earning chuckles from the men around him.

"Oh...um…yes, Mr. Whytecrosse" Kagome said a light blush staining her cheeks as she hastily apologized.

A long paused followed in which Kagome felt she was being scrutinized very closely not only by him, but by the board as well. She crossed her ankles to keep her knees from bouncing as they did in periods of elevated stress. She tried to keep a calm confident smile on her face, but was unsure of how successful she was being. "What exactly is your job here, Kagome?" Mr. Whytecrosse asked finally.

The question caught Kagome off guard slightly. "My job, Sir…Mr. Whytecrosse?" she asked.

An exasperated sigh came from the CEO, "Did I stutter? Yes, Kagome, your job here".

"Well…" Kagome began unsure of exactly how to answer this unusual question.

"Well? That's your answer? Tut, tut, that overpriced Ivy league education not living up to its reputation now is it, hmm Yale?" He commented as the board members met with appropriate chuckles yet again.

"I…I" Kagome stammered unable to come up with a proper response to this, her discomfort and blush increasing by the moment as she fidgeted in her chair.

"I…I, what?" Mr. Whytecrosse's voice flooded the room. "I ask you a simple question and you cannot answer it? Do you mean to tell me that I have to tell you what your job is?"

Finally finding her voice Kagome spoke up. "No, Mr. Whytecrosse, I know what my job is. I'm just not sure how to answer your somewhat unusual question".

"My question is unusual is it? I ask it because for one it truly puts things into perspective, and the other reason is simply because you seem to be unable to grasp the concept yourself" came the calm authoritative voice.

Kagome was completely unprepared for this. "Um, sir has anyone complained about my performance?" she asked with a look of half surprise half indignation.

Silence ensued and although she still could not see him, Kagome knew he was smiling. "I'm the one who believes it. As the CEO I need the best team of people to surround me. We hired you almost straight out of grad school to do this job and laid it all out for you. You've been given a marvelous opportunity, a trial position, chance for advancement, starting bonus, and such. And all I will say as that for all this company has invested in you we have yet to see a mutual return. I will not dwell on it further, however. All I will say is that the 'Toys for Tots' drive had better …exceed my expectations. That is all." He said turning back to the board members.

"But…Mr. Whytecrosse" Kagome began.

"That is all" Mr. Whytecrosse interrupted again changing his tone ever so slightly. Kagome sat taken aback at what she had just heard, but not wanting to give him another excuse to dig into her she stood.

"Yes…Mr. Whytecrosse" she said as politely as she could muster before turning on her heal and rushing towards the door as quickly as possible. But before she could reach the door his voice spoke up again.

"And do not think that there are any…shortcuts around this. We do have standards… and a dress code" He said not looking up, some slight innuendo hidden in the word 'shortcuts' and 'dress code'.

Kagome had been unable to say anything at all, simply nodding and scurrying from the room and back onto the elevator back to her office the laughter of the board members in her ears. She had been embarrassed, humiliated, made to feel stupid and inferior in front of all the big wigs of the entire company, and she hated it. He had not said anything that had crossed any business lines. It was his prerogative as it was his company. She would not cry though, she refused to. She breathed deeply, tears threatening to come, but she would not cry. She would bury it, focus it, and put it elsewhere in her mind. 'Clear the mechanism' she said into her head, a trick she had learned from her father to help her focus. And she did, no one had any idea what had been said to her all day, she had kept it hidden underneath all the way until she had made it home.

Later...

Kagome squeezed her eyes closed tapping the glass of wine against her head as she tried to shut the memory out. She shook her head side to side opening moist brown eyes taking another sip of wine. Swirling dark clouds still loomed outside as the only successful Opera of Ruggero Leoncavallo blared from her speakers. This was how she wanted it right now. To be alone, to get a little drunk maybe, and to just relax listening to her music.

This day was not meant to be hers, unfortunately as the sound of keys in the lock of her apartment door signaled Inuyasha's return. She placed the wine down halfhazardly on the coffee table and reached for the remote to her sound system to turn off the music, but before she was able to Inuyasha strode inside looking hagard and worn.

"I'm home" he said simply looking very tired a bit ruffled. "It's rough out there. I think its going to snow" he said removing his scarf and jacket placing them in the closet and putting his bag on a chair and moving into the kitchen. It had taken very little time for Inuyasha to get used to the concept of going to Kagome's refrigerator when he was hungry. Kagome could hear him rummaging around in the kitchen giving her enough time to at the very least wipe the tears away from her eyes and bury away her emotions again as she had all day. She was reaching out to turn off the music again when Inuyasha reappeared apple in hand.

"I know this" he said pointing non specifically at the speakers in the room.

Kagome blinked at him in surprise as she heard Lucianno Pavarotti singing the hauntingly beautiful strains of Vesti La Guibba. "You know 'Pagliacci'?" she asked almost hopefully and a little surprised.

Inuyasha gave her a curious look. "What…no, it's from the Godfather…great movie. I think its in 'The Untouchables' too." He bent into his bag and pulled out a textbook plopping down in an armchair apple in hand.

"Oh" was Kagome's slightly dejected reply. She had hoped faintly that he knew a little something about opera just so she could talk about it with someone. It was no matter though she thought as she reached out to turn off the sound system again. "I'll turn it off so you can study" she said bring a smile to her face.

Not missing the expression on her face Inuyasha jumped in. "No, you can leave it on. It's …not bad." He stated noting her face. "Are you okay?" he asked sensing something underneath her calm exterior.

"Oh me, I'm fine, it's just the music is very beautiful and the story very…tragic." She said waving her hand to deflect the issue. She quickly added, So, how was your first day back?"

"Feh, it was…definitely interesting. It was a first day back you know?" Inuyasha said with an apparent air of content. He had decided after his encounter with Kouga and Myoga that he would use it and let it fuel him to do better. He was undoubtably troubled, but did not want to burden Kagome with his own doubts. They were his to deal with. She on the other hand seemed to him to be crumbling under the pressure of something. She was doing a remarkable job of masking it, but he was gifted at reading people and she couldn't hide that from him. He decided to try something his dad had done to him all throughout his younger years.

"And how was your day?" he asked in return innocently and carefully gauging her reaction.

Kagome in turn was not entirely startled by his question. She figured he would reciprocate. Her right eyebrow twitched ever so slightly as she spoke. "Oh you know…Monday…busy busy busy." She laughed hoping inwardly that this would suffice for now. She didn't like being standoffish she just didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

"A little early to start drinking isn't it?" Inuyasha asked indicating her glass of wine with his apple and throwing his legs over one arm of the chair.

Kagome glanced down at her wine glass and back at Inuyasha again. She shrugged her shoulders picking it up and taking a sip. "Just unwinding after a long day is all" she replied standing up and walking a few paces away one arm crossed over her waist, the other resting on that arm.

"Isn't that something" Inuyasha spoke again glancing outside at the darkness that had crept upon the apartment now that the sun had gone down.

Kagome whirled suddenly, unsure how to take this comment. "What do you mean by that?" she all, but snapped at him.

Inuyasha did not react at all and when Kagome saw he was looking out the window. Fixing her with his gaze he nodded his head at the window. "It's snowing" he replied.

Kagome turned to look out the window. He was indeed correct, it was snowing lightly, big white fluffy flakes of snow as they had both predicted at different times that day. The wind had died down and the snow could be seen falling gently down on the city covering it in white. A light crimson stained her features that she was sure that Inuyasha could not see in this light. He was getting to her and she did not know why. He wasn't probing as far as she could tell, but he was getting a rather extreme reaction out of her. However, he seemed to be taking it with a grain of salt.

"So it is" she commented dryly.

"What? You don't like snow?" he asked, he himself getting up.

She turned to see him approach and greeted him with a weak smile as she gently twisted in place. Her melancholy mood was coming out a little bit now, but she felt a little more okay with that. Inuyasha seemed to be chalking it up to her having a long day and so felt she could drop her guard ever so slightly. "No, I like it just fine, it's just…cold."

"Don't' I know it" Inuyasha commented jokingly coming up beside her to look out the window.

"Mhmm" was Kagome's only response turning to offer another smile to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha stepped a little closer to her on her right side. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence for few minutes before Inuyasha turned to Kagome again. "Tell me about that opera you were listening to" he prodded gently.

Kagome turned to look at him inquisitively. "Pagliacci?" she asked. "You really want to know?" she asked her choclate eyes shining hopefully in the dim light.

Inuyasha turned to meet her gaze. "Yeah, tell me about it" he said turning to watch the snow falling again. "First, though want to go out on the balcony?" he asked.

Kagome's smile dropped from her face. "The balcony…but its cold" she said.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "We can always come back inside. Come on, I'll make us hot choclate, okay?" he asked. "You'll have to put down the wine, though. I don't think they go well together".

Kagome thought about it for a moment before agreeing reluctantly. "Okay" As Inuyasha hurried off to make the hot choclate Kagome placed her wine down and stepped out onto the balcony. She wrapped her arms around herself as the cold air met her skin. It was cold, but not unbearable. For the time being she took her time to look out over the city. It was very pretty indeed, lights twinkling and snow falling. She had a great view of the city, especially at night. And tonight with the snow falling and lights of the city reflecting off the snowflakes making them shine like millions of diamonds it was breathtaking.

"So now, tell me about this opera" Inuyasha said coming up beside her and handing her her coco in a mug with little reindeers ice skating on a pond. Steam rose from the mug and she greatfully accepted it from him, holding it in her hands to warm them.

Kagome took a sip and began. "Well, it's a tragic love story." She phrased carefully. "It's about a band of performers, a husband, wife, and two others. The husband loves his wife, but she is not faithful to him which he eventually finds out making a fool out of him…a clown. That's what Pagliacci means…clown. He even finds out that everyone else, but him knew about it. He goes mad with grief and has to bottle it up to go play a clown in their show, but he can't contain himself. He ends up killing her in the end because of it during the show itself. It's very sad" she said carefully twisting the mug around in her hand. "People don't like being made fools of" she added bitterly.

"I see. Sounds like a hell of an opera" Inuyasha commented mildly. Kagome merely nodded her head in response. "So…this clown guy…in the opera…gets hurt and feels that they are the butt of all the jokes? Is that right?" Inuyasha said testing out the waters.

"Yes" was Kagome's simple response as she felt tears beginning to form in her eyes as she gulped and looked up towards the sky in a effort to stop herself. She had the distinct feeling that what they were talking about wasn't really what they were talking about.

"And this clown…in the opera…wants to be taken seriously. Is that right?" Inuyasha continued.

Kagome nodded and took another deep breath. "Yes" she continued feeling herself on the edge of breaking down.

"And this clown…in the opera…has to bottle it all up inside so that they are taken seriously? Is that right?"

Kagome took a sip of the hot choclate to calm herself a little. "Yeah…so that's what Pagliacci is about" she said turning away slightly. A moment of silence was interuppted as she felt Inuyasha's hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and choclate met amber as he spoke to her.

"You know what I would have done if I was that guy?" he asked.

Kagome shook her head no as she looked up at him.

"Just kept on laughing. Throw them for a loop. Don't keep it all inside just put it into something else. Because in the end its not what they think, but what you do with it that matters" Inuyasha said dropping the pretense at last. "You want to talk about it?" he asked her.

Still looking at him in the face Kagome finally broke down a bit letting her walls down and telling him the whole story of what happened that day.

"I feel like I'm being kind of silly, really. All of this just because of one guy. God, I'm such a girl" Kagome sighed exasperatedly her tears finally finished.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, your boss was being a dick. In front of the whole board of directors I mean…fuck. Anyone can see that you're good at your job. You couldn't have come as far as you have if you weren't. I've known your for what…four days and I can see that. I think your boss might just be testing you, see if you can handle it in there with the big guns.

Kagome nodded her head absently, "You might be right".

"Of course, I'm right. Although, I think that maybe killing them like Pagliacci might not be such a bad idea. I'll help…I'll be your alibi." Inuyasha said smiling.

Kagome swatted his arm playfully. "Thanks, Inuyasha, I'll do that" she said smiling.

"Okay, you feel better, now?" he asked

"Much" Kagome replied and leaned in to give him a hug. She was glad that she had someone to talk to. Someone to open up to. Maybe it was because their relationship had started out in such an unusual way and so very honest from the start. No lies, no pretense, no façade to hide behind for either of them. "Thanks, Inuyasha".

"You're very welcome" he said wrapping his arms around her and giving her a light squeeze in return.

Kagome unconciously snuggled a little closer to Inuyasha as it was a very cold outside and she wasn't wearing a jacket and he was very warm, she could feel the heat coming from his body. Smiling to herself and closing her eyes she thought of how comfortable this was and how even standing up she could fall asleep right here. She was snapped out of this train of thought by Inuyasha's chuckling, which reverberated through his chest.

"What's so funny?" she asked him releasing her hold on him.

"Your hair" was his reply.

"What about it?" she asked in annoyance.

"It's covered in snow. You look like you're ninety." He said laughing still.

Indeed it was true, the two had been standing outside for awhile now and Kagome's hair had been covered in the tiny ice crystals. "Oh," was her response and Kagome shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the snowflakes.

"Here, let me do it" Inuyasha sighed reaching over and brushing the snow out of her hair gently.

Kagome stood there as he gently brushed the snow from her long black tresses feeling his hand carefully passing his fingers through her hair so as not to injure her with his claws. Kagome's breath slowed at the intimate contact unable to move away. She simply stood and stared at him, her choclate brown eyes wide as he worked. He moved in closer to allow himself better access to her hair, which did not help Kagome in the slightest. His movements were slow and deliberate as he removed the snow. Inadvertently one of his fingers brushed her cheek causing Kagome to go red at the touch her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her breath hitched in her throat as he stopped, his hand still in her hair, resting just behind her ear as he scrutinized her.

"There" he said softly looking down on her as he looked her over to make sure he had gotten all of it.

The two were very close now, seperated by six inches or less. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha almost shyly her eyes darting over his face as he held her head and briefly wondered what it would have been like if she'd met Inuyasha a few years earlier when she was still in school. She sensed what might happen if they remained there much longer and crazed, weak minded female she was, she did not know if she wanted to or not. Face flushed at the thought and at the immobilization of both of them, Kagome finally took the initiative.

Breaking free from his grasp Kagome walked briskly inside. "Thanks, I'm going to get a …towel to dry off my hair. Then, I think I'm going to go to bed…it's been a long day and I'm not all that hungry. Help yourself to dinner. Goodnight" she said disappearing upstairs.

Inuyasha stood their for a moment confused before grabbing the two discarded mugs of hot choclate and entered the apartment again, and closing the door to the terrace. He shook his head slighty in confusion. Was she blushing? He shook his head and clicked his tongue. Of course not, her cheeks were just red from the cold. And without another thought proceeded to the kitchen to get something to eat.

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Ta DA. And another chapter bites the dust. I hope you enjoyed that. I tried to make this chapter a tad bit different from the rest of the story. Initially I had wanted to have that up by Christmas, but that didn't work, obviously. Anyway though, I thought also at the end of this I'd take some time to answer a few questions that I've gotten in my reviews awhile ago, which I'm sorry to say I'd completely forgoten about. So, Arishi if you are still out there, here it is.

Why is this story called 'At Night'? I'm not entirely sure how to answer this without really giving it away, but hopefully you will be able to figure this out as the story continues. This chapter might help clarify a little bit. Either that or I'm horrible at coming up with titles. What I will say about it is that the theme of nighttime will play an important role in the story. I hope this helps…if not just yell at me some more and I'll come up with a better answer.

So, I am going back to school in a few days and unfortunately you know what that means. I will do my utmost best to find some time to sit down and write, but please, please, please do not give up on me. I love the reaction my story has gotten from you guys and your support and reviews are very important to me. They really do make me smile when I read them. So a big thank you goes out to anyone who has read or reviewed my story so far and to anyone in the future as well.

So until next time…

StarvingArtistinNY

Words of Wisdom from me:

"Skating on thin ice is better than not skating at all"

--John M. Shanahan