Gem: Get off of me!
Sagi: I can't, there's a fat guy sitting on me!
Gem: If there is a fat guy on you, then I own Inuyasha, now get off!
Sagi: *looks at Gem in bewilderment* I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!
Gem: Stop being stupid Saggy, we have a story to introduce.
Sagi: I'm not being stupid, Jellyfish, you are!
Gem: Don't you wish.
Sagi: VIRGO!!! *tears in eyes* Gem's being mean to me again!
Virgo: And what do you expect me to do about it? She has me tied to a chair over here.
Sagi: WHAT? Jellyfish! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!
Gem: Well, readers, see you at the end of the chapter. In the mean time, please excuse my absence as I dodge Saggy's pathetic attempts to harm me.
Chapter 9
My Own Master
Kouga released Kagome's mouth slowly, praying that she wouldn't start screaming again. He and Inuyasha both had headaches from her annoying cries. She had been going off like an Energizer bunny since she realized that they had left the airport without Sango. It appeared that she didn't even notice that Sengotsu wasn't the only band missing a member.
The raven-haired Japanese girl glared coldly at the wolf youkai, none-too-pleased with how she was being treated. "Kouga-kun, you are so going to regret that."
Kagome stood up, glaring at Kouga, the airplane's engine having just shut off.
"Kagome-chan! Calm down, I'm sure Sango-chan will be perfectly able to take care of herself!" Ayame flung herself between Kagome and Kouga.
Inuyasha blinked quickly. He could have sworn that Kagome's hands had been glowing pink, but that could have just been his imagination. Brushing it off, he returned his attention to the worried look on Ayame's face. "Oi, wolf, what's your problem?"
Ayame didn't even give him a glance as she continued looking intently at the leader of Sengotsu. "Sango'll be fine. I'm sure we'll be getting a call from her any minute now, telling us when her flight will be arriving."
The hanyou saw beads of sweat forming on Ayame's forehead. What was the matter?
Ami stepped up to stand next to Kagome silently, holding a small bottle under the other girl's nose.
Only a second or two later, Kagome's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back into Ami's awaiting arms.
Ayame relaxed and let out a long sigh. "They're becoming more frequent, Ami. How long are we going to be able to keep this up?"
Kouga and Inuyasha were both confused as they looked at the three girls now on the floor of the airplane: one unconscious and the other two hovering over her worriedly.
Kagura stepped out of the shadows and into the light. "The excitement of the tour is probably getting to her. She never should have come."
Ayame looked up to meet gazes with Kagura. "She'll be fine."
"Heh." Kagura scoffed and turned around, facing away from everyone. "Don't kid yourself. You know what that woman said as well as I do."
Ami glared at Kagura's back. "Well at least some of us are trying to have a positive attitude about this."
"What are you wenches yapping about now?" Inuyasha gritted his teeth angrily, not liking being left out of the loop.
Ayame and Ami looked at him hesitantly, not answering the question.
It was a moment before anyone spoke. "Perhaps it would be best for you to ask Kagome. You should hear it from her." With those words, Kagura was once again the first one to leave the jet.
The sound of pouring rain entered the ears of all conscious, and Ami let out a sigh. "And I thought the teachers were exaggerating when they said it rained over 200 inches a year in India."
Kouga looked back at Ami with an expression that clearly said, "Please don't give us a geography lesson."
"Sorry, my brain stores too much info, so sue me." Ami glared half-heartedly back at him as she hoisted herself up, holding a limp Kagome in her arms.
"Maybe I will." The wolf youkai quickly relieved her of her burden, and she smiled at him gratefully. Kouga managed a sheepish grin in return.
Inuyasha found himself lightly growling at his drummer, and subtly tried to remove Kagome from the other demon's arms. Apparently Kouga was too caught up with being embarrassed by Ami that he didn't even notice when the extra weight was lifted from his arms.
Ayame poked her head back inside the plane, pulling on a raincoat quickly. "You guys coming, or what?"
*
They arrived at the hotel quickly enough: if you count human-drawn carriages as being quick. Inuyasha had nudged Kouga along the way, pointing out the smug expression on their manager's face as the human pulled him along. Obviously the demon found the human doing such menial labor amusing.
The hotel rooms were small, and as Inuyasha laid Kagome down on her bed, he found himself breathing in all sorts of strange scents. Most were coming from outside, where there was a whole different world from what he was used to. There were open markets, and the smell of gasoline wasn't dominantly present in the area, surprisingly.
Not only did this place smell, but the sounds were overwhelming as well. There were so many people in the area making so many different noises, that Inuyasha didn't know if he'd be able to keep his head on straight.
"Mmm…where am I?"
Inuyasha turned to look at Kagome, who had apparently just woken up. She was slowly sitting up on the bed, rubbing her head tiredly with one hand. "In a bed. What does it look like, wench?"
"I'm not a wench." The words escaped her mouth in an automatic response, with no real heart behind them. "What happened?"
"That's what I want to know. What is wrong with you that got the wolf and kit so worked up?" Inuyasha leaned over the side of the bed, glaring steadily at Kagome.
Her eyes widened slightly, then went back to normal. "It was nothing. Forget it." She stood up and brushed past Inuyasha, heading for the bathroom.
"With how they were acting, that wasn't 'nothing.' Now tell me what's wrong with you!" Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's arm and jerked her around to face him.
"Inuyasha, let go of me! I said forget about it!" She jerked out of his grip and entered the bathroom, closing the door sharply behind her.
"I won't forget, wench. And I won't stop asking!" He yelled in frustration at the door and slammed the room key on the nearby dresser before leaving to go to his own room down the hall that he shared with the absent Miroku.
*
After Inuyasha was gone, Kagome waited a few minutes before coming back into the main bedroom. She was looking passively at her hands and was biting her lip in concentration.
"Why now?" Fed up, she collapsed onto her bed to think. The last time she had had a major problem with this, she was only fifteen, but that was over two years ago. Her hope was that the problem was gone, but it had been showing face the last few weeks fairly prominently.
Last week she had managed to hide it from the boys, but now…
She punched her pillow. Her life was miserable, and wasn't about to be turning around anytime soon.
The door opened and Kagome heard someone approaching the bed, but didn't bother to look up to see who it was.
"Sango's on the phone. She's calling from her plane collect, so you best make it quick."
Kagome looked up to see the wind youkai standing there with her cell phone in hand.
"Arigato." She took the phone from Kagura and smiled as the girl quickly yet smoothly exited the room. "Moshi, moshi."
"Oi, Kagome-chan, Kagura told me what happened. How are you doing?" Sango's sweet voice came over the phone, soothing the young girl holding the phone.
"Okay, I guess. I just don't know how much more of this I can take before I crack." Kagome felt her emotions stirring inside of her and tried to hold back the eminent tears from coming.
"Just wait till I get there, girl. Don't you dare do anything rash before then."
Kagome could just picture Sango's serious, yet comical expression as she spoke. "Thanks, Sango-chan. Don't worry yourself, I'll be here when you arrive."
"Good. That's a promise, now."
The raven-haired girl swallowed her saliva, tears running down her cheeks. "Sango-chan, daijoubu ka?"
"Hai, daijoubu. But Kagome-chan, the real question is: are you alright?"
"I already told you, I'm fine." Kagome tried to laugh a little, but it came out as more of a whine.
"Inuyasha's not bothering you is he? Cuz' I'll pound him for you if he is."
"Iie. Everything's fine. I'm just a little shaken up, that's all." Kagome took in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerve somewhat. "When will you arrive?"
"Not for another couple of hours. Probably around 3 tomorrow morning."
"Ugh, that early? You'll be dead tired." Kagome felt her heart lightening somewhat, her mind off of the issue pressing her earlier.
"I know, but don't think I won't drag you around Bombay, cuz' I still want to go sight seeing."
"Yeah, yeah. But do you think we could keep it down to a minimum? I'm feeling really stressed right now."
"Understood. We'll only wander till dark instead of till dusk."
"Sango~chan!"
"Just kidding! Just kidding! You don't actually think I'd keep anyone out that long in a strange place, do you?"
"Yes."
"I scoff at your lack of faith in me. But that's okay, I'll prove myself yet!"
Kagome smiled lightly. Sango always knew just what to do when Kagome was down, and the leader of Sengotsu was very grateful for it.
"Well, I better let you go now, or Kagura will get on my case about her phone bill."
Standing up, Kagome giggled. "Yeah, we all know how she can be, well, call us when your plane comes in."
*
The next morning, it was still raining and the heat was miserable, making all of the international travelers slightly cranky. Sango and Kagome's shopping excursion was a no go, and everyone was stuck inside to wait for the evening's concert.
Kagome walked down the hall absentmindedly, whistling the tune of a song she had heard that morning on the radio. She passed an open door and looked inside, spotting a snoring Miroku and a hanyou who looked about ready to kill.
"Hey Inuyasha. How's it going?" Uninvited, Kagome walked into the room, looking around in surprise. "Man is this room messy."
"Keh. What's it to you, wench?" Inuyasha folded his arms and leaned back on the headboard of his hotel bed with a scowl implanted on his face.
"We've only been here a day. How could you get this place so messy in so short a time? Honestly, you are such a slob." There were piles of clothes strewn about the room, some obviously dirty, and the dresser drawers were randomly pulled slightly out with other knickknacks popping out of them.
"I like it this way. Makes it feel more like home."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha with one eyebrow cocked. "Remind me never to go near your house."
Inuyasha only smirked. "Actually wrote a song about it once. The slut you call your sister tried to get me to clean it up, so I dedicated it to her. Quite fitting, actually."
"You like dedicating your songs to people, don't you?" Kagome slumped on the woven chair in the corner, only watching the snoring pervert out of the corner of her eye.
"Keh, what does it matter?" Inuyasha looked away from her in a huff, being his usual, stubborn self: over what, who knows?
The raven-haired girl sighed quietly; looking at the window beside her that had rain pouring down it on the outside. "Most of the songs I write aren't about people, but about feelings. Ever thought about that?"
Inuyasha only looked back at Kagome blankly, then he remembered something. "That's right. Wench, tell me what happened yesterday."
Kagome's aura immediately darkened, and Inuyasha realized that that probably wasn't the best thing to say. "What happened yesterday was none of your concern. You should just forget about it." Once again Inuyasha caught a glimpse of her hands glowing pink, but he may have just been hallucinating.
She stood up and left in a rush, obviously not wanting to be interrogated further by the hanyou.
"Keh, stupid girl." Inuyasha adjusted himself so he was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Do you know what, this situation reminds me of that song you mentioned."
Inuyasha's head jerked around so he was looking at the other bed where Miroku was lying. "You were awake?"
"The entire time. But you know, Inuyasha, the woman is always right, and us men would fumble without them."
"And this coming from a lecher who gropes anything with a high voice and large breasts within sight." The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes in sarcasm and turned so he was no longer looking at his roommate.
"Even the song YOU wrote is witness to what I say, I mean, think about it: you sing about a guy who leaves his girl to live on his own, and he can't seem to get anything done properly without her, yet he refuses to go crawling back." Miroku took a deep breath, having run out of air during his little speech.
"I wrote that after dating Kikyou for a month, give me a break dude. What was I supposed to do?" Inuyasha sat up, growling slightly.
"I don't know, write about the dude being successful after he leaves and not some big failure?"
It was a good point, but Inuyasha was too stubborn to admit to that. "Keh."
I woke up this morning
Looked around the room
Smiled knowing I'd leave this today
To go out on my own
Where you can't tell me what to do
Inuyasha jumped and glared at Miroku, who was smiling innocently as his hand pulled away from the travel size boom box that Inuyasha always brought so he could listen to music whenever he felt like it.
Ya've yelled at me to eat me veggies
Scolded me for stayin out too long
But not anymore woman
Today I'm leaving and not lookin' back
Don't expect me to live by your rules
I'm my own master now
No one to tell me what to do
Get out of my life girl
And don't you dare come crawlin back
Found my own place ta live
Keep the spare key in me pocket
I'll never let you touch it
Don't need my place sparklin' like yours
I like it just the way it is
Soiled clothes on the floor
Last night's beer on the counter
Don't touch those chips
They've been there for an eternity
Watch where you step, there's a knife there
I'm my own master now
No one to tell me what to do
Get out of my life girl
And don't you dare come crawlin back
Can't seem to find my shoe
Isn't in the closet or under the bed
No one's cleaned up this dump in ages
Not a clean smelling shirt in the closet
Where's that odor coming from?
Electricity got cut last week
Couldn't pay the bill
Plumbing's been actin' up for a month
Haven't bothered callin' that dude that fixes it
Too lazy to do much of anything
I'm my own master now
No one to tell me what to do
Get out of my life girl
And don't you dare come crawlin back
You knew this was going to happen
Didn't you woman?
That's why you let me go
Without much of a fight
Why didn't ya warn me of the work?
Don't matter, I still ain't going back
To the way it used to be
I'll pick up my own pieces
Without your help
Get out of my mind and stay there
I'm my own master now
No one to tell me what to do
Get out of my life girl
And don't you dare come crawlin back
And don't expect me to come back to you
I'm not just some obedient puppy
Who does what he's told
Not eager to please you
Not putting you before myself
Because I'm my own master now
No one to tell me what to do
Get out of my life girl
And don't you dare come crawlin back
"Keh, that sounds nothing like my situation." Inuyasha stomped out of the room with a sulk covering his face.
Miroku only smiled mysteriously, knowing that his old time friends feelings were a lot deeper sown then the musician was letting on.
~
Sagi: Well, they're in India now, and that's that.
Gem: I feel like such a geek now. In order to get some info on India for the fic, I had to look it up in the Encyclopedia, which I'll continue doing for future locations of the cast in the story.
Sagi: The information you call useless now will one day become a necessity.
Gem: Saggy, I'm seriously going to kill you if you don't stop spouting nonsense. How is knowing how much a rupee is in US dollars going to be useful to me?
Sagi: What if you go to India?
Gem: Fat chance of that happening.
Inutori: *cough, cough* Conversation now ending. I'd like to request that I get 100 reviews by chapter 10. As in, before I post chapter 11, I hope to have 100 reviews. So far none of my stories have hit this mark, and it would please me greatly if I were able to do so with this one.
Gem: I'm not sure how long this story will be yet, but I can guarantee that if I get enough reviews, it will be more appealing than if I don't get the reviews. Since I won't skip over any stops/side adventures if I get reviews.
