Hello again everyone. Wow am I tired. Have fun with the third chapter.

Look at the previous chapters for a disclaimer from now on please.

***

Chapter 3-Like a Ton of Bricks

***

The first thing I saw when I woke up was Inuyasha, collapsed, asleep in a chair right next to my bed. His eyes were closed serenely and he had a great atmosphere of peace surrounding him, if not total exhaustion. His hair was slightly askew, he had an open magazine on his lap, his lips were parted lightly, and he looked a bit more stupid than usual, but then everybody does when they're asleep. After giggling a little and wishing I had a camera, I was struck with a pang of self-loathing. What had happened last night? Did I...Was I....

I sighed.

Yes, I had done it again, I had been a horrendous bitch and dragged my best friend away from a great time. Why? Why was I such an idiot all the time?!

I squeezed my eyes shut, determined not to cry for the umpteenth time in a week, and forced myself up. There is no rest for the wicked, nor do they deserve any. I mussed my hair briefly in front of the window, peering out across the city. It was early...very early. There was morning fog pouring through the street, or was that smog? No matter, it was misty, that's that. Everything was still and quiet, pretty. Yawning, I tried to recall the last time I had been up this early. The sun wasn't even visible yet, everything was just grey. Glancing at the clock, I found out that it was six.

Inuyasha should sleep. It was strange how he had not slept with me, but he had dragged a chair to the bed and apparently spent the entire night there. Maybe he was too disgusted with me to share a bed. At any rate, I had a firm belief that he had stayed with me. He really was a sweetheart deep down.

I threw my comforter over him and dug quietly in my closet for some clothes. I wouldn't wake him up with a racket in the kitchen, and I needed to breathe anyway...I was going out for breakfast.

When I finally made it out, closing the door gently behind me, I traveled lightly down the hall, trying not to wake anyone up, as anyone who did not have to work on Sunday and had a brain in their head would be sleeping. As I paused and thought about it for a moment, I realized that it would be difficult to find a place to eat that was open at the ungodly hour of six a.m. Then shortly after that realization dawned on me I was bitterly reminded of the fact that I happened to be one of those poor unfortunates who actually did have to work on Sunday. It was because I had missed so many days...now I had to make them up, but Riba and the other girls would surely be around as well, and so that comforted me. At any rate, I had some time to kill before I had to move out, and my current problem was in the food department.

It was frigidly cold outside for a summer morning. I rubbed my arms and grumbled, wishing that I had my coat. Dimly, I began to wander. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't care.

My plan to make myself available had totally backfired. I was miserable and confused. The same day that I had realized I needed to move on I realized that I couldn't move on. I was at a standstill; and it was becoming increasingly obvious that nothing and nobody could ever replace Kouga.

What had been so damn special about the guy? I couldn't figure it out. At first I thought it was his manliness that had attracted me...I had always found that very cute, but then his 'manliness' had been what had wrecked our relationship...

And then I started thinking about that very incident. I suppose up to that point I had never really thought about his little splurge as anything more than something that had happened, something that was very bad. I didn't really stop and think about the reasons why it had happened.

Kouga was the tough, chiseled, modern-day type of guy and I had always affectionately called him He-man, but just who was Ayame? I had to give him credit for being sly, I didn't suspect a thing. He picked the right girl too. I had no idea who Ayame was. I hadn't spotted her at any clubs, she was probably too young. I didn't know her from anywhere, she was a complete stranger.

I couldn't deny that the little bitch had been cute. When I first saw her, oblivious to everything that would happen in the next few minutes, I had thought her adorable, just the kind of girl guys look at twice. And she seemed like a perfect darling, with her shy little voice and quiet movements. Well I guess deep down Ayame must have just been a wild child. She didn't look like the type of person who would fool around before she was even a legal adult, or the type of person who wouldn't feel at least a little bit uncomfortable with the fact that her boyfriend was engaged. Yes, little Ayame was a mystery, but I wasn't in any mood to investigate her life.

Surprisingly, my contempt for her had all but dissolved entirely. I had heard stories about girls who had children so young, if she had any family or friends, they must be shocked, and maybe even distant. I knew that if I was in her position, I'd feel awful.

On the other hand, what if she was rejoicing? What if Ayame was laughing wickedly in victory at this very moment? After all...she had won, I had lost. She had stolen Kouga away from me, it wasn't hard to imagine her gloating. No, I decided finally, Ayame wouldn't do that...nobody was that cruel.

My sneakers scuffed humbly on the pavement, I suddenly walked into a bright light. Turning, I saw that I was standing in front of a beaming electric sign for a coffee shop. It was open. I peered in the window and saw a young lady bussing tables roughly. I crept in sweetly, a little bell jangling above my head.

"Hello?"

"Oh!" The girl straightened suddenly and threw down the rag. "Hello! Come on in!" I scrunched through the door and closed it softly. The girl swung around the long oak counter and smoothed her apron down.

"You're here awfully early." I commented. "You run this place by yourself?"

She smiled, "No, I just work the morning shift. What is it?" She looked behind me at a clock hanging on the wall, "Six thirty?"

"And it's Sunday." I added.

"Augh, don't remind me. I don't get how my boss thinks we'll get any customers. Normal people are sleeping right now." I quirked an eyebrow and she blushed, "Oh, I'm sorry! You know, I wasn't talking about you I..."

"Don't apologize. Nothing good can ever come from staying with normal people anyway."

"Except sleep."

"Yes, except sleep."

She laughed again, "What can I get you?" She asked, still smirking.

I leaned over and looked the menu over. "Chai please."

"Large or small?"

"Small-no, large."

She turned and grabbed a cup from a tower that stood near the cash register. Then she paused, "You don't mind if I join you, do you?"

I shrugged, "Be my guest, though I'll warn you ahead of time that I'm not very pleasant company."

"Well then we can be grumpy together, alright?"

I nodded. "Alright."

She yanked another cup from the stack and promptly began filling them at the dispenser behind her. I dragged a seat out of a little table by a window and sat down leisurely. She dusted the surface of our drinks with some lavender powder and then rushed around to join me. I took my cup from her. "So what's your name?"

She smiled again. "Yukari."

"Yukari..." I repeated. "That's a lovely name.

"Thank you!" Yukari chirped. "And yours?"

"Kagome."

"Ka-go-me." She diced it up into short staccato syllables. "I like it. It's very pretty."

"Thanks..."

She took a sip of her Chai, and I did too. I looked at her over the rim of my cup and saw that she looked just like the girl next door. Her hair was brown, short, and pulled into a little ponytail. Her bangs hung long and loose in front of her eyes. She was wearing a T-Shirt under her apron that read: "My Boyfriend is Out of Town." I giggled.

Yukari broke the silence neatly, "And what were you doing out at this hour, may I ask?" She emphasized the word, 'you.'

"Certainly," I nodded. "I was...pausing to consider the unfairness and cruelty of the world."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Wow, and I thought I was the drama queen. What's eating you?"

I sent her a scathing look over my coffee. "I just broke up with my boyfriend."

Her mouth made a silent "o" and she leaned back. "Geez...sorry."

I reclined. "Yeah yeah, sorry, I know. Everybody says sorry nowadays."

"What should I have said then?" Yukari asked smartly.

I hesitated. "I don't know. I think I could do with a good slap in the face though. To be honest I've been acting like a bitch and a half lately. I've been down on all my friends, laying my burdens on other people," a pause, "Like I'm doing to you now."

Her eyes softened. "It's okay. I don't mind. I have my own history of traumatic break-ups."

"Yeah well..." I left my sentence hanging. The awkward silence came back to haunt us.

"Uh...care to share?"

Sighing, I stirred my Chai with my finger. Was I really going to involve a perfect stranger now? Well it was her fault for asking. "We were engaged. He came up to me a month before our wedding with this girl, who wasn't even a legal adult yet, and tells me she's going to have his baby."

Her eyes widened. "Whoa...Shit! That's rough!"

I smiled. "Thank you."

"Man...you're lucky to still be alive after a wreck like that...She was going to have his baby?! Shit!"

"I'm really sorry." I blurted, "I shouldn't have said anything, it's not right to concern you with my problems."

Yukari stood up. "No no no... Don't feel bad sweetheart..." She walked over to me and drew me into a tight embrace. I was baffled. "It's not your fault."

Snorting, I said, "Sure it is. It's easier to pin the blame that way."

"Come on Kagome...Be serious." I was being serious! Wasn't I? "Now none of this was your fault! And you have every right to bitch and moan!" Now wait a minute...how long ago had I met this girl? Fifteen...ten...five minutes ago? "It happens to the best of us...don't bring yourself down and you won't bring others down with you. And that's what you want, right? For everybody to be okay?"

I thought about it for a moment, though I was still genuinely shocked by this girl's actions. Assuming it would be the wisest move, I agreed, though it was not all for just getting her to let go of me. Part of it was true. "I...I guess so."

"You want people to like you and to be happy themselves. Isn't that so?"

"Yes." It was all true.

"Then cheer up Kagome, you'll get over this. Go out there, make yourself available, move on and find another man."

I laughed darkly, "That's just what my friend said. Almost those same exact words."

Much to my relief, she withdrew and returned to her seat with a confident and triumphant smile. But I was not through with her yet.

"And?"

"And so I took him up on it, we went to a club, I was dancing with some guys and I look out and see him in the crowd."

"See who?"

"Who do you think?"

Yukari gasped, "No way! Are you serious?"

I paused, "No." And she frowned. "It turned out that it wasn't him at all, it was just somebody I thought was him."

"Oh."

"Yes but I ended up being so grief stricken I started crying on the spot and ducked into the bathroom for some privacy in a stall. My friend saw me go in and he battled countless females to get to me. Then he dragged me out of the club, called a taxi, and carried me up to my apartment. The next day I found him asleep next to my bed-"

She interrupted with, "Hm...do I sense some attraction perhaps?"

"He's gay."

"Oh."

"Anyways, the point of the story is, I dragged my best friend away from a good evening because of my stupid problems."

I should have known from the way I said things that my little tale would only hail more hugging and cooing and comforting from Yukari. She promptly threw her arms around me again and repeated a thousand times that it was not my fault. She was finally back on her respective side of the table still explaining the many reasons why I was not to blame when a customer shyly poked his head in the door.

"Ah! Sorry, I um...I'll be right with you!" She abandoned her chai and scooted behind the counter to serve the elderly man that had come in. I poked at mine and found that it was cold from being left alone for so long, but still good. Looking at the clock on the wall casually, I saw that an hour had already passed and it was seven in the morning. Inuyasha usually woke up for whatever reason at seven thirty, and then fell asleep again shortly after, but I still felt it was necessary to be there when he got up so that he wouldn't be worried.

I waited for Yukari to finish serving the man and paid for my Chai and hers, despite her protests, and then said my farewells.

"Oh wait!" She called as I was walking out the door. "Here!" She hopped over the counter gracefully one leg at a time and approached me with a pen. "Ahhhh...got a piece of paper?"

"Here." I extended my forearm to her. She scribbled her name on my skin in big capital letters and a little number beneath it.

She smiled and looked up at me when she was done. "Call me sometime if you ever want to hang out, or else stop by again! It was nice meeting you Kagome!"

"Nice meeting you too." And I left the store quietly as an older woman swished past me. The little bell jingled above my head.

***

Walking home I thought about what Yukari had said. I didn't want to believe her, it felt selfish and prideful, but partially true. I wouldn't be acting like a bitch if it hadn't been for Kouga, and Ayame. But it just didn't seem right to blame anyone but myself. I hated that. I hated placing the blame and I hated it when people placed the blame on me. But I knew in my heart that there was something wrong with pressing myself down lower and lower with each passing day.

It made me wonder if maybe last night, I hadn't seen Kouga in the crowd because I missed him...maybe it was that I had felt like I needed to miss him. I thought that I couldn't exist without him, I thought life would be meaningless, I thought that I couldn't go on, and when for one shining moment I broke away from that mold, I felt guilty about it. My inner struggles were ever so slowly piecing themselves together in my head. Now that I had gone a bit deeper into the problem I had to find out how to fix it. That would be the hard part.

***

I got home to find Inuyasha on the couch surfing channels. I flopped down beside him unceremoniously and casually asked, "What are we watching?"

He set down the remote gravely. "Where were you?"

I bit my lip. "I went out for coffee."

Inuyasha sighed deeply and threw his head back on the couch. I was terrified, not like I didn't deserve it or anything, I had walked out on him, but I was truly frightened then. The last thing I wanted in the world was for Inuyasha to hate me. He was my very best friend and all I had left. My parents were in Europe, they hardly ever spoke to me or seemed to care, my little brother was away in a boarding school and I hardly spoke to him either...Inuyasha was my lovely friend. He would do anything for me and I would do the same for him in a heartbeat. No one else would make me breakfast, no one else would give me fashion advice, no one else would let me pose as his girlfriend in public because he was so damn attractive. And now he hated me...

"I'm really sorry Inuyasha..." I said quickly. He sighed again and put a hand on his head. "It was so stupid of me...I know you must have been worried, but..."

"Worried?" He spat darkly, "That's the understatement of the century Kagome. I was scared to death." At a loss for words, I just sat there like an idiot, mutely, staring up at him with sad eyes and hoping he would sense my shame and quit where he was. "Do you know what...I could have lost you! For all I knew you could have been out committing suicide or something! Do you enjoy scaring the shit out of me?!"

"N-No..."

"Well then why do you do these things?!" He turned to me sharply and I was unprepared. I whimpered weakly and recoiled. Inuyasha must have realized he was yelling at me and softened up considerably. He took my hands gently and said, "I don't know what I would do if I lost you." With that, he promptly let go of me and rushed into the bedroom, slamming the door closed behind him. I winced at the noise, sank into the couch and cried.

***

The stereos were booming loudly, my heartbeat throbbed with them perfectly. Swirling around me were young adults dressed scantily and twisting in vulgar positions. Wet hot bodies swirling in and out of the beam of strobe lights in such a furious rhythm that it made my head pound. Nina came bounding up to me clumsily, she had been drunk since midnight. I had no idea what time it was anymore.

"Hiya Kagome...Havin fun?" She collapsed into a seat beside me and the man behind her turned and ogled her, taking full advantage of her loose, low top. I felt small and stupid in my silly church girl get-up. I wasn't cut out for this.

"No. I want to go home."

She leaned forward and cupped her ear.

"HOME."

"Awww come on, it's great!" She slapped my knee and gestured to the whole room.

"No it's not! I want to go home!"

Nina then snickered and sidled off into the crowd and away from the bar before I realized what she was doing. "Nina! Hey, Nina!" I called desperately into the sea of people; waving my arms but not leaving my seat for a second. I swore quietly under my breath and hid behind a curtain of my dark hair, passing an apologetic, embarrassed look to the man who had just checked Nina out.

Suddenly Minnie appeared behind me and took up Nina's seat. To my immense good fortune, Minnie was sober. Minnie was wise and peaceful and always sober. I had never seen her drunk. Minnie was older than me, a good, good friend. Although I sometimes felt that she treated me more like a little sister than one of the pack. "Not feeling too good huh?" She asked comfortingly.

I sighed, "No..." My voice was unbearably tearful.

"Oh sweetheart," she placed a hand soothingly on my back. "It'll be fine, it's normal to feel weird on your first night out...but you'll get used to it, I promise."

"R-Really?" I sniffed. It was my first night, and still my first month in New York. College was rough and new, now that I had so much competition I wasn't sure if I was really ready for architecture. At least not in the creative way I had imagined. Hell, a kid I sat next to in one of my classes could very well be the next Gaudi. I didn't know if I was even supposed to be looking for a career in art at all. I had lived a sheltered life in New Jersey in an all girls Catholic school. Though I liked to believe I was rebel, I was nothing compared to these people here in this strange club. Leave it to me, the complete moron, to think that I could lean on my trendy new college 'friends' in this frightening new environment. I should have never come with them to the club in the first place. I didn't deserve their company. And they were all about twenty one! At least Minnie and Nina...I was still eighteen. The rookie.

"Yeah, now come on, you can do it, let's go guy spotting." Her voice was playful and sweet.

"Okay...but you'll stay with me right? I couldn't survive on my own right now..."

She smiled at me. "Sure I will." And winked.

Then she took my hand and led me away from the bar, which I had come to think of as my little island. It was hard to move away, I was very reluctant, and I was once again second-guessing my actions. Hadn't I resolved a few moments ago that I should have stayed in my nice, safe little dorm room? Minnie guided me through the crowd, and people parted for me slowly, they were all wearing that same stupid expression that made it look like they couldn't decide whether to fuck me or vomit or collapse. I felt green. I probably was green. But who could tell under the multi-colored light? For half a second, everyone looked green, then red, then purple...

"Minnie..." I moaned. She didn't answer. I couldn't even see her. She was somewhere in front of me, and all I knew of her was the feel of her hand closed firmly over my own and pulling me away; I tightened my grip on that hand and bowed my head, eyes closed. "Minnnnieeee..."

Suddenly we slowed, and stopped. The lights weren't as bright behind my eyelids, and so I opened them cautiously. We were on one of the private seating areas off of the balcony, although I couldn't recall ever climbing stairs on our trek. Maybe it was a second floor...Come to think of it, I didn't know where the hell we were at all. But I didn't have time to think about that, as Minnie was busily associating with some of the sullen, dark figures that were hanging in the shadows like a disease, and I couldn't feel her hand anymore. I rushed to her side and grabbed her shoulder. She turned to me brightly and flashed another pleasant smile; the whites of her teeth showing in the darkness.

"Who the hell is she?" It was a breathy voice. It was slow and deep, but I couldn't tell if this mysterious person was drunk or just being intimidating. Judging from my spooked reaction, I'd say he was being intimidating. I couldn't see his face, it was too dark to see much of anything.

Minnie answered for me, rather cheerfully. "This is Kagome!" And she took me by the shoulders and pushed me forward.

I hated her for a second, and then gave a weak smile to the man. I could feel his eyes raking over me and I felt like a piece of meat. A rather insignificant piece of meat. "Kagome who?"

Minnie was silent, so I spoke up. My voice was breaking. "H-Higurashi..."

The man was quiet then as well, and no one spoke for a moment. I felt pressured and uncomfortable, and I was almost certain that Minnie was no longer standing behind me. But all of a sudden, a fresh, healthy, sober voice piped up and I felt relieved. I had been rescued, perhaps.

"Shit! How old is this one?! Thirteen fucking years old or something?!" Granted, it wasn't the nicest rescue statement in the history of the world, but it still held a certain measure of worry for me of all people. I looked for the source and saw something even more luminous than Minnie's immaculate teeth glowing in the black sea. Something large, long...hair? Yes, it was white hair, and I could see a set of yellow eyes staring at me under the bangs. Yellow eyes and white hair. Somehow I wasn't surprised.

"Shut up Inuyasha! She's twenty, aren't you Kagome?" There was Minnie. But I was wishing then that she was actually gone as I had assumed.

"E-Eighteen...Minnie." The yellow eyes grew wide.

"Whoa...H-Hey, you shouldn't even be in this club Kagome." I turned and saw Minnie's face in the flicker of a strobe light, it had a questionable look on it that made me think for a moment that Minnie was about to abandon me to save her own skin because I had unknowingly overlooked the age limit at the club. But not Minnie, not safe, sober Minnie, no...never.

"Minnie you asshole! What the hell do you think you're doing brining minors in here?!" Minor? Now wait just a minute...

The yellow eyes were flashing. I wondered what had happened to the sly, mysterious man. But his absence was a blessing, so I dismissed it quickly. I was in danger of being thrown out or possibly arrested.

"Back off Inuyasha! I'm not her mother! She can take care of herself!" Was that really Minnie talking? Couldn't she please be my mother just for tonight? My heart was sinking in panic.

My eyes were pleading when I looked at her, and I hoped that she might see me in the shadow. She did, and she was unprepared. "Uh...sorry Kagome, but you have to watch yourself." I was on the verge of bursting into tears. "Listen," her voice was a whisper now, "just lay low and no one will suspect a thing. Who's gonna catch you now Kagome? You've made it this far..."

There was hand suddenly on my back. And it wasn't Minnie. I jumped and yelped stupidly, and seconds later was thankful for the darkness that was hiding my vivid red face. "Shh, calm down. Have a drink."

"Shit! Minnie! Don't do that!" So it was 'Inuyasha's' hand on my back... Well rescuer or not, I had just met him moments ago and that hand would have to leave or be broken in half. I was just reaching for his wrist when a glass was shoved under my nose. I winced at the potent alcoholic scent and recoiled.

"Drink it."

"Minnie! Dammit, no!" Inuyasha again.

But I knew Minnie and I did not know Inuyasha, so I ignored him. "What is it?" I asked suspiciously.

She shrugged in the poor light. "Just a drink. It will help you relax."

"Don't!"

"Does it have any alcohol in it?" We were still choosing to pointedly disregard Inuyasha in our conversation.

"Just a drop. Nothing strong."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Seriously kid, don't drink it!"

Kid? I was no kid. Without further hesitance, I snatched the beverage from Minnie's hand and downed it quickly. It was hot and choking in my throat, but determined not to flounder in front of Inuyasha, I stomached it.

Twenty minutes later Minnie's predication was gaining ground. I was more 'relaxed' than I had ever been in my life. I was drunk, and suddenly every single male looked attractive, until someone decided to hone in on my action.

I wandered, clumsy and ridiculous to a sandy haired man, still unbelievably in the dark sitting area rather than wandering about the club. I saw him across the room through a hazy blur and made my way, stumbling, to him. Then I flopped into a plush, black velvet seat next to him and leaned towards his face.

"Yer cute..."

He looked over and smiled at me in a way that suggested he was also drunk. "So're you..."

I grinned, "Really?" My breath was a whisper. We were growing closer and closer with each second.

He whispered back, "Yeah..."

Just as our lips were about to seal, I voice startled both of us away from each other.



"Back off sweetheart, he's taken."

I hardly cared about the voice and what it was saying. I hardly heard it at all. I was still swaying towards the random person I was about to kiss. But he, on the other hand, was slowly turning away from me and into the direction of the voice. His eyes were half-closed in drunken stupor. "Inu...yasha..."

Inuyasha? Wasn't he the little bastard who had been prancing around a few...hours (?) ago? Well I wasn't about to let some stupid jerk tell me what I could and could not drink and who the hell I could and could not kiss.

"Excuse me?" My syllables were slurred and incoherent.

"You heard me. Now get the hell away from him."

I looked between the two men. My guy was staring with a strange, abysmal affection for the white-haired Inuyasha, who was standing stoutly before us with his hand on his hips. He had been drinking heavily like the rest of us, but he seemed to have a good head for alcohol, and so he was a forced to be reckoned with for me, the underage first-timer. Having grown up in a persistent female presence, my foggy mind had no trouble immediately coping with the fact that this person had his eye on a fellow male. Everyone I had known for the vast majority of my life had their eyes on males. And from my point of view, standing there, dressed stylishly with sweeping hair that was perfectly healthy, he looked like a girl.

"Why should I?" I swaggered towards the man again, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back towards me.

"Because I fucking said so bitch." He took a step nearer to us, but I was unperturbed.

"Oh so now I'm a bitch now am I?" I paused as I lost my train of thought, then found it again, "What happened to me being the 'kid?'"

"I'm not...going to repeat myself..."

The long silent male we had been fighting over for no particular reason suddenly spoke up. "Inuyasha baby..."

I was as mortified as I could be while intoxicated. "W-What...?"

Inuyasha was grinning broadly all of a sudden. "Anthony..." He stooped down and gave Anthony a long kiss.

Shocked, I could only sit there and stare. Presently Inuyasha acknowledged my existence again turned his head to look at me, "Get outta here, you lost."

A swooping, rushing feeling of utter depression, intensified by alcohol, consumed me. I was speechless, but the tears were gathering in my eyes before I had time to talk anyway. I stumbled to my feet and began pushing myself into the dark crowd; through the dark chairs and the dark light, into the booming dance floor and towards the doors.

It was impossible to tell how long it took to work my way through the people, but I knew that it was far worse than when Nina had taken me through. Nina...Nina...Where was Nina? What had happened to her? Where was she when I needed her? Hadn't she said she would stay with me? My mind switched from heated rage and embarrassment to frantic desperation. Nina, Nina, Nina, I had to find Nina. Where was Nina? Had to find Nina... Nina would help, Nina would know what to do. Nina would save me.

I lost track of where I was or what was going on beyond the fact that I needed to find Nina, and after spinning around in between the countless bodies I stopped dead and put my head in my hands, ready to break down and cry right there, even if I had to lay down on the cold concrete floor and risk being trampled to death by people who were just as drunk as I was.

At that moment, it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I was confused and dazed, and there was nothing I could do, I crouched down and tried to muffle the music by putting my hands over my ears. I was an eighteen-year-old, underage for both the club I was in, and the fact that I was totally intoxicated. I had no experience, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't manage myself, and as far as I knew, I was doomed to die in the club, huddled on the ground.

And then, like a whisper from the heavens, I heard a familiar voice. I hopped to my feet as quickly as I could without falling down and strained to hear Nina calling again. I gasped when I heard it and the music faded to a mute. My heartbeat sped up considerably as I began shoving people roughly out of my way. Didn't they understand?! Nina was calling! Gradually I felt the crowd dissipating as I grew nearer to my goal, and then they faded away completely when I stumbled out of their midst and stood before the bar, and Nina.

Her back was to me and she was chatting wildly with somebody...the bartender perhaps, or a guy. I tapped her shoulder gently, feeling my exhaustion catching up with me at the same time.

"Nina...Nina..." I gasped, looking for a seat and finding that all those near her were occupied by guys who were observing my dear friend with quite some interest.

She turned around slowly and I saw that she had a little shot-glass in her hand. Her eyes were half-shut, there was a strange expression that I had never seen before on her face. I tried to place it but could not.

"Hey sweetheart..."

It took me a little while to realize that her pronunciation was sloppy. I was simply too overjoyed to see her to care about anything else.

"Nina!" I sputtered, "We have to go! Now!"

She took her time responding. "What's...the rush?"

"I..." And then it hit. Nina was not herself. She was not the sane, sober, controlled, wise person I had met and befriended. She was drunk, and it terrified me. Nina did not get drunk, she didn't act irresponsible, she always managed herself perfectly. To add to my pain, I understood that Nina had not been calling my name as I had hoped, I had merely heard her voice and my battered mind had made me believe that she was crying out for me.

"Whatz a matter...Kagome?

I was too numb with fear to answer. Instead, I turned and ran towards the doors, too anguished to do anything but get away from the stranger as fast as I could. At the same time I felt a bitter despair welling up inside of me. I was truly lost now. Abandoned. Alone. No one could help me, I would die. I would be attacked or kidnaped or stuck by lightening and there would be no one left to protect me or tell me what to do.

The large black double doors loomed into view and I crashed into them, hurling my body outside into the cool night air. I dragged myself to the side of the street and hung over the gutter as cars rushed by inches from my nose. There I surrendered the contents of my stomach to the inky blackness of the sewer below, hoping for one moment that I might be able to purge myself of the vile feeling that was reeking havoc in my insides. But alas, it remained, and I broke down and cried with my head in my hands.

I heard someone come up behind me and prayed that they might take a hint and leave. Then I was afraid that it might be a lunatic brandishing a knife and my worst fears of being alone without aid resurfaced fresh in my mind. I was considering taking my chances and making a wild bolt across the busy street when I felt a calm, steadying hand on my back. It stroked my flesh and soothed me gently. Carefully, I turned my head and looked over my shoulder to see a long mane of flowing white hair and a pair of yellow eyes staring at me.

My long forgotten anger came back full force and I sprang up and away from him. Or at least I hoped to. Instead I clumsily fell on my ass and swore loudly. He smiled.

"Hey kid."

"Get away from me..." My voice was still fuzzy.

"Come on twit, you're drunk and you're vomiting on a street corner. Don't you want some help?"

My brain scrambled for answers. Wasn't he supposed to be drunk? What about the guy we had been fighting over? Didn't he hate me for trying to steal his man? Why was he being nice to me? And what was his name again? I had forgotten it...

He didn't wait for me to respond, he made a clucking noise in his throat that sounded like a motherly reprimand and swung his arm about my shoulders, lifting me up carefully and cooing to me all the way. "Well...we'd better call a taxi, don't you think? Where do you live?"

I gave into the peace and security he was giving me. Plus his shoulder was warm, and he was offering it to me like he wanted me to lean on it. I mumbled, "School of the Art Institute of New York....dorm...building. Room...number..."

"That's enough sweetie," he whispered in my ear while using his free hand to hail a passing cab. When it slowed down beside us he ushered me in and told the driver our destination. He recognized the location and nodded shortly before taking off.

The car made me sick, and he saw this and told me to lay down and put my head in his lap. That was the first time I did that. But it wouldn't be the last. When I had settled down he made the clucking noise again. "Look what you've done to your hair!" He chided softly, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's all matted..."

I closed my eyes with pure delight as he began gently undoing my tangles with soft fingers. He was so careful and his touch so light that I felt myself lulled to a state of peaceful relaxation. So I let myself fall asleep in this person's lap, and his name came back to me just as I nodded off. I whispered hoarsely, "Thank you Inuyasha..."

"You're welcome Kagome."

***

I had found out from him later that he had a terrific way with alcohol. He was drunk for shorter periods of time and came out of his stupors quickly rather than gradually. He could drink anyone out without feeling a thing for the longest time. He said that he had watched me have shot after shot after the fist one Nina had offered me, and informed me that I had become roaring drunk within twenty minutes.

Inuyasha had felt sorry for me, the new kid under Nina's influence, and told me that Nina was a sweet person, but made terrible decisions and was very irresponsible. Nina had probably known that I wasn't the right age for the club, and she had certainly known that I wasn't the right age for alcohol. She just didn't think of the consequences.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha had been putting it away himself that night, and so when I had ambled up to his current "fling" he had reacted without a hint of sympathy because he was intoxicated and hardly remembered who I was. Minutes after he had made out with Anthony, who we never heard from again, and watched me stumble away, he had realized what had happened and chased after me. He had pursued me through the crowd but his recent doings with many small glasses of that certain potent liquid were still fresh in him, and his vision was blurred, his head was pounding with a raging headache, and he was still half out-of-it.

But luckily, he had seen me run out the doors at the last minute, and he had followed me out and helped me home. Through gentle coaxing he had gotten my room number out of me, and then he had carried me to my room and put me to bed, leaving his phone number on a slip of paper taped to my refrigerator with his name beneath it and a note saying, "Call me."

Our friendship had grown from that point, and he attended my college so we saw a lot of each other. I turned nineteen a week after the accident that had brought us together, and that made him two years older than me. Twenty-one. Inuyasha was going to become a fashion designer, he came from a wealthy family and had started college a little later than planned after he had taken a long trip in Europe to clear his head after the death of a close family friend.

He introduced me to some of my closest friends, Sango and Miroku. Two years after we met we got an apartment together. We had had it for a year. I was a sophomore now. He was a senior. Neither of us spared much thought to what would happen when Inuyasha graduated. Only that we would stick together.

***

I pried myself from the pillow and wiped my tears away. Somehow I had managed to take a nap. I was lazy. I had a knack for sleeping. When I faced the clock hanging over the T.V. I saw that I had fifteen minutes to get to work, and I collected my limp self and scrambled out the door. I didn't know where Inuyasha was.

***

How do you like that? Nice third chapter all neat and laid out splendidly. I'm about to fall over due to exhaustion, so farewell gummies.