A/N: …Last chapter, how sad!

10 Things You Hate About Me

Chapter 7: You Can't Just Buy Me a Guitar Every Time You Fuck Up

Prom-dress shopping was hellacious; no one could decide what they wanted. Kagome settled on a pretty pale blue, Kikyou on a dark, subdued red and Tsubaki on black and red.

The next night was, incidentally, prom night, Tsubaki and Kikyou rushed out of the house with a simple "going to prom" directed at their Grandfather.

"Haha, funny."

Kagome ran downstairs after hearing the faint doorbell ring, grabbing the door before her grandfather.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

"Prom."

"No you're not," he corrected, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes I am. Kikyou and Tsubaki are already there! My date's here, so I'm going," she told him smiling. "I mean, Kikyou and Tsubaki found these two guys that were perfect for them, which is really perfect for me because…" she stopped to pull Inuyasha in the room, "Inuyasha asked me to go to prom with him, so, we'll be careful, we won't do anything bad and I'll be home by 1:00 AM, okay?"

The aged man gave Inuyasha a wary eye. "I'm watching you, boy," he said.

Kagome kissed her grandfather on the cheek and they left.

Tsubaki stood at the top of the stairs, brushing her hair away from her face idly. "He's late," she muttered angrily. Kikyou had already left with her date.

Hearing someone coming up towards her, she looked around and saw Renkotsu standing there, looking very foreign in the black jacket and dress pants with a white button up. He wasn't wearing a tie and his jacket was unbuttoned. The buttons on his jacket, she noted, were silver nautical stars, and he was wearing a black bandana.

Tsubaki shook her head. "Shall we go?" she asked with a hint of impatience.

"Of course. Lead the way," he replied dully.

When they got into the crowded main room, filled with dancing couples, Tsubaki looked around for Kikyou, and saw her by the punch bowl.

They didn't dance, just looked around at the others, once or twice, Kagome and a rather embarrassed looking Inuyasha danced by, and every time they did so, Kagome would give Tsubaki a small smile.

Kagome released Inuyasha after a while. "I need to go to the bathroom," she told him, "can you get me some punch?"

He nodded and she disappeared through the crowd.

When she got into the bathroom, she noticed someone familiar. "Sango! You didn't tell me you were coming!" she exclaimed, noticing her black-clad friend touching up her make-up in the mirror.

Sango smiled. "I didn't know until…45 minutes ago, Miroku showed up at my house and told me to come. All I could find was the dress from my great grandma Edna's funeral two years ago, and it still fit…so I came! Isn't that great?"

Kagome nodded happily.

Then Sango's face fell. "Word around the bathroom is Naraku is really mad. He only wanted to date you so he could get in your pants tonight. Who are you here with if it's not Naraku?"

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, looking angered. "So they're saying that?"

She and Sango left the bathroom together, finding Inuyasha and Miroku in conversation at the punch bowl. Kagome's eyes flitted over to Tsubaki, who wasn't too far away, standing with her date (what was his name again?) and Kikyou and her date.

Then she winced, ready for an unpleasant impact as Naraku strode over. He was talking to Tsubaki's date, looking angry, and his eyes were over the guy's shoulder and aimed right at her.

"I'm not paying you so that little fuck Inuyasha can nail Kagome!" he shouted.

Inuyasha looked angry, but it was easy to say that Kagome looked even more furious. When they got over to where the irate Naraku was, Inuyasha moved to stand nose to nose with him, but Kagome pushed him back.

And Inuyasha could honestly say he had never been more impressed with a girl, after seeing Kagome punch Naraku in the nose, hard enough to hear it break all through the room.

Kagome turned around, looking at Tsubaki hesitantly, but Tsubaki's eyes were on Renkotsu, looking not shocked, or upset or heartbroken, but a puzzling mix of angry and amused.

"So…it was all for money?" she asked him in a deadly quiet voice.

His face remained impassive as he shrugged and nodded. "Yah, it was."

"From Naraku? You were taking orders from Naraku?" she inquired, the calm in her voice betrayed by her narrowed eyes.

"Nah. I was taking money from Naraku, because honestly, if it had really been for money I wouldn't have done shit and just took the money and ran," he explained, then got a look on his face like he had said something blasphemous.

When his expression returned to normal, she searched for a hint of a lie. "You always were too smart for you own good," she said in a harsh voice, turning and storming away with her hands balled tightly into fists.

Kikyou looked disinterested. Whatever riffraff Tsubaki involved herself with were her choice. But somehow, she was troubled. "Suikotsu…"

Suikotsu looked up, a grim look on his face. "Yes?"

"Did you know about the money?"

"I was aware…" he said slowly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him calmly.

Suikotsu looked at Renkotsu for a moment, then turned back to Kikyou, but avoided eye contact. "Because Renkotsu trusted me not to. I'd be a bad person to not keep my friend's secrets…" he added, staring at the floor.

She nodded. "I understand."

"I didn't realize it would end like this. I never knew that this was caused by such petty motives," he added, staring at Naraku.

She nodded again. "My sister knows much better than to give into someone like Naraku; it is not likely he would have succeeded anyway."

"Where's Kagome?" Mr. Higurashi asked his eldest granddaughter as she sat out on the porch, alone.

He wondered why she had cut herself off from her family; they didn't see her at meals and there was anger etched into her very face as if she couldn't have looked happy if she had wanted to.

"Out with Inuyasha," she said, her voice just above a whisper.

"Oh…I was thinking about it and…well, if you want to, you and Kikyou can go to that fancy college you applied for on the other side of the country, if that's what makes you happy."

She smiled, just barely. "That would be wonderful," she said distantly.

He nodded, and left her to sit on the porch railing with her thoughts.

That Monday at school, just before first period English had started, Tsubaki bumped into Kikyou, and for some reason or another, they were in a heated argument as the bell rang.

Inutaishou Taiyoukai had not met two sisters that had such animosity between them as Kikyou and Tsubaki, the only words he heard from the whole argument were from Kikyou, with her same rational, calm voice:

"I didn't know about the money."

Tsubaki pushed past the teacher and he was about to tell her to get back in class, but he knew the wrath of angry teenaged girls far too well.

When he got in the class, he didn't ask Kikyou what the argument was about, or what her cryptic words had meant. Instead, he asked Renkotsu.

"Renkotsu," he said, sitting down on his own desk and looking at the student in question.

"Hmm?"

"Why, might I ask, were the two Higurashi sisters arguing before the bell rang?" he asked.

"I suppose that would be between the two sisters, wouldn't it?" Renkotsu retorted.

"I know, sir," Naraku said, looking as devious as he could with bandages on his nose.

"Oh really? Enlighten me then, Mr. Shirozaru. Oh, and the broken nose is a wonderful touch."

"Certainly," he said, glaring at the wisecracking teacher. "Well, prom night, you know, certain…ideas and plans were revealed that made certain people." His red eyes lingered on Renkotsu and Suikotsu for a moment before he continued. "Look very bad. Tsubaki, apparently, thought her dear sister was involved but she wasn't. It was all-" he was cut off by the scraping of a chair, and the class watched as Renkotsu left the room.

"I see," Mr. Taiyoukai agreed. "Glad to have had that cleared up," he added. Then he began the lesson.

Outside, Tsubaki was walking back to her car from one of the vending machines, and she saw someone leaning against it.

"And what do you want?" she snapped, coming up to him.

"I was waiting for you," he said casually.

"Renkotsu, I really don't need you to be around me," she snapped.

Renkotsu held up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine," he said turning like he was going to walk away.

"…Renkotsu…how the hell did you afford that?" Tsubaki asked, peering in the front seat of her car at the gleaming guitar.

"Had some spare cash. You mentioned wanting it," he replied.

"I'm not believing you."

"Well, this guy paid me to date this really hot girl, and well, I fucked it up," he told her, trying to sound unamused.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, I was more focused on the girl than the money," he admitted.

"Really now?"

"Well, sexual tension is more fun than cash, sometimes."

Kikyou frowned, sitting down at her usual lunch table.

"Suikotsu," she started suddenly, looking up at the brown-haired boy sitting in front of her. "Is that your foot on my leg?"

He blushed. "Sorry. I didn't realize that was your leg," he muttered, removing the accused foot immediately.

She smiled slightly and then looked thoughtful. "I suppose."

Fin

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the fact I give you no luxury of a kiss or anything.