A/N: Next chapter! Enjoy!

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Crawling in the Dark

Chapter Seven

"Imagine me and you, I do.
I think about you day and night,
Its only right to think about the girl you love,
and hold her tight so happy together."

- So Happy Together by Simple Plan

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Sango nervously kept the phone at her ear. She had not talked to him in a long time. It felt awkward. "Hey Inuyasha," she greeted as calmly as possible, however, she was nervous, and he knew it.

"Um…hey, is everything okay?"

"Yeah…" Sango bit her lips. She then remembered Kagome, what was she supposed to tell him? They became friends? They like each other now? As if Inuyasha was going to believe her! She didn't want to mention Kagome.

"Well, you don't sound yourself."

"'Cause…I got a test tomorrow and I haven't studied for it." Sango lied; it was the only thing she thought of. Of course, it was already summer break, but Inuyasha wouldn't know, since his school was still going on.

"Wait…wait…you're studying for a test!"

"Well," Sango tried thinking of something else, it was lie after lie. She never studied for tests, "I'm very close to failing and I don't want to take the class over again."

"Oh, okay, well, that's kinda important I guess. I'll make this quick then. Kouga thought it'll be cool if we had a little high school reunion. You know, with me, you, Miroku, Kouga, and Kikyo. So what do you think?"

"Oh, that's a great idea. Is everyone going?" Sango's voice lightened up. She missed her high school friends so much, they were so close and when college started, they stopped talking to each other.

"Everyone will, once you tell Miroku of course."

"Alright, I'll tell him straight away, I can't wait, I missed you guys!"

"We all missed you and Miroku too, you more than Miroku of course," Inuyasha laughed, "What else…let's see…oh yeah! We'll meet at Kouga's house on July 4th and do some fireworks and stuff, can you make it?"

"Of course."

"Ok, see you then, bye."

"Bye."

Sango sighed in relief as she hung up the phone.

"Who was it, Sango?" Kagome said from the other room.

She could not tell Kagome, it was already summer break and she didn't want to ruin her mood "Just my mom," Sango said.

&

May was almost over, the year passed by fast. Sango, Kagome, and Ayame were packing up for summer. Ayame would be going to Sango and Kagome's hometown. She was excited, spending a whole summer with her two good friends. What more could she ask for?

The three arrived late at night, the airport was nearly empty. A lady stood at the gate of the exit, it was Kagome's mother. Kagome instantly brightened up; she had not seen her mom for what seemed like forever. She really did miss her.

"Kagome!" She yelled, while running towards her.

"Mom!" Kagome smiled, and hugged her tightly. Then, realizing her friends were behind her, she broke the hug and introduced the two, "mom, this is Ayame and Sango. Ayame and Sango, this is my mom."

"Hi." Ayame waved and then shook her hand.

"Oh, I heard so many wonderful things about you two!" Kagome's mom said excitedly and gleamed.

Sango and Ayame laughed.

"Well, let's get out of here," her mom said, leading them to get their luggage, and then to the car.

&

"Well, you will be sleeping here for the summer," her mom showed Ayame her room, which was next to Kagome's room. It was the smallest bedroom, the bed and closet nearly took up the whole room. Since her mom had to support Kagome by herself, they could not afford a bigger house. Kagome's mom then turned to Sango and smiled, "Are you sure you don't want to stay here? I would love it if you did."

Sango shook her head, "My parents wanted me to go home."

Her mom's eyes widened. She had forgotten that Sango lived in town. "Well, of course, you're their daughter, and they haven't seen you for a very long time. Let's not keep them waiting then. I'll drive you there."

"Thanks."

&

After a few days, Inuyasha and Kikyo flew to Hawaii. It was an absolutely gorgeous place. A gentle breeze swept across the palm trees, the sweet scent of grass mixed with the salty ocean could be smelled from miles away.

"Inuyasha!" Kikyo squeaked, right when she got off the plane, "I'm so excited! We could go shopping, tanning, surfing…"

"You know how to surf?" Inuyasha looked at her suspiciously; she was not the type to do any sports.

"Of course not, but I could learn, can't be that hard." Kikyo giggled, "Oh, I love you so much!" She pecked him on the lips

"I love you too," Inuyasha smiled as he picked up the luggage.

&

Their hotel was a stunning white beach front suite. From the porch, they could see the calm waves steadily rolling in, the surfers ripping up the wave, and the dolphins jumping gracefully far off in the clear blue water.

Kikyo took in a deep breath to smell the salty ocean. Inuyasha snuck behind her and encircled his arms around her waist, "It's nice, isn't it?" he asked, while planting kisses on her neck.

"Mm…beautiful." Kikyo whispered in his ear, "I'll never wanna leave."

"I probably won't either, but we have a high school reunion party."

"So?" Kikyo still said in a light, dazed tone.

"You don't wanna see our old buddies?"

"Do we have to?"

"Of course baby," Inuyasha then let go of her waist gently, "I'm gonna go unpack."

Kikyo turned around to face him, "That can wait; lets go down to the beach."

&

The first month of summer passed by before their eyes, there was so much to do, but so little time. The three girls were having a wonderful time. It was already the end of June; the Fourth of July high school reunion at Kouga's house was edging near. Sango, however, had not told Kagome or Ayame yet, afraid that it would bring Kagome bad memories.

&

As morning approached, the big day came. Everyone was excited, for it was Fourth of July, a day to celebrate.

"Happy July Fourth!" Kagome shouted, as she walked towards the kitchen to make some breakfast, "What should we do today?"

"Fireworks!" Ayame gleamed, "What else?"

"How about it, Sango?" Kagome asked. It had been years since she did fireworks with her family or friends. She was looking forward to it.

Sango froze, what was she supposed to say? She just shook her head slowly, "Sorry guys, I can't, my parents want me to spend the day with them." She was sick of lying to her two friends, but what could she do? She only kept it a secret for Kagome.

"But why?" Ayame at her, she was disappointed.

"I guess they just want me to spend more time with them," Sango faked a frown, "I'm so sorry; I wish I could come too. It would have been a blast."

"Not your fault, Sango," Kagome smiled, despite her being let down, "Well, guess it's just you and me Ayame."

"Hm…guess so, we'll have fun anyways."

"Of course," Kagome grinned.

&

Sango left Kagome's house when it was getting late. There was no moon or stars in the dark, night sky. She took in a deep breath, recalling all of the good times her group had in high school. Had they changed? Would it still be the same kind of party they usually had? Nervously, Sango stopped at Kouga's house, they had not moved. She still remembered the place by heart.

Sango slowly rang the doorbell.

Immediately, the door opened. It was Kikyo. "Sango!" She screamed out with joy and jumped onto her, "I missed you so much!" They hugged each other tightly. All the wonderful memories of high school were filling up Sango's mind. She used to be best friends with Kikyo.

As they broke the hug, Sango stepped into Kouga's house. She looked around; everyone was sitting in the living room, waiting for her. As they saw her, they all jumped to their feet to walk over and greet her. Each of them had a smile on their face.

"Sango!" Everyone yelled.

"Hey guys!" The guys each took turns to quickly hug Sango. Sango enjoyed their warm presence. They had not changed at all and she was glad.

Miroku was the last in line, as he embraced her tightly in his arms, he whispered in her ears, "I was wondering if you told…you know who."

Sango's smile suddenly faded, she shook her head, "I mean, what would she think if I told her? I don't want to ruin her summer. Why, did you tell anyone about her?"

"No, not a single word."

"Good."

"So what did you tell her instead?"

"That I was spending the evening with my parents, some family time."

"Good one," Miroku sighed in relief, and then broke the hug, "Let's go do some fireworks."

Everyone headed towards the backyard.

&

At the other side of the neighborhood, Kagome and Ayame had multiple different colored sparklers in their hands, dancing and singing under the night sky.

"Too bad Sango couldn't come," Kagome said, as she lighted another sparkler.

"Yeah, her loss," Ayame joked.

All of the sudden, a flashes of light appeared in the skies; it exploded into stunning sparks of blue, green, and red. The two girls, in awe, gazed at the sky.

"Wow," Ayame finally let her breath out.

"Yeah," Kagome admired, "that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

After the light completely disappeared from the sky, Ayame suddenly gasped, "You know what would be fun?"

"What?"

"We should follow the fireworks and find the people who set it," Ayame smiled, it was one of her brilliant plans.

"What? You're kidding me, right?" Kagome raised an eyebrow; she was not the type of person to meddle with peoples affairs.

"I'm serious! Judging from the sound and the light," Ayame stroked her chin, trying to sound smart to convince Kagome, "it's probably not that far away, about a mile."

"That means it's just around the neighborhood!" Kagome gasped; she really did want to know who could set off such beautiful fireworks.

"Exactly, let's go," Ayame grabbed Kagome arm before she had any second thoughts. Ayame first pushed her into the passenger seat of the car she borrowed at the airport. Then, quickly, she drove down the street, hoping she was going the right direction.

"Oh look! There's another one!" Kagome pointed, this time it looked like a blue flower and sprinkled down like a meteor shower. "Beautiful," Kagome said in awe.

They continued following the fireworks, one by one, until Ayame thought she had found the house. Ayame slowly turned off the engines and opened her door. "I hope this is it," she looked at Kagome.

Just then, she heard talking from the backyard. Following that, sparks of light exploded into the air. The people in the back all laughed. "Gotta be this one," Ayame smiled to herself, "let's go!" She stepped out of the car and looked at the house.

"Ayame, are you sure? What if they don't like us?" Kagome said cautiously, she did not know what kind of people hid behind the walls; she also did not want it to ruin her night.

"Don't worry," Ayame sighed, while pulling Kagome out of her car, "c'mon!"

Kagome grunted in defeat and stood up, she then followed Ayame. Ayame opened the fence to the backyard cautiously, as if not wanting to disturb them. Then, although she knew there were people, she asked, "Anyone there?"

The laughter stopped, silence and tension filled the air; all eyes were on her. Ayame saw two guys and a girl getting ready to light a sparkler. To ease the tension, she looked back at Kagome. "Kagome, why are you being so shy? Come in!"

Without even asking for her permission, Ayame jerked Kagome into the backyard. At once, her eyes met with his.

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A/N: I just love cliffies, don't you? I was trying to make the 'her eyes met with his' more dramatic, but I couldn't think of anything else. Well, I did think of 'brown met gold,' but that's kinda stupid.