Chapter Fourteen: Day Two in Hell, er, I Mean School

Inuyasha stretched and groaned as his bones popped into place after his rather uncomfortable sleep. He glanced over at his clock and noticed it was only four thirty in the morning, and he rolled his eyes. What was he doing up at this hour? With a groan of defeat, Inuyasha rolled out of his bed and wandered down stairs. After the night Sesshoumaru, Kagome and he had had after the phone call, everything had gone from calm and relaxing, to a high stress level.

They had driven Kagome home soon after and Inuyasha had even walked her to the door, somewhat hesitantly. After he had asked the girl if she was all right, he had gone back to the car and he and his brother had remained in silence for the remainder of the night.

Whatever it was that the voice on the phone had said to his brother, it had unnerved the youkai so much that Sesshoumaru had gone silent. As soon as they had stepped foot into the house, Sesshoumaru had vanished into his own room, and left Inuyasha alone for a few hours before he had finally gotten tired enough to venture to his own bed.

Inuyasha sighed, exited the bathroom and wandered into the kitchen to prepare himself a pot of coffee. He knew Sesshoumaru would be up at some point and come looking for the caffinated stuff. With a shrug, Inuyasha opened the sliding glass door leading onto the patio and he sat down on the steps and looked at the dark sky.

His mind wandered in several directions at once, not leaving him any recollection of what he had been thinking about, but his silent pondering came to a halt when the pot inside the kitchen gurgled happily, signaling the coffee ready. Inuyasha jumped to his feet and entered the kitchen, not at all surprised to see Sesshoumaru sitting at the kitchen island staring off into space, watching the coffee drip into the pot.

"Oie, how long have you been awake for?" Inuyasha asked, grabbing two cups from the cupboards.

"Not awake." Sesshoumaru's mumbled and his eyes followed Inuyasha's every move as the hanyou poured the coffee.

"I see that. Are you going back into the office today?"

Sesshoumaru nodded absently, and eagerly grabbed the coffee from Inuyasha's offering hands.

"Don't forget to take that rosary thing with you." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Or at least hide it from that girl."

Sesshoumaru took a long sip and smirked at his younger brother. "Someone needs to keep you in line."

"Feh, isn't that what you're for?" The hanyou muttered darkly, and sat down beside his brother.

Sesshoumaru raised a brow and sighed. "You need to go into Chidori's today at some point."

Inuyasha nodded and placed his head in his hands. "Yeah, I know. I was planning on doing that before school."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and glanced at his brother long and hard.

Inuyasha noticed the glance and he shivered from the intensity of it. "What's your problem?"

Sesshoumaru furrowed his brows for a minute before he shook his head. "Nothing."

"Nothing my ass. Spit it out already. You've been staring at me since you got that bloody phone call. Not only are you all freaked out, but Kagome acted strange last night too, after you took the phone from her." Inuyasha snarled.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "The calls are the same, Inuyasha." He stated firmly, and got up from the table. "Just leave it be. I will have them change the number at some point today."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "We can't change our number forever, Sesshoumaru, and you bloody well know it. Let's just face this thing together."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and stared at the coffee pot, before he poured himself another glance. "That's just it, baka! We don't know what we're facing…yet!"

Inuyasha growled. "Feh! You know, it's nothing compared to what father trained us for." He placed his cup on the counter and shook his head. "I'm going to take a shower, I'll be heading out after."

Sesshoumaru nodded and sat back down on the stool, silently. His thoughts trailed to the night before, and his conversation with the member on the other line. Even though the voice had been warbled, Sesshoumaru had noted that it was high, yet with a low enough baritone to hint at the caller being a male. The voice was trying to disguise his voice from him, but the youkai had the tone memorized. The way certain words were pronounced, accented, and slurred, he was confident that he would recognize the voice in person now, if he heard it.

With a snort, Sesshoumaru remembered the caller had once again threatened his brother, but now had involved the human girl into it. Once he had taken the phone, the caller had laughed hauntingly stating that the human girl would not be safe as long as she remained in their company. As soon as he had hung up the phone, he had offered to take her home, and she had complied willingly. Much too willingly.

Sesshoumaru shook his head and lifted it from his cup when Inuyasha yelled out he was leaving. He furrowed his brows, had Inuyasha already had his shower and dressed? Blinking stupidly for a minute, Sesshoumaru rose from his seat and exited the kitchen, and headed to the living room to watch the morning news for a while before having to leave for work.

With a jolt, the memory of Inuyasha's attack came to the front of his mind and he blinked. Inuyasha was walking alone again! Sesshoumaru got to his feet, noticed the keys to the restaurant on the side table and smirked at a reason for why he could follow his brother. He raced for the door, gripped his coffee tightly as he used his small finger to loop the keys and he turned the knob on the door, cursing at having only one arm to do such simple things. The youkai carefully ran to the end of the lot, holding his coffee up slightly so it wouldn't spill, glanced down the road, and saw his brother look over at a car, before he rounded the corner. With a snort, Sesshoumaru jogged after him.

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Inuyasha wrinkled his nose as soon as he left the house. A dark car sat at the end of the road, and in the neighborhood looked somewhat out of place. The car was far too new to be in this area, and he glanced at it curiously as he past it. It was empty, he noticed, thanks to his incredible eyesight, and he was extremely grateful he had acquired them from his father. Most hanyou had weakened senses, but he had been lucky and had received a stronger dose of his father's blood. He was an enigma, at least that's what his brother had told him years ago.

Inuyasha smirked, he knew his senses were almost as good as those of his brother's, but no one else really knew that. He loved to play on the fact that his hearing was exceptional, and his sight was incredible, not to mention his sense of smell and taste. Sometimes he loved to pretend he was full youkai, at least then he would fit in somewhere. He rolled his eyes. Stupid childhood fantasies. The hanyou did wonder sometimes what it would be like to be a full youkai, but he was a hanyou and there was nothing he could do about it.

A hand on his shoulder made him jump a foot into the air with a yelp! Immediately he put up his defenses and stared at his brother who gave him a sheepish grin. Quite taken back, Inuyasha snarled.

"Don't sneak up on me, you bastard!" He raged.

Sesshoumaru furrowed his brows and stared at his flustered brother. "You have to be more alert." He snarled back, "You forgot your keys, baka!"

Inuyasha snatched them from his brother's hand and turned around with a sniff. "Next time just call out to me."

"Pay more attention to your surroundings, Inuyasha. If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed me coming." Sesshoumaru snapped, angry at how easily his brother lost track of things. He gripped his cup tightly so he didn't dump the precious contents onto the ground.

Inuyasha continued up the street and finally made it to the corner where his restaurant was located, ignoring his brother completely. Everything looked pretty calm and he pulled out his key for the gates, and he opened them, silently.

Once inside the gates, he glared at his brother who still trailed behind him and it was then that Inuyasha noticed his brother's attire. With a smirk, the hanyou walked into the doors, which were already propped open and Inuyasha noticed Kirara stocking shelves and brewing coffee, readying the place for six.

"Ohayou, Kirara." Inuyasha grinned.

Kirara glanced up and nodded. "Ohayou Inuyasha-san." She took notice of Sesshoumaru waltzing in after her boss and she grinned. "Ohayou Sesshoumaru-san. I see you are attempting to start a new trend for formal wear." She commented on his clothing, which happened to be a pair of green cotton pajama bottoms, with play boy bunnies on them, and his t-shirt was a plain white.

Sesshoumaru froze and stared at her for a moment before he glanced down at himself and flushed brilliantly, much to Inuyasha's delight. "You know, Sessho, we do have cups in the place, you really didn't need to bring your own."

Sesshoumaru snarled at his brother and sat down at the first booth just up the stairs. Kirara shook her head, grabbed the freshly brewed pot of coffee, a bowl of creamers, and made her way up to the youkai. "In a bit of a rush this morning?" She asked with a smile.

Sesshoumaru snorted and slipped his cup over to her with an embarrassed grin. "Hai, the baka forgot his keys."

Kirara smirked and rolled her eyes. "Did you want breakfast? I think Miroku is almost ready back there."

Sesshoumaru sighed and nodded. "Might as well, I suppose. Steak and eggs, sunny side up, rare, rye toast." He mumbled absently.

Kirara giggled. "Want a paper?" She asked, as she headed down the stairs.

Sesshoumaru glanced up and nodded. He noticed her slight glance back at him before he caught sight of Inuyasha by the bar, making his way to the office up stairs. "Inuyasha?" He called

Inuyasha paused in his flipping through the mail and glanced at his brother curiously.

"Bring your paperwork down with you, we can go over things together."

Inuyasha nodded and continued up the stairs. Sesshoumaru was rather impressed over how his brother's air changed. The hanyou was now all business, and Sesshoumaru snorted, and thought that his brother might just make it in the fast paced world around them.

Sesshoumaru sipped his coffee and wasn't surprised that Inuyasha came down just as the youkai lord was finishing off his meal. Inuyasha sat down, placed several envelopes down and three folders of papers onto the table, and sighed.

Sesshoumaru glanced up and smirked. "Get used to the paperwork, Inuyasha. It seems to grow with every year."

Inuyasha nodded and shoved the envelopes to the side while he opened the mail. "I have to keep most of the paperwork for seven years don't I?"

Sesshoumaru lifted a brow and nodded. "You need to create a filing system for yourself, this is incase you get audited. You must have information on every hire, termination, tip pool, overtime, wage increases, and loss of product."

Inuyasha slumped and groaned. "I can't believe this. I have never been great at paperwork or anything. Well I guess I'm okay with projects and school stuff, but organizing stuff, that has never been my strong point."

"Seeing the condition of your room most days, yes, I can believe that." Sesshoumaru smirked teasingly.

Inuyasha looked up and snorted. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." He replied sarcastically.

Sesshoumaru chuckled. "It comes with time. If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, then hire an assistant manager who can take care of that aspect of things."

Inuyasha glanced up. "I already have three assistant managers."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "I am aware of this. You have Sango who takes care of front of house, with Kirara another of your assistants, and you have Miroku who is in charge of the kitchen. Do you wish to have one take on the paperwork? Do you trust them enough to do this thoroughly and efficiently?"

Inuyasha sighed and nodded. "Sango already has a ton on her shoulders with running the place and taking care of hires and terminations. She is the one who created these files." He said as he waved his hands over the folders to his right. "Miroku has full control of the kitchen, and I find he is very good at what he does. He also has files and stuff."

"There's Kirara," Sesshomaru nodded and lifted his head as Sango entered the restaurant. "I would suggest discussing this with Sango."

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder and nodded. "I think I will." The hanyou sat up in his seat and waved to Sango as she glanced over at them.

"Ohayou." She greeted and sat down beside Inuyasha when he scooted over to make room for her. A twinge of nervousness entered her heart when she realized there were a few folders sitting on the table. The girl swallowed.

"Sesshoumaru and I were discussing the tasks and duties you and Miroku have in regards to running the place." Inuyasha began, noticing Sango's nervousness. "While I am in school, or not here, both of you have your plates full, and you are doing a good job, so far."

Sango relaxed slightly and nodded. "Thank you."

"I am still young in terms of running a place, and Sesshoumaru can't be here all the time to do my job for me, or be here when I can't. He has his own business to run. I want to ask you on how you feel about lifting Kirara's responsibilities in terms of being your assistant." Inuyasha explained.

Sango glanced at the two youkai for a minute. "Kirara is a good woman. What would you have her do?"

"I need someone to be able to set up a filing system for keeping records and maintaining my office when I can't be here. In truth, my organizational skills are somewhat lacking."

Sango nodded understanding finally what it was Inuyasha was asking. "In the last job where I worked with Kirara, she had amazing organizing skills, memory and detail. If you place her as a manager like Miroku and myself, you will not be disappointed."

Inuyasha nodded. "I would need her to maintain the office, and details in regards to the paperwork, including employee records, payroll, tip pool, food loss, breakage, and some others."

Sango nodded. "I think that sounds great. I don't think Kirara will mind taking on a few more responsibilities, and I trust she will do a good job."

Inuyasha nodded and glanced over at his brother who was running his claw over the surface of the table. "Thanks Sango, did you want to tell her, or send her over here?"

"It looks like you two will be busy with some things here, so I will let her know." Sango pointed to the folders and mail on the table and grinned. She then noticed Sesshoumaru who was absently running his fingers over the table and she saw his t-shirt. Every time she had seen the youkai he had been wearing business like clothing, not casual attire. When she got up from the table she took note of his pants and she almost laughed at the bunnies scattered across them. He was still in his pajamas.

Sango bit her lip, turned and left the table. Knowing that laughing outright at the youkai male seemed to be something one would not do, and so she made a hasty retreat before she lost her composure.

The two brothers sat there for about an hour or so when Inuyasha shifted through the mail, piled the envelopes into his school bag, and glanced at his watch. "Oie, I'm so going to be late, unless I leave now." He got up and cast his brother a look of apology and Sesshoumaru nodded with a chuckle.

"I would offer you a ride but I walked here." Sesshoumaru snorted glancing down at his pajama bottoms.

"Are you going to school today?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "Bokusenou has already begun preparations on my admittance into the youkai schools."

Inuyasha nodded in understanding. "Must be nice to go to one of those, learn how to use your abilities and control them."

Sesshoumaru raised a brow curiously and shook his head. "They are more intense then the school you are going into."

"Feh, well at least you won't have a bunch of smelly humans to deal with." Inuyasha scoffed and made his way downstairs. "I'll see you after. I will probably stop in here before I get home though."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Keep your senses clear, mind who is around you. I do not wish for you to get jumped again."

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever." Without another word, the hanyou exited the restaurant and made his way towards the streets that lead to his new school. "Second day, what a pain." He grumbled and stopped at a street light behind a pile of other scholars.

Inuyasha was somewhat anxious to get to the school, and find out if the girl Kagome was okay after they had dropped her off and he lifted his head just as the lights changed. As he past the light post he stopped and stared at the brightly colored poster that greeted him.

Inuyasha ripped it off the pole and quickly made his way across the street before reading it thoroughly. It was an advertisement for the local dragon dancers performance in the central square downtown Tokyo. His heart lifted and a grin crossed his face. "Hells, I would love to go see that." He noticed that the performers were a duo, male and female, one a youkai and the other a mortal. Just like his parents.

He stuffed the ad into his bag and ran the rest towards the school. There were a group of teenagers blocking his path and Inuyasha grunted annoyed. He lifted his head slightly to judge the distance to the top of the wall on the kids left, and he leapt up to it, and ran across the top and then jumped to the ground on the other side.

He felt their eyes on him and he smirked. With a snort, Inuyasha jogged the rest of the way to school and quickly entered the building sniffing the air for signs of Kagome. He knew her locker was near their physics class, and so he took the stairs two at a time, barely avoiding bumping into several of the students on the stairs. Once up the steps, he turned to his right and slipped through the massive amount of students moving about, or standing in groups chatting with one another.

A familiar scent reached his nose and he quickly made his way through the crowds attempting to get to her before the bell rang. Inuyasha brushed by a bunch of the jocks who were making their way to their classes and a strong shove caused the hanyou to loose his footing and skit across the floor in a heap. With a snarl, Inuyasha hopped to his feet and spun around to see who shoved him.

The large bulky kid glared at Inuyasha and a group of his friends snickered and sneered in amusement. "Go back home to your mama, puppy."

Inuyasha snarled. "I ain't, no puppy! Want me to show ya?" He flexed his claws for emphasis, and one guy backed away with his eyes wide. The hanyou snorted and spun around, ignoring the pathetic jocks, and tried to pin point Kagome's scent again. He growled with frustration as he noticed her scent moving away from his location. They didn't have any classes until late afternoon and he wanted to make sure she was okay and held no ill feelings towards them for what she had witnessed the night before.

With a growl, Inuyasha leapt onto the railing leading to the stairs leading to the third level of the school, and he ran up it as best as he could in his shoes. He jumped the rest of the way, and landed with a soft thump beside some younger students and they jolted to attention at his arrival. Inuyasha groaned in frustration, no matter how hard he tried to get to Kagome, he was either stopped by a massive wave of students, or she vanished to another part of the school.

Barring his teeth, he slumped his shoulders in defeat. Inuyasha was just about to turn and leave when her scent slammed into his nose and he lifted his head quickly, searching with his eyes. Taking a quick look around, Inuyasha hopped onto the table to his left and ran across it, startling many of the students around him, and he hopped over a group of them to the ground.

The crowd parted and he grinned seeing Kagome standing by her chemistry class surrounded by a bunch of her friends. He grinned in excitement and he walked over to her somewhat hesitantly, until she glanced up and waved at him in greeting.

"Oie! You are a hard one to track down." Inuyasha snorted, a little annoyed over his search.

Kagome furrowed her brows for a moment and looked completely confused. "Were we supposed to meet somewhere?" She asked, trying to remember if they had set up anything the night before.

"No, but I wanted to make sure that call last night didn't freak you out too much." Inuyasha snorted and crossed his arms.

"Oh, right. Well, it was kind of strange. Do you get calls like that all the time?" She asked, shivering slightly.

"Feh, not all the time, but enough to annoy us."

Her friends glanced at Inuyasha for a moment before they took a few steps back, looking around almost fearfully. Kagome seemed oblivious to the actions her friends took, and continued to talk with him.

"That must be pretty scary sometimes." Kagome muttered softly, adjusting her bag over her shoulder.

Inuyasha shrugged and frowned as he noticed the strange looks they were getting. Did he have something in his hair? He grit his teeth to refrain from commenting. Kagome didn't seem at all affected by his presence, but it was making her friends uncomfortable.

"Naw, not scary really. Hey, do you know about that dragon festival tomorrow night?" Inuyasha asked remembering the poster in his bag. He dug around in his pack, took the rumpled paper out, and handed it to her. "Apparently they are having this for a grand opening to the Heian era museum. I thought maybe this would be good for our project."

Kagome eagerly took the poster, read it over, and flushed with excitement. "Oh gosh this would be great to go see."

Inuyasha allowed a small smile cross his lips. "You feel like going?"

Kagome blushed slightly and lifted her gaze curiously. "Really? I would have to ask my mom, but I'm sure it would be fine." She grinned.

Inuyasha nodded. "I have to ask Sess first too, but hopefully he won't make a big deal out of it. This morning he followed me to work in his pajama's no less."

Kagome furrowed her brows in confusion. "Followed you to work? Why would he do that?"

Inuyasha shrugged and turned away from the girl. "Feh, have no idea. I'll talk to him about it later. See you in history. Ja." He waved and vanished down the halls.

He faintly heard Kagome's friends gasp and groan as he turned the corner and winced at their crass words.

"I can't believe you accepted a date with…with…that!"

"Kagome, are you crazy? How could you?"

"He's a demon!"

"What will everyone think?"

Inuyasha didn't catch Kagome's words and he sighed dejectedly. What was it about the intermixing of their races that made everyone an outsider? Was it so wrong for him to want to make friends with a human? He shook his head and went to his first class.

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The day went swiftly for Inuyasha, and he made his way to his phys Ed class. Not like it ever mattered if he did any of the ridiculous stunts the performed for the humans. He was part human so he was required to attend the class, however the full youkai were not permitted to take it.

With a shrug, he entered the gym and glanced around at the several mats lining the ground, and he wondered what the sensei had planned for that afternoon. This was his last class until he met up with Kagome for history, and he actually found himself somewhat nervous and anxious at the same time. He shook his head and walked over to the other students, and inwardly cringed when they moved away from him as though he had some sort of parasite attached to him.

With a sigh, he slumped his shoulders and slid down against the wall, alone. The bell rang and he stood up just as the teacher entered, and the sensei instructed them to warm up. With a shrug, he jogged behind the rest of the class, trying to keep as much distance from them as possible.

When he rounded the final turn, he held back and listened to the teachers next instruction and he groaned when he realized that it was a sparring match for the students. With a heavy sigh, Inuyasha watched the first few groups wrestle and jab blows at one another and he knew he would have to hold back his strength and agility just so he wasn't thought of as a show off.

The sensei called for him and to his surprise the big burly jock from that morning. The teacher seemed to sneer at Inuyasha as he walked into the center of the mat and the hanyou watched the jock carefully as he prepared himself to attack. Inuyasha knew he could take the boy on with one jab, but if he did, by the look of the sensei, he would probably be expelled from school.

Inuyasha rounded his shoulders and prepared himself for a rather uncomfortable fight, and he parted his feet into a wide stance as he waited for his opponent to make his first move.

The jock rushed forward and Inuyasha jumped back and out of the way, watching with a smirk as the bulky kid fell heavily to the ground. To then hanyou's surprise, the kid got to his feet much faster then should have been possible, and tackled Inuyasha out of mid air. They crashed to the ground with a loud thump and Inuyasha grunted as the kid fell on top of him, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

Inuyasha wasn't able to make it to his feet, before he was given a low blow to the groin area when the teacher wasn't looking and with a yelp, Inuyasha crumpled to the ground, curling into himself. The jock leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Stupid half breed, maybe next time you won't challenge me in the hallway."

Inuyasha sucked his breath in and growled softly. "That was a cheap move, bastard!"

"So what, you can't do anything about it." The jock moved away and Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, trying desperately to suppress his anger.

Inuyasha struggled to his feet, moved off the mat, and glared daggers at the jock that stood laughing and smacking his hands with his friends. With a soft snarl, he turned his head away and immediately saw stars as something connected with his face. He was vaguely aware of a soft thump as he connected with the hardwood floors of the gym, and he heard raucous laughter fill the air around him.

He opened his eyes into slits and noticed a student sneer at him and move away while Inuyasha tried to make his world stop spinning. Inuyasha lifted his head, placed his hand over his eye that throbbed from the sucker punch he had just received, and he groaned. Of course if it had been him dishing it out, he would have been expelled instantly.

He shook his head and slowly got to his feet, and flinched at the dull ache that now filled his head. With a sigh, Inuyasha distinctly heard the bell ring and he moved towards the lockers, wondering if perhaps it would be safer to wait, or to just get the situation over with.

With a sigh, he squared his shoulders, and entered the lockers only to find them pretty much empty and so he dressed himself quickly, and left before he was caught alone. If they had been outside the school, then Inuyasha would have been more then happy to show them what he was capable of, but he couldn't risk having bad points on his records for fighting. Inuyasha wanted to get into a good collage, and do something with his life, not sit around at a minimum wage job forever.

He shook his head and grunted as his eye throbbed from the movement. The bell rang and Inuyasha gaped stupidly. "Damn it!" He raged and ran up the stairs as fast as he could, missing a few other late school kids for their own classes. He leapt up onto the railing, as he saw a mass of students begin to walk down, and he launched himself up the center between the stairs to his destined floor.

He skidded to a stop beside his class and took a deep breath. Inuyasha groaned. "What a bloody day." With a sigh, he opened the door and knelt beside the mats holding the shoes, and waited for the teacher to acknowledge him.

The sensei turned his head and gave a brief nod, signaling Inuyasha to enter, and the hanyou quickly took his seat beside Kagome who tossed a note onto his desk as soon as he sat down. He furrowed his brows and lifted his gaze slightly to see if the teacher had seen and then he glanced at her confused again.

Carefully, he opened the note and read over her words, and glanced at her wordlessly, shaking his head. He mouthed, 'I'll tell you later.'

Kagome nodded and turned her attention back to the class, as did Inuyasha. Once it was finished, Inuyasha tried to make a break for the door, but Kagome grabbed his arm. "Wait."

Inuyasha sighed and stopped. "What?"

"What happened to your eye?" She whispered.

"It's nothing. Just an accident in gym. I got in the way of a flying fist." Inuyasha grumbled softly.

"Do you want to work on our project tonight?" Kagome asked, falling into step beside him.

Inuyasha cast a curious look in her direction. "Huh? After this morning, you still want to be my partner?"

Kagome stopped and stared at him. "Of course I do. I want to be your friend, Inuyasha, if you let me." She whispered.

Inuyasha waved his hand down the hall. "What about them? Don't you care what they say?"

Kagome glared at him and shook her head. "No, besides, I don't care what anyone says. It's my choice if I want to be friends with whom ever I want. Not theirs."

Inuyasha stared at her in wonder. She didn't care what they said about him, or what they said about her. Did she not care if her whole reputation was ruined because she hung around with a low life hanyou?

He shook his head. "I guess we can meet up later to work on the project, if you want."

Kagome grinned and looked at her watch. "I have to get going. What time should I come over?"

Inuyasha stopped. "You want to still come over to my place, even after what happened last night?" He frowned, was that wise to bring her over again? Would he be placing her in danger if he let her? "Uhh…what about if we meet at the library? I have to go to work and head downtown to ask Sess about tomorrow. Say meet there at seven?"

Kagome nodded. "Okay, see you then." She dashed off down the hall and Inuyasha stared after her with a small smile on his face.

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Inuyasha darted off the monorail and raced down the street towards his father's office. He knew he was going to get an earful from Sesshoumaru about his showing up unannounced, but also he would get reprimanded over being downtown by himself. With a groan, Inuyasha dashed up the stairs to the building and ran up the stairs to the upper floors, rather than wait for the elevators.

He knocked on the office door once he had cleared the secretary and flinched at the low growl his brother issued upon seeing him.

"Just what in the blazes are you doing here?" Sesshoumaru snarled. He took in the bluish bruise on his brother's cheek. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"I wanted to ask you something, and…"

"Explain the eye, Inuyasha!"

"It was an accident in gym. I ran into a fist, I shouldn't have been there, and so I got socked in the eye."

"Accident my ass." Sesshoumaru snarled.

"I uhh…came here to ask if you would let me go to…"

"It couldn't wait until I got home?" Sesshoumaru interrupted.

"Uhh, not really. You see…"

Sesshoumaru snarled loudly, slammed the book down on his desk, and turned around glaring at his brother.

"Well, there's this uhh, festival grand opening thing, all on stuff from the Heian period Kagome and I are doing the project for…"

"And?"

"I want to go, so we can get a bunch of research for it." Inuyasha finished lamely. His speech had sounded so much better on the monorail.

"Ridiculous. Use a computer or get a book." Sesshoumaru sat down in his chair and glared at his brother.

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha growled. "This is for school, it's not like I'm going there to just have fun."

"Where is this thing?" Sesshoumaru snapped.

"Uhh…" 'Damn, I knew he was going to ask me that.' Inuyasha sighed. "Here, downtown."

"Absolutely not!" Sesshoumaru shook his head firmly and waved his hand dismissing Inuyasha.

"I need to go!"

"I don't want you going and that's final, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru growled, slamming his fist onto the wooden desk at his office.

Inuyasha scowled and snarled ferociously to match his brother's stubborn posture. Shaking his head, Inuyasha walked to the door and pulled it open. "You know, sometimes you can be a real bastard." He scoffed, watching as his brother got up from the desk.

Sesshoumaru smirked and nodded. "Hai. This I know, however, my word is final. I do not want a recap of what happened the other night."

Inuyasha whirled around to face his brother, stepping outside the door. "Fine! I heard you the first time. I'm not that stupid as to be caught unawares again, idiot!"

Sesshoumaru approached the door and glared down at his younger sibling. "If it happened once, it could happen again. I am not the baka who got beaten by a bat, nor am I the baka who broke his nose tripping over his own shoe laces, nor am I the baka who fell down the stairs because I forgot to pick up after myself." He reminded Inuyasha firmly.

"Keh! So I'm clumsy. Remember it was from that damn necklace? I'm sure you've had your fair share of inelegance." Inuyasha growled, crossing his arms, but dropped them thinking better of it.

Sesshoumaru saw the look in his brother's eyes. "Don't think about sneaking out either, Inuyasha. I will tie you to the bed if this is what you are planning. I said no, and I mean it. Do not go against me!"

Inuyasha snarled and lifted his nose into the air with a keh. "Sometimes I hate you."

"Hai, of this I am aware. As always you will get over it." Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Like hell I will!" Inuyasha growled and whirled around to leave his brother and have the final word.

Sesshoumaru watched his brother turn and winced when his brother connected firmly with the fire extinguisher casing hanging on the wall beside his office door. He heard the loud thud as it connected with his brother's forehead, and Inuyasha stumbled back stunned and confused. The hanyou tripped over his feet and fell to his back, and moaned.

Sesshoumaru blinked and bit his lip with his fang, but not before muttering casually. "Baka!" Finally unable to contain himself, he slammed the door and shut himself from the ridiculous sight of his brother sprawled out on the carpeted floor of the hall. Closed off from his brother, Sesshoumaru threw back his head and barked out a loud roar of laughter.

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Inuyasha slammed his bag onto the counter and slumped into his seat angrily. He had traveled all the way into downtown Tokyo, almost certain his brother would relent and allow him to go to the festival, but he had walked right into a stupid fire extinguisher casing and had embarrassed himself instead.

He rolled his eyes, rubbed the throbbing lump on his forehead, and moaned pitifully. With a snarl, Inuyasha let his eyes wander around the kitchen and he stared up at the clock mournfully. He had just under an hour to meet Kagome at the library, and he would have to break the news to her that he was unable to go to the festival. "How embarrassing, I ask her if she would feel like going and my baka brother says I can't! Damn it!"

Inuyasha was about to rage some more when his eyes fell on a small little thing in the corner of the room and his eyes widened. With a smug grin, Inuyasha got to his feet, picked the object up between his fingers, and allowed the smirk to widen.

He quickly trudged up the stairs and almost jumped out of his skin when the little human girl rounded the corner just as he got there. "Ah! Don't do that!" He snapped.

The little girl giggled and waved. "Hello."

Inuyasha watched as she skipped down the stairs and he shook his head. "What a strange little girl." He mumbled and then remembered his mission. "Right!" He almost shouted.

He snuck into his brother's room and glanced around the neatly placed items, wondering where he was going to put his little prank. If Sesshoumaru refused to let him go to this thing, then he would make his brother's life a living hell, at least for a little while. Not to mention having a bit of fun in the process.

With a wild and feral grin, Inuyasha slipped the object under his brother's covers and made sure it was set and ready. Barring his teeth, Inuyasha quickly made his way out of the room and snorted through his hand, trying to suppress his snickers.

Darting down the stairs as fast as his feet would carry him, Inuyasha snatched his bag off the table and he bolted from the house. Better to not be here when Sesshoumaru gets home.

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As he ran down the street, Inuyasha missed the presence of the black car, and rounded the corner just as it started up and slowly pulled into the street at a slow leisurely pace.