Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or whatever heaven-sent band that wrote Sant Maria.
A/N: Hey all. I thought I'd give you another chapter since the last once was a bit short and I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this coming week since I'm going to be busy working on a research paper (about working memory inhibitory control and it's relationship to language if you're interested ;-).) Plus my fingers are frozen from a massive snowball fight I just survived and typing will help the circulation begin again. Anyway, moving on... this next part is important!
QuietShadows asked about the meaning of the word Gaean and I thought I could explain that and not give away too much. Gaea is the first Greek goddess Mother Earth. She is the mother of all living, (i.e. humans, gods, monsters, titans, the four elements, the sky god Uranus, etc...). So gaean means of or pertaining to Gaea herself. I know I'm mixing Greek mythology in where it doesn't necessarily belong but hey, indulge me just this once. Confused? Great! On with the story...
Chapter 4: Night Out II – Do you tango?
It had surprised everyone else when Sesshoumaru announced his intentions of coming, but he was still too intrigued by the young miko to let her out of his sight yet. He drove Rin home (having flown by the house on his way to the restaurant to pick her up) and then headed back out. When he approached he saw the ladies being dropped off at the door, and he followed his brother and Miroku to park by them and walk in together.
Inside the men caught up to the women as they found a large round booth on the second level overlooking the dance floor below. A harassed looking waitress came to take their drink orders. Everyone else had ordered when the waitress turned to Kagome, "And you?"
"Ichiro," Kagome began, reading her nametag, "will you promise not to be annoyed if I ask for a strange drink that might prove a minor hassle if I in turn promise not to get catty if you can't do it, tip well if you do, and finally also admit my jealousy over your beautiful blonde and expertly highlighted hair?"
The group blinked in silence for a moment till the waitress laughed good naturedly. "Hai, go ahead and tell me what impossible thing you want."
"I would simply love you forever, albeit in a purely platonic manner, if you could convince the bartender to make me a strawberry mint lemonade."
"You want a shot of vodka in there?" Cassie asked.
"No, thank you, but I'd also like a bowl of maraschino cherries," Kagome replied.
"Sure, I think I could get Kouga to agree to make that, I'll just hint it's a beautiful girl that's asking and he won't be able to resist," she chuckled as she walked off.
"What a weird request Kagome," Sango said. "Where on earth did you come up with that concoction?"
"Charleston, South Carolina. Ahhh, one of the many reasons why I love the south!" she grinned. "I can't get enough of it now, ever since I first tried it I can't resist anything that is strawberry mint flavored."
"That's funny," Inuyasha chuckled. At the questioning looks he got he elaborated. "Well you probably don't know this, but your scent is strawberry mint, so it's funny that you love that flavor combination."
"Rather narcissistic in a way," Sesshoumaru added. He had expected the girl to lash back at him for that but she merely laughed out loud.
"Oh boy, you have no idea Sesshoumaru-sama!" she said. Sango, Kikyou, and Miroku were all snickering as well.
"Yeah, how many people besides Kagome will sit in front of a mirror for half an hour grinning like an idiot because they are so entranced by what they see?" ask Kikyou.
"Or walk around telling anyone they pass 'I'm wonderful!'?" asked Miroku.
"Hey, remember the time she wouldn't stop singing 'I feel pretty' while trying on dresses at the mall?" Sango added.
"Well I did feel pretty!" Kagome replied, giggling. The three who knew the young girl burst out laughing while the two brothers merely watched unbelieving. "Now if you'll excuse me, I happen to love this song and I'm going to dance. I'll be right back though." With that she left, crawling playfully over Sango and Miroku on her way out.
"Uh, Kikyou?" asked Inuyasha with a little trepidation?
"Yes Inu?" she asked, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
"Is Kagome really that arrogant? I mean even Sesshoumaru isn't so bad as to announce to the public his superiority." The puzzled look on his face earned another round of laughter.
"No no no," she choked out. "I know it sounds strange, but Kagome is really very modest most of the time. She's just being playful is all, don't worry. Tease her about it and you'll see, it's just a game she likes to play."
"It sounds very childish," Sesshoumaru added. He was starting to worry about the effect the girl was having on his student. She was becoming less like her normally cool and unreadable self, and more like some school girl. He found the change highly disturbing.
"I wouldn't call Kagome childish Sesshoumaru-sama," Miroku said, "but perhaps child-like."
"Is there a difference?" the taiyoukai asked.
"Yes," the young man replied. "Kagome is young at heart, VERY young, but unlike someone who is merely childish, she is perfectly capable of being serious and professional whenever she sees fit. However, I'm going to warn you, given the fact that she has ordered those cherries I can tell you that tonight she is going to be quite, how shall we say, uh…light hearted."
"Why?" ask Inuyasha. "What's going to happen with the cherries?"
"I won't say but I promise you'll like it, won't he Kikyou?" Miroku smirked.
"Ah, well…I might not participate tonight…" Kikyou said lamely. She knew where it would head and it would just be too awkward with her boss there.
"What?" Sango shrieked. "You can't not participate! You have to defend your title! And besides," she added waggling her eyebrows, "I've been practicing all week!"
"Practicing what?" asked Kagome who had returned from below. Rather than crawling back over her friends she merely pushed them down the bench to make room for herself.
"My maraschino skills!" Sango replied proudly.
"Ooooh, bring it on!" Kagome laughed.
Sesshoumaru began to wish he had ordered something stronger than a beer. Despite her sister's defense, he thought Kagome was turning out to be slightly puerile. Why he had come out in the first place was eluding him, and he began to wonder about leaving when the drinks arrived and soon found himself unwilling to depart as the use of the cherries was explained.
"You tie the stems in knots?" Inuyasha asked with raised brows.
"Yes, with your tongue," Kagome explained. "Here, I'll show you." She plucked a cherry from the glass they were in, quickly ate it, and then popped the stem into her mouth. After about twenty seconds she pulled it from her mouth and held it up so he could see the knot in the center of the stem. Inuyasha gawked as Sesshoumaru looked at her with a mixture of morbid fascination and disgust. "I'm surprised you've never heard about it. Kikyou is a master, although I'm hoping to beat her tonight."
"As if you could," mumbled an embarrassed Kikyou. After ten rounds where everyone but Sesshoumaru played, he absolutely refused, Kikyou was once again declared the master after winning her fifth round. Kagome had won four times, Sango once, Miroku never, and Inuyasha was still trying in vain to get his first stem into a knot.
"I don't get how you do this," he muttered in frustration.
"Hey Kikyou, why don't you show him?" Kagome suggested wickedly.
"I've already explained it," she replied.
"I didn't say tell him how, I said show him how!" Kagome laughed.
Kikyou, trying desperately to remain cool, replied "Maybe later." Unfortunately for her Inuyasha had immediately been convinced of the virtue behind this idea.
"Aww, c'mon Kikyou, pleeeease?" he asked with the most adorable puppy face.
Kikyou flashed an embarrassed look at Sesshoumaru who then got up saying he was going to the bar for a real drink. He had no desire to see the spectacle and his presence was holding her back. From the cheering he heard coming from the direction he had left he guessed that Kikyou had given in. "Double jack on the rocks with a splash of coke," he said to the bartender. With some surprise he registered the wolf youkai who handed him his drink. Kouga, his name was. He was the leader of a street biker gang, and a fast, talented fighter as well. There had been a time when Sesshoumaru had considered him for a place in his agency, but he had decided against it, recognizing that Kouga wasn't someone who could follow, he had to lead. However, since he had had enough brains to stay out of Sesshoumaru's way and not cause any sizable amount of trouble, the two had never clashed. He wondered briefly why someone with as much money and street authority as Kouga was doing bartending.
Kouga, on the other hand, had no idea that the guy in from of him was the infamous head of Taisho Command. He did know, however, that the beautiful girl in the blue satin dress who had ordered the weirdo drink was coming down the stairs with friends and heading to the dance floor.
Sesshoumaru looked to see what had captured the wolf youkai's gaze and saw Kagome out on the floor. She danced well, and he saw that she was comfortable either by herself, with her friends, or if a guy asked her to dance as well. 'Hmmm, she's pretty easy going and confident, but I see what Higurashi meant about her not being really arrogant. She doesn't have that annoyingly prissy air so many other girls have.' After twenty minutes or so of watching her Kouga's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey, Amber! Cover for me would ya? I'll be back in a few minutes." With that Kouga leapt over the bar in a single bound heading towards the DJ. After making his request he headed over to the girl who had caught his attention. "I can tell you right now that there is not a better person here to dance with than me," he said without any preamble. "I'm Kouga, just in case your looking for a name to put to what you must admit is one of, if not the, most handsome men you ever had the good luck to come across." He grinned confidently.
Kagome looked at him, admiring his lean build, long blackhairand shocking blue eyes.She decided to play along whenone of her favorite songs, Santa Maria,came on. "I confess to no such thing Kouga, though I would love to dance to this song. But before I agree to do so with you, I have just one question," and she arched her eyebrow and took seductive stance. "Can you tango?"
Kouga immediately drew her to him, grasping her left hand in his right, and then encircling her waist with his other. "In more ways than one," he replied breathily. She placed her right hand on his bicep and leaned forward, making a line of contact between both their arms and also their stomach and hips.
After only a minute the rest of the crown had cleared, making a large circle around the couple that seemed as if they had been partners for years. Once again Kagome was not as graceful as her sister, but her moves had a quick, passionate flare that fit the dance perfectly, and Kouga's skill excelled as well. Nearly every woman in the room wanted to be Kagome, as the handsome bartender's hands and legs caressed the woman's while he directed her around the floor. Nearly every man wanted to be Kouga, holding the beautiful and luscious girl that swayed and showed off how limber she was. The song ended and the crowd cheered as Kouga had Kagome in a seductive dip, bent over backwards with her hair touching the ground and her free arm making a sweeping gesture outward.
"I've just decided," he growled throatily, "you're my new woman." He uprighted her and kissed her hands.
She laughed outright at his gesture, playfully hitting him in the chest before answering, "How about you buy me a drink instead?"
"Hmm, I guess that will work…for now." He pulled her over to the bar and again hopped over it. "What'll you have, another one of those crazy lemonades?"
"Nah, how about a double jack on the rocks with a splash of coke?" she asked. A few people down Sesshoumaru's ears pricked as he heard her order the exact same drink, in the exact same words as he had.
"You know I've owned his place for five years now and I've never heard of that lemonde drink before," Kouga commented, trying to keep her conversing.
"Oh so you own this place?" Kagome asked. "How much fun that must be. So do you bartend for fun every night then?"
"You know if you want to see me again you don't have to be so coy about figuring out my schedule," he teased. She laughed and threw her drink napkin at him. "Nah, actually I only come here a couple nights a week. Most of the other nights I'm out racing."
"Really? Racing what?"
"Motorcycles," he grinned. This always won the ladies over, and Kagome seemed to be no exception as she began to gush and ask questions. Sesshoumaru quit listening at that point, instead finding his drink to be much more suitable company.
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The group stayed at the club for a couple more hours, everyone floating back and forth between the table and the dance floor. Everyone that is except for Sesshoumaru, who stubbornly refused to join in. He continued to watch the two sisters throughout the evening, ever more surprised at how lighthearted the older became around the younger. He was intrigued that Kagome could dance so seductively, yet not seemed to be affected by it in the least as soon as the song ended. She moved from partner to partner, apparently not interested in either singling or being singled out by anyone. Kouga, however, managed to dance with her three more times before the evening was over. At one point she caught Sesshoumaru's eyes looking at her and made her way over. He turned his back to her, willing her to not bother him. Kagome, he was beginning to realize though, seemed impervious to others' wills.
"Care to dance, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked having leaned her back against the bar resting on her elbows to face him.
"In an assembly such as this? It would be insupportable," he said in his usual monotone. He was therefore unprepared for her laughter. "What?"
"Well, I must say I would not have pegged you as a lover of nineteenth century British romance," she teased him.
'So she recognized the reference?' He thought to himself. "It is not merely a romance, but rather an accurate commentary upon the social constructs of the time."
"Accurate commentary?" Kagome said with arched eyebrows. "Don't you mean an idealistic conglomeration of what was in its own contemporary period considered as sensationalist views spawned from an old maid vicariously seeking the romance denied in her own life?"
"Well you have obviously found the work worthy of study yourself to have such opinions of it," he returned, grudgingly impressed.
"Never read it," she replied lazily. "I just think Collin Firth is so hot as Mr. Darcy, with all those dark curls he has."
"You have strong views for someone who has only watched the movie," Sesshoumaru stated.
"Oh but I have the super duper deluxe collector's edition on DVD, complete with lots of special features created to inform the academically lethargic such as myself what opinions they should have if they want to sound smart in conversations at night clubs," she said with a gleam in her eye. "Fine, don't dance with me then, but before I leave may I make one suggestion?"
"You may say whatever you like, whether or not I choose to listen is a different matter," he replied coolly.
"Read Rin Emma next if you haven't already. I think she's a much better model than Elizabeth personally." With that she headed back to the floor where she was immediately swept away by yet another man.
Sesshoumaru was left to wonder at how she managed to guess the exact reason why he was reading Jane Austen novels. 'I don't know who she thinks she's fooling, claiming to have gained her opinions from some DVD special feature.' He pondered why she would attempt to demean her own intelligence. 'Academically lethargic? What an odd way of expressing herself. She's a tad too verbose for my taste.' Perhaps the irony of his last bit might have sunk in had not his younger brother interrupted his train of thought.
"Hey Icepick, why in the hell did you come if you weren't going dance?" Inuyasha asked as Kikyou led him to the floor for another song.
"Hn," he said condescendingly.
At two when things shut down they all walked outside and headed for their cars. None of them had drunk enough to be unable to drive because they didn't want to worry about calling taxis. Besides that demons have a very high tolerance for alcohol. Passing a large fountain along the way the demon brothers were once again surprised by the younger girl who let out a squeal and ran for the fountain, dropping her purse, jacket, keys, and shoes along the way before she did some kind of hand spring into the water, creating a giant splash that soaked Sesshoumaru, who had been walking ahead of everyone else.
"You know I had actually hoped you would have stopped doing that by now?" Kikyou said, nervously glancing at an obviously unhappy Sesshoumaru. Since the guys had dropped the women off at the entrance and then parked she hadn't known of the impending incident until it was too late to avoid it.
"You hoped in vain!" Kagome called, kicking happily as she propelled herself through the pool.
"Sango, you knew this place had a fountain close to it, why'd you pick it?" Kikyou reprimanded her, as Kagome had no intention of feeling ashamed and someone should take the heat.
"I wanted to see if she'd still do it," Sango said with a wide grin. "Don't worry. I packed a towel."
"She uh, does this often?" Inuyasha asked. More and more throughout the night he had wondered how someone as cool and collected as Kikyou could come from the same family as the wild and silly Kagome. He didn't mind. In fact, he enjoyed her attitude as well as the effect her rambunctious aura seemed to have on his fiancé. He had especially enjoyed hearing the story behind the sleeping spell she used on Shippou. While dancing with Kagome she readily confessed to using it for such purposes as putting to sleep teachers so she could sneak herself, Kikyou or Sango out of detention in school, or knocking out movie attendants so they could get into sold out shows. The knowledge that his cautious and perfect Kikyou had both been in, and snuck out of detention gave him a sort of pride in her.
"Kagome has a difficult time resisting water," Miroku stated, as if this explanation made everything perfectly normal. "Come to think of it, she cannot seem to stay out of leaf piles, haystacks, trees, caves…really the list goes on."
Sesshoumaru listened as the girls talked about plans for the rest of the weekend, all the while stealing glances at Kagome's drenched form. He had to admit that it was a very fine form, the water glistening on her skin, her eyes now bright from droplets of water still clinging to her lashes. However, when he noticed Miroku gawking as well he turned his gaze elsewhere, not liking the fact that he and the pervert were engaged in the same activity.
As the taiyoukai overheard the chattering females he was glad none of their activities involved him. He had decided that he had had enough of the younger miko, her playful attitude evoking a response that was at once annoying, intriguing, repulsive, and refreshing. He thought her aura must have been responsible and he couldn't wait much longer to remove himself from its presence. True, he still wondered where she had gotten her training, and why he had never known about her before, but he didn't think she'd fit in under his command anyway. That and the girl was just too damn happy- go-lucky. She must be on some kind of drug, it just wasn't natural. He headed for his brand new silver BMW 5 series when a stray comment reached his ear that made him freeze.
"Kagome do you want to go hiking on Monday? I can get the day off if I ask," Sango said hopefully.
'Oh really?' thought the demon with a mental smirk.
"Oh I wish I could, but I have to report at six am that day," replied Kagome.
"You're job starts at six in the morning? Where are you working?" Miroku asked stunned.
"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you," replied Kagome laughing.
"Seriously though, what on earth are you going to be doing at six in the morning? No one else is open that early. Who would you do business with?" Miroku asked, puzzled.
'Oh please no,' thought Sesshoumaru.
"It's a research company called Information Front, and the internet is open for business twenty-four-seven my friend!" she replied in a sing-song voice. Skipping ahead and twirling she didn't notice how for the briefest of moments all of the others shot questioning glances at Sesshoumaru.
'Oh holy mother of…why me?' he groaned. He caught Inuyasha's quick and knowing smirk, then inwardly cringed at the look of delight on his half brother's face.
Everyone piled into their cars, Inuyasha taking the two sisters home and Miroku driving Sango. In the car containing the latter two conversation erupted the moment Miroku put the vehicle in drive. "Do you think she's the one from Peters' that's been recruited for Taisho Command?" they asked each other at the same moment. "It sure looks like it!" the two said, again in perfect unison. Sango laughed as Miroku grinned. For the rest of the way home they fantasized about how perfect it would be to have their best friend working with them. Both expressed the desire to be the one to train her, although Sango was quick to point out that it wouldn't be long before she was way out of their league, if she wasn't already. After all, she was Kikyou's sister, and the latter was Sesshoumaru's highest ranking subordinate after Inuyasha.
"I've never even seen her fight beyond those martial arts classes we used to take together when we were kids, have you?" Miroku asked Sango.
"No, me neither," she replied. "But I have seen her use her miko powers, and she was pretty scary at the time."
"What happened?" Miroku asked interestedly.
"Some drunken idiot accosted us on our way home from school once. He tried to grab Kikyou, who herself was about to do something, when Kagome just kind of exploded."
"Exploded?"
"Yeah, well her powers exploded. She sent out a kind burst and sent the man flying backwards into a brick wall hard enough that he actually made this huge dent in it."
"Ouch, here's hoping she never gets that mad at me," he added nervously. They'd reached her place and as she was getting out his hand stretched over towards her side in an attempt to grope her. She knew what he was doing however, and slammed the door shut, almost crushing his hand. "Hey," he shouted indignantly. "I could have lost my hand!"
"Sometimes I think both our lives would be better if you did, pervert," she trilled as she ascended the steps to her building.
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As soon a he started the trip home Sesshoumaru pulled out his cell phone. "Call Michael Peters," he said, and in seconds the phone placed the call and it started to ring. "Hello, this is Sesshoumaru. I need you to email me the information as my fax has been rendered useless. Thank you." He hung up and thought in his head about the fragment of information he'd received earlier. 'Han, Kago. That couldn't possibly be her could it?'
Twenty minutes later he pulled into his driveway, and after checking on Rin he headed for his personal office and logged on to his e-mail. The one he was looking for had already arrived and he quickly opened the attached file. Again an odd feeling pricked the back of his neck when he saw that 'Han, Kago,' was indeed 'Hando, Kagome.'
"I'm going to kill Peters," he snarled.
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A/N: Well all my fair-hearted, fair-minded and fair-complected reviewers, I humbly submit another chapter for your consideration. Kindly tell me what you think, including areas I might need to improve on. Ciao!