Hey people! (Gets down on knees) Please forgive my despicable tardiness! I know that a simple excuse will not suffice; all I ask of you is your forgiveness! I'm so sorry! And thanks for all the support and patience, I just hope you all haven't lost the thread of what's going on in this story. I had half of the chapter done since the beginning of October but I hadn't gotten round to finishing it what with all the holiday season madness.

Special thanks to: ShoChan (sorry for taking so long) pinguina, TheSkyNinja, RuiUsagi, Viperthe strange (as always. Luv yas!)White Alchemist Taya and Thoughts13.

Chapter 11: A Phone Call

Nanae's eyes fluttered open and drifted closed again, not quite wanting to open fully yet. It was a Saturday, meaning she could sleep a bit longer and she savoured the sensation of the warm morning sun through her eyelids a while before letting herself wake up properly. She lazily opened her eyes and gave a big yawn, stretching herself out of her covers. Her mind suddenly drifted back to the night before, recalling the date and Kyouji's kiss. Nanae smiled a soft, sleepy smile as she remembered and she lightly touched her lips with her fingers. She felt a little silly for doing it, making such a big thing out of a little kiss, but she had never received attention liked that from anyone before and it felt good to dwell on it for a moment longer. She lay there on her bed a few minutes more and then got up slowly, stretching a bit to get the last kink out of her neck. She opened the curtains and let the warm sunlight flood into her bedroom, creating a shimmering and dreamy like atmosphere, similar to the state she was currently in.

She heard dull, thudding footsteps out on the corridor, telling her that Makis was awake too. Nanae felt her stomach swoop with excitement towards the prospect of telling her friend how well last night went, so she left her bedroom and positively skipped to the kitchen where Makis was preparing her daily bowl of cereal.

"Good morning Makis!"

Makis looked at her from under heavy eyelids. "Good Mohoho…" she stifled a yawn, "…orning, Nanae." She finished, stirring her cereal slowly with the spoon and moving to the small table and sitting down. Nanae joined her, after she put a slice of bread in the toaster. She gazed at Makis expectantly with sparkly eyes and a smile. Makis swallowed a spoonful of cereal and glanced up at her, spotting her expression and sighing. She put down the spoon.

"Okay…how did your date go, Nanae?" she said, her voice holding a small hint of amusement. Nanae's smile grew and she leaned closer, placing her elbows on the table and resting her chin a top of her interlaced fingers.

"Well…Kyouji took me to this lovely Coffee place, we should go there sometime, anyway…he got us both some of the greatest hot chocolate I've ever tasted, Makis are you listening?"

Makis nodded as she chewed some more of her cereal, her spoon clanging slightly against the bowl as she scooped up another quantity. Nanae continued.

"So we're talking about stuff, you know, the usual and then it's time to go and he offers to accompany back here, and I say 'okay'. Anyway, so he walks me right to the front door saying it's dangerous to come here alone because of…well, whatever….and then…" Nanae looked at Makis excitedly, "He kisses me! Well, first he said I was beautiful and then he kissed me, but anyway, isn't it great? I've never been properly kissed by anyone and I didn't even think Kyouji would be remotely interested in me."

Nanae waited for a reply from Makis, who was now slowly chewing her cereal, her gaze lowered to the bowl. She swallowed but didn't say anything and her expression was unreadable.

"Makis? Are you okay?" Nanae asked, sounding anxious. Makis quickly plastered a smile on her face and looked up at Nanae.

"I'm fine, and really Nanae, I think this is excellent!" She said, her voice a little higher and forced than normal. Nanae wasn't sure if Makis' smile was genuine or not but she was glad her friend was okay with everything. She heard the toast pop up and on her way to the kitchen she gave Makis a quick hug.

"I'm glad you're happy for me, you're a great friend, you know that?"

Makis smiled and nodded but the 'happy' expression disappeared as soon as Nanae entered the kitchen, and was replaced by one of deep, troubled thought. Nanae was in the kitchen, picking out the hot toast with a thumb and forefinger and dropping it quickly on the plate, then she poured herself a glass of orange juice and made her way to the table, grabbing a pot of jam from the counter as she passed.

She was taking a bite of her toast when the phone rang, and she put it down, brushing the crumbs from her fingers and chewing rapidly. After the third ring she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Nanae? It's Kyouji here."

Nanae's stomach swooped with nervous joy at the sound of his voice. "Oh, h-hi."

"Did you sleep well?"

Nanae smiled, she slept very well. "Yes I did, thanks."

"That's good." Kyouji said. There was a lengthy pause and it made Nanae's heart pound in her chest. She heard him take a breath.

"Nanae…"

"Yes?"

"Hehe…you even make me feel nervous over the phone." He chuckled. Nanae's eyes widened and she felt a little twinge of feminine pride. She made him nervous? She heard Kyouji clear his throat.

"Anyway, what I called to say was that…I haven't been able to stop….thinking about you. Does that sound too pathetic?"

Nanae was too busy minding the thud of her heart to find anything wrong with his statement. "…No, not at all." She whispered, blushing. She could tell Makis was listening in on the conversation given her slightly inclined head and the way she was chewing very slowly. Nanae leaned into the phone and neared her mouth to the receiver.

"I was actually thinking about you too."

"Oh, really? Well, that's okay then."

Nanae giggled. She heard Kyouji sigh.

"Alright, then. So I'll see you on Monday?"

"Mmhm. Oh, and Kyouji?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

There was a pause. "For what?" he asked. Nanae opened her mouth, but she felt rather silly thanking him for looking at her, choosing her, dating her…kissing her. It was too girly and childish and she hesitated.

"For the hot chocolate and stuff, it was really good." She told him, hoping it didn't sound too stupid. Kyouji chuckled.

"That's okay. So…um…bye…"

"Yeah….bye."

"I'll see you on Monday." he repeated. Nanae nodded, forgetting that she was speaking on the phone and that he wouldn't be able to see her.

"U-huh…see ya…"

"Bye."

"Bye"

There was a long pause where neither of the two hung up. Both Nanae and Kyouji laughed. There was a clattering sound, its source being Makis' spoon dropping into the now empty bowl.

"Just hang up the damn phone already!"

Nanae sighed and said goodbye once more and with delayed movements she finally put the phone down, earning a relieved sound from Makis' mouth. The girl grinned.

"I didn't know you two were so lovey-dovey."

Nanae blushed and shook her head. "No we're not. It was just one date, that's all."

Makis waggled her eyebrows. "U-huh, yeah sure." She grinned, getting up to wash her bowl in the kitchen. Nanae didn't see her grin disappear and she didn't see Makis' hands grip the bowl tightly before she placed it into the sink. Nanae's mind was occupied with thoughts of the future, of what she would wear on Monday and of how the weekend seemed too long a wait to see Kyouji again. She reached up and pulled off her hair band from her sleep tousled hair and she brushed it as best as she could with her hands before tying it up again. She looked down at the phone, lying on the coffee table before her. She remembered with a slight jolt that she was supposed to call Sesshoumaru today, and at least attempt to reason with him, to make him understand how important the art project was to her. She really wanted to get started on it, but dealing with a full demon like him was not her forte and she had no experience whatsoever. She didn't even how to insult him properly. Nanae realized her toast was sitting morosely on her plate, half eaten and cold but she wasn't hungry anymore, she needed to do the first thing on her list of priorities.

"Makis!"

"Yeah?"

"Could I have Sesshoumaru's phone number please?"

Makis gave her a knowing smile. "Oh, so you're gonna call your other man now?"

Nanae stared at her.

"Okay, okay I'll get it for you." Makis said, waving her hands dismissively. Two minutes later she was back with a little piece of paper which she handed to Nanae. Nanae squinted at the scrawled numbers, following them with her finger.

"What's that? Is that a…three or a….five?"

Makis leaned in to have a look, staring long and hard. "…A three."

"Are you sure?"

"Wait….Yep, that's definitely a three, my fives are normally wider."

"I'm putting it on you if it's the wrong number." Nanae warned. Makis pouted indignantly.

"Just be grateful I found it for you."

Nanae shifted in her place guiltily. "Thank you very much."

Her friend smiled. "Ah, it was nothing, they don't exactly keep those student records under lock and key."

Nanae dialled the number and held the receiver to her ear, listening to the rings. "Why were you even looking at those student records?"

Makis grinned. "Well…"

Suddenly someone answered on the other line. "What do you want."

Nanae was taken by surprise; she was expecting Sesshoumaru's cool, unconcerned voice, not a brusque raspy tone. For one second she panicked, believing she'd read the number wrong and that the three was actually a five. She swallowed.

"Uuuuh…hi…er…is Sesshoumaru there?"

"Who's this?"

"Uh, I'm Nanae…I have to do a project with Sesshoumaru. Is he there?" She asked again, hoping she would get a response.

"He's working."

Working? Nanae thought. She had no idea Sesshoumaru worked or did anything that demanded some kind of effort.

"Oh….uh, when will he be back?"

"I dunno." came the careless reply.

Nanae bit her lip. "Okay. Thanks."

She heard a sharp click and then the dialling tone. She blinked and stared at the receiver.

"So?" asked Makis expectantly. Nanae put the phone down. "He wasn't in."

"So who were you talking to?"

Nanae frowned. It didn't occur to her to ask who she was speaking with, but she was sure she'd heard that voice somewhere before.

"You didn't ask who it was?"

Nanae shook her head meekly.

"God, Nanae, you're useless. What am gonna do about you…hmmm?" Makis said, ending the sentence with a fond tone, and giving Nanae a quick hug. She got up and went to her room to get dressed, leaving Nanae on the couch. Nanae sighed and stood up, finally deciding that her cold toast was better off in her belly than in the trash.

OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Babysitting Rin was one of the greatest challenges of the whole demon kingdom, and one of the most irritating. All Inuyasha wanted to do was lock himself up in his room and listen to music but no, he had to look after the little devil his older brother had taken into his care. And it didn't help that she was smarter…and very impressionable.

Inuyasha's biggest mistake that day was letting her watch wrestling with him on TV. But it was either wrestling or those infuriating cartoons with obscenely high pitched voices she was accustomed to watching, and obviously Inuyasha had chosen the former. If only the girl hadn't taken it so seriously, demanding a wrestling match with him until he conceded. Next, the apartment was filled with squeals and shrieks of a child's laughter (and a hanyou's yells of pain and protest) as Rin threw herself on top of Inuyasha's stomach over and over again, pounding him with her tiny fists. She refused to relent until he grabbed her by the ankles and hung her upside down in the air, earning squeals of Rin's laughter and giving him an opportunity to get up from the floor. He growled and set her down which was another mistake, because as soon as he turned his back on her, she wrapped her small arms around his legs and he tumbled onto the floor again.

"OW! Rin! Stop it!"

"Wrestling is FUN!"

"No, don't! Rin, Hahaha! Not there! It ti-hihihi-ckles!" gasped Inuyasha, rolling around in an attempt to get Rin off his stomach. Rin giggled at this new discovery and tickled him harder. Inuyasha kicked about wildly, laughing until tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"S-stop it! No! No! I'll ki-hihihi-ll you!"

Sesshoumaru came through the front door, tossing his keys upon the counter and staring at the commotion in the living room. He slowly strode to the two on the ground and cocking an eyebrow he said,

"Why, Inuyasha I haven't seen you squirm like that in a long time. It's extremely satisfying to watch."

Rin looked up and gasped, abandoning the wheezing hanyou and throwing herself around Sesshoumaru's legs.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! You're back!" she exclaimed joyfully. Sesshoumaru nodded, his face wiped clean of emotion as always.

"Yes Rin. Now let me go."

"Hai!" she cried and immediately separated herself from his legs with a huge adoring smile on her face. Inuyasha was still lying on the floor, spread-eagled and breathless from the effort of both laughing and throwing Rin off. Sesshoumaru found the whole thing quite amusing. He removed his jacket and placed over the back of a chair.

"Sesshoumaru-sama? What are we going to eat for dinner today?" Piped up Rin, moving close to the chair on which Sesshoumaru had placed his jacket.

"Yeah, what's for food? I'm starving." Said Inuyasha, as he picked himself off the floor, putting a couple of cushions that had been tossed about, back in their places on the sofa.

"Gyudon."

"Beef bowl? Yay!" cried Rin happily, leaping onto the chair and jumping up and down on it.

"Gyudon…yum. Hurry up then." Said Inuyasha, over the continuous 'Yay, yay, yay, yay's emitted by an excited Rin. Even though she was standing on a chair she didn't even reach half of Sesshoumaru's height, but that didn't stop her.

"Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay-"

"That's enough Rin." Sesshoumaru said to her in his firm monotone. He put his hands below her arms and easily lifted her off the chair, making her squeal from the fluent movement. After putting her down, Sesshoumaru checked his watch which read seven-thirty.

"Oh yeah, some girl called this morning, askin' for ya." Said Inuyasha, throwing the last cushion back on the couch. Sesshoumaru made an irritated sound.

"I thought I told you not to take messages from Emi."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "I didn't say it was your slutty girlfriend."

Sesshoumaru shot him a cold glare.

"It was some girl called Nanae or Nani or somethin'. Talking about a project." Inuyasha said, shrugging lightly.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. The human girl? Feeling a little irritated at her having discovered his phone number, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. And she continued to pester him with the project, even though they had plenty of time left to complete it. He decided to push all thoughts of this aside for the night; they held little importance for him.

Walking into the kitchen he threw his habitual dishcloth upon his right shoulder as always and went to get started on dinner.

OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

Ryuusei opened the door to the apartment he had rented for his father and himself. A smell of mould and humidity met his nose and he had to let his eyes adjust to the dimness of the room. He heard slow shuffling steps behind him and felt a hand grasp his shoulder for support. Ryuukotsei panted and re-adjusted his grip on the cane that kept him standing. His son, Ryuusei patted his father's hand and wrapped an arm around his waist to sustain him.

"Are you sure you're alright, father?"

The older dragon demon nodded. "I'm fine. I've wanted to leave that God forsaken clinic ever since I first woke up from the coma. The food tastes like crap there."

Ryuusei chuckled, glad that his father hadn't lost his sense of humour, even after ten years in a deep sleep. He was thankful that his father survived the incident, when his enemy, the chief of police Inutaisho, didn't. He finally had his father back…but that was only the start…they still had a long search ahead of them, a search for the lost jewel, the Shikon no Tama.

If it hadn't been for that foolish Inutaisho, my father would still have the Shikon no Tama and his dignity, not forced to use a cane like a crippled human. Ryuusei though bitterly. What Inutaisho had done, leaving his fang in his father like that, had no doubt caused chaos in his system, prolonging the whole healing process. He was taking a long time to recuperate from his wounds and nothing seemed to speed it up. Ryuusei knew that his father's thirst for revenge was great, but his power and strength needed time to recover and regenerate before any action could be taken. If only we had the jewel…

His father's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"What the hell is this place?"

Ryuusei looked around him, gazing at the dust particles floating slowly about. It was the best he could find for the time being, and it was best to lie low and in a place that wouldn't attract too much attention from the cops. Their mansion had most probably been roped off or barricaded, every nook and cranny searched for clues of their whereabouts. Ryuusei hadn't returned to that mansion in years, having lived with relatives while his father spent years in a vegetative state. He must have been only eight when his father was defeated by Inutaisho.

"Find me a chair or something, Ryuusei, I need to sit down."

Ryuusei nodded and helped his father into the apartment, leading him to an old, dusty armchair. Ryuukotsei slowly lowered himself into it, grimacing with pain. His son moved to open the moth-eaten curtains to let some light in which drifted lazily into the room, illuminating the specks of dust that drifted around. The older dragon demon coughed hoarsely.

"…Has that transfer to the new school been successful?"

Ryuusei nodded, taking slow steps towards the armchair, hands in pockets.

"When will you be leaving?" Ryuukotsei asked. Ryuusei stared off into the distance.

"I'm not sure…In few weeks, a month maybe."

"Well, make it as soon as possible, I'd like that jewel in my possession." Ryuukotsei said in low tones. He looked up at his son, who was the spitting image of him in his youth with his sleek black hair tied up in a ponytail and light green eyes set in a handsome, angular face. Ryuusei nodded, and began to take something out of his pocket. He unfolded the envelope he had just pulled out and delved inside with his hand.

"These are the most recent photos of the driver's daughter. They were taken close to Tokyo Kokusai High School." Explained Ryuusei, passing them to his father. Ryuukotsei made a sound of approval.

"Hm…who would have known she would grow into such a lovely young lady." The elder demon commented.

"…Yes." Said Ryuusei, his voice soft and low and his eyes transfixed on the picture his father was currently holding. Ryuukotsei watched his son for a while and then took the envelope from him, sliding the photos back inside. He reached up and grasped his son's hand.

"Son, I need her alive."

Ryuusei took a few minutes to answer. "Of course."

His father gave him a knowing grin, "But I also want you to enjoy your last year of high school….harm her only if you have to." He said, his gaze full of meaning.

Ryuusei's mouth broke into a slow smile and his green eyes glittered with malevolence.

"Yes father…I promise."

OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

A/N: I hope you guys are understanding what's going on here, and if you don't…well just tell me in your reviews and I'll answer any questions. The next chapter will be a good one and I'll get around to writing it sometime during the start of January or later because I'm not sure when I'll get back from my uncle's farm (yes I'm spending the new year at a farm) and I'm leaving tomorrow. I think 'Amber on a Silver Chain' will be put on hold until then, but I think I'll at least write half of it before I go.

Please R and R!

Gyudon: Like Rin mentioned, it's a Japanese beef dish made with beef (duh), rice, dashi soup (like fish soup) and soy sauce for flavour. Yum

EDIT: I submitted this chapter a few days a go but it didn't appear anywhere so I re posted it. Hopefully it will work THIS time (mutters and curses angrily).