A/N: Hello everybody! Daichi here with a new chapter of the story you guys all love! Note, there will be Kikyo bashing here. Not a lot, but I know most of you are Kikyo haters so go right on ahead. Personally, I liked Kikyo later in the anime and the manga but whenever I watch the first episodes she came out in, I can't help but smile for what my chapter will do to her! I'm such a fickle person.

Disclaimer: I don't know Inuyasha. If I did, Naraku would have been dead in the first chapter and I would have focused on the romance for the next 557 chapters!

Chapter 14: Tables turned

"Sango!"

Sango raised her head as I came stomping by the photo development area. Her look was puzzled as she took in my angry expression.

"What's the matter?" She asked, holding the roll of developments in her hand. I grabbed the chair she wasn't using and sat down, exhausted from having to clean up all the mess I'd made.

"Kikyo," I said, hoping that would be enough to explain things. Sango nodded, understanding.

"What did the skank do now?" She asked, setting down her roll and grabbing the bottle of soda she had left on the counter.

I frowned. "She's gone way over the limit." I glanced up at her. "She embarrassed me in front of everyone! My skirt flew up." I let my head fall in my hands, defeated. The very thought made me turn red with embarrassment.

Sango set her soda down and stroked my hair. "Kagome, you can't let her win. Beating yourself up like this is exactly what she wants," I looked up at her and her hands fell from my head.

"But how can I get her back? She deserves it!"

Sango sighed. "Maybe we should give up on the whole revenge thing." She bit her lip as she watched me.

Give up? And give Kikyo the satisfaction of WINNING? After all the effort I've put in to bring her down?

Oh hell, no.

"Nuh-uh Sango. We're in this until she grovels and begs for mercy. Even then, we throw her face down to the ground and make her eat the dirt!" I shouted, getting looks and raised eyebrows from the nearby shoppers. I blushed from embarrassment.

I tried to give them my best smile. "Um, We're practicing for a play." The customers shrugged and continued on with their shopping. I made a face at them. "Nosy busybodies," I muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing, Sango." I sighed. "But I'm not going to give up now. I'm in way too deep to pull out." I played with a strand of my hair, not bothering to look at Sango. I heard her sigh deeply, as if it was taking a lot of her to just agree with me.

"I guess. . . But whatever comes out of it is your fault." She wagged a finger at me. "And don't come crying to me, you hear?"

I smiled and lunged to give her a hug. "Of course! Thank you. Sango!" I squeezed her tighter.

"Can't. . . breathe. . ." She gasped, trying to release herself from my death grip. I giggled.

"Sorry," I let go and she was able to breathe again. She stood up, gripping the chair in an effort to not fall.

"The diary entry. . . We can use that right?" She asked, glancing at me.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?" I exclaimed, a finger to my chin. These things were just flying over my head.

Sango laughed. "Because you don't think of anything else in blind rage." She bopped me on the head slightly. I laughed as she started another order of photos.

"I guess your right." I handed her the orders as she processed them on the computers. "I say we sneak into the school and put up the entry wherever possible. Then the school will finally know what kind of slut Kikyo really is."

"What's with you and sneaking in?" Sango stopped typing, her eyes on me. I shrugged, but smiled to myself.

"It's the thrill of being a criminal, Sango."

After my shift was over, I went to punch out like I usually did. By the time I was outside, Inuyasha was already leaning on his red convertible. I smiled at him.

The rides to and from work hadn't ceased with Sango's car back. In fact, when the dating started, it became much more frequent to see us in the same car for just about anything.

He smiled as he asked, "Ready to leave?"

I laughed. "Since I came in!" He chuckled and held the door open for me, the perfect gentleman. I slid in the seat and I saw his eyes wander to my uniform.

"What's with the skirt?" he asked, a raised eyebrow as he switched gears. I shrugged, not really seeing the difference.

"New uniform." Then a thought came to my mind. "What? Do I look bad in it?" I subconsciously smoothed the red skirt.

He looked surprised. "I personally think it's hot on you. The thing is, other guys might think the same thing," He glanced at me as we reached a red light.

I rolled my eyes. "You are such a jealous wart."

He laughed. "Better than letting some guy try to steal my girlfriend."

I immediately thought of Takeshi. I hadn't seen him anywhere, so my goal to avoid him was coming along.

But then as I thought about Takeshi, I remembered the stuff he had said to Inuyasha which led me to think about what those old ladies had said.

"Inuyasha, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what?"

I took a deep breath. "What kind of stuff are you involved in?" I expected a glare or something but to my surprise, he kept a calm face.

"Who said anything about me being involved in anything?" He glanced at me, his eyes narrowed.

"I heard some woman talking and they said some things. . . ." I trailed off as he continued to drive.

After a period of silence, he spoke.

"Speaking about involvement, I think you should stay away from Takeshi."

I groaned. "We already established that! I told you he creeps me the freak out!" I lifted my hands, just to emphasize what I was talking about. I then crossed my arms. "And you're not answering my question,"

"You're right. I'm avoiding it."

I glared at him. "Why won't you tell me?"

He sighed, as if he were trying to convince a child and not me. "Because there's nothing to tell you about. I'm not in anything shady."

We pulled up to my front house, but I sat firmly in my seat. I wasn't going anywhere.

"Kagome. . ." Inuyasha warned. I ignored him. He would have to answer the question if he wanted me in my house. Because I was deep in my thoughts, I didn't notice Inuyasha exit his vehicle and come and open my side. I gave a small "eep!" when I felt his arms unbuckling my seat belt and then picking me up bridal style.

"Inuyasha!" I squealed. He pretended not to notice my thrashing. "Inuyasha, what are you doing carrying me like this?" I asked, my cheeks reddening by the minute. He chuckled at my expression.

"First, to get you of my car. Second, I'm practicing for the future." He gave me a dazzling smile, silencing me. Boy, was he good at that.

He finally set me down gently when we reached my front door. When I was about to open my mouth, he put a finger on my lips.

"Hush." He smiled and then removed his finger. "Just. . . Forget about it okay? It doesn't matter what people say."

I sighed and nodded. "Ok. I won't ask anymore."

He held my face with his hands, his thumb brushing lightly over my lips. "That's my girl."

As he leaned in, I let myself unknot. All the weight I had been carrying melted off my shoulders. Right now, it was only me and Inuyasha, his hands in my hair, another at my neck, holding me. I was in heaven, pure bliss.

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing my little brother Souta.

"Hey sis, what-- oh!" The minute he saw how close Inuyasha and I were, he blushed. "Oh, uh, sorry--"

"It's okay, squirt." Inuyasha extracted himself from our embrace to ruffle Souta's hair. I, for one, wasn't quite thrilled with the appearance of my brother.

"Souta!" I pushed him back through the door, my hand on his back. After I walked in my house, I turned back to Inuyasha, giving him a light kiss on his cheek.

"See you tomorrow," I breathed.

He leaned in and gave me another kiss. "Yeah, see you tomorrow." With that, he turned and walked outside again and I waited until his car was gone to go back in again. I gave a quick glare to my brother, who tried to defend himself.

"Hey sis, I didn't know he was out there with you! Honest!" He pleaded, his palms extended toward me.

"Can it, squirt."

I walked up the stairs, tired once more, I checked my mom's room, peeking in to make sure she was alright. Then I walked toward my bedroom, clicking on the light. I stripped myself of my uniform and put on my comfy pj's.

I fell asleep thinking about Inuyasha's kiss, brushing my fingers over my lips at the memory one more time.

The next morning I awoke to the sound of my alarm blaring. I groggily lifted my hand, banging it around on bedside table trying to hit the snooze button. Instead, my hand came in contact with something much softer and much cooler than my snooze button.

I bolted up, my gaze falling on my nightstand. I gasped. It was a flower.

A black rose.

I jerked out of my bed, almost falling on the floor again. I stood up and hesitantly walked to my nightstand. As I fingered the petals, I noticed they were still fresh, no sign of having been here that long.

Black roses only meant one thing.

Death.

The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up with the chill I suddenly felt as I realized the reality of the situation. Someone had been in my room last night. The flower hadn't been there before I fell asleep, so they must've left it while I was out.

I shivered. They could have easily made off with my life too.

I walked around the room, trying to wear off some of the shock. The room was just as it was last night, so my intruder's only desire was to leave me the flower. At least, I hoped it was.

Buy why? Why would someone send me a death message?

I chewed on my nails, something I only did if I was especially nervous. I glanced at the time and noticed that if I didn't get dressed now, I'd worry myself to death. I didn't even look at what I grabbed. I just snatched whatever was available. I quickly slipped on my shoes and took the rose with me. I had to show Sango. She'd help me make a decision.

The minutes ticked by as I waited for Inuyasha. My imagination ran wild with theories of what the flower could have been meant for. I surely hoped Inuyasha would hurry up. Being alone was creeping me out.

Finally, I saw his familiar red convertible pull up. I tried to hide my anxiety attack with little success. He saw right through me.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" He asked as I got in. I managed to pull a smile for him.

"Nothing at all."

He frowned, but didn't press the issue. We made it to school in record time, parking in the school's lot with fifteen extra minutes to spare. Inuyasha took advantage and pulled me in for a kiss. I had to admit, his kisses did lessen my fears a bit.

"So why don't you tell me what's really wrong?" Inuyasha leaned his forehead on mine. I sighed. I couldn't keep secrets from him.

"Promise you won't freak out?"

A raised eyebrow was my only response. I sighed, turning to get the flower out of my bag. I picked it up gently and showed it to Inuyasha.

"Uh, thanks?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not for you, Inuyasha. It was on my bedside table in the morning." Inuyasha looked confused.

"So?"

I exhaled loudly. "So," I locked gazes with him. "It wasn't there when I got home last night, but it was there in the morning, fresh."

For a second, Inuyasha didn't react. Then suddenly, he turned around sharply, his grip on the steering wheel deadly. His eyes screamed murder and for a minute, I was actually afraid of him.

But that minute passed and I tried to shake him out of it. "Inuyasha!"

"That bastard was in you bedroom." He whispered, his voice hard and cold. I looked at him crazy until he turned to me. "It's that bastard Takeshi, I know it!" He exclaimed. "The next time I see him I'll wring his neck. . . "

"Inuyasha!" I yelled. I had never heard him like this and it was scaring me. "No one will be wringing anything! We don't know who did it so please don't go and hurt anybody," I pleaded. He took in my expression and calmed down. Man, did he have issues.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. It's just the thought of that guy in your room . . ." He trailed off, looking at the ceiling of his car. Then he turned to me and smiled. "I won't do anything." he promised. Then he unbuckled. "Now let's get inside."

School was uneventful. Takeshi was absent, so I didn't get to see if Inuyasha would keep true to his promise. After school, Sango and I met up. I had told Inuyasha I wasn't going to work today and was going to go on a girl's night out with Sango. Needless to say he pushed me right along, hoping he wouldn't get dragged in it.

Oh, but we weren't going shopping.

Sango leaned against her convertible, looking at some paper in her hand. She glanced up as I approached.

"You ready?" She asked, taking the keys out of her purse.

"Since I the day Kikyo was born." I replied, smiling and following her.

Today we would be doing the break in at the school, but first we needed to get the copies of the diary page and wait until it was dark enough to go outside. For once, I wasn't jittery. I was looking forward to crushing Kikyo. But then again, I had wanted to do that for a while now.

We pulled into Sango's driveway a few minutes later. We exited her car without saying a thing. Once inside, Sango pulled me to her small room.

"Where are the copies?" I asked, picking up some papers. She nodded to the closet.

"In the far right corner,"

I walked to the closet and slowly opened it. I pushed some of her shoes away and soon I saw the stacks in the back. I pulled them out and laid my hand on top of it.

"She's so going down,"

Sango laughed. "I can't believe she actually wrote all those names down." She shook her head. "And how she boasted. . . There's going to be angry people tomorrow!"

And so we waited. We played cards, watched TV and ate. Finally, it was time to make our move.

We dressed in all black to blend in better and headed toward the school. We checked all the windows for any one that just might be open. Sure enough, one was.

"Gosh, this school really needs a better security system," Sango stated, sliding in silently after me. We were in a classroom so we crossed to go toward the hallway, our first target.

"Ok, Sango. Put a copy in everyone's locker. Then we'll put them in the teacher's lounge." I smirked.

Sango raised an eyebrow. "The teacher's lounge? Don't you think that's a little too much?"

I shook my head. "Nuh-uh. When I say she's going down, she's going down."

So the pages went into the lockers and were posted in the bathrooms. Many were taped on the boards and on the doors and even on the table in the teacher's lounge.

By the time we finished, it was already past nine. We slipped out as quietly as we came in. I turned to Sango as we made out getaway in her car.

"The school will finally see that slut for what she is."

By the time Inuyasha and I made it the next day, the school was already buzzing with gossip. I could see the girl's eyes scanning the paper. Some didn't look affected at all. Some looked pissed beyond hell and others just laughed. Inuyasha scratched his head.

"What's everyone talking about?"

I smiled, grabbing his hand. "I have no idea. Why don't we go inside?" I pulled him inside before he could even think about uttering a protest. Before I took even two steps, I felt someone get in my way.

"You bitch! How did you get this? How dare you humiliate me!" Kikyo screamed, throwing a copy of the diary page in my face. I laughed and tossed it back.

"I'm only showing the world what you really are," I smirked. "And that's being a whore." I turned away but she stomped toward me and pulled me roughly by my shoulder.

"You're not getting off easily this time!"

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm not afraid what you or your daddy can do." I said coolly, crossing my arms. She really shouldn't be upset for what she wrote down. The page in particular was one where Kikyo named all the boys she had slept with, making little side notes, commenting whether this one or that one had a girlfriend at the time. She had made bold comments about them too. I was sure that a mob of girls would come before the day ended.

"Just wait. My revenge will come soon!" Kikyo stalked off as the very group of girls I had imagined came marching up.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had been watching the whole ordeal. I'm sure he didn't want to get between our fight so he had stayed put.

"Kagome, you actually did this?" He pointed to the page. I shrugged.

"She wrote it."

Inuyasha laughed. He threw an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. "That's my girl. Feisty and dangerous to mess with,"

"And don't you ever forget that," I giggled, walking into the classroom with him.

A week passed, with nothing happening. Kikyo hadn't made her move, if she was even planning on one. I doubted it.

But that particular day I felt an uneasiness settle in the pit of stomach.

"Kagome, you look sick." Inuyasha commented as we entered the store's parking lot. I did feel sick. Just not in the normal way.

"I'm fine, really." I tried to pull a smile but it didn't convince Inuyasha. He opened my door for me and helped me out.

"Kagome, you can tell me."

I shook my head. "Really. I'm alright." I pushed passed him into the store. I stopped for a second. Something was different.

I felt the knot in my stomach tighten as I walked over to Kurena's office. I had a bad feeling even before I looked inside.

All of Kurena's stuff was gone and I saw her with a box. Her gray eyes were clouded with tears as she looked at the walls.

"Kurena?"

She was startled. "Kagome!" She said, pressing a hand to her chest. "Don't scare me like that." She looked away and her gaze was distant. I knew instantly what had happened.

"You were fired, weren't you?"

She didn't nod, but she didn't deny it either. My nostrils flared in anger. I knew who had done this and I was angry Kikyo had struck low like this. Granted, I did steal her diary page, but she's the one with issues here, not me.

"I know what you're thinking, Kagome. And it's probably right," She turned and gave me a sad smile. "I was fired by Kikyo's father. The stunt you pulled on her really pissed her off. He said that if I didn't fire you, he'd fire me. I took the chance."

I gasped, tears pricking my eyes. I immediately ran to hug her, hoping in some way to comfort her. After countless threats, she had never given in, always keeping me safe. She did love me.

"Kurena, you didn't have to stick up for me like that." I sniffled. "I could have found another job."

Kurena shook her head. "No, I'm glad I did it, Kagome. If it means you get to keep your job then I'd have done anything for it." She pulled out of my embrace and walked toward the door. Right at the exit, she hesitated and turned to me.

"I'm glad that you have your job." She smiled, a real one this time. "I don't regret it."

With that said, she left and I felt my heart shatter. She did this for me.

I pushed away my tears as soon as I heard someone come in. Assuming, it was the new manager I turned around, free of tears but froze at who I saw.

"Why Kagome! How nice to see you!" Kikyo's father, my uncle smiled. But even I could tell it was a fake.

"Cut the act, Naraku. Why are you here?" I leaned against the wooden desk that was once Kurena's.

He chuckled. "I'm the new manager. Why wouldn't I be in my own office?"

I froze.

Damn it all.

A/N: Ooh, who'd you guys like that!!! I hoped you liked it. So as for the Kikyo bashing, not that much, but hey, I've never bashed on any character before so these insults were kind of new to me. But it was fun! Being mean to Kikyo is helping me liberate some pent up feelings from yesterday. (I had a rough Tuesday) So please tell me what you liked! Did anyone notice Inuyasha's mood change there? Think he isn't in something shady? Or is he? And what will Kagome do now that she's lost Kurena and Naraku has moved in. Will she be able to keep her job and figure out what Inuyasha's hiding? Answer in your review, of course.

-Daichilover