Across the Hall

Chapter 2

Scarlet Fury

Kagome felt her eyebrows twitching, not for the first time that night.

She shouldn't be here. This was stupid- wrong.

It was already past midnight and Kagome was scared shitless. No, not because of all the dangerous looking demons, or all the lecherous men looking for an easy target. No, those she could handle... Not physically, of course, but if she remained quiet and invisible enough, she could avoid any unwanted attention. So, certainly that was not the main issue at all.

'It all comes down to…'

This was illegal. She was sure this was illegal. That was the only thought running through her head despite the loud noise, the yells, the roars, the whistles. They were all ignored as she focused on steadying her rapidly beating heart. She took a deep breath. Perhaps counting would help. One… she inhaled, filling her lungs with the smell of cigarette, perspiration, and other bizarre smells she couldn't quite figure out. Two… she exhaled. Three… she took another mouthful of air. Fo-

Nope, no good. That heart of hers was still beating wildly.

She was sure she saw a couple of demons glanced her way, snickering. They were surely listening to the drumroll resonating loudly from her chest cavity.

Great… what happened to 'remaining quiet and invisible'?

She gulped, feeling very claustrophobic. 'Damn, I should've never agreed to come in the first place…' Kagome thought as she watched the crowd of demons and humans pushing against each other just to get a glimpse of the fight. Every once in a while she would glance back at the ring, right in the center of the old and dimly lit warehouse, and scoff. 'How did he manage to get us into such a great spot? She wondered, as she tried to focus on the was very close to the ring, so close she could hear as the right fist of one of the fighters buried deep into the stomach of the poor soul fighting him.

Yeah, the red-clad guy was definitely gonna win.

Kagome suddenly grimaced as yet another guy bumped into her, making her loose the little interest she had on the fight to turn and glare at him –a completely useless gesture, because he had already left, not even realizing he had bumped into her-. "You could at least apologize…" she muttered to herself. Turned out the guy was a wolf demon, and as such, he'd heard her.

"What was that?" he spat, turning around with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing" Kagome said meekly, waving her hands in surrender.

He sneered back at her with an air of arrogance so palpable it made Kagome sick. "I thought so." With that he turned around and left.

For a moment the guy next to her chuckled at her aggravated expression, but his attention soon returned to the attractive female demon commenting the current fight between two very rabid-looking demons. Kagome scoffed, great friend he was.

The fear soon gave way to a great wave of irritation.

Why was she here again?

Right, it was all thanks to her best friend... Miroku had finally convinced her to go to this secret activity, never telling her that it was to some underground fight.

It was chaotic; the old warehouse was surprisingly crowded with humans and demons alike, all cheering either of the two demons brutally fighting in the arena. She grimaced as the green-suited fighter got a particularly nasty wound in his right leg. Even from their position she could hear his pained cry –as well as the other guy's –the red-suited fighter- mocking laugh.

What a nasty fight this was.

Yes. These very gruesome, very inhumane and very illegal clandestine fights were held –according to Miroku- thrice a week in different warehouses across downtown. Kagome scowled and rubbed her eyes vigorously, blaming her companion for keeping her awake on a week night. She had a freaking deadline, she couldn't afford to waste time and Miroku knew it! She wasn't even halfway done with this week's chapter.

"Miroku, for the umpteenth time –and don't you dare shush me again! - how the hell is this" she snapped, emphasizing with wild hand gestures her disbelief. She looked around in disapproval, taking in the run down warehouse in all its glory. She had never imagined, not in a million years, that she would ever witness a clandestine fight, illegal fights with demons knocking each other's lights out "going to 'get my creative juices flowing'?"

Miroku sighed, rolling his eyes "If you must know…" he placed his hands on Kagome's shoulder, looking into her eyes deeply, and then smiled "it won't" as soon as she opened her mouth to argue he added offhandedly "I just wanted to meet hot chicks and I didn't want to come here by myself."

"I knew it. Miroku," she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and forced him to bend his spine slightly. Once he was close enough, Kagome pressed her mouth to his ear –an action that earned her a few wolf whistles that she blatantly ignored. "You know that this IS against the law. This is wrong! I don't wanna go to jail- I can't go to jail, I'm too young! I wouldn't last ten minutes in there and you know it!" she ended, whining the last sentence childishly. Miroku chucked patting her head slightly. She looked up with watery eyes and he gave her a reassuring smile. Ah, sometimes she was too cute… if only he didn't see her as a sister…

Miroku smiled, grabbing her in a one arm hug. "Kagome, relax. Enjoy the view, who knows, perhaps by people watching you'll find inspiration." As Miroku said that with a nonchalant shrug, the green fighter avoided a kick and managed to throw a roundhouse kick back at the other guy. Kagome grimaced as the feet collided with the guy's jaw, sending him a few feet into the air. Not wasting a second, the red fighter landed on his hands, using them to catapult him into a defensive stance. Man, that guy is good.

"I seriously doubt that…" she said unenthusiastically, her eyes lazily coming to rest on the fight again. "Inspiration, my ass…" she added under her breath as she focused on the fight. The red fighter was on the lead again. He was throwing punch after punch with a speed she could barely follow. Once he had the green fighter cornered, he kicked him right in the face with such force that it broke the visor and his nose, probably a payback for the roundhouse kick he'd received earlier. Ouch.

"Come on, Kagome. It's not a secret your manga has been lacking... a teensy bit of action lately." Her eyes widened in dismay, but before she could muster a descent response a pained yell resonated through the warehouse.

Game over.

It didn't take long for the fighter in the green suit to be carried out of the ring by two wolf demons. "What, they don't kill the loser at the end?" she asked sarcastically, managing a mocking face of confusion.

Miroku scratched his cheek "Don't be like that, Kagome. They're not that heartless… at least not on week nights."

The crowd went wild, and she took the moment to study the winner. He seemed to be well fit –if the red skin tight suit was any indicator, the only visible part of his body were his eyes, through the tinted visor in his black helmet, and his claws.

As if feeling her scrutiny his eyes flickered to her, holding her gaze for a second and Kagome froze. She had seen those eyes before, she knew she had. There was a flash of recognition in his amber eyes as well and he hastily looked away. Yeah, those eyes were remotely familiar; she squinted a little, trying to remember from where she knew him.

Nothing.

"Kagome?" Miroku waved at her until she looked at him. "Are you ok? You were gone for a while."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry I'm fine. Who is he?" she asked while nodding at the victor.

Miroku followed her eyes. "Who, Scarlet Fury? I heard he's a regular. Comes every week, wins nine out of ten times.."

"…Scarlet Fury, what kinda name is that?"

Miroku shrugged. "Dunno, he never gave us his real one. We had to call him something, didn't we?"

"Who chose that corny name? And we? What the hell Miroku, how many times have you been here?"

"Yura, that woman over there" he said, pointing at the female demon he had been ogling before. As if feeling their eyes on her she turned her head and scoffed back when Miroku waved at her flirtatiously. No wonder… "And for your information, this is only my second time."

"Second time? What the hell, Miroku!" Kagome said, raising her voice. Most of the demons standing close by scowled at her and she lower her voice to an angry whisper. "What the hell is wrong with you?

Miroku raised his arms in mock surrender. "Easy now, don't be such a party pooper. Sometimes a man's gotta live a little bit" his joke was met with an icy glare. Miroku sighed, knowing he was going to miss the other two fights of the night. His eyes softened, well, at least he'd gotten her out of her apartment for a little while…. Even if it was for something illegal. "Let's head back to your place, I'm starving Kags."

Kagome exhale deeply through her mouth, ruffling her bangs a little. "Come on." At least they were finally getting out of that place.

Kagome yawned, and he instantly stood up to leave. He'd distracted her way past her bed time. He ate the last mouthful of his peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and moved to grab his bag. "Well, it was really nice seeing you Kags. Do you wanna grab some coffee tomorrow?" Miroku asked, knowing he was pushing his luck.

Kagome looked back at the door of her study, she was really behind on the chapter… "I… How about this Saturday? I still need to finish ten pages by tomorrow night, and I think that at this point the only way I'm getting it done is if I pull an all-nighter and-"

Miroku grabbed her shoulders, giving her a brotherly look. "Hey, no need for explanations, I get it. I'm your agent, remember?" He gave her a concerned look. "I'll push back your deadline for Sunday morning, that will give me enough time to run to the agency and make it in time for next week's issue."

Kagome's eyes watered as she hugged him, after a few seconds she looked up at him with a radiant smile "You do know I love you right?"

Miroku puffed his chest. "Of course, I earned it with hard work and dedication."

Kagome grinned back at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, aren't you a humble man."

"Always" Miroku said cheekily. The both laughed as she opened her front door. Her laugh subsided as she saw who has emerged from the staircase.

Her lovely neighbor narrowed her amber eyes at her. As if sensing his father, a sleepy Mitsuo opened his front door and flung himself at him. Inuyasha caught him and looked down at him tenderly. Mitsuo looked up, his mouth trembling a little. "I had a nightmare…"

Kagome looked dumbly at him. Amber eyes.

"It's ok, I'm here now." He said as he walked to their door. With one last glare, he closed it.

"Well, isn't he a little ray of sunshine" Miroku said sarcastically, their eyes still on the closed door.

Amber eyes. Kagome blinked and brought her fist to her open palm lightly. Of course, amber eyes!

Now she remembered.

A/N: finally updated :) I sincerely hope you guys liked this chapter. And I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your review, if that's the case please tell me… I'm a very forgetful person and I enjoy reading each and every review, but sometime I read it during class or while I'm on the phone and I forget to respond later. Hehehe…

Anyway, if you liked it, hated it… found it 'meh', you know what to do! Until next time! XD