It had been more than a week. More than a week, that is, since student's from Goshinboku Academy, one Houshi Miroku in particular, had arrived to make her life a living hell. She knew he would always be near, for they had the same classes, but by now, pretty much everyone had broken away from their assigned partners and had started meeting people on their own. Miroku still insisted on following her around, and frankly, it was starting to annoy her. Wait...She was past that point by the first day: he was really starting to piss her off.
Hell, she knew something was wrong if even Kagome and Inu-Yasha had started tolerating each other. She'd thought that would only happen when hell froze over. On the flip side of things, her social life that did not include one particular lecher was doing great.
In the period of that one, short week, she, Kagome, and Ayame had made close friends with Kirara, Shippou's extremely pretty and nice girlfriend. Said boy had also managed to worm his way quite easily into her and Ayame's hearts, merely needing to strengthen his bond with Kagome and Kirara.
In fact, since it was both Kagome and Sango's day off of work, the five of them were heading to the movies that afternoon, right when school got out. It was Friday, and Miroku and his family were going upcountry for a three-day-weekend, which explained the girl's day off. In any case, he'd left his car in Shippou's care, not really trusting Inu-Yasha's need for speed.
So after meeting up right in front of the school, the five of them headed to the student parking lot and piled into Miroku's black Hummer with the leather, gray interior. Shippou, of course, slid into the driver's seat, Kirara into the front passenger seat. The three other girls were glad to take the overly spacious back.
After adjusting the mirror, rolling down his window, and moving the seat forwards, Shippou turned the keys in the ignition. Eyeing the gas-gauge, Shippou sighed. "We're going to have to make a quick stop for gas, people,"
When he heard no protests, he carefully backed out of the parking lot and sped down the road to the nearest station. Luckily, the prices weren't too gouged, so he wasn't completely out a bank account after filling up the enormous vehicle's tank; maybe just about halfway. "Remind me to kill Houshi, will you?" he muttered through gritted teeth after leaping back into the car.
The movie theatre was actually pretty far away, but not far enough for any of them to mind. They lived in a pretty old-fashioned town, which while it was comfortable, was not always so convenient.
It would be a good twenty-five minutes til they reached Bell Road, an extremely long street, in which both sides were crowded with a mall, numerous strip centers and restaurants. You could find pretty much anything you wanted on Bell Road, which more than made up for the drive.
Easing the car onto the highway, Shippou glanced at the console. Puckering up his lips in thought, he finally shrugged, and when he could afford to take a hand off the wheel, flicked on the radio. Noticing that Miroku had a c.d. in, he switched it to that, figuring it couldn't be that bad. Miroku might be a weirdo, but he had damn good taste in music.
Shippou was not to be disappointed. Soon that sweet bass was rolling out the window in heavy waves, sweet feminine voice serenading the group with her oddly peppy, oddly disturbing lyrics. Sango, especially, was happy. Thinking she'd found a kindred spirit, she pleasantly inquired, "I never knew you liked Dj Mystik, Shippou?"
Shippou briefly turned around in his seat to flash Sango a vibrant smile. "I love him! But actually, this is Miroku's c.d., not mine,"
"Oh..." Sango crossed both her arms and legs in a huff, promptly turning to gaze out the window, not catching Shippou's amused chuckle.
Humming the last few, catchy lines of 'Moonlight Shadow', Shippou began to concentrate more on his driving, albeit beginning to fiercely drum his fingers on the steering wheel when the Dj's remix of Nena's popular anti-war song began to play. Next came the wonderfully catchy 'Hey Raver', and finally, as he pulled into a parking space, Adrima's 'I Can't Stop Raving' came to an explosive finish. "We're here, kiddies!" Shippou grinned crazily, un-doing his seat belt, eagerly leaping out of the vehicle.
Laughing, the others followed suit, giddily crossing the parking lot to the canopy where they would momentarily have a seat and rest, deciding on what movie to see. After several minutes of heated debate, they finally came to a decision and approached the booth to purchase their tickets.
The theatre was already crowded, which wasn't a surprise. It was always like this on Friday's: people headed indoors to escape the heat, emerging hours later, hyped up and ready to hit the mall. It was a great for business, that's for sure. Especially since after shopping, most people usually went to grab a bite to eat.
After standing in line only for a few minutes, the five headed to their appointed theatre, loaded down with popcorn, candy, and drinks. This particular movie theatre had stadium seats, for which all of them were glad. Hurriedly, they climbed up, about halfway, claiming a majority for the most middle row for their own. It was unlikely that anyone would sit too near them, for this movie had been out for some time, and it didn't look like many people were coming to see it in the first place. By the time the previews started playing, there were only ten odd other people there.
The movie was good; it had lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes. They all emerged from the theatre, chatting excitedly about the events that had just taken place on the big screen. It was already late five-o-clock, and it was starting to get a little dark.
As they were heading back to the Hummer, Ayame suddenly stopped, looking confused. "What is it?" Shippou asked, quirking a brow, as they all stopped and turned to face her.
"Hey, Sango, where's Kuranosuke?" said girl asked, blinking.
"Did you just now notice he wasn't here?" Kagome questioned, looking wide-eyed.
"Yeah," Ayame sweatdropped. "Sango was so quiet during the movie, so I kind of just shrugged it off as her sucking face with him, or something!"
"Ayame!" Sango, bright red, looking utterly appalled, exclaimed, shocked. Ayame had always been the...naive one.
Everyone but Shippou giggled insanely at her reaction. Shippou smiled knowingly, but was gentlemanly enough to turn away so Sango would not see. "Don't act shy, now," Kagome rolled her eyes. "We're all grown up now! We know what happens when two people love each other,"
Sango's eyes, if possible, further enlarged. "Kagome!" she hissed. "Will you cut it out?"
Kirara glanced at her watch. "I'm getting hungry," she interrupted, earning a grateful look from Sango. "Let's just get going,"
Reluctantly, Ayame and Kagome gave up their teasing, though both gave Sango very smug looks as they slid past her to claim the back seat once more. Sighing, Sango joined them, and the couple resumed their seats up front.
Their trek to find a place to eat was filled with both uneasy and comfortable silence. It was comfortable enough to not feel embarrassingly awkward, but no one felt quite sure of themselves enough to speak. Kirara had her nose practically glued to the window. "There!" she excitedly exclaimed, pointing to In-n-Out Burger. "I haven't eaten there in ages! Shall we?"
"Sure," came a chorus of agreement, and Shippou complied with the hungry flock of girls by pulling into the drive. "Are we going in? Or do you want me to go through the drive-through?" he inquired.
"How 'bout we go in?" Sango suggested. The others, not wishing to further offend her that night, quickly agreed. Besides, no one had really wanted to head for home yet anyway. Ayame and Sango were nice enough to volunteer to order for everyone, listening intently to what everyone wanted before leaving them to pick out a seat in the comfortably crowded burger joint.
After giving one of the cashiers their large order and paying, Sango and Ayame collapsed down on the bench meant for waiting customers such as themselves. "...Sango?" Ayame weakly approached the subject.
"Yeah?" Sango tilted her head, giving the nervous girl a small smile.
"You're not mad at me, are you? For teasing you?" Ayame anxiously fretted.
"Nah," Sango gave a brief shake of her head. "I just got embarrassed, that's all. Besides, I know I deserved it, for all the times I do the same to you and Kagome-chan,"
"Heh," Ayame gratefully returned Sango's smile, nodding her head. "That you do," she chuckled.
"Number eight-two, your order is ready. Number eighty-two, your order is ready," a nasally voice informed them over the loudspeaker.
Ayame glanced briefly at their receipt. "That's us!" she announced cheerfully, bouncing up, Sango in tow, to claim their food.
Surveying the oily-skinned, shady-looking man who slid them their trays, Sango found her nose wrinkling in disgust. She didn't know why, but she got the dirtiest feeling being in such close proximity of this man. A frowning Ayame meeting her gaze signaled the other girl felt much the same. Quickly thanking him, they handed over their receipt, grabbed their trays, and wasted no time in hurrying to find the rest of their posse.
"What's the rush?" Shippou asked, standing to catch a nearly tripping Sango.
"There's this creep working behind the counter," Ayame shuddered, answering for her friend.
"He didn't do anything to you?" Kirara asked, alarmed, halfway standing herself, prepared to march right over and give the perpetrator a thrashing he wouldn't soon forget.
"No," Sango interjected, shaking her head. "But he just...I don't know, I got this really weird feeling from him,"
"It's always good to trust your instincts in situations like this," Shippou nodded wisely, waiting for Sango to slide into the booth before sitting back down.
They began to eat, engaging in pleasant conversation all the while. It was near the end of their meal that they began to notice a large crowd was forming around the front of the restaurant. Moments later, a few angry words and scuffling sounds met their ears.
Craning their necks to see, Shippou boldly stood up, when the found they could not catch sight of what was going on from their seats. His eyes immediately bugged out. "It's Sesshoumaru!" he gasped. "And Kikyou!"
Now everyone, especially Kagome, snapped to attention. "Holy..." Kagome trailed off. "That's my cousin!" Despite their attentiveness on the current situation, everyone couldn't help but turn to face her. "What?" Kagome crossed her arms defensively, "I didn't know that your Kikyou was my Kikyou!"
There was a pregnant pause, in which everyone sweatdropped, before turning back to the matter at hand. Kikyou was pressed against the wall, looking quite frightened. An extremely angry Sesshoumaru stood protectively in front of her, stylish trenchcoat coated in ketchup. From the floor, the creepy man arose, wiping what looked like ketchup but could only be blood off the corner of his mouth. "...Onigumo!" Shippou stared, entranced.
"Onigumo?" Kagome, Sango and Ayame simultaneously questioned.
"This disgusting asshole that goes to Goshinboku," Shippou once more tore his eyes away, bitterly informing them. "He's flunked nearly every year; he was enrolled way back when, when those two went there...He always had his sight set on Kikyou, even had the gall to try to force himself on her once. When Sesshoumaru stepped into the picture, everything went downhill from there,"
"Onigumo, Onigumo, Onigumo..." Kagome racked her brain, eyes squinched tight in thought. They swiftly fluttered open, just moments later. "I remember that name! Kikyou told me about him once! I was almost going to go there, to Goshinboku, I mean, but Kikyou convinced my mother not to, because I looked so much like her, and she was having trouble with this jerk...Is that really him?"
"The one and only," Shippou frowned. "Stay here, ladies, I'm going to see what this is all about..."
They all nodded dumbly, eyes trailing after Shippou, who, while he was tough, was rather short for his age, and was having a bit of a time pushing his way through the wall of people. Finally, he succeeded, and disappeared, swallowed by the crowd.
Shippou sidled up alongside Sesshoumaru. "What's going on?" he whispered, keeping his voice low.
"This punk..." Sesshoumaru seethed. "Purposefully got this crap," he eloquently motioned to the ketchup, "All over me, and then he had the nerve to make crude passes at Kikyou," by now he was nearly roaring, "And then," Sesshoumaru held up a minuscule pill between his thumb and forefinger, "I saw him slip this into my food,"
Shippou winced, rubbing at his ear, which Sesshoumaru had just nearly blown off. Nodding, he wandered over to Kikyou. Taking her arm, he wordlessly led her back to their table, ignoring the stares he was getting. Dutifully standing, allowing her to sit in his seat, Shippou moved his hand to her shoulder, patting it consolingly.
Kirara discreetly flashed Shippou a smile, extremely proud of her boyfriend. Kikyou stared blankly ahead for a moment, before also managing a smile in Shippou's direction. She had always been fond of him, he who looked so young for his age. "Thank you," she mouthed quietly, casting her eyes downward.
"No problem," Shippou gently returned, crouching down beside the table.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked worriedly, leaning over from across the table.
Kikyou looked up at her through downcast eyelashes. "...Kagome?"
"Yeah," Kagome gave her a sad smile.
"I'm fine..." Kikyou sighed. "Just a little shaken up..."
"What exactly happened?" Kirara asked gently. They had all heard what happened from Sesshoumaru, but truthfully, that hadn't been a very good explanation.
"Well," Kikyou dabbed at her eye with a napkin, bringing it down to her lap, clutching desperately at it. "Sesshoumaru was getting our drinks, and I was picking up our food. And all the sudden...h-he...Onigumo he...stepped out from behind the wall, and...started talking to me..."
She was obviously avoiding what he had said and everyone was prudent enough not to ask. "That bastard!" Sango balled her fists up, something violent flashing in her pretty brown eyes.
Ayame nodded, rather numbly, in agreement. Kagome, however, vigorously nodded, also clenching her fists. "I hope Sesshoumaru gave him a pounding he'll never forget!" she nearly growled.
Shippou glanced over and saw that the crowd was beginning to disperse. Sesshoumaru, it seemed, was practically cornered by the manager, who seemed to be apologizing profusely. Onigumo was nowhere to be found.
Finally, still splattered with ketchup, Sesshoumaru stalked over, sucking in air through his teeth, still quite obviously furious. It was a good thing, it seemed, that he didn't know Onigumo had begun laying it on even before he'd come back with the drinks, or he might have been heading down to the police station that night. In fact, it was a miracle he wasn't there already.
He gingerly stepped over Shippou, also crouching by her side. Reaching up with a gloved hand to stroke her forehead, he cupped her cheek. "You okay?"
She nodded, though refusing to meet his gaze. Everyone was still. Finally, Sesshoumaru removed his hand, and Kikyou stood up. Holding her possessively to his chest, they made their way out of the by then nearly empty restaurant. They paused at the door, and turned to face the group once more. Kikyou mouthed another 'thank you', and turned shyly away. Sesshoumaru lifted his hand in a half-hearted wave, and then they left, disappearing into the night.
Kagome glanced down at her root beer in disgust. "...Let's get going," she said softly.
Everyone mutely nodded in agreement. There was no more room for cheerful banter that evening...
A/N: As payment for my evil laziness, I have produced this extra, extra long chapter just for you, my faithful reviewers. And so soon after last update! Please accept my apology. I realize that the end of this chapter somewhat dragged, yes, and sadly, Kikyou came out as the almost 'weak' one, but I couldn't find the right way to convey the onslaught of conflicting emotions but through the way of the tragic martyr. Please forgive me, I know she is anything but helpless. Additionally, I apologize if this chapter was littered with typos. I tried to catch the more drastic ones.
Artificial: I feel so bad for forgetting to include a response to your review last chapter! Gomen nasai! I got the idea for this story one night when I was sitting at the second desk here in the den. I can't recall exactly what prompted me to even think of an ice cream parlor, but I knew I wanted them to be working together. And then all the sudden this super kawaii/super perverted image popped into my head: Miroku and Sango in their cute little uniforms. I pictured them bumping heads as they leaned down to scoop some ice cream for a customer, Sango pulling back in a blush, and that good, old hentai of ours groping her ass. XD...I fell in love with the idea. For the title, I wanted to include a word that both applied to ice cream but had a different meaning. Sundae immediately popped into my mind. From there, the rest of the title just whooshed right out of my head. ::shrugs:: It's kind of complicated. Anyway, I hope that satisfied your curiosity.
Roganu: What's so strange about that? Do you not like him elsewhere, or something? o_o;
Aamalie: Yeah. You guessed it. I fulfilled two out of three of your demands. Quick update and long chapter. No fluff this chapter: just angsty plot-buildup.
Everyone Else: Thank you so, so much! I am eternally in your debt! I am even closer to my goal!
Please Review!