Oh...My...God! One hundred reviews! I can't believe it! (I also can't believe how long this story is, like, shit!) This is so exciting! Now, because I've reached a new record with Sweet Temptation reviews, and because tomorrow is my birthday (woot! 21 on the 21st! woot!), I have been nice and made this chapter extra long, in fact, all that writing I said I was gonna do last chapter - well, it's all in here. Yay! Aren't you guys excited?!?! Dance with me, my beloved chalamalas!! I'm also happy because I did some pretty awesome drawings for a story by firevixen73 called The Black Widows, and I'm getting money for my b-day, and I made a great cake... Life's good, ain't it? Besides work and broken hearts and friends who are too tired to do dick with ya, I mean. Listen to me, droning on! On with the chapter!!
Deds:
cookiemonsterks - I thought about you're idea, and I thought it was great, but guess what I did? I fucking forgot to write it in!! Arg! (Slaps forehead) Sorry about that! Your idea was awesome, she totally deserved to be on her rag, too, but... oh well. It was still a good idea! I been to Niagara once, a long time ago... yer not missin' much, really. I do like that barge, tho, so mysterious... but that sucks that you have to pay. I agree: the goverment sucks ass!
Du Weldervarden Farcai - Do you? With full-blown passion? Awww, yer sweet! Thanks!!!
Mystical Hanyou - You know, even I didn't know what would happen at the dance, but guess what? It's all here, so you'll find out what popped outta me! I love writing; it's nice to fly by the seat of your pants. I like to have one idea to elaborate on, but somehow, too many pop up and before I know it I can't keep track of them all! Yikes! I have a fear that I'll forget to re-mention something major in this story, but hopefully I'm not that negligent and things go well! She's pissed all right, how will she take her revenge?? You'd better get readin' and see, Mysti!!
Without further yakking and blah blah blah, I give you the awesome, extended, b-day edition of:
Sweet Temptation
Sango paced the room, waiting for Kagura to show up. Fifteen minutes had passed; even Kikyou and Inuyasha had joined them, even though their faces flamed whenever they looked at each other.
Kagome sat next to Sesshoumaru, her gut full of anxiety. She'd hoped so hard that her premonition was false, but no, Kanna knew, and that had been why she'd been so out of sorts lately.
Sesshoumaru sat next to her on the couch, stuffing his sandwich in his face. A cascade of crumbs fell onto the carpet as he got up to wash down the last bite, and Amaya frowned at him, but he saw nothing as his back was to her, but Kagome smiled back at the older woman, and Amaya shook her head, unable to stop a grin from quirking up her lips.
Finally, the doorbell rang, making everyone jump out of their skin. Daichi grinned and got up, shouting, "I'll get it!" only to be bodily shoved into a wall by Inuyasha, who chuckled and said, "No, I'll be getting it!"
"Fine, then get it!"
"I will!"
Daichi smiled and pushed him into the door, rubbing the back of his own head where it had made contact with the wall, which was now dented.
Sesshoumaru came back and rolled his eyes, throwing back a glass of water, as Amaya tried to ignore the scene before her and Kikyou covered her eyes with a hand and shook her head.
Kagura heard a series of thumps from inside and raised a brow. What the hell was going on in there?
Finally Inuyasha flung open the door. "Get in here, you!" and, grabbing her good hand, yanked her inside and slammed the door behind her.
"Hello, how are you, I'm fine, thanks," she mumbled to herself and Inuyasha asked, "What?"
"Nothing."
Leading her into the living room, Kagura kicked off her sandals and said, "Alright, what do you mean, she knows? How can she know if we didn't tell her?"
Miroku, leaning on the back of an armchair, holding Sango down in its cushy seat, replied, "We saw her talking to Tsubaki Chihiro and a bunch of senior girls today at lunch. They were telling her about the Jewel. Apparently our story got more publicity than we bargained for."
Kagome turned wide eyes to him, her hands clasped tightly together, while Kagura blanched and brought a thoughtful hand to her chin.
"I was just talking to her, and she never gave any indication to me… but I told her that you two had made up," she gestured to Inuyasha and Kikyou, "and she was pissed off, you guys."
Kikyou clutched Inuyasha tighter to her, and he rested his chin atop her black hair.
"What do you think she's going to do?"
Kagura frowned. Looking up at the wall, she sought out a clock, and when she found one, a tall, dark Grandfather clock, ticking away in a far corner, it read two o'clock.
"Listen you guys, I don't know what she's going to do, and we won't find out standing around here speculating. I'll go home and keep an eye on her, alright? If anything changes, I'll text one of you."
They nodded in agreement, and Kagura hurried to put her sandals back on. As the two families gathered closer together in the living room to talk, Kikyou followed Kagura to the door. "Kagura, are you sure you can do this? What if she tries to hurt you again?"
Kagura smiled. "Don't worry, Kik. She caught me off guard last time, but if she tries anything today, I'll be ready. Wish me luck?"
Impulsively, Kikyou hugged Kagura, and Kagura hugged her back, the others looking on fondly at the two friends.
"Please be careful."
Kagura chuckled, and peered around the corner so everyone could see her. "I will. See you guys tonight, if not sooner."
They all waved, and Kikyou followed her onto the porch, closing the door behind her.
"You going with anyone tonight?"
Kagura turned a deep shade of red and Kikyou giggled. "Who?"
"Juuromaru."
"The new senior? Ooh, Kagura, he's cute!"
"I know, and he came over just a while ago to ask me to the dance - personally. He has a Maserati, Kikki! And it's black!"
Kikyou laughed, "Nice. Thanks again, Kagura. For everything."
Kagura felt her heart swell with pride. Finally, she was part of a group; finally, she belonged.
"You're welcome. I gotta go."
"See you." Kikyou waved, and watched until Kagura's back disappeared from sight.
S.T.
Kanna had watched Kagura run out the door from between the spindles in the railing on the second floor, the carpet soaking up the water that dripped down her smooth legs. Where was she off to now?
Standing, Kanna walked to her room, picked the tracking device of her Father's out of her underwear drawer, and flicked it on. It indicated that Kagura was at Kikyou's, but she'd just left; she couldn't be there yet.
Fuck. Apparently it was broken, or Kagura had somehow managed to lose the bug.
Trudging back to the bathroom, she peeled off both of her towels at stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. One could practically see the gears turning in her mind had anyone been there to look. Picking up the brush and blow dryer, she set to work. Tonight, she would be beautiful. Tonight, she would dazzle the entire male population at that two-bit high school, but she would not make a scene. No, she had other plans. Best to keep a low profile, for now.
You may have won the battle, my friends she thought, smiling devilishly at her reflection, but you most certainly have not won the war. And this is war.
And Kagura, your man will be my first reward.
She recalled how panicked Juuromaru had been the other night, and how quickly she'd managed to scare him. She resolved that tonight, he'd be leaving this house with her, not her sister.
All she had to do was play her cards right. She continued to dry her hair, waiting for Kagura to come back.
S.T.
Kikyou text messaged Kagura half-way home, and Kagura smiled, telling her best friend how excited she was to be going to the dance with the hot new senior, and Kikyou once again warned her to be careful around her sister. She opened the front door, closing it quietly and slipping off her shoes in silence. The bathroom door upstairs was open, and she could hear the exhaust fan running.
Putting on an innocent face, Kagura ran excuse after excuse through her head, should Kanna ask the reason for her absence. Then again, she thought, maybe she doesn't even know I left.
Flipping her phone shut, she went to her room to dig through her laundry. What did she have that was clean to wear tonight?
She heard a thump, and turned around. Kanna stood behind her, her face a mask, as blank as a sheet of paper. Kagura frowned. "What do you want? I'm busy."
Turning back to the task at hand, she paused as her sister breathed, "I want retribution. Don't move."
Swinging around, Kagura tried to push Kanna away before the hair dryer in her hand could connect with her head, but she was a fraction of a second too late, and the appliance swung toward her by its cord, Kanna's face showing lips pulled back and teeth bared as she swung it viciously toward Kagura's head.
Kagura felt tremendous pain as the dryer hit its mark, side-swiping her temple and cracking her skull against the dresser behind her.
Kanna caught the dryer in her empty hand as it swung back to her, ready to beat her sister with it again, but Kagura lay motionless on the floor, a small smattering of blood from her split temple the only evidence of her crime.
Toeing her sister in the face, a place sure to wake her, Kanna was rewarded when her sister failed to respond.
"Was that so difficult?" she asked Kagura's unconscious face, lifting her with great effort onto her bed, face-down. "I did tell you to hold still."
Wiping her forehead, she went down to the basement and rummaged around, finally locating some nylon rope, and ran back upstairs, finding Kagura exactly as she had left her.
Noticing that Kagura's face was still buried in her duvet, Kanna checked her pulse, almost disappointed that it was still there. "Well," she muttered, tying off her sister's limbs tightly and pushing her inert body back onto the floor, "I hadn't planned to kill you anyway… that would be messy."
Realising too late that she should have left Kagura on the bed, making it easier to pick her up, Kanna was forced to drag her sister to her darkened room, where she placed her in the closet and closed it, using her metal bong to hold the doors firmly shut, should Kagura come to, too soon.
She stared fondly at that bong, remembering some good times from her old school, but didn't dwell on them long.
Walking out into the hallway, intending to finish her hair and makeup in the bathroom, she spotted something on the carpet. Kagura's cell phone.
Picking it up, she flipped it open. Scrolling through her Sent Messages, she smiled. So her assumptionss were correct: Juuromaru was coming to get her tonight.
"Kagura, Kagura," she sighed, flipping the phone shut and tossing it over the railing, listening as it made contact with the marble floor below, shattering into tiny pieces, "you won't be needing this anymore. Thanks for the info, sister dearest. I told you, you would pay."
Laughing, she returned to the bathroom and finished, her dress the only thing left for her to don.
S.T.
Six o'clock rolled around, and the Higurashi household was in chaos.
There was pushing, jostling, shouting, crying, and screaming, among other things, berating poor Kagome's ears. Sesshoumaru had stayed at home to help his brothers dress, at the request of his Father, Daichi having a pool to clean and all. Sesshoumaru had told him he was full of shit, but laughed and agreed to stay and help. That wookie had to be disposed of, and quick!
Kagome made the rounds from room to room, checking the progress. Kikyou had her makeup on, but was digging frantically through her laundry looking for her white denim outfit Kagura had picked out for her, and a pair of wayward underwear caught Kagome's hair as she passed.
Shuddering and flicking it off she continued to Sango's room, but it was empty. So was Ayame's.
Both girls were holed up in the bathroom, loud music blaring and cosmetics smattered over the walls and mirrors. Rin was jostling for mirror space, but gave up when Sango elbowed her nose, hard. Retreating from the feminine frenzy, Kagome caught her arm. "Why don't you use my bathroom?" She pointed her thumb upwards.
Rin smiled. "Thanks, Kags."
"Git!" Kagome swatted at her little sister's behind as she hurried up the stairs, disappearing in the light of the setting sun coming through the window at the top.
Having freed up some space in the bathroom, she wedged her way in, shouting, "Pregnant lady coming through! Gotta pee!"
"Oh, right, Lady my ass!" Sango retorted, but held her ground as her sister did her business, refusing to give up her position in front of the mirror even when things started to stink.
Kagome chuckled evilly. "How long can you stand me, ssssisters?"
Sango, her nose pinched shut, huffing through her mouth, replied, "We got dates tonight, woman! Hell itself could not remove us from this bathroom until we are good and ready!"
Giving in and relenting, Kagome left, sighing. How quickly her sisters were growing up. She'd not miss this when they were gone. At least, she hoped she wouldn't.
"Found it!" Kikyou came running from her room, wearing nothing but her underwear, waving her dress over her head. Kagome laughed. "Well, the first step is to put it on."
Kikyou looked down. "Oh yeah. Hehehe."
Running back to her room, she slammed the door, and then Sango pronounced herself satisfied, and left the bathroom to Ayame, who muttered, "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!" and did just that as she "helped" her sister leave and closed the door on her behind.
Sango huffed. "You're so rude, Ayame."
A muffled, "You know it!" came through the door.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
"Oh Jesus," Sango breathed and ran to her room, "I'm not ready!"
Kagome opened the door, facing her fiancee. "Hello, sweetness," he said, pecking her lips, and she reluctantly let him go as his brothers stared wide-eyed, soaking up everything they could about intimacy just from watching their brother.
"I come bearing handsome young men," he smiled, flinging her over his shoulder, much to her embarrassment. They waved goodbye to her as Sesshoumaru carried her away, then stepped inside themselves, kicking off their shoes and sitting on the couch to wait.
Kouga pulled at his collar. "Damn it, why are we wearing suits again? This sucks."
Miroku leaned past Inuyasha to stare sardonically at his brother. "They don't call it a semi-formal so you can dress casually, you moron."
"Shut the hell up, Assmaster!"
"Why don't you make me, Turdburglar?"
"Like you two could even take each other on," Inuyasha drawled, his arms thrown over the back of the couch. "Two pansies like you? Don't make me laugh."
Kouga turned on him, jabbing him in the ribs and retorting, "Like you can talk, Inuyasha. You let Shippo get the best of you, remember? And he's three years younger!"
Shippo smirked, and Inuyasha glared at him, the memory souring his good mood. "You forget that Shippo outweighs me by like, fifty pounds. What he did was unfair."
"He still beat your pretty ass, didn't he?" Kouga held up his hand, and Shippo high-fived him, grinning. Miroku sighed. Animals. All of them!
A slap resounded from somewhere down the hall leading to the girls' bedrooms, and a shouted, "Ow!" followed soon after, then a screeched, "Get out of my closet, Ayame!"
Kikyou poked her head out the door and screamed, "For the love of God, you two, can't you share? Ayame, I'll share my clothes with you!"
A streak skidded into Kikyou's room but it was going so fast that Miroku, who could just make out Kikyou's head from around the corner, saw nothing but a blur before Kikyou shut her door.
He looked at his watch. Six-fifteen.
They were in for a long wait.
S.T.
Kanna turned around to admire the back of her blood-red dress, the diamonds sparkling attractively whenever she moved. The back was open, scooping down to the small of her back, the smooth skin bared for all to see. She glanced at her closet in the mirror; she'd heard no sound from there in almost four hours. Kagura must still be unconscious. She smirked. Like she cared.
Grabbing up a handbag that matched her dress, she meandered to Kagura's room, stopping to admire her reflection in the decorative mirror mounted on the wall between her room and Kagura's.
Reaching her door, she flicked on the light and shielded her eyes; Kagura had forgotten to close her shades, and the sun blinded Kanna as she went further into the red and white room that was Kagura's sanctuary.
She came to an abrupt halt when she spied the combination lock on her sister's closet. Goddamn you, Kagura… even when you're tied up you're still a pain in my ass.
Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, she ran from the room, and headed to the basement once more. Returning, she held a red multi-driver in one hand, a stiff drink in the other.
Contemplating the handles, she found no outer screws, and the hinges to the doors were on the inside. She snarled, her face shifting from beautiful to ugly in half a second. Backing up, she finished her drink in three gulps and threw the empty glass and driver on Kagura's bed. Touching the opposite wall, she used it for momentum as she rushed the doors, her foot lashing out and cracking the wood, but not enough to gain her access.
"Bitch," she muttered as she tried again, this time splintering the wood and making a large hole. Tearing through that, she pulled the mangled doors off their hinges and smiled brightly, proud of her success.
Perusing the many pairs of shoes her sister had inconveniently decided to keep under lock and key, so to speak, she found what she'd been looking for: a pair of black stiletto heels, with ties that fastened up her leg, dusted with sparkling rhinestones.
Extracting them from her mess, she carried them downstairs and flung them on the mat by the door, to put on when Juuromaru came to get her - or Kagura, rather. She giggled as she recalled the excuse she'd made up to get him to take her, instead.
Juuromaru, you'll never know what hit you, she thought, taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and winking at her reflection in its stainless-steel surface, but Kagura will!
S.T.
Juuromaru pulled up to the curb in front of the big red and white house on Shinjiro Drive at five to seven. Killing the engine, he re-checked that his cufflinks were securely fastened, then grabbed the bouquet of red roses from the passenger seat. Checking his tie in the rear-view mirror, satisfied with his tying job, he strolled up the walk and rang the bell, stepping back to wait.
S.T.
Kanna sipped her water, flicking from channel to channel. God, television here was so boring.
The doorbell rang, and she almost choked on her water. "Coming!" she called, stopping to check her appearance in the foyer mirror before she opened the door. Grinning at her perfect reflection, she checked her breath before opening the door with a flourish.
Juuromaru looked hot in a navy-blue pinstripe suit, a deep wine-coloured tie, and his hair loose, framing his clean-shaven face. She saw his discomfort and how he tried to hide it. She smiled brightly at him, hoping to ease him.
"Juuromaru! Don't you look dashing?"
He smiled back, but it was forced. He took in her red dress, and couldn't help the strident increase in his heart-rate.
She opened the door wider, inviting, "Come in."
He did, and she grabbed her purse, then sat down to put on her shoes. He frowned.
"Where's Kagura?"
Kanna looked up, pausing, and sighed heavily. Shaking her head, she replied, "She came down with the flu just a little while ago. It must have been something she ate, because she was fine earlier today."
He looked up the grand staircase, but could see nothing to dispute her claim.
"She was fine when I was here earlier, too."
"She told me. She also told me ask you to take me in her place."
His brow shot up in skepticism. "She did?" Didn't Kagura hate her sister?
"Yes. She also asked me to tell you how sorry she is to impose on you like this. I mean, taking me and all. I told her that I wouldn't dream of going with you in her place, but she insisted. I felt so bad that she couldn't go, I just couldn't bring myself to dispute her wishes."
He frowned outright. I'll bet you didn't.
Sighing, he let his shoulders sag. He really didn't have a choice. Hey, his conscience reminded him, at least Kanna's hot. The night isn't a total loss.
Shut up, he thought, and remained stoically silent as Kanna bared her creamy leg to his view, tying her straps tight around her calf.
When she stood, he handed her the bouquet. "Thank you," she said graciously, not at all the harlot she had played a couple nights before.
Walking to the car, he opened the door for her, and she slid in, quickly checking her teeth while he rounded the car to get in the other side. When he was in, and had started the Maserati, she touched his arm, and he looked at her hand before lifting his suspicious gaze to her innocent one.
"Juuromaru, please forgive my behaviour the other night. I'd had a few too many to drink before you came and I acted way out of line. I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"
Juuromaru contemplated her eyes, dark as night, but could find no deceit there. She was either sincere or a very good actress. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for now, though it didn't change his mind about who he preferred, and that was Kagura. Her company was much more comfortable, not at all cloying or suffocating.
"It's alright," he replied, shifting the car into gear and pulling out.
"Thank you," she breathed, smiling delicately. "I promise to be on my best behaviour from now on. No more bubbly for me!"
He couldn't help but feel that, even though the mood had lightened, he was still in the near clutches of a venomous spider, just waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
S.T.
Kikyou snuggled closer to Inuyasha in the back seat of Sesshoumaru's Mustang. He glanced at her, and smiled fondly at her upturned face, and she grinned back, for once able to look at him without memories of Kanna's treachery resurfacing.
Kagome looked back at them and smiled. Nudging Sesshoumaru, who briefly looked her way, she caught his eye and jerked her head toward the back seat.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, Sesshoumaru had to smile to himself at the sight of his brother and his fiancee's little sister. They really were a very handsome couple.
Reaching out with his right hand, he sought out Kagome's and clasped it tight, their hands resting on her left thigh. She sighed in momentary contentment.
The rest of the group had taken the Hatchback, since there was only room for so many. At Kagome's insistence, Sesshoumaru had offered to drop off the remaining pair, which turned out to be Inuyasha and Kikyou.
Pulling up to the school, Sesshoumaru put his red monster in park and flung an arm over the back of his seat as he turned around, saying, "Have fun, you guys. And no drinking and driving!"
Rolling their eyes, they thanked him and climbed out, Kikyou squeezing her sister's hand for reassurance as she did.
"Have fun," Kagome whispered, and, pulling Kikyou closer, whispered, "And keep an eye out for Kanna." Nodding, Kikyou set her pretty face into one of grim determination. "I'll do my best, Kagome."
Smiling, Kagome waved as Sesshoumaru pulled away to make room for other cars dropping off smartly-dressed young ladies and dapper young men, and Kikyou thought about Kagome's baby, and marvelled at the fact that she would be an aunt. Why she'd thought of that now, she couldn't fathom, for her sister's pregnancy was important, but it wasn't the foremost thing on her mind, either.
Suddenly, she had a vision, where Kagome lay battered and bleeding on a highway, unable to move as a passing motorist didn't swerve in time and ran her over, flattening her body and spraying blood everywhere.
Inuyasha looked back when Kikyou didn't follow him, and calling her name, watched her jolt out of what seemed to be a trance.
"Come on, Kikyou! They're playing your favourite song!"
Kikyou blinked, and gasped, before regaining her composure and laying a hand over her heart. It was pounding like a hammer on an anvil, and tears had gathered in her eyes. As Inuyasha came back for her, she shook them off, and tried to forget what she'd just seen, but couldn't; try as she might, it followed her into the party and haunted her thoughts until the arrival of one Kanna Onigumo cleared everything but anger and resentment from her mind.
S.T.
Kagura blinked and opened her eyes, but she could see nothing. Testing her limbs, she found them to be tied, and her head felt like it would split in two.
Leaning back, she sniffed; her prison smelled musty, like old shoes. Was she in a closet or something? She struggled to remember how she'd gotten here, and wondered just how long she'd been here, as well.
Memory flooded over her as the image of Kanna's bared teeth and black, remorseless eyes flung something hard and silver at her head. She couldn't remember anything after that; and very little before. She could remember her name, and her friends, and Juuromaru, and Kanna, but she couldn't for the life of her remember how she'd gotten to wherever she was.
Feeling around with her semi-numb fingers, she found a knot in the rope binding her wrists behind her back and, bunching her legs up tight under her chin, she managed to slip her bound hands under her backside and over her legs, hissing as her muscles burned with each inch that she moved.
Finally, her hands resting in her lap, her muscles cramping and relaxing, only to cramp again, she began to wiggle her fingers and increase the blood flow, and soon feeling returned. Working the knot loose, she quickly untied her feet and tried to stand, but bumped her sore head hard on a shelf about five feet up the wall behind her.
"Son of a bitch!" She held her head, tears falling as she rode out the pain, and, feeling the spot gingerly, discovered only a goose egg, nothing more.
Leaning forward, she muttered, "Where the hell am I?" and pushed with her hands on the surface she could feel before her in the dark. It creaked, and gave, but only enough to let in light from a lately setting sun through a crack in what did indeed appear to be a set of closet doors. Holding the doors out so she could get a glimpse through the crack, Kagura recognised her surroundings immediately, despite the harsh glare of the sun; she was in Kanna's room! Or her closet, to be precise.
"Kanna!" she yelled, banging on the doors, "Let me out! Now!"
No response. Surely if Kanna were there she'd return to gloat upon hearing Kagura shouting, but she never came. Backing up, Kagura tried to kick open the door, but couldn't get enough momentum or speed in the tiny space to make any progress. Slumping back against the wall, she brought her hands to her face, and let her tears fall freely. She'd done it again!
She'd let down her guard and Kanna had taken immediate advantage of it, and now look where she was - stuck in her sister's closet with no possible way of getting out, at least until someone came and let her out.
As Kagura cried, the darkness around her became lighter, and every time she opened her eyes to wipe away her tears, things began to come into focus: a shoe here, a discarded bag there, until she could make out the clothes hanging above her and the steel rods lining the walls and holding up the shelves above her.
Sniffling, and wiping her snotty nose on a pair of Kanna's jeans (this gave her a supreme satisfaction she couldn't begin to describe), she spotted something in a far corner that she ordinarily would have missed in her misery: a baseball bat.
Why does Kanna have a baseball bat in her closet? She wondered, reaching out and closing her fingers around it's cool, smooth surface.
Dismissing her thought, since it wasn't important, she stood up without hitting her head and, gripping the bat tightly, swung with all her might at the crack between the doors.
Her first hit revealed no success, but she tried again, and again after that, until a sharp crack! was heard, and wood splinters tinkled to the floor in a resounding symphony, beckoning Kagura to her freedom.
Baring her teeth, Kagura swung one more time, putting all her strength into the hit, and turned her head away as the door splintered open, slivers flying everywhere, and the door fell part-way open, a space wide enough for her to slip through.
Smiling, she wriggled out of her trap, and stood up straight in the fresh air of her sister's room, the sun blinding her as she revelled in her freedom.
"Jesus, finally!" she panted, looking at the bat in her hands. It was signed by Roger Clemens, and had a phone number scribbled underneath the signature.
Is there no limit to your audacity, Kanna? Kagura didn't even want to know how Kanna had obtained the bat, and threw it away as soon as she could.
Stomping from the room, wondering what time it was, she blew past the hall mirror but came back, slowly, and looked with horror at her reflection.
Her left temple, dark, was crusted with dried blood that had trickled down the side of her neck and disappeared inside her collar. Her eyes were blackened, and the whole left side of her face had begun to turn an ugly shade of purple. The colour of dead meat, she thought, tears once again falling as she tenderly touched her face, only to wince in pain at the slightest pressure from her fingertips.
Kanna, you have hurt me for the last time, she fumed, baring her teeth at her reflection.
Turning, she ran down the stairs, and paused at the bottom, spying a small pile of pink pieces of broken plastic swept off to one side. Crouching next to it, she swore as she sifted through the remnants of her cell phone, her three-thousand yen MuchMusic phone, and she fisted her hand, not feeling the sharp edges of the shattered plastic bite into the skin of her good hand.
Her fresh blood dripped unnoticed as a cloud of rage settled over Kagura's mind.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, she was further incensed at discovering it to be seven forty-five, already!
Getting up, Kagura grabbed her house keys and slammed the door behind her. She had a bone to pick with her sister, and the more people who saw her, the better. Everyone at that dance would soon see Kanna for the scheming, conniving little bitch she really was, and Kagura vowed to stop at nothing to expose her sister and stop her plans for stealing that Jewel!
S.T.
Juuromaru pulled the Maserati into a parking spot and got out to open Kanna's door for her. All the way there she'd chatted warmly, asking him about his hometown and telling him all about her boarding school days.
Despite himself, he began to warm up to her, and actually smiled at her when he took her arm after shutting the car down behind her.
Kanna grinned back, but not too much; she didn't want to appear to eager to be his new date. Although he was devilishly handsome…
Still, he was not essential to her plan, so she would eventually discard him as she had so many before him. She sighed. It was almost a shame really.
They went through the back doors of the building and the music coming from the gym blared in their ears. Juuromaru's heartbeat was lost to his own ears as the bass of Justin Timberlake's new song, Sexyback, reverberated throughout the walls of the entire school.
Showing the chaperoning teachers their tickets, Juuromaru led Kanna through the doors, and into the darkened gym.
S.T.
Kikyou smiled as Inuyasha offered his arm, and led her down the two flights of stairs to the first floor of the school, where the gym was located.
She laughed outright as he heard the song that was playing, and began to dance like an idiot right there in the hall.
"Inuyasha, I had no idea - you - were such a - great - dancer!" She had to hold her sides, she was laughing so hard.
He grinned and grabbed her, swinging her about as they rounded a corner of the hallway, the gym in sight, when Kikyou gasped for the second time that night.
Inuyasha stopped spinning her and turned to see what she was looking at.
There, coming through the back doors, were Juuromaru and… Kanna?!
Behind them, their siblings followed, arriving a few minutes behind them. Bumping into the two still figures, Miroku lifted a brow and observed, "You two look like you've seen a ghost."
"A boyfriend-stealing bitch is more like it," Inuyasha growled and pointed toward the gym doors, where everyone saw for themselves just who was leading Kanna's arm.
"Where's Kagura?" Kikyou whispered, digging through her purse.
"Why is Kanna with him? Who is that, anyway?"
"Don't you know anything, Kouga? That's Juuromaru Sasuke. He's the hot new senior from Osaka, and every girl in this school has been going on and on about him for weeks."
"Oh. Well, I'm not interested in other guys, dummy!" Kouga pouted, and Ayame shook her head, patting his shoulder. "It's okay, we forgive your ignorance."
He eyed her angrily, askance, but kept his mouth shut.
Kikyou pressed End on her phone. "I got the unavailable customer message. Kagura never turns off her phone. Something's wrong, you guys."
Sango put her hands on her hips. "Then why don't we go ask Miss High-and-Mighty Kanna what the hell's going on?"
"Yeah!" Shippo and Rin rejoined, and, as a group, they showed their tickets and entered the dark, romantic atmosphere of the semi-formal dance.
Kikyou had another brief flashback of Kagome, bloody and lifeless, but it was gone almost before it had come. Shaking her head to clear it, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness and colourful lights coming from the stage and blinding her every few seconds, desperately trying to seek out Kanna.
S.T.
Kagura blinked back tears as the night grew darker around her. Limos with happy, drunk teenagers kept passing her, reminding her that she would not attend this dance and leave with happy memories of it. She had not bothered to clean herself up at all; Kanna would be mortified to have it known that this bloodied, black-eyed girl was her sister, and she was the reason that Kagura looked the way she did.
Kagura was half-way there, at the bottom of a hill, with another to climb, when her eyes started to swell shut. Clenching her fists, she forced her broken body to pick up the pace before her eyes swelled shut completely and blinded her to the outside world.
After her five-minute trek up the last hill, she faced a mountain of stairs to climb, and hung her head in exhaustion. The ground kept trying to spin away from under her, but she doggedly pushed on, climbing the concrete steps on her one good hand and knees.
Reaching the top, she collapsed and took a breather. Kanna, she thought, almost too tired to be angry, when I get my hands on you…
Pulling herself to her feet, she flung open the door and made her way downstairs, holding on tightly to the railing. Rounding two corners, she saw the chaperones through bruised eyes and groaned inwardly. She'd forgotten her ticket!
Oh well, it's not like she wanted to stay, looking like she did.
Trudging to the door, she managed to slip inside the dance unnoticed, while the two teachers manning the door had their backs turned.
Stepping inside, she blinked, but her vision didn't improve. It was dark, and her blackened eyes refused to cooperate and obey her brain. Leaning against a wall, she slowly made her way along it, till she heard someone call her name.
S.T.
Kanna danced like she used to, back at her old school. She'd been a dancing queen there; whatever moves she did, everyone followed, and it was no different here. She'd left Juuromaru, who claimed to be a bad dancer, at the refreshment stand. This was one of her favourite songs and she'd be damned if she let it pass without dancing to it.
Inuyasha sidled up to him, and Kanna watched without appearing to do so as they spoke, amiably at first, then with more gestures, until Juuromaru appeared to smooth Inuyasha's feathers and the latter walked away.
Time to work, she thought, sashaying up to him and pulling him onto the dance floor as a slow song came on.
"What did Inuyasha want?"
"He wondered why I brought you instead of your sister."
"Oh. What did you tell him?"
"What you told me."
Good boy.
"And what did he say to that?"
"He said that his girlfriend was worried about her because they're close friends and she hadn't heard from her since this afternoon."
Tread carefully Kanna, she soothed herself. Play your cards right, and no one will know a thing.
"She would have been too sick to call her. I really should have done it for her, but by the time I'd settled her into bed, it was almost time to leave."
He didn't reply, he only rested his chin atop her head, for want of somewhere to put it. She was a good deal shorter than he, but still taller than her sister, especially in those stiletto heels.
He scanned the room around him as it seemed to float in the beams of light cast by the twirling disco ball above his head. He saw Inuyasha again, who was watching him, and his tiny girlfriend, who stood out in an outfit of pure white. They were with a bunch of other people but he didn't recognise them, and soon his back was to them anyway.
Kanna steered him carefully, so that for the majority of the song his friend remained behind him, out of sight. The less contact with Inuyasha, the better for me, she thought, sliding her hands up his back to bracket his wide shoulder blades, once again capturing his attention. Looking up at him, her face set in an expression of deep shyness, she saw his eyes stray to her full lips from beneath her own lashes, and lifted her head slightly, encouraging him to lower his to meet her as her arms snaked around his neck, but at that moment, since they had worked their way to his facing Inuyasha and the door again, something caught his eye and he said, "Who is that?"
Turning his face back to her own, Kanna tried to get him to look at her, but instead of kissing her, he let her go, to stare at whatever he had seen.
Frustrated, and just a little more than angry, she spun around, and the anger she felt multiplied tenfold, for there, groping through the dark room full of drunk and happy teenagers, wandered Kagura.
S.T.
Sango swatted Miroku's hand away for the fifth time. "That's enough PDA, Miroku! Don't make me tell you again!"
He removed his hands and bowed to her. "My deepest apologies, fair Sango. Would you care to dance with me?"
She looked at his hands dubiously, which he quickly held up, to show he had nothing to hide. She rolled her eyes, but before they reached him, she caught sight of something peculiar shimmying its way along the wall, something distinctly familiar.
Is that? No, it couldn't be…
"Kagura? Is that you?"
Hearing her name, Kagura turned toward it, and heard footsteps approach her, then Kikyou's voice.
"Oh, Kagura, what happened to you?" The way she said it made everyone who heard her want to cry, and Kagura herself began to sniffle all over again.
"You were right Kikyou, she did it again," she sobbed, and they led her to the nearest empty table, so she could sit and tell them her story.
Inuyasha knelt before her and took her good hand, while Kikyou rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, saying, "You're alright, you're with us now," and an accompaniment of "Yeah's" followed her comment. She smiled a little, before wincing from the pain in her temple.
Inuyasha brought up his other hand, saying, "What is all over your…" he trailed off as he tipped her chin up and away and saw the dried trail of blood flaking off her neck and disappearing into a bloody blotch on the shoulder of her shirt.
Kouga leaned over. "What?"
"Jesus, what did she do, crack you with a brick?" He took in her black eye sockets and their swollen eyelids, her purple cheekbone, her broken hand a bright white blob in the darkness of the cavernous room, the tiny scratches on her arms from her struggle out of her closet prison puffed up and red and angry-looking.
"I believe it was a hair dryer. I can't really recall."
"Oh my God," Kikyou breathed, coming around to kneel next to Inuyasha at her best friend's knee. "Oh, Kagura..."
Kagura sniffed, and continued. "She tied me up and confined me in her closet. I came to there not too long ago and beat my way out with a baseball bat."
Sango put a hand over her mouth, and for once Miroku placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, not her ass.
Ayame sat back hard, stunned at the lengths Kanna would go to just to hurt Kagura, her own flesh and blood. She couldn't begin to imagine how Kagura must feel.
Shippo felt his heart go out to the abused girl before him. She may have started out much like her sister, but with time, and the love of good friends, she'd bloomed into a happy, healthy, fun-loving girl who went out of her way to right her wrongs, fix others' mistakes, and mend relationships. Kikyou and Inuyasha would still be at odds if it hadn't been for her, as would Kagome and Sesshoumaru. She had made the right decision and had let Sesshoumaru go, as soon as she saw how much he loved another. Overall, she was a fine girl, and a great friend, and she didn't deserve to be treated this way, and he became angry as he looked up to see Kanna walking toward them, her face set, Juuromaru following.
They all watched Kanna approach with a mutinous look in her eyes. Not a single one of them could muster an ounce of compassion for her at that moment if they had tried; her actions had further damned her in their eyes. She would never be welcome among them again, not after this.
But Kanna paid them no attention; she had eyes only for the sister she now wished she'd offed, so her plans could go smoothly, for once.
"Kagura!" she hissed, grabbing her sister's arm and jerking her up out of her chair. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
She tried to drag her away, but Kagura dug her heels in and stood her ground. Juuromaru stood behind Kanna, and got his first good look at Kagura's face. It shocked him.
"Kagura! What happened? I thought you were at home, sick! Who did this to you?" He pushed Kanna aside and took her hands in his, and Kagura smiled weakly at him, allowing him to wrap her up in his arms. From their safety she glared at Kanna, who stood alone, an outcast from the group.
"She did this to me. She did everything, didn't you Kanna?"
Kanna said nothing, but the smile on her face plainly implied that she didn't have to.
"I can't believe you. Tricking him into taking you to the dance? What, you couldn't go with Inuyasha so you decided to steal my date instead? Is there no limit you will stoop to to get what you want, Kanna? Jesus, what is wrong with you?!"
Kikyou stiffened slightly in Inuyasha's grip as Kagura mentioned his name, and her brow furrowed into a frown, as did his. Sango glared, Miroku snorted, Kouga crossed his arms, Ayame curled her lip in disdain. Rin refused to look at her and Shippo held her close, his face a mask of disgust.
Yet through it all, Kanna only smiled. It unnerved them all.
Juuromaru stared at her after Kagura finished speaking, and said, "I can't believe this! To think, you almost had me liking you again, after what you did the other night… you're a bitch, Kanna, and what you've done to me and Kagura and everyone else is unforgivable. I hope you're proud of yourself."
She smirked, and replied, "Oh, I am. You've all felt my influence at one point or another, no? Felt my love, my hate, my body-" she looked at Inuyasha, who growled and clenched both fists, unconsciously pulling Kikyou tighter to him, "-my contempt. What are you going to do about it? I have committed no real crime, so you have nothing. Don't think you've won, because the battle is just beginning, my friends."
Sauntering away toward the dance floor, she paused, and threw over her shoulder, "Tell Kagome I say hello." And disappeared into the crowd.
Kagura broke down then, and cried into Juuromaru's chest as he held her quivering body tightly, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back.
Kikyou, incensed at Kanna's parting words, had had enough. She was ready to go. "Come on, everyone," she said, leading the way, "let's go home."
S.T.
Whoa, turbulent times at Tokyo High! lol, I'm a loser, thank you, thank you. Well, how didja like it? Good? Bad? Shittiest thing you ever read? Too bad, I ain't fixin' it! I'm too lazy, as you'll discover, if you didn't already know, that is! Review me, babes, I want your thoughts, feelings ideas, whatever. I WANT IT, I WANT IT!!! - Yes, Miss Hilton. - I WANT IT!!!