Author's Note: 280 reviews! That's so awesome! You guys are the absolute best!

EDIT: Omigosh...I'm so sorry, I forgot to edit it so now I'm going back and putting page breaks everywhere. I dunno if this'll make me lose reviews but if it does I'M SORRY!

I managed to finish a chapter for my other story as well as one for this one, so here's my gift to you all! You're amazing people! Thanks so much for all your compliments. :D

Chapter 11: Preparations

It was Friday morning, but it wasn't bright, sunny, and cheerful; the sky was dark and grey, the clouds forming a solid blanket over the earth. The air was heavy and wet, as if the world was being stifled. It was going to rain; there might even be a thunderstorm. When Inuyasha reached the school and found Kagome sitting underneath the tree, he ran over to her. What was she doing, sitting outside when the weather was so bad? Underneath a tree, of all places? It could get hit by lightning, fall down...that would be terrible.

During the past week, Kagome hadn't had any new flashes of slight, making Inuyasha wonder how long it would be until she could see again. She had gotten the first flash pretty quickly, but a lot of time had passed since then; was it possible that it wasn't working? Another roll of thunder rang behind him and Kagome looked up.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, looking straight at him. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, it's me," he answered. "What are you doing, sitting outside? Don't you know it's going to rain?"

"Yeah, but I don't know how to get into the building, and besides, I like to avoid the stairs when I'm on my own," she said, smiling wryly. "You know, the whole bad-experiences thing."

Inuyasha laughed. "Well, do you want to go inside now that I can take you there?"

"No, actually," Kagome said, leaning back against the tree. "I love thunderstorms, so long as I'm not on my own. They're so...I don't know. So powerful, in a way. You don't need to be able to see to enjoy a thunderstorm."

Inuyasha sat down next to her and she leaned against him. "That's all true," he said, feeling a slight thrill run through his body when she put her head on his shoulder. "But what about the rain?"

"I don't care about the rain," she said. "Are Sango and Miroku here yet?"

"Nope," Inuyasha answered. "It's just us." He paused, considering this. It was just the two of them...Miroku and Sango weren't there...they wouldn't be able to dump water over their heads this time. Unfortunately, the clouds might do that instead.

"Do you know what I'm thinking -now-?" Kagome asked him, grinning. He laughed.

"No, I have no idea," he answered. "But do you know what I'm thinking?"

"What are you thinking?"

"This," he answered, reaching out his hands and tickling her, being careful not to hurt her with his claws. She squirmed and laughed, trying to avoid him.

"Hey, no fair, I don't know where you are!" she said, reaching out her hands. When she felt his arm she quickly rocked back on her heels, then threw herself forwards so that she bowled Inuyasha over. She tried to let go of him after that, but at the last second Inuyasha grabbed at her, so that she fell over with him. Inuyasha ended up flat on his back with Kagome sprawled across his chest.

"Got you!" he said, grinning. She laughed and picked herself up, holding onto the grass as if she would forget where it was. She looked up at him and he saw something flash in her eyes; recognition, almost. She gasped, looking at him; and then the recognition in her eyes was gone. She pressed her hands to her eyes.

"What? What happened? Did you see?" Inuyasha asked, sitting up and moving next to Kagome. "Come on, let's get back to the tree so we won't get soaked if it rains." Kagome went with him, one hand holding on to his arm, the other one pressed against her eyes. When they were settled in beneath the tree's branches, Inuyasha asked again, "Did you see?"

"I saw...I don't know what I saw," she said, finally, lowering her hand from her eyes, and leaning against him again. "I don't know, Inuyasha, it looked kind of scary; it was really fuzzy and all the colours were pale, but I saw this white blob above two yellow blobs and then complete darkness below that."

Inuyasha looked down at himself. He was wearing his black jacket. "I think you saw me, Kagome," he said, smiling widely. She, too, smiled.

"But what was all that darkness?" she asked. "It looked like there were yellow eyes watching me but they were just floating." She shook a little bit, but stopped when Inuyasha wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm wearing a black jacket, Kagome," he said, his voice soft. "There's no darkness. Just black. It's okay," he added, when he saw that she really did look frightened.

"Stupid black jacket," Kagome muttered, leaning into Inuyasha. She could hear the beginnings of rain falling onto the foliage of the tree; they sounded peaceful, as they 'plop, plop, plopped' onto the grass and the leaves. They calmed her down and she smiled. Inuyasha felt her relax against him.

"So, are you looking forwards to the party?" he asked, changing the subject. It was amazing that Kagome was getting her sight back, but it had obviously shaken her, and he didn't want to make her upset.

"Yeah," she answered, her voice gaining strength. "Are you?"

"Of course!" he answered. "But I'm not entirely sure that I want to see what Sango and Miroku were planning. I get the feeling that they have a huge scheme that they're excluding us from."

"Are they excluding us from the scheme, or does it circle around us?" Kagome retorted, mockingly enigmatic. "-That- is the question."

Inuyasha laughed. "But what would they want us to do?" he asked, a distinctly rhetorical question as they both knew the answer.

"Do you want their evil plan to succeed?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, looking up at him. He grinned.

"Well, I don't know," he answered. "Do you?" Kagome shrugged her response, but didn't look away from him. Still grinning slightly, he leaned in closer to her; they were closer than they had ever been, now...

"Hey, Inuyasha! Kagome!" Miroku shouted from the entrance to the parking lot. "What on earth are you doing, sitting underneath that tree? It's raining!"

Inuyasha pulled away from Kagome and growled in Miroku's direction. He always had the worst timing. Kagome was blushing; Inuyasha saw that and started to blush himself.

"Come on, guys!" Sango said, walking up behind Miroku and gesturing to Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha bared his fangs at the two of them but stood up, pulling Kagome with him. She held onto his hand and leaned in closer to him.

"It's okay," she said. "The party'll be fun."

Inuyasha grumbled again, but led her over to Miroku and Sango, and into the school.

The lightning could be seen from inside the school, and all through the morning's classes nobody was really paying attention to the teacher, instead trying to guess where the next bolt would strike and cheering loudly whenever one was seen. Eventually the teachers gave up on the kids, going back to their desks and reading, maybe sipping at a coffee, letting the students have their fun with the weather. By lunchtime the storm had cleared, and the sun had managed to dry out the grass, so that when Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku walked over to their tree with their lunches in their hands, they could sit beneath its branches without getting mud all over their bottoms.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting morning," Sango said, rubbing her ears. "I think all that cheering has made me partially deaf."

"It was fun, though," Kagome said.

"Yeah," Miroku agreed. "Did you see the strike that looked like a human face in profile?"

"Oh, that one was so cool," Inuyasha exclaimed. "And the one that looked like it was just beside the school?"

"Oh, that one scared the bajeepers out of me," Miroku replied, grinning sheepishly. "But anyways. We have more important things to think about!"

"Yeah," Sango agreed. "Like the party! What are we going to do? How will we celebrate Kagome's two flashes?" Inuyasha had already told the two of them about Kagome's second flash earlier that morning.

"And don't forget a spectacularly successful revenge on Kikyou," Kagome added. "That deserves to be remembered."

"Ah, of course," Miroku agreed. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised that she hasn't yet done anything to get back at the school."

"She's probably biding her time, stewing up something horrible," Inuyasha said. "But when she strikes, we'll be ready!"

The four of them punched the air and shouted a loud "Hoorah!" before collapsing with laughter.

"No, seriously though," Sango said. "Should I rent any movies? Or any games? I have a few games that could be fun to play..." Her eye twinkled mischievously and she glanced at Miroku. It was obvious that they had their own plans for the party.

"Ah, and what kinds of games would these be?" Inuyasha asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Sango replied. "But do you guys have any suggestions? For food, maybe?"

"Pizza!" Miroku exclaimed immediately. "You can't have a party without pizza and soda pop."

"And candy," Kagome added. "Sugar stuff. Always good."

"True, true," Inuyasha agreed. "Movies...hmmm...I like a good action movie."

"You would," Sango agreed. "I have no problem with an action movie. But it has to have plot."

"Yeah, not just random pointless fighting," Kagome said. "I can't even -see- those movies but the constant sounds of death get really annoying."

"That's the best part!" Inuyasha said, laughing as Miroku imitated the sound of someone dying from choking on poison. Sango kicked him and he fell over, still pretending like he was dying, but this time from a broken heart.

"Oh, Sango my love, how could you forsake me so?" he asked, his wide grin betraying him. Sango smiled sweetly down at him and kicked him again, sending Inuyasha and Kagome into fits of laughter.

"Okay, so we're going to have candy, pop and pizza, some movies, and...a few games," Sango said. "How do you guys feel about Twister?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Kagome said. "There's no bloody way I could see the lovely coloured dots."

"We could help you out," Miroku suggested. "Like, one person could spin the dial thing and then give you direction."

"That could work," Kagome admitted. "I used to love that game." She smiled, obviously remembering good times.

"What else are you planning?" Inuyasha asked, looking skeptically at Sango. She grinned secretively.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," she said, teasingly. "And now, we should probably get ready for classes. Lunch is almost over."

Miroku looked at Sango's watch and nodded. "She's right, let's go," he said, holding on to Sango's arm and half-steering her away. Inuyasha laughed.

"They're cute together," he said, "and for me, that's saying a lot."

Kagome snickered. "Oh come on, Mr. Cute," she teased. "Let's get to class." She held out her hand and Inuyasha took it, leading her into the building.

After school, Sango was leading Kagome out of the building. When they were safe from the eyes of others, Kagome pulled her best friend aside. "Tell me everything," the blind girl said.

"Tell you everything about what?" Sango asked, a little shocked.

"What are you planning?" Kagome asked. Sango opened her mouth to protest but Kagome interrupted her. "No, hear me out: if you tell me what you're planning then I could play along. If I'm sitting there and you innocently suggest something, both me and Inuyasha will be able to tell that you're lying. You know you can't keep secrets from me."

Sango closed her mouth, knowing that Kagome was telling the truth. She was uncannily skilled at detecting lies; so was Inuyasha, but if Kagome was playing along with her tricks, then they could dismiss him as paranoid.

"Tell me what your plans are, and I'll help them work," Kagome said. "Come on, please! I could even suggest some things."

"You're admitting that you like him, then?" Sango asked. Kagome gasped. "You can't say that you're asking me to help you."

"I'm not asking -you- to help -me-, it's the other way around," Kagome said. "I'm offering my help."

"You're offering to help me bring you and Inuyasha together?" Sango summarized skeptically. "That doesn't make a lot of sense."

Kagome sighed, suddenly feeling deflated. "Fine," she said, her voice sounding resigned. "I'll admit it."

"Say it..." Sango said, almost threateningly. Kagome grinned.

"Fine," she said. "I like him. I like Inuyasha."

"Finally!" Sango exclaimed, dancing around on the spot. "I got her to admit it! I won!" She did a little celebratory jig, circling around. "Okay, here are my plans," she said, leaning down and whispering into Kagome's ear. As she detailed her plot, Kagome's face got consistently redder, but she was smiling. When Sango was finished, she was grinning from ear to ear.

"You're an evil genius."

He was sitting in the dark room, spinning around and around in his chair as he always did when he was thinking something through. As per usual, the door was closed and the blinds were drawn, leaving him in near-total darkness. The only thing that was different was the fact that the phone was unplugged, so that it would not interrupt his chain of thought.

Cameron Drake High School... he thought to himself. I've heard that name before. But from where?

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. He looked up at it, snarling. "Who is it?" he asked viciously. The voice that answered him was nervous, stammering.

"...I've...I've brought a message, sir," the voice said, even more high-pitched than usual. "Very sorry to disturb you, sir."

"Then why are you doing it?" he snarled.

"It's important, sir..." the voice whispered. "It's about your next job, sir. The girl called again, sir, and said that the target had changed...apparently some information was brought to her that had been hidden before, sir."

"And who is the new target?"

"That's what...that's what bothers me, sir...I don't know if you want to hear it, it might bother you...are you in a particularly calm mood?"

He snarled again, his fingernails digging into the hard wood of the table in front of him. "The longer you talk to me, the less calm I get."

"Oh...oh...okay," the voice stammered. "The new target...he...the new tar-"

"Just get on with it!" he shouted at the closed door.

"Inuyasha," the voice admitted, "is the new target."

Author's Note: Hey again! Sorry for the shorter-than-usual chapter, but it was all important and I thought this was a good spot to end it at. You guys are the best! Really! I love you all. :D

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