Turn On Me

Chapter 6-Oxford Comma

I haven't got the words for you
All your diction dripping with disdain
Through the pain
I always tell the truth

Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend

I wasn't sure where exactly I was. All I could see was a thick fog in front of me. The path below me was asphalt. To my left there was a lamp post, also black, the halo of light it cast forth enveloping my immediate position. On either side of the path was green, crisp grass touched with dew, limp leaves hanging heavily, tinted gray by the fog. Without hesitation, I began to move forward. I exited the circle of light, moving into the dark. Soon, another lamp post appeared in the distance; the white light emitting forth was barely discernable in the fog. I kept moving towards it, my decision unwavering. It never once occurred to me to be scared of my environment, to be wary of what I couldn't see. I just focused on the light. Deep inside me, I knew that there was something waiting for me under that next light. I shivered slightly; the air was brisk. I walked for a long time, but the lamp light did not get any closer. The only sound I could hear was that of my shoes on the path. There was no rustle of leaves or chirping of crickets. Silence echoed through my ears. At last, in frustration, I stopped and screamed. As soon as the sound emerged from my mouth, it disappeared. I screamed again, but the same phenomenon happened. I tried to speak, at a normal volume, but even then, my voice was lost. I held my neck gently and hummed slightly. The telltale vibration gently coursed through my hand; my vocal cords worked. But the sound never reached my ears.

But the sound of footsteps did. I turned around and around, trying to figure out which direction they were coming from; I couldn't tell. As they got closer, they got louder and louder until they were pounding through my being. I tried to scream again, this time scared, but again, the sound was trapped inside me. Frantically, I turned back towards the light I had been chasing and ran towards it. I reached it, although the footsteps were right behind me, or so I thought. I leaned one hand against the lamp post, letting the light envelop me as I tried to catch my breath. I could go no farther. There was a brick wall in front of me, cornering me. It stretched high into the sky, so high that I could not see the top through the fog. On either side of me, it stretched out into the fog, no end in sight. The footsteps stopped.

"What are you doing here?" I turned around, face to face with Inuyasha, his white hair gleaming underneath the lamp light, his golden eyes flashing in a slightly menacing way. The appearance of a familiar figure did nothing to ease my panic. I tensed even more, and tried to answer his question.

"I don't know, where is here?" I asked, but the sounds didn't emerge. I frowned, frustrated.

"So you're not gonna answer me. Well, that's fine. I don't really want to hear what you've got to say."

"It's not that I don't want to answer you, I can't!" I tried again, with no success. With a sigh, I shut my mouth and waited for Inuyasha to continue.

"I don't really understand you anymore, Kagome. Who are you? You're certainly not the girl I used to know. The girl I used to know would stick up for herself, didn't just do what people wanted her to. Well, I guess I was wrong. You never really were that girl, were you?" I didn't try to respond. It was no use.

"God, why don't you just say something, you coward!" He screamed at me. I winced. "SAY SOMETHING!"

"I can't!"This time, my voice was heard. His face was hard at my response, judgmental.

"You're pathetic," he spat.

"I'm not!" I protested.

"Yes, you RING." I startled as the sound of a phone ringing punctuated his sentence. He continued, like nothing happened, went on ranting, but the only sound that emerged was the ringing of a telephone. Not just any telephone. My telephone.

I woke up with a gasp, disoriented. The phone was ringing. Blindly, I reached for it on my bedside table and picked it up. I glanced at the clock. 1:49. I didn't have time to form coherent thought. "Hello?" I croaked out. The sound of shrieking laughter reached its way to my ears and I winched.

"Damn it, woman, give me the phone," An unknown male voice said. A heard the sounds of a slight scuffle as, I'm assuming, the man tried to take the phone from the woman. I sat up straighter, concerned.

"Who is this?" I demanded. There was silence for a moment, followed by an exacerbated sigh.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late at night. This is Kagome, right?"

"Yes, this is. Now just who are you?" I was starting to get impatient.

"We haven't met, but my name's Bankotsu, I'm, well, I was Ayume's boyfriend." In the background I could hear a woman, I'm assuming it was Ayume, cry out.

"Kagome's on the phone!! I love Kagome. Kagome is the best best friend ever." Oh dear.

"Is she okay?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah, well, she's has a little too much tonight," He tried to explain. In the background, Ayume continued to babble.

"Did you know that Kagome knew Inuyasha in college? They were best friends! Oh my gosh, he's so hot, you know?"

"I can tell."

"I was wondering if I could take her to your place? Eri's not at their apartment and I don't want to leave her alone," he requested.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess. Is there a reason you can't stay with her?"

"We…well, we broke up tonight. And I'm not so much of a jerk to just leave her stranded."

"You broke up?" I questioned. I thought things had been going really well between the two of them. At least, Ayume had no complaints.

"Yeah, it's a long, not very interesting story. Look, can I bring her or not?"

"Yes, of course." I gave him my address. I hung up a moment later and got out of bed. I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and walked over to the couch. Sitting down with a sigh, I closed my eyes and dozed for a little while, waiting for the tell tale sign of the buzzer to my apartment to let me know when they arrived. It wasn't long before I sleepily was helping Bankotsu get a very drunk Ayume up the stairs and onto my couch. Soon after, she quieted down and began to fall asleep. I spared a glance at Bankotsu who was standing awkwardly at my door. "You should probably leave now."

"Yeah, I guess I should. Do you think, uh, that she'll be okay?" I nodded.

"I've seen her in a worse state. She'll have one hell of a hangover in the morning, but she'll be fine."

"Well, then, I guess I'll be going. It was, uh, nice to meet you."

"Hmm," I responded, dismissing him. While I'm sure the break up wasn't entirely his fault, he was not my friend. I felt compelled to stand by her, to treat the man who caused her heartbreak with disdain, even though she was the cause for waking me up at this hour. Looking slightly ashamed of himself, Bankotsu left, quietly shutting the door behind him. I sighed and turned to look at Ayume, who was half awake on my couch. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she bolted upright.

"I'm gonna be sick," she murmured, before she leapt to her feet and ran into my bathroom. At the sound of her retching, I winced. I made my way to the bathroom and found her sitting on the tile floor, hugging the toilet, crying quietly. Mascara was running down her face and her lipstick was smeared after she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. I sat down on the floor with her and stroked her back comfortingly.

"Shhhh, everything's gonna be okay." She actually sobbed harder at these words and I bit my lip, trying to come up with something to say that wouldn't make it worse. Without warning, Ayume turned toward the toilet and vomited again. I gathered up her hair and held it back for her until she stopped. Settling back onto the tiled bathroom floor, Ayume leaned her head on my shoulder. "Ayume, what happened?" I asked.

The tears began again, but they were slower, less hysterical. They were sad tears, tears mourning the loss of a relationship that could have really been something. I knew a lot about these type of tears.

"Why does she always get everything she wants?" Ayume whispered. "What does she have that I don't. It's not fair! We look exactly the same. We're twins! How come she gets all the hot guys, all the luck. It's not fair! Why isn't it me? Why could I get a guy like Inuyasha Azuma? Why couldn't I get Inuyasha? What's wrong with me?"

"Oh Ayume." I hugged her. There wasn't much more I could do.

Inuyasha Azuma was causing way more problems than I ever imagined he could.

Ayume never went into the particulars of her disagreement with Bankotsu and I didn't ask, not after my first attempt in the bathroom. I figured she needed some time to process the whole thing. If and when she was ready to talk about it, she would. She had practically moved into my apartment, sleeping on my couch for almost a week. She said she was too embarrassed to go home. She didn't want to have to face her sister in a loving relationship, which she so envied, and tell her that her own was in ruins. I understood and told her she could stay as long as she liked. Besides, I wasn't home much lately; I was hitting the streets and trying to find myself a job of some sort. I wanted to write, sure, but writing wasn't putting any money in my bank account and it was getting dangerously low. I could always borrow some money if I needed to, after all, Miroku and Sango were well off and would do it in a heartbeat. Auntie Kim would do it too, no questions asked, but I the option was a last resort. Something in me just couldn't bring myself to ask for help with this situation.

Friday night arrived with no flourish, no show, nothing out of the ordinary. It was raining when I got out of bed and began to make coffee. Ayume was snoring softly on my couch; she'd be up soon though, once she smelled breakfast. Putting some toast into the toaster, I pulled out the orange juice and milk from the fridge and poured myself a glass. Opening the cabinet, I pulled out my cereal and enjoyed the sound of it dropping into the bowl. Pouring some milk over it, I grabbed a spoon and began to eat, waiting for the toast to pop up and the coffee to finish brewing. A couple moments later, the toast popped up and so did Ayume. I buttered the toast, poured the orange juice into a glass and placed it in front of her.

"Thanks Kagome," she said quietly and ate. The coffee was finally finished and I poured myself a mug and let the caffeine wash over me. We ate in silence before I emptied my bowl of milk and drank down the rest of my coffee.

"I'm headed out, but I'll be back around 4:30 to get ready for dinner tonight. We'll be leaving about 5." Ayume looked at me wide eyed.

" Kagome, I don't—"

"Not another word. If you're going to crash on my couch, you're gonna go to dinner. It's not a big deal. Besides, it'll do you some good, I think. And I'm sure Eri is worried about you," I explained, an expectant look on my face. She pouted.

"Fine, whatever." I smiled brightly at her, even though she was frowning and clearly annoyed with me.

"Good. I'll see you at 4:30 then!" I called out, my right foot already out the door.

"So, Inuyasha," Sango asked as we all began to serve ourselves, "Do you have any interesting plans this week?" He shrugged.

"I'm headed to the city to visit a friend next weekend," he responded.

"I'm going too!" Eri chimed in, lacing her fingers through the hand he has resting on the table. "And Ayume and Bankotsu as well." Ayume, who was sitting next to me tensed up. I glanced at her and I could see the panic on her face.

"Actually," she got out, her voice frantic, "Bankotsu can't come. He uh, he, um, has a work thing. And can't make it. Yeah, he has to work. Kagome is gonna come instead."

"What?" Inuyasha and I said at the same time, identical looks of shock. Ayume nodded.

"I was going to ask you, but there wasn't time," she explained. "I'm sure you won't mind."

"Uh, Ayume, can I talk to you for a sec?" I nodded my head towards the other room. "Now?" I spared a look at Inuyasha whose face was a mixture of surprise, annoyance, and apprehension. We got up and walked out of the room down the hall towards the bathroom.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I forgot," Ayume beseeched, "But please, please don't make up an excuse to not go. I need you there. Don't let me be the third wheel! I don't think I can stand it." I sighed.

"Can't you just make an excuse to not go too? I don't understand why you have to drag me into it. How long is this trip for anyways?" Ayume shrugged.

"About a week, as far as I can tell. But we can leave after a couple days, I promise," she begged.

"Ayume! I can't just take a couple of days and not job hunt! I need to find something and soon or else I'm going to be evicted for not paying my rent!"

"You could look for a job in the city. You'd probably have more luck there anyways. Please, Kagome, please? As a favor for me? I'll owe you for the rest of time; just do this one thing for me and I'll never ask for anything ever again. I'll even get off your couch and go back to my apartment with Eri. Really, I will." I rubbed the bridge of my nose in exasperation. As much as I wanted to say no, I knew I couldn't. I just wasn't that person.

"Okay," I conceded. Ayume launched herself at me and gave me a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You owe me!" I said in what I hoped was an commanding voice. "And don't you forget it!"

After the awkward moment in dinner where it was announced that I would, in fact, be accompanying the group to the city, everything had gone smoothly. For all his anxiety about it, Inuyasha was surprisingly passive about my confirmation of going. I occasionally glanced at him through the night but he was purposefully ignoring me, his gaze always somewhere else. It irritated me to no end, and I'm not sure why. I didn't particularly want him to be looking at me (okay, a tiny part of me did. A tiny part). He had no reason to, after all. But even in passing, his eyes never wavered in my general direction and were pointedly staring in the opposite direction. Seriously? He couldn't look at me? What would happen if he did? Would the world stop spinning? A bomb would go off? And this is the same man who said he wanted a truce, wanted us to get along civilly, but yet refused to acknowledge my existence. It was frustrating.

As promised, Ayume went home with Eri that night. Rin and Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had all left over an hour ago. I stayed to spend time with Sango and Miroku. But soon enough, it was getting late and it was time for me to go. I hugged my sister and my friend, bid them goodbye and walked out the door and to the driveway to my car. My keys in hand, I pressed the unlock button and, my hand on the door handle, was about to get in and get on my way when a voice startled me.

"Shh, don't scream. I need to talk to you." I dropped my keys, my heart pounding as I whirled around to see who had sneaked up on me. I frowned when I saw Inuyasha, standing there awkwardly, his hands in his pockets, his face pleading with me to cooperate. I reached down and grabbed my keys in a huff.

"This better be good, Inuyasha. You scared the living daylights out of me."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to find a way to get your attention without scaring you, but I couldn't think of any." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. You want to tell me why you needed to talk to me so badly? It's rather late and I would like to get home."

"I just…well, here's the thing. I think it might be best if you didn't come. I mean, I get that you still have some lingering feelings of hatred towards me, but that's a really shitty reason to go." I laugh bubbled up within me. Seriously?

"Are you kidding me? You think I'm out to sabotage your relationship with Eri? And that's why I want to go on this stupid trip?"

"Well, isn't it?"

"Oh come on. I've got some news for you: I don't want to go on this trip. I really have no desire to spend time with you and your lovely girlfriend and watch you two make out with each other all week. Sorry, it's just not my thing. I'm going because Ayume asked me to and only because she asked me to."

"Why the hell would she ask you?" I stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you that stupid? Ayume and Bankotsu broke up. Understandably, she doesn't want to go alone with the two of you, reminding her of what she's missing out on. The girl's been dumped. She needs some support while she clears her head."

"And she can't find that support from someone else?" I shrugged.

"I'm sure she could. She does have other friends. But she asked me. And I'm not going to say no, just because I know that it's going to make you uncomfortable. And you, you need to get over yourself. My world does not revolve around you and finding ways to ruin your life. If anything, I'm trying my best to forget you ever existed. So grow up and stop being such a jerk. Just because we had a relationship years ago doesn't mean you have an inkling about what goes through my head and why I decide to do anything. And just because you're all famous and successful now doesn't mean that you should just expect everyone, especially me, to do whatever the hell you want. I like you. You're a good guy, most of the time. But you need to get your head out of your ass and quick. Okay?" I'm not sure where the rant came from, but once I started, I couldn't stop. The words just tumbled out of my mouth. He stood there, dumbstruck at my unloading onto him. I sighed. "Look, I'm tired of fighting with you. The only conversations we've ever had have been battling with each other. I've got other things I need to focus on right now. You're the one that called a truce and I agreed to it. So let's stop being either at each other's throats or completely ignoring each other. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," he nodded.

"Good. I'm going home now. Goodnight, Inuyasha. I'll see you in a couple days." Without another word, I got in my car and drove off.

A/N: So I actually finished this last night, sans title. Trying to find one this morning was rather difficult. So I added that last scene (and 2 extra pages) on a whim and finally found one that fit. There may be a November update (at the end, near Thanksgiving), but it really depends on workload. If I can't manage it, then I'll see you all in December!

Hi Claire!

Leave a review on your way out, please :).

Emily

NaP