Review Responses:
AyamexKouga: Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. teehee. Next chapter will be out soon!
phantomoftheflame: I know! -huggles Kouga- And you'll never be as bad as me... how long has it been since I updated this? a while. -sigh- summer is soon.
Star Gemini: lol, evil but fun!
Shadowww15: Anything with Kouga and Sessy together is great... its like sexiness overload... uh... what was I talking about? lol!
XInfernal: But will he do anything about it is the question.
On with the story!
Ayame stood looking at herself in the full length mirror in front or her, striking several poses before shaking her head and pulling off the top she had been trying on. Grabbing yet another on off her bed, she slipped it on over her head. This one a band shirt for Linkin Park from that one concert she had gone to with Sango second year of college. Sneering at her reflection, she tore it off as well and started rummaging through the pile of shirts on her bed next to Rin who was watching her boredly.
"Come on, Aya." Kagome sighed giving Ayame a bland look. "You've been at this all afternoon! You've been through your closet, not to mention mine and Sango's, twice! It's just a shirt!"
"I wanna look presentable." Ayame stated absentmindedly as she picked up a green sleeveless turtle next shirt.
"It's just a casual party Ayame. You don't need to get all fancy." Kagome rolled her eyes. "You'll just get wasted and come home. You wouldn't want some one who can't hold their liquor to ruin a perfectly good top."
"Kags, this is the first party I've been to, that isn't just us, since I broke up with Riku. I'm a single woman again..." Ayame stopped, looking down as she trailed off.
Kagome gave her a sympathetic yet irritated look. "You've been a single woman before and gone to parties without all this fussing. What's the big deal now?"
Ayame sighed. "I don't know." She admitted, sitting down next to her friend. "It just seems so big now."
"This wouldn't have anything with a certain man we both know who lives next door with black and sky blue eyes?" Kagome asked with a wriggle of her eyebrows.
Ayame's face instantly turned the colour of a cherry. "W-What? No! What gave you that idea?" Ayame nearly shouted eyes wide.
Kagome burst into laughter. "You're hopeless, Aya." She said between giggles.
"What do you mean by that?" Ayame asked, glaring at her friend.
"Oh, nothing." Kagome said as she stood and started for the door. "That shirt looks great, Aya. You should wear that black skirt you bought last week." And with that she was gone, leaving Ayame blinking at the doorway where she had been not two seconds before.
Standing up, Ayame went to her dresser and pulled out the black skirt Kagome had suggested and slipped it on. Turning to the mirror, she examined her outfit. She had to admit, Kagome had been right. And maybe not just about the skirt. There was a small voice in her mind telling her to look nice so she'd catch Kouga's eye.
She had admitted that she found him attractive when she first laid eyes on him. There had just been this pull towards him; she was just drawn to him like a fly to a light. And now, nearly a month and a half later, about three weeks since she had told her family about Riku, she finally felt she was ready. To have a fling, a relationship, heck, a one night stand if that's all it turned out to be. Whatever would happen between her and Kouga, she was ready to let it happen. Ready to take the first few steps if he wasn't.
Nodding at her reflection in a determined fashion, she headed to her small desk, grabbing her makeup bag along the way.
It was a large house, jammed packed full of people from all over Japan. The music was blaring; one could feel the ground shake with the deep vibrations of the bass line. People were chatting, fighting, yelling, dancing, and kissing. The girls were reminded of the more hardcore parties they had gone to back in college. Once inside they each split up.
Rin sat on the hill out back the looked over the bay. Her chin in the palm of her hand, she sighed. As much as she had been the troublemaker with Ayame back in the day, she was never one for loud, crowded parties. That had always been Sango and Ayame's forte. At least she was able to find some peace and quiet out here. Blowing her bangs out of her eyes she leaned over, resting her head on Sesshomaru's shoulder. The guys had come with them to this party.
Sess looked down at his girlfriend. "Are you ready to leave?" He asked. Like Rin, he didn't car for the party scene either. He would have rather stayed home than come here, especially with the others gone.
"I don't know." Rin shrugged. "I don't want to leave the others here alone."
"Rin, there are three of them, in a house full of people," Sess reminded her, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call that alone. Besides, what's the difference between you being at home enjoying yourself and being out here, away from them, and bored?"
Rin smiled up at Sess. He always had a good answer that made her feel better. One of the many traits she loved about him. "Alright, let's go."
Sango stood in the lounge, watching everyone around get smashed while pouting slightly. She cursed herself for offering to be the dedicated driver, and thus could not drink. That's what she and Ayame use to be famous for; going to parties and having drinking contests and getting so wasted that they couldn't see straight. What had possessed her to volunteer, actually volunteer, to not drink?
"Soda?"
She glanced over her shoulder to see if the voice she had just heard was addressing her. There were so many people there, she couldn't tell for sure. She felt her face flush when her eyes connected with the deep blue, almost violet eyes of Miroku. He was looking incredibly good tonight. Not that he was dressed up, or down for that matter, he just seem to stand out in her mind. She had always been good at hiding her feelings for him. She'd always been the 'take no guff' type of girl, and that tough girl attitude was very good at covering supreme giddy teenage girl-like feelings.
"Sango?" Miroku asked, giving her a questioning look.
Instantly she pulled out of her thoughts, cursing herself mentally for staring. "I'm sorry, what?" She shot him an apologetic smile.
"I offered you a soda." He held out a can of no-name brand cola. "Rin mentioned that you were the DD tonight, like me. I figured you could use some sober company."
"Oh, yes. Thank you." Sango bowed her head in thanks as she took the offered soda. Opening it, she took a sip and sighed. "I wish I hadn't agreed to not drink."
"Oh?" Miroku quirked an eyebrow. "You don't strike me at the party hard type."
Sango smile smugly. "I'll have you know, I use to be quite the party animal."
"Really?"
"Yup. Me and Aya use to dominate the party scene."
"Well, I can definitely see miss Ayame as that type." Miroku stated looking over his shoulder to see Ayame doing shots in the kitchen.
Sango followed his gaze and snorted. "Yeah, Aya likes her liquor all right." She smirked. "I can drink her under the table."
Miroku laughed. "I'm sure you could." He smiled when he saw her glare. "I'm serious, you've got the determination. Even if your body demanded that you stop drinking, I'm sure you would endure just to prove your point."
"Hmph, you're damn right." Sango huffed proudly. She watched her friend raise her hands in victory as her opponent passed out. Sighing she turned and began to head in the opposite direction. "I need some fresh air." She told her companion. She froze in her tracks when she felt him grab her by the hand. She looked down at they're linked hands then up at his face, her cheeks a bright cherry red.
"Sango..." He trailed off, looking her in the eye. "Can I talk to you about something?"
Raising an eyebrow, Sango looked over her shoulder to the screen door, then back at him. "Uh... sure. But can we talk outside?"
With a gentle smile, Miroku nodded, following the woman out the door, hands still linked.
"Done!" Kagome cheered, cringing, slamming her shot glass down on the table and lifting her arms into the air in victory. Of course she wasn't exactly stable, balance wise, as she'd had just downed about 3 shots of whiskey on top of the bottle of beer she had all but chugged earlier, so the sudden movement sent her to the ground and Ayame into a fit of mad giggles. "Owie..." Kagome pouted, rubbing her now sore bottom, then raising her hand to her throat and making a gagging gesture before shuddering.
Ayame held out a hand to her shitfaced friend. "Methinks you've had to much." Ayame stated through giggles.
"Have not!" Kagome said sulkily, taking the offered hand and allowing her friend to pull her up, only to stumble forward into said friend.
"You never could hold your liquor very well..." Ayame chuckled as she steadied her friend. "Just don't start singing on us, you'll scare everyone away."
At Kagome's hurt look, Ayame burst into laughter. "Hey, I happen to have a lovely singing voice." She said indignantly, poking a finger at her friend in emphasis only to have that throw her off balance into a stunned and also quite hammered man behind Ayame, who had stepped out of the way, and sending the two of them onto the ground. Ayame was now in tears laughing.
Kagome sat up; now straddling the man she had fell on top of. Looking down at the confused bystander, she blinked, letting him come into focus a bit better. She had finally begun to make out features when he sat up, they're noses touching at such close proximity. Staring straight ahead, Kagome found herself confronted by two wide, amber eyes. She blinked once. Twice. Three times.
"Inuyasha?"
"Kagome?"
"I-I... wha-? Uhm..." Kagome sputtered, trying to grasp onto a thought to strike up a conversation with the man whom she was still sitting on.
"Your breath stinks." Inuyasha stated.
"So does yours, you drunk!" Kagome huffed.
"Keh, you probably just smell your own breath." Inuyasha scoffed. "And who are you calling a drunk you hypocrite!"
"I am not drunk!" Kagome yelled.
"Yes you are!" Inuyasha shot back. "How else do you explain this?"
"Explain what?" Kagome asked in confusion.
"You falling on me!" Inuyasha reminded her.
"I... You... Shut up!" She stuttered.
"Make me!"
"Maybe I will!"
"Fi-" Inuyasha was cut off as Kagome sudden wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a crushing kiss. His eyes shot wide open, but after a second closed and he returned the kiss whole heartedly.
Ayame, who had been standing there the entire time, went bug eyed. "Well... hot damn, Kags, I never knew you had it in you." She giggled before turning away. "I'll just leave you two to it then..." She grabbed the half full bottle of whiskey her and Kagome had been doing shots from and walked away.
Pulling out of the Kiss Kagome gasped for breath before laughing. Inuyasha blinked. "What's so funny?" He asked.
"I... I... I don't know!" She managed to get out between gasp for air and giggles. Inuyasha was about to protest when she pulled him back into a kiss, equally as passionate as the other. People at the party laughed and commented on how 'someone was gonna get lucky tonight' as they passed, but neither of the drunken couple heard them, they were too preoccupied with their drunken kiss to care.
"So what's on your mind?" Sango asked as she and Miroku walked through the garden. It was practically abandoned here. Everyone was inside or on the patio, while Miroku had opted to walk through the peaceful gardens.
"Well..." Miroku started, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. "Sango... How do you think of me?" He asked, his tone serious but casual.
"U-um, Well, I... I...uh..." She sputtered, thrown off by the question. "Well, you're a lech, but your also very smart and good looking, I guess. You're most certainly not as hot headed as Kouga or Inuyasha, thank god. You are a womanizer though. But all and all, I guess you're a good guy... Why do you ask?"
Miroku sighed, sitting down on a bench, motioning for Sango to sit next to him. "Is that all you see me as? A smart, fairly good-looking man who's a womanizer?"
"Well... You're a good friend..." Sango added, unsure where this was headed.
"Just a friend?" He sighed. "I suppose you're right. That is all I am... to most women..."
Sango's eyes softened at his depressed tone, her heart sinking as she fit the pieces together. "I-is there a woman you're interested in that doesn't feel the same way or something?" She asked.
"It would appear to be so." Miroku smiled sadly, looking up at the stars. "It's a beautiful night."
"Who?" Sango asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Do I know her?"
Miroku smirked slightly. "Far better than I do."
"Kagome? Rin? Ayame?" Sango began listing the names of all the women they knew.
"No, no, none of them." Miroku chuckled. "I'll admit, they are very attractive women, but none of them are as wonderful or as beautiful as the woman I seem to have fallen for. Besides, my room mate would murder me if I thought about any of them in that way."
"Than who?" Sango asked. Miroku remained silent, frustrating Sango beyond reason. "Come on Miroku! You can't just-"
"Sango." He smiled, looking down.
"What?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Is it really that hard for you to figure it out?" Miroku asked.
"What do you mean?" Sango said, shooting him a questioning look.
"Your friend figured it out a long time ago, I figured you would have too... But then again, that's how it usually works, isn't it?" He said with a hint of laughter in his voice, his eyes still seem depressed though.
"How what works?" Sango asked, getting more confused.
"The one you like is always the last one to figure out that you like them." He stated simply.
"What?" She blinked confusedly. "Wait... but you just said I was the only one who didn't seem to have figured it out... Does that mean...?"
Miroku turned, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. Their eyes met, Miroku's gentle, Sango's wide and confused. Slowly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against hers in a sweet and simple kiss.
After a minute, He pulled away, leaning his forehead up against hers. He smiled seeing her still shocked expression. "Does that answer your question?"
"But... How? When? What?" Sango's mind was racing, making utterly impossible to think of what to say.
Miroku chuckled. "Sango, I've been in love with you since you first moved in next door to us."
Slowly her mind cleared, her expression melted from shocked into a blissful. "Miroku, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words from you."
Miroku blinked. It was his turn to be shocked. "You... You what?"
Sango laughed. "I've had these feelings since the first time you groped me. Not that I'd ever let you get away with it." The two laughed.
"Well, this is unexpected." Miroku said.
"Unexpected, but wonderful." Sango shot him a brilliant smile.
"That it is." Miroku nodded, giving her a small kiss. "That it most certainly is."
Ayame stumbled out of the washroom, nearly falling flat on her face. Leaning against the wall until the world stopped wobbling so violently, she giggled uncontrollably. Not that anything particularly funny had happened, she was just REALLY drunk. She had been doing shots of whiskey all night, along with having several bottles of different liquors and beers. Too top that off, she had just done three shots of tequila in a row... it was truly a miracle that she was still standing.
Looking down at her watch, she blinked several times, letting the numbers come into focus. 12:47 am. The night was still young in her eyes. She looked around the room, but saw no one familiar. There were few couples in major make out mode, and she was sure that all the bedrooms were full by now. Giggling at the thought she stumbled into the one of the living rooms in the house.
Tripping over someone who decided to conveniently take a nap in on the floor, she fell onto a couple who appeared to be in they're early twenties, who were somewhere between second and third base. "Sorry," Ayame giggled as she pushed herself back onto her feet. She looked down at the couple, who neither seemed to hear her or notice her in anyway.
A sudden and strong urge hit her like a ton of bricks. In fact, it hit her so fast that her face adopted a stunned expression and she had to blink 5 times.
Kouga.
She wanted Kouga. She wanted him badly and she wanted him now.
A sly smile slowly etched its way onto her lips as she turned from the couple and took off to find said man.
She checked, all the bedrooms, but found nothing but people to... preoccupied... to notice. She checked the kitchens, the dining rooms and the decks, but no luck. Getting frustrated, she headed into the billiard room on the main floor.
And there he was. Standing in the corner, pool queue in one hand, beer in the other. On either side of him was a young, barely even legal looking, woman. The one on his right had long ebony hair and dark-grey, almost black eyes. She was dressed in a barely there skirt and a white, see-through, playboy bunny shirt. The other girl was blonde, with blue-grey eyes, dressed in a light-blue dress that left little to the imagination.
Ayame's eyes burned. The girls were practically hanging off him, obviously trying to get his attention enough to go find a bedroom. Her eyes darkened further when she saw him flirting just as shamelessly back.
Feeling a sudden need for revenge, she scanned the room for a guy, any guy that would do. Seeing one man all alone, she started towards him, smirking seductively, swaying her hips slightly.
A tap on the shoulder.
"Ayame?"
AN: DUN DUN DUN! oh, I is cruel! MUAHAHAHAHA! I know it's horrible of me, to leave you with such a horrible cliffy! Especially since it took me like 3 months to put this out. Which, btw, I'm very sorry about. I've been busy. But fear not! The next chapter is already written. But I'm not going to post it just yet. No. I have a poll for all of you.
This poll is to decide which story I'll be working on after I post the epilogue of My Sailor Man, on Jun 24th (the same day I'll be posting the next chapter of this. Your options are...
1) My Happy Ending (Sequel to New Beginnings last enstallment in the Falling Series)
Summary: Sango's got a secret, Ayame's Grandfather is sick and Kagome and Inuyasha are having some relationship problems. What will our group of friends do? - Inuyasha x Kagome / Miroku x Sango / Kouga x Ayame -
2) Meant to Be (sequel to Pieces)
Summary: It's been two years since the two tribes joined together. Kouga and Ayame, after starting from scratch, begin to realize that maybe certain things from their pasts were meant to be. - Kouga x Ayame -
3) Lost Summary: 20-year-old Ayame Herutsu finds herself alone and frightened in a huge unfamiliar city suffering from amnesia. After meeting up with some 'friends' she is now on a quest to discover what happened. - Possible Kouga x Ayame pairing -
4) Turning My Sailor Man into a sort of Nora Roberts type thing. Have the stories connected. Like say, now that Ayame has found love, it's Kagome's turn and then there would be one for Sango and probably Kagura... maybe even Rin. The Kagura would be with Riku... so Kagura x OC if this were the one you choose.
5) Untitled for now.
Summary: After the wealthiest man passes away, he leaves his estate to his remaining family members, his grandchildren Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Ayame, each from the city. Deciding to brave the spooky house on a spooky hill in a tiny little town, the cousins come in and shake things up. - Inuyasha x Kagome / Kouga x Ayame / Sesshomaru x Rin / (minor) Miroku x Sango -
those are the options. Please pleas PLEASE on hands in knees I beg you to vote.
My opinions on these if anyone cares... Well, My Happy Ending... I'm not sure. I lost a lot of reviewers on New Beginnings so I'm not sure whether I should bother. It'd be interesting cuz it's a lot more Inu/Kag oriented. Meant to Be, I'm on the fence. I wouldn't mind if people wanted me to write it now or wait. Lost is a different style than I'm use to going more to the mystery and action/adventure... I'm not even sure of romance, but it'll proabably be implied. The other two would be fun. 4) would be a lot of work but again, fun. 5) has a really crappy summary but I'm thinking about it and loving it. It's gonna be 3 romances in it, not my usual, focus on one thing.
Ok, so how to vote...
1) In your review (which would be easiest)
2) Through email. ( o g a b o g a 8 8 h o t m a i l . c o m )
3) IM ( msn only, refer to prvious email)
Ok, so yeah. Please vote. The next chapter WILL be posted on the 24 of June! After that I'm not sure when I'll get to post. I'm going away for the entire month of July and though I will have my laptop, I'm not sure about internet access. I will be writing, just I might not get to post until the last few days of July, or beginning of August. Then post should be frequent.
That's all for now! R&R please and thankies, don't forget to vote! TOODLES!
Edit: Someone pointed out that Kagome was OOC in that one scene... I must point out, in my defence, that she is EXTREMELY drunk. Completely plastered. As is Inuyasha. Your judgement gets kinda impaired when you've consumed a little too much alcohol. I know it said that she hadn't really had much... well, ok, she had done shots of whiskey and I dunno if you all have tried a shot of whiskey... It's got a fair amount of alcohol in it and drinking faster (i.e. shots) only gets you drunk faster. And as Ayame states, Kagome can't hold he liquor, meaning it doesn't take long for her to get drunk. I rest my case. And as for who the person is who talks to Ayame... well... you'll see... oh boy... will you see. HINT: our les major conflict is about to touch down... and by about... I mean next chapter...
Side Note: If I get... lets say eight reviews before the 24th of June, I will post the next chapter. I know this story is on over 10 peoples favourite lists (thanks to some handy new tool) so 8 shouldn't be too much to ask. Even if it just says 'UPDATE NOW!' It counts. I just thought you should know... I might give in before then. I'm telling you, I really wanna get going... I'm getting to the good part and I'm about to go away! So now fair! Why do I do this to myself! GAH!