Kagome leaned back in her chair, throwing the french fry in her mouth. She was not going to lose: not tonight, not ever. She even knew the perfect dare to get her friends to surrender the crown for being the queen of awesome back to her.
"Sango, Miroku," Kagome tried not to smirk, "I dare you two to kiss."
Sango's beet-red face and Miroku's sputtering proved that Kagome had won. She was the queen of awesome. Because there was no way—
A smooching sound emanated from her two blushing friends: the sound of a new romance that Kagome had been so certain they were too shy to actually act on.
"Ahhh! The crown is not yet yours, Kagome," Shiori cackled; they both watched in fascination as Sango and Miroku seemed to have momentarily forgotten that they were sitting there, too.
"Wow… apparently all they needed was one stupid little dare." Shippō rolled his eyes.
"Shut up!" Sango gasped, catching her breath after the kiss. But her eyes were no longer wide, and her cheshire grin could only be described as 'shit-eating'. "Miroku and I have been dating for the last week…"
"What?!" Shippō, Shiori, and Kagome all shrieked at the exact same time.
"Yeah… we wanted to see how long we could keep it quiet." Miroku leaned into Sango. "See how long it would take you dunderheads to catch on…"
"Dammit…" Kagome growled. "That disqualifies you both!" She really, really wanted the crown. "No crown for you!"
"I think you're being unfair, Kagome," Shiori shot back. Then, she got a look. Kagome knew that look. Cogs were turning in her half-demon best friend's head. Sometimes that was a very, very good thing, and sometimes that was a very, very bad thing. "How about double or nothing? One final dare." There it was: the Shiori spark. The blue fire in her violet eyes. "Kagome does this dare, and she wins."
Miroku and Sango, who still looked entirely too smug, both turned their attention to Shiori, then after seeing the Shiori spark, turned their attention to Kagome.
Great, now they had that spark in their eyes too…
"We'll take that deal," Sango winked. "One dare, and if Kagome does it, she wins."
"Bring. it. on," Kagome exclaimed; she was the queen of awesome after all. The suspicion that nagged her mind was of no consequence.
"I dare you to ride the Demon Train in the carnival," Shiori raised her eyebrow, "and when the 'ghoul' gets onto your car to haunt you, I dare you to kiss them."
"Easy," Kagome exclaimed. Kissing a total stranger would be fun. She figured she could then slip them a $20 as an apology. Because being the queen of awesome would make it worth it.
"We better hurry; the Demon Train closes pretty early," Shiori said, the mischievous dimple that appeared only when she was scheming obvious next to her lip.
Kagome stood up, threw the last of her french fries into her mouth, then signalled the waiter to bring them their check. When he brought it, Kagome scooped it up and paid. Her friends would get her back, and now they were on a mission.
Kagome didn't like when Shiori schemed. But… she had a crown to win, so there would be no thinking too hard about that look, or about that dimple. She also would not think too hard about the way that the Shiori spark had not diminished in her friend's eyes, or how Shiori was dragging her harder and faster than necessary into the permanent carnival grounds that sat across from their favorite diner. It probably should have occured to Kagome that Shiori's urgency had some very, very specific ulterior motive, but she was too distracted by the glory of 'queen of awesome' to pay attention.
Soon the fluorescent 'haunted house' loomed over them. The black cars colored in spooky glow in the dark designs were lined up on the track, waiting for their newest passengers, so they could travel through the doors and into the 'horrifying' ride. An extremely bored wolf demon with a white mohawk and wearing a furry vest collected Kagome's money, made her sign the waiver, then strapped her into the car.
"Enjoy the ride. Don't get too scared now, ya hear?" He wasn't even trying.
Then again, it was 8:58pm, exactly 2 minutes before they closed. She was officially that rider. The last rider. The one that meant that they did not get to close down at exactly 9pm. They probably got a commission for this, didn't they? And she was going to give the poor sap who snuck out in the middle of the ride $20 and a kiss. Maybe on her way out she could slip the bored wolf demon a fiver. (Being the queen of awesome was beginning to cost some money…)
It was a ride Kagome had taken before. Hell, everyone in her small town had been on the Demon Train before. It was practically an institution in Sengoku. Over Halloween, there was a line out the carnival grounds to get on the ride, because it was said to be haunted by some sort of malevolent dead witch. Or was it a giant spider? Kagome swore she saw a little girl in a winter jacket once… but really, it was because the carnival was the most interesting thing Sengoku had going for it. Hell, Sengoku's town sign said "Home of the US's longest running carnival!" (Because, apparently, Coney Island was 'an amusement park, not a carnival,' whatever that meant.)
Kagome leaned back in the uncomfortable metal seat. First came the haunted house part of the ride. She readied herself for the spring-loaded spiders to jump out at her and the strobes to start going off. The cackling witch was next as the ride wound its way into the 'graveyard.'
Kagome tried not to yawn as the 'vampire' (mechanical) popped out of its coffin and declared 'I vill suck your blooddddd,' and she giggled at the zombie hands, which, no one had noticed, someone had painted with glitter nail polish.
Her favorite part was coming up, though: the haunted forest. This part sometimes was actually scary. It was where an actual person climbed onto the back of your car and moaned into your ear. Kagome had never quite figured out where the people were looming, but she always felt watched when she got to this part of the ride. As if the person destined for her car stalked her from the very beginning. Tingles traveled up her spine as she took in the dense fake trees, trying to see the movement she knew was there.
"Awooooooo…"
Kagome jumped.
Had she ever heard that before? Wait. Werewolf. Right. There was a werewolf gag in the forest. The thing looked like an extra from a student project version of Teen Wolf, and left her chuckling. This ride was nowhere near as scary as she—
Thunk.
The car tremored and Kagome nearly screamed. Nearly.
She felt hot breath on the back of her neck; she trembled.
The person was on the back of her car, looming inside of her senses, but not close enough yet for her to touch them.
The Werewolf? The not scary thing? Yeah. She spoke too soon.
Because the arrival of the 'ghoul' had spiked her adrenaline.
Kagome needed to recombobulate, because it was now or never. If she let her fear win, she would not win the crown, and she was the queen of awesome. And the queen of awesome did not let fear (or her friends) win!
"Boo." The voice was deep, and husky. It was… doing things to her. Scary things, but… other things too. It was now or never. "You were a bad, bad girl… traveling these woods by yourself Ka—"
Kagome turned her head at the same moment that her hands found the stranger's face, and she pulled him to her, lips pressing lips. The person tensed under Kagome's attack, then… he kissed back, opening his mouth and letting her tongue explore. His fingers ran through Kagome's hair, eliciting a moan so instinctive that it was out of Kagome's mouth before she could stop it.
Suddenly though, the contact was gone.
"What the fuck?!" The man nearly tripped on the tracks as he shot off of Kagome's car. "What the actual fuck, Kagome?!"
Kagome.
He knew her name.
He knew her name.
Kagome's eyes bulged as she tried to take in the darkened figure, who was receding into the background. A glimmer of silver off of his hair from the low lights. Two triangular shapes shadowed on the top of his head. That voice. That kiss.
Oh no.
No no no no no no.
Kagome knew exactly who it was.
She had just kissed the very person she had wanted to kiss since she met him two years ago.
Inuyasha Taisho.
Kagome shot up and stumbled out of the car. She needed to find him, to apologize to him, to tell him that Shiori was an idiot (and she was a bigger idiot).
"Inuyasha!" Kagome's cry was muffled by the fake sounds of the mechanized werewolf getting 'closer' and the clanking of the chain that dragged the car forward in the ride.
Shit, it was dark. And there were a lot of moving parts in there. And now she was no longer within the safety of the car.
"You're gonna get yourself hurt." A growl came from right behind her, and she felt two hands fold around her and pull her off the track. "And you are gonna get me fired."
"I'm so so so so sorry," Kagome whimpered, turning so she could see the golden eyes of her friend (and secret crush). He had on deep black eyeliner and lipstick, and his nose was shaded black. Somehow he looked nearly as good in his ghoul makeup as he did in real life. "I… there was a dare and I—I…"
"Whatever," Inuyasha growled, grabbing Kagome's hand. "Let's get you out of here before someone comes lookin'."
"Wait, Inuyasha…" Kagome tugged, and found that he came to an immediate stop at her resistance. Her head was still buzzing from the kiss. "I should never have done something so stupid. All because Shiori—"
"The fucking bat put you up to this?!" Inuyasha's lined eyes widened—he had no right to be that attractive—and… was that a blush? Even through his ghoul makeup? "I swear to christ I am gonna kill her."
"Why?" Kagome could see him folding in on himself, his gorgeous dog-ears beginning to droop.
"Nothing." Inuyasha initiated the tug again. "Bitch just got me good, is all."
"Got you good?" Kagome didn't like the way that Inuyasha was snarling. She didn't like that he was avoiding eye contact. And she really didn't like his defeated posture. "She dared me to kiss… well, you."
"Because she's a fucking asshole." Inuyasha was trembling now. "Playin' with my fuckin' emotions and makin' me look like a fool in front of—"
"Wait." Kagome had not meant to interrupt, but now that she had, she really needed to continue. "Your emotions?"
"What? You wanna make fun of me too?" Inuyasha pivoted to face Kagome, his golden eyes ablaze with fire, his ears now pinned back. "Oh look at the half-demon. Let's fuck with him by havin' Kagomekiss him. It'll be fuckin' funny to have him get his fuckin' hopes up…"
Oh.
Oh.
The fiendish gleam in Shiori's eyes at the dare.
The insistence that they needed to come to the Demon Train now.
Shiori knew about Kagome's secret crush on the silver-haired half-demon.
And it appeared that all this time, Kagome's crush was not the only secret crush Shiori knew about.
"Why the fuck are you smiling?" Inuyasha barked; he was obviously trying to sound surly, but mostly it just came out as hysterical.
"Shiori got us good," Kagome sighed, and took Inuyasha's hands into hers. "Guess we both told her our secret." Did she dare? Well, shit. If she didn't, then she would not deserve the queen of awesome crown. "That… that… we?.. like each other."
She leaned a little bit closer to Inuyasha; his skull makeup somehow ended up making him look even more doglike than normal, but no less attractive. God, was he more attractive? Or was that the adrenaline and the kiss and the confession talking?
"Each… other?" Inuyasha's ears had pivoted, and were standing erect, pointed directly at her. "You—you like me?"
He was really cute when he was disbelieving.
"Yeah," Kagome giggled, and she leaned in and gave him another kiss. Because that is what the queen of awesome would do.
He tensed, but only for a moment. Soon he had melted into her lips, granting his tongue entry into her mouth. Kagome let her tongue meet his, smiling when it curled around hers once more. She couldn't help it; she leaned in to deepen the kiss. His hands were gentle as they found the way to her back, his claws scratching the skin just enough to make her shudder.
It was better than the first kiss.
"Oi! Dogface!" Shit shit shit; the bored wolf demon had apparently come looking for them. "Closing time! Make out with your hot little piece somewhere not on this fucking ride!"
"Fuck you, Hakkaku!" Inuyasha barked back, holding Kagome protectively to him. "And whatever. I'll walk Kagome out the back."
"I'm turning off the lights as soon as I walk out of here, so hurry the fuck up. You know what boss did when he found Kōga and Ayame in—"
"I fucking got it!" Inuyasha had turned red again. "Uh, Kagome? We should… go."
Kagome nodded, swallowing hard to keep from keeling over in laughter. She let Inuyasha lead her through the maze of the trees, through the employees' exit, then out to the back of the towering structure.
"I'll… be right back," Inuyasha said after depositing Kagome outside. "Will—will you wait for me?"
"Yeah…" Kagome answered, a grin as wide as Shiori's was plastered on her face.
I did the dare!
Kagome texted Shiori, pressed send, then added: Don't wait up for me.
That good, huh?
Kagome would have to think of a way to seek revenge on her friend. The best friend in the world.
Inuyasha emerged not two minutes later, the black makeup scrubbed from his face. He wore a pair of beaten up jeans and a red hoodie. He had also pulled his hair up in a ponytail. He looked so good that Kagome was convinced that Inuyasha had never looked unattractive a day in his life. (She probably needed to stop drooling.) Inuyasha handed Kagome a wet wipe, gesturing shyly to her lips.
"Right. Lipstick." Kagome giggled as she wiped Inuyasha's black lipstick from her face. "Better?"
Inuyasha nodded, his fang pinching his bottom lip as he looked at her. Then he tentatively offered his hand to Kagome, who took it enthusiastically, and they made their way around the back of the fun house.
"Uh… are ya hungry?" Inuyasha asked as the two stepped out onto the midway.
"Sure!" Kagome could be hungry again.
"C—cool." Inuyasha rubbed the back of his neck, gulped; his eyes were deer-in-headlights wide. "There's this… diner. Just across from here if ya… wanna… go?"
Kagome smiled, and decided to give her answer as a peck on Inuyasha's cheek. When he looked at her, his eyes were warm and the smile on his face was radiant, as if he was glowing from the inside.
"It's a date," Kagome giggled, and she let Inuyasha lead her to the diner she'd agreed to a dare in, not twenty minutes prior. A dare set by her brilliant friend who was tired of keeping two secrets.
It was also clear that although she had completed the dare, and thus won the crown, Kagome had been wrong the whole time.
As she walked hand-in-hand with Inuyasha, she couldn't help but smile at her good fortune in her choice of friends, because now it was obvious: Shiori was the queen of awesome.