Author's Notes: I probably could have gotten around to writing this earlier, but I'm lazy and have an addictive personality.
I just picked up a copy of Freedom Force the PC game, and I am hooked. Some of the levels are a little frustrating, but if you don't mind making mistakes to discover the perfect strategy, it's pretty fun. It's in the Silver Age of comics, which means cheesy dialogue, bad puns, an abundance of aliteration, and broad stereotypes. Very funny, very entertaining. It's digital prozac! Dying four times before beating the first boss was so worth it to hear the dialog that followed.
In other news, I'm also slow with this story because I'm working on some of my own projects. My current big one is a short story called Xavier that uses the classic concept of ultimate insight within ultimate madness.
A couple more complaints to get out. I was happy to see so many review alerts in my inbox the day after chapter 16 was posted, but I'm a little pissed off to find that about 20 of them are hanging in limbo. It saysI have over three hundred, but only displays 280-290 some odd. I plan ot contact one of the site administrators soon to have this fixed.
One other thing that bugged me was how the text inchapter 16 turned out. You are now familiar with my writing style and I don't double-space song lyrics. I keep them single-spaced to make them easier to read and differentiate them from the rest of the prose since I can only work in text. Hopefully I can fix this too later on so chapter 16 will be easier to read in the future.
God damn technology. It's not an issue of if it will screw up, it's when.
A couple people have asked me what I was thinking putting Sessh and Kikyo together, and not in a bad way, just kind of "huh?" way if that makes any sense. The answer: I did for humor. I wanted something different, something I could build a few jokes around, this is the first thing that popped into my head. I do not support the couple outside of the story, unless you can make a story that makes it work. A case-by-case basis kind of thing.
Anyway, I did promise another chapter, and this one will let me resolve a few things I've been meaning to get around to.
Let the Music Be Your Master
Chapter 17- I Close My Eyes and Wait To Hear the Sound of Someone Screaming
Kagome woke up more well-rested than she she'd felt in a long time. Still partially asleep, she tried to sit up only to feel something holding her down.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled softly. Right behind her was Inuyasha with his face half-buried in the pillow and his arms around her waist. He had a peaceful, contented look on his face, and Kagome melted remembering last night.
************************
(flashback)
"Are you sure?" Inuyasha asked, his face beat red.
Kagome just giggled. "Of course I'm sure. I trust you. And my mother certainly seems to," she said with a wink.
She glanced over the room. Shippo and Kirara were already passed out in one another's arms on the makeshift bedding Mrs. Higurashi had layed out. Sango and Miroku were laying down side-by-side on a similar pile of blankets and grinning at Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Oh come on, Inuyasha," Miroku taunted. "Not afraid are you?"
Inuyasha shot Miroku a dark look as Kagome batted her lashes. "Come on Inuyasha, I don't bite."
Now that they had suitably challenged his pride, Kagome knew she had won. Inuyasha crawled into bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Maybe you don't, but I do," he said with a fanged grin.
Kagome just cuddled up against him and let herself drift to sleep wrapped up in his warmth.
(end flashback)
*************************
Yes, Kagome's mother was indeed the coolest parent ever. Grandpa would be overjoyed this morning. Kagome was willing to bet that the first words out of his mouth at breakfast would be "Good morning Kagome, any plans on giving me some great grandchildren any time soon?"
Naturally, Sota would be thrilled to learn that his older sister and his hero were officially an item now. There would be some changes around the school, but those were already in progress. Kagome wondered absently what Yura and Naraku would think of this.
Kagome, Sango, and Yura were quickly learning just what they had been missing all these years on the other side of the coin. Conformity no longer mattered, there was nothing superficial between friends, and there was a certain ubiquitous sense of security to the individualist crowd.
Kagome just sighed contentedly and rested her head on Inuyasha's chest. She glanced up at his ears and felt the urge to do something she had tried to deny since she first met him. Deciding to give in and try it, she reached up and gently scratched one of Inuyasha's dog ears.
The boy responded by leaning his head into her hand and letting out a long sound that was like a pur crossed with a groan. "Ooh, that feels good," he mumbled as his eyes fluttered open.
Kagome gasped and pulled her hand away. She felt her face heat up and tried to edge away, but Inuyasha's arms still held her tightly.
"Did I say you could stop?" he purred. He twitched his ears a few times as if to invite her.
Kagome felt her blush go down as she tentatively reached out and began scratching his ear again. 'Lead me not to temptation,' she thought, 'I can find it fine on my own.'
"Inuyasha?" she gently asked. There was one question that had been at the back of her mind for some time now, and she really wanted an answer.
"Yeah?" Inuyasha responded in a low, husky voice, obviously only half-aware of anything other than Kagome's gentle touch.
"I was kind of wondering... people who are born... different... don't they usually do medical studies or something? Did they ever... you know... try to examine you?"
Inuyasha opened one eye and looked at Kagome strangely. She immediately felt sorry for asking and looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"No," Inuyasha interrupted. "You have a right to know something like that. I'm your boyfriend now, aren't I? I should be honest with you."
Kagome smiled slightly inside. Her boyfriend. She liked the sound of that. She looked into Inuyasha's eyes, awaiting his answer and inwardly gushing at the idea that he trusted her enough to talk about something that touchy without an argument.
"When I was first born, the doctors ran a few exams at first. It was mandatory. Just a few blood samples, keeping me in the hospital a few days extra, nothing too big.
"Well, when I got older I ended up becoming stronger and faster than everybody else, my senses were a lot stronger, and I put a whole new meaning to 'quick healer.' The doctors wanted to do a study on me again. I remember they told me that my condition had a specific name, which I still don't remember, and there had only been about a dozen documented cases in the past fifty years."
Inuyasha let out a soft chuckle. "Of course, my mother wasn't going to stand for that. She wanted me to live my own life. The researchers got pretty insistent, and that's when Dad and Myoga called in their armada of lawyers. Having rich parents does have a few perks.
"Anyway, Mom and Dad took it to court and ruled that unless given permission by a parent or guardian until I gained legal posession of myself, no doctor or researcher could lay a finger on me. After that, the only contact I had with medical people was our family doctor, Kaede, for annual check-ups.
"And now you know the rest of the back story," Inuyasha finished with a smirk.
Kagome giggled slightly and buried her face in his chest. She could have stayed like that all day if Kikyo didn't pick that time to come in.
"It's a Kodak moment," she said amusedly from the doorway, arms folded over her chest.
Kagome jumped slightly and heaved a sigh of relief. Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo were just beginning to stir and Kagome reached up and started scratching one of Inuyasha's ears again.
"Aren't you all forgetting a little something?" she asked, the amusement practically dripping from her voice.
The three couples looked up at eldest Higurashi daughter slightly confused before looking to one another.
Kikyo just shook her head with a soft chuckle. "It's now 10:45 and school started about three hours ago."
There was an interesting chorus of gasps, strangled cries of alarm, and obscenities when the now-not-so-happy couples realized what they had forgotten in their bliss.
"Thankfully," Kikyo continued as the six teens before her struggled out of their covers and began scrambling to get dressed, "Mom has already called all the parents. They're all letting you skip today, provided it doesn't become a habit."
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Kikyo in disbelief. "If you're going to lie, make it believable," Shippo said with slight indignation.
"I kid you not," Kikyo said levelly. "Kagome, you know Mom would let you skip just this once. Inuyasha, Sessh knows you rarely miss a day and have excellent grades anyway. Shippo, your mother and father said they absolutely adore Kirara and won't stand between the two of you as long as you don't go overboard. Kirara, Miroku, Sango, your parents are just overjoyed you finally got together with someone."
Kikyo looked up thoughtfully for a second. "I guess that covers it." She turned to leave, but was interrupted by Inuyasha.
"Hold on a second," he called out. "I think I know exactly where you're going. Tell Sessh I said thanks."
Kikyo looked a little startled, and a faint blush rose up in her cheeks, but she only nodded and walked off.
Kagome looked around at her friends. "Well we have the day to ourselves. What do you want to do?"
The three boys looked to one another and grinned. "Cruising," they said in unison.
***********************
Miroku was driving once again. They were having a good day, and he certainly wasn't going to let Inuyasha frighten the girls with his daredevil driving. Hmm... He wondered if he could make a song about that. Speed Demon, yeah, that would be a good title.
They spent over an hour just cruising along in Miroku's car. Said driver helped pass the time with one of his custom CDs so they whiled away the time by singing along to The Court of the Crimson King, The Science of Selling Yourself Short, The Zoo, Immigrant Song, Dazed and Confused, Big Crash, Marathon, Money, and all seven songs that made up 2112.
"Whoo! Temples of Sirynx is still my favorite song from 2112, but the guitarwork in Overture and The Presentation is the best." Inuyasha played out air guitar for a second then draped an arm over Kagome's shoulders.
"Classic ballad of the struggle of the individual," Shippo remarked somewhat profoundly.
"Isn't that the truth," Inuyasha said as more of a statement than a question. "So where to now? I'm friggin' starved."
"Why not go down to the mall by the boardwalk?" Kirara suggested. "I hear they're opening that new ice cream parlor today."
"We are so freakin' there," Inuyasha said with a big grin.
Miroku glanced in his rearview mirror and rolled his eyes when he saw Inuyasha and Kagome getting rather cuddly while Shippo was kissing Kirara's neck.
"My little kitten has the best ideas," he cooed to her.
Miroku couldn't help but feel a little wierded out by the tone and strangely high pitch Shippo's voice was taking there, but he said nothing as he headed for the mall.
He took a quick glance at Sango to see she was staring at him. He simply smiled at her and she smiled back. "Looks like you and I are going to have to be the voices of sanity in this little group, aren't we?"
Sango just leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "So what else is new?"
"Hey!" Kirara shot from the back. "Who helped hook all you guys up, huh?" She then lifted her arms up and pointed down to herself. "Yo!"
The purple PT Cruiser was filled with a chorus of laughter as it rolled down the streets. Could things possibly be any better?
************************
Sango took a seat beside Miroku, naturally. She was still feeling kind of high from the serenade last night. The concept was a little cheesy, but it was still so sweet. They browsed through their menus as a serving lady with bleach-blonde hair walked up, eyeing them curiously.
"What can I get ya?" he asked disinterestedly.
Sango went first. "I'll have the peanut butter sundae."
"Chocoloate parfait," Miroku said, still looking through the menu.
"We'll split a root beer float," Kirara said, gesturing to Shippo.
"I'll just have two scoops of black raspberry with hot fudge," Kagome said, setting her menu down.
Inuyasha pointed to a spot on his menu. "What the hell is The Leviathan and why the hell does it cost almost thirty dollars? There's no description in here."
The serving lady sighed exasperatedly and pointed with her pen to a picture on the far wall. In a giant, clear plastic bowl was about eight scoops of different flavors of ice cream topped with what looked like the whole can of whipped cream, four different kinds of sauces, and just about every topping in the shop.
"I'm there, dude," Inuyasha said with an excited smile on his face.
Sango looked at him in disbelief as the serving lady just shook her head, jotted the order down, and walked away. "You're going to be sick as a dog! Er... no pun intended."
"Right, now tell me about the part where I give a shit."
Sango saw Kagome torn between worrying and letting Inuyasha make the stupid mistake and learn his lesson. Different context, same people.
Forty-five minutes later had everyone sighing contentedly except for Inuyasha who was just now returning from the bathroom where he had retreated to loosen his belt a few notches. "That's the problem with jeans," he muttered, "no stretch."
Kagome just laughed as he flopped down in his seat beside her and rested her head on his shoulder. "I think you look pretty sexy in tight jeans, myself."
"That makes the stomachache worth it," he responded, draping an arm over her shoulders.
Sango just shook her head with a smile and took Miroku's hand. She wondered absently what her parents would think of her new boyfriend? She had been going on for years about how much of a dick Miroku was before, so how would they treat this little 180?
*************************
People often wondered about Koga. He seemed bizarrely confident and his family had no shortage of cash to throw around. He seemed convinced that he could get anything he wanted, and absolutely refsued to take no for an answer from anyone.
The reason was that the Kobes had been brought into organized crime two generations ago. Koga's grandmother on his mother's side had married into a wealthy family who ran several smuggling and illegal gambling rings. Vice was so much easier to run than other crimes. It provided a steady stream of income and lackeys could simply be sworn to secrecy or told nothing important.
Koga stood to inherit a respectable portion of the family business when the time came. For the time being, he was content to sit back and let his parents do the work while he reaped the fruits of their labor.
Koga had spent the last two years looking for and recruiting people who could possibly be useful to him in the future. Friends were simply there to do things for you. He did them a favor, and they owed him one. Likewise, if they did something for him, he would return the favor and help them out, though his offer was good one time only. If they wanted anything else from him, they needed to earn it.
At the moment, Koga was planning his systematic destruction of his rival, Inuyasha. That mutant needed to go down. Koga knew just what he had to do.
First, he would need to temporarily put the mongrel out of commission. Koga didn't want him dead. You can't suffer if you're dead. A simple act of violence to keep Inuyasha down for a little while would do the trick.
Next, he would go to Kagome. She would see the light soon enough. Unlike the mutant, he wan't afraid to go to any lengths to claim her. He would take down anyone who got in is way, while Inuyasha just table danced.
Third, Koga would then confont the others that those freaks had lead astray. He really didn't care much for Sango or Yura, but Kagome certainly seemed to like them so he would bring them around to keep her happy.
Finally, all he had to do was pull a few strings to make sure none of this reached the wrong people. As noble as his intentions were, he knew full well how many people would never approve and would try to stop him. The police for one. No matter. Human beings were all greedy and cowardly. You could exploit them if you knew which angle to play.
Koga layed back on his bed in the basement of the Kobe home. He hadn't seen Kagome at school today, which greatly annoyed him. No matter. He could wait.
Koga watched the sun streaming through the glass block window over his bed and let his plans for the future turn over in his head. It was all going to be perfect.
*************************
Author's Notes: Next chapter the shit really hits the fan. We see the beginning of Koga's plan and a ton of angst.
And since I forgot to say earlier, in response to a couple people asking about the songs from last chapter, yes they are real. Inuyasha played Houses of the Holy, and then Whole Lotta Love, both classics by Led Zeppelin. I can't believe I forgot that.
Anyway, I'll update in maybe a week. Don't want to make promises I can't keep, so just use that as a shaky deadline.
It also now seems, because I'm previewing this document as I'm typing this part, that the site now double-spaces everything whether I want it to or not. I'll have to figure out a way to get around that.
I just picked up a copy of Freedom Force the PC game, and I am hooked. Some of the levels are a little frustrating, but if you don't mind making mistakes to discover the perfect strategy, it's pretty fun. It's in the Silver Age of comics, which means cheesy dialogue, bad puns, an abundance of aliteration, and broad stereotypes. Very funny, very entertaining. It's digital prozac! Dying four times before beating the first boss was so worth it to hear the dialog that followed.
In other news, I'm also slow with this story because I'm working on some of my own projects. My current big one is a short story called Xavier that uses the classic concept of ultimate insight within ultimate madness.
A couple more complaints to get out. I was happy to see so many review alerts in my inbox the day after chapter 16 was posted, but I'm a little pissed off to find that about 20 of them are hanging in limbo. It saysI have over three hundred, but only displays 280-290 some odd. I plan ot contact one of the site administrators soon to have this fixed.
One other thing that bugged me was how the text inchapter 16 turned out. You are now familiar with my writing style and I don't double-space song lyrics. I keep them single-spaced to make them easier to read and differentiate them from the rest of the prose since I can only work in text. Hopefully I can fix this too later on so chapter 16 will be easier to read in the future.
God damn technology. It's not an issue of if it will screw up, it's when.
A couple people have asked me what I was thinking putting Sessh and Kikyo together, and not in a bad way, just kind of "huh?" way if that makes any sense. The answer: I did for humor. I wanted something different, something I could build a few jokes around, this is the first thing that popped into my head. I do not support the couple outside of the story, unless you can make a story that makes it work. A case-by-case basis kind of thing.
Anyway, I did promise another chapter, and this one will let me resolve a few things I've been meaning to get around to.
Let the Music Be Your Master
Chapter 17- I Close My Eyes and Wait To Hear the Sound of Someone Screaming
Kagome woke up more well-rested than she she'd felt in a long time. Still partially asleep, she tried to sit up only to feel something holding her down.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled softly. Right behind her was Inuyasha with his face half-buried in the pillow and his arms around her waist. He had a peaceful, contented look on his face, and Kagome melted remembering last night.
************************
(flashback)
"Are you sure?" Inuyasha asked, his face beat red.
Kagome just giggled. "Of course I'm sure. I trust you. And my mother certainly seems to," she said with a wink.
She glanced over the room. Shippo and Kirara were already passed out in one another's arms on the makeshift bedding Mrs. Higurashi had layed out. Sango and Miroku were laying down side-by-side on a similar pile of blankets and grinning at Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Oh come on, Inuyasha," Miroku taunted. "Not afraid are you?"
Inuyasha shot Miroku a dark look as Kagome batted her lashes. "Come on Inuyasha, I don't bite."
Now that they had suitably challenged his pride, Kagome knew she had won. Inuyasha crawled into bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Maybe you don't, but I do," he said with a fanged grin.
Kagome just cuddled up against him and let herself drift to sleep wrapped up in his warmth.
(end flashback)
*************************
Yes, Kagome's mother was indeed the coolest parent ever. Grandpa would be overjoyed this morning. Kagome was willing to bet that the first words out of his mouth at breakfast would be "Good morning Kagome, any plans on giving me some great grandchildren any time soon?"
Naturally, Sota would be thrilled to learn that his older sister and his hero were officially an item now. There would be some changes around the school, but those were already in progress. Kagome wondered absently what Yura and Naraku would think of this.
Kagome, Sango, and Yura were quickly learning just what they had been missing all these years on the other side of the coin. Conformity no longer mattered, there was nothing superficial between friends, and there was a certain ubiquitous sense of security to the individualist crowd.
Kagome just sighed contentedly and rested her head on Inuyasha's chest. She glanced up at his ears and felt the urge to do something she had tried to deny since she first met him. Deciding to give in and try it, she reached up and gently scratched one of Inuyasha's dog ears.
The boy responded by leaning his head into her hand and letting out a long sound that was like a pur crossed with a groan. "Ooh, that feels good," he mumbled as his eyes fluttered open.
Kagome gasped and pulled her hand away. She felt her face heat up and tried to edge away, but Inuyasha's arms still held her tightly.
"Did I say you could stop?" he purred. He twitched his ears a few times as if to invite her.
Kagome felt her blush go down as she tentatively reached out and began scratching his ear again. 'Lead me not to temptation,' she thought, 'I can find it fine on my own.'
"Inuyasha?" she gently asked. There was one question that had been at the back of her mind for some time now, and she really wanted an answer.
"Yeah?" Inuyasha responded in a low, husky voice, obviously only half-aware of anything other than Kagome's gentle touch.
"I was kind of wondering... people who are born... different... don't they usually do medical studies or something? Did they ever... you know... try to examine you?"
Inuyasha opened one eye and looked at Kagome strangely. She immediately felt sorry for asking and looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"No," Inuyasha interrupted. "You have a right to know something like that. I'm your boyfriend now, aren't I? I should be honest with you."
Kagome smiled slightly inside. Her boyfriend. She liked the sound of that. She looked into Inuyasha's eyes, awaiting his answer and inwardly gushing at the idea that he trusted her enough to talk about something that touchy without an argument.
"When I was first born, the doctors ran a few exams at first. It was mandatory. Just a few blood samples, keeping me in the hospital a few days extra, nothing too big.
"Well, when I got older I ended up becoming stronger and faster than everybody else, my senses were a lot stronger, and I put a whole new meaning to 'quick healer.' The doctors wanted to do a study on me again. I remember they told me that my condition had a specific name, which I still don't remember, and there had only been about a dozen documented cases in the past fifty years."
Inuyasha let out a soft chuckle. "Of course, my mother wasn't going to stand for that. She wanted me to live my own life. The researchers got pretty insistent, and that's when Dad and Myoga called in their armada of lawyers. Having rich parents does have a few perks.
"Anyway, Mom and Dad took it to court and ruled that unless given permission by a parent or guardian until I gained legal posession of myself, no doctor or researcher could lay a finger on me. After that, the only contact I had with medical people was our family doctor, Kaede, for annual check-ups.
"And now you know the rest of the back story," Inuyasha finished with a smirk.
Kagome giggled slightly and buried her face in his chest. She could have stayed like that all day if Kikyo didn't pick that time to come in.
"It's a Kodak moment," she said amusedly from the doorway, arms folded over her chest.
Kagome jumped slightly and heaved a sigh of relief. Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo were just beginning to stir and Kagome reached up and started scratching one of Inuyasha's ears again.
"Aren't you all forgetting a little something?" she asked, the amusement practically dripping from her voice.
The three couples looked up at eldest Higurashi daughter slightly confused before looking to one another.
Kikyo just shook her head with a soft chuckle. "It's now 10:45 and school started about three hours ago."
There was an interesting chorus of gasps, strangled cries of alarm, and obscenities when the now-not-so-happy couples realized what they had forgotten in their bliss.
"Thankfully," Kikyo continued as the six teens before her struggled out of their covers and began scrambling to get dressed, "Mom has already called all the parents. They're all letting you skip today, provided it doesn't become a habit."
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Kikyo in disbelief. "If you're going to lie, make it believable," Shippo said with slight indignation.
"I kid you not," Kikyo said levelly. "Kagome, you know Mom would let you skip just this once. Inuyasha, Sessh knows you rarely miss a day and have excellent grades anyway. Shippo, your mother and father said they absolutely adore Kirara and won't stand between the two of you as long as you don't go overboard. Kirara, Miroku, Sango, your parents are just overjoyed you finally got together with someone."
Kikyo looked up thoughtfully for a second. "I guess that covers it." She turned to leave, but was interrupted by Inuyasha.
"Hold on a second," he called out. "I think I know exactly where you're going. Tell Sessh I said thanks."
Kikyo looked a little startled, and a faint blush rose up in her cheeks, but she only nodded and walked off.
Kagome looked around at her friends. "Well we have the day to ourselves. What do you want to do?"
The three boys looked to one another and grinned. "Cruising," they said in unison.
***********************
Miroku was driving once again. They were having a good day, and he certainly wasn't going to let Inuyasha frighten the girls with his daredevil driving. Hmm... He wondered if he could make a song about that. Speed Demon, yeah, that would be a good title.
They spent over an hour just cruising along in Miroku's car. Said driver helped pass the time with one of his custom CDs so they whiled away the time by singing along to The Court of the Crimson King, The Science of Selling Yourself Short, The Zoo, Immigrant Song, Dazed and Confused, Big Crash, Marathon, Money, and all seven songs that made up 2112.
"Whoo! Temples of Sirynx is still my favorite song from 2112, but the guitarwork in Overture and The Presentation is the best." Inuyasha played out air guitar for a second then draped an arm over Kagome's shoulders.
"Classic ballad of the struggle of the individual," Shippo remarked somewhat profoundly.
"Isn't that the truth," Inuyasha said as more of a statement than a question. "So where to now? I'm friggin' starved."
"Why not go down to the mall by the boardwalk?" Kirara suggested. "I hear they're opening that new ice cream parlor today."
"We are so freakin' there," Inuyasha said with a big grin.
Miroku glanced in his rearview mirror and rolled his eyes when he saw Inuyasha and Kagome getting rather cuddly while Shippo was kissing Kirara's neck.
"My little kitten has the best ideas," he cooed to her.
Miroku couldn't help but feel a little wierded out by the tone and strangely high pitch Shippo's voice was taking there, but he said nothing as he headed for the mall.
He took a quick glance at Sango to see she was staring at him. He simply smiled at her and she smiled back. "Looks like you and I are going to have to be the voices of sanity in this little group, aren't we?"
Sango just leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "So what else is new?"
"Hey!" Kirara shot from the back. "Who helped hook all you guys up, huh?" She then lifted her arms up and pointed down to herself. "Yo!"
The purple PT Cruiser was filled with a chorus of laughter as it rolled down the streets. Could things possibly be any better?
************************
Sango took a seat beside Miroku, naturally. She was still feeling kind of high from the serenade last night. The concept was a little cheesy, but it was still so sweet. They browsed through their menus as a serving lady with bleach-blonde hair walked up, eyeing them curiously.
"What can I get ya?" he asked disinterestedly.
Sango went first. "I'll have the peanut butter sundae."
"Chocoloate parfait," Miroku said, still looking through the menu.
"We'll split a root beer float," Kirara said, gesturing to Shippo.
"I'll just have two scoops of black raspberry with hot fudge," Kagome said, setting her menu down.
Inuyasha pointed to a spot on his menu. "What the hell is The Leviathan and why the hell does it cost almost thirty dollars? There's no description in here."
The serving lady sighed exasperatedly and pointed with her pen to a picture on the far wall. In a giant, clear plastic bowl was about eight scoops of different flavors of ice cream topped with what looked like the whole can of whipped cream, four different kinds of sauces, and just about every topping in the shop.
"I'm there, dude," Inuyasha said with an excited smile on his face.
Sango looked at him in disbelief as the serving lady just shook her head, jotted the order down, and walked away. "You're going to be sick as a dog! Er... no pun intended."
"Right, now tell me about the part where I give a shit."
Sango saw Kagome torn between worrying and letting Inuyasha make the stupid mistake and learn his lesson. Different context, same people.
Forty-five minutes later had everyone sighing contentedly except for Inuyasha who was just now returning from the bathroom where he had retreated to loosen his belt a few notches. "That's the problem with jeans," he muttered, "no stretch."
Kagome just laughed as he flopped down in his seat beside her and rested her head on his shoulder. "I think you look pretty sexy in tight jeans, myself."
"That makes the stomachache worth it," he responded, draping an arm over her shoulders.
Sango just shook her head with a smile and took Miroku's hand. She wondered absently what her parents would think of her new boyfriend? She had been going on for years about how much of a dick Miroku was before, so how would they treat this little 180?
*************************
People often wondered about Koga. He seemed bizarrely confident and his family had no shortage of cash to throw around. He seemed convinced that he could get anything he wanted, and absolutely refsued to take no for an answer from anyone.
The reason was that the Kobes had been brought into organized crime two generations ago. Koga's grandmother on his mother's side had married into a wealthy family who ran several smuggling and illegal gambling rings. Vice was so much easier to run than other crimes. It provided a steady stream of income and lackeys could simply be sworn to secrecy or told nothing important.
Koga stood to inherit a respectable portion of the family business when the time came. For the time being, he was content to sit back and let his parents do the work while he reaped the fruits of their labor.
Koga had spent the last two years looking for and recruiting people who could possibly be useful to him in the future. Friends were simply there to do things for you. He did them a favor, and they owed him one. Likewise, if they did something for him, he would return the favor and help them out, though his offer was good one time only. If they wanted anything else from him, they needed to earn it.
At the moment, Koga was planning his systematic destruction of his rival, Inuyasha. That mutant needed to go down. Koga knew just what he had to do.
First, he would need to temporarily put the mongrel out of commission. Koga didn't want him dead. You can't suffer if you're dead. A simple act of violence to keep Inuyasha down for a little while would do the trick.
Next, he would go to Kagome. She would see the light soon enough. Unlike the mutant, he wan't afraid to go to any lengths to claim her. He would take down anyone who got in is way, while Inuyasha just table danced.
Third, Koga would then confont the others that those freaks had lead astray. He really didn't care much for Sango or Yura, but Kagome certainly seemed to like them so he would bring them around to keep her happy.
Finally, all he had to do was pull a few strings to make sure none of this reached the wrong people. As noble as his intentions were, he knew full well how many people would never approve and would try to stop him. The police for one. No matter. Human beings were all greedy and cowardly. You could exploit them if you knew which angle to play.
Koga layed back on his bed in the basement of the Kobe home. He hadn't seen Kagome at school today, which greatly annoyed him. No matter. He could wait.
Koga watched the sun streaming through the glass block window over his bed and let his plans for the future turn over in his head. It was all going to be perfect.
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Author's Notes: Next chapter the shit really hits the fan. We see the beginning of Koga's plan and a ton of angst.
And since I forgot to say earlier, in response to a couple people asking about the songs from last chapter, yes they are real. Inuyasha played Houses of the Holy, and then Whole Lotta Love, both classics by Led Zeppelin. I can't believe I forgot that.
Anyway, I'll update in maybe a week. Don't want to make promises I can't keep, so just use that as a shaky deadline.
It also now seems, because I'm previewing this document as I'm typing this part, that the site now double-spaces everything whether I want it to or not. I'll have to figure out a way to get around that.