Sorry people for the wait. My parents changed the rules. Now I get HALF AN HOUR ON THE WEEKENDS! But I cheated and here I am, at 1am. Yay! A shout out for all these reviewers; Lady Kagewaki, animelover, Guardiangirl624, Viperthe strange (oh my gosh! I also have a fear of elevators! You were so funny! If you write a story about that then I totally support you!), TaijiyaSango2498, electricdragon, Lone Wolf a.k.a Loner, HayLin4, Kei-Ookami.kara.mori, lalalalala2, Inu-chan's luver and Kracken l.w (great guess!). Thanks a lot you guys! Okey dokey smokey, on with the next chapter!

Disclaimer: This Kyuuketsuki san does not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 22: Trouble in the Dark

Kagome fumbled for the flashlight and when she eventually found it, she began flashing it around the room to check if the other girls were okay. She shone the light in Kagura's face.

"Is everyone okay?" Kagome asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, I can see in the dark anyway so no need to blind me." Kagura muttered, shielding her eyes with her hand. Kagome quickly directed the light away from the wind sorceress' face. She wondered why there had been a power cut in the first place, that kind of thing wasn't common in places like this. She stumbled over to Sango, who was sitting on the sofa with her legs tucked under her body.

"Kagome, does this happen often?" Sango asked. Kagome shook her head. She looked over at Ayame and got a little crept out by her eyes that were now glowing in the dark. Kikyo continued to float somewhere above them like a ghost until Kagura told her to get down and stop scaring the shit out of everyone. Kikyo reluctantly complied.

Kagome sat down on the sofa beside Sango and sighed, twirling the flashlight around in her hands.

"Well, it looks like we have to wait until the lights come back then." She said. The girls nodded and made themselves as comfortable as they could in the dark.

OooOoo

The young woman slid down the wall of the elevator and began to hug her knees, rocking to and fro. She was muttering to herself and had Sesshoumaru not been a demon, he wouldn't have been able to hear what she was saying.

"Breathe in, breathe out…remember what Doctor Takayama said, the walls are NOT closing in, they are NOT going to crush you…"She whispered agitatedly. Sesshoumaru let out a small sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. It was getting stuffy inside the compartment, the wretched woman was slowly going insane and it seemed that they weren't going to get out anytime soon. Great.

"You are NOT having difficulty breathing…" She continued to whisper, her breath leaving her mouth in short pants. She looked around the compartment frantically, spotted Sesshoumaru standing there and pressed herself harder against the wall.

"No one is going to kill you…you are NOT going to die…that man is NOT going to kill you…just breeeeeeeathe…no one is going to kill you…" She whispered to herself time and time again.

"If you continue to mutter as nonsensically as you are doing now then believe me, when they open this cursed compartment, all they find will be your dead body lying inside it." He growled. The woman stared up at him with frightened eyes. He glared back at her threateningly and she began to rock more vigorously than before. Satisfied that she would not be saying anything else, Sesshoumaru turned away from her and began to examine the elevator doors. He heard a strangled sob and he caught the salty scent of tears in the stifling air. He looked down at the woman to find that she was crying and he fought down the urge to slap his forehead.

OooOoo

"I said I won damnit!"

"Like hell you did!"

Inuyasha and Kouga were still at it, waving their arms crazily in the dark. Miroku continued to bang his head upon the bathroom door and on the other side of it; Naraku was heard to be moaning about his sore head, which he had hit against the shower door when he had slipped.

"THAT'S IT! I'M TAKING YOU DOWN RIGHT NOW!" yelled Inuyasha, tossing aside his Xbox console and lunging at Kouga.

"BRING IT ON MUTT FACE!" roared Kouga in reply, diving at Inuyasha. They rolled around in the dark, crashing into the coffee table and various chairs, they sprung apart, and then leapt at each other again, growling and snarling as they proceeded to wreak havoc in the hotel suite.

OooOoo

Sesshoumaru had been in many trying circumstances. He had been in fierce battles, dealt with hostile demons and yet he had always triumphed. But today's situation had to be one of the most tedious of all. Because that wretched woman wouldn't stop her damn crying. She continued to rock to and fro, her breaths coming out in hiccups and she constantly sniffed to avoid anything from dripping out of her nose. Sesshoumaru didn't know how much more he would be able to take before finally cracking.

During the time he had been trapped in the elevator, he had managed to study the doors and he hadn't yet come up with a way of forcing them open without actually tearing them down. His brow furrowed slightly in concentration. Ah, but it was so simple.

He neared himself to the doors of the compartment and reached up with his right hand to the very top of them. He slowly dragged a claw down the part where the two doors met and the poison from his hand seeped into the gap, melting all of the circuits within. He heard the woman gasp but took no notice. Soon he had finished and he let the metal cool down a while to let the acrid burning smell pass. He slid one hand through the newly scorched gap between the doors and pushed it along sideways, then he did the same with the other. He stepped out of the compartment and onto his floor, which was now almost completely dark and without one look behind him he strode casually off to find his room. The cowering woman in the lift stared after him in astonishment and slowly picked herself off from the floor of the compartment. She sniffed once and swallowed.

"My…my hero!" She whispered.

OooOoo

"Let me guess this one! Ummmm…is it a rabbit, Kagome?" Asked Sango hopefully.

"Yes!" squealed Kagome, lowering her hands from the flashlight. "Okay, your turn to do one Sango."

Sango swapped places with Kagome and placed her hands in front of the light to make a shape. The other girls observed carefully. Suddenly Ayame jumped up and down in her seat.

"It's Naraku!" She cried. Sango shook her head. Kikyo scoffed and said,

"It's a spider." As though it were obvious to everyone.

Just then, a loud crash sounded from the next room followed by yells and fierce battle cries. Kagome dragged a hand down her face and picked up the flashlight.

"I hope you girls don't mind being in the dark for a while, I have to go check on the boys. She left the suite and entered the next one.

She flashed her light around the room but she couldn't see well enough, the boys were way too fast. She heard Inuyasha curse and then Kouga scoff, followed by a 'thwack' and then an 'ow!'

"Please guys! Stop! This is very expensive stuff you're smashing!" cried Kagome frantically, waving the flashlight around. At that moment there was a faint whirring sound and the lights flickered back on, causing Kagome to sigh heavily with relief. She switched off the flashlight and almost reluctantly brought herself to look at the scene before her. What she got was a surprise.

Inuyasha was currently pounding the sofa cushions brutally and Kouga was at the opposite side of the room, biting on what seemed to be a chair leg. When the lights came on they returned to their senses and stopped what they were doing.

"I was surprised at how fleabag had shut up so soon." Inuyasha said, scratching his head confusedly. Kouga massaged his jaw and shook his head at the chair leg, now full of tooth marks.

"I wondered why ol' mutt face's legs were a bit harder than normal." He said, opening and closing his mouth to get the feel back in his gums. "Hey! I know just the thing to get rid of the soreness!" he said as he dashed to the kitchenette. He rummaged through the cupboards and pulled out a packet of Doritos and stepped out of the kitchenette noisily munching on them.

"Oi! That was the last packet! It was s'posed to be mine you mangy wolf!" Inuyasha yelled, leaping over the sofa.

"Osuwari!"

SPLACK!

"Hey, Kagome! What the hell was that fer?"

"Osuwari!"

PLOMP!

"Oi!"

"Inuyasha! I told you about the cursing! And there is no need to pick another fight with Kouga over a measly bag of Doritos!" She screamed. Kouga grinned smugly at Inuyasha, who was now picking himself up off the floor.

"Thanks Kagome, I always knew you liked me best." He said cockily and winked at her. Inuyasha growled threateningly.

Kagome stuck her nose in the air and turned to see Miroku, still banging his head feebly against the bathroom door.

"Miroku why are you still-" Kagome began.

There was a 'click' and the bathroom door opened revealing Naraku, who was rubbing a spot just above his eye. He stood in all his glory…because he was completely naked.

"Oooh, this is gonna bruise." He groaned, unaware of the fact that Kagome was now screaming her head off and exiting the hotel room at full speed. Miroku was covering his eyes and yelling,

"MY EYES! OH MY POOR INNOCENT EYES! THEY HAVE BEEN TAINTED! TAAAAAIIIIINTEEEED!"

Miroku whipped off the towel from his arm and hastily wrapped it around the lower part of Naraku's body, his eyes screwed shut for fear of glimpsing at any unwanted sights. Naraku was oblivious to all of this and continued to rub his bruised head. He then noticed Miroku covering him with a white towel and stared at him stupidly.

"What are you doing?" Naraku asked.

"I'M SAVING THE WORLD!" Miroku cried, securing the towel and darting into the bathroom to wash his hands thoroughly.

Inuyasha was presently sulking on the sofa and Kouga spread out on a bed, happily munching on his Doritos, making extra loud appreciative sounds on how good they tasted. Inuyasha clenched his fists tightly and grinded his teeth. He spotted a flash of white and looked up to see Sesshoumaru enter the room. Inuyasha opened his mouth to ask where he had been but Sesshoumaru lifted up a hand to stop him.

"Say one word and I'll make sure that when I'm through with you, your facial muscles with cease to function."

Inuyasha shut his mouth hastily and decided to actually listen to his brother for once. He liked his face too much to risk losing it.

OooOoo

"Kagome, I'm sure it wasn't that bad…please try to calm down!" Sango pleaded as she desperately tried to comfort her traumatised friend.

"HE…WAS…NEKKED!" Kagome shrieked, "I THINK THAT'S BAD ENOUGH!" And she lapsed into a fresh bout of hysterics. Ayame passed the tissue box to Sango and Sango handed them to Kagome.

Kagura shuddered, she knew exactly how Kagome felt. Kikyo was hovering above them all with a grin plastered on her face, oh how she would have loved to see Kagome's reaction.

Sango and Ayame tried to get Kagome to quieten down. They tucked her up into her bed and she gradually stopped hiccupping and fell asleep. Sango, exhausted from the day, also decided to retire for the night and climbed into her own bed, and the demonesses, Ayame and Kagura, sat upon their own beds not to sleep but to wait for the night to pass. They tried hard to ignore the cackling priestess that floated eerily above their heads.

OooOoo

The days passed quickly at the Dance Academy and the group was improving greatly with their daily lessons. Soon they found themselves a mere two days a way from the contest and their nervousness was beginning to surface. They would soon be competing against each other, much like in the feudal era but this time, it would be friend versus friend as well as versus foe.

A/N sorry for the short chapter, I haven't really got enough time to write, what with the half an hour and everything. Please Read and Review! This Kyuuketsuki san will be forever obliged to you.