Author's Note: I did want to mention... for those of you who are signed in as guests and leave a review= thank you so much! I normally reply to all of my reviews in a "private message", just to show my appreciation and to reply to anything you may have asked or commented on. But I can't reply to guest reviews. And I just wanted to give my love and appreciation for everyone who is reading and loving the story :) Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha


Everyone was chatting away when Kikyo arrived, calling everyone's attention as Naraku came up behind her dressed in dark blue jeans shorts with a white tank top.

"Okay, guys. Listen up!" Everyone turned to look at her, quieting as she spoke. "I know you looked at your itineraries. Today and tomorrow we have preplanned what we're going to do as a group. Today we're going around the North Shore of O'ahu to do some sightseeing and we're going to stop at a few hikes along the way, if we have time for them. Then, tomorrow we'll spend the day shopping or at the beach in front of our hotel, or we could go down to Waikīkī Beach. Then, at night, we'll head to Dave & Busters where we rented the room on the third floor and we can drink, eat and play video games and dance all night long. So for today, make sure you have shoes and an extra set of clothes in case you get muddy or wet."

Everyone hooted, loving the idea of having a break now that work was done for now. The concert here on O'ahu was finished. Maui's concert wasn't until five days from now so they had some free time to forget about work and just have fun. And they would all be doing things together, which created the unity and fun with the entire group.

They all left the lobby and walked towards the SUVs that were waiting for them. Ben and Mike opened the doors for them while Brady waited for Naraku and Kikyo at her BMW. They all began to put their duffle bags in the back of the cars, filing in.

"We'll see you guys later if we get separated," Kikyo called out to them as she got in. She had on a white short with a yellow shirt, ready for a day out in the sun hiking and sightseeing.

The others got into the SUVs and the drivers all headed out of the hotel, going to the North Shore. They drove through the streets of Waikīkī first as they were in no rush to get to anywhere. It was still morning, only nine, as they had met for breakfast an hour before and was ready to start the adventure. They drove past the Honolulu Zoo and up through town until they finally made their way onto the freeway. The cars drove for an hour, heading towards the North Shore. As they drove through the central valley, they went through old sugar cane and pineapple fields, stopping a few times when Ben and Mike got radioed that Kikyo wanted to stop and get out to take pictures.

So all the cars pulled over on the side of the road to stop and take some pictures with the entire group. They saw the mountains and valleys of central O'ahu, driving past many army barracks as this was a heavy militarized island. Kikyo wanted to stop at the Dole Plantation to walk around since this was a popular tourist spot, plus she wanted to eat some pineapple whip.

Kagome got out and looked around, noticing all the tour buses and cars parked in the parking lot. This place was packed and definitely a popular tourist spot. She had her glasses on and a white sunhat to protect her face. The sun here in the islands was brutal at times, especially with the humidity, but because they would be hiking today, she wanted to bring a hat just in case. She wore a matching white shorts with a royal blue spaghetti strap and her black sports bra to match her black and blue shoes. She was grateful that the costume crew were washing their clothes because in between practicing the songs and performing the songs, she was running through clothes like crazy, especially undergarments.

"Kagome!" Sango called, waving for her to follow. Kagome smiled and hurried towards her, bringing only her phone with a case that allowed her to store three cards in it. So it was convenient at times like this when she didn't want to carry anything. She placed her phone in her pocket and smiled at Sango.

"This place is neat!"

Sango nodded, linking her arm with Kagome's. "It is. It's so touristy, I love it! I don't feel like I'm working anymore but just being a tourist like I'm supposed to be." Kagome laughed with her as they walked up to the entrance building that had the words 'Dole Plantation' on it.

"Let's take a picture!" Kikyo called from the back, pointing towards the building. "Right here. Everyone lets take a picture in front of the building!" They all moved to gather where Sango and Kagome had claimed their spots, already making their poses.

Miroku and Inuyasha came up to the two, Miroku shaking his head with a chuckle as he looked at them. "You guys are hilarious." They were posing like superstars. Kagome laughed as she dropped her pose and Inuyasha came to stand next to her, shaking his head at her. She smiled up at him and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning into him as everyone got around them and kneeled in front. Kikyo gave her phone to Naraku and ran up to them, standing in the middle between Miroku and Kagome.

Naraku counted down and everyone smiled as he took two for good measure. They laughed and began to break formation, turning to walk inside the building. They went to get their tickets for the day, getting the full package in case they wanted to do it all, and then they all met together at the center of the building. There was a lot of people here from the tour buses that were parked out front, making it difficult to stick together.

Kagome stood next to Inuyasha while the others came up to join them one at a time, waiting for everyone to meetup so they could discuss what the plan was. "I heard about the Dole whip," Kagome said, turning to Inuyasha as he regarded her. He was dressed casual today with a black tank top that had a planet on the front of his shirt, and he wore black board shorts with silver kanji all over in a pattern. He wore croc flip flops for now, looking like he was ready for the island life at the beach.

"What is that?"

"It's sort of like a pineapple soft serve ice cream," she explained, her mouth starting to water. "Mmmm that sounds so good right about now." Inuyasha chuckled and turned to see Kikyo and Naraku bringing up the rear.

"That does sound good. Especially since it's hot today."

Kagome nodded with a frown. They watched as a couple of Japanese women walked up to Kikyo excitedly, obviously figuring out who she was, and approaching her to talk. Kikyo then smiled and nodded to them, talking amongst them as the women brought out their phones to take a selfie with her.

"Is it always like this?" Kagome asked, watching as another set of Japanese women noticed that Kikyo Hayashi was here, and wanting to get a picture with her too.

Inuyasha nodded his head, turning around to put his shades on. "All the time. It's worse in Japan. Even though Kikyo isn't big yet, I can only imagine what would happen when her fame soars. Especially after we do our concert here in the USA and see how this will affect her name."

Kagome turned to see him looking out at the gift shops and at other things besides the people who were noticing Kikyo. She smiled and moved in front of him so he could see her. "Do you honestly think that you're not noticeable with your shades on?" she asked him with an arch of her eyebrow. Inuyasha looked down at her, though she couldn't see his eyes, and smirked.

"Hey, no one has approached me yet."

Just as he said that, the women that had said their goodbyes to Kikyo now walked over to their group as they noticed Inuyasha. How could they miss him with his silver hair? They all flocked around their group, introducing themselves to everyone and asking to take a picture with them all. Kagome smiled, sneaking away before anyone noticed she wasn't in the shot. She didn't need that sort of publicity. That was one thing that was on her contract: the public relations and advertisement part of this job. She had only agreed to concerts, not to taking pictures with fans and posting that on social media. Kagome got to the exit of the building as it overlooked the rest of the plantation. It was a huge property and most of it was all foliage, gardens of beautiful plants of all colors and a huge maze. 'Wow! That looks like fun!' Kagome smiled as she quickly walked towards the maze, wanting to get lost by herself for a bit.

She spent most of her time idly going through the maze, giggling when she reached a dead end and having to try another route. Sometimes she found a station where a worker was set up next to an informational stand and began to explain to her the history of this place based off what was printed on the stand. She thanked them and went back to find another path. Eventually, she found her way out of one exit off to the side, not sure if that was the completion or not. But just as she left the maze, her phone buzzed. She checked her phone.

It was a text from Sango. 'Hey, we're heading back to the cars.' Kagome looked at the time. She had been in the maze for a good half an hour, getting lost. She giggled and headed back towards the entrance since she knew how to get out that way. Along the way, she passed beautiful plants and trees with small signs that said what they were and their scientific name. She quickly took pictures as she walked by, wanting to keep these memories forever.

Just as she got to the stairs heading back into the main building, she noticed Inuyasha up ahead, spotting her as she hurried towards him.

"Hey. You were waiting long?"

He shook his head as she got to his side and the two of them walked towards the entrance, heading outside to the cars.

"No. I'm just making sure everyone gets back to the cars and no one gets lost."

She laughed. "Funny you say that. I did go into the maze and got lost. But then again, it's a maze so it fulfilled its purpose right?" Inuyasha nodded and smiled.

Kagome thought about how things had changed between the two of them ever since they got to Hawai'i. Yes, they were being cordial like Inuyasha wanted when he had talked to her in the elevator. But it didn't seem forced, like they were talking almost as acquaintances. Then again, they did only have a strange fight that they both haven't brought up yet, only deciding to forget about it. But she liked where they were at, how they were getting along now compared to the past couple of weeks. It was almost like the way it was before.

"I saw you head in but decided to give you your space," Inuyasha said, gazing down at her. "You left without telling anyone. And Sango was a bit angry at you."

Kagome giggled and shook her head. "She'll get over it. I just needed to get away."

"I know," he said, nodding his head. "You never signed on for those kind of things."

She blinked as she looked at him, though he couldn't see her eyes since she had her shades on. "You remember?"

"Of course I remember. I'm your boss."

She smirked, looking ahead at the cars waiting for them in the loading zone. "Of course you are," she whispered.

The cars then took them to the North Shore, heading up to Hale'iwa to grab some food for lunch. The drives were longer than the stops so they were already hungry and ready for another break to get out and stretch their legs. They were dropped off in a mall strip of shops and restaurants and everyone split up to grab what they wanted to eat only to meet back together again at the beach across the street. The town was small and near the water that it was a nice reprieve from the busy city of Waikīkī. Everyone was able to sit on the sand and watch the beachgoers swim while they ate their lunch, enjoying each other's company and their environment.

After lunch, they headed back in the cars to cruise along the coast of the North Shore. Their next stop was Waimea Canyon where they were able to hike a bit to the waterfall and take some group photos. After spending time in nature, they loaded back in the cars to make their trek around the coast heading back towards Waikīkī. They had one more stop on the agenda before going back to the hotel, and by now it was already four in the afternoon and the sun was getting lower in the sky. They reached the Crouching Lion hike on the east shore of the island and began their hike.

"This one is a bit more rugged and dangerous, so everyone be ready for a good exercise and some nice views," Kikyo said as she was putting her shoes on. Everyone who didn't have their shoes on were doing the same thing while Kagome walked away from the others to look out at the start of the hike. It looked like it was going to be a nice hike along the coast, heading up into the mountains. It definitely was rugged, with rocks and roots making an uneven path, and foliage hanging overhead that would force them to look down and up while they hiked.

Everyone began to head up the trail, watching their step over roots and rocks and passing signs that said, "Hazardous Cliff!". They were all fit and in shape so this hike wasn't extreme for them, but the danger was always there if they took a wrong step or didn't watch where they were going. A few times their trail was so narrow that they had to walk behind each other and a few times the trail was at the top of a mountain ridge, one false move and they would fall down the slope of jagged rocks. At the end of the hike, they finally came out onto the last mountain ridge that brought them closer to the sea.

"Wow," Sango whispered, looking out at the cove and the valleys beyond that. It was a beautiful sight after a long and treacherous hike.

"Beautiful," Kagome whispered, coming to stand next to Sango as the two of them agreed. Everyone began to take pictures, selfies and with each other, taking in as much as they could. It was even more beautiful with the sun getting lower on the horizon and the sky beginning to get softer in light. Since they were on the east side, they would be in the dark first and the light behind the mountains only added an ethereal glow in the clouds. The ocean was beautiful, crystal blue water with waves crashing along the shore below. The cove looked deserted, like no one knew about the place or maybe it just wasn't a day for many visitors. It looked like a hidden paradise. 'This place really is beautiful,' Kagome thought with a smile.

"We should head back," Miroku said, making everyone stand up and crowd around, putting their cameras and phones away. "The sun's setting. It'll be dangerous for us soon." The others agreed and they all began their trek back up into the mountains to head back to the cars.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

The next day, everyone met to have breakfast again in the hotel restaurant and began to talk about their day.

"Today is our beach day," Naraku announced as the busboy began to clear their table. "So we'll be staying in town today. You can do whatever you guys want- go shopping in Waikīkī or go to Waikīkī Beach a little further down the road, or just stay here at the resort's beach. It's up to you. But the car leaves for Dave & Busters tonight at six. If you want to go, be down in the lobby by five fifty, unless you're too tired and want to stay back. Today is really up to you. Just remember, checkout is at ten tomorrow so be ready by then."

Everyone agreed and began to talk amongst themselves as to what they're going to do.

"Hey, Kagome," Sango said, catching the girl's attention. "What do you want to do today?"

Kagome shrugged, thinking about it. "I think I want to spend the morning shopping. I really wanted to check out the shops and buy some things. Then, when it gets hotter later on, I'll go to the beach to cool off."

Sango nodded with a smile, liking the idea. "Can I join?" Kagome nodded with a smile, and the two had their day planned out. Miroku looked to Inuyasha with an arch of his eyebrow.

"Anything you wanna do, Inuyasha?"

"Nope," he said, shrugging as he crossed his arms. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "I don't care. I do want to go to the beach, though."

"Perfect. If you don't care, let's go with the girls, then, and do some shopping. Then, we can go to the beach like Kagome suggested."

Inuyasha thought about it. He didn't have anything he wanted to buy, but then again, he should get something for his mother while he was here. She might have his head if he didn't bring a gift back for her. He also didn't mind going to the beach with Kagome. He'd never seen her in a bikini before and he wondered what she would look like with all those curves in a two piece.

"Fine."

Miroku smiled and looked across the table at Sango. "We'll join you guys, babe. I wanted to check out some stores too and then we can head to the beach together."

Sango pouted. "But… I wanted to have a girl's day with Kagome," she said with a pout. Miroku had his hand over his heart as if she pierced it. The girls laughed at Miroku's dramatic expression.

"Oh, Sango. You wound me so…"

She rolled her eyes as everyone began to get up, signaling it was time to go. She stood up with Kagome and linked her arm with hers, smiling as they began their day. Shippo asked to join them and they all agreed to his company. Everyone parted ways in the lobby and went on their own business.

The group walked out of the resort and onto the streets of Waikīkī, heading through the crowd of tourists.

"Wow, this place is busy even though it's still only nine in the morning," Shippo said, placing his hands behind his head. He eyed a few Japanese women, smiling at them when he caught their eyes, earning him a blush and a giggle. He smirked. "Well… at least there's a lot of our people around here."

The guys agreed with him as they looked around. Waikīkī was a bustling city, seeming to be one long street of shops, restaurants and hotels. They all looked around, doing some window shopping, heading into a few high-end stores like Coach and Gucci.

"Hey, I heard that Ala Moana Shopping Center has more high-end stores too," Sango said as she and Kagome were looking at a purse. The salesman stood at the opposite side of the display case with a smile, wanting to make a sale.

"Where is that?" Kagome asked, turning to her.

Sango shrugged. "I think it's further down past our hotel. I think we have to take the bus to get there, though."

"Yes, ma'am," the man said, catching their attention. "We have another Coach store in Ala Moana as well. Is there something you're looking for? I can help you find something," he offered, really working them for a sale.

Kagome smiled with a shake of her head. "No, thanks. We're just browsing. Thank you." The two walked away from him to look at the wall full of bags neatly placed in each cubby hole as if they were trophies on display. "Wow… they must be worth a lot if they're sitting like that."

Sango nodded her head with a chuckle. "Yeah, I think you're right. It makes me not wanna touch them."

Kagome turned to see the guys talking to the other salesperson, another man who was opening a display case for them. She walked over to them, coming up next to Inuyasha to see what they were looking at.

"I'll take it," Miroku said with a smile, making the salesperson nod with a smile, and lock the display back up.

"A wallet?" she asked Inuyasha, looking up at him. She didn't get to see what the man was holding before he walked away to cash Miroku out.

He nodded, looking at her. "Yeah. Miroku said it was time for him to upgrade his wallet, whatever that means."

"Basically… he just wants a new wallet," Shippo said, clarifying. He looked at Sango as she picked up a bag and looked at the price. "It looks like she might've found something too." They all turned to watch as Sango made a face and put it back in its cubby hole.

"Or… not," Inuyasha said. Kagome giggled and shook her head as Sango came over to them, looking to see Miroku at the cashier. She made a face.

"You've got to be kidding me. He's buying something?"

"Yup," Inuyasha said with a huge smile, turning as Miroku came back to them. "Show Sango what you bought, Miroku," waiting to see what Sango would do.

Miroku proudly displayed his new wallet in a beautiful Coach shopping bag. Sango rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"Well… at least you'll use that every day." They all laughed and left the store, heading out to find something else that piqued their interest. They went into a few store like H&M and Forever 21. The girls went into Victoria Secret while the boys headed off to the International Market Place to see what kind of stores were in there. They all met up together again at the entrance of the International Market Place and the boys shook their heads at all the bags the girls were holding, shocked at how much women could shop.

"I think we're done here for the day, babe," Miroku said with a smile. "Looks like you bought the shops out."

Sango shook her head. "Did not. This is barely a scratch."

Kagome couldn't agree more. There were so many good things here in Waikīkī to buy, but everything was based on your taste, which was what she found out after all the window shopping and leaving the stores empty handed. She did find a couple of dresses and an outfit that she liked, so all in all, she didn't spend too much. At least she got to see all that Waikīkī had to offer and it was almost noon.

"We should head back," Kagome said, feeling the heat of the day now, causing her to sweat. "I wanna go to the beach now. I'm getting sticky."

Sango nodded enthusiastically. "I agree."

They all began to turn around and head back towards the resort. Inuyasha went up to Kagome, offering her his hand.

"Here. Let me take some," he said, reaching out to grab some of her bags from her. She blinked up at him, shocked.

"Thanks, Inuyasha," she said in wonder. He nodded his head but didn't say anything, looking ahead as he noticed Miroku do the same for Sango. Shippo elbowed him with a smirk but didn't say a word. He just shook his head with a glare, not wanting to talk about it.

As the street was starting to get busier with more people coming to Waikīkī, they had a harder time walking and talking together, navigating their way through the crowds. And as fate would have it, they were noticed again. Or at least Inuyasha was noticed first because of his hair and all the women crowded up to him, asking for his autograph and then asking for Sango's and Miroku's. Then, they noticed Shippo was a part of Kikyo's dance group and they all wanted a group selfie. Kagome was more than happy to take the picture for them as they all got together and smiled for her. She took the picture and offered the girl back her phone just as they began to thank the others for their autographs.

"Hey… I know you," the woman said, taking her phone back and tilting her head to the side. "You're that girl. The blue-haired dancer." Kagome frowned, making a face. 'Blue-haired dancer?'

"Can I have your autograph?" she asked politely, offering the same paper that the others signed on. She blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what was happening. After a few heartbeats, the girl frowned and retracted her pen and paper, clearly hurt. "I'm… I'm sorry."

She snapped out of it and shook her head, apologizing. "No, no. It's not that. It's just… I don't do autographs."

The woman blinked, shocked. "Really? You're famous, you know?"

Kagome took a step back. 'What? Famous?' She was about to ask what she meant by that comment but her friends whisked her away, wanting to give the group their privacy. Kagome watched as the four began to walk away, staring at their backs and thinking about what the woman just said. 'Me? Famous? How?'

"Hey," Inuyasha said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

Kagome nodded slowly, hearing Sango tell them they better hurry on back to the hotel before they get hounded on again. They all began to walk ahead while she stood in her spot, looking at the ground in confusion. 'Famous?' Those women must've gone to one of the concerts and seen her dance. This was one of the risks she was taking. Whoever went to the concert would have the knowledge of who she was and now, this was the beginning of her 'fame'. This is the price she had to pay of being in the spotlight. 'I told you numerous times that I can protect you, and I have. I told you what that job will do for you and that if anything was to happen, I cannot protect you from the repercussions.' Onigumo's words rang in her mind, making her remember what she was trying so hard to protect.

"Come on, Kagome," Sango said, totally oblivious to her mental thoughts, coming back to link her arm with Kagome's to catch her attention. "Let's head back so we can go to the beach." She nodded absentmindedly and allowed Sango to pull her towards the boys as they followed them back to the hotel.

Once they got back, the five of them went to their rooms to change into their bathing suits and planned to meet back in the lobby in fifteen minutes. They all went down to the resort's beach, crossing through the pool area. It was busy with all the resort patrons and there were children's screams and laughter, signaling a pool somewhere nearby. The five got out onto the beach and found some of the others of their group, walking over towards them.

"Hey guys!" Shippo said as he placed his towel down and sat on it, fixing his baseball cap so he wouldn't burn his face. "How long you guys been here?"

"All morning," Shiori said with a smile. She was sprawled out on her back wearing a red two-piece bikini. She looked up at Kagome as the girl sat down next to Shippo. "Hey, Kagome. Hey guys," she said to everyone else as they said their hellos. "The rest are in the water," she motioned with her head, making everyone look to notice the others wading in the water ahead of them with other beachgoers. This beach was nothing like back at home where they had seawalls and only a short stretch of beach. Here, the sand went a distance out just to get into the water and even lengthwise it traveled down the entire coast of the resorts.

"Wow… this is a lovely place," Kagome said, taking in all the sunbathers and children running around or building sandcastles. "Lots of people."

"Yeah," Kimiko said, her long brown hair braided behind her. "We had a few visitors."

"Oh no…" Miroku said, getting comfortable next to Sango. "Here come a few more." They all looked to see two Japanese women and a Japanese man walking up to them, a huge grin on their faces.

"Hi. You're all with Kikyo Hayashi, right?" Everyone smiled at the woman politely and nodded. "Can we… please take a picture with you all?" They all looked to one another and smiled at them, making the three move forward to kneel in front of the group as one of them took out their phone and selfie stick.

Kagome stood, making Inuyasha look at her. She took off her shades and hat, then took off her white sundress, neatly placing it on her towel. Inuyasha caught his breath, taking in the sight of her. She was beautiful with her two-piece bikini that matched her hair just right. She wore a blue halter top that accentuated her boobs perfectly. And her bottom piece had just enough coverage on her cheeks, enough where he didn't have to guess how firm her ass was. He tried not to look so much, but that was hard to do when she had a beautiful, curvy body that was all tone and muscle.

"I'm heading in," she said, moving out behind the others to get around the three that were trying to get down on the sand around them. She quickly excused herself, not wanting to seem rude to the fans so she hurried before they took offense.

She walked down towards the water's edge and listened to the waves hit the sand, causing her to smile and forget about her worries. The water was cold when she felt the first touch as she walked in and steeled herself as she pushed through the water to get waist high. She took a breath and dove under, thinking about how much she missed being able to see underwater, all the beautiful fish and life that existed without their knowledge. Kagome came up and began to wade out a little more, wanting to keep her legs moving, so she went deep enough where she couldn't touch and kept herself afloat.

'What are you doing, Kagome?' This was the test. Whether or not this job would be a good fit for her would all boil down to how well this work trip went. She knew the repercussions, like Onigumo had mentioned. She could control not placing herself in situations that would get her publicity, but she couldn't control others taking videos or photos of her on stage at concerts. That was out of anyone's control. But then again, she did count her costs and she knew that this could possibly happen. 'But so soon? We only had two performances.' But the past two nights were successful with sold out seats and according to Naraku, there were some fans from the states and from Japan who were unable to get tickets but who still came just to try and catch a glimpse of the pop star with her dance crew around the city. Kagome couldn't believe how well Kikyo was doing here in the states. Ever since her two shows, her album has been selling faster than when she released her album a year ago. One of her songs, 'Who's Got You?', was number two on the top ten lists in the United States, below Taylor Swift. Her fans were flying in from Japan as well to see her perform here. Everything was going so well for Kikyo, which meant that things would go well for Kagome too.

'What did I expect?' she thought. These past few days with them getting noticed on the streets or in tourist hotspots, and then today with the group of girls telling her that she was 'famous', it was to be expected. But it still made her uneasy. And fear began to creep up like a snake.

"Hey."

Kagome turned to see Sango in the water with her, her hair completely wet as she came to wade in the water beside here. "What's up? You just left. You okay?"

"You know I signed a contract, Sango. I don't like to do those kind of things."

Sango frowned. "I know. But still… we can't turn down our fans. They're Kikyo's fans too. If we turn them away, they'll turn away from her. Our actions determine her success too."

She never thought of it that way. It made sense though, that whatever the dancers did with fans would either turn people towards or away from Kikyo. The dancers were also the stars of the show, even though the singer was the main star. People still came to enjoy the dancers and even some choreographers would come to see the routines and judge them or use them for their own benefit.

"I know. But… no one knows me."

"Obviously the people here do. Those women said you were 'famous'."

Kagome shook her head. "I don't even know what they meant by that. It was only two shows. How could that be fame?"

Sango smiled. "I don't know," she said teasingly. "You can dance, which is why Inuyasha put you in the front row with us. So you're getting the same attention that the three of us always get."

That was understandable. "Sango… I never wanted this kind of fame. I never even dreamed that it would happen to me one day."

Sango didn't miss the sadness in Kagome's voice. "But you've always wanted to be a dancer," she pointed out.

Kagome nodded, turning back towards the beach to find the bottom, needing the rest. "Yes, but… I guess, I never really understood what it meant to be a professional dancer. What I envisioned was the dancing, the fun and the ability to dance and express myself… I never thought about having a group of dancers who would become like friends to me," she said with a smile, turning to Sango, "And I never thought about the fame that came along with it."

Sango smiled, hearing Kagome. "You are my friend, Kagome. That's what happens when you spend every day with the same people for work. You get to know one another when all there is to do is talk about nonsense stuff. So the friends part, get over it because we're stuck together."

Kagome smiled and looked towards shore, seeing the others walking around on the sand, heading into the water. Inuyasha and Miroku made their way towards them too. Her eyes drank him in. His body was sculpted like that of a dancer's, pure male perfection. Ever since they had danced together, just the two of them, she had seen more of her fair share of her boss' body in the studio. He was handsome, cute and smoking hot. Even now as he wore nothing but his black and white board shorts and his rosary necklace, he was what all woman would drool over. And of course he got many stares and looks from the women around them. His golden eyes found hers and she felt like there was a connection, not looking away until he smirked at her, making her blush.

Sango turned to see the boys getting in with Shippo and Kimiko following behind them. The others who were in the water began to swim their way towards them too so that now all twelve of them were together. She smiled at Miroku as he pushed his way through the water to Sango's side. "Wow, the water feels so refreshing after shopping all day," he said.

Sango laughed. "Yeah. You probably bought just as much as I did."

"Maybe," he said with a smile, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her on the lips tenderly. Sango leaned into him, letting him hold her underwater, as Inuyasha and the others came around them.

"You guys still wanna go to Dave & Busters tonight?" Inuyasha asked, making Kagome turn to listen to him. He watched her warily, wondering why she had been so on edge today. Ever since yesterday's excursion at the Dole Plantation, she had been running away from fans like they were the plague. He couldn't blame her. She had told them that it wasn't what she wanted and it was in her contract. But she also had to understand that it came with the job. And he could tell that she wasn't accepting that fact very well. "The car's gonna come get us in about five hours."

Kagome nodded. "I don't mind going. I think some drinks are in order."

Sango nodded as well, floating as Miroku held her up against him, his arms still around her. They all stood in a circle in the water, all waist deep or more. "I want to go too. It's our last day on O'ahu and we should go and have some fun before we leave." The others agreed and decided to have fun at the beach a little longer before they headed back to their rooms to rest up for a night at the arcade with drinks and dancing.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

The next day came too soon but at least they all got to sleep in. Checkout was at ten and they all met in the lobby before then, grabbing something to eat or waiting around for everyone to congregate.

Kagome made her way down and met up with Sango, walking up to her to look around at the others. "Morning, Sango. Where's the boys?"

Sango smiled at her. "Morning, Kagome. Inuyasha was hungry so he and Miroku went to the restaurant to get something to-go. I think I'm just going to wait until we get to the airport to grab something to eat."

Kagome moaned. "I think I'll wait too. Last night was a lot of carbs for me." The two began to laugh, walking over to a couple of chairs that were empty and sitting down with their suitcases and bags. Last night had been so much fun for them all. They all had let loose, enjoying a night off and being able to dance on their own, not dancing for work. When they first got to Dave & Busters, they all went to the restaurant to get something to eat. It was a busy place, an establishment with a sports bar and a restaurant on one level, an arcade with a smaller restaurant and bar on the second level, and an outdoor restaurant on the top floor with an indoor special event room on the arcade floor. In the end, they had decided to eat outside on the rooftop to watch the sunset. The sunset was beautiful while they drank and ate and laughed together, talking about nothing but making fuss of something. Kagome couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun with a bunch of people who were her friends. In fact, there wasn't a time when something like this happened to her. This was her first and she enjoyed every minute of it. After their dinner, they all went in to play some games and continue drinking. Then, they went into their private room where there was a huge dance floor and a DJ booth setup. The lights danced around the walls and the bodies moving on the floor while the bass pulsed through their blood. They all danced the night away together.

"Yeah, I did drink a lot last night," Sango said, leaning in to whisper to Kagome with a sly smile. "I think I even jumped on Miroku last night when we got back."

Kagome laughed, shaking her head. "Poor, poor, Miroku." The two of them burst out laughing together just as the boys came up to them.

"What's so funny?" Inuyasha asked. He had his duffle bag on one shoulder and he held a bag of food in the opposite hand. He bumped his suitcase against Kagome's as he looked down at the two, clearly trying to figure out what they were laughing about.

"Oh… nothing," Sango said, looking up at Miroku as he brought his things and dropped it next to her. "Just remembering how much fun we had last night," she said, her eyes twinkling at him.

Miroku smiled, licking his lips. "Yes, we did, my Sango." Inuyasha's ears twitched and he turned to look at his friend, knowing him long enough.

"Ugh… I don't wanna hear it, hentai."

"Don't be mad at me you're not getting any," Miroku clapped back. Sango giggled and Kagome couldn't help but smile, the two obviously being good friends and they knew each other well without having to say much.

Inuyasha glared at him and was grateful when Naraku and Kikyo came out of the elevators and walked towards them. The others began to walk up towards them as they noticed Kikyo finally was here. Everyone came together and they all had on exercise clothes, some of the women had tights or yoga pants and the men wore baggy pants or basketball pants.

"Good morning, everyone," Kikyo said with a smile as they all gathered around. "Everyone had fun last night, huh?" They all nodded and voiced their agreements, beginning to make small talk with each other.

"I'm going to check us out," Naraku said, moving out of the group. "I called the cars. They should be pulling up any second."

Kikyo nodded as she watched him walk away. "You guys ready for a new island?" she asked, clearly excited. The others agreed with her. "Our flight to Maui is at noon so we should get there around one. One car is taking our bags to the hotel and two will be taking us to the venue. Same routine. If you need anything from your suitcases, put them in your duffle bags now before you checkin at the airport. Don't forget to grab something to eat now or at the airport because we won't be eating again until dinner time when we go to the hotel."

The others all nodded their understanding and began to make adjustments. Some left to get something to eat, some were getting last minute things from their suitcases into their bags, and some waited around until the cars came. A couple minutes laters, the cars showed up and all three of the drivers got out to start loading their bags into the cars. And everyone began to file in to the two Escalades, while Kikyo and Naraku got into their BMW. Then, they all left the hotel and headed for the airport.

Once they landed on Maui, Ben and Mike were waiting for them outside of baggage claim in their new Escalades and began to load their suitcases into one car while their duffle bags were placed in the other. Kikyo and Naraku had their own car again with Brady as her driver and they all made their way to the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. Once there, they were met by two men and one woman who stood at the entrance as they got out of the cars.

"Hello, Kikyo. It's finally good to meet you," the woman said, coming forward to greet her the American way with a handshake. "My name is Alicia. If you need anything, I will be in charge of the backstage operations. My colleagues are also in charge of their own specific things," she said, motioning to them as they stepped forward. They were all dressed casually in shorts and a t-shirt. It was a hot and muggy day in Maui so it wasn't their culture to wear much long-sleeve clothing.

"I'm Tom," a man said, coming up to shake Kikyo's and Naraku's hands. "I'll be in charge of the entire setup."

Naraku nodded. "I remember talking to you over the phone."

Tom nodded with a smile. "Yes. My partner, Ian," he said, just as the other man moved up to shake both of their hands, "will help me oversee the entire operation. Your crew has been here since Monday morning, working fast and hard. I understand that you brought some of your own personal equipment but the rest you will be using ours."

Naraku nodded. "Yes. Our sound and lighting crew brought their own equipment to hook up. And our costume designer and the costume crew should've brought the outfits by now."

"Yes," Alicia said as she gestured for them to follow her. "I had them set up the costumes in one of our rooms behind the stage."

"So you are giving us a dressing room?" Kikyo asked, remembering that they had been trying to secure either a room to change in or to create a makeshift 'backstage' behind the stage that would serve as their dressing area. One of the Escalades started up and pulled out behind them as it headed to the hotel to drop off their suitcases so that it would be waiting in their rooms when they arrived.

"Yes. We got you a room, sorry, the men and women are going to have to share."

They all walked through the open double doors of the stone wall. The wall around the lawn was maybe eight feet high and there were a pair of double doors at the end of the wall where they could go in and out. As they walked in, they saw the huge lawn that lay before them. This was the outdoor venue that they had picked and prepared for. The audience were to be on folding chairs that Naraku had paid for and the chairs were to be made into rows, filling up the small hillside.

"It's totally fine," Kikyo said. "My dancers are used to changing around each other." She looked out at the venue and smiled, nodding her head as she began to envision the performance.

"I like this," she said, turning to look at Inuyasha and to see that he, too, was scanning everywhere, not missing a thing.

"I like the slope," Miroku said, walking forward a little. The lawn was huge and there were bleachers along the stone wall at the top of the slope, in the back. "I like the setup."

"When are the chairs coming?" Inuyasha asked, turning to look at Ian and Tom.

The two men regarded him and Tom spoke first. "Thursday morning. When we first talked to Naraku, we wanted him to only rent 4,900 chairs just in case we couldn't fit the whole 5,000. We still have the bleachers that are permanently there for our guests to use. But I know on both nights you sold out with 5,000 tickets so we can see on Thursday how the setup looks and if you think you guys want to try and fit more chairs, we can do last minute adjustments on Friday before Saturday's performance." Naraku nodded his agreement and looked to Kikyo.

"You want to look at the stage?" Kikyo nodded and the three employees lead the way down the grassy slope to the stage.

The grass ended before the stage and there was a walkway in front of the stage that went around until it branched out on opposite sides. The stage was about four feet off the ground in the front and it began to level out with the ground level towards the side to the back of the stage as the sloping hill became level ground where the stage remained. If anyone needed to get on or off the stage, it would be on the sides or the back, which meant security would have to be bumped up with this easier access onto the stage. The stage was a pavilion that had four cement pillars in the corners with the front and back being completely open with no obstruction. The two sides had a metal box-like design pattern that decorated the top-half, acting like a wall art. The pavilion's roof was all panels of glass, allowing light to shine onto the stage. It wouldn't be too much of a problem for them since the concert was at night, but practicing throughout the day would be intense. The inside roof was open and it had many beams that criss-crossed, allowing the light crew to work with what they were given. Some lights were already setup permanently and some their crew would want to install based on the performers' needs. On each side of the stage facing the crowd was a huge speaker that was hung on wires against the pillars. Below those speakers, on the ground, was another set of speakers leaning against the same pillars.

"Oh!" Kikyo said, now noticing the backdrop. "I never noticed that in the photos," she said, pointing towards the cement wall that worked as a backdrop to the stage. It wasn't flush against the back pillars of the stage so as not to connect to the stage, but instead it left room for a walkway between the stage and the backdrop. It was more of a simple wall that was painted the same color as the stage pillars so as not to draw too much attention to it, but also to prevent the guests from seeing the outside of the rest of the buildings of the establishment, more aesthetic than functional.

"Yes, we do have that wall in case you guys want to use it for anything," Ian said, noticing where she pointed. "We basically just have it there so that the buildings behind doesn't take the audience's attention from the stage."

"I see," she said, crossing her arms and looking over the entire thing. The crew was on the platform stage, which was another addition to the pavilion's cement floor. The establishment had setup a stage for them that was about two feet higher on the pavilion's floor as it would be easier for the performers to dance on instead of dancing on cement. The platform was smoother so they could move and glide without getting the soles of their shoes beat up by the cement. Kikyo's crew had their lights and wires on all sides of the stage but left the center open for them since they knew the group would be here to practice and didn't want to be in the way until they left.

Inuyasha moved first, heading to the left side of the stage to see how they were supposed to get onto the stage. He noticed on the sides, because of the way the slope was, the front of the stage seemed to be in the dip of the slope before the ground level came back up on the sides. He thought that was strange but didn't think twice about it since they wouldn't be using the side but the back of the stage to get on and off. The others began to follow him. They all made their way onto the pavilion and then stepped up onto the platform.

"This seems a little weird," Sango said as everyone spread out on the stage. "Just different from the last venue, I guess," she said with a shrug, placing her hands on her hips.

Kagome nodded as she stood next to Shiori, the two of them looking above at how tall the roof was above them with beams supporting the glass roof, allowing them to see the clouds above. "That's pretty cool," Kagome said, making Shiori nod her head with a smile.

"I like it."

"I don't think we can get much lights up there, can we?" Miroku asked, walking closer to the light crew to hear their opinion, grateful that they all wore their shirts to tell them apart. One of the males stood up from his squatting position and smiled at Miroku.

"Nah, I think we can," he said. "There's enough beams up there that we can figure a way to hang our lights from. Plus, Tom told us that they had some suspension cables that we can use and that past performers used before, so it's possible."

Miroku smiled with a nod, going back over to the others with a shrug. "Guess that settles it."

Alicia moved towards the front of the stage below, catching their attention. "On either side of the stage, we'll have a screen setup where our camera crew will be recording you for the audience." She turned and motioned behind her at the top of the slope where between two bleachers there was an empty space. "That's where they'll be setup on a table. There's three cameras we have and three cameramen that will be in charge of them. One camera will be there, one on the right," she said, pointing towards the stage's right, where they entered from the double doors, "and one on the left. The cameras will be on ten feet tall tripods and the computers control all three of them. So they'll be switching angles throughout the show."

"Wow," Kagome said, looking around to envision a screen on either side of the stage. "That's pretty cool."

"Will the screens be sending the same live feed?" Shippo asked, now curious.

"Yes. We have both screens setup to display the same feed," she explained.

"And what about the backstage?" Inuyasha asked, now looking at Alicia. She smiled up at him, checking him out from head to toe before she nodded to herself and turned to lead the way. They all followed her, she on the ground level and they on the stage, as they met her at the back. Here, the back of the pavilion lined up perfectly with the ground level. There was a walkway that went crossed back stage where they followed it until the backdrop wall. The wall was at the edge of the path and then there was grass behind it. They crossed over the grass, where some coconut trees were planted spaced apart, to the building in front of them. There was one double door open and Alicia led them inside.

"This is your dressing room," she announced.

The room was big, big enough for all of them to fit comfortably and create their own changing area if they wanted. It was a bare-open room, as if they had taken out all the furniture and left an empty space for them to use however they desired.

"Why the emptiness?" Kikyo asked, not needing to go any further in than a couple feet from the doorway.

Alicia shrugged as she turned to face them, standing further in the room to allow them to check it out. "We figured that you guys would want to set it up your way. This room is used for storage or for rehearsals, so we usually bring in folding chairs. But you can use it to have privacy to change. None of the audience is allowed backstage so you should be okay to go on and off the stage uninterrupted."

"How so?" Inuyasha asked, curious. "Do you have security detail? Or do you gate it off?"

"We fence off from the front to the sides of the stage with an eight feet buffer and then towards the backdrop. But if you prefer, we can open it up to include this area," she said, moving through them to get back outside where she used her hands to motion like fences, "and we would just have the fences setup this way so that it would end against these walls," she said, turning back around to face them so that her open arms included the doorway to their dressing room, "That way you guys won't have to worry about fans."

Inuyasha nodded. "That works better. I need us to have a secured path to get from the stage to the dressing room and vice versa," he said, motioning towards the backdrop.

"Will you have security on the fences?" Naraku asked, moving out of the room to envision the area and the safety of the performers.

Alicia smiled reassuringly. "We can, though we normally don't. We've never had a problem where our guests would assault or impede the performers during the performance."

"If you could hire half a dozen security guards, we'll pay for those," Kikyo said, turning to look at Naraku as if talking to him alone. "I want Brady setup here at the dressing room entrance, and have Ben and Mike at the corners of the back of the stage since the sides are on level ground. They can keep and eye out on the stage and Brady can secure our dressing room." Naraku nodded his agreement, trusting their security more, especially with such a wide open area where anything could happen from anywhere.

"Okay. I'll look into a security team," Alicia said, catching their attention. She turned from them and walked back towards the stage, everyone following her.

"If there's anything else, just feel free to ask us," Tom said, coming up to them with Ian as they had waited on stage for them to return.

Naraku nodded. "I would like to talk to you three more while they practice. We have to leave in three hours to head to our hotel and checkin so I'll leave them to it and I'd like to talk to you about the security team and some logistics." The others nodded their agreement and left the four alone to get on stage to practice their routines.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

The next day came with the same routine as O'ahu. They all had to be in the lobby of the Grand Wailea Hotel by eight to have breakfast together in the hotel restaurant before the cars would pick them up at nine. Once at the venue, they all settled in easily, used to these routine days.

Kikyo was matter-of-fact and always so professional. She was demanding, wanting things done her way, sometimes being a diva but then again, it was her show. She got on them repeatedly since this venue was way different and much more difficult to transition compared to what they had on O'ahu. Not only with the flooring but also with the space they had. Even though they had practiced back in the warehouse in Japan, it still didn't matter how prepared they were until they got there and tried it out. They learned that they had to adjust a few things based on the space like the distance to and from the dressing room. Inuyasha had to figure out the timing on all of the transitions of all of the songs so that the performers could dance until they were offstage and then move behind the backdrop where they would literally run to the dressing room to change for the next number. If they got dressed quickly, they would have to wait behind the backdrop until their transition came for them to come out while the others would switch off, moving past them to change. It was a lot more complicated than what they had practiced because they hadn't known if they were going to get a room or if they had to rent a trailer or create a backstage area themselves. So now they were improvising on the fly.

The morning was spent with Inuyasha in frustration and the group feeling it as well. Everyone seemed off their game, especially when what they had practiced didn't seem to be working out. They had to practice each song over and over again to make sure that the transitions into the next song was perfect and the dancers had enough time, from the time they set foot off the stage to the time they returned on. Once the afternoon rolled around and the sun began to beam down on them through the glass ceiling, they had to take more breaks than normal because of the heat and the sun's rays. Thankfully, Naraku had thought to remind them to bring their sunscreen and hats from their beach day just in case it got too much for them. Which apparently, it did.

"Let's take a lunch break," Inuyasha said, making them sigh with relief. Everyone was dripping in sweat and their faces were flushed from the sun and the heat. This was a new working environment for them compared to all the inside venues they had, even in their warehouse, where they were accustomed to having A/C. He realized that they were all out of their comfort zones.

They all went to the dressing room where Kikyo wanted to sit inside an A/C room to eat and cool off.

"Ugh. My body hurts more than it did on O'ahu," Sango said, sitting down to stretch out her legs before she ate. She had her food behind her while she stretched out and watched Kagome, Kokoro and Mai sit down with her to form a small circle.

"We've never had an outdoor performance, right?" Kokoro asked, fanning herself and opening her tank top in and out to cause air to go inside to cool down her body.

Mai shook her head, wiping the sweat from her forehead onto her black spaghetti strap. "We did have a couple. I think two or three. But it was in smaller spaces and not a full on concert."

Kagome sighed, opening her lunch. "It's so much harder here with the open space and the elements." She opened her lunch and began to eat, starving. They all had lunches prepared for them every day and today her lunch was a cheeseburger with avocado and bacon. She was starving and loved dancing because even though she ate like a pig, she could still work it off on days like this.

"I don't know what it is but my body is just not having it today," Sango said with a frown, moving to sit comfortably on her butt to start eating with everyone else. "I feel like I ran a marathon. And it's Thursday. We have two more days of practice before the night of the performance on Saturday."

The others nodded. Everyone around them began to chat, their voices carrying in the small room as they ate and soaked in the coolness of the room. Kikyo, Naraku, Itsuki, Inuyasha and Miroku sat together while Shippo, Shiori, Aiko, Emi and Kimiko sat together. They all talked about their hotel room and the amenities, or how they were excited about visiting the island once the concert was over. No one wanted to talk about the conditions they were in during rehearsal.

"Inuyasha seems a little irritated," Kagome said, turning to see him sit with the others in their own circle. He sat so that she could easily see him and as if he could feel her watching him, he looked up and caught her eye. She smiled at him and was a little happy that he smiled back. 'I wonder if he forgives me,' she thought, knowing that she was the reason why their relationship had gone from friendship to strictly business. And it was an awkward business relationship. But ever since they had that talk in the elevator, she feels like he hadn't been as hard on her as she had expected.

Sango looked at Kagome and then at Inuyasha, noticing the two of them smile at each other, and she shook her head with a smile, choosing to mind her own business. "Inuyasha is just preoccupied."

Kagome blinked, turning her attention back to Sango. "What do you mean?" she wondered.

Sango shrugged. "He has a lot of changes to do now. Plus, there's that switch of songs. Three songs we take out and three new ones for this venue. Change it up for our fans," she said with another shrug, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich.

Kagome nodded her understanding, looking at Mai. "Sorry about that mix up," she said with a giggle, remembering her small mistake she made in one of the transitions. "I forgot that it was a different song we go into. My mind was still on our routine from the first venue."

Mai smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's harder when we switch lineups and routines. I get that way sometimes too." Kagome smiled, appreciating her kindness, and the four of them went back to eating their sandwiches.

When everyone was done and Kikyo had enough break time, they all got back to practice. The cars showed up at four in the afternoon but they didn't start filing in until four-thirty and then they were heading through rush hour traffic back to Wailea. They were staying at the Grand Wailea Hotel, one of Maui's most prestigious and expensive hotels on the island. It was a place where most celebrities would go, that and the Ritz Carlton on the west side of the island. But the Grand Wailea was closer to the venue and so Naraku had chosen it. They all had their own rooms again, except for Miroku and Sango, and their daily schedule was the same routine.

Once they got back to the hotel, they all went to their rooms to take a much needed bath and came back down by six to have dinner together. After that, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

"Hey, Kagome," Sango said as they all exited the restaurant. "Do you want to come with me to the jacuzzi? I asked the front desk and he said it's open until eight-thirty. We have an hour and a half?" she suggested, needing to soak her body to get rid of this tightness in her muscles. Today was hard on her, harder than normal, and she didn't know why but she needed to fix it. All dancers knew and understood their body well. They had to if dance was their lifestyle and job. And for Sango, it wasn't a 'hope' to get better. It was a 'need' to get better, especially with two more nights of performances.

"Sure," Kagome said with a smile, thinking about the hot water. "I could use a soak too."

"I want to go with you guys," Kikyo said, overhearing them as they exited.

Sango nodded. "Sure, let's all go."

"Well, we're invited," Miroku said, Inuyasha at his side. The two of them had a smile on their faces, making Sango and Kagome look at each other with arched eyebrows, wondering if they should invite the boys.

"I'm in too," Itsuki said, coming to slap his hand on Inuyasha's back, making the hanyou turn to glare at him. Itsuki laughed and patted his back, trying to take the sting out of it. Itsuki was one of the four boys in the group. He was always the quiet one but he was fun to be around with his boyish attitude. His black hair always got into his eyes and he had to whip his head back to get his bangs out of his face.

"Who invited you?" Inuyasha asked with irritation.

"Whatever…" Itsuki said, looking at the girls. "So… let's get changed." They all nodded and headed back up to their rooms first to change into their swim clothes, then would meet at the pool area.

After she finished changing, Kagome walked out of the main hotel building and caught her breath. The scenery looking out towards the ocean was breathtaking. Even though the sun had set, she could see the reflection of the moon on the ocean ahead. And the property grounds in front of the lobby area was a huge rectangular pool with water fountains, and at the opposite end there was a huge water fountain in the middle of a circle of small ones. The bottom of the pools had beautiful tiles made into art like a fish or a dolphin or a whale. The Grand Wailea was surely 'grand' and she could only imagine how much it cost to stay here. The entrance into the lobby itself was grand as it had a pool with lots of greenery around just to greet the guests in the lobby bar and there was a huge open area lobby near the checkin counter. Kagome shook her head as she headed towards the signs that took her to the pool.

That in and of itself was a trek. The property was huge. And it took her longer to get to the pool than she thought. Plus, the pool was not just a 'pool'. It was several pools and several slides and several kiddie pools. This place was huge. She passed by many cabanas, empty for the night, before she finally found the jacuzzi.

"There you are!" Sango called, waving her down towards them. Kagome smiled, exasperated.

"I didn't know how big this property is!" she complained. Sango laughed and nodded her agreement as she went to one of the lounge chairs to leave her towel and sandals. Kagome took off her beach dress, where her same blue bikini, and went into the steaming, bubbling water.

"Mmmmm…" she moaned, immersing herself slowly into the hot water. The water was hot but it felt so good on her skin and muscles.

"Isn't it great?" Sango asked, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back against the side. Miroku was next to her while Itsuki was on the other side of him, the two of them chatting about the things they bought on O'ahu.

"Mmmm hmmm," Kagome agreed, unable to form words. The water just felt too good. She finally got all the way into the water and waded closer to Sango just as she heard Kikyo's voice.

"Wow, this place is bigger than I thought," Kikyo said, dropping her things on an empty lounge chair and taking off her clothes. They all looked up to see that Naraku and Inuyasha had come with her and were all stripping to get into the water. Thankfully, no one else was using the jacuzzi so they could all fit.

As they all settled in, Kikyo began to talk about how nervous she was and they all talked about the performance. This would be their last two in Hawai'i and then they would be heading back home after a couple of days. Kagome's phone began to ring, making her look towards the chair it sat on, but not wanting to get out of the water.

"Let it ring," she said softly, easing herself lower into the water. Kikyo smiled next to her and continued talking. They were all excited about the performance and they all had their reservations. Even Inuyasha, wanting their performance to be perfect. He was already telling them his plans for tomorrow and what to expect when they got there.

Time passed, an hour maybe, nearing the time of the jacuzzi closing. Sango and Miroku got up to leave, saying that her body felt much better and now she needed to sleep. Itsuki was next to leave as he was tired and wanted to get ready for Inuyasha's torture tomorrow, earning him a splash of hot water in his face from the hanyou. Naraku got up to leave after the others left, wanting to head back to do some work before he called it a night. Kikyo was unsure of whether or not to leave or to stay with Inuyasha and Kagome.

Things between the hanyou and herself were always on shaky ground and they had their reasons for being together, but she always sometimes hoped that he would take interest in her. Kikyo had taken interest in him for years, ever since the first night they had met at his parent's charity event. She had fallen for Inuyasha five years ago. And even to this day, their relationship was strained and complicated, giving and selfish, foolish and wonderful. But she still hoped that he would see her more than just a fling, that he would want to be with her. But the more time went on and the more they remained the way they did, the more she began to realize that he just didn't want her for more than what he already had from her. Her heart hurt but there was nothing she could do about it. There was also this sneaking suspicion she had of Kagome and the way Inuyasha was with her. Kikyo hadn't seen him act that way with anyone before, not even with her, and she wondered if he had affections for her. That brought on a wave of jealousy that she never thought she would have, not for him. But it only proved her feelings for him.

After a moment, Kikyo decided to leave it be and to leave with Naraku. There was nothing she could do about it unless she talked to Inuyasha and figure out what it was between him and Kagome. But for now, she needed to keep her head in the game and not let a new girl steal her show. This trip was a huge success for her career, and Kikyo had to admit, Kagome was a part of that success.

Finally, the last in the jacuzzi were Kagome and Inuyasha. The two of them stayed quiet for a long time, none wanting to say anything but both having so many things to say. Kagome, however, felt like she should be the first to say something.

"Inuyasha… I'm sorry for what I said to you. You know, back at home… I don't think I was very… nice to you," she admitted, not wanting him to think that she was a horrible person. He probably did think she was odd. Heck, he didn't think she had any friends. That night only proved to her that she and him were so different and she wasn't ready to be open with anyone.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and regarded her steadily. He didn't want to get into a fight with her but he also didn't want to keep up this 'business relationship' with her. He knew that he had to be professional with her, but he also didn't want it to be just that, such a rigid and mundane task. He wanted to talk to her like a normal person, to get to know who she was and what she enjoyed doing. He wanted it to be like the way they were when he was first training her. He wanted to be her friend, but for some reason she didn't want the same with him, or with anyone from what he could tell. Yes, she was friends with the gang but not like a true friend. She never once opened up and talked about herself the way the others did. She rarely came out to clubs with them because apparently she worked on the weekends, but when asked, she wouldn't say much about her job at Starlite. She was such a private person that he wondered what made her shy away from people and relationships. On the outside, she wasn't very sociable. But on the inside, he knew that she was and he could sense that she wanted to be. He just couldn't figure out why she always refused herself that.

After a while, Inuyasha sighed, deciding not to figure it out tonight. They still had to get their performances done and he didn't want to ruin the small, good thing they had going on, even if it was just business. "I don't care who's nice to me or not, Kagome. What I do care about is the truth."

Kagome looked at him, seeing the honesty in his eyes, and she wondered if he was judging her. She frowned, looking away. "I was being honest."

"What part?" he asked, trying to hide the contempt in his voice but knowing that she heard it.

"I told you the truth about my love for sunsets."

"That's it, from what I remember. And even then, it was still a half-truth. I could tell you were holding something back."

"It's not fair that you're a hanyou," she pointed out, feeling her blood boil at the uneven advantage, but trying not to let him get to her.

"Don't use my demon blood as an excuse. What's the point of having these powers if you don't know how to use it? I could tell that something was wrong by your body language, by your frowns and the way you always avoided eye contact with me. Like now."

Kagome smiled, closing her eyes at his words. 'Truth.' He seemed to know her more than she would've liked. She looked back at him, smiling sadly, hoping he didn't catch that too. "I don't want to fight with you. I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry for the way I treated you that night when all you wanted to do was have dinner with me."

She got up to leave, the sudden coolness of the night air giving her goosebumps. Her muscles protested as she left the sanctuary of the hot water, but she put one foot in front of the other, leaving him in the jacuzzi.

"I don't know why you feel the need to lie to people," Inuyasha said, catching her attention as she wrapped her towel around herself. "But don't do it to me. If you don't want to tell me, then tell me that at least. But don't lie about it. I hate liars," he said, growling softly.

Kagome turned to look at him, his face illuminated brightly by the light of the jacuzzi. A frown graced his lips and his eyes looked down at the steam coming from the water. But she could see that he meant what he said and she heard the pain and truth in his words. She had to respect that about him. He didn't care what people thought so long as they told him the truth. Something must have happened in his past that was based on truth, that made it a touchy subject for him and why he took it so seriously. Kagome smiled.

"Okay. I'm sorry for lying to you, Inuyasha," she said, smiling when he looked up at her. She meant every word. "I can't make any promises. But I will try to tell you the truth next time. And if I can't… I'll let you know." The two of them smiled at each other, understanding each other, and she turned to head back to her room.

Kagome made the long trek back to her room, thinking about Inuyasha and the pull she got from him. Even though it felt like they were having a horrible conversation, she felt like she could be honest with him, like she did want to open up to him but her mind told her not to. Her mind knew the repercussions even though her heart yearned for someone to share her burdens. It had been just her entire life. And here was someone who wanted in, who just wanted to get to know the truth about her. 'What is my truth?' Her life was made up of so many lies that she didn't know who she was anymore. Kagome sighed, pushing the call button on the elevator that would take her back to her room. A good night's sleep was just what she needed. And as she entered the elevator, she forgot all about the call that she missed earlier.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

The next day was the same routine. Everyone met downstairs and headed to breakfast before going to practice. Today was their last full day of practice, to make sure they got everything right. Their dressing room was stocked and prepped for them, but it lacked the lights and mirrors it needed for their makeup. They all had their own section to change and they had a folding chair if they needed to sit. All the women agreed on doing each other's makeup since there were no mirrors and thankfully, like the last concert in O'ahu, their makeup would stay the same the entire performance with only minor changes. The clothing racks remained the same, with all the same costumes, except for the new ones that had to be switched for the new songs added. The clothing racks remained in the middle of the room with their names on their hangers for easy grab and go. Kikyo had her own section that was bigger than the dancers'. She had one corner of the room where her five assistants would help her to get ready as quickly as possible.

Today, the gang was prepared for the weather and they endured and persevered a lot more through the routines than the previous day. Inuyasha was getting happier with the way the transitions were flowing and the costume changes were going as they did a real practice to make sure their transitions were enough time for them to get ready. There was still a little more adjusting to do but everything was working so far. He didn't want them to dance in the costumes because of how hot it was, but they at least did the beginning and ending of each song to see the flow of the transitions.

Kikyo was satisfied with the practice and wanted to call it a day by three in the afternoon. Naraku had called the cars and they all left the venue, happy to be getting back to the hotel earlier than expected. They got back to the hotel and was told to do whatever they wanted until dinner at six so they all went back to their room, planning to be back down in the lobby by six.

As Kagome opened her door, she dropped her duffle bag on the floor near the bathroom and headed to grab clean clothes. She needed a bath big time. Her phone in her bag rang, catching her attention. It had been going off all day and when they did have breaks, she checked it to see that Ayumi and Midoriko had either called her or texted her, telling her to call them back. But she just didn't have the time to do it during the breaks. Whatever they wanted, she knew that she would have a long conversation with them and she just didn't have the time during work. Now that she was in her room, she could talk to them without feeling rushed.

Quickly, she dug her phone out of her bag and walked into the bathroom, turning the lights on as she read her text from Ayumi. 'Call me! Now!' Kagome frowned, wondering why the two women were hounding her so much. It couldn't be good.

She called Ayumi and was surprised that she picked up on half a ring.

"Kagome! What the hell is wrong with you?! Why didn't you pick up your phone?!"

Kagome was taken aback by Ayumi's angry and frantic tone. She blinked a few times at herself in the mirror before she spoke. "Ayumi… what's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not! Why didn't you call me back yesterday? I called you and you never answered."

"I was in the jacuzzi with my coworkers. What time is it, by the way?" she wondered.

"That doesn't matter. Hang on." Kagome could hear Ayumi moving things around and the sounds of people got louder for a minute and then it was silent. "Okay. Where are you?"

"I'm in my room. We just got back from practice."

"I need you to sit down, Kagome."

That gave her pause, making her heart begin to beat a little faster. "Ayumi, will you just tell me what's wrong?"

Ayumi sighed heavily. "Have you seen social media?"

Kagome shook her head, remembering that Ayumi couldn't see her. "No."

"There are posts, videos, everywhere… of you."

Kagome felt like Ayumi's voice was disappearing into a tunnel and she felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. She found herself on her knees, not really knowing how she got there, but not really caring. At this moment, it felt like her world was crashing down on her. All that she had tried to do to protect herself was being taken from her, laid out for the world to see. Her privacy was destroyed.

"They're calling you 'the blue-haired dancer' on social media. There's videos of you dancing on stage at the concert. You're going viral, Kagome. Well, I don't know if it's Kikyo who's going viral or you… but some of the videos are zoomed in and focused on you. They even zoomed the camera in on the screen so that we could see your face clearly."

Kagome shut her eyes, breathing through the anxiety that began to take over her. What was she supposed to do now? Her face was all over social media and now everyone would know who she was. Everyone who wasn't supposed to know would now know and ruin her life. But then again, she had no one to blame but herself. This was the sacrifice she had to make to fulfill her dream.

"Kagome… talk to me," Ayumi pleaded, fearing the silence on the end of the line. "Tell me what you're thinking. I wish you were here so I could talk to you in person. Midoriko tried calling you too. We were afraid for you. I don't want you to do anything stupid."

Of course Ayumi would know about that. The conversation the three of them had that day in the park only led Kagome to believe that Ayumi was running from someone too. And how far would one go to keep their identity private? Maybe to the point of killing themselves before they were found by the one they were running from? Fear can make someone do the unthinkable.

"I'm… I'm okay," Kagome whispered, afraid to speak.

"You're not okay, Kagome. I can hear it in your voice. You're not okay. Is there someone there? Is someone in the room next door you can talk to?" Ayumi wanted Kagome to have someone there with her to watch her in case she decided to do something stupid. As much as she knew about Kagome, which wasn't much outside of work, Ayumi did know that Kagome was broken inside. She remembered what Kagome looked like that night at Midnite when Jinenji held her in his arms like a child. Some of the strongest people will one day break. And Ayumi didn't want that for Kagome, not when she was alone going through it.

"I'm okay, Ayumi," Kagome whispered. "I need to go." She didn't know what else to say so she hung up.

Kagome stared at her phone for a while, her body in shock. What was she to do now? Her brain began to kick into survival mode. Where would she go? She was here in Hawai'i, which was where she had ran to the first time she was almost caught. She couldn't run here now that her cover was blown here. But where would she go?

'I'm viral?' She wanted to see this video Ayumi talked about. Kagome went to YouTube and searched for this 'blue-haired dancer' with Kikyo Hayashi. And what she found were dozens of uploaded videos, all fan-made and blurry, but still so many videos that had over 500,000 views and climbing on some. She bit her bottom lip and clicked on the first one.

The video started with her and Sango moving up the runway towards Inuyasha and Miroku who danced on the smaller stage. Kikyo danced and sang in the middle but the camera was focused on her as the title of the video was 'Who is this blue-haired dancer?'. So it was obvious the camera would follow her. And it did. It moved from the big screen above back to her body on the stage, and it was made from a fan that was in the VIP section, so it was closer and less blurry when zoomed in. Then, Kagome's heart fell when the camera caught her face clearly. Several times the camera got a good glimpse of her, her expressions changing with her moves as she put her heart into her dance. But Kagome wasn't critiquing her style of dancing. She was dreading the fact that she could see herself on the camera to begin with.

'He'll find me.'

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

"Is she coming?" Naraku asked, opening the door of the restaurant to walk outside and meetup with Sango. She turned to him with a frown, shaking her head and her phone was to her ear.

"She's not answering her phone."

"Then, maybe she fell asleep," Naraku said with a shrug. "Come on. Everyone's hungry."

Sango ended the call and followed Naraku back inside the restaurant, but she was still worried about Kagome. It wasn't like her to miss out on dinner, not since all of them were following the itinerary that Naraku had made no matter how tired or sore they were. They all participated in all the activities and did everything together. And even if they were late or couldn't make it, they would at least text or call to let each other know. Kagome didn't answer any of Sango's calls or texts.

"Anything?" Miroku asked as she sat back down next to him. He frowned at her as he realized that she was really bothered by Kagome's absence.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't think she fell asleep. I mean, she did once but she woke up when I called her."

"Maybe she's just knocked out," Naraku said with a shrug as the waiter came by to ask to take their order again. "Let's just order already. If she contacts you later, just let her know to come down to get dinner to go."

Sango couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Kagome for the entire dinner. She didn't talk much with everyone but kept checking her phone. She picked at her food, eating a little here and there, mostly to appease Miroku who kept telling her she needed to eat. But she wasn't in the mood. She had a feeling that something was wrong with Kagome.

After dinner, she left the table before anyone else and told Miroku that she was going to Kagome's room to check on her. She went to the fifth floor and headed down to Kagome's room. It was helpful that they were all on the same floor and she only had to remember the last two numbers of the room. Sango went to Kagome's door and knocked loudly in case Kagome really was sleeping.

"Kagome! Kagome! Are you in there?"

No response. She knocked again and then placed her ear against the door. She couldn't hear anything. Not even the sound of the television. Maybe Kagome wasn't in her room.

"Kagome!" She knocked again, hoping that she would answer. She called Kagome again and placed her ear against the door, hoping to hear Kagome's cell ringing. But nothing. She listened to her phone until the voicemail picked up. Sango sighed, worried about her, but went back to her room down the long hallway. Their rooms were far apart so she kept looking back every so often, hoping that Kagome's head would pop out of her room.

Just as she walked past the elevator room, the doors opened and Miroku and Inuyasha walked out.

"Sango?" Miroku asked, worried. "Did you find Kagome?"

Sango shook her head, clearly upset. "No. She didn't answer the door. I tried calling her but I couldn't even hear her phone ring through the door." She then looked to Inuyasha, her eyes hopeful on him. "Inuyasha. You can find out if she's okay," she said, her mood changing.

"Huh?" he asked, wondering what kind of trouble she was going to get him in.

"Yeah. Just go outside and jump up to Kagome's room."

Inuyasha looked at her incredulously, wondering where she got the idea. Of course, since they were good friends for five years, they knew that he was a hanyou and had seen him do some superhuman things. But they also knew of the culture of Japan and how different the world was from theirs.

"Are you insane?!" he asked her, dumbfounded.

Sango gave him a tolerant look, crossing her arms. "I know you can do it, Inuyasha. You brag about how strong you are," she taunted, clearly getting fed up with him.

Inuyasha glared at her. "That's not the point, Sango. We're not in Japan. Can you imagine what would happen if someone saw me?!"

Sango's stance faltered, her determination starting to waver. She began to think about what could happen to Inuyasha if he got caught by anyone, let alone someone with a cell phone. To see someone jumping up a building would be worthy of the headlines here in the states. And she was sure there would be repercussions towards Kikyo's reputation and the secrecy of demons in Japan. There was some things best left alone in this world of humans.

Sango frowned, uncrossing her arms, clasping them together in front of her. "Please, Inuyasha. I'm really worried about her." Miroku sighed and turned to his friend, seeing the battle of emotions he was going through. It was clear that Inuyasha was worried too, but even Miroku knew the trouble it would cause if anyone saw him.

"Inuyasha…" Miroku started. Inuyasha's ears twitched towards him but his eyes remained down. "Can you jump up five floors?" he asked, his voice reasonable and patient.

"Of course I can!" he said quickly, as if that wasn't the reason.

"Then the question is not 'can you', it's 'will you'?"

"Huh?" he said, looking at Miroku. The three of them grew quiet as a couple walked into the room with the elevators, hushing their conversation. Sango tilted her head and the two boys followed her out into the hallway, going towards the side that led towards Kagome's room. She turned to look at the two, checking over their shoulders to make sure they were alone, and kept her voice down.

"What do you mean, Miroku?" Sango asked.

"I mean… Inuyasha knows he can do it. He just needs to decide if Kagome is worth the cost."

Inuyasha felt like he got punched in the gut. Miroku pretty much put into words the thoughts that were racing in his mind. Of course, he was worried about Kagome. Like Sango said, it wasn't like her not to join them for dinner, everyone knew and followed the itinerary. And then Kagome wasn't answering her phone. It could be that she was down at the pool or the beach and wasn't able to answer her phone. 'But she still would've told us she wasn't going to make it to dinner.' He didn't know what to do, but he was worried about her. And it was obvious Miroku had the same worries he did. Demons weren't known to the world. They were just fairytales. If he got caught, it was more than his life on the line.

"Inuyasha!"

He looked up at Sango, seeing her worry all over her face. He sighed, his ears drooping. He was worried too and if he wasn't going to do it for Sango, then he had to do it for himself. He just needed to see for himself if she was okay.

"Fine." What the hell was he doing? If he got caught by anyone… "I'll do it." He growled.

Sango was relieved and grabbed onto Miroku's hand, smiling at him, but then frowning once she saw the worry on Miroku's face. He shook his head at her, warning her, but saying nothing.

"Be careful, Inuyasha," Miroku said, worried for him. Inuyasha turned from them and went back to the elevator room.

"Whatever. If I get caught, I'm blaming it on you two."

Of course he wouldn't get caught. Because he couldn't get caught. His father would probably have his head if he got caught be anyone, let alone with evidence. As the elevator dinged and the doors opened, he took one last look at Sango and Miroku as they had followed him and watched him get into the elevator. He thought about how he was going to do this. Of course he could jump five floors. He could jump higher than that if he had to. But he needed to do it without any eyes around. But the way the Grand Wailea Hotel was built was a little to his benefit. As Inuyasha got out of the elevator, he made his way through the expansive lobby, going to the railings to see the beautiful fountains ahead, lit up by lights since it was nighttime. That was one benefit. He made his way down the side stairs, remembering the starting room numbers on either side of the elevator doors on their floor, and heading towards the side of the building where Kagome's room was. He could only hope that he could count his way to her room from the balconies above him. He didn't know any other way he could figure out what room she was in on the outside, especially if the glass door was locked. If counting the rooms were wrong, if somehow the hotel made it different from his hypothesis, then he was screwed. He would get caught from the occupants inside and there was no turning back from that. The beautiful ground's foliage around him brought him no comfort as his sandals flopped against the stone. The pathways were all illuminated and people were starting to head back in for the night. He looked up the side of the building where all the balconies were, checking to see how many lights were on from inside the rooms and how many balcony doors were opened. The hotel was built in a line with the lobby in the center and the ends of the building were curved in just a little so that everyone could have a pool and ocean view. He could see that being one reason why the rooms were so expensive unless you chose the mountain view rooms which might be a little cheaper.

Inuyasha kept counting, reaching down to twenty-three. He stopped, looking up at the fifth floor. If he was right, that room should be Kagome's. Room 523. He sighed, turning around to look around him, checking to see if anyone was nearby. He stretched out his senses, taking a deep inhale to catch any scents on the wind, listening for any movements or conversations nearby. There was none. Aside from talk above and around him coming from people's rooms, he sensed no one nearby. Lucky him. Inuyasha looked back up at all the lights from the rooms and the balconies above. There were only a few people he could see outside on their balconies, sitting down and talking together, or walking in and out of their rooms. They weren't close enough to notice him, who he was anyways, that he knew for sure. So even if they noticed him jump up, they couldn't tell who he was. Now the problem would be if he chose the right room. Without thinking about it more, he crouched low and kept his arms near his body, listening one last time for any movement, and using his hanyou strength he pushed off the ground.

He moved with blurring speed so that no one would notice him. But, there was always a chance. Thank goodness he wore a grey, button-up shirt and jeans pants with his black sandals for dinner, well aside from his silver hair that might call attention. Before he knew it, he reached the fifth floor and outstretched his arms and legs to slow his speed, allowing him to land quietly on the balcony floor in a crouch. He turned around, stretching out his senses again to look and listen for anyone who might've seen and was now shrieking in disbelief. But he heard and saw nothing. 'One down…' he thought, turning back towards the room.

Kagome's scent immediately hit him like a ton of bricks. 'She's here.' Her scent was everywhere. He had chosen the right room, but he didn't allow himself to feel relief yet, even though her scent seemed to calm him when he didn't realize how worried he was about her. Inuyasha used his senses once more, making sure that no one outside noticed him. Satisfied that he wasn't caught, Inuyasha stood.

Her balcony sliding door was opened, which explains why he could smell her scent. The curtains were pulled back and the room was dark within. He frowned, leaving his sandals outside and walking in cautiously, his eyes going directly to the sliver of light within the bathroom. That was the only sign he got that she was in here, besides her obvious scent. He knew she was here. He could feel her, smell her. His ears perked up and he could hear her. Her breathing was soft and even, as if she was sleeping. He frowned, checking around the room to see that nothing was out of order. Her purse was on the table, her bed was made and everything was off in pitch darkness.

Slowly, he made his way towards the bathroom door. It was cracked open just an inch, allowing only a thin line of light to flow out into the dark room. He pressed his hand to the door and pushed it open.

The sight nearly made his heart stop. Kagome was sitting with her back against the glass door of the walk-in shower. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her head was resting on top of her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs, as if she was trying to make herself into a small ball. She had on a light blue dress, the bottom of it ruffled as she clutched her legs, and he noticed her phone next to her on the ground.

"Kagome…"

Inuyasha watched as her head came up slowly. He first thought that maybe she had fallen asleep, her breathing was even and shallow. But then, she brought her head up to look at him, and his heart did a strange thing. It was like the air was kicked out of his lungs when he saw Kagome's face. Her blue eyes seemed clouded, lost, as she looked at him with no recognition of who he was. She just stared at him. He could tell that she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks flushed with some of her hair stuck to her skin. She looked like a beautiful, dying mess. And he couldn't help himself. His feet moved without a thought as he made his way towards her and knelt in front of her, distressed at seeing her this way. 'What happened?' He couldn't figure out why she was like this but he didn't like it. Everything in him reacted, demanded. He needed to protect her.

"Kagome… what happened? Why are you crying?" he asked, talking slowly so that he could reach her. It took her a while, a minute or two, but her eyes adjusted and took him in, finally recognizing who he was.

"Inu… yasha."

He flinched. The sound of her voice was small, tired, almost like a child's.

"What happened, Kagome?" he asked again, trying to soften his voice, not wanting to scare her.

She blinked slowly a couple times as if trying to figure out who he was again. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Kagome was always a bright light, not just in the way she danced but in her aura. He was drawn to that about her. And here she was, as if her light died out.

Slowly, he reached out to touch her, afraid that if he did, she would shatter. He didn't want her to be afraid of him. Inuyasha placed his hand on her left shoulder, using his thumb to stroke her soft skin, wanting to show her that he was real.

"Kagome, it's me. Tell me what happened."

The realization dawned on her then as he saw her eyes lit up and immediately began to water. The trembling started and he could feel it through his connection to her. Her lips trembled and tears tracked down her face, making his heart clench.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered, this time a little stronger, knowing who he was. Without warning, she launched herself into him, making him lose his balance, but thankfully he had been kneeling on one knee. He fell back on his butt as she hugged his waist, resting her body on his lap while he used his hands to hold himself up. She began to cry hard, her cries echoing in the bathroom, pulling at the strings of his heart.

"Kagome…" he whispered, lost in his own emotions as to the way he felt for her. He pulled her legs up so that he could adjust himself, sitting up cross-legged with her body in between his legs, both of them draped over his left thigh. He held her as she cried loudly into his chest, not knowing what else to do. He didn't know how to help her but to just give her his strength. So he wrapped his arms tighter around her smaller body and held her to him, placing his cheek on top of her head, letting her cry.

But after so long, he could only take so much of her tears and sorrow. "Kagome. What happened? Tell me what's wrong?" He leaned back to try and get her to look at him but she had a death grip on his torso, clinging to him so that she didn't have to look up at him. "Kagome. You need to tell me what happened." He knew how secretive she was but for the life of him, she was going to tell him what happened whether she liked it or not. He was not going to take 'no' from her this time. Not when she was breaking his heart and he felt so helpless.

"Tell me, Kagome." Still, she said nothing but at least her cries were subsiding with only a few sniffles and hiccups. Since she was a little calmer, he decided to move them where the both of them would be comfortable enough to have a long talk. He wasn't going without an explanation.

Inuyasha moved, bringing his legs in and leaning forward, making her arms around his waist loosen. Easily, he stood up with her in his arms and walked out of the bathroom and straight to the bed. The darkness would be good for her. She would feel safer in the dark, as if the shadows could hide her secrets. But not from him. He could see her clearly in the dark and he was going to hear what secrets she was hiding whether she was ready to share them or not.

He went straight onto the bed, crawling for a bit on his knees so that he could rest his back against the pillows and the headboard. He settled cross-legged again, placing her between his legs again. He released her so that he could fix the pillows behind him, allowing him to sit up comfortably with her against him. She didn't say a word the whole time but her eyes were opened, looking but not seeing anything. Since the curtains were pulled back, the moonlight brought some light into the room, but it was still dark to really see anything. When he settled, he brought her against his chest, running his hand along her arm, thankful that he could hold her like this without her getting upset or pulling away from him. Just the touch of her skin was soothing to him. Her scent was a balm to his soul. And he wanted to taste her tears, to lick them away and to heal her so that she wouldn't cry anymore.

"Tell me what's wrong, Kagome."

He gave her all the time she needed, but kept greedily taking from her what he wanted, selfish be damned. The touch of her skin sent awareness into him. He inhaled her scent deeply, allowing it to wash over him, realizing that his demon was pacified. He clutched her closer to him, loving the way she fit into him, the way her body was molded as if for him. Inuyasha took a breath and sighed softly, waiting, not wanting to get too caught up in her.

"He's going to find me…"

Her whisper shot into the dark but he heard it nonetheless. And his reaction came without warning. His demon immediately went from pacified to enraged, all of his senses flaring out to find the threat to her. He was sure that his markings on his face were starting to show and he didn't want her to see him that way, not when she was so vulnerable and afraid. It was the sound of her voice and those few threatening words that quickly caused a reaction in him. So he took a few breaths to calm his demon, bringing understanding into his mind that Kagome was here, she was safe in his arms and no one was going to hurt her, not over his dead body. That seemed to work. His demon quieted.

"Who is?" he demanded, calming his voice. He could feel her hands cling to his shirt, bunching the material in her hands. They shook against his chest as he waited.

"He'll find me," she whispered, tilting her head up so that he could see her eyes but she could barely see him with the moonlight's help. Her cheek was pressed against him, her lips pink and swollen from all the crying. "I went viral."

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he frowned, his golden eyes looking at her with pity. He knew this was going to happen. It was inevitable. With the fame that Kikyo was receiving in Japan, eventually Kagome's contract would be nothing but words on paper. There was no way that they could protect her from the world, not when she was working for Kikyo. And now that they were in the states, there was no telling the fame that she would receive. And yet, Naraku and Kikyo were to blame. He held them accountable for not being truthful to her. Her plan of only being in concerts and not in any PR wasn't going to work. It was full of shit. And they fed into it, making her believe that the contract they were signing was going to work out for both parties. He knew better and he should've warned her.

"Kagome… it was inevitable. Kikyo is on the top ten Billboard's chart. And who knows what she is on iTunes. These sold out concerts are increasing her fame. And unfortunately that means our fame as well."

She bit her bottom lip, making him realize the reason why her lips were swollen and pink was because of her biting them. It was a habit of hers.

"I'm all over social media, Inuyasha," she whispered, her voice now getting stronger as if clarity was coming back to her. But she didn't let go of him, as if he was her lifeline in the swirling of thoughts and emotions that must be going around in her mind.

"Of course you are. We all are." He stopped stroking her skin and just held her, trying to make her understand. "I know that you didn't want this, Kagome. I know that you wanted to be clear in your contract. But you have to understand that we can't control the crowds. We can't ban people from bringing in their cell phones and recording us on stage. It's not possible. Not in this day and age where social media is an idol."

Kagome didn't stop biting her lip so he used his thumb to bring her bottom lip out from under her teeth. She seemed startled, making him remember how much she didn't like to be touched by men. But she didn't flinch or pull away.

Kagome's bottom lip trembled again and she stared into his eyes, taking comfort in those golden eyes. "I'm afraid… he'll find me."

"Who is?" he demanded. "Tell me who you're afraid of, Kagome."

Tears began to stream down the sides of her face again and she closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him as she cried. She tried to turn her head from him but he didn't allow it. He used the pad of his thumb to wipe the tears that ran into his palm as he cupped her cheek with his left hand.

"Kagome… I'm right here," he said, bringing his forehead to hers so that she could feel him, know that he was here. "I'm not going anywhere. And no one is going to hurt you."

Kagome opened her eyes and could see his eyes clearly, so close to hers. There was so much strength in his eyes that she wanted to cry harder. He didn't have a clue what he was doing to her, and what she was allowing him to do to her. She brought her hand up to do the same to him. She placed her right palm against his cheek, stroking his skin to feel his face. He was here with her and that gave her strength and comfort. He also turned her heart over. The way he held her so gently, yet she could feel his strength pouring into her, as if he could protect her from her demons. The way he looked at her, as if she was precious to him. At least in this moment, in her mind, she felt precious to him. And she allowed herself to feel that. She wanted to be selfish for this moment. She wanted him to help her forget.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome ran her hand down to cup the back of his neck, pulling him down to her as she tilted her head up, closing the small gap between them. Her lips touched his and she watched his eyes go wide for a second, golden meeting blue, and then they were both lost in the feeling. Kagome deepened the kiss and closed her eyes, feeling his arm around her pulling her closer into his chest as if they couldn't get any closer. His other hand did the same thing, his fingers going into her hair to keep her head in the position he wanted it. His lips moved against hers and she thought it was the sweetest experience she ever had. To be held like this in a man's arms. To feel safe and protected in a man's arms. It was something she never thought she would ever experience from a man and here he was. Inuyasha. He was breaking down her walls. He was breaking her.

Inuyasha ran his tongue along Kagome's swollen lips, kissing her with tenderness, not wanting to bruise her already swollen lips from all her crying. But the fire in his belly was ignited. She started a firestorm in him that he hadn't felt before, not with anyone. This one human woman was making him feel again. More than before. He moaned when he licked her lips again but this time she opened for him and he explored her mouth with his tongue, deepening the kiss. He moaned, his body getting hard, welcoming the sensation that she brought to his groin. It wasn't like what he felt in the past for other women. This was different. Kagome was different. He never kissed women. Kissing was off-limits for him when he was getting off. But she had pulled him in for a kiss and he didn't, couldn't, resist her. He found her tongue and gently coaxed her, earning him a moan as she shifted in his arms, the scent of her arousal hitting him like a bulldozer. That scent called to him, ignited the fire in his groin, making him lose his mind. He kissed her hungrily, telling her all the things he wanted to tell her through the kiss. That he would protect her. That he would keep her safe. And he thought she understood it because she began to cry again, her lips against his trembling as he smelled her tears.

Inuyasha pulled back, allowing them both to breathe, and he gazed down at her. Her face was flushed, her lips swollen and trembling, her eyes closed as if she was too tired to open them, tired of crying. He brushed at her tears, taking his time to feel her skin. He thought she looked like a temptress lying in his arms, even though she was hurting inside. That made him stop his advancements. He didn't want to push her further, even though they were both turned on, and he knew she could feel his hard on when she shifted in his arms. Her heart was beating fast but her tears kept falling and his heart was breaking. Such a strange mix of emotions in this moment with her.

"Stop crying, Kagome. I won't let him hurt you," he said softly, gathering her against his chest as they both settled into each other.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

Inuyasha woke when his phone rang. The horrid thing was vibrating and ringing in his back pocket, waking up Kagome who was still in his arms. Sometime in the night, he remembered waking up to slide his body down so that the both of them could lie and sleep comfortably. She had remained in his arms the whole night, as if subconsciously she knew he was there and needed him. He woke a couple times to check on her, but then would just shift her on his chest and went right back to sleep.

"Mmmm… Inu… yasha…" Kagome mumbled, rubbing her cheek against his chest. He let himself feel his morning hard on along with what Kagome was doing to him as he rolled them over a bit so he could dig out his phone.

"Yeah?" he answered, checking his phone quickly to see the time. 'Shit.' It was after eight. They were late.

"Where are you?!" Kikyo demanded, her voice blaring through his phone. "We're at the restaurant. You didn't answer your door when I came by. Where are you?" she asked again.

Inuyasha sighed heavily, feeling Kagome stir next to him. They both were still dressed in the clothes they wore yesterday. And as she began to sit up to brush her hair back, he got a good look of her. The dress she wore was a beautiful, simple dress that clung to her upper body but flared out at her hips. He soaked her in just as she turned to look at him, their eyes knowing.

"Inuyasha!"

Kikyo's voice blared out loudly that even Kagome could hear her. She frowned, mouthing 'sorry' to him. Inuyasha just shook his head with a roll of his eyes, uncaring about Kikyo.

"I'm getting room service. I'll meet you guys at the car." He ended the call before she could question him again. He sighed, flopping his hand with his phone down onto the bed. "That woman gives me grey hairs."

Kagome held in her giggle, arching her eyebrow. "Where?" She looked up at his gorgeous, silver hair, shaking her head.

He chuckled but grew serious a moment later. "Are you okay?"

Kagome took a moment and looked away from him. "I think I am. I have no choice, do I? We have the first performance tonight and then the last one, tomorrow." She frowned, looking back at him and seeing his frown. He was worried about her. She smiled, touched that he cared that much, trying to reassure him, but she couldn't even reassure herself. "I'm okay, Inuyasha."

He sighed, bringing his hands back behind his head to regard her. They were going to talk about this. "I told you before, Kagome, that I don't like liars."

Even as he laid there looking seriously at her, she couldn't help but feel her body get heated. She had butterflies in the pit of her stomach as she looked him over lying in her bed. He looked delicious, just woken up from a restless night of sleep. She was sure that she looked like hell with swollen eyes and lips, but he looked perfect and ready for the day. How was that? She shook her head.

"I know. I'm not lying to you. I'm lying to myself so that I believe I'm okay. I need to believe that I'll be okay, Inuyasha," she said, her eyes pleading him to understand.

He saw it in her eyes and couldn't hold it against her. He sighed, sitting up so that they were barely inches from each other's face. Kagome's breath hitched and she moved back just slightly, but he noticed that she didn't move away from him, just enough to allow her to breathe. He smiled to himself. Something in her changed with the way she was with him now.

"How did you get in my room?" she asked, looking around, now taking in their surroundings. The bathroom light was still on and the door was wide open. The curtains were pulled back, the sunlight streaming into the room, reminding her that they were late.

Inuyasha chuckled, tilting his head towards the light. "The balcony."

"What?" she said, shocked, looking at him in wonder. "How?"

Inuyasha regarded her with a bored stare, arching his eyebrow when she looked at him. "How do you think?"

"Well, I know you're a hanyou. But did you fly or jump up here?"

"I can't fly, Kagome," he said with a smirk, shaking his head, wondering where her imaginations came from. "I jumped up. Thankfully, you left the door open."

She turned to look at the curtain, wondering when she did that. "I think I went outside after I took a shower." She frowned, bringing her legs under her as she kneeled on the bed, trying to remember the events from yesterday. Even Inuyasha moved so that he could watch her, listening to every word she said as he sat against the headboard.

"A friend called me yesterday," she said matter-of-factly. "Told me about videos going around on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube… showing me dancing on stage. The videos were calling me the 'blue-haired dancer'." She remembered the breakdown she had mentally and emotionally when Ayumi told her that. She had completely shut down, her mind going immediately to her 'fight-or-flight' instinct. She had wanted to run, to leave the hotel and the gang, and figure things out as she goes. She thought about booking a flight home and going to Midnite before she left the country. But she also knew she couldn't run, she knew the risks she chose to take, and she had battled with herself internally before she gave up and resigned in defeat.

"I went online to look at these videos and she was right. By then, some videos had over one million views," she said softly, surprised. On one hand, she felt pride that people were now recognizing her talent. On the other, she immediately felt guilty for being so stupid that she thought she would be kept out of the limelight. "The chats and comments on those videos were about people asking who the 'blue-haired dancer' was, saying I was a new addition to Kikyo's group and that they would have to go to her concerts to see me."

Inuyasha frowned. Kikyo was gaining popularity off of Kagome's security. He wondered if Kikyo knew and chose not to say anything since it was in Kagome's contract. Of course Kikyo knew. She always monitored her success and her fans on social media. He didn't want to say anything, in case she decided to stop sharing. But he could understand the emotions she faced now. Although she still didn't give him a reason why she was afraid beside the fact that someone was going to find her. He still didn't know who and why she was running from this person.

"I just… I broke down. I couldn't read anymore or watch any more of the videos. There were so many of them," she remembered. "I went to take a bath and I just cried until I got all pruny. I got ready, knowing I had to come down to meet you guys for dinner, but I had no appetite and I had no desire to be out in the world." She remembered how automatic her actions were, getting ready, putting on her clothes and combing her hair outside on the balcony. It all seemed like a blur, like her mind went into automatic and she had mentally shut off. "I couldn't go down. So I found myself back in the bathroom, watching the videos again on the bathroom floor, seeing the views increasing, and feeling my heart just… break."

Inuyasha grabbed her and brought into his arms, uncaring if she wanted to pull away or not. He held her, feeling her relax into him as she brought her hands around him. "You haven't told me who you're running from," he pointed out.

"I can't," Kagome whispered, afraid to say his name. She didn't want him to know.

Inuyasha sighed, tightening his hold on her. "Fine. I'll find out somehow, Kagome. And I'll keep you safe. He won't get to you." She moved back to look up at him with a frown, but then she smiled softly.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered, tearing. She shook her head and turned to check the bedside table. "We should hurry." They had half an hour to get downstairs. Kagome began to move off the bed on the other side, fixing her dress as she turned to look at him.

"Thank you for last night, Inuyasha."

He smiled at her, remembering their kiss. He knew it was probably nothing, something she needed in the moment, even though her body betrayed her and he could smell it. He knew that they were both a long ways from each other, but he still wanted her. He was drawn to her more than he would admit it.

"I want you to trust me, Kagome," he said, moving off the bed on his side and fixing his shirt and hair. "I'm your boss but I'm also your dance partner. I need you to trust me. We all trust each other in this group and we share with each other about ourselves." He grabbed his phone and placed it in his back pocket. "I know eventually you'll trust me, but I want you to know that you can. That I'm not whoever it is that you're hiding from, and that you can trust me." He looked her dead in the eyes and her eyes widened, seeing that he was starting to read into her and where her trust issues came from. Whoever this guy was, he was the reason Kagome is the way she is. And he was going to find out who this person is.

He walked over to the balcony to get his sandals and then headed for the front door. "I'll see you later. Don't forget to get something to eat. We might finish practice early since yesterday went well… but since I take it you didn't eat last night, get something from room service or the restaurant downstairs." He opened the door and took one last look at her. She stood next to the bed in the same spot he left her. She looked so small, so delicate, like a child in a big world. And now that Inuyasha knew something a little deeper about Kagome, every instinct in him was telling him to protect her. But he couldn't protect someone who didn't want his protection. He could only wait for her to trust him. But he would do everything in his power to take care of her, to let her know that she could trust him, to show her what she meant to him. Inuyasha sighed, turning around to shut the door behind him, not ready to face those emotions just yet.

Just as the car pulled up, Kagome found herself downstairs and hurrying to meet the others. Sango was looking around worriedly when she finally spotted Kagome.

"Kagome!" she yelled, walking up to her and embracing her tightly. Kagome was startled, using her free hand to hug Sango back as she tried to move her duffle bag out of the way.

"Ummm… Sango? Is everything okay?"

Sango reared back and glared at her. "Is everything okay? I tried calling you last night. Multiple times," she said, using her hand gestures to prove her point. "I texted you. I banged on your door. And it was like you disappeared. What happened?"

Kagome smiled reassuringly and grabbed Sango's hand, squeezing it in reassurance. "Nothing. I just feel asleep. I didn't feel well and I put my phone on silent. That's why I didn't hear any of it. I'm sorry if I worried you, Sango," she said, pulling her forward to catch up with the others as the drivers were grabbing duffle bags from everyone as they filed in the cars. She smiled when she saw Inuyasha turn to look at her. He looked refreshed and ready for the day dressed in loose dark blue pants and a grey muscle shirt. He smiled back at her just as Kikyo called for him and motioned for him to get into her car. Naraku rode with the dancers in Inuyasha's place as they all filed in the two Escalades and headed off to the MACC.

The rest of the day went by quickly with Kikyo being satisfied and ready for the performance tonight. They all went back to the hotel for a quick rest and bath. Sango had asked Kagome if they could take food up to her room where they could eat and talk and then take a nap together. Kagome agreed after she saw how worried Sango really was and feeling like she owed Sango an apology. When they settled in her room, she opened up to Sango and told her what really happened last night, withholding the intimate parts with Inuyasha, but telling her why she had a meltdown and asking for Sango's advice on what to do now. Sango had told her that there wasn't anything she could do but to ride it out and let social media have its fun. At least it was beneficial for Kikyo and for her. Sango was sympathetic, though she didn't know why Kagome still was trying to maintain a secret image, and Kagome didn't tell her that she was running from someone. Inuyasha was the only one who knew.

They all met up downstairs at five to head back to the venue. Doors opened at seven so they all got there early and began to get ready for the performance. The men and women shared the same space and it worked out well for everyone. Kikyo had her own full corner where she had mirrors and assistants getting her done while she talked to Naraku or the other crew members to make sure that everything was going according to plan. At seven, the doors opened and crowds began to fill the chairs that the venue had setup on the lawn.

As Kagome went outside the dressing room, she noticed all the security guards that stood along the fences that gave them a clear path to the stage. She thought about the videos and how she was famous now, just like the others and Kikyo, and how this security was for her too. She was used to it at Midnite, but not here, not in the open like this. Not as Kagome. A little later, they all had their pre-show huddle to pump everyone up and then the show started.

Because the venue was outdoors, the sound echoed into space and with the live scenery, it was a nice change. Everything was the same for the performers except for the five new songs that they had changed, the outfits and the transitions between them. But other than that, Kagome found that it was like second-nature to her now. She tried hard not to let the videos get to her head but she enjoyed the moment as a performer. Even though she was aware of the fans who could be taking her photo or video right now as she enjoyed herself, she also knew that Sango was right. There was nothing she could do about it but let the fans have their say about her. She was the new girl, the new talk of the town, and they would buzz about her until it went away into the next big thing. She just had to ride this out for the time being and see if she could stick with it. As much as she wanted to say that tomorrow would be her last performance, Kagome knew in her heart that this was where she wanted to be. This was her dream. How far is she willing to go for it now that her privacy is gone?

One thing she noticed is how Inuyasha seemed attuned to her. For some of the routines where they both had to dance side by side, she noticed how he got close enough to her to give her words of encouragement. She knew no one else heard him over the loud speakers, but he wanted her to have fun and know that he was there. And she loved him for that. He boosted her resolve that this was where she belonged and he made her feel alive in the moment. She danced with him, the two of them putting on a show for the audience as they could only focus on each other while they did their parts together. The crowd went wild for the two, camera flashes going off while they danced together. At the end of the show, Kikyo addressed the crowd during her last song, cutting away from her lyrics to say a few words of gratitude to all her fans who made any of her concerts out here in the islands. The crowd cheered for her, obviously supporting her in her endeavors, and at the end of the show, Kikyo asked everyone to the front of the stage to give a final bow to all the fans before they left the stage.

After the show ended, everyone was on a high in the dressing room. The atmosphere was alive and on fire as the audience cheered for them long after they got off the stage. After half an hour of everyone being able to stretch their aching muscles and take a break, Kikyo wanted them all to head back to the hotel for a hot bath and a good night's sleep because the next night would be their final performance. Everyone was happy and energized for the last show, feeling that this concert was a huge success for Kikyo.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

'This is just too good…' he thought, taking his phone with him and moving through the crowd. There was a party at the house in honor of the Nakashimas closing a deal with one of the largest stock investors on Shikoku. Soon, the Nakashimas would own all big corporations and businesses on Shikoku, expanding their reign over the island and into all sorts of fields of business. So long as it made money, the Nakashimas weren't particular as to what field of business they were buying into. Everyone would soon know of the power of the Nakashima name.

The house was huge with high ceilings and a very modern feel. The living room had distinguished guests, most of them demons and part of the family business, but all of them were dressed in casual clothes, obviously taking the day off to have fun. He made his way through the home, smiling at some couples as he passed them, noticing a waiter coming towards him with a tray of what looked like a margarita. He grabbed one right off the tray and continued towards the opened glass doors that led outside to the pool area.

Taking a sip, he looked around at all the bodies lying around the pool and those who are swimming. Almost everyone had a drink or food in their hands, clearly enjoying themselves as they chatted together. He made his way towards the side of the pool, looking in the water to see who was in the pool. And then he found who he was looking for, the demon lying on one of the pool chairs with his shades on and a huge smile as two women were on either side of him, giving him their attention. Actually, giving him more than attention in those bikinis they wore that left little to the imagination. His boss only had on white swim shorts and his upper body was bare, allowing the women to place their hands on his arms and chest, obviously wanting more than just attention from him.

Hakkaku walked up towards the lounge chair, waiting until the demon turned to look up at him, clearly annoyed that Hakkaku's shadow was now on his body.

"What?" his boss asked, irritated.

Hakkaku smiled, taking a sip from his margarita drink. "You're going to love this." He extended his phone out and pressed play, watching as the two women moved back onto their chairs, giving him the space he needed to conduct his business with Hakkaku. Hakkaku was never one to push his boss unless he needed the nudge. He was known to be 'the bully' though, compared to his partner Ginta. Ginta was the more sensitive and smarter type of them. He was the muscle. Their boss hired them years ago, when they were children and friends, their relationship growing into more business than just childish fantasies.

He watched as his boss leaned forward, grabbing his phone from his hand, and looking at the screen in disbelief. Hakkaku knew what it was, he had watched it over and over to confirm that what he saw in the video was true. But there were many videos like it all over social media, how could they all be wrong, and he was certain that he knew who he saw in those videos.

He waited, watching as his boss pressed play on his phone again and the video came alive with people screaming and music blaring through his speakers. He watched as his boss lifted his shades, now sitting up straight, batting away the hands of the women who had reached over to touch him again, desperate for his attention. They sat back with frowns, irritated that they were forgotten by a stupid video. But Hakkaku knew that to his boss, this wasn't a stupid video. This was what they had been waiting for for years. And watching his boss' reaction, the way his eyes squinted, knowing that he was trying to decipher if what he saw was truly her, Hakkaku felt satisfaction when he saw realization dawn on his boss' face.

"She's there, Koga," Hakkaku said triumphantly, a huge smile on his face as he waited for Koga to say something. "We found her."

The video played on until the end, freezing on a frame where there was a blue-haired dancer with a silver-haired dancer looking at each other, frozen in one of their dance moves together. They were obviously dance partners and it looked like they had been dancing together for some time now by the way they were dancing on stage. And it was hard to tell at times since hands were thrown in the air, sometimes blocking the view of the amateur video from one of the fans. But Koga saw her clearly when the camera would zoom in on her. He knew who it was. It was her. She thought she could run from him but he had been looking for her for the past nine years. Nine years of having all his henchmen search the entire country for her, his prized possession. His wife.

"Kagome… I finally found you."