Some New Faces and a Strange Afternoon




~ So, you are woken up extra early with no clue on what you are going to be doing today. 'Dogboy' still hasn't gotten cleaned up from the trick you had pulled the previous night and you have to help him... In doing so, you have to soak his hair in hot water and you decide to have a little fun by dunking him..... A few times... Oh, 'his' brother called too. Not exactly the most loving of brothers, that is for sure. After that telephone conversation with 'his' brother, you finish washing 'Dogboy's hair, only for him to dunk you! Come on! You were being nice! Doesn't he have a heart...? Anyway, after getting cleaned up, it's off to the mysterious destination 'naive' is dying to get to.... And wouldn't you believe it, 'Dogboy' is terrified to the core... Of heights! ~

"Miroku," I called, trying to get the drummer's attention. He was currently staring at the hot air balloons. I had noticed something peculiar and ironic at the same time.

The hot air trip we'd be taking- or whatever the case was - it would be by using three separate balloons instead of one... Same thing with the bedrooms. Three instead of six- even two would have been fine. Ne, one for the girls and one for the boys.

"Huh?" Miroku murmured, not even bothering to look at me.

"We need to move the vehicles," I answered. Seeing that he didn't understand what I had been referring to, I explained it with a sigh. "Either we snap Dogboy out of his stupor or we move him out of the drivers' seat."

"Oh..." He shook his head to clear his thoughts and began to pester Inuyasha. "Oi! Inuyasha, snap out of it man! Pull yourself together!" Miroku started to pry at his death grip on the steering wheel that had caused his knuckles to go stark white.

The whole time Inuyasha stared ahead, muttering "Iie, iie, iie, iie..." It reminded me of Kouga's reaction to Relic. I just had to comment.

"Sugoi... Dogboy's acting just like Kouga right now, ne Miroku?" I laughed. Inuyasha's muttering stopped, but he didn't move an inch.

"Hai," Miroku replied, tugging on his friends arm. "If you don't drive than I'll have to..."

After a few more tugs to Inuyasha's hands, Miroku threw his heads up in defeat. He gave him a bonk to the head and started whispering vehemently to himself.

I gave it a few more tries, insulting him to the point where, if he hadn't been incased in such a ridiculous amount of fear, he would have strangled me even though I was a girl... I was amazed to see that it all fell on deft ears. He didn't even twitch or growl... 'Sugoi...'

Seeing that he wasn't moving, I turned to something a little rasher. "Kya!" I screamed and pointed to the steering wheel. "There's a spider!" I started swatting at the steering wheel, as if I'd really seen one.

Like before, Inuyasha began to stutter, "S-s-spi-s-spid-d-d-d-SPIDER!", and jumped up, hitting his head on the ceiling. Starting to jiggle around, grossed out at the thought of a spider on him, he screamed like a girl. "GET IT OFF!" All right he was frightened of two things...

"Kya! It's on your head," I cried, holding back an oncoming cackle-fit. I really was mean...

He yipped and started slapping his head, trying to smash the spider that had never existed in the first place. "Now it's on your shoulder!" He panicked after hearing me. He'd missed it!

He began to fling his arms around, pausing only long enough to open the door. Once out of the car, he rolled on the ground for a while. Of course, I couldn't hold back on the giggle-fit forever...

"Hahahahahaha, I think the fire's extinguished, Dogboy," I commented as he stopped. He had brushed the dirt off before he had comprehended what it was I'd meant.

His face fell. "You didn't..." He said in disbelief.

"I did..." I mocked as I walked back to Sango's car. Miroku took the driver's seat of Inuyasha's vehicle and I followed him, leaving Inuyasha in the dust. Well, he chased us until we stopped and he hopped in the back with Ayame who tried her best to stop laughing.

She didn't exactly succeed, though.

We parked off to the side, next to some rather expensive looking vehicles. There were a few instructors to teach a crash course in safety and some workers. Many of them held flashlights while the others finished preparations.

"Over here," called one of the elderly instructors. She looked ancient, though I didn't say anything. I'm not THAT mean!

Still looking around, we stumbled over the elderly woman. Momentarily breaking away from my trance, I pulled Inuyasha along, who was staring in fear at the hot air balloons. "Ohayo, ma'am," I said, bowing slightly.

"Ohayo, child," she replied smiling. "I see ye are still afraid of heights Inuyasha. I thought ye would have gotten over that ridiculous phobia by now."

He stiffened at the woman's statement. "Well, I see you're still alive Keade-baba. That is miraculous enough. We don't need two surprises, now do we." He paused for a moment. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Well, ye are still rude, too. Not much has changed, has it?" She asked, and continued without an answer. "I have known ye for many a year, Inuyasha, and though I have learned ye are not the brightest of all, I know ye are not the dimmest, either," Keade replied while hobbling over to one of the huge balloon baskets, resting her arm on the edge. "Ye will be seeing both sunrise and sunset from the sky- in these balloons."

Inuyasha groaned. "That jack-ass..."

"Now you're talking to yourself," I muttered, giggling. "Some people will start to wonder... Hey, you don't by chance refer to yourself in the third person, do you?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Iie. Inuyasha would never speak in the third-person," he said with false hurt, then smirked. "Well... I want this to be done and over with. Keade-baba, ex- Itai!" he yipped after I elbowed him in the stomach. "Bitch! What the hell was that for!?"

"You need to respect your elders," I hissed, grabbing him by the ear like a naughty schoolboy.

"Keh! And why is that? It's not like she's gonna cast a spell on me or somethin'."

My eyes narrowed. "You WILL respect her or I'LL cast the spell. Understand?" I asked, the threat seething through my teeth with each word. "Now... What do you say, Dogboy?"

He growled, turning his head away. Bad move... I yanked on his ear and he lost balance, falling on his back. A few giggles could be heard. 'Great... More spectators...' I thought dryly as I placed a foot on his chest, pinning him down.

Inuyasha growled. "Keh! Explain the plans, Keade-ba chan," he said, making the 'chan' sound more like an insult than anything.

"I'll be nice and pretend I didn't notice that," I told him. "But you forgot to say 'onegai'."

'Ite,' was the only thing I could think when he glared at me. If looks could kill, this one would have worked 5 times over.

"Onegai..." he snarled.

"That wasn't very polite, but it's better... We need to work on that a little more," I said with a smirk, removing my foot from the singer. "Wait... I thought I was the one that needed teaching..."

"You ARE!" He grumbled. "No lady would do something like that."

"I never said I was a lady and I don't wish to be one either. Being a female is enough," I replied.

Keade cleared her throat. "Well, well. It seems that ye have a leash, Inuyasha. All ye need is a collar to keep it in place."

"Eh?"

Everyone looked totally confused, save for Inuyasha. He stood there growling at the woman.

"It may be a good change for ye, Inuyasha," she added before she started explaining the arrangements. "As you can see, there are three balloons. Each balloon contains enough food for two- breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The balloons are connected by ropes, forming a triangle. If something were to go wrong, or if we miscalculated the food, ye will be able to pull yourself to another group. Inside each basket are five sandbags on each side. Sandbags are used to weigh the balloon down and stabilize the balance."

"So... Who's with who?" Ayame asked, watching a few cars drive away. The workers had finished the preparations and were going home for some shut- eye.

"Ye will choose. If ye cannot, straws may be drawn. We still have ten minutes before we need to raise the balloons," Keade spoke.

"Oh..." Ayame turned to face the rest of us. "Well... Which is it? Do we choose or draw?"

"Draw," we agreed without discussion. No one would really choose someone. I mean- half of us despised each other. Only Miroku and Ayame were completely impartial. Kouga didn't even know Sango existed, Inuyasha and I hated each other, Sango couldn't stand Miroku- well, actually I knew she liked him, but she'd never admit it- I didn't like Kouga. We were a mess.

"I thought as much," Keade sighed. "Very well, I will retrieve the straws. Ye need to get the proper gear from Myouga. Ye will find him near the farthest balloon."

"Myouga-jijii?" Inuyasha mumbled. "He's here, too? This place is just crawling with the dead."

"Eh?"

"He is also an elder that has known Inuyasha for some time now," Keade replied to my unformed question.

"Oh..."

Finally his statement dawned on me and I grabbed him hair, forgetting momentarily what it had felt like when Sango had pulled mine, and jerked him back as he walked away. "Dogboy," I growled menacingly. "Didn't we just have a little talk about respecting your elders?"

"Ite! Let go!"

"Which curse shall it be?" I asked calmly. "One that binds you to your brother even in the afterlife? Or one that sends you to a never-landing airplane filled with spiders?"

"Wench," he snorted.

"Baka," I retorted.

"Bitch," he countered.

"You seem to be calling me that a lot lately, 'Dogboy'," I said, smirking with a quirked brow. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Nani...?" He stuttered, baffled. Slowly, but surely, the meaning implied hit him... Like a ton of bricks. He stumbled backwards with wide eyes, promptly falling to the ground. "I-iie," he gasped and blushed. Even through the dark I could see it.

"Aw," I cooed. "That is so cute! All we're missing is your ears."

"Huh?" The rest of the group looked to one another, completely at a loss.

"Um... Maybe we only need four straws..." Miroku mumbled.

Sango just stared at me. "What has gotten into you? You aren't the Kagome I know."

"Hai, I am," I said defensively. "I really don't like being so good at word games, though. That came out of nowhere."

"Let's go," Miroku sighed. "We need to see Myouga-jiichan. I haven't seen him in, what, two weeks? What is he doing here anyway?"

"Probably watching dogface for Sesshomaru," Kouga replied.

"How do you know Myouga-jiichan?" Ayame asked, looking to Kouga.

"You know him?" Ayame nodded and went on to say she knew almost everyone involved in her grandfather's business. "Oh... Well, he is an informant that helps with building the company image, as you already know, obviously. He also started us out, along with Sesshomaru and Jaken. Now-"

"Who's Jaken?" Ayame implored.

"The toad man," Inuyasha answered. We burst out laughing, leaving Ayame in the dark. She had slept through that, too. "He is like my brother's personal slave," he explained to the confused girl.

"I knew Sesshomaru would like the idea of a personal slave," I mumbled, only loud enough for Inuyasha to hear. He growled, remembering my threat. "Just say it once, Dogboy," I chuckled as I listened to Kouga's continued story.

"Well, anyway... Myouga-jiichan works for Sesshomaru, naturally. He is always finding new and better songs for us and Sesshomaru uses him for keeping an eye on dogface. To keep him out of trouble, ne? That man does almost everything. It's likely that he planned this trip, instead of Sesshomaru."

"Sugoi," Ayame whispered. "I only met him once. I didn't know he did all of that."

"He didn't before Mr. Zaisan passed away," Miroku said. "Ah, Myouga- jiichan!"

We had arrived at the balloon Keade had mentioned. There stood a balding man with beady eyes in a dark blue business suit, talking on a cell phone. "Hai, Sesshomaru. They have made it. Sayonara." He turned the phone off; placing it in one of his jacket's many pockets. "Ohayo, Inuyasha."

"Ohayo, Myouga-jiij- Ite! Jiichan!" He yelped, clasping his abused shin. I smiled sweetly, bowing slightly to the man. He shook his head slowly.

"What do we need?" Kouga asked.

"Need?" Myouga repeated, uncertainly.

"Keade-bachan sent us," Ayame said. "She said that we needed to get our gear."

"Ayame?"

"Hai."

"It's nice to see you again... The only thing you'll need, though, is the food or anything to pass the time. We have some books and a few board games. Cards, too... Are you sure she sent you for gear?" Myouga asked.

"Hai," Sango answered.

"Well, you don't need any gear... Ah! That's right!" He said, digging through his pockets. "Where is it...? I now it's here somewhere... Here!" He pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to Inuyasha. "Sesshomaru-sama sent this."

Inuyasha looked suspiciously at the letter. "It's not a bomb, is it?"

"If he sent you a bomb then his sister wouldn't be getting her money," I stated. "That's a really silly thing to ask."

"I was being sarcastic, b... Wench," he growled, correcting himself.

"Can we go now?" Ayame asked impatiently. "I want to go! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Hai."

We bade goodbye to Myouga before making our way back to the first balloon where Keade stood waiting. "Boys choose from the left, girls from the right," she said, holding out her hands which contained three straws each.

Ayame was first, Miroku next. Sango took hers at the same time Inuyasha did. I was left to draw as Kouga did likewise. Matches:

"Iie!" Sango cried. Miroku smiled, hugging her to his side.

"Hmmm...." Ayame mumbled. "I have a short one with strips."

"Same here," Kouga huffed.

"Kya! Iie! No way!" I shouted. I was never going to get away from Dogboy at this rate.

"Ah! Iie! No fucking way!" He hollered, just as angry as I was.

"Interesting," Keade mumbled.

"And just what is THAT supposed to mean?" Inuyasha grumbled.

"Nothing..." And with that she hobbled away. Leaving us to wallow in disappear.

'Why...? Kami-sama, do you hate me so? What have I done to deserve this...? Wait! Don't answer that.'

"Well, I guess we should get into our baskets..." Miroku muttered, still holding Sango who had given up fighting at this point. She was just plain outright tired of the torture she was being put through.

"Okay, finally!" Ayame cheered. "I get the one over there!" She shouted, racing to the one that we hadn't visited yet. Grumbling incoherently, Sango stalked off to the nearest balloon. The boys stood there for a moment.

"Why-"

"-the fuck-"

"-do we have-"

"-to do this?" They asked, each saying their own line and ending with the same one. They really were in tuned with each other. Even Miroku had an uncharacteristic air about him. Sad...

"Because it's your job," I said, felling a little sorry for them and letting it show. "In a way... You wanted fame, you got it... Try to make the best of it boys," I sighed, walking slowly to the remaining balloon.

Whatever had made me say that brought up memories of that last audition. Maybe it wasn't so bad to be an unknown person in the world of music. At least I could make my own decisions.

******


Sunrise had been beautiful. It wasn't as good as sunset would be, but it was still worth seeing. Slowly, the sky turned from black to a smoggy gray, then a light blue. As the first sunbeam broke to the surface, so did the first birds' song. It was magical. Everything about it was magical. And what did Inuyasha do? He ruined it. Whining and complaining curled up in a ball in the opposite corner from me. 'Oh well,' I sighed mentally.

After a while of being up in the air, the balloons slowly drifted apart. When the ropes reached their full extent, it was a rather secluded area, even though they were in the open. The balloons were close enough to see the other balloons' occupants, but far enough that no one could here another's conversation or see who it was; only that it was someone.

"Well... What are we supposed to do now?" I asked, sitting down, careful not to move too quickly. He didn't answer. "Okay then... What about your sister?"

"What about her?"

"What is she like? Has she always been sick? What does the disease do? How do they treat it now?" I rambled. "Ne, stuff like that."

"Why should I tell you? You already know more about me than most fans do," he replied.

"Well, for one, I am not a fan so that does not matter. Two, I am bored and will start to get on your nerves, one way or another, if you don't start talking. Three, it's too early for lunch and I just finished the last of my book," I answered.

"Why didn't you just say that then? I could go on and on about my sister," he said sarcastically. "I could talk about absolutely nothing, too. Wanna see?"

"Not really. Either you talk, we play a game, or I do something we both regret, okay?"

"And what would that be?"

"Oh, I don't know... Separate you and those family jewels of yours. I really don't wanna have to do anything that drastic... I could just push you over the side. It would be a lot less embarrassing for you."

"And what was that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, Dogboy. Now, which is it?"

"Which is what?"

And the questions of pointless meaning kept flying back and forth, never fully reaching the other side. The argument ended awkwardly...

"No way! I love that group! How could you hate them?" Inuyasha shouted.

"Baka! I was talking about your group! What's up with the 'that' and 'them' instead of 'our' and 'us'?" Big pause... 'Us...? Why does it sound so strange...? I was referring to their group. He should have said 'us'- meaning the band of course...' And my thought were just as jumbled as the conversation.

"Uh... What's for lunch?" Inuyasha asked, looking at the sky. That wasn't hard to do since we were 'sitting' in it.

I stood up and walked over to the basket. "Well," I murmured as I searched the basket. "There's a few sandwiches, apples, some other fruits, and that's about it."

"Drinks?"

I walked over to the cooler next to the side of the basket and lifted the lid...

"DAMN IT!" I shouted. "It's all Coke!" I picked up the closest bottle and throw it as far as I could. 'Oops... Hope that doesn't hit anyone...'

"OI!" Inuyasha yelled, forgetting his fear of heights in no time. He jumped to his feet and tripped over his jacket that lay in front of him, falling to his face. The basket jounced unsteadily and I slipped, barely catching myself on the rim... Something was wrong... My feet... weren't touching anything.

"Kya! I'm gonna fall!" I shouted, closing my eyes.

"Shit! You gotta be kidding me," Inuyasha grumbled. "Hold on."

"What do you think I'm doing?" I growled. I felt the basket start to move a bit. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Keh! Fixing the sandbags so that it won't tip when I try to pull you over the side. What else would I be doing?"

"Sitting and waiting for me to fall," I answered, my fear slowly fading away. Inuyasha was having some problems with the bags, thought I don't know what it could have possibly been. While I waited, I began to feel like it was all a dream, as if I had never really awoke this morning... "I wonder... If I were to let go," I thought aloud, "would I really fall...?" (A/N: Uh, like DUH! Baka, ne?)

"Baka! Of course you'll fall," Inuyasha snorted. "Iie... Let me restate that. You won't fall. You will plummet to the ground, unable to cry out because of the intensity of the fear that will consume you, and you'll try with all of your might to accomplish the impossible by flailing your arms in a desperate and useless attempt to fly. When you do reach the ground, your body will shatter into many small, bloody pieces, littering the ground with your entrails. I suppose an eye may pop out of its destroyed socket, roll around on the ground and stare unblinkingly at the men that have to sweep up your remains."

That made me shiver, but I remained in that eerie calm state. "You don't have to be soooo descriptive, but.... Arigatou."

"Huh?"

"Now I understand my situation and that it's real, but..." I couldn't finish my sentence aloud. 'Why am I not scared anymore...?'

Inuyasha snorted. "You really are a strange girl, ne...? How much longer can you hold?"

"Umm.... Perhaps a minute or so... Why?"

"Good," Inuyasha sighed. I felt the basket jounce again as he plopped down and, from the sound of things, opened a bottle of Coke.

"Chotto!" I screeched, afraid once again. 'He's gonna let me fall!'

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said, laughing as he stood. "I wouldn't let anyone fall," he continued as I felt his hands grab my arms, "to their death like that," he ended as he lift me up so easily it made me sick. He was too strong for his own damned good. "Not even you..."

That statement- no... That voice caused me to open my eyes. Just then, his voice had lost all it's sarcasm, all it's hateful, hurtful tones. I found myself staring into last night's sunset with its last ray of light. The one of sorrow. But instead of a stream of light, I found a pool. A pool of gold. Of amber. Of sadness. I didn't want to notice it. I didn't want to see so much pain. It hurt me. If happiness existed in those eyes, it was such a small amount that it had been corrupted by the other feelings, leaving it invisible.

I couldn't pull back; my body froze. Not even my mind was working properly. My breath left me. No human being should suffer so. I wanted to help; I never wanted to do it more than I did right then. I wished that the past would leave my mind, even if only for the moment, so that I could hold him close and tell him it would all be okay. With his arms already around me, all that needed to happen was for me to lean into the embrace. It was so easy, I so scared.

Without thinking, I whispered the first thing that came to mind. "Gomen..." And with that, the trance was broken.

"For what?" He mumbled, his hands dropping to his sides.

"Uh... Nothing," I sighed, taking a seat in the center of our limited space.

"What was that for, anyway?" Inuyasha grumbled.

"What was what for?"

"The whole throwing the Coke over the side? It doesn't make sense, ne?"

"Oh! I told you I didn't like Coke," I muttered, resting my chin on my clasped hands.

"Iie, you told Kouga that."

"But you heard it," I retorted.

"Still... I don't like Pepsi, but I wouldn't throw it over the side if it was all there was to drink," he said, grabbing a sandwich from the bag and tossing it to me.

"Arigatou..." I said, unwrapping the lunch. "I had a bad experience with Coke a while back. I was really young and I grew up detesting the stuff."

"Oh... So, what's your family like?" He asked, a bit slow.

"They're great!" I exclaimed, happy for once as I thought of my brother. "I live with my brother, my mom and her father. My brother is really annoying, always getting into my stuff. Oh! One time, he snuck in my room to steal a bra for this dare he was in and I caught him. After he explained it, I gave him one. His friends actually paid him five dollars for it. They ended up fighting over it and it ripped. They chased my brother all the way home, but when they say me-" I broke off laughing. I couldn't help it. "Th-the boys fell flat on their faces and crawled away.

"He's a good kid though. He does great in school, too. Not a real brain, but smart enough to get into the same high school I went to, which is no easy thing.

"My mom is a little different, though. She always has her head in the clouds, but she sees everything. There's always a smile on her face," I shuttered as I realized a parallel I didn't want to. "Like Miroku... Anyway, I think she went over the top a while ago and never came back. Before I could go with Sango-chan and Aya-chan, she had me promise to bring a guy home with me."

'I can't believe I just told him that!'

"That's what Miroku meant?" Inuyasha asked. I nodded. "Oh..."

"Like I said, she has lost it. She went on a trip with Aya-chan's mom, whom she cannot seem to get along with, because her mom's a matchmaker," I sighed, shaking my head in self-pity.

"Well, my grandpa's worse. He believes that he is a descendent of a magical family-line. Whenever something bad happens, he blames it on evil spirits and demons. Then, just to make sure we're safe, he plasters our house with ofudas to seal us away from the 'dangerous, demented beings'. But I love them all, no matter what they're like, and that's all that matters."

"And I thought you were strange," Inuyasha muttered.

"I am," I replied.

"I know."

"Well... What about your sister?"

"Don't feel like it..."

"Okay," I mumbled, raking my brain for ideas. "What about your first audition? What was it like?"

"Didn't I tell you?" He asked, tossing me an apple.

"Arigatou. Not really. I know you didn't tell me everything. How did they set it up?" I asked, thinking, 'I actually get the chance for intelligent conversation with him and I ask about something I already know... Maybe I'm the one that has lost it...'

"Why are you so curious?"

"I thought about trying it out a long time ago..."

"You. A singer?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Chotto!" I yelled, throwing my apple at him, hitting him in the knee. "Can't you ever be serious?"

"Gomen," he chuckled, tossing me a new apple. "Well, first they had us try out a few songs with everyone in the room, so that you could see what you were up against, ne? Then they would choose a bunch of contestants. The next time, they split up the group into smaller sections, choosing three from each section. About this time there were still fifteen kids left. They gave us a new set of songs and we tried them out in front of each other. They were trying to get us to 'reach our fullest potential'," he stated, mocking someone he had remembered. At least that's what I think. "Ten of us were sent packing, while the rest stayed. The last one was done in a room with a group of judges and no one else so that we could focus on being our best. I won."

"Sugoi..." I murmured, trying to look as amazed as I sounded. "Were you ever scared?"

"A little..."

"From auditioning or a rival?"

"I don't know... That's what I can't remember," he said, leaning his head against the basket's edge. "I just know that something went wrong on the last audition... Someone was disqualified or something..."

"Hmm... Well... Ah! What's Kikyo like?" I asked. I wanted to know if I should be insulted from people mistaking us or pleased.

"Huh...? You are strange," he mumbled. "That was the last thing I expected to hear... She's... Kinda hard to describe. Don't EVER repeat this to anyone." I promised not to. "Well, she is an actress- was an actress, is an actress, I'm not certain which. She looks like you, but with brown eyes and a brown tint to her hair. Ne, yours has a bluish tint. She's a little taller than you are and- hai- she can be a real bitch. She is the perfect example of a daddy's girl. I used to think she was just... more sophisticated than most people, but that wasn't it. After she ran off with my money, she started to stalk me, teasing me and then begging to come back. I'm actually surprised that we haven't seen or heard from her at all."

"Then I'm guessing that being called 'Kikyo' would be an... insult?" He nodded once. "Oh..." I yawned and lay down on my side. "Know any good bedtime stories?"

"Only children fairytale's," he answered, yawning. "How about..."

That was the last thing I heard before sleep took over in my bored mind. I had a fleeting feeling that he fell asleep even sooner than that, though. Boredom was not a good conversation starter. The boredom just waited aloft to reclaim its rightful spot. And to think, we still had till sundown before we could leave...