Chapter 4: As you Gasp for Air Tonight
Kagome tried for the 50th time to get comfortable in her seat. She had on some headphones she had brought along, and a sketch book sat on her lap, her hand idling twirling the pencil. She couldn't tilt her seat backwards, didn't have a foot rest in front of her, and couldn't put her feet up on the seat in front of her, otherwise she would hit the kid in front of her. She squirmed uncomfortably and puffed out a breath of air, blowing her bangs up. She felt frustrated. This plane ride was unbelievably long.
Inuyasha on the other hand looked perfectly at home, she thought glancing over at her companion. He was sprawled with his legs in the aisle and his head rested on two pillows which were propped very craftily against the arm rest that kept his side away from hers. She rolled her eyes and had to fight the urge to poke him in the eye for taking her arm rest, which might've made her feel a little more comfortable. Finally, Kagome got an idea of how to get herself comfortable.
She turned her body, stretching her legs under the armrest and let her feet settle on the foot rest which was in front of Inuyasha. Grabbing the thick blanket she had stowed away with the million of other things she had brought in her carryon, she folded it up to make a supremely comfortable pillow and balanced it kitty corned against the window and her seat. Finally, she leaned back and almost died in pleasure from after 3 hours of frustration of not being comfortable. She set up her little tray in front of her, which just barely brushed her legs and set the sketchbook on it. She could reach it easily. She pumped a silent fist into the air of triumph.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Kagome opened her eyes which had been closed in the triumphant punch face to find a very aggravated Inuyasha looking at her, eyebrow twitching as he looked at her. She sniffed. "For your information, I finally found a comfortable way to sit so I can sketch."
Inuyasha had been woken up. He hated to be woken up. Especially when he was having history dreams where he was running around in one of the costumes he had danced in last year, a red haori, running around with a stage katana and fighting demons. He had just killed a particularly dangerous one when the rustles had awoken him.
"Well, congrats. Now move." His voice was terse as he realized she had stolen his foot rest and was currently very close to his body.
Kagome felt like crying. She could even feel the tears start to fill up in her eyes. She felt her bottom lip quiver. "B-b-but...I just got...COMFORTABLE!" She wailed the last word, the tears bursting through her normally iron like reserve which was in place when she was around strangers.
Inuyasha sat up and everyone looked back at them, most of which had been sleeping until she had started wailing. Baffled, he scratched the top of his head, feeling uncomfortable. "Um...look princess I didn't mean it...You can stay there...Uhh...uhh.." He looked around desperately for something to comfort her with but found no such thing. Then for lack of something, pushed up the arm rest, basically breaking it in the process and grabbed her and held her against his wide chest. Her crying stopped almost immediately.
Kagome couldn't believe he had just grabbed her and was holding her. Then she felt a strong, smooth hand run down her hair and rub her back. She bit her bottom lip, suppressing the urge to growl at him. She knew he was just trying to comfort her, but lets face it. She was going to a foreign country, leaving all of her friends behind, her mother, who was kind of dorky but still her mom and her childhood home. It had been a stressful two weeks. So she just let him hold her, though it sent strange chills down her spine. After about five minutes, and after everyone had turned back to their front face position, Kagome drew herself away from him.
She wiped her cheeks with her palms and kept her gaze away from his. She looked out the window, drawing her legs back to her side of the seat. She let her head rest against the window and said nothing to her comforter.
Inuyasha had no idea what to do with himself now. His shirt was a little wet where her tears had touched it. He almost said something to her, but saw how sad she looked as she looked out at the window, gazing longingly out at the clouds. He pulled his feet back out of the aisle and tried not to look at her as he pulled out his laptop again. Booting it up, he fished out the pair of almost microscopic headphones and slid them into his ears.
For the next 6 hours, nothing was said between the two of them.
Kouga stood in the center of the Banshou Academy dance floor. He was dressed in a tux, his hair slicked backwards. His hand was outstretched to her. She should take it, she knew she should, but something held her back. She looked back and there was a face, but it had no eyes, no features what so ever, just a blank man, holding onto her other hand. She turned her back on Kouga, and gave her other hand to him. She heard Kouga shout her name, but it slowly faded away.
She was dancing with him, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Hands were clasped behind his neck. She wanted to ask who he was, where did he come from, had she met him before, but something told her that this was not the time for questions or words. Just to dance.
He danced wonderfully, twirling her about the floor, door steps from a waltz, a tango, the meringue, and dozens of others that she couldn't name. Sometime music would strike up and send him into a frenzy. Mist curled around their feet and smelt like violets. She looked up into his face over and over again, but it never took any shape.
Finally, he spun her one last time, letting her spin for eternity, stars twinkling around her and landing on the black dress she hadn't even known she was wearing. He called out her name, his voice musical...
And the dream was shattered.
Kagome woke up, feeling shivers and gooseflesh rushing down her body.
The plane was dark. That much was obvious as her eyes began to come into focus. Well, save for the blaring light coming from her right. Inuyasha sat up erect, his fingers whisking over the keyboard of the expensive looking laptop. His head was nodding a little bit to the music which seemed to be coming from a wire connected to his ears. Kagome wanted to laugh, but couldn't. Her throat was tight and dry.
She cleared it and looked around for one of the stewardesses. None were in sight. Sighing, she noticed Inuyasha had a glass of something sitting on the side of his tray. He absent mindedly picked it up and took a swallow of it. She couldn't help but watch as his adam's apple worked around it and the look he had in his eyes as it ran down his obviously parched throat. She cleared her throat, but he said nothing and went back to typing. She could hear the start of the next song. It was by Story of the Year. She knew the song all too well.
"The stars will cry,
the blackest tears tonight,
and this is the moment
that I live for
I can smell the ocean air.
Here I am
pouring my heart
onto these rooftops
just a ghost
to the world.
That's exactly,
exactly what I need
From up here the city lights burn,
like a thousand miles of fire,
and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day.
For a second I wished the tide
would swallow every inch of this city
as you gasp for air tonight.
I'd scream this song
right in your face
if you were here.
Still I won't miss a beat
because I never, never have before.
From up here the city lights burn,
like a thousand miles of fire,
and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day.
Of our dying day
of our dying...day
of our dying...
For a second I wish the tide
would swallow every inch of this city
as you gasp for air tonight.
From up here the city lights burn,
like a thousand miles of fire,
and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day.
From up here the city lights burn,
like a thousand miles of fire,
and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day.
From up here the city lights burn,
like a thousand miles of fire,
and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day.
Our dying day
Of our dying day."
The song slowly faded out. Kagome was embarrassed to find herself staring at Inuyasha. For the whole song, he had mouthed the words, and had stopped his hands from their ferocious typing on his laptop. She could've sworn she saw tears in his eyes. But then the song was done and over, and gone was the hurt face she had seen and back was the cool guy that was the son of her soon to be headmaster.
Kagome closed her eyes again, and reached around for her sketchpad and pencil, both which were on the table top. Instead of finding them, she found flesh. Her eyes snapped open. She had found Inuyasha's hand, which was resting on the mouse. His eyes burned into hers. Her cheeks began to flame and she removed her hand from his. She tried to stutter an apology, but realized how useless it would be with his blaring music in his ears. Instead, she tried to play it off like nothing happened, found her sketch book and pencil and settled back to draw.
Inuyasha had snapped out of his writing trance when he felt a feather light touch on his hand. There was Kagome, sitting next to him, her hand resting on top of his. He felt fire burn through that touch, and reach deep into his heart. He turned to look at her, and her face was a pretty shade of pink, eyes reeking of embarrassment. He wanted to smile but knew it wasn't expected of him. So he just stared, knowing his eyes were burning. She looked like she was about to speak, but must've realized he was listening to his music and wouldn't hear her. She just turned her face away from him, and grabbed what she must have been looking for: a sketch book and a pencil.
He turned back to his laptop. Vanessa Carlton's "White Houses" just came on. He loved her piano skills and her lyrical content. The words on his own screen blurred. He remembered the summer he had spent at a camp. It was like the song described. He had crashed the first night on the floor, because he had been too adrenaline drained to make up his camp issued bed. There had been girls in the next cabin. He had fallen in love with one that actually looked kind of like Vanessa, only her eyes had been bright and purple. He had taken her virginity. She had taken his. He blinked away the memory and reached for the laptop's keys again.
Kouga sat on the school's steps. It was a windy day today. The skies were a dark gray. The school seemed to loom up behind him. It would swallow him in a few minutes. But for now, he just sat, his mind completely on Kagome. He imagined her smile, her eyes, her hand on his face, her lips on his, her hand glittering where his ring rested. He closed his eyes, trying to dull the ache which resonated from his heart.
Had he known he would fall so hard for her, he would've never befriended her back in the second grade. He would've never insisted on her taking ballet with him. He would've never given her the flyer for the auditions to the Shikon No Tama Ballet Academy. He never would've gone with her. Never. Not in a million years. He felt tears shimmer behind his eyes. He knew it wasn't fair to think these things. Not at all fair to her. She had talent. She had to do her best, had to be famous, had to be all the things that the Banshou Academy hadn't been able to give her. She had to be...Kagome.
He stood, the wind blowing harshly in his face. It dried the tears in his eyes and he steeled himself. He wouldn't mourn for her leaving. He would celebrate it. She was going to be famous, and happy and wonderful. And he would be there for her, always, the best friend, the shoulder to cry on and the one who loved her with everything he had. He would be there.
He turned his back on the gray day and headed into the school as the bell rang and echoed off into the distance.
The plane had finally landed. Kagome stood and stretched. She picked up the mechanical pencil and stowed it back in her bag, making a mental note to pick up some more lead, or some more pencils. The sketch book, which had 50 pages in it, now had around 40 left. She stowed that back in her bag, as well as the blanket. Inuyasha was also packing all of his things away as well. They hadn't spoken since she had accidentally touched his hand. Kagome had been too lost in her sketching and Inuyasha had just been lost in his writing.
Inuyasha let his eyes slide over to his flight companion. She was stretching again, all of her things packed away. The shirt she was wearing was kind of wrinkled, and her pants were as well, but other than that she looked almost like she did when he first saw her. He saw her flat toned stomach as she lifted her arms over her head to pop her back. He unconsciously licked his lips and then looked away from her. He had been right about her. She had a great body.
Kagome realized she was missing a heel. She searched around for the high heel, which she had kicked off sometime during the flight. Her barefoot was getting a little chilly. She bent over, and could see it, wedged beneath the seat in front of her. Glancing at her companion, who was busy readying his carry on to slip on his shoulders, she figured she could get on her knees and get it without bumping into him. What a joke!
She got on her knees and was reaching for it, when suddenly she ran into a leg. Her shoulder was touching his leg. Her face flamed. She felt his eyes on the back of her exposed neck. She grabbed her heel and then slowly got up, avoiding his eye.
"Get what you were looking for?" His voice was a little on the husky side, from lack of use she guessed.
She nodded, slid her shoe on and slipped her bag on her back. "Yeah. So...where are we now?"
Inuyasha swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "America. We're in Boston right now, not too far from the school actually...You want to sit with me in the van?" The last bit came out rushed, as if he was shy. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Sure. I don't see why we-"
She was cut off as there was a loud pitched squeal. Suddenly Inuyasha was caught by a girl that looked a lot like Kagome, only paler and a little thicker in her legs and stomach. She was giggling and kissing Inuyasha. Kagome almost gagged as she caught a glance of her face. She wore horrendous sparkly red eye shadow and dark red lipstick. Her hair was shorter than Kagome's and her eyes were almost dead as she smiled and licked Inuyasha's earlobe.
"Kikyou-" Inuyasha was cut off as she stuck her tongue down his throat. He almost gagged, she tasted like Tuna.
He finally managed to get himself free. He turned around and said, "Kagome, this is my "girlfriend" Kikyou. Kikyou, Kagome." He made a face at the word girlfriend. Kagome held back a giggle.
"Hey bitch. Stay away from my Inu-baby!" Kikyou said, growling. She looked like a beat up Zebra.
Kagome tried hard not to laugh but couldn't help it. Kikyou huffed and puffed and looked at Inuyasha. He shrugged and struggled to hold back his own laughter. Kikyou decided to leave them and get a good seat in the plusher limo, rather than sit in the van, thinking that she would be able to sit with Inuyasha.
Kagome caught her breath finally. Inuyasha had his hands tucked in his pockets and was smiling at her. She smiled back.
"I'm sorry things got off to a bad start," she said softly, looking away for a minute.
"Yeah me too."
"Friends?"
"Friends."
With that the pair left the airplane and rushed out to the van, which was about to leave them behind.
A/N: Sorry there was such a long wait. I lost my computer, then got it back, then lost the internet, then got it back, then lost it again. One of those years I guess. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all the reviews too. 15 so far! Yah! That makes me feel pretty dern good. Yup. dances