The Club

Christielea54

Chapter Sixteen

Miroku walked into The Club looking rather proud of himself. "Look what I got us!" he said, holding up some paper, which unrolled itself as he did so. It was a colorful pamphlet advertising an exclusive tour of the downtown radio station: Demon 188.3. "This Saturday, not only are we going to meet some bands, but we're also going to be on the radio advertising for The Club!"

"Miroku," Sango pointed out. "If we're going to be there, who's going to be working here?"

"Yeah moron," Inuyasha added.

Miroku grinned. "Oh I know a million gir-" he cut off at Sango's almost-growl, but continued with twice his usual charm. "A million old friends who would fill in for us."

"Great!" Kagome said.

"I'm in," Inuyasha agreed, trading high fives with Miroku. He then grabbed the flyer and the phone from under the bar top to inform their boss of this new venture. "Hey Sesshomaru?"

Miroku looked at Inuyasha, who for once in his life didn't seem pissed at having to call his brother. Then he turned to Kagome. "You're healing him you know."

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Look at him Kagome. Really look. I haven't seen him this relaxed in a long time. I'm not sure I've ever seem him this laid back."

"You really think?" she asked doubtfully.

"Definitely."

She smiled warmly. He's been through so much, she thought. I'm just glad I could help.

Inuyasha was sitting in the driver's seat of Miroku's car. Miroku let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Inuyasha, I'm driving."

"No, I'm driving!"

"It's my car! I'm driving!"

"Feh! Whatever!" But he moved over to the passenger's seat.

"If you want to drive so much, save up and buy your own car," he told Inuyasha sagely. "You certainly work here enough." A confused look passed over his face. "What do you do with all the money you earn here anyways?"

Well, what he actually did with it was give it to Sesshomaru for his living expenses, but he couldn't say that. Miroku was already getting suspicious. He had that glint in his eye…

"Hey look!" Kagome exclaimed from the backseat. "It's a clown!"

Miroku slowly turned to look from where she was pointing, to back at her. "Where?"

She snapped her fingers. "Darn! You just missed him!"

"Right," he replied slowly.

"Yup," she nodded her head while laughing nervously.

Miroku looked over to Sango who just shrugged her shoulders and gave him a you've-got-me-if-I-know type of look. He continued to watch Kagome and Inuyasha as he drove downtown, the wheels in his mind turning.

Kagome had obviously spoken up as a distraction from his question to Inuyasha. The thing was, why did she do it? What did she know that he didn't? What could Inuyasha be doing with his money that needed covering up?

They walked up the steps to the radio station in happy anticipation. It was four stories high, and had Demon 188.3 in big black letters across the top of the building.

Inside the receptionist sitting behind a very large desk jumped up when she saw them. "Oh! You must be from that club!" She was tall, with long wavy orange hair that was pulled away from her face. "I'm Ayame," she introduced herself and shook hands with all four of them.

"Hi I'm Kagome," she smiled.

"I'm Sango," she greeted.

"Inuyasha," he grunted.

"My fair lady-"

"Back OFF Miroku!" two angry females shouted. They then turned back to Ayame with sugary smiles. "You were saying?"

Ayame looked a bit confused… but she decided to play along. "Right, so I'll give you the tour then!" She motioned to a large door behind them. "That's the meeting room. For all the head honcho's and stuff. You know. The stairs are over here."

They all climbed the large staircase.

"The second and third stories are used for recording."

They walked down a long hallway with glass windows facing the recording rooms. Ayame explained who each group was as they passed. "That's Yura and the Demon Hair. Up and coming artist."

"…demon… hair?" Kagome asked.

"Name of her band."

"Oh."

Yura had short black hair, hot pink lipstick, and obviously fake boobs that Miroku was busy ogling. Sango could be heard grinding her teeth in the background. The Demon Hair band was composed of around six or seven other talented, but plain looking girls who were probably chosen to set Yura off by comparison. She winked at them through the window.

Ayame started coughing in a way that made it sound intriguingly like 'slut'.

The next window held three extremely short, blondish-brown haired men who were standing in a cute triangle formation as they sang.

"These are the Three Monkey Gods!" Kagome exclaimed. "I never knew they were so short." When she realized that everyone was staring at her she backed up a step defensively. "What? My brother listens to them!"

"I'm sure he does," Ayame said in the tone of voice where you knew she really didn't. "The next one is a singer named Urasue," she continued.

They walked to Urasue's window and the first thought that came to all of their minds was: ewww! She looked about two hundred years old! Her grey hair was sticking out in every direction and her fire engine red lipstick was smeared all over her face.

"Why don't you ask her out?" Sango suggested.

"I think I'll pass, beautiful," he replied.

She rolled her eyes. Sure! Now she was being called beautiful again!

Inuyasha, always the blunt one, asked what they all wanted to know. "Why the hell is she still working here?!"

"Well, she was very popular, like, last century, and we can't get rid of her because of her contract. Damn lawyers!" she muttered.

They came to another staircase. "This last level is where we broadcast." The room was partitioned off inside so that it was kept quiet when on air. They could hear the last of the broadcast drifting over as they came in. "… and this is Kouga Wolf on Demon 188.3!"

The man who called himself Kouga took off his headphones when he saw them. He was tall, dark, and handsome. His long dark hair was pulled back into a high pony tail. "Hey Aya-" he cut off as he caught sight of Kagome. "And who's this gorgeous girl?" he asked with a roguish grin.

"Umm, hi! I'm Kagome!"

Ayame rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, wild red hair flowing behind her as she stormed back downstairs. Kouga seemed not to notice as he confidently strode over and took one of Kagome's hands in his own. "I'm Kouga. Kouga Wolf."

Inuyasha watched the proceedings with ill-disguised disgust. "What are you doing to her 'wolf'?!" he yelled.

"Jesus! What's with you, punk?!"

Miroku stepped in between the two, once again the calm one. "Now, now. There's no need to fight over lovely Kagome here. I'd gladly take her off both your hands for you!" he smiled pleasantly.

Inuyasha and Kouga turned to him with looks that would have scared the devil himself.

Sango inched up next to him. "Do you want to die?" she whispered vehemently.

The door banged open as Ayame came back in, extra headphones in her arms. She took one look at the scene before her and started shaking her head. "I leave you alone for two minutes! Two! And you're already causing trouble!" She ushered Kouga back to his seat. He only half-heartedly protested. She shoved a pair of headphones on everyone's head, and pushed the others into chairs as well. She counted down with her fingers and flipped a switch that said ON AIR in big bright red letters.

Sango had found some respect for this woman. She sure wasn't someone to be pushed around!

"Yo! This is Kouga Wolf on Demon 188.3! We have some visitors here today…"

Meanwhile Ayame watched from the other side of the room. He was so adorable when he was trying to be cool!

"… won the tour here at our radio station!" He signaled for them to start talking.

"Hi, I'm Kagome," she said cheerfully.

"I'm Sango," she smiled.

"Inuyasha," he grunted.

"Miroku," he said charmingly.

"Where did you guys say you worked again?"

"The Club," Miroku answered. "It's a great place actually." Free advertising was sure to win him brownie points with Sesshomaru! "We've got food, a place to hang out, and best of all… a live band on the third Saturday of every month!"

"Sounds fun. Do you play in it Kagome?"

"No, I couldn't sing to save my life!" she giggled. "Inuyasha's got a great voice th-" she cut off immediately, but it was already too late. She hung her head a bit, point blank terrified of looking over at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha felt his stomach drop out from under him. He'd trusted her! And just because some cute wolf boy starts flirting with her she- What was he saying? He'd been waiting for this kind of chance, hadn't he? He was on the radio for god's sake! He was just a little nervous. Okay, a lot nervous.

Kouga, noticing the sudden tension in the air, smirked. "Care to sing something for us Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha sent him a death glare and moved closer to the microphone. He took a deep breath. His full voice filled the room in seconds.

Kagome un-squeezed her eyes and lifted her head back up. It was even better than she remembered! Maybe he wouldn't be too upset with her…

The room was silent for a full ten seconds after he'd finished. Inuyasha, coming back to reality, smirked. "And it's even better with my guitar!" he boasted.

Kagome smiled. He was the same old arrogant Inuyasha! He wasn't angry!

Kouga looked upset that his newfound rival was so talented. "Well I guess we'll send someone over to scout you next Saturday." He didn't really want to, but Ayame would kill him if he didn't offer it. Ayame's wrath was something he'd rather not face again if he could help it.

Kouga signed off of Demon 188.3 a few minutes later, and Ayame lead them back downstairs. The minute they got outside Kagome turned to Inuyasha excitedly. "Oh Inuyasha!" she gushed. "You did great! I'm so happy for you! I was kind of worried that-"

"That I wouldn't be able to pull it off?" Was it just her, or did he sound more scathing than usual?

"No, I just-"

"Said you wouldn't tell anyone?" he bit out.

With every second that passed, Kagome felt her heart sinking lower and lower into her stomach. "What?" she breathed.

"If you told him that, what else are you going to tell him about me Kagome?! Who else are you going to tell?!" He was definitely shouting by now. "And just because he was flirting with you, too! I can't believe it!" he said bitterly.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded angrily. "He wasn't flirting with me!"

"He was so! And I can't imagine why, the way you were leading him on!"

"I was not leading him on!"

"You were too!"

"I was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"You were too Kagome! I'm a guy! I see things the way all guys frigging see things and you were so leading him on!" And without a glance backward he stormed off.

Kagome was sure her legs were going to give out under her any second now. If she had thought that just Inuyasha was a little bad sometimes, a pissed off Inuyasha was downright terrifying. He was really pissed off now, and what was worse, was knowing that it was all her fault.

He'd never trust her again.

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Not my favorite section… but I hope you guys liked it.

Don't worry! They don't stay mad at each other for too long! And after they make up… well, I won't spoil it for you! But it's really cute!