Luna: WE HAVE MADE IT TO CHAPPIE 30! Damn this story is long…and not even done yet. It should be under 40 chapters since even I'M sick of Kagome's endless angst over who to choose. And the sexual tension as well…
Veron: So will you relieve some of it?
Luna: Eventually, this is more of a filler chapter. Just a fun humor filled chapter.
Veron: For once…hey, where did Jareth go anyway?
Luna: I ditched him at Comic Con.
Veron: Dear god…
Disclaimer: I dun own Jareth or Inuyasha. But this story is mine all mine! XP.
Chapter 30: Silver Dishonesty
" WHERE'S KAGOME NOW?" Rin screamed, as she slipped on her denim jacket, her brown eyes glaring darkly at Sango.
Sango gave her friend a sheepish smile, her magenta eyes apologetic. Fiddling with the hem of her black skirt, she bit her bottom lip.
" Namie Amuro isn't the only thing I managed to get Kagome hooked on…"
Rin blanched and she covered her mouth in shock. Running over, she grasped the ex-taijya's shoulders and shook her.
" You didn't-"
" I did…"
" We have to get her! Or she'll never come back!"
Rin turned and narrowed her eyes at the guilty culprit behind her. She huffed and restrained herself from slapping her.
" You are paying for this when we come back."
Sango sweatdropped.
Both Inuyasha and Miroku blinked as the two women ran across the marble floors, skidding as they fiddled with the buttons on their coats. Black marks scuffed the floor from their rubber soles as Sango zipped up her thigh length boots.
" What's the rush?" Miroku asked, his twilight eyes confused as Rin neatly covered her head with a watch cap and tucked her errant bangs behind her ears.
" Sango has given Kagome another addiction."
" Besides Namie Amuro?"
Rin nodded as she slipped her gloves on, eyeing the dead leaves that covered the lawns outside. She stretched as she searched around a near by closet for her purple scarf, her face stubborn and determined as she chucked various objects over her shoulders.
A dusty Astro Boy figure flew over her shoulder and promptly nailed a curious Inuyasha in the forehead. Cursing, he rubbed his bruised head before stomping over to Rin and turning her around.
" What the hell are you doing?"
" We have to save Kagome!" Her eyes were wide with fear and his eyes widened before his lips curled into a snarl.
" Did Onigumo-"
" No worse Inuyasha…" The now distraught hanyou turned to a grim faced Miroku, his hands busily tying his black scarf around his neck.
" How much worse…"
Sango looked at the boy over her shoulder with guilty magenta eyes.
" Much worse."
Inuyasha face faulted as they reached their destination. He glared at his friends, his amber eyes flashing murderously.
" You…had me all worried…over…PACHINKO?"
The three cowered from his rage as he stalked over to them, dead set on ripping their heads from their necks and playing soccer with them.
" But Sango goes through binges of playing and never eats! For weeks on end and never sleeps and trades in nearly everything she can get her hands on for more of the balls!" Rin defended, pushing the irate hanyou towards the sliding door that led into the pachinko parlor.
The four stared in awe at the young feudal miko before them, sweat plastering her ebony tresses to her neck. Her tan jacket discarded upon the tiled floor and her scarf long forgotten beside it. Stormy eyes narrowed in concentration and her lips set in a grim line of stubborn determination as she twisted the knob to her right.
Much to their amazement. She was winning.
A lot.
There were boxes upon plastic boxes full of the metal spheres stacked up around her like a fortress. Her nimble tan fingers reached for another box behind her and dumped it into the slot. Before she began turning the knob once more. A crowd of bystanders surrounded her machine and a few peeked in through the clear glass walls that surrounded the pachinko arcade.
" Sugoi…she's better at this then I am…" Sango whispered, her magenta eyes locked on all the steel spheres that glittered hypnotically in the musty light of the building.
Rin's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Kagome's still form, her right wrist working the machine with amazing accuracy. The screen that played the roulette of colored pictures continually stopped on their twins, allowing Kagome to win even more of the steel that surrounded her. Once and a great while, the numbers would make her lose but she kept at it, as the fortress of metal spheres grew in number.
It was then that Rin realized exactly how her sensei was winning this game of chance so often. Kagome aura would spike as soon as she poured a new unit of pachinko balls into the machine. And if Rin worked her own spiritual powers hard enough, she would be able to see the slight glow of sakura blossoms that lined Kagome's stormy eyes. It was nearly foolproof.
Kagome was using her miko powers to direct the pachinko balls into the right slots and would make herself lose so it would give the impression that she was just incredibly lucky. And she had hid this act of purification magic greatly in the event that a bystander was gifted with the sight as well. It took Rin all of her slight power to even glimpse the cheat so she doubted anyone else could have caught her sensei in the act anyway.
Rin smiled and placed a gentle hand on her sensei's shoulder just as she turned to retrieve another box of spheres.
" You can't fool me Kagome-Chan…" Rin whispered in the miko's ear and she felt the woman stiffen.
Standing up, Kagome stretched and rubbed her eyes, suddenly amazed at the crowd around her and the fortress of pachinko balls that was built about her. Looking down at Rin, she whispered in her ear and Rin nodded, picking up a stack of pachinko balls and ordering the remaining three to do the same.
As a group, they traded in the multiple cartons of steel for cash and bid farewell to Kagome's growing fan base. She bowed politely and thanked them all for their support and expressed her gratitude to the management for letting her play.
She blatantly ignored the apparent anger the management held for her making them pay her so much money in return for her winnings.
The group was devouring a lavish meal at a high priced restaurant as Kagome proudly flaunted her money and bought every dish on the menu, urging her friends to feast. And as they left, the owners' were nearly falling over themselves in gratitude and constantly saying they could return at any time and be more then welcome. Their waiter promptly quit his job since he had enough money to finally publish his manga project of 6 years and pay all his rent for the next 2 years.
On the drive home, Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, giving Kagome a wry look from the passenger side.
" Exactly how did you do that?"
Rin and Kagome glanced at each other before giggling into their hands earning three looks of utter confusion.
" It's a secret." Rin piped up, smiling at her friend and fingering the wad of bills in her jacket pocket. Sometimes being dishonest and secretive had it's good points. Like the opportunity to buy those Puffy Ami Yumi concert tickets…
Cheaters never prosper.
Unless of course, you're Kagome.
Luna: End of Chapter 30!
Veron: YAY!
Luna: Now then, here's an explanation of what exactly Pachinko is.
Pachinko is a mixture between slot machine and pinball. The player is quite passive while playing pachinko. He or she is only controlling the speed with which many small steel balls are thrown into the pachinko machine.
Most of the balls just fall down the machine and disappear, but a few find their way into special holes. This activates a kind of slot machine. As in the slot machine, you win if the same three pictures appear. This occurs quite rarely in pachinko, but if it happens, you win countless new balls. When just playing for 500 or 1000 Yen, you may likely just lose all your balls within a few minutes.
Pachinko machines can be found in pachinko parlors, which are spread over the whole country. Many parlors also offer a corner with slot machines. One can recognize parlors easily because they are bright and colorful. Inside a parlor it is loud and smoky. Women and men are playing pachinko and it is said that there are even a few pachinko professionals.
If you win balls, you can exchange them into goods that are available in the parlor's gift shop. But you can also bypass the law that prohibits gambling in Japan by exchanging the balls first into some special goods and then exchange them for cash at a small window just outside the parlor.
– Excerpt is not mine so NO I don't own this either.
And Puffy Ami Yumi is a female duo of j-rock that is a favorite of mine. And Sango-Chan's (a friend on Veron and I). Here in America you may know them as the pair that sings the theme song for "Teen Titans."
Sugoi: Something akin to " amazing"
Taijya: Demon exterminator
Veron: Speaking of Teen Titans…
V & L: WE LOVE YOU BEAST BOY!
Luna: There was a cute little 7 or 8 year old boy that won SO many awards at the Comic Con masquerade as Beast Boy. The crowd cheered his name throughout the WHOLE thing! It was so cool n.n
Veron: Where is Jareth anyway?
Luna: I'd imagine right where I left him.
Veron: Which was…
Luna: Locked in the Poke'mon gaming room.
Veron: Thou art cruel…